Flashpoint: Heroes

"Like I said, he was manipulating me, and I fell for it. But, he doesn't know I'm here. He doesn't know I'm with Barry. We had made an arrangement for me to teach him about evolved humans, and for him to teach me about Metas. It never went anywhere, though. I moved here and met you guys, that was the end of it for me. As far as he knows, I've just gone radio silent with no explanation."

Claire shifted her weight from one foot to the other, still nervous. "I know what he is, and now I know a lot of what he did. He told me some things, but even when he was being honest he found a way to soften the blow, to make himself sound reasonable. To hear him tell it, The Flash is some egomaniac who deprived him of his dream. I didn't know what to make of it, until I actually met Barry. I told him about Thawne as soon as I put it all together. Almost lost him before I even had him, but I couldn't lie. Just like I don't want to lie to you."

It had to count for something, Claire hoped, that when they thought Harry was Thawne, she was ready to go through with Cisco's plan capture him. She only stopped because she wanted to make sure they didn't accidentally kill Harry.

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"Welcome to the Manipulated by Eobard Thawne Club. Unfortunately, it's not a very exclusive club. Our numbers keep growing by the day, apparently." He sounded bitter, which was understandable.

"He's really good at making himself sound like the this great guy. Cait and I worked with him for years building the particle accelerator and we had no clue. Joe was the only one who hated him from the beginning. The rest of us couldn't believe it. Even when clues started adding up. Even when I started having nightmares about him being the Reverse-Flash and killing me, I still didn't want to believe it. It wasn't until Joe and I took a trip to Star City where the crash happened that killed Dr. Tess Morgan and I scanned for tachyons that we found the body of the real Harrison Wells. He's scary good at lying in wait." Cisco turned back around and unplugged the watch. He screwed the panel back on and held it out to Claire.

"For the record, I wasn't accusing you of anything. I know how tricky Thawne can be. Barry loves you. And Harry trusts you. That's good enough for me. You also saved my friend's life twice now. Arguably, three times. Because that dart I sent you in with would've killed Harry."

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The relief on her face was obvious when it finally sunk in that he wasn't going to rake her over the coals for it. Part of her still thought she deserved that, for being so damn naive.

Now Eobard Thawne was just another person she ghosted.

"Thank you," she sighed. "When I told Barry, he was concerned that Thawne might have set me after him. I'm so grateful he heard me out and trusted me. I wouldn't have blamed you for thinking something similar."

Claire took the watch and strapped it back onto her wrist. "I want Caitlin to know too. That can happen whenever the time is right. Preferably when it's not going to stress her out too much. I'm tired of holding on to this secret, but I think helping her avoid the whole Killer Frost thing is a little more important than my conscience."

Already she felt more relieved, and that would do for now.

"I was ready to take Thawne down. Thank goodness for Caitlin." She held up her hand, with the watch back in place. "Now we'll know when Thawne finds me. It's... probably not going to be pretty. I don't love the idea of any of y'all being in danger because my stupidity, though. I told Barry I'd leave town before I let him use me to hurt him. That goes for any of you, now."

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"We all have our trauma when it comes to Thawne. Barry's is so much more personal than the rest of us, just because everything Thawne did, he did purely out of hatred for Barry. Anything done to the rest of us was a side effect of that. So, he might be a little paranoid." Cisco explained. It wasn't that they weren't all hurt by Thawne in deeply personal ways, but when you find out that the man travelled back in time to kill you, then spent fifteen years plotting your downfall while stalking you, it got scary personal.

"We can tell Cait together, if you want. I think she'll take it okay. She hates him, too, but not a viscerally as Barry." He reached out and gave her shoulder a light squeeze.

"He's a time travelling jackass who can run faster than Barry. Leaving town won't stop him. Like it or not, you're one of us now, and we'll fight evil speedsters to protect you. Barry's not the only superhero on this team, remember?"

Cisco threw an arm around her shoulders and started walking them back to the Cortex. "Now, what do you like on your burgers? I'm gonna get two triple triples. Caitlin's gonna decline like she always does because she brought her own lunch, and Harry's a basic bitch. He always gets a number one combo." He pulled out his phone and texted Barry and got a response so fast the 'Barry is typing' didn't even show up. "And Barry wants five cheeseburgers. He's also waiting out the clock because Julian won't let him leave early. Followed by 'I hate this guy'. But he says that all the time, don't worry."

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"Hearing Barry talk about it... kinda broke me a little. I know how that feels, to have someone obsessed with hurting you. My villain isn't after me anymore, but regeneration doesn't heal emotional and mental scars." Claire couldn't outrun Sylar, and he wasn't even a speedster. She couldn't stay hidden from Thawne forever, especially here in Central City. The Flash had called this place home first, and for far longer, of course The Reverse-Flash would be back sooner or later.

