"I'll have a skinny macchiato please."

"And what name shall I put on that?"

"Merry."

Merry rolled her eyes to herself as the barista then wrote 'Mary' on the polystyrene cup before ringing the order through the till. "That'll be four ninety-five please."

"I'll get that for you!"

Merry turned towards the very enthusiastic Cisco, who was directly behind her in the line. "Oh, that's okay; you don't have to do that."

"No, no, it's cool," Cisco insisted eagerly. "Why don't you grab a table and I'll bring the drinks over?"

Merry gave him a bemused look. "If you're sure... Then thanks."

It never hurt to put in a little charm with the opposite sex. It could do everything from gaining you better access to information at high-tech laboratories to getting you free coffee. She left Cisco at the counter and purposely surveyed the room, looking for the ideal place to sit. Most of the tables were designed to seat groups of either two or four - the chairs arranged facing each other - but along the back wall were a row of booths with plush vinyl seats and glass dividers separating them. Perfect.

She picked an empty one in the furthest corner and slid herself across to the other side of the seat, leaving room beside her. It was like a basic dating rule that sitting next to someone was a lot cosier than sitting across from them. It made it easier to display more open body language, as well as presenting better opportunities to sneak in some physical contact. Of course, it was probably a little soon to try that, but it was always nice to have the option. Just in case.

Cisco soon joined her with her incorrectly labelled macchiato and what looked like some kind of berry slushie. When he saw that she'd shuffled along to make room for him on her side of the table, he sat down next to her without needing any further encouragement. "Here." He handed her drink over.

"Thanks." Merry smiled warmly at him as she took it. She then raised an eyebrow at Cisco's drink. "What happened to your 'you could start to drink coffee'? That doesn't look like coffee to me."

"I figured I should start small," Cisco declared. "As in no coffee." Merry couldn't help but laugh. He indicated her macchiato. "You look like you have the same problem as me with this kind of place."

Merry eyed her drink suspiciously, wondering what must be wrong with it. "What do you mean?"

Cisco turned his plastic cup around to show the incorrectly spelt 'Sisqo' written across it in black marker. "No spell check."

"Wow. Isn't that Sisqo the guy who sang The Thong Song?"

"Yup. I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Merry just laughed again before taking a sip from her drink. Cisco still seemed eager to keep the conversation going. "So is Merry short for anything or are we talking like Merry Clayton?"

"No, it's short for Marianne," Merry replied, amused. "Not Meriadoc, if that's what you were thinking."

Cisco had to take a few seconds to respond this time. "You actually made that reference," he said, impressed.

Merry grinned. She'd been sure the geeky reference would land well. She congratulated herself on the Lord of the Rings knowledge she remembered from English Lit in year seven. "Well, where I come from is actually full of hills. Perfect Shire-like location."

Cisco was definitely impressed. He'd raised the plastic cup to his mouth, but had stopped with the straw hovering an inch away from his lips. He seemed to have forgotten about it. "So where exactly are you from? I mean, I can tell you're British, but your accent's still a little..."

"Weird?" Merry giggled, trying to ignore the sound she'd just feigned. She'd never had much time for girls who giggled, but apparently most guys found it appealing. She had no idea why. "I'm from Wales. From what I've experienced, most Americans can tell English accents and usually Irish and Scottish too. But you guys don't seem to get us Welsh very much."

Cisco grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry, you're right there. The only Welsh person I know of is Christian Bale and he doesn't even have much of an accent."

"BBC America. Gavin and Stacey," Merry recommended. "Or it could even be on Netflix."

"Now you're speaking my language."

Merry took another drink before trying to bring the conversation back round to what she wanted to find out. "So you were saying about Dr. Wells and the particle accelerator before... What's everyone up to at S.T.A.R. Labs now after that?"

"Well, we obviously have Barry to work with and we're always on the lookout for more meta humans. Mostly, Dr. Wells just concentrates on trying to help Barry find out more about his speed," Cisco explained. He seemed to finally remember the cup he was still holding to his mouth and drew a long swig through the straw. "But what about this meta human who can turn invisible? Barry said someone's been after you?"

