Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
Patty had returned from her shower, drying her hair with her towel, dressed in her bathrobe as she saw the dishes in the sink in her apartment as she looked into the fridge.
"Next time, you're going to have to bring these energy bars Cisco cooked up because I can't afford that much food." Patty said.
"Sorry. But I told you I needed to consume a lot of calories." Barry said.
Patty teased as she sat at Barry's lap, kissing him as she wrapped her arms around him. "Well, how about we try my pancakes? You're going to love them."
"I can't wait to try them." Barry said. "So… did you enjoy last night as much as I did?"
"Barry… last night… honestly, I wish we could have more of those." Patty said.
"Who says we can't?" Barry pointed out.
"The work. Colleague dating colleague, don't you think that could get us into trouble?" Patty said.
"We'll figure it out." Barry promised as they were about to kiss again before Patty's radio went off.
"All units, 2-11 at 4th and Collins. Suspects are hijacking a bank van. I repeat, armed robbery at 4th and Collins."
"Damn it." Both Barry and Patty sighed.
"Just go." Patty said as Barry sped off.
Central City
As soon as Barry suited up, he sped to the crime scene, knocking down the thieves hijacking the van before one of them shot the driver as one of the thieves put down his mask.
Barry sped back and neared the driver.
"Where's the nearest hospital?" Barry called out.
"St. Andrews. Seven blocks north, two east." Caitlin said.
"Call the ER, tell them they have an incoming GSW." Barry said as the thieves got on their bikes and drove off.
Later in the afternoon, the place of robbery became a crime scene as Joe, Singh, Eddie, Patty and Barry were examining the evidence.
"They knew what they were doing." Patty said. "Destroyed the footage from the cameras on the street and smashed the door with liquid nitrogen."
"Did you see anything that can help us catch these guys?" Joe asked Barry.
"Yeah. One of them lost his mask. I saw his face." Barry confirmed.
Later, CCPD
Joe showed Barry the mug shots of Central City's most wanted as Barry went through them in superspeed.
"That's him." Barry said.
"Damn. Leonard Snart." Joe groaned.
"'Leonard'? That's almost as bad as 'Bartholomew'." Barry cracked.
"Snart ain't sexy either. Snart's father was a cop. A bad cop. Took his anger out on his kids, until he went to prison." Joe said.
"Snart's dad is in prison too? We should start a club." Barry said.
"He shows up, like, every six months. He cases a job for weeks before he makes his move. Then he does a job, gets away." Joe explained.
"That's before the Streak was around." Barry said as Patty entered.
"Am I hearing things or did you just refer to yourself in the third person?" Patty inquired.
"I referred to the Streak. I've been thinking of a new name." Barry said. "What do you think about the Fla—"
"Coffee break." Iris said, entering with cups of coffee. "Thought I'd bring Central City's finest java over to Central City's finest."
"Thanks, I'm off caffeine." Joe declined in a grumpy way as he left.
"My dad's been mad ever since I told him about me and Eddie." Iris said.
"No, you mean he's mad at you because you didn't tell him." Barry said.
"Can we talk about this later?" Iris sighed as they were on their way to Barry's lab. "Look, I've been wanting to tell you about this idea I had. After all these journalism classes, I started a blog."
"What's it about?" Patty asked.
"The Streak." Iris said as both Barry and Patty stopped. "He's out there. Rumor has it he stopped an armed car robbery earlier."
"Heh." Barry said awkwardly as Patty cleared her throat.
"I was hoping I could take a look at the file—"
"Iris, no offense but as officers of the law, we can't provide you any details about an ongoing police investigation." Patty said as they were on their way Barry's lab.
"Especially about this… Streak. Take it from someone who's been studying the impossible since they were eleven. Blogging about this, it's gonna bring the crazies to your door." Barry said.
"My blog is anonymous." Iris said.
"Anonymous or not, it's not safe. Who knows what kind of creeps you might find on the Internet." Patty pointed out.
"I can vouch for that. The Internet is full of weirdoes, and nerd rage." A blonde woman with a ponytail, white jacket and pink skirt said as she was in Barry's lab. "Lots and lots of nerd rage."
