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

Yay home!

[iamnotuptight]

"No! It's not you. It's literally me." She admitted with a sheepish smile knowing how that line usually came across. "You're such a calm presence. I was letting myself relax and my mind told me this was exactly how Jay--Zoom got to me. And I spiralled. He pretended to be our friend when he arrived. He showed up before Harry. He tried to make us turn against Harry when he did show up. Told us he couldn't be trusted. That a man like him would stab us in the back and was full of darkness. I mean, he did stab us in the back, but that was because of Zoom. But other than that, Zoom was projecting. Weirdly, I think he actually did care about me in his own sick and twisted way." There seemed to be a lit of that going around it seemed. With Thawne actually caring about Claire's safety.

"Does that make me Psyduck?" Cisco asked jokingly. "She's totally Pichu." He pointed to Jesse.

"I don't... okay, maybe I over do it a little. Some times. But not that badly!" Jesse protested with a giggle.

"Who's Caitlin? She's not really one of the birds." Cisco mulled it over. He was enjoying this game too much. Thanks Claire. "Peter is so Ditto!" He concluded.

Perfect addition, 10/10 no notes, I giggled.

[swoopyhair]

He was pretty sure he'd used that line in a breakup once, or had at least heard it. Who hadn't? But he softened more as Caitlin told him he was a calming presence. That made him feel a lot better.

"I know it can be hard to trust again after you've been hurt so deeply," Peter said quietly, offering a hand. "All I want is to help. Hopefully Claire can attest to that, if it's hard to take my word for it."

Most villains, in Peter's experience - like Claire's - had something that while it didn't necessarily redeem them, it was something that seemed to prove they had at least some emotions beyond being terrible. And Claire, he couldn't help but notice, had a knack for creating some kind of soft spot in bad people, it seemed. Sylar had been so fixated on her, and she had never wanted to help him the way she seemed to with Thawne. It must be difficult for her too, if Thawne looked like Harry. Her relationship with Harry seemed almost father-daughter in nature, and clearly she thought of Jesse as a sister. What had her relationship been like with Thawne? He was almost afraid of the answer.

Claire furrowed her brow a little as she considered. "I love Psyduck! I would've said Espeon, but then, I'm partial to the Eeveelutions. Aw, Barry would be the cutest Jolteon," she sighed, then shook her head at Jesse. "You're perfect just like you are, and I'll kick anyone who says otherwise. And Pichu is so cute!"

She would, too. Caitlin was trickier to choose for, so she put that on hold. "Oh my gosh," she snorted a laugh. "Peter will have no idea what that means, but he's totally Ditto. When Harry gets that disappointing little frown on, that's just Shroomish. I don't know about Caitlin, though. She could be an Ice type, but not necessarily."

Giggles achieved! XD I'm glad! Also, Cait is so, so broken. She crumbles under kindness.

[iamnotuptight]

Cait stopped in the hall just outside the Speed Lab and leaned against the concrete. "What's worse, I was the one who pushed Barry to trust Jay. His instincts were telling him something was off about Jay... Hunter, when he arrived. After Thawne betrayed us, Barry didn't want to trust anyone new. I should have listened to him. Thawne, Hunter... but you're not them and I need to not wall myself off. If I do, I'll just grow cold and become her." For once, she wasn't talking about Frost. But he didn't have to know that.

She looked at his hand and took a deep breath then took it with a soft, brave smile. "I know you do. It isn't so much you I don't trust. I don't trust my own judgement anymore. Cisco's the only one who knows this, but after Hunter... let me go, I kept hallucinating him. Every loud noise, every sudden movement, I saw Zoom. He broke me so thoroughly." She squeezed his hand for support and brushed tears from her eyes with her free hand. "Why am I telling you this?" She asked and shook her head. "You don't need my trauma. You're just so easy to talk to. I'm sorry."

