Barry got in line at CC Jitters, looking dismayfully at the length of by the line. The woman in front of him turned, frowning. " I hate it when they let the new guy train during the morning rush." Barry nodded, a grin making its way to his face as he got everyone's coffee using his speed. Grinning he made his way out the door.

〰️〰️〰️

Hayley bounced a rubber ball off the wall of STAR Labs while Cisco measured the way the force projected affected the velocity after the bounce. Barry was, predictably, late. Again. Dr. Wells checked his watch again.

"Where's Barry? He's late" he asked. Caitlin rolled her eyes.

"Late is kind of his signature move." she pointed out. Cisco slurped on his sucker.

"You guys wanna see my signature move?" he asked. Hayley grinned.

"Sorry Francisco, no one wants to see that." she joked. "But, seriously, where is that boy?" She sighed heavily, throwing the ball as hard as she could at the wall. She cringed as it dented the wall.

"Sorry guys," she said sheepishly. Barry chose that moment to come strolling in with a coffee in his hand. Hayley glowered at him. "Where the bloody hell have you been?!"

"Language, Ms. Parker." Dr. Wells reminded.

Barry had the grace to look a little sheepish. "Sorry I'm late, guys, I got a little... held up." He smirks to himself, stopping awkwardly when they all give him unamused looks. "You had to be there." Dr. Wells clears his throat.

"I'm gonna need a moment or two alone with Barry" he said. The three friends filed out immediately. Cisco clapped Barry on the shoulder.

"Ooh, you're in trouble," he stated.

Hayley rolled her eyes from behind him. "What are you, eight?" Cisco glared playfully back at her.

Barry watched as his friends left the room, Cisco and Hayley beginning to argue. Then he turned back to Dr. Wells.

"Now, may I remind you, Mr. Allen, we had an agreement." Dr. Wells started, looking almost... disappointed. "We would help with your heroics out there while you would help us research and develop your abilities in here, right?"

Barry nodded along. "Yeah. No, I know. I... I guess I've just gotten a little caught up with being able to help people, you know, put bad guys away." He paused, trying to put how being the Flash felt into words. "It feels good." he finished.

Dr. Wells was unimpressed. "Imagine how good it will feel to cure diseases, stop aging, reverse paralysis." He glanced pointedly down at his legs. Barry sipped at his rapidly cooling coffee.

"All good causes," he nodded. He really admired Wells' ability to make him feel two inches tall. "So how can I help you do that? You need more MRIs, more blood, or..." he trailed off.

"I need more speed." Dr. Wells leaned forward. Barry felt the urge to run away as fast as possible.

"Okay..."

"I can't help but feel like maybe Ms. Parker is keeping you from reaching your full potential." Barry glowered at the man.

"Hayes wouldn't do that."

"Speed is the key to progress. You need " Barry was fairly certain the key to progress was time and hard work, but he wasn't about to correct the doctor. He felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out. "There was a homicide," he said apologetically. "I've got to go."

Dr. Wells sighed. "This is not just about you, Barry. Remember that."

"Yeah, sure." Barry smiled one last time at the man and walked out of STAR Labs, Hayley in tow.

〰️〰️〰️

Hayley looked up as Joe and Eddie made their way over to the two CSIs. She sighed heavily.

"Hope you both skipped your breakfast," Barry called out. The detectives looked at the corpse in barely concealed disgust. Eddie breathed in sharply.

"Whoa." Joe muttered, shooting a quick glance at the unfazed CSI as she calmly took pictures of the burned, blackened corpse. Was... Was she humming?!

"What the hell could do that?" Eddie inquired. Hayley looked up at him, squinting in the sun.

"Oh, 2,400 degrees, give or take." She answered, handing her partner her camera.

"This area's filled with combustibles," Joe pointed out. "How come nothing else burned up?"

Hayley shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Where are you going?" Eddie called up to Barry. Joe looked up to see his foster son climbing up onto a platform. He pointed the camera back down at them.

"See the soot on ground?" he asked them, pointing. The detectives nodded.

"Yeah."

