Collateral Damage (snowbarry)

That Accelerated

Over the last two weeks, Caitlin and Cisco have been working tirelessly to find Wells and figure out his plan. They've been talking to Gideon, looking at its operating systems, asking questions, anything they can think of that might help them. Nothing.

"Caitlin!" Cisco calls through the intercoms.

Caitlin winces at the noise and looks angrily into the cortex, just one room over from her lab, at Cisco who is staring at her with wide, excited eyes. "What?" She groans, standing up and walking into the cortex.

"I found something." He says, smiling. "Call Barry and Joe."

Caitlin takes out her phone, pressing one, and puts it to her ear. "Barry, Cisco has something he wants to show you and Joe."

"Did he find something?" Barry asks, sounding exhausted.

"I assume so." Caitlin responds, equally as tired.

"We'll be there soon."

Caitlin hangs up and heads into the cortex to see Cisco squatting behind Wells' wheelchair that is tipped over.

"What did you find?" She asks.

"Not yet!" He yells, tipping the wheelchair back over to upright. "Wait for the presentation."

Caitlin sighs and sits, waiting for Barry and Joe to show up. When they do, they all gather around Cisco.

Cisco clears his throat. "So, I found myself sitting upon this very seat, wheeling around the cortex in utter disappointment at how little we've been able to learn these last couple of weeks."

Caitlin and Joe sigh, realizing this is going to be a very theatrical presentation.

Cisco continues. "I wheeled and I rolled. I rolled and I wheeled. Until I began to wonder, 'why?'. Why does a speedster, a man with superhuman speed, need a wheelchair?" He looks to the crowd for guesses.

"Sympathy?" Caitlin guesses.

"No. He's too smart for that. Wouldn't need it." Cisco answers.

"To throw us off his trail?" Joe guesses. "No one would assume the speedster was someone who can't even use their legs."

"Fair guess fine gentleman, but nay." Cisco says, raising his pointer finger.

"Cisco." Barry says, urging him to get on with it.

"Right. I gave up. Couldn't figure it out. So, I moved onto another question. What is powering this thing? I've never seen him charge it. Never heard him stress about a new battery. I honestly don't even remember him buying it. THAT, my friends, is because he didn't buy it. He built it." He stares at them waiting for them to react. Nothing. He sighs. "Look." He tips the wheelchair over, popping off the panel where the battery should go. "He used his own power source."

"That looks like Gideon's tech." Barry notices.

"Exactly. I checked its output. It is putting off enough juice to power all of Central City."

"Seriously?" Joe asks, eyes wide.

"Why use a super battery for a wheelchair?" Caitlin says, not asking, but assuming this was Cisco's next question.

"Aha! My question exactly Dr. Snow." Caitlin rolls her eyes. "What if it wasn't just to power the chair?" Cisco asks with wide eyes, waiting for an answer.

"What else would it be for?" Barry asks.

"To power his speed." Cisco says. "What if something happened and he lost his speed? What if that's why he's been making you faster? He needs you. He isn't fast enough for whatever he needs."