Episode 14 - The Nuclear Man

A few weeks later, Barry was in his room getting ready for his date with Atchaco. The song 'Uptown Funk' by Mark Ronson and featuring Bruno Mars was playing in the background. "So how does a superhero get ready for a date? Same as everybody else." Barry said as he looked into the mirror and kept changing his clothes as none of them seemed right to him. "Alright." Barry smiled as he seemed happy with his choice of clothes. He then goes downstairs where Joe was sitting in a chair while reading a newspaper. "Everyone tells you to just be yourself." Barry shows Joe his choice of clothing and Joe gives it a thumbs up. Barry then shakes his and zooms upstairs to change and then comes back down in a new outfit. "But who is that really?"

"If you change one more time, I'm gonna shoot you." Joe jokes.

Barry then zooms around the city and passes a woman selling flowers and quickly buys some before racing over to Atchaco's apartment. He was waiting outside the door when Atchaco walked out of her apartment building. Atchaco was wearing a light purple short sleeved top and dark blue jeans and jacket. "You know I thought I saw a red streak outside the window and you are on time for once." Atchaco smiled. "Very punctual."

"Yeah, yeah, that is what my friends call me: Mr. Punctual." Barry chuckled.

"Not exactly true, but I'm going to let it slide because you are cute." Atchaco told him.

"You can see right through me." Barry laughed.

"Is that lonely-looking flower for me?" Atchaco asks.

"Is this dumb?" Barry wonders. "I thought about getting a full bouquet, but then I thought that was weird."

"No. It's awesome." Atchaco replies. "And I love it."

"All right." Barry smiled.

Later Barry and Atchaco were sitting in a Mexican Restaurant, eating the spiciest tacos they had to offer. "Mm. Okay." Barry choked as he started drinking his water.

"Yes! Victory." Atchaco laughs. "I told you these were the spiciest tacos in Central City."

"Oh, I thought you were bluffing." Barry groaned as he kept drinking his water.

"I never bluff." She chuckles. "Just say it, I am the champion of all things spicy."

"You are the spice champion of Central City." Barry smiled. "I don't know why you like spicy Mexican food."

"It reminds me of my home planet, Bicia." Atchaco tells him. "Bicains adore eating spicy food."

"Hm, that's great." Barry tells her as his phone buzzes and he answers it. "Hey."

"Robbery at the convenience store on Brand and Paulson." Cisco told him.

"Man, come on. Atchaco and I are on a date." Barry replied.

"Really, Barry." Atchaco mouths at him.

"Can't the cops get this one?" Barry asked.

"Fine, but when you read in the paper tomorrow about that poor little old lady getting robbed…" Cisco answers.

"How do you know it's a little old lady?" Barry questioned.

"Please, it's always a little old lady." Cisco replies.

"Okay, all right." Barry said. He turned towards Atchaco. "I'm going to check it out."

"I'll wait here then." Atchaco told him and he zoomed out.

"No little old lady." Barry sighed when he got there. He then zoomed back to his date and sat across from Atchaco.

"Well, now that that's over, what do you want to do next?" Atchaco asked.

Minutes later, Barry and Atchaco were walking down the street together and Barry chuckled.

"What's so funny." Atchaco asks.

"Nothing." Barry answers. "It's just, I never thought that we would actually be together and on a date."

"Well, believe it." Atchaco told him. "Because that is what's happening.

Barry's phone then starts buzzing again, and with a sigh Barry answers it, knowing that Atchaco can already hear it. "Hello." Barry said.

"Hey. I know you and Atchaco are on a date right now, but we got a jumper on 52nd and Waid." Cisco told them.

Minutes later at 52nd and Waid. Cops were all over the place and Eddie stood near the building with a megaphone in his hand. "Sir, please, you have everything to live for." Eddie shouted through the megaphone.

"No, I don't." The man yelled back. Suddenly two streaks zoom up the building and bring the jumper down safely. He turns to Eddie. "Are you gonna let me go back up there?"

"No." Eddie answers.

Minutes later, Atchaco and Barry were at Atchaco's apartment. "Well, I had some fun tonight."

"You mean, having our date interrupted twice was fun?" Barry asked.

"Well, saving people is our thing, and it can be considered fun." Atchaco answers.

"Yeah." Barry smiled. Atchaco leaned in and kissed him. "What was that for?"

"To prove to you our date wasn't actually that bad. Are you convinced." Atchaco questions.

"I don't know yet." Barry answered. "I might need more convincing." Then they both lean in and kiss each other before pulling away slowly. "Yeah, that did it." Atchaco laughs. "So, how about another date tomorrow night?"

"I would love that." Atchaco said before turning her head slightly before looking back at Barry. "And so would Triton."

Later, at Concordance Research Labs, a man walked out of the building when Ronnie showed up. "Quentin Quale." Ronnie smiled.