"Wait, I know you. You're that woman who kept visiting Barry, when he was in a coma, I saw you a few times." Patty said. "Frankie—"
"Felicity Smoak." Felicity shook her hand with Patty and Iris.
"Patty Spivot. Barry's colleague." Patty introduced herself.
"Iris West. Barry's foster sister." Iris said.
"Felicity is..."
"…the girl that you met in Starling City. The computer-er, right?" Iris remembered. "You two worked on one of Barry's unexplainable cases.
"Which, long story short, was definitely explainable." Felicity blabbered as Patty narrowed her eyes as Felicity looked up at the roof window. "So the lightning came through here?"
"Yeah." Barry nodded.
"You won't mind if I catch up with Felicity a little—"
"Yeah, sure, sure." Patty and Iris nodded, leaving them alone.
Central City
"Iris and Patty are very nice. And really pretty, like super pretty. Are you dating one of them?" Felicity asked as they walked down the park.
"I'm…" Barry paused. "Not sure if I'd go that far yet with the D-word with Patty. We started something just… few days ago but I'm not sure if we're at the dating phase."
"I see." Felicity nodded. "And Iris?"
"She's just a friend... who actually has a boyfriend." Barry said.
"Oh. That's… interesting. I guess." Felicity said. "What are you really doing here? I mean, it's good to see you but do you and Oliver need something—"
"No. No, I came because I wanted to see you." Felicity said as they stopped. "I... Heh. I heard you're out of the coma. Didn't call. Didn't write. Didn't race over..." She trailed off as Barry looked around in confusion before it hit him.
"Oliver told you?" Barry demanded as Felicity shook her head.
"Honestly, I heard you two talking on that rooftop in Starling City that night." Felicity explained. "I wanna see it." Then she realized what she had been implying. "And by 'it', I mean your speed. In case you thought I was talking about something else, which I was… which I was not." She blabbered out.
Barry looked around before he pointed at one of the buildings. "Uh, OK, you see that building?"
"Uh-huh." Felicity nodded.
"Keep your eyes on it." Barry ordered before he sped up to the building as she stared at it before Barry came back with a photo on the phone.
"You took a picture of me? From the top of that building?" Felicity realized.
"Yeah. Don't Instagram that." Barry said.
"Unbelievable." Felicity said before she looked at Barry's feet. "Your shoes are smoking!"
Barry stepped as he extinguished the smoke. "That's fine, it happens sometimes. That's why I have a friction-proof suit."
"Where did you get that?" Felicity demanded.
"I'll show you." Barry said.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
"This is where my team monitors the police bands for activity." Barry said as he and Felicity entered the Cortex. "We can track anything that's happening. Check this out. We've got our own satellite."
"I know." Felicity said as she looked around. "I've hacked into it from time to time."
"Rude." Cisco noted.
"It is, of course, so wonderful to see you again, Felicity." Caitlin said somewhat nervously. "I'm just wondering how much of our operation she needs to know about."
"I'm really good at keeping secrets." Felicity said.
"Felicity works for the Arrow." Barry said.
"Sweet." Cisco cheered as Felicity shot Barry a glare.
"And you, apparently, are not." Felicity said.
"Now it's all making sense. You know who the Arrow is." Cisco said, enthusiastic before stopping as he turned to Barry. "Wait. Do you know who the Arrow is?"
"Uh..." Barry trailed off.
"Let's just say that my team has a similar setup but with more pointy objects." Felicity said.
"Welcome, Miss Smoak." Wells said upon entering.
"Dr. Wells? The Dr. Wells?" Felicity asked, enthusiastic.
"Please, call me 'Harrison', Felicity." Wells said.
"You know who I am?" Felicity asked, flattered.
"Ranked second in the National Informative Technology competition at age 19. Graduated MIT with Master's degree in cybersecurity and computer sciences. I know who you are." Wells said upon entering the Cortex. "I keep an eye out for promising talent in scientific fields. That's what brought me Cisco and Caitlin. And I foresaw great things from you."
"Speaking of great things, wanna see something cool?" Barry offered.