Thawne was a special kind of crazy, but Hunter seemed a lot more unhinged. He'd tried to go the Stockholm Syndrome route with Caitlin and seemed to think everyone was just as crazy as he was. They just needed to unlock their crazy. He thought he could bring Barry to that point by killing Henry in front of him and he'd thought he could just keep Caitlin until she accepted her own darkness. At least Thawne accepted that he was the one with problems. Sure, he blamed Barry for them, but he knew and accepted he was the crazy one.

"Ohhhhh, Espeon! I'd like to change my answer! Totally Espeon! ...or actually, I'm probably Absol. I predict disaster." Cisco tipped his head, thinking. "Cait could be Froslass or if we're not going ice, Chansey."

"Barry would make a precious Jolteon." Jesse said thoughtfully. Then giggled and hugged Claire. "Thanks! Pichu is super cute!" She thought about her dad as Shroomish and cackled. "I think Shroomish is outside the gens Dad knows, but I agree totally!"

Poor Cait! She deserves all the good in the world. ;-; <3

[swoopyhair]

He did, of course, assume she meant Killer Frost, but he didn't really know what to say about it. She was venting a lot more than he'd expected, given how nervous and skittish she'd been back in the Cortex. As much as he hated that Caitlin had been through so much trauma, it meant a lot that she felt like she could confide in him already. So rather than jump right to finding solutions, Peter just listened. Sometimes that was all a person really needed.

Okay... listening, and a little comfort. He kept a hold of her hand, lifting the other to gently brush a lock of hair back away from her face. "It's okay. Pretty sure it's the empathy; this happens to me more than you'd think. I don't mind." Sometimes he felt like he was made to help take on other people's struggles. It was what drew him to nursing in the first place. He returned her brave smile with a fond one, albeit a touch bashful. "I especially don't mind if it's you. You can talk to me about whatever you feel comfortable telling. It'll stay between us."

Peter was still extremely worried about Claire seeing this Thawne guy, but the team here knew more about the situation than he did, so he was hesitant to protest too strongly. He hadn't heard anything from Noah about wanting to stop such a plan from happening, so either Bennet was on board with it, or he wasn't aware of the plan at all. Noah had seemed in the know about everything else, which made it hard to believe he'd be in the dark on this. Likely, the fact that it was the threat of a permanent death for Claire made things more desperate, which Peter completely understood.

"And Absol has great hair," Claire pointed out, gesturing at Cisco's hair with a grin. "Froslass and Chansey are both good choices for Cait." She happily returned the hug from Jesse. "Let me guess, gen one mostly? 'Cause Mankey or Primeape also work - grumpy and punchy."

And yet they screw her over in the end. ; ; She 'dies' almost as much as Thawne.

[iamnotuptight]

Cait was more prone to breaking down one on one than in front of a group, so she tended to keep her walls up more around the team and put on a brave face when they were all together. Cisco, Barry, and Harry were all good at seeing through it at this point. But for her own sanity, they rarely poked at it unless they were alone with her. It helped immensely that Peter was just so easy to talk to, which probably did have to do with his empathy. But she hadn't even considered that until he brought it up.

"I'm not... like assaulting you with all my feelings, am I?" She asked, ashamed of her own emotional state. Her brown eyes fluttered closed for a moment as he brushed her hair out of her face. It was such a gentle touch, she almost melted. "Thank you." She said earnestly. "I mean it. Can we... wait a minute before we step into the room?" Cait dabbed under her eyes with her sleeve, trying desperately to soak up whatever tears escaped without ruining her makeup. "If Cisco sees me like this, he'll worry." She brushed her thumb over the skin of Peter's hand and took a steady breath. "I bet you say that to all the girls." She teased, trying to bring the atmosphere back to something more normal and less heavy.


"I have the best hair in the building!" Cisco did a little show-y hairflip and it made Jesse laugh. He was a damn peacock sometimes.