"Can I help you, young man?" Quale asked.

"Haven't been called that in quite some time." Ronnie answers.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Quale questioned.

"We went to school together." Ronnie told him.

"You're one of my students." Quale wondered.

"No, classmates." Ronnie smiled. "University of Chicago, class of '74. We protested the war. Make love, not napalm, remember?"

"Look, I don't know if this is some kind of practical joke…" Quale replied as he walked away.

"I know about your brother." Ronnie called as he breathed harshly. "The truth is, he committed suicide. You found the body."

"I never told anyone about that." Quale told him.

"You told one person." Ronnie smiled.

"Martin?" Quale wondered.

Martin/Ronnie lights up on fire. "I need you to help me." They tell him as he explodes in a heat of fire and Quentin screams.

The next day, Barry, Cisco and Caitlin were meeting Atchaco on the second floor of Jitters. "Dude, you are a crime-fighting lady-slaying machine." Cisco smiles as he fist bumps Barry.

"Oh, God, it was so cool. She was so cool, obviously. We're going on another date tonight." Barry admits.

"Tonight? Really?" Caitlin wondered.

"Aren't you worried about moving too fast?" Cisco asked him.

"No. What do you mean? It's a second date." Barry reminded them.

"No, no, no, no, I meant going too fast, hurrying." Cisco corrected him. "Look, I mean, you're fast, but there's fast, and then there's fast. Am I being subtle enough?"

"You're really not." Barry told him.

"Cisco's right." Caitlin says. "With both of your increased blood flow and increased heart rate, as well as Atchaco's inability to properly handle emotions, theoretically, your speed could cause you to…"

"You're gonna need to think about a lot of dead puppies." Cisco butted in. "Like, we're talking about a whole kennel. And baseball. Cold showers. You know what? Nuns." They made their way to the table where Atchaco was sitting and she caught onto the last little bit of the conversation.

"What about nuns?" Atchaco asked.

"Nothing." Barry answered as he looked at Cisco. "Nothing."

"We were just discussing about you and Barry going on a second date tonight." Caitlin explained.

"A second date? Really?" Iris questioned as she walked up to their table.

"Yeah." Barry smiles. Cisco's phone then rings and he answers it.

"You guys are great together. I am so happy for you guys." Iris said.

"Thanks." Atchaco replied.

"Hey, I gotta go. I gotta help out a friend." Cisco tells them as he starts to walk away.

"Everything okay? We just got here." Barry reminded him.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys later." Cisco said as he walked away.

They looked up at the TV that was next to them as the news was on. "Quentin Quale was attacked near his lab at Concordance Research last night." The newscaster said. "There were several unsubstantiated reports of the so-called 'Burning Man' in the area following the attacks."

"Burning man?" Iris asked as she turned to Caitlin. "Caitlin, weren't you asking about him a few weeks ago?"

Minutes later, Cisco met up with Joe in the neighbourhood that Barry and Atchaco had lived in. "Hey." Joe greeted.

"Hey, man." Cisco returned as he shaked Joe's hand.

"Thanks for meeting me." Joe said.

"Sure. What exactly are we doing here?" Cisco asked.

"That's Barry's old house." Joe answered as he pointed to the house in front of him.

"Where his mother was murdered?" Cisco questioned.

"I have a theory about who might have been involved in Barry's mother's death." Joe replied. "I thought you and I could reexamine the crime scene, you could apply your technical expertise and help me prove who really did it."

"For sure, we should get Dr. Wells and Caitlin in on this." Cisco told him.

"No, we should keep this between us for the time being." Joe said. "If too many people know, Barry and Atchaco will find out, and I don't want to involve them until we know something definitive." They knocked on the door of the house and the woman who now lived there opened it up with a smile on her face.

"Hello, ma'am." Joe greeted her. "I'm Detective West. This is Cisco Ramon."

"Oh, please, it's Sherry, like the drink." She asked. "What can I do for you, Detective?"

"I don't know if you were aware, but there was a homicide in this residence approximately 15 years ago." Joe said.

"Oh, I know." Sherry admitted.

"We've reopened the investigation." Joe replied. "Do you mind if we come in and take another look around?"

"Oh, not at all." Sherry smiled.

"Thank you." Joe said as they both walked in. "Do you live alone?"

"Yes, I'm divorced." Sherry told them.

Later at STAR Labs, everyone was in the Cortex. "Well, it appears letting Ronnie roam free is no longer an option." Wells said.

"He's not even Ronnie anymore." Caitlin corrected him. "He's Martin Stein walking around in Ronnie's body, like a vampire."

"Is there a reason that Stein's brain is in control of Ronnie's body, not the other way around?" Barry asks.

