"I hope it's not too sweet." The woman pours us lemonade once we sat down with Devoe and his wife.

Barry takes a small sip, as do I, I let out a small hum, as Barry speaks "This is amazing."

"Just like my wife." Devoe admires, "Somehow she finds time to take care of me and still keep an immaculate household. And her three-cheese macaroni? Second to none! Sometimes I think I'm the luckiest man alive."

"I could say the same." Barry folds his hands together.

"I've been wondering who the lucky man was." The woman looks at me, her eyes darting to my ring, her accent thick, looking at Barry, "It's you, isn't it?"

"Yeah-" Barry says, his voice dangerously low, as if he was hesitant to give up information, "This is my fiancée."

"Anyway, back to what we came here for-" I sat up, "We would like to ask you a few questions."

"How can I help?" Clifford Devoe questions.

"The name Devoe came up in an investigation of ours-" I began.

The woman cuts me off, "Why him? Devoe's a common name."

"Yes, I'd wager at least 1,100 individuals give or take a few with that last name in the Central City area alone." Devoe spoke.

"The name's been identified for its connection to four separate criminal cases." I told him, keeping my posture straight.

"So you think my husband is a witness to these crimes?" The woman asks, looking at us.

"No, we'd like to eliminate him as a suspect." Barry informs her.

"You can't be serious." The woman stares at us.

"That's all right, Marlize." Devoe holds her hand, revealing her name, "Do go ahead."

"So, Professor, what brought you to Central City?" I grab my notepad and pen, ready to jot down whatever he was going to say.

"I grew up in South Africa." Devoe began, "After studying history and econometrics at the University of Johannesburg, I took a teaching position at Oxford. That's where we met."

Marlize hums. "He swept me off my feet and we have been together ever since."

"It did take a tenured offer from Central City University to lure me away from the Oxford faculty.

That was four years ago." Devoe told us.

"Next question, do you know Ramsey Deacon?" I hand him a picture of Ramsey.

"No, should I?" Devoe looks at me after his eyes scanned the picture.

"What about Becky Sharpe?" Barry hands him a picture of Becky.

"No, I'm afraid not." Devoe shook his head.

"Ralph Dibny? Mina Chaytan?" Barry handed him the pictures.

"Mina Chaytan." Devoe stared at her picture, "Now, that name's familiar."

"Isn't this the Native American woman that left abruptly?" Marlize asked her husband, "You know, the anthropologist?"

"Yes, I remember." He nods, "I was so sad to see her go."

"So, you were colleagues." I nod, "Did she mention her work?"

"No, no, no." Devoe shook his head, "Mina was an animated woman. Then again, people like us who see education as a calling, we often are."

"That painting-" Barry points out, catching all of our attention, "Uh, it's beautiful."

"The samurai. They were formidable foes. They'd often make unstoppable enemies to their opponents. You wouldn't want to cross one." Devoe looks back at us. "The feudal history of medieval Japan is one of my areas of expertise."

"Then you must speak the language?" I look at him, leaning forward, resting my elbows on my knees.

"Hai, watashi wa gakumon-kaide shika shiyo shite imasen." Devoe spoke out in Japanese, catching me slightly off guard.

"He also speaks French, Italian, Mandarin, and several other languages." Marlize boasts.

"Here's the thing, here's the thing." Devoe points, "I love teaching. It gives me the opportunity to broaden perspectives. But you can't just inspire people to be better. You somehow need to change the way people think."

"Clifford!" Marlize stops him, "My husband is very passionate, but he also needs his rest. Is there anything else we can do to help?"

"No, we're good- thank you. If we have any more questions, we'll get in contact." I got up, as did Barry. Barry and I slowly walk towards the front door, Devoe calling out to us, "You know where to find me."

Barry and I leave the house, walking down the path and out the gates, Harry Wells running towards us, "Well? Is it him?"

-

"I don't know, Barry." Joe spoke, "This shy college professor who likes mac 'n' cheese doesn't exactly seem like a criminal mastermind to me."

"I mean, come on." Barry reasons, "It wouldn't be the first time somebody played nice and then turned out to be our bad guy. The Council of Wells gave us his name for a reason."

"Well- if that was an entire act it was a pretty damn good one. They had me convinced." I mutter, crossing my arms.

"He gave us one name out of- 1,100." Iris spoke.

"1,122 to be precise." Harry gets specific.

