The Uncontrollable and The Impossible

by Death By Verbicide

A brilliant new scientist with a mysterious past joins STAR Labs. However, her life takes a dark turn after she begins to investigate further into the secrets of Central City, Harrison Wells, STAR Labs, and the friendly but distant Barry Allen - and discovers the truth about her past. Things get worse when she learns that the Reverse Flash wants her, and the Flash, dead.

11. The Second Speedster

[Artemis' POV]

"Cisco, open up!" I called out from the other side of his door.

"No!" a muffled voice called out stubbornly from the other side.

"Don't be such a girl," I insisted, trying not to laugh, "Open up."

Finally the door opened up just a few inches, and Cisco glared at me from the gap. I held up his car keys and smiled. He angrily snatched them from me.

"Tell me you're joking," I retorted, "You're the most easygoing person I've met."

"Give me one reason to forgive you for taking my precious Maserati out without asking..."

I chuckled. Cisco drove an old sedan. He was messing with me again. I reached a hand in and ruffled up his hair, before leaning in.

"You want a reason?" I taunted playfully, "Go take a look in my kitchen, and tell me who takes my food without asking, without retribution."

Cisco narrowed his eyes at me, before breaking into a smile and opening the door fully.

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't stay mad at you," he remarked with a happy sigh, "Did you want to come inside?"

"I already did," I answered sheepishly, "when you were at work."

Cisco raised an eyebrow at me. I beamed innocently at him.

"I left something for you on your counter as an apology for my sudden theft, though," I explained.

"I know," he admitted, facing the kitchen and nodding, "I found it. Thanks."

"You know it's not an issue," I answered.

"You really should come inside," he persisted, "You promised me a video game match. I plan on stealing your Corporal Ranks, you know."

"Not a chance," I replied coolly, "You'd end up crying when I'd steal yours. Besides, I actually have to go do some work for the Lab."

"I thought you had the week off?"

"Not anymore," I chirped with a smile, "Guess who just won her way back onto Dr. Wells' good side?"

"Hey - Nice, nice!" Cisco responded, impressed. He gave me a high five, "So what are you going to be doing, then?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I have a plan," I responded. I told him what I had in mind.

"Artemis - that is both incredibly insane, and ground-breaking," Cisco muttered, "You'd be onto something huge."

"Yeah, well, first I gotta go home and get started," I confessed, turning away to leave, "See you later, bro?"

"Bro?! Oh, don't friendzone me too!" He complained, giving me a pitiful smile with his adorable brown eyes, as he closed his door and walked me out.

"What happened to being a die-hard over, what was it called? Artemisarry?"

"Artemarry?" Cisco offered, "Yeah, see that was only because you're easy to mess with. Now, if you're saying you actually would romantically prefer a certain 6 foot 2, green-eyed, brown haired friend of mine-"

"Cisco?" I interrupted.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Oh," Cisco murmured, realization settling in his eyes, "So it's true, then."

"So what's true?" I asked, turning around so he wouldn't see me blush. He caught up to me and smiled coyly.

"That you do like Barry."

"As a friend, yes," I conceded, keeping my voice steady so he wouldn't sense my facade.

"Liar. You like him more than tha-"

I stopped and suddenly faced him, startling him.

"I don't. I swear."

"So why are you so neurotic about it?"

"Because you're so pesky about it," I said, giving him a cunning smile, before pulling him into a light choke hold, and ruffling up his hair. He protested and I laughed, and when I released him, his hair was a wild mess.

"Geez, why do you always go for my hair?" He scorned with a laugh.

"Because," I pointed out, "You have the nicest hair ever."

"Really now?"

"Yes."

"Nicer than Caitlin's?"

"Yes."

"Nicer than yours?"

"Absolutely."

"Even nicer than Barry's?"

"Yes. Much nicer than Barry's," I retorted, giving his hair a final ruffle before grabbing him in a quick hug, and ordering him to go back.

"Alright, see you tomorrow, Artemis."

"Mhmm. Bye, Cisco."

With that, I made my way back to my own home, where I settled down with a clean notebook, scientific texts, and a warm cup of tea. I looked through the various articles and reports on vankleissium, and took notes, wondering how I could go about my wild plan - to extract the metahuman gene from the metahumans, make them entirely human again.

Metahumans. Metahumans. Metahumans.

I thought of the only three metahumans I had seen so far - the Flash, Smoke Ghost, and the silver earthquaker.

Each and every one of them had disappeared. The Flash was on good terms with STAR Labs, though, and helped them stop crimes. Cisco, Caitlin and Barry knew who he was, so they knew where he was as well. Cisco and Caitlin both hinted that I knew who he was too.

I thought back to the attacks, where he had showed up.

Coincidentally, each and every single one of them involved the police, as well as STAR Labs, save for the attack with the earthquaker, or so I presumed.

It finally clicked - the Flash had to be someone who worked with STAR Labs, but also had connections with the police, maybe even worked at the police department, other than Barry, that is. I wondered who else was an authorized guest at the Lab...

Of course, this was just a hunch - it had no evidence behind it. The Flash could be an interior decorator or a preschool teacher for all I knew. But it made sense that he'd be with the police. He always seemed to arrive at the scenes right before they did.

Now - did he arrive before simply because of his speed? Or because STAR Labs alerted him about it?

Probably both.

Okay - maybe I had to scratch out the clue about him working at the police station, though I wasn't willing to give up on it.

The police kept the city safe, but there wasn't much they could do without STAR Labs' help. Andrew Thompson - the young man with abilities to control toxic smoke - had gone completely missing, with no control over his abilities. I hadn't seen him in weeks, but I pitied him. He was such a powerful young being, though he was full of angst. He wanted his life back - that much I could tell. And the police targeted him, like a criminal, not a young boy. There was so much potential in him, for both bad and good, and it scared me.

The silver earthquaking metahuman was mentally insane - that much I was certain of. I remember how he had torn up almost all of First Street simply to get the Flash's attention, and how he had stalked me and Theodore, promising to kill us while laughing insanely.

And the Flash...

Did he really mean to kill me? Why did Harrison Wells not want us to work with each other? Was I really in danger from him?

Okay, stop for a second.

Dr. Wells was lying about who was in danger from who.

Was I in danger from the Flash? Or were STAR Labs and the Flash in danger from me, as Wells had secretly told Cisco, Caitlin and Barry to justify keeping me off of Team Flash?

Couldn't the Flash and I just sit down and have an easy conversation, over tea or something, and work out our differences?

And maybe I could behead him on the spot for helping the yellow Flash murder my mother?

The yellow speedster...

He was the one I had not seen yet - the one I was truly anticipating, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to confront him if I saw him. His horrible face, and the black emblem with the backwards red lightning - I remembered them all too clearly, and they still triggered horrible nightmares.

What I remembered the best about him, though, was the horrifying glow of his red eyes, and the ugly grin on his face. He had stabbed my mother so quickly that I had barely seen his arm move - as if that knife belonged in her heart.

By now, I was positive that the yellow speedster, and maybe the Flash, were responsible for the death threats my parents had been receiving when they were alive. For those notes that promised to kill them if they continued their work.

And they finally got what they wanted. My parents had been effectively silenced, their work left unfinished.

And now - here was I - waiting, without any means to protect myself, in the city where the Flash lived, where the Flash had probably killed someone else's mother too, where the Flash would probably want me dead after seeing what I was doing - that I had restarted the work that got my parents killed.

My friends were working with a murderer!

My phone rang, and I was glad for the distraction. I had started to sweat nervously because of my ominous realization. It was Barry.

"Hey, Bear," I spoke into my phone, glad to hear him.

(Hi, Artemis,) he responded optimistically.

Moment of silence.

"Um, why did you call?"

(It's Thursday?) He replied doubtfully.

"Err, yes, it is Thursday," I answered, checking my calendar, "Was Thursday, like, an important date or something?"

(Yes, it was, actually,) Barry replied, (We were supposed to meet up?)

"Oh! Right!" I facepalmed myself. How could I have forgotten this?

(Can I still come over?) Barry voiced politely.

"Yes, yeah! Of course!" I assured quickly, "I, uhh, was just waiting for you!"

(Is that true, now?) He asked with a small laugh.

"Yes!" I answered with a gulp, "You, um, you took so long that I actually forgot what I was waiting for."

(Oh. My bad,) Barry answered in a kind, but mocking tone, (I'll be over there in just a second.)

Click.

Eeek. I had forgotten all about Barry asking to come over. I began to slightly panic.

Was my place clean? Yes, I lived by myself and was a neat freak.

Was I supposed to have anything ready? To discuss? Well, geez, I didn't know. I was pretty preoccupied these last few days, pigging out and watching television. The online archive was all I had, anyway.

Was I supposed to have something for him to eat? Oh god - I had given Harrison Wells all of the food I had made! And Cisco and Barry had consumed everything I had made last night - I didn't have any leftovers! I should have saved some! I began to worry, and looked through my pantry and fridge.

Goddammit, Cisco! There's nothing here, except for measly vegetables, a packet of tea bags, toast and a jar of fat-free peanut butter, which tasted like mucky oil!

Was I going to feed Barry plain bread with disgusting peanut butter, offer him a plain salad on the side? Brew him some tea to go along with it?

Wow, that sounded so pathetic. Gahh - what was I going to do?

Knock, knock!

That couldn't be Barry. There was no way he could have gotten here so quickly, right? We just hung up seconds ago...

I had to have imagined the knock.

Knock.

There it was again. I nervously smoothed out my shirt before accepting my fate, and answering the door.

As expected - and dreaded - Barry Allen is standing at my door, in a light-colored checkered dress shirt and blue blazer, jeans and sneakers, holding a black briefcase.

"Hey!" He greeted with a sunny smile. I was unable to find my voice. How did he get here so quickly?

"Hi?" I finally managed to respond dryly, stepping out of the way so he could enter. His smile slowly melted as he gauged my reaction.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," I squeaked solemnly. He turned and gave me a concerned look.

"I could always come back later, if this is a bad time or if you're busy," he assured in a friendly manner.

