Glad You Came ↠ Barry Allen

Chapter 21

Emma's POV *at the crime scene*

"Bare, Emma, Did you guys find anything?" Joe asked us as Barry and I were crouched down examining the body. Eddie was trailing behind Joe waiting for our answer. It was still pretty awkward between the three of us since Eddie walked in on Barry and I when we were about to kiss.

"Signs of histotoxic hypoxia. The cells in their bodies were unable to utilize oxygen," I said standing up.

"It's consistent with exposure to poison gas," Barry said as he got up as well.

"What kind of poison?" Joe asked.

"We'll need to take a lung sample, see if we can narrow it down," I said.

"Yeah, you two alone...together," Eddie said smirking at Barry and I. We turned red but Joe didn't notice.

"The only other exit was bolted from the inside. They were trapped," Barry said gesturing to the entrance to the restaurant.

"I was thinking they pumped the gas from outside but witnesses say the street was empty," Eddie said.

"So it was from the inside," I concluded.

"That means there should be a canister or a container left behind. The gas didn't just come in by itself," Joe said.

"Unless it had a mind of its own," Barry and I said making eye contact. Joe knew what we were thinking so he told Eddie to canvas the streets again.

When Eddie left, Joe said "Okay, explain."

"The boss collapsed by the table," I said gesturing to the body.

"This guy made it 10 feet away," Barry said gesturing to another body.

"That guy had a chance to move off and fire three shots into the window trying to break the glass," I said point to the window with bullet holes and cracks in it.

"But they all started in the same spot which means they should have all been affected by the gas at the same time, but instead it's as if-" Barry started.

"They were attacked one by one," Joe realized, "If we're gonna solve this one, we're gonna need...backup," Joe said.

"Yeah," Barry said nodding.

*at STAR Labs*

"Fascinating, a metahuman that can manipulate poison gas," Dr Wells said,
"Is it just poison gas, or can he control all aerated substances?"

"And how is he able to formulate the connection? Is it physiological or psychological?" Caitlin asked walking around.

"This individual can create a mental nexus using gaseous substances," Dr Wells said.

"You mean connect with gases on a molecular level?" Cisco asked.

"Yes."

"That is ridiculously cool."

"They get really excited about this stuff," I said to Joe.

"The only thing I'm excited about is putting criminals behind bars. Except Iron Heights isn't exactly equipped to handle metahumans," Joe said.

"Then I guess it's fortunate the ones you've encountered so far are no longer with us," Dr. Wells said kind of harshly. It's not the way he said it, it's just what he said. I gave him a strange look but he didn't notice it.

"Well, unless we're planning on executing every super criminal we stop, you geniuses are gonna have to come up with someplace else to hold them," Joe said.