"Simple Darwinism, I suspect, one similar to the connection between my AI, Triton, and myself." Atchaco explained. "A brand-new organism will select the strongest parts of itself in order to survive. Survival of the fittest. In this case, Ronnie's body, Stein's mind."

"In any event, he badly hurt an innocent man, and we have hunted meta-humans for less. Caitlin, we need to know that you're on board with what needs to be done here." Wells said.

"How do we find him?" Caitlin asked.

"Quentin Quale, the scientist that Ronnie attacked, is a former colleague of Martin Stein." Wells informed them. "If Martin is indeed in control of Ronnie's body, he may be trying to figure out exactly what's happening to him."

"What do we know about him? We don't even know what Stein looks like." Atchaco questioned. "Well I do, Barry doesn't."

Wells puts up Stein's picture on the monitor screen. "Martin Stein." He tells them.

"That's Stein?" Barry asks, looking at the screen.

"It is." Wells tells him.

"I've seen him before." Barry admits.

"When?" Caitlin asked.

"On the train, the day the accelerator exploded." Barry answered as he was pulled into a flashback of that night. Barry is sitting on a train reading a book by Harrison Wells, when the train passes by STAR Labs. "Super cool, isn't it? Uh, S.T.A.R. Labs, I mean." Barry asks, looking over a Stein.

"Yes, it's... Super cool." Stein sighs. "Trust Harrison Wells to build a particle accelerator with a bit of style. Most scientists don't have an appreciation for the value of aesthetics."

"Albert Einstein said, 'Once you can accept the universe as being something expanding into an infinite nothing which is actually something…" Barry started to say.

"Wearing stripes with plaid becomes easy.'" Stein finished for him and Barry smiles and nods. "I thought people your age didn't read actual books anymore."

"Oh, I'm the only one." Barry laughed.

"Oh. Mm. Physics. Hobby or endeavour?" Stein asked.

"Both, actually." Barry answered. "I'm a CSI. I work for the Central City Police Department."

"Really?" Stein wondered and Barry nodded. "You look too young for that."

"That is what they tell me." Barry admitted. "Are you gonna watch the accelerator turn on tonight?"

"I wouldn't miss it." Stein replied.

"They say it's going to change the world." Barry told him.

"I hope so." Stein tells him.

"Carson Station. Carson Station." A train conductor calls.

"Oh, this is my stop." Barry says to Stein as he picks up his things. "It was nice talking to you."

"You too." Stein replies.

"Maybe I will see you there tonight." Barry hoped as he started walking backwards as he was trying to leave. "Excuse me. I'm taking a girlfriend. Not my girlfriend, she's just, uh... Sorry... She's just a female friend who I'm not dating yet."

"The doors are about to close." Stein warns.

"Yeah." Barry says as he makes it to the door and waves goodbye to Stein, and he glances at the box under Stein's seat. The box has the name Firestorm printed on it and Stein waves as Barry leaves.

Later, Stein was walking past protesters screaming to not turn on the particle accelerator when it suddenly exploded. By this time Stein had already opened the box he had had. He was holding what looked to be a fiery ball at the same time he was hit with the wave of dark matter. The dark matter contained Ronnie, who was locked in the room with the accelerator and when the two of them collided they became Firestorm, then he was pulled out of the flashback.

Later, Caitlin, Barry, Atchaco and Wells went to go and see Stein's wife, Clarissa. "Of course I've heard of S.T.A.R. Labs. Martin was always vocal about the competition." Clarissa told them.

"S.T.A.R. Labs is actually helping the CCPD looking into your husband's disappearance, Mrs. Stein." Atchaco told her.

"Oh, please. Call me Clarissa." Clarissa told her.

"The Conway Prize for Scientific Advancement." Wells noticed as he was looking at the trophies on the table.

"Martin was very proud of that one." She admitted.

"I'd always hoped to win one of these myself." Wells said. "Oh, and look at that. He won it three times."

"Takes a special kind of person to make Dr. Wells jealous." Barry smiled.

"Well, Martin had a talent for making people jealous." Clarissa informed them. "Even me. I sometimes think Martin loved his theorems and experiments more than he did me."

"I'm sure that's not true." Caitlin replied.

"And you haven't heard from your husband since he disappeared." Atchaco questioned.

"No." Clarissa replied.

"Mrs. Stein, could I show you a photograph?" Barry asked, holding up a picture of Ronnie. "Have you seen this person before?"

Clarissa takes the picture and studies it for a moment. "Yes, I have. Who is he?" Clarissa asks.

"Um…" Caitlin hums.

"He's just a person of interest in your husband's case." Wells replied.

"When did you see him?" Caitlin asks her.

"I started getting the feeling that someone was watching me, and sometimes I still do. And about a month after Martin disappeared, that young man showed up here." Clarissa admitted as she was pulled into a flashback of when she first saw him.