Jesse nodded. "Yeah, Gen 1. Maybe 2. But unlikely. I'm not as schooled on it as Cisco, but I at least know more than Dad. We had this game on our phones where you could walk around and catch virtual Pokemon through augmented reality! It was super popular for a while. I used to play it on my way to Uni." She giggled.

Not here, she's not. ♥ They all might go through some shit but dang it, they're gonna be happy!

[swoopyhair]

"No-- you're fine, I promise. I'm used to it, with the work I do." In a calmer setting like this, it was far easier for him to take the brunt of those emotions, as opposed to out on the job. Those worst days of of his patients' lives, or sometimes their last days. Her teasing got a little laugh out of him, and he looked down as he shook his head. "There'd have to be girls for that to be the case," he admitted. "I've been single for... I think it can be legally called an embarrassingly long time."

He'd barely made time for his own family, let alone his love life. It was almost sad to think about. The job had been fulfilling enough, saving lives every day, plus helping Sylar when he could. Or so he thought. Now he saw what he'd been missing. Thanks to Claire. If she hadn't reached out and insisted he come see her... Sure, Noah and his mother had gotten on his case about helping with the New Company, too. But it was mostly Claire's increasingly desperate pleas to stop pushing her away that did the trick. Peter knew he'd have to thank her later.

"We can wait until you're ready." He paused, almost awkward. "Do you... need a hug, maybe? If you ever wanted to hide, I can turn us literally invisible, so there's that."

Claire laughed too, twirling a lock of her own hair around one finger. She liked wearing it longer now, hanging in golden waves down to the middle of her back. "I could take second place. If I didn't go for regular trims, I might end up looking like Rapunzel. It grows like a weed," she said, amused.

"That game sounds super cool! I got a little console thing while I was on the road. I was never much of a gamer before, but it was fun to play different things whenever I took a break from driving. Mostly I like catching all the Pokémon. Making them fight feels so mean! After every battle I just want to give them hugs."

Agreed! We'll make sure they all get their happy endings that they deserved!

[iamnotuptight]

"I'm fortunate most of my patients have been here. Dr. Wells snagged me right out of University, pretty much. My dissertation was my resume more or less. Or so he said. Now I wonder if it wasn't just because he knew in the future I'd work with Barry." It was hard not to doubt yourself when someone like Thawne wrecked your life. But Peter's admission made her offer a bashful smile. "My husband died in a particle accelerator explosion. Came back to life as a merged being. Became a superhero. Then actually died in a new particle accelerator explosion. My second ever boyfriend turned out to be a supervillain. So, I think being single for an 'embarrassingly long time' is probably better than my track record."

The awkward pause earned him an endeared smile. "I think I'd like that." She opened her arms for a hug. She didn't used to care for hugs but Barry and Cisco had warmed her up to them. And now they were just such a comfort. She was sure, it was only a matter of time before they grew on Harry, too.

"Careful, you'll trip Barry up with all that hair when he's running with you." Cisco joked.

"I mean, it's Gotta Catch 'em All not Gotta Fight 'em All." Jesse said with a smile. "The phone one was more about collecting than fighting."

[swoopyhair]

He listened as Cait explained a little more of her past to him. Yeah, no wonder she could be so fearful. He understood that kind of trauma, even if he usually tried to ignore his own. "Before the single period was... Nearly as bad as that, to be honest. Kind of why I ended up single. Family drama, relationship drama, all wrapped up with superpowers. I threw myself into my paramedic work to avoid it all."

Peter stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. He was a very affectionate person by nature, but he'd isolated himself from any meaningful connections so much lately that he sort of needed the comfort, too. It was a relatively loose hug, though, allowing Caitlin to pull back whenever she wanted to. "How do you feel now?" he asked quietly.

"That's what hair-ties are for," she said cheerfully, but she did blush a little. "Exactly, Jesse. See, you get me. If there was a game like that when I was traveling, I would've caught so many! I went to all the States, and a little of Canada and Mexico too."

