Rocky Raymond //Book Two//COMPLETED

Chapter 30- Fast Lane

MacKenzie's POV

I'm sitting on my table in the workroom when Barry walks in and starts doing math on the whiteboard. I continue to rewire some of my gadgets as Harry walks in.

"Just going over some research." Barry says.

"Ten-year-old determination." Harry says.

"What?" Barry asks and I put down my gadget on the table and listen.

"When my daughter was ten she... Science teacher had her do a project, you know, and this project... I spent every waking hour tinkering and perfecting her solar-powered oven. Anyway, ten-year-old determination, you remind me of her." Harry says.

"Did you scold her as well?" Barry asks.

"Yes." Harry responds.

"Mm. Look, I know that this has been hard for you, but you're not in it alone." Barry says.

"Yes, I am. Hell yes, I am. I... as much as you all want me to be part of your team, that's never going to happen." Harry says. "I'm always going to be a father first. And one day, Zoom is gonna make me choose between you and my daughter, and every time, unblinkingly, unflinchingly, I would choose my daughter. I will betray you."

"That's binary thinking." Barry says. "It doesn't have to be either-or."

"Life is either-or... yes/no, black/white, love/hate... from the dawn of time to this moment right now." Harry says.

Wow.

"I guess I just have more faith in you than you have in yourself, and by the way, I came up with an idea or... a notion rather, on how we could close the breaches for good." Barry says, giving Harry papers.

"This is... This... who wrote this?" Harry asks, flipping through the pages.

"You did. Yeah, the other you. Evil, not stupid." Barry says. "I think the answer might be in the electromagnetic insulator of the quark matter. Like I said, we are a team."

"I'm gonna take a look at this." Harry says and he walks to the doorway.

"I'm going to stick around and run some computer sims on the formula." Barry says, sitting down at the computer.

"I'll see you tonight." Harry says.

"Yeah, see you later." Barry says and Harry leaves.

"I'm gonna go find Cisco." I say, jumping down from my table in the backish.

"When did you get here?" Barry asks, turning around to face me.

"I already told you this, I'm everywhere." I tell him and I walk out of the doorway to the cortex to find Cisco.

***

I'm sitting on the esk in the cortex facing the doorway, Cisco is sitting on a chair, Barry's in a chair across the room and Harry is in the glass room.

"Hey. I ran background checks on everyone involved in this Tar Pit mess, came up empty." Joe says, walking into the cortex. "I mean, they all have records, but they're sealed, so I can't read them."

"Well, that's 'cause you're bound by ethics, Detective West." Cisco says and he begins typing.

"How many felonies are we committing breaking into sealed court records?" Joe asks.

"Probably a lot." I say.

"More like three or four. Nope, five." Cisco says.

"Well, they were sealed because the records are all juvenile offense." Barry says.