It felt nice to be part of something again. Her own group was scattered, not as close-knit as the STAR Labs team. She hoped now that she had settled down, she could see more of her parents, Peter, and even Angela. It'd be nice to see more of Lyle, too, but she understood why her brother wanted little to do with her.

For now, though, she decided to focus on lunch. She walked with Cisco, her arm around his waist, as she considered her order. "Bacon cheeseburger combo, extra pickles. With... pickles on the side. And a Coke."

Just the mere mention of Barry joining them had her lighting up like Christmas morning, but she tried to play it cool. As much as bonding with the team had calmed her down after that morning's ordeal, she still sorely needed one of Barry's hugs.

"His boss is a jerk, huh? I think that's why I've never been very good at having a job."

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"Regeneration doesn't, but I think maybe friends can help." he sounded hopeful.

Cisco noted down her order with a grin. But then he looked up with surprise. "Boss? Nah, man. Julian's just another CSI that works with him. His boss loves him, actually. Captain Singh's always got Barry's back. I think Singh might know Barry's the Flash and that's why he's so lenient with Barry's absences and emergency leaves. But that's just a theory. He's always been good to Barry. Even before all the times the Flash saved his husband from angry baddies. But Julian really hates him. Apparently he doesn't like Metas either, from what I hear. He keeps telling Barry since he's been in the gig longer overseas that he has seniority over Barry." Cisco explained with an eye roll.

She'd perked up so much just at the mention of Barry. "You two have it bad." He laughed. "It's so sickeningly cute." He nudged her with his elbow.

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"Friends definitely help." She was having an easier time with navigating all these unknowns. Her dad could only do so much, at least until he got there and learned more about the situation.

That this Julian was just a coworker sounded even worse. If he didn't like Metas, he'd probably hate evolved humans, too. She disliked him already on principle. But, she was glad to hear that Barry's boss was cool.

Claire blushed as Cisco called her out, and she couldn't help giggling. "I swear I've never been like this about anyone before. I mean... I've dated, and I've been in love, but with Barry it's different." She'd never been so ready, or found it so easy, to fully blend her life with someone else's. That was the difference.

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Oh, Julian would definitely hate Evolved Humans too. He had a problem with superpowers. Good or bad, they were all the same to him. He didn't like the Flash, either.

"Barry's unique." Believe him. Recently, he had been so mad at Barry that they weren't on speaking terms and then he found out Barry didn't even know why, because he'd screwed with the timeline, so none of this strife was in his memories at all. Which just made Cisco angrier. But... it was hard to hate your best friend. Especially after he owned up to his mistakes and apologised for them. They were all still coming to grips with the timeline thing now that Barry had come clean, which might also be why he wasn't as phased by Claire's admission about Thawne. He was a bit numb to blindside punches at the moment. "Barry throws his entire body and soul into everything. Which means he gets hurt easily, but it also means he loves so completely, friends, family, and significant others. Sometimes I think the big dummy is made of love or something cheesy like that." ~~Spoilers, he is.~~

There was a rush of air and Cisco jumped with a squeak. "We were having a friendly, emotional moment!" He yelled.

"Sorry." Barry said sheepishly putting a hand on Cisco's shoulder, then wrapped his arms around Claire and kissed her. "I'm so glad you're okay! Where the Hell is Hartley? I'll throw his ass in the Pipeline!" Protective speedster, much?

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With the exception of Gretchen, her relationships as an adult had been pretty private. Mostly because she'd been on the road, but also because she just didn't see herself being able to fully immerse herself with someone else, or let them do so with her. Gretchen had kind of put her off letting someone get that wrapped up with her - Claire preferred to chase, rather than be chased. Barry had shattered those walls just as fast as he did everything else.

Made of love. Claire liked that description. She was already beaming, but that rush of air brought an even bigger smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him, hugging him a little tighter. "He knows now that it was a misunderstanding. I was taking his ass down when he knocked me out, though." See, Leonard? She could brag about her badassery.

As she drew back (reluctantly, but trying to keep it light with the PDA) from the embrace, she caught Barry's hand and laced her fingers with his. "Harry's gonna be okay, too. Caitlin probably still has him in the med lab. Cisco was making sure my watch thingy didn't get messed up in the fight, and he was showing me around a little more," she explained, holding up her wrist.

It was a convenient way to leave out any mention of Caitlin's confession to them and not outright lie.

