Dropping In

[swoopyhair]

Once he'd gotten word from Noah that it would be safe, Peter was eager to visit Central City and see Claire. It was nice to hear she'd finally settled down, and something he expected to happen sooner or later. What he didn't expect, however, was to hear she'd gotten herself into a relationship. At least not so soon after moving in.

But he understood all too well what it was like to fall in love with someone at first sight. He was glad that it seemed to be going much better for his niece than it had for him.

There was also some lingering curiosity about the dream he'd had. The one where he was in that weird room with Claire and a bunch of people he didn't know - her friends, he would later learn after talking with Noah. He assumed he'd meet them eventually, though maybe not today. It would make sense if she wanted to introduce him slowly and let them build up trust in him. She'd never been so open with her relationships that he could remember - the last one he knew anything about had been with Gretchen and even then he barely had met the woman. Peter didn't want to push too hard and end up distancing himself from Claire all over again. He was all too aware that his involvement with Sylar had put a strain on them, and he wanted to use this time to try and set things right.

Claire had texted her address just after moving in, so he knew right where to go. But rather than teleport directly into the apartment, Peter popped into the hallway. He was planning to surprise her, and now that he was there, he hoped she was home so he didn't have to text her and ruin the surprise.

He knocked twice, then waited for her to answer.

Comments

[feelthelightning]

Just the sound of Claire's voice made him smile and his heart skip beats. "My team and I are all in scientific fields. And in order to make sure it was safe for you, and for us, some testing was done. But she's been doing other tests against Meta tech to make sure she stays safe. I hate the idea of something getting to her." Something like Thawne. Or this God of Speed. But he wouldn't mention those or the vision. Not unless Claire wanted to.

But the mention of Sylar put Barry on edge. He held Claire closer and there was a small spark of anger buried there. Yes, he knew a little bit of what Sylar had done, but not all of it. He just knew Claire didn't want him around. "And if he does show up, I'll personally drop him off in Antarctica to let him know he isn't welcome." Barry said protectively.

[swoopyhair]

"Team... I'm guessing those are the new friends Claire's been talking about in our texts." So Barry was protective of her. No wonder Noah liked him. But Peter couldn't deny that he liked it, too. They couldn't always be around to keep her safe, and she did have a unique talent for finding danger.

As much as he regretted bringing up Sylar, he was still somewhat pleased with Barry's reaction. Despite all the progress they'd made, Sylar could be an ass even at the best of times. It had come to blows more than once, but the two worked well together, so they kept at it. He hoped Claire might be able to come around and soften her stance, but he would understand if she didn't.

"I'd almost pay to see that," Peter returned easily, and Claire gave a little laugh. "Sylar wouldn't be able to catch you if he tried. I'm sure Claire was all too happy to point that out."

She nodded. "Damn right. I don't want to see him, but he's the least of my worries."

"So I've heard. Noah says regen isn't enough anymore. He seemed pretty rattled that something could affect you so strongly. I can only imagine how it was for you. I'm sorry I couldn't be here." He looked to Barry. "Thank you, for taking care of her."

"We didn't know if it was safe yet. I didn't want to risk you having a bad reaction when were both stable. We just had to take another dose of the antidote and let it run its course." Claire lifted her hand to brush the hair back from her face, and a sparkle caught Peter's eye.

A ring. Not just a little trinket, that much was obvious. "I'm sorry, should I have brought a bottle of champagne to congratulate you guys?" he asked playfully, gesturing toward her hand.

[feelthelightning]

"Yeah! Claire's been working with my friends, Cisco, Caitlin, Harry, and Jesse. They've grown attached." Barry said with a fond smile in Claire's direction. "She's trying to steal my best friend!" He pretended to sound miffed by that. "And she's already wormed her way into even the grumpiest hearts at the Lab." His affection for her was smothering.

Barry laughed. "She did. As soon as I brought up mach speeds, it was decided I'd win the race." He said proudly. At least against Evo speedsters. Too damn bad it didn't matter against Thawne. That was definitely why Meta speedsters had healing abilities. The speeds at which they ran would destroy their bodies otherwise.

"Of course. I'll always take care of her." Barry hugged her with one arm, resisting the urge to kiss her. "I love her too much to let anything happen to her."

And then Barry was blushing furiously. "W-well. No one knows yet. It just happened." He stammered.

[swoopyhair]

"She has a way of doing that. Nathan would've attested to it." And his brother had done so, though unfortunately it was usually out of Claire's earshot. Her relationship with her biological father hadn't been ideal. The look on his niece's face when he brought up Nathan made him immediately regret it, so he pushed forward. "Yeah, Evo speed is very limited, by comparison." There was no Speed Force for evolved humans. "But now that I seem to be borrowing your speed, I'm curious to see what it can do."

