Cisco had invited me this late morning to S.T.A.R. Labs because he wanted to talk something over with me.
"I get a costume?!" I exclaimed, most happily. I love dressing up!
"Not a costume, please!" he corrected me with a crooked smile. "Suit. A suit that fits your very important duty as a superhero."
"I wouldn't call myself…" I started but stopped. "Sorry. Go on!"
The main purpose for making me a suit is to prevent my identity from being exposed and my clothes from burning up. That is, if I'll ever use my powers in public again... which I surely will.
"I thought you, being so creative and all, would like to assist in creating the design."
I tapped him on the shoulder and grinned.
"You're so right, my friend!"
We sat there for several hours, way past lunchtime. It started quietly with him taking my measurements and then it turned into an endless discussion about how this suit will look like. Cape? Nope. Dress? Will only be in the way. Skirt?
"Yes, but I don't like the idea of having my legs bare."
The previously blank papers he had set up on an extra table were filled with doodles and notes.
"What color should it have?" I asked.
Cisco mentioned the rather old-fashioned idea of having the suit matching the "color" of my powers.
"Red? No way, Barry's the red one!"
Cisco laughed slightly.
"Yeah, that would look kind of quirky." He changed to a theatrical voice. "The Flash and... Someone Who Has No Imagination Of Her Own! Everyone would think you're a couple. What about yellow?"
I pretended to vomit and told him that yellow is a way too sterile color that doesn't go well with my hair. He sighed and asked me what my favorite color is.
"Green!" The ideas started pouring through me like they were being sucked out by a vacuum cleaner. I took the pen from him and started sketching. "Oh, oh! A stretchable moss green jumpsuit... with an open skirt over the hips and thighs… Long sleeves…"
Cisco pointed at the picture.
"And a wide V-neck!" he added, smiling.
"And the end of the sleeves can be a bit pointy, kind of fairy-like, with three lines of other colors. Pink, red and…"
"Blue!"
We laughed and I said that he was getting the hang of it. Barry entered just in time and looked at us rather surprised. By then we were eating chocolate truffles on the floor with sketches all around us in one wonderful mess.
"Have I missed something?" Barry asked and squinted next to me.
"We're designing my suit!"
He looked at Cisco.
"How come I didn't get to design mine?"
"Because I knew exactly what you wanted." was Cisco's reply and the two giggled.
"That's true." Barry confirmed. "This looks really good! But wouldn't you like to have a mask, Olivia?"
I smiled meaningly at him.
"You mean a hooded cap, just like yours? No, thanks. Imagine the hat hair I'd get!"
We laughed and Barry pointed out that he hadn't figured me of being a shallow person and I said good, cause I'm not. (Hopefully...)
"I think I want a mask! But not one that covers my entire face. Just the eyes."
Barry nodded.
"We can use compressible micro fabric for that."
My phone rang just in time, cause the boys started talking over the more scientific parts of this project (and I couldn't possibly help them). It was Lauren, she wanted me to print out some documents for her since the copy machine at the museum was broken. I got up on my feet.
"Listen, Olivia, if something happens or there's anything you need - just call." said Barry with the most sincere gaze. "I mean it."
I sensed the warming light inside my chest and couldn't avoid feeling happy.
"Thank you." I looked from Barry to Cisco. "Both of you."
The History of Central City Museum consists of two (very big) brick buildings. One of them is the permanent museum while the other is used for temporary exhibitions. Both were built in 1876 and used to be the homes of two rather bearded explorers, but nowadays it's the place where you can learn about our city's heritage. The brown stairs that lead up to the entrance have about 55 steps, I'd say.
I walked into the large, white corridor that separates the two buildings and was met by chaos: Filled carts were being pushed around all over and the staff roared the place like a cattle set free! Still, they all knew exactly what they were doing. (More than people on my dance rehearsals, anyway.)
"Olivia!" Lauren called out to me and her face was blank with sweat. "Thank Goodness you're here! Do you have my papers?"
The copy machine at S.T.A.R. Labs had done its work brilliantly and Lauren sighed deeply when I handed them to her. Then she gave away a laugh and walked away a few paces, only to almost rub the papers in the face of her co-worker. (She told me later that he'd doubted her in some matter and the documents were proof that she was right all along.)
"Things seem a little more tangled here than usual." I pointed out as a couple of men carried a wax doll over our heads.
"They are! An exhibition is due in a couple of weeks and it needs a lot of space, so we're clearing up the Great Hall."
Wow. Then it has to be huge, cause the Great Hall is truly… Great. I remember seeing a public display about chinese queer culture in there once.
"But tell me, how are things going?" Lauren wondered and seemed to forget about all the fuss around her.
I smiled and said in a lowered voice that Barry and the team are making me a superhero suit.
"They are so amazing, all of them! Clever and considerate and also really funny when the moment's right…"
"I'm glad to hear it! But, you know, I meant how things are going with Eric?"
Did you see that coming? I didn't! The mere thought of him made my smile become tense and I got that funny feeling in my stomach. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Fine."
I couldn't stall Lauren anymore so I headed towards the elevator. I figured I'd go home and have some quality time with my brother.
