At Tracy's Lab in Keystone, Supergirl, The Flash and Joe all walked with Neil Borman towards a truck in a garage while he wore his hazmat suit. "You're telling me I have to wear this thing the whole time?" He asked.
"Yeah, the suit protects us— more them than me— from you so that we can protect you from the guy that's trying to hunt you down," Supergirl explained.
"Why is he after me?" Borman asked.
"Honestly, Neil, we don't know, but we want to find out as much as you do," Supergirl said.
"And we will. Trust me," Flash said.
"Saved me once, Flash. I trust you to do it again," Borman said before the four approached Caitlin and Leo, who were waiting for them behind the opened truck.
"What's that?" Flash asked, gesturing to the device in Caitlin's hand.
"I whipped up this cocktail of atomized DTPA and potassium iodide. It should flood our thyroids with enough non-radioactive iodine so that if our containment suit doesn't work, it should offer us some protection from radiation," Caitlin explained before she stepped over to Leo, injecting the substance into his neck.
"Some protection, how vaguely reassuring," Leo sarcastically said.
"How long will this last?" Joe asked as Caitlin injected it into him.
"Two, three hours max," Caitlin explained before walking over to The Flash, injecting it into his neck as well, who at the moment, had his cowl off.
"We'd better get going," Supergirl said.
"Alright, let's just go over the plan one more time, okay?" Flash said as Caitlin injected herself, "I'm going to be running ahead of the truck, scouting the route for any signs of trouble."
"I'll be in the sky, doing the same while Cisco is at STAR Labs, tracking any pocket dimension en route," Supergirl explained.
"And I'll be in the truck with Neil monitoring his vitals and RADS," Caitlin added.
"With me at the ready, in case our meta of mass and destruction here goes all mushroom cloud," Leo said before looking at Borsman, "No offense."
"And I'll be driving. And reciting every prayer that Cecile's ever taught me," Joe said.
"I might join you. Rao knows I need everyone looked after," Supergirl added.
"Look, guys, I know DeVoe's hit us pretty hard, but right now, let's just- let's try to forget what he's taken from us, and stay focused on taking something from him by getting Neil safely to ARGUS. We do that, whatever DeVoe has planned falls apart. Winning this battle may just win us the war," Flash explained.
"Hear, hear!" Leo said and they all looked at him, "Let's all make sure we keep our heads in the game. So we can stay safe out there."
The Flash stared at him annoyed as Supergirl helped Neil into the truck with Caitlin and Joe walked around to the driver's seat. "I know what that was about," Flash said.
"It was a good speech, Barry. Just making sure you heard it, didn't just give it," Leo told him.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Flash asked.
"If you don't confront your feelings, they will confront you," Leo said before getting into the truck.
———
On the road, The Flash continued to zoom throughout the roads the truck was on, making sure everything was okay while Supergirl constantly checked her surroundings up in the air. "All clear on my end," she said into comms.
"There's no pocket dimension activity in the area."
"Roads are looking good too. Joe?"
"Yeah, the rig is secure."
"Caitlin?" Supergirl asked.
Inside the truck, Caitlin was constantly monitoring Borson with her tablet while Leo stood nearby. "RADS are good. Heartbeat regular," Caitlin said before she turned towards Leo. She suddenly pulled out a sticky note from her pocket from Killer Frost, laughing at it.
"On Earth-X, we have a saying," Leo said and Caitlin looked up at him, "If you laugh out loud, you got to share the joke. Byproduct of living on an Earth where joy is a scarce commodity."
"It's a Post-It note from Killer Frost. It's how we talk. Talked," Caitlin said before she looked at the note again, "Broke the thermostat again. I think it hates me."
"Aw, it's cute. Do you miss her?" Leo asked.
"It's not that it's just that we were starting to become close lately. And I know how crazy that sounds considering we're talking about someone who actually lived inside of me," Caitlin explained.
"I'm on an alt-Earth transporting a human bomb with escorts who can literally run back to the future and shoot lasers out of her eyeballs. Your story is the least crazy thing I've heard all day," Leo told her.
