"Dr. Wells, you need to get to the Cortex, like, right now." Britney heard Cisco's voice over the STAR Labs Intercom. Wait. STAR Labs intercom? What-?

Then she remembered. The particle accelerator! It had gone terribly wrong and-

She remembered a flash of light, like a force field, coming closer and closer. She remembered pain. But then, was she dead? No, she couldn't be, could she? But then…?

She registered movement beside her and something warm was taken out of her hand. She tried to close her fingers on it, because she was so cold, but her fingers wouldn't obey her. Panic began to rise in her chest. Was she dead? No… no, she couldn't be dead, could she? She felt like she was lying on something kinda soft, but with something hard underneath it, like metal. And maybe blankets? There was something that felt scratchy against her sensitive skin. She wasn't dead, then, just paralyzed for the moment. Panic rose in her again. What if this was permanent? What if she were stuck like this, forever listening to that damn EKG machine? What if-?

It's not permanent, calm down. A voice echoed from the recesses of her mind.

Who-who are you? Britney asked timidly.

You don't recognize the voice of your conscience? The female voice asked in a tone of amusement.

Azriella? My imaginary friend? Britney asked.

The one and only. But don't fret. You will wake and will be able to move soon enough. Replied Azriella. In the meantime, I would suggest singing to yourself.

What should I sing?

Something lively.

Britney obeyed.

After a while, Britney felt herself twitch. That was encouraging. She heard voices in the hallway outside. She tried to call out, but the voices moved on, and she wasn't sure she had actually vocalized anything.

Be patient. Azriella ordered. You've been in a coma for nine months, you're not going to recover in ten minutes. Easy does it.

So, Britney waited, singing to herself some more.

Some ten minutes later, or as near to ten minutes as she could figure, a squeak sounded by her bed. Something warm slipped into her hand again.

"Britney," Dr. Wells' soft voice sounded beside her, "I am sorry about what happened to you that night. I will do everything in my power to make it up to you. Please, please wake up."

Britney felt her eyelashes flutter of their own accord, a single tear streamed down her face. The warm thing in her hand tightened around said hand.

"Britney? Britney, can you hear me? Britney?" Dr. Wells' voice seemed intensified somehow, despite not picking up in volume.

"Dr. Wells?" Cisco's voice called from the hallway, "shouldn't we be focusing our attention on Barry right now?"

Barry? Who was Barry? Britney instantly felt herself grow jealous. Dr. Wells apparently did not like the question either, because Cisco's reply was a muttered, "Right, sorry." And receding footsteps.

"Britney?" Dr. Wells' voice was even softer now, but was still laced with an edge of desperation. "Britney, please wake up."

Azzie? Can I wake up now? He sounds worried for some reason.

I will help you.

With Azriella's assistance, Britney was finally able to open her eyes. The face of Harrison Wells greeted her. He was sitting beside her, his hand in hers. Wait, sitting? Was that a-?

"Yeah, I'm in a wheelchair now. It happened the same night you went into a coma." Dr. Wells said, noticing her staring.

"I-" Britney's voice cracked and felt mumble-y. "I'm sorry, Dr. Wells-"

"No, Britney, I alone am responsible for putting myself in this chair. I earned the blame and I'm not interested in sharing it."

"I still shouldn't have stared. I'm sorry."

Dr. Wells scoffed. He squeezed her hand and let go.

"I'll have Caitlin come in and have a look at you." He said, then began to wheel away.

"Dr. Wells?" she called after him.

"Yes?"

"Thank you," said Britney, "for not letting me wake up alone, that is."

"You're welcome." Dr. Wells smiled at her. "But you need a doctor and some rest. I'll leave you alone, for the time being."

Caitlin came in a while later, but she wasn't the vibrant Dr. Snow, the ice queen with the sunlight glittering out of her that she remembered. This Caitlin had a blank expression, terrible bedside manner, and dead brown eyes.

"Caitlin?" Britney finally ventured to ask. "Is everything all right?"

"My once promising career in bioengineering is over. My boss is in a wheelchair for life, and the explosion that put you in a coma killed Ronnie, so no, everything is not all right."

"I'm sorry." Britney responded sincerely.

"It's not your fault. It's nobody's fault." Caitlin seemed determined to defend Dr. Wells. Changing the subject, Caitlin said, "You have a mostly clean bill of health. Just a little more rest and some food and you should be back on your feet next week." Caitlin turned to go.

"Dr. Snow?" Britney called after her, "How long was I out?"

"Nine months." Caitlin left the room.

Nine months? How could Azriella have been so accurate?

Don't worry about it for now. Concentrate on getting better, and I promise I will explain everything later.

So, Britney, having nothing else to do, went back to sleep. Eventually.

(Page Break)

When Britney woke up, she heard arguing.

"There is no way he can run that fast." Cisco was saying.

"Well, let's do some tests and see what happens. Besides, he may create sonic booms if he runs as fast as he says he can." Dr. Wells' voice replied.

"That would be awesome!" Cisco said excitedly.