"No, it's fine," I allowed, closing the door, "I, uhh, was just a bit startled."

"By what?"

"By you," I responded, smiling at him as I enjoyed the mild shock on his face, clearing my throat and walking past him to where my notes were.

"By me?" He questioned, following me. I turned around to look at him.

"Yes. I didn't think you'd get here that fast," I mused, "What - were you waiting outside my door the entire time, or something?"

"I'm not that creepy, am I?" He answered with that perfect smile of his, sitting down at my kitchen counter. I raised an eyebrow at him, wanting an explanation.

"I was... at Caitlin's place. She just wanted some emotional support for something."

"Oh. Is everything okay with her?" I asked, going into my room to get my laptop. Caitlin needed emotional support? Was something going on?

It then dawned on me how reserved she was, how cautious and careful she was. She was kind and friendly, but a bit too distant.

Something was eating away at her, I realized, and she didn't want to share it. It explained why she seemed so secluded, despite being our friend.

"She... it was just about her fiance. He passed away when the accelerator blew up."

"Oh. That's horrible," I mumbled, sitting beside him.

I remembered now - there was a picture of her and a tall, muscular dark-haired man at her bedside table, when I had to bring her home when she was drunk.

I didn't know he was dead. Was he one of the lab workers Cisco told me had been obliterated by the accelerator?

"She'll be fine. She's strong. We'll work it out," Barry assured, pulling out files from his briefcase.

"Work it out?" I asked. That was a strange choice of words to describe getting over someone. Barry pressed his lips together and sighed.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but ... we think he might still be alive," he admitted.

"Alive?" I asked, shocked, "Then we should try and find out what happened to him!"

Barry gave me a grudging smile.

"Welcome to the life of a STAR Labs' scientist, Artemis," he teased, "Where nothing makes sense and all you want to do is find answers."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," I muttered, opening up the archive I had made online.

"But, right now, let's work on one mystery before we get started on another," he said, pulling out his notes on his mother's murder, "So... just tell me everything you know?"

I skimmed through the archive - despite the fact that I knew everything that was on it by heart.

"The Flash was there that night, for starters."

"I'm sorry - did you just say that the Flash was there?!"

"I'm certain of it. It's the same style of costume, the same type of speed. I'm more than certain it's him - it's the same person," I pressed.

"But that's not possible! The Flash has only been around for a few months. Your mother's murder - that was over 15 years ago! It can't be him!"

"Then I don't know what to say. All I know is that there were two speedsters. One was red. One was yellow," I told him, pausing the video clip at the part where a yellow ghost had formed by my mother's bedside. Barry leaned forward.

"Have you seen this speedster before?" I inquired.

"No... No, I've never seen him," he mumbled, confused.

"I think he's allied with the Flash, and I think they both want me dead."

"What?!" Barry asked in disbelief, "The Flash does not want you dead."

"How would you know?"

Barry paused and looked at me with wide green eyes.

"Because - I know him! He doesn't murder people, and he definitely would not do anything to hurt you," he announced, gesturing his chin towards the vase of red roses the Flash had given me.

"What - are you and the Flash, like, close friends or something?" I retorted.

"I guess you could say that?" Barry offered, with a confused smile.

"Barry, who is he? Who could he be?" I asked, "I have so much to ask him, and Dr. Wells has ordered him to stay away from me. I'm stuck."

"I mean, you could ask me?" He observed, "I do know a lot about him."

"You know what I would like to ask you?" I brought up.

"Hopefully, out?"

"What?" I asked, shocked, surprised by his sudden request, "Isn't the guy supposed to ask the girl?"

"I - who said we need to be conventional about it?"

"I'm not asking you anything until Ramon and Thawne leave us alone," I answered, though I kind of liked the fact that he wanted me to ask him out.

"And I was going to say - how do you know that the Flash isn't, like, evil? Or if he has ulterior motives? Personally, I don't exactly trust the fact that we're working with someone who has these kinds of abilities. What if he wants something out of it?"

"Artemis," Barry began, though he was at a loss for words. He put his fist to his mouth, still trying to figure out what to say, before he spoke up.

"One day - you'll know who the Flash is. I promise you that myself. But he's not evil, by any means. He just wants to help people," Barry explained.

"How do we know we can trust him, though?" I asked quietly, "He was there at the scene of my mother's murder. He could have killed my father too - with the help of the yellow speedster."

"Artemis, that's ridiculous."

"You don't believe me?" I asked incredulously, "Barry, I -"

"Artemis, the Flash does not have evil intentions by any means. He's here to use his abilities to help people. You're not in danger from him," Barry assured.

"You know what confuses me, though?"

"What?"

"Why did he kill your mother?" I brought up, "I don't mean to insult you, or anything, but you guys were completely average people. My parents were on the verge of a scientific breakthrough. They had been receiving threats for their work for several years. Why was your mother killed? What did she have to do with any of this?"

Barry sighed and shook his head.

"That's what I've been trying to figure out for several years now."

"How did we manage to miss the fact that there were two murders that night, not one?" I asked, "If the police had figured this out back then, then they could have gotten a lot farther than they had."

"I know," Barry agreed, "But you know what scares me?"

"The fact that fate is a total bitch and plays with scary coincidences?"

"I wouldn't word it like that, but yes," Barry consented, "Fate is a ... bitch. And these coincidences do scare me too."

"Hold on - as crazy as it seems, it could be important," I said, pulling out a piece of paper, "We should list it out. For starters..."

"We both lost our mothers to speedsters."

"And we both live in Central City, where there is a speedster."

"And this speedster is a good guy. Just to be clear."

"But this speedster could be the one who was there when my mother died, and I'm guessing when your mother died as well," I continued, jotting down our words.

"But you don't really have any physical evidence to say that, so it could still be someone else," Barry reminded.

"Well, yes and no. There was another speedster there - a yellow one - with the Flash."

"But the Flash only came to be a few months ago, so again, it couldn't have been him back, then."

"He could have been in hiding all these years, Barry."

"I doubt that."

"Look - why are you being so supportive of him?" I asked, confused, "I'm sure he was the one from that night. If he's a suspect in our parents' death, wouldn't you want him caught? Even if you know his secret identity, and you know him as a friend, or whatever, you can't believe everything he's telling you! People can lie to you so easily, Barry!"

Barry froze, and sighed.

"It's a bit more complicated than that, Artemis," he said in a low voice. Was that guilt I heard?

"I didn't mean to be so condescending, but I know for a fact that there were speedsters in the room when my mother died," I explained solemnly, showing Barry the screen, "One red - just like our Flash friend here - and one yellow. And I consider them both to be suspects."

"I've never seen or heard of the yellow speedster, though," Barry confessed.

"You - you didn't see him the night your mother died?"

"No. I only saw lightning, and then I was outside, 20 blocks away from my home," he said solemnly.

"I was able to make out what happened," I attested, "And I too found myself outside, on my front lawn, but I managed to run back upstairs. I saw the yellow speedster clearly."

Barry pulled out a sketch pad from his breifcase.

"Could you describe what you remember?" He asked. I nodded my head and defined what I remembered of the speedster as Barry penciled in my description. He had to have been at least 6 feet tall, and his suit phased from yellow to pure black, and the insignia on his chest was a reversed version of the Flash's, and how the speedster's eyes were bloodred, and glowed menacingly.

I watched Barry draw, guiding him through the specific details, and he held up the finished sketch. It's black and white, but frighteningly accurate.

"That's him," I answered nervously. The picture is so precise, capturing the ghostliness of the yellow phantom, that it provoked the memory of him shooting the large knife into my mother, and I tried not to shiver. Barry registered my fear, and put the picture away.

"I'll have copies made of that, then, and I'll send them up to the Captain, to keep an eye out for him. But STAR Labs, myself, and the Flash have never seen him before."

"Alright," I answered, forcing myself to regain composure. It was just a picture. It wasn't real... The yellow demon had not been seen in the city, and he wasn't here.

"Do you mind if I share our work tonight with Joe?" Barry asked gently.

"Go for it," I answered, "I don't see what we have to hide."

"We finally have a suspect. Even if we haven't seen this metahuman yet, we still know to look for him. We'll know what he means if we see him."

"And the Flash. He's a suspect too. Don't trust him. He's lying when he says he 'just got his speed' or whatever. I know he was the same monster from that night."

Barry grimaced, and turned so he was facing me. He put a hand on my shoulder and leaned in.

"We're - I don't know about that. But he's not a monster, and I trust him. And I think you should too. He means well."

"Barry, how the hell are you so certain about that?" I asked nervously, "He could have helped kill our mothers!"

"Artemis," Barry persisted, "He didn't. He's not that kind of person. Trust me."

The solemness in his expression is undeniable and strong. Barry has complete faith in this Flash guy, and nothing I could say could waver that, even though I have evidence the Flash was there.

How well do you have to know someone before you can assume you fully know them, like Barry claimed to know the Flash?

"I think we've made good progress today," Barry announced, turning away from me to gather our notes and whatnot, "You've seen the yellow speedster, and now we just need to find him. Though we have no idea where he could be, or if he's still alive."

"He's alive. Trust me."

"How do you know that? Have you seen him since?"

"No," I denied, "But I just have this sick feeling in my gut."

"Fear?" Barry asked.

"Absolute horror," I responded with a small smile.

Barry gave me an assuring smile and hung his briefcase from his shoulder. He brought his hand up to my chin, and tilted it up.

"You're safe. You're more than safe. You have nothing to be afraid of," he promised, giving me a small but certain smile.

"Nothing, other than three metahumans on the loose, and several others still in hiding, one of which has probably killed our parents," I allowed, brushing his hand away. Barry's smile grew, and he caught my fingers, pulling me away from the counter and leading me towards the door.

"Come on," he said.

"What - are we going somewhere now?"

"Yeah, I figured we could go get something to eat. I'm starving," he said.

"That actually sounds like a great idea. I'm fresh out of food," I admitted, "Where are we going?"

"Just a small place down in the Englewood district," Barry said, still smiling.

