"It's better to have nobody than to have someone who is half there, or doesn't want to be there at all."
————————————————————————
One morning, Cisco was in his lab, working on something when suddenly, a breach opened up behind him, causing him to freeze in place. "Uh-oh," he muttered.
A metal box skidded across the floor, landing by Cisco right as the breach closed. Cisco looked at it hesitantly, before picking it up off the ground, and pressed a button, causing a hologram of Gypsy to appear.
"Hey, babe. Uh, it's me. Just checking in. For my dad. He really wants to know your answer about taking the Breacher job, I think his exact words were: That little son of a Breach better tell me, or they will never find the body. Yeah, but you know what? He's retired. He can wait. So just take as much time as you need. Okay? It's, um—"
"Don't say it's fine," Cisco muttered.
"You know—"
"Don't say it's fine," Cisco repeated.
"It's fine—"
"Oh, God," Cisco muttered, sitting back down in his seat.
"It's fine. Okay. So, just vibe me. Whenever. Okay. Bye."
And the hologram ended, just for the comms to come on—
"Ramon, speed lab. Now."
"Good!" Cisco exclaimed, quickly turning off the hologram, stuffing it inside a drawer where multiple other cubes were, "Good, good, good. Good, good, good, good, good."
———
Speed Lab. Kara, Barry and Mon-El stood off to the side, watching Harry place wires up against Caitlin, "Thing we're gonna do to get Killer Frost to appear, get that massive spike in your adrenaline production that we need, is, Roman is gonna use his vibes to shake you up on the cellular level, and let's see if we can't get your old friend Killer Frost to come out to play."
"And you're sure this is gonna work?" Kara asked and Harry looked her way.
"Well, I mean, like an hypothesis, you have to test it to get an answer. It's what we've all done since the fourth grade, known as the..." but Harry's face blanked, as if he completely forgot what he saying.
"Scientific method?" Barry said.
"Right you are, Allen!" Harry pointed at him, "Of course," then Cisco ran in suddenly, "Ah, here he is. Okay, good," he then ran off to the platform, getting behind the computers, "So get in position."
"Don't worry, I lowered the amps on this thing," Cisco told Caitlin, gesturing to his gloves.
"Ramon, you set?" Harry said, his eyes on the computer while Cisco stepped a couple feet in front of Caitlin.
"Yeah," Cisco huffed.
"Snow, you ready?" Harry asked.
"I'm ready," Caitlin said.
"Three, two, one, and..."
A small blast hit Caitlin from Cisco's fist, but everything stayed the same, "Nothing," Caitlin said.
"Alright...Ramon, more power," Harry said and Kara almost rolled her eyes, "Set? Three, two, one."
Cisco blasted Caitlin a bit harder, with a bit more power, but still nothing happened, "Alright, this isn't working. You know what, Ramon? Full power—"
From this, Kara, Barry and Mon-El snapped their attention towards Harry, "Wait, hold on, hold on. What do you mean, full power? We don't want to blast Caitlin across the speed lab," Barry said.
"Well, you need to get a spike in her adrenaline," Harry said.
"Harry...she could get injured," Kara said.
"God, this is— look, this is gonna work, okay? Nothing has changed," Harry said, stepping down the platform, walking over next to Caitlin, "Snow's DNA tests, they confirm it. Her meta-DNA was not spliced but Null's powers—"
"You mean Melting Point's powers," Caitlin said and Harry looked at her confused.
"Right...that's what I said," Harry said, "Melting Point's powers."
"No, you didn't," Mon said, slightly stepping forward.
"I did say that," Harry said.
"But, Harry, there's no dark matter in her system anyway. We're just trying to spike her heart rate," Barry said.
"What do you mean there's no dark matter?" Harry asked.
"Harry, you knew that. We all did," Kara said.
"We did?" Harry asked, before quickly remembering, "We did. No, I know. I just, I think I just, you know, forget. I forgot."
"You forgot?" Barry questioned while everyone began to stare at Harry worried. All except for Cisco, who just stood in the corner, trying to keep his mouth shut.
