Cisco sat at the command center in the Cortex, working on an algorithm while rock music blared out of the lab speakers; he mouthed along with the words as he typed on the keys, bobbing his head softly; a loud whooshing sound caught his attention as some papers scattered from the desk, but the engineer simply sighed and rolled his eyes.
"You're picking those up, not me," Cisco mused as he kept working, not even looking up, "and Caitlin will kill you if they're not in order." He smiled to himself as he felt the wind whip around him briefly before it abruptly stopped.
"Here you go."
The voice was more feminine than Cisco had been expecting; he stopped working and looked up. Linda stood on the other side of the console, holding out a neat stack of papers.
"They should be in order," Linda continued, looking a little apologetic, "but if not, you can tell Caitlin it was my fault."
"Hey, Skittles," Cisco grinned as he got to his feet and headed around the console, "didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon," he stopped when he saw her disheveled hair and singed clothing, "and what happened to you?"
"Building fire," Linda shrugged as she put the papers on top of the nearest computer, "saved someone in the process."
"Nice," Cisco replied, impressed. "So, Barry's not here at the moment, but I could give him a call."
"Actually, I was wondering if Professor Stein was here," Linda replied, trying to sound casual. "I need his expertise on something."
Cisco furrowed his eyebrows, a little confused. "Uh, yeah, sure," he said slowly confused, "I'll go get him." He headed out of the Cortex, leaving Linda alone and returned a few minutes later with Professor Stein, Ronnie, and Caitlin.
"Ah, Miss Kent," Stein smiled as he and the others walked over to the young girl, "it's good to see you again." His smile faded and he raised an eyebrow as he quickly looked her up and down. "I'm assuming there's a perfectly logical explanation to your appearance."
"Yeah, it's a new fashion statement," Linda replied, smiling slightly. "I'm calling it 'Roasted Marshmallow.'" Cisco grinned, and even Ronnie and Caitlin shared a smile.
"Uh huh," Stein replied, unamused. "Does your, uh, family know you're here?"
"Do you think I'd honestly be allowed to come all the way to Central City by myself without someone knowing I'm here," Linda asked, "especially after what happened yesterday?"
"She's got a point," Ronnie spoke up.
"Thank you," Linda replied, "and it was a building fire; I went in, rescued someone, put it out, saved the day."
"You ever consider wearing a suit?" Cisco asked.
"Considered," Linda replied, "and not happening."
"Cisco, really," Caitlin asked, "she's just a kid," she winced suddenly, glancing at Linda apologetically, "and I did not mean that the way it sounded."
"It's okay, Caitlin," Linda replied, unoffended. "I honestly have no intention of following in my cousin's fashion footsteps right now—or in the near future."
"Good, because your cousin's fashion sense sucks," Cisco pointed out. "I mean, who honestly thought spandex was a good idea?"
"The woman who brought you those awesome brownies yesterday?" Linda suggested, folding her arms, smiling slightly.
Cisco blanched a little. "Uh, yeah, can we just all pretend that I didn't actually say that?" he asked.
"Cisco, there's a lot that we pretend you don't actually say," Ronnie joked, clapping his friend on the back.
"Anyway," Linda replied, "the reason I'm here is because I need to know everything about F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M.." The young girl glanced at Stein. "I know you told me a little bit about it yesterday, but I need to know everything."
"Okay, didn't see that coming," Cisco said slowly.
Stein tilted his head and stared at the young girl for a few moments. "Something tells me you're not being completely honest about that fire you were involved with," he said.
"I had an encounter last night with a girl who can start fires," Linda explained, "just like you and Ronnie can when you're merged."
"And you think this girl is the same as us?" Ronnie asked, intrigued.
"I don't think she's two separate people," Linda answered, "but I can't be a hundred percent sure. What I do know is that there are some people after her," she reached into her pocket and pulled out the dog tag, "and she had this around her neck when I confronted her." She handed it to Stein, and the others crowded around to view it. "Did some digging and traced this back to something called Cadmus."
"Like from the Greek myth?" Caitlin asked.
"Guy sowed dragon's teeth and grew an army of warriors," Cisco added.
Linda nodded. "Exactly," she replied. "Saw several project folders on Cadmus' site couldn't access any of them—but the one really stood out was labeled 'Firestorm.'"
"Let me see what I can find," Cisco said as he walked over to the console and sat down; the others gathered around as he started typing; within a few moments, he had pulled up the same website Linda had seen at the Torch, easily bypassing the security measures as he pulled up the 'Firestorm' files.
"There," Linda said, pointing to a file, "'09191998'; that was on the girl's tag." Cisco clicked on the file, opening it, showing a profile and a color picture of the girl. "That's her."
"Says here her name is Claire Selton," Cisco read the profile, "born June 24, 1996, in Coast City, to Kevin and Dana Selton. Normal childhood, but around ten she started showing an aptitude of pyrokinesis; her parents called the Coast City Center for Paranormal Studies to help her learn to deal with her ability, but the day after she was admitted, she was 'released' into the custody of a team headed by a Kurt Jordan—who also headed Project Firestorm."
"Him I also know," Linda muttered, resting her hands on the back of Cisco's chair, thinking back to her earlier encounters with the agent as she peered over Cisco's shoulder. "Does it say why they took her?"
"Well, Project Firestorm was started with the intent of turning Claire into a living weapon-for-hire," Cisco said, reading.
"So, no connection to Professor Stein's F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. Project?" Ronnie asked.
"Doesn't look like it," Cisco answered. "Whatever this Cadmus is, they seem to deal more with using meta-humans as weapons, and not transmutation." He snorted a little. "Makes you wonder if they saw 'Firestarter' before planning this whole thing."
