I'll Be There in a Flash

34

The next day I wake up from my phone dinging and I see that I got a text from Barry saying emergency meeting and I got up, took a quick shower and got ready. I put on my makeup, light washed ripped jeans, and a pink blouse with a brown cardigan. I put my hair in a fishtail braid and my black flats. I head over to S.T.A.R. Labs and I see Joe, Dr. Wells, and Barry there. "What's this about? I was up till 2AM singing at the restaurant and I could be sleeping till noon." I say. "Sorry. I wouldn't have called you if this wasn't important though." Barry says and I lean on the table and listen to him. "I ran into the man in yellow last night." Barry says and I widen my eyes. "What did he do or say?" I ask him and he looks at me with soft eyes, the ones I've always loved. Shake it off, Tori! Your not dating him anymore. Stop thinking of him.

"He acted like he knew me, like we'd done this before." Barry says and I look at him confusingly.

"He was antagonizing you, Bar." Joe says and I nod.

"I would get close, and he'd pull away. I mean this was some sick game to him." Barry says and I cross my arms.

"You'll catch him. We'll help, Bar." I say.

"No, Tori, you don't get it, alright? His speed, it's beyond me. I'm not the fastest man alive. He is. So how do we catch somebody that I can't even keep up with?"

"The beautiful thing about force fields, Mr. Allen, is they're impervious to speed. Now, we're almost finished fabricating the trap. And all that remains is for Detective West is to procure the bait."

I look at Barry walk away with Joe, but Joe insists that Barry stays here. Barry, of course, doesn't want to be left behind. Joe is doing what Barry would do to me when we were dating. But of course, Barry goes anyway. "I'm going too. If he goes, I go." I say and Joe rolls his eyes and nods. We head over to the precinct and Tina was there. Joe hands her the search warrant, "If Judge Hankerson was gonna sign this, he would've done so already." Tina says giving the warrant back to Joe. "Look, I'm sure you don't want this investigation to get any more public than it's already been. Do you Doctor?" Joe asks her. "This has Harrison Wells written all over it in big black letters. I am not giving you my tachyon prototype." Tina says and I cross my arms. "It was quite a tour of your facility, doctor. You were fine to let us dumb cops walk around but I majored in physics and chemistry and I saw a whole lot of stuff that Science Showcase Magazine would love to hear about. So should I call the editors directly, or just leave a few posts on their website?" Barry asks and I smile and look at Dr. McGee with a raised eyebrow.

"You'll have the tachyon device within the hour." Tina says and I smile at Barry.

"I see why Harrison holds you in such esteem, Mr. Allen. You're very much alike." she says and then walks away.

"Nicely done." Joe says and I nod.

Barry walks away with a frown and I look at Joe, "I'll talk to him." I say and he nods. I walk up the steps and to the lab. "What's up with you?" I ask looking at Barry who's sitting on the chair. "Nothing, Tori." he says and I roll my eyes. "I know you, Barry. I know you're pissed about not being as fast as the man in yellow, but you need to calm down." I say to him and he furrows his eyebrows and looks at me. "Says the girl who doesn't have someone who killed her mother." he say and I cross my arms. It hurt me deep down. "My mom may have not been killed by a meta, but she was killed by a drunk driver. I felt the same way you did when my mom died, Barry. You knew that. I tried to be nice and ask what was wrong, but all you did was remind me why we weren't able to work in the first place." I say angrily and walk out. "Tori, wait." he says calling after me, but I ignore him. I head downstairs and see Joe coming up, "Tori, what happened? Why are you crying?" he asks and I wipe my face not realizing that tears had fallen down. "It's nothing. I'll see you at S.T.A.R. Labs and Iris' Christmas party." I say and walk away.