This was a lot easier to write… it's because I have good Wi-Fi now =P Enjoy [and thank you for all the response and follows!]
Episode 5
Maya paused at Harrison's words, and Barry cut in.
"Eiling took all the evidence we had on the bombing," Barry held out a file to Wells, "Everything but the folder."
"Well, lucky for us the VA finally joined the new millennium and digitalised their records," Cisco swivelled in his chair and brought up files on the computer screen, "A lot of redacted info… but our girls name is Bette Sans Souci an EOD specialist for the army."
"EOD?" Caitlin questioned, looking puzzled.
Maya glanced over at her, "Bombs."
"Oh."
"Is there an address?" Barry asked, leaning over.
"Hold on," Cisco tapped a few times, "Here we go: one person, in case of an emergency. Cameron Scott, Anglewood."
Barry had already left for Anglewood when Maya glanced at her phone, she cursed and headed for the door.
"What?" Cisco looked up as she grabbed her bag.
"Er, I'm kinda in trouble," Maya laughed nervously.
"Why? Are you late for your actual job?" Caitlin asked.
"No… I'm meant to drop Joe's CD back at lunch, and it is way past then," Maya dialled the number on her phone, "so could you excuse me whilst I go explain to a police officer why I- technically- lied to him."
The phone dialled twice before it was answered.
"Hello?"
"Joe! Hi, it's Maya."
"Oh, the CD stealer."
"I didn't steal it! I have just continuously forgotten to return it to you… I borrowed it."
"Without the intent to return it?"
"No! I'll get Barry to give it you later."
"Okay, and did you-."
A blur of grey and skin shot past Maya and she gaped as she recognised it as Barry, who came back into the room with a grey shirt on.
"-Um Joe?" Maya cut in.
"Uh-huh?"
"I'm gonna have to call you back."
Maya walked slowly back into the main lab, trying to contain the smile.
"Don't ask," Barry grumbled, pulling the shirt down.
"I'm gonna ask," Cisco deadpanned, "Whe-."
"Where's your suit?" Maya asked bluntly, raising a brown eyebrow at him.
"It's my suit," Cisco glared at Maya.
"Okay, where's Cisco's suit?" Maya repeated.
"It's… gone," Barry managed.
"What do you mean it's gone?" Cisco asked warningly, "What did you do with my suit?"
"It blew up, dude," Barry cut in, sighing.
"It blew up?" Maya clarified, sitting down in the spare spinning chair, "As in kaboom blew up?"
"Yeah… I managed to get out of it before it…" Barry made an explosion hand gesture and glanced at Maya, "Kaboom."
"You blew up my suit," Cisco seemed still stuck on it, "Went kaboom?"
"Fun fact about Bette Sans Souci," Barry smiled in irony, "she's not carrying bombs- she touched the emblem on the suit and turned it into a bomb. She's a metahuman."
"With the ability to cause spontaneous combustion on tactile contact," Wells nodded as he returned to the room.
"She blew up my suit," Cisco said, as if it was a crime, as he turned with his hand on his hip to face Harrison.
"You have like three more!" Caitlin shrugged.
Cisco looked offended, "Okay, I have two and I loved that one."
"Cisco," Maya said firmly, "It. Was. A. Suit."
"Alright, what else do we know about her?" Barry sighed.
"Oh I don't know," Cisco exclaimed, turning back to his computer, "She's pure evil! We're gonna find this girl and send her to the bottom of the pipeline. No-one blows my tech to smithereens and gets away with it…"
Cisco pulled up a file on her and then grimaced, "Unless she looks like that."
He then sat down in the chair and gaped at the photo.
Barry shook his head, "I don't think she meant to hurt me."
"Her being a metahuman explains General Eiling's interest in her," Wells explained.
"And why he stole the case from us."
Everyone in the room looked up to see Joe West walk into the room. Maya cursed and looked down.
"He didn't want anyone to know what she could do," Joe detailed as he walked around the desk to stand by Barry and Maya, he glanced at Maya, "You still owe me my CD."
"Detective," Wells nodded.
"Doctor," Joe replied curtly, he looked down at the computer screen, "So, human bomb? Must be Tuesday in Central City."
"Yay," Maya muttered sarcastically, "And I almost forgot why I love Tuesdays."