"He was off by 22." Barry says, "I mean, isn't that a little suspicious?"

"Not if he Googled himself." Cisco exclaims.

"I'm just saying there's something weird about this guy." Barry defends himself, "He likes samurai!"

"Who doesn't?" Cisco asks, "Have you seen "Zatoichi", or "The Blind Swordsman?" Best Criterion Collection. Great box set. Ever."

"Okay, guys." Barry began, "Think about this: If the Council's right, that means Devoe arranged for me to come out of the Speed Force exactly where he wanted. Even you couldn't do that."

"You have a point." Cisco nods.

"Okay, let's cover all our bases." Caitlin told us.

"Okay, Cisco, Harry, you guys want to see what kind of digital footprint you can get on this guy?" I point at them as they nod, leaving the cortex, "Caitlin, you've got friends at CCU, right? Let's see what kind of person we're dealing with."

"Will do." Caitlin smiles, leaving the cortex.

I point at Joe and Iris. "CCPD background check?"

"On it, sweet one." Joe says, as Iris shot me a smile, them leaving also, leaving Barry and I alone.

I walk over to Barry, placing my hands on his chest, "Now. are you all right?"

"Yeah, but thank you for asking." Barry wraps his arms around me, pulling me close.

"Hey-" I place my hands on his shoulders, "We make a pretty good team, ya know? I mean- Star Labs- CCPD- and even at home."

"We're a great duo." Barry pecks my lips.

"We're great coworkers." I shrug.

"Oh yeah?" Barry smiles down lightly at me, "I get to marry the coworker of my dreams a week from now."

"Hell yeah, you do-" I lightly hit his shoulder in excitement, "I mean- we got a venue- invitations are out- I have maid of honor and best woman picked- we got this in the bag."

"Yeah-" Barry admires, "I'm going to finally marry you."

"Guess what else I have?" I look up at him.

"What else do you have, Zee?" Barry asks, admiring my excitement, a smile on his face.

"My wedding dress." I break out into a bubbly smile, "Iris, Caitlin, Cecile and I went shopping for one a while ago."

"I'm sure you'll look absolutely stunning in it." Barry wraps his arms around me tighter, "You know sometimes I feel like I'm the luckiest man alive."

"Why's that?" I question, looking up at him.

"Because I have you." The corners of my mouth turning up at his words, as he presses his lips into mine.

-

"So this is an example of meta-DNA." Caitlin points, "This is the DNA you brought me from Devoe. It's completely normal. Do you see all the differences? Clifford Devoe is not a meta." Caitlin points out.

"Did you guys find anything?" I ask Harry and Cisco.

"Well, he's never been arrested, he pays all his taxes and his mortgage. He has a very reasonable 401k plan." Cisco began.

"Donates to the Sierra Club, volunteers at an orphanage as a big brother." Harry finished.

"Dad and I didn't find anything either." Iris spoke, "Says that he's an upstanding member of the community."

"Yeah, I talked to some friends at Oxford." Caitlin said, "They said Devoe's a little absentminded, but everybody likes him."

"Guys, I'm telling you." Barry looks at us, "Clifford Devoe is not what he seems."

"That could just be the wheelchair." Cisco reasons, "You do kind of have a bad history."

"Come on. He's just too perfect. Okay? I just I have a strong feeling that he's hiding something." Barry stays convinced, "You don't believe me."

"Barry- that isn't it." I shook my head, "Devoe seems like a good guy. Everything we've dug up- it doesn't give us anything to go off on."

"Guys, it's him." Barry exclaims.

"I thought we were done just assuming people are villains." Caitlin stares at him.

"All right, you know what? Vibe it." Barry grabs the mug he had stolen off Clifford's desk, and hands it to Cisco.

Cisco nods, touching it, having his vibe, then looking at Barry, "Oh, my God. You were right. That mac 'n' cheese looks unbelievable."

"See? That doesn't sound very villainous, does it?" Caitlin follows up.

"Barry, let's talk." I catch his wrist, pulling him out to the hall with me, as I turn and look at him,"What's up with you?"

"My Spidey sense is just tingling way off the charts." Barry told me, keeping eye contact with me, showing me that he was completely convinced that this was the bad guy.

The comment earns a giggle from me, as I put a strand of my hair behind my ear, "Barry- why are you so sure?"

"I just told you." Barry shoves his hands in his pockets, "My Spidey sense is tingling way off the charts."

