Barry and I rushed into the cortex when the alarm started blaring loudly, catching us both completely off guard.

"It's a system-wide power surge." Barry types on the keyboard, pulling up the system diagnostic, the Time Vault glowing red.

"It's coming from the Time Vault." I stared at the screen, "We just left the Time Vault."

Then, all the lights when out, everything powering down.

"What's going on?" I did a 360, looking around, "Are we under attack?"

"I don't know." Barry grabbed me, "Whatever's going on started the moment we left."

He ran us into the Time Vault, where Nora's video was glitching, "I wasn't perfect. Please remember that I love you both and I always will. And I always will- and I always will, always, always-"

Electricity crackled as the video cut out, the plinth fried and smoking, a gasp leaving my lips, as I took a step closer, "No!-"

Barry grabbed me, pulling me into him, shielding me away from the sparks until they died down.

Barry slowly stood up straight and walked over to where the plinth rested, reaching to pull it out.

"Careful-" I quickly said, as he grabs it, hissing at the burning, pulling it out, as it rested in his palm, "Her message- Nora's message-"

"I know- I know." Barry wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into his side as if he could sense the tears coming, as we both stared at the destroyed plinth.

-

"This is nice, Dad." Iris smiled, fixing the fedora on her head, "We should do this way more often."

"Agreed." Joe agreed, handing me tongs as I helped him flip the patties on the grill, "Hey, before I forget, congratulations on The Citizen."

We were all having a barbecue in the backyard of the West Household, as I was dressed in a yellow spaghetti strap dress, as it was also tied in the back, my hair in loose curls, ending right at the end of my chest, as my aviator sunglasses on my head.

"Yeah, congratulations." I nudged her lightly, "We're all really proud of you."

"Yeah, well, you know, there's millions of people in Central City and I've only got a couple hundred thousand subscribers." Iris shrugs lightly, "You know, I'm no CCPN."

"Well, not yet, but in about ten years it'll be a Pulitzer Prize-winning empire." Joe smiles at his daughter, as I handed her the tongs I held.

Iris flips a patty, "Baby steps, Dad."

"Mm, damn, this is good." Barry sipped the drink he picked up, walking with Caitlin towards us.

Caitlin looks at him, "You know you can't get drunk."

"I don't even care, that's how good this is." Barry shot back, taking another sip as I walked over to them.

Barry's eyes rake up and down my body, pulling his lips away from the glass, quickly swallowing the liquid in his mouth, "Wow- wow, are you wearing a dress?"

"Oh, God-" I place my hands on my hips, holding back a small smile, "Yes, yes I am-"

Caitlin smiles at us, before leaving us alone, walking over to Iris and Joe.

"I can't believe you're wearing a dress." Barry was acting like this was the first time he had ever seen me in a dress, "Who made you?"

"Neither can I." I gently laughed, then a pout fell onto my lips, "Iris."

"Oh, thank God she made you-" Barry wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me into him, "Because, you look stunning."

"Barry- stop, it's just a dress." I embarrassingly hid my face behind my hands, letting him hold me against him.

"I'm not missing out on any chance of making my beautiful wife feel good about herself." Barry's words still made me blush as I only revealed my eyes to him.

He purposefully holds his drink with his teeth, making me gasp, hands pulling away from my face and positioning themselves under the glass so it wouldn't fall onto the ground.

Then, I realize what meant to do by doing that.

He knew I was reach for the glass and I would no longer be hiding my face from him.

I purse my lips, as he lets go of the drink, as I held it in my hands, handing it back to him, holding back my smile.

"You've been wearing yellow a lot more often lately." Barry puts a strand of my hair behind my ear, "I love it."

I lean up and press my lips into his for a few seconds, sharing a kiss with him.

The second I pull away, I point to his drink, "Is that strong?"

"Not to me, no- but try it." Barry puts the top of the glass to my lips and tilts it back, as I let the alcoholic beverage slip into my mouth, "It tastes great."

I took the sip, pulling my face away so he stops, nodding my head as I swallowed it, "Not strong-"

"Never fear, the party's here!" Cisco walks down the steps, arriving with Kamilla, imitating an air horn, holding hotdogs and bread in his hands.

Kamilla held up the dish she was holding, "We brought my famous ambrosia salad and veggie dogs for Ralph."

Barry looks at them, "Guys, Ralph's still in Peru."