"Yes," Wells said, "General Eiling is not going to give up a potential asset without a fight."
"We have to find her before he does," Barry stated, as if it was obvious.
"Barry," Joe butted in, he nodded to the entrance, "Can I see you for a second?"
As the duo walked to the door, Joe turned back and pointed to Maya, "I'm not leaving 'till I get my disc back."
Maya smiled and gave him the thumbs up, "Course."
A few seconds later, Barry tore past her in a blur of grey and black.
Wells rolled out of the room and Cisco looked down at his screen, typing rapidly, whilst Caitlin disappeared into the next room.
"My disc."
Maya didn't jump, but looked up in surprise as Joe came into view in front of her.
"Ah, right," Maya grinned as she walked to her bag and pulled out the 'the Eagles' CD and handed it to Joe, she tapped the case, "They are my new favourite band."
"Favourite? Even over Swift?" Joe raised his brow.
Maya's voice turned to a whisper-yell, "And 'The Script'."
Joe smiled before nodding to the blonde, grabbing his jacket and walking out.
It was a little while later when Cisco started talking, "We've piggybacked on General Eiling's personal surveillance, according to what they're saying, the lovely Ms Sans Souci was just spotted in Anglewood."
"The same neighbourhood as Doctor Harold Hadley's office, the military surgeon who performed several procedures on her," Caitlin continued as she walked back into the room, "That's why she was looking for the folder."
"You have to get to her before Eiling does," Cisco said firmly.
"Okay," Barry replied as he hung up.
Maya turned to face Cisco, to her right, from her chair, "Do you want to find her because she's a human bomb or 'because you have a crush on her?"
Cisco paused, in thought, "Bit of both."
Barry showed up 5 minutes later with a red-headed woman in his arms.
When she stood, and finally calmed down, Harrison had explained the Particle Accelerator explosion to her.
"As the detonation dispersed throughout Central City," Harrison was explained with a diagram/motion picture to help, "a number of people were exposed to a wave of unquantified energies. One of those people being you. You were in Central City ten months ago."
Bette nodded and smiled to Caitlin as she handed her a pair of black gloves.
"I had just returned from Afghanistan," Bette explained, putting the gloves on, "I was there diffusing roadside bombs when shrapnel ripped through me. I was flown back stateside and spent months at the base recruitment operating and next thing I knew, I became the thing that nearly killed me."
Bette looked up, her face emotionless, but her eyes turned to Maya when said blonde spoke, "And you became Eiling's new favourite lab rat."
Bette nodded and Caitlin started talking, "The dark matter must have combined with the bomb article inside your body."
Bette paused, "I thought Eiling did this to me."
Harrison raised an eyebrow, "Eiling, is not smart enough to create something like you, but clever enough to see your value."
Bette stared at Wells, "Do you know of any others who have changed?"
Caitlin smiled slightly, "There's been a few."
Cisco smirked, "But no-one who looked like you."
Maya covered her face with her hands as she tried to contain her laughter and Barry covered his eyes with his hand.
"I'm sorry," Cisco, to be fair, looked embarrassed, "that was inappropriate," he laughed awkwardly before looking at Bette, "please don't leave."
Caitlin leaned forward, "I know how to perform a lobotomy."
Maya raised an eyebrow as she looked at Cisco, "And I can kill someone in over twenty different ways."
Cisco visibly gulped.
"Her cellular structure is unlike anything I've ever seen," Wells stated as they looked at the screen.
Bette Sans Souci sat cross-legged on the other side of a glass panel on a bed surrounded by operating monitors and machines whilst the team sat the other side monitoring her.
"Her nitrogen levels are off the charts," Caitlin noted.
On one image it showed Bette's torso, which had pieces of loose shrapnel inside it. Maya grimaced, "There's got to be a way we can help her."
"To answer that question we have to understand how she works," Wells replied, "and to understand that, first we have to study her in action."
Maya sighed and Barry rubbed his eyes. Cisco seemed excited, "You want her to blow stuff up. Yes! Now we're talking."
"Not in here," Harrison warned, "she's too unstable."
"I know," Cisco mumbled.
"I know you know," Wells answered.
Maya stood up, walking out the door into the room with Caitlin and Bette.
