❝ I could teach you
what I know if
you want. ❞

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02 | TWO LEFT FEET

"I don't know, I try not to think about work on weekends, disconnect myself, you know? So, watching a show shout solving murders and stuff, isn't the way to go," I said, sitting at my desk as both of us waited for some test results and I toyed with the straw in my drink.

"Oh, come on," Barry said in a pleading voice, "you have to watch it, it's already on Netflix," he walked towards my desk and leaned over it, resting his gloved hands on it, "I watched an entire season just in one day, the show's pretty good and I'm totally sure you'd love it."

"Fine, I'll watch it!" I said, faking annoyance. He smiled triumphantly, "I hope the shows as good as you say," I said, starting to clean up my desk, "now, you haven't told me about your little escapade to Starling City," I threw the empty cup of soda into the waste basket, "how was it? Joe was pretty angry, by the way."

"I know, uh, for starters, my train was late," he began, "well, the second one. The first one I did miss, but that was my cab driver's fault. I had to wait for a taxi in the pouring rain, but I made new friends, saw and learned new things," he smiled absentmindedly as if he was keeping something to himself, "I guess it wasn't too bad after all," he wrapped his arms around himself and his eyes wrinkled as he smiled widely, "Oliver invited me to this elegant party at his mansion and I got to be a nice girl's plus one and we danced."

"You danced?" I asked in disbelief, "Barry, I didn't know about your dancing skills," he chuckled under his breath.

"Actually, I am really bad at it. I have two left feet, ask Felicity," he said, "I stepped on her several times. I'm not too good on my feet."

"Me neither, but hey, I could teach you what I know if you want, so the next time you go dancing with her you don't step on her shoes," I shrugged, "the lab is big enough for some dance lessons while we wait for results, what do you think?"

"I think that it would be great, thank you," I gave him a small smile and then frowned a little as I thought about what he had said a moment ago. He walked over the computer where he was runing a test of the excrement he found outside of the city bank.

"Wait a second, Oliver? You didn't meet Oliver Queen, did you? Because that would be so unfair."

"I did," he said with a cocky smile and I let out a gasp. He took a quick look to the screen and then walked to his desk, he took the gloves off and leaned over the computer on his desk.

"The next time you fake being sick with food poisoning only to go to Starling City you have to take me with you," I said, "meeting that man is in my bucket list, I can't believe you got to meet Oliver Queen!"

"Hey!" Our heads snapped up at the door when we heard the voice echoing into the lab. I sat up straight when I saw Iris walking in. Her dark brown hair cascaded down her shoulder and her hands clutched the strap of her bag. I sat there smiling at her. As for Barry, he had this star struck expression on his face, pretty much his face every time Iris talked to him, "I am ready to see this atom smasher, smashing," she said with a small chuckle at the end, her eyes fell on me "hey, Harley, how are you?"

"I'm okay, just trying not to go crazy while waiting for the results," I smiled and so did she, "today's a slow day."

"I don't know how you guys are so patient," she uttered and then cleared her throat, "so, Barry?"

"Uh, there was a shooting today," he said. He moved from his desk to the board with the city map and Iris stood in the middle, "your dad needs me and Harlow to process some evidence, which means, I don't know if we're gonna be able to make it to S.T.A.R. Labs."

"Seeing this thing turn on is like your dream," Iris said as she took one of Barry's fries and put it in her mouth, I only observed them, "your sad little nerdy dream. Plus, I canceled a date for this."

"Hands off my fries!" Barry exclaimed taking his fries with him to his desk and shaking his head, "Unbelievable," he added. Iris looked at me with a mischievous smile on her lips.

"I'm stress-eating over my dissertation," she explained, "we started selling cronuts at Jitters, I ate two today," Barry smiled as he typed into his computer.

"Hey, I went to Jitters this morning and I didn't see cronuts," I said.

"I'll have one especially for you tomorrow morning," Iris said, "well, that's if I don't eat it first," I smiled and got on my feet, making my way towards Barry's desk, "if I don't graduate soon, I'm gonna be more muffin-top than woman," she put the rest of the french fry in her mouth.

"You look amazing," Barry said and I nodded in agreement.

