Barry ran the three of them to the West house. Parker was the last one to get picked up. He ran her to the house, but stopped at the end of the stairs.
Automatically, Parker knew why and shook her head, spinning on her heel and starting to walk up the stairs.
"It isn't our most pressing concern-- I don't want to talk about it."
Which honestly was true. Team Flash had bigger problems than where Parker and Barry stood in their relationship.
Inside, her heart was shattering. She wanted to hunch her shoulders in defeat, scold herself for not realizing sooner.
Iris and Barry had always been attached to each others hips.
For Parker to interfere and think that in the end, she would actually win Barry's heart over Iris.. That was something that was set in stone. Parker and Barry were never meant to be. It took an AI from the future to confirm that for her.
Everything they shared, every moment Parker remembered with Barry Allen suddenly changed to nothing but memories. Moments so dear couldn't be shared again with him again. Not when his heart was destined to someone else.
"That's it? You're giving it up that easily?" Barry snapped, grabbing her arm.
"What other choice do we have?!"
"Just because an article from the future said I marry Iris doesn't mean it has to happen."
"It's set in stone! You can't change the future, Barry, no matter how much you want to."
Parker set her hand over Barry's, taking in the feeling, the warmth that spread through her body whenever he was near. With a heavy exhale, she pried his hand off and pushed through the door.
Having already heard the story from Caitlin and Cisco, Joe waited with his hands on his hips for the other two to arrive. When they came through the door, Joe ignored the sad looks and started his scolding.
"Really? How could people so smart do something so dumb? What if Wells had caught you?"
"But he didn't."
Joe's eyes widened angrily. Keeping Parker from being yelled at, Eddie interrupted, "Okay, I know we've seen a lot this year, but time travel?"
"I did it," Barry announced. He tried to meet Parker's eyes, wondering if he should tell the group of the time he did it. Parker avoided him. "Or, I will do it," he said, unsure.
"Excuse me?" Joe asked.
"One of the two speedsters in Barry's house the night his mother died was the Flash. Barry Allen as the Flash. So, somehow, he was there. Which means that one time in the future, Barry will travel back to that night," Cisco explained.
Eddie breathed out a sarcastic sigh. "Okay."
"Actually, I wasn't talking about that," Barry slowly admitted, watching Parker for any sign of indication. She stayed twiddling her thumbs. He sighed, breaking his gaze away from her. "I kind of already time travelled. By accident."
"What?" Caitlin gasped.
"I was running to try to stop a tsunami from hitting the city-"
"When was that?" Caitlin asked.
"The week Mark Mardon showed up," Parker said, lifting her head.
Caitlin's mouth dropped. "So Parker knew, but not Cisco and I?"
"Of course I did. I'm his girlfriend," Parker defended. Under her breath she mumbled, "Or at least for a little while longer I am."
"I did it right before you started getting those dreams," Barry continued, pointing at Cisco.
"Oh, you mean the ones where Dr.Wells uses his speed to shred my heart and kill me and then Park? Those?"
"Yes, right, so what if they aren't dreams?"
Parker caught on to Barry's proposal. "What if they're memories from that timeline?"
"I'm not following," Joe said.
Barry snapped his fingers, trying to gather his idea in his head. "Okay, so, what if Cisco and Parker found out about Dr.Wells being the Reverse-Flash? He killed them to keep them from telling. Then, I ran back a day, changing that timeline so it never happened?"
"If it never happened, how does Cisco remember it?"
Barry pursed his lips, shrugging his shoulders.
"The important thing is that he does remember. We can figure out how later," Parker said.
"We have to access Cisco's memories somehow," Barry challenged. "That's the key to it."
"Key to what?"
"Getting my dad out of prison."
"And how are we going to do that?" Caitlin asked, rightfully skeptical.
"We're going to get Wells to confess to killing my mom."
>>>>>
The morning after, Cisco, Parker, Caitlin and Barry met at the Cortex bright and early.
Barry and Parker watched the other two tinker with a pair of glasses, convinced that was the key to getting into Cisco's memories.
"I got the idea from a journal article about lucid dreaming. They say it's supposed to help people with PTSD," Caitlin explained.
Cisco chuckled nervously. "Traumatized? Stressed? Check and check."
"The theory is that it will allow people to face their fears. We're still working on the talking part," Caitlin said.
Parker peered closer at the glasses. "And this thing won't do anything to Cisco's brain?"
"No. The amount of electricity needed to trigger lucid dreaming is harmless," Caitlin shrugged off. She patted Cisco's shoulder. "Probably."
"Who's lucid dreaming?"
As if on cue, Dr.Wells decided to show up. The team turned to Caitlin, having already designated her to improvise an answer if Dr.Wells was to arrive.
"With all of the metas in Central City, people have been seeing strange things, so things they don't understand and it's really just a matter of time before it becomes a psychological issue."
"Lucid dreaming would help the Doctors understand their fears. Intriguing," Dr.Wells complimented. He drove his wheelchair closer to the glasses, getting a good look at them.
Parker, Barry and Cisco watched in suspicion as Caitlin and Dr.Wells worked together.