"So these are your lives now, huh?" Bette inquired, watching as Caitlin pulled on gloves, "Testing… people like me?"
Caitlin met her gaze, "Stopping people like you."
"And saving those in harm's way," Maya chipped in.
"It's not what I thought I'd be doing," Caitlin stated.
"Not what I was trained to do," Maya muttered, looking at the ceiling.
"I know," Bette said, watching Maya, "You were trained to fight."
"How did you get to that?" Maya laughed, raising an eyebrow at the redhead.
"The way you hold you posture, when you stand, and the way you have a wary approach to everyone in this room," Bette's eyes went cold, "like me."
"I wasn't trained to be like you," Maya's voice was curt, "I was trained to kill and murder and have no mercy."
There was a silence as Maya and Bette regarded each other, then Caitlin spoke.
"Actually, apart from Barry, you're the first metahuman we've tested. We haven't had the chance with Maya yet," Caitlin smiled.
"Metahuman?" Bette repeated uncertainly.
Maya shrugged, "It's just what we're calling them."
Bette nodded before looking down, Caitlin's eyes widened, "Oh my God, what happened?"
Maya and Bette looked to the redhead's arm where the purple top lay damp with blood and slightly sticky, Bette lifted up the sleeve seemingly unbothered.
"Why didn't you say you'd been shot?" Caitlin questioned, frowning.
Bette seemed unfazed, "It just grazed me."
Caitlin peered at the cut, "There's something in there."
Maya became interested then, she swung off the metal table and walked to Caitlin as said female pulled whatever it was out of the blood.
Maya's eyes widened, "It's a tracker. Eiling."
Caitlin looked alarmed, the trio turned around as Cisco's computer beeped. Everyone started moving.
"Lock down the pipeline," Wells ordered, "Get Bette out of here! I'll take care of Eiling."
Maya nodded and moved to take Bette's uncut arm, leading her and Caitlin towards another exit.
S.T.A.R. Labs Facilities…
They were out at the runway where they'd taken Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Maya and Barry were starting to test Bette's abilities.
Bette picked up a blue Frisbee from the array of toys and threw it into the air. Caitlin and Cisco stood with their tablet and laptop, respectively, monitoring how long and what happened. The Frisbee exploded a few feet from the ground.
"Four hundred and twenty seven KPA's," Cisco reported from his screen, "her triticale ratings are around forty five, that's the same as any plastique. Plastique. First try!"
Maya rolled her eyes, but laughed, as she watched Caitlin pick up and examine a boomerang.
"Didn't really think this one through, did ya?" Caitlin raised an eyebrow at Cisco. Maya grinned at the duo as Caitlin passed her the object, Cisco wandered off muttering about partners and assassins.
"You never know, it could come in useful," Maya shrugged, turning it from side to side.
"Joe, I tried, I really tried," Barry was saying, Maya turned to look at the speedster on the phone, there was a pause, "What? Joe-."
Barry was cut off as babble from the other end came through, after a moment Barry rubbed the back of his neck and hung up.
"What was that about?" Cisco asked, coming up next to Barry.
"Iris posted about the Streak again," Barry sighed, "she signed her name to it."
"What?" Maya cried, stalking over.
"Ohh," Cisco grimaced, "that's not good. One of these bad metahumans figures she knows something."
"They may target her, I know," Barry groaned, Cisco pulled a face before walking away.
Maya turned to Barry, "I thought you said you'd talked to her!"
"I did she obviously took it the wrong way," Barry rubbed his eyes.
"Ya think?" Maya crossed her arms, "She doesn't realise how much danger she's put herself in. We're both gonna have to speak to her, we're gonna have to…"
Maya looked up at Barry, seeing a readable expression on his face she shook her head, "No. No, no, no, we can't do that- Joe will kill us!"
"It's that or let he carry on," Barry grimaced.
"Fine. But right now I have a job to get to."
Later,
At CC Jitters…
After her shift ended, Maya went to the Female Staff's toilets and changed into her suit before slipping out of the back entrance to meet Barry.
Once there they went over their plan before setting it to work.
Maya walked into Jitters first, invisible, and headed to the other side of the room.
"Sorry, we're closed," Iris called over her shoulder, placing the dirty plates and cups on the counter.