[iamnotuptight]

"I'm sorry." Cait said softly. She hated that he'd also had it rough. But the hug was nice. She did squeeze a little tighter then let go after a few moments, stepping back. It was something they clearly both needed and she was sturdier after the hug.

"Better. You?" She smiled warmly. "I'm ready to join them when you are."

"Good, because I was starting to feel awkward standing back here, waiting for you two to pull it together." Harry said with two cups of coffee, one in each hand, further down the hall. He'd been hidden past the bend so he was out of sight. "I didn't want to interrupt by walking past. I have some manners, despite what they say about me."

Jesse looked a bit surprised. "Canada and Mexico? Oh... I guess travel here is different here than it is back home. When Dad was young, probably my age, he was in the War of the Americas. We've just sort of been North and South America since then." Jesse said with a shrug. It was way before her time.

"That's the war Harry said Hunter's dad fought in before he killed his wife?" Cisco asked and Jesse nodded.

[swoopyhair]

Peter felt better too, and it was almost a surprise to him. Like he hadn't realized he needed it. He smiled at Caitlin, then glanced up at Harry when he made his presence known. There was a soft chuckle and a nod in response. He could feel that a lot of Harry's attitude was mostly bluster, and that it came from a place of caring. The enhancement to his empathy came in handy for things like that, now that he was used to it.

"Appreciate it," he said earnestly. "You guys have a really good team, here. I'm glad Claire has you all."

Because Peter's just visiting. He thinks.

Claire blinked in surprise, head tilted. "No Canada or Mexico? That's... whoa. I didn't realize Harry was a veteran." But with the way he handled that rifle, it made sense.

"My bio-mom traveled through Mexico. I wanted to see the places she told me about," she explained. "I also went there with my bio-dad once, but I mostly went back because of her. Just went to Canada to see Niagara Falls - better view from that side. There's a lot more traveling I want to do, but I'm happy to have a home now." Claire smiled almost dreamily, then perked up with a giggle, suddenly remembering, "Y'know, Barry said he was gonna take me to dinner in Italy for our second date."

[iamnotuptight]

Honestly, Harry half expected the multi-powered kid to have been able to detect him there. Either via his empathy or some other skill, but he'd take not being called out as a win. The two had needed a moment and he knew he couldn't give Caitlin the comfort she needed. He was just a grumpy old jerk who was pricklier than a cactus. Every time he tried to fix a delicate emotional issue, he ended up making it worse. So he'd leave it to the professionals and stay in his lane. He fixed science problems and played dodge the angry Meta. He was much better at the first one than the second one.

"They're a good group of kids." Harry agreed then motioned with his elbow and Cait started walking again. ...but she might have found Peter's hand again subconsciously. Oops.

"I've never really been able to travel. Alternate dimensions excluded. Dad's big on education and I was the brightest kid in the school. I graduated early. Studying for five majors and haven't had time for much else. I guess with super speed, it's an option now, but... between school and being Jesse Quick... I still don't have much time." She seemed a little envious, but still smiled brightly.

"Yeah, he'll tell you he's not." She said.

"Not what?" Harry asked as he walked into the room, handing a cup of coffee to Cisco.

"A veteran." Cisco answered for her then happily sipped his warm java juice.

"Because I'm not. I was drafted. Left the service as soon as I was able to. I didn't want anything to do with that damn war." He shrugged.

[swoopyhair]

Caitlin's emotions had been strong enough that he couldn't really focus on much else. It was also a little out of sight, out of mind since he couldn't see Harry, nor did he hear any stray thoughts. But mostly Mr. Hero had been distracted by the damsel in distress.

He pressed on as Caitlin did, not pulling away when her hand found his again. If she needed the comfort, he had plenty to offer. Because of course she couldn't be reaching out for any other reason, right? Sure, Peter.

Claire glanced up as the others joined them, noting Peter and Caitlin holding hands with a smile. She wouldn't call them out directly, because she wouldn't embarrass Cait like that. However, she also knew if she thought something loud enough, Peter would hear it.

