Everyone secretly thought they figured out what their life was gonna be like. But what no one ever considered was that life had its own plans for you, whether you liked them or not. And so you were left with a choice. You could either embrace the change and move forward, or be afraid and fight it, and be left behind.

~

Barry, Caitlin, Cisco and I had brought Stein to the infirmary lab to try to stabilize him.

Stein's eyes were still white. His head and his hands were still on fire with blue flames.

"Hold him steady," Cisco told us. 

"He's dropping out," Caitlin told us.

"Come on, come on, come on," Cisco told us.

"Cisco, we're losing him," Caitlin told him.

Cisco put the quantum splicer on Stein's chest, typing away at the computer. "Got it." The splicer stabilized Stein's body. His eyes returned to normal, closing, as he was still unconscious. The blue fire faded into nothing. Cisco sighed in relief. "Oh, dios mio. Thank God."

"He's getting worse," Barry told us.

"Look, I did what I could to re-engineer Dr. Wells' original stabilizer to quell the reaction, but I don't know what he used as a power source," Cisco told us. "Best I could find was the one from his wheelchair."

"And how long will that last?" I asked.

"Well, that's the problem," Cisco told us. We walked out of the infirmary into the Cortex. "We had already used up most of its energy trying to dampen the metas' powers during our little rogue air trip with Weather Wizard and company. I think we got a few days, tops."

"And he's stuck in bed?" Barry asked.

"Yeah," Cisco answered. "When he wakes up, I'm gonna transfer the stabilizer to this, give him a power cane, get him moving."

"We gotta figure out a way to save him," I told them.

"I think I might know how to do that," Caitlin told us. "When the particle accelerator exploded, the dark matter that collided with Professor Stein fused with the Firestorm matrix and altered the normal molecular processes that occurs within his body. Those highly reactive molecules needed something to bond with in order to stabilize."

"And that's where Ronnie came in," Cisco told us.

"Yes," Caitlin answered sadly. "And now that Ronnie's no longer apart of Professor Stein..."

"Those molecules don't have anything to bond to," Barry finished.

Cisco sighed. "And the longer he goes without merging, the more unstable he becomes."

"All right, so, what do we do?" I asked.

"Find another participant," Caitlin answered.

Cisco nodded. "Okay. Cool, so, how do we do that? Are we just gonna make a Tinder app for potential metahumans? 'Cause I'm pretty sure merging with Stein and randomly bursting into flames sounds like the biggest 'swipe left' of all time."

"I mean, even if we could find someone willing, Stein can't just merge with whoever he wants," I told them.

"No, he can't," Caitlin agreed, pointing at me. "And we all know that you would be willing, and with powers such as yours that is so close to Firestorm's anyway, it could have worked... if your body was more compatible with Professor Stein's. You have a different blood type than Ronnie and Stein's, and with your temperature compared to his right now..."

"It would most likely make things worse than better," I finished. "All right, so what else did you find?"

Caitlin brought up information on two men on the screens. "I have done some research, and found two potential candidates that might be compatible with him. They both were affected by the dark matter, and they were both admitted to the hospital showing symptoms of gene rearrangement mutation. And they both share the same blood type as Professor Stein and Ronnie."

"All right," Barry told us. "I mean, this is more than organ donation. We'll need more than tissue typing to see if their bodies are compatible."

"If I can isolate the genetic locus of the two candidates and cross-reference it with the mutations of Professor Stein, I might be able to find a match and save his life," Caitlin told us.

"What do you need to do that?" I asked.

Caitlin looked at Barry.

~

Barry had zoomed to get blood samples from both men, bringing them back to the Cortex. "All right, blood samples from both potential candidates."

"That was fast, even for you," I told him.

Barry smiled. "I may have skipped the asking for permission part."

I chuckled.

Caitlin tilted her head barely. "Let's see if we can't find a match."

~

I was getting coffee from Jitters.

Patty walked closer. "Vera."

"Hey," I told her.

"I was just looking for you," Patty told me. "I just wanted to show you this." She showed me an evidence bag with teeth inside. "These were just found in an alley off of Eastwood Avenue."

"What are these, teeth?" I asked.

