"So," began Caitlin, "since you're not Barry we'll drive you to this warehouse and you can do your thing."

"There's got to be a better way to phrase that," winced Cisco.

Claudia laughed, and twirled in her new dress.

They all piled into the car with Caitlin driving. "Are you nervous?" asked Claudia. The doctor was biting her bottom lip and holding the wheel tighter than usual.

Caitlin replied, but was still facing the road and Claudia couldn't see her lips well enough to get what she was saying.

"Pardon?"

Thankfully, they stopped at a traffic light, and Caitlin was able to turn to the younger girl. "I'm worried about you and Barry."

"I'll be careful. This isn't the first time I've been in danger nor will it be the last."

Caitlin nodded. "Thanks. You're just…"

"Deaf?"

"No, young. We're all in our 20s and you're 15! You should still be in school. Speaking of, why aren't you in school? Isn't that illegal?"

"Um…"

Cisco was silently listening to their conversation. Claudia was meant to be at school? They should probably ask Jem about that whenever they next saw him.

"Well, Barry has a job!" argued Claudia. "He drops out on that to fight crime."

"A job isn't the same as school!"

"Isn't it?"

The traffic lights changed, cutting their conversation short. Caitlin gripped the wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. Cisco leaned forward and vibrated his hand just under where Claudia was looking. She turned in her seat to face him.

"You need to go to school. We could be arrested!" he said.

"Let me worry about that. But first, we need to rescue Barry," sighed Claudia.

They reached the warehouse, and Caitlin stopped the car. They got out, and walked to the door. Claudia noticed something and stopped. A young woman walked out of a side door, noticed them then turned as if she was about to run, but instead jumped onto the roof in one single bound.

"A metahuman," Cisco whispered.

The meta smirked at them then jumped back down and slipped inside.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say she has Barry in there," said Claudia.

The two scientists nodded. "This is what we prepared for," said Caitlin.

Claudia nodded and headed inside slowly. The metahuman saw her immediately. She moved in front of Barry who was tied and gagged in a chair, wearing his flash suit. Claudia took a step forwards and stretched out her hand.

"Just hand him over and nobody gets hurt," she said slowly, as if speaking to a frightened animal. On closer inspection she was even younger than Claudia herself and looked terrified.

"Why should I?" asked the meta. She used a penknife to cut Barry's bonds and leapt onto the rafters.

Claudia sighed, "come down if you want to speak."

The meta presumably replied, but Claudia had no way of knowing. Something flickered just above her line of sight, and she looked at the ceiling. The meta had opened some sort of skylight, and the roof was folding back. Great.

If I could move that key, maybe I can do the same with this chair, she thought. Leaping onto the chair, Claudia focused as hard as she could and the chair began to float. She saw the meta leap onto the remainder of the roof and anger welled up in her. She better not hurt Barry! The chair shuddered and fell back down. New plan, fast. She saw a ladder at the other end of the warehouse and sprinted towards it and climbed. As soon as she reached the roof, Barry strained against the meta's grip.

"We can talk this out," said Claudia.

"No, we can't. and now all of Central City will see the Flash is nothing but a regular guy and these powers are nothing but a curse," said the meta. She pushed Barry closer to the edge.

"Wait!" shouted Claudia, reaching out to both of them. "It doesn't have to be like this!"

"Yes," said the meta, "it does." She pushed Barry off the edge, then reeled back in horror at what she had done.

Claudia reached out with her mind to Barry and froze him as soon as he reached terminal velocity. He was screaming, she could feel the vibrations in the air. "See," she said to the young girl, "you're not the only one with powers. It's not a curse, we can help you."

She lowered Barry to the ground where Caitlin and Cisco looked after him. She then led the meta towards the van. "My name is Claudia Wells, we help people like you, people with powers," she explained.

"You mean there's more?" asked the meta.

"Lots more," said Caitlin. "You and Claudia are the only teenagers we've encountered, though."

"You're going to help me?"

"Yes," smiled Claudia. "They helped me."

The meta walked towards Barry, "I'm sorry I tried to kill you."

"You're not the first," he laughed. "It's ok."

Back at S.T.A.R. labs

"I was sure pogo-pins was going to kill Barry," whispered Cisco.

"Pogo-pins, really?" Caitlin shook her head. "And anyway, Claudia saved the day. She always does."

"Yeah, the world always underestimates deaf teenage girls with superpowers."

In the other room, the meta was speaking to Barry and Claudia.

"My name is Mavi Hutton, I am – was – a regular 12-year-old. I was playing on my trampoline when the Accelerator exploded and, well, you saw what I can do. I became a freak. My friends refused to speak to me, my family hid me in case some secret organisation caught wind of me. Again, I'm sorry I tried to kill you, but I just wanted people to know… I don't know what I wanted."

Claudia put a hand on Mavi's arm. "It's alright. We'll help you use your abilities for good."

"Thank you."

"I have a name!" Cisco announced as he entered the room. "The Highriser."

AN - the next chapter will be the last, then there will be the sequel After Dawn. Huge thanks to sarahcobbler and superflashfan for reviewing - a story where Barry has a younger sister who is a speedster will be coming along soon!

As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.