Chapter 1: Kara

It had only been a week since Barry had gotten his speed back after his encounter with Blackout and he was thrilled to be running around again. Ever since he had gotten his speed, it had become an essential part of him, and being without it, he had felt incomplete. Now, he could continue saving people, as well as keep searching for his mom's killer.

Today had been pretty eventful already. One apartment building on fire and an old man having a heart attack, and it was only noon. As he headed back to STAR Labs, Barry felt a strong wind hit him. At first that's all he thought it was, but for a second he thought that he had seen a human shape pass him. Could that have been another meta like him?

"It's probably just my imagination," he thought to himself as he continued speeding his way to Star Labs.

"Not bad, Scarlet Speedster," Cisco complimented as Barry whooshed into the main room. Barry gave him a confused look.

"What? Who says you can only have one nickname?" Cisco argued. Barry chuckled at this as did Wells who was rolling into the room.

"Very delicate work, Mr. Allen," he complimented. "You handled yourself quite well out there." Barry could sense a "but" coming his way.

"But you can always be faster. Official reports said some of the people in that building did suffer from 3rd degree burns and that may not happen next time, when your speed has improved." Caitlin and Cisco looked slightly irritated at Wells.

"Cut Barry some slack, Dr. Wells," Caitlin suggested.

"Yeah," Cisco added. "No one died after all." Barry wasn't as defensive.

"It's okay, guys. I know that if I'm gonna keep the city safe, I gotta be on my A-game and since speed is my forte, improving it should be my priority."

Wells seemed both surprised and impressed at Barry's maturity, as a smile came over his face.

All of the sudden, Barry's phone began vibrating. It was in his pants tucked in a bag across the room. He hadn't quite figured out how to fit his cell phone into his suit.

"You know, Cisco, I think this suit needs pockets." Cisco seemed annoyed at that comment but also ready to face the challenge. Barry answered his phone, hearing Iris' voice coming through it.

"Barry! Hi. So remember how I always talk to you about Lois Lane?" Barry remembered. She was one of the most famous journalists in America, having won several Pulitzers and other awards. Iris admired her greatly for obvious reasons.

"Yeah, I remember," Barry replied.

"Well, guess who's gonna be meeting with her for coffee later today?"

"Oh my god," Barry said with excitement. "That's amazing. Are you getting interviewed for a job?"

"No. I mean, I'm very inexperienced… and besides, she already told me it's about my blog."

Iris was referring to her blog on meta human activity in Central City. For a big time journalist like Lois Lane to take that seriously was quite something. It might actually lend Iris some credibility.

"Man! That's really exciting, Iris. I hope everything goes well."

"Actually, that's sort of why I'm calling. Eddie is gonna be there with me for moral support, but I figured having my best friend there might also be nice." Barry smirked to himself at the thought of Iris needing him for moral support. His feelings for her were still quite strong.

"Definitely! Just tell when to be there."

...

Barry arrived at CC Jitters a minute late. It was strange how even with super speed, he still found himself coming late to things.

"Sorry," Barry apologized as he sat down next to Iris and Eddie at a big table.

"It's okay," Iris assured him. "They're also running a bit late. I'm sure it's no big deal." Barry had a confused look on his face.

"What do you mean "they?" he asked.

"Oh, it's just that the Daily Planet's best photographer, Jimmy Olsen, is tagging along, as well as Lois' intern, whose name escapes me at the moment." Barry nodded. After just a few more minutes Lois and Jimmy arrived.

"Sorry, sweetie," Lois apologized. "Traffic in this town is nuts. I can't understand how people get around here so quickly." Barry had a sly smile on his face, thinking how this was not a problem for him. Lois was a tall woman, with long dark brown hair in a ponytail. She was also dressed in a very professional-looking suit jacket.

"Anyway, it's so nice to finally meet you, Iris," Lois complimented. "The way you're taking on such a big story: people with extraordinary powers, powers beyond our wildest dreams. You know, you really do remind me of myself when I was a young, hungry reporter."