"Shark teeth," Patty answered. I chuckled in confusion. "And I have an eyewitness that says he saw a shark walking on land. A man-shark."

"Man-shark?" I repeated.

Patty chuckled. "Yeah."

"Sounds like a bad sci-fi movie," I told her.

"Or awesome sci-fi movie," Patty told me.

I chuckled. "Totally." We walked out of Jitters, walking along the street on the sidewalk. "Um, are you for real? You think there's actually, like, a shark..."

"Yeah, "Patty answered. "I mean, I know it sounds really wacky."

I nodded in agreement. "Mm-hmm."

"But, I mean, nothing seems impossible now that we have metahumans, right?" Patty asked. "And I heard that STAR Labs was left to you in Harrison Wells' living will." I sighed, looking away, taking a drink of coffee. "So, I thought that you would have a few things over there that could help crack the case. That's why you're working so much with Joe and Barry, right? Because you own STAR Labs now?"

"Oh, I wouldn't... say that," I told her.

Patty chuckled. "Then how would you say it?" I shook my head, shrugging. "I thought that it would be fun, you know, for us to work together again on a case."

I nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I can run it by the lab and see where the teeth came from."

"That would be amazing," Patty told me.

I smiled a small smile, chuckling.

~

The team met back up in STAR Labs.

Stein was awake, using the cane as a powersource. "I must admit, I never imagined the Sphinx's riddle about a man requiring three legs would ever apply to me, but if this device keeps me mobile, then I will gratefully oblige."

"Hopefully, you won't need it for much longer," Caitlin told him, bringing up the compatible men's information on the screens. "There was no agglutination in the blood samples, and cross-matching was negative for both, and it appears that the dark matter from the particle accelerator explosion mutated their genes in a very similar way it did to yours. I think they're both potential matches."

"So who do we go with?" Barry asked.

"Well, my first choice is Henry Hewitt," Caitlin told us. "He graduated summa cum laude from Hudson University with a double major in Applied Physics and Bioengineering."

"A Hudson boy?" Stein asked. "I like him already."

"Now, what about this other guy, Jefferson Jackson?" Barry asked. "High school quarterback, 4.0 student. He's got the physical attributes. And it looks like more of his alleles match than Hewitt's. Doesn't that mean that he's more compatible?"

"On paper, perhaps," Caitlin answered. "But Hewitt is a scientist. Clearly, he's trying to make something of his life. I think he'd be open to something like this."

"I think we should meet with both of them before we make a decision," I told them.

"That's an excellent idea," Stein told us. 

"Vera and I'll see if I can get Hewitt here," Caitlin told us.

Barry looked at Stein. "All right, in the meantime, we'll go meet with Jefferson Jackson."

"And I will try to find something else to help keep you stable," Cisco told him, walking toward the desk.

Caitlin and I went to go talk to Henry Hewitt.

Barry and Stein went to go talk to Jefferson Jackson, who liked to go by Jax.

~

Hewitt was here in STAR Labs, chuckling, turning to Caitlin, Cisco and me. "I always thought my destiny was for greater things. And people, of course."

"Well, when it's all said and done, flying will be the least impressive of your new abilities," Caitlin told him. 

Hewitt smiled. "Man finally achieves the promise of the atomic age."

Stein and Barry walked in.

"Guys, what's going on?" Barry asked.

"Hi," Caitlin told them. "I'm glad you're back. This is Dr. Henry Hewitt. This is Barry Allen and Professor Martin Stein."

Barry offered a hand to Hewitt.

Hewitt ignored him, shaking Stein's hand.

"How do you do?" Stein asked.

"The illustrious Martin Stein," Hewitt told him. "I've read all your papers back at Hudson, especially on transmutation. Fascinating. You're a legend."

Stein chuckled. "Oh, please. I think you're overestimating my contribution to the field."

Caitlin smiled. "Isn't he great?"

Barry stepped closer to Caitlin, Cisco and me.

"He's got an ego the size of Texas, but, yeah, he's all right," Cisco told us.

I looked at Barry. "So, where's Jefferson Jackson?"

"We just need more time," Barry told us.

