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CHAPTER FOURTY-SEVEN
oxlvii. trying to save ronnie and stein
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"THERE HE IS." Caitlin told them, "Looks like the tracker Barry put on him worked." Ronnie or well Stein came out from under the bridge.
"Professor Stein?!" Caitlin called out.
"Ugh, I told you to stay away from me." Was his reply.
"And I will, but there's someone else who wants to talk to you." Caitlin told him.
"Martin?" Clarissa called out, making the man turn around.
"Do you know who I am?" She questioned walking closer.
"Clarissa."
"Is it really you?"
"I don't know. I hear the other inside of me. He wants to go home to her." He looked over to Caitlin.
"But we can't. I want to be me again." Ronnie/Martin told Clarissa.
"Martin... What's my favorite color?" Clarissa asked.
"You could- You could never decide." Martin paused, "So you chose stripes."
Clarissa gasped, reaching out to grab his face, holding onto his cheek.
"You- You shouldn't see me like this." He told her, grabbing her hand.
"I see you. I see you, Martin. These people can help you. They say they can. Please let them." Clarissa told him.
"Please... Help us." Martin begged them.
Caitlin and Barry shared a look as Chloe sent a sad smile his way. They were going to get Ronnie back and they we're going to help Martin.
"WELL WE GOT him." Barry said to the team back at STAR Labs, "Them." He corrected, "Now what?" He asked.
"Well, Stein clearly thinks he can separate himself from Ronnies body using nebular fission." Dr. Wells spoke out.
"What do you think?" Caitlin asked, he arms crossed.
"What do I think? Is it possible? Theoretically. But splitting an atom and splitting a man are two very different things." Dr. Wells told her.
Martin walked into the room, looking more like Ronnie than he had before, his hair was shorter and his face clean shaven he looked exactly like their Ronnie but Chloe knew he wasn't, this was just Ronnies body.
"I don't suppose it's necessary to point out you're all staring?" Martin spoke.
"This is fucking freaky." Chloe breathed out.
"Our apologies." Dr. Wells apologized.
"It is remarkable. I feel clearer than I have since the accident. What did you give me?" He asked.
"A cocktail of anti-psychotics, depressants, and mood stabilizers." Dr. Wells answered.
"The same formula used to treat dissociative identity disorder." He looked to Caitlin, "I assume this was your idea." Caitlin nodded, "Very clever, Cait."
"Don't call me that. Please." Caitlin softly told him.
"I apologize."
"We'd like to run some tests on you, if you don't mind."
"Of course, Dr. Snow." Martin nodded.
Barry's phone buzzed him answering it and walking into another room. After a couple minutes he speed out of the room.
"That was weird." Chloe mumbled.
"DR. SNOW CAN we see you for a minute." Dr. Wells voiced to Caitlin who was running tests on Martin.
"You okay?" Barry asked.
"Yeah, it's just confusing."
"No shit." Chloe mumbled.
"What isn't confusing is what's happening to him now. Ronnies body is rejecting Steins atoms like a host rejecting a parasite." Dr. Wells clicked a key, "The resulting instability is causing an exothermic reaction. I worry if his temperature continues to rise, it'll set off a chain reaction."
"And then what happens?" Barry questioned.
"He could go nuclear." Dr. Wells stated.
"Oh well isn't that peachy." Chloe said sarcastically.
"THAT'S NOT FREAKY at all." Cisco sarcastically announced himself.
"That's what I've been saying!" Chloe responded.
"It seems Ronnies fight with The Flash has exacerbated the Firestorm Matrix. It's unstable. Exponentially increasing the rate of fission inside his body." Dr. Wells explained as he wheeled into the main part of the cortex.
"Well, how long does he have?" Caitlin asked.
"If his temperature keeps rising at the current pace, no more than a couple of hours."
"But you can fix it, right? I mean you- You can separate them before it's too late." Barry worriedly asked.
"Any attempt we make to separate the two of them could be catastrophic- A nuclear explosion. And a nuclear explosion of this magnitude would level the entire city." Dr. Wells paused, "Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless the host body were no longer functional."
"You want to kill Ronnie?" Caitlin demanded to Dr. Wells.
"No, I don't want to kill Ronnie. But in this scenario, Ronnie is the host body." Dr. Wells explained.
"If you kill Ronnie, you kill Stein. Thats two people." Cisco argued.
"I don't know how else to stop it. And my guess is that if Ronnie and Professor Stein knew the consequences that we were all facing, they would make the same decision. It's two lives for millions." Dr. Wells tried to explain.
