"Here's what we know about the cryoatomizer." Caitlin began, "Tannhauser originally developed it to combat land fires caused by droughts."

"So the cryoatomizer can disperse cold air particles into the atmosphere that triggers rainfall." Caitlin explained, "However, if Cicada can replace the cold particles with the cure prototypes she stole from Cisco-"

Cisco adds in, "Which doesn't cure so much as it kills."

"She could infect the entire city." Caitlin sighed.

I cross my arms, "And every meta-human in it."

This earned silence from all of us.

"Not great but this dark cloud does have a silver lining." Sherloque spoke up, "Which is if Cicada had everything that she needs to carry out her plan would've already done so."

"He's right." Ralph points out, "She must be missing something or else we'd be done."

"Yeah, but not for long." Barry says, "She's not gonna waste any time- whatever it is that she needs, she's out there looking for it right now."

"Then we move immediately." I inhale sharply, "We get the cure to everyone who needs it as soon as possible."

Ralph looks at me, "So- we just up and release some game-changing wonder drug?"

"We tested it- we know it works." Barry shrugs gently, on my side, "People need a choice now more than ever."

"The question is-" I looked at Caitlin and Cisco, "Do we have enough of the cure?"

"Not nearly enough." Cisco confesses, sighing deeply.

Nora questioned next, "Caitlin, how fast can you make more?"

"Guess we'll find out." Caitlin exhales deeply, walking away from us, getting to work right away.

"Okay, okay, good." Cecile nods, "Now we just need to find someplace to distribute it."

"Well, what about CCPD?" Joe suggests, "It's public. Everybody feels safe going there."

Ralph clears his throat, "Yeah, but- gathering that many metas in one place is gonna make it one big target, right?"

"Cicada has the virus and the atomizer." My arms drop to my sides, "That makes every meta everywhere a target."

"Well, how about this-" Joe spoke, "You guys make up as much of the cure as you can and Cecile and I will talk to Singh."

Barry and I nod for everyone, as they left the room.

"I'm going to warn Renee." Sherloque told us, leaving the room after Cecile and Joe.

"All right, let's track Cicada." Barry crosses his arms, "Get ready to face her when we find her."

"Let's take it one step at a time." Cisco starts to walk out the room, calling out, "Follow me-"

We follow him into his workshop, Nora instantly questioning, "Is that the satellite core?"

"That's right." Cisco demonstrated, "The reflective panels on the mirror gun aren't the only thing we got from the satellite- we also have the core and, of course, the dagger."

"So, they're all composed of the exact same alloy and contain- the same dark matter levels?" Barry questions for confirmation.

Cisco grabbed the Mirror Gun, "Yup."

"So, if the Mirror Gun works on the core, then it should work on Cicada's dagger, right?" I cross my arms once more, watching as he stood in front of me, holding the gun and facing the satellite.

"Only one way to know for sure." Cisco positioned himself, then looked back at us, "You might wanna step back. I mean, you don't know what this gun's gonna do-"

"I mean, we shouldn't be firing this in such a small space but what's life if you don't pull down your shorts and slide on the icery once in awhile?" Cisco held the gun steady when we all took a few steps back, "Here we go!"

He fired the gun, as whatever was fired covered the entire satellite and then looked like it had done nothing.

Ralph stares and was the first to speak, "Is something supposed to happen or-"

Suddenly, the satellite disappeared, as we all shocked, Ralph begging the question first, "Where did it go?"

"It doesn't matter." Cisco scoffed in relief, Ralph following him where the satellite once was, "This thing works-"

"It works!" Barry softly cheered, wrapping an arm around me, "We can finally destroy Cicada's dagger. If we do that, we have our powers-"

Nora took a few steps forward, her voice low and strange, "And we can stop her."

I blink, processing her tone, "Nora- are you okay?"

"Yeah, Mom-" Nora turned, "Why?"

Barry stares at her and pulled me closer into his side, "Nora, earlier today you had red lightning like Thawne's. We want to make sure you're okay to get out there."