"He's in Peru?" I looked at my husband, "I thought he was in Monaco."

"Or Texas?" Caitlin trials off, none of us knowing where he was at this point.

"All that for a missing person's case?" Iris speaks, looking between us all, "That's dedication."

"Guys, guys, what are we doing?" Cecile joined us, holding a platter that held two dishes on it, "Baby Jenna is napping like a little angel and I have creamed corn, I have candied yams, I have collard greens. Baby, let's eat."

This earned a laugh from all of us, as we all joined around the table, seating in our seats, filling our plates and sharing laughs, conversation and happiness.

It felt good to be with everyone. It felt good to not think about everything that had happened and was going on.

Barry dusts his hands off, "How's the MAC coming?"

Kamilla sits up, "There's mac and cheese too?"

"Oh, I wish." I lean my head against Barry's arm, as this earns a laugh from all of us.

"No, the Mental Augmentation Chamber." Caitlin told her when the laughter died down, "Basically, it allows us to tap into the Speed Force to boost Barry's cognitive abilities. It would allow him to see every possible outcome to a scenario at the same time."

Kamilla slowly nods, "So, speed-thinking."

"Which means we'll be able to catch all the bad guys faster." Barry softly smiles, nodding.

Cecile takes a sip of her drink, "With all the ones that you brought in this summer, Barry, the DA's office can barely keep up with you."

"Hey, since the MAC's done, we should take it for a test run." Barry suggests, but Cisco shook his head.

"Absolutely not." Cisco declines, "You know we're still working out diagnostics."

Barry shrugs lightly, "We could put in a few hours tonight, get a head start."

"Barry." I looked up at him, my cheek pressed against his arm as he looked down at me, my hand rubbing his arm, "It's gonna be a no from Cisco."

"See- that's right- because If there's anything I've learned since leaving Vibe behind, it's that we all have a work-life balance to protect, and right now, mine is tipping towards more beer." Cisco sits up, setting his empty beer bottle down, "Besides, I still gotta tweak the mainframe and I can't do that without-"

There's a sudden whoosh next to me, and suddenly Cisco's tablet was in his hands, making him huff.

"Every time." I shake my head lightly, as everyone chuckled lightly.

"My tablet." Cisco finishes his sentence from before and gets up, "I'm gonna go get that beer."

I tap Barry's arm, my mouth opening as he looks down at me, holding his last two fries in his hands, about to put them in his mouth, but he stops when he sees my mouth open.

He holds one with his teeth, placing the other one in my mouth, as I gave him a satisfied smile, eating the fry in my mouth.

Joe clears his throat, "Hey, so the last time I talked to you guys, you seemed good."

Iris looks between Barry and I, "Are you guys good?"

Then I realized what they meant, and all the pain I forgot about for the last hour came back.

I don't reply, sitting up and looking down at my hands.

"Um- we were devastated at first, but Nora's only gone for right now." Barry speaks for me, "We're gonna have kids someday and then we'll have another Nora."

I gently nod, making it more believable for me, "Yeah, I think knowing that we have a second chance makes all the difference."

Barry's phone then buzzed in his pocket, and he's getting up when he sees his screen, "I gotta go, a break-in at Eastside Industrial."

He kisses my cheek, whooshing off, as my eyes land on his chair that fell back when he ran off.

I sat up, "Joe, um, I meant to ask you, what did you do with those boxes that were in the back of the garage?"

"Oh, he finally threw them away." Cecile smiles proudly, sipping her drink, "Thank you very much."

My heart dropped.

"Okay, I gotta make a call." I stammer, getting up, walking away from everyone.

-

"Well, my log says that your father's stuff should have ended up somewhere around here." The man leads me through the junkyard that night, as I looked around wrapping my leather jacket tighter around myself.

Then, my eyes landed on the familiar container top of a dumpster.

"I got it-" I walked over to it quickly, prying it open to see Nora's jacket resting in it.

I slowly picked it up and hugged it to my chest, my heart racing in pain.

The man watched me, "Must be pretty important."

"You have no idea." I sigh deeply, putting it back in the container, "Thanks."

Then, the ground started to shake intensity, air beginning to rush and pull me backwards, the man literally out a ear piercing scream.

When I turned, a black hole was in the sky, the intentions to suck everything into it.

