Kara touched down on the asphalt of the Ferris Air testing facility feeling apprehensive. Even though she knew there was probably not anyone else besides herself and her brother around, she still glanced around to make sure no one had seen her arrival. She'd risked flying only because Barry's text message, cryptic though it had been, had seemed urgent, and flight was the quickest method of transportation available to her.
Moments after she landed, Kara spotted a white van parked nearby, a workstation of some sort set up just beyond it, and mentally kicked herself for not paying more attention to her surroundings. She'd risked exposure by not noticing that there were people around in time. Luckily, they had their backs turned toward her, their attention on a figure dressed in bright red spandex and a strange looking helmet that Kara realized after a moment was Barry. When he spotted her, he waved her over with an urgent gesture.
"What's going on?" she asked when she reached him, realizing that the rest of the group consisted of Cisco and Caitlin, who she'd met while Barry had been in his coma, and Harrison Wells, who she hadn't yet met or even spoken to aside from a few brief, isolated encounters.
"I wanted to make up for not coming to you first when I woke up from the coma," Barry explained. "So I thought you should be the first outside of the team at STAR Labs to witness this."
"Seriously, what's going on?" Kara asked, frustrated that Barry's answer hadn't really been much of an answer. "What are we doing here?"
"Just watch," Wells put in, in that smooth, unhurried manner of his. "You'll see." Kara wondered briefly if Barry had given him or the others any sort of explanation as to why he wanted his sister, who as far as anyone besides him and their parents knew was totally normal, here for this, but then she decided that it didn't matter if he had or not. They were all here now, and that was all that really mattered. If she wanted answers, she needed to listen to what Wells had told her to do. To that end, she turned her attention to where Cisco was talking with Barry.
"See, you thought the world was slowing down," he was saying. "It wasn't. You were moving so fast it only looked like everyone else was standing still." Kara raised an eyebrow at that, trying to process exactly what was meant by it, but shook it off and kept listening.
"Doctor Wells will be monitoring your energy output and Caitlin your vitals," Cisco went on, gesturing to each of them in turn.
"And what do you do?" Barry asked.
"I make the toys, man," Cisco replied with a grin. "Check it." He started gesturing toward the different parts of the helmet Barry was wearing, at which point Kara tuned him out, realizing that none of that was anything she needed to be concerned with. She also did Barry the courtesy of ignoring whatever conversation he had with Caitlin while she was busy fitting him with various sensors, since it was clearly private and, judging by their body language, incredibly awkward.
"Mr. Allen," Wells said when the final preparations were complete. "While I for one am eager to see the full range of your powers, I do caution restraint." Barry nodded and blew out a nervous breath, clearly trying to clear his head and prepare himself for whatever was about to happen next. He took a few steps forward and dropped down into a crouch, his fingertips against the ground, leaning forward to put his weight on the balls of his feet, assuming the position of a runner at the start of a race. Then, at some unspoken signal, he shot forward at incredible, impossible speed, becoming a red blur as he raced down the runway. Kara watched this all happen with wide eyes, astonished and troubled. Whatever she'd expected the effect of the lightning bolt to have been, it had definitely not been this. Judging by the progress of the red blur that was Barry down the runway, he was moving at least three times as fast as she did at her top speed, if not more.
As Kara watched, the red blur faltered, then resolved itself back into Barry as he slammed into a bunch of water barrels stacked at the end of the runway, sending them flying every which way and water spraying everywhere. Kara cried out in fear and was racing to be at Barry's side before she could think about what she was doing, before she had time to remember that the other people around didn't know that she had powers.
"Barry," she breathed, dropping into a crouch at his side. "Are you alright?" Barry shook his head.
"I think I broke something," he said in a strained voice. He shifted on the pile of fallen barrels he was lying on, trying to get up, then groaned and fell back. "Make that multiple somethings."
"Here," Kara said softly. "Let me help you." She slung an arm across Barry's back and slowly and carefully helped him upright.
"Can you stand?" she asked, worry lacing her voice.
"Yeah, I think so," Barry replied, grimacing with pain. He got to his feet, swaying for a moment but managing to stay upright. He shifted around and winced.
"I think my arm's broken," he said. By this time, the others had reached them. They arranged themselves in a loose u shape, and Kara couldn't help but notice the sidelong glances they were casting at her.
"What are we supposed to do?" she asked, referring to Barry's apparently extensive injuries. "I mean, I'm assuming we can't take him to the hospital." Everyone shook their heads in answer.
"They can take me back to STAR Labs," Barry spoke up, nodding to the others. "I'm sure they'll be able to handle things from there."
"Are you sure?" Kara asked, still worried.
"I'm sure," Barry confirmed. "We've got it from here." When Kara didn't move, he added, "Go home, Kara. I'll be fine." She nodded and stepped aside to let Cisco, Caitlin, and Wells walk him back to the van. Only once they were on their way did Kara herself leave, heading for home, spending the duration feeling troubled over Barry's new powers might mean for both their futures.