"I'm fine, okay?" Nora assured us, "Caitlin ran every test in the book- my lightning's back to its normal color. And besides, Thawne's Speed Force is fueled by negative emotions, and right now- I feel pretty dang positive."

I softly smile, "If you say so-"

"We're your parents." Barry's rests his cheek on my head, "It's our job to worry."

Nora walked over to the desk, "The only one that should be worrying is Cicada II."

I looked up at Barry, as we exchanged looks.

I was hesitant and cautious about this, and so was he.

-

Cicada had shown up at CCU while Sherloque and Renee were there, but the minute everyone got there, Cicada had disappeared.

We were now on the crime scene, Barry and Nora by the bench on the ground where the attack happened, as Cisco, Ralph and I jogged up the steps and over to them.

Barry stood up, "Hey, you find anything?"

"Confirmation that She-cada hasn't stolen everything she needs." Cisco puts his hands in his pockets, "So- we have some time."

"Finally some good news." Barry sighs, as Nora stood up also.

"Except what she did steal was a Quantum Tunnel Converter." I mentioned, "The first working prototype of its kind."

Ralph looks at Nora, "Yeah, that's the same face Cisco made when he heard."

"The converter can transform dark matter energy to practical energy." Barry looked at me.

"Cicada's gonna use her dagger to superpower the atomizer." Nora exhales deeply.

"If she wants to connect it to the atomizer, the last piece she'll need is a hyper-conduit, and those are pretty hard to come by, to say the least." Cisco told us, "She'll be lucky to locate one in the CC area at all."

"Well, we better find it first." Ralph spoke up, slipping his hands into his pockets.

"We'll get to it." Cisco nods towards us, him and Ralph leaving us alone.

I sigh, "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, uh, I need to tell you something." Nora looks at Barry and I, "When we were running over here, I connected to Grace's mind again- I could see through her eyes."

"Wait, like the same thing you did when Cicada attacked Alice Bolan's birthday party?" I questioned.

"Yeah, we must still be psychically connected from when I was in Grace's mindscape." Nora confirmed.

"That's what caused the red lightning." Barry thought out loud, and I could see the relief in his eyes, "The anger that you felt, it wasn't yours."

"It was hers." Nora nods, "We can use this. If I can see where she is just for a second, we can run to her-"

I looked at Barry, and we both had disapproving looks on our faces.

Nora spoke again to get our attention, "Guys, this is the key to stopping Cicada II."

"No-" I shook my head, looking at her, "We won't let you do this- it's too dangerous. I mean, we don't even know what the side effects are."

"Mom- did you not just hear me?" Nora scoffs gently, "I said this is the key-"

"No- it's not." I shook my head, "We're- going to find another way, okay? We'll find another way to get to Grace."

"Mom, I want to do this-" Nora argued, then looked at Barry, "Come on, Dad- tell her I can do this."

"We'll find another way-" Barry shook his head, on my side, "We'll find another way."

-

"Stagg, Mercury, Ivo." Cisco listed, the pad of his finger swiping on the touchscreen monitor.

Nora inhales sharply, "None of them have a hyper-conduit compatible with the converter Cicada stole."

"You know, now that I've actually experienced this whole time travel thing, I think I understand it a little bit better." Ralph spoke up from behind us, staring at the clear board with writing on it, "Which makes me understand Thawne's plan less and less."

Ralph thought out loud, "Why would he send Nora back to create a new Cicada only for a newer Cicada to appear who's harder to stop than the one Nora created?"

"I'm so sick of hearing his name-" I pinch the bridge of my nose, groaning lightly, closing my eyes, "Ralph, can we just not talk about his plan?"

"Yeah, yeah, I- I just I feel like there might be an answer in this timey-wimey crap that could help us solve this." Ralph slipped his hands into his pockets, "Nora, where would you find this hyper-conduit in 2049?"

"Probably Ollins Laboratory." Nora answered, "Ollins won a Nobel Prize for quantum engineering."

"Ollins?" Cisco repeats, "As in Sebastian Ollins?"

"Yeah, do you know him?" Nora looked at him, "He's a true genius."

"A genius, you say." Cisco slowly walks to the center of the cortex, "The guy couldn't even stay awake through a single physics lecture."