Iris couldn't help but blush. "Oh, it's really my honor. I've always been a huge fan of your work, Ms La…"

"Call me Lois, please. No need to be so formal," Lois interrupted with a smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Speaking of formalities, this is Jimmy Olsen."

"James," Jimmy corrected Lois. "But if we ever become good friends, feel free to use Jimmy."

Everyone chuckled. Jimmy was a tall, dorky-looking black man, who wore a green sweater with a yellow dress shirt underneath.

"Nice to meet you, James," Iris said as she shook Jimmy's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Iris."

"By the way, this is my boyfriend Eddie Thawne and my best friend, Barry.

"It's good to meet you two," Lois said. "We actually should wait for my intern though. She should've been here already. She did leave before us."

"Kara is always late," Jimmy explained, chuckling to himself. "Don't take it personally. We're used to it."

In through the door stumbled a blonde woman with glasses, no older looking than Barry, with a paper cup of coffee in her hand.

"I'm so, so sorry, Lois. I just… whoops," she said as she dropped her cup but immediately caught it.

"You know, with reflexes like that, you should come to one of the Daily Planet's baseball matches," Jimmy said with a smirk.

"You know I'm not much of sporty woman, Jimmy. Anyway, as I was saying," she said as she adjusted her Clarke Gable-esque glasses. "I just thought I would get some coffee before I got here."

"I hate to state the obvious," Iris said, "but this is a coffee shop." Kara seemed to not have thought of that.

"Right! Sorry! I just, really wanted to try this other shop on the other side of town."
That Kara was awkward was an understatement. Maybe she was just nervous but Barry couldn't see why. It's not like she was meeting anyone special here. Well, except the Flash, but she didn't know that.

"Anyway," Lois interjected after a few seconds of silence. "Iris, this is my intern, Kara Danvers. Kara, meet Iris West, the woman of the hour."

"Hi, Iris," Kara said with a big grin while she shook the young reporter's hand.

"Hi! Wow, you got a strong gri..."

"...Grip," Kara interjected and laughed. "I get that quite a lot." Iris laughed too.

"Kara, this is my boyfriend Eddie Thawne and my best friend, Barry Allen." She proceeded to shake Eddie's and then Barry's hand.

"Hi, Barry," she said as she smirked. "Nice to fi… nice to meet you." Barry had a confused look on his face but proceeded to say, "Nice to meet you too, Kara." Barry noticed what Iris had pointed out earlier. Her grip really was strong.

"Anyway," Lois interjected again. "Let's talk about these special people you've been writing about."

…

The two talked extensively about all of Iris' articles on metas. Lois found her personal encounter with Girder especially interesting since Iris had known him before he had powers. However, she was even more interested in learning about the Flash.

"So you've actually met the Flash?" Lois asked. Iris nodded. "What was he like? What did he say?"

"Well, he didn't tell me a lot actually. He was very secretive," Iris explained. "He was quite adamant about his secrecy as well, so I couldn't gage him very well. He did, however, tell me he didn't like the name, the Red Streak. Barry gave me the idea for the Flash as a name, actually." Lois had a curious look on her face.

"So, Barry," Kara interjected. She hadn't said a lot throughout the meeting but had been eyeing Barry all throughout. He wasn't sure entirely why. "What gave you the idea for the Flash as a name?" Barry was caught off guard but answered anyway.

"Well, Iris kept talking about how he moves so fast. One minute, he's there, then he's gone... in a Flash."

Lois whispered something into Kara's ear. Watching Lois' lips, it looked like she said 'good job.'

"That's not a bad name actually," Lois complimented. "Hope the guy doesn't mind it. Anyway, I think it's time I share with you what I have learned. You see, I also have collected some data on these… what do you think we should call them, Iris?"
Iris thought about it for a second. "I don't know. What do you guys think?" she asked looking to Eddie and Barry.

"Well, sweetie," Eddie replied. "I figure Barry probably has another cool name up his sleeve." Barry knew immediately what to answer.

"Meta human," he replied with a sly smile.

"Wow," Kara said suddenly with smirk. "That was fast." Again, caught off guard by Kara's comment, Barry was really starting to wonder about her. "That was fast." Was that just coincidence or did she somehow know he was the Flash?