As far as Peter could tell, Barry's love for Claire was the real deal. He didn't have Sylar's ability to detect lies, but with empathy and telepathy, he could generally figure out when people were being dishonest. His original assessment about Barry seemed spot on. He'd never seen Claire look so happy. So... in love. She had always kept her relationships private, surely none of them had been this serious.

Barry was her hero now, he supposed. That was for the best. He hadn't been much of a hero, these last few years. It was lucky enough that she thought as highly of him as she still did. Now was his chance to do better - whatever she needed, he was there.

She was blushing too as he called out the ring. Peter held up both hands, grinning. "I can keep a secret, don't worry. But I'm glad to be the first one to congratulate you." He reached out to squeeze her shoulder. "You deserve it, Claire."

"How long are you staying, Peter? I know you're usually busy with work."

That was a surprisingly complicated answer. "I'm not sure, actually. I took leave from the hospital. I'll be helping Ma and Noah with Company stuff. And I want to help you. I've, uh. I didn't want to bring this up so soon, but I've been having dreams. Some good, but mostly... not so good. You guys have something going on, don't you?"

His heart sank as he watched Claire look to Barry with fear in her eyes. "Go ahead, babe," she said with a nod, then fell quiet. Whatever it was, it looked like she didn't trust herself to keep it together while she told him.

I need you to know, I giggle every time I see his screen name.

[feelthelightning]

Barry grinned. "We could always go for a run. But I'd want to make sure you start out easy first. Tripping at Mach 3 is pretty hazardous to your health. We can start slow, then once you've got the hang of it, we can race." He promised. This was also something he was going to do with Claire.

"I don't know how much of a secret it's supposed to be. It's just new. It's up to Claire when she wants to tell everyone." He leaned into her with a rub of his shoulder against hers.

He was happy to hear Peter would at least be around for a little bit. But the new subject was a downer, and the immediate drop in his mood could be seen just as easily as his love for Claire. Peter was right, Barry really did wear his emotions on his sleeve.

"We... Vibe had a vision. He saw Claire killed by a metal monster calling himself the God of Speed. He's faster than me and we think it is a permanent death for Claire. We also got a warning about him from someone from the future who might be a reliable source. At least, he is as far as information goes." Barry did not like talking about this, but he wouldn't make Claire say it.

I'm so glad! It's his most iconic look. XD

[swoopyhair]

"We're bothengaged," Claire interjected with a giggle despite the mood drop. The way she leaned her head against Barry, it was obvious how much she relied on him for support. "You can decide who we tell and when just as much as I can, silly. But I'm also happy to be low-key about it."

She darkened again as Barry explained what was going on, and while it illuminated some things, it didn't make Peter feel any better. "I think I dreamed about that. In the dream, I'm trying to catch Claire and 'port her away, but she slips out of my grasp just as I'm hit with a white flash." He paused, frowning as he shook his head. A permanent death... but how? "I'm pretty sure I had dreams about some of your friends, too. The guy who was looking at me, a guy who was holding some kind of device and scowling. And the rest I couldn't really see their faces."

"That was Harry scowling, probably," said Claire with obvious fondness. Then she added, "I'm glad you're here to help us. We're going to stop it."

"Damn right we are," Peter assured her. "Nothing's killing you so long as I'm still breathing. Whatever it takes, I'm here to help you guys."

[feelthelightning]

"We are! But you... I don't know. It feels more... It's always more... I don't want your dad to shoot me." Barry fumbled over his thoughts, finally getting to the crux of the issue. "I mean, I can catch bullets, but still."

Barry looked solemn and closed his eyes against the emotions he was feeling. "The white flash... you were probably hit with his lightning. I've never seen lightning like that before. His Speed Force is something I've never felt." He looked up after a moment, surprise in his eyes. "Wait, if he was close enough to hit you in your dream, you had to be close enough that you would've been able to feel his power, like mine, right?"

He scrubbed his hand through his hair with a heavy sigh of frustration. "I don't suppose you've seen anything in any of your visions about a guy in a plague doctor mask? I think he might be connected to this God of Speed. It's... it's a long shot. But," He looked at Claire almost apologetically. He hadn't really brought up Alchemy much because he hadn't wanted to worry her. But if they were related, this could be even bigger.

"Harry's-- Doctor Harrison Wells is the grumpy one. Seven PhDs. He's a tech genius and a physicist. Claire's also saved his life twice now and he's sort of adopted her in his own grumpy way. My friend Vibe, he's the one with visions, you two had visions of each other. It knocked Vibe on his ass. Some kind of feedback loop of visions with the way Vibe's work. He'll introduce himself to you properly at some point." He tried to fill in a couple faces at least.