"We don't have more time," Cisco told us. "I couldn't find another power source for the cane, and that thing's running out."

"Okay, then let's do the merge," Caitlin told us. "Hewitt's in."

"What do you mean?" Barry asked. "You told him the details of the Firestorm matrix?"

"Absolutely," Caitlin answered. "Becoming Firestorm is a huge life change. He needs to know what he's getting himself into."

Stein looked at Hewitt. "If I remember correctly, vector, variance, hypotenuse..."

"Proton, neutron, go H, U," Hewitt finished.

They smiled, shaking each other's hands.

"Aw, look at that," Cisco told us. "That's so cute. We'll have two Professor Steins if this work."

"It's gonna work," Caitlin told us.

I sighed. "Yeah, okay."

~

Cisco held the splicer in front of Hewitt. "When I put this splicer on your chest, you're gonna feel a rush. That's a molecular primer being released into your body. Vera's gonna use heat to activate the splicer from the outside edge. Then you can make physical contact with Professor Stein, and whoosh, Firestorm matrix will take over."

Hewitt smirked, tilting his head. "Easy enough."

I looked at Stein. "Ready?"

Stein nodded. "No time like the present. Thank you, my dear."

Caitlin took Stein's cane away.

I nodded to Cisco.

"Okay," Cisco told us, putting the splicer on Hewitt's chest. "Okay, you're on, Vera."

I used a hand of mild fire to touch the splicer, activating it.

The lights turned on, the straps spreading over Hewitt's chest and shoulders to hang onto him.

Hewitt chuckled at the rush.

I backed away, standing next to Barry, Cisco and Caitlin.

Stein and Hewitt raised their hands slightly to make physical contact.

Their hands started to glow with fire. The flames faded into nothing. Nothing else happened.

We were all confused.

Stein looked at Hewitt. "Try again." They tried again, but nothing happened this time. Stein sighed. "This is unexpected."

"Something's supposed to be happening, right?" Hewitt asked. "Why isn't it working?"

"I don't know," Caitlin told us.

"Uh, well, looks like you two aren't compatible after all," I told them.

Cisco pulled the splicer off of Hewitt's chest. "I'm just gonna..."

"So all this was nothing?" Hewitt asked.

"Believe me, no one is more disappointed than I am," Stein told him.

"Yeah, don't be so sure about that," Hewitt told us. "Next time, try to get your act together before you get someone's hopes up."

Hewitt walked out, leaving.

~

Jax had came to the Cortex.

"I'm really glad you decided to come," Barry told him.

"I thought STAR Labs had to shut down," Jax told us.

Barry looked at me. "It's under new management."

I shrugged slightly.

Jax looked into the training room. "Whoa, what kind of treadmill is that?"

"Cosmic," Cisco answered.

Jax chuckled. "Cool." He walked toward us. "So, let's get started. You got some kind of 'Billion Dollar Man' technology that's gonna fix my knee?"

"Actually, Jax, this isn't about fixing your knee," Barry told him.

"What are you talking about?" Jax asked.

"When the particle accelerator exploded, the energy wave that collided with you is known as dark matter," Stein explained. "And it didn't just hurt your knee. It--it changed the molecular structure of your body."

"Whoa, hold on, Grey," Jax told him. "So, you're saying I'm like one of those metahumans I keep hearing about on the news?"

"Yes, I am," Stein answered. "Please, call me Professor."

"We think you have potential capabilities," Barry told him.

"What kind of capabilities?" Jax asked.

"The same as Professor Stein," Caitlin answered. "The ability for your body to process fission and fusion."

"And you can harness excess energy and turn it into these massive nuclear blasts," Cisco told him.

"And you can fly," I told him. "There's also that."

Jax looked at Stein skeptically. "So, you're saying you can do all this?"

"Only during times of convergence with a willing partner," Stein answered.

"Convergence?" Jax repeated. "You and me?"

"Yes," Stein answered.

Jax chuckled. "No, this is crazy."

Jax walked past us.

"No, Jax, this is your chance to right the wrong that was done to you," Barry told him.

"Yeah, sorry, you got the wrong guy," Jax told us. "I don't want nothing to do with this."

