A/N: I'm not gonna keep updating daily, but I wanted to add this since I ended the first chapter in an evil cliffhanger.
Stella's consciousness returned suddenly, violently, like one startles awake from a nightmare. One moment she was blissfully unaware and the next her eyes shot open and her heart rate increased by thirty. She knew this because she heard the distinctive beeping somewhere on her left. Gazing around, she took in the metal rails on the bed, the clinical steel walls and then, the woman in a white coat walking towards her.
"Oh, hi", the woman spoke. She had a sweet voice and she was smiling, but Stella was also sure she had never seen her before. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm..." Stella blinked repeatedly as she pushed herself up, ignoring the bout of dizziness as she did so. She noticed the multiple computer monitors and scientific equipment, most of which she didn't recognize, scattered around the room. "Where am I? How did I get here?"
"You collapsed when you were holding up that bridge", the woman explained as she sat down on a stool beside the bed. "It was just a blood sugar drop, but -"
"You saw that?!" Stella interrupted her.
"Not me personally, but I hear it was quite impressive."
"Jesus", Stella groaned and buried her face in her hands. Ten months of trying to be careful and keep her face out of the conspiracy pages on the internet and now this… She was vaguely aware that the bed she was sitting on was starting to rise off the floor.
"Whoa, calm down", the woman spoke. "I think you're, uh -"
Stella dropped her hands and stared at her. "This isn't a hospital, is it? Doesn't look like one", she said, a slight tremble in her voice.
"Well, no", the woman answered carefully. "This is a lab, but -"
The medical instruments on the nearby table rattled before they all rose up in the air and turned to point at the woman. Eyes widening, she backed away onto her feet.
"What are you -"
"Get out", Stella whispered.
The woman took a few tentative steps back. Stella pulled off the IV in her arm, slid off the bed that now hovered several inches above the floor and followed her, the medical instruments floating beside her like a strange flock of birds.
"I don't want to hurt you, but I will", she said, her hands curling into fists. "Get. Out."
The woman swallowed, turned on her heels and ran out of the room. Stella directed the instrument flock near the doorway in case anyone tried to burst in and pulled up a chair by the computers, doing her best to ignore the persistent dizziness in her head. After a bit of frantic poking around the system, she found the program that shut and locked the door. Uttering a shaky sigh, she let the medical instruments clatter to the floor and flexed her trembling fingers. She didn't have a solid plan, only a vague idea that she had to erase whatever these people – whoever they were – had gathered on her, and then she could escape. She clicked down some of the programs on the screen and was greeted by a bright blue background with the S.T.A.R. Labs logo on it.
"Jesus fuck", Stella muttered, running her hand through her hair. Of all the bad situations she'd ended up in in her life, this had got to be at least in the top three. "What am I gonna do?"
Then the door behind her slid open.
Although Barry had sped off, he was still in the corridor outside the lab where they had left the meta-human with Caitlin when Eobard and Cisco got there.
"Caitlin, how did this happen?" Eobard demanded.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Wells, but she threatened me with levitating scalpels! And every other instrument that was there, but I was mostly concerned about the scalpels", Caitlin replied.
"Why would she do that, what did you do?" Cisco asked.
"I didn't do anything!" Caitlin exclaimed. "She seemed really scared. And probably still has low blood sugar, the IV couldn't finish before she ripped it off."
"Alright", Eobard said. He went to the hidden panel on the wall where he could override the locking mechanism on the doors. "I'll go talk to her, you stay here. That means you too, Barry", he added when he sensed the telltale electric charge around the young man.
"Are you sure?" Barry said. "I talked to her on the bridge, she might remember me. And she already threatened Caitlin, she could be dangerous."
Eobard turned around to look at him. "Barry, I may be in a wheelchair, but I'm not completely helpless", he smiled. "Besides, if she's already frightened, The Flash rushing in won't help the matter."
Not to mention that if the meta-human was indeed dangerous, he didn't want Barry in there, either as a witness or a potential victim. And he had to admit, he was curious to be the first one to meet this woman with such interesting powers.