"Harry, are you okay?" Caitlin asked.
Harry dropped his head, sighing, before looking over at Cisco, giving him the go, "No, he's not," Cisco said and they all stared at him confused.
———
In the cortex, Harry showed an image of his brain while everyone stood behind him, absolutely shocked, "Harry, you're—"
"Losing my intelligence?" Harry said, turning back to them, "Yes. The injection of dark matter from the Thinking Cap apparently overwhelmed my synapses. Instead of making my brain faster, it's slowing it down."
"Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Barry asked but Harry just stared at him hesitantly.
"Um...how long until—"
"No way of knowing. I mean, there are days I can think clearly and other days I...I can't," Harry told her.
"The good news is," Cisco began, stepping next to them, "Um, from what I can see, the regression seems to be reversible."
"Okay, great. I'll start working on it full-time," Caitlin said.
"No, you won't," Harry quickly cut in and Caitlin shot him a look, "I did this to myself, and I-I thought, Oh, you know what? Use that Thinking Cap, and then I was outthink DeVoe and then stop DeVoe. I was wrong. Now here we are."
"Okay, well, we're gonna fix this," Barry said.
"You and I both know there's a ticking clock and I can't help anyone like this," Harry said.
"Yes, you can," Barry said.
"How?" Harry asked.
Barry sighed before looking at everyone else, "Look, guys. Ralph...Caitlin's powers, now this. DeVoe knew how to break us apart, but I mean, we're all still here. We're a family. That's how we're gonna beat DeVoe," he said.
"Alright, Allen," Harry you and Barry looked back at him, "Alright."
Vandermeer Steel
The next morning, Barry, Kara, and Cisco followed Joe throughout the halls of the establishment, leading up to a room where a crime occurred the night before. "What are we dealing with?" Barry asked.
"First of all, we're trying to determine what was in that vault. Watch your step right here," Joe said, and which they all saw a dead body, covered with a tarp in the entrance of the room, "There was no drilling, there was no lock picked. And the only thing anybody would tell us about what was in the vault was that it was some sort of secretive technology. Also, security guard here was a 24-year-old, apparently shot himself."
"A robbery and a suicide?" Kara questioned, the whole scene very suspicious.
"He was newly married. Has an infant at home. This is smelling like some meta madness to me," Joe told him.
"Who else came Kilgore a retinal scan and Dibny a vault lock?" Barry said.
"Okay, well, I'm gonna go interview some people, see what I can find out," Kara said.
"Alright, Cisco and I will try to figure out what DeVoe stole," Barry said as Kara walked out of the room.
"I'll be over here," Joe said, walking over to a corner of the room to check something out.
"Okay, so. Where should we start? I'm thinking: if we can gain access—" Barry muttered muttered ignored Cisco as he walked up to a computer, but then Barry zoomed around the room, searching for what they needed. He then zoomed up next to Cisco, but when time went back to normal, "...to their files—" Cisco heavily flinched, stepping back traumatized seeing Barry suddenly next to him.
"Alloy 1771?" Barry questioned, "It's the only item missing from the inventory files."
"Or I can just...stand here and look pretty," Cisco murmured.
"Hey, you know what you can do, actually? You could vibe the gun. The file didn't say what Alloy 1771 was. So we need another way to learn why DeVoe would want it," Barry told him.
"Uh, vibing and DeVoe do not mix, remember?" Cisco said.
"Yeah, I know, man. But I mean, what are we supposed to do? It's the only way," Barry said.
"Barry, I don't really feel like getting blasted into a wall right now," Cisco said, "I'm sure there's another way we can find out what this is that doesn't require me getting a migraine."
And suddenly, Kara walked back into the room, staring at the two, "It's a solar panel," she said and they looked at her, "Constructed of metal that absorbs and multiples the sun's energy at four-hundred percent efficiency."
"What would DeVoe be doing with a solar panel?" Joe asked, who had turned back to the three now.
"Nothing, on its own. He's gotta be building something," Barry said before looking at Cisco again, "Look, I-I need you to give the gun."
