Flashpoint: Heroes

That's just who Barry was. He went above and beyond for those he loved. He felt the way she melted into his touch and it warmed his heart, but also, he wanted to just encase her and protect her from the world right now.

The kiss was not what he was going for, but he wouldn't complain. He kissed her back, slow and steady, resting his forehead against hers when she spoke. "Magic? That's a new one." He was often called the impossible, but magic was interesting. "Today has been back to back panic and emotional hits. I can hold us here as long as you need to find your centre."

He stroked her cheek with his thumb and held her close, pressing their lips together again. For a speedster, he was being very slow right now and it was intentional. He wanted to help bring her down from that panic.

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"I... was starting to freak out a little. Might've been tempted to go out and do something reckless. But you pull me into Flash Time and all those dumb thoughts just go away. Poof. It's magic." Barry's gentle yet solid support was exactly what she needed, and she let herself lean into it. The tension in her shoulders had melted away, and she didn't feel like she was on the verge of a panic attack anymore.

Claire happily kissed him another moment longer, then hugged him tightly, her face pressed in against his neck. The safest place on Earth. Probably on any Earth. "I love you." A brief pause, a shakier breath, but she held steady. "And I need you. I'm not quite used to that yet."

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"If I'm not allowed to be reckless, neither are you." He told he softly. "But I'll happily be your magic speedster if it helps you. You are the only thing that kept me from being reckless. I want to run out into the city and find him right now. Force him to face me. But I know if I do, it will put you in danger and I don't want to leave your side."

"I love you too and I need you too. More than you realise."

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"Yeah, you're my magic speedster. My Pikachu, my Teddy Bear... The titles are adding up," she giggled, then turned more serious. "I understand that same reckless feeling. I'm more worried about it putting you in danger than myself, though."

No matter how much she betrayed Thawne, she still knew Barry was the main target of the man's hatred. Getting back at Claire was just a bonus.

"We're better off sticking together, so I'm not going anywhere. You got me, darlin'."

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Barry brushed her hair back and kissed he again with a warm smile. "I'm not great at nicknames, but I'm gonna have to catch up. You need some cute ones too." Could she feel how much she made his heart race? As fast as his heartbeat usually was, it might be hard to tell.

"I have something too precious to live for to let Thawne beat me." He bumped his nose into hers playfully.

"And you got me, babe." Which he totally didn't just sing to the tune of I Got You Babe.

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"I'm sure you'll come up with something sooner or later. I like anything you call me." Even just hearing her name, his sweet voice made her melt.

He got another giggle out of her, and she blushed a little. "You make me so happy. I can't let Thawne get in my head with that timeline nonsense. It's you and me, always."

That was the most obvious example of Thawne's manipulation yet, Claire thought. And she'd almost fallen for it so damn easily.

"I think, when we get home..." God, wasn't that nice to say? Home. Their home. She'd been trying to go for teasing, but now she was just soft. "I'll have a lot more kisses locked and loaded for you."

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"I mean, other than being cheesy and calling you my home." He smiled. "Home is where the heart is, and you have my heart."

"This is about the altered timeline? I meant what I said. I don't care what he altered, I chose you. He's just trying to get in your head. Don't let him. Thawne is a master at emotional manipulation. When Joe started looking into him as a suspect in my mother's murder, Joe said he brought up Tess Morgan, his dead fiancée. Knowing full well that would resonate with Joe. When that didn't stop Joe from looking, he threatened Iris as the Reverse-Flash. When Joe told me, I was furious at the time that he hid it from me, but now... I know he was just scared."

Her teasing easily melted the tension of those memories away and his smile returned. "I can't wait to get home. I guess I'll have to let us out of Flash Time so time can progress so we can go home. Because more kisses and more cuddles from me are the best reward." Now he was wondering if he could speed up time...