I let out a laugh again, trying to contain it, running a hand through my hair, "No- stop that. I- uhm- you're not acting the way that you normally do."

"Look, Savitar and Kadabra warned us about someone named Devoe. This Devoe guy could be behind everything. The bus metas, me coming out of the Speed Force at the wrong place, the Samuroid!" Barry spoke, grabbing my hands, trying so hard to convince me he was right.

"Barry- I think that you were so determined to find the bad guy and get ahead of everything that you're seeing things exactly the way you want to see them." I exhale, "I mean- it's fully consuming you."

"No." Barry denied, shaking his head, "I- maybe, I don't-"

"Barry-" I plead, holding his hands, "I'm just kind of afraid that you'll be so consumed that on our wedding day- it'll be like you're not even there."

"No- hey-" Barry wraps my arms around his neck, pulling me into him, "That's not going to happen, okay? I will always be 100% with you- whether it's on our wedding day- or when we're having a talk like this. Don't think that way, okay?"

"Okay." I simply say, taking his word for it, nodding lightly.

-

"What's this?" Barry walks into Singh's office, being greeted by Marlize and Clifford Devoe, seated in the only other two chairs. I was stood by Captain Singh's desk as he was seated in his chair.

"Close the door, please." Captain Singh nods towards Barry, as Barry nods, closing the door, "Continue, Professor."

"First my home, then my classroom." Devoe spoke, his voice weak, "What's next? Our bedroom where we sleep?"

"Zee and I just went on behalf of the Central City Police Department-" Barry starts to argue, not letting Devoe pin this all of the two of us.

Captain Singh cuts him off, "I'd like to extend our sincerest apologies for this intrusion. Mr. Allen?"

"Um, yeah." Barry clears his throat, "I'm sorry for disturbing you, Mr. Devoe."

"Professor DeVoe." Marlize corrects him sharply, causing me to slightly roll my eyes at her.

"Thank you for coming in." Singh thanks them, as they leave, closing the door.

"What the hell were they doing here?" Barry instantly asks once they were out the room and the door was shut.

"They just filed a complaint against you." Captain sighed, dropping the file folder on his desk, "Said you harassed them."

"No, I wasn't harassing them." Barry immediately denied.

"Why are you bothering them at all?" Captain Singh questions.

"It's a case we're working on." I simply spoke, "It's uhm-"

"Do me a favor." Captain Singh cuts me off, "Stay away from the nice professor and his wife."

"Captain, Devoe seems very-" Barry starts.

Captain Singh cuts him off as well, "Very what? And unless the answer is guilty of a very specific crime, you are way off base."

"So are you, Zee." Singh looks at me, "You should know better than that. You don't show up at someone's house and start asking questions. You follow protocol. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Captain." I mumble, clearing my throat.

Eventually, he lets off of the hook, Barry immediately heading towards his office, as I went over to my desk. I stay down, skimming through a few cases for a few hours, before getting up, leaving, grabbing some Big Belly Burger, then returning and slowly making my way up to Barry's Lab, knocking on the door.

I knock on the door, "Rescue team has arrived."

Barry uses his speed to cover the board by pulling down the map, sitting at his desk, papers flying everywhere, "Whoa!" Barry clears his throat, rearranging the papers, "Hey! Hi."

"You've been having a bad day today-" I slowly walk over to his desk, "So- Big Belly Burger and I are here to rescue you and make it better."

"What? No, I'm fine. I'm great, actually." Barry gathers papers, smiling up at me, "How are you doing?"

"Do you really think I didn't see that you're trying to hide something behind that map?" I set down the bag, pointing at the board.

"What? What're you-" Barry starts to say, but his voices fade when he covers his mouth, once I pull the map down, it rolling up, revealing the completely board Barry had made, something similar to what he had made for his mother's case five years ago.

"Barry-" I quietly trail off, my eyes scanning over the board, a sigh leaving my lips.

"His wife, Zee, she's helping him. No, listen!" Barry catches my attention, getting up, walking over to me, gesturing towards the board, "Okay, look, she's not Suzy Homemaker with her perfect mac 'n' cheese. She is a Stepford wife. She's got two doctorates, you know? One in mechanical engineering and another in advanced robotics. That's how they work! He comes up with the plans, but she executes them. She's some kind of mechanical genius."

"So you think that Devoe and his wife are supervillains?" I repeat a shorter version of what he just told me.

"Yes." Barry exhales, letting out a distressed laugh after his simple answer.

