The Cloudless Sky III

 

Harrison wasn’t quite sure what was wrong. At this point, he was sure that Barry would have, after a fight with Joe that she would later tell him about, stomp into STAR Labs and demand their help into subduing the new metahuman she’d come across.

 

But…she had also felt upset and hurt to know that there were others with powers like her and that they’d lied –this time he’d told her about them already.

 

He watched Cisco and Caitlin move on with their work, studying the data they’d collected on Barry and trying to make sense of things. His finger tapped against his thigh in agitation, and he was hoping this was a change he’d made for the better (and wouldn’t come back to haunt him).

 

He remembered last time…She was confronted by Joe, fled straight to them to confront them and find out about the metahumans, and then gone storming off to…Starling…

 

Harrison clenched his hand, stopping his finger from tapping.

 

Could she have gone straight to Starling instead? It was possible, since instead of being surprised by Clyde Mardon’s presence and new ability (and therefore coming to them), something must’ve triggered in her to go to somewhere else with another matter.

 

He waited patiently until Cisco and Caitlin had left, and as even then Barry had yet to show up, he decided enough was enough. He took out the phone he owned and called her, deciding that if she would not come to him, then he would get her to.

 

“Hello?” her confused voice sounded over the phone.

 

“Barry, this is Dr. Wells,” he said, unsure if he should have used the name he’d allowed her to use instead.

 

“Dr. –H-Harrison,” she stumbled over his name, though she still sounded confused. “How’d you get my number?”

 

“I memorized it,” he joked slightly, though it was rather true. It wasn’t like her number had changed in any of the timelines. “But seriously, we have it on record, along with your foster father and sister’s.”

 

“Oh,” she sounded faintly embarrassed. “Um, is there something you needed, Harrison?”

 

“There was something I needed to talk to you about. I was hoping you could come to the lab right now?”

 

“Alright, I’ll be there. I just entered the city limits and was walking when you called.”

 

Harrison frowned to himself, confirming that Barry had probably gone to Starling City. “City limits?” he asked anyway, making himself sound puzzled.

 

“Ah, well…I was just in Starling City for a bit. But now I’m back and I’ll see you in a few, okay?” she sounded a little hesitant before she hung up.

 

He pulled his phone back from his ear and continued to frown down at it. However, just moments later, Barry appeared and was giving him a small smile. Returning it with one of his usual faint ones, he gestured for her to take a seat.

 

“Is something wrong?” she asked nervously, and he thought fast on how he was going to phrase what he had to say.

 

Last time, he had told her dismissively that she shouldn’t be off playing hero and to not put herself on the line. This was a job for the police, not her, and that she was nothing special –just a girl hit by lightning.

 

This time, he didn’t want to repeat that mistake. He didn’t want to push her away, even though he really didn’t want her going through this again. Even as vestiges of hate lingered in the back of his mind, the image of her dulled eyes and broken body was what stayed to the forefront of his mind nowadays.

 

“I remember you telling everyone how much you really wanted to do good with your powers,” he started out, and faltered at the soft smile he’d gained from her as he said that. “I admire that. I just…”

 

At his hesitation, her smile wavered and she looked at him uneasily. He tried to give her a reassuring smile.

 

“You can do good with your powers,” he told her. “There are so many secrets within you that can be unlocked. Vaccines, medicines, genetic therapies…little treasures inside your cells that can be the key to miracles. Barry, I have lost everything. But then I found you.”

 

Similar, some same words –if rewarded or phrased differently…but this time around, Harrison felt like he needed to be careful in how he talked to her. No…it was that he needed to be very clear with her and to not push her right away from the beginning. He needed to establish that connection, not just for her sake but his as well.

 

He wasn’t sure how he was going to live without any form of a connection with her, as he’d come to be used to in every “lifetime” he’s known her.

 

“I think I know what you meant and what you want to do with your powers,” he said quietly, looking her straight in the eyes. She flinched. “And…I would ask you not to. I don’t want you to take any risks. I don’t want you to go play hero, Barry. I don’t want you to be a hero,” he ended, feeling inspired to add that line and having let slip some unwanted emotions in that.

 

Her hand slowly reached out to grasp his, and he startlingly looked up at her.

 

“I just want to help people,” she said sincerely, with an imploring look.

