Barry couldn't help but think about how this was not how he'd planned on spending Iris's homecoming and now did not seem like the proper time to ask Joe for anything. Especially since he was just as much in shock over what he'd heard as the others.
"Barry, I know you don't want to hear this, but Dr. Wells just texted for the second time asking where we are, since you were supposed to start testing today regarding the lightning strike." Caitlin said.
"And that can wait until after Iris wakes up, since she's gonna need me by her side." Barry said, since he knew that when Iris learned that not only had she lost her arm and her ability to walk, but also nearly all of her squadron, with only one other survivor besides herself, it would devastate her.
"I know you want to be there for her Barry, but you can't be there for her if putting off worrying about your condition causes you to suffer some kind of issue. I promise, once we're done for today, we'll come right back." Caitlin said.
"Wait, what happened to the guy Iris never shut up about. I'm Gabriella Gomez by the way." Gabriella said, finally introducing herself to Barry.
"Right, Iris has told me a lot about you. Apparently you're the one she trusted to have her back more than any other while you were overseas. I owe you for that." Barry said as he shook Gabriella's hand.
"Not so sure about that, since she's currently in this condition while I walked away with any injuries whatsoever." Gabriella said.
"That's not your fault. You're the one who got to Iris in time to save her life." Barry said.
"Barry, we need to go. The sooner we get this done, the sooner you can come back here." Caitlin said and Barry sighed reluctantly, since while he didn't want to admit, he knew she was right.
"Fine, let's get this over with." Barry said as he followed Caitlin out of the waiting room, only for it to seem like everything around him had suddenly slowed down to near stop.
"What the hell?" Barry asked as he looked around to see his sister almost frozen in place.
"Caitlin, why are you just standing there?" Barry asked as he took a step forward only for him to suddenly move forward at a speed faster than any human should be to move as he ran down the hall and slammed into a wall.
"Ow." Barry groaned as Caitlin rushed up to him.
"How did you do that?" Caitlin asked.
"I was hoping you could tell me, this is more your area of expertise than mine." Barry said.
"All the more the reason to get you to STAR labs and have Dr. Wells look at you, since considering the fact that you just moved at speeds that no human should be able to move at." Caitlin said and now Barry couldn't deny that she was right. Before he could be there for Iris, he needed to understand what had happened to him.
"Wow, this place is amazing." Barry said as he looked around Star Labs, one of the most advanced research facilities in the country.
"Welcome to Star Labs. One of the leaders in the cutting edge technology on the planet and leaders in multiple scientific fields, including artificial intelligence, genetics, transportation, and of course, our crown jewel, the particle accelerator, though I am looking forward to finally getting that finished so that Dr. Wells will start diverting funding to other projects, including my research, which I think will be very helpful in studying your condition." Caitlin said.
"And what condition would that be?" a latino guy around their age with long black hair and wearing a shirt that read Han Shot First on it.
"Barry Allen, meet Cisco Ramon, one of my closest friends and one of Star Labs' brightest engineering minds." Caitlin said, making the introduction of two people she'd been meaning to introduce since Cisco started at Star Labs, since she could tell that these two would become best friends.
"Nice to meet you." Barry said.
"You too. And you look good for a guy who just got struck by lightning." Cisco said and Barry chuckled.
"You don't know half of it." Barry said.
"But he's going too, since Cisco is the only other person here besides myself and Dr. Wells who's going to be involved in studying how the lightning affected you." Caitlin said, not wanting to reveal what Barry could do in a public hallway, since she agreed with Dr. Wells that this needed to be kept secret.
"Yeah, I'm surprised Dr. Wells is being so secretive about this." Cisco said, right as Dr. Wells joined them.
"I don't want to give anyone any ideas until we've fully got a handle on what we're dealing with." Dr. Wells said and Cisco nodded.
"Besides, I can't really pull anyone else away from the accelerator now that we're this close to completion." Dr. Wells said.
"Dr. Wells, there was another reason I came here." Caitlin said.
"If this is about Iris, General Eiling already contacted me." Dr. Wells said.
"Wait, you know Eiling?" Barry asked.
"Why don't we take this somewhere private." Wells said as he led the three of them into an empty room and closed the door.
"Yes, I know General Eiling. He contracted Star Labs for a few government contracts, one of which I'm assuming Caitlin wants to use to help Iris." Dr. Wells said and Caitlin nodded.
"Despite the fact that our parting was less than amicable, Eiling knows that Star Labs has the best chance at getting Iris back on her feet. Particularly Project Nightshade." Wells said as he used the tablet he was holding to show Barry and Cisco.
"Whoa, I didn't know Star Labs was building that?" Cisco asked.
"That's because we aren't anymore. Eiling pulled its funding when Dr. Wells shut down his other project. You know, the one that was inhumane." Caitlin said.
"Right. Project Ape. Still not sure why he thought that was a good idea, since it's like he's never seen a movie before." Cisco said under his breath.
"Anyways, the prototype for Project Nightshade was completed and about to begin testing when the funding was pulled." Caitlin said and Wells nodded.
"Eiling knew this and asked if I'd reactivate it for Iris." Wells said.
"Will it help her?" Barry asked.
"I don't know, like I said, it's untested, so we have no idea what kind of effect this could have and I won't subject Iris to this treatment unless I'm sure she knows what she's signing up for." Wells said and Barry nodded.
"I'll tell her about it when she wakes up, but now, let's focus on why we're here now. Caitlin and I discovered another side effect of the lightning strike." Barry said as he managed to figure out how to run that fast again around the room.
"Okay, I'm going to start making you a superhero costume." Cisco said when Barry came to stop.
"First, why don't we start trying to figure out everything we can about Barry's newfound speed." Caitlin said and Wells nodded.
"Let's get to work." Wells said.