"Barry's right," I looked at them and grabbed a file from Barry's desk. I saw the way Barry looked at Iris. I knew Barry had feelings for her, but he had always been too shy to tell her. I could relate to that.

I turned around and made my way to my desk, "What is so important about this particle accelerator anyway?" Iris asked, I looked at her and saw her holding a science magazine in her hand.

"Here we go again," I mumbled to myself and typed a name into the system. Barry took a deep breath, ready to talk nonstop about the particle accelerator, I enjoyed seeing how all that scientific thing lit up his face, it was a contagious kind of happiness.

"Harrison Wells' work in quantum theory is light-years ahead of anything they're doing at CERN," he blurted out in excitement. That look on his face was something I had only seen in a kid's face in Christmas. Iris gave him a confused look, pretty much my face every time he talked about all that super advanced science stuff I didn't I understand.

"You're doing that thing where you're not speaking English."

"I know, right?" I said, paging through the file in my hands, "I've told him that several times just today."

"Okay," Barry moved to get a marker and walked to the white board, immediately drawing a dot with it. I put the file on my desk and got closer to them and stood next to Iris with my arms crossed and slightly frowning as he explained, "Just imagine that that dot is everything the human race has ever learned until this moment," I frowned and nodded absentmindedly.

"Everything?" I asked and Barry hummed an answer.

"Does that include twerking? Iris asked and Barry drew a circle around the dot.

"That is everything we could learn from the particle accelerator," he uttered, "it's a whole new way of looking at physics. It will literally change the way that we think about everything."

"Barry says it's the future," I added. Iris smiled, placing her hand over Barry's shoulder and shaking it lightly.

"You gotta get yourself a girlfriend," she told him. He had this look in his eyes again. Yeah, I could totally relate to that. It's complicated, to have that person right in front of you and have the need to tell them how you really feel, but there's that fear of being rejected and ruin the relationship you already have with them.

"Hey, leave him alone, he's working, " the three of us turned around to see Joe walking into the laboratory.

"Hi, dad," Iris said with a big smile on her face. Me, on the other hand, felt something twisting in the pit of my stomach when I saw him, I was sure he'd scold me. I quietly returned to my desk, behind the board with the city map. I heard the computer dinging, which meant the the results were ready, "your testing is done," Iris stated immediately.

They all gathered to see the results while I just sat behind my desk and pretended to write something in my agenda.

"I think the Mardon brothers are hiding on a farm," I heard Barry say, "the fecal matter I found on the street, it was cow manure, which contains traces of oxytetracycline. It's an antibiotic. There are only four farms in the area that still use it in their feed. I bet you find a very sweet Shelby parked at one of them," I peeked over my computer and saw Barry handing Joe the results and Iris wrapping her arm around the detective.

"Dad, seeing as how Barry solved your poop problem, how about letting him go to S.T.A.R. Labs?" She said and only after a couple of seconds Joe answered.

"Fine, go."

"Yes!" Iris exclaimed, immediately hugging Joe.

"Thank you, Joe!" Barry said, grabbing his coat and smiling widely, "Oh, Harley, do you want to come with us?" Barry said before leaving, making me press my lips together while struggling to come up with something.

"That would be great but, I-" my eyes darted at Joe, who stopped scanning the results in his hands and looked at me, "I have to go to archives and organise stuff, everything has to be done by tomorrow, so I'd better start now, sorry . . . thank you anyway," I said smiling at him. Barry nodded and gazed at Joe before leaving. I lowered my head and stared at the keyboard, taking a deep breath and then letting out a shaky exhalation.

"You and I both know you don't have to go to archives, or organise stuff," Joe said after a moment of silence and I closed my eyes, I just wanted to be invisible. I listened to his footsteps approaching to my desk, "why'd you tell him that?"

"Because . . . I knew you wanted to talk, I guess," I said looking up at him. He stood across the desk and I found myself lost for words. He gestured for me to stand up and get closer. I walked slowly towards him, feeling like a kid. When I stood before him, I started fidgeting with my fingers and finally gathered the courage to speak, "Joe, I'm really sorry for what I did, I don't know what got into me, it's just I'm sick of being treated like that, my behaviour is not justified, though. You've helped me a lot from the day I started working here and I feel like the only thing I'm doing in return is causing you trouble, I'm a disappointment, am I not?"

