The Line Between Living and Dying

Not Everyone Is Made To Be A Hero

"Barry?" Dani gasped.

"Yeah." Barry nodded.

"This entire time you were the Streak?" Dani asked as her eyes widened. "Oh my god, I accused you of killing your mother." Dani started to pace. "I am so so so sorry. I can't believe I even did that."

Barry laughed slightly at Dani's panic. She was such a sweet and caring person. It was one of the things he loved about her. "Dani, it's okay. You didn't know." 

"But I should have. I mean you have been acting super weird lately and, now that I think of it, Caitlin was gone the last time I was at S.T.A.R. Labs and Dr. Wells said she was helping you and... Oh my god, she knows you're a meta?" Dani realized.

"She knows you're a meta?" Barry asked back.

"Yeah, she's known for a while now," Dani answered.

Barry thought for a moment. Then he picked Dani up and raced off, going to S.T.A.R. Labs. When the stopped in the cortex, Dani doubled over, wheezing. Having air rush at you at 300 miles an hour was going to take some getting used to.

"Little warning next time?" She glared at Barry.

"Sorry." Barry grimaced.

Caitlin walked in, stopping short when she saw and unmasked Barry and a panting Dani in the cortex. "Barry!" She whisper-yelled, gesturing to her head as a way of telling him to put his mask back on.

"She knows, Caitlin," Barry informed.

Dani turned around. "And he knows."

Caitlin looked between the two metas before her. "I can explain."

"There better be an amazing excuse for lying to both of us." Dani spat.

"It wasn't my place to tell either if you."Caitlin started. "I knew that you two were friends but I didn't know if you were close enough to share this with one another. Then with the way Barry expressed hostile thoughts towards meta-humans, I thought it was best to keep lying. And, Dani, you told me not to say anything to anyone."

Dani looked down at her shoes, arms crossed over her chest. "I forgot about that." She mumbled. An awkward silence fell over the three.

"Well, the only thing we can do now is run tests. Figure out what you can do." Barry suggested.

Caitlin bit her lip. "We kind of already ran all of the tests that we can."

Barry looked between Dani and Caitlin with confusion. "What? How? Dani said that you only knew about her powers for a little while."

"Uh, Barry, a while is actually about eight months," Dani admitted.

"Eight months?" Barry gawked. "You've been a meta this entire time?"

Barry felt hurt. He had thought that Dani would have told him about having powers if she had had them for that long.

Dani sensed his hurt. "What did you expect me to do? Tell you that I was dead the second I saw you awake from your coma? That's not something you just blurt out to people Barry."

"You're what?" A new emotion crossed Barry's face. One that Dani couldn't read.

"On the night of the explosion, the dark matter wave stopped Dani's heart. Then the energy particles in the air stored themselves in her corpse which restarted her heart." Caitlin explained for Dani. "Since then she has had a growing connection to the astral plane and her powers are a by-product of harnessing that energy."

"What else can you do?" Barry asked rather quietly.

"I can teleport, create balls of energy, concentrate it in my hands so that I can punch harder, and apparently create a forcefield." Dani listed.

"You can create a forcefield?" Caitlin tilted her head.

"Yeah, I just found that out earlier today." Dani nodded.

"I need to run more tests." Caitlin started bustling around the cortex, gathering things she would need.

"Not tonight Caitlin, please," Dani asked. "I had a rough day. Cheyanne is in the hospital and her sister is coming soon and I need to put my attention on that right now."

"Then we can do it in a few days," Barry suggested. "When Dr. Wells and Cisco are here to help."

Dani shook her head. "No. Cisco already knows and I'm not comfortable with Dr. Wells knowing about me."

"What? Why not? He knows about me." Barry pointed out.

"That doesn't matter. Scientists don't normally care much about people. They just want answers and fame."

"Caitlin's a scientist and you told her."

"I only told Caitlin because my powers were just starting to develop and my parents and I were desperate. And she hasn't exactly been truthful with me. About you and the existence of other metas in the city." Dani stated.

"But if Wells knew then you could join me out there and save people." Barry countered.

"I'm not a hero, Barry." Dani shook her head.

"Yes, you are, Dani." Barry insisted. "You've been standing up to bullies since elementary school. For people you didn't even know."

Dani scoffed. "Barry, I did that because that's what I was raised to do. Okay? And, besides, defending an entire city from people with powers is nothing like that. I'm not hero material and you're just going to have to accept that."

"Dani--"

A ringing phone interrupted Barry. Dani took her phone out of her pocket, checking the caller id.

"I have to take this." Dani glanced at Barry before answering. "Hey, did you get a ticket?" She started leaving. "Okay, great. I'll pick you up from the train station at seven..."

Barry and Caitlin never heard the rest of the conversation. They both stood silently for a few moments after she left.

"I don't get it." Barry sighed. "Why wouldn't she want to help people? It's all I've ever seen her do."

"Not everyone is made to be a hero, Barry. Just because she's helped people doesn't mean she wants to do it on the same level that you do." Caitlin answered.

"That can't be it." Barry shook his head. "I have known Dani since elementary school. She isn't the kind of person that would let the severity of a situation get to her. There's something else going on."

"Or she could have changed." Caitlin countered. "I mean, in the months that I've been helping her, not once has she mentioned anything close to wanting to be a hero."

Barry rocked back on his heels. "No. I don't believe that. There's something holding her back and I'm going to find out what." With that, Barry ran off to his apartment to get some sleep so that in the morning he would be ready to get to the bottom of Dani's denial.