Merry bit back a frown at the change of subject. Was that really all that Dr. Wells had been up to? It wasn't exactly a lot to work with. She wanted to ask more about it, but she knew that it would begin to look suspicious if she kept trying to bring the conversation back to the same topic. Cisco seemed far more interested in knowing about other subjects, so for now, she'd just have to go with it if she wanted to keep him clueless. She was sure she'd have plenty of time to drill him later on.

"His name's Bernie Lowman. He's a thief, to put it simply," she explained, recalling the story that she and Matt had revised over and over. "We ran into him in DC a while back when he was robbing a store. Once he found out that I had powers too, he wanted me to join him. He was so blinded by the idea that he didn't even realise I was actually trying to stop him, not help him. He's been harassing me ever since - he's a psycho. It makes it kinda tough to hide from someone you can't see."

"Wow..." Cisco seemed very interested in the idea. His straw had trailed away from his open mouth again. "So how does it work? I mean, I'm guessing he's not invisible all the time or you wouldn't have been able to see him in the first place."

"I don't really know," Merry confessed. The less facts she had to remember, the better. "I've seen him normally and I've seen him use his power - it's like he just evaporates on the spot. But I don't know how long he can stay invisible for or anything like that."

"So no strengths or weaknesses that you know of?"

Merry shook her head. "Nope, sorry. I spend more time trying to get away from him than I have done talking to him."

Cisco looked thoughtful. "I reckon I could probably come up with some kind of booby trap that would give him away if he tried to come near you again..."

"Err, you could really do something like that?" Merry asked, surprised. She tried to control her expression. She didn't like the sound of that. That wasn't part of the plan.

Cisco grinned and tapped the side of his head. "I'm sure I can pull something out of here. If I can find something that works, then at least it'll give you one less problem to worry about."

"Oh, I wouldn't wanna put you to any trouble or anything..." Merry tried to hedge. How easily would the young engineer be able to find out that her story of an invisible meta human was nothing but fiction? For once, she regretted that Cisco was so eager to please.

And of course, he was still persistent as ever. "No trouble at all," he insisted cheerfully.

Oh, great, Merry thought grumpily to herself. Why had she had to go for a nice guy to fool? That always made her feel guilty. She didn't like that. Though on the surface, she smiled sweetly and said as genuinely as she could manage, "Thank you. That's really nice of you."

Cisco actually flushed a little. He mumbled something that sounded vaguely like "No problem", then hastily took another swig of his drink to try and look casual and promptly choked on it.

Merry politely pretended that she hadn't noticed anything. "So how long have you been working with Dr. Wells? You said you were there when the particle accelerator blew up, right?"

"Yeah, I was at S.T.A.R. Labs for about sixteen months before that. I've been here for a couple of years now," said Cisco, who had managed to compose himself and was now equally acting like nothing had happened. "But what about you; how long have you been in Central City for?"

Merry felt another pang of irritation, which she quickly tried to quash before it showed on her face. Every time she asked something about Dr. Wells, Cisco would flip the conversation round. The worst part was that she didn't think he was purposely avoiding the subject - he just seemed to be treating this like they were on an actual date. Nearly every question he'd asked her had been about herself. Her name, where she was from, how long she'd been in town... She should have known she'd need to play along more before she could pry any useful information from him. Oh well. She could keep humouring him for now at least.

"I've been back and forth quite a bit. As you know, I was here when the particle accelerator blew," she said, for once telling the truth. She turned towards him more in her seat as she spoke. Keeping your body language open was one of the best ways to show a guy you were interested. Everybody knew that. "We've branched in and out of the city a lot recently, but we stuck around for the last couple of months. We generally go wherever Matt's work takes us. Crime's been lower than usual in Central City for a while - again, something I'm sure you're familiar with - but he's still been getting plenty of bounties here under the radar."

Cisco nodded along interestedly. "What's it like getting to work with a bounty hunter?"

"Pretty awesome," Merry admitted with a smile. "What about you? What's it like getting to work with a real-life superhero?"

"Pretty awesome," Cisco mimicked with a grin. "And technically, you could be a real superhero too. I mean, you have powers as well. You could work with us if you wanted to."

