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Jasmine sipped her third cup of coffee that morning, trying to keep her head spinning so she didn't collapse like she did a few nights ago. It was bad enough Barry was putting himself in danger, but her headaches now made her a liability. She couldn't afford to have those in her line of work, especially now that they were searching for more Meta-Humans.
"Hey," Iris's voice interrupted her stream of thoughts, pulling her attention to her sister, "Are you feeling okay?"
Jasmine nodded, her body shaking from the amount of caffeine she had consumed, but her headaches were gone. She wasn't seeing those strings anymore. She wasn't seeing violet anymore.
"Yeah, I just had a long night at STAR," She lied, uncomfortable with how easy it was to lie to Iris. Jasmine wanted to repair her relationship with her sister, not continue tearing them apart.
Iris sent her a small smile and filled her cup once again, "On the house," She said, moving in at an awkward pace to give her sister a hug before heading back to the bar.
"Hey, Jas," Iris turned back around, a sympathetic look on her face, "Barry's helping me with my article on Simon Stagg," She began, and Jasmine resisted the urge to scoff. Great, more gloating about leading Barry on, "Do you maybe wanna come with us?" Iris asked, and Jasmine felt her stomach drop.
Maybe she wasn't the only one trying to turn over a new leaf.
"Sure," Jasmine responded, tapping her fingers against the ceramic cup, "I'd like that-I'd like that a lot."
Iris smiled softly again and moved back behind the bar, helping out the next customer as Jasmine felt the corner of her lips perk up from the gesture. She checked her watch and cursed under her breath.
She had been abnormally late these past few days and she didn't need Wells firing her over something as small as not showing up on time. It was times like this she wished she had Barry's speed. Somehow that boy was always late for everything, despite his new powers.
Star Labs was in chaos, and Jasmine found herself searching for the familiar face who had promised her results from the test she took.
"Thank god you're here" Caitlin fell in next to her, annoyance written across her face, "Someone needs to talk some sense into Barry and Cisco"
Jasmine chuckled at her expression, "Why? What'd they do this time?"
Caitlin rolled her eyes, "Apparently they think it's a good idea to tire Barry out by having him go on missions that do not involve meta-humans"
Jasmine nodded, understanding as Caitlin pulled her into the next room. She had seen the news about the fire that morning. How a red streak ended up saving a mom and her kid from the burning building before it collapsed.
"I'll try and talk to him," Jasmine assured Caitlin, knowing that it wouldn't work. Once Barry set his mind to something, he usually followed through.
Caitlin shut her eyes in relief, "Thank you." She pulled up the tablet, "Now I was examining the results of the MRI and CAT scans we put you through, and what we found was consistent with your hypothesis," The doctor concluded.
Jasmine nodded, understanding the situation. Her brain was developing rapidly, healing and rewiring itself due to the trauma it suffered during the coma.
"It appears as though your neurons are operating at hyperspeed," Caitlin confirmed, "Particularly in the frontal and parietal lobes."
"That explains the extrasensory perception," Jasmine finished for her. Caitlin began to hook up the electrodes to the back of her head.
Jasmine cracked a smile, "You're not gonna ask if I stayed awake all night for this?" She teased.
Caitlin finished hooking up the machine and shot a teasing smile right back, "I didn't think I needed to ask the neuroscientist."
The two women shared a laugh and Jasmine laid back on the hospital bed, letting the cooling sensation of the glue relax her.
Her mind flashed back to the last time she had been hooked up to an EEG, white walls similar to the ones she was surrounded by now, the sensation of Joe's hand in hers while Barry looked on in fear.
Five years old and they didn't know whether she was going to live or die.
The hour passed in relative silence, Caitlin instructing her to open and close her eyes while the coffee she had consumed earlier slowly digested, leaving her open to vulnerability.
"All right!" Caitlin's voice washed over her, "You're all done,"
Jasmine leaned into the soothing sensation of the baby wipe removing the glue from her cold scalp and she shook her curls free, jumping off the hospital bed to take a closer look at her results.
"You ready to see what's wrong with you?" Caitlin asked, before backpedaling immediately, "Not that this means that something's wrong, it's just, you know the medical world-"
"Caitlin" Jasmine cut her off, a forgiving smile on her face, "I understood what you meant."