"Maybe I should put this in movie terms for you. Everything in DeVoe's wake is like the Home Alone house. Okay? It's booby-trapped. I would need to double my powers just to even attempt to give the gun," Cisco explained.
"Well, hold on," Kara said and he looked at her, "Could Gypsy double your powers?"
"That's a good idea," Barry said.
"No, not," Cisco quickly cut in.
"Not what?" Barry asked.
"Gypsy's...busy. Her dad just retired. She's having to do double the work. Earth-19 is a mess right now. She's swamped," Cisco quickly made up.
"Cisco," Barry sternly said, "Combining your powers could make it so we know DeVoe's next move," and from that, Cisco awkwardly laughed to himself.
CC Jitters
Later that day, Joe sat down with Harry at the coffee shop, "Thanks for meeting me...I need a favor," Joe said.
"Okay," Harry muttered.
"I need you to distract Cecile for a while," Joe said.
"What for?" Harry asked.
"Well, that's the thing. I can't tell you, because if I do, she'll read your mind and find out," Joe said.
"Why can't Iris do it?" Harry asked.
"Because Iris knows exactly why I'm trying to distract Cecile. Plus she and Ruby are helping me," Joe told him.
"Ah."
"And therefore, Mon knows. Which means Kara and Barry also know. Which means that Cisco knows too," Joe told him.
"It's fine. Whatever you need," Harry said.
"Really?" Joe asked.
"Yeah."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," Harry sighed, leaning back in his seat, "Lose my mind, become a babysitter."
"Oh, come on. Listen, if anybody's gonna reverse what's happening, it's gonna be those kids at STAR Labs. I mean, they love you, Harry. And they will never stop trying to help you. So don't lose hope," Joe told him.
"Right," Harry muttered.
STAR Labs
In the Speed Lab, Kara, Barry, Mon-El, Cisco and Gypsy stood around a table, with the gun used last night on it. "Thank you for coming to help us, Gypsy," Kara told her and Gypsy nodded with a soft smile.
"You two are up," Barry said before Gypsy glanced back at Cisco.
"So, how do we do this?" He asked.
"Okay...so to co-vibe, we have to be totally in sync. Alright? Our minds have to be on exactly the same page," Gypsy explained.
"Just like always," Cisco said.
"Yeah," Gypsy muttered before the two slowly placed their hands on the gun.
When they did, they saw multiple images at once of shipping containers by the docks, and the number sixteen.
Once the vibe ended, they slowly backed up, conflicted expressions on them, "Oh. So that was weird," Cisco muttered.
"Why? What did you see?" Mon asked.
"I don't know, a-a dock?" Cisco said.
"Um, looked like a shipping container," Gypsy said.
"Number 16," Cisco added.
"That must be what DeVoe is gonna steal next," Kara said, looking at Barry who nodded.
"He's gonna have to steal it from us," he said.
Shipping Docks
A breach opened up in between the 16 and 18 containments and Supergirl, The Flash, Mon-El, Vibe, and Gypsy walked out of it, right before the breach closed up behind them. "Alright. It looks like we made it in time," Flash said, "Whatever's in this container, we can't let DeVoe have it."
"Actually..." The five swung around to find Clifford DeVoe standing on top of containment 18, staring down at them creepily, "It's what's in," he stomped down on the containment below them, "...this container you can't let me have." But then, he pulled something out of his pocket, fiddling with it, "Well, what was in this container."
Together, Supergirl, The Flash, and Mon-El rushed at him, but before they could come near him, they got sucked into a portal, suddenly taking them to the Arctic.
As the portal closed, Vibe tensed up. "Hit him!" He ordered, and he and Gypsy blasted at DeVoe. But DeVoe slammed his hands together, causing Vibe and Gypsy to be thrown back into containment 16.
"Gratitude...for the workout, brief as it was," DeVoe said as Vibe and Gypsy sat up, "Later," he then turned around, disappearing into a portal.