Merry made sure she seemed awed by the idea. It actually wasn't too difficult - 'superhero' did have a pretty cool ring to it. "You really think I could?"

"Of course!" Cisco exclaimed eagerly. "Once you learn more about your powers, I don't see why you couldn't do what Barry does. We already know you're not bad or anything. It'd be seriously dope to have another meta human on the team."

Wow, he really was easily swayed. What she was doing almost felt a little unfair. But of course, Merry had something far bigger at stake than a guilty conscience, so she grinned back. "Then count me in. I'd love to help out. And maybe you could make me a suit too,"

Cisco's drink tipped so far that it was almost in danger of spilling out of the little hole in the lid of the plastic cup. "I would love to do that."

Merry laughed. "Just as long as you don't give me anything pink and frilly, then I officially grant you free reign."

"Please. Have you seen how badass Barry's suit is?" Cisco pointed out sardonically. "I only deal in awesome. Though in your case, I'll have to make sure it's extra hot too-" He then stopped abruptly as if he hadn't quite meant to actually say that last part. "Err, I mean..."

But Merry was happy to play along. "Then I'll hold you to that," she said with a wink.

For once, Cisco was completely flummoxed and had no idea what to say to that. Fortunately for him, he was saved from his deer in the headlights look by his cell phone ringing. He pulled it from the pocket of his hooded jacket and looked at the screen in dismay. He had three text messages that he hadn't even heard - all from Caitlin. Who was also the one now ringing him.

"Hey, Caitlin..." he answered sheepishly. "Sorry, we just went to grab some coffee. Well, no, I had a slushie of course. No, I didn't hear my phone... Yeah, we'll come back to S.T.A.R. Labs straightaway. Do you guys want anything to-go? ...Okay, okay! We're coming straight back."

Merry gave him a sympathetic look as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "Sorry... I got you into trouble."

"It's cool," Cisco assured, getting to his feet. "Don't worry about it."

Merry followed suit and quickly swigged back the last of her macchiato. Cisco's slushie was still nearly full, if a little melted. "Well, if it's any consolation, I feel much better now," she smiled. "So thanks. This was nice."

"Any time," said Cisco eagerly. "Like really... Any time."

Cisco took the remainder of his drink to-go and they headed back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Though Barry seemed amused when he spotted them, the same couldn't be said for the others. Caitlin looked impatient, eager to get on with the tests, and Dr. Wells appeared to be mildly annoyed. He clearly hadn't approved of the impromptu coffee run. It was childish, but Merry couldn't help feeling a little smug about that.

"We were wondering where you two had got to," he said pointedly when they arrived.

"We just thought we'd get some coffee whilst we were waiting..." Cisco began, immediately taking the heat for their absence.

"Caitlin stipulated that she'd need thirty minutes to get set up. You've been gone for over an hour," Dr. Wells pointed out, a strong hint of disapproval colouring his tone.

Cisco looked suitably abashed, so Merry chose that moment to swiftly cut in. "I'm sorry; it was my fault," she confessed, shouldering the blame herself. She knew that Dr. Wells would have no right to be annoyed at her. Not to mention it would probably place her even higher in Cisco's good books. From the admiring look she caught from a quick sideways glance at him, she had a feeling it had worked. "It was my idea to go - I just didn't really feel like going alone. Then I guess I got a little carried away yappering on about myself... Sorry about that."

An expression that Merry couldn't read briefly crossed Dr. Wells' face, but then it smoothed back into his usual pleasant mask. "No harm done, I suppose. Though maybe next time, you should order to-go, to save Caitlin from having to wait around for you."

Merry nodded and humbly repeated her apology to Caitlin, who seemed much more mollified by it. "Don't worry about it," she assured. "I have everything set up now if you want to follow me? I wanted to do an MRI scan, some general x-rays, blood tests and a full physical."

"That's fine with me," said Merry. Her brain was suddenly whirring again at the mention of the MRI, as she tried to remember what bra she was wearing. She was sure it was one of her more decent ones. Wasn't she wearing the complete set she bought herself last Christmas?

Caitlin led her through to one of the smaller rooms, the boys following curiously. Dr. Wells remained in the Cortex, however. "I figured we'd start with the MRI scan first whilst the machine's ready," Caitlin decided. She then looked mildly apologetic. "Though I'm afraid I'm gonna need you to strip down for it."