"What you did was really stupid," he said and I looked at my feet, "am I mad at you? Yes, I am. You'll have to write a report about what happened and apologise to Singh if you still want to be employed," I nodded, still looking at the floor, "but you're not a disappointment," he said, his voice tone turned calm. I looked up at him, "you never say that, I know what you've been through and I know that today is not the greatest day for you."

I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and sighed, "I guess I'm not the best company when this date comes, I tend to be very jumpy, I'll talk to Singh, it will be done first thing tomorrow morning," he nodded. I turned around, determined to start that report.

"Listen," Joe said, making me turn and face him, "I know it's hard," he placed his hand on my shoulder, "I've seen that same look of sadness and desperation in Barry's eyes before, and I've noticed that in yours lately, Harley, you know you can tell me anything, what's bothering you?"

"My parents, I've been thinking about them a lot lately . . ." I shrugged, "I just want to find the man who killed my parents, Joe," I said softly and with glassy eyes, "and I feel like won't do it if I stay in the lab all the time . . ." my voice broke.

"Come here," Joe pulled me into a hug and I hesitated to wrap my arms around him, I finally gave in. We had only known each other for a little bit more than a year and he had become like a father to me. I had always thought it was in his nature to be like that. I felt myself hugging him tightly and burying my face in his chest, like I used to do with my dad. I never liked to cry in front of people, but I think I had gotten to a point where I could not keep it inside anymore and now I had to let it all out.

"Sorry," I said, breaking the hug, "I just . . ." I trailed off.

"Believe me," Joe began, "I've had these kinds of moments with my son in the past fourteen years, I'm used to it," he said and I saw tears in his eyes too, "what you went through is something no kid should go through, but you're stronger than you think," he said, placing both hands on my shoulders, "look how far you've gotten, your parents would be very proud of you, I'm sure they would," I smiled.

"You think so?"

"Hell yes I do," he said smiling, "don't lose hope, we'll find that man. Your parents are not here anymore, I know you miss them and you need them, but I want you to know that you do have a family here, you have me, you have Iris and Barry, you can always count on us."

I hugged him and I heard him laugh, "Thank you, Joe," he patted my back.

"This doesn't mean you won't write that report, young lady," he said and I chuckled, breaking the hug and rubbing my eyes.

"I will, don't worry."

"Okay, then," he said straightening his tie, "I'm gonna go to these farms and see if we can find the Mardon brothers," he said waving the results in the air, "call me if you need anything." I hummed an answer.

"Be careful," I watched him leave and stood there for a moment, with a smile on my face.

I spent the next hour writing that report and left it on captain Singh's desk before going for a coffee at Jitters. The sky had turned slightly grey as I made my way to the café,  so I hurried to get there. Once there, I made my order and as I waited a woman upon the news kept everyone updated about everything at S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Central City is just one hour away from making history when the controversial S.T.A.R. Lab's particle accelerator is finally turned on. However, protests continue into the final countdown for tonight's ignition," the reporter said.

"Is it safe?" I mumbled to myself, repeating the words on the cover of a magazine and still staring at the television.

"Here you go," the girl behind the counter said and I turned around to face her, "a Cinnamon Dolce Latte, enjoy your coffee!" She said cheerily.

"Thank you," I grabbed my coffee and turned to the television again, knitting my brow in concentration as I listened.

"S.T.A.R. Lab's founder Harrison Wells promises that a new era of scientific advancement is at hand. I'm Linda Park, we'll keep you informed," she said. With that, I made my way back to the CCPD. I asked everyone if Joe was back, but he wasn't. I went up to the lab and I rummaged into my pockets for my card key as I walked into the corridor. The door unlocked and I slid it open and then closed it again, using my whole body. I hated that door, it was so big and heavy. I turned a couple of lights on and walked in.

A thunder crossed the sky and the loud crack made me jump and curse under my breath. I threw my bag onto my desk and put my coffee next to it, looking up at the half-open skylight, where rain had started to filter. I took off my coat as I walked towards it and threw it onto a chair and then grabbed the metal chains to close it — which was useless, since it was stuck.