Barry looped his arm around Claire's shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her temple. "So long as I'm still breathing, too." He promised. "We appreciate your help, Peter."

[swoopyhair]

Claire laughed again, and Peter couldn't help but smile. Trust her to still find humor even when faced with an existential threat. "It's not ye olden times, babe, you don't have to ask his permission for my hand in marriage," she said with a grin. "I figure people will find out as we see them, I'd rather tell them in person than over the phone, that's all. Well, except my mom. But I'll FaceTime her later."

"My mom should be coming within the next week or so, I'll let you tell her," Peter chimed in, amused. "She said she had a precog dream, but it was a good one. I'm just glad she didn't see what I've seen."

He considered Barry's questions, then shook his head. 'A plague mask, no. And I didn't feel anything in the dream like I was taking on a new power. Maybe that metal monster was too strong, or there was something blocking my ability. All I know is getting hit with that flash knocked me right out of the vision."

Claire looked just as confused as he felt. "But if you're there when I die, we didn't see you in the vision. How could that be? Are there branching timelines of the same event?" she asked.

He smiled sheepishly, scratching at the back of his neck. "Uh... I think I have an idea how." And with that, he vanished from view, just for a few seconds before he appeared again in exactly the same spot. "Claude's back, so I picked up his invisibility."

"You know Claude?" Claire was utterly shocked, and frankly, so was he. But then he dimly recalled the man's history - he'd been partners with Noah at The Company.

"Yeah, I found him back in New York, just after I met you in Texas. He helped me learn to control my powers. At the time neither of us realized we both knew you." And Peter added, laughing, "He was glad he didn't have to go through training me again."

"So you were in Vibe's vision, but we didn't see you 'cause you were invisible. I wonder how close you actually were, though. Even Barry couldn't move fast enough to get too close." She stopped suddenly and her frown deepened as she leaned into Barry again. "Unless I have more than one encounter with the God of Speed."

"I don't know. All I remember seeing in that dream was you and that monster. My only focus was saving you. There was another We'll figure this out," Peter promised. "There was another dream I had with lightning, but it was red. I thought maybe it could've been my friend Ando, but it definitely wasn't. Does that mean anything?"

The look on Claire's face didn't give him much hope.

[feelthelightning]

"I know that." Barry chuckled weakly. "I just mean he's protective if you and he barely knows me and all I've done is bring trouble into your life." Why yes, he blames himself for Thawne and Chameleon. And it's obvious that this God of Speed is going after her to hurt him.

The invisibility made him jump a bit then grin. He was always amazed to see new abilities! Especially when they weren't being used against him. "That certainly can come in handy." He admitted. But he agreed, if Peter didn't see him, then something was odd about the vision.

"It's possible we've already altered the timeline and he saw a new variation..." Barry hated that idea even more. It would mean altering the event would be harder than just a small domino. They'd have to be more strategic about what they changed and how. Or find a way to stop this monster before it could happen, which was a harder feat, given they didn't have much to go on. He'd need to talk to Jay soon. Like, today, soon.

But two words jerked him from his thoughts like he'd been struck by lightning again. Red lightning. Barry's blood ran cold and he paled. "Thawne." He went rigid at Claire's side. But he had to tell himself that just because Thawne was in a vision didn't mean anything just yet, since Claire was set on talking to him. "What did you see specifically?" Barry asked cautiously.

[swoopyhair]

"I was getting myself into trouble just fine before I met you," Claire gently reminded him. It wouldn't be like her at all to blame Barry, Peter knew that much. "It could be the God of Speed is toying with me and doesn't kill me the first time I see him, or maybe I got saved once, but not the second time. Or... yeah, we already altered the timeline." Peter noticed her gaze flicker down to the ring on her finger.

"Maybe we did. You weren't wearing that in any of my dreams." He regretted bringing up the red lightning, if only because he hated how much the topic seemed to pain both of them. But at the same time, it was helpful to confirm that this was something they knew about. Or, he supposed, someone.

There was that sad little smile that had endeared her to him in the first place, as she offered a small explanation. "For lack of a better way to put it, Eobard Thawne is Barry's Sylar. But he's worse than Sylar. He and I also have a short history, before I met Barry. He... manipulated me. Made me think we could work together to learn about Evo and Meta powers. I thought I could help him. Kind of like you're helping Sylar." The shame in her eyes broke his heart.

