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"TOW TRUCK WAS STOLEN."
"Driver of the armored car is in a stable condition at St. Andrews, and no ones exactly sure how he got there." Said Detective pretty boy as he made his way toward Joe and Evelyn in the back of the truck. Joe sat inside staring straight ahead in thought, while Evelyn examined every inch of the truck for anything valuable.
"Did you check the security cameras?" Evelyn asked Eddie.
"Camera's storage drive was stolen." He said as he rested his right foot on the ledge of the truck. "These guys are pros." He added a little impressed.
Joe waited for Evelyn to be done in the truck before they all headed out. "Everything's still here, including what I think they were after: the Kahndaq Dynasty Diamond." Joe told them with a sigh. "It was on its way to the Central City Museum for exhibition."
"Right, Iris is trying to talk me into going." Eddie said cheerfully and Evelyn almost did a double-take. So the cats officially out of the bag? She has no idea when Iris finally came clean to Joe about seeing his partner, but then again she hasn't seen Iris in almost five days. Evelyn's been too caught up in work and school to have a social life at the moment.
"I'm not much of a museum guy." Eddie continued much to Joe's annoyance. It's clear as day to Evelyn that Joe doesn't want to talk to Eddie about his relationship with his daughter. She can practically already feel the awkwardness and anger radiating off the man who has became the closest thing to a father to her. "But when she really wants to do something..." Eddie trailed off and Evelyn visibly cringed at how out of context that statement can be taken. Eddie seemed to figure that out for himself, because just by one look from Joe he shut his mouth immediately.
"I'm just going to walk away now..." he said awkwardly before striding as far away from Joe as possible. A few moments later the captain headed toward them.
Evelyn spotted Barry from her peripheral vision. "Sorry, captain." He apologized to Singh for being late yet again. It was ironic how even when he's The Streak he can't seem to make it on time. "I was at the hospital- visiting a sick friend." His excuse could've been a good one if he had managed to sound more confident not hesitant. Luckily for Barry, the captain decided not to comment on his late arrival.
"There's nothing missing." Joe told them as they headed back to the stolen truck and armored car. "It looks like someone interrupted a robbery."
"Guard says there was three of them." Singh threw in some newfound information he dug up.
"Actually there was four." Barry told Singh so sure of himself. Evelyn gave him a look to remind him that he had to be careful about what he said. Barry looked at Singh's confused expression with wide eyes. "I mean, that's how many I would bring if I was doing a robbery of this nature." Barry tried to ramble himself out of this sticky situation.
"That's definitely a four guy truck." He continued with his explanation as he headed to the stolen tow truck. "A driver, two more to cover the guards, and somebody to use liquid nitrogen to crack open this door." He listed as he pointed out every single detail of the truck that fit into his claim. Evelyn's got to admit, he did a slightly better job on covering up how he knew it was four guys instead of the actual witness statement of three men. It could've been worse.
"So four bad guys...." Barry stated confidently while holding up four fingers.
"Thank you, Mr. Allen.." Captain Singh replied sarcastically causing Barry's smile to falter. "for your brilliant insight." He rolled his eyes and then walked off leaving Barry, Joe, and Evelyn standing alongside the vehicles alone.
"For somebody so fast, you're a little slow on improvising." Joe told Barry once he was sure they were out of earshot.
"Yeah, if you're gonna be a superhero you need to get a little better at this part of the job." Evelyn teased him earning a smirk from Joe and an eye roll from Barry. "But anyway, did you get anything valuable that we can contribute to the case?"
"It's like you read my mind. If this whole forensic scientist thing don't work out you should become a detective. You're already thinking like one." Joe told Evelyn proudly, and Evelyn smiled. "But seriously.." He redirected the conversation back to Barry. "Did you see anything that could help us catch these guys?"
"Yes actually." Barry began cheerfully while he mentally patted himself on the back. "One of them lost his mask. I saw his face."
"Alright, we definitely can work with that." Joe sighed in relie. This case might not take as long as he thought. "Let's head back to CCPD and see if this guy already has a record."
