"Barry isn't too optimistic about the appeal hearing." I sigh as I walked with Cecile, to where I went everyday at 1:30, to meet Barry, "He knows we don't have any new evidence that he was framed."

"Don't lose hope, Zee, we still have a few days to prepare." Cecile gives me a hopeful smile.

"I know, but it's not like we've come up with any new ideas for clearing Barry's name." I shrug, "This is like mission impossible."

Cecile sighs, a confused expression falling over her features, "A bigger issue is we don't seem to have Barry."

"Mrs. Allen?" Warden Wolfe's voice catches our attention at the call of my name, Cecile and I turning, "Unfortunately, you won't be able to see your husband today. He was in an altercation."

"What? An altercation?" Cecile repeats.

"A prison yard fight." He replies.

"What?" My eyebrows furrow lightly in confusion, but also concern, "Is he okay?"

"Oh, he's fine, he's fine, he wasn't harmed and he wasn't at fault, but per Iron Heights protocol, everyone involved is in isolation for the week." Warden Wolfe nods towards me.

"And is he safe there?" I question, shoving my hands into my pockets.

"Oh, he couldn't be more safe." Warden assures me, "The important thing to know is, he's in good hands. You can rest easy at night."

"Thank you, Warden." I nod, shaking his hand as he walks away, my head turning toward Cecile, noticing the look on her face, "What's wrong?"

-

"Wolfe is trafficking meta-humans?" Joe repeats after Cecile and I explained what Cecile has heard from Warden Wolfe's thoughts while we were at the prison, "Is everybody crooked in this town?"

"Ah, he always did look smug in those Italian wool suits." Cisco exclaims, "Oh, my God, he's literally wolf in sheep's clothing."

"It's kind of the perfect partnership, I mean, Amunet deals in metas, and Wolfe has a prison full of them." Caitlin uses her hands to shrug.

"And him being the Warden, he can make some inmates disappear without raising any eyebrows." Joe stops, "I'm gonna go talk to Singh."

"And say what?" Iris looks at him, "Your pregnant girlfriend with gestational psychic powers told you?"

"Yeah, Joe, Singh's just gonna think that you're a father desperate to get his son out of prison." Cecile backs her up.

"Well, if we don't figure out something before midnight, that's exactly what I'm gonna say." Joe looks at Cisco, "Hey, where's Harry? He can help."

"He went to Earth Two, he's checking in on Jesse, so-" Cisco clicks his tongue.

"Okay, well, we're out of legal options, and Cisco can't breach Barry out of the meta-wing, so, how do we stop this? Because there's no way in hell we're just going to let Amunet take all those metas- let alone Barry." I question.

"Hey, guys, got your alert, sorry I'm late." Ralph walks right in, his hands shoves into his pockets.

"It's okay, Ralph." Caitlin nods.

"No, it's not okay." Ralph Dibny shook his head, "I ran into this old business partner of mine. This guy- he's just a big, fat creep. He's always sticking his nose in my business. And he's so shady. He's got these beady eyes and this crooked smile. Just a real two-faced rat from head to toe."

My eyes are wide, as we all just witnessed Ralph morph into the man he was talking about, "Oh god-"

"Freaky." Cecile exhales.

"He's a two-faced rat, he is." The Scottish accent is strong as Ralph spoke, "What's wrong with my voice? Do you hear that?"

"Um-" Cisco starts, pressing a button, the computer chiming as Ralph could now see himself in the monitor.

"That's him, right there. That's him, do you see him? That's him." Ralph points at himself, "That's him, that's him, that's him, Right there. That's me, that's me. What is happening?"

"You somehow willed your body to shape shift into Earl's appearance." Caitlin stares, "Seems like your cells can do a lot more than just elongate."

"Ugh, brilliant." Ralph scoffs, "How do you undo it? Undo this? That? This?"

"Control Z?" Cisco guesses.

"Control-" Ralph starts to scoff once more, before morphing right back into his normal self, grunting.

"Guys, I think I just figured out how to stop Warden Wolfe." I spoke up, a light bulb practically shining on the top of my head, "If Ralph could shape shift into Braveheart here, then he could easily shape shift into Wolfe and meet Amunet before midnight."

