Within Seconds // Barry Allen

Pushing the Limit

Parker shuffled back, stunned so much that her tailbone rammed into the table.

The three turned to her.

"You okay, Park?" Caitlin asked.

Parker sucked in her nervous breath. "Um, yeah. Yeah. Just lost my balance," she said.

No more questions were asked. Cisco tapped the second missile, releasing it.

Barry leaped at the missile, twirled, then sent the missile flying at the drone before his feet connected with the ground again.

He tugged at the collar of his suit, walking away from the exploded drone behind him.

Barry looked annoyed, and if Parker was being completely honest, sexy.

She would have admitted that if the S.T.A.R. Labs workers weren't around, or if she hadn't been experiencing doubt about seeing Wells move his foot.

Ten minutes later, four dozen burgers settled in Barry's stomach, Cisco stopped the race between Parker and Barry. Not surprisingly, Barry won. Parker was only able to eat two burgers in ten minutes; Barry scarfed down four dozen.

"You suck," she pouted, her voice muffled over the chewed up food in her mouth.

Barry kicked her chair lightly. "Don't talk with food in your mouth, weirdo."

Parker opened her mouth, giving him a full view of her chewed up food. She giggled when he fake gagged.

"Very impressive, Mr.Allen. Your reaction to stimuli at super speed continues to improve," Dr. Wells praised.

"It's still not enough," Barry sighed.

"It will be. You keep working like you are, you keep focused like you are, and you will be ready the next time the Man in the Yellow Suit comes around."

"I think you mean the Reverse Flash," Cisco corrected. He bounced on the tips of his toes, nervous and excited to try out the new name.

Parker rolled her eyes and slurped down the remains of her Sprite. "Boo, you whore."

Cisco actually laughed at her reference before returning to his explanation of the name. "Okay, but think about it. Yellow suit, red lighting, evil-- the reverse of Barry."

"Meh," Caitlin said.

Dr.Wells gave a single head nod. "Actually, I kind of like it."

Barry jogged up the steps to the trailer. "All right, I'm ready for another round. How many more drones you have left?"

"Two! And the best part is, we've built them with.." Cisco paused, running to Parker and throwing up jazz hands beside her. "Lasers!" The two chorused.

Monotone and in sync, Dr.Wells and Caitlin both denied with a flat, "No."

>>>>>

Someone had broken into a garage with cars worth millions of dollars. Apparently, nothing had been stolen.

There were no witnesses, so Parker's help wasn't needed.

In Barry's absence, Parker retreated to Cisco's man cave. She had two mysteries to solve: one about Dr.Wells intentions, and the other about what Caitlin was doing researching a burning meta-human.

In a Google search, all she came up with was Iris' posts and random Twitter posts about a certain fictional man named Johnny Storm.

Parker settled for Iris' posts for information. If she was going to confront Caitlin about it, she needed to have evidence and know what she was talking about.

"Parker!" Cisco called. "Your lover is back!"

"As well as Leonard Snart!" Caitlin chimed.

Parker slid the paper filled with notes of the Burning Man and connections to Caitlin Snow into her laptop. Closing the lid, she hid it under her coat. 

Parker walked into the Cortex, completely casual, like she hadn't just been researching a coworker. Totally casual.

"For a human, Leonard Snart is proving to be quite the nemesis."

"And he's still got the cold gun he stole from us. The one I built," Cisco said shamefully.

"Did anyone figure out what he wants?" Caitlin tried.

Her eyes lingered on Cisco to check if he was okay, but it was obvious she was trying to move the conversation away from his guilt.

Barry raised his shoulders. "The Flash, probably. If Snart wants a fight with the Flash, then I'll give him one."

Dr.Wells made a noise of objection.

"You don't think I should?" Barry asked.

"Well, I didn't say that, but as fast as you are, you cannot be everywhere at once. And it becomes then, a question of priorities. In the last month, you have made a commitment to improving your speed, and enhancing your reflexes, and it's working. You're finally faster."

"You can't just let him ignore Snart," Parker objected.

"The last time he had a fight with Snart, a train derailed. He was lucky to get those people to safety. Now, if you don't give him that fight--"

"--he may just back off," Barry finished.

His eyes met Parker's and in that single glance, Parker knew his mind was made up.

"Or he'll keep coming back!" Parker said, getting them to imagine the more likely scenario. "Time after time, hurting more people until Barry decides to take him on. Whatever happened to cutting off the head so it won't grow?"

A priority to Barry was beating Reverse Flash, and though he wouldn't admit it, there was a part of him being poisoned by his idol.

If Barry was too blind to see that, then Parker would happily make a fool of herself in order for Barry to understand that Wells' words weren't always the right ones.

"S.T.A.R. Labs will work with the CCPD and devise a plan to catch Cold--" Dr.Wells stopped as he heard what he had said. "Yes, Cisco, I said it. I heard it as soon as it came out of my mouth.."

Proudly, Cisco grinned. "Yeah, we can definitely come up with ways to neutralize Snart."

"Listen, Barry. Whether or not you decide to go after Cold, that's your decision-"

"Really?" Parker interrupted, narrowing her eyes at the back of her boss' head. "Because it sure sounds like you're using your influence to withhold him from-"

"Parker," Dr.Wells said sharply. His voice was strong; it echoed the room and caused everyone to fall silent. He tried to continue."After the events with the Reverse Flash, I believe he poses a greater threat to all of us."

Unknowingly close to end of the line, Parker continued. "That does not mean that any other threats are to be ignored. Seriously, Doc, you can't--"

"Ms.Sylas, I think it's a good idea for you to leave," Dr.Wells said.

Whatever Parker wanted to retort with, she needed to save if she was going to find a way to rat out Wells. The first thing she needed to do was find someone to trust with the information.