Almost moving as fast as Barry and me...

All in good fun and teasing, of course, but it was enough that Peter had to play off with a quick look in his niece's direction. He couldn't even be mad, because he knew how close he'd been to pushing Claire away, and it was nice to goof around with her again. Brat. There was no real bite to it.

"I dropped out of college, but I wasn't gonna do anything remarkable there anyway," Claire said to Jesse with a laugh. "I don't know how you do all that without falling over exhausted. It's something to be proud of."

"What war?" Peter asked, somewhat confused. Given they were talking about Harry, clearly it was Earth-2, and he didn't know how different their history was.

"Jesse was just telling me Earth-2 has North and South America and not all the countries in them, 'cause I mentioned that I went to Canada and Mexico," Claire said. "There was a war about it, apparently." Once again she was letting her mind wander, thinking about all the different Earths. They weren't really good thoughts, and it showed.

[iamnotuptight]

Cait needed the comfort. But there was also a little something else behind it. However, unlike Barry, she was happy to move at a slower pace. Especially after being burned by Hunter, so it had been entirely subconscious. Which meant it was a good thing Claire didn't call them out aloud, because Cait would've snatched her hand back out of embarrassment and been extra aware of herself from then on out. Another sign of affection wouldn't slip past her icy walls.

"Not all of us are psychotic like familia de Wells." Cisco said with a chuckle. "We just get one degree and learn everything else on the job because it's fun and useful. This man has seven PhDs!" He pointed at Harry. "He collects them like Pokemon! That's one too many for a party, dude!"

Harry ignored Cisco's antaginising. "Just because we have very few serial killers, doesn't mean our history is any less sordid." Harry half explained. He watched Claire then locked eyes with Jesse, nodding towards her. Jess somewhat understood and bumped Claire with her hip, smiling playfully.

"Hey, it's all in the past. And nothing for you to worry about." Jesse's bright smile could light up a room, at least in Harry's proud opinion. "And besides, Peter's fiiiiinally here, so we can test his theory!"

Neither of them were going to bring up Earth-X. It's like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It didn't even get a number. Just an X so people knew NEVER to go there. It was worse than the black hole Earth.

[swoopyhair]

Peter, to his credit, didn't let go of Caitlin's hand. He could endure a little teasing from Claire, especially since no one else seemed to notice him looking at her. It also helped that his niece seemed happy about this new development. If it seemed like he was somehow making things awkward, he might tread more carefully. For now, he was happy to follow Cait's lead - he didn't mind moving slowly, since he was, to steal Harry's phrase, getting back in the saddle.

Claire's mini-spiral had been more about the possibilities of herself on other Earths. Which was probably a bit of a blessing, because had she considered something as universally terrible for the world as Earth-X, she might have derailed completely. As it was, the bump from Jesse was enough to knock her back into reality and the present moment, and she offered a sheepish little smile. Any other Claires on any other Earths would have to sort themselves out. She had the kind of life she'd dreamed about, here. It was hard not to be at least curious about the possibilities, but she had to rein herself in from getting too in the weeds thinking about the what ifs.

"I'm pretty sure Jesse's gonna be running circles around you while time is stopped." Finally Claire spoke up, teasing Peter out loud on a much safer topic. She'd never do that to Caitlin. There's probably a Girl Code about it or something.

"That might be the case. I dunno if Hiro ever stopped time around any speedsters," Peter said thoughtfully. Since it felt rude to stop time without warning, he added, "Here we go!" and gave Caitlin's hand a squeeze. He wasn't sure how many people he could include in stopping time, so since he was already holding her hand, he figured she could observe. For science, of course. He focused for a second, and in the blink of an eye, the trio of Claire, Cisco, and Harry would be frozen in place. The room would be totally silent, not even the hum of electronics to be heard, everything appearing as if in a freeze frame.