Ronnie/Martin was walking down an alleyway. His clothing was burnt and ruined. He walked over to a mirror in the trash and looked at his reflection. "What happened to me?" Martin/Ronnie wondered as he spotted a newspaper and looked at the date. "A month... A month. Clarissa." He mumbles. Later they go to Martin's house to see his wife even though he didn't look like himself. "Clarissa." He smiled.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Clarissa asked as she looked at him terrified.

"Under the loose stone." Martin/Ronnie replied. "You leave a key for me there. I'm always losing mine. Losing my keys. Losing my mind."

"I'm going to call the police." Clarissa warns as she reaches for the telephone.

"Losing my mind." Martin/Ronnie mumbles as he grabs a flyer that she was holding and looks at it. "Where is my body? I see my life, but I can't reach it."

Clarissa was on the phone with the police. "Please send someone." She pleads. "There's an intruder in my house!" Ronnie/Martin grunts as he looks at her before taking off running out of the house and then Clarissa comes out of the flashback.

Minutes later, Barry, Atchaco, Caitlin and Wells had just left Stein's house. "So it appears Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond have something in common besides sharing a body. They both feel the need to protect the women they love." Wells points out.

"Clarissa said she feels like she's being watched." Barry reminds him.

"Well, then, this has all the makings of a stakeout." Wells told them.

"But Barry and Atchaco are going on a date tonight." Caitlin reminds them.

"It's okay, we'll postpone it." Atchaco reassured them.

"No! No, go. If we need you two here, something tells me we can get you both back in a hurry." Wells informs them. Atchaco and Barry both smile before zooming away holding hands.

At the old Allen house, Joe and Cisco were looking around the living room that Barry's mother had died in. "I'm not picking up anything. Not even with The Super Light." Cisco complained.

"Super Light?" Joe questioned.

"Well, technically it's a multi-spectrum, violet laser-enhanced scanner that detects molecular schisms in the 600 mega-volt range, but I figured 'Super Light' was easier to say." Cisco explained.

"Right, but what does it tell you?" Joe asked.

"Nothing we didn't already know about that night." Cisco sighs.

"Okay, keep looking." Joe ordered. The woman who now lives in Barry's old house comes into the living room in a tight black dress. "Ahem." Sherry flirts. "Uh, can I get you boys something to drink? Water? Soda? Wine?"

"Uh, we're fine. Thank you." Joe answers.

"Well, if you change your mind, I've been told my strawberry daiquiris are sinful." Sherry tells them.

"I will not judge you." Cisco admits after she had left the room.

Joe shakes his head. "Okay, Barry's mother's body was found here, knife beside her, blood spatter on the wall belonged to Nora." Joe said.

"Joe, I think... I just think maybe it's been too long, and everything's different." Cisco tells him.

Joe sees the mirror hanging against the wall. "Except that mirror." Joe notices as he holds up the picture of the mirror from the crime scene photo. "Sherry must have bought it at the estate sale."

Cisco runs the light across the back of the mirror. "Oh, my God. Silver nitrate." Cisco gasps.

"The compound used in photography." Joe continued.

"It was often used to back vintage mirrors." Cisco finished. "If there were two speedsters there that night, the sparks from their movement would have generated enough flashes to actually expose images onto the silver nitrate."

"You saying what I think you're saying?" Joe asked.

"This mirror might contain photographs of what actually happened that night." Cisco cheered.

Later at the West house, Barry opens the door to find Atchaco dressed in a black jacket, top and jeans. "Hey! You look great." Barry complimented.

"Well, I have a big date tonight, and I kind of wanted to impress the guy." Atchaco smiled.

"I think I can speak for that guy and say that he is super impressed." Barry replied.

Atchaco chuckles as she walks into the living room. "It is very quiet." Atchaco observed. "Do we have the place all to ourselves?"

"Yeah, Joe is still working." Barry answers. "All right, so here's the plan. First, a dinner reservation at Paper Clip. Then a round of mini-golf, followed by Mal Duncan, who is playing at an underground jazz club. But Joe has a connection there, so he hooked us up. And if you're not sick of me by then, we can get froyo."

"That sounds perfect." Atchaco smiled. "Or…" She walks up to Barry and kisses him affectionately.

Outside Martin Stein's house, Well and Caitlin were sitting in the back of the truck having a stake out while eating Big Belly Burger. "Want some of my fries?" Wells asks.

"No, thanks." Caitlin answers. "Why would he come back here?"

"Because this is his home." Wells reminds her. "I don't mean the actual house. I mean Clarissa. She's his home. We all want to go home again. You know, where we feel safe. Where we feel loved. Ronnie's your home."

"Not anymore." Caitlin replied.

"Remember what I told you on your first day at S.T.A.R. Labs?" Wells questioned.

"A scientist's work is never finished." Caitlin told him.

