Caitlin takes me back to the lab, a room with a hospital bed and more technology I don't have a name for. I always hated hospitals and doctors' offices and this felt no different. Panic pulsed through me just as it always does when a stethoscope is near. "Alright," Caitlin interrupts my anxiety attack. "Try to relax." While she applies pads on specific portions on my head, she attempts to make small talk. "So, you and Cisco seem to be getting along well."
"Oh, yeah. He seems nice." I try to sound casual, but deep down I think I might have already developed a slight crush.
She smiles knowingly, "Well, let's see what's going on." She turns on a machine that hums as it gets going. "Remember to stay calm, Lena."
I take steady deep breaths in and out, attempting to put some relaxation techniques to the test. My eye catches the jagged lines on the EEG charting my brain activity. I had to stop watching because it made me nervous. I hear Caitlin say "Hmm" to herself as she focuses on the reading. I'm dying to know what perplexes her, but I kept quiet. After what seemed like hours, which was probably only 15 minutes, she turned off the machine and removed the pads from my head. Cisco apparently was watching because just as she removed the last pad, he waltzed in the room with his hands restricted in his pockets. "So?" He urged. "What's the verdict?"
"I still see some unusual activity in her hypothalamus. It's been disputed that humans only use about 10% of our brains, but many say it's a myth. Though the percentage is unknown, most neuroscientists agree it is definitely less than 100%. Lena is somehow able to tap into more than 80% of her hypothalamus' capabilities." Caitlin furrows her brow.
Cisco mimics her concern. "What is it?"
"How does that affect the rest of her brain?" She walks over to the reading on the EEG. "I've never heard of this before. I'm not sure what it means. What are its lasting effects? Someone with too much stimulation in one area could cause a person to go insane. Do you know how much emotion she can feel? Sense? It can make a person very reactive."
Cisco seemed deep in thought.
Caitlin continued, "Also, the most unusual aspect of her condition is how she can transfer her emotions to others?" She paused thinking. "Based on what we've heard from Bar-, The Flash, the saleswoman at the mall said she felt a strong desire to give Lena the jewelry she was looking at so much so that she let her take it. But after Lena left, the saleswoman realized what she had done and called security to go after Lena."
"So she makes people feel what she's feeling, which makes them do things that they don't realize they are doing until after she leaves. It's like… an emotion override." Cisco contemplated this.
"Guys, I'm right here," I interrupt.
Caitlin regarded me carefully. "Lena, Cisco and I need to—"
"Discuss the molecular connection between your brain activity and how it initiates a reaction in others," Cisco managed. Caitlin gave him a sidelong look. "You can go in the other room and watch the movie I have on near my computer. It's Back to the Future." He adds.
Why am I not surprised a mechanical engineer genius would keep a movie about a souped-up DeLorean time machine and a kooky scientist nearby? "Alright." I resolve. Cisco smiles reassuringly at me, before I leave the lab.
I put the DVD in the computer trying to not think about Caitlin saying I could go insane.
As "The Power of Love" plays, I see Cisco and Caitlin talking in the lab. Caitlin is pointing to the EEG and referencing to something on the monitor that's facing away from me. I can't see what is on it, but it makes Cisco twist his mouth in thought. He shakes his head as Caitlin continues to talk as though chastising him. Cisco looks in my direction, his eyes look sad; he snaps away from me when he catches my stare. I quickly bring my attention back to the movie. My mind reels around what they could be discussing. It's clearly about me. I don't like how the discussion is affecting Cisco. It can't be good.
I was watching them so intently that when an alert popped up on one of the monitors nearby, I jumped. It showed a black and green map of what appeared to be the city. There was a red dot flashing with a code popping up next to it. "Uh… Guys!" I shouted out to them. They didn't seem to hear. So, I jogged over to the room and yelled, "Guys! There's some kind of alarm going off on one of the monitors. A red dot flashing—"
"I'll call … The Flash." Caitlin didn't hesitate. She immediately made the call.
Cisco darted for the monitor. "On 2nd and 40th street. Armed robbery in action."
