The Speedster and the Telekinetic

10

"Understandable." I say as my bike appears in front of me and I get on it then help Barry on it and we speed off.

*~*~

After Caitlin had checked on him last night, she wanted a closer check up today. So, Barry and I headed over to S.T.A.R. Labs in the morning to get a check up making me miss my rehearsal time with Jake and Barry had to ask for the day off. "I still can't see." Barry says as I lean on the door frame and watch Caitlin shine a red light in his eyes. "How long is this gonna last?" Barry asks her as he rubs his eyes. "You're suffering from solar retinopathy. Your retinas are severely damaged. You're lucky you're not permanently blind." Caitlin tells him. "But with your rapid regeneration abilities, your sight should return soon. "6.25 hours, by my estimation. All this could have been avoided if you just stopped Light instead of chit-chatting with her." Wells says and I roll my eyes. "She caught them off guard." Jay says and I walk over to Barry grabbing his hand and he tries to look for me. "Always an excuse with you, right? He's the fastest man alive. How could she possibly do that?" Wells asks.

"Because Light looks exactly like his ex-girlfriend. Linda Park." I respond and both Wells and Jay look at me confusingly.

"I thought you were his one and only?" Wells asks.

"We took a break. Long story. Don't ask. She's a good friend of ours now." I explain.

"That's why Zoom sent her. Because he knew you both would hesitate." Wells says.

"Well, that means Zoom had to have known, somehow, that Linda was your ex?" Cisco says to Barry and I just wanted to scream out to everyone to stop saying ex.

"Which is why Barry has to act now, before Zoom sends another double from Barry's life." Wells says.

"Alright. Right now, I'm more worried about Linda. When we saw who was under the mask, Tori said her name." Barry says.

"What if Light didn't even realize that she had a doppelganger here until I accidentally told her?" I ask.

"The first thing Atom Smasher did when he crossed the breach was to kill his doppelganger." Cisco says.

"Yeah, but Light's not like Atom Smasher." Jay says.

"We should keep an eye on your Linda." Wells says and I sigh at the mention of her name again.

It's not that I don't like Linda, me and her actually became good friends on one girls night out with Iris for mani pedis and a movie. "Alright. I'll go." Barry says getting up and bumping into Caitlin. He apologizes to Caitlin and walks off letting go of my hand. "Barry." I call him and turns back to me while bumping into the door frame. "Ok. You can't do anything until your sight comes back." I say grabbing his hand, but he starts to resist. "I'll go talk to Linda, ok?" I tell him, but he holds onto me. "No, Tori. I'll do it. Barry seems to need you more." Jay says. "I'll go with you." Caitlin says walking with Jay and I nod. Soon Iris walks in since I had texted her about Barry's sight, but then looks at Wells. "You look just like him." Iris says and Wells looks at us. "I'm guessing my counterpart did something to offend her as well?" Wells asks. "Her fiancé died because of him." Cisco says and I nod as I walk over to Iris. "Ok, Iris, I know it's weird seeing him. Trust me, I'm still in shock from seeing him." I tell her as we walk over to Barry. "Yeah. It's just a lot to process lately. Well, my mother..." she says as she starts to pace and I stand next to Barry.

"How are you doing with that, by the way?" Barry asks her trying to face her.

"I mean now that she's gone, ok." Iris says as Barry turns to face her and rubs his eyes.

"Iris, you can talk to us about it, or only me if you don't wanna face Barry." I tell her and she chuckles.

"Yeah, I know, but... But really, I'm fine. I should be asking how your boyfriend is doing." she says.

"He's doing ok. But I guess date night's off." I say looking at Barry.

"I totally forgot about that. I'm sorry, Tori." Barry says.

"It's ok. You're blind at the moment. It's totally understandable."

"No, Tori. I don't want to cancel it."

"Yeah, well, going out blind isn't gonna help you out in this case. We can just order take out and eat at home. I'm fine with that."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Barry. I'm sure. Your health is more important to me than going out on a date."

He smiles at me and I laugh and shake my head. "You two are so cute together." Iris says and my mind clicks reminding me that she was there. "Thanks. I think it's time to get home now." I say grabbing Barry's hand. "Bye, Iris." I say as I wave at her and she returns the wave as Barry and I walk out.

*~*~

Barry and I were sitting in the living room eating our take out Italian food watching, or listening in Barry's perspective, Toy Story. "Ok, I think you made the right call in staying in for the night." Barry says and I look at him and chuckle. "Uh, duh? I'm not gonna let you trip over yourself in public." I say putting my pasta down on the coffee table and taking a sip of my Dr. Pepper. "Are you able to see yet?" I ask him as he puts his pasta own on the coffee table. "No." he says grabbing the back of my neck and pulling me in. "I'm not buying that." I say with a chuckle and he does the same, then he kisses me. He pushes me down on the couch and his hand going up my shirt and grabbing my hip. But before things could go any further, our phones buzzed and I groaned in annoyance. Barry pulls away from me and we sit up grabbing our phones to see that it was Cisco saying that Dr. Light went after Linda at Picture News. I look at Barry with furrowed brows, then I quickly stand up, grab my black leather coat, slip on my converse and Barry speeds us to Picture News.

When we get there, I dash ahead of Barry to see Iris and Linda. "Hey, Linda. I heard what happened. Are you ok?" I ask her putting a hand on her arm and she nods. "A little shaken. I mean, the woman looked exactly like me, and had powers." she says and I frown at her as I see paramedics put the editor's dead body in a body bag. I suddenly see Patty walking in and she takes Linda for questioning while Barry does his CSI stuff. "Dr. Light came to kill Linda, didn't she?" I ask Iris telepathically as I look at a frightened Linda. "Yeah. She said she wanted everyone out except for Linda. Our now ex-boss , Larkin, and I stayed behind, and when he was going to argue with her, she shot him with an energy of light through his heart." she explains. I watched as Linda blamed herself for her boss' death. "Linda, none of this is your fault. We're gonna figure it all out. I promise." Joe tells her and she nods. "How you doing?" Barry asks her as he walks up next to me. "I'm alive. Thanks to Iris. Turns out she's as badass with a gun as she is with a pen." Linda says and I give a smile. "Yeah, she is." I say as Iris extends a hand out to touch Linda's hand. "I'm just happy that you're safe." Iris tells her and Linda nods.

"I've arranged a security detail. Round the clock, just to be sure." Joe tells Linda.

"I can take you to them, if you're ready." Patty says and Linda nods then they both walk out.

"This is because of me. We should've been here." Barry says and I shake my head at him.

"Don't blame yourself for this. You were blind. There was nothing you could've done. Plus we never got an alert about it by Caitlin and Jay. I'm sure if they knew, they would've called." I tell him putting my hand on his cheek as he stares at Dr. Light's mask in his hands.

"You think this mask can help us find that woman?" Joe asks.

"Any evidence on this is just gonna match Linda. I'll think of something else. Light's not gonna kill again." Barry says as he grabs my hand and we walk out.