Hurts Like Heaven

Chapter 17 - Mystic Rhythms Capture My Thoughts

***BARRY***

"HI FLASH. MISS ME HONEY?"

No way is that message from who I think it is. I thought her version on this Earth wasn't a bad guy anymore. And how many infinite variations who had never gone even semi-good wound up meeting their deaths that day in the stadium. Back when Peter, Gwen, Grayson, and Olivia were in town. How could I forget working with all those ass-kickers? They were awe and some, as that Mon-El dude might have said. I swear I heard him say that at least once.

Not so awe and some, though? Lisa Snart. She was never very fun to have around. And I can't say whether or not this is the real deal who sent me this stealth letter, or another one of those many other incarnations of her we've met before. I thought we were all done with them, though. Those Swiss-cheese holes in space and time - tears I made, I'll freely admit, as usually happens when an unstoppable speedster force collides with an immovable black hole object.

I can't even say for certain it is Lisa, not when there's no signature of any kind. But who else would steal pricey, beautiful art and leave a calling card with a pet name for me? Of all the assorted attracted-to-guys types who've ever been in my life, Lisa's the only one who fits the bill. The only one who's not at all vanilla, if you know what I mean. Maybe her brother too. I've always gotten a bi vibe off him. Maybe pan.

"What's up, Bar?" Joe snaps me out of my thoughts, and, no shit, he's eating a carrot. A baby carrot, to be fair, but it's like he wants to make me laugh with all my old childhood memories of Saturday morning cartoons. I'm pretty sure I was part of the last generation to get to see old Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network, a tradition that Iris had with Joe too when she and I were kids.

I show him the letter in its bag. "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" he repeats. "I can barely see it."

Huh, so he can't. I've got the text facing away from him. No longer, though. I turn it around so he can see the block letters written on the paper. "What do you think?" I ask again. "I bet it's Lisa Snart."

Joe nods once. "I wouldn't disagree. But when was the last time we saw her again?"

"Can't say, exactly." I pocket the baggied-up letter. "I could try and reach out, but knowing the Snarts, they'll reach out to us, not the other way around."

"I wouldn't wait for them," says Joe. "If you got any underground connections, now's the time to use 'em." He waits until we're out the door to ask, "So did I see you run into your ex just now?"

Crap, he knows. "Uh..."

"Not the first time a man's met his former lover in a public and/or professional setting," Joe says with a knowing smile. "Always awkward, ain't it?"

"Not that much," I insist. "I mean, I'm moved on, I'm with someone else, someone better...and so is she. Right?"

Joe laughs lightly. "You don't know that."

"I don't," I concede, "and that's what kinda makes it awkward."

"Makes sense given the size of your heart."

"Uh...thanks?"

"Bar. That's a compliment."

"I know, but still..." I'm blushing so hard, my face is probably matching the color of my Flash suit right about now. Hoping to clear that blush away, I clear my throat and change the subject. "So. Lisa. I think I'm gonna try and track her down."

"You go do that, Bar," Joe says. "And don't let me catch you doing anything illegal to get the job done."

"You usually don't," I say with a wink.