"In fact, I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for his very smart, very considerate college roommate lending him notes, helping him study, he wouldn't have made it through his finals!" Cisco vented, "Nobel Prize my ass!"

"Yeah, he knows him-" I mutter, answering Nora's question, pinching the bridge of my nose and leaning my head against Barry's arm, as this was all just giving me one huge headache.

"You know what?" Cisco walked over to the monitors, "It doesn't even matter. Life's too short and I'm not about to spend my life worrying about little Sebastian Ollins-"

"Found him." Cisco pulled him up, "Looks like he's been renting a warehouse somewhere on the Southside and then he retrofitted it with fiber-joules technology to test out his experiments. Including one bleeding-edge hyper-conduit."

"I'll go get it before Grace can." Barry moves quickly, causing my eyes to snap open as tripping over my own feet due to leaning into the air unintentionally from me leaning on his arm.

Barry notices this, pointing at me as he walked away, "Sorry- didn't mean to do that-"

"All good-" I stood straight, rubbing my temples, "Go get the hyper- whatever it is."

Barry snaps, continue to walk, as Nora followed him, "Right behind you."

Barry stops, "I- um, I- I think you should sit this one out."

Nora stops and looks at him, "What? Why?"

"Nora, your connection with Grace." Barry told her, "It puts you in too much danger. I mean, we don't- I think it's best for you to just stay out of the field until we stop her."

"So- what?" Nora's tone changed, "Now- I can't help the team at all?"

Barry runs out, as I sigh, my hands dropping, "Nora, please understand. We just don't want you in any anger- you would be much safer here."

"All right, I'm here." Barry's voice came in through the comms, "No sign of Cicada."

"Great-" Cisco crosses his arms, "Grab the conduit and get out of there."

"I think I got something." Barry told us, and then seconds later, there was a huge sound right after.

"Barry?" I walked towards the console instantly,
"Are you okay?"

"She's already got the conduit- and she blew up Ollins' warehouse." Barry pants, "Grace has everything she needs."

-

"Hey-" Barry walked into the cortex where I stood alone, handing me a hot latte from Jitters, and placing two Advil pills in my palm, "Here-"

I looked up at him, "How did you know-"

"You look dead." Barry poked my nose, slipping off his jacket, running a hand through his hair, speaking in a light playful tone.

It warmed my heart that even in this crisis, he didn't let it interfere with the mood of our relationship.

"Well-" I took the two pills and sipped the hot liquid to get them down, not minding that it was hot and not cold because of my headache, "I'll look dead in your jacket."

Barry shot me a look, then came behind me, holding his jacket for me to slip my arms through.

I do exactly that, then kiss his cheek gently, "Thank you."

Soon, Cisco walks in, his eyes glued to the screen Barry and I stood by, "It's just like we thought."

I held my drink in my hands, clearing my throat, "English translation, please?"

"With all the pieces that she's stolen, Grace can now use the dagger's dark matter energy to supercharge the atomizer." Barry began to explain, sighing deeply when all the thoughts came rushing back to him, "Apparently it wasn't enough for her to just kill all the metas in Central City."

Cisco crosses his arms, looking at me, "With this super-charge, she'll kill every meta in the country."

"All right, look, I know you guys want me off this whole Thawne thing, but you've got to hear this." Ralph walked in, dragging the clear board with him.

"Ralph-" Barry and I say his name in unison, huffing.

"No, you've got to look at this- you've got to hear this." Ralph stopped and looked at us, "So, just- just give me a second, all right?"

"All right-" I huff again, "Go ahead-"

"All right, so, this is the original timeline with the original Cicada, David Hersch." Ralph showed us, "This is the night of the Enlightenment, when Nora interfered with the satellite, giving us our Cicada, Orlin Dwyer- that's also the same night that Grace goes into a coma."

"This is where it gets complicated." Ralph continued, "At some point in the future, Grace wakes up, she becomes her own full-fledged Cicada. She goes back in time, she kills her Uncle with his own dagger."

Ralph began with the questions for us to think about, "What happens to all the metas that Dwyer killed? Do they get un-killed? What about all the metas that Grace killed in the future? What did she kill them with?"