Worse than Sylar? For Claire of all people to be saying that, it had to be bad. But why in the world did she think she could help this guy? He must have really gotten to her. Expert level manipulation. He shuddered at the thought.

"There was a streak of red lightning, and a yellow blur. Just... standing in a parking lot I didn't recognize, with this looming presence. He didn't seem to notice me, he was watching Claire walk toward him. I couldn't stop her." Peter frowned, tilting his head. "Is he another speedster?"

[feelthelightning]

"Maybe he didn't know you couldn't be killed so easily. So his first attempt was just a stab?" Barry said hopefully. But if the guy still used a syringe, then that was unlikely. Either way, he hated all of this.

"It's not your fault, sweetheart." He could hear the shame in her tone. He didn't blame her for being manipulated by Thawne. They'd all been manipulated by him before. "...he killed my mother when I was eleven." Barry sounded so small. "And framed my father for her murder. All because he couldn't kill me as a child. So he tried to break me instead. Now he just continues to terrorise me and has made it his life's mission, his words, to find a way to kill me. One that doesn't affect him. Without me existing in the past, he doesn't have his powers in the future." With Eddie dead, Eobard had been cut from the timeline, so it didn't matter anymore and he'd been free to kill Barry without consequence but with Eddie alive and Eobard restored to the timeline, he's at risk of losing his powers again. So now he's in a bit more danger with Thawne than he was before.

"He is. And he's also faster than me. ...you need to keep away from him, Peter. He's dangerous. And the Negative Speed Force is dangerous. How far do you have to be for your power to absorb anothers' power? Because you need to keep that distance from him. Claire has decided to talk to him and see if he knows anything about this God of Speed. But we're not sending her in without a defence. We think he might have been trying to protect her by sending the warning, so... beyond all reason for Thawne, he might actually care about her." Barry was still not sure Thawne could care about anyone but himself.

[swoopyhair]

"The thing grabbed her, I tried to reach and pull her back, but the lightning hit me." Peter shook his head at the memory of that dream. Barry's continued explanation about Thawne didn't help matters at all. How had Claire gotten herself mixed up with a man like this? Clearly it was before she met Barry.

Even Sylar cared about some people. He had an unhealthy attachment to Claire, despite not seeing her for years, as much as he tried to hide it. Maybe it was similar. Even with his empathy and Sylar's aptitude, Peter couldn't fully understand how minds like that truly worked.

"Pretty close. But it's more of an emotional thing than a proximity thing. It used to be that I only had to get close. Now, I need a kind of... empathic hook to really start absorbing the power," he explained. "Just getting physically close isn't enough, I need to connect. And frankly, I'm not sure I could connect with either of your speedy villains."

He had half a mind to tell Thawne off, though, messing with his niece like that. It was hard to be worse than Sylar, but evidently it was possible.

"You think it'll be safe to talk to this guy?" Peter looked to Claire, curiously. She had been holding onto Barry like she was trying to hold him together, while he talked about Thawne. It was hard to meet her and not care about her, he knew from experience. She was just a seemingly random cheerleader when he'd gone to Texas to save her, throwing himself into certain doom to save her and save the world, but she'd made such an impact on him even before he learned she was his niece.

"I think so. He's warning me. Ultimately he wants me to leave Barry, which obviously I won't, but... he doesn't want me to die. If he did, he'd just do it himself, or keep his mouth shut and let the God of Speed do it." Her voice still held that layer of guilt, and it tugged at Peter's heart. She sounded like she did when she came to him after her Ferris wheel jump, that deep feeling of knowing she fucked up, but she didn't know how to fix it.

"The Negative Speed Force. Sounds pretty self-explanatory, I think," Peter said, then he sighed almost in exasperation. "And time travel is in play. Of course it is, if you can run that fast. Just when I thought we were done with the butterfly effect. Technically I can teleport through time as well as space, but I almost never do it anymore."

He ran a hand through his hair. It was getting long in the front again. "So, what's the plan? You ring this psycho up and meet him for coffee?"

Claire shrugged, and Peter noticed she seemed to be avoiding eye contact. Whatever happened with Thawne, she was torn up about it. He hated the guy already. "We're still figuring that out, along with some other plans to get more info. They're probably working on stuff now at the lab, as we speak."

That was supposed to be "a bit LESS danger with Thawne than he was before. XD

[feelthelightning]

Barry glanced at Claire and gave her arm a squeeze. Her support helped keep him whole. "I'm gonna see if Vibe can't Breach me over to E-3 today do I can talk to Jay. We need some answers." He wasn't sure if they were going to overload Peter with the Multiverse stuff just yet, so he abbreviated for the sake of his sanity.