Reluctantly the three of them stayed back as Eobard wheeled to the door. The door controls overridden, it slid open with a quiet whoosh. Stella Carrick shot up from her seat in front of the computers, and so did everything within a few feet of her that wasn't bolted to the floor. She tried to back away, but didn't get far until she hit the table. Her eyes were glowing with brilliant green light, not figuratively, they were literally sparkling with energy.
"Hello, Stella", Eobard spoke in his most pleasant, disarming tone. "May I call you Stella?"
The woman opened and closed her mouth several times before answering. "I… guess so", she said slowly. "You're Harrison Wells."
"Yes. Nice to make your acquaintance", Eobard smiled. "Would you mind putting those monitors down? They were quite expensive."
Again, slowly like a prey animal trying to avoid sudden movements that would provoke attention, Stella pried her hand from the edge of the table and lifted it up. When she lowered her arm, the monitors and other objects hovered back down to their places, except one that missed the table by a critical inch. She dove after it and managed to catch it before it hit the floor.
"Sorry", she grimaced as she swung back up and put the computer monitor down safely. "That, uh, happens sometimes."
"Does that happen often? Accidental telekinesis?"
When the woman turned to look at him again, her eyes were no longer glowing. They were still green, just a much more subdued, darker shade, surrounded by smudged eyeliner and so very suspicious.
"Why do you want to know?" she asked as she crossed her arms and leaned against the table.
"I heard you and Dr. Snow had a bad start. Let's try this again." Eobard moved a bit closer, avoiding the medical instruments scattered on the floor. "I'm assuming that after poking around our computer, you've already made the connection between my particle accelerator and your powers. So you can understand why I'm curious about them."
Her eyes narrowed further. "So that's why you had me brought to your creepy lab while I was passed out?"
The corner of his mouth tugged. "I had you brought to my 'creepy lab' mainly because you were unconscious and needed help", he answered. "What's the last thing you remember before you passed out?"
Stella frowned. "The Streak was there, he was getting the people off the bridge while I tried to hold it together… Wait. Did he bring me here, does he work for you?"
"He works with me", Eobard corrected. It was almost true, even. "I've been helping him understand and develop his powers. I can help you too."
Stella huffed. "Forgive me if I'm skeptical, but in every science fiction book I've ever read, when you get superpowers, giving yourself to the hands of a scientist in a shady laboratory is never a good idea. Especially if that scientist created you. That's the surefire way to end up locked in a room and endlessly prodded with needles."
Eobard chuckled. "I could point out that the only person so far who's locked you up anywhere was you. Which was pretty clever, by the way, I give you that. But I understand your concern. If you want to go, we won't stop you."
The woman stared at him for a long while, as if debating whether he was serious. When she strode to grab her leather jacket and motorcycle helmet from the side table, Eobard continued.
"However, I'd be surprised if you weren't the least bit curious to know how it is that you can do what you do. I can tell you that."
Stella froze, her jacket halfway on. He could see the struggle within her, in the taut muscles of her shoulders, until she made her decision. She slid off the sleeve she'd just put on and turned back to face him.
"Okay, I'll bite", she said. "What do you know, Dr. Wells?"
"So. Correct me if I'm wrong", Stella said and paused to take another bite of her thus far third burger. Unsurprisingly, she too required a binge to replace all the energy she had expended, and junk food was the most efficient option. "The accelerator explosion altered Barry's DNA, gave him fast healing and enabled him to tap into this Speed Force which lets him run at ridiculous speeds. And I have a similar but different energy source that's bonded with my cellular structure, only I project it outward and that's how I can levitate things?"
"I believe it's dark matter", Eobard said. "I'm not yet sure how its presence translates to functional telekinesis, that'll require further testing, but my theory is that you can vibrate objects at such a high frequency that you can affect their projection and levitate them."