Caitlin nodded as she spoke on the phone. She joined us once she hung up.
I paused the movie. "So, this is how it all goes down?"
Cisco spoke first, "Can you hear me, Flash?" He regarded me. "If you keep in a straight line, you should make it in 2.3 minutes."
"Cool." I was surprised how in awe I sounded. I always wondered how this worked.
In about ten minutes, The Flash zipped in the Flash Fortress exhausted. Caitlin placed a hand on his back, "Come on, let me check you out." She walked him back as he limped favoring his right leg.
That left Cisco and I alone. My mind spun as I contemplated the discussion he and Caitlin had in the lab, the fact that I'm here, and that I am pathokenetic, which might lead to me going insane. There was an uneasy silence that made my stomach tingle. Uh, oh. The tingle felt like when your foot falls asleep. I could feel it stretch out like invisible static filled tendrils. A quote from Casper came to mind when he described what he's made out of: "You know that feeling when your foot falls asleep; I think I'm made of that." That is exactly how I felt when this happens, like an ectoplasmic mass. "It's happening." I said to myself.
Cisco slid his chair closer to mine and took my hand in his. His thumb brushed the top of my hand soothingly. I let the moment sink in, enjoying that brief feeling of comfort that I so needed right now. I indulged in the compassion in Cisco's eyes until I resolved I needed to break the moment since I had a bad feeling Cisco's gesture was of my volition, not of his. I closed my eyes and ripped my hand away.
"Caitlin!" I yelled. She showed herself in the doorway from the lab. "What?" She sounded concerned.
"I did it again."
"The pathokinesis?" She asked.
"To Cisco." I couldn't look at him.
The Flash peeked his head out of the room and my eyes opened in surprise.
Cisco and I both screamed at an unusual high pitch, "Your face, Barry!" Cisco yelped. And then, he giggled.
I wasn't sure what shocked me more Cisco and I's synchronized girlish squeal, probably still connected to my emotions, or the fact that I actually saw the face of The Flash. His features hidden from the mask revealed a delicate nose placed with his blue eyes that I already noticed made for a very pleasant combination.
Caitlin snapped me out of my appreciation. "Barry…Your mask."
"Oops." The face usually hidden appeared nonchalant in comparison to the others.
"Yeah, 'Oops,'" Caitlin chastised.
He stepped into the room without a hint of a limp. Interesting. I guess his super speed translates to speedy healing, too. "Well, I guess the secret's out now. We can trust you, right?" He stuck his hand out to me. "I'm Barry."
I shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you…"
"Barry," He finished for me.
"Right, Barry." I looked at him sideways. So weird.
The tingle in my stomach finally disappeared. Cisco shook his head like a dog shakes water from its fur. "Did I just scream like a fan girl at Comic Con?"
Caitlin pursed her lips concealing laughter and nodded her head, while Barry blurted, "Yep, and giggled like a school girl."
I looked down wishing that never had happened. Cisco eyed me, "Wait… did I just get mind zapped?"
Chewing on my bottom lip, I nodded. "Sorry."
"Sweet." Cisco seemed to be taking it way better than I had imagined.
"You're not mad?" I asked.
"Naw, emotion override is definitely a trip." He crossed his arms over his chest.
Caitlin looked pensive. "Cisco, do you think you could manufacture some type of device that she could wear that would monitor her brain activity and her blood pressure at all times. I'd like to catch her brain and emotions in the act of its—"
"Pathokenesis," Cisco shouted like a kid pointing at a new Lego set. "I think I have something that could work."
"Of course you do." Caitlin beamed. Then, she turned back to me. "What were you thinking this time when it happened?"
I paused for a moment. "Uh… I was thinking about the nostalgia of watching Back to the Future." I lied. "And, of course, the shock of seeing the face behind The Flash."
"And, what did Cisco do?"
"Well, you saw what Cisco did," I answered, referencing to his squeal.
"That was pretty funny." Barry laughs thinking about it.
Cisco shoots him a look that screams shut-up.
Barry closed his mouth, stifling his chuckle.
