Paralyzer || Barry Allen (The Flash) Fanfiction

Chapter 9: Seeing Ghosts

I moved into the West household three days later, the day after Iris had settled into her apartment with her boyfriend, Eddie Thawne. I hadn't met the man yet, but I knew he was Joe's partner and an overall good guy. Even if Barry wasn't a fan of someone else having the girl of his dreams, he still got along with Eddie as best as he could manage. As for me, I saw Iris as a friend and not competition for the boy who had my heart. She didn't know it, so how could I possibly be angry at her for something she was in the dark about?

Every day, Barry and I worked and lived together. Whether we were at the labs running tests and taking blood samples for Dr. Wells or we were out on the streets stopping crime, we were always close by each other. I knew it wasn't possible to get over him when there wasn't a single second I really had away from him. Well, besides his day job. That's when I was left at the lab with the rest of the team to attend to the alerts Barry was unable to. And, I had to admit, I was getting closer and closer to surpassing him when it came to the whole 'hero' thing.

"So, what's on the schedule for today?" I asked as I walked into the cortex to find Caitlin, Cisco, and Dr. Wells all at the computers. Barry had been called in early to the station this morning to investigate a homicide, so we wouldn't be seeing him for at least a few hours.

Dr. Wells paused a moment before turning to me. "Are you aware of the recent scientific advancements that involve bending light waves to grant an object the appearance of being invisible?"

"I don't like the sound of where this is heading..." I mumbled.

Don't get me wrong. I mean, having invisibility as a power had always been an aspiration of sorts for me as a kid, and if I possessed the capability to do that now, then that would be a dream come true. However, the methods Dr. Wells used to discover the full potential of the abilities I may or may not possess were less than appealing after I had nearly drowned during the first attempt.

"Don't worry, Haven," Dr. Wells chuckled as he noted my reluctance. "This one won't require any of our usual methods." I still wasn't sold on what he was offering, so he elaborated. "Controlling an ability like this can't be triggered by anything we can measure. It's simply psychological, meaning that you're the only one who knows the means of turning it on. May I make a suggestion?"

I nodded my head as I bit my lip.

"Follow someone around. I have a feeling that trying to be stealthy may snap some part of your mind into a mental state that would enable an ability such as this. After all, invisibility would be pointless without there being a need to sneak around."

He gave me a knowing grin before turning his wheelchair around and exiting the cortex. I continued to stare at the entrance even long after he was gone, my mind churning his suggestion over again and again in my thoughts. Should I actually follow through with this? It was a ridiculous idea to even consider following someone around to the point where I felt the need to hid by becoming invisible... But he did have a point. And I really, really wanted to know if I was capable of invisibility. It would just be so awesome!

"Earth to Haven," Cisco's voice interrupted, and I shook my head to focus back on reality. "You okay there?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm good," I spoke in a daze. Caitlin and Cisco gave each other questioning glances before looking back to me. "Hey, Cisco. Do we have any new metas on the radar?"

"Well, there have been reports of some strange sightings recently," he began. "People have reported seeing a thief who can lift things up in the air without actually touching them. Telekinesis, I assume. Pretty sweet, if you ask me."

"Where was the most recent reported sighting?" I asked as I stood behind him and looked over his shoulder at the screen.

"It says here that, as of thirty minutes ago, there was something similar being reported at a very small clothing store robbery on the Lower West Side of the city."