"A scientist's work is never finished." Wells agreed. "Well, my work did this to Ronnie and did this to Martin Stein. But it's not finished, and it won't be until we bring them both home." Then they see Ronnie/Martin fly overhead in a ball of flames to Stein's house. Wells turns to Wells. "So I'm assuming you have Barry on speed dial?"

Back at Joe's house, Barry and Atchaco are in the living room making love with each other when Barry's phone starts to vibrate, causing Atchaco and Barry to groan in annoyance. "Caitlin?" Atchaco asked.

"Yeah." Barry answered rolling of off Atchaco's body.

"So I guess date night is over." Atchaco sighed.

"I suppose so." Barry replied.

"Okay, let's get going then." Atchaco groaned as she stood up and stretched out her body.

Minutes later, Ronnie/Martin was walking up to the house when Barry and Macanese showed up. "Professor Stein. Hey, we are not here to hurt you." Barry said.

"And we both know you don't want to hurt anyone else, so if you could just not…" Macanese tried to say but Ronnie/Martin lit up in flames.

"Flame on." Barry sighed.

Ronnie/Martin then shot a ball of fire at them but they quickly moved out of the way, but the fireball made the car behind them explode. Ronnie/Martin ran towards them and Barry ran up to him, but Ronnie/Martin grabbed Barry with his flaming hand and flew up into the air with him. Caitlin and Wells were chasing after him with the van as Macanese ran in front of them. Then when Ronnie/Martin had Barry really high up he kicks him off and shoots him with one of his fireballs. When Barry was about to hit the ground Ronnie/Martin picked him up and dropped him on the roof of the van that Wells and Caitlin were in and Barry rolled off of it. Macanese ran up to Ronnie/Martin, who was about to throw a fireball at her but Caitlin walked out of the van and walked in front of Macanese.

"No!" Caitlin shouts at him. Ronnie/Martin just looked at her before quickly taking off into the sky. Macanese ran over to Barry and kneels down in front of him.

"Well, that was terrifying." Barry admits.

At the old Allen house, Cisco was setting up a machine in the living room. "I sent Sherry to the movies." Joe said as he walked back into the room.

"Trust me, the best show in town is going to be in here tonight." Cisco smiles.

"So you're telling me you can get actual photographs from this thing?" Joe asked.

"The science is solid." Cisco replied. "It works exactly like an old film camera. I developed the mirror backing, and fortunately for us, the lightning went off about ten times that night."

"Multiple exposures." Joe replies.

"Now you're getting it." Cisco tells him. "I went ahead and enhanced them digitally and, just for kicks, decided to extrapolate a 3-D hologram from the original 2-D."

"Cisco." Joe sighs, motioning for him to get on with it.

"Lights…" Cisco says, and Joe flicks them off. "Camera. Action." He then pushes a button on the machine and the hologram plays in front of them.

"Wow. Can you play it again? Slower?" Joe wondered. CIsco slows down the hologram and Joe sees it. "There, there. You see that? Huh. Next frame." Cisco does as he is told and that's when Joe notices some blood splatter on the wall from the night Barry's mother died. They both ran over to the wall where the hologram said the blood was. "This wallpaper's new." Joe said as he pulled part of the wallpaper off and sure enough, behind the wallpaper, was the blood splatter from the night.

"Oh, man. Is that blood?" CIsco questioned.

We had a husband who was holding the same weapon that killed his wife." Joe reminded him. "We weren't looking for any other suspects. That blood belongs to one of the two speedsters that was here that night. Maybe the one that killed Nora."

"I'll get a sample kit." Cisco replied as he walked away.

Joe looks at the blood splatter. "I got you." He smiles.

The next day, Caitlin, Atchaco, Barry and Clarissa are at a bridge near a highway when they see Ronnie/Martin walking out from under the bridge. "There he is. Looks like the tracker Barry placed on him worked." Atchaco sad as they walked forward.

"Professor Stein?" Caitlin asked.

"Ugh, I told you to stay away from me." Martin/Ronnie groaned as he went to walk away.

"And I will, but there's someone else who wants to talk to you." Caitlin replied.

"Martin?" Clarissa wondered. Ronnie/Martin turned around and looked at her. "Do you know who I am?"

"Clarissa." Martin/Ronnie answers.

"Is it really you?" Clarissa asks.

"I don't know." Martin/Ronnie admits. "I hear the other inside of me. He wants to go home to her. But we can't. I want to be me again."

"Martin... What's my favourite colour?" Clarissa questioned.

"You could... you could never decide, so you chose stripes." Martin/Ronnie answered and Clarissa gasps as tears fall down her cheeks and she tries to reach out to him. "You shouldn't see me like this."

"I see you." Clarissa smiles. "I see you, Martin. These people can help you. They say they can. Please let them."

Ronnie/Martin looks over to them. "Please... Help us." They beg.

Later at STAR LAbs. "Well, we got him. Them. Now what?" Barry wondered.