"Oh, come on," I said pulling the chains again and giving up after a few seconds. I made sure nothing got wet and then returned to my desk and from under it, I pulled out a box with my parents' case evidence. I stared at it. My hand brushed the words 'cold-case' and wondered if finding that man would be possible for me, I was just forensic scientist stuck in a lab, not a detective. And, for my experience, I knew that cold-cases could take decades to be solved.

I heard the door sliding open and blinked the tears that had pooled my eyes, quickly rubbing my eyes to conceal them.

"Hey," Barry said, when he saw me, "I didn't know you were here, working late?" he asked as he walked into the lab.

"Uh, no . . . I was about to go over my parents' case, see if I could find something new," I said and approached, that's when I saw the napkin over his nose, "God, what happened?" I uttered, my voice came out a bit hoarse.

"A guy tried to steal Iris' laptop, so I went after him and I tried to stop him, it didn't go according to plan, though," I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, Eddie caught the mugger," I lifted my eyebrows, "and we missed the launching."

"Eddie, the transfer from Keystone?"

"That's him. Is it stuck again?" He asked looking up at the skylight and I hummed an answer.

"I tried but I couldn't close it completely, I put your magazines on that shelf, they were getting wet on the floor."

"Thanks, I didn't realise I left them there," he walked towards the desk and took off his coat and turned the television on.

The same reporter talked about the inclement weather and the particle accelerator. Another thunder crossed the sky and I let out a short scream before cursing out loud.

"You okay?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, I just don't like thunderstorms."

"You know, there's this thing called Astraphobia — it's the fear of thunder," as if on cue, the cracking sound of thunder echoed throughout the lab, making me scream and cover my ears, to which Barry chuckled a little.

"Astraphobia, you say?" I asked looking up at the ceiling. He nodded. After that, he grabbed a piece of newspaper in his hands. He removed the cloth which hid the board, revealing all information about Nora Allen's case he had been collecting through the years and all the information he continued to find. He used a thumbtack to pin the piece of paper on the board. He stuck his hands into his pockets. I got closer and stood by him. Both staring at the pieces of paper on the board.

It was the very first time I had paid special attention to that board. There was a old newspaper page with a picture of his dad being scorted by police officers. The words NORA ALLEN MURDERED BY HUSBAND on top of it made my heart sink, I believed Barry, I didn't believe his dad had killed his mum. What Barry said he saw that night was impossible, but I never believed that Henry Allen had killed his wife.

"We're gonna find the men who did this to us, Barry," I said softly. He looked at me and I dedicated him a small smile. I felt my shoulder going wet as rain filtered through the skylight, "Oh, gosh," I said looking at the puddle we were standing in, "I'll get a mop to clean this up."

"Okay," Barry said and with that I left. I went to the janitor's closet upstairs and I was about to open the door when I saw the single-hung window at the end of the corridor that some idiot had left open and a huge pool was forming already. I jogged towards it and tried to close it, "You have to be kidding me," I said struggling to shut it as rain hit me in the face. A loud thunder crack travelled across the sky and power went off, leaving me in complete darkness. I felt for my phone in my back pocket and pulled it out to turn on the torchlight. I lifted my eyes at the sound of an explosion. I took me a second to see it. I met the explosion above what seemed to be S.T.A.R. Labs and I stared gaping at it, taking a few steps forward and almost sticking my head out of the window under the pouring rain.

There was a blast of light going up to the sky from the roof of the facility. Soon after, a shockwave spread — literally at the speed of sound — over the city. I felt the urge of running but I was stuck in my shoes, I only stared astonished at what my eyes we're seeing, not able to believe or understand. The light the explosion produced became too bright as it approached and I covered my eyes with my arms and my feet finally decided to cooperate, I began to run, but it was too late, it reached the CCPD and the wave hit me, the force of it threw me to the ground and I landed on my stomach. My breathing was quick and I felt my whole body shaking and some sort of stinging sensation running all over my skin, sensation I decided to ignore due the circumstances and managed to get up, wincing and groaning in the process.

I grabbed my phone and went downstairs as fast as I could to get to the lab. My clothes and hair were dripping wet and I didn't know if my body was shaking because of the shock or because I was cold.