"Englewood? But that's so far away," I stated. Englewood was the northeast corner of Central City, and was a long drive away.

"How will we get there?" I questioned, knowing Barry didn't own a car.

Barry's smile melted at my question.

"Umm, I'll remedy that momentarily. Stay here?" He asked.

"Sure. I'll get dressed," I stated, looking down at my flannel shirt and old jeans, which contrasted his impeccably neat outfit.

Barry smiled, and left my apartment. Where he could be going - I had no idea. I took my chance to dash into my room, and changed into something far more appropriate for dinner than jeans and flannel - a knee length plain pink dress. I hurriedly rubbed some makeup on my arms to cover up the scars. It wasn't as effective at hiding the scars as the stuff Barry used, but at least I wouldn't be giving anyone a heart attack if they saw me. I heard the front door open, and quickly ran a comb through my hair and tied it back, before slipping my feet into flats and leaving.

"Where'd you go?" I asked, "You were gone for only a minute."

"Just went to go grab some keys," Barry allowed, smiling as he held up a familiar set of car keys.

"Barry?" I asked, confusion washing through me.

"Mmm?"

"These are Cisco's."

"Uhh - yeah, they are," he admitted, "You caught me."

"Barry?" I asked, this time with more worry in my voice.

"Yes?"

"Cisco lives a fifteen-minute walk away. How'd you get back here so fast?"

Barry didn't have anything to say to defend himself. I cocked an eyebrow up and smiled at him.

"Something you'd like to tell me?" I inquired, referring to my confrontation with him a few days ago, in which I accused him of being the Flash.

"I didn't actually go to Cisco's," Barry confessed with a sorry smile, "He had an extra set of car keys that I borrowed once but forgot to give back, and I happened to find them in this coat, so I thought I'd... just come back."

"That's oddly convenient," I retorted, staring at him. He smiled and shrugged adorably.

I smiled and shook my head in disbelief at him, and stuffed my wallet, phone and keys in a purse before roping an arm through his - to his surprise - and leaving.

"So... this dinner... it doesn't count as a date, does it?" I asked Barry, as we walked through the apartment complex to where Cisco kept his car parked.

"Nope. If it were a date, we'd have to admit to being a couple," Barry agreed, though he smiled wily at me.

"And we're definitely not a couple," I stated, as we sat down in the car.

"Absolutely not."

"We hate each other."

"Okay - we don't hate each other, but -" Barry regarded, starting the engine and backing out of the parking lot as he drove out into the city.

"But we don't necessarily like each other, either."

"Precisely. We're just friends."

"Yes. Friends," I continued, "Incredibly smart -"

"Incredibly attractive-"

"Incredibly single friends," I finished. Barry thought I was attractive?

"With no feelings for each other whatsoever."

"Going out for dinner together."

"It doesn't get any more platonic than this," Barry teased. I laughed, although deep down, I knew Barry wasn't the one who was joking here. I was the one who was slowly falling for him.

Oh, get it together, Artemis. You can't like him of all people!

"Yup," I said with a nervous laugh.

Barry quickly shot me a nervous glance before turning away. Did he think I was weird for making a big deal about us not being a couple?

Okay - anyone in their right minds probably would. Did he sense that there was something more to my teasing?

I silently exhaled. Let's not make things more uncomfortable here.

"So how's Iris doing?" I asked, before understanding what I had actually asked and cringing hard enough to make my stomach ache.

The first thing out of my mouth after awkward silence, and it's that?!

Let's not make things more uncomfortable - by bringing up the girl he actually likes - Van Kleiss, you're a genius! A total motherfrigging genius!

To my surprise, Barry actually chuckled.

"She's hard at work writing this new article. You really did inspire her that other day, you know," he complimented.

"I don't even remember what I said, actually," I admitted.

"Yeah, well, don't be surprised when she gets it published."

"What's she writing about?" I asked, genuinely interested in the fact that Iris was finding success.

"She kind of swore she'd kill me if I told you..."

Oh? What could it be, that she didn't want me to know about, even though the entire city would know soon enough?

"Well, whatever gets her onto the paper, right?" I consented.

Barry smiled and rolled the car into a parking lot. I looked outside and saw what must have been one of the most elegant restaurants I had ever seen. Well-dressed people were leaving their cars and walking in. I felt grateful to have made the split-second decision to change out of my jeans into a dress.

"I thought you said we were going to a small place down in Englewood."

"Yeah, well, I've been lying to you," he said with a guilty smile, "I haven't been to this place in months, and I thought it would be nice if I brought you here too, since you're new to the city."

"You're very smooth, Allen."

Barry chuckled and offered me his arm. I took it, and we walked into the posh entrance, where we waited in line to be seated.

"This is some place," I commented, taking a look around the restaurant. Barry nodded and smiled. Men in suits and women in elegant dresses were seated throughout the elegant building. We were probably the most under-dressed ones here. Waiters and waitresses carrying trays of expensive-looking food tended to their guests, and a band was playing soft music in the back.

We finally made it to the front of the line.

"Table for two?" A waiter asked in a British accent at the podium.

"Yeah, but I've made a reservation under the name 'Allen'," Barry responded.

A reservation? As in, this was planned? Barry Allen, what...exactly... are you doing?

The waiter flipped through the guestbook and smiled at us.

"Absolutely. Right this way, sir," and we followed him through the bustling restaurant to a peaceful outdoor seating arrangement, where only a few other couples were seated, and a large balcony gave the perfect nighttime view of the urban city we had left.

The waiter led us to a small table by the balcony and handed us our menus before leaving, and we sat across from each other.

"So... tell me about this reservation," I finally said, arching an eyebrow up at him.

Barry smiled matter-of-factly.

""You can't just walk into a place like this," Barry explained, as if it was obvious, "The waiting time here's more than an hour."

"Yeah, I can see why," I answered, watching as a few couples began dancing to the music in an open area not far from the tables, "But that's not what I asked."

Barry's smile turned guilty.

"Yeah, well, I felt bad. You treated us really nicely the other day, and you're always doing things for us without being asked. I figured I'd return the favor."

"Oh?" I asked, "What exactly have I done that warrants a dinner alone with you at a place like this?"

If Barry said he wanted us to be friends, then he definitely countered his words by bringing me here.

"Don't be so naive," Barry scolded with a smile. He began counting on his fingers, "One, you got caught up in that attack with Andrew Thompson on, what, your second day here?"

"You know - I never found out how you found out about that," I interrupted, not knowing what to make of what Barry just said.

It's true - Barry wasn't there that day - when the Flash came in and rescued the entire street from Smoke Ghost. Only the police, myself, the Flash, and Thompson himself. Cisco and Caitlin knew, but that was because I had blatantly disobeyed them. Eddie and Joe knew too, but that was because I had made a huge show about shaming the police for wanting to hurt Thompson.

"My stepdad's a cop, Artemis," Barry alluded with a playful light in his eyes, "Figure it out yourself."

I gauged his words, feeling foolish.

"Alright. You found out from your dad."

"And you gave everyone at STAR Labs the heart attack of the century. I don't think anyone is going to forget about it for a while."

"Fine," I conceded, "I got caught up in a surprise metahuman attack. Now I'm here with you?"

"You didn't let me finish," Barry said, as he continued validating himself, "Two, you actually came back to Central City. We were all worried that you'd be too scared to return after going through something like that, but you surprisingly did, which is actually a big deal."

I chuckled.

"Yeah, you have no idea how badly I wanted to ditch this job and stay at home, where things made sense. I've seen three metahumans so far - I even built tech to take another one down - and I still can't believe I live here, where things like this happen. It's like I'm in a Space Destroyers movie."

Barry smiled at my words as he continued counting.

"Three, you kicked us out when we tried to help you move in."

"That's only because you guys finished all of the bulky work in, like, milliseconds," I exaggerated, "I still haven't figured out how you did that. What - did the Flash decide to stop by and help, or something? Because what you and Cisco did was pretty much impossible."

Barry grinned and raised an eyebrow at me, daring me to make the conclusion.

"It was the Flash, wasn't it?" I asked, realizing how much my joke had made sense, "Oh, god. You invited the Flash over and had him do all that work."

Barry stayed silent, but continued smiling. My jaw dropped.

"The Flash has been to my home? Without me knowing?"

Barry scratched the back of his head and shrugged.

"Anyway, I was saying..." he intoned. I signalled for him to continue, "The exact same day, you allowed us to take you to the dive bar and let Cisco and Caitlin 'formally initiate' you at STAR Labs through group karaoke, and also had the heart to carry drunk Caitlin home, which is also something that can't be easily forgotten, seeing how you barely knew Caitlin, Cisco or myself, at the time."

"You forgot the part where Cisco tried to get us to hold hands," I reminded, and we both broke into smiles over the memory.

"You started work at STAR Labs almost immediately - didn't you come in the very next day?"

"I did, actually."

"And Dr. Wells was pretty grateful that you did. You built one of the coolest weapons I have ever seen, then also came over to my place to help Iris with her little blog, and saved me from an embarrassing episode of third-wheeling by watching football with me."

"Go Patriots," I mentioned unenthusiastically. Barry beamed.

"Not to mention the fact that - from what I heard - you ran to STAR Labs on foot to arrive at the emergency in the middle of the night, and instead of punching Dr. Wells in the face for screwing with you, you had the decency to go back home and respect their privacy."

I leaned back and folded my arms, and sighed with a smile.

"And then got tangled in another metahuman attack the next day, saved a small child, distracted said metahuman from the hoards of innocent people waiting on standby, rescued Iris from danger, and stopped the creepy metahuman from almost killing the Flash. Oh, and then I lost my job for a week."

Barry smiled and gently tapped my hand.

"See? You of all people deserve a break!" He jested, "Oh, and we almost forgot the fact that we forced you to come watch Space Destroyers with us."

"And humiliated myself in front of Eddie Thawne? Yeah, not gonna forget that any time soon."

"Was it really that bad?" Barry asked in confusion.

"You think I like being made fun of like that?" I asked with a small scoff, "All that incessant teasing to get me to date someone who has feelings for someone who isn't me?"

