Within Seconds // Barry Allen

Triple Date

It was food, however at the same time, everyone who wasn't Ray Palmer was staring skeptically at their plates. The square of food was no bigger than Parker's thumb and pointer finger shaped into a circle. (The only reason she knew was because she actually measured.) The waiter introduced the tiny chunk of food as the first course.

"Barry, Parker," Ray called, grabbing their attention. "I have to admit, I envy how much time you two spend at S.T.A.R. Labs. Harrison Wells is a personal hero of mine. It's an honor to be in the same room with him."

Barry paused. He distracted himself by fixing his napkin over his lap, nodding like he was listening.

Parker knew he was trying to be polite, because it was unknown to Ray of the negative memories that name brought.

Unfortunately, Barry couldn't handle it and excused himself.

Parker and Felicity locked eyes. Parker's eyes flickered to the direction of Barry's retreat, silently telling Felicity it was her chance to calm him down. There was only so much Parker could say to help him get his mind off the topic before it became repetitive.

"And I have to pee," Felicity excused herself too.

Parker decided to ease the spotlight off the two weirdos. "Working at the Lab is actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Everyone's pretty cool."

"And what do you do there?" Ray wondered.

Iris looked at Parker, interested in the answer.

Lucky for Parker, she practiced the answer on the ride there. "Manage Barry, mostly. Like restraining him from doing certain things, due to his.. Lightning Psychosis. I draw designs for Cisco's mechanical ideas, sew stuff.. I dabble in a lot."

Parker and Ray dove into their own conversation about S.T.A.R. Labs. For the first time, Parker actually learned what the abbreviation stood for: Science and Technology Advanced Research Laboratories.

"Please, can we just have a nice evening?" Eddie asked Iris, a little harsh and loud. He accidentally attracted Ray and Parker's attention, although Iris and him didn't notice.

"Okay, so it's my fault we're not having a nice evening?"

Parker started to make noises with her mouth to tune out the awkward.

Ray adjusted the sleeves of his suit. "I think I'm going to go see where Felicity and Barry are. Excuse me."

"Please don't leave me alone here for very long," Parker begged quietly.

Ray gave her a thumbs up and jogged into the opposite room. Not thirty seconds later, he came back with their partners. Barry found Parker's eyes, which clearly read, help.

"And, suddenly, I'm not hungry," Iris said, getting to her feet. "When you're ready to act like two people who love each other, call me."

Eddie's shoulders dropped. Realizing his audience, he gave a wry smile. "Thank you for dinner. I think I'm just going to go.." and he left too, trudging like a sad puppy.

"Emergency at S.T.A.R. Labs," Barry announced, scrolling through his phone.

"Good frickin' Lord, can we have one date that isn't interrupted?" Parker shouted, tossing her napkin onto the table. She slouched in the chair, completely done with the night.

Barry ran behind her, his arm stretching around her head and tilting her chin up, obnoxiously kissing her lips. They disconnected with a loud smack.

"You should sort of expect it now, shouldn't you?" he teased.

"Ah, shut up and go save our friends."

Parker, Ray and Felicity tried to resume dinner. Felicity managed to get three minutes into the first explanation of why the League of Assassins wanted Oliver before the three of them were sent multiple text messages from Barry:

Come to the Lab

Like now

ASAP. BIG NEWS

Didn't actually mean to put it in caps. Sorry for sounding angry. Please come, my love. And the other two

"Ha, guess who's the favorite?" Parker teased.

Ray canceled the rest of the meals. Parker felt bad for having him waste all the money on renting the restaurant and only use it to argue.

That's why she paid for the cab ride to S.T.A.R. Labs. To ensure Ray wouldn't shove money at the driver at the last second, Parker punched his leg and made him pinky-promise he wouldn't. Since Ray wasn't one for breaking promises, he obeyed.

Cisco, Dr.Wells, Caitlin and Barry lingered around the two computers in the corner of the Lab. Parker's face scrunched instantly and she turned to the other computer desk, finding a sizzling hole in the middle of it.

"Um..?" she asked.

"A rogue bee was trapped in Barry's suit. It's over here. The bot has a three hundred and sixty degree vision system. We're talking multiple micro cameras coming from different angles at the same time, which means--"

"It can see all around the room at once. That is.." Ray paused, eyes wide with fascination. "Amazing," Cisco and Ray chorused.

"Disturbing?" Caitlin and Parker said together. Parker continued. "What if it's still on? Whoever's on the other side can see us."

"It's also a next generation hardware that's not on the market," Dr.Wells pointed out.

"So, we're not dealing with a meta?" Felicity asked, looking for confirmation.

Barry nodded. "We're dealing with a mad scientist."

"Cisco, you said the second victim was a robotics engineer. Let's cross reference his past employers with the first victims."

"Allow me!" Felicity shouted, running and sitting in the empty computer seat. "Mama has been away from the keyboard for far too long."

"Both worked at Mercury," Cisco read when Felicity was finished.

"Let's call Joe. I think it's time we visited an old friend.."