She flipped through her thinning list, bit into her bagel, and reached for the coffee.
“Hey.”
Shawna Baez was there.
Iris froze.
“You’re Iris West, right?”
“Mm-hmm,” Iris mumbled through a mouthful of bread, and started to glance around for Shawna’s allies—but something in the woman’s face held her. She looked sad and a little frightened. Her manner wasn’t aggressive. In fact, she appeared more likely to run away than attack.
“You know the Flash, right?”
“Mm-hmm.” Iris swallowed. “Yes.”
Shawna let out a long breath. She glanced down at the bagel sitting on its crinkled paper.
“You want half a bagel?” Iris asked.
Shawna looked up. “What? Oh, no. Thanks.”
Iris took another bite and sat back, crossing her legs. She wanted to appear casual and relaxed—that would calm Shawna, she hoped. This was just a chat on a park bench. Yet she was very aware of the sound of her chewing.
Shawna pulled her heavy sweater tighter and hunched against the chill. Her foot bounced with nervous energy. She stared across the park. Kids swinging. An elderly couple shuffling past, holding hands. The sound of the basketball game filled the air with the slap of sneakers on asphalt, the shouting and laughing of men, and the clang of the ball off the rim.
“I might need to get him a message.”
“What sort of message?”
“The kind that saves innocent lives. There are some things I can’t live with.”
“I can call him now. He can be here in seconds. Literally.”
Shawna jerked. “No! Don’t.”
“Okay, okay. I won’t.” Iris put her phone on the bench. “There. Don’t worry. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.”
Shawna gave a weak smile. “I just don’t want to be pressured, you know.”
“I do. I want this to go however you want it to. You took a big step finding me like this. I appreciate that. Are you sure you don’t want the other half of my bagel?”
“I just…” Shawna ran a hand through her hair. “It has to go just right. I’ll be in touch before anything happens.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“I’ll call you at the newspaper. And when I do, he better be ready to move fast.”
Iris laughed. “That’s what he does.”
Shawna laughed nervously. “Yeah.”
“I’ll be waiting for your call.”
The girl nodded and vanished so quickly that Iris wondered if she’d imagined the whole conversation. Maybe she was having hallucinations, too. Maybe there was some strange new metahuman in town with weird psychological powers. Then Shawna reappeared and took the half bagel off the paper.
“I skipped breakfast. Thanks.” She was gone again.
Iris snatched up her phone and called Barry.
* * *
The rooftop was cold. The weather had stayed chilly all day, but the disasters had taken a break. Iris wished she’d worn a heavier coat against the late afternoon wind. She paced impatiently through the gravel.
Gusts whistled past the wires that ran overhead. It was an older part of town, so phone wires and TV cables were still frequent. She had been there nearly an hour past the time when Shawna asked to meet. Maybe it was a test. Maybe Shawna got cold feet. Maybe one of her comrades found out.
“Anything yet?” It was Barry’s voice, through her earpiece.
She almost answered, but remembered how Oliver Queen had told her to avoid speaking. If Shawna was watching from nearby and she saw Iris talking, it would smack of a trap.
“Uhn-uh,” she grunted.
It was Oliver who had argued that they should use this opportunity to seize the teleporter, and remove her from Rathaway’s arsenal. Iris was surprised how quickly she found her outraged voice. Shawna was trying to do the right thing, and they needed to help her, not betray her. While Oliver remained suspicious, Barry backed Iris.
Joe was less enthused. He didn’t like trusting his daughter’s safety to the word of a criminal. In the end, however, they’d decided that she would meet Shawna, but they insisted on having observers ready, in case of trouble.
“Shawna picked a good spot for a meet-up,” Green Arrow said. “High visibility for her to maneuver and escape, plus wires and obstacles to cut down on the Flash’s mobility. If you can, keep her facing the white brick building to the west. I’m in a room on the fourteenth floor, and I’ll have a clear field of fire. If I need to hit her with foam, she has to be looking this way.”
Iris was about to break her silence to argue.
