Explode Implode

[run_barry]

So, on top of a new explosive meta in town, Barry also has a frustrated Joe on his case as Iris continues to refuse to give up the blog.

Leaving the S.T.A.R. Labs team to find some way to track down Bette, the meta who can cause spontaneous combustion in anything she touches, Barry heads to CC Jitters to try talking to Iris.

Again.

He comes at it from every angle he can, first trying to deny the existence of The Streak, then trying to play off Iris's eyewitness encounter as a result of the night of drinking, and finally pointing out that if the guy is out there and wearing a mask, obviously he doesn't want to be known.

Iris has none of it, and eventually she gets fed up with Barry.

"What is wrong with you?" she demands, frustration and hurt confusion in her voice. "This is important to me. Why can't you be more supportive?"

That hits deep. He should be supporting her, as a friend he always has. More, she's always supported him. It leaves him a little flat footed. She doesn't understand, and he can't explain it to her without telling her the truth.

He has one last card to play, and he sets it down reluctantly. "I'm just-- you haven't even put your name on it. How serious can you be about an anonymous blog?"

Her disappointment in him is clear as she shakes her head and replies, "Okay, you know what? Our entire lives, you couldn't scream loud enough that the impossible existed. And now it's actually happening in Central City. I have proof of it, and you don't want to know about it? That doesn't make sense, Barry. So when you're ready to tell me what this whole routine is really about, then we can talk."

That effectively ends the conversation, and while Barry watches Iris go his phone starts to ring.

They've found Bette.

****

Piggybacking. Cisco got the idea in Milliways and it pays off in finding Bette Sans Souci.

Jumping onto General Eiling's surveillance, Cisco tracks the General who has tracked down Bette to the office of the military surgeon who performed several procedures on her.

Barry's on his way as soon as he gets the call, but the tactical team's head start means they're already in position when Barry arrives. In mere moments things start to go down. A shot through the window hits Bette, soldiers start storming the office, and Barry is kneeling over Bette trying to convince her to come with him.

"Look, I can get you out of here. I can help you understand what happened to you."

Doubt and apprehension are written across Bette's face as she clutches her wounded arm. "How?"

"Because it happened to me too," Barry explains. That seems to sway Bette just in time as something comes crashing through the window.

It's a flash bomb, and Barry gets he and Bette out just as it detonates; leaving Eiling and his men empty handed.

*****

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs Dr. Wells explains what happened with the Particle Accelerator, and how its explosion caused a wave of dark matter energy to disperse throughout the city and affect some people. Bette included.

Bette explains how she came to be in Central City at the time of the explosion, telling Barry and his friends about her work in Afghanistan defusing roadside bombs, and how an explosion from one sent her back stateside with shrapnel injuries. And how, when she came to have these new powers of hers, Eiling took interest in her as an asset and lab rat.

Listening to her story, the things that she did, and what she's been through, Barry can't help feeling bad for her. Hearing about Eiling makes Barry uneasy, and it makes him want to do something for Bette; to keep her safe and protect her and get her through this.

"Do you think we can help her?" Barry asks Dr. Wells while they and Cisco watch Caitlin work on Bette.

"To answer that question, we have to understand how she works," Dr. Wells muses. "And to understand that, first we have to study her in action."

Cisco is all for that, but excitement turns to shock when the team realizes that Bette has been tracked, and General Eiling has arrived to claim his asset.

Dr. Wells is quick to act. "Get Bette out of here. I'll take care of Eiling."

Barry doesn't hesitate, he takes Bette and his friends and they leave before Eiling and his men arrive in the Cortex.

*****

Ferris Airfield, the team is setup where Bette is able to use her power on a variety of objects.

On the explosion of another frisbee, Cisco grins and announces, "427 kPa's. Her Trauzl rating is around 45. That's the same as any plastique. Plastique. Ha, first try!"

Bette seems to be taking the testing pretty in stride, and Barry wonders how much of that is her training, and how much is just her trying not to freak out about the situation. She certainly doesn't seem as excited about all of it as he was the first day he was out here on this same airstrip testing out his own new powers.

While Cisco calibrates and sets up for the next test, Barry and Bette talk. She reveals a bit more about her work as a soldier, and admits the fears disarming bombs for a living puts into you, and how that fear has now turned from tripping explosions, to causing them.

"Have they tried to help you?" she asks.

Barry glances back at Cisco and Caitlin, then focuses on Bette. "Yeah, they've helped me learn how to use my powers. Not reverse them."

"If they could reverse it so you weren't a-- metahuman, would you?" Bette asks, her eyes on him, searching.

It's a question he's considered only in passing, but the answer is already right there in his heart. There's apology in his expression as he shakes his head, because he knows obviously Bette would choose different, but he tries to explain.

"A friend told me I was given my speed for a reason. That I was chosen. I don't know if I believe that, but I always wanted to help people. Now I can."

Even with all of the dangers and complications his powers have brought into his life, Barry still wouldn't change what happened, or give them up if he had the chance to.

Speaking of complications, Barry's phone rings and Bette moves off, giving him privacy as he answers.

It's Joe, and by the man's tone of voice alone Barry can tell Joe's not only unhappy, he's upset, as well.

"I see your little conversation with Iris was a rousing success," Joe says. "She just posted another story about the Streak."

Barry frowns, earnestly replying, "Joe, I tried. I really tried."

Going in Barry knew it wouldn't be easy to get Iris to change her mind. What he didn't realize was, he did.

"She's got her name on it now, Barry."

"What? Joe… " There's a deep sinking feeling in the pit of Barry's stomach and it only falls more when Joe replies brusquely.

"It's my fault, I shouldn't have asked you to say anything. I just wanted you to know. Okay? Bye."

Joe hangs up, and Barry is left staring at his phone.

"What was that about?" Cisco asks, walking up and throwing Barry a worried look when he sees the man's expression.

"Iris posted about The Streak again. She signed her name to it."

Cisco's brows go up. "Oh, that's not good."

"No." Barry frowns.

"If one of these bad metahumans we're dealing with figures she knows something… " Cisco continues.

"Then they may target her, I know."

And that thought fills Barry with dread.

[ooc: dialogue taken from episode 1.5]