Starling City.
In the basement of Felicity Smoak's villa—doubling as the Birds of Prey's command center—three women sat together, all dressed in light silk sleepwear of different shades. Felicity Smoak, Laurel Lance, and Selina Kyle leaned toward the glow of the computer screen, their attention fixed on a single email that had just arrived.
The message contained only one short sentence:
Jack Kadere has appeared in Central City.
Though the words were simple, they carried enough weight to hold the three in silence for a long moment. Finally, Laurel Lance broke it.
"Could this be Huntress's trap?" she asked, her brow furrowed. "A year ago, we gathered enough evidence to put her father, Frank Bertinelli, behind bars. She's never forgiven us. Word is, Frank recently applied for medical treatment in prison. If Huntress is planning to take advantage of that, maybe she's using Jack's name to bait us into Central City."
Selina Kyle scoffed, her tone sharp. "Please. Even Batman has returned to Gotham after being missing for so long. If Jack really came back, he'd come here first—to Starling City—because of Felicity. Not Central City. Whoever wrote this clearly isn't thinking straight."
Felicity's lips pressed into a thin line. Her voice was quieter, but it carried an edge. "You both know the situation. Jack isn't a man who dedicates himself to just one woman. After all this time, he could easily… already be with someone else."
Selina folded her arms. "So what? You're still his girlfriend, technically."
Felicity gave a short, bitter laugh. "Girlfriend? That's just a title. Even before he disappeared, wasn't he running around with Huntress nearly every day? Tell me, what difference does that title make when he's been touching, teasing, and toying with the rest of you too?"
"Hey, don't drag me into this," Laurel said quickly, trying to deflect the rising tension.
Selina smirked and turned the fire elsewhere. "You should be the last one talking. You're the one he cornered most often."
For all their time working and even living together, the three women knew full well about each other's tangled history with Jack Kadere. They had tolerated it, worked past it, but moments like this exposed the guilt and rivalry simmering under the surface. Laurel, cheeks flushing, decided to steer the conversation back before it turned into another fight.
"Can you trace who sent the email?" she asked Felicity.
"The sender was careful," Felicity replied, fingers dancing across the keyboard. "They erased almost every trace after sending it. I can only confirm that the message originated from Central City."
"Check Huntress's movements," Laurel suggested. "That should clear things up."
"On it."
The room filled with the clacking of keys as Felicity dug deeper. Twenty minutes later, she leaned back with a sigh.
"She's still in Starling City, keeping busy with street-level criminals. At least on the surface, it doesn't look like she's involved."
"That doesn't mean she didn't ask someone else to plant this message," Laurel countered.
Selina shook her head. "Or maybe you're both overthinking it. Felicity, you should just go to Central City yourself. If it's really a trap, you'll figure it out. Besides, you can always give us remote support if things go sideways."
Felicity hesitated for a beat, then nodded. "Alright. I'll go."
....
Night fell.
Miles away, Jack Kadere glanced at the clock. He turned to Laura, who had been silently watching him.
"I'm heading out," Jack said, his voice casual but firm. "Don't know when I'll be back. You take my room tonight."
Laura hesitated, her expression unreadable, but before she could respond, Jack blurred out of sight in a crackle of lightning, vanishing into the Speed Force.
The departure of Kate and Valentina—the Firestorm Duo—hadn't slowed Jack down. Instead, he had shifted focus, spending long hours with Laura, testing ways to awaken her connection to the Speed Force. The process was difficult. Even with his mastery, he found no breakthrough. Frustration lingered until earlier that evening, when he finally switched his phone back on.
Almost immediately, Caitlin Snow had called.
Barry Allen wanted to see him.
Jack saw no reason to refuse. With nothing pressing at hand, he agreed to meet.
....
The rendezvous point was a familiar one: Jitters, the coffee shop where Iris West worked.
The shop was still open, warm light spilling through its windows into the night. Inside, Barry Allen sat with Caitlin Snow at a corner table, both of them nursing cups of coffee. Barry's fingers tapped anxiously against his mug, while Caitlin tried to reassure him.
"Barry, you're way too nervous," Caitlin whispered with a small smile. "Jack's… complicated, sure, but he's not that hard to get along with. You both have a connection to the Speed Force. Trust me, it's not going to be as bad as you think."
Barry opened his mouth to reply, but his words caught in his throat when he noticed a flicker of lightning at Caitlin's side. In the blink of an eye, another figure materialized.
Jack Kadere.
"Jack?" Caitlin gasped, momentarily startled, before quickly recovering.
Jack glanced at the table and raised an eyebrow. "No coffee for me?" he teased lightly, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"I didn't know when you'd actually show up," Caitlin said, rising to her feet. "What do you want? I'll order it."
"Whatever you're having is fine," Jack answered casually, watching as she headed for the counter.
The moment she was out of earshot, Jack leaned slightly toward Barry, his expression sharpening. "Alright, Allen. What is it you wanted to ask me?"
Barry stiffened at the sight of him. Unlike their last encounter, he wasn't nearly as talkative. He hesitated, then finally spoke. "When I was a kid, my mother…"
"Stop." Jack raised his hand, cutting him off. "I've practically memorized your mother's story by now, so there's no need to repeat it every time we meet. Let's get to the point. Your mom wasn't killed by me. Whether you believe that or not—that's your choice."
"Why should I believe you? All I see is you—someone who runs with the same lightning I do, with the same kind of power." Barry's voice was low, full of tension.
Jack gave a faint smile and shook his head. In an instant, the air cracked with red lightning as he tapped into the Speed Force.
Barry instinctively braced himself, certain Jack was about to strike—but then realized he wasn't coming for him at all. Instead, Jack blurred around the café, vanishing and reappearing so quickly Barry couldn't track him.
"So fast…" Barry muttered, straining to follow him. His eyes only caught fragments of crimson light tearing through the space. "He's at least twice as fast as me… maybe three times."
Before Barry could catch his breath, Jack was suddenly back, standing in front of him as if nothing had happened.
"Open your hand," Jack said casually.
Barry frowned. "What?"
"I'm going to give you something… special." Jack's smirk widened.
Though confused, Barry slowly placed his hand on the table and opened his palm. Jack dropped a small, folded piece of fabric into it.
Barry's eyes went wide. "You…" The black, lacy item in his hand looked suspiciously like a woman's underwear. His first instinct was to toss it away.
"That belongs to Iris," Jack said with a mischievous laugh. "Are you sure you want to throw it out?"
Barry froze, stunned.
"I know you like her," Jack went on, his grin playful and cruel. "But she's got a boyfriend now, and you still haven't confessed. So… I figured I'd give you a little gift. Do whatever you want with it."
"You…" Barry's voice cracked, but this time with fury, not shock.
His eyes darted instinctively toward Iris, who remained blissfully unaware. Heat rushed through him as anger flared. In the next instant, he activated his Speed Force, lightning sparking as he launched himself at Jack in a blur of rage.