I grabbed the man as he was reaching for me, pulling him back, "Hold on, okay?-"

Then, I saw the box lift and get sucked into the hole, along with Nora's jacket and it made me heart shatter.

What if I just let go and let the hole take me too?

Maybe the pain of losing her would disappear.

But, I couldn't.

Because if I let go, this man would die.

An innocent man.

I lift my hand up, my forcefield circling around us, the rushing air stopping as I had shielded it from us.

When the black hole disappeared, my forcefield disappeared with it, as I looked at the man, "You okay?"

He breathes heavily, "Yeah- yeah."

-

"I missed you last night- I mean, I walked in on you knocked on the couch this morning." Barry looked down at me as we stood in the junkyard I was at last night, "Are you sure you're okay?"

I was dressed in a thin yellow shirt, one that was tucked into my black jeans, black boots on my feet.

I clear my throat, "Yeah- yeah, I'm good."

"What were you doing out here anyway?" Barry looks around, confused on why I would be at a junkyard out of all places.

"I was following up on a lead." I made up an excuse, "Iris told me that The Citizen got a tip that there were a series of junkyard robberies- so, I kind of just- decided to look up on it."

Barry's eyebrows furrow, "People file police reports for stolen trash?"

"Yeah, well, you know, not everything that's here is garbage." I shrug lightly, putting a strand of my straight hair behind my ear.

Cisco kicked a piece of metal to the side, "Everything here is garbage!"

Cisco looks at us, "I hate garbage."

"What do you got?" Barry walks over to him as I followed, meeting Cisco half way.

Cisco hands Barry the tablet he held, "This site is littered no pun intended with gamma rays and magnetar fields."

"What are you saying?" Barry looked up at him and away from the tablet, "Zee was attacked by a-"

Cisco nods, "Yeah, a frakkin' black hole."

-

"That is a whole lot of information to disseminate." Cisco stares at the screen after we had just gotten back from the junkyard.

Caitlin was intimidated by it as well, "No one's ever extrapolated this much data from a black hole before."

"We can be the first." Barry shrugs and then notices the look on Caitlin and Cisco's faces, "Come on, we're Team Flash!"

Cisco looks at me, "Zee, what did you put in his coffee?"

I throw my hands up in surrender immediately in defense, as Caitlin folds her hands, "Okay, a black hole just showed up and nearly swallowed Zee-"

Barry looks between them, "So let's crunch the numbers, find out where it went."

"I'm sorry, are we looking at the same screen?" Cisco looked at him as if he was out of his mind, "Creating a search algorithm for this is gonna be like deciphering a mystery wrapped up in an enigma."

"Then it's a good thing that "mystery" is my middle name." The familiar voice of our good friend Ralph Dibny filled our ears as he walked into the cortex, dressed in a tux, "The name's Dibny, Ralph Dibny."

I cross my arms, softly laughing, "Well damn, one trip turned dear old Ralphy into James Bond."

Caitlin smiles and hugs him, "Welcome back, Ralph."

"It's good to see you, man." Barry smiles at him as well.

"Nice threads." Cisco points out, "Where'd you get them?"

Ralph looks down at it, "Picked this up in the Opal."

Barry's eyebrows furrow, "A missing person's case sent you all the way to Opal City?"

"And beyond, my friend." Ralph said, "A summer spent undercover rubbing Rolexes with the wealthy elite."

Ralph then stammers, "Did you guys know it's pronounced "yacht" and not "yah-kt"?"

Caitlin nods, popping the p, "Yep."

"God, I missed you." Cisco stares at Ralph, exhaling deeply.

"Anyway, just following any leads that might help explain the disappearance of Sue Dearbon." Ralph slips his hands into his pockets.

I place my hands on my hips, "I don't think I've ever seen you this devoted to a case."

"Me neither, but this one is a real tragedy." Ralph sighs deeply at the thought of it, "Maybe it was the look of desperation in her parents' eyes when they begged me to find their daughter."

Ralph looks between us, "So, uh, what's new in Central City?"

"I almost got eaten by a black hole." I straight up told him, "We are trying to track it."

Ralph sighs and closes his eyes, "Of course you are."

"We were just about to start decoding this data stream." Caitlin began to type on the keyboard, but almost jumps back when the frost in her emerges and freezes the keyboard.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Cisco blurts out, looking at his keyboard, his eyes widening.

"Ugh, I'm sorry, sorry." Caitlin quickly apologized, "

"Been having these random frost-outs lately."