Jax turned to leave.

"Wait a second," I told him. "We are giving you the change to be a superhero, and you're gonna say no that quickly?"

"Yeah, not my kind of thing," Jax told us.

"If the man isn't willing to participate..." Stein trailed off.

"Look, I saw your test scores, Jax," Caitlin told him. "Your grades were good enough to get into college, but you didn't go. Why? Is this the type of guy you are? One setback and you fold? Well, then maybe you're not the guy for us anyway."

"Well, maybe I'm not," Jax told us.

"Jax," I told him.

Jax ignored us, walking out, leaving.

"Maybe this just wasn't meant to be," Stein told us, using the cane to walk out, leaing.

I looked at Caitlin, shaking my head. "Cait, come on. I mean, Jax could be our last chance at saving Professor Stein."

"He said no to being a superhero," Caitlin told us. "Who does that?" She looked from Barry to me. "I mean, you two didn't say no when you had the chance. Cisco, would you?"

"Chance to have superpowers?" Cisco asked, chuckling nervously. "Sign me up."

"Look, we're asking Jax to change his entire life," Barry told us. "To sacrifice what he does have.  I mean, that's not a decision that can be made lightly. It took both Vera and me a long time to figure out this whole hero thing."

"Exactly, which is why we need someone who wants to do this," Caitlin told us, walking toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To get Hewitt back," Caitlin answered. "We have to try again."

~

I went to CCPD, standing at Patty's desk, handing her the file with the results from the testing at STAR Labs.

"Human DNA?" Patty asked.

"Yep," I answered. "Definitely not a man-shark. Not even a land shark."

"Well, thanks for testing it for me," Patty told me.

I nodded. "Yeah. What are you gonna do now?"

"I don't know," Patty told me. "Probably file it under 'never gonna happen'. I have another case anyway."

"Oh, anything I can help you with?" I asked.

Patty shook her head nervously. "No, no, no, no. Detective Joe said definitely n--not. You know, it's like, a--a inside-house thing."

"Is everything good?" I asked.

"Sure, why?" Patty asked.

I chuckled. "I don't know. You're just acting kind of different."

"No," Patty told me. "No. I'm the same old P. Spivot, you know?"

I smiled a small, confused smile. "Actually, I have to go."

"Oh, thank you so much for testing this," Patty told me. I nodded. "And I'll see you."

"Okay," I told her, walking away.

I knew something was up with her, but I didn't know what.

~

The team was gathered in STAR Labs in the Cortex the next day, watching the news.

"What's being described as a 'spontaneous energy malfunction' erupted last night at Eikmeier Technologies. Wanted for questioning is scientist Henry Hewitt."

"Hewitt's dormant abilities must have been triggered when we attempted the merger," Caitlin told us.

"This could be catastrophic," Stein told us. "If his powers are anything like mine, he requires a grounding mechanism to stabilize his volatility. Otherwise..."

"Yeah, he's gonna pop his top, and he's got a long history of violence, according to his police record," Cisco told us.

"Police record?" Caitlin repeated. "I didn't find a police record."

"Yeah, of course not," Cisco told us. "It was sealed, but guess what? Your boy hacked in, and hold on, wait for it." He typed on the computer, bringing up the police record on the screens. "One count battery, two counts aggravated assault, court-ordered anger management therapy."

"He seemed like such a nice guy," Caitlin told us. She looked at Stein. "He even knew your Hudson nerd song."

Stein started to shake, gasping.

I helped him stand. "Whoa, you okay?"

"It appears Mr. Hewitt's stability isn't the only one in question," Stein told us. "I think I need to lie down."

"Yeah, I'll come with you," Cisco told him, helping Stein into the infirmary lab.

Barry, Caitlin and I exchanged a concerned, worried look.

~

I walked into Jax's car garage to talk to him.

Jax sighed when he saw me. "Let me guess. You don't got car troubles."

"Look, we could really use your help to save Professor Stein," I told him.

Jax chuckled. "That desperate, huh?"

"Yes," I answered. "My friend, Ronnie, he used to be Stein's other half. He actually helped build the particle accelerator, and when it exploded, he was affected by it, too. Ironically, that's how he got the chance to show the world what he was truly capable of. And he died saving the Flash, he died saving Pyra, and he died saving this city."