The brunette let out a sigh and the two women faced the scan, looking at the combination of capital and lowercase letters, their eyes growing wide before meeting each other.
"We were right," Jasmine admitted aloud, tasting the awe in her voice, "My brain is spiking."
Caitlin's gaze was locked onto Jasmine's hands, unable to look away, "Uh, Jas?"
The nickname sounded weird coming from anyone else but her own family, but she followed the Doctor's gaze to her fingers, where the same hazy violet seemed to trace her fingers in a glow, and suddenly Jas realized that she wasn't alone in this anymore.
"You can see this?" She asked, disbelief rife in her tone. Caitlin nodded, cerulean hues growing wide in curious terror. "What-what do I do? How do I stop this?"
Her chest began to rise and fall, rise and fall, the haze covering her sight like a smokescreen, until she could see the strings keeping Caitlin together, the strings keeping the lab together and the sound of glass shattering broke her free from her trance.
"Did I just-"
"I think you did."
Caitlin grasped her hands, the purple hue dying down as the Doctor began to try and calm her down, "Hey, Jas, look at me."
She did.
"You're going to be alright" Caitlin reassured, "Take a deep breath with me, in-" they inhaled, "-and out" they exhaled.
The haze dissipated, leaving Jasmine's vision clear and her hands empty.
"I think we figured out what happened to you," Caitlin said with a relieved smile, "You mentioned being able to see strings, like they were holding certain objects together."
All Jasmine could do was nod.
Caitlin released her grip on her hands, "I think you were seeing atoms"
Jasmine wanted to scoff, "The building blocks of everything?" She asked, cocking her brow skeptically, "You think I'm able to see that tiny?"
Caitlin shrugged, "It would explain your parietal and occipital activity. But more than that, I think you have some control over it."
Jasmine couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was impossible.
But so is Barry, a little voice in the back of her head whispered. Who's to say you didn't suffer the same consequences?
But seeing atoms? Controlling the energy and molecules that made up matter? That felt a little too out there for her.
"I'll see if I can have Cisco make something to help keep it in check before you get back," Caitlin pulled her out of her reverie.
Jasmine creased her forehead, "Get back? From what?"
"The Simon Stagg conference,"
Jasmine wanted to slap herself. She checked her watch. Shit, it was thirty minutes and she was way too far away to get there on time.
"Dammit," She muttered under her breath, "Iris is gonna kill me."
Caitlin stopped the girl in her tracks, "You need to relax, okay? You can't get too stressed or you will spiral like you just did."
Jasmine nodded and took a deep breath, feeling her shoulders drop under the weight that had just been placed there. "I can do that."
Caitlin smiled, "Good, now go, you're gonna be late!"
Jasmine threw her jacket on and ran out of the building.
She was bored already. She understood that this was mandatory for Iris to pass her journalism class, but Jasmine really did not want to be here. Especially when she and Caitlin could be working on a solution for her problem.
Cellular regeneration was cool, but finding out that she could possibly control any matter in the universe was way more interesting.
Plus, she didn't truly believe that Stagg was the one who came up with the advancements.
The only saving grace was Barry's presence, who thankfully, did not seem to want to question what she and Caitlin had been doing.
Instead, he seemed to be in a similar state she was, shaking his head back and forth and stuttering out words.
Jasmine shrugged and chalked it up to his nerves that always came up around Iris.
"Mr. Stagg!" Iris called after the scientist, "I was wondering if I could get a quote for my article"
Stagg dismissed her with a wave and Jas and Barry stood their, equal shock on their faces as Iris shrugged it off.
"I'll just make something up" She pretended to be okay with the development, but Jas could tell she wasn't.
"What a jerk" Jasmine responded, trying to support her older sister. Like she said, she was trying to turn over a new leaf.
Iris chuckled at the response, "Yeah no kidding,"
Her next response was cut off by the sound of gunshots, the two sisters ducking to avoid any stray bullets. The room delved into chaos and Jasmine stole a look around her. It wasn't until the police showed up that she realized Barry was gone.
"Jas! Iris!" a female voice called from the crowd. The two women turned around to catch sight of Lila standing there in some of her best attire, a fearful expression written in her gaze.
"Lila?" Jasmine asked, breathless from the events, "What are you doing here?"
Lila waved off the question with a quick excuse, "Mercury sent me to ask about his regeneration therapy but that doesn't matter," Her eyes flitted between the two women, "Where's Barry?"
