Vera Pyra (The Flash) (Book One)

Chapter 14__The Nuclear Man

Barry was on a date with someone he had met at Iris' new reporter job.

So I was taking care of things tonight, standing in STAR Labs with Cisco.

"Jumper on 32nd and Waid," Cisco told me. 

I nodded.

~

On 32nd and Waid, cops and the fire department were below a building where the man was about to jump of a building.

Eddie was speaking through a megaphone. "Sir, please, you have everything to live for."

"No, I don't," the man told him, jumping off the building. I used fire to fly closer, catching him midair, flying to the ground below, putting him down. The man turned to me in surprise. "Are you gonna let me go back up there?"

"No," I answered. 

Cops walked closer.

I waved, using fire to fly away.

~

The next day, Cisco, Caitlin, Barry and I were at Jitters, walking through it.

Cisco was watching the video of me karaoking that Barry had taken on his phone from the other night. "Vera, you're a crime-fighting, lyric-slaying machine. This is so cool."

I took the phone from Cisco, stopping the video, handing it to Barry. "How many times are you gonna watch it to realize that it's not that cool?"

"What, are you kidding?" Cisco asked. "It gets cooler every time I watch it."

I ignored him, looking at Barry. "How was your date last night?"

"Awesome," Barry answered. "And thank you for letting me have the night off so we could have our first date. We're going on another date tonight."

"Tonight?" Caitlin repeated. "Really?"

"Aren't you worried about moving too fast?" Cisco asked.

We walked up the stairs to the second level.

Barry looked at us in confusion. "No. What do you mean? It's a second date."

"No, no, no, I meant going too fast," Cisco told him. "Hurrying? Look, you're fast, but there's fast, and then there's fast. Am I being subtle?"

"Really not," I answered.

"Cisco's right," Caitlin told him. "With your increased blood flow and heart rate, theoretically, your speed can cause you to--"

"You're gonna need to think about a lot of dead puppies," Cisco told him. "Like, we're talking a whole kennel. And baseball. Cold showers. You know what? Nuns." We stopped at a table on the balcony, sitting down. Cisco looked at me. "Be lucky you're not Vera, who if she starts a relationship with a guy that is not in-the-know, will think she is running a fever every time they touch her." He put a hand on my shoulder. "Yep. Still hot."

I shook his hand off, slightly amused.

"Okay, it is just a second date," Barry told us.

Iris was sitting nearby. "A second date?" She stood, walking closer. "With who?"

"Uh, with Linda Park, the sports reporter," Barry answered.

Cisco's phone rang. He turned away to answer. "Hello."

Iris looked at Barry. "That's great. Linda seems great, and you're great. So great."

I nodded. "Great."