 

“And you can,” he told her firmly. “From inside the lab. You can be a hero from in here.” At her hesitant look, he gave one last push. “I’m tired of losing so many people, Barry. I lost many people the night of the particle accelerator…I lost Tess…I’m not prepared to lose another person I’ve just begun to care about.”

 

And when he saw her deflate, he knew he’d won this time, surprising him at the outcome. Maybe this time he could get Barry to become fast, without her having to face so many villains to push her. Maybe he could even train her to the point where by the time she did face them, she was ready and could beat them all easily.

 

He hated how she had to usually always go through trial and error every life, just to become the fast and powerful Flash he’d come to remember her as. He hated how he had to go through so much trial and error to get her to each point.

 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right, Harrison,” she murmured. She brightened up slightly, “Maybe you could find whatever in me that could…that could heal your legs.”

 

Harrison had thought of that before, but had always thought it would come out invasive and might ruin his plans. But Barry had never been the one who suggested it before…

 

“Who knows, maybe it’ll help you and then you can find a way to get it to help others, and people might not be so angry anymore,” she continued, and Harrison’s mind flashed through the possibilities.

 

It wasn’t necessarily a priority of his to win back the graces of the people, but it would win over Barry and it would make life easier…

 

“Then we’ll just have to see what we can find,” he gave a faint smile.

 

~*~*~

 

With the conflicting thoughts in her head, because of the two conflicting conversations she had with Oliver and Dr. Wells, Barry had a hard time thinking. Instead of leaving STAR Labs, she wandered around and eventually came to the area where the particle accelerator had exploded.

 

She wanted to help people with her powers. Oliver said she could, that he believed she’d be a guardian angel for her city. But Dr. Wells –Harrison…he was afraid of losing someone again, and she didn’t want to make that fear come true.

 

But what could she do?

 

“Things will work out, I’m sure. Do what you need to do. Just make sure to know your convictions and be willing to do whatever it takes for them. Do not lose sight.”

 

Suddenly, the words from that man echoed into her head. She felt her convictions strengthen and solidify, and she sped back into the Cortex, looking determined. She’d startled Dr. Wells, she could see, and took him away from whatever thoughts he was having. Nothing easy on the mind, if the previous look on his face said something.

 

“Barry?” he questioned her.

 

“I know I said alright and I really don’t want you to feel bad or to be scared of losing someone else…but I have to do this. I don’t want to let people get hurt and lose someone, like you have, so if I can just do something to prevent that, I will. Please…Harrison.”

 

He gave a slight grimace, before he sighed and nodded. He tapped the computer monitor in front of him. “Let me just start tracking any meteorological abnormalities over the city, and maybe we can find your man.”

 

She gave him a bright smile, and suddenly they were working together. By the time Cisco and Caitlin had come in for work, Barry and Harrison were well into their tracking and monitoring the police lines just in case they had any sightings or leads.

 

“Oookay,” Cisco said once Barry had caught them up. “So we’re catching bad guys? Cool. But if we’re doing this, let me show you something that might help. I’ve got a suit you can wear that’ll let you travel at your speed and not burn up your clothes!”

 

Cisco led the way, with Barry following him. Caitlin quietly took Barry’s place next to Harrison, continuing the monitoring.

 

“Well, at least she won’t be facing Mardon naked,” Caitlin quipped, giving a small sad smile.

 

Unfortunately, that put an image in Harrison’s head that he barely refrained from showing a reaction on his face. He had always had a problem with a naked Barry Allen, especially considering that the few times they’d lived together, she tended to walk around half-naked in the hot summer.

 

“I’m sure Cisco has come up with a suitable outfit that will help Barry,” he said instead, keeping his eyes focused on the screen.

 

The first time she’d done that, he was twenty five and had just come to her time and out from a rigid society that was all about repression. His instant hard-on had made her laugh and had been quite embarrassing.

 

Also ironic was that while he’d been twenty five, she’d been thirty. Now the tables are flipped and he was the older one.

 

“I think I got a hit!” Caitlin cried out, and Barry sped back into the Cortex with Cisco rushing after.

 

Barry was now dressed in the new suit, which hugged her figure. A rather unfortunate effect of her chest with the suit was that the zipper couldn’t go all the way up and therefore stopped at her chest, leaving the rest opened and cleavage to be shown.

 

“I will adjust that,” Cisco coughed, while Caitlin rolled her eyes. “…Once I get your sizes.”