Barry was running at the treadmill as Felicity observed him.
"How fast can he run?" Felicity wondered.
"He hasn't reached his top speed yet, theoretically speaking." Wells said.
"So is he really OK?" Felicity inquired.
"His heart rate is within normal range, for him." Caitlin said.
"No, I mean, the lightning bolt changed him. Do any of you really know how much?" Felicity asked.
"We know a fair amount." Cisco said.
"If everything about him is sped up, is he going to age faster? What would happen if he ran too fast? I mean, would he just be running and then poof, he's dust in a red costume?" Felicity asked, worried.
"Everything we do here, at S.T.A.R. Labs, is to protect Barry Allen." Wells assured her. "Trust us, Felicity, he is in very good hands here."
"Wanna see how fast I can run backwards?" Barry said before he crashed backwards into a wall.
"Don't worry. He heals quickly too." Caitlin assured her.
Later, CC Jitters
After offered by Iris, Barry and Patty invited Felicity along on the Trivia Night as they were trying to identify the historical scientists.
"Three is Pasteur." Barry said.
"Three is Erdel, and four is Pasteur." Felicity corrected.
"Right."
"Five?" Barry asked.
"Descartes." Barry, Felicity and Patty said in unison.
"Are they even speaking English?" Eddie stared, wondering if the three geeks were from another planet.
"And the points go to E = MC Hammer." The judge said as Barry, Patty and Felicity high-fived.
"I knew you would make a good team." Iris said.
"So, Felicity, what do you do?" Eddie inquired.
"I work in computer sciences at Queen Consolidated." Felicity said.
"Really?" Eddie asked.
"Do you have a boyfriend in Starling City?" Iris inquired.
"Um, no. No, there is no one." Felicity shook her head.
"I'll get us more drinks." Eddie said as he got up.
"And I had too many of those first ones, so I will be right back." Felicity said as she got up as Iris stared at him, alongside Patty.
"What?" Barry asked.
"She's got a crush on you." Patty said.
"I know but…" Barry paused.
"But what?" Iris asked before she saw how Patty and Barry were looking at each other. "Oh. How long have you two—"
"Iris, it's not…" Barry paused.
"We… haven't officially started anything yet." Patty said. "We just… we…"
"We're taking it slow." Barry said.
"Oh." Iris said.
S.T.A.R. Labs
Cisco and Wells were at the storage area, with Wells glaring as Cisco paled at seeing the empty locker.
"How long has it been missing?" Wells asked.
"I don't know." Cisco said nervously.
"I'm gonna ask you again, Cisco." Wells said slowly, running out of patience. "And when I do, I expect a more specific answer than 'I don't know.'. Now, how long has this weapon been gone?"
"A day. Maybe two." Cisco replied. "One janitor didn't show up for work this morning. He was probably the one who took it. I didn't think that—"
Wells slammed the locker as Cisco winced and shut up. "You didn't think. Because if you had, you would've discussed with me first your desire to build something that could hurt anyone, and in particular Barry Allen."
Cisco had the decency to look ashamed. "I'm sorry. If you just let me explain—"
"You know how I feel about weapons, Cisco, they do not belong in S.T.A.R. Labs." Wells interrupted him. "Now, you're gonna figure out a way to locate this gun and you're gonna do it right now."
Wells left as Caitlin stared at Cisco.
"This thing you built, what can it do?" Caitlin asked.
"Bad stuff." Cisco said.
CC Jitters
Patty's and Eddie's phones went off as they looked at the messages.
"Snart." Patty said.
"We gotta go." Eddie said as he and Patty left, while Iris accompanied Eddie and Felicity followed Barry.
"I'll cover for you." Felicity offered.
"What are you gonna say?" Barry asked.
"I usually tell people Oliver's at a night club, with a girl or nursing a hangover." Felicity said.
"None of which will work for me." Barry protested.
"Bad stomach ache. Diarrhea." Felicity suggested.
"I'm not comfortable with that excuse." Barry protested.