"One thing's for sure, I will miss those little notes," Caitlin said.
"Alter-ego or not, it's okay to miss someone we've lost," Leo said before The Flash zoomed into the truck.
"How's he doing?" He asked.
"Good. His RADS are low, vitals seem stable. I gave him a sedative, and it seems to be working," Caitlin explained.
"Okay, good, we're almost there-"
"Guys, there's pocket dimension activity."
Suddenly everyone in the truck got lifted up to the ceiling and they all knew it had to do with DeVoe. Especially when they suddenly were dropped to the ground again.
"Joe!"
"I'm trapped in here. The door's unlocked, but- but it's just like- It weighs a ton— Cisco?"
"Cisco?" Flash asked as he stood up, but no answer, "SG?" No answer, "The comms are out. It's DeVoe."
Suddenly, the felt something land outside of the truck harshly and The Flash could only assume who it was. He grabbed Leo and zoomed them out of the truck to be met with Supergirl standing outside of it. "Is everyone okay?" She asked.
"DeVoe's here," Flash told her.
"He's here?" She asked right before a pocket dimension opened up behind them.
Clifford DeVoe walked out of it, wearing a black trench coat, "Mr. Allen," he called, the three of them turning to face him, "Mrs. Danvers-Allen — As usual, you're a step behind me."
"Yay, puns," Leo sarcastically said, pointing his gun to him, "You Earth-1 villains sure are a hoot."
"You have no idea, Mister Snart," DeVoe said.
"You're not taking Fallout," Supergirl sternly said.
"I can, and I will, if not here and now, then after your top-secret transfer to ARGUS," DeVoe said and he smiled cheerfully at their surprised expressions, "Yes, I know," he then gestured to his brain, "Remember?"
"Good, I won't have to feel guilty about doing this," Flash said before he zoomed the scepter in his hand to the ground, pointing the soundwaves right into DeVoe. But because now he had Ralph's powers, the blast just stretched right through him.
DeVoe smirked evilly at them as the soundwaves faded, Supergirl and The Flash staring at him taken back. "Well, that de-escalated quickly," Leo said.
"The minuscule sound waves produced by that toy trinket of yours are far too weak for this new body of mine. What a gift Mister Dibny provided. Well, it was a gift in a manner of speaking," DeVoe said before he changed his voice to make it sound like Ralph, "Right, rookie?"
DeVoe began to laugh evilly as The Flash froze, his emotions hitting him all at once, burying him under the water. The scepter dropped out of his hands, clashing to the ground causing Supergirl and Leo to eye him worried. "Barry," Supergirl whispered, her eyes sparkling in concern.
"Why such turmoil in your mind, Mr. Allen?" DeVoe asked and Supergirl shot him a glare, "Allow me to ease your pain—"
"You stay the hell away from him," Supergirl interjected, stepping towards DeVoe.
But before anything else could happen, a large blast of soundwaves hit them, coming from a large scream nearby. The four got pushed back into the grass on the side and standing on the road behind the truck — the doppelgänger of Laurel Lance from Earth-X.
As soon as realizing what happened, DeVoe quickly escaped through his pocket dimension.
Inside the truck, Borson was heating up, panicking while hearing all the fighting outside. "That's it! I'm leaving!" He yelled, pulling the buckles off of him.
"No, no, no, I need you to stay here and calm down," Caitlin told him, trying to be reassuring, but Borson walked right past her, pushing open the truck back doors, "Neil, wait!" But they both froze when they saw Laurel Lance's doppelgänger standing right outside of it, holding Leo's gun to Joe's head.
"I want you all to listen to me very carefully, and hopefully I won't have to raise my voice. This truck is now mine," she said.
STAR Labs
Supergirl, The Flash (cowl off) and Leo stood in the cortex later that day, looking at Cisco, who stood by the computers. "We really have no way of finding Joe and Caitlin?" Barry asked Cisco.
"Not even by tracking Fallout?" Supergirl added.
"That hazmat suit is hiding his radiation signatures. So the satellite can't even find him unless he heats up," Cisco explained before Barry looked at Leo.