"Thawne is full of hatred. It's what hooked him into the Negative Speed Force in the first place. Hatred of me. He's a sociopath. I can't imagine what it must be like to be an Empath around someone like him, so... be careful if you encounter him. The feeling you get from the Speed Force, the warmth and love? His is the opposite. I can feel it when he hits me with his lightning. It's cold and angry. It's pure rage."

Barry nodded. "He had no real reason to warn Claire. Unless it was a desperate manipulation tactic to gain her trust. But his manipulation tactics are usually a lot more well thought out than that. He manipulated the entirety of Central City for fifteen years. He manipulated Cisco, Caitlin, Ronnie, and Hartley for years. He even had me thinking he was my saviour for over a year when I got my powers." Fortunstely, it sounded like Peter hadn't seen Thawne's face, so he didn't have to worry about any confusion with Harry for the time being.

"Claire still has his number, I think? You can use my phone, so he doesn't have your new number. Or the STAR Labs phone. But if Peter saw you meeting him, it's safe to say Cait has good news for us at the Lab." There was some light in the dark.

Less danger! More good news! :D

[swoopyhair]

Peter was understandably confused at the mention of 'E-3' and Claire must have picked up on it. "Earth-3," she said, amusement shining beneath the darker mood. "There are, uh, multiple Earths. I got the lecture hall explanation, but hell if I could explain it any better than Jesse and Harry did. Basically our Earth is the nexus, and they're all connected. Some abilities like Vibe's Breaches can get there, and Meta speedsters can run through paths that connect the Earths because they're fast enough to navigate inside without getting lost."

Multiple Earths. Of course, that might as well be a thing. He didn't dare ask about aliens (No one tell him. It'll delight Noah to be the one to drop that bomb.)

"Full of hatred, but trying to save Claire's life? Could it be so he can kill you himself?" Somehow he wasn't surprised when she shook her head.

"No, he could've gotten to me already, if that was his goal. He did threaten my dad, though. And everyone at the lab. I don't know why he'd make an exception for me. To him, me being with Barry is the ultimate betrayal. All of the hatred in the Negative Speed Force... it's because he hates Barry. But I'll use my phone to contact Thawne, once we get those plans finalized. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up with some future tech way to find my number, anyway."

And that, Peter thought, was one way Thawne was worse than Sylar. There was a lot of hate in Sylar's heart, a lot of rage. And while for a time it had been focused at Angela Petrelli, even he could learn to let it go after a while. As much as Sylar had gone after Claire, it was never to this extent, he didn't think, but there was also a lot he'd missed while his niece was at Arlington. Peter had thrown himself into his paramedic work to an almost obsessive degree, and had been that way essentially until now, except for when he and Sylar worked on training with their powers together.

This was the first extended break he had from the hospital since Claire's jump. It was strange to think about.

He watched Claire perk up at the mention of good news at the Lab, and it made him smile in spite of himself. "Can we go?" she asked, a bright grin spreading across her face. "I wanna bring goodies for the gang, and see if there's anything I can help with."

Maybe it's safe to test the V-9... I could train with Barry! Despite keeping his telepathy under control, every now and then he caught stray thoughts, and that one from Claire was curious. It made him happy to hear her so excited, but he wondered what kind of training she could be doing - it was slightly concerning. He decided not to ask, instead concluding that he'd learn what it meant soon enough.

Peter knew he needed to learn to trust his niece's judgment. She'd obviously matured since the Sullivan Carnival, and Noah had even tried to tell him so. They'd kept in touch mostly superficially; every time she reached out to visit him in New York he'd been busy, and once she found out about his involvement with Sylar she'd distanced herself. As much as that stung, he understood why, and understood that he deserved it. He was grateful she was giving him another chance.

"I don't mind tagging along if I'm not intruding, or... I don't know. I've never been to Central City. Anything worth checking out?"

Thawne wouldn't want to lose his speed again.

[feelthelightning]

"So yeah... I run through streets, time, and dimensions. Surprise." He said sheepishly. "Oh, and walls. I can vibrate my cells to the frequency of air and run through solid objects." But so can Thawne, which was a problem. Thawne taught him everything he knew about his power except how to throw lightning. Zoom taught him that one... funny how all of his abilities came from villains pretending to be friends. That stung. A lot. How he managed to trust anyone anymore was a miracle. Even Harry had betrayed him at first. Did he just have a 'Gullible' sign on his back?

