"I feel a storm brewing," Brendan concluded, his eyes darting up and down as I slammed the door to the staff room shut.
"I feel like I'm going to explode. Literally, all of the energy is building up inside me. I feel like I'm being eaten alive," I admitted, running down the stairs to our lair.
"How long's it been since you've used your powers properly?" Brendan asked, following me down the stairs. I threw him a memory stick with the results of the test from Barry's case. I decided to collect everything that we found at S.T.A.R Labs, just in case I was exiled or we needed a new base of operations for whatever reason.
"Over a week," I estimated, moving over to behind the screen for changing into my costume for training in.
"That doesn't sound good."
"I mean, I've been training in that time, but not using my energy at all."
"Have you been eating enough?"
"That'll never become a problem unless I'm kidnapped or something," I joked, hauling on my long boots. "This outfit is gonna need some adjustments for summer. I'm thinking smaller boots."
"Fashion ain't my thing, kid. If it's clean, I wear it."
"It's not fashion; it's trying not to overheat."
"So how long have you been feeling eaten alive for?"
"Ever since I absorbed an explosion."
"What did that Ramen kid put in that missile?"
"Ramen kid," I snorted, slapping my knee as I uncontrollably started laughing. I had to lean myself against my salmon ladder to stop myself from falling over from laughing. I shook my head as I walked over to Brendan, wiping the tears that had formed from my eyes.
"If only my kids found my jokes as funny."
"You're their dad, of course they won't laugh at you. Speaking of father's, my dad is likely to call again soon. He's made a habit of calling me every week where our conversations are slightly longer each time, but still end with me hanging up on him."
"Why don't you call him for a change?"
"Not in the mood for a lecture, Brend," I muttered, giving him a glare as I stomped out of the screened off area towards the fire exit, nearly ripping the door off its hinges as I put my earpiece in my ear and flew out of the door.
"We're talking about this again later, kid. What happens if you get killed out there one day? What do I say to Jerry Stone if his daughter is given to him in a wooden box?" Brendan's voice crackled through my earpiece.
"Then you tell him who I am. I won't mind so much if I'm dead, which I hope not to be," I replied, flying between a few skyscrapers.
"Just got a bogey come up on the computers. Suspected armed robbery with two suspects, a male and a female in their twenties."
"Sounds like Shawna and her Baez," I snorted, imitating a gangster.
"Don't ever try and sound street again."
"No promises, Coach. Any great tips you want to share with me for today?"
"It's an armed robbery, so I'd prefer for you not to get shot," Brendan advised me as he laughed.
"I'll try my best. I've arrived so I'll talk to you later."
"Just a few bags baby, it's enough to pay back Marcus," I heard Clay say to his girlfriend. The two guards were on their knees on the floor as Clay was holding them at gunpoint.
"These things are heavier than they look," Shawna moaned.
"I'll happily take them off your hands," I replied, my American accent not wavering as I made a pretty cool superhero landing.
"Oh ho, it's the Flash's sidekick," Shawna taunted.
"Oh my God! I am not his sidekick. Why do people think that?" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air.
"Well, you do follow him around."
"I follow him around? Well, where is he now?" I asked, spinning around and pointing at nothing.
"Right here," Barry exclaimed, sprinting in to stand next to me.
"Oh, for God's sake! Are you kidding me? Your timing could not be any worse," I groaned, shaking my head as I stomped my foot on the floor.
"To an armed robbery?" He questioned, not understanding what I was talking about.
"We're talking about this later!" I screeched, launching myself over to Clay as I flung his gun out of his hands, it skidding to the floor as the two guards rushed out of the way.
Clay threw a punch my way, which I successfully dodged as I sent a jab to the side of his stomach, causing him to hunch over in pain. I seized the opportunity and jolted my knee up, hitting him straight in the face before finishing it off with a roundhouse kick, sending him flying to where the gun had slid on the tarmac.