They found him passed out next to a dumpster in the alley outside the building.
"Barry!" Jas called, Lila leaning next to her as they tried to wake him up. "Barry!"
Lila slapped her brother across the face, causing him to stir from his mini-coma.
"Wha-?" Barry shook his head as he squinted at the two women above him, "Lila? What are you doing here?"
She refused to answer, choosing instead to look at Jasmine, who knew exactly what to do. "We need to get him to STAR Labs," She instructed, "Lila, stay here."
"No way," She protested, "If my brother is going to be running around at the speed of sound saving people, I deserve to make sure he doesn't die in the process."
Jasmine glared at Barry, "You told her?"
The speedster shrugged and Jasmine sighed, helping her best friend up.
"You lied to us." was the first sentence out of Caitlin's mouth, "How could you not tell us you're experiencing dizzy spells? We're your doctors. God knows what's going on inside your body." She began to ramble and Jasmine almost felt bad for the doctor, "Your cells are in a constant state of flux. You could be experiencing cardiopulmonary failure or a transient ischemic attack. Mini stroke. Probably not." Caitlin let out a grunt of frustration as Barry looked down in shame, "You of all people should know that in science, we share. We do not keep secrets."
Jasmine had to struggle not to remind Caitlin of their own hypocrisy until Cisco finally spoke up.
"What's the sister doing here?"
Lila sighed and stepped forward, "The sister has a degree in chemistry and a steady job at Mercury Labs thanks you very much," she bragged and Jasmine smirked inwardly, "And I'm here to make sure my idiot brother doesn't die on the job."
Caitlin glared at Barry again, "You told her too?"
"She deserved to know!" Was all Barry said as Caitlin left the room, Jasmine following her friend.
"Caitlin wait!" Jasmine called after her, causing the doctor to turn around.
"Here," Caitlin responded coldly, handing her a small device that could be hooked around her ear, "Cisco made this for you, it's called a vibrational tuner, it'll help you focus your energy,"
Jasmine grabbed Caitlin's bicep to stop her in her tracks, "I don't care about that," She confessed, "I wanna make sure you're okay."
Caitlin's expression softened at the confession and finally admitted what was wrong with her, "It's just-I've been in this situation before," She confessed, "with Ronnie and I don't want-I can't go through that again."
Jasmine pulled the girl in for a hug, resting her head on Caitlin's shoulder as she tightened her embrace, letting her know that this time she was not alone.
"Hey!" Lila's voice pulled them out of the gesture, "We're gonna be testing Barry again, and they need both of you down there."
Jasmine nodded and the two women shared a smile before heading down to where Cisco had set up a treadmill for Barry to use.
Jasmine couldn't see anything wrong. Neither could Caitlin. Brain scans were normal, so were vitals, so what was causing Barry to collapse?
"Caitlin." Dr. Wells began, "Look at the glucose levels."
Caitlin came to the same realization Jasmine did, "Oh, my God. Of course." the doctor began, "Right? It was so obvious. Glucose levels."
"Barry!" Jasmine called through the glass, "We think we know why you keep-" She paused, peering over the edge to catch sight of Barry asleep on the ground, "passing out"
Lila and Jasmine spend the next few moments trying to wake Barry up without slapping him.
Silence hung between the two women, an unspoken tension strung between the two, begging to be cut.
"He's really proud of you y'know," Jasmine began, trying to continue her resolution. Lila didn't say anything. "He thinks and talks about you almost every day,"
Lila scoffed, "If it weren't for him I wouldn't be here,"
Jasmine could sense the bitterness in her voice, the underlying resentment at both of them entering a coma and forcing Lila to leave her cushy college in New York to come back and take care of her brother.
Jasmine frankly couldn't blame her, She would do the same thing for Iris in a heartbeat, but she also knows that she would react the same way Lila was reacting.
Lila swallowed her nerves and posited a question neither of them had an answer to, "Do you think he'll be okay?"
Jasmine stayed silent.
They caught the last bit of Joe's conversation with Wells when the three of them entered the main room in STAR Labs.
"If you wanted what was best for Barry, you'd try to talk him out of this lunacy instead of encouraging him going out there risking his life." Jasmine heard her dad say, and suddenly she knew why Joe was so against Barry saving people in the first place.