"Wait," Jax told me. "He was the guy that flew into the black hole? That was him?"

I nodded. "He was a hero. And believe it or not, the Firestorm matrix is a lot alike to what Pyra can do with her power. There are a few differences, obviously, one of them being she's not compatible enough to merge with anyone to form Firestorm. And the fact that she can turn completely into fire rather than just bursting into flames."

Jax nodded. "She's a hero."

"And you can be one,  too," I told him.

"I never wanted to be a hero," Jax told me. "What I wanted was to go to college, but we couldn't afford it. Football was my way in, until that got taken from me."

"I know," I told him. "Look, I know the particle accelerator took something from you. But it also gave you something in return, something even more spectacular. The opportunity to be part of something bigger, to be part of a team that's working to protect people from losing what you lost. I believe you were meant to be a hero."

"How do you know so much about this?" Jax asked. "If I'm gonna dive headon into this, I deserve to know."

I nodded. "Yeah, you do. And how do you think?"

I held up my hand slightly, letting fire flicker from my fingertips. I let my entire hand turn to flame before letting it return to human form, no fire remaining.

Jax chuckled in shock. "I knew it. You're her."

I shrugged. "Her's me."

Jax laughed.

I smiled a small smile.

The electricity started to flicker.

Jax looked around. "Whoa, hold on."

Hewitt walked in, looking at me. "I've been looking for you, Vera Mitchell. You and Dr. Snow."

"Hey, look, man," Jax told him.

Hewitt used a dimlit, weak surge of fire to push Jax to the floor. He was absorbing the energy from the electricity around us, using it to create an orange aura of energy around him, almost like fire, stepping toward me. "You did this to me. But it's not what you promised, is it? Is it?"

I shot a burst of fire into Hewitt's chest, making him fall to the floor. He seemed to absorb the blast, getting stronger, standing. I helped Jax stand, using fire to fly out of the garage, up to the sky, leaving with Jax in tow.

~

Jax and I walked into the Cortex at STAR Labs.

Barry was waiting worriedly. "Vera."

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Come here," Barry told us, leading us into the infirmary lab.

Stein was unconscious in bed.

Cisco and Caitlin were at his bedside.

"Oh, good, you're here," Cisco told us. "This thing, it ran out, like, 30 minutes ago."

"His temperature is 142 degrees and rising fast," Barry told us.

"He's going into rapid oxidation," Caitlin told us. "We need to find a coolant."

"I think it's too late for that," Cisco told us.

"I'll do it," Jax told us. "I'll merge with him. You said this is a chance for me to be a part of something bigger than myself, to help people. That's what I want."

"You're sure?" Barry asked. "Once you merge, there's no going back on this."

Jax looked at me. "I can fly, too, right?"

I smiled a small smile, nodding. "Damn right."

"Okay," Jax told us. "So what do I do?"

"Okay, well, here's the abridged version," Cisco told him, leading Jax into the Cortex to explain.

I looked at Stein. "Professor Stein?" Stein groaned in pain. "Professor Stein?"

Stein spoke in his sleep. "Clarissa, five more minutes."

"No, Professor, you have to get up," Barry told him. Stein started to wake. "Jax is here."

"What?" Stein asked.

Barry put Stein's glass on for him. "Jax is here."

"Here, grab onto us," Cisco told him.

Barry, Caitlin and I helped Stein stand.

"Jax?" Stein asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

We helped Stein into the Cortex.

Cisco handed the splicer to me.

I took it, turning to Jax. "This is it."

Jax nodded.

I put the splicer to Jax's chest, using heat to activate it.

The straps spread over his chest and shoulders to hang onto him.

Stein looked at Jax. "You came back, Jefferson. Thank you."

"Well, like my coach always said," Jax told us. "'Out of yourself and into the team'. So, how's this work?"

"Okay, all you're gonna do is touch him," Cisco told him.

"And then what happens?" Jax asked.

"You become Firestorm," I answered.

Jax nodded. "Okay."

Barry, Caitlin, Cisco and I backed away.