"Two people, Wells! You don't just kill two innocent people! Maybe horrible people yes, you'd kill- But Ronnie was and still is our friend, Caits fiancée. Professor Stein is still someone's husband, you can't just throw away their lives like that!" Chloe angrily spat, her eyes starting to glow electric blue.
"Can you give us a minute?" Caitlin asked, putting a hand on Chloes shoulder, making her snap back to reality. Cisco nodded, Chloe simply glared in Dr. Wells' direction, before following Cisco out of the room.
"Dr. Wells, you don't think we should really kill Ronnie, do you?" Cisco questioned as Dr. Wells wheeled out of the cortex.
"Stay here, Cisco."
Dr. Wells wheeled away as Chloe asked over to the room where Martin was in, Barry already in there.
"Hey, Sorry." Barry called into the room, "Um, can I get you anything or-"
"A glass of Chateau Haut-Brion Pessac-Leognan 1982 might be nice." Martin paused, "Or maybe it wouldn't. This body's taste buds would obviously be different from my own." He then joked, "Perhaps I'm a light beer man now."
"There are worst things to be." Barry shrugged.
"You mean like a living nuclear bomb?"
"You know." Barry stated.
"Unstable nuclear fission was always a danger in the transmutation process." Martin told him, "Plus, you all argue very loudly. Especially, her." He pointed to Chloe, the woman just sheepishly smiling.
"I'm sorry." Barry told him as he walked out of the room, "But my friends are going to figure out how to fix this, I promise."
"You bet we will." Chloe added.
"I remember meeting you, Mr. Allen, on the train. You were headed to STAR Labs with your sister and a girl, but not your girlfriend."
"Yeah... I'm not sure that I have any girlfriend." Barry added.
"You know, Einstein was not only brilliant, he had a great sense of humor." Martin told Barry.
"How did it go." He whispered before quoting aloud, ""Any man who drives safely while kissing a pretty girl is not giving the pretty girl the attention she deserves."" Barry nodded a smile on his face. "If I learned anything this past year, life's too short not to live." Barry nodded again, and with that he set off to find Linda.
"Good luck, lil bro!" Chloe called after him.
"Ah, so you're the sister." Martin figured it out.
"Yep." Chloe smiled at the man who looked so much like an old friend.
"HEY, ANYTHING?" BARRY asked, walking into the cortex.
"I have an idea. It's a bit of a Hail Mary, but Cisco, Chloe and I are going to give it a try." Dr. Wells told him.
"Thank you." Caitlin nodded to Dr. Wells.
"I'll get Professor Stein." Barry called.
"Looking for the professor?" Cisco asked retort, "Yeah, he's gone."
BARRY WHO WAS now suited up, asked, "You almost done?"
"Hold on. Hold on." Cisco told him.
"Don't rush this!" Chloe yelled.
"I found Stein. He's in the Badlands. Middle of Nowhere, 30 miles outside of Central City." Caitlin announced.
"Minimum safe distance."
"He's sacrificing himself." Dr. Wells realized.
"How much time does he have left?" Barry questioned.
"It'd be good to know that." Chloe added.
"Twelve minutes." Cisco answered making Chloes eyes widen.
"Oh shit." She went back to helping Dr. Wells and Cisco.
"And. . We're done." Dr. Wells announced.
"What is it?"
"This is a Quantum Splicer."
"Will it work to separate them?" Caitlin asked.
"Well know in twelve minutes. Now Barry, even if you can't outrun a nuclear blast, you get this device to Professor Stein and then you get out of there as fast as you can."
Caitlin grabbed it out of Dr. Wells' hands.
"What are you doing?" Barry questioned.
"I'm going with you." Caitlin answered.
"No you're not!"
"It's too dangerous."
Caitlin put on her coat, "Barry doesn't know how to operate the splicer."
"Cisco and Chloes gonna talk me through it."
"There's not enough time. Let's go." Caitlin hurried.
"Go!" Dr. Wells told them. "Just take her with, Barry!" And with that Barry picked Caitlin up and speed out of the cortex, a beeping heard from one of the monitors.
"What was that?"
"Uhh, comm systems on the fritz. I'll be right back." Cisco answered. The only thought in Chloes mind was, Why is he lying? Cisco came back into the cortex a moment later, Caitlin had put the splicer onto Steins chest, saying, "It's not working!"
"He's not gonna make it. He's gonna blow."
"Get out of there. Barry, get out of there now!" Dr. Wells yelled.
"Fucking get out of there!" Chloe yelled as well.
And with much reluctance from Caitlin Barry ran away from Martin, him exploding. Chloe let her head fall and hit the desk, they were so close.
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AUTHORS NOTE | word count : 1675
Here's episode thirteen done!
Now onto episode fourteen!
Hope you enjoyed!
Favorite part?
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