Chapter One:
The Speed and The Telemetric Malfunction

It was well after one in the afternoon by the time Dr. Caitlin Snow had decided to make the call. She had spent the last two and a half hours trying to debate the options. Should she cut in on Barry's mini-vacation or wait until tomorrow to run the test when he came back? It was Dr. Harrison Wells that had told him to take the week off to relax and unwind, but it was also his idea to bring him in a day earlier than expected to run a few minor tests on the new telemetric monitoring system Dr. Wells had spent the last few weeks developing. Still, despite the fact that the new tech would help them track him better and monitor his vitals she felt it was better to wait. That was until Dr. Wells had called in and asked her if she had been able to reach Barry yet or not. She attempted to lie to the elder scientist, but it was no use. She knew she was an awful liar and Dr. Wells was known for being able to read others. So, it was with a heavy heart and a hint of annoyance that she called her friend and asked him to come in.

"Barry," she said when she heard him answer on the other end of the line, "you wouldn't mind if I borrowed you for about an hour, would you? If you're not busy." she added the last bit out of an effort to sooth her conscious. She felt like a total bitch as she waited for his response, but she knew it was all in her head. This didn't stop her from feeling it and the bitter taste it had left as she shuffled through the nearest file on her desk.

Finally, after what had felt to her like an eternity as she waited for him to offer an answer, Barry let out a labored sigh as he spoke. "Sure, what's can I do for you Dr. Snow?" Caitlin would have sworn if she had been asked in that moment that she could hear the trademark Barry Allen smirk through the iPhone. She knew it was her imagination, you could not actually hear such a thing, but none of this ruined her belief. To hell with the science.

"I know that Dr. Wells said you should take the week off," she made her best attempt to hide the distaste in her voice by faking a smile, "but he's asked me to ask you if you wouldn't mind if we ran a few tests?" It came out much more like a question than she had intended, but she knew there was little she could do to take it back. "Just to see how the new system handles the extreme speeds and friction." Caitlin felt stupid the moment she tried to correct herself and went back to shuffling the files in front of her. Today was not her day.

"Oh, I don't know" Barry replied as the faint sound of the television seemed to become louder in the brief silence that developed between beats in the conversation, "I have a lot of stuff left to do. Few hours left to catch up on Orange is the New Black." Barry chuckled as he mentioned the Netflix series. Caitlin had to stifle back her own laughter and for a second it felt almost like she was speaking to Ronnie and not Barry. "But I think you might be a bit more fun than that. Not to say that lesbian drama isn't fun." he added quickly.

Caitlin wasn't sure if it was because of Barry or the conversation had become lighter, but she could feel a sense of relief wash over her as she listened to her friend fumble with his words as much as she was. It was one of his more endearing qualities she had found over the course of the last few months since he had awakened from his coma. "I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not, but I can assure you our little adventure won't be near as intense or crazy as theirs. I would totally understand if you wanted to wait until tomorrow." she reasoned. Once again Barry laughed and asked her where she wanted to meet him. "Ferris Airfield."

Within a few seconds after she had ended the call she felt a swift breeze blow through the cortex and scatter several of the pages of the files she had been shuffling to distract herself earlier. She didn't need to look up to know that the source of the sudden blast of air was Barry. "I'm ready when you are." he replied as she collected some of the pages that had blown all over. Caitlin blew an errant strand of hair from her eyes and rested the pages on the control desk. "What? Oh, right." Barry said as he switched from his street clothes to the Flash uniform Cisco had upgraded for him while he was away. "Feels a little tighter."

There wasn't too much Caitlin could do other than shake her head. "Barry," she said with a hint of mock exhaustion in her voice, "I don't have the slightest idea what you mean. Tighter?" She watched as the Flash motioned down. This time the doctor was unable to quell the laughter that erupted from her. "Okay, it does look a little tighter...down there. A little bit more than usual." She watched as Barry tried to cover himself, but found it was little use.

"Shall we?" Barry asked as he held out his hand. Caitlin took a step back from the Flash and rested both hands on her hips. "What? It's the fastest way." he tried to reason. "This isn't about the last time we had Felicity and I might have caused her blouse to catch fire, is it?" Caitlin shot the Flash a look that cut right through him. Barry feigned hurt as he drew a little closer to his friend.

Caitlin threw her hands out in an effort to stop Barry. "This is about that," she said as she motioned down to the electric blue dress she was wearing, "because I like this dress. I love these heels. They match. And if you were to catch this outfit on fire..." she let her voice trail as she watched the sense of realization etch itself across his face. "We can take the S.T.A.R. Labs mobile research unit." Barry made one final attempt to protest, but before he could even form the first syllable she silenced him. "Besides, it has everything we need to run the test and monitor you."

About half an hour later the two scientists finally arrived at the Ferris Airfield testing site. It had been a few weeks since the last time they had been there. Since the encounter with both Firestorm and The Man in the Yellow Suit. It was because of that night outside of S.T.A.R. Labs that Caitlin had watched Barry do everything within his abilities to beat the Reverse-Flash. But she had also seen the toll it had taken on him and watched as he ran faster and threw himself headfirst into his efforts. Then, out of his own concern and the concern of Cisco and Caitlin, Dr. Wells had told him to take a week off. Focus on other things. "So, what are we testing?" Barry asked breaking Caitlin's train of thought as the two of them arrived at the taxiway.

