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]

"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.

Same! Absolutely assume that Claire tells Barry every goofy joke she hears, 'cause she will. <3

[swoopyhair]

"Hey..." Claire reached up and touched Barry's cheek, gently turning his face toward hers. "You didn't hurt those people, Alchemy did. Please, try not to be so hard on yourself." She was really starting to believe that all this timeline screwing - by Metas and Evos alike - had led her to Barry. The future still wasn't set in stone, but choices clearly led to different outcomes, if there were infinite Earths to reflect that. Hearing Barry explain it to Peter really made her stop to consider her beliefs on the topic, hence her faraway look back at the apartment.

Plus she'd taken a small moment to spiral, thinking about certain choices she'd made, and the Earths where she'd done things differently. But she knew it would lead her nowhere good to dwell on that too long. She offered Barry a smile, keeping her voice quiet. "If there are others Alchemy hasn't gotten to yet, it's not too late. You can help them. I believe in you, Bear."

Peter looked to the new arrival with a warm smile. He noted the unique pendant she wore, but didn't know the significance. Though he did find it pretty cute it was a snowflake and her name was Snow.

"Yeah, that's me. Peter Petrelli," he introduced himself and took her hand to shake. The nervousness radiated from her, and by contrast he was practically exuding calm. His initial apprehension about meeting Claire's new friends had faded away pretty quickly. "It's really nice to meet you, Caitlin. I can't guarantee I won't have any near death encounters at some point, but at least I have Claire's regen? I bounce back almost as fast as she does. Plus I'm a paramedic, and before that I was a hospice nurse, in case you ever need a hand."

He will love that. XD Also, Peter is welcome to hear any loud italic thoughts.

[feelthelightning]

"I don't know them all. Just the ones Kid Flash--" The calm Claire had been helping him reach was gone in an instant, replaced by suffocating panic. It struck him so badly that even the air around him became charged with static. Wally! "You're right! I've gotta go!" He kissed her quickly and sped off with the typical whoosh.

Cait hadn't noticed Barry's panic, but she did notice him whoosh away. Still, she laughed. "Well, I'll do my best to see to your wounds just in case." She promised. Her hand lingered a moment too long then she pulled it back and fidgeted. The most awkward, nervous human being to ever breathe. "It'd be nice to have some extra help in the Med Lab. Jesse's amazing, but we've been working non stop on V-9 testing and trying to counter an agent that would disable Claire's regen that I think I worked her to exhaustion." She glanced back at the lab.

That is my favorite method for hearable thoughts so thank you. :D

[swoopyhair]

No one had mentioned a Wally before, Peter didn't know who that was. Was he connected to Kid Flash? That had been the last thing Barry said before that loud thought slipped out. He was hesitant to ask, because he really was doing his best to stay out of everyone's heads.

Caitlin lingering didn't bother him much. The poor woman seemed so anxious that he almost wanted to offer her a hug, but he decided not to in case it made her feel worse. Instead he offered a soft, reassuring smile. "I have no idea what most of that means, but I'll be happy to help. Pretty sure Harry might never forgive us if we worked Jesse to the bone."

It was fairly obvious even without empathy that Jesse was Harry's priority in pretty much everything. Naturally, it reminded him of Noah and Claire. Nathan hadn't been much of a father like that to any of his kids, even Peter had to admit that no matter how much he idolized his brother. Harry certainly came across gruffly, but it seemed to come from a place of caring.

"Oh, right!" Claire piped up, catching his attention. "Velocity 9 is a drug that can give people superspeed, temporarily. But it's super dangerous and highly addictive. So Caitlin and Jesse have been testing with my blood to see if I can use it safely." She paused, and it was fairly obvious to Peter that she was debating with herself about how much to tell him. "If it works, Barry's gonna teach me how to use it so I don't crash-- and I can learn how to throw lightning! It would only be a once-in-a-while thing, though. For situations when I might really need it, like... when I talk to Thawne."

