Only Because I Need You

With A Chance

Caitlin was sat upright her seat in the Cortex. Her fingers flew over the keyboard in front of her, stopping only occasionally to read an article or view a picture. Cisco was by her side, but he was relaxed back into his seat, his fingers moving much slower than hers. The cortex was empty aside from them. It felt nice, just the two of them sitting. Working together again at last. The name Tate Johnning sounded foreign in her head. Like word she had repeated nonstop for a minute. The words had simply lost their meaning, "Caitlin, all I have really found on the guy is his criminal record," Cisco turned to his teammate, dark bags circled under his eyes and his face was slightly drained of colour.

"Yeah, I found some news reports on a small string of robberies he committed before the particle accelerator exploded and then he disappeared from the face of the earth," she sighed, "So in other words, he used to be a small time thief," she stretched out her fingers and sat back into her seat, her own eyelids felt heavy.

Cisco inhaled sharply, his eyes flicked off into the distance, "do you think it is safe to assume that he is a breacher?" He began to fiddle with his fingers, his eyes were glazed over and his lips pressed into a thin line.

"Why?" Caitlin tilted her head towards him, her curled locks of hair fell loosely around her face. She had worked with Cisco for longer than any other on team Flash. She could tell when he was onto something. It was one of the perks of being his friend.

"Well, if he was just a petty thief with some breaching abilities, then how did he manage to build an entire brotherhood of unruly breachers that are loyal to him. What makes him special enough that he rules over all of the other breachers?" Cisco has begun to chew on his bottom lip, his eyes held a far away look and his breathing had even shallowed to a soft whimper.

Caitlin raised her eyebrows. He had a point. How could a simple theif like Tate gain such a following of Breachers who were just as powerful as him. From Caitlin's brief meeting with him, he didn't seem to be very charismatic or manipulative, just plain rude, "so are you suggesting that we should be open to him having a different set of meta powers?" She clasped her hands in her lap, her eyes never left his face,

Cisco met her gaze, "I think it is a possibility that we can't overlook,"

A slight knocking caught Caitlin's attention. It was the Captain, he was standing in the hallway. His clothes were more scraggly than ever before and his eyes were sunken and lifeless. Her eyes widened in alarm, she had momentarily forgotten that they were due a visit from the Captain. They need to clarify a lot of things about his wife, "ah, Captain, come in, come in," she gestured to him with the flick of her wrist.

He sauntered over to them hesitantly, his eyes never left them, "may I ask why you called me?" His voice was scratchy and course. It probably had not been used in a while. Caitlin knew why he was confused. He thought that team Flash were still angry at him, he thought they had called upon him just to tell him to leave their Lab.

"It's about your wife Captain," Cisco told the man, a small smile perked up his lips. The Captain raised his eyebrows, but he remained silent. His jaw was clenched tightly and his eyes narrowed, "We have her in our custody so that we can find a way to return her to her... normal state,"

The Captain took a moment to mull over his thoughts. Caitlin had guessed that the Captain knew what fate had befallen his beloved, "I see," he murmured, his eyes glazed over.

"We wanted to ask you a few questions about her though so that we can better understand how to help her," Caitlin explained, readjusting herself in her seat. He nodded his head, "What was she doing the night the particle accelerator exploded?" Caitlin asked, clasping her hands in her lap.

He pulled in a deep sigh, "I was out at sea, and she had forgotten her personal phone at her lab, so she had no choice but to take Sunny to retrieve it, and then the particle accelerator exploded and the rest is history,"

"What kind of lab was it?" Cisco barely gave the man a chance to breath before jumping down his throat with another question.

"She was a marine biologist and her lab specialised in the study of venomous jellyfish," the Captain explained, rocking on the balls of his feet.

Cisco and Caitlin shared a small look, "venomous jellyfish like the Irukanji Jellyfish?" Caitlin reared an eyebrow, sitting up in her seat. Her DNA must have fused with the very creature she was studying. That would be very difficult, if not impossible to reverse.

"Ah Yes, she mentioned that species a fair amount, I think it was her favourite," a small smile cracked the Captain's features.

"Well thank you very much Captain," Caitlin and Cisco rose to their feet. A tingling sensation spread across her body, she was experiencing a rare phenomenon she called excitement. She stretched a hand out and shook the Captain's, he had a very firm grip, it was reassuring. Cisco proceeded to do the same.

"Don't thank me," the Captain replied, before tipping his hat and striding out of the room.

Barry ran a hand down his face. Part of him was incredibly relieved and relaxed to be in the safety and security of his own home, but the other part longed to be out in Central City, searching for Johnning. The sofa he sat on was also occupied by Iris, her dark eyes flicked from the screen to her husband's face. The soft floral smell of her perfume filled the air and swirled around her. Aside from the blaring screen, the room was pitch black. The soft sound of ticking coupled with the unsteady drone of the television tickled his nerves. He wanted to be relaxed, but his mind had too many things weighing it down. Iris lifted her hand to the remote and paused the screen before swivelling round to face the speedster. He raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to question her actions, but was quickly cut off, "what's wrong Barry? I can practically feel your anxiety," her soft features blended into a mixture of concern and curiosity.

"What? Nothing's wrong," Barry chuckled nervously. There was a lot wrong, there was so much for Barry to do and with a lunatic like Johnning running free he was finding it difficult to focus on more trivial matters. It happened to him nearly every time Team Flash was in the midst of battle with an enemy. He would loose track of everything he was trying to protect just so that he could strike down his opponent.

"Barry," her tone was sterner, her dark eyebrows raised dangerously and she pressed her lips into a thin line. Barry knew she hated it when he lied to her, and he knew he really shouldn't do it. Healthy relationships were built on trust and communication, and if a relationship didn't have those, then come a thunderstorm, it would collapse.

His eyes fell from hers, "it's just... it's just that we have nothing, absolutely nothing on Tate Johnning," he felt himself become more animated as his emotion flowed from his body in words, "how are we meant to protect Sonny, if we only know the name of the man who is after him,"

Iris flashed him a sympathetic smile, "Well, it's nothing we haven't faced before," her voice flowed like stream, even and cool, "Johnning is awful, but he doesn't want Sonny dead so we can be sure that he will live,"

"I know," Barry mumbled, "but I just wish we had some way of finding him," a weary sigh escaped his lips. He ran a hand through his hair. Frustration clung to his chest.

"If anyone can find Johnning and put an end to his rein of terror, then it is Team Flash," she gently assured him. Their eyes met, their gazes filled with love. Barry might not have been able to stop Johnning, but Team Flash could.