Edited (Saw it JUST as I hit send. ) Date: 2025-09-26 07:31 pm (UTC)

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"You know how much I love cheesy." It was exactly what she signed up for. "You're right. Thawne is messing with me, and I can't let him get in my head like that. It's kinda scary that he can get me so off the rails so easily."

Even if the rest of Thawne's emotions in that voice memo had been sincere, mentioning Barry and Iris being together in some other timeline was clearly a play to make Claire jealous, and therefore sloppy. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of letting it get to her any more than it already head.

Plus, she had to admit, at least to herself, she didn't like the person she saw herself becoming if she entertained the thought of Barry with anyone else for too long. She never would've said she was the jealous type before. Still, it took a lot of effort not to react when Barry mentioned Iris now, even in the context of Thawne threatening her.

Claire knew she had nothing to worry about. There could be no doubt that this man who was quite literally stopping time to comfort her truly wanted to be with her.

"You're the best, babe. Thank you for taking such good care of me." She let him have one more kiss, slow and deep to savor until later. "There's a lot more where that came from when we get home."

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"We're both cheese balls. We wouldn't work so well otherwise." Barry smiled warmly. "He knows what buttons to push."

Just like he knew how to upset each of them with ease. Hell, Harry only heard him talk for twenty seconds and wanted to shoot him, not that Harry is the paragon of patience.

Barry cherished the kiss and slowly pulled back when she broke it. Gradually, time began to speed back up until things were moving normally again. The only thing anyone else would notice would be a brief hint of static in the air and the fact that in the blink of an eye, Barry and Claire were in different positions.

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"Claire, you alright?" Her father's voice was the first thing to register as time went back to normal. Noah had noticed the tension in her as well - he could read her like a book, her expressions and body language that put him on alert for her to do something impulsive. Clearly, though, Barry had done something, because in barely the span of a breath, she had visibly calmed. But of course he'd check on her anyway.

"Yeah!" Claire answered quickly, almost sounding like she was in trouble, that mix of embarrassment and awkwardness that came with being called out. She relaxed just as fast, shifting to once again take her now-customary place at Barry's side. "Yeah, I'm fine. Was getting a little too in my own head, there."

"Seems like this Thawne character is good at that." Even better than a lot of the villains Noah had dealt with in the past. Except, perhaps, Adam Monroe. He was quietly grateful that Adam had never gotten to Claire. It was bad enough the man had tried to turn Peter. He would've had an easier time with her, unfortunately. She simply would've been too excited about meeting another true regenerator. He was almost thankful that Monroe was dead, but Thawne was apparently supposed to have been erased from existence entirely, and yet...

"He's even more of a cockroach than Sylar," Noah added quietly, prompting a laugh from Claire. Though she wasn't convinced they'd be able to erase Sylar from the timeline so easily, either.

"Did you guys find anything useful in those printouts from Thawne? I almost forgot about them." Claire looked to Harry and Jesse curiously.

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Jesse had felt the spark of Speed Force when Barry went into Flash Time and curiously watched them for only a second before realising it wasn't her place to snoop. So she was smiling at how cute they were when Claire addressed her and her father. She tucked the laptop under her arm, clearing her throat, and flipped through the packet of papers at super speed, reading the entire thing in under three seconds. Harry huffed.

"That's... still annoying." Why yes, Mister Photographic Memory was jealous of speed reading. Even when his own daughter did it.

"Love you too, daddy." Jesse grinned and looked back up to Claire. "It... looks like Thawne sequenced your entire genome. Like, he isolated everything to the last detail. He even isolated the gene that's coding a unique protein production when you heal. It's something we haven't seen in human cells before. This thing is a power house of a protein. This makes ALDH1A1 and retinoic acid synthesis look like snake oil--to clarify, those are the key ingredients in like, a lizard regrowing its tail." Claire, you're surrounded by nerdy geniuses in STAR Labs. Also, don't mind proud dad smiling lovingly at his daughter. He hadn't been able to read those papers just yet, but he'd skimmed through the some of the data on the drive and had seen some of Thawne's research already, so he knew some of that from the man's ramblings.