"The best I can do is; all these universes exist in roughly the same spot but vibrate at a different frequency causing them to separate their dimensions. So, they're infinite. Harry and Jesse are from Earth-2. It's kind of like, every decision that could ever be made has a different outcome and that has its own universe. Harry... can't leave STAR Labs because Thawne is sort of his identical doppelgänger and is wanted for murder. So, Harry will be arrested if he's seen by anyone. He's genetically identical to the Harrison Wells from this Earth, who... Thawne killed and body-snatched because he saw me in the future working closely with Harry and assumed it was Harrison Wells. It's a lot." More guilt that he held close to his chest. It was his fault that Harrison Wells was killed.

Barry knew she was right, but he still didn't want her to so willingly give him her number. But it was her call. No pun intended. He also hated that she was right about Thawne being able to get to her if he really wanted to. Barry would've at least seen him coming, and they would sure as hell fight, but not much can stop him.

"Yeah, we can. Wanna grab the brownies?" He said with a warm smile. "And you're more than welcome to join us, Peter. I know Vibe was eager to meet you."

[swoopyhair]

"I knew a guy who could phase through objects, but that was all he could do," Peter said thoughtfully. It was interesting, to say the least, how Barry (and apparently other Meta speedsters) seemed to have a combination of so many other powers. No doubt it had fascinated Claire as well.

The explanation of the multiple Earths was good enough for Peter. It was possible he might be able to gain the ability to travel between them, but that wasn't something he planned to do unless absolutely necessary. An almost distracted look came over Claire's face as Barry explained, but he couldn't possibly begin to guess what she might be thinking. Whatever it was, she was a lot more guarded about those thoughts. She looked... worried, somehow. On top of the sudden wave of Barry's guilt he felt, he realized the two of them must have been through so much together already in such a short span of time. No wonder they were so serious about one another. Barry really did seem perfect for her, though.

"Yeah," she said suddenly, looking up as though she was just re-joining the conversation. "I've got them packed up already." She let go of Barry and retrieved a plastic container from the kitchen counter, then her gaze met Peter's, somewhat sheepish. "Usually Barry runs with me... I can give you the address to Star Labs so you can 'port there?"

Peter didn't doubt for a second that Claire would be thrilled to move at such speeds. She'd been delighted enough when he showed off Evo speedster powers for her, but Barry's speed blew that out of the water. She probably reveled in any opportunity to break the sound barrier, the little adrenaline junkie. "That works. Guess we can see if teleportation is faster than super-speed," he teased with a smile.

[feelthelightning]

Barry would blame it on the dark matter. Though, his healing was related to his speed. It was a survival perk. Like Eliza, speedsters would disintegrate without the ability to heal while running at Mach speeds without armour. Which gave him a thought... maybe the metal monster was a suit of armour to protect him from his own speed. Running faster than light could overwhelm even his healing factor. He wondered if Claire's could keep up. The phasing was just part of his speed. Like the after images.

Barry looped his arm around her and kissed the side of her head when she came back. Love and support for her, so she knew he was there for her. He would always be there for her as long as he drew breath.

He grinned at Peter and nodded to Claire. "You're on!"

[swoopyhair]

Claire gave him the address to the lab. Fortunately, that was now enough for him to teleport somewhere he'd never been. There had been mishaps back when he had less control. Seeing the way Barry supported her - the support they had for each other, really - was heartwarming. Peter was pretty sure he understood exactly what drew her to the guy.

"See you there!" He didn't bother to give a count of three, only focused on the address in his mind, aiming for somewhere outside, then blinked out of existence.

After those dreams, Central City was about to give him a lot of deja vu.

[feelthelightning]

Barry watched him disappear and smirked. "Cool." Then he scooped Claire up as he'd done several times now, running for the door, phasing them through it. He didn't pick up speed until they were in the streets, shielding her with his body and hitting Mach speeds. The sonic boom tripped a few car alarms as they sped to STAR Labs. He ran up the side of the building and through the wall. As he entered the hallway just outside the Cortex, he hit what felt to him like a solid wall. Thank God, when he entered buildings, he always slowed down to a speed below Mach 1 in most cases.

Barry hit a barrier and was repelled backwards. He twisted to ensure Claire landed on top of him as he hit the concrete, sliding back into the concrete wall in the hallway. He heard a yelp from the Cortex and a foul curse in a gruff voice. A sizzling shield dropped and Cisco and Harry both came running to his and Claire's side.

"Barry! Are you okay?!" Cisco was already reaching for Barry's shoulders while Harry reached to help Claire up off of Barry. He was looking her over for injury while Cisco fussed over Barry. "Shit, dude! We didn't know you'd be here so soon! We were testing a speedster shield around the Labs. Harry rigged a power source with ten times the output of the one I was using, so it can cover pretty much the entirety of STAR."