 

Harrison immediately tore his eyes away before anyone could notice his staring. Damn Barry Allen and damn her for always making him feel like a teenager. He was also quite sure that suit had fit better and was bigger last time, and it was just his luck if this was Time being a bitch and adding in another thing to mess with him.

 

“So where’s Mardon?” Barry brought their focus back at hand.

 

Harrison took a deep breath. Well, he’d had several experiences with these events. He can lead and mentor her once again.

 

“The location shows that he’s at…”

 

~*~*~

 

She could feel the winds picking up before she even got to the exact location. It was how she knew that she was spot on, more so as she caught sight of the debris heading towards Joe and Eddie and only moved just in time to knock it out of the way.

 

Feeling constricted with the gas mask on, she ripped it off and then stared in horrified fascination at the growing tornado in front of her.

 

“Oh damn,” she muttered.

 

“Barry, can you hear me?” Cisco’s voice in her ear made her focus again.

 

“Yeah, loud and clear, Cisco,” she winced, still staring at the tornado.

 

“Wind speeds are clocking 200 mph and increasing,” Caitlin told her anxiously. “If it continues, we’ll have a level EF-5 tornado on our hands.”

 

“How do I stop it then?” Barry tried not to panic. When she heard nothing, she assumed that they had no clue and were scrambling around for a solution. “What if I unravel it?”

 

“How are you going to do that?” Cisco sounded incredulous.

 

“Run…run around it in the opposite direction,” Barry’s eyes rapidly darted back and forth as she watched the tornado. “Cut off its legs.”

 

“You’d have to clock 500 mph,” Caitlin’s anxiety seemed to have upped. “Your body may not be able to handle those speeds. You’ll die, Barry.”

 

Barry looked at the tornado.

 

“…Do what you need to do. Just make sure to know your convictions and be willing to do whatever it takes for them. Do not lose sight.”

 

“I have to try,” Barry practically growled out, eyes set determinedly on the tornado (and unknowingly to her, sparking with lightning).

 

She dashed towards it and began running opposite the tornado, but the winds were so strong and she saw Mardon, who aimed a tendril of wind at her and she flew back, crashing to the ground and rolling away.           

 

“It’s too strong,” she gasped out. What was she going to do?

 

“Barry? Can you hear me?” she suddenly heard Harrison’s quiet voice talk to her. “I believe in you, Barry. I believe you can do this. I help create this madness. So please help me stop it. You are more than your speed, Barry. You can do this.” She heard him take a deep breath. “Now run, Barry, run!”

 

And she did. She ran like she never had before, not even when she’d gotten these new powers. Someone believed in her, for once, when all she’d known her entire life was disbelief. She didn’t want to disappoint him.

 

So with his words echoing in her mind, along with a quiet undercurrent of Al Sa-Her’s grim guidance, Barry ran like hell and didn’t look back until she had unraveled that tornado and tore it down to nothing.

 

She was winded and trying to catch her breath, but she had done it and she felt proud of what she had managed to do. But then she saw Mardon and inwardly groaned.

 

“You…I didn’t think there was anyone else out there like me,” he said, watching her as he pointed a gun at her.

 

“I’m not,” she denied. “Because I’m not a murderer.”

 

And she gazed at him defiantly, even as he pointed the gun even more firmly in her direction, only to be shot from behind by Joe.

 

“Barry? Barry, are you okay?” she heard Cisco, but she could only see Joe staring at her in shock.

 

She did the only thing she could. She ran away from him like a coward. But she didn’t want to face him or his reaction, not after everything. So she ran and ended up at the West home, where she pulled off the cowl of her uniform and took deep breaths. Maybe she should have gone to her apartment, but it was small and lonely, and she wanted a familiar environment –a place where she’d grown up in and remembered happier days.

 

“B-Barry?”

 

She whirled around and found Iris by the entrance, holding onto a pink box that she recognized from the bakery they loved going to. Iris was staring at her in shock and Barry realized she must’ve seen her speed in. She almost groaned aloud.

 

“You…you just…” Iris tried to get out.

 

Barry shook her head and looked at her in remorse. She didn’t want to get into this with Iris either.

 

She ran again, only this time she wasn’t sure where to go. She let instinct guide her and before long she saw she was in front of STAR Labs. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, and she knew she hadn’t exactly confirm her okay with Cisco earlier, so she pulled her cowl back on and spoke to him.