"If Thawne knows how her regen works, does that mean he knows how to dampen it?" Barry asked slowly with heightened concern in his tone.

"I mean... technically." Jesse said carefully. "I'm not sure... how he'd go about--"

"Yes." Harry said firmly. "Typically protein inhibitors are used in antibiotics. They bind to ribosomes to prevent the synthesis of proteins so the bacteria can't keep replicating." Harry said and Jesse looked horrified, like she hadn't even considered using antibiotics in that way. "He'd need to program the inhibitor to target that specific protein to prevent its production. But, he'd also need a massive dose to overwhelm your system and we wouldn't let him get close enough to deliver it."

Barry held onto her tightly. "He won't touch you, Claire. I won't let him."

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Jesse and Harry really were like Claire and her own father sometimes. It warmed her heart even in the middle of the science talk that got increasingly worrying. She idly wondered if that was how abilities like René's worked, but quickly realized that her healing probably wasn't using the same proteins and other chemistry in the body to process. Or, at least she didn't think so. That would probably be something to explore further when Peter visited - she hoped he'd be willing to give samples.

Noah had looked impressed, but like Claire and Barry, more concerned as Jesse continued explaining. Barry had all but plucked the very same question right out of his head.

Claire was working her way though the information more slowly than the others, her brow furrowed in both concentration and worry. She felt Barry's grip on her tighten, and she leaned in a little more firmly. Just when he'd gotten her calmed down again...

It was naive to think that Thawne truly wouldn't want to harm her in this way. Yes, he'd cared, but she hurt him. She betrayed him. Hurting her wouldn't even be about revenge against her - destroying The Flash was the goal, and this had the potential to devastate Barry. There were ways for him to pull this off, she thought. Having other speedsters around would make it more difficult for him, but not impossible.

"Then he'd probably find a way to do it so that he doesn't have to get close to me," she mused, trying not to sound as deflated as she felt. "Some kind of trick." Yeah, something entirely unexpected. Claire went pale, green eyes wide. She suddenly looked terrified, more so than when it was just herself in danger. "Or, if he decides not to target me at all. This would work on anyone with my regeneration, right? He could go after Peter."

Or Sylar, but that was more unlikely, in her opinion. Still... she was coming to terms with the possibility of having to save him from Thawne, just in case.

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"Ms. Bennet, we won't let that happen." Harry insisted. "If I have to intercept a dart for you, I will to keep the inhibitor out of your system. If he decides to go after someone with your regeneration, he'd need to make sure they produce the same protein otherwise the inhibitor wouldn't work against the healing." It could still overwhelm the system like any typical overdose for someone without a healing factor, but someone who could metabolise medication as quickly as they could, it wouldn't be a problem if it was the wrong inhibitor.

"The alert app will make sure you're safe, and I'm sure Harry can make one for your uncle too." Barry said and saw Harry nod off to the side.

"If it helps, Claire, the inhibitor wouldn't be permanent. So, even if he does get you, we just need to keep you away from him until your body works it out of its system, like any other medicine." Jesse said reassuringly.

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"No you won't." That might always be something she and Harry butted heads on. Of course it was okay for her to take a hit for him, but not the other way around. "I don't know what it'd do to someone else, but I don't want to find out. At least with me it'd probably be like an eclipse day, more or less."

It was possible Peter's empathy might be able to sense something like the Speed Force, or NSF, even if he couldn't access it. More that they'd have to test. She was sure Peter would be as excited to find out as she was. Well, she hoped. They'd bonded over this in the first place, finding someone who was like them, being part of something bigger than themselves. Over the years they'd lost that, and as much as she hated being in such a crisis again, maybe it was just the thing they needed.

"Even if something went wrong when I was on the inhibitor, it might still be possible to flush it out of my system, after..." After she was dead, she meant, but didn't say. They all knew where she was going with that.