"Well, Stein clearly thinks he can separate himself from Ronnie's body using nuclear fission." Wells answered.

"What do you think?" Caitlin asked.

"What do I think?" Wells questioned. "Is it possible? Theoretically. But splitting an atom and splitting a man are two very different things."

Then Ronnie/Martin walked into the room, he was all cleaned up and had a hair cut and everyone stared at him. "I don't suppose it's necessary to point out you're all staring?" He said and everyone looked away.

"Our apologies." Wells replied.

"It is remarkable." Martin/Ronnie admitted. "I feel clearer than I have since the accident. What did you give me?"

"A cocktail of anti-psychotics, depressants, and mood stabilisers." Wells tells him.

"The same formula used to treat dissociative identity disorders." Ronnie/Martin said and Atachco nodded. "I assume this was your idea? Very clever, Cait."

"Don't call me that. Please." Caitlin said.

"I apologise." Ronnie/Martin replied.

"We'd like to run some tests on you, if you don't mind." Caitlin informed him.

"Of course, Dr. Snow." Martin/Ronnie told her.

Later, Cisco and Joe were in Barry and CyAmze's lab at the Central CIty Police Station. "Yes, yes, yes!" Cisco cheered as he looked at the results of the analysis of the blood sample. "See? We got two different blood samples."

"One for each speedster." Joe said.

"That's right." Cisco agreed. "One is A-positive, and the other one's AB-negative... super rare. I'm gonna run them both through the CCPD criminal database to see if I get any matches." Cisco then walked over to a computer.

"Can you run them against a specific person?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, sure, if we have something to match it to. Who are we looking at?" Cisco wondered.

"Dr. Harrison Wells." Joe answered.

Cisco stopped typing and looked up at Joe. "I thought we were trying to solve Barry's mum's murder."

"We are." Joe replied. "And I'm asking you to keep this between us."

"You think Dr. Wells killed Barry's mom? No way. He didn't even know Barry then. Why would he kill his mom?" Cisco questioned.

"I don't know yet." Joe admitted. "But I do know that Wells keeps secrets. And this may be one of them."

"Dr. Wells is a great man." Cisco reminds him. "I was nothing when he gave me a job, a chance to change my life. He has helped so many people. He's not a murderer."

"Cisco, I'm a cop." Joe argued. "I'm good at reading people, so I know I can trust you with my suspicion. When I go talk to the family and friends of a murder suspect, somebody I know is guilty, and I tell them the person they love is a killer, guess what they all say. That's not the person I know."

"I think I'm done being a cop for today." Cisco replies as he grabs his jacket and leaves.

Back at STAR Labs, Caitlin was running some tests on Ronnie/Martin. "Are you comfortable?" Caitlin asked them.

"A little warm." Martin/Ronnie confesses.

"Ronnie used to always run warm." Caitlin admits as she looks at the computer screen and sees that his temperature is 108.6, she then turns back to him. "Not that warm. Can I talk to him?"

"I'm sorry, my dear." Martin/Ronnie apologises. "I'm not sure it works like that. I can feel him though. I have these memories. Memories that I know aren't my own. One is particularly strong. Piedmont State Park? It's famous for the Hudson Falls. I know that I've never been, but I can remember those waterfalls perfectly."

"That's where Ronnie proposed to me." Caitlin smiles.

"He loves you very much. That I can feel." Martin/Ronnie tells her.

"Dr. Snow, can we see you for a minute?" Wells calls over the intercom.

"Excuse me." Caitlin said and then she walked out of the room and she met up with Atchaco.

"You okay?" Atchaco wondered.

"Yeah, it's just confusing." Caitlin answered.

"What isn't confusing is what's happening to him now." Wells replies. "Ronnie's body is rejecting Stein's atoms like a host rejecting a parasite. The resulting instability is causing an exothermic reaction. I worry if his temperature continues to rise, it'll set off a chain reaction."

"And then what happens?" Barry asked.

"He could go nuclear." Wells informs them.

Later, Cisco returns to the lab and runs into Ronnie/Martin. "Ronnie. Not Ronnie." Cisco corrects himself.

"Martin Stein." Martin/Ronnie introduces themself as he shakes Cisco's hand.

"Cisco Ramon." Cisco returned.

"Your colleagues are in the next room, not so subtly discussing my condition." Martin/Ronnie admits.

Then Cisco walks into the next room where the others are. "That's not freaky at all." Cisco confesses.

"It seems Ronnie's fight with The Flash has exacerbated the Firestorm Matrix. It's unstable. Exponentially increasing the rate of fission inside his body." Wells explains as he wheels out of the room and the others follow him.

"Well, how long does he have?" Caitlin asked.

"If his temperature keeps rising at the current pace, no more than a couple of hours." Wells answered.