Stein and Jax raised their hands to make physical contact, merging into Firestorm, with Jax as the outside force, obviously. His eyes turned white. His head and hands caught fire.

We stepped closer.

"Jax?" Caitlin asked. "Is Professor Stein..."

"How will I know?" Firestorm asked. "Oh, so I get Grey as my copilot." We smiled in relief. "So when do we get to take this for a test spin?"

The alarm started to buzz.

Cisco walked toward the computer, looking at what was wrong. "Uh, how about now? It looks like Hewitt's recharging at Central City High School's football stadium."

"Wait, that was where I got hurt," Firestorm told us.

Barry and I exchanged a look, going to get suited up.

~

Hewitt was absorbing orange energy waves at the football stadium.

People were trying to run away, but Hewitt created a wave of orange energy-like fire to block their path.

Barry zoomed to get everybody out of there quickly and careful to avoid the energy waves.

I used fire to fly above the stadium. "Cisco, cut the power to the field so he can't draw anymore energy."

"I'm on it," Cisco told us. "Stand by. Boo-ya ka!"

The power was powered down, leaving the stadium in darkness aside from the energy coming from Hewitt and the fire coming from me and Firestorm.

I lowered myself to the ground, letting the fire fade. "Hewitt! You need to stop! This is not who you are."

Hewitt looked at Firestorm. "Stein? You chose him over me? That's who I'm supposed to be. I derserve the Firestorm matrix!"

Hewitt threw orange energy toward Firestorm, making him flip through the air while he was trying to gain control over flying.

Firestorm got it under control, landing on the ground next to me, letting the fire fade.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked.

"I was a quarterback," Firestorm told me. "I know how to take a hit."

I spoke through the suit. "Hey, guys? Cutting the power didn't work. It's like the more we anger him, the stronger he gets. And, I tried to use fire against him earlier. He just absorbed that, too."

"That's it," Caitlin told us. "It's like one of those, uh, controlled fusion devices. Um..."

"Tokamak?" Cisco asked.

"Yes, exactly," Caitlin answered. "And the more powerful they become, the more unstable they become. Make him angry, and he'll blow his fuse."

I looked at Firestorm. "You up for a little game of 'catch me if you can'?"

"Let's go for it," Firestorm told me.

I smirked. "Okay."  

Firestorm and I used fire to fly into the air, on either side of Hewitt to try to make him confused as to who to go after. 

Barry had gotten all the bystanders away, zooming around Hewitt to confuse him. "Hey, you. Over here. Paging Dr. Hewitt." Hewitt tried to shoot Barry with a wave of energy. Barry zoomed out of the way, making the blast hit the ground behind him. "Man, you are not good at this." 

Hewitt yelled in anger, trying to shoot me with energy. 

I flew off to the side to make him miss, horizontal in the air and propping my head on my hand, almost as if I was lying down in the air while using fire to fly. "You need a hug, doctor?"

Hewitt tried to shoot me with energy.

I flipped horizontally higher up into the air to make him miss, gaining control of the fire to fly normally.

Barry zoomed circles around Hewitt to distract him and make him angry.

"Come on, Hewitt, give me your best shot!" Firestorm told him.

Hewitt looked from me in the sky to Firestorm in the sky, using both arms to shoot orange energy toward us. Firestorm and I both used fire as a shield, stream against stream, pushing the force of the fire against the energy to throw Hewitt back several feet in the air and making him fall to the ground.

"Is that all you got, Hewitt?" I asked.

Firestorm chuckled, smirking. "Man, no wonder you didn't make the cut if that's how you fight."

Barry, Firestorm and I laughed.

Hewitt stood, screaming in rage, trying to shoot Firestorm and me again with the orange waves of energy.

Firestorm and I again used fire as a shield.

Barry zoomed toward Hewitt from behind, pushing him to the ground, making him fall unconscious and the orange energy fade into nothing.

Firestorm and I landed on the ground, letting the fire fade into nothing.

Barry looked at Firestorm. "Not bad for your first go at this." 

"Well, I had a great coach to help me through it," Firestorm told us. He looked up at his head as if talking to Stein. "Isn't that right, Grey?"