"I'm not entertaining that thought, young lady." Noah put the Dad Voice on, albeit gently, and Claire couldn't help but shrink a little. "We're here to protect you, to protect each other, and that's what we're going to do."

Having that much protection never sat well with her. But in truth, it had been there her entire life. There was no shaking it at this point. She didn't want to, not really, because she didn't want to cut herself off from everyone she loved, and that would be just about the only way to escape it.

"Fine. But it's at least a backup plan if things go wrong. Thawne could be planning anything." She wasn't giving up hope, but she was certainly erring on the side of pessimism. Realism, she would say. "We'll just have to be on extra high alert, I guess. Doesn't seem like there's much we can do now except ready our defenses and figure out our next steps. The waiting game part of things might drive me a little crazy, though."

Which increased the chances of her going out and doing something stupid, but she wasn't going to say so. Lucky for her, Noah didn't call her out on that right away. He'd be having some conversations with the others about it, though. Particularly Barry, but also Dr. Wells.

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"This is not up for debate." He shot right back. No, they would never see eye to eye on that. "Whatever overdose scenario my body undergoes will be far less catastrophic than possibly losing you." He wouldn't even voice the part where losing her would be a harder hit to the people who loved her.

Jesse very slowly crept closer to Harry, tugging onto his sleeve a bit to pull him closer, trying to get him to ease up a little bit. She hated the idea of her dad taking the hit just as much as Claire did, but she also knew just how pigheaded he was. "It won't come to any of that, okay? Barry and I will make sure of it."

Claire's suggestion wasn't one Harry wanted to entertain either. He was glad Noah shot it down because he'd been a breath away from doing the very same.

Barry kissed the side of her head. "This is what being part of a team is all about, honey. We look out for one another. You're stuck with us now. It's too late to back out of this family." He tried to make it more lighthearted to help her relax again.

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Noah didn't love the idea of anyone being hit with a dose like that, but he had to admire Harry's willingness to do so. It matched his own, and he wouldn't have to say so for Claire to know that. The look she gave him said as much, almost a quiet plea to not start in on her too. He wouldn't gang up on her, there was no need.

"We've got enough heads to put together that we can probably figure out how to avoid that," he said instead. These were no doubt some of the brightest minds he'd had the pleasure to work with. Some of the Company founders had been brilliant in their own right, but Harry and Jesse ran circles around them, intellecutally. "Besides, we don't know what he's planning at all, this is all still pretty hypothetical."

Claire could get pretty set in her ways once she set her mind to something, but this was enough to talk her down. For now, anyway. It didn't take much to set her off lately. Having so much at stake made her more sensitive, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. She was trying not to sulk, trying not to feel like she was being lectured - even by Barry - and so she was slow to respond.

"Before Thawne's interruption on my morning, I had other news for you, Claire." Noah was once again saving her, and she didn't bother trying to hide her relief. "I think I've found a spot for the new office. Angela will be coming to check it out."

Claire's gaze briefly shifted toward the med lab before looking forward again. "Let's hope she doesn't have any dreams about Cisco," she said quietly, managing a smile. "That's where Peter gets his Precog from. Well, the dreams. He used to be able to paint the future, but he lost that one."

She rested her head against Barry, giving his waist a light squeeze where she had her arm around him. "If there's a way to dampen my regen, there could be a way to make it stronger. I already know my blood heals others, maybe if those proteins could be synthesized, more people could heal like me. Thawne and I talked about doing exactly that, just not with a method for it in mind." Her healing factor was stronger than that of the speedsters, Thawne included. She wondered if he might look into enhancing his own healing, rather than trying to weaken her. It'd be another way for him to be better than The Flash.

