recklessthings | ϟ barry allen

[She is shaky, so Barry isn't really inclined to let her go wandering off to continue to work on an experiment that gave her amnesia, but aside from tentatively putting out an arm to catch her unless she collapsed, he does give her her own space to try and figure this out.]

If there is, I'm sure Cisco can handle it. You look like you need some rest more than anything.

[Please say you remember Cisco. Not remembering Barry is fine, he can deal with that, but it might break Cisco's heart.]

[But she'll just stare at him then, eyebrows knitting together in confusion.]

...Cis...co? [It's a familiar sound in her mouth, but she's having trouble associating it with a concept.]

[Okay. Okay. This is fine. This is totally fine.

This is absolutely not fine in any way shape or form, and it very much shows on his face. Barry steps back again, running his hand over his face for a moment before speaking.]

Okay, Caitlin, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you have a fever. I think you have amnesia. And normally I would let someone else handle this but unfortunately the person who usually handles this is you.

That's absurd. [Because it has to be.] Amnesia is linked to damage done to the hippocampus. It occurs after very specific events, not just out of nowhere. This isn't a comic book. It's just a matter of.

[She twirls a strand of hair around one of her fingers.]

I just need to focus more. It'll come back to me.

Well, I'm not a medical expert, but you were doing some kind of experiment. If that backfired, could that be a specific enough event?

[He's just positing a hypothesis, if nothing else, but he has no idea how he's going to fix this when the medical doctor is the one out of commission.]

That would depend entirely on the nature of the experiment. I'm not an idiot. It isn't as though there'd be a reason to directly involve myself in a risky operation without as much as a second set of eyes.

[She takes a step forward, falls into his waiting arm, and then straightens back up and pulls away. Absolutely smooth and natural in every way.]

Say I believe you about this "metahuman" business. Why did you pull me out of my lab?

[And he'll adjust his arm when she stumbles, only until she's righted again, before giving her space again.]

Because one of the alarms went off in the Cortex and I was worried about you. Because you're my friend.

[He feels that needs to be repeated, since she's not really aware of that at the moment.]

It was ... freezing in there. Way colder than it normally is. You asked for a blanket, so I pulled you out here where it's warmer.

An alarm? There must have been a break-in. Or. Or...

[She knows this one. She rubs her temples vigorously as if that will retrieve the thought out of the ether. Eventually though, she'll give him a more serious look. His story makes a lot more sense than an extended hallucination that's gone on for this long.]

How long have we been friends? [How much time is she missing?]

Three years.

[Which is a very long time for her to have forgotten but Barry is trying not to worry about it too much.]

I was struck by lightning when a particle accelerator exploded and I was in a coma for nine months. You were the doctor taking care of me.

Oh...

[Her eyes are wide; it's a lot to take in. She moves closer of her own accord now, studying his face carefully.]

You look like you've recovered well from the trauma. Your pupils are at a normal diameter, and you don't appear to be suffering from involuntary tremors.

[And maybe she's just frightened enough to fall back on diagnosing him as a way to confirm that she still knows something.]

[And he smiles a bit at that, because that is very Caitlin.]

I did. You took very good care of me.

[Which he's always appreciated and probably hasn't thanked her for enough.]

When I woke up, that's when I discovered I was a metahuman. You helped make sure that I didn't overdo it with my new physiology. I probably wouldn't be standing here right now if it wasn't for you.

[A flush comes over the apples of her cheeks then.]

I don't suppose you ever managed to tell me your name over those three years? I'm sorry, but... [He seems so genuine.] I don't recognize you at all.

Right. Sorry, that's totally fair.

[He takes a breath and holds a hand out to her.]

I'm Barry. Allen.

[She accepts his hand and squeezes it firmly, though her eyes keep searching his for answers that aren't presenting themselves.]

It's nice to meet you, Barry. Again, I guess.

[She bites on the edge of her bottom lip.] Hopefully, we'll be able to get your friend back soon.

Edited 2017-10-14 01:07 (UTC)

Well, if there's anyone who can do it, it's you and me.

[Teamwork makes the dream work.]

But first things first, we have to figure out how this happened in the first place.

You said it had something to do with the lab, right? If there's any way to figure it out, the evidence might still be there. If something was stolen, we might be able to figure out what's missing.

That's true. Are you sure you're feeling up to heading back in there?

[She was a little shaky earlier, and if the lab is still as cold as it was, it might not be ideal working conditions for her.]

I'm going to have to be. Or... At least, we'll need to look into whatever HVAC issue affected the temperature like that.

[She's still a little unsteady on her feet, but that isn't going to stop her from trying to solve this issue. This Barry's already explained that he'll need her to interpret the medical data. She fidgets with the edge of her sleeve, and then freezes, looking back to him.]

Barry? New evidence suggests this might have been more than a burglary.

[She extends her wrist for him and pushes the cloth away from her skin long enough for him to see a neat row of still-healing injection sites traveling along the line of her artery.]

[He blinks for a moment, before he gently takes her arm to get a better look at the injection marks.]

They injected you with something?

Looks like several somethings.

[She tilts her head up to search his eyes for the answer of questions she hasn't thought to ask.]

Do you and I have any of enemies who might want me to forget something?

I don't think we have an enemies who know who you are who would use science to make you forget it.

[That much Barry does know. If this were a meta, it'd be a meta with memory abilities that wouldn't use a needle.]

Let's just go check out your lab and see what we find.

Right. You're right.

[She straightens herself and stays a half-step behind him, fully unwilling to admit that she can't quite remember the right direction to take.]

I'm sure there's a rational explanation for all of this. Nothing happens without reason.

[And Barry will lead the way slowly, and it's not like they have far to go. Caitlin's lab has always been close to the Cortex itself just in case there was a medical emergency.]

Agreed. And once we have an explanation, we can try and figure out how to reverse it.

[ when they return to the lab, it's every bit as cold and ominous as they left it. Caitlin shivers immediately, and rubs a phantom ache along her arm. ]

The frost accumulation doesn't seem to be centered a-around the ventilation shafts. It most likely didn't originate there. And you said it couldn't have been someone with abilities like yours?

On Tuesday, October 24, 2017, supertardiness - DW Comment < dw_null@dreamwidth.org <javascript:_e(%7b%7d,'cvml','dw_null@dreamwidth.org');>> wrote:

[Yeah, and that frost is making him Wonder because Caitlin's Earth-2 counterpart did have frosty talents. But last he checked, Caitlin wasn't a meta.

Right? Did he miss something?]

Yeah, I mean - I've seen a meta do something like that before. But last I checked she was on a whole other Earth.


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