"Hold it!" a man exclaimed and when I looked up I saw that it was Dr. Kirsch again! He smiled widely while his dark eyebrows climbed up on his forehead. "Miss Zoe? This is starting to become a habit!"
"You took the words right out of my mouth, doctor." I greeted as the doors closed behind us. "What are you doing here?"
He confessed that he was working.
"You're not at the hospital anymore?"
"Sadly, no. I resigned with the intention of unfolding possibilities to a larger amount of people. You see, most of us live every day in the illusion that we can do nothing to better our living situations. You carry on with the same old job, and hobbies, for the rest of your life because you feel that you can do no better. My aim is to change that."
I smiled when I realized what he was talking about: He's the man behind the new exhibition!
"Correct! I want this to be a place where people can find inspiration. Lots of different working fields and activities will be presented under one roof… In fact, why don't you come at the opening?"
The elevator stopped at the entrance floor and I nodded.
"Let each man exercise the art he knows!" I quoted the Greek playwright Aristophanes and walked out. "Or in this case, the art he doesn't know he knows."
Dr. Kirsch smiled most obligingly and repeated the line - but IN GREEK! (I remember how it sounds, cause my drama teacher read it once.) I said I was impressed by his hidden skill and he smiled, very obligingly.
"I'm sure you, Miss Zoe, have many more talents just waiting to be noticed!"
His sentence touched the underlying truth so much that it made me freeze! I think I'm growing paranoid. He hasn't given me a reason to suspect him for anything, but still, he's way too charming for his own good.
"So you're saying that The Flash will run to your aid whenever you want?" Adam wondered as his purple car drove past my red one on the TV. On our quality time we usually play ModNation Racers. (Childish? You just try it!)
I answered that he probably would, that's kind of what he said anyway. Adam snorted.
"I wouldn't take that too literally if I were you! A busy superhero like The Flash has to have lots of priorities that come before you, Olive."
I don't like being called that! When Adam didn't believe me (perhaps reasonably) I became really stubborn to show him right but I also wanted Barry to come over... I paused the game and got up to fetch my phone.
"Barry." I said when he answered. "Code red!"
I gave Adam an I-told-you-so look and opened the front door. Three seconds after, Barry speeded in almost making my brother jump out of the sofa. Barry looked around and when he saw my smiling face, he sighed and closed his eyes.
"There is no emergency." he said and I simply ignored the truthful observation.
"Hi Barry!" I greeted and closed the door. "Adam, this is Barry. The Flash!"
"Hang on a second, Olivia!" Barry exclaimed and took a step closer to me. "What do you think you're doing? You can't just tell everyone you know that I'm The Flash!"
Now Adam was standing and he mumbled something about him never sending the knowledge forward. Barry's truly concerned face made me realize my stupidity.
"You're right. I'm sorry." Then I came to think of something. "How many of your family members know about me?"
The question caught him off guard.
"Ah… Two. Iris and my stepdad."
I grinned with new confidence and said that I've only told Lauren and Adam - that makes us even! Barry actually agreed and let me off with a warning not to mess with the "code red" again.
"I give you my word. So... Do you wanna play?"
I totally kicked their butts in video game car racing! Ironically enough, Barry finished last every time but after an hour he got better. When the two losers were playing against each other, Adam raptly excused himself to go to the bathroom.
"He just had to do that when I was about to win!" Barry pointed out.
I smiled and took a slurp of soda.
"You can always challenge him to a run. Or better, finish the game while he's in there! It might take a while."
"Hard stomach?"
"More like concealed vanity." I corrected with a grin. "I blame my mom."
The thought of her made my smile disappear and I took another slurp. Barry observed my facial expression and wondered what was on my mind. I didn't hesitate to tell him that, up till the age of thirteen, Adam got to have both mom and dad around. He could go to dad whenever he had trouble with school or mom if he wanted to do something fun. She was a marvelous party planner!
"She also had a habit of caring about her looks and I say Adam got that from her, since I didn't get to spend as much time with her." I was only being half-serious.
There was a short silence before Barry dared asking me a question.
"What happened to her?"
"She left when I was seven." I said, barely letting him finish. "Not just our house but this country. She's in Australia now and has a new family... She calls me once every three months and we chat plainly for about five minutes. Then she has to go."
I clocked Barry's look and he seemed sincerely sad. I smiled and he returned it.
"You're not on fire." he observed. "That means your okay with it?"
That's probably true. I like things as they are at present and choose to be happy. I picked up Adam's remote control and beat Barry in another race, even if he had taken the lead when playing with Adam. (What can I say - I'm the master!) Afterwards, Barry cleared his throat and enlightened me on the true story about Dr. Wells:
"His real name isn't Harrison Wells, it's Eobard Thawne. He killed the actual Dr. Wells sixteen years ago and took on the appearance of him. He murdered my mother."
Barry continued by saying that this Thawne is kind of his archenemy and that he's another metahuman with speed powers - from the future! Not too long ago Barry had a chance to go back in time and save his mom, but he wasn't willing to lose everything he has now.
"This job, this life, Cisco and Caitlin…Iris." Barry smiled at a memory. "I wouldn't trade them for anything. So I let him go home."
My respect for Barry deepened by this. I can understand why someone would choose either one of the options, since both are about keeping people you love.
Olivia Zoe
27th of April 2015