Iris sat quietly at the outdoor café waiting for Barry. He was late. For anyone else, this would have been merely a minor annoyance, but Iris prided herself on speed and impatience. It was what made her a good reporter; why she was the only person in the city to be able to get a decent story on the Red Blur. She tapped her foot under the table as she sipped her coffee, eyes darting back and forth for a sign of her date. She waited a while longer, then called his phone. He didn't answer. Finally, she grabbed her purse and started to get up.
"Leaving already?"
Iris looked up across the table and saw Barry sitting there. Iris did a double-take. She could swear he wasn't anywhere in sight two seconds ago.
"You're late."
Barry checked his watch. "I'm exactly... two minutes and two seconds late. So... I'm sorry?"
Iris frowned a little and checked her own watch. Had it really been only two minutes? It had.
"Huh," she said, sitting back down. "Felt like longer."
"Tell you what," Barry said, "I'll make it up to you. You're probably almost done with that, right?"
Iris looked into her cup. Sure enough, she'd nearly finished the entire thing in those two minutes. She wondered if she could be classified as a drug addict.
Barry got up. "A triple-shot house blend, right?"
Iris lightly smiled and nodded. Barry was a little dorky, being a science geek and all, but he was sweet. And pretty hot. But that wasn't for him to know.
Iris's phone buzzed. She looked at the screen. "Rudy West." Iris rolled her eyes. It was her older brother's phone number, but it was almost certainly not him calling. It had to be Wally, Rudy's five-year-old boy. Iris loved her little nephew, honestly, but he did get a little bit annoying at times with the way he always followed her around and asked her questions about the Red Blur.
Iris sighed and answered the phone.
"IRIS!" a tiny voice yelled from across the line. "THE RED BLUR JUST STOPPED A BAD GUY AT THE BANK!"
Iris shot up from her chair, purse in hand. "Which bank?!"
Barry walked out of the café, steaming new coffee in-hand.
"Sorry Barry, I've gotta run!" Iris said quickly, running off.
Barry stood in place, awkwardly unsure of what to do.
Iris suddenly appeared at his side again, gently lifting the coffee out of his hand.
"Thanks! I'll, um... see you later."
And she was gone again.
Iris felt a little bad about ditching Barry, but work always came first for her. Besides, it wasn't like Barry was her boyfriend or anything. They'd just gone out a few times.
Barry's phone rang; he answered it.
"Mr. Forrest?"
"Barry. I'm on my way to a crime scene."
"The one at Ducard National Bank? Sure; I'll be there."
"No, not that one. Apparently that was a decoy robbery; another quieter theft happened over at Elias Labs."
Barry stood in silence for a few seconds. It was a decoy? It seemed real enough. Was it there to distract the police, or to distract him?
"Barry?"
"Sorry, Mr. Forrest. I'll be right there."
"What was taken, specifically?" Detective Curtis asked.
"Just one thing, oddly enough," the doctor replied. "An absolute zero module."
"A what?"
Barry's eyes widened. "You finally completed work on it?"
Barry had been standing quietly out of the way and doing nothing but observing until now. Curtis liked it that way. But Barry was very familiar with the work of Dr. Darwin Elias, and couldn't stop himself from excitedly opening his mouth.
Dr. Elias smiled. "A fan, eh? Yeah. I finished it. I hadn't announced that I was done; only my assistants actually knew it was completed."
Curtis wasn't happy with being left out of the loop. "What exactly is this..."
"Absolute zero module," Elias said. "It's a small metal device, around three inches long and two inches wide. Roughly shaped like an oblong sphere, with angular sides. When it's activated, the sides of it glow blue."
Curtis nearly rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but what does it do?"
"With nothing more than the simplest electrical current flowing through it, the module creates an internal temperature of absolute zero. There is literally no way to make anything any colder than that."
"And that would be useful to a criminal because...?"
Elias shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe to sell it? The tech could fetch a price of millions if sold to the right foreign country or organization."
"Gotcha. Okay, so which one of your assistants would you say most likely did it?"
"Oh, none of them!"
Curtis rolled his eyes. "Really, doctor..."
"No, honestly! I only hired people I knew I could trust. All of them truly love science. Their motives in being here are purely altruistic. I'm sure of it."
"But you said no one other than them even knew the module was done."
"Yes... I don't know how anyone else would have known."
Barry looked around. Since being given the Speed Force, he'd had to hone his observational skills. Too many instances of tripping and hitting walls otherwise. Barry glanced around the room, taking in every detail. Something caught his eye.
"Dr. Elias," he said, "what about the janitorial staff?"
Elias slapped his forehead. "Of course. We tend to forget they're there; we're so focused on work, you see. But yes, now that you mention it, I don't recall seeing the normal morning janitor today."
"Do you know his name?" Curtis asked.
Elias thought for a moment. "...Leonard. That's the name on his tag. I can find you his records."
As soon as Leonard Snart's information was given to the police, Barry took off. In case Snart was dangerous, there was no reason for the police to put themselves at risk. Barry zipped up his jacket and pulled on a mask made of the same slick red material. The mask was more of a cowl, actually, covering everything but his mouth, nose, and eyes.
Just as Barry was about to run, his phone rang. It was Iris.
"Hey! Barry!" Iris said as soon as Barry clicked the answer button. "Is there any chance you coud give me the exclusive on the perp behind the Elias Labs robbery?"
Barry really did not want to tell her, but it'd be easier just to give her what she wanted and get on his way. "The suspect's name is Leonard Snart. He's a janitor at the lab. The police are on their way to his place now."
Barry and Iris said their goodbyes then hung up. Barry took a deep breath then started sprinting towards the opposite side of town.
Barry reached Snart's apartment and knocked. There was no answer. Barry slammed a super-speed fist down onto the doorknob and it broke apart. Barry rubbed his sore hand, then slowly pushed the door open.
It was dark; every curtain was pulled shut and every blind closed. On the kitchen table, a layer of frost covered a collection of various metal parts and tools. Snart had clearly toyed with and activated the module, but it was nowhere to be found.
"Looking for this?"
Barry spun around to see the voice behind him. Snart, dressed in a full hooded parka, stood with a strange gun pointed at Barry's head. Snart pulled the trigger, and Barry felt a wave of cold nothingness wash over him. The water in the air crystalized in front of his eyes, turning thick and solid. Barry quickly realized that he couldn't move. In a mere few seconds, Barry was completely encased in a gigantic chunk of ice, a look of pale lifelessness on his face.
