I'll Be There in a Flash

22

I was in S.T.A.R. Labs, like usual, with Caitlin so she could to more tests on me. Barry was out tonight doing something and I was just wondering what he was doing. "Is anything odd from the last time?" I ask Caitlin and she shakes her head. "Nothing's different, but I just wanna see how your powers work in combat." she says and I nod. After tests were finished, Caitlin and Cisco were talking about the average amount of bugs Barry swallows while he runs. I laughed at all of their comments and soon Dr. Wells rolls along with us. We walk into the lab and I see Barry on the floor. "Barry!" I yell and run over to him. I kneel down and carefully look over him. His lip was bleeding and he seemed to be passed out. "Barry, are you ok?" Caitlin asks worriedly, just like me. Barry winces when I touch his arm and I pull my hand back quickly and look at Caitlin and Cisco.

"Tori, can you use your powers to lift Barry quickly and we'll roll in the bed." Caitlin says and I nod.

I stand up and lift my hand to Barry and levitate him off of the floor. He winces and I look at Caitlin and Cisco and they run to roll the bed in. I carefully lay Barry on the bed and he winces again and I run to the bed and stare at him. Caitlin examines him and when I touch his right hand he winces louder. "I need an x-ray on him stat, Cisco." Caitlin says and he scans Barry's body with a little device and I look at his x-ray and see that his hand had thirteen fractures. Who or what was he fighting tonight? After Caitlin was done with examinations, I looked at Barry and he looked all beaten up. "Thirteen fractures. That's a new record. And that's just in your hand. You also have a concussion, three cracked ribs, and a bruised spleen." Caitlin says and I look at him with a frown. "Even with your powers you'll need a few hours to heal." Caitlin says again and he nods. I finally ask the question that was on everyone's minds, "Who or what were you fighting?". "What exactly did you hit?" Dr. Wells asks more specifically and I just look at Barry. "A man. A big, bad man." Barry says and I looked at him confusingly.

"His skin changed when I hit him. Like it turned to metal." Barry says.

"Interesting. A man of steel." Dr. Wells says.

"Interesting? Yes. But dangerous? Extremely." I say and Caitlin nods in agreement.

"So you went after a metahuman alone? Dude, why didn't you call us?" Cisco asks angrily.

"I didn't know what he was." Barry says and grunting as he tries to sit up.

"Besides, I was off duty." he says again.

"And may I ask, what were you doing "off duty"?" I ask him with air quotes.

Barry stayed silent and I was just getting angrier by the minute. "Lucky he didn't knock out your teeth. Those puppies don't grow back." Cisco says and I cross my arms and walk across the room. "Maybe you shouldn't worry about him right now and worry about something else?" Cisco says motioning to me and I look away from Barry. "Strange thing is I feel like I knew him." Barry says and I look back at him. "What do you mean?" I ask him and he looks at me. "He said something that was familiar. But he's gonna hurt someone if I don't stop him. So how do I fight a guy that's made of steel?" he asks looking at the geek patrol. "We will find a way. Tonight, you heal." Dr. Wells says and I nod. "I'll call my dad and tell him that I'm staying at your place tonight." I say to him. "I don't need a babysitter, Tori." he says rather coldly and I look at him with my eyebrows furrowed. "Excuse me for caring about my boyfriend. Besides, I was supposed to stay with you tonight, but you wouldn't remember. I'll meet you there." I say as I put on my jacket, grab his keys out of his jacket and walk out of the lab.

When I walk into his apartment, I lay on the couch thinking about what happened in the lab. I thought about how harsh I was, but I was only telling him the truth. I texted my dad that I wouldn't be home tonight and that I'd be with Barry. He told me to be safe and I smiled. I get up from the couch and open the fridge to find something to eat. I saw some leftovers of some chicken and found some tomatoes and onions. I cooked the leftover chicken with the tomatoes and onions and I eat it with some white rice. Barry comes in when I was almost finished eating and he looks at me. I look down at my food and eat a spoonful of the chicken and the rice. "You cooked?" he asked and I nodded in reply. "It looks good. Thanks." he says and I eat one last spoonful of my food. "Your welcome." I say coldly as I put my plate in the sink and he walks over to me and wraps his arms around my waist. "I'm sorry." he says and I look up at him with sincere eyes.

"I'm sorry, Barry." I say to him.

"No, you shouldn't be. You were worried for me and I was acting like an ass." he says and I nod and we both laugh.

"So you talked to Iris about the blog again?" I ask him and he looked confused.

"I'm your girlfriend, I've been your best friend since pre-school, and you lived with me and my dad for years. I know you, Bar."

"Yeah. I talked to her about it as the Streak." he says.

"That name is so stupid."

"I know. I told her to change that too. I don't want to be known as 'The Streak' anymore."

I laugh and just walk over to the bedroom, "You're just gonna have to wait until she comes up with a new name." I say and shut the door to change. I take off my t-shirt and jeans and put on one of Barry's white V-necks. They were big on me because I was a foot and a few inches shorter than him. It fit me down to my knees. Barry may be skinny, but he sure is tall. I walk out of the room to see Barry eating and I peck his cheek. He looks at me and widens his eyes when he sees me with his white V-neck. "Wow." he says and I laugh as I sit on his couch with his tablet. I go to his YouTube app and type in Daylight by Maroon 5. I look over to Barry and we both smile at each other. Barry put his plate in the sink and walks over to me. He kisses me and I smile in the kiss and I feel him smile too. "You tired?" he asked and I nod and pause the music. He picks me up and I laugh as he picks me up, "I can walk you know." I say and he just ignores me and lays me on the bed. I turn to the left and feel Barry's arm go around me and pull me close to him. "I love you." he says and kisses my head and I slowly fall asleep.

*~*~

I wake up the next morning and I don't feel Barry's arm around me. I open my eyes and look around for him. I stand up and walk to the living room and find him sitting at the breakfast bar with a bowl of cereal. "I could've made you breakfast, you know." I say and he just smiles and chuckles a little. "I gotta go. I'll see you at the police department later." he says and I nod. He kisses me as he puts on his jacket and when he pulls away he grabs his satchel and slings it across his shoulder. "Bye, I love you." I say as he leaves and he turns to me with a smile. "Bye, I love you too." he says and shuts the door. Iris texted me that she was bringing me some of my clothes that she got from my house and I thanked her.

When she came, she gave me the clothes and a vanilla latte from Jitters and she said she had to go back to her shift at Jitters. I look at the clothes that she picked out. It was a white tank top with a red and black button up flannel, a pair of light wash ripped shorts, and thankfully I already had my white converse with me. I brush my hair and fix my make-up with a little makeup bag that I always carried with me. I walk out of the apartment locking it behind me and walking to the police department. When I get there, I head up to the lab and see Barry working on something but also looking lost. "Hey, Bar. Is something wrong?" I ask him and he looks at me. "No. Nothing's wrong." he says and I just look at him. "Barry, tell me what's wrong?" I say to him and he looks at me. "Does the name Tony Woodward ring a bell?" he asks and I look at him wide eyed. I remember Tony from grade school. In sixth grade he'd hit on me and Iris trying to get one of us to go to the dance with him. He also picked on Barry all the time.

"When doesn't it ring a bell. He was an ass to you and he'd hit on me and Iris." I say to him.

"Why are you asking though?" I ask him.

"He's the guy from last night. He's the metahuman that can morph his skin to metal." Barry says and I widen my eyes.

"Tony Woodward is the metahuman?" I ask him and he nods.

"We need to tell the others about this." I say and he nods and we speed over to S.T.A.R. Labs to tell Cisco, Caitlin, and Dr. Wells about who the metahuman really is.