"No problem," said Merry, unfazed.

"I do have a gown ready and there's a screen over there that you can..."

Caitlin trailed off in astonishment as Merry simply pulled her top up over her head on command in front of everyone, revealing an expanse of smooth pale skin and a sky blue lacy bra. Barry suddenly started stammering and didn't seem sure of where to look, whereas Cisco's mouth dropped open comically as he stared at the suddenly semi-naked girl in front of him.

Caitlin quickly forced a hand over his eyes and kicked him in the shin. "Out! Get out, both of you!"

Barry didn't need telling twice. He hastily helped to push a dazed Cisco out of the room. Caitlin shut the door behind them and pulled the shutters down. Merry put on a show of looking uncertain. "Err, I'm sorry... Was that weird of me?"

"A little," Caitlin admitted, not wanting to offend her. "I was going to say you can use that screen over there to get changed behind to give you some privacy."

"Oh... I guess I didn't think about it," said Merry innocently, though of course, she'd definitely thought about it. "I was on a mixed volleyball team back home and we had co-ed changing rooms, so I'm just used to it."

"Maybe for some people that's not so unusual. But these guys are more the kind you could give an embolism to doing something like that," Caitlin pointed out lightly.

So she did have a sense of humour after all. Merry hadn't seen much else other than a professional air from her so far. She laughed. "Okay, I'll remember that."

After the MRI scan, Caitlin set up some x-rays. She told Merry that the results would take a few hours and explained that none of Barry's x-rays had ever shown anything unusual, but it was still worth checking into. Like most meta humans, Merry's abilities didn't show on the outside, so although the physical exam showed that she was healthy and in good shape, it didn't really reveal anything too unusual.

"Your healing factor definitely doesn't seem to be like Barry's," Caitlin described as Merry got back into her own clothes. "It's like his muscles are always in a constant state of cellular regeneration, whereas yours appear normal. It must be something to do with the difference in the speed of your healing..."

Merry had quickly learnt that Caitlin liked to talk her way through her analysis and that she wasn't actually required to answer or voice any of her own thoughts. So she let Caitlin discuss her theories with herself and dressed quietly in the corner. She hid a smile as she pulled her shirt back on. She was sure that particular trick had gone down a treat with Cisco. Maybe once she'd successfully won him over onto her side, she could try working on Caitlin next. Suggest fitting in some girl time with her.

Blood tests came after the physical. Caitlin took a couple of vials worth of blood from the crook of Merry's arm, which she then stored away in a metal case with a large clasp on it, explaining to Merry that they were the results she was expecting to learn the most from. In turn, Merry felt a little more anxious about those. There was a chance that there could still be something lingering in her blood that she didn't want anyone else to know about. She had an excuse ready on back-up if that part of the plan did happen to go wrong, but it would still be preferable if she could keep it under wraps for longer, if not entirely.

"And you're free to go," said Caitlin, leading her back out into the Cortex. Merry had happily gone along with each of her exams without protest. "You make a very patient... well, patient."

Merry just smiled. "All in the interest of learning, right? I can hardly kick up a fuss about needles when it's for my own benefit."

"You'd be surprised. I know a scientist who doesn't like needles no matter who it benefits," Caitlin said pointedly.

"Hey, nobody likes needles," Cisco protested from behind one of the computers, not looking up, but certainly not missing who the comment was directed at.

"You're scared of needles?" Merry asked amusedly, a teasing edge entering her tone. Banter was one of the highest levels of flirtation after all.

"Everyone's allowed one irrational fear," Cisco declared.

"I thought yours was bees?" Barry cut in helpfully.

"Everyone's allowed two irrational fears," Cisco amended.

Merry laughed. "Well, if any pesky bees get in here, I promise I'll blast them for you," she grinned, holding up her hand and making a show of using her power to push a pot of pens from one end of the table to the other. Cisco approvingly matched her grin with his own.

Dr. Wells rolled back into the Cortex in his wheelchair from one of the adjoining rooms amidst the banter. His gaze flickered between Merry and Caitlin interestedly. "Well? Anything?"