After convincing Stella to not run away, they had relocated to the cortex. Or she, Eobard, Barry and Cisco had; understandably, Caitlin hadn't been too eager to stay after being threatened at knifepoint, so she had gone home for the day. Barry had done a quick food run to Big Belly Burger and seemed quite amused to have found someone who shared his superhuman appetite. Of course, being Barry, he had told Stella his real name, which was a problem if she were to become a threat. Cisco was still being a fanboy and couldn't seem to stop staring at the woman currently sitting cross-legged on a table.
"Okay, makes sense so far", Stella shrugged, slurped some milkshake and stopped abruptly. "Though, for the record, taking my blood without my permission is not giving you any points on the 'creepy scientist' scale."
Eobard smiled and spread his hands in a vaguely apologetic gesture. As long as the woman's eyes weren't glowing, he considered himself to be on the better side between her ire and curiosity. Indeed, to her credit, she was taking the whole thing very well. Instead of rejecting facts simply because they sounded unbelievable, she asked more questions until she was satisfied, and even though she wasn't a scientist, he didn't really have to dumb it down for her.
"Okay, so, you can't run fast like Barry", Cisco said, "or can you?"
Stella shrugged. "Well, I can run a sub-six minute mile on a good day, but that's probably not enough", she smirked.
"Yeah, we're talking a little faster than that. But can you levitate yourself? I mean, can you fly?"
She tilted her head and gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Technically, I wouldn't call it flying. I can levitate myself, so I can appear to be flying, but it's… iffy."
"Iffy?" Eobard repeated. Stella chuckled.
"In the lack of a more scientific term. For one, humans and other living things are harder to move. And I have to really focus on lifting myself, it's a complicated thought process, and it feels like..." She bit her lip, pondering. "I guess that vibration theory has merit, because it feels like I'm shaking all over, like on a molecular level or something. It's hard to explain, but it's incredibly distracting. So I don't do it often."
"That's still really awesome!" Cisco said. "You're the first meta-human we've found that can even sort of fly."
Stella laughed. Eobard had to admit, he could see why Cisco was so taken with her; she had a very bright smile, like sunlight, that she showcased quite often now that she'd stopped being terrified.
"There is one aspect of your power that I haven't been able to quantify", Eobard continued. "The way you lifted the computer monitors and other objects – it seemed more like an emotional reaction than intentional."
"Yeah, like I said, that happens sometimes", she admitted, a little reluctantly. "Less often now that I know to expect it. When I get a sudden emotional reaction, I tend to lift things without conscious effort. It's more like I have to concentrate on holding back so it doesn't happen." She shook her head as she sipped her milkshake. "I've broken so much furniture. But it's still less inconvenient than the other side of the equation."
Eobard frowned. "The other side being...?"
Stella smiled mildly. "That I need to be in a heightened emotional state to use my powers effectively. I mean, I can do this whenever -" she reached her hand towards the paper bag and hovered it to herself, "but if I want to lift, say, a van, I need to be really angry or happy or -"
"Scared that the bridge is gonna collapse under you", Barry finished.
"Yes, that works great too", she grinned as she dug out another hamburger. "Is anyone gonna eat this, or can I…?"
"So you're like a reverse Jedi", Cisco mused. "Instead of letting go of all emotions and being all zen, you need to be emotional."
"Wouldn't reverse Jedi be a Sith?" Stella pointed out.
"Good point", Cisco said and lowered his voice to a gravelly growl. "Use your anger, do not hesitate."
Stella giggled. "Yeah. I just don't think it'd be healthy to be angry all the time, so I've had to find alternatives."
"But that's kind of weird, isn't it, for them to be linked like that?" Barry said.
"Well, I think we've gone past the usual definition of weird regardless", Eobard remarked.
"What were you doing when the wave hit you?" Barry asked the woman. "Because we had a meta who had a bomb shrapnel inside of her and basically became one. Maybe something similar happened to you."
"I… don't know. I mean, I wasn't doing anything special", Stella said. There was something a little too deliberate in her shrug and facial expression. Barry and Cisco might have missed it, but Eobard was almost certain she was lying. Why, he wasn't sure, but he decided to let it slide for now. He'd uncover her secret later – if he played his cards right, she would tell him herself.