We chuckled.

I smiled. "Welcome aboard, Firestorm."

Firestorm, Barry and I looked at Hewitt's unconscious body.

~

The team and Jax were standing outside of the Stein house, getting ready to see Stein and Jax leave.

"And how is Mr. Hewitt?" Stein asked.

"Seems like that last burst of energy has burnt him out," Caitlin answered. 

"Our Tokamak's gone dark," Cisco told us.

"Yeah, we're gonna keep him safe and sound in the pipeline till he decides to keep quiet about all this," Barry told us.

Joe looked at Stein. "So you're gonna meet up with Clarissa?"

Stein nodded. "We're meeting at Pittsburgh in three days."

"Why Pittsburgh?" Jax asked.

"A colleague of mine was monumental in helping train Ronald and me," Stein explained. "She's graciously offered to help the two of us as well."

"How's she gonna help us?" Jax asked.

"Well, there were many aspects of our abilities that we never quite achieved," Stein told him. "Hopefully now, we can fully realize that potential." He turned to Caitlin. "Oh, my dearest Dr. Snow." They hugged, pulling away. "Ronald may be lost to us, but he will never be forgotten."

Stein hugged Cisco, Barry, Joe and me each in turn.

Caitlin walked toward Jax, pulling out a device. "Speaking of, this was Ronnie's. He always used it to find his way back home. I want you to have it."

"Thank you," Jax told her, taking it. "You know, this whole thing is strange, being 50% someone."

"Yeah, but you're 100% a hero," Caitlin told him.

They hugged, pulling away.

Cisco and Stein were talking alone a little further off.

Stein walked toward us. "And now I think it's time to take this show on the road. Or to the sky, if I am to be literal." I chuckled. Joe laughed. Everyone backed away from Stein and Jax. Jax put the splicer to his chest, hitting a button that Cisco installed for it to activate heat on its own, the straps spreading to hang onto him. "Are you ready, Jefferson?"

Jax nodded.

They raised their hands to make physical contact, merging into Firestorm. His eyes were completely white. His head and hands were on fire. Firestorm used fire to fly away.

 We watched them go, smiling small smiles.

"All right," I told them.

"See you later," Caitlin told us.

Cisco nodded. "Yeah."

Caitlin, Cisco and Joe walked away toward their cars.

I walked toward the driveway, about to use fire to fly away.

Barry followed me. "Hey."

We watched the smoke and fire trail of Firestorm's flight residue faded to nothing in the sky.

I chuckled barely. "You know, I can't believe that Caitlin thought that Jax couldn't do it."

"This isn't because she didn't believe in him," Barry told me, chuckling. "Sometimes, great possibilities are right in front of us, and we don't see them, because we choose not to." I looked at Barry. "I think that we need to be open to exploring something new."

I hesitated in amusement, a little confused. "I'm sorry. Is there a suggestion lying around in there somewhere?"

Barry chuckled. "I'm not really sure how to answer that." I turned to face him curiously. "So, I was just thinking about doing this."

Barry put a hand to either cheek of mine, surprising me with a long, slow kiss. Once I realized what happened I responded just as passionately. After a few long moments, we pulled away.

I still had my eyes closed, taking a moment to speak. "Wow."

Barry used my words from our first date, the triple date with Felicity, Ray, Iris and Eddie, when he had seen me in the dinner party attire. "Good 'wow' or bad 'wow'?"

I smiled a small smile, using his answer back then for now. "An amazing 'wow'."

We smiled.

~

After dark, Barry and I were sitting in Jitters on open mic night, watching as the last person stepped off the stage.

"That was one hell of a leap of faith that kid took, merging with Professor Stein," Barry told me.

"Yeah, it was," I agreed, nodding.

"It was nice, what you did for him," Barry told me. "It helped convince him to go through with it. You convinced him not to be afraid."

"Well, things aren't always what they seem," I told him. "Our fears can play tricks on us. Making us afraid to change course. Afraid to move on. But, usually, hidden behind our fears are second chances waiting to be seized. Second chances at life. At glory. At family. At love."