"Okay, well, what do you know about Laurel Lance's doppelgänger? And why was she hunting you?" He asked.
"That was Siren-X, all that's left of the Reichsmen. An elite assassin gone mad, and she is relentless. Carried a torch for Dark Arrow," Leo explained before glancing at Supergirl, "Unrequited," he looked back at Barry, "So she's none too pleased with those responsible for his death, present company included."
"Great," Supergirl muttered before Leo looked back at her as Barry walked over behind her, "So she has the same powers as Black Siern?" But Leo looked confused, "The Laurel Lance of Earth-2."
"And Earth-1's Laurel Lance..."
"She died," Cisco said and Leo looked back at him, "She was the second Black Canary after her sister, who also died and came back, but as White Canary, cause-"
"Cisco," Barry sternly said.
"It's complicated," Cisco said.
"Right. Doppelgänger confusion aside, Siren-X has my gun and a nuke, and her thirst for vengeance won't prevent her from using either one on me or all of you now," Leo explained before Supergirl slowly looked back at Barry, who seemed distracted — frustrated.
"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" She asked and Barry looked at her.
"I'm fine," he assured.
"I'm just worried, Barry. You...froze up out there. Did she get the jump on you?" Supergirl asked.
"She didn't. She just caught us off-guard. And why does it matter right now? We don't even know where Joe and Caitlin are," Barry told her.
"I-"
"Cisco, will you just see if Harry has any ideas?" Barry asked, looking past her and towards Cisco.
"I'm on it," Cisco said before he hurriedly walked off out of the cortex.
Barry then looked at Supergirl sternly, "Just watch the satellite like a hawk," he told her before walking off annoyed.
Supergirl breathed heavily before slowly turning back towards Leo, who was still standing where he was, "Leo," she said and he looked at her, "What do you think happened out there?"
"Oh, just your typical deadly combat between two metas from multiple earths plus the strongest woman in the world," Leo said and Supergirl gave him an annoyed look.
"Leonard," she sternly said.
"I'll go talk to him," he said, walking out of the cortex.
———
Cisco walked into his Workshop to find Harry working out equations, but he was in a rush. "Where is it?" He asked before he spotted his cap on a pedestal.
"Hey, Ramon, wh-" Harry started, looking back to see Cisco walked up to the cap, taking it off its pedestal, "What are you doing?"
"A Nazi Laurel Lance just kidnapped Caitlin and Joe. We're going to make this thing work, and we're going to make it work now," Cisco said before he walked over to the computers desk, placing the cap down.
"Okay, well, we can't. We can't," Harry said before Cisco began to pull something out of his shirt pocket, "I still haven't found a replacement for that—" Harry pointed at the promethium ion diode in Cisco's hand confused, "Where did you get that?"
"I found this in one of the cubes Gypsy sent me," Cisco said.
"How clever of you," Harry said before Cisco began to fiddle with the cap, trying to figure out how to get the promethium ion diode inside of it, "You know what, Ramon? It's still not going to work. It's not gonna work."
"Why?" Cisco asked.
"Because it's not gonna work. Okay? Because it's a waste of time," Harry said but Cisco ignored him, "Because I said so! That's why!"
"Well, in that case-"
"Listen, Ramon-"
"Our friends' lives are at stake-"
"You don't-"
"Look!" Cisco snapped, looking at him, "I don't know what's going on with you, but if you're not going to help me with this thing, I-"
Suddenly, Harry grabbed the cap and broke in half, slamming it right back on the table, "What- Why would you do that?!"
"To protect you," Harry told him.
———
In the Time Vault, Harry stood off to the side as Cisco stared at Harry's AI brain, seeing all the damage the cap had done to it. "The cap did this?" Cisco asked.
"And dark matter," Harry said and Cisco slowly looked back at him.
"You used dark matter?" He asked.
"I used dark matter. It- look, Ramon. It was the only way," Harry said.
"The only way to do what? Fry your synapses?" Cisco asked and Harry sighed, frustrated, "Harry, you promised me."