[iamnotuptight]

Caitlin was in awe as things froze and went still and quiet. "This is like Flash Time, but without the hum and crackle of the Speed Force." She admitted. "Oh, uh, Barry and other speedsters like him do this thing where they move so fast, it looks like the world is frozen. They can bring people they're touching into it with them, just like this," she held up their joined hands. "and no one else will even know they've moved."

They would see Jesse slowly start moving. Crackles of yellow lightning following her movements like a long exposure video. The tendrils of lightning grew and branched and arced around her as she gradually sped up until she was moving in time with them.

"This is awesome!" Jesse giggled. "As soon as you said you were going I started going into Flash Time to counter and it actually worked!" She zipped to their side, leaving a trail of lightning behind her, much faster than should be possible, not that she knew that. "Wanna see something cool?" She reached for Claire and the blonde was surrounded by Speed Force arcs just like Jesse as soon as Jess touched her. Claire would immediately be brought into the frozen moment with them.

[swoopyhair]

Barry hadn't mentioned Flash Time, so he was grateful for the explanation. He wasn't sure he'd need to use it, considering he already could stop time. As Jesse started moving, he looked up curiously, his smile slowly growing wider. Her enthusiasm was infectious.

Claire was startled briefly, but made a quick recovery as soon as she realized what was going on. "Ooh, are we doing a wombo-combo with Flash Time, or are you just that fast?" she asked with amusement, looking around at the trails of yellow lightning. Jesse had been next to her, not in contact with Peter, so he couldn't have brought her in along with Caitlin.

"You might be able to move fast enough that you wouldn't need Flash Time," Peter said. "FI mean, if you were already running when I stopped time, you might just keep going."

"That could very well be the case with Thawne or the God of Speed. Barry said they're both faster than him," Claire pointed out, somewhat concerned. "Stopping time isn't going to be enough to stop either of them."

[iamnotuptight]

"Little bit of both. I'm fast enough, but I think I'd totally need Flash Time to bring someone else in." She nodded, agreeing with Peter, still super excited. "Flash Time is just pure speed, but I'm vibrating instead of running, so I'm pretty sure I'd run fast enough." Jesse was beaming and practically bouncing with Claire beside her.

"We can do another test with me running on the track and see how it affects me. Assuming you can do that more than once." The last bit was a playful challenge. "I had a big breakfast! I can go all day."

Caitlin laughed at Jesse's energy and could just see a lot of Harry's antagonistic nature in her. That same teasing he only every used on Cisco because the two were like children.

[swoopyhair]

"I can keep this up and see how you run, or I can end it and start up again," Peter said, then laughed a little. "You're not gonna wear me out, don't worry."

"Whatever we test is gonna be helpful. The more info we have about how powers interact, the better." Claire was more subdued than Jesse at the moment, but still just as cheerful. She couldn't help but miss Barry a little. He'd love this. Hopefully Peter wouldn't mind repeating some tests. "There might still be some brownies left if you need a pick-me-up after," she added, teasing.

[iamnotuptight]

Jesse somehow smiled brighter and bounced from foot to foot with excitement. "Oh! Um, if I let go of Claire, she's gonna freeze again." She looked at Claire again with an apology. "But this is really fun and interesting! I love seeing how our powers interact! I don't get do do this kind of testing much. I mean, we did some training with Cisco's powers but that was a lot more of just testing my reaction times and dodging breaches."

Cait looked uneasily off to the side. "Barry did some riskier testing with Cisco's vibe blasts, but that was against my wishes and not something either of them would probably repeat against anyone else. Barry was hit with Reverb's vibe blasts, he was Cisco's Earth-2 doppelgänger and Barry wanted to see if there was a way to get out of that attack if he were to get hit again by another variant like Reverb or evil Breacher." The tone of her voice suggested, he didn't find the result he was looking for in his tests.

