Barry and Parker sprung apart when his cell phone rang. He dug his phone from his pocket. "Cisco?" he sighed. "Hey. Yeah, I was busy, but... I guess. Parker and I will be there. See you."
"What am I being dragged to?" asked Parker.
"They want to test my ability some more. Cisco wants you there. If you want to be," said Barry.
"Yeah. I'll go," she agreed. "Excuse me."
Parker shuffled into the kitchen. Hands tangled nervously in her hair, she paced, trying to calm her erratically beating heart. When she was breathing normally, she poured Barry a glass of orange juice. She knew how much Caitlin got on him about keeping his vitamins up.
"Funny," said Barry dryly when he took it from her.
Parker smiled. "Oh, you used my computer again?"
"I did, yes. Hit the lights."
A song started to play when the lights were dimmed.
"Now, I'm sure Iris told you I had two left feet. That is true. Therefore, you're going to lead. Eventually, I'll get the hang of it," he told her.
Parker opened her arms for him to embrace her. "All right. Good hold. Now, you just kind of sway," she guided.
Barry took a full step to the right.
Parker laughed. She brought him into place again, then shook her head. For him, she demonstrated the correct way to softly sway. He grabbed her waist and pulled her to him, moving like she'd previously taught him.
"Guess the lightning didn't speed up your ability to learn, did it?" she joked.
Barry scoffed as she giggled. He locked his hands on the small of her back, bringing them into a close proximity. He felt her hands hovering above his chest, unsure of whether or not she should touch him. Gently sliding his hands off her waist, Barry took her frail hands. He forced her fingers to emerge from the palms of her hand. He set her hands on his chest, his arms returning to the spot on above her bottom.
"It's okay to let yourself fall, Park," he whispered.
"I'm only afraid you won't catch me."
The two stopped. Burning pizza flew past their noses. Parker didn't have to tell him for him to speed into the kitchen. He dropped two plates on the coffee table, then resumed their position, as though he'd never left.
"Smooth," muttered Parker.
"Shut up."
"What?" she chuckled. "I wasn't kidding."
"You're always kidding."
"Well, Barry, I'm not kidding when I say that I am foolishly, completely falling..."
"Parker..."
"Nah, I was kidding."
××××
The morning after was designated as a training session for Barry. They tested his ability to multitask. Each member of the team chose to play games. Barry's task was to fly around the room when it was his turn in the specific game.
Parker took the first move in their game of Mancala. Her side of the bowl was filled with six marbles when she finished. She called his name.
Barry smacked the ping pong ball at Cisco, then zipped to Parker. With a crack and a gust of wind, he was back playing ping pong. Parker pondered her next move.
Yet another buzz rang through the room, following by Caitlin's frustrated, "This isn't even remotely anatomically correct!"
"That's not the point, Dr. Snow," said Barry. He plucked the tweezers from her hand and pried an ice cream cone from the operation table.
"Then, what is the point?"
"To have fun!" chorused Barry and Parker over-excitedly chorused.
Caitlin and Cisco shared a glance.
"Next they'll be finishing each others sentences," muttered Cisco.
"To continue your ongoing training by testing the speed of your mind, by pushing your ability to multitask," corrected Dr. Wells.
Barry zipped to their chess game and moved a piece. He hit the timer. "I'm waiting on you, Dr. Wells," he challenged, then ran to Parker for his turn. He bounced between Ping Pong, Mancala, and Operation for a couple rounds.
"Checkmate," announced Dr. Wells.
Barry almost dropped the paddle in shock. He sprinted to the table. "Wait, checkmate?"
"Checkmate," confirmed Dr. Wells. "Guess you still have a few things to learn, Mr. Allen."
Parker's head snapped to the television when a flashing red box appeared. She pushed her feet quickly across the floor, using the wheels on the chair to slide to a desk with a computer.
"Park?" asked Barry.
"Uh... Uh... Oh, we've got an armed robbery at Fourth and Kollins," she announced after a couple button clicks.
"For the record I crushed it in Operation and Ping Pong," stated Barry proudly. He moved to the model at the front of the room. Using his speed, he changed, then stopped near Parker's seat. In her ear, he whispered, "and Mancala," then sped after the bad guys.
