Dead Beautiful (A Harrison Wells Fanfic) *ON HOLD*

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2.
The One In Which I Break Into STAR Labs (And Nearly Get Caught)

The next day when I woke up, Barry was gone.

"He got up early and asked to be taken home," Lillith told me when we got together for breakfast. "In case his foster dad starts to worry about him. Don't worry, he'll be back. I've never seen any human run away from something like this, they crave way too much excitement for their own good. Now eat up, we have a day of hardcore training ahead of us."

After breakfast, Lillith took me up to a large hall filled with practice dummies, punching bags and a various assortment of weapons, although the space in the middle of the was completely empty except for a mat.

"Welcome to the training room," Lillith announced. "This is where you'll be learning how to fight and defend yourself against Amersians for the next few months until you're ready. And I'll be your trainer and mentor." She rummaged around a nearby drawer and pulled out a pile of clothes, which she handed to me. It consisted of an olive green tank top and black shorts. "Change into these, they'll be more comfortable to train in."

When I came back with the clothes on and my hair in a high ponytail, I saw that Lillith had changed into a similar outfit, except that her tank top was pink. It totally showed off her athletic figure, and I couldn't help feeling a little self-conscious in front of her, what with my thin and extremely small 5' 4" body.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" I asked as Lillith motioned for me to come onto the mat. "If you're the trainer, what's Raymond's job?"

"He's our link to Ashalis," Lillith replied. "He updates Ashalis about what's going on with you, and Ashalis gives him directions as to how we should proceed. Now focus." She threw something over to me, and I caught it. It was a pair of extremely cool-looking black fingerless gloves made of some sort of a lightweight, but extremely resistant material. I put them on.

"That," Lillith said, "is an Abhorsen's most powerful weapon. Try this." She made a gesture as if she was drawing an arrow across a bow. I copied her, and instantly, a blue, holographic bow-and-arrow appeared in my hands.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed in surprise. "Is that real?"

"I know it doesn't look real, but trust me and anyone on the receiving end, they are. Different gestures activate different weapons. Here, try this one." This time, the gesture looked like she was racking the slide of a gun and aiming it. I tried it, and the next thing I knew, I was holding a blue, holographic glock-17.

"So many weapons in just two little gloves," I said, impressed. "That's handy."

"Not only that, these weapons have been specially designed by Ashalis to combat Amersians. Normal man-made weapons have no effect on them. There are only two weapons pre-loaded in the gloves now, but you can hook them up to Ashalis' servers later and download some more. There are a lot of options to choose from, you can try out all of them and select the ones that suit you the best. You can store about ten weapons at a time in the gloves, I think. Now give them back."

I blinked. "Why? I thought you were going to teach me how to use them."

Lillith scoffed. "You really think I'm going to teach you how to use extremely dangerous weapons on your very first day? First, you're going to have to prove that you'll be able to handle them. The day you manage to defeat me without using any weapons, I'll give them back to you." She positioned herself in a very intimidating, Bruce Lee-ish stance. "Let's start with a little Karate, shall we?"

***************

The first few months were hectic as hell, what with Lillith's intense training methods pushing me to my limits, and I didn't even have time to get myself a job again. Barry visited frequently though, which helped. We were becoming pretty good friends. But by the end of six months, I could totally take on a man twice my size, and Lillith deemed me ready to learn how to use those super-awesome gloves. And by the end of the year, I was ready to kick some Amersian ass.

Barry was given some basic training too, of course. As 'My Human' (as Raymond liked to called Barry), his job was to help me in any way he could. Unfortunately, we found out the hard way - and a few broken bones later - that the only help Barry would be to me in the battlefield was as my water-boy. But the kid did have some mad computer skills, and given access to Ashalis' way superior technology, he totally showed us that physical confrontation was not the only way to take down an enemy.

Which is why Barry was the one on the other side of my ear-piece during my very first assignment - to take down a group of Amersians hiding out inside STAR Labs, and send their butts packing to the other side. I remember that night well, particularly becuase of a chance meeting with a certain someone...

I snuck into STAR Labs at around two a.m., after staking out the place for a few hours to make sure that nobody was in there. Barry helped me bypass all the security measures, and thirty minutes later I was safely inside the main lab of the building (which, Barry informed me very helpfully, was called "The Cortex").

"Do we make an awesome team or what?!" I trilled into my comm. device, hyped up by the success of the first stage of our plan. "So what's next, Bear?"

"You've got to make your way to the particle accelerator under the building," Barry replied. "Check out the blueprint of the place I sent to your cell earlier. The accelerator is still under construction though, so be careful."

"Roger that." I pulled up the blueprint on my cell and was about to set out to my destination when Barry hissed into my ear-piece, "Wait!"

I sropped dead on my tracks. Whenever Barry gave me a direct order, it was usually for a good reason (since there was a very good chance of a nose-breaking punch otherwise). "What's wrong?"

"There's a car pulling up outside the lab. I think... yup, you've got company." Then, in an awed voice, he added, "And not just any company."

Before I could ask him what the hell he was talking about, I heard a loud clashing sound from down the hallway, indicating that the heavy-duty iron door at the entrance was being opened. I nearly shit my pants. This could not be happening on my first effin' assignment!

"Nova?" Barry's voice shook me out of my shock. "You there?"

"Yeah," I whispered back. "What the hell do I do now?"

"Well, the security systems of STAR Labs are currently in lockdown mode, and whenever an employee enters the building using his or her ID cards during a lockdown, the system automatically scans the entire place to make sure that everything's alright. Which means that you'll definitely show up on the scan, so there's no use hiding."

"So what the hell am I supposed to do now? I certainly can't hang around here waiting to be caught!"

"Actually, that's exactly what you'll have to do," Barry replied. "He's coming your way, and he'll reach The Cortex any second now. Fortunately for you, the scan takes a few minutes, so he doesn't know you're there yet. Looks like you're gonna have to talk yourself out of this one, Abhorsen." Then, in a lower tone, he added, "Also, Raymond wants me to remind you that they are watching closely and that you'd better not screw this up."

"Tell them I've got this," I said, getting ready as I heard the footsteps getting closer and closer. I wasn't nearly half as confident as I sounded, of course, but my quick mouth had got me out of a lot of unpleasant situations before, so I was reasonably certain that I could avoid any jail time. Hopefully.

In my nervousness, I had backed away from the doorway of The Cortex until I had reached the opposite wall, and that, coupled with the fact that I hadn't switched on the lights at the back of the lab, was why the human didn't see me right away when he came in.

But I did see him clearly from where I was standing, and holy effin' shit.

It was Dr. Harrison Wells.