The Line Between Living and Dying

The Man in Yellow

Dani glared angrily at her phone. The alarm went off, taking her out of her peaceful sleep. 

She turned it off, climbing out of bed and getting dressed to go to work. Normally, she would have today and the next few days leading up to Christmas off, but with the grand re-opening happening in less than a month, everyone was working later and coming in on their off days.

Before going to work, Dani teleported behind Jitters for a cup of coffee. She stepped up to the counter, ordered, and sat off to the side and waited.

To pass the time, Dani scrolled through her phone in boredom. She was so distracted that she didn't see Barry come up next to her.

"Hey." The speedster smiled.

Dani jumped, her hand flying to her chest. "Jeez, Barry. I think I almost had a heart attack."

"Sorry." Barry apologized, sitting across from her. "So, I didn't see you at S.T.A.R. Labs earlier."

"Yeah, I was busy." Dani lied.

"Well, I'm glad you're free now so that I can give you this." Barry put a small wrapped box on the table, pushing it to Dani.

She looked up at Barry, surprise shining in her eyes. "You got me a gift?"

Barry nodded. "Open it."

Dani tore into the paper. She opened the small box, gasping at the sight of a beautiful golden star necklace. "It's beautiful."

"I thought you'd like it." Barry smiled. "Since you and your mom went to go see the stars all the time."

"Yeah." Dani looked up to Barry, sighing. "Now I feel like such a bad friend. I didn't get you anything."

"No, it's fine." Barry insisted.

"No, it's not," Dani argued. "After I get my coffee, I'm going shopping."

"Don't you have work?"

"I'll call in sick."

Barry laughed, making Dani chuckle herself. "Dani, you don't have to go through all this trouble. I don't care if you get me a present or not."

Dani groaned. "Jeez, Barry. Just let me do something nice for you!"

"All right, all right." Barry raised his hands in surrender. "You do whatever you want."

"Thank you." Dani smiled. She stood up as a barista called out her order. "That's my cue. But I'll see you later-- with a present!"

"Okay," Barry said. He watched Dani grab her coffee and waved goodbye as she left Jitters.

* * *

Unfortunately for Dani, her impromptu Chrismas shopping was cut short by an emergency text from Cheyanne.

"Hey." Dani greeted the team as she entered the cortex. "What's up?"

"The man who killed Barry's mom is back," Cheyanne informed her.

"The witness described seeing a yellow blur. Just like the one that killed Barry's mother." Joe told everyone in the room.

"Then we need to get cracking and stop this speed psycho," Cisco said, putting a candy cane in his mouth. "That-- I wasn't trying to give him a name."

"The crime scene at Mercury Labs was on a floor with highly secured vaults, and the witness said he was looking for something," Barry added to Joe's statement.

Dr. Wells wheeled closer to the main desk. "Whatever it was, he wanted it badly enough to kill for it."

"Doctor, what do you know about this Mercury Labs?" Joe questioned.

"Mercury was one of S.T.A.R. Labs' major competitors until our little setback, and then it catapulted to the forefront led by Dr. Christina McGee, brilliant but egocentric physicist." Dr. Wells brought up an article about her on a wall monitor along with McGee's picture.

Cheyanne leaned closer to Dani. "Kinda sounds like all the science nerds." She whispered. But not quietly enough to go unheard by the others. Dani stifled a laugh as all the geniuses in the room sent her friend a look.

Cheyanne cleared her throat awkwardly. "I-- sorry." She apologized.

"It says here D. McGee has secured half a billion dollars in private funding to develop, and I quote, 'prototypes for the technology of the future'." Cisco read with a little contempt in his voice that slowly faded out as his mind moved on from Cheyanne's comment.

"Well, I'll be." Dr. Wells said. "Tina's messing with tachyons." Joe and Dani's head turned toward Wells, confused shining in their eyes. "Superluminal particles." He explained.

"Of course." Dani nodded. A hint of sass could be heard in her tone.

Joe started gesturing toward Dr. Wells. "So what could one do with one of those..."

"Tachyons."

"Thank you."

Wells sighed. "Well, I don't know. Become invincible?" He asked rhetorically. "If you could devise a matrix stable enough to harness their power, you could travel faster than light."

"He's gonna try to get them again, so we need to get what Mercury Has and use it as a lure."

"Exactly right." Dr. Wells agreed. "Cisco, Caitlin, Cheyanne, let's start engineering a trap."

"You got it," Cisco said.

"Of course." Caitlin nodded.

"Hold up." Cheyanne raised her hand to get Wells's attention. "You want me to help?"

"Of course, Ms. Smoak. You're as exceptional as your sister." Dr. Wells complimented before wheeling out of the cortex.

Once he was gone, Cheyanne turned to Dani, her smile wide. "Did you hear that? I'm 'as exceptional as my sister'." She mimicked Wells.

Dani nodded. "I did. And you deserve the compliment. You can do anything Felicity can do."

Cheyanne waved her comment off. "You're just saying that because you're my friend.

"I'm not." Dani insisted. "Caitlin, help me out?"

"You're very talented with a computer, Cheyanne." Caitlin complimented. "And I'm unbiased."

Cheyanne smiled. "Thanks, Caitlin."

"Anytime." Caitlin returned the gesture. "I'll see you guys later."

"Ooh! I gotta go too." Dani started walking toward the exit. "I have a perfect gift to go find..." She sent Barry a small smile which he gladly returned.

"I should get going too." Barry stood up. "Gotta convince Dr. McGee to let us borrow her tachyons." He started to leave but was stopped by Cheyanne's voice.

"Hey, Barry." She called. "Um, I know that we don't really know each other well and we're really only friends because of Dani, but, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. And we're going to catch this other speedster. No matter what."

"Thanks, Chey," Barry said, appreciating the blonde's sentiment. He turned and left, millions of thoughts running through his mind, but only one kept resurfacing: Keep Dani away from the man in yellow.

A/N: I kinda last minute wanted to add something between Cheyanne and Barry to start a real, concrete relationship between them. As of right now, they're really only acquaintances and I want everyone on Team Flash to have some type of relationship with one another to build a special kind of trust between all of them that I will come into play in later books.

Anyway, thank y'all so much for reading and please leave a vote/comment if you enjoyed.