A rather hammered retreat back to the Cortex was thrown into play. Piled in an Uber, Cisco, Parker, Caitlin, and Jesse hollered at the driver to drive as though he was Parker. He looked at the laughing group, awfully confused.
"Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift!" clarified Parker.
"My grandchildren adore those movies," smiled the old man.
"Make those grandchildren proud and drive!" laughed Cisco. He then proceeded to scream, smacking Parker's hand from reaching for another bag of chocolate covered almonds. "No, Parker! We do not have extra money for you to be snackin' around!"
"Bite me!" snapped Parker, drowning the bag.
"Does that cost extra?!" asked Caitlin.
"Normally, yes. For the pretty lady, no," flirted the elderly man.
"Married," sang Parker and Cisco.
"As am I. An old man such as myself can't admire?" he asked.
"Not while I'm not searching for a sugar daddy!" shouted Parker as she hopped from the vehicle.
By the time their drunken party reached the Cortex, Barry returned as well. Unsurprisingly, he was empty handed. He had enough time to change out of the suit, place four cups of water on the desk, and lay spare clothes out for each person. Needless to say, it took a while for the party to make it to their destination.
To be entirely honest, it was one hundred percent Parker's fault. After the irritating West-Allen encounter went down, she drowned five shots of tequila before Cisco dragged her from the bar. Any and all of the delays happened because of her.
"Is she--" asked Barry.
"Hammered?" grunted Cisco from underneath her weight. He carried her across his shoulders into the Cortex. "Yes. And through all the angry mumbling, I have gathered that it's your fault."
"Isn't it always?" sighed Barry.
Cisco crouched and rolled Parker's body over his head. She hit the medical bed roughly. He pretended to flex.
Parker clapped her hands. "Attention all ladies, gents, speedsters!" she slurred. "We have a John Cena wannabe in the house, I repeat, we have a future John Cena in the house!"
"Whoa, absolutely not. If I'm being compared to any wrestler, it's gonna be Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson, okay? Okay," corrected Cisco.
"Back to business," said Caitlin pointedly.
"Where did this speedster even come from?" asked Barry hopelessly.
"I don't know, man. All I know is that blur made sixty smackeroo's off me. Ridiculous," chastised Cisco.
"Maybe it's another one of Zoom's henchmen somehow?" offered Barry.
"The breaches are closed," denied Cisco.
"The only other way to become a speedster is from a Particle Accelerator Explosion," said Barry.
Cisco squinted his eyes, entertaining the thought for a mere second. "Okay, but then why only make yourself known now? You know what I'm saying? We'd have to had seen them in action before."
"I'm not saying it makes sense; I'm just saying that's the only other way to become a speedster," defended Barry.
"Actually, there's another way," mumbled Caitlin.
"We're going on a road trip?" gasped Parker.
Caitlin did wave her hand, asking for them to follow into the lab next door. Cisco trailed after her automatically. Barry, first, hiked Parker over his shoulder and marched after the two. Caitlin retrieved a vial from a vault. They lingered in the Cortex.
Watching at an upside down perspective, Parker slowly gasped. "But, Caitlin...!" she said dramatically. "We musn't!"
"It's called Velocity-9," said Caitlin.
"Ooh. That's a sexy ass name. What is it?" asked Cisco.
"It's a speed drug," said Caitlin.
Parker drummed on Barry's ass. "Jay took it when you were on Earth-2 to save the city from a meta."
"What?" breathed Barry. He patted Parker's ass in return. "How could you not tell me about this?"
"Jay asked that we keep it quiet from you," she called.
"Why?" asked Barry.
"Because Jay knew how dangerous this drug is," said Harry.
Barry turned to look at him. In the process, he smacked Parker's head against the door frame of the lab. She yelled. He set her down on the floor, absentmindedly patting her head.
"I should know, Barry; Snow and I worked on it together."
Barry scoffed, shaking his head in disgrace. "Guys, I have been busting my butt out there, pushing myself to the limit, trying to get better, trying to get faster, and you're telling me that there's been something this whole time that could have helped me? It could have helped me take down Zoom, it could have helped me save Earth-2 Joe, Jay--"
"Jay was sick," snapped Caitlin, irritated that Barry wasn't listening. "The drug that he took to regain his speed was also causing cellular degeneration. It was killing him. I tried to help, tried to find a cure, but in all my experiments, the effects were just temporary. V-9 is deadly."
"Why not tell me this? Why keep me in the dark?" asked Barry.
Caitlin looked at Cisco, baffled. Cisco laid a hand on her shoulder. Not a second after his fingertips touched her, he gasped.
"Are you okay?" asked Caitlin.
"Did you vibe?" asked Harry.
An alarm, specifically the social media alarm, caused Parker to scream. Cisco raced to turn it off for her.
"What is it?" asked Barry.
"Bad Flash is back," said Cisco hurriedly.
Barry zipped to his suit, then from the Cortex.
"Bad Flash, eek, what? No. I'm losing my touch," whispered Cisco. For Barry, he warned, "He's coming up on fifth and Everett, use the alley to cut him off."
"She," corrected Barry.
"What?" asked Cisco.
"It's a she," said Barry. "Our speedster? That's definitely a girl."
"'Definitely?'" repeated Parker.
"Well, you know," said Barry when he ran back in. "She had some defined... Parts. I didn't look though, of course, because I have your lady parts to love and admire--"
"Stop talking," ordered Caitlin. She sat him down in the lab, stood in between his legs, and proceeded to dab the blood on his cheek away.
Parker crawled into the doorway, sitting against the chair. She looked up at him. "Should I be holding your hand?"
"No, baby, thank you," muttered Barry, patting her head.