"Of course, you need to still guide the patient from the outside, right?"
"We're still working on the communications part."
"When we dream, the middle brain lights up with activity, whereas the higher brain stays dormant. Once we find a way to make both parts active, then it's just a matter of frequency that will stimulate the language."
"That would mean the speaker could describe his dream. Or her dream, it could be used for anyone."
"Right, it's not gender-specific," Dr.Wells muttered. "But I would try a frequency of forty-five hertz to start."
"Thank you, Dr.Wells."
"You never cease to impress me, Caitlin."
As Dr.Wells drove his wheelchair out of the Cortex, eight suspicious eyes followed after him.
By noon, Cisco and Caitlin were satisfied with the glasses.
Eager to find out information, Barry ran the three of them to the CCPD. On his lunch break, Joe decided to join the team.
Cisco hadn't started to freak out until Caitlin started attaching sensors to his forehead and over his heart. Cisco gripped the edges of his chair.
"Can we just go over this again?"
"You put the glasses on, fall asleep, and start dreaming. Not that hard," Caitlin explained.
"Except I die in this dream. Does that mean I'll die in real life? Is this Inception or Dreamscape?"
Joe nudged Parker. He handed her a glass of milk, she passed it over to Cisco. "Just drink this."
"What am I, five?" Cisco grumpily asked.
"Drink it, Cisco."
"Okay, I'll drink it," he complied, chugging the glass.
Parker pushed his shoulder back and he reclined in the chair. Caitlin slipped the glasses on his face.
"The glasses are admitting a low level delta wave, which should help you fall asleep," Caitlin said.
"Okay. I got to warn you though, it usually takes me a long time to fall asleep.. I'm not saying I'm an insomniac or anything, but.." Cisco's words trailed off as the delta wave sent him into the sleep zone. His head fell limp, his lips parted.
Joe laughed. "Ah. So that's how you get him to shut up."
"He's entering REM," Caitlin proudly announced with a look at the model of Cisco's brain on her computer. "It's working!"
"Cisco, can you hear me?" Parker asked.
"You're dreaming, bud," Barry said.
Glances among the group were shared as Cisco stayed still. His body remained limp, but his mouth started to move.
"Guys, this is mad freaky."
Parker grinned at Caitlin, amazed their contraption worked. "Where are you, Cisco?"
"I'm in the Cortex. I know I'm just dreaming I'm in the Cortex, but it feels so real.."
"What is dream-you doing?" Barry asked.
"Um, Caitlin just left. I asked her to take Dr.Wells to Jitters. Parker is still knocked out on the medical bed."
"Why do you want Wells out of the Cortex?"
"I think he may have tampered with my work. I need to check. Oh, Parker just woke up. I'm carrying her to the bunker.
All right. Now I'm running tests on the containment system. This data— it doesn't make any sense. All the supercapacitors were all fully charged. There's absolutely no reason the Man in Yellow should have escaped."
Parker knew they were getting close to Dr.Wells appearing. She took a notepad and pen from Barry's desk and waited, ready to scribble down Cisco's next words.
"Park asked if I turned it off and back on again. I'm doing it to prove that's not the problem."
Parker chuckled. "Ha. Apple Help Center be like.."
"Oh, my God. It was just a hologram. Wells tricked us," Cisco said.
Parker was writing his words down when his breathing started to get louder. Her pen halted, watching him carefully.
"Wells is here."
"Just a dream, Cisco," Parker assured.
"Eobard Thawne.."
Joe stood from his seat, stepping closer. "Thawne? Like Eddie?"
"You killed Nora Allen."
"Nora? What about my mom?" Barry inquired, rushing to Cisco's side.
"He's confessing. He didn't want to kill her. It was you, Barry, he was trying to kill you."
An alarm on the vitals screen started to go off, warning them about Cisco's rising heartbeat. Cisco's hands had clenched, his brow scrunched, chest rising and falling rapidly.
"He's losing higher brain function," Caitlin warned. "His heart is going to crazy, he'll go into cardiac arrest."
Anxious, Barry and Parker yelled, "Get him out of there!"
Parker shoved the notepad into Barry's chest and slapped her hands over Cisco's, allowing him to squeeze her hand.
"Come on, kiddo. Breathe. It's not real this time. You're going to be fine. I'm right here," Parker promised.
"His hand.. It's vibrating, he's going to kill us! Parker won't leave!"
Parker hopelessly chuckled, shaking her head, "Of course I'm not going to leave you, dumbass, I'm not going to let you die alone! You're my best friend!"
"Help me. Help me, please. Help me!"
Cisco woke up with a scream, in return, making Parker shriek too. As soon as he registered who stood beside him, Cisco latched onto Parker, squeezing her with relief.
"Parker, I don't ever want to see you like that again. You were sobbing, a-and your scream was the last thing I heard—"
"Let's not relive it, okay? We're not dead. It's okay. You did amazing." Parker assured, rubbing Cisco's back.
Somebody else needed reassurance too. Parker couldn't see the interaction, but she heard Joe call out to Barry.
Sounding close to tears, Barry uttered, "My mom.. It's my fault. It's my fault she's dead."