[swoopyhair]

Peter was only mildly surprised to realize the parking lot he teleported into was the one he'd dreamed about with the red lightning. But he was even more surprised to see the streak of yellow lightning already shooting up the side of the building.

Maybe he should have planned this better. But considering Barry had extended the invitation, Peter figured it couldn't hurt to 'port inside. So he focused on Claire and then found himself standing behind the commotion in the hallway.

He recognized the voices first, then realized they belonged to the two men he'd dreamed about. It wasn't until that initial surprise passed that he noticed Claire and Barry slowly getting to their feet.

"Harry-- I'm fine, promise. Let me take the fall, babe, it won't hurt me," Peter heard his niece saying. Typical Claire. She dusted herself off and appeared in injured, just a little rattled. The plastic container had gone flying in the crash, he noticed it and picked it up.

A speedster shield, huh? That was some pretty incredible tech. It really was a team of scientists. "Glad you didn't invent a teleportation shield yet," Peter said cheerfully as a way of announcing his presence. "I, uh, ended up in the parking lot and thought 'porting to wherever Claire is would be easier."

He held up the container. "You dropped these," he teased, and she paused in her fussing over Barry to giggle.

"Guys, this is my uncle Peter." Did he detect a little pride in her voice at that introduction? Clearly she was excited to be getting everyone together. She'd be in her element with all her loved ones around her, he knew. "Peter, this is Dr. Harrison Wells - Harry, and Cisco Ramon. I'm guessing Caitlin is in the Med Lab? And Jesse, if she hasn't gone back to Earth-2. Anyway... I brought y'all brownies."

"Nice to meet you," Peter said with a nod and a friendly smile. "I almost feel like I met you already, 'cause of the dreams."

[feelthelightning]

Cisco pulled Barry to his feet and he sighed. "I'm not gonna let you take the fall." Barry said softly and brushed her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. "I heal too, remember?" A bruise was blooming vibrantly at incredible speed across his face, around his right eye. It was like watching a sped up video as it went from red to deep violet, almost black, then ugly shades of brown and green, then yellow, then fade away entirely over the course of a couple minutes.

Harry huffed at her when she brushed off his mother hen-ing. "Teleportation shield? Is that something I'll need to worry about?" He asked, looking to Claire for clarification. "Is Thawne picking up new tricks?" He didn't mind Peter 'porting in, but if they needed a shield to prevent someone else from getting in, that was a whole different kettle of fish. Harry looked to her uncle and nodded. "You're the one that wrecked Cisco." Harry said matter-of-factly.

"No hard feelings!" Cisco was quick to chime in as he held up his hands and smiled brightly. He then held out a hand to Peter. "Cisco Ramon, they call me Vibe on the field. I'm the tech guy who gets visions among other things." The young genius was grinning ear to ear.

"And to answer your inquiry, yes, Snow and Jess are in the Med Lab. Jess is napping." Harry said fondly, with something close to a smile.

"Did I hear brownies?" Cisco asked as he looked at the plastic container excitedly.

Harry's looking for Claire-ification. XD

[swoopyhair]

"But you can feel pain, and I heal faster," Claire said stubbornly, but even Peter could tell her protesting wasn't harsh, not even a tiny bit. She had more of a cute little pout than anything.

He glanced up at the questions from Harry, and shook his head. "No, it should just be me. Hiro's off doing his own thing, and if Sylar shows up uninvited, well. You guys can kick his ass." That was a fuck around and find out which Sylar would have to endure on his own.

"Vibe. Cool name." He shook Cisco's hand with a grin, but also winced just a little. "Yeah, I heard that was rough for you. I've only ever had that before I got the telepathy under control. Which, I mean... don't freak out or anything, it's way under control now. I don't go probing into people's minds, I don't pick things up unless it's like, a really loud thought. But, I'm also an empath, so I pick up on emotions - that one just kinda happens." Like noticing Harry's fondness when he talked about Jess.

Fortunately, he wasn't picking up Cisco's powers as immediately as he seemed to pick up on Barry's. Then again, there wasn't much of a bond. Or... maybe he could only pick up one Meta power, because they seemed to be so much more powerful than Evo abilities.

"Dr. Caitlin Snow is a geneticist, and she's our resident medical expert. Jesse is Harry's daughter, yet another super science genius," Claire explained, bragging a little, and obviously proud of her friends. She handed Cisco the container. "I did say brownies. Barry and I made these. Okay... I mostly made them, but Barry offered moral support and tried not to spill sugar all over the kitchen."

NGL, I *almost* said that. XD

[feelthelightning]

Barry cheated. He leaned in and kissed her softly rather than keep arguing. Sorry Claire. They would have to agree to disagree over a kiss because he would always cushion her fall.

