The Empath Metahuman

011. THE REVERSE-FLASH RETURNS

☆☆☆

"READY FOR ROUND TWO?" BELLA BREATHED HEAVILY, LOOKING DOWN AT CARLOS UNDER HER.

Carlos looked up at her, his breathing equally as heavy as hers, his chest falling up and down. She had him pinned down on a mat, arm against his neck, but the adrenaline running through her system made her notice more. She felt the warmth of his body, his breathing blowing against the loose strands of her braids, and she could even glimpse how intensely he was looking up at her. His freckles seemed to stand out like stars, and a part of her wanted to trace a pattern among them to make constellations.

Unexpectedly, a smug smirk crossed Carlos's features so big that she could catch sight of his dimples. Her brow scrunched together in confusion until she felt him thrust his upper body upward while one of his legs locked with hers, and she was the one suddenly under him. A ball of frustration at letting her wandering thoughts distract her balled up, and she pointedly looked at the boy above her, who only seemed to grin wider at her reaction.

Carlos chuckled from above her, "You seem a little distracted lately. So, shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

"Don't get too cocky, Rookie." Bella then used the same trick Carlos used on her, using her upper body strength and hooking a leg around his. Instead of getting on top of him, she pushed him face-first on the mat, straddling his hips while holding one arm upward in a lock. One of her hands pressed his face sideways on the mat, "This is still my lesson."

Before Bella could let herself get carried away, she got off of him and took a couple of steps away to create some distance between them. She watched as the brown-eyed boy with freckles got up and stared at her. He only raised one eyebrow in slight humor but also a subtle challenge, "Is there any other way our lessons are supposed to go?"

"No," Bella smirked before getting into another fighting position, this time with one hand raised in silver light. Carlos stood across from her, settling in his fighting position, one hand raised in the air with a fire glowing bright orange.

******

Bella played with the strand of her messenger bag as she and Carlos walked side-by-side to the cortex. They only just got to cross the entrance when they heard Cisco say into the mic, "You've been playing Good Samaritan all morning. Take a break. Are you sure you don't want to get to CCPD? Give Patty your attention?"

Bella raised an eyebrow, looking over at Carlos, who looked just as confused as she was. They turned back to the pair behind the desk, Carlos reaching out to grab two chairs for them from the side. Meanwhile, Bella heard her father's quick dismissal of Cisco's idea with a short, 'No, I can see her later.'

Harry, who sat to Cisco's left, added sharply, "Cause we cannot afford to waste any more time."

Cisco leaned back against his chair, glancing over at Harry tiredly, "What, 'cause we've just been sipping Mai Tais since you got here?"

"I don't know what you've been sipping since I got here," Harry glared over at Cisco meaningfully, "but Barry needs to get better, stronger, faster. We need to train to prepare for Zoom."

Cisco then looked over at Harry, pointedly, the corner of his lips lifting, "Oh, I see."

"Guys," Bella said with a warning tone, rolling her eyes at their behavior.

However, Cisco continued to push and began mocking Harry while pulling his cup of coffee to his lips, "You haven't had your coffee this morning."

"I had my coffee this morning." Harry looked over at Cisco and noticed what the graphic t-shirt wearing engineering genius was going to do, "Don't slurp."