Once I was sure he wasn't going to be causing any more trouble, I flew over to where Barry and Shawna were running after each other as she constantly kept disappearing and reappearing all over the construction yard.
"Not too many men can keep up with me," Shawna bragged, leaving Barry hanging over the edge of a rail. I feigned a barfing noise as I used my telekinesis to help Barry and hauled his legs over the railings.
I rushed over to the back of her car, hauling out the bags of stolen cash out as I wandered back towards the truck. Unfortunately, Barry had failed to keep Shawna occupied as she teleported straight into me, punching me square in the face and landing a hard kick to the stomach.
I groaned in pain as I was flipped to the floor, causing me to drop the bags and land awkwardly on my wrist. "Wouldn't be much of a sidekick if I didn't kick you, right?" Shawna sneered, grabbing the bags from the floor.
I got up from the floor and slowly blinked my eyes shut in relief as I saw that Barry had cornered her, only to be punched in the side by Clay, sending me flying once me. He had found his gun and aimed it at Barry, shooting a bullet straight at his neck. I tried to slow the bullet as much as I could, but it still managed to hit him, luckily not as badly since he had caught it just as it broke through his suit. He too fell to the floor as Shawna ran to her boyfriend, flinging her arms holding the bags of cash around his neck and teleporting off somewhere.
"Man, I need a milkshake," I sighed, wiping my forehead as I inspected my sore wrist.
"I just got shot, and all you can think of is having a milkshake?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want one too?" I asked, standing up from the floor as I dusted my suit off.
"Haha," he replied sarcastically.
"Do you want a hand up?" I asked.
"Nah, I'm all right," Barry muttered, rolling onto his front as he pushed himself up to stand.
"It looks like it's just broken the skin, nothing too serious."
"Since when did you become an expert?"
"Since I went to med school and got a degree," I scoffed.
"You're a doctor?"
"Yes, I'm a doctor and yes, I have to get back to work since I'm on call."
"Oh, right. I'll see you around."
"I hope your neck gets better soon."
"Thanks. Go and save some lives already."
"You act like being dressed up like this doesn't save any!" I shouted from mid-air, listening to his laughter as he too ran back to S.T.A.R Labs.
Sometimes I hated having to run back to Brendan's and get back to the labs as quickly as you could say 'Miss Cosmic.' Maybe it was the stinging sensation I was feeling as I was flying, making my head go a little fuzzy and my hands and feet stinging like I had cramp or that they had fallen to sleep.
I landed on top of a random building, stumbling to stand as I sat on a raised air vent, putting my head between my legs. I felt faint and could feel my head beginning to break out into a sweat.
"Brendan? Are you busy?" I breathlessly asked through my earpiece.
"You sound awful," Brendan admitted.
"I feel awful. I don't know what's happening to me. It's like I've got an excess of energy inside of me, and it's affecting my cellular function."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I need to tell Caitlin about this. She knows more about metahumans than I do."
"Well, you can't get her to test you at S.T.A.R Labs," Brendan advised me.
"I know..."
"So, what are you gonna do about it?"
"Well, you know that you said you put a miniature science lab in the lair?"
"You're asking if you can reveal that I work with you."
"Please, Brendan? What if this thing that's wrong with me is permanent? Or life-threatening? I'm too young to die, Brendan. I don't want to go down the same route as Eve; she'll kill me in heaven. Even though I'll already be dead-"
"Hey kid, stop rambling already. It's fine with me. Just make sure she knows not to talk," Brendan sighed, as I felt a wave of relief wash over me.
"Thank you, Brendan. Really, you've done so much for me, and I don't how I'll ever repay you."
"Don't worry about it, keeps me busy from the people who come to the boxing club, ha!"
"I should be back soon unless I collapse mid-air."
"Take your time and be careful."
I stood up from the vent, stretching my legs out as I levitated, checking that my energy was enough to be in flight mode as I launched from the building, flying off towards the gym. I urged myself further as I only had a few blocks left to fly as I was running out of time and energy to resist the pain.