Barry shot through the nearly closed doors in a flash of gold lightning and came to stand next to Maya on the other side of the room just as Maya became visible.
Iris gasped and spun round, "Oh my God, you're them."
Barry smirked, his voice coming out like when you speak into a fan, "Iris West. I hear you've been writing about me."
Iris walked across the room to stand a few feet away from the duo, "You are real. I mean I knew she was, but you, you were said to be fake."
Iris glanced around at the empty cups and plates and sighed, "I should-."
Barry shot round the room in a blur of red, picking up all the empty cups and plates, Maya sighed and picked up the plate next to her, Barry shot past and took it before returning to stand next to her.
"He shows off a lot," Maya's voice was under the modulator and she grinned.
Iris spun around to look at the clean tables, Barry's smile grew, "Meet me on the roof. We'll give you a head start."
Iris nodded, muttering an 'okay' before running out of the side door towards the roof.
"Barry," Maya warned as he picked her up, "Be careful."
"I know what I'm doing," Barry smirked as he ran towards the roof, passing Iris.
They sat on the roof for a few minutes as they waited for Iris on the roof, swinging their legs over the side, when she burst through the doors and jogged onto the wooden platform.
"I need you to stop writing about me."
Iris turned to face the Streak, his voice still seemed as though he was talking into a fan, he'd said something about vibrating his vocal chords.
"There are a lot of people who need someone like you now, like her as well, to know that you're out there," Iris shook her head, pointing to Maya at the 'her' bit, "I have so many questions."
Maya leapt off the roof, landing in a crouch in front of Iris, "It's not safe for you to be writing about him."
"I'm writing about him, so why are you here?" Iris asked breathlessly.
"I need you to ask your friend, Jake Thawne, to stop as well," Maya replied bluntly, "It's dangerous."
"Huh," Iris raised an eyebrow, "That's exactly what my best friends said."
Barry ran off the roof in a flash of yellow and red, "There's more to this than you can understand. Just trust us, please, I need you to stop."
"Can you both stop?" Iris grinned, "Running into buildings and saving people? Without them knowing you're there or even seeing you?"
"We don't do this for the glory," Barry shook his head.
"We do it to save people," Maya stated, folding her arms.
"Why?" Iris questioned.
Maya vanished and appeared behind Iris with Barry, Iris cautiously turned her head left to look over her shoulder.
"Look, I have this friend," Iris sighed, "he had something terrible happen to him when he was a kid and his whole life he's been telling storied about this impossible thing. And people laughed at him and shrinks analysed him."
Barry froze up and Maya grimaced, she was talking about Barry.
"My other friend," Iris continued, "she's been trained to kill people. It hurts her, I can see it, and she puts the people she cares about in danger, she hates it. The people who trained her are hunting her."
Iris turned to face the duo and Barry and Maya turned their heads. Iris smiled, "Please help me save my friends."
Barry's face seemed blurred as he looked up, "They're lucky people."
Then he swept up Maya and ran.
The next day,
At S.T.A.R. Labs…
Barry and Maya walked into S.T.A.R. Labs the next morning to silence. Caitlin, Cisco, Wells and Bette stood around a screen displaying a form with small pieces of metal inside.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Barry asked, his brow furrowing, "Did Eiling find out you're here?"
"No," Bette shook her head, "Caitlin was about to give me the not so good news."
Maya's eyebrows knitted together as she looked at Dr Snow.
"The shrapnel in your body," Caitlin started, "has merged with you on a cellular level."
Wells leaned forward in his chair, "The technology required to un-splice your DNA… hasn't been invented yet."
Bette looked down, tears threatening to fall.
Barry grimaced, "Bette…"
Bette shook her head, signalling for him to stop talking, "It's okay. Rodger that, I just… need a minute."
Bette stood up and walked out, calling harshly over her shoulder, "Don't worry, I think I can cry without blowing stuff up."
Maya sighed, "There's no way we can help her, is there?"
Caitlin shook her head, "She's a danger."
Maya nodded, standing up and walking out of the room, grabbing her leather jacket, "Just for the record, I'm a danger too."
Eh, this is better than the last one :) Last part of Episode 5 next, this one was really long… Next chapter should be up tomorrow or Monday :P