Barry smiled a small smile. "And these opportunities don't come around every day, so when they do, we have to be brave, take a chance, and grab them while we can." I smiled, nodding, looking toward the stage. Barry did too. "And you know, for someone that has all the fury and fear of fire like you do, you still have a few fears to conquer."

I looked at Barry, raising my eyebrows at the challenge.

Barry smirked, shrugging, challenging me with his eyes.

The manager called from the stage. "Last call for open mic night. Taking volunteers now, or we're closing up for the night."

I pressed my lips together, nodding. "All right. You wanna talk about fury and fear?"

Barry looked as if he thought the challenge wouldn't have been accepted. "You're not gonna..."

I smirked, standing. "Yeah. I am." 

I walked toward the stage, stepping up next to the manager.

"And we got a taker, people," the manager told them. There was slight cheers from the patrons. The manager looked at me. "Take us away."

The manager stepped down.

I took the mic and the guitar on the stage, sitting down and starting to play. "Vanish into the night with me / We're raising heartbeats / Feel the power arrest me / Like shadows on concrete /  Gotta get away / Gotta escape / From the daylight / I can see the way painted beneath the moon / Hold on for dear life / Until it's all gone, we'll come alive / And set fear on fire / We'll set fear on fire / Hold on for dear life / Until it's all gone, we'll come alive / And set fear on fire / We'll set fear on fire." Barry seemed to know that I was only singing to and for him, impressed, seeming entranced. "Awaken in the dark with me / We're taking over / Feel the rush / Feel this / Well, at least like animals unleash." I smiled a small smile, looking down as I continued to play and sing. "Gotta get away / Gotta escape / From the daylight / I can see the way painted beneath the moon / Hold on for dear life / Until it's all gone, we'll come alive / And set fear on fire / We'll set fear on fire / Hold on for dear life / Until it's all gone, we'll come alive / And set fear on fire / We'll set fear on fire." I stopped playing the guitar, singing a capella. "Hold on for dear life / Until it's all gone, we'll come alive / And set fear on fire / We'll set fear on fire." I started to play again, until the end of the song. "Hold on for dear life / Until it's all gone, we'll come alive / And set fear on fire / We'll set fear on fire."

There was mild cheering and applause from the crowd.

I smiled a small smile, putting the guitar down, standing. 

Barry was clapping louder than the others until his phone rang. He pulled it out.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out.

It was about work, for Flash and Pyra.

We exchanged a slightly annoyed look, but weren't that bothered about it.

~

Barry and I got to the scene as Flash and Pyra, stopping at the bottom of a building.

"Where's the fire?" Barry asked.

There was a minor explosion from the top of the building.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" I asked, using fire to fly up to the building.

Barry zoomed to get everybody out of the building.

Luckily, there was no one on the top floor where the fire and the explosion was. I raised my arms toward the flames, making my arms catch fire and turn into flames, absorbing every single flame in the room, pulling them into me. I was no longer in flames, but glowing with fire. I breathed heavily, turning to look out of the shattered glass window behind me.

A huge land shark grabbed Barry from behind, joking him. "Zoom wants you dead. Phoenix wants Pyra to die."

I watched in shock, trying to overcome from absorbing all the flames. "Oh, my God. It's real." The glow of the fire didn't fade. Instead, it got worse and worse, in excruciating pain. "Cisco, what's happening?"

"The suit's detecting cyanide poisoning in your system," Cisco told me. "There was cyanide in the fire you absorbed. It's not letting you absorb air." 

I could barely breathe. "I can... feel that."

I tried to use fire. It was flickering and weak because I didn't have enough air.

A blast of blue light hit the man shark in the back, making him fall to the ground and let Barry go.

I was getting really lightheaded from the lack of air, dizzy, starting to fall out of the shattered window toward the ground. I used just enough flickering fire that slowed the fall to where it was nearly weightless, but not enough to stay flying in the air.

Barry zoomed to catch me before I hit the ground. "Vera?"

I shook my head barely, looking at the man in the hoodie that had shot the man shark in the back. "Who the hell are you?"

The man pulled back his hood, turning to face us.

It was Harrison Wells.

To say that we were in shock was the understatement of the year.