No wonder her thoughts had been so excited back at the apartment, and no wonder she'd hesitated to tell him more. This was exactly the kind of thing Claire would have wanted for years. Back then, he might have balked at the idea, maybe he even would have tried to talk her out of it. Now, though... she seemed to have a level head about the whole thing amidst her excitement. Plus she had a team of literal geniuses to back her.

That bad future seemed to have been well and truly avoided, yet he still occasionally worried about her going dark side. Peter knew that was stupid. Maybe she was even more of a hero than he was now.

He watched as Claire stepped over to Caitlin, gesturing at the necklace. "New bling?" she asked playfully, then perked up even more. Somehow she failed to notice the irony in teasingly asking about new bling. "Oh, wait-- is this what I think it is? It's an improvement on the design, if so." It was asked in such a way that indicated there was other information Peter wasn't privy to. He understood that Barry worked with other Meta-humans, and he knew Cisco was the guy with the mutual visions, but he wasn't sure of the other Metas on their team. Even with the strong emotional ties in the room, he wasn't feeling any powers from them.

Then again, he wasn't really feeling the Speed Force anymore, either. He made a mental note to ask if there was some way he could test it. For now he didn't want to draw that much attention to himself.

Same! That's how I always handle it too!

[iamnotuptight]

The soft, reassuring smile did wonders for Cait. She eased some and returned the smile. "Harry has a strong work ethic and I think Jesse inherited it. But you're right. He's the protective type." She faced Claire on that note with an excited smile. "Good news! It seems after 97 consecutive tests, your cells show no signs of cellular degeneration! It should be safe for you to use. Medically speaking." She couldn't say if the concerns of addiction would be a problem. That was partly psychological and not something she could test with blood samples. "Whenever you and Barry are ready, we can start a live test, but I want you to tell me immediately if you feel any strange symptoms when it wears off. I have benzodiazepine, buprenorphine, acamprosate, disulfiram, methadone, and naltrexone on hand just in case. Not that they will probably help much given how quickly you metabolise medication, but the benzodiazepine can be loaded into the nanobots we use to tranq Barry and it's used to stop convulsions in case you have a serious reaction. But that's just all worst case scenario." Cait rambled. "I'm not instilling confidence, am I?"

Harry walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, giving them a squeeze of reassurance. One of his very rare moments of physical contact. "Snow. Breathe." He let his hands fall away when she took a breath and nodded. Then he got himself a brownie, joining Cisco.

Caitlin beamed at Claire and nodded. But don't worry, Claire, she noticed too! "It is! Harry finished it this morning! I don't think he's slept at all... but it has a state of the art battery cell, which is what gave him the idea for the power source for the speedster shield, and it can recharge in the sun or fluorescent lights so I don't have to take it off at all! It's also water proof and durable. He thought a pendant would make it look less obvious." She then caught Claire's hand with a bright smile and whispered, "When did this happen?"

[swoopyhair]

Nanobots? That was a thing? Peter could hardly believe what he was hearing. He'd acquired technopathy from Rebel, but even with it, he wasn't the most technologically-minded guy. He rarely used the power unless he absolutely had a need to. The last time had been to sneakily unlock a car door to free a trapped accident victim. It was way better than breaking windows.

Claire seemed a little surprised by what she was hearing too, so he didn't feel alone in being out of his element. Still, he knew his niece was already more used to things being... like this. She seemed excited by the news, clearly not deterred whatsoever by the warnings. If she had any worries, she was hiding them extremely well.

"That's excellent news! Ah, I can't wait to test it with Barry!" Claire was practically bouncing, but she quickly settled back down and turned more serious. "It's a beautiful design, I'd say it's some of our resident genius grump's prettiest work. And don't worry, if I feel anything that seems off, I'll let you know. Ninety-seven tests, though! All of you better be getting some rest, dang it." It was her turn to be mother hen, apparently. "Better make sure you and Jesse get a brownie before Cisco and Harry eat them all, too." She shot them both a cheeky grin, then turned back to Caitlin and immediately blushed, her voice lowering. "Oh-- uh, last night. Wasn't really planned, but you know how we both are."