The compliment had Cisco riding high. "Thanks!" He looked so proud. "Psh, don't worry about it. It was all superficial." He covered the side of his face conspiratorially, but not even bothering to lower his voice like one might. "We should keep you away from Harry then. You don't even need Telepathy to know what he's thinking sometimes, he thinks so loud. And Mr. Grumpy can project his mood all around a room." He teased then yelped when Harry swatted him upside the back of the head. Wells seemed to smirk subtly at the reaction. But then Cisco was quickly distracted by brownies. He was quickly cracking open the container to get into them only for Harry to snatch it away from him and set it down on one of the consoles so Cisco didn't eat the entire thing in one sitting.

"One at a time, Ramon." Harry chided. Cisco pouted. The taller man turned back to Peter, pleased with Claire's description of Jesse. "Jesse's easily the brightest person in any room. Hands down. I'll check to see if she's awake." Harry headed to the Med Lab.

Barry smiled. "Hey, I didn't only spill sugar everywhere! I cleaned it up too." He chuckled. Then his phone buzzed and he pulled it out. After a moment he groaned. "I gotta go. They found another husk and Joe says we might actually have a lead. I'll be back. You got this?" He asked Claire.

Ha, nice! Claire will probably say something like it at one point whenever she gets the chance.

[swoopyhair]

Claire settled almost immediately as Barry kissed her. Peter could still feel her concern, but for now at least, she was content to let the issue drop. She could argue with the best of them, he knew from experience, so he was glad to see she finally could choose her battles. Or maybe Barry had a unique advantage over everyone else - Peter assumed it was this, actually.

"Don't worry," Peter assured Cisco, grinning, "I'm around all kinds of moods in my paramedic job, this is almost a break for me." The antics between the two men seemed to be the norm, and he could feel the strong family bond everyone shared. Even Claire, despite being a relative newcomer. Obviously they'd taken her in immediately, she already seemed right at home. He was glad for her, knowing how much she'd been wandering, and again feeling a sting of shame in remembering how he'd let her down for so many years.

"Is it the plague mask guy? Be safe out there, babe." Claire frowned, concerned, even as she leaned up to steal a kiss. "I'll be alright. We're probably just gonna be here, but if anything changes I'll let you know. Maybe today will be one day without an emotional roller-coaster or some kind of crisis..."

"Hey, whatever comes our way, I've probably got an app for that," Peter joked, hoping to be reassuring. "Claire was talking about having tests done with her regen." He held up his hands in a gesture of openness. "If she trusts you, so do I. Whatever I can do help us learn. There's a lot I'm figuring out, myself." It almost felt like way back in the beginning, when he was first absorbing powers and still thought he could be a hero. Peter tried to rein that feeling in some, lest he get too excited.

It didn't fully set in on Peter that he was now surrounded by a gaggle of scientist (and Claire) nerds who wouldn't be shy about their eagerness to learn.

I'm always here for puns and dad jokes!

[feelthelightning]

"Ever seen any of the Avengers movies? This guy's the Hulk when it comes to rage issues." Cisco said through a mouth full of brownie, pointing his thumb at Harry who was standing just outside the Med Lab door.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Ramon!" Harry snapped and Cisco paused chewing just long enough to glare daggers at Harry. But the emotions between the two were hardly vitriolic. There was a strong fondness between them. Yes, this was their normal dynamic and Harry's perceived agitation was mostly all bluster.

Barry ignored the two grown toddlers and nodded. "Yeah, Alchemy. We... find these skins like the victims were just squeezed out of their skin like an empty tube of toothpaste. But the Husk is gooey and semi-transparent. We've ID'd a few of the victims, and each one..." Barry looked deeply concerned, then was choked with guilt. This was his fault, he just couldn't figure out how Alchemy was doing it. "Each one goes from normal human to Meta. But it's not just that. These are all people who were Metas in Flashpoint. That timeline I created then reset. Somehow Alchemy knows about Flashpoint and they're turning people into Metas that shouldn't be." Barry was finding it hard to make eye contact with Claire out of shame. "None of this would be happening if I hadn't screwed with the timeline." He said quietly so it wouldn't carry past her.

Caitlin stepped out past Harry and smiled warmly at Peter. She was wearing a new necklace with a pendant that glowed a bright blueish white in the shape of a snowflake. "I'm Dr. Caitlin Snow! Just call me Caitlin. I try to make sure no one kills themselves." She said with an airy laugh. "Harry said you're Claire's uncle we've heard so much about! It's nice to finally meet you!" She held out a hand. There was nervousness rushing off of her in waves for so many reasons. She had the energy of a frightened rabbit.