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Jesse timidly stepped up to agree with Noah. "That's what I was saying. It'll be okay." She was younger than Claire, so it felt odd trying to assume a big sister role, but she wanted to be as comforting as she could. She knew what it was like to be the target and even more so to know that you were being used to hurt someone you loved. So her heart went out to Claire in steadfast solidarity. She'd been targeted and used specifically to make her father bend his knee to Zoom. She knew how much she'd hated feeling helpless as she watched Zoom use her as a threat and she was sure Claire was feeling that same thing now. "And... it's okay if you need someone to talk to." Jesse said even softer. "'Cause I know what you must be feeling."

Harry almost seemed like hearing Jesse say those words knocked all the wind from his sails because he almost staggered before wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her close to his core. Jesse tucked her head under her dad's chin. It was comforting but also the easiest way to disarm him when he was being fightey.

Barry hadn't meant to come off as lecturing. If he'd known he had he would have apologised immediately. But he held her and kissed the side of her head again tenderly.he followed her gaze to Cisco, who was sitting on the medical cot on his tablet because Caitlin wouldn't let him leave until she was sure he wouldn't fall over.

"I think he'll be okay." Barry reassured. "He bounces back pretty quickly. Even without a healing factor." He turned his attention to Noah. "Let us know if you need any help setting up."

"Some of the info on that drive is about artificially synthesising the components in your blood to use as a healing aid. I don't read as fast as Jesse, so I only got the cliffnotes version for now, until I can sit down and read it uninterrupted." Harry said in a softer tone. Jesse really did melt him into a softie. He closed his eyes to recall the quick glance he'd taken of that section. "It looks like the first step was testing your blood against his own samples then artificially recreating it to see how similar the results were. His first live test only had a 20% boost and his own healing factor wiped out the injection in less than ten seconds. I didn't see much past that before moving on."

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Claire knew well enough not to make a fight out of it, not to let her ego get the best of her. They were all under stress and just trying to do their best to support each other. To support her. Barry had a good heart, so it was easy to remind herself that he really was trying to help. She nuzzled in a little more as he kissed her, soaking up all that comfort.

She was used to being a target; Sylar and the old Company had been after her, as well as the government. Though the former two had been after her, specifically. Nathan had tried his best to protect her from the government plan, but it had been his plan, and she was disgusted that he'd order his own people hunted down while giving her a free pass. All because he hated that he wasn't a 'normal' human.

They hadn't had enough time to truly sort out their differences over that before he died. His legacy was making it up to her, that much had been added to his will at some point. The means to set herself up for the future, and possibly make something more of herself. Maybe there was some shame in accepting apologies in cash, but she wouldn't let herself feel bad about it.

She smiled at Jesse and Harry, once again reminded of herself and Noah. He must have been having the same thought, because he had one of those Dad Smiles on. Barry was right, it was entirely too late to back out of this family. She loved them all too much.

"Thawne took a few vials," Claire recalled thoughtfully. "I don't know how many tests he can really run with that. Is it possible he might try to get more?" The thought of him trying to steal her blood was so absurd that it was almost comical, but the man seemed like he could be unhinged enough that she really couldn't rule out the possibility. "I guess unless he could find a way to recreate it himself."

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"Thawne's said before, the timeline is malleable and the more a Speedster messes with it, the less the rules apply to them. Which, I'll wager, is why he's still around. But with as little regard as he shows for the timeline, I'd imagine going back and reusing the same samples wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for him." Clearly, Harry hated that thought for so many reasons but if it kept Thawne away from Claire, he'd prefer it.

"He can't get close to you with the watch on. Not without tipping one of us off anyway." Barry said. "The only other way for him to get more would be to steal it from the lab or anywhere else that has your blood on hand." It was a risk and Thawne had just proven he could be inside the facility without anyone even knowing, but once Harry got his security measures up and working, it wouldn't be as easy for Thawne to ghost right inside.

"But this is all just conjecture." Harry said. "We don't know what his plan is at this stage. We could all be in danger or there could be no danger. Whatever the case, we'll be as prepared as we can be."