"But you can fix it, right? I mean, you... you can separate them before it's too late." Atchaco wondered.

"Any attempt we make to separate the two of them could be catastrophic... a nuclear explosion. And a nuclear explosion of this magnitude would level this entire city. Unless…" Wells suddenly stops talking.

"Unless what?" Barry questioned.

"Unless the host body was no longer functional." Wells realises.

"You want to kill Ronnie?" Caitlin gasped.

"No, I don't want to kill Ronnie. But in this scenario, Ronnie is the host body." Wells reminds her.

"If you kill Ronnie, you kill Stein. That's two people." Cisco points out.

"I don't know how else to stop it." Wells admits. "And my guess is that if Ronnie and Professor Stein knew the consequences that we were all facing, they would make the same decision. It's two lives for millions."

"Can you give us a minute?" Caitlin said, turning to Cisco.

"Caitlin…" Wells tries to say after Cisco had walked out of the room.

"I've already lost Ronnie once." Caitlin reminds him. "I'm not going to do it again. You said we have a couple of hours. Use them."

Minutes later, Wells wheels into the hallway where Cisco was standing and waiting for him. "Dr. Wells, you don't really think we should kill Ronnie, do you?" Cisco wondered.

"Stay here, Cisco." Wells answered as he wheels away.

In the medbay, Atchaco and Barry went to check up on Ronnie/Martin. "Hey. Sorry. Um, can I get you anything or…" Atchaco mumbled.

"A glass of Château Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan 1982 might be nice." Martin/Ronnie admitted. "Or maybe it wouldn't. This body's taste buds would obviously be different from my own. Perhaps I'm now a light beer man."

"There are worse things to be." Barry tells him.

"You mean like a living nuclear bomb?" Martin/Ronnie questioned.

"You know." Atchaco sighed.

"Unstable nuclear fission was always a danger in the transmutation process. Plus, you all argue very loudly." Martin/Ronnie confessed.

"We're sorry." Barry apologised. "But our friends are gonna figure out how to fix this, I promise."

"I remember meeting you, Mr. Allen, on the train." Martin/Ronnie tells him. "You were headed to S.T.A.R. Labs with a girl but not your girlfriend, is this the girl?"

"She is." Barry answered.

"We're also together now." Atchaco smiles. "Of course with all that is going on we haven't really had the time to get through a whole date yet."

"You know, Einstein was not only brilliant, he had a great sense of humour." Martin/Ronnie replied. "How did it go? 'Any man who drives safely while kissing a pretty girl is not giving the pretty girl the attention she deserves.' If I learned anything this past year, life's too short not to live.

Minutes later, Barry takes Atchaco to a park. "Barry, what are we doing here?" Atchaco questioned. "You know we should be at STAR Labs right now.

"There is something I need to do." Barry answered. "Wait here." Then Barry zooms away and seconds later he is back in front of Atchaco, this time he is holding a pepper in his hand.

"Why are you holding that?" Atchaco asked, pointing to the pepper.

"This is the Naga Jolokia or the ghost pepper." Barry explained. "It is the world's hottest pepper measuring 401.5 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. If you do not agree to go on another date with me, a full date with no interruptions of any kind, I will eat it right here, right now."

"Barry, you do not have to do that." Atchaco tells him.

"Yes I do." Barry replied. "Because I want to prove to you that no matter what happens, we will always make time to be together." Barry then goes to take a bite out of the pepper.

"Barry, don't…" Atchaco tries to say but it is too late, Barry has already taken a bite out of the pepper. Soon, Barry looked like he was starting to sweat. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, yeah." Barry answered.

"You sure?" Atchaco asked.

"Mm-hmm. Mm!" Barry mumbled as he started spitting out the pepper, or at least what was left of it.

"Oh my god." Atchaco suddenly says before she zooms away and then returns seconds later with a carton of milk and quickly hands it to him. And Barry starts drinking the milk really fast. "That pepper could have killed you. Are you crazy?"

"Yeah." He coughs. "Crazy about you."

Atchaco shakes her head slightly. "You are such a risk taker, you know that?" Atchaco wondered. "Also yes, of course I'll go on another date with you, my spice champion of Central City."

Later, Wells is in his secret room and he pulls out a gun from a hidden compartment near his Reverse Flash suit. "A crude weapon, if I may say so, Dr. Wells." Gideon tells him.

"I couldn't agree more, Gideon. But it will do the job." Wells reminds her as he rubbed the back of his head, thinking about something. "Gideon, can the Tachyon Prototype be converted into a Quantum Splicer?"

"Theoretically, but I must warn you, Dr. Wells, converting the Tachyon Prototype will delay your timetable." Gideon informs him.

"There's not going to be a timetable if Central City goes up in a mushroom cloud." Wells replies.

"Hey. Anything?" Barry asked as he and Atchaco walked into the Cortex.