"Hey, Peter, if I bring Claire to you, will she be able to stay in sync with us?" Jesse asked, trying not to let the thought of Barry being hit with a vibe blast bring her mood down too much. She'd seen Cisco's vibe blasts and she'd seen Reverb's vibe blasts. She knew they could be pretty catastrophic. "I'm definitely gonna hit the brownies again when we're done!" She smiled at Claire.

[swoopyhair]

"Oh, yeah. I can get her." Peter blushed a little, leading Caitlin to take Claire's hand. "Gets more tricky the more people, but two is manageable."

Claire didn't love the thought of Barry getting hit with a vibe blast, but clearly he was okay now, so she didn't let herself worry about it too much. She figured she couldn't get that upset about him testing with Cisco, because frankly, it was the same kind of test she would want to do herself. If Barry was fine after, she could tank a vibe blast, no problem. She'd taken Hartley's sonic blast, after all, and now she'd shake both off easier since she wasn't nerfed by the Chameleon venom.

She could take an icicle through the leg too. The mention of Reverb reminded her reminded of Cisco's Vibe about Killer Frost. But she pushed that out of her head before Peter could accidentally pick up on it, and made a mental note to talk to Cisco about it later. Maybe there was a connection to the God of Speed Vibe, and Peter's dreams.

"At the Carnival, Hiro needed Ando's supercharger lightning to power him up enough to teleport, like... twenty people, maybe? That's how we moved the other Evos away from Samuel to make his power weaker," Claire explained.

"I'd borrowed Samuel's power to try and stop him, but at the time I could only hold on to one power." Peter didn't really miss that aspect of his ability, nor did he miss having the ability to move dirt. Maybe if Claire got it into her head to buy a farm someday, that sounded like something she'd do.

"Ready when you are, Jesse," he added with a grin. He'd seen Barry run, but he was just as eager to see another demonstration, especially in an environment made for just that, like the Speed Lab. The experience would help when he reabsorbed the speed and could actually train with it.

[iamnotuptight]

Jesse nodded and walked Claire over to Peter. "Good thing I'm not asking you to do twenty people. I'm not sure how we'd replicate that kind of ability." She admitted. "Cisco and my Dad have been able to use tech to recreate some abilities and things like Velocity are able to give temporary speed, but I have no idea if that's something that can be done with Evo abilities for you. Dad built special glasses to tap into the fear receptors in Cisco's brain to help with his vibes and Cisco designed gauntlets that help him focus the vibrational energy easier in his vibe blasts to make it more potent. Things like that. Dad also built a tachyon enhancer to help Barry absorb tachyons and run faster. Though, that one was going off Thawne's research. Thawne just never managed to build his own." Jesse sounded proud of her dad, able to succeed where Thawne hadn't.

"I'm sure if you can stomach his mood swings, Harry would be willing to look into testing possibilities for you." Caitlin agreed with a warm smile and gave his hand a squeeze almost subconsciously.

Once Jesse had Claire handed off safely, she grinned at Peter and counter down, "3, 2, 1--" Then took off, zipping around the circular track around them like a streak of yellow lightning. She tried not to move fast enough to catch her STAR Labs shirt and sweats on fire, but she wasn't slow by any means. After about fifteen laps around the track she zipped back and paused. "Hold that thought." She zipped out of the room. When she came back, she was clad in her red, black, and gold suit. Now she could run. And run she did. Jess took off at even higher speeds. Enough that between time trying to stop her and the Speed Force trying to accelerate, she was creating a tidal wave of friction around the track. It built up until it reached critical and surged outward like an EMP.

The surge knocked her on her ass, along with everyone else in the room and plunged the building into darkness, but wouldn't leave any lasting damage besides a few bruised tailbones, maybe some broken mugs, and frizzy hair. No one has any pacemakers, right?

[swoopyhair]

It might be worth it to pay Ando a visit for that ability, to test and see if and how it worked with Metas, Peter thought. If Ando had gone back to Japan, maybe he could convince Claire to come along. He was sure she'd like to see Tokyo.