"What, are you, like, jealous?" Barry intoned in a small voice, a tiny smile playing on his lips.

"Jealous of Iris for having stolen your affections?" I retorted, "Not a chance. We're just friends, and I'm okay with that -"

"As you've been dutifully reminding me," Barry teased, "You know - you are a bit too defensive of that for comfort."

I rolled my eyes at him, and finally acknowledged the menu in front of me, picking it up and opening it.

"Just look at it from my point of view for a second. I have a friend, who likes another one of my friends, who is dating another friend - and the other two friends are trying to get me to date the first friend, who does not like me in that way," I stated, not looking at him, as I continued,

"And it wouldn't be so bad if you knew said friend didn't like the other friend, because then it might actually make sense for you two to be together, but you just know it's a lost cause because, a, he's heads over heels for that other friend, and, b, he's known that other friend far longer than he's known you, and, c, you might as well stop, because it's never going to happen. Capiesche?"

Barry took my words in, and nodded.

"But then again, who said we have to be conventional about it?" He offered.

I smiled at his proposal, but the smile soon melted.

"Then I wouldn't be able to shake off the feeling that I was only picked because I was your second choice," I stated quietly, as I watched the light in Barry's smile dim.

"But hey - friends can still have fun, right?" I offered hopefully, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"Yeah, so long as Cisco and Eddie don't find out," Barry replied, breaking into a smile again.

"Oh man," I responded nervously, "We'd be screwed. There's no way we could get out of that."

Barry smiled more brightly and laughed, and the waiter from earlier reappeared.

"Are you ready to have your orders taken?" He asked politely, holding out a notepad and pen.

"Oh, yes," Barry responded. He proceeded to surprise me with a lengthy list of soups, pastas, salads, and a fancy type of steak, one that he probably had memorized seeing how easily he ordered, before addressing me.

"What about you, Artemis?"

I was a bit surprised - all that food, just for himself? i thought he had been ordering for the both of us, though I was surprised he'd ordered for me without even asking what I had wanted.

Barry was really going to eat all of that?

I quickly peered down at the menu and ordered the first thing I saw.

"Oh, yeah, I'll take the, uhh, the spinach pesto gnocchi. That's it," I said with a smile. Barry gave me a confused look. What, was I also supposed to order enough to feed a small village?

"And for drinks?" the waiter asked, "Will you be having our featured wine, tonight?"

Barry looked to me for my opinion.

"Oh, no thanks. I won't be having any wine. Barry, you?"

"No, I won't be drinking either," he conceded, "I'll take cider."

"I'll have what he's having," I repeated after him. The waiter smiled and thanked us, before leaving.

"You know, I brought you here so you would eat," Barry held.

"You know," I mimicked, "I for one can't actually eat enough to feed an entire family in one sitting," I replied with a small smile. Barry smiled and shrugged.

"Guess I'm just a bit hungry today," he allowed. I accepted his answer, before something strange occurred to me.

Barry's diet...

He always seemed to eat more than usual, despite his size and physical build.

The first time I had seen him eat was when he took me to Jitters. Cisco had jokingly reminded Barry he had already had breakfast, to which Barry told him that eating a little more never hurt him.

The second time was at the dive bar. Barry had practically inhaled all those excess plates of nachos that Cisco had drunkenly ordered. Cisco had ordered six or seven plates, and we both had only eaten one each, leaving the rest for Barry.

Then - at Joe's place, when he couldn't stop eating mac n' cheese, and he had eaten at least three or four bowls of it right in front of me?

And the other day, when he came over with Joe, Iris and Eddie - he had eaten en entire batch of cookies, and I had to have made at least three dozen, while Eddie, Iris and Joe only had a few a piece.

And yesterday, at my house - the huge casserole I had made, the pasta he had made, the dessert I had bought - Barry couldn't seem to get enough of it.

"Wow, you always seem to eat a lot," I brought up, after collecting my thoughts.

At the rate he ate, he should have been extremely unhealthy, should have been well out of shape. But I had seen him at the gym. He was more fit than both Cisco and I were, and Cisco was also a complete pig when it came to food as well.

"Yeah, I ... just have really good metabolism," Barry consented, shrugging with an easy smile.

"What, are you taking some magic pill or something?"

Barry gave me a disbelieving smile and shook his head no.

"You're something else altogether, aren't you?" I teased. Barry was about to respond, when the waiter from earlier returned with a waitress, both holding up large circular trays that carried the plates of food.

"That was... quick," I noted, as the two began to name the foods before us and place them down.

"That's mine..." Barry told them kindly, and they placed the specified dishes closer to his end of the table, "That's also mine... That's mine as well... um, that one too... And the gnocchi's hers."

The waitress nodded and placed the last dish in front of me - a plate of rolled up pasta balls covered in a nice smelling green sauce, and I thanked them. They poured two glasses of sparkling cider, and asked us if we needed anything else, to which we kindly declined, and left.

I turned to Barry, and the four heaping plates of food in front of him, and gave him a questioning look.

"Are you actually going to be able to eat... all... of that?" I expressed with shock.

"Just watch me, Van Kleiss," he answered coolly, taking a spoonful of his pasta, "You're more than welcome to help yourself to a few bites."

I gave him a suspicious smile, swiped a bite of his salad for teasing's sake, before facing my own meal. We continued to with to talk as we ate, and by the time I'm done with half of my food, Barry has already finished his soup and his pasta, and is onto his steak.

This isn't possible - I've been watching him the entire time - but all I've seen is bite followed by bite, a few words spoken in between, followed by more bites, while I've been eating slowly, like a sloth.

No, I'm eating at the right pace.

Barry Allen here is the weird one.

Barry acknowledged the glass of cider beside his plate and took a drink, and I too picked mine up, having forgotten to drink during my meal. The cider tastes sharp and fizzy, and is too bittersweet for my taste, and I scowl as I set the glass back down.

"Wow, not even cider, huh?" Barry remarked.

"No," I answered solemnly, taking another bite of food.

"And you're completely against alcohol too," Barry noted, "You didn't drink at the bar, either."

"Yeah, well, what can I say? I've caused enough trouble in my life," I joked, "I don't really want my parents shivering in their graves knowing I'm getting wasted too."

Barry smiled.

"It's not like you drink, either," I observed, "What's your reasoning?"

"I... just hate the taste, I guess," he allowed, "And I like having my inhibitions in check, so yeah."

I gave a light chuckle.

"Yeah, I can't really imagine you drunk, come to think of it."

And I really couldn't. Barry was the most composed, polite and poised person I had ever meant. I couldn't imagine him ever being anything less than in control of his actions.

"Good," Barry answered, cracking a crooked grin, "You probably don't want to."

"I'm guessing someone had quite an interesting time, back in college?" I teased, absent-mindedly stringing my mother's necklace along my neck.

Barry's eyes flittered as caught my movement, before he laughed nervously.

"You could say that, yeah."

"You know, speaking of alcohol, Dr. Wells offered me a glass of wine today. I turned him down."

"What?" Barry asked in mild astonishment.

"Yeah. I went to his place to apologize for my 'reckless' behavior, and he accepted. He wants me back at the Lab, tomorrow."

"Artemis, that's awesome!" Barry exclaimed with a smile, "What did you say to him?"

"I asked him if I could conduct some private research while he, Caitlin and Cisco did God knows what with the Flash," I answered, rolling my eyes when I said the Flash, "And he said yes, as long as I leave when asked."

"Alright, not bad," he conceded, "Do you know what kind of research you'll be doing?"

"Well, not quite," I answered vaguely, "But I'm hoping it'll help me find an answer to both the 'stopping the metahumans' question, as well as what happened to our mothers."

Barry set his fork down and reached his hand over to take my own.

"You... are unbelievably amazing in more ways than we could ever sit down and count over dinner."

I smiled in spite of myself, and tried not to blush, as an elated feeling flew through me. That was quite the compliment...

"Are you done eating?" Barry asked.

"Uhh... yeah, I am, actually," I answered, acknowledging the finished plate in front of me, and the completely clean ones in front of Barry.

"Good. Come on," he said, getting up, still holding my hand, forcing me to rise as well.

"What? Where are we going?" I asked.

"To dance, of course," he said, smiling.

"I'm sorry - did you say dance?!" I asked quietly, trying to hide my shock. And disgust. Singing karaoke was one thing. But dancing was another. I despised dancing.

"Yeah," Barry answered, gesturing towards the open area near where the musicians were playing and other couples were doing some kind of waltz.

"I mean, we don't have to if you don't want to. I just thought it would be fun."

"Yeah, sure," I conceded, willing for myself not to turn red from embarrassment. Barry had been kind enough to bring me here - I didn't want him to feel bad by turning him down.

Besides, I didn't know anyone here, other than him. Nobody I knew would know about this. Nobody would remember this, nobody else would see. Calm down. Nothing will go wrong. Don't make a fool of yourself.

Barry led me over to where the other couples were, and turned and placed a hand at my waist so he was facing me, surprising me. I tried to copy the movements of the other couples - one hand in the air with their partner's, the other at his shoulder. I awkwardly did so, and Barry smiled and moved. I tried to move in coordination with him as well, except I wasn't exactly as well coordinated as he was, and I stepped forward rather than to the side - right onto his shoe.

"Oh, shoot! Sorry, sorry!" I said, with a wince, my face turning hot from chagrin.

"It's okay," Barry replied with a small laugh.

I forced myself to ease, and I tried to follow along with his movements - mine being a lot more awkward and choppy, his being smooth, quick and graceful, causing me to look rather clumsy and inelegant.

For a man who couldn't run two feet, he was a pretty good dancer.

"Artemis?" Barry finally asked, after a few minutes of hellish awkwardness.

"Yes?" I replied nervously, forcing myself to look up at him.

"You're... kind of squeezing the life out of my shoulder. And my hand."

"Ohh my god," I stuttered, pulling my clenched hands off of him, and awkwardly waving them around over his hand and shoulder, unsure of what to do with them, before forcing them to replace themselves - this time with strained gentleness.