Britney looked over to the entryway to her "bedroom" at STAR Labs. Caitlin had not given her the green light to go home yet and she woke up often on her uncomfortable bed. Dr. Wells and Cisco were moving past her entryway now, clearly not having noticed she was awake. She tossed off her sheets and padded after them, barefoot. She was colder than she had been under the thin blankets. The floor beneath her feet felt like ice, but she continued in her pursuit regardless.

"Anyway, even if he is crazy, this may be our only chance to do tests on him. He refused the tests earlier, remember?" Dr. Wells continued.

"Hey, what are we talking about?" Britney asked, figuring her loud steps had already given her away.

"Nothing you need concern yourself with, Ms. Stuart." Dr. Wells replied. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" he continued.

Britney fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "I can't sleep and I got curious, sorry."

"Curiosity makes for an excellent scientific mind, Ms. Stuart, but I do caution restraint." Dr. Wells said, a small hint of amusement in his voice.

"Why can't you sleep?" Cisco asked.

"The bed you guys gave me is kinda uncomfortable. I don't know who designs these things-"

"I do." Cisco interrupted. "What, you don't like my work?"

"I'm sure your work is fine, Cisco." Dr. Wells responded, saving Britney further embarrassment.

"We were just discussing Barry Allen," Dr. Wells continued, "He thinks he can run pretty fast."

"Oh, ok." Said Britney.

"Now, you, should get to bed until Caitlin clears you to go home."

"Sure thing, Dr. Wells!" Britney said, giving him a silly salute as she turned away.

Really? She thought to herself.

(Page Break)

"He had a what that healed when?" Britney exclaimed.

Caitlin almost smiled. Dr. Wells was definitely smiling.

"We're going to give him the results right now, you wanna come with?" Cisco asked.

"No thanks. I think all of us in the room might overwhelm him. Maybe I could go for a burger run?" Britney asked, looking askance at Caitlin.

"You most certainly may not!" Caitlin exclaimed. "You need more rest!"

Britney sighed, then bid everyone goodbye and headed toward the STAR Labs bedroom. About twenty minutes later, Dr. Wells knocked on her open door.

"May I come in?" he asked.

"Sure, I mean, it is your building, isn't it? That sounded a lot less rude in my head, I'm sorry-"

Dr. Wells put up a hand to silence her. "Quite all right," he said, "I wanted to ask you something."

"OK, shoot." Said Britney.

"Are you, by any chance, jealous of Barry Allen?" Dr. Wells asked.

"What, me? Jealous? Of course not!" Britney lied.

Dr. Wells gave her the I-am-not-buying-it look.

"Well, maybe a little-"

Still not buying it, his look said.

"All right, I'm jealous, but can you blame me? He heals a bone fracture in three hours and runs at super speed-"

"That's not why you're jealous, would you mind being honest with me?" Dr. Wells asked, starting to get impatient.

"It's just… I know this is going to sound terrible, but he's already so close with all of you and I- I don't have many friends. I know you were there for me when I woke up, but…" Britney trailed off.

Dr. Wells tilted his head to one side and down while raising an eyebrow.

"Well," he said, "I feel responsible for putting you in that coma Ms. Stuart-"

"You know," she ventured boldly, "Before the accelerator went all to hell, you were starting to call me Britney."

"Britney," he continued, "I am truly sorry. I just thought, after everything, formality was the way to go. I'm sorry for putting you in a coma. I'm sorry for seeming a bit formal. I promise, on my life, I will make it up to you. Look, if you ever need to talk, I'm always here for you."

"Thank you, Dr. Wells."

"My pleasure," he said, before leaving the sap fest.

(Page break)

"I wasn't the only one affected by the particle accelerator explosion was I?!" Barry walked in furiously.

"Hello again, Barry. This is Britney. I know you two haven't met yet-" Dr. Wells began.

"Introductions can wait!" yelled Barry. "You said the city was safe, that there was no residual danger! But that's not true, so what really happened that night?"

Cisco and Caitlin refused to look at Barry.

"Maybe we should calm down and talk this out-" Britney began, disturbed from all the yelling.

"This is me talking it out! What happened that night?" Barry demanded.

"Well, the accelerator went active. We all felt like heroes, and then… it all went wrong. The dimensional barrier ruptured… unleashing unknown energies into our world. Antimatter, dark matter, X elements-" Wells explained.

"Those are all theoretical." Barry refused to believe it.

"And how theoretical are you? We mapped the dispersion throughout and around Central City, though we have no idea what or who was exposed. We've been searching for other meta-humans like yourself." Britney could see that Wells was starting to lose his patience. She suspected that, like her, Dr. Wells did not appreciate being shouted at.

"Meta-humans?" Barry asked.

"That's what we're calling them." Said Caitlin.

"I saw one today. He's a bank robber. He can control the weather." Said Barry.

"This just keeps getting cooler." Said Cisco breathlessly.

"This is not cool! Alright? A man died!" Barry exclaimed.

Cisco's smile dropped.