I crashed on Brendan's roof, tumbling to the floor as I cried out in pain. I stumbled to get up but failed as the fire exit door burst open and Brendan scrambled over to me, picking me up as he carried me down to the lair, opening the door to the lab I had never seen. He cleared a desk and laid me on top of it before shaking his head.
"I would've come to pick you up if you had told me you were this bad," Brendan gruffly told me, looking at me with a worried expression.
"Just call Caitlin and Cisco, please."
Brendan swiftly left the room, heading off to phone the duo as could barely move a muscle from the pain that was ripping through my nerves as I could barely breathe, my lungs filling themselves with the fiery burn that raged through my body.
"I can't breathe," I whispered, sitting up at the desk. I forced air in and out of lungs, making me sound like I'd just run a marathon.
"Oh, yeah great, thanks, Doc," Brendan said on the phone, walking into the lab. "She says they're on their way."
"How much does" I paused to breathe, the harsh sound making Brendan look even more worried as I continued "she know?"
"Not your identity since I know that you're not a fan of that Wells guy."
"Thanks."
"Now Caitlin said to elevate your legs to stop you from feeling faint and to give you a wet cloth to bring down your fever."
"Since when did we have monogrammed purple washcloths?" I remarked as he took off my mask and placed the cloth on my forehead.
"They're new. I was going to tell you about them today, but you were looking like you were about to explode."
"Sorry. Would you tell me a story? Y'know, to take my mind off of my impending death," I explained.
"What kind?"
"Any."
"All right, how about the time my wife and I first met?"
"Go for it."
"It was 1995, I had my biggest match to date against the Texan Terror and the odds weren't looking good for me, but I pulled through and won it, against all the odds, despite having broken bones and a concussion. So, my old coach called for an ambulance that sent me down to the hospital as soon as the match was over and I was lucky enough to have Lorelei being my nurse in there with me. She calmed me down since the younger me was a little scared of blood back in the day. I was trying to crack jokes while she was fixing my nose, telling me to be all still and such since I kept moving from laughing. The doctor in the ward told us to stop flirting so he could get on with treating other people."
"Heart-wrenching," I whispered.
"I think I can hear Caitlin upstairs; I'll be back in a minute," Brendan told me, sounding a little on edge. I listened to the pounding footsteps of him running up the stairs and the awkward greetings that they had exchanged, though it was a little difficult to hear from my harsh breathing.
"So, what seems to be the problem-" Caitlin started until she walked into the room and saw me on the worktop.
"Hi, Caitlin," I greeted, wincing as my breath was still laborious and was getting worse.
"You're-but, what?" She exclaimed, looking at me strangely.
"I promise I'll explain everything later."
"Have you any idea of what could have caused this?" Cisco asked, picking up my arm and moving back my sleeve.
"Earlier, she said something about absorbing an explosion and feeling like she had too much energy in her?"
"That would explain why you look purple," Cisco replied, tilting his head to look at me.
"Wait, what?" I exclaimed in a panic.
"I didn't want to alarm you," Brendan admitted.
"Mind if I take some blood?" Caitlin asked, looking a little scared.
"Just do what you have to do," I instructed as she proceeded to place some onto a slide and view it under a microscope.
"Well, that's interesting," Caitlin remarked.
"What?"
"You've got nearly double the number of organelles in your cells. It looks like you've absorbed too much energy and it's attacking your cells for space," she explained.
"Can you syphon it out?" I asked.
"Yeah, but you're going to have to put some effort in," Cisco scoffed as I rolled my eyes.
"Do you have a can or container we can put it in?"
"There should be something you can use in the cupboards around here somewhere," Brendan muttered, searching for some supplies with Cisco.
"It's going to hurt," Caitlin mentioned.
"How much?"
"Like thousands of splinters being removed from your body, all at once," Cisco dramatically exaggerated, moving his hands to gesture pain.
"Great."