"I have an idea." Wells said. "It's a bit of a Hail Mary, but Cisco and I are going to give it a try."

"Thank you." Caitlin smiled.

"I'll get Professor Stein." Atchaco said.

"Looking for the professor?" Cisco asked as he walked in. "Yeah, he's gone."

A few minutes later, Barry and Macanese were standing behind Cisco and Wells as they were working on the device to help Ronnie and Martin. "You guys almost done?" Barry wondered.

"Hang on. Hang on." Cisco answered

"I found Stein." Caitlin admits as she walks into the Cortex. "He's in the Badlands. Middle of nowhere, 30 miles outside of Central City."

"Minimum safe distance." Cisco pointed out.

"He's sacrificing himself." Wells realised.

"How much time does he have left?" Macanese asked.

"12 minutes." Cisco informs them.

"And... We're done." Wells smiles.

"What is it?" Barry questions.

"This is a Quantum Splicer." Wells tells them.

"Will it work to separate them?" Caitlin asked.

"We'll know in 12 minutes." Wells answered as he held it up. "Now, Barry, Macanese, even you both can't outrun a nuclear blast, or in Macanese's case, can't be completely protected from one, so you get this device to Professor Stein, and you get out of there as fast as you can.

"What are you doing?" Macanese asks as Caitlin takes the Quantum Splicer from Wells and starts walking towards them.

"I'm going with you guys." Caitlin admitted as she went to grab her coat.

"No, you're not." Barry replied.

"It's too dangerous!" Wells said.

"Barry and Macanese don't know how to operate the splicer." Caitlin argued.

"Cisco's gonna talk us through it." Macanese tells her.

"There's not enough time. Let's go." Caitlin reminded them.

"Go!" Wells sighs.

Then Barry picks up Caitlin and they all zoom out of the lab. Soon after they had left, one of the computers started to beep. When Cisco checks it out his face widens. "What was that?" Wells asks.

"Uh, comm system's on the fritz. I'll be right back." Cisco tells him.

Once in the elevators, Cisco wastes no time in phoning Joe. "Cisco." Joe greeted him.

"I'm not proud of it, but I ran the samples. One wasn't identified, and the other had a match." Cisco informed him.

"Cisco, you're hesitating. Was it Wells?" Joe wonders.

"I told you, he has nothing to do with this." Cisco replied. "But I know whose blood it is. It's Barry's."

"We already know Barry was there that night." Joe reminded him.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." Cisco answered. "You don't understand. The sample had high levels of P16. That's a protein that builds up in the blood as we get older. And these levels were way too high for an 11-year-old. This sample was from Barry as an adult."

In the middle of nowhere, Ronnie/Martin was standing there with a gun tight in his grasp. As Macanese, Barry and Caitlin arrive he places the gun against his head. "Professor Stein!" Barry yelled.

"What are you doing here? You can't be here! Get her out of here now!" Martin/Ronnie shouted back.

"Please, look, Ronnie's still in there somewhere." Caitlin called as she walked over to him.

"All those people... Clarissa... I won't let them die! It's better I end this now." Martin/Ronnie replied as he put the gun back to his head.

"We can separate you! We can stop the explosion." Macanese informed them.

"How?" Martin/Ronnie asked.

"A Quantum Splicer." Caitlin answered. "It's a fission device designed to bombard your atoms with as much energy as they experienced in the particle accelerator explosion. It should be enough to separate you. Please, Professor, you have nothing left to lose." She stops talking momentarily. "Ronnie, if you're in there, I love you."

Then Ronnie/Martin looks at Caitlin with watery eyes before leaning in and kissing her. "That was from him." Martin/Ronnie told her.

"I look forward to meeting you in person, Professor." Caitlin tells him. Caitlin stood back as she turned it on, but suddenly Ronnie/Martin lit up on fire. "It's not working!"

Back with Wells and Cisco, they looked at each other with dread written on their faces. "He's not gonna make it. He's gonna blow." Cisco worried.

"Get out of there. Barry, get out of there now!" Wells called.

Back with the others, Caitlin was screaming as she tried to stay with Ronnie/Martin. "No! No!" Caitlin shouts as she fights Barry's grasp, to the extent that Macanese ends up holding her.

"Caitlin, we have to go." Barry reminded her.

"Run!" Martin/Ronnie yelled as they burst into flames.

"No!" Caitlin screamed as Barry picked her up and ran off, Macanese running just behind them. They ran as fast as they could before Ronnie/Martin exploded, and as they were running, Ronnie/Martin finally exploded.

At an army base, more importantly one belonging to Eiling, they were notified of the explosion happening. "Sir, we have a thermonuclear detonation approximately 30 miles northeast of Central City." A soldier told him.

"Deploy the RAP response team, Sergeant." Eiling ordered. "Bring me Firestorm."