"Just go." Felicity said as he sped off, leaving her alone in the alley. "Stay safe. And I'm talking to air now, which is odd. I'm still doing it." She muttered, realizing the awkward situation of being alone in an alley.
Central City
Joe chased Snart into the museum but Snart pulled out some kind of a hi-tech gun that shot out a blue beam, freezing the road as the cruisers skidded. As Joe followed Snart into the museum, Snart fired again at Joe but Barry pushed him away before the blue beam knocked him down.
"You OK?" Joe asked.
"It burns." Barry groaned, his hip freezing. Barry dodged, when Snart fired again.
"Time for a test run. Let's see how fast you are." Snart said, looking around and shooting at the civilians but Barry managed to push them away from the line of fire before Snart aimed at a guard. Barry attempted to save the guard as he tried to get ahead of the blue beam but was too slow as it hit the guard and he fell down, frozen to death.
"No!" Barry cried out, staring in disbelief as Snart left. "No."
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
"It's still numb." Barry said as Caitlin tended to his wound.
"It's like third-degree frostbite." Caitlin said.
"I thought he had hyper-healing." Felicity said, confused.
"It's been slowed." Caitlin said as she showed him the CT scan. "If your cells weren't regenerating at the rate they are, your blood vessels would've frozen solid. The nerve damage would've been permanent. You're lucky to be alive."
"Snart wasn't another metahuman. He has some kind of gun. It froze things. It slowed me down." Barry said. "Enough that I wasn't able to save someone."
"Snart didn't even graduate from high school, how was he able to build some hi-tech cold gun?" Patty wondered.
"Good question." Felicity said.
"S.T.A.R. Labs built the cold gun." Wells said.
"Dr. Wells and Caitlin had nothing to do with this." Cisco said. "I built the gun."
"You did? Why?" Barry demanded, him, Patty and Felicity shooting Cisco incredulous looks.
"Because speed and cold are opposites. Temperature is measured by how quickly the atoms of something are oscillating." Cisco explained. "The faster they are, the hotter it is. When things are cold, they're slower on the atomic level. When there's no movement, it's called..."
"…absolute zero." Barry and Patty finished.
"I designed a compact cryo-engine to achieve absolute zero. I built it to stop you." Cisco said.
"You built a weapon to hurt Barry? Why would you do that?" Patty demanded.
"I didn't know who you were then, Barry. I mean, what if you turned out to be some psycho, like Mardon or Nimbus?" Cisco pointed out.
"But I didn't, did I?" Barry snapped.
"We built the entire structure you're standing in to do good, and it blew up. You can understand why Cisco would wanna be prepared for the worst." Caitlin pointed out as Barry sighed.
"I can understand that, but what I can't understand is why you didn't tell me what you did." Barry said. "After all we've been through, I thought you trusted me. I thought we were friends."
"We are, Barry—"
"If you had told us about something like this, we could've been prepared just in case. But instead, an innocent man died tonight." Patty said.
"And I have to live with that." Cisco said, having the decency to look ashamed and guilty.
"No, Cisco, we all do." Barry said.
Patty sighed as she went out. "I'll see if there are witnesses out there, who knows where Snart might have gone. The moment I get something, I'll call you."
Barry was running on the treadmill, venting out his frustration as Felicity entered as Barry stopped, panting out.
"Barry." Felicity called out. "What are you doing?"
"You should get back to your hotel." Barry said as he sat down, panting out. "Get some sleep."
"You should too." Felicity argued. "Not go back to my hotel, I meant get some sleep."
"I can't." Barry said as he sat down, breathing out. "Every time I close my eyes, I see that man's face. I watched him die." He got up, about to run again. "I have to go faster."
"Barry, it's not your fault. And it's not Cisco's either. I know you're upset, but you have to look at this from his point of view." Felicity reasoned.
"No, I get it. He didn't trust me." Barry said, frustrated.
"Barry, when you met us, me, Oliver and Dig, we were this well-oiled archery machine but it didn't start out that way. And unlike you, guys, we weren't tossed together overnight, we came together one at a time. It took much more than watching Oliver do the salmon ladder to make me trust him." Felicity said as Barry turned to her, considering before sighing. "I've seen firsthand what this life can do to people. It's a lonely path. Don't make it any lonelier than it has to be." She finished as she left until Barry's phone went off as he answered it.