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Interestingly, that same rule didn't apply to Hiro Nakamura. Or at least, that's how she understood it. Then again, maybe his condition had been unrelated, and not a side effect of abusing the space-time continuum. Even after their jaunt into the past, they had never exactly been close. Peter and her father (both of them, actually) had spent more time with the guy than she ever had.

"No danger is a bit of a stretch, given my track record," Claire said in an obvious attempt at levity. It got a huff of a laugh from Noah. Each of them had their brushes with danger. This kind of life was never completely without some kind of risk, no matter how careful she was.

All the more reason to stay put, she thought. That, and it was nice to finally have a home again.

If any of her samples had turned up missing, Caitlin would've noticed by now. So that was a comforting thought, at least. There were plenty on hand, given they'd been doing regular testing to check for the Chameleon venom. She hated the thought of what Thawne might be able to do with the infected blood.

"There are no bio samples remaining from the old Company," Noah offered helpfully. "I ensured Claire's were destroyed years ago, after Suresh used some to save my life." Bring him back to life, more accurately. "All that remains are paper and digital files. Claire's been helping me go through them to digitize and purge those records." Thawne was less of a worry on that front, but given all the plans to test out how Meta and Evolved human powers interacted, that sort of research might attract the wrong sort of attention sooner or later. It happened with the old Company, despite their strict rules about discretion.

"What's the range on the watch, exactly? I don't think I asked before." She looked curiously at the device on her wrist. Since Harry had given her the first one she really hadn't put much thought into it until it had gone off that same day. "It seems like it's pretty close, right?"

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Hiro wasn't beholden to the laws of the Speed Force. It was a living energy with rules it tried to enforce. But its speedsters were able to outsmart it and its enforcers if they understood how it worked. Like Thawne.

Harry huffed an amused breath from his nose and rolled his eyes at her teasing. "In as little danger as is relative for us." Harry corrected. Because he also had to admit, in the time she'd known him, he'd been attacked three times, and she'd seen at least the aftermath of one and been there for one.

Thawne wouldn't need the samples with the venom to get the venom. He could just as easily steal Caitlin and Harry's research on the anti-venom to rebuild the venom if he so chose. Or, even easier, fo back in time and recruit Chameleon. But he didn't like working with unpredictable elements and no one was allowed to kill Barry Allen except him. Which was what posed such a problem with this new timeline, because he knew for a fact Savitar was already in play even though Barry didn't yet, but now he didn't know the outcome...

Harry nodded when Noah answered. "But there were other samples stored in facilities at some point in time?" Look, Noah, he isn't being condescending. "We're used to thinking linearly. But with time travelling speedsters, you have to get used to thinking on a different level. If there has ever been a stockpile somewhere and there was ever well known documentation of that stockpile, Thawne will know when and where to look. Gideon is able to scan data stored on any device with a connection in any time and amass that data in a search. It's an incredibly complex time travelling AI assistant." That was the terrifying long and short of it.

"For normal meta detection, it's quite close. Less than a metre. Speedster detection, it will detect them before you see them. Originally I designed them to detect the Speed Force, but after re-activating it on this Earth, I had to turn that functionality off. Now, it detects the Negative Speed Force in the same way. As long as Thawne is the only user here, it's a Thawne detector. It will pick up the NSF from a block away."

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Getting a laugh from Harry (well, as close as he came to laughing most of the time) was just a bonus. Claire's smile widened; she looked quite pleased with herself.

Noah understood the need for the question. Even evolved humans could time-travel, after all. And with Thawne the risks were \greater, given his increased capabilities with both abilities and tech. "There were. Claire's, around the mid-to-late aughts, and Adam Monroe's before that. Plus other samples from folks with various abilities, over the years. The Company was slow to transition from analog files. To be honest, we're only doing so now because we have a technopath at our disposal, and we won't be transferring all of it. We'll still have paper files in fireproof cabinets."

Pyrokinesis and other fire-related powers were somewhat common, and the old Company had made plenty of enemies. "Money isn't really an option," he said, almost sheepishly. "We also have an alchemist on our team."