"That's evidence of arc blasts." Hayley told them. Barry nodded along.

"Happens when high-amperage currents travel or arc through the air." Barry continued. Joe looked around, perplexed.

"There's no live wires," he pointed out. "There's no utility poles. So how was this guy electrocuted?"

Hayley stood up. "Well, first thing we need to do is ID him."

"Yeah. His face is melted off." Eddie deadpanned. "How is that picture going to help ID him?"

"I got mad skills." Barry grinned. They all looked at him strangely, Hayley looking slightly horrified at the use of slang.

"Please don't ever say that again." Joe told him.

"Alright." Barry answered, looking affronted. The CSIs stood up and made as if to leave when Joe caught his sleeve. Hayley paused when Barry left her side, looking back at Joe and sighing before stopping to wait for Barr.

Once the two were out of earshot of the former assassin, Joe stopped. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" Joe didn't miss the slight glance back at Hayley.

"I don't know. You seem a little off." Barry shook his head, running a hand through his hair.

"No, I'm fine." Barry turned to head back to his partner.

"Alright." Joe was skeptical, but he'd learned long ago to let Barry come to him rather than push him for information. He stood watching his foster son and his partner walk off, talking and laughing like old friends.

〰️〰️〰️

"Facial recognition software..." Caitlin said as the four friends sat around the computer terminal. "It's designed for archaeologists, and it should help us ID your corpse."

"The question is, how did he get fried in the first place?" Hayley muttered. She was met with silence. "Is there a metahuman out there that can control electricity?" Caitlin shrugged.

"It'd take a serious electrostatic discharge to cause that level of tissue damage." She added. The computer pinged.

"Guys, according to the software, there's an 82% chance your victim looked like this." Cisco leaned away from the screen so Barry could look.

"82%?" he asked, sounding disappointed. Cisco glared.

"hey, it was zero when you walked in here, pal." Hayley snickered quietly. The two boys gave her playful glares, Cisco shoving her shoulder lightly.

Caitlin cleared her throat.

"If you two are done?" she stated drily. Barry laughed as Hayley and Cisco looked away, muttering a quiet "Yes, Mom."

"Could you cross-reference that with DMV?" Barry asked. "Maybe get a name?"

"Absolutely," Cisco replied. He started typing fast. "This system can do just about anything now that Felicity reprogrammed it."

There were a few seconds of silence as they waited. Finally the computer dinged.

"Casey Donahue," Hayley read, leaning over Cisco's shoulder. "No wife or kids."

"Used to work at the Petersburg electrical substation," Cisco informed. "Can't be a coincidence."

"That's weird." Caitlin muttered. At Hayley's questioning glance, she spoke louder. "The victim's ID card was just used to enter the substation. The Petersburg grid is experiencing a power drain right now."

Wells looked at their resident hero. "Barry, be..." He'd barely finished when Barry blurred past, papers flying everywhere. He sighed. "Careful."

Caitlin looked at her previously neat desk and groaned. "We really need a paperweight."

Hayley grinned at her. "What's the matter, Cait? Don't like having a messy desk?"

Caitlin considered her for a moment. "You are in a very teasing mood today."

Cisco glanced up from monitoring Barry's vitals.

"I know why she's so happy," he singsonged. "She went on a date with Barry."

Caitlin smiled. "They grow up so fast."

Hayley glared at both of them. "I hate you."

A clearing throat interrupted their banter. All three turned to see Wells watching them in bemusement.

"You went on date, Ms. Parker?" he asked.

"Yup," Hayley grinned. "With Barry." The last bit made Wells' smile fall.

"I'm afraid, Ms.Parker, that I must advise against future... fraternizing," Wells told her flatly. Hayley's face contorted in confusion.

"Who—" Her response was cut off by Barry's scream ringing through the speaker.

Cisco leaned toward the mic. "Barry, what's happening?" No answer except a scream. "Get out of there!"

"Run, Barry!" Wells added.

For a tense moment, there was no answer. And then the comms crackled and Barry's voice came through.

"I can't," he said, sounding defeated. "My speed... is gone."