"Alright", he said, looking at her over pointed fingers. "Now you know as much as we do. If you come back in a few days, once you're properly replenished, we can do some more test to quantify your powers further."
Stella looked back, still a little bit suspicious, but he could see the hook of curiosity had sunk in. She took out her phone from the pocket of her jacket and flicked through it.
"Well, I have an empty Thursday afternoon. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to be running errands or something, but this is way more interesting, so..." She grinned as she jumped up from the table and threw her jacket over her shoulders. "But no needles, okay?"
"You have my word", Eobard smiled.
"Not sure I find that all that convincing, but what the hell. Carpe diem and all that." Stella's eyes sparked green again as she threw her phone in the air, where it spun around multiple times, before she caught it and slipped it back into her pocket.
"You need a ride?" Barry asked as she grabbed her helmet.
"Oh, right. I forgot my motorcycle's crushed on the bottom of the river. Damnit, I loved that bike", she sighed. "You have a super speedy car or something?"
"Or something", Barry grinned.
When Barry Allen aka The Streak had offered her a ride home, Stella had assumed it was by a vehicle. She had not expected him to just scoop her up and run all the way to her apartment. Or close to her apartment, anyway; he stopped at an empty side alley so nobody would see when he slowed down and put her down on her shaky feet.
"I can honestly say that was the most disorientating experience of my life", Stella gasped, swiping her now completely messed-up hair from her face. "And I think I swallowed a bug. But thanks for the ride, anyway."
"Anytime", Barry grinned. "Us superheroes need to help each other out."
Stella huffed. "I don't know about superheroes. I mean, you're obviously one, or The Streak is, but -"
"Actually, I prefer the Flash", he interjected.
"Okay, that's much better. 'The Streak' sounds a little… questionable. Like you run around in a long trenchcoat and nothing else."
Barry laughed. Apparently he was determined to make sure she got home, because he followed her on normal walking speed as she left the alley. It was unnecessary, considering the fact that it wasn't that late and she had superpowers, but she appreciated the gesture.
"Which reminds me, I don't think I thanked you for saving my life", she continued, slipping her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "So… thanks, I guess, as insufficient as that sounds."
"Of course", Barry said. "But I couldn't have done that and got all those other people out too without you. That counts as being a superhero in my book."
Stella shook her head. "Yeah, but you came there to help those people. I just happened to be there and sort of… reacted", she said. "There's a difference."
Barry raised an eyebrow. "Is there?"
"Isn't there?" Stella replied. Arriving at the her building, she stepped up to the doorstep and found her keys. "Anyway, this is me. Thanks for the escort."
"Wait, I almost forgot -" Barry said suddenly and reached for his pocket. She blinked as he handed her her own wallet. "I just looked through it, to find out who you are. I didn't take anything."
He looked almost comically guilty. Stella blinked a couple more times before she slowly took it.
"I'm just trying to come to terms with the fact that The Flash pickpocketed me while I was unconscious", she spoke. "You people… Dr. Wells took my blood and now this."
"Well, to be fair, you pointed knives at my friend and hacked into our security system."
"Oh yeah." Stella grimaced. "Okay, how about we call it even and you remind me to apologize to her on Thursday?"
"Deal", Barry said. "Good night. See you on Thursday."
There was a flash of yellow lightning and he was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving a trail of dust and some trash flying behind. Smiling, Stella shook her head as she stepped inside. Superheroes… As soon as the front door closed behind her, she took out her phone and texted Michelle.
'Hi, when do you get off work? I need to talk IRL. Something crazy happened and I might've really fucked up.'
After everyone else had gone home, Eobard entered the time vault and stood up from the wheelchair. He pressed his palm on the interface and spoke to the screen.
"Gideon, show all references to Stella Carrick."
"Zero references", the computer voice concluded, and the screen filled with zeroes.
Eobard tilted his head. "Huh. Interesting."