 

“Cisco?”

 

“Oh thank God. You weren’t answering!” he was first relieved and then accusing.

 

“Joe saw me and I freaked out,” she explained. “Then Iris saw me and I freaked out even more.”

 

“Where are you?” Caitlin asked.

 

Barry frowned, staring at the entrance of the building. “…Just wandering around,” she decided on. She wanted to just be alone. She’d always dealt with things like this on her own. She hadn’t ever involved anyone…

 

Speeding into STAR Labs, she went back to where the destroyed part of the building was still laying in waste and stared down at it, before she turned around and slid to the ground, curling her knees up to her chest.

 

Barry didn’t know how long she’d ended up like that, but she was surprised anyway to hear the starting to become familiar noise of a certain someone’s wheelchair. And when she looked up, she saw Harrison Wells himself.

 

“I thought you’d be here,” he said slightly teasingly. He wheeled himself close, turning his chair sideways and parking it. To her surprise and dismay, he lifted himself off it and lowered himself onto the ground, eventually maneuvering himself to sit next to her. Though she expected him to say something right away, he didn’t, and for a few moments they stayed like that silently.

 

“You know, every time I come to this place, I’m reminded of how responsible I really am for all this. So many people, Barry. So many have been hurt because of me. And when I look at you, sometimes I see another potential victim of my hubris,” he shifted to look at her.

 

“You aren’t,” she reassured him quietly, looking back at him. “It feels like I’ve gained something I’ve been missing all these years. Like I’m finally complete. And I don’t regret meeting you or the others, even after being put into a coma. In fact…didn’t you know? I’ve always wanted to meet you face to face,” she gained a little cheer, giving him a halfhearted cheeky look.

 

“Yeah?” his lips went slightly up. “You certainly went to great lengths to do it.”

 

“Better than if I was a stalker and did something weird like steal your underwear.”

 

He chuckled and shook his head, reaching somewhere behind his wheelchair and revealing a bag of blueberries. He placed it between them.

 

“I heard these were your favorite,” he grabbed one and ate it. She looked at him in surprise. “Your family talked about you a lot when you were in a coma.”

 

At the mention of her family, her smile went into a fixture of both sad and happy.

 

“I guess you know a lot about me already, much more than I would of you,” she mused aloud, taking a few blueberries and eating them.

 

“You are always welcome to find out more about me,” he fully smiled at her. “There’s time enough, and I’m sure there’s plenty more for me to find out about you.”

 

Her cheeks warmed slightly, and she gazed down at her lap.

 

“Sometimes…we’re hardest on people we care about the most,” Harrison told her quietly. “It is hard to not become upset when they could or had been in any sort of danger.”

 

She looked up at him, and he gave a knowing look. Seeing that he did have questions in his look, she went back to staring at her lap.

 

“Joe’s like this,” Barry started in a mutter. “He’s never believed me in anything. Whether it’s those weird cases I know I get obsessed with, all the way starting to what I know I saw the night Mom died. But then he doesn’t even believe in me when I try and say I could do something. He gets overprotective like that, and sometimes it’s just easier to go along with him and not pursue whatever it is I’d wanted. And Iris…I love her, but I know even she doesn’t really believe me. Mostly she gets indulgent, but sometimes she gets patronizing and I hate those times the most. I know that they –I don’t doubt they love me and care, it just really hurts when they don’t believe me or in me.”

 

Harrison made an agreeing sort of noise, and she missed the look he gave to the entrance to the hall, where they’d both had come from.

 

“I’m really sorry, Barry. I didn’t know I got like that,” she heard Iris’ voice, and Barry’s head snapped up.

 

Both Iris and Joe stood at the entrance, looking remorseful as they watched her carefully.

 

“I think that’s my cue,” Harrison said lightly, and moved to get himself back on his chair. Barry scrambled up to help him, taking one of his arms and putting it over her shoulders as she helped him into the wheelchair carefully. He snagged the bag of blueberries from the floor and waved it at her. “You get to have more of these after you’ve talked with your family.”

 

She watched him wheel out before her gaze snapped hesitantly to her family, who stood watching her.

 

~*~*~

 

“Soooo…how’d it go?” Harrison heard Cisco ask as soon as he entered the Cortex.