"Are you alright?" Barry mused, as he continued dancing easily.

"Umm, yeah," I lied with a gulp, "I'm ... perfectly, um, fine."

"Oh. Okay," Barry answered, before breaking into a smirk, "Because you've... been looking rather fearful the entire time."

"Oh, Barry," I mused, smirking back him and refusing to accept my vulnerability, "Anyone would be afraid of having to dance with you."

"Do you not like dancing?" He asked.

"I loathe it," I responded honestly.

"Why? You're not that bad at it," he allowed.

I shot an eyebrow up at him quizzically.

"You're just as horrible a liar as I am a dancer."

Barry smiled.

"No, I'm a better liar than you think," he responded with an ambiguous smile, "And, by association, that means you can inherently dance better than this."

"I'll embarrass us both beyond belief, Allen."

"Then we'll be even," he responded coolly.

"Even?" I inquired, taken aback.

"Yes. Then we'll both be embarrassed," He explained in a joking tone, "Because I just took a pretty girl to this awesome, lavish restaurant and scored a romantic dinner with her, only to be pushed back into the friendzone. And now you get to embarrass yourself by dancing in public. Now, just try to follow along, okay? You'll feel more comfortable once you forget how uncomfortable it is."

He was kidding - about the friendzone part.

He knew he liked Iris, I knew he liked Iris. He just said that because it was a running joke between us.

Barry Allen was a running joke, I thought with a silent laugh.

"Fine," I said, accepting his challenge, "You can't run, I can't dance. You've got me. I can still dance better than you can run, though," I retorted.

"In your dreams, Artemis," Barry crooned, giving me a small knowing smile.

In a few moments, I finally found the rhythm of his movements - seeing it as more of a problem or a mathematical sequence than a dance routine, because my brain was just wired to figure things like that better.

"See, now you're getting it," Barry complimented, as he started going a little faster, keeping up with the soft musical number in the background. I pushed away any nervousness and instead focused on the pattern, not wanting to give Barry the satisfaction of making a fool of myself.

Who the hell did Barry think he was? Walking into my life like this, easily winning me over so quickly, forcing me suppress any feelings I might have had for him, all while playing it so cool himself? Spending all this time with me, joking around with me, taking me to the movies, out to dinner, and now dancing?

"Cisco, Iris and Eddie better not find out about this," I commented, before smiling.

"Agreed," Barry said with a light chuckle.

The tone of the music got higher and faster, signifying that the song was about to end, and Barry moved accordingly, and my fears returned, as I found it more difficult to move in rhythm with him.

I tried to keep up, but he pulled me to the right instead of to his left, which I had thought he would be doing, and I yelped as I stumbled in surprise.

Lucky for us, Barry somehow found quick reflexes, and I found myself leaning backwards in a dip, with him over me and his arms behind my back and under my shoulders, one of my hands clutching his arm, and the other at his back.

"Smile," he quickly whispered, and I obeyed as a flash of light went off somewhere to our right.

I realized what happened, and stood up, any fun that I had washed away from embarrassment that I had slipped and Barry had caught me.

"Did someone take a picture of us?" I asked nervously, as the song ended and people clapped for the band.

"Umm, I'm not sure," Barry replied, "I just saw someone with a camera pointed at us, so..."

"Barry, that means someone took our picture," I answered in annoyance.

Barry turned guilty and shrugged, and I scorned at the fact that someone had caught my slip. I soon became distracted by the sight of a familiar waiter walking towards our table, where we had left our things, with a small black book in hand.

"Well, I had fun. Gotta go," I joked to Barry quickly, before running towards the waiter, leaving him behind.

"Wait, Artemis!" Barry called out behind me with a laugh, realizing what I was about to do. I beat him to it though, and by the time he arrived, I had already signed the receipt and handed the waiter my credit card.

"What?!" Barry protested, once he understood what I had done,"Why on earth would you do that? I brought you here!"

I smiled coyly back at him and put an arm around his lower back.

"Guess I get the final laugh tonight, eh, Bear?"

"Not funny, Artemis," he replied. The waiter returned with my card, and we walked back inside to leave.

"Why? Who said we had to be conventional about it?" I mocked. He rolled his eyes and handed me the car keys as we reached the parking lot.

"You're going to need to drop me off first in order to get home," he said, "Cisco will want his car back."

"I thought Cisco knew we took it?" I asked, walking past Barry to get to the driver's seat while he took shotgun.

"Ummm... This would be one of the instances where I tell you I'm better at lying than you are."

"If Cisco finds out where we were, I'll make sure you're toast," I scoffed, not anticipating the teasing this could bring me.

"He'll find out anyway. Guy's the best hacker in the city," Barry answered, as I started the car, "We'll just tell him it was dinner. Nice and simple. And platonic."

"Completely platonic," I repeated sarcastically, remembering how Barry teased me about this dinner being romantic. Barry guided me through the lavish Englewood district and gave me directions on how to get back to his place, and we soon made our way back.

"Oh, god," he muttered, glancing at his watch, "It's almost 11 o clock."

"You're well into your 20's," I noted, parking his car in the driveway, "Please tell me you don't have a curfew."

"I don't," Barry said, picking up his briefcase from the floor and opening the door, "But that just means we spent about 5 hours together. And Iris will be sure to remind me of that."

"How dreadful," I joked, getting out of the car, "You managed to live through 5 hours with me. You poor thing."

"You're getting out of the car?" Barry asked, watching me close the door.

"Well, yeah," I answered, "You always walk me to my door. Thought I'd do the same. It's just courtesy."

Barry studied me for a second.

"Alright," he consented, and I walked alongside him around the garage and to his door. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and stuck them in the knob, before sighing and facing me, leaning against the door.

"Tonight actually was a lot of fun," he declared, smiling at me in the moonlight. I smiled back.

"Even though I totally destroyed the dance floor?" I asked in a mocking tone. Barry chuckled.

"You're hilarious. See you tomorrow? At STAR Labs?" He asked, holding up his fist for our customary goodbye fistbumps.

"Sure thing," I said, hitting my fist to his. Barry turned and put his hand to the door, before dropping it and facing me.

"Actually, no. Come here," he said, and I whelped in spite of my astonishment as Barry pulled me by the arm into a surprise hug.

---

[Barry's POV]

I smiled down at Artemis, and pulled one hand away to tilt her chin up, before she could protest. Surprisingly, she didn't, and she looked back up at me with her dark eyes shining behind her glasses.

What was I doing? I suddenly realized.

I certainly couldn't kiss her, even though I kind of wanted to, and if I would never admit it out loud.

I cleared my throat and leaned in, just slightly.

"Well," I started, brushing a strand of hair away from her perfect face, "Thank you. For tonight."

She murmured a laugh, and freed her hands from between our bodies to place them over my shoulders.

"No problem, Barry."

I smiled and continued to hold her like that, and her cheeks flushed pink, as I slowly leaned in towards her. I quickly wrapped my arms around her waist and hoisted her up a few inches so our faces could be level, and I could feel adrenaline suddenly course through me, the blood pounding through my heart faster than it usually did. Her breathing turned a bit unsteady as she watched me, stroked my cheek with her thumb.

I felt a little numb from the unsteady shock of energy, from my impulsive decision to pick her up, from how close her face was to mine. Oh, Barry, I thought wistfully, as I continued to wordlessly stare at her. Please don't do something stupid... God knows what she'd think of you if you flipped out in a moment like this...

Our faces were inches away from each other's, and I suddenly noticed specks of gold in her brown eyes, and a tiny scar faintly cutting through her left eyebrow.

For a fleeting moment, I wondered how she got it. In fact, I wanted to know everything about the young woman in my arms, who managed to both undermine me and everything I did, as well as give me a new motivation in my life, an extra kick in my step, capturing my attention whenever she was in the room.

More so, I wanted for her to let me hold her in my arms forever, for her to accept me entirely - both as Barry Allen, and the Flash.

Bringing a hand up to cup her face, I brought her forward. She touched her forehead to mine, and pulled her arms off of my shoulders to gently take my face in her small, nimble hands. I tilted my face upwards towards hers, and her soft lips met mine, gently brushing over them, before she made a sound between a shriek and a yelp and jolted her head and torso back away from me, her face flaring bright red, as the porch became flooded with light.

The door beside us flew open, and I turned and saw Joe, who soon widened his eyes and turned guilty as he saw us.

"Oh my god - umm, sorry guys!" He exclaimed shamefully, unsure of what to do, "I just saw that other car in my driveway and heard voices outside and thought we were going to get robbed, or something - I didn't mean to, umm, interrupt... whatever this was."

Artemis and I faced each other with blushing faces. With embarrassment, I realized I was still holding her and I immediately dropped her. We pulled our arms away from each other, even pushing each other away.

"No problem, Joe-" she admitted.

"We weren't doing anything!" I announced with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, we were just, umm-" Artemis began.

"Saying goodbye!" I asserted, finishing her sentence for her. We turned to each other and nodded nervously - cringing - both knowing we looked like fools.

Joe shot us a skeptical, almost worried, look.

"Um. Okay, then. I'll, uhh, leave you both," he said, turning back inside, "To...finish... saying goodbye."

Artemis turned to me and waved a hand.

"Bye, Barry," she chirped monotonously, still edgy from Joe's little surprise.

"Yeah. Bye, Artemis," I returned awkwardly. She nodded at me, and turned to walk back down to the driveway, and I took that as my cue to go inside the house, before a small hand grabbed my upper arm and pulled me so I turned back around. I faced Artemis, who had returned with a confused look on her face.

"Did you just..." she attempted, shaking her head in disbelief as she made sense of what had happened, "Did you just try to kiss me?"

Guilt and discomfort settled through me as I tried to find an answer.

"I, umm, yeah, maybe," I finally managed, "I just... thought the moment was right."

A small smile appeared on her bow-shaped lips.

"Yeah, well, you thought wrong," she stated casually, "And - hey, I thought we said we were just friends?"

"Oh, yeah..." I murmured, "Friends."