"Sylar," Claire muttered, wrinkling her nose. She almost said more, but decided against it. That was an argument she could have with her father later. Instead, she focused on Harry's explanation about the watch's detection capabilities. It tracked with what they had experienced the other day, when Caitlin had pinged the alarm. How close had Thawne gotten before then? Close enough to find out she was with Barry. The knowledge that he could've been anywhere, at anytime, was unnerving.

"Could there be more than one person using the Negative Speed Force, or is that unlikely? He told me I wouldn't be able to handle it, but his explanation was more that I'm too... good. It didn't sound like there was a limit, from what he said." She still doubted how good she truly was, but she had to admit, she wasn't nearly as far gone as Eobard was.

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"So, depending on if that information ever makes it into Thawne's hands, he may have access to more samples from the past, as well as other Evolved Human samples." Harry didn't like it. Even if all the files were just hard copies now, some idiotic historian in the future could digitise them later and that would give Gideon access. He turned to Barry, "Allen, you need to lock me out of Gideon in the Time Vault. It won't stop him, but it will slow him down."

Barry hesitated. "But it will slow us down too if you can't access Gideon." Barry objected and Harry gave him that stern look that told him not to argue. So he disappeared in a flash from Claire's side. After a few seconds he returned exactly in place like he'd never left. "Done." He said solemnly.

Harry nodded his thanks to Barry then returned his attention to Noah. At that name, he frowned. "You work with Sylar?" Yes, that was blatant judgement in his tone. Defensive on Claire's behalf.

"Theoretically, there could be more. But we haven't seen--" Harry began to answer Claire's question then Barry interjected.

"I have." Barey had the decency to look ashamed.

"You-- you have?" Harry sounded exasperated and judgemental again. He pulled away from Jesse to put his hands on his hips and look admonishing. "You have." He said again. "This has to do with that other timeline."

"Flashpoint, yeah. He went by the name The Rival. He was an evil speedster who used the Negative Speed Force. He was what made me realise I needed to set the timeline right. Or part of it... I'm sorr--"

"Save it." Harry sounded even more irritated. "So, yes, Ms. Bennet, there could be more than one person. But the odds that this Rival exists in this timeline are slim. Right, Allen?"

"Right, Dr. Wells." Barry still sounded like a kid who had been caught stealing from the cookie jar. To help elaborate to Claire, Barry added, "The Negative Speed Force is a truly hateful thing. You have to be a speedster and have hatred in your heart to harness it. It isn't something that just happens. Even Zoom's speed wasn't Negative."

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Claire wasn't a big fan of the tension mounting; it didn't do much to help her own frayed nerves. Plus, Barry had this kicked puppy quality that made her chest ache, even if she understood Harry was just trying to keep everyone safe from Thawne, and there were other things that clearly happened before she met any of them. She gave Barry an extra squeeze of a hug when he was back at her side. There'd be even more cuddles at home, she'd make sure of it.

"He has a lot of assets that he's willing to put at our disposal, and Angela decided it was too valuable to pass up." Noah explained, not looking terribly pleased about it. He hated how uncomfortable it made Claire, but he was also being tugged in several different directions about the situation. Part of the agreement was that Sylar would stay away from Claire, and he was honoring that so far.

Of course it was Angela's call, in the end. The last of the remaining Company founders. Noah had just been an agent, and now a right hand man of sorts, because of their family connection and other history.

"Peter says he's making progress, whatever that means." Claire didn't bother to hide the sarcasm in her voice. The entire situation left her unsure of who to be the most upset with. Even she had to admit that Sylar had been a victim for some of it. He didn't deserve what Angela and Parkman did to him.

She sighed, hating that she had to accept this fact sooner or later. "I can deal with Sylar, if I have to. Better the devil I know." At least she could be fairly certain he wouldn't hurt her - he'd just be annoying as hell.

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