Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue :: Change

“Are you coming to watch the particle accelerator?” I asked my fiancé, Christopher. It was the morning of the day S.T.A.R Labs would launch the particle accelerator. S.T.A.R Labs had recently announced that it was going to launch a device called a particle accelerator in Central City. It was supposed to change the world of science dramatically.
“You know I don’t really care about science-y stuff, Lissa.” Christopher protested.
“Aren’t you even a little curious?” I pressed, grinning.
“Okay.” He yielded, raising his hands up and mirroring my grin.
“You’re coming with me?” I asked excitedly.
“Remember I have to work tonight, though.” He reminded me. “I’ll watch from the windows at work.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at him. Though watching from work wasn’t as good as if he came with me, I was glad he was watching at all and I wouldn’t ever come between him and his work. He was a security guard at the mall which meant lots of night shifts. As for me, I taught kindergarten.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Lissa.” Christopher announced. It was now around dinner time. I had finished work hours ago and he was now leaving for his shift. He kissed me, holding me against him. I couldn’t fight the grin on my face. Our relationship was difficult because of our conflicting job shifts, but we loved each other and that was worth more than anything to me. We made it work.
Christopher gave me one last wave before heading out the door. I picked up our dishes from dinner and began to clean, my excitement building as it got closer to the launch. This is going to change everything, I thought with glee. Change is good.

Chapter Text

01. Acceleration

I pulled my shoes on and ran outside. The particle accelerator was due to go off in fifteen minutes. I made my way to the park, where I had decided I would watch the launch from.
My trainers scraped against the ground as I located a bench. Once I had found a bench that faced the direction of the S.T.A.R Labs building, I planted myself on it. Pulling out my cellphone, I eyed the skies above. They seemed to be growing darker and darker.
I pulled up my news app, which revealed that S.T.A.R Labs would appear in ten minutes. I sat back against the bench and watched all the people on the streets. Tons of people were gathered on the streets or walking towards S.T.A.R Labs itself. Even though I was a Kindergarten teacher, I hated being crowded. That’s why I sat in the park. I’d still be able to witness the launch, but it would be a much worse view. I didn’t mind sacrificing a view for comfort. A nearby tree caught my eye. I could get a better view from up there, I thought. It would be better than the bench but still not directly at S.T.A.R Labs. I slipped my phone into my purse and approached the tree. It had been a few years since I’d climbed a tree. The last time had been to retrieve a toy for the Kindergarteners. I had told them they weren’t allowed to climb the tree to get it and that only I was allowed to get it. It hadn’t been quite the climb that this would be, but I was up for the challenge.
I placed my thin hands on the bark, judging the distance between the ground and the first branch. Testing my foot on the tree, I kicked up and snatched the first branch. I pulled myself up, glad that I went to the gym this week. I climbed up two more branches until I found a branch thick enough to support me. I looked down, slightly nervous I would fall. My eyes made contact with the sky, and I mentally face-palmed myself. The clouds were rolling in, as black as the Dark Knight of Gotham City’s cape. At least if I get struck by lightning, I can win a Darwin award. I thought sarcastically. Being up in the tree not only gave me a nice view of S.T.A.R Labs, but it gave me a feeling of power. I felt powerful up here. I could see everyone below, smaller than I.
Checking my phone, I saw I still had five minutes. I decided to play a game I usually played when I had free time. I watched an elderly man sit on the bench where I had been sitting earlier. I wondered what he was thinking about. The Particle Accelerator, probably. Or his family. I scanned the ocean of people swarming Central City, wondering what each person was thinking about. She’s probably thinking about that guy over there, I decided, watching a woman inspect a man from afar. I snickered lightly before my phone buzzed. It was an alert that Dr.Wells from S.T.A.R Labs had appeared. I watched the news live from my phone just as a text came in.

Chris: Good view?
To Chris: Very. You watching?
Chris: Yep.

Smiling, I looked back at the news. A black haired man wearing glasses crossed the stage in the news video. He took the mic in his hands and the crowd continued their applause. I lightly tapped my leg with one hand, unable to clap because I would drop my phone out of the tree if I did.
“Thank you.” The man smiled. “My name is Harrison Wells. Tonight, the future begins. The work my team and I do here will change our understanding of physics. We’ll bring about advancements in power, advancements in medicine and trust me, that future will be here faster than you think.” He paused to allow the heavy applause to erupt from the audience. I grinned, wondering what was going through Wells’ mind. He must be so proud, I decided. I would be if I was accomplishing something so grand. All of S.T.A.R Labs was probably very proud of their work.
“The particle accelerator is now live.” Linda Park, the reporter, announced. I looked back down at the news report before turning the screen off and stuffing my cellphone back into my purse. A light rain fell from the dark clouds, sprinkling my blonde hair with the light drops. I thought about getting down, but I still didn’t see anything regarding the accelerator. Nothing had happened. Nothing aside from the loud crackle of thunder that boomed across the sky.
Just as I was about to climb down from the tree, a flash of orange caught my eye. I looked at S.T.A.R Labs to discover what the flash was. Orange flames burst from the top of the building. A gasp broke through my lips and I had to hold onto the branch for support. A bang sounded and the orange flames shot straight up through the air, connecting with the black clouds above. The flames mixed with the storm, sending a colossal, flaming ring of destruction soaring outwards. As the ring expanded and grew closer to me, I froze. Do I climb or do I jump? I’d break something if I didn’t land properly. I didn’t have much time to think because it was a foot away from me. I jumped from the branch, screaming as I fell. I bent my knees, preparing to land. The ground met me quickly and I crumpled to the ground with a thud. My hands shot out and clutched my ankle, pain running through my feet and ankles but mostly on my left ankle. I rolled onto my side, feeling like a soccer player. They were always rolling on the ground, grabbing one of their ankles. That was me at this moment. Not only did my feet hurt, but I felt lightheaded. My vision began to grow dark like the clouds and that’s when it consumed me.
“Lissa.” Someone whispered.
“Lissa.” The voice said, louder this time. I sucked in a deep breath but kept my eyes closed.
“Lissa? Are you awake?” The voice asked. Slowly, my eyelids opened but was greeted by stinging light. They clamped shut again. I tried again, opening my eyes. I was in a white room with a large window to the left. I looked down to see that I was dressed in a dull blue gown, accompanied by IVs. Hospital, I realized. Remembering that someone had spoken to me, I turned to the right. My gaze was rewarded by the face of my fiancé. I reached my hand out and he took it in his.
“What happened?” I asked Christopher.
“You apparently fell out of a tree?” He raised his eyebrows at me.
“Jumped, actually.” I corrected.
“Jumped? What were you even doing in a tree, Lissa?”
“I wanted to get a good view of the particle accelerator but I didn’t want to get crowded.” I admitted. Chris rolled his eyes at me.
“What happened with the accelerator? I remember seeing fire. When the blast came towards me, I jumped out of the tree.” I explained.
“It exploded and people are really mad. Everyone’s swarming outside S.T.A.R Labs. A bunch of people died, more injured. Lots of people are in the hospital right now. They checked your head for possible injuries because you passed out but they couldn’t find anything. Yet, you keep passing out.” He buried his face into the side of the hospital bed. I looked up at the white ceiling, tears brimming my eyes. A bunch of people died, more injured. I recalled his words. Along with some other people, I had been so excited for the accelerator to go off. Some people had protested. If only they’d listened to the protesters…
I swung my legs off the edge of the bed, sitting up. Then, I stood and crossed the room with the drip in hand. I inspected Chris, glad he was here.
“What are you doing?” His voice made my eyes travel from his clothes up to his face.
“Huh? Sorry, I didn’t really hear what you said.” I blinked, wondering if maybe I did have a cranial injury.
“I didn’t say anything.” Chris raised his eyebrow. “Lissa, maybe you should lie down.”
“I thought you asked what I was doing or something.” I shrugged.
“Oh, maybe I did. I thought I was thinking that instead not saying it.” He chuckled. I laughed with him and continued my journey out of the room.
“Wait, my ass isn’t hanging out of this dress is it? Some of these don’t have backs.” I froze before I made it to the door.
“Yes it is. Come back here.” Chris belted out laughter.
“Help me walk backwards.” I commanded, fighting more laughter. “What if one of these kids’ parents are here? I don’t think they need to see it.”
“But I do.” He spoke as I watched him.
“Really? Nice.” I rolled my eyes.
“What?” He tilted his head.
“That comment.” I responded. “Never mind. Just come help me.” Chris came over to me and took my hand. He helped me back to the bed without exposing my nudity to the people in the hospital.
“If we bring a nurse in here, they’re going to pester me rather than let me go, aren’t they?” I sighed.
“Probably.” He agreed, chuckling at me.
“Let’s get it over-” I paused as a couple nurses entered the room.
“Good. You’re awake. How are you feeling?” The shorter nurse asked.
“Absolutely fine.” I answered. “Am I okay to go home, now?”
“Not just yet. We need to be sure that you’re healthy first.” The taller nurse rejected me.
“We’re going to ask you a series of questions. Just answer them honestly and we’ll go from there.” Just as she was explaining, a group of doctors rushed by. They were wheeling someone on a bed, screaming about something medical that I didn’t understand.
“Barry! I can’t lose you!” Another person followed the gurney, soaked in tears. Horrified, I turned back to the two nurses in front of me.
“What’s your full name?” The tall nurse asked, adjusting her glasses on her face. Her black hair framed her face, brushing against her dark skin.
“Alissa Alexandra Clare.” I answered, looking over at Christopher for help as I didn’t feel up to answering questions.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Where do you live?”
“Central City.” I told them.
“Who is that man?” One of them asked. I looked over to see that she was pointing at Chris.
“Him? I don’t know that man. I thought he was a doctor or something.” I twisted my face into horror, as if Christopher had seven eyes and large bat wings.
“Lissa.” Christopher gaped. “She must have a concussion or something.” He spoke just as I looked down at his shoes, trying not to laugh.
“I’m sorry. I’m just kidding. Sorry. I know this is serious. Sorry.” I giggled, watching his face morph into unamusement. I wondered what kind of drugs they gave me.
“You know, Lissa, you’re very immature for a Kindergarten teacher.” He narrowed his eyes, though I could hear the amusement hiding behind the scolding.
“I know the drugs we gave you are causing you to act out, but if you can, please refrain from making jokes at this point, Alissa. Keep your answers truthful.” The nurse spoke calmly. I remained silent. “Who the hell actually makes jokes like that? Stupid. I just want to go home.” My lips parted in shock. Was she even allowed to say that?
“Who is that man?” The other nurse asked, acting as if her colleague hadn’t spoken.
“My fiancé, Christopher.” I murmured.
“You can go home, now. We’ll check you out of the hospital. Christoper, make sure she gets a lot of sleep. The drugs should wear off by tomorrow.” The kinder nurse informed us. Chris passed me my clothes which I took to the bathroom to change into.
“Thanks for bringing me a change of clothes.” I muttered as I slid my engagement ring back onto my finger. I stared at the ring. It was a slim white gold band with three diamonds side by side. The middle stone was larger than the outer ones and the band was decorated with tiny diamonds. After we arrived back at our home, Christopher turned to look at me.
“What’s wrong? You were silent the entire way home.” He cupped my cheek in his large hand.
“Didn’t you hear what that nurse said to me?” I asked incredulously.
“When?” He raised his dark eyebrows.
“When she asked who you were to me.” I reminded him.
“Oh, when you pretended you didn’t know me?”
“That was the medication talking.” I defended myself, slightly amused.
“You’re still affected by the medication.” Christopher pointed out.
“Whatever. Anyways, she said something horrible to me.” I shuddered.
“What did she say?” He asked.
“She grouched at me for making a joke then called me stupid. After that, she said she wanted to go home.” I admitted, feeling as stupid as she said I was when I saw disbelief flash in Christopher’s eyes.
“I doubt she said that. I don’t even think she’s allowed to say that. Besides, if she did say that, I would have heard it and gone all security guard on her ass.” I laughed at that as he continued, “It was probably just the meds.”
“Okay.” I sighed, but I couldn’t help but think that that medication wasn’t a hallucinogen. Ignoring my suspicions, I curled into Christopher’s chest.
“Remember how skinny you were in high school?” I asked into his well-formed chest.
“Remember how chubby you were in high school?” He countered.
“They weren’t kidding when they said the less attractive kids got hot when they were adults.” I snickered.
“Are you calling me hot? I don’t think you’ve called me that since...hmm, let me think, ever.” Christopher questioned. Oops.
“It is bad for your ego.” I told him. “Can’t have you being cocky now, can we?”
“But you just called me hot.” I could tell he was smirking even though I couldn’t see him.
“Actually, I implied it.” I corrected him.
“So you admit to it.”
“Shut up. Look, you’re a very attractive man. There, happy?” I pretended to be grumpy.
“Yes. Lissa, you’re an extremely beautiful woman.” He complimented me.
“Thanks, Chris.” I hugged him tighter and I felt his lips brush against my blonde hair. “Is it May, yet?”
“Nope.” He sighed.
“Here we come, May thirty-first.” I joined him in sighing, but it was a happy sigh.
“Mrs.Lern sounds really good, you know.” Christopher told me. “Maybe I should start calling you that now.”
“Lissa Lern sounds kind of like that lawyer from Starling City. You know, the cop’s daughter.” I laughed.
“Laura Lance?” Christopher clarified.
“Laurel.” I corrected.
“Yeah, it kinda does. Laurel Lance, Lissa Lern.” He tried the names out.
“Alissa Alexandra Lern. Maybe I should hyphenate. Alissa Clare-Lern. Nope. Not doing that. That sounds terrible.” I joked.
“Maybe I should take your last name. Christopher Clare.” I laughed harder than I should have when he said that.
“Christopher Clare or Lissa Lern. CC or LL, well AL I guess. Sounds good to me.” I grinned at him. “Although, I think my students were really looking forward to having Mrs.Lern as a teacher. I mean, who doesn’t want a teacher with the last name that sounds like learn?”
“That sounds like one of those educational videos that no kid wants to watch.” Christopher chuckled.
“Because you said that, now you have to watch it.” I teased.
“Hmm...pass.” He decided. “I have to get ready for work, now. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m changing.” He quickly brought his lips to mine then headed to our bedroom. I sprawled on the couch, letting my legs dangle off of the arm.
“We should get a dog.” I suggested.
“That’s the meds talking! Sorry, Lis, no dogs for drugged up teachers!” He called from the room.
“A cat?” I offered instead.
“I’m allergic, Lissa.” He reminded me. Dammit.
“Horsie?”
“You hate horses.” Christopher spoke as he came into the room wearing his uniform.
“They’re scary!” I defended myself. “What about a budgie?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Bye, Lissa.” He closed the door after him as he left for work. I jutted my lower lip out in a pout as I lay sprawled on the couch.
I turned to the floor and spoke, “He’s gone.” I said this with my lower lip still pushed outwards. My actions made me giggle. “Now, I’m talking to myself.”
I giggled once again then ushered out, “Oops.”

