Catching Up || Barry Allen [2]

04| Earned Trust*

***

"His blood pressure is low, his heart rate is low, his oxygen levels are impressive." Caitlin observed from his vitals as we watch Jay running on the treadmill. "And he's certainly in the physical specimen range."

"In more ways than one." Iris hinted suggestively.

"Hmm?" Caitlin mumbled as she looked away from Jay to look back at us. "Oh, I wasn't paying attention."

"And you say I'm the one that doesn't know how to express her feelings." I reminded her as I walked over to the control panel turning on the speaker. "That's enough for today, Jay."

"Found it at the crime scene." Barry informed as he held up a tube filled with what looked like sand before handing it over to Cisco. "I mean, it's gotta be from the meta-human that attacked me last night."

Cisco put it under a light before holding it back up in confusion. "Huh. What is this stuff? Sand?"

"It's not sand." Jay corrected as he entered the Cortex. "It's human cells whose myosin II protein have migrated to the cell's periphery."

"Jay's a fellow science nerd." Caitlin informed with a small smile on her face.

"Those cells have the ability to rearrange and harden, giving them the appearance of sand."

"And how do you know this?" Barry asked skeptically.

"They belong to a meta-human I've fought before named Sand Demon." Jay informed earning an annoyed look from Cisco.

"I know you're new here, so I'm just gonna break it down for you. The whole "naming the bad guys" thing, that's my jam." He quickly explained until a boyish smile formed on his face. "But you know what? I'm gonna let you have that one 'cause I actually kinda like it. I'm not mad at that one. Is that Barry's sweatshirt?"

"Oh, uh, sorry." Iris apologized as all eyes were on Jay now. "It was all we could find, so..."

"I was gonna say, cause it looks a lot smaller on you, right?" Cisco observed, Barry looked at us for confirmation but we all stood there quietly not wanting to make the situation worse. "I gotta do this thing."

Cisco mumbled before quickly making his way out of the Cortex. Barry sighed in irritation before turning back towards Jay.

"So, who is this Sand Demon?" I asked wanting to change the subject.

"I don't know his name, but I know how to stop him."

"You know what? I think we'll be fine on our own." Barry announced.

"Look, Barry, I don't know what else I can do to prove to you I'm on your side." Jay said also seeming slightly irritated on not being able to earn Barry's trust. "I've been poked, prodded. I even subjected myself to a full body scan."

We all looked as Caitlin with questioning eyes as she gave us a small smile. "I was being thorough."

"Sand Demon's from my world" Jay continued." Let me teach you how to stop him."

"Yeah, I don't need you to teach me anything, Jay."

"Zoom sent Rothstein here to kill you. He must have sent Sand Demon here to do the same thing. Don't you get it?" He insisted. "Anyone close to the Flash, all of you, are in a lot of danger."

"All right. If you're so good, you would have caught him already." Barry commented and the rest of us remains quiet. "Let's get Jay back to his cell."

Barry took Jay back into his cell in the pipeline and a couple minutes later Cisco came back into the Cortex with Professor Stein who was looking down at the tablet in his hands.