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"So look through these mugshots of Central City's most wanted, and see if you can find our guy." Joe told Barry as they walked through the empty hallway that was headed to the main floor. Joe handed Barry the binder full of mugshots while Evelyn held the second one to her chest in case the man they were looking for wasn't in the first one. Barry took the binder and flipped through it for what felt like a second before he found the guy.
"That's him." Barry pointed to the man's picture. Evelyn tried to get a look at the guy, but Joe took the binder from Barry before she could.
He brought the picture up closer to get a better look at the criminal. "Damn." He said disappointingly. This changed everything. This case isn't gonna be as easy as he hoped.
"Leonard Snart." He finally said aloud and Evelyn's heart stopped beating for a second. Her throat became dry, and her mind instantly started racing with different scenarios and outcomes. As if felt her anxiety and heard her thoughts, Joe looked at Evelyn. He's very well aware of her and Leonard's history. Her sight met his and the detective's eyes had softened. It was his way of telling her that things were gonna be fine.
"Leonard?" Barry scoffed. "That's almost as bad as Bartholomew."
"Snart ain't sexy either." Joe chimed in on Leonard's unfortunate name. Evelyn had to admit, his name wasn't the best. Although, his looks did make up for it.
"So, who is this guy exactly?" Barry asked Joe. Evelyn was open to both Barry and Iris about her criminal past, but she made sure to be very careful about what she said. She strictly told them about her and the things she had done. However, she was extra careful not to name drop, and to leave the people who took part in her past out of it. So, Barry had absolutely no idea who Leonard Snart was.
"Well for starters, Snart's father was a cop. A bad cop. He took his anger out on his kids until he went to prison." Joe gave Barry the brief summary, Evelyn on the other hand could give Barry a whole novel on Leonard and his terrible past.
"Snart's dad's in prison too?" Barry said with a slight frown. "We should start a club." He joked drily.
"Look, all you need to know is that he shows up, like, every six months. He cases the job for weeks before he makes his move. Then he does the job and gets away" Yeah that sounded about right to Evelyn.
"That's before the streak was around." Barry said with a grin. He was already making it his mission to put a stop to Snart, and that worried Evelyn. She knew Barry was a grown man with super-enhanced abilities, and he was far more than capable of taking care of himself. But she also knew Snart, and he played dirty. Just like she had an inkling that after today, Snart already made it his mission to take out 'The Streak'. He was an unwanted and unforeseen variable in his plans. A thorn to his side. Central City wasn't fit for the both of them.
"Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?" Joe asked Barry amused yet slightly weirded out.
"No, I referred to The Streak, which I'm pretty sure I can top." Barry told them excitingly as they headed out.
"Like what?" Evelyn asked Barry about his choice of superhero alias.
"Well, I'm glad you asked." Barry said smacking Evelyn's arm playfully as they reached the main hall. "I've been thinking of a new name. What do you guys think about 'The Fla-"
"Coffee Break!" Iris beamed coming out of nowhere with a cardboard cup holder filled with four coffees from Jitters. "Thought I would bring Central City's finest java over to Central City's finest."
"Thanks." Barry told her appreciatively as he helped himself to a cup.
"Oh, don't mind if I do." Evelyn jumped in after Barry as she bit down on her lips to withhold her squeal. Everybody knew Evelyn loved coffee. She ate, slept, and breathed coffee. Barry chuckled to himself as he witnessed Evelyn's eyes shut in contentment after one sip of pure caffeinated goodness.
Iris smiled at the duo before she turned to face her father. She pushed the coffee a tiny bit closer to his reach. He looked from the tray to her with emotionless eyes. "I'm off caffeine." He announced drily then stalked off.
Iris frowned at the empty space her father once stood in. "He's been mad at me ever since I told him about me and Eddie."
"More like he's mad at you because you didn't tell him." Evelyn interjected with an expression that screamed 'I told you so'.
"Yeah, you kinda got yourself into this one. Sorry Iris." Barry agreed with Evelyn while he shot Iris a sympathetic look.
"Okay, first, that sounds like you guys are taking his side-" Evelyn rolled her eyes. How the hell did she get caught in the middle of this? "Second, do you know the whole 'I'm not talking to you, but I have a whole bag full of judgmental looks I'm gonna try on you later?" Oh yeah, Evelyn was very well familiar with those looks. She thought back to her days of still trying to escape her criminal instincts after she had cut ties with Leo and his crew.