"A lady speedster," Cisco was fawning. "It only took us two years, but we finally got one: a lady speedster. Hey, here's a question for you, purely scientific, was she good looking?"
"You know, I was a little busy getting my ass handed to me, so I didn't really notice," sassed Barry.
"Right, right, right, but you know, next time, for science?"
"Okay, yeah. Next time she punches me in the face, I'll get her number."
"And proceed to dispose of it," added Parker.
"Of course," assured Barry.
"Who is she?" asked Harry.
"I have no idea."
"We could run her through facial recognition," suggested Caitlin.
"Mask," he said.
Cisco practically broke out in tears. "What was her suit like?"
"Hey," smiled Caitlin, nudging him.
"It's a valid question."
"It is, actually. How was her suit constructed?" asked Harry.
"It was good. Very good. Like mine, made by someone who understands the needs of a speedster," explained Barry.
"So, that would be someone with access to tech and a lab?" asked Cisco.
"Oh, no. I'm having a very bad thought," gasped Caitlin. "Uh, so, when I designed V-9, I was having trouble formatting the extracellular matrix, so I called a colleague of mine at Mercury Labs for assistance, Eliza Harmon."
"She knows how to make this speed drug?" asked Barry.
"No, I followed the rules of information compartmentalization. I only gave her three of the eight components necessary for V-9's structure."
Relieved, Barry nodded. "Okay, so she didn't have the full recipe."
"Unless she reverse engineered her own V-9," suggested Harry.
"Eliza's a genius, but that's way out of character for her," said Caitlin. "I'll go see her."
"Call Joe, have him go with you," suggested Barry. "Great, okay, well, I'm gonna go train."
From the floor, Parker watched him fix his sleeve as he passed by her. When he left, she called to Harry, "He took it, didn't he?"
"Even in your drunken state..." said Harry, impressed.
"He's predictable."
"I'll handle him."
Harry left.
Caitlin and Joe returned, with time.
"Is she--"
"Drunk off her ass," said Caitlin.
"Hey, I'm getting better. I can feel the alcohol leaving my brain," insisted Parker.
"Okay," snorted Joe.
Together, Harry and Barry reentered the Cortex.
"Any luck finding our speedster?" asked Barry.
"I'm still looking," said Cisco, shaking his head.
Barry knelt in front of Parker. He tilted her chin back, forcing her to drink the water, though she protested, "Barry, no, water is gross!"
The fluorescent lights above their heads flickered, sparked. Jesse narrowly dodged being lit on fire. Fearing the worst, Parker slipped Barry's mask on over his head. Seconds later, he was taken from her embrace.
"Hey! Hey! She's got me in the pipeline!" he shouted through the speaker.
Joe unsheathed his gun. Parker tried to protest, as guns and speedsters never worked, but Joe didn't listen. It hadn't mattered, in the end. The lady speedster ran into Joe, sending him into the glass windows of Caitlin's lab.
Distraught, Parker whispered, "All I'm seeing is dollar signs!"
Harry ran for the gun. The speedster got to it first. She pointed it at him. "Where's the V-9, Caity? I need a fix," she said obnoxiously.
"Eliza, is that you?" asked Caitlin.
"Oh, Eliza's not here right now. My name is Trajectory."
"Why do the crazy ones always name themselves?" breathed Cisco.
"Eliza, velocity-9 is very dangerous, it made a friend of mine very sick, and he already had the speed force in him. Your cellular--"
"Enough!" she shouted. "You are boring me to death! Hand over the V."
"I'm a physician, I took an oath, I can't give you anything that will hurt you," said Caitlin.
"Right, so either the V, or the cat guy gets it," bargained Trajectory. She fired at Cisco. He ducked behind the console that held Jay's hat. "Hey! Move, now."
"All the flasks are gone. There's nothing left," said Caitlin.
"I was really hoping you wouldn't make me do one of those 'I have to kill you each, one by one, until you give me what I want,' but oh, well," she said. Roughly, she took Jesse, kicked her to her knees, and held her at gunpoint.
"Wait. Wait. You want V-9? We'll make it for you," said Harry instantly.
"Dad, you can't," whimpered Jesse.
"We have all the ingredients," agreed Caitlin.
"I'm not patient person, so you better move fast," snapped Trajectory.
With time, Harry and Caitlin returned from the lab. In Harry's hands, he held out three vials. "It's what you wanted. Now let her go," he asked.
Trajectory snatched them from his hands. "How do I know the two of you didn't lace this with a sedative to put me on my ass?"
"We wouldn't do that," said Harry.
"You can never be too safe, right?" sneered Trajectory. Following, she stabbed Jesse with the needle. She watched, as nothing happened, then laughed, "Thanks for the fix, Snow," before she bolted.
What Trajectory missed was seconds after she left, Jesse wobbled on her knees until she toppled over. Foam started producing from her mouth. Her body shook profoundly.
"Get Barry!" shouted Caitlin, racing to Jesse's side.
Cisco ran to the computer. He slapped the screen, almost knocking the monitor over, trying to release Barry from the cell.
"Good job on the cell, Cisco," sassed Barry when he zipped into the Cortex. He raced to Jesse's side. "What happened?"
"Eliza shot her up with v-9, she's going into shock, it's too pure," said Caitlin.
"Stay with me, Jesse, stay with me," whispered Harry into his daughter's hair. He held her hand, brushed her hair from her face. His heart was breaking, seeing his child in such a state, and not being able to do anything about it.
"We have to get the blood out of her system, she needs a transfusion. the new blood will flush the drug out of her system," said Caitlin at last.
"What blood type is she?" asked Barry.
"PZ negative," said Harry. He started to tear off his jacket.
"That's not a thing on this Earth, man!" shouted Cisco.
"I'm a match," muttered Harry.