Chapter Text

02. Crazy

THREE MONTHS AFTER THE PARTICLE ACCELERATOR…
“I want Mommy!” A student called out as I began to turn the page of the book I was reading to them. Between page flipping, I always looked up briefly to make sure nobody was getting into trouble.
“You’ll have to wait until after school, Amanda,” I told her. The kids all looked at Amanda and then at me, confusion in their eyes.
“Wait for what?” Amanda asked, frowning.
“To see your mom,” I answered.
“I know!” She acted as if this was the most obvious thing I could say.
“If you know, why did you say you wanted to see your mom?” I asked her, amused at the children.
“I didn’t!” Amanda protested.
“Amanda didn’t talk,” Brendan defended her.
“Oh,” I raised my eyebrow. “Sorry, I thought you said something.”
The kids giggled and then one of them said, “Ms.Clare’s crazy.” They continued to giggle.
“Maybe so,” I shook off the feeling of uneasiness. “Let’s just keep reading, shall we?” I returned my eyes to the page and continued to read to my students.

EIGHT MONTHS AFTER THE PARTICLE ACCELERATOR…
“What?” I asked incredulously, looking at Christopher.
“I didn’t say anything,” Chris sighed.
“B-but you did. You said you wanted to move out of this ‘goddamned house’,” I folded my arms, sure of what I heard.
“No, I didn’t.” Chris’ eyes flickered with uncertainty. “What’s going on with you?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean what’s going on with you? You keep hearing things I never even said and then you insist that I did say them!” Chris waved his arms around in frustration.
“But I do hear them,” I protested.
“Crazy bitch,” he sighed.
“What?” I whispered.
“There you go again! I didn’t say anything!” Chris growled.
“You said ‘crazy bitch’, Christopher,” I swallowed back my tears. Chris’ eyes widened slightly.
“Watch my lips, Alissa! I’m not saying a goddamned thing!” Christopher hissed. Unsure, I allowed my eyes fall from his eyes to his lips. They didn’t move at all, not even a twitch.
As I was staring at his lips, I heard “Jesus, this is frustrating.” My lips parted in shock and I raised my hand to cover my lips.
“What now?” Christopher asked in the same voice as I had just heard.
“Y-you- How did you do that?” I asked, pointing at his lips.
“Do what?” Chris sighed.
“Like ventriloquism. You spoke, but y-your lips. I didn’t see them move.” I whispered.
“What the hell, Lissa?! What’s wrong with you? You used to be so...normal, but now you're freakin’ crazy!” He shouted. Finally, the tears I had been holding back escaped.
“I’m not crazy,” I whimpered.
“You are! You keep hearing things! Go get some freakin’ help! This is insane!” He screamed then added, “I can’t do this anymore!” I never saw his lips move when he said the last part.
“What do you mean ‘you can’t do this’?” I choked.
“I’m done. You’ve been like this ever since that stupid S.T.A.R Labs thing and you fell out of the tree. Maybe you did hit your head! I’m done here.” Christopher stormed off to our bedroom and began stuffing his clothes into bags.
“Chris!” I screamed, “what are you doing?” The tears came like a waterfall now.
“Packing my stuff or didn’t you hear my announcement?” He growled. My lower lip and hands trembled.
“Chris…” I whimpered. “Please don’t go.” He stormed past me, grabbing various things of his. I ran after him, sobbing. He finally reached the door with three full bags in his hands.
“I’ll get the rest of my shit tomorrow.” He stated, grabbing the door handle.
“Christopher, please!” I cried, “don’t go! I’ll get help, I promise!”
“Here’s your help!” Chris reached for his hand and ripped his engagement ring off, throwing it on the floor. He slammed the door behind him as I collapsed onto my knees.
I picked up the silver band in my hands, staring at it. He’s coming back, I told myself. He just needs time to cool off. He’ll be back in the morning. Somehow, I didn’t really believe myself. To keep hope, I put his ring on the coffee table in case he came back. Choking on my own sobs, I curled up into a ball on the couch, clutching a pillow for support.
The next morning, Christopher came back. But he didn’t come back to me. He came back to get his stuff like he had told me he would. I didn’t see him as I was at work when he came, but I did find all of his stuff missing, except for his ring.