"Yeah, I've been on the receiving end of those a few times." Barry chimed.
"Ditto." Said Evelyn while she lifted her pointer finger as they walked back up the stairs and toward their lab.
"Speaking of communications, or lack thereof, after all these journalism classes I got an idea." Iris stated as they reached the top step.
"Really? Care to share?" Evelyn said.
"I started a blog." Iris says self assured.
"Neat." Evelyn dragged impressed with Iris's choice of direction. They high five earning a breathy chuckle from Barry. "What's it about?"
"Your brownie obsession?" Barry jumped in with a fake wince resulting in an eye-roll from both ladies. "Cause, you know, you probably shouldn't broadcast that."
"No, something important." Iris whined, and Barry and Evelyn smiled at how quickly he was able to get under her skin. "Something Central City needs to know about." The way Iris spoke so passionately about the subject of her newfound blog made Barry's smile widen and heart warm. That was until Iris's next two words.
"The Streak." Barry and Evelyn's smiles had vanished and their eyes widened at what is soon to be the focus of her blog. Iris spun on her heels to face the two, her smile still very much intact and growing with every thought running around in that pretty little head of hers. "He's out there guys. Rumor has it, he stopped an armed car robbery earlier."
Barry made a soft growl before shutting his eyes briefly. "I was hoping that I could take a look at the file, and-"
"What?" He gaped. "We're not at liberty to discuss an ongoing police investigation with you." Barry walked past Iris not before latching onto Evelyn's wrist. He gently pulled her with him.
Iris narrowed her eyes, confused as to why he was suddenly shutting down her proposal for information. Information he never had a problem giving her before. "Since when, Mr. Blabbermouth?"
Iris took the corner quickly catching up to her best friends. "Take it from someone who's been investigating the impossible since they were eleven." Barry said as he stopped for a second to make his point. "Blogging about this is only going to bring the crazies to your front door."
"My blog is anonymous." She pointed out adding to her counterclaim. Barry rolled his eyes and then continued to head to the lab.
"Well anonymous or not, it's not safe. You never know what kind of weirdos are out there trolling on the internet." Barry added. Evelyn didn't understand why Barry was so against this. She thought it was a nice idea for Iris to spread positivity and awareness to Central City. A reminder that even though there's an unexplainable evil lurking in the shadows of this city since the particle accelerator, amongst the lost, angry, and demented is a hero who's going to get this city back on track. A hero who will be a beacon of hope for Central City when it's needed most.
"I can vouch for that." A woman stated as they entered the lab. The woman was blonde with glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. A dorky smile turned up at the corners of Barry's lips. Iris and Evelyn on the other hand had no clue who this cute blonde was. "The internet is full of weirdos and nerd rage. Lots and lots of nerd rage." She took a few steps closer. Her arms were crossed, and she wore a beautiful smile that matched Barry's.
Barry released a laugh. The two friends could only smile at one another simply at a loss for words. Upon realizing how this looked, the blonde shook her head before facing the other women in the room. "Hi. Felicity Smoak."
"Iris West."
"Evelyn Sutton."
After Felicity shook both of the ladies hands, Barry felt compelled to introduce himself. "Barry Allen." He stated happily. His eyes widened when all the women looked at him. "But you guys already knew that. Uh, Felicity-"
"Is the girl that you met back in Starling City." Iris said remembering why the name sounded familiar. Evelyn thought hard about when this topic was discussed, but she couldn't remember. So, naturally, she just pretended that she remembered. "The computerer right? You two worked on one of Barry's unexplainable cases?"
"Which, long story short, was definitely explainable." Felicity fumbled with her words. She's a perfect match for Barry. Barry nodded his head with that dorky little grin still on his face.
"So the lightening came through here?" She asked Barry as she glanced up and pointed to the skylight.
"Yeah..." Barry breathed then walked up to the blonde. The two instantly engaged in deep conversation.
Iris and Evelyn gave one another the same look, before they made their way towards the duo, getting to know the mystery girl from Starling City.