"Right, I'm going to put this in your arm, okay? As long as you focus the energy to output through this tube, we should be able to keep it contained."
"Phew, it's fine. We've totally got this, right guys?" I tried to encourage the rest of the team around me as I exhaled out in stress.
"Um, yep, absolutely."
"Sure."
"Hey, don't look at me, kid!" They all said at the same time, each exchanging concerned looks.
"Focus, Em," I told myself.
"Let the energy and you become one."
"Shut up, Cisco," I grumbled, trying to concentrate.
I focused on the tubes coming from the crook of my arm, feeling the burning sensation increased as I forced the energy out of my body. I could feel it trying to resist being forced out like it was scraping its way out just to cause further pain to me. It was digging its heels in for some reason, but I wasn't going to back down.
I scrunched my eyes up in pain as I clenched my fists and jaw, tensing all of the muscles in my body to let the excess energy burn its way out of my body.
"Woah, woah, woah, Em. We said in the tubes," Cisco exclaimed as I opened my eyes, seeing my entire body cloaked with purple energy.
"You got a bigger container?"
"Oh, um, yeah. Here," Brendan offered, bringing a large plastic tub over to bench as I moved my hands to send the energy into the box.
"Is it all out? I don't feel the burning anymore," I asked as I could feel my breathing returning to it's usual rate.
"Your skin has returned to its normal colour, so I would say so," Caitlin observed.
"Thank you, guys. Really, seriously, I could've died if it weren't for you all."
"I think we should leave them to talk," Brendan said to Cisco, looking at the glare Caitlin was giving me.
"Good idea. In the meantime, I'm going to watch this box of energy," Cisco replied, holding the plastic tub and looking at it from different angles.
"Thanks, guys," I replied as both of the men left the room.
It was quiet to start with. Caitlin came over to me to remove the tubes from my arms as I studied her face. "You're not reading my mind, are you?"
"I don't do that. Sometimes information just leaps out at me, and I can't help it. Other times I do a little digging, but that's only if they're not on the right side of the law," I explained.
"What leapt out at you when you first met me?" She asked as I gave her a small smile.
"Your name and what happened to Ronnie. I don't control what my subconscious finds, Caitlin."
"I don't blame you for not telling us," she admitted.
"I wanted to, I really did. Especially when you were fixing my ribs. I wanted to give you the biggest hug, but I couldn't do it. I'm not sure what it is about S.T.A.R Labs, but it makes me feel like none of our conversations are ever private. It's just a gut feeling, though."
"Who else knows?" Caitlin asked as I winced slightly.
"Joe, Cisco and Brendan," I admitted, massaging my forehead to try and relieve some tension.
"So not Barry," she concluded.
"I don't even know where to begin thinking about how to tell him," I sighed.
"Honestly, I think he'll be mad at the beginning, but he'll warm up to the idea of two of his favourite people being jumbled into one eventually."
"I'm afraid that he'll be mad for too long for him to understand why I didn't tell him."
"Do it when you feel ready."
"Thanks, Caitlin."
"Okay, so enough about spilling secrets. I want to know more about your powers. I mean, they're so varied it's quite unbelievable. Have you done any research about yourself?"
"I've had a theory," I began, a smile spreading it's way across my face.
"Go on..."
"Well, you were saying about how I have basically double of everything, right? So, what if when the particle accelerator exploded, my sister's genetics and such were drawn to mine and bonded. It would explain why I have a fast metabolism and strange super strength and why I can hear her in my head occasionally," I explained.
"That must be weird."
"It's what I imagine schizophrenia is like," I admitted.
"I can see why you zone out so much now."
"Don't even get me started about the dead people thing as well," I groaned.
"Dead people thing?" She asked, looking at me as if I had gone mad.
"I can hear dead people and see what look like ghosts whenever I go to resting places of the dead. I saw one in the hiking park once since someone's ashes were spread there. Good thing I can fly, otherwise I would've fallen off a cliff."