NINE AND 1/2 MONTHS AFTER THE PARTICLE ACCELERATOR...
“What’s this streak everybody has been talking about?” I asked my colleague, Mrs.Liane Barne.
“Apparently this red streak has been seen throughout Central City, saving people or something. I don’t know much about it, but there is a blog that could give you more information,” Liane offered. I nodded and she gave me the website link.
“Thanks, Liane,” I grinned at her.
When I went home that evening, I raced to my computer. I quickly typed the link Liane gave me into the search bar. Stories of the Streak sightings came up immediately. I scrolled through the stories, one about a building fire catching my eye. I had heard about the fire on the radio when I drove home. An apartment building had caught fire with multiple people still inside. Luckily, everyone made it out though the how was still undiscovered. The article mentioned that a large red blur was sighted at the scene. It also suggested that perhaps this streak was how those trapped in the fire made it out.
I didn’t know what to think of the article. There had to be some sort of explanation, but then again, what did I know of normality anymore? I lost my fiancé because I keep hearing things. My hand found its way up to my neck where a chain hung. On the chain was Christopher’s ring. Most girls had their own ring around their neck when they needed their hands ring-free, but I had his ring around my neck. It was all I had left of him. It had been nine and a half months since he left, but I still clung to the hope that he’d return. It was stupid. Part of me knew he wasn’t coming back. I stared at the ring around my finger. Everybody told me to take it off when they found out I was no longer engaged. Some part of me wanted to take it off, but I just couldn’t bring my to do it.
I closed the lid of my laptop and sighed. The streak was nothing. My engagement was nothing. I was just crazy. There was nothing superhuman going on in Central City. I closed my eyes, sighing.
The next morning, I headed over to Jitters for a cup of coffee. It was Saturday and I really needed an energy boost. I ordered my coffee, two milk and two sugar. Clutching the warm drink in my hands, I took a long swig before heading to the door. As I pushed open the door, a man who was clearly in a rush bumped into me. My drink went flying from my hands, crashing to the floor in a large puddle along with my hopes and dreams of having a calm day. I exclaimed an apology for bumping into him. He quickly bent down to pick up the coffee, muttering apologies himself. The guy had a dorky look to him, which was kind of cute but his apologizing made it worse for himself.
“Should I buy her a new coffee?” He wondered. I never saw his lips move, but out of habit I blurted out an answer.
“No, no. Really, that’s not necessary! I probably shouldn’t be drinking it anyways,” I assured him, my eyes widening slightly because I knew damn fine he didn’t say anything but his apologies. He raised his eyebrow and looked up at me, pausing his cleaning of the spilled drink.
“Did I say that out loud?” He asked, his eyes questioning. I gasped slightly.
“Um... yeah! You did,” I lied, my heart hammering. He shrugged though his eyes remained full of suspicion. Suddenly, he spoke again.
“Beautiful.” I realized he was looking at me still.
“T-thank you,” I nodded then realized I just did it again. I raised my phone quickly, trying to pretend I was on the phone.
“Um, don’t worry about the drink. I have to go. Good day,” I stammered, racing out of the coffee shop leaving a very confused and suspicious guy staring after me.

Chapter Text

03. Not Crazy?

“Alissa!” A voice called out as I continued to get as far away from Jitters as I could. I froze, hoping that the voice I heard was not who I thought it was. Before I could change my mind, I quickly spun around to face the voice. I had been right, unfortunately. It was the nerdy guy from Jitters, jogging up to me. I sighed, feeling my cheeks beginning to burn again.
“You dropped your wallet,” he told me. I exhaled, relieved he was just giving me back my wallet rather than bringing up the horrors of a few minutes ago.
“Oh! Thank you! I must have dropped it with my drink,” I smiled politely at him. My smile vanished as I realized it sounded kind of salty. “Oh, sorry. That sounded like I was being sour for the drink. I’m still not bothered about that.” He handed me the wallet which I quickly slipped into my purse.
“You should make sure nothing else fell out of your purse. You never know,” he suggested. The smile on my face was sincere this time. Gentlemen were hard to come by nowadays.
“Good idea.” I quickly went through the contents of my purse and I looked back up at him with the sincere smile when I had finished. “Everything’s here. Thanks and I’m sorry for my weird behaviour in Jitters. I’ve had a rough week,” I apologized. I was going to ignore what happened earlier, but I couldn’t. This man was so friendly and I felt that I needed to address my lunacy from earlier. My cheeks flared as I brought up the earlier madness.
“Oh, yeah. That’s okay. We all have our days,” he let out a brief chuckle. “Barry Allen.”
“Nice to meet you, Barry,” I shook his outstretched hand, noticing how warm it was. “Again, I’m sorry for earlier. I acted like a total psycho.” I sighed, really wishing I had kept my mouth shut in Jitters. I could have sworn Barry said something about me not being crazy, but I never saw his lips move so I ignored it.
“Nice to meet you, too. Listen, I am running late for work. It was nice meeting you, but I really have to go now,” Barry spoke quickly, checking his watch.
“Okay,” I nodded. “Thanks for bringing me my wallet!” I called after him as he jogged away.

⚡⚡⚡

I walked home, thinking of what had just happened. I cringed, horrified about my rambling at Jitters. At least Barry didn’t seem too creeped out by my behaviour. Then again, he could have just been being polite.
Part of me hoped I would never see him again to avoid extreme lengths of embarrassment. But the other part of me kind of hoped I would see him again. Having a friend would be nice, considering Christopher and I basically had the same friends, friends who picked sides. I still wondered how it was that my students had more maturity than people I once called my friends. The whole picking sides thing was left behind in grade six, or so I had thought.
As I turned a different corner than the way to my house, I found myself walking by the mall where Christopher worked night shifts. I swallowed, remembering the times I had dropped him off at work or got up really early to greet him and bring him breakfast before I went to the school. I am such a stalker, I scolded myself. My heart stopped when I saw Christopher, in uniform, walking out of the mall. He finishes at five in the morning, I remembered. Quickly, I glanced at the watch around my wrist. It was far later than six, though still the morning. He must have picked up more hours, I decided. He doesn’t exactly have someone to see in the mornings now. Suddenly, shrieking sounded from the road which brought me back to my senses. The ear-splitting sound was accompanied by an angry horn and frantic voices. My sleek golden hair thrashed in the air as I whipped my head to look at the source of the sound. Blue surrounded my vision, hurtling towards me, then red.
My heart leapt from my chest and my stomach felt as though it no longer existed. Wind attacked me from all angles as I fell. Just as I was about to question whether or not I had died, my feet hit a dirt road. I froze for a moment, as the world continued spinning around me, though I was now standing still. Interrupting my stillness, I collapsed to the ground, retching up the little bit of coffee I had had this morning. Where was I? Was I did? No. Dead people don’t throw up. Did they? Trembling, I tried to stand and instead failed, crumpling back to the ground.
“Take it easy,” a voice warned me. I was too dazed to look up at who it was or notice anything about the voice in particular. A red gloved hand appeared in my vision. My shaking hand slipped into it, feeling the leather, or what I thought was leather. The red fingers closed over mine and the attached arm flexed as the red person helped me stand. I clutched the person’s forearms as I steadied me.
“What happened?” I whispered, still in shock and staring at the ground.
“You were almost hit by a car,” the red person replied. That’s when I looked up at who was in front of me. I took a step back as soon as my eyes connected with what was before me. A man in a red suit, with yellow details stood just a few steps in front of me. I couldn’t see his face, because it was blurred. I blinked several times staring at the figure. That was when I was sure I had died or was dreaming.
“The car was close. I should have died...how am I here?” I asked, trembling by this strange man, partially asking myself and him.
“I got to you before the car did,” he explained. Then I noticed the voice. It sounded alien, almost like multiple voices speaking at once. It reminded me of the possession/exorcist movies Christopher and I used to watch. I remained silent as he spoke. There was nothing I could think of to say and nothing I wanted to say. I didn’t know how to handle this situation, partially because I didn’t know if this was a dream or not. Instead, I looked around at my surroundings. We weren’t in the city. In fact, we were in the forest, far from the mall where I had been not long ago.
“What time is it?” I finally asked, not looking at the strange dream man. When he told me the time, I gasped. It was only five minutes since I had last checked the time. Nowhere near enough time to get here from the mall, even by car. It took fifteen minutes by car to arrive here.
“That’s not possible,” I mumbled, feeling my head spin more. I suddenly remembered the articles I had read on the website Liane had given me the link to.
“The streak,” I breathed, connecting the dots. “Y-you’re the streak everyone is talking about.”
“Yes,” was all he said. Then, “come with me.” He opened his arms up as if I should jump in them. Taking my stillness as a yes, the Streak grabbed me and with a gust of wind, we were suddenly in a white room filled with computers and strange technology I didn’t recognize. I stumbled a little when I was on my feet.
Just as I was about to ask where I was, a voice growled, “you brought her here?”
“I thought we agreed we would help her,” a strangely familiar voice responded. I turned around to see the red Streak man speaking, but the familiar voice was coming from him. He no longer had the alien-like voice. I know that voice from somewhere, I thought.
“Oh, we are so helping her,” a new voice spoke, belonging to a short man with long black hair who was just entering the room. A lollipop was jammed between his lips as soon as he finished talking. He raised his eyebrows at me and gave a wave. The angry person I had heard earlier was all too familiar, though different from the last time I saw him.
“Doctor Harrison Wells,” I gasped. The Harrison Wells I saw in front of me wasn’t like the one on the news the day the particle accelerator went off. This one was sat in a wheelchair, whereas the one nine and a half months ago could walk.
“That’s me,” he nodded gruffly. Heels clicked on the ground as yet another face was brought into the room. A small woman with a less than happy expression entered the room.
“Alissa Clare,” she commented, seeing me. I nodded slowly, wondering what the hell was going on. I took a deep breath, trying to keep myself from panicking. Harrison Wells wheeled over to me, hand out. I took it and we shook hands before he quickly retracted his.
“Alissa Clare, you are in S.T.A.R Labs,” Harrison Wells announced.
“Why?” I asked, trying to steady my breathing. The group all looked around at each other, as if trying to decide who had the task of telling her. Harrison, the woman, and the black-haired man all looked to the Streak.
“Why don’t you explain? You brought her here,” the black-haired guy shrugged at the man in red. I looked at him, waiting for a response. His face was still blurred. He mumbled out a bunch of random sentences, but I assumed it was just my brain making it up. My crazy brain. I heard the word Jitters in there.
“Jitters,” I breathed and heard confused mumbles behind me. That was when it clicked, why his voice seemed familiar to me.
“Barry from Jitters,” I gasped in horror. I couldn’t even stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth until it was too late.
“That’s like Alex From Target,” the black-haired guy chuckled then he suddenly stopped, sitting up. “You know him even though his face is blurred?” The Streak’s face stopped blurring and his red hands reached for the mask. He slid it backwards and revealed my correct guess. Brown spiky hair popped into view when the mask was off and the familiar geeky kid was back in front of me.
“Y-you’re the Streak?” I questioned, not for the first time. He nodded and for a moment everyone was silent. “Did you bump into me at Jitters on purpose?”
“No,” Barry shook his head quickly. “We didn’t know about you until Jitters.”
“What do you mean?” My mind felt like it was going to explode with all the new information.
“Lady Meta, sweet!” The black-haired kid sang as I looked around for someone to explain everything.
“Meta?” I repeated his words.
“Ohhhh sweet. I forgot what her abilities were,” he pursed his lips. His pointer finger tapped against his temple knowingly.
“Can someone please just explain everything? I’m really confused right now. What’s a meta, why am I here and how is what you do possible?” I directed the last question at Barry.
“Metahuman. A person who was affected by the particle accelerator explosion,” the woman explained. “Like you and Barry.”
“Like me?” I echoed. “I don’t...I’m not…”
“Think about it, Alissa. You’ve been experiencing strange things since the explosion, haven’t you?” Wells stared at me. “Like right now you can hear exactly what I’m saying, but if you look my lips are not moving. I’m not speaking. I’m thinking.” My lips parted in shock, causing me to step back.
“What?” Was all the shock would allow me to say.
“You read minds, Alissa! Edward Cullen style!” The black-haired man clapped as he reclined back, feet on the desk in front of him.
“What?” I asked again. Then, I really thought about it. It made sense. I had thought I had brain damage from falling out of the tree, hearing things that weren’t there. All of this time I had been hearing other people’s thoughts. As realization began to wash over my face, the others in the room seemed to be happy that they were right.
“So, you’re saying when your particle accelerator exploded, it caused me to become a...metahuman?” I clarified.
“You have superpowers now, baby!” Black Hair pumped his fist in the air.
“You’re absolutely sure I read minds? I’m not crazy?” I began to feel relief. As insane as all of this sounded, it meant that I wasn’t crazy. I’ve just been a metahuman all of this time.
“Watch my lips,” Wells spoke up. I turned to him. Watching his lips, his voice came out, “are they moving?” I released a sigh.
“I can read minds,” I blinked, sitting in a chair to stop myself from fainting. With a grin, I chuckled, “I’m not crazy.”