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Lenny would be proud of her. Barry held her hand tightly, almost afraid to let go of her completely. "We should've told him about Wells. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened." Barry was kicking himself over this. "He was hurt just as badly as we were by Thawne's betrayal." From what he understood, Hartley might have even had a slight crush on Wells before the whole firing thing happened. So there were a lot of emotions wrapped up in that angry outburst.

"Hartley's gauntlets really suck. He's a genius and he knows how to make sound deadly." Hartley had almost killed him with them once and Thawne had to save his life, but that was in a timeline he altered and thus didn't exist anymore... so it was best not to bring it up or that might open fresh wounds with Cisco. Which was actually why Hartley was more or less an ally to them now, because things played out differently.

"Yeah, I stopped in to check on Harry." And by that, he meant, that gust of wind had gone past them at first. He'd made a pit stop in the med lab because he thought that's where everyone would be. He hadn't bothered to slow down, though, before backtracking to the Cortex. "Caitlin has him sedated from what I can tell."

Cisco raised his hands in an exasperated 'see? This guy's a headache' way then dropped them back to his sides and trudged off. "I'm gonna go get us food." He grumbled.

"Thank you." Barry said sincerely to Claire. "For protecting Wells. He's--"

"--our Princess Peach!" Cisco shot over his shoulder from the hall as he waited for the elevator.

"I was gonna say accident prone." Barry finished.

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"So I noticed," Claire huffed. "Downed my ass immediately. Better me than Harry, though. I shook it off... eventually." She looked up to Barry with a frown. "It took an hour for me to wake up when it should've been a few minutes at most. Turns out, the chameleon's toxin is still in my system while the antidote and my regen continue to fight it off. Caitlin is gonna keep running labs and let me know when it's all clear. In the meantime--"

Hang on. This part was hard to say. Claire almost wanted to pout, but smiled instead. It wasn't fair, Barry brought the joy right out of her. "I'm going to take it easy and be careful. But I'm almost as accident prone as Harry, so I don't know how that's gonna work. And hello? I'm the blonde, I get to be Princess Peach."

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Barry framed her shoulders with his hands, looking worriedly at her. He hated that the toxin was still in her system. "Cait will figure something out. I promise. Maybe Singh will let me take the next few days off work so I can stick by your side."

"Fine, you can be Peach, but only because Barry is definitely Mario and I'm more a Luigi guy. But that doesn't mean you're allowed to get kidnapped as much as Harry does!" Cisco pointed a grape blowpop at her threateningly before popping it back in his mouth. "None'a this your princess is in another castle crap." He grumbled then stepped onto the elevator.

Barry laughed and pulled them into Flash Time so he could cuddle her close without making her feel embarrassed. "So, Cisco was showing you around? Did he show you the Speed Lab?"

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"Harry is Boo. I will not elaborate," Claire laughed as Cisco got on the elevator.

"You don't have to do that," she said shyly. "I was just gonna be either at the lab or my place. Except when I have to pick my dad up from the airport." Her smile faded again. "Wait... if the venom is still in me, is it still in you? Are you okay?"

Claire snuggled in tight once they were in Flash Time. If anything, she was more embarrassed about needing the comfort. Still, he knew her so well already. It made her feel warm and fuzzy.

"No, I don't think I saw the Speed Lab. Just here and the med lab, and his lab he shares with Harry, and we kinda breezed through a couple other parts." She'd forgotten the name of the other room where Cisco had shared his Vibe, but she couldn't mention the Vibe yet anyway, for Caitlin's sake. But she could talk about the rest of it. "Cisco told me about his powers, how he used them to get us all here after the attack."

She looked up with a small grin, bright and teasing. "Hate to break it to ya babe, but I think we might have to share your best friend. Cisco and I have been gettin' on like peas and carrots all morning."

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As the doors closed, there was a look of surprised realisation on his face. Hey, he could see it. Harry as Boo. Not just for the fact that Harry liked to scare the crap out of him all the time with his stealth walk. Or the grumpy eyebrows. There was a sort of symbolism in Harry not showing himself to them head on. It gave him something to think about in the elevator ride.

"Thaaaaat's a good question. One I'll ask Caitlin." Barry said carefully. "I haven't noticed anything off, but I also haven't been in a big fight lately, either. I know from what Harry was saying, you heal a lot faster than I do, but my metabolism is a lot faster than yours. That could have an effect. But we'll see."

There was a small lurch and she was released from Flash Time, another guest of wind followed and the Flash suit on the mannequin was gone, then she was back in his arms in Flash Time. The trails of yellow lightning were frozen around them like streamers.