“No foam until Iris gives the word,” Barry said.
“It’s her play,” Green Arrow replied. He didn’t sound happy.
Iris smiled to herself.
“Okay, cool,” Barry replied. “How did you find an empty room in the first place? We didn’t even know where to look until two hours ago.”
“Online search,” Felicity said. “Somebody was subletting an empty apartment. They’ll never know he was there. John’s on another building, inspecting the satellite dishes.”
“Yep,” John reported. “I’ve got eyes on Iris, too.”
Iris looked around casually, but couldn’t see either of them. It felt strange, knowing she was under observation. She wondered if the metas were watching her, too.
This could be a trap for the Flash. Iris didn’t know Shawna Baez, and plenty of people could come off sincere whenever they chose. Despite the promise that she’d come alone, Iris was glad to have backup.
Not that she’d had a choice. Her dad would’ve handcuffed her to a table if she hadn’t agreed.
“Iris.”
She spun around, her feet slipping in the gravel. Shawna stood at the edge of the roof. The wary woman flicked her eyes side to side.
“You’re alone?”
“Yes.” Iris started toward her, but Shawna thrust out her hands. Iris stopped, content to stand her ground. “I’m glad you called.”
“I want you to know I’m not a snitch.”
“I know.”
“In my neighborhood, snitches get stitches. You know?”
“Yeah, I get it.”
“But innocent people don’t need to be involved. Kids don’t need to get hurt.”
“I agree. I want to help you stop that from happening.”
“I tried to convince them, but they don’t listen. Rathaway is so fixated on what he’s doing, he doesn’t care what the others do. It’s not cool anymore.”
Iris nodded sympathetically.
Oliver buzzed in her ear. “Maneuver her around. Put your back to the sun. Get her facing west.”
Iris wanted to yell at him, but suppressed it. Shawna shot her a strange look.
“You’re doing the right thing,” Iris said. “You have to draw the line somewhere. Mardon. Bivolo. Nimbus. You’re not like them. They’re killers. You’re not.”
Shawna shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweater, and wrapped herself in thick wool and stared at the rooftop.
“It was just about money before. Money ain’t nothing to some people. They won’t miss a little bit—they got more. I was gonna get some and take off. Live a life. Have a house, you know. A nice house.”
Iris nodded again.
Shawna looked up, a little annoyed. “I bet you got a house, right?”
“I live with my dad. It’s a nice house. Small, but nice.” Iris bristled and wanted to say, A police officer doesn’t make much, risking his life every day. She bit back the retort.
“For real? You live with your old man? He’s a cop, right? He’s the one Mardon and Nimbus hate.”
“Yes, that’s him.” Iris tried to keep her voice from growing cold. She couldn’t help but wonder if Shawna had joined in on the conversations, talked about killing her father, maybe even laughed along. She grimly considered wandering to the other side of the roof, putting her back to the west, and signaling Gre
en Arrow to take his shot.
“So you two get along, you and your dad?”
“Yes. We get along,” Iris acknowledged. “I love him. He’s my father. I’d do anything for him.”
Shawna’s face changed. She became years younger and looked lost. Something in her innocent expression saddened Iris, and drained her anger. The girl sat down on the raised edge of the rooftop, and let out a tired sigh.
“That’s cool. I wish I… That’s cool.” She lowered her head and scraped her boots through the gravel. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Yes, you do. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”
“But I’m not a snitch. I can’t be.”
“You’re not a pawn either. Are you?”
Shawna’s head jerked up angrily. Iris felt a rush of panic. She had pushed the wrong button. Then she realized Shawna’s eyes were focused elsewhere. She was furious at something else.
“No, I’m not.” Shawna slapped her knees and stood up. “All right. I’m going to tell you something.”
“Wait. Don’t you want to talk to the Flash?”
“I want to tell you. I don’t trust him. He put me in a cell before, with mirrored walls, so all I had to stare at was myself. That’s not right. So I’ll tell you, but not him.”