"Yeah?"
"Barry, it's Patty. Witnesses spotted Snart at the Central City Train Station, I'm on my way there with Joe and Eddie." Patty said.
Central City
Barry sped into the train, facing Snart.
"There's nowhere to run." Barry said as Snart aimed his cold gun at him, surprised by how young the Streak was.
"I didn't see you before. Your mom know you're out past your bedtime?" Snart taunted.
"If you wanted to get away, you should've taken something faster than a train." Barry said as he got up.
"That's if I wanted to get away." Snart said. "I've seen your weakness. At the armored car, then at the theater. So while you're busy saving everybody, I'll be saving myself." Snart said as he froze the train tires, causing for it to skid. "Good luck with that!" He said before jumping out of the train.
The wagons crashed but Barry got all passengers out in superspeed as the train crashed. Barry fell on the ground as Snart shot him with his Cold Gun.
"Pretty fast, kid. But not fast enough." Snart said as Barry stared at him, awaiting the end. "Thank you."
"For what?" Barry demanded.
"You forced me to up my game. Not only with this gun, but with how I think about the job." Snart said. "It's been educational."
"Drop it." Cisco said as Snart heard a device turn on and he turned around to see Cisco, Felicity and Caitlin holding some hi-tech device. "This is a prototype cold gun, four times the size, four times the power."
"I was wondering who you were talking to." Snart said.
"Hey, unless you wanna taste your own medicine, I'd back the hell up." Cisco warned.
"Your hands are shaking. You've never killed anyone." Snart noted, knowing Cisco was bluffing.
"There's a first time for everything, Captain Cold. I will shoot you." Cisco said, aiming at Snart, who considered. He had beaten the speedster but was it worth the risk to call Cisco's bluff? After a moment, he made up his mind.
"You win, kid. I'll see you around." Snart said as he was about to leave.
"Hey, leave the diamond." Cisco said.
"Don't push your luck." Snart said, walking away as Cisco laughed a moment later.
"I couldn't shoot him if I wanted to. This is actually the S.T.A.R. Labs vacuum cleaner." Cisco said. "With a lot of LEDs."
"Let's get you warm." Caitlin said as they tended to Barry.
"Thank you." Barry said.
Later, Central City Train Station
"Thanks for accompanying me, Barry." Felicity said.
"Anytime, Felicity." Barry said as she turned to him.
"She's good for you." Felicity said. "Patty. Both of you geeks, enthusiastic about crime scene, science, investigating…"
"Like someone." Barry noted as she chuckled.
"I'm really happy for you." Felicity said. "And can I give you an advice?"
"What?" Barry asked.
"Someone, who's like you and a good fit… don't let someone like her go. Or it's going to haunt you. Oliver made that mistake. If you care about her, do your best to keep her." Felicity said as they hugged each other.
"Stay safe, Felicity." Barry said.
"You too, Barry."
Central City
Snart was in a hideout, talking with an old colleague of his.
"I know it's been a while since we pulled that job. I know it didn't go so well for you. And I know I said we were finished, but things have changed. If I wanna keep working in Central City, I'm gonna need a new kind of crew. I'm gonna need someone like you. You're tolerant of extremes, you have certain skills. You just need some direction. And I can give that to you." Snart said as he opened the box, showing him another weapon from S.T.A.R. Labs he had stolen, that looked like a flamethrower as the man lit up a match, examining the weapon. "You still like playing with fire? You're gonna love this. So, are you in, Mick, or are you out?"
"Yeah, buddy, I'm in." Mick laughed.
Barry's and Felicity's interactions are always amazing when they're together, back when Felicity was more tolerable, I would've shipped them since their interactions in Arrow 2x08-09 and The Flash 1x04 were great but since I'm doing Barry/Patty, I've tried to make Felicity more of a supporting friend, hope it worked. Plus, even Iris admitted that she would've liked to see Barry and Felicity together. Don't recall if she said that about Patty though in Season 2.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.