 

“As well as it could, I suppose,” he said in a careful tone. “We’ll just let them talk it out, and hope for the best.”

 

Caitlin hmmed an agreement, shifting through some things that neither of the other two recognized.

 

“Whatcha looking at?” Cisco asked Caitlin, leaning around her to see.

 

Harrison, curious himself, wheeled closer.

 

“Just some old things that belonged to Hartley,” she said absentmindedly. “I found a box of his things he must’ve forgotten to get, when he left us.”

 

Harrison’s hands clenched, and he was ready to intervene, just in case Hartley’s things might have included something incriminating.

 

“Woah, is that –?” Cisco gaped.

 

Despite himself, Harrison went to see what provoked that reaction from the other, only to see a strange and unexpected photo of Hartley and…

 

“Holy crud, Barry’s Hartley’s dance partner he used to talk about sometimes?” Cisco exclaimed.

 

“I always thought it was a guy,” Caitlin admitted, looking taken aback as well.

 

Harrison, not checking his reaction like usual, could only stare in shock at the photo. Since when did Barry and Hartley become dance partners? He never remembered that happening, nor did he remember the two becoming friends prior to Barry getting her powers. Maybe at one point after, after some time, the two would eventually reach a truce if not become sort of friends later on…but this…

 

“Man, this is like fate!” Cisco said eagerly. “Like we were all destined to meet each other or something.”

 

This was the point, despite such a small and rather hilarious change it was, that Harrison realized he’d lost control of things and that there were way too many changes –small or large –that were happening and convoluting things.

 

~*~*~

 

Barry felt awkward standing there in front of them, especially having said what she did to Harrison. For what felt like forever, they just stood there in front of each other, before Joe took a step forward and looked at Barry regretfully.

 

“I know I haven’t been the best at encouraging you,” Joe said. “And I know that I haven’t been supportive. I don’t like the idea of you just…leaving the nest. Iris and I…you know how we feel about you and how much we prefer to keep you close and we just want you safe. After everything that happened…And all these years, I believed your father was guilty. I didn’t want you to believe in some fantasy I thought you came up with, because I felt one day…one day you’d finally realize the truth and it’d hurt you real bad. I didn’t want you to break.

 

“I’m sorry, Barry. I’m sorry for what I said that day, and I’m sorry for what I’ve always been saying. You’re as much a daughter to me as Iris, and I don’t want you to be hurt and I don’t want to be the one to hurt you,” Joe finished, and hesitantly opened up his arms.

 

Barry sniffled and then stepped into them, feeling Joe’s arms encase around her. She hugged him tightly, and not too long after she felt smaller and slimmer arms slip from behind her, and Iris was hugging her from behind.

 

“I’m sorry too, Barr,” Iris’s voice tickled her neck. “You know I never want to make you feel bad. You’ve always been my precious Blue Barry.”

 

Barry took a shuddering breath and held her family closer to her, and wished her father was there too.

 

It was such a dream, but she really would have been happy to have had her mother in that group embrace as well.

 

~*~*~

 

She was exhausted. Physically and emotionally. After the fight with Mardon, talking it out with Joe and Iris had been exhausting, and the three of them had all but trekked out of there tiredly and still holding onto each other (the STAR Labs trio didn’t say anything, but for some reason they were giving her odd looks). At the same time she felt like a load had been lifted off her shoulders. However, now all she wanted to do was collapse onto her bed and sleep undisturbed for a long while.

 

So when she opened her apartment door and entered, she wasn’t expecting or wanting to deal with someone else in there.

 

“Hello?” she squeaked.

 

Of all people, the new CSI hire she met stared back, the book he was reading slipping from his hands. The blue crystal hanging around his neck swayed slightly as he turned more towards her.

 

“Barry?” Malcolm asked in confusion.

 

But quickly, and almost at the same time, they understood the circumstance and uttered in unison.

 

“You’re the old owner,” Malcolm stated.

 

“I lost the apartment,” Barry sighed.

 

Stupid nine month coma.

 

“I didn’t touch your things,” he said immediately, and he looked a lot more normal with the casual clothes and without the weird smile. “I left everything as is, since I did actually figure out this was your apartment months ago, with some of your pictures laying around. You caught me off guard just now, but I was going to mention it to you at work. I’ve been living out of my bags,” he muttered, gesturing to the pile of duffle bags to the side.