"I'm hoping to get more information from the results of the blood tests and x-rays," Caitlin explained. "Until then, all I've really been able to establish is that Merry has particularly good reflexes and, as she told us herself, an unusually high level of flexibility."

"Which I, for one, would still very much like to see," Cisco interrupted, definitely distracted from the computer this time.

Caitlin rolled her eyes, but Merry was definitely willing to be cooperative. "I'm happy to demonstrate." She looked around the room for inspiration. There was an air vent in the corner, but she wasn't sure if it would really do the trick. For one thing, if was fairly wide - your average skinny person could fit through it. For another, they wouldn't really be able to watch her in action once she was in there. "Hmmm. You've got an air vent there, but that looks like it'd be too easy... Don't suppose you've got any rooms protected by laser beams?" she joked.

"If only," said Cisco wistfully.

"We do have the boiler room," Dr. Wells suggested thoughtfully, surprising Merry with his input. "There's a lot of pipes running through it, so it'd be difficult for any average person to navigate."

"Some of those pipes can get pretty hot though," Caitlin pointed out, concerned.

"But if she's as flexible as she says she is..." Dr. Wells fixed his gaze on Merry carefully, something almost daring in his tone. "Though it's your choice, of course, Miss Myrrh."

Merry stared back, trying not to seem defiant about it. "There's only one way to find out, I guess." She looked down at herself as an afterthought, plucking at her light t-shirt. "Though I might need to try it when I'm dressed more appropriately... Looser clothes like this tend to snag," she said reluctantly.

"You could always do it in your underwear," Cisco suggested, seemingly without thinking.

"Cisco!" Caitlin chastised him, mortified.

"Hey, it was just a suggestion," Cisco added hastily, though even he seemed surprised that he'd voiced his idea out loud.

Merry didn't try to hide her amusement. Instead, she used it to flash him a roguish smile. "I would, but underwear can still snag too and I'm quite fond of the set I'm wearing."

Cisco's face coloured slightly under his dark skin. He managed to say something in a strangled voice that could have been, "We wouldn't want that." Or maybe it was 'we would want that'. Merry couldn't be sure. But then Cisco suddenly seemed to have a brainwave, eliminating all traces of his embarrassment. "Oh! Wait just a second. I have an idea!"

"What?" Though Cisco had already leapt up out of his chair and ran from the Cortex.

"If he's gone to fetch you my suit, then I'm not really sure it's gonna fit you so well," Barry joked. Merry was quite a bit shorter than he was and she definitely had curves that he'd never have genetically.

Merry laughed. "That's a shame. I've always felt red quite suits me."

When Cisco ran back, he was carrying a suit, but it wasn't Barry's. It was a navy so dark that it was almost black and it stretched from the neck down to every finger and every toe. It reminded Merry of a mix between an adult sized baby-grow - though a much more skin tight one - and a wet suit, except the material was all wrong. It didn't look rubbery in the slightest. "What is it?" she asked, as Cisco all but pushed it into her hands.

"Prototype wet suit," he said excitedly. So she'd been on the right line after all. "It's made of a special type of form-fitting fabric, similar to Barry's suit. It's waterproof, but it runs on its own thermals. It won't be affected by any outside temperatures - hot or cold." He then grinned. "So hot pipes won't be a problem."

"Handy," Merry whistled, once again impressed by how deceptively smart the naive young engineer was.

"Why would you make a wet suit?" Caitlin frowned. "Are you planning any diving expeditions?"

Cisco just shrugged. "If I was gonna make a fireproof suit, then I had to make a waterproof one too."

Caitlin rolled her eyes again. "Of course you did."

"Forget the why," said Cisco impatiently, his eyes back on Merry. "I wanna see this baby in action!" Nobody was sure if, by that, he meant the suit or Merry herself.

"Err, but use the screen this time," Caitlin prompted Merry hastily, probably concerned that she was going to start stripping off again in the middle of the Cortex.

Merry smiled sheepishly. "Sure thing."

As she turned towards the room where Caitlin had done her medical exams, she heard Cisco mutter something that sounded distinctly like, "Spoilsport."

Merry's smile widened. The plan was definitely working.