Chapter Text

A/N: Hi readers. I just want to address an issue that a lot of you have with this story. It is something I understand completely, but I just want to explain why it is like this.
So, many of you are complaining that you think Lissa should have figured it out way sooner that she can read minds and she may be a little slow or something. I understand why this bothers you guys. As fans of the Flash, we know about metahumans and superhuman abilities. WE know because we watch tv and know that in the Flash universe, people can have superpowers. To Lissa, she has never heard of metahumans. They aren’t really a thing to her. Lissa doesn't know about them. As far as she's concerned, supernatural occurrences and things like The Flash are just myths. Mind-reading had't occurred to her until S.T.A.R Labs proved it to her because it sounds silly to her. She just believes she's crazy. I can totally get where you're coming from and I know. I myself just want to scream at her that she reads minds, but she wouldn't believe anyone who told her. She would need to be shown that metas exist.
Think of it from her perspective. A regular human in a regular world. She isn’t going to just assume, “Oh hey! I read minds! Sweet!” She hears voices in her head and if she calls someone out for it, they act like she’s insane, so she believed it.
Once she was shown about metas, it made sense to her. But, if you didn’t believe in superheroes and superpowers/had no proof of their existence, you probably wouldn’t assume you had powers. That would sound very strange to Lissa.
I hope this makes it easier for you to understand and if you’re thinking right now “Oh crap. I messaged Talia571/commented on the story about this issue...She’s calling me out.” You’re wrong. A lot of people have and I totally get it! Seriously, don’t worry people. I get it. I don’t think you’re being rude. I’m not offended. I hope you can understand where I’m coming from and I hope Lissa’s wrong assumption doesn’t affect your enjoyment of the story. To those of you who expressed your concerns, thank you. Don’t be afraid to continue to do it.
Talia.

Chapter Text

04. S.T.A.R Labs

04. S.T.A.R Labs

"So who are all of you? I thought S.T.A.R Labs closed down," I looked around at the group of people in front of me.

"It did," Dr.Wells agreed. "But only to the public."

"We still work here," the woman added, causing the black-haired man to nod in agreement.

"This is Dr. Caitlin Snow," Wells motioned to the woman. "And this is Cisco Ramon."

"Resident engineer and genius," Cisco flipped his black hair, smiling smugly. "Also, I designed that super sweet suit Barry's got on."

"How does this all work? This Streak thing?" I wondered aloud, letting my questions flow freely.

"Well, glad you asked," Cisco said, wheeling quickly to a large computer, using his office chair. "I locate any bad metas or any crimes and fires blah blah blah. Basically, I find work for our fast friend here and he goes and stops it," he explained.

"And what do you do?" I asked Caitlin.

"I patch him up when he gets hurt as well as keeping an eye on his vitals while he's out," she replied.

"You also provide wisdom, Dr. Snow," Wells nodded.

"Also, I come up with prime names for the metas," Cisco grinned.

"I see," I nodded slowly.

"Wells helps us out when one of us does something stupid. Usually that's me," Barry explained.

"So, why bring me here? Why tell me I'm a metahuman, rather than leave me oblivious," I asked, still finding it difficult to bring myself to say metahuman.

"To make sure you weren't some evil meta set on killing everyone," Cisco said - no. Thought. His eyes widened when he remembered I could hear him. "Sorry. Totally forgot you read minds." The others shot Cisco a look.

"I don't want to know," Barry shook his head. "We brought you here in case you were like me. I didn't know what to do with my powers. I was confused and needed help."

"You wanted to help me?" I asked. They all nodded. "Thanks, guys. I've lost too much from this. I thought I was crazy and I can't control it."

"We'll help you figure out control," Barry promised. Suddenly, a man walked in, speaking as he came into the room.

"Bar, can I talk to you?" The man paused when he saw me. "Who's this?"

"Alissa Clare," I stuck my hand out and he took it to shake it. "There was a murder?" I froze.

"Sorry for snooping in your head," I apologized. The man stared at me.

"Mind reader?" He guessed. Barry nodded. "Well, speaking of metahumans and murders, I want to revisit an old case."

"You think the murderer might have been a metahuman?" Barry assumed.

"Yeah. We couldn't figure out what happened before. I think I can figure it out with your help, knowing that metas exist now," the man explained.

"We'd be happy to help, Joe my man," Cisco grinned.

"I can step out of the room if you guys like. I know you don't exactly trust me yet-" I began.

"You'd just hear our thoughts after anyways. You may as well understand everything," Barry smiled. I shrugged, realizing he was right. The man that had walked in, whose name I learned was Joe, pulled a photograph out of the manilla envelope he was holding.

"We found a man in an alley dead seven months ago. He was found with a knife," Joe started. Memories began flooding through Joe's mind of the crime.

"The knife was his. Michael Therton. We originally thought he had been poisoned, but we didn't find anything in his system," Joe continued.

"Some kind of untraceable poison?" I guessed.

"Not quite. We did suspect some kind of poison at first, but then we examined where the blood came from," Joe shook his head. The picture finally made its way to me. A small gasp escaped my lips. Blood was streaked down the man's face, coming from his eyes, nose and ears. Barry gently took the picture from me, his hand on my shoulder. I had never seen a dead person before. Not a real one anyway. It is just a picture, I told myself.

"His eardrums had exploded. His eyes had suffered extreme trauma and his watch was shattered," Caitlin spoke up and I noticed she was reading a write up.

"Residents report hearing a loud scream, nothing else," she read. "It sounds like he experienced something very loud," she guessed. In their minds, various scientific and medical nonsense made a strong appearance, but it seemed as though they were all keeping it dumbed down for me.