“Okay.” Iris produced her phone and started the digital recorder. “Can you tell me where Rathaway and his gang are holed up?”
Shawna scowled and clenched her fists. “I told you I ain’t no snitch! I won’t give them up like that. That’s not how it works. But I will tell you what they’re planning to do. Then it’s up to your boy, the Flash, to catch them. And he better run real fast, or a lot of people are gonna die. You know?”
Iris felt cold. “I know.”
29
The Flash came to a stop next to Green Arrow, who studied the terrain through small field glasses. They crouched inside a dark overlook shelter at the top of the dam at Cary Reservoir.
From that vantage point they could see the reservoir and the high, curved face of the dam. It was a relatively small one, only two hundred feet from the top to the river that flowed at the bottom of the modest gorge. The floodgates were closed so it was easy to see discolored patches on the concrete face where repairs had been done over the years. Far below a powerhouse squatted amid thick power lines running to steel lattice transmission towers that marched toward Central City.
The Flash cleared his throat, hesitant to interrupt Oliver. The guy was intense even when just looking at stuff. Green Arrow tilted his head to show he was listening.
“I just got back from Joe and Digg,” Barry said. They’re with the CCPD evacuating the homes along the river, but they won’t have much time to get several thousand people out of harm’s way. If the dam breaks—”
“Then it won’t break,” Green Arrow said. “No sign of Mardon or Bivolo. Any word on Nimbus’s distraction?”
“No, and we’ve evacuated and closed the mall that Shawna said was his target. But that won’t keep him from going somewhere else.”
Green Arrow continued scanning the area without comment.
Barry grew more impatient kneeling among the years of candy wrappers and beer cans in the dilapidated shelter. He was eager to run, to finally have the chance to catch Mardon and Bivolo. He touched the weather wand hanging from his waistband. If Mardon didn’t know they were there, this would be his best chance to get close enough to stun him.
Oliver tensed and pointed down. “Bivolo.”
Twenty stories below, a figure moved through the shadows of the small parking lot next to the powerhouse. He weaved between three parked cars, and headed toward the door.
The Flash didn’t see Mardon with him. “Do you have your goggles?”
Green Arrow held up the bulky eyepieces Cisco had cobbled together.
“You really should wear them,” Barry said. “They work.”
“The colors affect my balance, and my aim. And they’re awkward.”
“Hey!” came Cisco’s voice in their ears. “I had like thirty minutes max to make those. That’s as good as they can be.”
“Don’t worry,” Green Arrow said to Barry. “Bivolo isn’t a gorgon. I can look at him—I just can’t make eye contact.”
Barry replied, “Okay, but if you get whammied and shoot me with an arrow, I’m going to be pissed.”
“You’ll be more than that.” Green Arrow stood and put away the field glasses. Climbing over the rail of the overlook, he shot an arrow at the dam. “Be careful.” He kicked off into deep empty space.
Barry nearly shouted in alarm until he saw the thin cable running from the bow to the distant arrow. Green Arrow swung out over the crevasse and landed on the face of the dam. There he ran along the surface, releasing the cable with a whine and dropping rapidly toward the powerhouse. Barry grinned. Without his powers, he’d never have the nerve to do the things Oliver Queen did.
He returned to watching for Mardon. Minutes passed with no hint. No change of any sort. A wet breath of wind hit his face.
“Air pressure just dropped like—” Cisco began.
Powerful rain filled the air around the shelter, and knocked out Cisco’s signal. The water struck as if from a giant high-pressure hose. The Flash couldn’t see more than a few feet through it.
He ran out of the shelter into the downpour. In a typical light shower, the Flash could actually run between raindrops as they hung in the air. Here he had to fight through, yet watch where he was going. In this torrent, if he opened his mouth he’d drown.
Working his way along a rickety wooden walkway, he came to the point where it split. One direction continued across the top of the dam, while the other looped off around the reservoir. The dam was only fifty feet away, but it might as well have been on the other side of the planet.
“Hey, guys, can you hear me?”