 

She scratched the back of her head. “Ah, well, thanks, Mal,” she shortened his name without thinking, though by the pleased smile he wore, he didn’t look like he minded. “It’s your apartment now, so I’ll just find some time during the week to pack up my things.”

 

“You don’t have to,” he said quickly. “You can stay here, if you want. It was your apartment first.”

 

“No, it’s alright –it’s probably time for me to go apartment hunting anyway,” she gave a small grin. She was really tired though…

 

“But can I –”

 

“–at least stay the night?”

 

They both blinked at each other, also strangely at the same time.

 

Barry laughed. “Wow, it’s like we’re twins!”

 

Malcolm gained a strange glint in his eye, and his lips moved into a half-smirk. “We could pass as ones: same colored hair, light eyes, similar skin complexions…”

 

Barry studied him thoughtfully. “We’re around the same height too.”

 

“Did you know we have the same birthday?” he oddly sounded eager.

 

Her eyes widened a bit. “Really? That’s amazing! And now we work in the same field and same job!”

 

She was starting to not feel tired anymore and wanted to talk to Malcolm, find out what else they had in common. It was amazing really. She guessed the mythos of having some kind of twin of yourself out in the world, even not blood related, was true.

 

They talked longer, though eventually they had to go to sleep because they had work the next day. Actually he did, but she had the next day off, courtesy of Singh. She was still going to tag along, because she was bored and not sure what to do with her time. Still, though it wasn’t hers anymore, she missed this bed and was grateful Malcolm let her have it.

 

When morning came around, she tiredly got up and went to go set up the coffee before she got ready for work. By the sound of it, Malcolm was already up. Heading to the apartment’s kitchen, she robotically made coffee, before yawning and facing Malcolm. He was staring at her before he went back to his bowl, where he began to rapidly whisk the pancake mix.

 

“Pancakes okay?” he muttered.

 

“Yeah,” she answered, slightly confused.

 

Barry rubbed her eyes, yawning again, before she glanced down at herself. Ah. So that’s why he acted oddly. She laughed sheepishly.

 

“When it’s hot, I tend to take off my clothes at night in my sleep,” she explained, embarrassed at being in her underwear.

 

She turned on her heel and began to whistle nonchalantly, trying not to look like she was dashing back into her old room.

 

Well, at least she didn’t sleep walk too.

 

~*~*~

 

For being her semi-twin, Malcolm didn’t get them late like she usually ended up as. Maybe because they weren’t really related that he didn’t have her tardy disposition? Whatever it was, if she was working, she would be exactly on time to work. They both headed into the station, where she was greeted by many of the others.

 

She saw Eddie see them, his handsome face brightening up at the sight of her, although he did glance oddly at Malcolm by her side.

 

“Morning, you two. Strange to see you early, Barry, though you’re not supposed to be working yet anyway, right? You guys came in together?” Eddie smiled widely, though he kept glancing at Malcolm, whose expression was back to being off.

 

“No, I get back to work tomorrow,” she said, glancing subtly between the two.

 

“I live in her old place,” Malcolm said suddenly, his off smile widening. “She came by last night and stayed over, so we decided to head to work together. We felt it was easier that way.”

 

Barry nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s basically it,” she agreed with his summarization.

 

Eddie still stared though, except his gaze finally shifted to Malcolm completely. Barry, looking again between the two and seeing the weird interaction, was sure there was something up between them. But before she could put any more thought to it, she heard Singh call out for her. Looking towards his office, she saw him leaning around the door and looking at her with a pinched look.

 

Worried and wondering what was wrong, she quickly said bye to the men beside her and scurried towards the Captain. Without another word, he pulled her quickly inside, and closed the door. She blinked at him, before he turned and looked elsewhere, prompting her to look to where he was looking.

 

She gulped at the intimidating but pretty African American woman standing in some of the highest heels Barry had ever seen.

 

“Barry Allen? Pleased to finally meet you,” she smiled slowly, and it set off warning bells in Barry’s head. “I’m Amanda Waller and I’d like to talk to you about this.”

 

Waller stepped away from the TV set behind her and she clicked something on the remote in her hand, which began playing a familiar scene on the screen.

 

“Oh,” Barry said faintly. “I forgot about the camera.”

 

Why the hell did the police cars have to come with cameras and why the hell did it have to be pointed at her?