Parker shook off the shiver that ran down her spine. She wasn't fast enough to stop the inquiring minds of her coworkers.
"This isn't Gossip Girl," dismissed Parker.
"Which doesn't mean you can't tell us what's going on," egged on Cisco eagerly.
"Do you need to know?"
"YES!"
Barry saved her from extreme embarrassment by frantically asking, "Where's the nearest hospital?" through the speaker.
"Seven blocks North, two East. St. Andrews," said Parker.
"Call the ER, tell them they have an incoming GSW," ordered Barry.
Caitlin executed his request.
On his watch, someone had been shot. Never before had Parker thought about the possibility of Barry being unable to save someone. If she hadn't thought about failure as a hero, she was sure he hadn't. He needed to understand that was okay. Parker designated herself to assure him of that.
××××
Whenever Barry returned to the Cortex after a mission, if Parker wasn't there to see him, she normally received a text message from him saying he was all right. She waited, and waited, until almost three in the morning for a message. There was nothing. No text, no call. He gave her utter radio silence.
Exhausted from waiting on him, Parker accidentally slept in late. She hustled into the Cortex, yelling, "Morning, losers! I brought donuts as an apology," but she then went quiet, as the Cortex was empty.
Parker heard the treadmill in the conjoined room. She pushed through the lab door. In there, she found the team.
An unfamiliar girl sat in Parker's usual seat. Glasses on her nose and blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, the fancy dressed woman introduced herself as Felicity Smoak.
"Parker Sylas," she introduced.
Felicity didn't linger on the woman too long. She turned to watch Barry again. "How fast can he run?"
"Oh, so now we're telling everyone about Barry?" asked Parker.
"She works with the Arrow," dismissed Cisco.
To Felicity's previous question, Dr. Wells answered, "He hasn't reached his top speed, theoretically speaking."
"Is he really okay?"
"His heart rate is in normal range," said Caitlin. "Well, for him."
"No, I meant the lightning bolt changed him. Do any of you really know how much?" asked Felicity.
"We know a fair amount," said Cisco. Something about the way he said it told Parker his eyes flew across her. She was correct.
"If everything about him is sped up, is he going to age faster? What would happen if he ran too fast? Would he just be running, and then, poof, and he's dust in a red costume?"
"Everything we do here at S.T.A.R. Labs is to protect Barry Allen. Trust us, Felicity, he is in very good hands," promised Dr. Wells.
"Wanna see how fast I can run backwards?" yelled Barry.
Parker looked from her crate of untouched donuts in time to see Barry trip and crash into the stack of cardboard boxes.
Felicity rushed to his aid. She helped him into the Cortex. The others followed behind her blindly, like little ducklings.
Parker ripped open the door to the treadmill and stalked through it. She kicked the cardboard boxes as she went, merging them into one pile. She stacked them roughly and angrily.
At first, she thought it lucky when her cell phone rang.
"Iris," grumbled Parker.
"Hi! Nice to hear from you. So, have you met Felicity?"
"Barry's new girlfriend?" snapped Parker. "Yeah, I've had the honor."
"Uh... I'm sure it's not as bad as you think it is."
"Oh, no, it is. I've been shoved from Barry's life, which is just wonderful, and to make it better, my coworkers at the Lab don't know that I'm here. I'm a ghost! It's official! Grab me a white sheet and call me Casper."
"Maybe when she's gone, he'll be all over you again."
"That's not what I want, Iris. I thought we had something special the other night, I was ready to be something with him, then two days later, this random girl shows up and now I don't exist. I don't want this."
Parker stopped. Connecting the dots was rather easy after Iris gave an awkward pause. Iris had met Felicity and liked her, to a point where Iris was already starting to crop Parker out of the picture. It wasn't exactly surprising. Iris wanted the absolute best for Barry.
"You liked Felicity. Got it. I'll talk to you later, yeah?" muttered Parker.
"Oh, no, Parker, wait--"
Parker clicked the red button on her phone. On the treadmill, she took a seat, placing her head against her knees. There she sat, unnoticed to the team in the next room, thinking about what to do next.