"And call off the whole deal before it ever even happens." Cecile caught on.

"Angala what now?" Ralph looks at us, confusion falling over him.

-

I laid on the couch at the loft, on my side, dressed in a pair of jogged and t shirt, my hair thrown in a messy bun, my blanket loosely on me, as I stared at the picture of Barry in front of me.

Uncontrollable tears stream down my cheeks as Iris West walks back over after putting away an empty mug into the sink, sitting on the couch, placing her hand on my knee in a gesture to comfort.

She squeezes my knee, "We're gonna find something to get him out."

"We don't have anything yet." I say weakly, "Devoe thought this out perfectly. There is no flaws- we've spent weeks trying to find something. And now he's being sold to Amunet along with four other metas."

"We will find something. We will save Barry from prison- we will save him from Amunet. We will figure out something and will get him out of prison, you hear me?" Iris doesn't lose hope, as she slips behind me, pulling some of the blanket on her, wrapping her arms around me, comforting me further, "We have a chance."

"One that's barely there, anyway." I exhale quietly, holding her arm, sniffling, my eyes scanning over the photo I held.

The photo was of Barry and I, though my eyes only paid attention to Barry.

In this photo, he had his arms wrapped around me tightly, keeping me trapped in his arms, arching his back, lifting me off the ground, my legs kicking out, laughing coming from the both of us.

I bite my lip lightly to hold back a smile, sniffling, my eyes watering again.

My sister in law wraps her arms around me tighter, her eyes glued to the picture herself, "You two were always meant to be."

"I wonder who you're meant to be with." I glance at Iris, my voice quiet, "You haven't been on a date for a while."

Iris shot me a look, "I'll worry about getting a date after we get your husband out of prison."

-

"I mean, there has to be another way." Cisco runs a hand through his hair, stressed, after the plan we had thought of didn't work, trying to figure out something else.

"There isn't." I look at him, "Amunet figured out that Ralph was the one there, not because of how he acted, but because of him not being able to hold it for so long. There is one card left to play: go to Iron Heights, and stop the deal before it happens- or she's going to take Barry and the other bus metas."

"You're talking about finding Amunet, plus a prison full of armed meta-guards on their turf." Caitlin looks at me.

"This is the only option we have left." Iris sides with me, "You guys can do this."

"Let's go." Cisco nods, "Ralph."

"Yeah, uh, maybe not this time." Ralph shoves his hands in his pockets.

"What? Why?" I got up.

"Look, you- you're gonna have a better chance saving Barry without me." Ralph admits.

"Ralph, that isn't true." I stare at him, crossing my arms.

"I just screwed everything up." Ralph looks down, "You know- what could happen if I screw it up again?"

"You won't." Caitlin denies.

"Okay, you know what? Maybe we just need to talk this out, let's go visit with Dr. Hallway, come on." Cisco walks over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Look, bud, talk's not gonna fix my head." Ralph told him, Cisco's hand dropping, "I just can't do it this time, guys. Sorry I let you down."

Ralph turns, walking out of the cortex, Cisco calling out after him, "Hey. Hey, Ralph."

-

Devoe had beat us there that night. He had taken the lives of every single meta, including Warden Wolfe, leaving Barry. Barry tried to break them out, so they wouldn't get sold, but their lives ended up being taken either way.

Barry refused to go with Caitlin and Cisco, wanting them to find a legal way to get him out of prison, not to break him out.

And here I was, with Cecile, at the courthouse. At Barry's appeal hearing. I was dressed in a pair of skinny black dress pants, black heels on my feet, and a black long sleeve, that ended at my elbows. My hair was straight, my badge and holster fully attached to my belt.

"New evidence, Ms. Horton. That's what you told this court had come into your possession, only I haven't heard it or seen it, nor have the circumstances changed in any way that would convince me to move for a retrial." The Judge told Cecile, as I looked at her, anxiety and anxiousness filling my chest, "So, unless you have something more to add, this appeal hearing is over."

Cecile stammers, "I understand, your honor, I do, if we could just wait a few more minutes, I am sure that-"

"I am tired of waiting." He states, "Either you have something new to add, or you don't. Which is it?"

Marlize Devoe shot us a look, Cecile looking back at the doors, before sighing in slight defeat, looking down, "We have nothing further, your honor."