"Wait wait wait," Cisco raised his arms. "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

"Yes. You're both on the same page. In fact, you all are," I informed them, reading their minds. "A metahuman capable of creating sound loud enough to kill someone."

"So awesome, but so scary," Cisco whispered.

"We'll keep an eye out for a metahuman matching that description for you, Detective," Wells told him.

"Wait. Did the neighbours specify the gender of the scream?" I asked.

"'A few residents of the closest neighbourhood reported hearing a woman scream, despite the neighbourhood being quite far from the location of the body,'" Caitlin read.

"Sounds like we have ourselves a banshee," Cisco commented then his eyes lit up. "Banshee!"

"Did you just-" I broke off, turning to Barry. "Did he just name a hypothetical murderer metahuman?" Barry chuckled, nodding.

"Yes, you bet your ass I did!" Cisco cheered.

"Yep, that's our Cisco," Caitlin chuckled.

⚡⚡⚡

It was nine o'clock in the morning, Saturday, a week after I met the Flash and first went to S.T.A.R Labs. The Sunday after I met them, I had gone back for testing and they've been inspecting me all week. I had made multiple stops there on my way home from work. It was exhausting, but I was glad to finally have a diagnosis for my issue. I wanted to learn more about it.

My phone rang, blasting Bonfire by Slow Kids At Play from its speakers. I knew it was either Arden or Brooke, my close friends. It was our favourite song so I had it set as their ringtones. Normally, I would answer right after the crazy drum part, but I saw the name: Arden.

Arden and Brooke were older than me. I was twenty-four, Arden twenty-nine and Brooke twenty-eight, but it didn't stop us from having a fantastic relationship. I hadn't talked to Arden for about a month and a half, not since Christopher left. Arden is Christopher's sister, making things a bit awkward when it came to our separation.

"Arden?" I answered, surprise in my voice.

"I know. It has been too long. Can you meet up at Jitters? I really want to talk to you." Arden's familiar voice filled my ears.

"Y-yeah. Now?" I stuttered.

"If you aren't busy, that would be great," she confirmed.

"Okay, I can be there in twenty minutes," I told her.

"See you then, Lissa," Arden hung up. Holy shit, I thought. I had talked to Brooke a few times in the past month, but Arden had been like a ghost. The three of us had been close since I began dating Arden's younger brother, Christopher. Arden and Brooke had been best friends since high school and welcomed me into their group, despite me being younger. We only grew closer as I got older. I didn't know what to expect from our meet up.

⚡⚡⚡

The clicking of six inch heels caused me to look up. Arden entered CC Jitters, her hair twisted into a dark, curled ponytail. Her glasses rested gently over her liquid liner winged eyes. She was wearing ripped denim shorts accompanied by knee-high leather boots with six inch heels. A low cut, flowing black band tank top rested on her torso. Arden's skin was usually kept on display, clothing only covering just more than the essentials. She covered enough, but bared most of her skin. This was because of what her skin looked like, a canvas of beautiful artwork. Arden Lern was covered in tattoos, from her back, down her arms, her abdomen and legs. She told me she had twenty-two tattoos, though I had never seen all of them. My favourite of her tattoos however was the one on her left foot. It was a simple tattoo, but held strong meaning. Looking at her foot, one would see a Taurus symbol to the left of a Capricorn symbol. Brooke was a Taurus, born on May twelfth, whereas I was a Capricorn, born on January eighteenth. The tattoo represented us and to make the tattoo even better, I had a similar tattoo on my own left foot. Rather than a Taurus and a Capricorn symbol, I had Sagittarius symbol (Arden was born on December seventeenth) and a Taurus. The thought made me quickly look down at smile at my foot, which was inside a simple white open high heeled shoe, my favourite pair.

"Hey, Lissa. Thanks for meeting me. I know it has been a long time," Arden apologized, sitting across from me.

"No problem," I nodded quickly, anxiety beginning to build up.

"Look, I want to explain myself," she started. "At first, I wanted to believe my brother. About the reason you broke up. I know! It is stupid. I should have asked for your side of the story first, but I had seen first hand what he was talking about. You were acting quite strange and I didn't know what to do. I regret that now."

"It's okay," I waved it off, though I was a bit nervous still.

"No, it isn't and I have a bizarre question," she shook her head. I motioned for her to continue. "I've been seeing a lot about the Streak in the news. A few people are speculating that it is a human. Weird things have been happening lately and maybe it has to do with you."

"What are you asking?" I whispered.

"When you would randomly talk to Chris, Brooke or I when we didn't say anything, you replied to something I had been thinking, not saying. I didn't realize it until recently and it seemed crazy. I almost didn't come talk to you, but I want to ask-"

I cut her off, "you think I have something happening like the Streak does." She remained silent, but I read her mind. Holy shit I sound so dumb right now. I can't believe I just implied my friend reads minds, she thought.

Deciding to just go for it, I exposed my ability, "that's how I've felt ever since I went to the hospital. You're not dumb and I wish I had come to you about this before I screwed everything up with Christopher. You're right, Arden and I wish I realized it sooner."

"Holy f-"

Chapter Text

05. Early Morning Drinking

“I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised,” Arden sighed.

“You have powers, too,” I realized, hearing her thoughts. She sucked in a deep breath and nodded.

“I wasn’t going to tell you at first, but I just want you to know you aren’t alone. Also, I’m never leaving again. Why I listened to my little brother, I have no idea,” she sighed.

“We shouldn’t talk about this here,” I decided. She agreed and we headed to my place. I had walked to Jitters, but Arden had driven so we took her car home. As I was unlocking the front door, I heard a bottle slosh from behind me. I turned around to see Arden clutching a bottle of wine.

“I brought it just in case,” she shrugged. “I had a feeling we’d need it.”

“It is ten o’clock,” I blinked. She shrugged again and I joined her in shrugging. We both needed a drink. As Arden poured two glasses, I did everything I could to avoid looking at her.

“Do you have to look at someone to read their mind?” Arden asked me.

“Yeah. I hate it. I feel like I’m invading their privacy. If I was going to get powers, why couldn’t it have been something cool. Like flying?” I sighed, taking the glass from her outstretched hand. We sat on the floor on either side of the coffee table.

“Your powers must be better than this,” I guessed. She shook her head, also avoiding eye contact.

“My powers aren’t great. I don’t feel ready to talk about them. I really don’t want to, but knowing me and the amount I am about to drink, I’ll end up telling you anyway. So, I’ll just tell you while I’m sober. That way, I have nothing to blame but myself. Plus, I’d probably think about it around you at some point if I didn’t tell you,” she swallowed some wine.

I waited for her to speak, not invading her mind by watching her. She took several minutes to herself, probably thinking about how to say it.

“I don’t even know how to explain it. I guess I can just scream better?” She tried to explain. For some reason, her words stood out to me. I couldn’t think why.

“Well damn,” I raised my eyebrows, lying on my back on the floor.

“Yep,” she agreed, doing the same thing I was. “How do you deal with your powers?”

“I only found out last Saturday,” I confessed.

“It took you...what? Almost ten months to figure it out?” She choked on her wine.

“Yeah, I thought I was crazy. I believed Christopher. I didn’t realize I was hearing other people’s thoughts rather than random voices,” I explained myself. “I know I should have figured it out much sooner, but imagine thinking you read minds. Without knowing superpowers are possible, it seems like lunacy.”

“Okay. I can see how you’d miss that,” she nodded.

“How did you find out?” I asked her. She went silent for a moment. “Was it during a yelling match with your brother?” I couldn’t stomach mentioning his name again. Saying it moments ago was bad enough.

“I- I don’t want to-,” I heard her stutter. She was clearly struggling. Arden continuously referred to herself as a ‘straight up bitch’. The fact that she was so quiet and hesitant now worried me.

“Arden-” I said softly.

“I got attacked,” she whispered, her voice shaky. I had never seen Arden like this.

That’s when it clicked inside my head. I sat up quickly.

“Arden…” I started, eyes wide.

“I didn’t mean to,” she breathed.

“I believe you,” I told her. “What happened?”

“I was walking home from a bad date,” Arden explained. “Suddenly, I was pulled into an alley. A felt a knife pressed against my back. When I squirmed, he cut me.” Arden Lern stood up and lifted her tank top. Just over the left side of her back where the waistband of her shorts started, was a long, thin scar. She sat back down and continued.

“He was about to cover my mouth, but I screamed. My glasses shattered. I first I thought he hit me, but I realized it was my scream. There is a tiny little mark under my eye right on my cheekbone from the glass in my glasses. I’m lucky my eyes didn’t get damaged,” she pointed to an area on her face, but I couldn’t see what she was pointing.

“I’m sorry, Arden,” I mumbled, shocked at what I was hearing.

“When I looked at him, I saw blood pouring from his eyes, ears and nose. He was crying out in pain,” she visibly swallowed, her eyes glistening. I had only ever seen Arden cry once, and that was at her grandfather’s funeral when I was sixteen and she was twenty-one. Seeing her close now was unsettling, but it showed remorse.

“Why didn’t you call the police?” I asked.

“I was scared. I didn’t know I was capable of that. I had just learned about my power and it terrified me,” Arden blinked furiously, attempting to get rid of her tears.

“You know S.T.A.R Labs?” I asked, crawling over to her and giving her a giant hug. She nodded.

“They have been helping me this week. They know about metahumans,” I explained.

“Metahumans?”

“That’s what we are. People with abilities,” I answered. “Like the Streak.”

“The Streak? So it is definitely a person?” She asked.

“Yeah, the Streak is a person and can help you figure out your powers,” I told her. “But I have to warn you, a police officer has reopened your case since finding out about metahumans.”