Wells, however, had something else to say, "You saw a man control the weather. What are the police gonna do against someone like that?" He pointed out, causing the team to silently agree, "Since the accelerator explosion we suspect there may be more like him."
Joe stared at the Doctor incredulously, "And you're gonna do what?" He questioned, unable to believe what he was hearing, "Catch them? Are you insane?" He glanced behind him, meeting the gazes of his daughter and surrogate children, "You think because you can run real fast that you're invincible? You're not! You're just kids." Joe paused before continuing, "My kids"
Lila scoffed, "You didn't seem so interested in being my Dad unless I ended up in the precinct," she shot at him, "Why the paternal instinct now?"
"We're not your kids, Joe." Barry stood up, supporting his sister, "And you're not our father. Our father's sitting in Iron Heights. Wrongfully convicted." Barry continued and Jasmine knew she had to step in soon or things would get out of hand, "You were wrong about him. And you're wrong about this."
"Barry, listen-" She began.
He ignored her, "Now I may not be able to help him, but if I can save someone from a burning building or stop some armed thieves, I'm gonna do it. And you can't stop me. So don't try."
Joe scoffed at Barry's overconfidence and met Jasmine's gaze, eyes shining and visibly hurt by Lila and Barry's words.
"You think you're so smart." His voice threatened to break, "All of you. But you don't know what you don't know. And I hope that you're clever enough to figure it out before somebody gets killed." He pushed past the trio and stopped at the door, pointing his last remark at Jasmine, "I don't want you working here anymore."
"Dad" Jasmine began, calling after him, "Dad wait!" Her feet pounded the metal floor, going after him.
"What the hell are you thinking?" He chastised her, stopping in the middle of the hallway, "You could get yourself killed!"
Jasmine stumbled back, shock blasting her in the chest, "I stay here, working behind the scenes," Her voice began to creep up to louder levels, "You are the one who goes after these guys, You are the one who could get yourself killed!"
Joe shook his head, "Don't turn this on me,"
"You're so worried about me and Iris you don't stop to think!" Jasmine exclaimed, her voice breaking, "I worry for you every day! What if he doesn't come home? What if he ends up shot or worse?" She bit her lip, trying to keep the pressure against her eyelids from breaking, "You are so focused on keeping us safe, you don't even consider what it would do to us if you never came back."
"Jas-"
She shook her head, "You want to protect us, I get it, but I'm doing this to protect you."
She spun on her heel, ignoring the dizziness plaguing her head, or the stabbing pain that clouded her vision every time she took a step, black dots dancing in front of her before her face hit the cold metal and her vision went black.
She didn't know what time it was when she woke up, she just knew that something was wrong.
"Thank god you're awake," Caitlin's voice pulled her attention toward the front of the room, engulfing the small girl in a hug before sitting on the edge of the hospital bed.
Jasmine shook her head, reaching to brush a stray curl behind her ear, only to feel the cold metal of a device locked onto the skin underneath her hairline, just behind the ear.
"What happened to me?"
Caitlin hesitated before continuing, "You were out for twelve hours"
Whiplash smacked Jasmine across the face. Twelve hours? Was Barry okay? Was her dad? What about Lila and Iris? Or the man who could clone himself?
"Relax," Caitlin took a deep breath, urging her to follow suit, "We found an anomaly in the emotional center of your brain. Apparently your emotions are what trigger your abilities,"
Jasmine nodded, recalling the last few times she's encountered the impossible circumstances the accelerator bestowed upon her.
When she was stressed, worried, or tired.
"The vibrational tuner should help as a mood stabilizer as well," Caitlin continued, filling the silence, "It should help keep those negative emotions balanced, so you don't suffer from fainting spells. Cisco's also working on something to help with the energy that you seem to emit as well." Caitlin paused, letting her words sink in before continuing again, "Thank god it was only me and Cisco that saw it, I don't really know how we would explain-"
Jasmine cut her off with an embrace, digging her head into Caitlin's shoulder, relishing in the comfort it gave her, although she will admit she wished Barry was who she was hugging instead. "Thank you, Caitlin."
The girl nodded and the two continued to talk, trading stories of school and relationships back and forth while a comfortable air settled around them.
Jasmine felt a weight lift off her shoulders as realization struck.
She wasn't in this alone.
For the first time in a long time, she had made a friend.