"So, if I asked you to see if someone was dead, you could find out?" Caitlin quizzed as she seemed very interested in my ability.
"Yeah, quite easily," I shrugged.
"What if I asked you to see if Ronnie was there?"
"You don't sound sure that he's dead?"
"Because I'm not. Cisco said that Hartley knows where he is," Caitlin explained as I squinted my eyes at the idea of Cisco and Hartley actually having a conversation that didn't entirely involve insults.
"To be honest, Eve says there isn't a Ronnie Raymond in the world of the dead, so I guess congratulations are in order?" I replied, unsure of how she would take the news.
"Congratulations, your fiancé isn't dead?" Caitlin said, a slight tilt of a smile on her lips.
"Yeah? Kinda?"
"Eh, I'll take it," Caitlin replied with a shrug. "Do you, do you fancy scouring out one of the bars that Shawna and Clay have been known to visit?" She stuttered as I gave her a grin.
"I would be honoured, Dr. Snow."
"I'm assuming that you can't get drunk," she concluded as I hopped off of the desk that I had been laid on.
"You would assume correct, but nobody knows that, so I tend to have a little fun with it. You get away with so much more when you're drunk, and you can remember what every other actually drunk friend got up to."
"Oh, that's sneaky."
"I'm going to need to go home and get changed, though, since I'm not up for that kind of party," I snorted.
"So do I. How about I meet you there?"
"Sure, that would at least mean I could escape Brendan's objections," I admitted as Caitlin quickly nodded in agreement.
"I'll text you the details, all right?"
"That's great, thanks."
"I hate to interrupt, but I'm not hearing a lot of shouting," Cisco asked as he opened the door.
"I'm not mad at her," Caitlin said, smiling at her friends.
"Oh, well that's surprising," Cisco replied, scratching the back of his head.
"If I were in her shoes I would've done exactly the same thing," Caitlin explained, giving me a nudge.
"Ha, you'll be lucky to fit in her shoes! I've never seen such enormous feet on a lady before," Brendan explained before bursting into laughter.
"Just means I've got more foot to kick with," I mused.
"You're looking a lot better at least. I think we're done here, but you need to make sure that you tell us next time this happens so that we can remove your energy properly. I wouldn't recommend absorbing any for a while," Cisco scolded, leaving the medical room to let Caitlin and I out.
"I'll try not to," I laughed, shaking my head slightly. Cisco and Caitlin soon left the gym, leaving Brendan and me to finish cleaning up the main floor.
"It's nice to see you back on your feet, kid."
"You're not going soft on me now, are you Brendan?" I joked, standing in the middle of the room and moving the cloths around on the floor using my telekinesis.
"I sure hope not. Though, now that we're talking about this, I wanted to thank you," Brendan began as I paused my cleaning to look over at him.
"What for?"
"For trusting me and allowing me to help people. Well, I know it's through your actions and what not so call me soft, but I'm grateful for the change," he admitted as my heart swelled with pride.
"I didn't realise that this all had such a big effect on you."
"You're like the little sister I never had, now. And you better tell me the next time that this Barry fellow messes you around, all right?"
"Sure thing, bro," I chuckled as he came over and bundled me in a hug.
"Now, haven't you got a night out to be going to or something?"
"Geez, when did you get super hearing?" I gasped, nudging his shoulder.
"Cisco and I may have been a little close to the door and overheard a few things."
"I'll let you off this time! Right, I'm going so I'll see you tomorrow," I pointed at him as I walked backwards towards the exit.
"Don't push yourself too hard tonight."
"I can't get drunk anyway so it'll just be casual, y'know."
"We'll see. Have a good night, Emily."
"You too, Brend," I bid farewell as I closed the door shut and flew off to the West household to find a dress to wear for Caitlin and I's big night out.
A/N
I know Em is banging, but not exploding, sheesh.
My fav chapter coming next week ft. some amazing music choices from yours truly.
See you on the dark side,
Charis xo