Chapter 8

For the rest of the day, Allie played lab rat for Caitlyn. She took MRI scans and basic tests as Caitlyn jotted down notes.

"Tell me everything." Caitlyn eventually asked.

Allie sighed. "Where do you want me to start?"

"From after the accident."

"I was at home that night. Reading. I heard the big boom and went outside onto my balcony to see what had happened. I felt this rush of hot air wash over me and I started getting sick. It felt as if I was in boiling hot water, cooking from the inside. I passed out before I could get inside the house and I woke up the next day with a massive headache. I could tell the temperature of the sun on my face. I heard the school bell ring from nine blocks away. I got up and sat in the shower as the 45.1 degrees of water ran over me. I became aware of everything about me. My resting heart rate, my core body temperature, the speed of my metabolism, the damage that one cigarette made to my lungs, the strain on my neck from reading all my life and the lack of strong muscle tissue." Allie spoke and Caitlyn took down notes.

"I could hear my hair growing." She added. "I managed to compartmentalize everything so that it wasn't so overwhelming, but it just pushed to the back of my mind and I'm constantly aware of everything but it's not crushing me. I can focus on a lot of things at the same time. I could suddenly make my metabolism faster or slower, I could flush any bad things I consumed, and I could control my insides like a computer game. I could do everything so much better. I was aware of the way my muscles stretch and contract when I moved."

"I was laying on my couch when my house keeper came in, she touched my forehead when she thought I was ill and all of her health information and thoughts spilled into my head as if I was watching a documentary. I could tell that she had arthritis just by that one touch. I knew that she was worried about her daughter paying for college. I could even see the memory of her falling in love with her late husband when she was eighteen years old."

"Wow."

"I shook someone's hand that day and when I saw their life story, I stopped touching people. There were times that I couldn't avoid it and when I did touch people, my emotions spilled over to them. I've never transferred any other information, because the emotions thing is involuntary. I avoid touch. If anyone comes close to me, I can feel his or her body heat from more than a foot away, that's how I avoid contact. "

"When Barry touched you at the fundraiser, what did you see?"

"It was so quick that I just saw the thought in that moment. I saw the movement as he saw it. Just that. I knew it was something that needed to be kept secret. I have my own secret to keep. I was miserable that night. Not making human contact has its negative effects and the lack of oxytocin was glaring. When I saw Barry at the diner I thought I wanted him to leave. I felt the urge to hug him actually, just to fill up on oxytocin and I actually thought that he was the nicest guy I've met in a few years. But I felt miserable and it was overpowering. When I shook his hand I just wanted him to leave. But my misery didn't cross over. I saw his whole life story in that touch and I felt the way he felt. He just wanted to make me smile."

"Barry is like that. So sweet." Caitlyn commented. "After the first touch, when you download all the information, health 'file' and thoughts, is that it? You have everything?"

"No, the longer the touch, the more information I get and the deeper the thoughts go." She said and then looked towards the doorway. "Barry is in the building." She whispered. "I can smell him. And hear his heart rate."

"Explain the touch range." Caitlyn kept going.

"First touch is like a summary. For instance, like the back of a book cover. Longer touch is like reading the book. Longer than that is like reading the footnotes of the book. And longer than that is getting into the making of the book."

"Where are you with me?" Barry asked as he walked in. He had been standing outside the door listening for a while.

Allie wasn't surprised when he walked in. Caitlyn jotted down a note and scribbled some more.

"I'm in so deep I don't think I can get out." Allie said sadly. "I'm at the biography of the author, I guess." She took a deep breath. "I'm at the point where I can do what you do."

"What?"

"It's like a pre-programmed thing." Allie search for words. "It didn't wipe out my DNA or basic programming, it just added to it."

"That's why your heart raced." Barry said.

Allie smiled. "It wasn't the only reason."

"When were you going to tell me?" Barry asked Allie.

"When were you going to tell me?" she countered. Barry was at a loss. He never thought about telling her. And she probably knew that anyway.

"Tell me more about Leonard Snart." Barry said and sat down.

"He has myelodysplastic syndrome. It means his body isn't producing healthy blood cells."

"What did you see when you touched him?" Barry was a bit angry.

"He touched me." She said quickly. "He has three bombs in the basement of the building next to the Central City New Bank building. He's going to watch from the Cedar building two blocks away. When the bombs go off, he'll wait for the cops and emergency team to evacuate the nearby buildings at which time he will go into the bank and take what he wants."

"Which is?" Caitlyn asked.

"Passports, cash and a book that used to belong to his dad."

"I'll get the bombs out of the building first and then I'll get him."

"He won't be the only eyes on the building. He has allies. People he intend on killing after he gets what he wanted." Allie convulsed. "I never knew he was so heartless. He's always so sweet."

"What about the cold gun?" Cisco asked. "Is he running out of juice? Why is he making his own gun?"

"The gun he used last time is faulty. He researched similar techniques and made the nitrogen pistol."

"How long did you touch him?" Barry suddenly asked.

"He touched me." She snapped but then looked down in shame. "It was a while. Long enough to feel his pain. Long enough to calculate when he's going to die at the rate his health is declining."

"We should figure out what to do."

"You should do it fast since it's almost end of the day."

"We should talk to Joe." Barry added.