The one thing that Yasmeen honestly missed about New York was its hotels. Central City hotels lacked a certain charm about them but after staying in the City Center for almost a week now she was comfortable with the area and its bustling roads.
She had been put on various machines at S.T.A.R. Labs but they still knew nothing about her new abilities. The very thought of having to go home and try to explain to her parents about all of this was gut wrenching. Apparently Iris didn't know about Barry's super-speed so it had been really tricky trying to explain what exactly Yasmeen was doing in Central City and why she and Barry seemed to disappear so often. Still it was a change from mundane life and Yasmeen welcomed it with open arms. Well most of the time.
"Is this really necessary?" Yasmeen asked as she looked at herself in the mirror, she had seven different coloured wires wound on her arms in an attempt to discover what allowed her to bend shadows. Caitlin smiled sympathetically.
"I'm sorry but we have no idea what this is or how to go about looking for it so we're gonna have to try everything."
Yasmeen sighed then pushed her hair out of her eyes and ran as fast as she could towards the long shadow produced from an enormous cardboard box that had been positioned in the middle of the room. Just as before she passed right through it but this time she ended up on the treadmill that Cisco had designed for Barry instead of the table that was covered with glass test tubes. That had been a mess of glass shards and dangerous liquid substances. Barry had to race around picking up the most dangerous ones before anymore damage could've been done. She had fallen directly on a jagged end of a round test tube and when she moved, the entire bottle had been crushed into tiny fragments. They had then gotten Barry to throw things at her really fast and everything that had been thrown had shattered on impact with her skin. Being bulletproof was probably the only manageable thing about this whole ordeal or at any rate it was the only thing that seemed useful.
"The wires iced up," Yasmeen said, "Maybe there just isn't a scientific explanation for this."
"A friend once told me that magic is just science that we don't understand." Caitlin told her as she tried to remove the wires from Yasmeen's arms. They were frozen solid.
"Can't I just break them off?"
Caitlin looked horrified at the mere suggestion. "These wires cost more than-"
She was abruptly cut off by a loud beeping noise that was coming from the computer. Cisco came in to check what the alert was for.
"Looks like we've got trouble at the jewellery store." Cisco says and he's already phoning Barry.
Seconds later Barry is suited up and speeding towards the jewellery store. In his earpiece he can hear Cisco warning him that they have no idea what to expect because they can't detect any signs of life just the silent alarm that was triggered. Barry bursts through the door and looks around, there are four bodies on the ground - the two clerks and two security guards. Their skin is chalk white and their eyes are bulging, judging from their blue lips it looks as though they were oxygen deprived.
"Whoever broke in is still in the vault I'm gonna check it out." Barry speaks into the earpiece.
"Hold on," Cisco mutters to himself as he punches something into the computer. "Barry you have to get out of there now!"
In the vault Barry is struggling to breathe and his suit is showing that he is severely oxygen deprived and is vital organs are beginning to shut down.
"We've got to do something!" Yasmeen says desperately and she turns and sprints into the rapidly forming shadows from the late afternoon sun and feels the now-familiar cold wave wash over her and she's suddenly in the vault. She too becomes choked and sees a woman with blonde hair come towards her. She blindly punches out and hears a sickly thud and she can instantly breathe again.
Barry lays unconscious on the floor and she runs to him. "Barry!" she shouts as she tries to shake him awake. A soft groan escapes his lips. Yasmeen breathes a sigh of relief and now glances around the vault. The blonde haired woman is also knocked unconscious and she is wearing a bracelet with a large sapphire. Who is she and why did she need to rob a jewellery store?
Two hours later the woman is locked in the pipeline (a prison for diabolical metahumans) and Barry is eating a hotdog. The last of fifteen. He'd explained to her that he had an accelerated metabolism and if he didn't eat this much he'd constantly be fainting. He also healed really quickly which explained why he recovered from being oxygen deprived unlike the four bodies at the entrance of the store. The police had now marked off the store and it was a homicide case.
"Aren't you supposed to be at the crime scene?" Yasmeen asked. "You're a forensic scientist for the CCPD aren't you?"
"Yeah. I'd better get going, Joe's definitely gonna need help with this one." He sighs and then changes into his ordinary clothes before speeding out to the crime scene.
Yasmeen is left staring at the falling papers and wondering if she should speak to the woman but decides against it and heads back to the hotel where she'd been staying for the past week. She picked up the phone and hesitantly dialled her house number. Maybe she didn't need to tell her parents what exactly she was doing in Central City for so long and why she needed more time. She could tell them that she was going to spend the rest of the holidays here because she'd managed to get a job at Jitters and was helping Barry with police work. Yeah, they'd be happy with that.
"Assalamualaykum Mum, how's everyone at home?"
"Walaykumusalam Yasmeen, they driving me crazy now that they're all at home for the holidays! When are getting back?" Her mother sounds cheery and so Yasmeen takes this as a good sign that they'll be okay with her staying for a while in Central City.
"Actually I wanted to stay for a while longer because I've got a job at Jitters for the rest of the holidays. Will Dad be okay with that?" She asks quickly before her mother can properly register what she's saying. Yasmeen can hear her mother shouting her request to her father who is probably sitting and building Lego creatures with her youngest sister.
"Dad says its fine but you need to come back next week Thursday for your cousin's engagement."
"But all the other cousins aren't coming! I can't come and sit alone with all the aunties." Yasmeen is begging.
"It's your cousin's engagement Yasmeen you will be there. You'll see Aunty Sumayya and the rest will make sure that their kids are there. I want you to be there do you understand?" Her mother's tone is serious and firm.
Yasmeen sighs and defeat. "Okay I'll be there."
"Have fun and try and get a silver coloured shoe to match the outfit you're wearing, its blue. Asalamualaykum."
Her mother had hurriedly hung up meaning that one of her siblings was making a disaster of the house. At least her outfit was going to be blue. Ugh, let's hope it doesn't have bright beads all over it. Yasmeen puts down the phone and hops into the shower. It's been a long day; all she wants to do is shower and then sink into the fluffy pillows of the bed and forget about today.