"Marden must have gotten his powers the same way I did," Barry continued, "From the storm cloud. He's still out there! We have to stop him before he hurts anyone else."

"Barry, that's a job for the police." Dr. Wells said.

"I work for the police."

"As a forensic assistant."

"You're responsible for this. For him."

"What's important is you!" For maybe the second time since she had known him, Dr. Wells raised his voice. "Not me," he continued more quietly. "I lost everything. I lost my company. I lost my reputation. I lost my freedom. " Dr. Wells clenched his fist, then jabbed his finger at Barry. "And then you broke your arm and it healed in three hours! Inside your body could be a map to a whole new world. Genetic therapies, vaccines, medicines, treasures buried deep within your cells. And we cannot risk it all because you want to go out and play hero! You're not a hero. You're just a young man who was struck by lightning."

Barry turned, then left in a huff.

There was a very pregnant pause and then, Britney had to ask.

"Dr. Wells?"

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Am I- I was put into a coma by the particle accelerator too, am I one of these... these meta-humans?"

"It's possible. Your DNA was altered by the explosion, but not enough to show on our preliminary tests. We had to run extra tests on you to make sure." Dr. Wells put his hands behind his head and studied her.

"But I can't control the weather or run really fast…"

"It is possible that any powers of yours simply have yet to manifest. Please, let us know if anything unusual happens."

"Sure thing, Dr. Wells. Caitlin, are you sure I can't go on a burger run? I'm starving."

"Fine," Caitlin gave in. "Take Cisco with you."

"Why do I have to go?" Cisco asked slowly, confusion in his voice.

"To make sure she doesn't faint. And I don't want her driving, either!"

"All right." Cisco replied.

"So, what does everyone want? I think we're going to Big Belly Burger."

"Just get the usual for us, Britney." Caitlin said.

"Ok then!" Britney replied after receiving a confirmation nod from Dr. Wells.

Shortly after they all finished eating, Barry came back, this time much calmer. He set down several boxes and laid out a map of Central City.

"I've been going over unsolved cases in the last nine months, and there's been a sharp increase in unexplained deaths and missing people. Your meta-humans have been busy. I'm not blaming you. I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen. I know you all lost something. But I need your help to catch Marden and anyone else out there like him. I can't do it without you." Barry said.

"If we're gonna do this, I have something that might help." Cisco grinned, then walked to his lab. Britney, Caitlin and Barry followed.

"Something I've been playing with." Cisco spun around a dummy on an upright steel slab wearing what appeared to be a red leather suit. "It's designed to replace the turnouts firefighters usually wear. I thought if STAR Labs did something nice, maybe people wouldn't be so angry at Dr. Wells." He explained to Britney's questioning look.

"How is it gonna help me?" asked Barry.

"It's made of a reinforced tri-polymer. It's heat and abrasive resistant so it should withstand your moving at high-velocity speeds. And the aerodynamic design should help you maintain control. Plus, it has built in sensors so we can track your vitals and stay in contact with you from here." Said Cisco.

"Thanks," said Barry, "How do we find Marden?"

"I re-tasked the STAR Labs satellite to track meteorological abnormalities," said Caitlin while tapping on a tablet. "We just got a ping. Atmospheric pressure dropped 20 millibars in a matter of seconds. I've tracked it to a farm just west of the city."

Barry nodded and took another look at the suit before taking off in a flash of yellow lightning.

"Barry!" said Cisco from the Cortex, "Barry can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear!" replied Barry, shouting over the wind.

"If this keeps up, it could become an F-5 tornado."

"And it's headed towards the city! How do I stop it? Guys?!"

"What if he ran around it in the opposite direction?" asked Britney.

"That won't work-" Caitlin began.

"What if I ran around it in the opposite direction?" asked Barry, clearly not having heard the prior conversation.

"He'd have to clock 700 mph to do that." Said Cisco.
"Your body may not be able to handle those speeds, you could die." Caitlin informed Barry.

"I have to try," called Barry.

So, Barry tried.

"Told you the suit would hold up!" Crowed Cisco.

"But he isn't." Snapped Caitlin.

"He can do it. I know he can do it." Replied Cisco.

"It's too strong!" called Barry.

"You can do this Barry," said Dr. Wells, appearing out of literally nowhere like the sexy shade master that he was. "You were right. I am responsible for all of this. So many people have been hurt because of me, and when I looked at you, all I saw was another potential victim of my hubris. And yes, I created this madness, but you, Barry, you can stop it. Now run, Barry, run!"

The sound of whooshing and groaning filled the Cortex, then stopped.

"Barry!" Called Caitlin.

"Barry!" She called again, after a pause.

"It's over. I'm okay." Everyone smiled in relief. Everyone except Britney, but no one noticed. Or so she thought.

"Britney? You okay?" asked Dr. Wells.

"I'm fine, I just- I think I should go for another burger run. Guy's gotta work up an appetite running that fast." She looked over at Cisco. "Celebratory burger run?"

Cisco grinned. "Celebratory Burger Run!"