"Cisco's also Vibe, yeah. He opens Breaches and fights beside me sometimes. But he can't heal like we do. Out there, I'm his only line of defence." Barry admitted, and it was clear by the tightness in his voice that he was scared of losing Cisco in a fight.

But her playful claim to Cisco helped ease the tension out of him. "I had a feeling you two would hit it off. Cisco's great. I don't mind sharing." He admitted and cupped the side of Claire's face in a red gloved hand and kissed her.

"Ready to see the Speed Lab? We can test if I'm any slower than I should be." He picked her up bridal style and held her close to his chest, then ran them both to the Speed Lab

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It eased her mind some when Barry offered to ask Cait. While it would add more to Caitlin's plate, making sure Barry was okay would probably be something that would make them all feel better, after learning that Claire was still being affected.

She stumbled a little when he let her go, but caught her before she could catch herself. He was suited up now, and she was practically glowing with adoration. It was, finally, her first time seeing Barry as The Flash. And she approved, wholeheartedly.

"Hey, I can help protect him now, too." Just like she kept on protecting Harry.

Claire let him scoop her up, tucking her face in close just like she had when she... just like she had before. The moment Barry stopped them in the Speed Lab she kissed him again, soft and sweet but a touch insistent. She needed that closeness for a moment. Her cheeks were flushed when she pulled back, finger tracing down his cheek.

"Alright, cutie. Lemme see you in action."

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"I think he'll be grateful." Cisco would absolutely panic if she ever took an attack aimed for him, because there was a difference between Barry catching bullets in his hands harmlessly and someone being dropped in front of him, but as long as she got right back up, she'd probably be in for a hug later.

The kiss was met with equal insistence as his pulse thrummed far too quickly. He grinned at her and carefully set her down over by a set of monitors. "This will show my miles per hour." He woke up the screen beside it. "This tracks all my vitals in the suit." It was already reading his pulse at 120, which was afib for a normal person, but for him, it was fine. "Alarms will go off if the readings are dangerous. So, if they look high, but nothing is shrieking, it's normal for me." He leaned in and gave her one more quick kiss then zipped off up the ramp and onto the track. Once he started really running, he was nothing but yellow lightning and a red blur on the track. The speedometer teetered around 600 MPH. The longer he ran the closer he got to 700, but he never get himself tip over into Mach 1. No sonic booms in the Speed Lab. His vitals all stayed within normal for him.

After a few minutes on the track, someone else walked in. "You must be Claire. Barr's showing off, I see." Joe said as he crossed the room to her, holding out a hand. "Joe West."

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Bullets were far preferable to toxic chameleons and sonic waves. Especially when her healing was at a hundred percent, she could shake off a bullet like it was a papercut. But no matter what it was, she'd still rather endure it than any of her friends.

Claire was definitely getting used to Barry's racing heart by now (even during cuddle time, just like she predicted), but she kept an eye on the monitor all the same. She split her attention between that and the blur of red and yellow that was Barry racing around the track. The smile on her face seemed permanent; she'd always liked red.

None of the alarms Barry mentioned were sounding off, and nothing else seemed out of the ordinary, as far as she could tell, so she breathed a sigh of relief. Her attention was drawn away by the new voice, but for one she wasn't startled. She trusted that there wouldn't be anyone in the lab who wasn't safe. And sure enough, as soon as he introduced himself, she knew who he was.

"That's me! Claire Bennet," she grinned, shaking Joe's hand. "It's nice to finally meet you. Barry told me about you. We're testing something, but... yeah, he's probably showing off a bit, too." Not that she was complaining, she had been excited to see him do his thing as The Flash.

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While he was running, his heart rate had jumped to 240, his BP was about 280/175 and his blood oxygenation was an easy 99%. Which were mostly horrific for a normal person, except for the oxygenation, but for him, they were great.

That wasn't a good assumption to make, Claire, seeing as Thawne built the entire lab. He could easily get in without issue. And even if the Speed Lab would be new to him, too, he'd be able to find his way there if he wanted to. But for the most part, it was safe. They were in no more danger here than anywhere else with Thawne.

"I've heard all about you, too." He said pleasantly and shook her hand firmly. When he let go, he leaned against a wall beside her, glancing at the monitors. "Both my boys can be showboats. He's definitely trying to impress you." Joe chuckled. "What're you testing? I can't promise I'll follow the science jargon."

Edited Date: 2025-09-03 09:44 pm (UTC)

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Claire had a vague idea of what was supposed to be normal because Peter had tried to teach her a few things for first aid purposes, but she didn't really know the way a doctor would. She had grown far too used to her regeneration. Besides, the monitors weren't making any funny noises, so she figured it was okay.

