Barry Allen's eyes widened in surprise as he glanced past Detective Joe West's shoulder.
"Could you excuse me for a moment please?" He asked and quickly stood up not even waiting for a reply.
"Sure." Joe muttered and headed back to his desk which was piled with old case files.
"What're you doing here Yasmeen?" Barry was clearly shocked to see the sixteen year old girl standing in the lobby of the Central City Police Department. "I need to talk to you. It's kind of really urgent." Yasmeen's dark eyes were filled with worry.
"Sure, let's go to Jitters," Barry says and leads the way out of the CCPD.
Yasmeen Adam pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose and straightened her hijab. She was sitting at a table near the wall and waiting nervously for Barry to come back with the lattes. Being back in Central City so soon felt a bit strange but the feeling wasn't entirely unwelcome. A bit strange was nothing compared to what she had experienced over the past few days. Barry was walking back towards the table with two steaming mugs in his hands.
"So what's up?" He seemed unsure and she realized that she had given no indication as to why exactly she was here.
"Do you remember that night that I was visiting and the particle accelerator from S.T.A.R Labs let off that wave of dark matter? Of course you do. You were struck with lightning caused by it and put into a coma for nine months." Yasmeen says this last part mostly to herself. "Were there any consequences to that accident? Like people with strange abilities or something?"
Barry sighs as he shakes his head. She sinks into her chair and taps her index finger on the table. "Something has happened to me and I can't explain it. I came to you because I know you'll be the least likely to freak out."
"Freak out about what?" He asks.
"This." Yasmeen picks up the metal spoon that is next to her coffee cup and wraps her hand in a fist around it. When she opens her hand the spoon now resembles a crumpled lump of foil.
Barry's facial expression betrays nothing and he hesitantly he opens his mouth. "This is gonna seem really strange but we need to go to S.T.A.R Labs."
She nods and stands up. "We'll take my car as seeing that you don't own one."
"Actually I've got a much faster way. Is your hijab pinned on firmly?"
Yasmeen looks at him quizzically. Barry motions for her to follow him and heads out of Jitters and to the back where the trashcans are. She wrinkles her nose in disgust.
"Yeah sorry about that but we need to be in a place where no one can see me," he awkwardly rubs his palms together, "Also I'm gonna have to carry you."
Before she even has time to process this statement Barry has scooped her up and is speeding toward S.T.A.R Labs.
"Do you even know what're you're doing?" Caitlin Snow asks Cisco Ramone sceptically.
"Of course I do," he replies but at that moment accidentally burns himself with the soldering iron. "Ouch!"
Caitlin smirks and goes back to checking her computer and analysing Barry's DNA results. They're like nothing she's seen before. Fortunately for her, Cisco and Dr Harrison Wells, when Barry Allen discovered his super-speed he didn't use it for selfish purposes and chose to help them capture all those who had been affected by the particle accelerator explosion. The metahumans, which was the name they had decided to call these villains, were being kept in the pipeline of the now destroyed particle accelerator. They had encountered a man who could turn himself into poisonous gas, a girl who could manipulate bees to act at her will and many other people with strange abilities and effects of the explosion but no one else who had wanted to help them.
Suddenly there is a gust of wind and all the papers that were placed in neat piles on Caitlin's desk are strewn all over the floor as well as her hair flying behind her.
"Felicity was right; we really do need to get some paperweights around here."
She looks away from the mess to Barry who is slowly setting down a girl who looks quite shocked.
"I may have skipped out the part where I have super-speed and there's a bunch of people with weird new abilities like mine." Barry says this to the girl in a rush and the words are muddled.
"Mr Allen who is this young lady?" Everyone turns to see Dr Harrison Wells making his way down the ramp and into the main room. He smoothly wheels in and looks expectantly at Barry.
"Uhh ... This is Yasmeen Adam. She's a friend from New York. She was visiting Central City the night the particle accelerator exploded."
Yasmeen is still looking around but she no longer looks shocked. "I've got a slight problem and now I'm pretty sure that it was caused by your particle accelerator." Her voice is icy and Barry wonders if super-strength was only a part of what she gained from the explosion.
"Would you mind illustrating this problem?" Dr Wells asks.
"I don't think that's a very good idea. Maybe she can just tell you?" Barry says.
Cisco looks at Yasmeen as though he already knows what she can do. Caitlin once again has a worried expression but honestly if this girl was going to harm anyone Cisco was certain that she would've done it already.
"I only discovered it a couple of days ago so I don't know how it works but if I run fast enough into a shadow I can use it as a form of transportation, it can take me back to the CCPD or back in time to, say a week ago. I can also lift and break really heavy objects."
"You can time travel?" Cisco sounds really excited at the prospect of time travel.
"Yeah, I accidentally ran into a wall in the school courtyard and suddenly I was standing outside my best friend's house where I'd been about an hour earlier. He came outside and asked if I was ready to leave for school which is exactly what had happened earlier and within the hour I found myself in front of that same wall." Yasmeen explains.
"May I ask where exactly you were during the particle accelerator explosion?" Dr Wells asks as he wheels himself over to a computer.
"Standing in an alley, I was taking pictures for a portfolio project." Do you think the dim lighting of the alley had something to do with this?" Her tone with Wells is still untrusting but now curiosity creeps in.
"It is possible. With your permission I would like Caitlin to run some tests on you."
Yasmeen nods but she seems uneasy. Dr Wells smiles reassuringly and leaves the room.
"We can start now with monitoring your vitals." Caitlin is already gathering up the needed paperwork and is plugging in and switching on various machines.
"Can't we start tomorrow? She really doesn't need to be prodded at right now," Barry asks quietly.
Caitlin glances at Yasmeen and notices the vacant look on her face. "Wells hasn't told her directly but the changes that she's discovered are permanent and her life is about to turn upside down. The least I can do is let her feel normal for the next few hours," he says.
There is understanding in Caitlin's eyes and Barry walks over to Yasmeen. Maybe they can pick up Iris and go to the movies. Probably not as seeing that Yasmeen too is aspiring to become a journalist and they'll spend the whole night discussing which topics deserve the first page and what new conspiracies have come about in the last few months.
When they arrive back at Jitters however, they notice Iris and Joe's partner Eddie getting cosy and Barry awkwardly clears his throat.
"You should just tell her."
"That I'm in love with her? I somehow think that it won't go as well as it sounds in my head." He says dejectedly.
"Well we could go eat ourselves into oblivion. I mean fries and milkshakes are bound to make you forget what's currently going on."
"I can't get drunk and you can't drink so fries and milkshakes will do."
She smiles and they get into her car and head to the nearest Big Belly Burger store to drown their troubles.