To my surprise, she smiled, and shyly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She quickly stepped forward and stood on her tiptoes, planting a soft peck on my cheekbone before stepping back.

"We should probably discuss the boundaries of our friendship, then," she said with a small smile, finally letting go of my arm. I nodded at her, and smiled with a protest as she ruffled a hand through my hair, before turning and actually walking away this time. I watched her get into Cisco's car, backing it out of our driveway, and giving me a quick wave before driving off.

A minute or so passed before I realized I was still standing on the porch, smiling like a fool. I turned and entered the house, closing the door behind me as I entered my dark living room, when a lamp turned on, catching my attention.

Iris was perched on the couch beside the lamp with her legs tucked underneath her, and she smiled slyly as she crossed her arms.

I knew that look all too well, and took a deep breath.

"Hi, Barry," She said, with a smooth roll of her voice, with an eyebrow raised.

"Hey, Iris," I greeted with a grimace, not wanting this confrontation. I turned and headed towards the staircase.

"So, how was your date with Artemis?" She asked, getting off of the sofa to walk up towards me.

"It was...alright," I admitted, stopping in my tracks to smile at her, at how tonight had played out.

"So you admit it, then."

"Admit what?" I asked dumbly.

"That it was a date," she said, walking past me to the next level of stairs, smiling playfully at me.

"What?! What - no!" I maintained, "She - she doesn't like me!"

"Oh yeah?" Iris challenged, leaning her head down in her folded arms, as she leaned on the railing, still looking down on me, "She seemed to like you just fine when you tried to kiss her."

I blushed and turned away, remembering how perfect the moment had been until Joe showed up, unintentionally ruining it.

"Dad's always been a cockblock. You should've just kissed her while dancing at the restaurant," Iris stated. Kissed her while dancing at the restaurant?

"What?" I stuttered in astonishment, "How - how did you know we were dancing? At the restaurant? How did you find out any of this?"

Iris smiled as she took her phone out of the pocket.

"Barry, you know Chanel, right? My friend from the Picture News?" Iris inquired, as she scrolled through the screen, standing beside me.

"No?"

"You met her when I was with Linda, remember? She had short blonde hair?"

I vaguely recalled Iris introducing me to some of her friends from the CCPN a while back, one of them being a hipster blonde woman with red glasses.

"What about her?" I questioned, unsure of where Iris was going with this.

"You probably don't remember, but she writes for the Food and Drink section. And I had told her about my own article. And tonight, she happened to be at the very same restaurant as you two, reviewing some of the new featured wine, when she just so happened to catch an object of my interest," Iris quipped, and she held her phone out to me, revealing a picture I knew Artemis would not be happy with.

"Iris, she'll murder us both if you publish this," I whispered in fear, walking up to her.

"Barry, I need to do this, though," she pleaded, "Stupid Bridges actually really liked the idea. This could be my big break."

"She could sue you for legal liabilities. You're doing this without her permission," I reminded, "And I'm letting you know right now - you do not want to be at the other end of her temper."

"Nonsense," Iris asserted with a smile, "Artemis adores me. She won't mind. This is going to be my big break, and I'm so excited! Did you want to read the article before it officially makes its way into the paper?"

"No. I've had enough of Artemis for one night," I answered.

"Uh-huh," Iris murmured questioningly, "Seeing how Dad cut you both off, I highly doubt that."

Iris giggled at the surprise on my face for her words, and I shooed her away. She laughed as she went into her room.

Yes. I was going to be a dead man tomorrow, thanks to Iris's silly, albeit important, article.

I reluctantly pushed any thoughts of Artemis out of my head, and instead focused on the briefcase in my hand. I walked over to the room Joe was using as an office, and knocked, before entering anyway.

"Hey, Joe," I called, "What'chu up to?"

"Hi, Bear," Joe greeted, before sighing over the files before him, "Just reviewing the case of our favorite missing metahuman."

"Thompson?"

"Yeah, him," Joe responded, before smiling and indicating for me to take a seat, "How was your night?"

"It was nice," I allowed, involuntarily smiling.

"Yeah, sorry for busting in at the wrong time," Joe apologized sheepishly, "I genuinely didn't want to -"

"Joe, it's fine," I asserted, "She probably didn't want me kissing her, anyway."

As far as I could see, Artemis was all bark and no bite. We were both leading each other on, albeit unintentionally, but when it came to admitting our feelings, we both chickened. And she believed me better than I believed her. Judging from our conversation tonight, Artemis was still under the impression that I liked Iris. Now, the kiss, or whatever it was, was something else entirely.

Even I hoped I still liked Iris, because Iris made sense. Iris was sweet, Iris was kind, Iris was beautiful. The only problem I had with Iris was Eddie.

Artemis? Artemis also was sweet and kind, so long as you were on her good side - rest in peace, Cisco, Eddie and Dr. Wells, and now Iris - and she too was beautiful.

Not beautiful like Iris, not beautiful like the girls on TV and in the magazines, although there was a physical spark about her - in the way she always stood tall despite her petite frame, walked with her head held high, even after being humiliated at by Dr. Wells. I didn't find Artemis beautiful, despite the way her eyes sparkled behind her large glasses when she smiled, the way she engaged herself when listening to you speak, the small curve of her smile when you made her laugh.

Artemis was beautiful - but not like the other girls. I couldn't find myself liking her for something as temporary as looks.

Artemis's true beauty was in the way she thought, the way she was fearless. Artemis, I discovered, was beautiful for the way she cared for others, in the way she maintained herself, and was a bit too stubborn for her own taste, the way she unnerved you by getting under your skin without it being annoying.

There was a spontaneity and a unique gracefulness about Artemis - one that fascinated me, and one that I still hoped would keep me away from her, or God knows that I would crumble at her mercy.

Joe chuckled nervously.

"That's what you always say, before you date a girl, Bear," he conceded, "You're a man now - you should know how they work by now."

I sighed and smiled, before remembering why I came in in the first place.

"Oh - I actually got somewhere with Artemis tonight," I declared, opening up my briefcase to retrieve the files.

"Atta boy," Joe muttered with a smile.

"No, I meant with the cases," I said, trying not to blush, although I probably should have at least told her how I felt instead of letting her believe I still thought of her as a friend.

Then I wouldn't be able to shake off the feeling that I was only picked because I was your second choice, she had said when I hinted at us being in a relationship. This... could be harder than I thought.

"What did you find?" Joe asked, looking up and putting his pen down.

I gave Joe the notes we had made together, and walked over to his side of the desk, opening up the link to the online archive she had shown me. I sped back over to where I had been before, and returned by Joe's side, handing him the picture of the yellow speedster I had drawn.

"That over there is everything she knows about that night," I said, pointing to the computer screen.

"And this," I continued, gesturing towards the drawing I had made, "Is the man Artemis remembers seeing. She said he was the one who killed her mother."

"What is he?" Joe asked, knitting his eyebrows together like he did when he was scared or worried.

"She said he was a speedster. Like me, but yellow and black," I recalled, "And - Joe, she said the Flash was there too. That I was there, too."

"What?" Joe muttered, widening his eyes in shock, "Bear, that's not possible. You - you only became the Flash a few months ago, when you woke up. There's no way you could've been there that night."

"That's what I told her," I answered, "I was back here at my own home, watching my own mother get killed."

"Bar, this isn't possible!" Joe mumbled, confused, "She has to be wrong about this. Her memory must have been distorted over time, or - or she must've gotten scared seeing you here in the city."

"See, I'd agree with you, except -"

"Except what?"

I walked over to the computer and played the security camera footage. I paused the video at a point where the red speedster - who did resemble me - was able to be clearly seen. On the other side of the room, a ghostly yellow demon was frozen in scream, young Artemis and her mother huddled together in fear on the bed.

"Except impossible is just another Tuesday for me," I said, watching Joe register the pictures.

"How do you know this isn't doctored footage?" Joe questioned, "This could be fake. Some conspiracy theorist could've made it to spike views."

"Artemis made this archive, and she told me that the footage is original, copied right from the security cameras in her mom's room. She said that the police back in Cambridge have the same evidence."

Joe stood up, disbelief painted across his face, and walked to his shelf, where he pulled out a thick red folder that I knew had clues from my mother's murder. He opened it, and looked through his findings.

"Bear, this is insane, you know that?" Joe asked grimly, "For there to have been two murders that night, both the same way, and now both of the survivors are here? In Central City? Both involved with STAR Labs, and now - both involved with the Flash?"

"I know," I answered, "Artemis is actually afraid of the Flash. She thinks he - I - was involved in killing her mother."

"Well, she doesn't know the Flash," Joe answered, "All she knows is that a speedster killed her mother. And now she's moved to a city where there is a speedster, one who looks exactly like the one who was there when her mother died. I'd be afraid of you too, if that was me."

I crossed my arms and sighed.

"I normally would never say this, but you should tell her it's you. For the sake of the case," Joe affirmed. I took a deep breath and turned around, crossing my arms.

"Bear, why haven't you told her yet?"

"Because..." I replied, before realizing I didn't have an answer.

"Because of Wells?" Joe scoffed, "Or because you've already lied to her and don't want to admit the truth?"

"Because I don't know what to do," I responded, "Nothing makes sense, and now -"

"And now you're catching feelings for her," Joe finished, catching me off guard.

"No," I lied uselessly, unsure of how to counter Joe.

"You know she can help you solve this murder," Joe reminded me solemnly, walking past me with the file in his hand, "And you know you'll need her on your side if you want to find this - this man in yellow. Most importantly, you know you don't want her suspecting you, because we both know you're not a murderer."

I nodded at Joe, and he wished me good night and left me alone in his office. I sighed and walked over to my room to get ready to go to bed.

Joe was right, even though I had already known I needed to tell Artemis.

She trusted me and I was lying to her face. What's more - she believed that the Flash was secretly a murderer, and that he was lying to the people, that he couldn't be trusted.

Dr. Wells wanted us to keep the Flash from her to keep her safe. I didn't understand how that made any sense. She'd be much safer if she knew she could trust me.