"I know I promised you, I promised you," Harry said before they both faced away from each other.
"Oh, my God," Cisco muttered, leaning against the wall, unable to accept this was happening, "Harry, how could you be so stupid?"
"Cause I felt so stupid!" Harry yelled, snapping around towards him.
"We all feel stupid right now!" Cisco yelled back.
"Yes, but you're Vibe, Allen's The Flash, Danvers's Supergirl. Who am I? My only job is to be smarter than all the villains who want to hurt this team, and without that, I'm nothing," Harry told him and Cisco leaned his head back frustrated, "I'm about to lose the only part of me that has any value to this team, the only part of me that matters. And so, yeah, I destroyed the cap. So that you wouldn't make the same mistakes I did," he then walked out of the vault, leaving Cisco alone to his thoughts.
———
That night, Barry was in the speed lab alone, working behind a computer when a voice called out to him, "What'd you see out there, Barry?" Leo asked and Barry looked back at him for a moment, but went right back to the computer, "When you froze up?"
"Nothing," Barry said.
"You just got two of your teammates captured and almost got me killed. So either you explain what happened or I leave," Leo said.
"I saw Ralph," Barry reluctantly said.
"Mm, I warned you. He is messing with your head," Leo said, slowly making his way over to him.
"No. It's not like that. Do I miss him? Yes. Do I regret what happened? Of course. But I don't need lessons in loss. What I need to do right now I lead my team," Barry said.
"Well, you're gonna lead them to their deaths if you don't deal with this," Leo said.
"Back off, Leo," Barry warned.
"You need to grieve him, Barry," Leo said.
"Grief is a luxury I don't have time for," Barry said.
"Make time!" Leo snapped.
"I can't!" Barry snapped back, "Not...Ralph, not right now."
"Ah. So we've reached the core," Leo said before he slowly walked around the desk, facing Barry, "You don't want to grieve this wound. So Ralph's death must be different from all the other losses you've experienced, but why? Why?" But Barry stayed silence, trying to numb out the pain, but it was too much, "Barry, trust me. There is no outrunning grief. If that was a pun, I'm sorry," he then walked off, leaving Barry to his self-wallowing.
Central City Police Department
The department was busy, but yet silent. That is until a cuffed Joe and Caitlin walked out of a room upstairs, where they were met by a police officer. "Run, run!" Joe warned him.
But it was too late, because a blast of ice blew right past him, smashing into the police officer. He slammed back into the ground as police officers below panicked.
They ran out, pointing their guns up towards the second level as Siren-X walked out, holding Borsman at gun point, the gun being Leo's cold gun. "CCPD," she taunted, looking down at the police officers, "Home of the brave, land of the dead."
Siren-X dragged Borsman, Joe and Caitlin down to the first floor, standing before all the officers, continuing pointing the cold gun at Borsman. "Killing all these people won't bring back your regime," Joe spoke up.
"No, it won't. But decimating your so-called officers will make it a hell of a lot more even," Siren-X said before looking at a terrified Borsman, "I'll make sure of it — remove your helmet."
"What?" Borsman asked.
"Take it off!" She yelled.
Scared of what she might do, Borsman took the helmet off of him, immediately causing the officers around them to faint from the radiation.
STAR Labs
Behind the console, Kara stood, the alert of radiation being found as Barry, Leo, Cisco and Harry walked in. "CCPD. Why would she take him there?" Cisco asked.
"We destroyed her protectors. Maybe she wants to do the same to us," Harry said.
"Harry, we need eyes," Kara told him but Harry seemed hesitant.
"You know what? Why don't you let me take care of it, alright? You keep an eye on the RADS," Cisco told him before taking a seat behind the console.
"Leo, Kara, we're on," Barry said before he and Leo began to walk around the console, Kara waiting for them before walking out.
"Barry, I'm always on. Oh, wait, I need a-"
"I got you," Kara said before stepping back behind the console, pulling out a blaster from underneath it, handing it to Leo.
"Thank you, Kara," he said and she smiled at him as she walked out with them.