Nothing but static.
The Flash pounded across the top of the dam, moving with difficulty, expecting Mardon to appear out of the gloom. He reached the west side with no sign. Gushing rivulets of water ran off every surface. Thundering drops pockmarked the ground. He slogged up a rocky hillside, and when he reached a point barely fifty feet from the end of the dam, the skies suddenly cleared.
It was like stepping out of a hard shower. Stars shone overhead. Water ran off him, puddling at his feet.
“Barry!”
“Yeah, I’m here, Cisco,” he answered. “Inside Mardon’s storm, I can’t get a signal. He’s positioned it directly over the reservoir. At this rate, it’ll flood in a matter of minutes.”
“Do you see him?”
“No, but if he’s inside that rainstorm, I’ll have to feel around till I find him.” He looked back. A cluster of thick black clouds dropped a narrow, solid crush of driving water. It was fed by a strange stream of clouds, flowing in from the south. Mardon was pulling moisture from a distant source and bringing it here, like a river in the air.
The wind picked up, too, whipping in all directions. Water sloshed vigorously onto the banks.
“Oh, no,” Barry murmured. “He’s using the reservoir like a hammer, shoving the water against the dam.” Then a human form floated up through the clouds trailing wisps. The Flash couldn’t make out the face, but it had to be Weather Wizard. Mardon was flying and controlling the weather at the same time. He had honed his powers since their last meeting.
Barry hated it when villains did that.
“I see him,” he told Cisco, and he felt the wand hanging off his belt. “He’s out of range, and he’s airborne over the water. There is no way to climb up after him. Any ideas, guys?”
“Can you create a vortex to drain the energy out of the storm?” Caitlin suggested.
“I can’t cut off the moisture stream he’s created.”
“Can you run over the lake’s surface, to counter the vibrational energy of his waves?” Cisco offered. “If you can’t stop the rain, at least stop him from pounding on the dam.”
“I’m afr
aid any additional vibrations might do more harm than good.”
“Mardon’s never done anything this intense before,” Caitlin noted. “He must be using incredible amounts of energy. He can’t keep it up for long.”
“He won’t have to. The water’s already washing over the top of the dam, and the floodgates haven’t opened to relieve the pressure.”
“Working on it,” Green Arrow reported via the comm.
“I need to knock him out of the sky,” Barry said, staring at Mardon.
“Lightning bolt him, baby!” Cisco exclaimed.
“Yeah, that could work. I’ll give it a shot.” With a burst of speed the Flash ran along the side of the lake, back and forth over the smooth grassy slope. His oscillating red streak became a solid red line. Power grew inside him.
He focused entirely on the sensation of the speed. The energy expanded from the faintest awareness to a crackling sensation to thunder straining to break out of his body. Every nerve burned. Abruptly he planted a foot. Pure blinding power galvanized into his right fist. His hand filled with a lightning bolt. He spun and unleashed the streak of raw force into the air.
Mardon lit up in the sky, but it wasn’t the Flash’s lightning that did it. The man pulled a bolt of his own from the dark roiling clouds. It sizzled down into Mardon and out of his extended arm, arcing toward the ground.
The two bolts collided with a concussive force, and a moment later the wrenching crack reached his ears. The world went white hot. Barry felt himself torn from the ground. He had no sense of direction—only light and heat—and he couldn’t see the world. When the blinding white faded, there was only blackness, the cold concrete under his cheek, and the hiss of water boiling from his skin.
* * *
The dam rushed past him as Green Arrow rappelled down the rough concrete. Hitting the ground, he rolled, seized an arrow and came up in a crouch ready to fire. He scanned for a target, but saw only three cars, and no movement.
The powerhouse was a large block building with multiple small windows high on the walls. There was one door, which was open—the only way in… for most people. Green Arrow fired a grapple arrow up under the eaves and climbed the wall to the closest window. Layers of dirt obscured his view. He wedged his fingers under the bottom edge and wrenched it up, snapping the struts so the glass swung free.
Flash Page 19