"What's wrong?" Lucy asked and dried off her face, now embarrassed. She hadn't realized that Anti was watching. "Did I show too much 'weakness' for you to handle? I'm fine now."

"No, you're not," Anti said calmly, and Lucy turned toward him with a raised eyebrow. "That's not what I was talking about. When you got angry just now… did you… feel anything strange?"

"What? I… uh, maybe. There was a sound in my head almost like…" Lucy stopped with a sudden realization. It had been the sound she'd heard when Dark was around, trying to get into her head.

"You need to be more careful," Anti warned, sounding uncharacteristically sober. "He's trying to latch onto you. Strong emotions, particularly bad ones, will draw him to you, and there's not much I can do to help. He'll drag you back to our world, and you probably won't be as lucky as the first time."

"But… how? Do I just bury them? How do I just not feel anything?" Lucy asked irritably.

"I don't know," Anti admitted and looked away. "You need to be more vigilant. This world… your defenses are too low here. It was incredibly easy for me to find you even as I searched through other worlds. Your love for that… Barry is like a beacon. And your anger and hatred make it easier for Dark to influence you. That's what he was created from… darkness."

"What about you? What were you created from?"

"I don't know that either," Anti admitted with a wistful smile. "Perhaps… I was always meant to be the opposite of someone… or something, but I lost my way. But who cares anyway?! I can do anything I want now!" Anti cackled, but Lucy sensed that he was more upset than he claimed. Perhaps the madness was to obscure how misplaced he felt. Or maybe he was just trying to con her.

"We still haven't found who Dark is using… won't they be a problem if I leave this world? Can't they hurt Barry?"

"Yeah," Anti agreed with a shrug. "I doubt Dark would though… he's trying to get inside your head. I doubt that he would kill him, but…"

"But?"

"He's certainly not above hurting him… or trapping him."

"WHAT?!"

"What would you do if Dark pulled him into our world? Would you leave Barry, or would you follow?"

"I'd…" Lucy started and looked hopelessly at Anti. "I'd follow."

"And once you got there, Dark would already have a trap waiting for you… and if he asked, you'd trade your freedom for Barry's."

"I'd get us both out," Lucy responded with a confidence that she didn't truly feel. She remembered the vastness of that world. Encased in shadow. Could she even find Barry if Dark got ahold of him?

"That's why you need to stay here… for now. Until he wakes up at least. But you do have a choice to make. Protect your Barry, or find your 'Missy,'" Anti said with a slightly mocking tone.

Lucy looked away and thought for a moment. She could protect Barry here, but Missy was likely waiting for her. She said hesitantly, "There has to be a way to stop him from getting here once I leave."

Anti looked uncomfortable and glitched for a moment before saying, "I don't know. You'd have to use something in this world to make that power stable. If not, it'd probably go haywire after you left."

"What would work against him? Some kind of light… magic?" Lucy asked, and Anti shrugged. "What are the chances of finding that in this world?" Lucy sighed but figured that she might as well do some research. The internet likely wouldn't give her the kind of information that she needed. Likely just some New Age sites but it wouldn't hurt to look.

Lucy noticed that Anti had already started pulling things up on the computer, and sure enough most of the websites seemed to be of no real use to Lucy. A buzzing in on the table made her jump a little, and she walked over to check the number. It was an unknown number. She had given Dr. Snow her number before she left Central City, and it wasn't a number that Lucy or her phone recognized.

"Hello?" Lucy answered the phone hesitantly. "Is this Star Labs?"

"Yes," Dr. Wells answered, sending chills up Lucy's spine. "I just thought that you might like an update on Barry's condition. You seemed so keen on helping him before your… excursion."

"Yes, thank you," Lucy said evenly despite the rage welling up. Dr. Wells almost made it sound like Lucy had simply lost interest in Barry's welfare, and she didn't like it. "How's he doing?"

