I'm about a quarter way through the list of themes. Not a bad way to push myself to be creative.

Chapter 10: Distraction

Barry Allen spent the last couple of hours stuck in his lab at CCPD. He was trying to put together an experiment that would determine the kind of weapon used by the killer but so far, he hasn't had much luck. He continued to scribble on his notepad, making tweaks to his formulas as he went. He was so engrossed in his calculations that he didn't hear the door to his lab open.

"Barry?" The voice called out, trying to get his attention. "Are you in here?"

He grunted back a response, waving his hand in the air. "Back here."

The sounds of footsteps came closer and he soon began to recognize the click-clack of heels against the hardwood floors of his lab. He then looked up and saw Caitlin walking towards him, a big smile on her face. His eyes drifted down to the tight blue dress she was wearing, the one that flaunted her body's natural curves. The calculations that he had in his head disappeared as quickly as she came.

"Caitlin?" He asked, confused to see her here. "Did something happen? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine Barry." She assured him while taking a seat across from him. "I had some time off this afternoon and you've always said that I was welcomed to stop by..."

"Of course!" Barry exclaimed, his lips turning upward into a smile. "You're always welcomed here." He pushed the notepad to one side, trying to tidy-up a little bit. "It's not as fancy as what you have in your lab but I try to make it work. Police budget and all."

Her eyes looked around his lab, immediately recognizing the numerous chemicals that were neatly labeled on the flasks. "Don't say that Barry. It's more of a testament to your skill as a CSI to be able to solve these cases with what you have. I'm a little jealous, to be honest."

He chuckled. "I'll trade places with you in a heartbeat Doctor Snow."

She leaned forward to see what he was working on and smiled as she saw the makeshift experiment he setup. "So what are you trying to solve for today Barry?"

"Well, to be honest. I don't know." Barry replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Joe gave me the case a few hours ago and nothing makes sense. The victim died from a suspicious wound but the blood work came back clean. There weren't any traces of poison in the body and when I did a chemical analysis on the wound, the results didn't make any sense."

"Do you think it's a metahuman?"

He shook his head. "Cisco didn't find any dark matter on the scene either."

"But you have some idea don't you?"

"I do." Barry held up his notepad to show her his calculations. "From the size of the impact, it had to be something small and concise, with the velocity of a projectile shot from a firearm but there was no gunpowder residual so it has to be something similar. If I can determine what killed him, I can find out how it was done."

Caitlin stood up and walked over to the other side, standing next to Barry as she lowered her head to inspect his setup. "Did you run the specimen through a mass spectrometer?"

He did. He ran it through several machines but for some reason, the only thing he could focus on was her perfume. The intoxicating scent of wildflowers came into his mind, the image of them having a picnic very vivid now. "Uh... Yes I did." His hand reached for a nearby folder, fumbling as he tried to pick it up. He tore his attention away from her and pulled out several sheets with the results. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

She reached for the papers, her fingers briefly touching his but it was enough to put butterflies in his stomach. He watched as she read through the results, his focus on the curls of her hair. They were especially bouncy today, which made him smile inwardly. There was also something he was supposed to do but for the life of him, he couldn't remember right now.

"I noticed that there were slightly elevated levels of trioxide and toluene, which is strange because they're not normally this high in Central City."

He kept watching that wonderful brain of her work, the gears inside churning. "Uh-huh." He found himself nodding along. His finger wandered onto the paper, going down the list, and pointed to the only one thing that he remembered. "There was also traces of Rhodium which stumped me."

"Hm..." She kept pondering, trying to make sense of the report. She looked up and saw Barry staring, her cheeks blushing in response. "Sorry Barry, I got lost in my thoughts. Am I distracting you from your work? That wasn't my intention at all."

He chuckled to himself. She would never be a distraction to him. "No. I could always use the help around here. Especially from someone of your caliber Doctor Snow."

She rolled her eyes, lightly swatting him on the shoulder. "Perhaps I should start charging CCPD for my services Mr. Allen. Do you think you can afford my expertise?"

Now, it was his turn to roll his eyes. "How about I just take you to lunch and we call it even?"

"Do I get to pick the place this time?" She gleefully asked.

"No, I have a place in mind." He smiled, already starting to lock up his lab. He saw that skeptical look on her face and he merely shook his head. "Trust me. You'll enjoy it."

She pouted, "Is it that new Italian place that Cisco found? I've been meaning to try that."

"Not even close."

"Would you at least give me a hint?"

"Italy."

Her eyes widened, able to understand what he was trying to convey. "Barry! What about your work? Wouldn't Joe be upset?"

"Fastest man alive remember?" Barry said, his eyes dancing with amusement. "Besides, It's not every day that I get to take my distraction out to lunch."

What did you guys think? More of this? Less?