"And most importantly, what happens in the timeline where Grace never killed Dwyer." Ralph looked between us all, "Something doesn't add up."

"Ralph-" I looked at him, "You're right, okay? Something- really doesn't add up- but that won't matter because we're all screwed within the twenty four hours if we don't fix this."

"Zee's right," Barry nods, "Right now, there won't be any future for any metas if we don't get rid of that dagger."

"This is our last chance." Barry looks between us all, "We have to figure out how to find Grace- or we lose everyone."

"We'll go see what the satellites can do." Cisco walks over to Ralph, "Maybe- we're due for a miracle."

Cisco puts a hand on Ralph's shoulder and pulls him along, leaving Barry and I alone.

"Barr-" I set down my coffee and walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck, "We're screwed- aren't we?"

"No, no-" Barry wraps his arms around me, "We will find a way, I promise, all right?"

"Do you think we made the right decision leaving Nora out of this?" I randomly brought up, "I mean, the whole reason she came back was to fight Cicada in the first place."

"We're her parents, all right?" Barry kissed my head, "It's our job to protect her from harm- the best way to do that is just to keep her far away from it."

-

Barry sighs, walking back into the cortex where I stood behind the console, "That was Cecile."

I looked up, "What did she say?"

"CCPD is flooded with a lot of really scared people." Barry puts his phone back into his pocket, "Are there any signs of Grace's dark matter signature?"

"Nothing-" I shook my head, "Not even a-"

I was cut off when the alarm starts to blare, my head snapping down to look at the screen, as Barry ran to my side, "Is that her?"

"No-" I shook my head, my eyes scanning the screen as it said that there was a critical power surge coming from Cisco's workshop.

Barry grabs me right away, using his speed to run down to the workshop, as we stood in the doorway, not being able to go inside any further.

Nora stood in the center of the room, the device Caitlin used for Killer Frost on her forehead, her eyes black and red, her connection with Grace off the charts as red lightening shot out of her and around the room, still connected with her.

"Nora!" Barry calls out to her, trying to get her attention.

"Barry," I scan Nora's appearance, "I don't think she can't hear you."

"I don't think she can see us either." Barry stares, before calling out to her a few more times, "Nora- Nora! Nora!"

When he had enough, he ran, using his speed to dodge the lightning and pull off the device from Nora's forehead, catching her as she fell.

-

"What were you thinking?" Barry asked Nora, who sat on the medical bed in the Med Lab, looking between us.

I ran a hand through my hair and huffed, "Nora, you almost gave yourself an aneurysm."

Nora sighs, "I was trying to find Grace."

"Opening yourself up to Grace and her rage also opens you up to the Negative Speed Force-" Barry stressfully ran a hand through his hair, "We don't know anything about it, don't you get how dangerous that is?"

"Yeah, I do." Nora looks at him, "And I still wanna try- I have to try."

"You don't have to do anything." I place my hands on my hips, "Nora, you almost got yourself killed. Not to mention- almost destroyed Cisco's workshop."

"What if Cicada saw through your eyes?" Barry brought up the possibility, "You could've given away our location."

Nora shook her head, "No, I made sure there was nothing in my eye line that said Star Labs."

"Guys, listen." Nora got up, "I saw Grace and I almost saw where she was. Right now- she is putting her pieces together and when that is done, thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people are going to die- I can't stand around and do nothing."

Barry looked at me, then back at Nora, "Yes, you can because that's what we're telling you to do."

"We're your parents, Nora." I cross my arms, shaking my head, "We're trying to keep you safe- and if that means keeping you out of it, that's exactly what we're going to do."

"Mom- Dad-" Nora exhales deeply, gesturing with her hands as she spoke, "When I first got here, I would rush in to fix things and by doing that, I always ended up making them worse."

"But- I am not that person anymore because of you." Nora spoke, "You showed me how to use my powers- you taught me how to make the right choices. And right now, I am choosing to face this risk."

I stare at her, "Nora, this is a terrible idea."