"Barry?!" I shouted when I almost reached the door to the lab. The storm had become more intense by then. I stood at the door and found Barry looking at the ceiling as another thunder crossed the sky, "Barry, did you see that? Was that S.T.A.R. Labs?" I managed out, he nodded.

"I saw it," he made a pause when he saw my wet clothes, "are you okay?" I nodded, even though I wasn't sure of it. He approached to the skylight, "Stay there, okay?"

"Barry, we should leave," I said, taking a few steps closer.

"Harlow, stay there," he ordered. I saw him grabbing hold of the chains hanging from the skylight to close it, he looked up at it.

"It's stuck! Barry, leave it, let's go!" I said and heard the fear in my own voice. It wasn't a normal thunderstorm anymore. Everything on the shelves began to shake and then I saw the chemicals levitating in the air, "What the he'll is happening?" I muttered under my breath, "Please, tell me you're seeing this too," I told him.

"It's happening again . . ." He trailed off and his eyes widened as he observed how the chemicals levitated in the air.

"What? What is happening again?" I asked. The sound of thunder boomed into my ears, this time it sounded louder and more powerful, making everything in the lab tremble.

Instinctively we both looked to the skylight, both of us trying to understand what was happening. I briefly met Barry's eyes and got this overwhelming feeling of unease.

"Step back . . ." I said, the words jumped out of my mouth and rushed towards him, determined to get him out of the way, "Barry, step back!" I shouted, my hand reaching out for him but just a second later the skylight was reduced to pieces by the same lightning that struck his body and mine was thrown half way from the room.

I hit the floor with my back and next thing I remember is my body on the floor and a sharp and kind of numb sensation in my left hand, I looked at it and saw a piece of glass piercing it and blood trickling down.
As my vision slowly adjusted to the new scene before me, I distinguished the shelves turned over, more glass scattered throughout the lab and the chemicals spilled on the floor. With my cheek still against the cold floor I focused on the silhouette a few metres from me, I lifted my head off the floor.

"Barry?" I asked, "Barry!" I called again and felt my heart constricting when I saw him sprawled onto an overturned shelf, unconscious and covered in chemicals. I managed to get on my feet and make my way towards him, "Oh, my God, Barry?!" I touched his hand and yelped when electricity ran through my body. I tried again and felt for a pulse on his wrist and neck. I saw my phone on the floor and called emergencies and put it on speaker as I continued to check on him, "Stay with me, Barry," I said as I waited for an answer on the other line and tears rolled down my face and remembered myself to keep it together.

"9-1-1, what is your emergency?"

"Hello!" I blurted out when I heard a woman's voice, "I'm in Central City's Police Department, please send someone over, my friend was struck by lighting, he's not breathing and his pulse is very fast, his heart is beating really fast, I think he's SVT," I said doing my best to stay calm.

"Right. What about yourself, are you hurt?"

"I'm okay," I said, my eyes darted at the glass sticking out of my bloody hand, "I'm- I'm fine, I really need an ambulance for him right now!" I half shouted. The woman said that the help was on its way. When the call ended, I managed to pull the glass out of my hand and then sit on the overturned shelf. I did it slowly and my eyes never kept staring at Barry's limp body. Seeing him like that scared me. I carefully lifted him and rested his body against mine and I lost it.

I wrapped my trembling hands around him and my chin began to quiver, a sob left my throat, I hugged him as tears clouded my vision and rolled uncontrollably down my face.

"Please, stay," I said in a whisper and rested my cheek on his head and run my hand through his hair. I closed my eyes, feeling the sharp pain in my other hand, however that pain didn't compare to the pain that filled my chest at the thought of losing him, of losing the boy I had secretly fallen in love with, "Just stay with me, please."

Now he would never know that.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
second chapter up! i promised myself i wouldn't go to bed tonight until i had it ready, i really wanted to update on tuesday because #flashday, but it's up now and it's a bit sad, i know, I hope you liked it anyway. let me know in the comments! i am planning to update every tuesday but you know sometimes school gets in the way, i will try my best though. now things are about to get real! thank you so much for reading, voting, commenting and sticking around, love u guys!