"Thanks," Barry replied smiling, despite his confusion.

"Nice," Jimmy and Lois said in unison.

"Anyway, as I said, I have collected my own data on meta humans. The most notable one that's been spotted in Metropolis is this one." She pulled out a few print-out images of what looked like the silhouette of a person shooting fire out of their eyes. There was another one of a similar looking silhouette, except this one was airborne. Also, looking at the second picture, it was clear to Barry that at least the second silhouette was that of a woman.

"Man," Eddie said in disbelief. "Defying the laws of gravity? That's just crazy." It was clear from his tone of voice that Eddie was very skeptical.

"Look! I'm more skeptical than anyone I know," Lois insisted. "I would be the first to say if this was a bunch of crap… but this isn't all I've got."

She proceeded to take out some print-outs of emails stating that they had seen the flying woman as well. One even claimed to have been rescued by the woman, referring to her as the Maiden of Might. It said that she had tapped a mugger on the back of the head and knocked him out instantly.

"I certainly can't blame you for being skeptical about this," Jimmy told Barry, Iris and Eddie, "but I have actually seen her myself. He took out a picture, this one still only showed a silhouette of the woman, standing in a victorious pose. He took out another, showing her flying away into the night sky. In this one you could make out that she was wearing a sweater and jeans.

"She saved me from a couple of goons. I had investigated the supposed hideout of a local gangster when they threatened to kill me. She showed up, beat them up, I took out my camera before she had noticed it and I snapped two pictures."

"They are certainly the best ones out of all of these," Iris complimented. Jimmy smiled and nodded in appreciation. "But if you, a famous photographer, got pictures of this woman, how come you haven't released them?" Lois rubbed her forehead, clearly a bit annoyed by the fact that she wasn't able to.

"Well, so did I," Lois explained, "but our editor thinks that the public won't believe us. Sure, he doesn't think Jimmy would release fake pictures but he doesn't want anything to possibly ruin the Planet's reputation, especially with meta humans being all the hype in the blogosphere."

"I see," Iris said a bit saddened that the doubt was still there amongst people, but being a journalist, she needed to be objective.

"Anyway, I think that's actually all I have time for," Lois said suddenly.

"Wait, you're leaving already?" Iris asked with surprise. "You just got here."

"I'm a busy woman, Iris. I got to meet another source in Gotham in just a few hours, and since Central was on the way, I figured this would be the best time to meet with you. Don't worry, I'll be sure to keep in touch and share any more info I can get on metas, alright?"

Saying this as she got up, she shook both Eddie's and Barry's hand, as did Jimmy.

"Well, thanks for meeting with me, Lois. It was a pleasure to meet you," Iris exclaimed with a smile.

"Pleasures all mine, dear. You ready to go, Kara? Kara?"

Without anyone noticing, Kara had disappeared, but almost just as Lois had called for her, she came back from the ladies' room.

"Sorry, I just had an emergency. What did I miss?"

"How long were you gone, Kara?" Lois asked.

"Oh!" Kara chuckled. "Just a minute, I think you had just shown them the pictures of the Maiden of Might."

"Yes," Lois said, slightly annoyed. "We were actually just leaving."

"Right!" Kara said, sounding disappointed. "Hey, actually, while I was in there I got a text from my friend here in Central. She's wanted to reconnect with me for such a long time after college and if you don't mind, I'd love to stick around town for a few days." Lois seemed agitated, like this had happened before.

"Alright, Kara," Lois replied after a moment of silence, "but you'll miss the interview in Gotham, and you'll have to take this one up with Perry. On your own this time."

"Thanks, Lo! I'll be sure to work extra hard when I get back to Metropolis! I promise!"

Kara began heading for the door. "Oh, and it was nice meeting you Barry… and everyone else of course." Before any of them could reply she was out the door.

"I don't get that, girl," Lois explained. "One moment she's my best reporter. The next she's acting like a college dropout who just wants to party with friends."

Barry was quite confused by Kara himself. Why was she acting almost as if she knew he was the Flash? He didn't know the answer, but if she did know, he was sure he would see her again soon.

…