Peter idly wondered what the snowflake could be for, since it was obviously a device of some kind. Was she a Meta? That would be up to her to disclose, of course. He was glad, at least, that Caitlin seemed a little more at ease. His empathy wasn't the kind that could project his emotions onto others, but he'd always had that chill aura about him. It was part of what made him such a good nurse and paramedic.

"Claire wasn't exaggerating when she talked about how smart you guys are," said Peter, almost in awe. Even with all of his abilities to help, their skills blew his out of the water. That was fine with him - he could contribute in other ways. He looked to Caitlin with curiosity, though also with slight concern. "You think this Velocity stuff could be like heroin to her?" He'd been on OD calls, it was nothing he wanted to see Claire going through. Not to mention his history with Isaac Mendez. "Psychological effects would be harder to test for, too."

His niece scoffed in a way that was so very her. He recognized that confidence all too well. "I tried a bunch of drugs, nothing got me addicted. I'll be fine," she said, trying not to sound petulant.

[iamnotuptight]

"It is, isn't it? I was surprised by the design! Harry can be thoughtful sometimes." Caitlin teased. "Impulsive and overly passionate?" Cait said with a soft smile. She rubbed her thumb over the ring then let go of Claire's hand. "Congratulations. You both seem to make each other very happy, so I'm happy for both of you." It was heartfelt and honest. Then, a little louder, she added, "And thank you for the brownies!"

The question from Peter caught her by surprise, and she looked much like a deer in headlights. That frantic rabbit energy was right back. I should have stayed in the Med Lab! But it seemed like at least the pendant was exactly as Harry had promised. It was stronger than the dampening cuffs, and there wasn't even a hint of Killer Frost despite her panic.

"I-- well, um..." She stammered, but Harry walked up and pressed a brownie into her hands.

"I helped Zolomon, or Zoom as he was called, develop Velocity-6 on my Earth. At the time, I thought he was our Earth's Flash trying to stop Zoom and he needed an edge because Zoom was just too fast. Unbeknownst to me, Hunter Zolomon and Zoom were the same person and he became addicted to the drug. Not only that, but it was killing him. He couldn't give it up and it disabled his ability to heal. Snow and I re-engineered the formula and seemingly fixed the fatal flaw of Velocity-6 so that it re-enabled the healing factor, but only so long as it was in Zolomon's system. We went through a few iterations, landing on nine. It seemed the most stable. Another scientist, Eliza Harmon, managed to recreate our formula for herself and used it but she wasn't a Meta. She became addicted to the drug just like Zoom. Without a sample of her formula, I can't say if it had anything to do with her own design being similar to V-6 or if it was identical to V-9. V-9 is untested in that area. Shortly after Eliza stole our samples of V-9, she died due to her lack of a healing factor. And the dose she forced onto my daughter was flushed out of her system with a blood transfusion." Harry said that last sentence through clenched teeth. He did not mourn Eliza's death at all. "So yes, there is a very real danger of addiction, which is why we're only administering a dose in a controlled environment so we can monitor Bennet. I promise you, Petrelli, her safety is our utmost concern." He offered Claire a soft, Harry-esque smile. "Not just because she makes us brownies."

But his gaze then hardened back into dad-mode and he put a hand on his hip. "Were these drugs more of you 'experimenting'?" The disappointment was palpable.

[swoopyhair]

"Thanks. I... have never been happier, honestly." Claire was beaming, sunshine incarnate as she had a tendency to be. Though Peter too was hit with a wave of disappointment at the flippant admission to experimenting. On one hand, he understood her curiosity, and even from a practical standpoint he could see why she'd want to test in case anyone tried to dose her with something against her will. On the other... he hated that she'd done so on her own.

Not that he'd made himself available to her for help, he remembered bitterly. She had been all but begging him for guidance, and he turned her away, afraid he'd somehow lead her down a path of darkness. It was a miracle that he didn't push her right down that path himself when he turned his back on her.