"His condition hasn't changed much, I'm afraid, but we did discover something interesting," Dr. Wells said. "Instead of his muscles atrophying, they've actually become stronger. It's a bit strange, particularly for someone who was struck by lightning, but it seems like he might be doing better than we had previously thought."

"Really?!" Lucy blurted out excitedly before she could control her tone.

Dr. Wells' voice became gentler as he replied, "Yes, it doesn't mean that he'll wake up soon, but when he does wake up, he'll be significantly healthier than most people would be in his condition."

Lucy noticed that she had started pacing the hotel room in excitement and stopped abruptly. It was too soon to get caught up in good news. She calmed herself and replied, "Thank you, Dr. Wells. And… I want to apologize for what I said before… I wasn't in the best of places, but that's no excuse for my behavior. I'm sorry." Those words had been harder for Lucy to say than she'd suspected, but she knew that she'd have to get on Dr. Wells' good side if she was planning on catching him off-guard. He was too intelligent to fall for a simple ruse.

"I'm happy to hear that, but… I understand. Just know that I'm doing everything I can to help Barry."

"Yes, thank you," Lucy said and tried to figure out how she could end the call quickly without being too obvious. She was undoubtedly suspicious of Dr. Wells' motives, but it wouldn't do her any good for him to know it. Far better for him to believe that she had buried the hatchet. "Um… I'm actually doing some research and won't be able to be by the lab for a while. Give Dr. Snow and Mr. Ramon a 'thanks' from me, please. I know that they're also working hard."

"No problem, but… sorry, I'm just curious. Are you doing work for Mercury Labs? Dr. McGee called here a little while ago. She said something about you not taking calls and wondered if we'd seen you."

"No… it's… uh, personal research. I was busy. I'll give her a call. Thanks for letting me know."

"You're welcome. If you need any help, I have no doubt that Cisco would want to assist you. We haven't had a whole lot of business since the explosion. It might be good to give him something to do."

Lucy noticed Anti gesturing for her to walk over to the laptop. On the screen she noticed a figure walking past one of the more hidden cameras on the street nearby. It was Dr. Wells. No wheelchair. He kept to the shadows and wore a hood, but Lucy could tell with complete certainty that it was him. A shiver went up her spine as she gripped the phone tightly.

"Lucy? Are you still there?" Dr. Wells asked as Lucy watched him talk into the phone on the camera.

"Uh… yeah. Just looking through some paperwork. Sorry," Lucy responded and sounded much calmer than she actually felt. "I'll call you back in a couple days. My research shouldn't take too long. Thank you for the offer though."

"Just let us know if you need anything," Dr. Wells answered as he peeked toward Lucy's hotel.

"Okay, thanks. Bye," Lucy replied and watched to see what he would do. She knew that he couldn't see her from the window, much less see the laptop screen. A small smile danced across his lips as he looked at his phone and ended the call. With another glance toward her hotel, he quickly disappeared into the shadows.

"Creepy bastard," Anti whispered, almost in awe.

Lucy rolled her eyes but couldn't shake that unsettling feeling. What was that? He had been injured badly in the particle accelerator malfunction. How could he be walking around? A thought struck Lucy, and she didn't like the sound of it. What if Barry wasn't the only one experiencing strange side effects of the explosion? Or could this be the result of a deal with Dark?

"That's not Dark's work by the way," Anti spoke up, catching Lucy's attention.

"Why not? He kept promising me 'anything' I 'desire.' Why couldn't he heal the doctor's legs and spine?"

"He could, but he wouldn't. Not until he got what he wants: you. The doctor would still be in a wheelchair."

"So… Dr. Wells' sudden appearance is… What? A coincidence?"

"He could still be working for Dark. I'm just pointing out that Dark isn't that generous."

Lucy nodded and sighed as she got onto the computer and looked through the websites Anti had found. One of them seemed to be more promising than the others although still incredibly weird. Something about Light of the Soul. It sounded like something that could possibly work. Keeping Dark away from Barry was still her number one priority. She would deal with Dr. Wells later.