He picks up his gavel, "Then I hereby deem Barry Allen's appeal den-"

"Wait." Clifford Devoe's voice fills the room as the man himself strolls into the roll in his wheelchair, my eyes widening with shock as I pushed myself to my feet.

"Devoe? How the hell is Devoe here?" I mutter to Cecile as she comes to my side.

"Nope, not Devoe." She whispers through her teeth, a smile playing at her lips. "It's Ralph."

"I believe you are looking for me, Your Honor." He came in front of everyone, looking up at the Judge, "I don't know how any of this happened."

"You were found in Barry Allen's loft." The Judge stammers in shock and bewilderment, "You were dead."

"I was stabbed." Ralph Dibny corrected, still speaking as Devoe, "I heard a voice saying something about framing someone, then I blacked out. And this morning, I woke up in my own home."

"It's gonna work." Cecile places a hand on my back, whispering to me.

"Mrs. Devoe, does any of this make any sense to you?" The Judge turns to her.

"No, I am just as surprised by all of this as everyone." Marlize musters out.

"Your Honor, the city has had reports in the past of people who have appeared dead, only to later emerge very much alive." Cecile leaves my side, taking the lead.

"That's impossible." The Judge stares at her.

"Impossible, Your Honor, is it as impossible as a man who can run faster than the speed of sound?" Cecile uses her hands as she spoke, "I submit that Central City is home to the impossible."

"I have as many questions as you have, Your Honor, and I am looking forward to working with the authorities to solve this mystery." Devoe nods.

"Yes, I'm sure that CCPD will be very interested in this. As for Barry Allen's appeal-" The Judge held his gavel, "I guess the court must deem that Clifford DeVoe is alive and well."

"Barry Allen is hereby cleared of all charges and ordered release from Iron Heights Penitentiary immediately." The Judge hit his gavel, closing the case.

-

"You're home." I smile up at Barry as we were seated at the West Household, him on the chair of the single couch I was seated on.

"You're my home." Barry wraps an arm around me, giving me a quick kiss.

My smile grows, Joe instantly hugging Barry from behind when he pulls away from me, Barry letting out a laugh, holding his arms.

"Oh, he couldn't wait to do that." Cecile smiles.

"How you feeling, Barry, you okay?" Joe tightens his grip around Barry.

"I'm feeling great, yeah." Barry nods.

"Well, you look like you could use a good meal, and don't you worry, I made a fresh batch of Grandma Esther's meat loaf." Joe excites him, "Just like you like it."

"Meat loaf? Gross." Cisco comments, but then notices the look on Joe's face, "I just meant, meat loaf is a grossly undervalued menu item in most restaurants, I think."

"You guys, now that I'm free, I don't care what I do." Barry pulls me into his side, "I'm just so happy to be back with all of you again."

"Team Flash." Cisco held up his glass filled with champagne, as we all did.

"Today, we celebrate Barry." Joe began, "Tomorrow, we go back to stopping the man that framed you."

"I'll drink to that." Iris mutters, sipping her drink as we all did, except Barry, who looked caught up in his thoughts.

"You okay, Barry?" Caitlin asks.

"Yeah, it's Devoe." Barry said.

"Barry, we're gonna stop him." I put a hand on his knee, "Let's worry about him tomorrow."

"No, that's not it-" Barry looks up, "There was nothing keeping him from going inside the meta-wing and absorbing the powers of every meta in Iron Heights. Peek-a-boo, Top, Weather Wizard. Yeah, I mean, he could've stolen their powers and more, but he didn't. He only wants the bus metas. He wants their powers for something- all of them."

"We know a bus meta." Cisco quietly trails off.

The door clicks and if we were speaking of the devil, it would be Ralph Dibny, "Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late. Just couldn't get this left glute to shape shift back to its normal, perky-"

"I don't know if I should hug him because he's the reason you got out of prison- or because he's one of Devoe's targets." I mutter to Barry, staring at Ralph with slight wide eyes.

Barry rubs my back, as we all stared at Ralph, Ralph taking notice of it, "Why is everyone looking at me like I'm a dead man?"

authors note:

tbh, with how close iris and zee are, they could totally be together.