I wondered how she was going to go about her little plan, to study the vankleissium and use it to stop metahumans. Did she want to stop the Flash as well?

What did she think of him - of me? Did she think he was a menace? Did she not know what to make of him altogether? Did she want to stop him?

Was Dr. Wells right when he said she would want to bring him - me - down?

What was she thinking of right now?

Was her head spinning with thoughts of me just as mine was with her? Was she too confused about what I thought about her? She hadn't pulled away when I tried to kiss her, and actually had kissed me on the cheek. Surely that meant something? That she did like me?

Well, I concluded - as I used my superspeed to quickly change out of my clothes into an old shirt and pajamas, brush my teeth in .8 seconds (a new record?), and climbed into bed - she has to like you at least a little if she kissed you, stupid.

I remembered how uncomfortable she had felt when she had danced with me, despite the fact that I had held her slender body with ease. She wasn't that bad, to be honest - just a bit inexperienced. She'd be a lot better at it if she hadn't been so nervous. Maybe next time...

Would there even be a next time? I scoffed. After Iris published the photo that girl Chanel had snapped of us?

I touched my hand to the spot on my cheek where Artemis had kissed me - it was still tingling from the touch of her gentle, soft lips - and my mouth still felt ticklish from where her mouth had briefly brushed across mine.

One thing was certain - I was telling Artemis two lies, both of which she believed - one, that I was not the Flash, and two, that I did not like her. I wasn't sure which truth I was more scared to confess.

I turned to lie on my side and covered my eyes with my arm - promising that when I did decide to tell her, I would tell her both truths.

---

[Artemis's POV]

I was barely able to sleep that night - for multiple reasons.

- Barry Allen tried to kiss me.

- Barry Allen took me out to dinner.

- Barry Allen had really soft lips, as noted when he tried to kiss me.

- Barry Allen made me dance with him - and he was a pretty good dancer too, at that.

- Barry Allen was significantly taller than me, as noted when he tried to kiss me.

- Barry Allen was absolutely adorable when he was mad, when he saw that I paid for our dinner.

- Barry Allen tried to kiss me.

- Barry Allen told me he had fun with me tonight.

- I had told Barry Allen I wasn't interested in a relationship, and he tried to kiss me.

- Barry Allen thought we could trust the Flash.

- Did I mention Barry Allen tried to kiss me?

- I did. In fact, I have. Several times now. My brain just keeps going back to that moment.

- What was he thinking?

- Had I really tried to kiss him back?

- What was I thinking?

- Did I actually kiss him? On the cheek?

- What on earth happened last night?

I got out of bed early, seeing how sleep was pointless, and ate a meager breakfast, and quickly got ready to go to the Lab. Even if nothing made sense with Barry yesterday, Dr. Wells had been crystal clear when he had told me I could come back to the Lab. It took all of my willpower not to skip with glee as I changed into a navy knee-length dress with a white floral print, tied my hair into its usual bun, and slipped my feet into the same old black flats. I left my apartment and waited over by Cisco's car.

"You here to steal my car again, you little thief?" he asked when he finally appeared five to ten minutes later, dressed in a gray comic t-shirt and jeans. I smiled at him. He frowned back.

"I needed my car last night, and my keys were gone," he said, still upset.

"Your keys were gone?" I asked, confused, "But Barry said he had taken your spare keys..."

"Barry? What does Barry have anything to do with this?" Cisco asked, perplexed, "And, no, I had my spare keys. I keep them hidden. I never gave them to Barry - my regular keys as well as my car were stolen last night."

"What?" I asked, "Then that means Barry's a total li-"

A liar. Barry admitted to me that he had been telling me several lies. I thought he said he had Cisco's permission?

Did he really say that? I couldn't remember.

"Since when was Barry involved in this?" Cisco questioned.

Yay. Not even 8 a.m. and I'll be ridiculed for Artemarry.

"Barry said he needed a car last night, and took yours," I answered reluctantly.

"And you would know this how, exactly?" Cisco inquired, a small smile appearing on his lips.

I gave him a guilty shrug.

"Look, I just came here to ask if you could give me a ride to the Lab," I stated, "I'm not a huge fan of the fact that we're practically neighbors and you drive off to the Lab without me, while I get to walk or take the stupid bus. So can I come with you?"

"Sure thing," he affirmed with his usual adorable smile, and we both got into his car.

"So what did you need your car for last night?" I asked, wanting to apologize to him.

"Oh, nothing," he replied, backing the car out of Cloverleaf and into the city, "I just wanted to look something up for Caitlin."

"Is this about her fiance?" I asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, it is," Cisco replied, surprised, "How did you know?"

"Barry told me yesterday," I answered.

"So you were with Allen yesterday. How cute," Cisco teased. I cringed.

"We were just discussing the similarities between our mothers' murders. We think they're connected," I asserted quickly, "So what exactly is going on with her fiance? I heard you guys found him alive?"

Cisco hesitated.

"Hey, the Flash may be one thing, but this guy is another," Cisco said solemnly, "And this guy is far more dangerous than the Flash could ever be. You might want to stay out of this for your own safety. And I'm not saying this to exclude you, or because of Wells. I'm saying this because I need to."

"Oh," I murmured. Cisco - and even Barry - did seem a bit cautious about this. I couldn't imagine the state Caitlin would be in, after finding out that the man she would marry had died and was alive again. Of course, I wanted to know more about this, but Cisco seemed truly afraid of what he had told me.

"And hey - please don't tell Dr. Wells you know about this," Cisco urged.

"Why? Is he related to your Team Flash stuff? Caitlin's fiance, I mean?"

"He actually passed away before Team Flash was born. We're just trying to find answers about what exactly happened to him to see if we can bring him back," Cisco described, "And, to be honest, the less people that know about this, the better. Sorry I can't tell you more, Artemis."

"No problem, bro," I replied, understanding the gravity of the situation, "But, you know, if you need any help, I'm always here. And I'd love to help."

Cisco smiled at me, and he parked the car in front of the Lab. We entered the tunnel entrance together, and were greeted by Dr. Wells and Caitlin seated behind a desk in the Cortex, both reading copies of the morning paper.

"Morning!" I chirped, glad to be back.

Dr. Wells raised an eyebrow up at me questioningly as he held the paper open in front of him, and Caitlin set her copy down, giving me a devious smile.

"Well if it isn't today's Local Celebrity," she greeted, getting out of her chair to walk over to me, where she embraced me.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Artemis, you're in the paper," she explained, holding up the newspaper she was reading. I took it from her and faced the featured article. My eyes were ready to jump out of their sockets.

MODERN DAY EINSTEIN HIRED AT STAR LABS; VAN KLEISS DAUGHTER SHOWS GREAT PROMISE IN CENTRAL CITY

As if that wasn't horrifying enough, the upper half of the sheet of paper is embezzled with several large pictures of me - one of me giving the commencement speech at my MIT graduation ceremony only weeks before, a picture of me working with Cisco on the Shocker, another picture of me beating the metahuman from a few days ago about the head with a crowbar.

The last photo - of me in my light pink dress, leaning back in Barry's arms in dip-position, from last night's dinner, made my stomach flip.

I froze and dropped the paper from my hands as if it was hot iron.

"Don't be upset," Caitlin cajoled, picking the paper up and smiling at me reassuringly, "It's actually a great article."

"Who did this?" I demanded in a quiet voice.

"The by-line says it was written by Iris," Dr. Wells answered from the other desk, looking over his paper at me.

"Iris?" I gasped, "But I never gave her the permission to-"

"Morning everyone," a familiar male voice announced, interrupting me. I slowly turned and watch Barry stroll into the Cortex, joining me, Cisco and Caitlin. He too froze in his tracks as he saw me glare at him, newspaper returned in my hand.

She's hard at work writing this new article. You really did inspire her that other day, you know...

"Hi Barry," I crooned softly, steeling my expression, trying to find my words.

"So, Barry," Cisco began, putting his arm over Barry's shoulder, "Tell me more about this little escapade you had with Artemis," he asked, pointing at the picture of me falling in Barry's arms.

Barry blushed brightly, and looked over to me for support. I said nothing, and watched him fluster as he tried to cover this one.

"Yeah, we, um, went out for dinner yesterday," Barry managed easily.

"You said Cisco and Eddie wouldn't find out about it," I reminded him.

"The entire city knows about it now," Dr. Wells retorted with a small laugh, still at the table, before turning back to his work. Caitlin broke into an entertained smile.

"You know, this doesn't really look like a dinner," Cisco mentioned, "I don't know - I don't see any food. I don't see any tables. I don't see a restaurant. I only see two young, happy, eligible people, enjoying each other's company."

"Did you want us to detest each other's company?" I muttered.

"I took her to Englewood," Barry confessed.

"Wow," Caitlin interposed, "Englewood. That's... pretty far. And pretty nice."

"It was nice," I muttered, before remembering something. I snapped my fingers with recollection, and turned on my heels to face Barry.

"Speaking of nice things," I began. Barry's confusion turned to recognition.

"Oh! Right!" He exclaimed, addressing Cisco, Caitlin and Dr. Wells, "Yeah, if you could give us two a moment, please..."

He ignored the puzzled looks on Cisco's and Caitlin's faces, and whisked me away to the hallway, where we would be out of earshot.

"Look, I've been thinking about last night..." he started.

"Oh, good." I retorted, "One of us finally made sense of what that was, then."

Barry ignored my comment and continued.

"And I wanted to apologize."

"Apologize?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I need to... get somethings off my chest before I can invest in a relationship with you."

"Oh," I answered, though I was a bit confused, "Like what?"

Barry pressed his lips together, and mulled it over for a moment.

"See, I'm not the most honest person around you -"

"No kidding. Cisco said he had no idea who took his car, and I thought you said you had permission."

"-And I definitely need to work some of that out before we start anything together," Barry explained, "Because I don't want for you to be dating someone you don't entirely know."

So, Old Bear had more secrets up his sleeves?

"And hey - I thought we said were just friends?" I inquired.