"I know you feel that way." Nora accepted it, "But- I don't. I'm an adult capable of making my own decisions- and I've made up my mind about this."

"So I am asking you, please, as my parents, stop trying to keep me away from this danger and start helping me face it." Nora told us, then nodding towards us, before turning away and leaving Barry and I alone.

"I don't think I've ever met anyone as stubborn as her-" I huff in defeat, stepping back.

"Well- she got it from the best, didn't she?" Barry looked down at me, implying that I was stubborn.

I purse my lips, looking at him, "Have you looked in the mirror?"

-

"You were right." Barry's hand was on my lower back when we walked over to Nora in the cortex, "We taught you how to be a hero- so, we shouldn't be angry at you when you act like one."

"I know you're just afraid I'll get hurt." Nora inhales sharply, giving us a look.

"In our line of work- there's always going to be danger that you're going to face, Nora." I held my arm, "And we can't hold your hand through all of it."

Barry pulled me closer, smiling lightly, "As much as we want to."

"You're our daughter but you're not a kid." Barry rubbed my arm as he spoke, "You're right, you are capable of making your own decisions."

Barry sighs deeply, "You really think you can control your connection to the Negative Speed Force, find Grace for us?"

"Yeah, I do." Nora nods, "All I need is for you guys to keep our home safe while I do it."

Barry looked at me, "I think I know how."

-

"Man, this thing brings back memories." Barry eyed the huge machine in front of us when we stood in the Speed Lab.

Ralph looks at him, "Good ones? Bad ones?"

"Thawne ones." Barry admits, "We trapped the Reverse-Flash in this thing before we even knew he was Thawne."

"But- we actually ended up trapping his Speed Mirage." Cisco types on the keyboard, "While his real self just sat there chilling in his wheelchair."

Ralph remarks, "Man, Thawne's plans got plans."

"But- fear not, true believers." Cisco points, "The Thawne Trap 2.0 is smaller, sleeker, and stronger."

Cisco went in depth, "I've gone ahead and sharpened the inflexion points to account for your Negative Speed Force energy. So- if you go full "Dante's Peak" in there, we'll be safe out here."

"It also means I can't phase in there if you need me." Barry told Nora, nodding towards her.

"Your dad and I will be right here the whole time." I assure Nora, placing a hand on her back.

"You always are." She weakly smiles at me, then steps into the machine, "Let's go catch our big bad."

"Hold onto your butts-" Cisco typed, the barriers coming in action, as Nora places the device on her forehead, her eyes going black and red, "They're connected."

"I can see the completed atomizer." Nora told us, red lightning shooting out of her, "But- I can't see where she's taking it."

"Remember Nora, that's not your anger." Barry reminded her, "It's hers."

Ralph notices how the lightning increased, "Okay, something pissed her off."

Nora starts to twitch a few seconds later, the lightning becoming more intense.

Ralph stares, "Uh, is that bad?"

"Well, it's not good." Cisco looked at the screen, "I'm pulling her out-"

I push my worry and fear down deep, my eyes glued to Nora.

"No, no-" I hold my arm out in signal for him to stop, taking a step closer, "No, she'll get control."

Blood began to drip out of Nora's nose, her eyes going back to normal, as she collapsed, the barrier around her disappearing along with the lightning.

"Nora!" I instantly rush over to her, catching her before she hit the ground, "Hey-"

"Nora." Barry came to her other side quickly as well, holding onto her other side for support."

"She's-" Nora weakly said, "-she's at CCPD."

"Cicada's at CCPD but she could use the atomizer to spread the virus from anywhere." Ralph said as Barry and I helped Nora onto the ground by them.

"There are hundreds of metas there-" I inhale deeply, "Maybe she's going to try and take all of their lives?"

Nora shook her head, swallowing hard, "Not their lives, their dark matter."

"She's going to use all those metas like a battery." Barry looked up in realization.

"What are we gonna do?" Ralph questioned, "Reach in, lose our powers, destroy the dagger, stop Cicada from Supergirl-ing away, then regroup for the emotional fallout."

"Fallout." Barry points, then looks at Cisco, "Cisco, where did you send Fallout's energy when he was going nuclear?"