Speaking of funny noises, her watch hadn't sounded off either, so if Thawne had slipped in, she'd know.

She blushed a little when Joe confirmed that Barry was trying to impress her. It was working, not that he really needed to impress her when she was already head over heels in love. Part of her was curious to know just what he'd said about her. It probably wasn't too different to how much she'd bragged about him to her parents.

"Oh, I'm no scientist, I'm a casual nerd," she laughed. Did Joe know about the attack? She was assuming he did, being Barry's foster father. "But we're checking to make sure he isn't still being affected by that chameleon venom. I was, and I heal faster than he does, so there were some concerns. He seems to be just fine, though. Or at least, he better let us know if he's not feeling okay."

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There was another little indicator in his biometrics off to the right, one that said tachyon enhancement was at full and the other said Speed Force was operating at 100%. Those both lit up after a few minutes of running.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure even your casual nerd speak goes over my head." Joe admitted. He and Wally always seemed to be the only two who never followed any of the nerd talk. But even then, Wally knew cars. So if the nerd talk ever veered to engines, he suddenly knew a lot and Joe was still lost.

"You got scratched by that Meta too? I thought it only hit Barr and Wells." Concerned dad mode activated. "And you think it might still be in him? So...? ...you're testing this by running around the track?" He's trying to follow. "...because Barr's speed was affected when it hit him." He concluded. "Are you okay?"

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She had zero clue what tachyon enhancement meant, but she'd recalled hearing the word "tachyon" before in context to all this. Speed Force operating at 100% looked like a very good sign, though.

"Yeah, while I was helping to take it down," Claire admitted, then bit her lip. Though she was trying not to brag, she couldn't help but be a little proud. "Don't worry about not getting all the lingo, some of the Meta stuff keeps making my head spin and I think it will for a while."

How many more dads was she going to acquire? The more the merrier. "I'm not a Meta, but I'm something different. My ability wasn't caused by the particle accelerator explosion, I was born with it - I heal, faster than Barry. Right now my healing is taking longer than it should, and Caitlin found that the toxin was lingering in my system, along with the antidote I had the night I was attacked. So I was worried that if I'm still affected, then he might be too."

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"So, I was right for once. I asked Wells once--not Harry Wells, the other one--if it was possible for there to be people like Barry before his particle accelerator exploded and he told me unequivocally 'no'. Not that it matters now, the person we were hunting was actually him. But if you were born with your powers, it means he was wrong. And I'll take anything I can get over that bastard." Thawne. He was talking about Thawne.

Before he could ask her anything else, there was a crash on the track and Barry went arse over end into a wall. The monitors wailed as his blood pressure and heart beat hiked even higher than normal.

"Barr!" Joe yelled and ran to the track.

Barry was on his back, holding his head. The suit protected most of him, but he had hit a concrete wall pretty hard, so he had a small split around his eye that was bleeding below the mask.

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She caught on with a chill that he was talking about Thawne, the conversation with Cisco from earlier still fresh in her mind. No way in hell was she going to bring up her prior association with the man right now. It was enough that she knew who he was and could follow what Joe was saying.

But it also added some perspective to how utterly fascinated Thawne had been to meet her and learn about her ability. She quickly forced that thought out of her mind.

Just as Claire was about to comment that it was impressive for him to guess that people like her could exist when most people never even considered the possibility, she was interrupted by the crash. She let out a startled, panicked squeak, and glanced over at the monitors. Yeah, she didn't need to a medical degree to know it was bad. Quickly, she followed after Joe, dropping to her knees to stop at Barry's side. It probably would've hurt a normal person to go down that hard, but it didn't phase her at all.

"Barry?" Damn it. Just when she thought the test was going fine! She'd let her attention slip away for a moment, and-- no, she couldn't do that to herself. Even if she'd been paying attention, she never would've been able to react quickly enough. She saw the speedometer, Barry had been running at least 600mph, she couldn't even think that fast, let alone move.

"What happened? Do you need me to call Caitlin?"

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Barry blinked up at her, almost dazed for a moment. Joe squatted down beside them and put a hand on Barry's shoulder, helping him sit up slowly.

Barry reached for Claire and sat up with Joe's help and a wince. "N-ah! No. I don't think anything's broken. I dunno what happened. It was like my legs just stopped responding for a second." But when you're running almost the speed of sound, all it takes is a stutter for things to go terribly wrong. "I think it's safe to say the bio-toxin's still lingering in my system. That smarts. This is why I phase through walls instead of run into them." He joked.

Edited Date: 2025-09-03 11:45 pm (UTC)

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