“If I go to S.T.A.R Labs, I’ll get caught,” Arden widened her eyes.

“I’ll try and figure it out,” I promised.

“If I get caught, I’ll get in serious trouble, Lis. I killed somebody,” she shook her head.

“Arden, I can see the memories in your head now that I’m looking at you but I believed you even before. You have the scar to prove it. They’ll have to kill me before I turn you in,” I joked, attempting to lighten the mood. She thanked me quietly, downing her second glass of wine.

“Have you thought about using your powers for good?” I asked Arden, seven glasses of wine and two cans of beer later.

“HELL YEAH!” Arden nodded. “Bitch, I’m already a superhero!”

“Maybe the Streak will let me be a superhero too,” I laughed, before vomiting in the nearest bowl which contained a small amount of ramen noodles from Arden and I’s lunch. It was just after that when I passed out, leaving Arden to party alone in my house.

⚡⚡⚡

I raced to S.T.A.R Labs after work on Monday. I would have gone on Sunday, but my hangover screamed no. Surprisingly, there had been minimal damage and the house wasn’t too dirty.

“Good morning, Alissa,” Harrison Wells nodded. I greeted him in return. It was then when I realized I didn’t know who to tell about Arden. I didn’t know these people well, so I didn’t know who would react badly and who might help. Despite spending a week at S.T.A.R Labs and embarrassing myself during our first meeting, I decided to tell Barry.

“Oh. Hey, Alissa!” Barry waved when he entered the room.

“You guys can call me Lissa, by the way,” I reminded them. I had told Wells that during my week of many visits, but he hadn’t listened.

“Lissa, huh? What about Lis Lis?” Cisco suggested, throwing his feet up on the desk. “No? Okay. Just thought I’d throw it out there. Lissa it is.” I blinked, unsure how to respond to that.

“Hey, uh, Barry,” I started awkwardly, turning to the unmasked speedster. He looked at me, waiting for me to speak. “Can I talk to you?” He nodded and followed me out into the hallway.

“What do you want to talk about?” He asked.

“It’s about the case that detective was talking about on Saturday,” I started.

“Oh, Joe?”

“Yeah, him,” I nodded.

“What about it?”

“I think I know who the killer is,” I half-lied. My heart thumped wildly in my chest. There was no going back now.

“What? Why didn’t you tell us before?” Barry started rambling.

“Because I didn’t know before. Look, the killer isn’t really a bad person. It was an accident,” I explained before Barry could go tell the others.

“How do you know?” He asked.

“Because I know them personally,” I answered. “Look, the reason I’m telling you this is because you see the good in people. When the others doubted me, you still saved me anyway. I’m asking you to try and do that now,” I attempted to convince him. Luckily, when I mentioned him seeing ‘the good in people’, he thought about when he decided to help me. I totally used that in my speech and he knew it too.

“Okay, I’ll try. But Lissa, this is a murderer we’re talking about,” he sighed.

“The guy found with a knife,” I started, “was a mugger. He dragged my friend into an alley and threatened her with the knife. When trying to escape, she got cut and has a scar on her back. She screamed when he grabbed her again and when she turned around, he was dead. She wears glasses, and there is a small scar under her eye from where the glass shattered.”

“So she accidentally killed him with her scream?” Barry asked.

“That was when she first found out about her powers,” I nodded. “She was so afraid of herself, she ran away. Barry, I have only ever seen that girl cry at her family member’s funeral but when I saw her on Sunday, she cried telling me the story. She was shaking. The only reason she told me is because she knew I’d find out anyway.”

“She knows about your powers?”

“She had a guess,” I answered.

“Who is she to you?” Barry asked, a sympathetic look on his face.

“Best friend. She’s my fiancé - ex-fiancé’s sister.”

“Joe hasn’t told anyone about reopening the case. We can convince him to let it go. He’s a good man,” Barry decided.

“You trust the police with knowing your powers?” I asked.

“Only Joe knows and I trust him with everything. I trust him with my life. When my father wrongfully went to prison after my mother died, Joe took me in and raised me,” Barry told me.

“Then let’s go to Joe,” I decided.

⚡⚡⚡

Forty-five minutes later, Barry and I had Joe almost convinced. He wanted to meet Arden. I called her and she agreed to come but she said she will scream and run away if they try to arrest her. She said she isn’t completely covered in ink yet, therefore her life is not over yet. She added that she thought if she had to go to prison, a prison tat would be sweet.

“She’s on her way,” I told Barry and Joe. When she arrived, Joe immediately had questions for her.

“Barry and Lissa here tell me you were cut by Michael Therton,” Joe started. Arden nodded and showed him the scar.

“You weren’t kidding when you said she had a lot of tattoos,” Barry whispered to me. I grinned at him.

“We tested the knife found on Therton multiple times. There wasn’t any blood on the knife,” Joe raised his eyebrow. Arden reached into her pocket with a gloved hand and drew out an old pocket knife inside a plastic bag. She handed it to Joe who flicked it open after putting on his own glove. Blood crusted the blade.

“I’ll check this for fingerprints,” Barry offered, taking the pocket knife. He also took a blood sample from Arden.

“He had two knives,” Joe sighed.

“I took this one because I was scared of someone linking it to me. I had never killed anyone and I certainly didn’t mean to this time. I didn’t know I was capable of screaming like that,” she broke off into a whisper.

“Listen. If you’re innocent, we’ll figure it out,” Joe promised. Arden nodded, running her fingers through her dark hair. She was wearing black flat shoes, exposing the tops of her feet. I was wearing purple flats, so mine were too. We looked at our matching tattoos and grinned. Joe noticed the tattoos and sighed softly. I could tell by his thoughts that part of him believed Arden.

When Barry returned with the knife, he brought good news with him.

“Her blood,” Barry confirmed.

“Well, Arden. Looks like I believe you. Can’t argue with evidence,” Joe smiled at her.

“Let’s tell the others,” Barry suggested. Arden raised her eyebrows.

“Ooh fun,” she muttered. “Hi I’m a murderer but it was an accident so let’s all be friends. Can’t see that going down too well.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. You know that,” I reminded her. She shrugged and followed Joe, Barry and I into the room where Cisco, Caitlin and Dr.Wells were.

“Barry, what is it with you bringing random beautiful women into S.T.A.R Labs these past two weeks?” Cisco asked.

“You know, I’m pretty sure the only women that would make blush is your mom because she’s embarrassed of you,” Arden smiled devilishly.

“Arden-” I began to protest.

“Damn. That was a good one. I’ll give you that,” Cisco nodded respectfully. Arden bowed.

“I like the lips tattoo,” Caitlin complemented Arden, staring at the galaxy-patterned lips just under her right elbow.

“Thank you,” Arden grinned.

“Barry, Detective,” Harrison Wells nodded as a greeting. “Care to introduce us to our guest?”

“This is Arden Lern, our mystery meta,” Barry introduced my friend.

“Mystery meta? But the only metas we’re looking for are Danton and -” Caitlin paused. “She’s not…” Arden’s face scrunched up in discomfort.

“Yes, she is the one capable of damage with only her voice,” Joe confirmed.

“It was self defense,” Arden mumbled.

“That was the first time she had discovered her power. She got attacked by Michael Therton in that alley. He pulled a knife on her. She screamed, not realizing the particle accelerator powered her scream to deadly levels,” Barry explained.

“I knew the particle accelerator had something to do with this,” Arden muttered.

“Has your level of hearing changed since gaining your powers?” Caitlin asked.

“No. I can hear the same. I’ve always kind of had good hearing. My screams don’t harm my ears,” Arden explained.

“We need to test this out like now,” Cisco decided. “Don’t worry, I have an idea.” Caitlin, Joe and Barry shared a nervous look.

“Should we be scared?” I asked, but their minds told me that we should definitely be wary.

Chapter Text

06. Ciscofied

The six of us - Arden, Barry, Caitlin, Cisco, Joe and I - formed a circle in a large room I had never been in. Dr. Wells was spectating from the main room, watching through security cameras. Cisco stood at the head of the circle, holding headphones in his hands.

"Cisco, considering the kind of volume we already know she can produce, don't you think the headphones might not be strong enough to block the sound," Caitlin warned him.

"Caitlin, please. Do you really think I would settle with cheap headphones from the dollar store?" He raised his eyebrows in amusement. "These are...Ciscofied."

"Ciscofied?" Arden blinked.

"These aren't your average headphones, good for listening to some tunes but not great at blocking others out. These headphones are modified to protect your sensitive little ears far better than noise cancelling headphones do. To do a test, everyone pop these babies on and on the count of three, we all scream as loud as we can. Except for you, Arden. Please don't," Cisco explained. We all put the headphones on except for Arden. Cisco raised one finger then two then three. All of began yelling, well everyone opened their mouths. I could feel my throat protesting at the scream, but I heard nothing. We finished and took off Cisco's headphones.

"Voila," he grinned and kissed his fingers before springing his hand into the air.

"You still better go in a different room," Arden warned.

"Of course," Cisco agreed.

"And keep away from that window," she pointed to the window which sat on the wall between this room and what looked like a control room. We nodded and exited the room. Now five of us, we sat far from the window to avoid getting cut by potential broken glass, but close enough that we could see the computer screen which focused on the room Arden was in. Caitlin pressed a button and spoke into a microphone.

"Okay, Arden. You can scream in about five seconds," Caitlin told her then quickly backed up. We all threw our headphones on. I found it strange watching one of my best friends in there.