"And we are," Barry assured, "And we'll stay that way until -"

"What kinds of lies are you telling me?" I interjected, confused. As far as I was concerned, we only had our mothers' deaths in common, and our relationships with STAR Labs.

"Nothing," Barry defended immediately, "Just.. about who I really am. And what I do. And what I can do."

"You're a forensics scientist. A crime scene investigator," I recalled, "What's there to lie about that?"

Barry grimaced.

"See, just give me some time to think about this. I don't know how to tell you," he pleaded.

I studied him. He seemed as if he was truly in some sort of dilemma. And he wanted to tell me. He said he wanted time.

What could possibly going on? Was everything alright with him?

"Barry, is everything okay with you?" I asked, bewildered, "Is something bothering you?"

"Yes - no. Yes," he tried, "Actually, I don't know."

"Well, that's... fine," I answered, unsure of how else to respond, "Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help?"

"You can, actually," Barry brought up, "Trust the Flash. He's not your enemy."

"What does the Flash have to do with any of this?" I questioned.

Barry was getting weirder and weirder by the moment. He said he knew the Flash - the Flash worked with STAR Labs on occasion, and Cisco, Caitlin, Barry and Dr. Wells all knew his personal identity. Barry said he wasn't the Flash, so I didn't see how the metahuman was relevant in this.

Barry looked down and sighed.

"Everything, Artemis."

Everything? What did that mean? We were talking about being in a relationship, and how Barry had lies. Now, the Flash was critically involved as well?

"Wait, does this have anything to do with those flowers he gave me?" I asked, realization settling through me, "Dude, you've got to believe me when I tell you there's nothing between us. I was joking about dating him. I - I don't even know who he is, and as far as I'm concerned, even if the Flash does like me in that kind of way - which he probably doesn't - there's no way I'd be able to reciprocate. For one, he's a metahuman. I can't even get a human guy to date me - you think I'm going to step my game up and date some superhero in red leather? And two, I know nothing about him. What if he really is the one from that night?"

Barry smiled grudgingly at me, and brought his hand to my face.

"See, that's where you're wrong."

"Where? My first point? Or the second one?"

"Both?"

"Barry - that makes no sense!" I declared, pushing his hand away, "And for the record, I'm on the same boat as you. The boat where you used to be sane, at least. For now, I just want to focus on finding this yellow speedster - wherever he may be - and on keeping my job. There are more than enough matters of confusion in my life."

He nodded in agreement, and we both walked back out, to where Cisco and Caitlin were discussing something on one of the computers, and Dr. Wells was reading something on another computer. Caitlin noticed us first.

"So what was that all about?" She asked, her voice full of concern.

"Probably just Artemarry angst," Cisco answered for us.

"That's more or less true," Barry allowed, before pulling out his phone, checking the time, "I'm going to be late. I'll see you all around."

He held his fist up to me for our habitual fistbumps, which I returned, before waving goodbye to the rest of the Lab, and leaving back down the entrance hallway.

Well that was anticlimatic, I thought, though I knew Barry and I were both getting what we wanted.

I turned and instead faced Dr. Wells, rubbing my hands together in anticipation, happy to be back at work.

"So - what are we doing today? Can I start with the work I talked to you about?" I asked excitedly.

Dr. Wells smiled.

"Not exactly..." he replied, signalling towards Caitlin.

"I really could use a bioengineer," Caitlin announced, from behind her computer.

"One eager bioengineer, at your service," I replied, walking to her side.

"I wanted some help diagnosing what's up with these biological exostructures," she explained, pointing to a virtual model on the computer screen, "I need to run a few scans on them."

The structure she showed me appeared to be a strange DNA sample that's been burned entirely through, and its matrix structure was human, enough, even though it's been been transmutated with dark matter and what appears to be ... ash, as if its been burned several times.

Much of the day was spent in helping her analyze the structure, with Cisco helping Dr. Wells build something in another room. Caitlin and I skipped lunch in order to continue working on the exostructure, and before I know it, it's time to go, and the four of us convened in the Cortex.

"Please tell me you both were more productive than we were," Cisco pleaded, returning from one of the lab rooms with Dr. Wells, both removing working gloves from their hands.

"Yeah, we managed to get a lot done today," I said, turning to Caitlin, who was in the medical wing, running a physical scan on the actual sample of the exostructure.

"Dr. Wells and I still have quite a bit left to do," Cisco complained, sitting down in a chair, clearly exhausted.

"I can help you," I offered, "I have nothing to do for the rest of the day."

"That won't be necessary, Ms. Van Kleiss," Dr. Wells assured with a forced smile. Cisco and Caitlin looked over at him. This must be one of those things he doesn't want me to help with, I realized.

"Caitlin, will you need any help with those scans?" I called out to her, still wanting to be needed.

"No, it's fine, Artemis," she allowed, smiling graciously at me, "Thanks for your help, though."

"Ms. Van Kleiss, you're free to go home," Dr. Wells assured, "When you come in tomorrow, I expect you to start working on your individual project immediately."

"Will do, sir," I responded. I grabbed my things and said goodbyes to my colleagues, before eyeing an extra copy of the newspaper on one of the computer tables.

I walked over and picked it up, reading it for the first time.

MODERN DAY EINSTEIN HIRED AT STAR LABS; VAN KLEISS DAUGHTER SHOWS GREAT PROMISE IN CENTRAL CITY

By Iris West

If you haven't already heard about her or seen her yourself, Central City's very own STAR Labs has recently hired a new scientist who shows great promise in the face of helping keep our citizens safe from metahumans. Meet Artemis Van Kleiss, a biochemical engineer and a physicist, daughter of late Nobel Prize winners Laurus and Ariadne Van Kleiss. Ms. Van Kleiss is the genius whose technological invention was used to stop Rajeet Verma, the former circus acrobat turned telekinetic metahuman who has been rampaging thefts across the city. Van Kleiss' quick thinking and expertise skills with technology have led her to ...

Not bad, Iris, I thought as I stood in the Cortex, reading on.

While she has proven herself to be one of the greatest scientists of this day and age - having not even reached 22 years of age - Van Kleiss also shows great compassion for helping others. When Roger Wahlberg AKA SilverShock attacked First Street this last Tuesday, I myself was a witness to this woman's bravery, and watched as she stepped out of the confines of safety to help save a child in the face of danger, and even stood her ground against him as SilverShock battled the Flash, effectively knocking the former out despite her own injuries during the attack, practically saving the entire street from his terror.

Okay? I thought skeptically, though I enjoyed the praise. I skimmed over the rest of the article, until I got to the end.

You can rest knowing that there's a new hero in town - one who will bring STAR Labs back to its former glory before the particle accelerator defamed it, one who passionately cares to use her knowledge of science to help us all in a unique and powerful way. And gentlemen, Artemis is single, so make your move quickly, because competition has already lined itself up to win this great young woman over.

"What?!" I exclaimed, rereading the last part.

"You read the ending, didn't you?" Dr. Wells mused.

"She - she published a dating profile for me in the city newspaper!" I cried out in disbelief.

"I thought it was kind of cute," Caitlin remarked in the medical wing.

"I don't want random guys flirting with me!"

"Yeah, you just want Barry," Cisco commented.

"I do not," I affirmed, folding the newspaper under my arm and turning to leave, "I need to have a word with a certain journalist."

I stormed out through the entrance hallway, and pushed the door open, before realizing I couldn't drive myself and didn't bring cash for the bus. Maybe I should go back inside and ask to borrow Cisco's car.

Wait, I didn't even know where the CCPN was, I realized. How was I going to get there if I-

"Ms. Artemis, is it?" A low male voice asked.

I was startled, and almost dropped the newspaper from fear. I turned around. Nobody could be seen, anywhere. Chills shot up and down my back.

"Who's there?" I demanded, knowing for sure that I had heard someone call my name. Nobody responded.

"Reveal yourself!" I called desperately, preparing to fight physically, if needed, "I know the Flash!"

No, I didn't know the Flash, but I was afraid. I could easily run back inside the Lab, where Cisco or Caitlin could call him.

The air in front of me condensed into thick smoke, taking the ghostly form of a tall, skinny young man, covered from head to toe in uniform gray dust and smoot, standing before me.

"Thompson!" I gasped in fear, stepping away from him.

"So you remember me..." The metahuman said, his lips curling up into a small smile.

I gulped, and tried to regain composure.

"How - how did you find me?"

Thompson's smile turned apologetic, as he produced a copy of today's newspaper, turning the page so I was looking at Iris's article, the picture of Barry holding me in a dip pasted across the top of the page, beside the headline.

His smile melted, and his expression turned sad.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he said, "I wanted your help. And this article said you were a smart woman."

"What do you need from me?" I inquired, unable to find my breath in the face of the heavy smoke as Thompson approached me.

"For you to come with me," he replied, before disappearing completely as the air bloomed wildly into thick curls of smoke. I began coughing madly and my eyes burned with tears as I stumbled, trying to find my way out of the toxic fumes, to no avail. The air turned dark as night, and purely opaque, disabling my vision. I realized with fear that I had also lost my inherent sense of direction, unable to find the door to the Lab, which should have been only a few feet behind me.

I'm being kidnapped, I thought, as I collapsed onto my knees from weakness, gasping desperately for clean air through the intense, cigarette-scented fumes. I sat on the ground and futilely tried not to suffocate by covering my mouth with one hand, and dropped my phone to the ground with the other as I tried to dial for help, my fingers turning weak, numb and useless.

Iris West, I suddenly remembered, as a phenomenally painful headache pulsated in my forehead, as the lack of oxygen began to contuse my brain. I fought to cling to the image of her in her apron at Jitters, walking over to me and dropping a kiss on to crown of my head, murmuring you are going to help me make a name for myself.

Oh yeah? I thought scornfully, as I coughed a wet, metallic-tasting liquid out of my mouth into my hand. Blood.

Iris, I might have let you debut yourself at the CCPN, but you just signed my death warrant.

My last thought was a silent prayer for help, before the pain of suffocation caused my body to writhe painfully, before it fell face-first onto the pavement, blacking everything out.

---

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