"It's alright, Cisco, move- I got it-" I gently tap his arm as he steps away, my eyes scanning the keyboard.

I use my abilities, lifting my forcefield slip under the ice and protect the keyboard, as I melted the ice into water, closing the forcefield into a bubble, slowly bringing it up and heating it up until it turned into gas, evaporating into the air.

Cisco looks at me, "Did I mention how amazing is it to have you on this team?"

I playfully roll my eyes, folding my hands together.

"Wait- for how long?" Ralph asks Caitlin.

"All summer." Caitlin sighs, "It's happened twice in the last couple of days."

"Cait, you're probably overworked." Ralph said, "Maybe take a time out?"

Caitlin slightly shrugged, "A friend of mine did want to meet for coffee."

Barry looks at her, "Ramsey?"

Caitlin nods as he continues, "It's never easy losing a parent. Maybe you should take him up on it."

She softly nods and leaves us all alone, "I'll give him a call."

-

"How you feeling?" Ralph asked Caitlin as we were on the Lounge, as I handed her a mug filled with coffee to calm her down after the incident at Jitters

Caitlin slowly took the mug, "Like I should be dead."

"That's not gonna happen." Barry was insanely optimistic, "We're Team Flash- we always watch each other's backs, we always keep each other safe."

Cisco sits down on the stool by Caitlin, clearing his throat, "Meanwhile, over here in the real world, our black hole keeps growing up."

"Only next time it pops up, it won't just be Jitters." Cisco sighs deeply, "The whole city could be in danger."

"Why did this thing show up outside Jitters, anyway?" Ralph asks, "What does a coffee shop have in common with a junkyard?"

"Actually, I think I know who can tell us." I walked over to the monitor and grabbed the table, "I followed up with CCPD's list of junkyard robberies Ten of them were persons of interest, nine were career criminals, but this one guy, a scientist, was let go with a warning after being caught stealing old lab equipment."

I pulled up the video I found, "Team Flash, meet Chester P. Runk."

"Hey, what up, party people?" Chester chirps when the video starts, "Welcome to a world where all are welcome and anything, including the scientifically impossible, can and probably will happen. I'm your boy Chugga-Chugga-Chugga-Chugga Chester!"

Ralph stares at the screen, "I really like him."

We all couldn't help but laugh, as we watched the video.

"With knowledge from the bleeding edge of physics and beyond-beyond-beyond." Chester laughs, "I've been working on that echo."

"And- and yes, as usual, I am fueled by some mm, damn fine coffee from everyone's favorite beanery." Chester held the paper cup to the camera, "Poured, of course, to, uh, perfection by a certain special someone."

"Uh, no, WookieLover77, I- I have not asked her out yet, but I got my punch card, okay?" Chester read a comment from the live stream, "Three more Vibe-achinos and I'm making my move, baby- I'm making my move, baby- I'm making my move, baby!"

"Okay, he talks about Natalie for a while after this." This earns a laugh from everyone as I sped up the video then stopped at the part I knew would give us benefit, "Here."

Cisco stares at the screen, her eyes slightly widening, "Is he building what I think he's building?"

"Behold, believers: a gravitational wave emitter powered by a modulated neutrino charger." Chester demonstrates, "In other words, time to call some aliens."

Barry puts a hand on my back, "He built this in his garage?"

"Using nothing but trash- what a legend." Cisco was astonished, "Oh, he's turning it on-"

"Uh- uh, no, no, no, that's not supposed to do that." Chester stammers as his device sparked up, the familiar black whole appearing, except it was a lot smaller, "Oh, crap- uh, hold on."

All of our eyes widen, as Chester reaches to touch the black hole, then screams and pulls his arm back, the video ending.

Ralph looks away from the screen, "Okay, not exactly getting the supervillain vibe from our boy Chester here."

Barry looks at me, "He opened a black hole by accident."

"And what about Chester?" Caitlin questions, "Is he okay?"

"Well, the police reports I looked at showed that EMTs took him to the ER, but then after that the trail goes cold." I softly shrug, holding the tablet to my chest.

Ralph clears his throat, "Just a tiny question here: how do we destroy a black hole?"

-

"Chester P. Runk has been here?" I walked through the halls of the Medical Center with Cecile, coming to a stop at his room, my eyes landing on Chester, is back towards us.