On the screen, I watched as Arden gave a thumbs up. She sucked in a deep breath then opened her mouth. Despite being very far away from her, the ground vibrated and the glass window exploded. The glass narrowly missed us and we could hear a slight humming from her scream. A small crack appeared on my watch, but I was far enough that it didn't explode. I could feel a small vibration in my chest, going through my ribs. The footage became blurred on the screen, which had a small crack in it as well. I realized that the footage blurred because the security camera had shattered. The screen then blackened completely. The ground stopped shaking and Arden appeared in the doorway.

"Come see the carnage," she said once our headphones were off. We cautiously followed Arden into the room. Glass was scattered all over the floor and a few cracks were on the walls. The security camera was smoking, absolutely demolished.

"Aside from having to do repairs, AWESOME!" Cisco sang. Unlike their excited friend, Joe, Barry and Caitlin shared nervous looks. They worried if she turned on them or if something frightened her and she randomly screamed.

"It is very hard to scare Arden," I reassured them. "I've tried scaring her before but it backfired and I was the one screaming."

"I don't actually scream very often which is why it took me a while to figure out I had powers," she added.

"What were you doing when the particle accelerator went off?" I asked suddenly out of curiosity.

"Singin' in the rain," she sang. "We were going for a walk outside and when it began raining, I started singing. Like, really loud and it was embarrassing Brooke." Arden paused to laugh.

"Brooke would not be impressed," I chuckled.

"I was basically screaming lyrics out to random people," she admitted. "That's probably why I got this damn ability. Karma. Everyone kept looking over at us and Brooke was like 'stop!' but she laughed too. When the accelerator exploded, we began to run. I remember screaming out profanities."

"It certainly explains your powers," Caitlin nodded. At that moment, Dr. Wells approached us.

"That explains why the camera stopped working," he sighed, looking at the exploded security camera. Barry filled Wells in on what he missed.

"I wonder if you can control where your screams are directed," he said when Barry finished.

"You mean like pushing them wherever I want?" Arden clarified. Wells nodded.

"You can control your volume, right?" I asked.

"Of course," she nodded. She then squeaked, quietly for her, but powerful to us.

"Try pushing it," Barry suggested. Arden nodded. I put my Ciscofied headphones on, just in case. The others followed my lead.

Arden cracked her knuckles for effect then while letting out a light scream (which we couldn't hear), she threw her arms in front of her. Nothing. Arden rolled her eyes before closing them and trying again. After fifteen attempts, a small ripple shot forward from her mouth and hands. We had all sat down bored after awhile, but now we jumped up. The scream travelled forward, knocking over a cardboard box which we had used as a target. Arden grinned at us.

She continued knocking over the cardboard box with her screams, always being careful that she didn't scream too loud. After training, we all gathered in the Cortex.

"Was it easy to control your volume?" I asked Arden.

"Yeah," she nodded. "That didn't take much concentration. Channeling it was the harder part."

"How good at fighting are you?" Cisco asked. Barry shot her a look that clearly stated no.

"After I got attacked by Michael Therton," she shuddered at the name and continued, "I began taking self defense classes. Also, I used to beat kids up at school so that helps."

"Your brother told me you kicked ass in school," I acknowledged. She grinned proudly before turning to the others.

"I think she should join the team," Cisco suggested.

"It's dangerous out there-" Barry began to protest.

"But she can handle herself," Cisco reminded him. Barry said nothing, instead nodding slightly.

"So, what do you say?" I smiled at Arden.

"I don't know yet. I don't know if I'm ready to join a big team like this and fight crime," Arden sighed. "I'll think about it and I'll let Lissa know my answer." The people of S.T.A.R Labs nodded.

"What about you, Lissa? I mean, we ran a lot of tests but we never actually asked if this was something you wanted to stick around for," Caitlin asked me.

"I'll do it," I nodded. Cisco was the first to give me a double high five.

"Yes girl!" He praised during the double high five. The others followed, giving me high fives. "Welcome to the team." I grinned, feeling a togetherness I hadn't felt in a long time.

"I will come up with a cool name for you," Cisco promised then turned to Arden. Speaking of cool superhero names, you get one too."

"I do?" Arden raised her eyebrows. "What? Like, Ghostface?"

"Ha. Scream. I get it," Caitlin giggled.

"No, I was thinking more along the lines of Banshee," Cisco revealed the name proudly.

"That's awesome, but there's totally a Marvel comic book character with that name. He has similar powers," Arden pointed. "Why he named himself Banshee, I will never know. Banshees are women in the myths. Maybe he identifies as a woman. I don't know."

"Marry me," Cisco whispered. "You know Marvel well?"

"I have a freakin' Spider-Man tattoo on my right ass cheek. Of course I like Marvel comics," Arden replied with an eyeroll.

"Really?" Barry raised a brow. She shrugged.

"Cisco, no," I shook my head, reading his mind. He was trying to picture the tattoo and was thinking about asking to see it.

"He wants to see it, doesn't he?" Arden asked me. I nodded.

"Whaaaat? Pfft. No!" Cisco waved it off then muttered, "yes." Arden shrugged and pulled down the right side of her leggings down below her buttcheek. She was wearing lacy black underwear which left the tattoo fully exposed. The Spider-Man logo presented itself in the middle of her right buttcheek, as she said.

"Ooh Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man," Cisco noticed. "Nice."

"Wait, you're totally fine showing your butt to a bunch of strangers?" Caitlin asked.

"Why get a tattoo if you wouldn't show anyone," she shrugged. Joe, Barry and Wells looked away awkwardly, though Barry totally considered looking. Arden pulled her pants back up.

"If Banshee doesn't work then..." Cisco lost himself in thought. Most of the names he thought of weren't very good, though a few were not so bad. The Scream, Scream, The Wailing Woman, Banshee, Screamer, Loud Woman, Eagle, The Screaming Woman, Wailer, Loudlady, Boombox, Speaker, Lady Scream, Lady Banshee, Miss Banshee, Mrs. Scream.

I chuckled at some of his ideas when suddenly he thought of a good name.

"Siren - No. The Siren," Cisco grinned. Barry and Joe nodded, impressed. I grinned along with Cisco.

"Alright, gotta hand it to you. That's a pretty sick name," Arden praised.

"There's a place for you here should you decide to join us, Siren," Dr.Wells smiled. Arden nodded, thanking the group.

"Lissa, you are wonderful. Thank you. I will see you later," she hugged me before leaving S.T.A.R Labs.

Once Arden was gone, I turned to everyone. "Thank you for giving her a chance and believing her innocence. She was afraid and you've all helped her." The people of S.T.A.R Labs waved it off and then we went to work. They mentioned a criminal metahuman by the name of Danton Black and invited me in the room to help them.

Chapter Text

08. Another Sock In The Wall

I spent my evenings after school in S.T.A.R Labs as well as my weekends. Being at home was a constant reminder of Christopher being gone. S.T.A.R Labs was far less lonely.

Having Arden back on my side made me consider telling Christopher. I was slowly beginning to understand my abilities. I had training sessions with Dr. Wells every few days, and with Cisco, and Barry when Wells wasn’t available. I could tell everyone felt uncomfortable training with me, though. Having someone know every thought of yours was extremely unsettling for some.

When not training, I avoided looking at people when I could. I hoped I could control this by the time parent teacher interviews came around because I really didn’t want to know each thought of my students’ parents.

I was twisting Christopher’s ring, which was on the chain around my neck, in my fingers when Cisco spoke.

“Whose ring?” He asked. “Got a man at home?”

“Not anymore,” I answered. “Ex-fiancé.” Caitlin came into the room at that point and looked uncomfortably at the exchange between Cisco and I.

“Dang. Sorry about that,” Cisco cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Like I did, he thought I was crazy,” I admitted. “I kept replying to his thoughts or calling him out on them. Eventually he was just done. I heard him thinking about moving and I asked about it. He snapped and this was the result,” I jingled the ring on the necklace.

“When did it happen?” Caitlin asked softly.

“About two months ago,” I replied.

“I lost my fiancé, too,” she sighed. “He died during the particle accelerator explosion.”

“I’m so sorry,” I murmured. Her head filled with dark memories that made me look away from her. “What was his name?”

“Ronnie Raymond,” she answered. I heard Cisco suck in a shaky breath. He was clearly affected by the death, too. “What about you?”

“His name is Christopher Lern,” I told them.

“Hey, that’s kind of like-”

“Yep. Arden is his sister,” I interrupted and confirmed.

“Damn, girl. That’s rough,” Cisco raised his eyebrows, though I quickly looked away. It was hard breaking a habit of eye contact during speaking.

“Wait,” Cisco paused. “You’re a teacher who was going to marry a man with the last name Lern?” I sighed, unsurprised this came up.

“Yes, we considered hyphenating,” I joked. “Clare-Lern was a bit much for me.”

“Does Christopher know about Arden’s powers?” Caitlin asked.

“No, I don’t think so. Do you think he’ll understand if I tell him about metahumans, considering his sister and ex-fiancé are metahumans?” I asked them, desiring an honest answer.

“Lissa, I don’t think that’s such a great idea,” Caitlin cautioned.

“I have to try,” I sighed. “Knowing there’s a chance that he’ll take me back is enough to risk getting hurt for.”

“I’m going to try it now,” I decided, standing up. Cisco and Caitlin looked at me with worry.

“We’ll be waiting with ice cream and rom coms,” Cisco called out as I left. My heart pounded with fear and determination in a bittersweet combination as I headed towards where Arden lived. She lived with Brooke and I definitely needed to talk to them before seeing Christopher. Besides, he changed his hours and didn’t know I knew he did. I didn’t know his new hours and I certainly didn’t know where he lived now.