"Dr. Wells has a new cochlear telemetric analysis system," she explained as she reached behind them and retrieved a small metallic box, "it should allow us to track you faster and make it even easier to monitor your vitals." Barry could only offer her a look of confusion. "It's a lot less complicated than it sounds." Caitlin slid the case in her coat. "Let's set the command center up first and then we can figure out the details."

Less than a minute later Barry had done all of the heavy lifting and set out the monitors out for Caitlin. She watched in awe as he rushed through a process that would have taken her the better half of an hour to do on her own. She was, in moments like this, thankful that she had a friend like Barry Allen. Someone who could do things at speeds much faster than any other living human. Expect for The Man in the Yellow Suit. "There," he said when he was finally finished with the rest of the tasks required to run the tests, "care to share with the class?"

Caitlin removed the case from her coat and rested it on the table by one of the monitors. Inside the case she was met with two small devices that looked similar to ear buds. "These's two of these?" she asked aloud. Barry came up next to her and looked at the devices in the case. "I don't know why these's two of these." she muttered to herself as she held out one for Barry. "Either way, stick this in your ear."

"You still have to explain this to me," he reminded her as he examined the device, "and this doesn't fit in the ear until you do." Caitlin crossed her arms and shook her head. "I would like to know what I am about to stick in my ear, if you don't mind. Not that I haven't stuck some strange things in odd spots these last few months." Barry mused aloud as he rolled the ear bud device in his hand.

Caitlin removed the second device and held it up to examine it herself as she explained how it functioned to the Flash. "Think of it as an M.R.I. that sits in your ear," she tried to recall how Dr. Wells had explained it to her earlier, "and it sends the information back to me." Caitlin motioned to the collection of computers in front of them. "The trouble with the old system was it was on a six second delay. I know that doesn't sound like a lot but believe me when I tell you it is when you're running around at six hundred miles an hour."

"Seven hundred and fifty." Barry corrected her as he rested the device in his left ear. "And I know, I wanted to see if you knew how it works." He watched as she shifted her weight and continued to look cross. "Right. I'm done now." he replied as he went over to the head of the taxiway.

Despite the fact that he could be a little annoying from time to time, Caitlin was relieved that it was the two of them. Cisco would have rattled on about how awesome the new tech would be and Dr. Wells would have looked at them like he was trying to decide if it was worth his effort to correct them. Most of the time she didn't mind the team dynamic, but every so often she wanted to be alone. Left to her thoughts and the numbers. As her mind drifted a little she found herself checking the monitors. None of the new data was on the screen yet. "I don't have anything yet," she announced, "have you activated the device?"

She couldn't figure out the reason the screen was blank. It wasn't until she looked over at the case and remembered that there was a second device that a thought crossed her mind. What if it functioned on a transmitter and receiver system? Both had to be on before it would operate? "Have you tried turning on the second one?" she heard Barry ask as she removed the other one and rested it in her ear. The screen remained blank. "You have to switch it on. Tap your ear like you would a Bluetooth." The moment she followed his instructions the screen flashed to life.

Caitlin could hardly believe the amount of raw data that was on the screens in front of her. Everything from Barry's heart rate to the amount of friction and static electricity that had built up scrolled down, each in their own column. "This is incredible," she said as she watched the different colors indicate what levels each vital was currently at, "you won't believe this." Caitlin was amazed at the accomplishment. She didn't think this level of data collection was even possible with the current level of technology, but she would have told you it was impossible to flash from one room to another in an instant, but recent events had shown her that it was very possible.

"Ready when you are," Barry shouted as he braced himself for the trail, "just say the word." Caitlin threw her hand up and offered him a thumbs up. The Flash didn't need a second reminder and took off. The young doctor watched as the streams of data shifted and altered in color with each new response back from the device in her friend's ear. It was so fast, in fact, that she could almost confirm that there was less than a second of delay between the time when the data was sent from Barry to her. "How's it doing?"

"There doesn't seem to be a delay at all," she replied as she watched his heart rate bounce from red to yellow, "can you speed up a little bit? I need to see how it handles itself at higher speeds." Barry wasted no time as he ran a little faster and the telemetries continued to flash on the screen with the same rapid fire response that Caitlin had hoped for. "Great." she said as she watched him bolt around. The breeze caused a few pages to fly off the table, but she was more concerned with the data in front of her.

Distracted by the streams in front of her, Caitlin didn't notice the small click in her ear that was emitted from the device. "Should we crank it up to eleven?" Barry asked as he come back around. Caitlin thought about it for a moment before she shot him the thumbs up. It would be an apt test to see how the device handled itself once Barry had broken the speed of sound, a recent accomplishment. The old system had trouble each time he went faster than seven hundred and sixty seven miles an hour. If the new one held up...it would prove to be an invaluable addition. One that she could already tell would pay dividends. "Brace yourself!"

There was another click from the device as Barry reached speed and caused a sonic boom. But it was too late. Caitlin had no time to react as the shock wave blasted her back a few feet. Pages went flying, several of the monitors shut down, and debris danced across the taxiway. The last thing she could recall seeing was the way Barry's body had went limp and crashed several hundred yards down the taxiway. A moment later everything went black.