"Barry-" I blink long and hard, my head tilted down, my hands on my hips.

"What?" Barry asks.

"Devoe has already filed a complaint against you-" I look up at him, "I know, I can see that you're so convinced about this."

"I am- because it's true, Zee. He has to be hiding something-" Barry told me.

I cut him off, placing my hands on his chest, "I believe you, okay? I'm always on your side. I believe- all of this crazy- super villain duo stuff you're telling me. You don't have to convince me. Just- I just want you to let it go for a little right now, okay? Because eventually- at this rate- if you pull something else- you can get arrested- or even lose your job."

"Okay." Barry lightly nods, exhaling.

"Good-" I swipe a fry from the Big Belly Burger bag, placing it into his mouth, "Now let the food save you from the bad day you've had so far."

-

"Guys, I found a camera in the Samuroid head." Barry walks into Star Labs, holding a small camera in his hands.

"Where did it lead back to?" I question, crossing my arms.

"Where do you think?" Barry hands Cisco the camera.

"Devoe." Harry answers, "So you pinged the camera to his computer's IP address? Good."

"Well, no, I- I didn't ping it." Barry admits.

"Well then, how'd you figure out it was him?" I question, looking at him, confusion and suspicion falling over my features.

"This camera isn't even active." Cisco stood up.

"No, I heard it." Barry looks at him, "It was making a noise."

"A noise?" Harry repeats.

"Yeah." Barry nods, "Inside the Samuroid head, it was buzzing, and then I found that thing inside! He's been watching us for weeks, and I could've proved it, but his wife came back too soon."

"Too soon? From where?" Iris questions.

"I don't-" Barry starts.

I cut him off, taking a step closer to him, my eyes wide as I stared at him, "Barry, do not tell me you broke into their house."

"Well-" Barry starts.

"Wow- okay." Cisco puts his head in his hands.

"Okay, guys, that sounds bad, you have to listen to me, this guy wants us to think he's unassuming and weak, but he's not, he is powerful and smart. And he's been ahead of us every step of the way." Barry tried so hard to get his point across, "He's ahead of us right now."

"Easy, Allen." Harry stops him, "Calm down."

"I'm fine." Barry shook his head, "I'm fine."

Cisco caught his attention, "Hey, hey, we just don't want you to do anything else you regret."

"Anything else? What do you mean? What have I done?" Barry questions, not seeing what he has done wrong.

"For starters, breaking and entering." Caitlin said, as we were all now standing in front of him.

"Oh my God, I don't understand why you don't see what's going on!" Barry raises his voice lightly, running his hands through his hair stressfully, "He probably has cameras everywhere. At the lab, at CCPD, I mean he's always watching us!"

Barry's phone buzzes, cutting him off, as he sighs, answering it, "Hey Joe, what is it?"

-

I drop my jacket onto the couch once I walked into our loft, my eyes landing on Barry, who was seated in a chair, looking out the window, holding a beer.

My hands slowly grab the papers that were on the dinner table, my eyes scanning the document, "A restraining order."

"I have to stay 500 feet away from Clifford Devoe." Barry sighs, setting down his beer. "And to make things better- I've been suspended for two weeks."

"You've been suspended?" I drop the papers, walking over to him, sitting at the bay window, facing him, "Barry, you're not going to stop, are you?"

"I can't." Barry sighs.

"Or you won't?" I question.

"I don't know anymore." He looks down, "I've faced a lot of bad guys, people that would hurt the ones that I love, destroy everything good in the world, and think nothing of it, but this guy, he feels more dangerous than all the others combined. And we still barely know anything about him. It scares the hell out of me, Zee."

"Barry-" I play with my ring, "I can't count the number of times we've been against the unknown for the past five years. But- what makes it the past is that- we defeated them. And we're going to defeat Devoe too. It just- takes time."

"This is different." Barry shook his head.

"How?" I question.

"Ever since I came back from the Speed Force, I have been constantly and genuinely happy." Barry makes eye contact with me, "My friends are safe. Joe's gonna be a dad again. And next week, I get to marry the love of my life. I have more to lose now than ever before."

"Barry- the more we keeping doing this-" I grab his hands, "The more we're gonna have to lose. But that's why we keeping fighting. To make sure we don't lose- any of it. But- you can't just let that fear consume you completely. You gotta use it as strength- so when the problem arises- you can face it."

"How are you not scared?" Barry admires quietly.