⚡⚡⚡

My knuckles paused against the oak door when I arrived at Arden and Brooke’s place. I had never needed to knock before. Just because I was nervous didn’t mean I was suddenly a stranger to my best friends. I swung open the door and stepped inside.

“Fifth time this week!” I heard Brooke cheer.

“It’s about time. I mean, it has been five months since you found out,” Arden replied. My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion and curiosity. What are they talking about? I wondered.

“Okay, I’ll wait by the front door. Run through when I call you through!” Arden called then I heard her coming. She saw me in her house, winked and mouthed watch this. I rolled my eyes. She knew I was here and had the mischievous look she usually got when about to prank someone.

“Okay, Brookie!” She yelled.

“I blame you if I hurt myself!” She replied.

“Blame yourself. Focus and you’ll be fine,” Arden laughed. Now I was very confused. I heard the pattering of running, Brooke running. Suddenly, a yelp of surprise came from the other side of the wall Arden was facing.

A scream escaped my body as Brooke’s head all the way down to her collarbone came crashing through the wall. No. Not crashing. Just through. Brooke’s skin was bare from what I could see.

“You made it through one!” Arden chuckled.

“Lissa?!” Brooke sat up, literally going through the wall to the side not visible to me. I inspected the wall in front of me. There wasn’t a single crack or hole. I poked the wall, though it blocked my finger.

“You’re a metahuman, too?” I gasped. Brooke walked into the room, around the wall this time. As she entered the room, she was just slipping her shirt over her belly.

“Too?” Brooke raised her eyebrows. The two of us looked at Arden questioningly, though she just smirked.

“I guess you two have something to talk about,” Arden commented. “I’m going to go make some coffee.” Brooke and I sat on the couch.

“Wait, so you have powers, too?” Brooke asked. I nodded. “I can’t believe I didn’t know. I should have known.”

“Explains the lunacy, huh?” I asked. I then realized that she had said the last part in her head, so she now looked at me with a raised brow.

“Mindreading,” I muttered as an explanation.

“Seriously?” Brooke gasped. “What am I thinking right now?”

“‘I wonder if she actually knows what I’m thinking right now’,” I quoted her mind.

“That’s awesome!” She giggled.

“Not really. I hear everything. If I see you, I can hear your mind. I can’t control what I hear,” I explained.

“Is that why you and Chris-,” she broke off.

“Yeah. He thought I was crazy and so did I,” I nodded. “He eventually got tired of me replying to his thoughts and hearing things that nobody else could.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “That explains why you didn’t want to talk about it after.”

“I’m glad I finally know what’s wrong, but I still hate hearing everything and I hate not being able to control it. I feel like I’m invading everyone’s privacy,” I shuddered.

“Well, I guess you saw my powers,” Brooke switched the subjects around.

“Sort of. I don’t fully understand them,” I admitted.

“Neither do I,” she smiled. “I still have a lot to learn.”

“So what were you trying to do when I arrived?”

“Walking through walls is easy, but keeping clothes on while doing so isn’t,” she replied. “It takes extreme concentration to make my clothes go through as well as myself.”

“That explains your shirt,” I acknowledged.

“I’ve only ever been able to get a sock to come through with me. The first time a sock came through-” she broke off and beckoned me to follow her. She led me to her bedroom. I could see she had moved the furniture around since the last time I had been here.

Brooke pushed her dresser to the side and pointed to the wall which the dresser had covered before she moved it. There was a black object sticking out of the wall. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a sock.

“There is a sock stuck between your wall,” I commented.

“Yep,” she nodded. I burst out laughing and attempted to tug the sock, but it was stuck in the wall.

“So while you went through, the sock came with you partially, but not quite?”

“Exactly,” Brooke chuckled. “I’ve mostly been practicing with a glove.”

“So you walk through walls? I wish that was my power,” I sighed jealously.

“There is one other thing,” she grinned. Her legs suddenly disappeared from my view, then her torso, her arms, shoulders, neck then head. I loudly cursed then heard Arden burst out laughing from the kitchen. I reached out and swiped my hand out in front of me. All I could see were clothes, floating. I felt the shirt, but nothing underneath.

“This is so weird,” I gasped, slowly laughing afterwards.

“Right? It was definitely weird when I found out. Actually, really embarrassing,” she began to blush. I came home late one night and as I was walking up the steps to the door, I tripped and fell through the door. Arden hadn’t told me she had company. She was with a guy on the couch and they were drinking and making out. So, of course when I fell through the door, my clothes didn’t come with me. I was completely naked!” She was bright red in the face when she finished the story.

Arden came through then and she said, “we had to convince him he was really drunk and saw nothing. I hadn’t drunk as much as he did, so I was still sober enough to kick him out and help Brooke. We had known about my powers for about four months at that point, so that helped her feel a bit more comfortable about it.”

“We’ve been trying to get me to go through a wall fully clothed, or at least become fully invisible while clothed,” Brooke added. “It is ridiculously exhausting just keeping a sock on.”

“I know someone that can help you with that,” I said thoughtfully.

“S.T.A.R Labs?” She guessed. I nodded.

“Arden told you?”

“Yeah. I don’t know yet. I mean, I haven’t suffered as much as you two with your powers, but S.T.A.R Labs caused this. I don’t know if I can quite trust them yet,” she admitted.

“Screw coffee,” Arden said. “I didn’t actually make anything. I thought about it, but I don’t actually feel like making any. You remember what we did when we found out about our powers, Lis?”

“We got wasted,” I remembered.

“Exactly. Let’s do that again,” Arden grinned.

“I’m a teacher. I can’t be getting wasted all the time,” I sighed.

“Says who? It’s Friday!” She shrugged.

“What, really?” I looked at the calendar on the wall, noticing a strike through Thursday. “Well damn.”

“We are drinking,” Arden decided.

“I have to-”

“You’re staying the night,” she interrupted me.

“I wouldn’t mind a glass of wine,” Brooke shrugged. “But I don’t like getting drunk.”

“Deal,” Arden popped open a fresh bottle from the kitchen and brought it in with three glasses.

“I can’t believe all three of us are metahumans,” Brooke said in wonder once we all had our glasses.

“Metahumans?” I noticed her terminology.

“Arden told me about it. It has a nice ring to it,” she shrugged.

“It caught on pretty quickly for me, too,” I agreed. “Especially because everyone at S.T.A.R Labs calls us that.”

Arden attempted to pour me another glass once I had finished, but I declined. She questioned what I needed to be sober for after my decline.

“I’m going to go see Christopher tomorrow,” I confessed. Arden raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“To do what?” Brooke asked.

“To tell him I’m a metahuman,” I admitted.

“Woah woah woah,” Arden almost spat out her drink. “He doesn’t even know I’m one. I don’t think he’ll believe you. It’ll make things worse and picking through his brain as evidence might anger him. I know my brother.”

“I know. He always preferred keeping things hidden, but I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t try,” I explained.

“That is the most cliché line I have ever heard from you,” Arden shook her head. “That’s why you came here, isn’t it? You wanted to know where he is now.”

“I miss him,” I frowned.

“I know you do, Lis, but I don’t want him hurting you again. I love my brother, but he isn’t smart enough to realize what’s going on. He is a simple guy and doesn’t like complications.”

“I mean, if I go and he doesn’t want to hear it, fine. I tried and nothing really changed. It isn’t like I can lose him again,” I tried to convince both my friends and myself.

“Lissa,” Brooke sighed.

“I’ll call him before I get too shit-faced, okay?” Arden sighed like Brooke. “I’ll try to get him to meet up with you tomorrow.” She stood up and went into her bedroom with her phone in her hand. To my surprise, she left her wine behind.

“You don’t look at people much anymore, huh?” Brooke commented.

“No,” I shook my head. “If I see someone, I can read their mind. Their thoughts just race into my brain and I can’t stop them unless I look away. I don’t like reading minds. It is far too invasive for my liking.”

“You used to always maintain healthy eye contact during conversations,” she said sadly.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “This has ruined my life enough, but I’m finally doing something good about it.”

“The work with S.T.A.R Labs?”

“Yeah. It makes me feel like I belong somewhere. Finally, people that don’t think I’m crazy. Work is killing me right now. The other teachers are slowly starting to treat me differently. I used to have regular conversations with the other staff, but they don’t talk to me very often anymore,” I ran a hand through my hair.

“If you could get rid of your powers, would you?” Brooke asked.

“Probably. It is occasionally interesting, but it made me lose Christopher. Although, I’m very slowly becoming able to tell when someone is thinking and when someone is talking. I have to pay close attention, but it is getting easier.”

“I don’t know if I’d get rid of my powers or not. I’m still learning and if I can now get a sock through, who knows? Maybe in a few months or a year or something, I can walk through walls completely clothed,” Brooke’s eyes filled with wonder. “I’m just glad Arden doesn’t have my powers. She would prank everyone.”

“Damn right I would,” Arden agreed, walking back into the room. She turned to me. “He’ll meet you tomorrow at five pm, but it took some convincing. He’s worried about the meet up.”

“Thanks, Arden,” I breathed, giving her a hug.

“That’s what best friends are for. Now, shall we drink?” She raised her glass, waiting for us to join her.

“Water, yes,” I nodded. I filled a glass with water and clinked it against hers. Brooke followed my lead, with water also.

“You guys are boring,” Arden rolled her eyes.

“We know,” Brooke and I said at the same time.