Uncle and niece watched with unabashed delight as Jesse ran the track. It was nothing new to Claire by now, but it never failed to amaze her, and Peter was still getting used to that kind of speed.

Sorry, Thawne, it wasn't going to be so easy to impress her anymore.

The EMP blast knocked Peter right down, breaking his hold on both Caitlin and Claire, as well as breaking his concentration on stopping time. She went flying with a startled squeal, carefully shifting into a sitting position.

"Everyone okay?" Peter called out. He nearly brought up a ball of lightning to illuminate the dark room on instinct, but stopped short, remembering the earlier discussion. "I can light us up, unless my light source would upset anyone."

"I heard glass or something break," Claire warned. She guessed it was probably the coffee mugs, or maybe some equipment. "What hit us?"

[iamnotuptight]

Caitlin groaned and sat up, dusting off her pants. She heard Cisco hiss then gasp lightly before hearing shuffling in the complete darkness. A phone light lit up an area in her peripheral. It reflected off of pools of dark liquid on the ground that made her heart stop briefly until she realised they were spilled coffee.

"I'm good." Cait answered carefully.

Jesse's yellow lightning was blinding in the dark as she raced to Harry's side. "I think too much electricity built up in my wake. With time frozen, it just kept building and building where I ran then detonated." Jess answered. "Too much stored energy in one place."

"So, the test went well?" Cisco asked, but there was a slight edge to his voice, like maybe he was in pain.

"The light will be fine, Petrelli. You've given us proper warning." Harry answered. "You kids okay?"

[swoopyhair]

The room was then lit up with a soft, blue glow as an orb of lightning hovered above Peter's hand. He looked to Caitlin first, relieved that she was fine. The dark liquid on the floor gave him a similar panic until he too remembered the coffee.

Claire's association with blue lightning was the same as Peter's - Elle Bishop. They were bittersweet memories. She'd been hit with full blasts of it more than once, but she'd also found an odd kinship with the other blonde. Despite all the issues the two had, they were essentially two sides of the same coin.

"We know for sure now that stopping time can't stop a speedster," Peter said, then frowned. "Though with some unexpected side effects. Maybe... now that we know about it, we can find a way to use it to our advantage."

"Cisco? You don't sound so Gucci..." Claire recognized that edge in his voice and was immediately concerned. She already was so used to ignoring her phone whenever she was around Harry and/or Jesse, that she sometimes forgot it existed, or else she might have thought to use its flashlight. Peter's light was enough for her to make her way over to Cisco and Harry.

Peter trailed behind, his paramedic instincts on alert now.

[iamnotuptight]

"I just landed in broken mug." Cisco answered, holding his hand up in the soft blue light. A few speckled cuts were peppered along the heel of his rught palm. "No Breaching for me for a couple days." He lamented. "But I collided with Harry, who I know won't tell you shit, so look him over first."

Harry shot Cisco a grumpy glare and Jesse immediately started fussing. She found a long cut on the Radius side of his forearm, also from ceramic shards. She began rapidly apologising and Harry grabbed her face in both hands, pulled her close until he bumped their foreheads together, "My Jesse Quick, it's not your fault. I'm okay. Cisco's okay." He used Cisco's first name to drive the point home. And she nodded. He let her go and stood up, giving Cisco a hand up.

"We're alright." Harry assured.

Cisco made an undecided whine sound through his nose. "I dunno. You might need stitches. I just need a bandaid." He joked.

Cait moved to Peter's side, not just to get a good look at Harry and Cisco. "You sure you're okay?" She asked Peter.

"I can tell you, it felt like I was running through something thicker than air. It was creating drag. Friction. But I shoulda known that would happen. Between the friction and the build up, that's how we throw lightning. We run so fast we loop the current on itself and build it up enough to direct it. It just didn't give it an outlet and it made its own. I didn't realise I was running fast enough to build it up like that." Jesse sounded desperately apologetic.