"Cisco, why don't you get to work on that portable EEG? And I'll research if anyone has confessed experiencing something similar to Lena." With that, Caitlin slipped back into the lab.
Barry appeared in the room dressed in casual wear. "Is anyone hungry? I'm starving. Who wants Mexican?"
I meekly raised my hand. I was starving! Looking at the time on the computer, it was 9 pm. No wonder I'm famished.
"Beef burrito and large Pepsi for me," Cisco shouted.
"I'll have a beef taco and chips & salsa," I said.
Caitlin pokes her head out of the lab. "Chicken Fajitas for me."
"Alright, so that's a beef burrito and large Pepsi for Cisco, beef taco and chips & salsa for Lena, chicken fajitas for Caitlin, and—
"with a side of guacamole!" Caitlin added.
"With a side of guac for Caitlin, and 52 tacos for me." He smiled and was gone in, well, a flash. It still feels weird that I know who he is.
"You'll get used to it." Cisco nudged my shoulder. He must have noticed my strange look.
"Did he say 52 tacos?" That sounds like a lot to me.
"You burn a lot of calories when you move at the speed of light," Cisco quipped. That made me laugh. "But seriously, he's created his own sonic boom." He boasted like a proud father.
"Wow, that's fast!"
"Right?" Cisco leaned over to see the monitor in front of me, referencing to the movie. "What? You didn't watch it on the big screen?"
"There's a big screen?" Of course there's a big screen.
"Watch this!" Cisco rolled me to the center of the room and walked over to a switch on the wall. Sure enough a big screen slid down from the ceiling.
"Nice," I noted.
He glanced over at me, "Now, this is how you watch Doc Brown's DeLorean hit 88," and sunk back in his chair.
There were a few moments of silence. I wanted to talk to him, but now didn't seem like the right time. Apparently, he seemed to think it was.
"Yeah know?" He felt much closer to me now. "Barry can time travel."
There's no end to how much he'll brag about that guy. Really, I can't blame him. His friend is a superhero after all. "No way!" I said. That is pretty freaking awesome. "I have so many questions."
Cisco's demeanor changed. "But, Lena," his eyes turned dark, "time travel is no joke. Trust me. You do not want to mess with it."
It seemed like I had touched some kind of nerve, so I consider a change of subject. "So—"
"Why did you lie?" Cisco stopped me. Thank god, I had no idea what I was going to say.
"Lie? What do you mean?" I asked.
His head fell to the side. "Come on, Lena. I remember what I did when you mind zapped me. It was pretty innocent."
"Oh." I became very focused on the screen "watching" the movie. "I don't know. I didn't want… I guess I was… I—"
"What were you really thinking?" His eyes felt like they were reaching inside my mind this time. Speaking calmly, he added, "I get the feeling you avoided telling them about what I did to protect an emotion you didn't want to share." He offered a crooked grin, "I don't judge."
Before I could say anything, Caitlin walked in staring at an iPad. "Okay, so it appears there have been studies dating back to the 19th century on people who claimed they could read minds, which isn't exactly what we're dealing with, but it's close." When Caitlin finally looked at us, she seemed to notice something weird was going on. "Okay… Should I…?" She pointed back to the lab. "Hey!" She looked at Cisco. "Aren't you supposed to be building us something?"
Cisco jerked up. "Oh, right. Just doing some calculations before I get started." He glanced at me and frowned.
My hair swooshed up and Barry appeared, finishing off a taco in one hand and holding a bag full of our food orders in the other. He divvied out our food, but when he got to Cisco, he was reminded that he forgot his Pepsi. He said he'd go back, but Cisco told him it was fine.
Caitlin cleared her throat, "Lena, would you mind coming here?" She gestured into the lab. Cisco cooed, "Oooo…Girl talk!"
Caitlin and I both shook our heads. "I don't mind," I said, as I rose to meet Caitlin. I turned back to find Barry joining Cisco, who was actually working. I walked back with Caitlin slightly worried why I was being brought back to the lab. Hopefully, it was just for 'girl talk.'