Within Seconds // Barry Allen

Misery Business

Parker was forced to slap her cheeks every few minutes to keep her eyes open as she followed the familiar path into S.T.A.R. Labs. She, not surprisingly, blamed Iris for her fatigue. The aspiring writer kept her friend up all night, reviewing an assignment on The Blur. 

"I just need to know who he is. How did he get those powers? What made him want to save people? You know?" Iris had asked.

"Oh, I know," said Parker, internally cackling, since she knew those answers.

Minor help on Iris' essay easily turned into seven hours of reediting the paper together, three separate times. Iris hadn't minded staying awake so late, seeing as she started late at work the following morning. 

The same couldn't be said for Parker. Bright and early, too early, she stumbled into the Cortex and curled into her computer chair. At long last, she allowed her eyes the bliss of staying closed. 

A collective gasp hit the Cortex. It was as though a record had scratched, how fast everyone came to a complete stop. 

"No losers? No geeks?" asked Caitlin, squinting. 

"Weirdos, even?" asked Barry. 

"Not in the mood..." yawned Parker.

Cisco applied his hand over her forehead. "She feels a little cold."

"It's almost in the negatives outside," defended Parker. Understanding they weren't going to allow her to rest, she slouched in the chair. "You guys up for some questions?" 

"Shoot," said Dr. Wells. 

"Do you think the speed will carry onto his kids?"

"It's entirely possible."

"Could he age could age faster?"

"Not that we know of."

"Can we teach him how to actually fight?" 

"I second that," said Barry. 

"Teaching him could be very beneficial, you know, he could get, like, four hundred moves in before his opponent had a chance to react. He might even already have Jackie Chan level skills and we wouldn't know," said Parker. 

Dr. Wells nodded. "I don't see the harm in it."

"How long do you think it takes for the meta-humans to discover powers? I mean, for all we know, it could very well be one of us and we wouldn't have a clue."

"An interesting thought. One I may consider looking into," said Dr. Wells.

"All right," said Parker, pleased. "Donuts in the break room?"

"You know it," said Cisco. 

Parker walked to the break room. She shoved one donut into her mouth, then noticing the decaying sprinkles, paused to search for a plate. In the midst of reaching into the cabinet, a hand grabbed it for her. 

Barry set it on the counter. "There you go."

"I could have got it," muttered Parker. 

"Oh, right, yeah," said Barry. He went quiet, seeing as he didn't have a valid explanation for helping where it wasn't needed. "So, I heard it was Open Mic Week at Jitters. Are you going?"

"If you wanted to hear me sing again, you could just ask."

"You'd probably think I was a creep."

"You might be correct."

For a split second, their eyes locked. Parker averted her eyes first. 

"Well, I'll see you around, I suppose," mumbled Barry.