"Earth-15." Cisco told him, "It's a dead Earth."

"Let's breach the atomizer there." Barry told him, as Cisco nods, rushing out with Ralph, Barry beginning to follow them.

"I'm coming with you!" Nora called out weakly, even in her condition.

"No way-" I shook my head, "Absolutely not-"

Barry stops and walks back over, "Nora, look- you've already helped. More than enough, all right?"

"I'll go-" I offer, "Nora can cover for me behind the console."

Barry looks at me, "Wait-"

"All hands on deck-" I point at him, "I'm not taking a no for an answer-"

I start backing away, as Barry shot me a look, knowing I wouldn't take no for an answer, "There's that stubbornness-"

"Don't know what you're talking about-" I sing, spinning around, rushing right after Cisco and Ralph, getting into my suit.

-

"Hey, Cricket freak." Killer Frost called out as Cicada spun to face her, "You and I have some unfinished business."

Barry had gotten to Joe before Cicada could kill him, running out with him, as a few feet behind her, Killer Frost blasting her towards me, as I used my abilities to blast her against the wall, as she fell, her head hitting the ground, knocked out.

"Nice-" Killer Frost came to my side, her hand coming in contact with mine for a high five.

"It won't keep her down long." I exhale, eyeing Cicada on the ground, as Barry runs back in, Ralph and Cisco breaching in.

"Why do we have our powers?" Ralph immediately asks, "Did we already win?"

"Not yet-" Barry held the gun in his hands, ready to shoot it from where we were, "The dagger's in the atomizer-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Cisco stops him, "If we shoot the dagger while it's still in there, it could detonate the virus."

"Guys, she's waking up-" Ralph told us, his eyes glued to Cicada.

"All right, figure out a way to stop it-" Barry told Cisco, "I'll keep her off your back."

"All right." Cisco ran over to the atomizer, as Killer Frost created an ice wall by the entrance, to make sure Cisco remained unharmed while we took care of Cicada out here.

As Nora, Sherloque and Cisco discussed how to get the dagger out through the comms, Cicada started to wake up.

"Good morning, sunshine." Ralph spoke, "A little different without your power-dampening dagger, huh?"

"Oh, I don't need a dagger to kill you." Her voice was strained as she slowly pushed herself up to her feet, "I never had it before I came to this time."

Her palms flew out, her energy engulfing us as she flung Killer Frost, Ralph and I upwards, as we hit the walls on the upper level, groaning when we hit the ground.

Cicada pulled Barry towards her, throwing a punch, then throwing him into the desk, knocking him out.

Cicada grabbed her knives and flung herself up to us, as Killer Frost, Ralph and I forced ourselves to our feet.

"You wanna kill us?" Two ice daggers formed in Killer Frost's hands, "Come and get us."

"What she said-" Ralph agrees, coming to my side.

Within minutes of us fighting and grunting, Cicada had sent Ralph and I tumbling onto the lower level, and had banged Killer Frost's head against the wall, keeping her down also.

I groan gently, my body sore and in pain, as Cicada stood in front of the iced wall, using her energy to grab Barry and throw him towards the wall, using him as a wrecking ball, destroying the ice, Barry grunting as he hit a desk.

"It's too late-" Cicada chuckled, slowly coming behind Cisco, the atomizer beeping repeatedly.

I push myself onto my feet, starting to slowly make my way towards them, Ralph and Killer Frost also forcing themselves up.

"Gotcha-" Cisco exhales in relief when all the lights in the atomizer shut off, "The Atomizer's off-"

Cicada started to growl in anger, starting to swing her blade towards Cisco.

I move quick, blasting her into the air, and as she came back down, my foot coming in contact with her face, knocking her out cold as she hit the ground.

"Flash!" Killer Frost called out when Barry got up, using her ice blast to push the Mirror gun towards him.

Barry picked it up, "The dagger-"

As Cisco grabbed the dagger and tossed it into the air, Barry beginning to fire at it, all we heard was Ralph's sudden shout, "Don't shoot it!"

authors note:

hi hi hi , sorry for the late update

there's one more chapter left :((

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