Vibe and Gypsy got up, panting, frustration building up. "Damnit," Vibe muttered as he yanked his goggles off, "Damnit! Why didn't we see the right container number?"
"Someone's vibe wasn't clear enough, Cisco," Gypsy said and Cisco swung around, eyeing her.
"Are you blaming me?" He asked.
"You lost your focus, what can I say?" Gypsy said.
"Yeah, getting hit against a metal container wall sort of does that," Cisco said.
"You know, I hit that wall too. I'm perfectly focused," Gypsy said.
"Oh, well, if you're so focused, then why'd you let him get away?" Cisco asked.
"Don't even try and put that on me," Gypsy said.
"I'm sorry, I didn't put that on you. You put that on you," Cisco said.
"I'm gonna put my fist in your face, is what I'm gonna-"
"Is that how we'd work together if I took the job?" Cisco asked.
"Guys!" The two turned to find Mon-El standing in between Flash and Supergirl, the three of them staring at the two confused, "What job?"
STAR Labs
Back in the Speed Lab, Cisco sat behind a computer on the platform while Mon-El leaned against a railing nearby and Barry paced back and forth in front of him, "I brought that metal piece from the shipping container, in case we want to try co-vibing later, but I think we both saw where that led us, so—"
"So you said Breacher retired," Barry said, suddenly stopping, and facing Cisco, who just nodded, "He offered you a job on Earth-19 to replace him, didn't he?"
"Mm-Hmm."
"And let me guess, you haven't give either Breacher or Gypsy an answer yet," Mon said.
"Mm-mm."
"Which way you leaning?" Barry asked.
"I wanna be with Gypsy more than anything. It's just complicated," Cisco said.
"Hey, no, man, I get it," Barry said as Mon-El nodded to himself.
Me too...
"But look, I mean maybe you guys working together to end this will make the decision easier, for both of you," Barry continued.
"What if she doesn't want the same thing as me?" Cisco asked.
"I mean, you're never gonna know unless you ask," Barry said and Cisco nodded, "And listen, Cisco, I mean we can't beat DeVoe without you. You're our secret weapon. You and Gypsy just need to be on the same page for that weapon to work."
"Yeah, and I don't know that we can be," Cisco said.
"Alright, well, let me help you," Barry said, but at once, Mon-El and Cisco eyed him suspiciously. And worried.
"Barry..."
"No, I...hold on," Barry then zoomed off, the wind causing a much of papers to fly off, and Cisco's hair to fly up.
"So, that's gonna end well," he said and Mon-El grumbled annoyed.
———
Harry was writing on his clear board in Cisco's Workshop when Cecile walked in, looking like she was so close to popping. "Hey, Harry," she said and Harry sighed, looking back at her.
"DA Cecile Horton," he said.
"Joe said you needed to adjust my mental activity dampener," Cecile said, holding up her dampener.
"Yes. Joe...yes. I have to do that," Harry said before walking up to her, taking the dampener from her, "It's, uh, it's not a big deal. It's a standard procedure."
He connected it to the computer and began to type away as Cecile struggled to sit up on a stool chair, "That's...yeah. Okay. Alright. I'm in," she stammered.
"Well, it's installing," Harry said, pressing a button, "So, now you just, just sit. And wait...for a long time," he then cleared his throat, turning towards the board again.
But when he did, Cecile narrowed her eyes at him as all of Harry's thoughts screamed at her, "Okay," she muttered, quickly pulling herself out of her seat, "What's happening with your thoughts right now?"
He swung around towards her, "With my...okay. So there was an incident with dark matter—"
"Yeah, I know, I know, Joe told me about that. That's not what I'm talking about," Cecile said.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Your thoughts are screaming at me. It's like they start to form, and then, it's like, the more the ideas appear-"
"They more they disappear," Harry added in.
"Exactly," Cecile said.
"Well...that explains my can't days," Harry said and Cecile just stared at him concerned.
"What does that mean, Harry?" She asked.
"It means, DA Cecile Horton, that the more I try to use my brain the sooner I'm going to lose it," Harry explained and Cecile stared at him worried.