Peter focused up as Harry explained more about Velocity, and the more he heard, the less he liked it. He felt like he could trust Caitlin's judgement and professional opinion, however. She didn't strike him as the type who'd push for anything unsafe, not with all the anxiety that radiated off her. It eased his worries that Claire would be testing thoroughly before she used this substance out in the field, surrounded by people who would clearly stop at nothing when it came to keeping her safe. He could be content with that for now.

Beside him, he felt Claire's emotions doing a bit of ping-pong, from warm and pleased as Harry smiled at her, to slightly embarrassed as he called her out. It was very much the disappointed dad tone, and Peter quietly found it amusing. Just what she needed - more dads. "I'm glad she's got good people behind her. Well, more good people." Even if it was a stark reminder of how much he'd failed in that department. "All any of us ever wanted was to protect her."

"Yeah, it was experimenting," Claire admitted, then shrugged. "I just wanted to see what would happen. This one time at a party, I watched a guy slip something into this girl's drink when she wasn't looking, so I grabbed the cup and chugged it. You should've seen the look on his face." She laughed a little, then shifted awkwardly.

"You've never had to deal with things that can actually affect you before. Whatever substances you tried, they weren't in your system long enough for you to feel anything, let alone for your body to become dependent on them," Peter reminded her, trying to be gentle about it. Unlike her, he'd actually had the chance to get drunk before he absorbed regeneration the first time. "And you know what else is addicting? Power. You've never had power like this before. Be very careful, Claire."

"Oh, please. It's not like you're addicted to your powers," she protested, crossing her arms.

"No, but back when I had my original mimicry, I had to be vigilant so I didn't become too dependent on them. The way it works now is a little more self-regulating, but I'll always have to be careful to some extent." He reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "You can still do incredible things just the way you are."

"Now you sound like Barry." Claire tried to roll her eyes, but a smile erupted despite her best efforts not to let it. "He said I'm perfect with or without powers. Y'all gotta stop, it's really gonna go to my head."

"Does that mean you'll listen, then? 'Cause he'd also be telling you to be careful." He glanced around quickly at the rest of the crew, then stopped suddenly as his eyes passed over Cisco. It was like his brain had to buffer for a few seconds, and he chuckled quietly. "Whoa. This almost feels like the dream I had. Are you getting that, too?"

[iamnotuptight]

"That's exactly the problem." Harry cut in. "Addiction to power." He added. "Zoom was addicted to power. Enough that when he saw the opportunity, he jumped Earths to come here so he could steal Allen's speed. He tried to steal Garrick's speed but couldn't accomplish it without my help. That's why he kidnapped my Jesse." His tone had started out stern but lost its strength near the end. "I'm not saying you're anything like Zoom, but you need to be careful. Adrenaline is a drug you can feel and believe it or not, I know what it feels like to be addicted to that high." He gave her a softer look that said 'lecture over'.

Cait still had that nervous rabbit energy about her, nibbling on her brownie quietly off to the side. She was not getting between grumpy dad mode and his target. At least not when she shared his concerns to an extent. "We'll make sure everything runs smoothly." She assured. "If it does, then you're free to use it outside the lab." Caitlin smiled. "Barry and Peter are right. You don't need powers." Said from someone who wanted so badly to get rid of her powers.

"Powers are just a headache anyway." Cisco added with a smile. He brushed the back of his hand under his nose, checking for blood just to be sure and chuckled. "Yeah, I'm getting that too." No blood. "Identical as the feedback loop I had. But I'm good right now. I think it was just me Vibing you seeing my Vibe was making me Vibe too many dimensions at once, which strained my powers. My Vibes work off of dimensional energy and too much sends me into overdrive. But we Gucci now."

That tiny spark of Speed Force left over from Peter having touched the Speed Force once would tingle in the back of Peter's mind. Even without the speed, he could still slightly sense natural Speed Force users when they used the Speed Force now. In a rush of air and yellow lightning, a young brunette stopped in the middle of the Cortex. She smiled, crystal blue eyes sparkling. "I'm missing a party? Why didn't anyone wake me?" Jesse asked.