"Huh?" Linda asked, confused.
"1984 Stephen King movie," Cisco replied, "you should check it out."
"If it's Stephen King," Linda said, "then no thanks. I still have to watch 'Blink' during the day or it creeps me out."
"You're a Whovian?" Cisco replied, slowly grinning. Linda nodded, and Cisco looked like he was in seventh heaven. "An alien who likes a show about an alien—I can officially die a happy man right now."
"Sorry to interrupt this enlightening discussion, Mister Ramone," Stein spoke up, "but is there anything else relevant to this investigation?"
"Oh, uh, yeah," Cisco replied, focusing back on his monitor. "Well, it says here they stripped her of her identity, gave her the codename Volcana—wish I'd thought of that, because that is an awesome name—"
"Cisco," Caitlin interrupted.
"Sorry," Cisco replied. "Well, anyway, they trained her, which included a mega dose of brainwashing." He clicked on a video file, opening it; the sound had been muted, but the group didn't need volume to understand what they were watching: a young Claire bound to a chair, with all kinds of wires and devices hooked to her, while a younger Kurt slowly circled her, talking to her; after a few seconds, he made a motion with his hand, and Claire suddenly convulsed, and everyone could tell she was being electrocuted.
"He tortured her," Linda growled softly. "She was a little girl, and he tortured her for years like it was nothing." A loud sound, like a cross between nails on a chalkboard and a torrential downpour, echoed loudly through the lab. Everyone looked over just in time to see the glass wall between the main area and the medical wing shatter, thousands of shards of glass falling to the floor and scattering; no one spoke, staring in stunned silence.
"What just happened?" Caitlin slowly asked after a few moments.
"Sorry," Linda said softly, and the young girl had to fight the urge to bolt when they looked over at her; she knew they had realized exactly what had happened. "Look, it was an accident; I'll pay for the damages."
"Thanks, but why the sudden freakout?" Cisco asked concerned.
"It's nothing," Linda answered.
"That was a pretty big reaction for 'nothing,'" Robbie gently pointed out.
"I said I'll pay for the damages, okay?" Linda snapped. "Can we just drop it?" She glanced between her new friends and saw their startled expressions; she sighed, calming down as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry…none of you deserved that." She shrugged. "Look, I know this might sound really stupid, but I really understand where Claire's coming from."
"That's no surprise, my dear," Stein replied. "You're both young girls with extraordinary abilities."
"No," Linda said, shaking her head, "I meant, I understand where she's coming from…because I used to be there." She glanced between the group, and she wasn't surprised to see their confused expressions. "I know I said yesterday I came to Earth because it wasn't safe for me where I came from, but there's more to it." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It wasn't safe for me, because…because my parents were trying to kill me." She slowly looked around and saw their stunned expressions and felt the awkwardness radiating from most of them, something she'd gotten used to every time she'd told her story, and she sighed.
"I didn't tell you that because I wanted your pity or to make you feel uncomfortable," she continued. "I get most of you probably had great childhoods," she glanced briefly at Cisco. "I just wanted you to know why I can't let this go."
"Commendable," Stein replied, "and please don't take offense at this, but what are you planning on doing, exactly, when you find her?"
Linda shrugged. "Wing it?" she asked.
"Yeah, something tells me your cousin and adoptive family would object to that plan," Caitlin said.
"Yeah, well, they're pretty cool about letting me do my own thing," Linda lied, trying to sound casual, "and if I could get an address for this Cadmus place, I'll just be on my way."
"Try again," Ronnie replied, folding his arms.
"Huh?" Linda asked.
Ronnie shrugged. "Look, I don't know your family that well," he said, "but from what I saw yesterday, there is no way they'd let you do something like this on your own."
Linda glanced between the adults, who looked at her with various degrees of expectation, and she had to calm herself; she racked her brain for a few moments before sighing. "You're right," she said, "they wouldn't—if I was doing this myself—but I'm not. I told Clark about what was going on, and he said I could come here and get information while he started looking for Claire; once I got what we needed, I was going to let him know, so he could go get Claire." Her eyes darted back and forth between the four, trying to appear casual.
"Well, then let's get you a location," Cisco replied suddenly as he went back to typing. Within a few seconds, he'd pulled up a map, a red dot blinking in the center. "Okay, traced the signal to an abandoned building a few miles north of Metropolis."
Linda leaned over and stared at the screen, sighing; the last place she wanted it to be was closer to her cousin. "Great," she muttered, trying not to sound disappointed.
"Something wrong?" Stein asked.
"Nope, nothing wrong," Linda replied as she stood up. "Well,, I better get going so I can tell Clark where Claire probably is. Thank you for your help, all of you; I—I mean, Clark and I—owe you big." She smiled and casually made her way toward the exit. "I'll see you later, and tell Barry I said hi—the next time you see him, I mean; you don't have to call him or anything." She turned and quickly walked down the corridor, heading for the elevator.
"Hey, Linda, wait a second."
Linda was halfway down the corridor when she heard the familiar voice and felt a hand touch her shoulder. "Yes, Cisco?" she asked, smiling as she turned around. Her smile faded when she saw Cisco standing in front of her, looking shocked as he gently rubbed his left temple with his hand. "Cisco, are you okay?"
Cisco met her gaze, like he was coming out of a stupor. "Uh, yeah," he said slowly. Linda didn't look convinced, and the young man cleared his throat, smiling a little. "I'm fine, really."
"So, what do you want, Cisco?" Linda asked.
"Look, just…be careful, okay?" Cisco said.
Linda smiled. "I'll be fine," she replied before blurring away, leaving the young man alone.
(End of Chapter 10)