F I F T Y - E I G H T:
catching dreams

There was a small nod between Cisco and Bibiana. They both had agreed that Cisco should be the one that went into the dream. Especially since Bibiana didn't actually have real dreams. She had lied for unknown reasons. Which seemed strange to her since she always had a reason to lie.

"So this will allow Cisco to see into his dreams?" Barry asked. He knew that both Cisco and Bibiana agreed that Cisco should be the one who should do it.

"I got the idea from a journal article on lucid-dream therapy," Caitlin explained. They were all watching Cisco built the small machine.

To be quiet honest, Bibiana had forgotten about her other ability. Building parts, suits, and other things from her tablet. It probably had to do with the fact that she didn't know where the materials came from.

The law of conservation of mass states that nothing can be created or destroyed. It reuses the energy to make something else. So Bibiana wondered where her things came from.

"The theory is it will allow people to enter their dreams and face their fears," Caitlin explained. "Still working on the talking part."

Bibiana snapped out of her trance to see everyone spread out in the room. She didn't get to hear what they were saying before.

"So does this mean I can get over my fear of spiders?" Bibiana asked.

"Theoretically, yes," Caitlin answered.

"And you're sure this thing isn't gonna, you know, mess with my brain?" Cisco questioned.

"Oh. The amount of electricity required to trigger lucid dreaming is harmless. Probably," Caitlin answered.

"I'll try to not fry your brain," Bibiana assured Cisco. She was their power source because of the abilities she once hated.

"Who's gonna be lucid dreaming?" Wells asked, entering the cortex.

Bibiana quickly turned around to see Dr. Wells. She was not expecting him to be dropping by. Especially since he was the one they were trying to a confession out of.

"Umm..." Caitlin started off, looking at her friends. "With all of the metahumans in Central City, people have been seeing strange things. Things that they don't understand. And it's really just a matter of time before psychology issues develop. And Bibiana is having problems with spiders again."

"I swear, these are huge mother fucking spiders," Bibiana lied. She had to go from fricking to the actual word. The thought caused her to shiver since her cousin killed one and sent her a picture.

"And lucid dreaming will help the doctors better understand their fears. Intriguing," Dr. Wells commented. He was ignoring Bibiana's fears, which she found offending. The guy really was a villain. "Of course, you still need to guide the patient from the outside, right? Direct them to specific aspects of that dream."

"We're still working on a communication interface," Cisco pointed out.

"Just need a bit of modification," Bibiana added.

"When we dream, the middle brain lights up with electrical activity, whereas the higher brain remains dormant," Dr. Wells explained. He went over to the computer and showed them an example. "Once we find a way to make both parts of the brain active, then it's just a matter of finding the frequency that will simulate the language center."

"Then the dreamer could speak," Caitlin said. "He could describe his dream."

"Exactly," Dr. Wells replied.

"Or her dream. It could be used for anyone," Caitlin quickly added.

"Right, it's not gender-specific," Dr. Wells said. Bibiana predictable that by 2024, the world would value all genders as equal. "I would try a frequency of 45 hertz to start."

"Thank you, Dr. Wells," Caitlin said.

"Well, you never cease to impress me, Caitlin," Dr. Wells replied. He rolled out of the cortex as Bibiana and everyone else watched him leave.

⇝⇝⇝

"When do I get to meet your girlfriend?" Bibiana asked Kai over the phone. Ever since discovering the future married couples, she wanted to see how long Kai's current relationship would last.

"You want to meet Lace?" Kai asked, surprised. Bibiana was usually not the type to ask him about his love life. It probably had to do with the fact that all of his ex-girlfriends were bitchy. "Why the sudden interest?"

"In my defense, your ex's were class A bitchy. And she may not be a bitch, so about meeting this Lace?" Bibiana asked again.

"She lives in Keystone City. I'll see when we both can come over," Kai replied. There were distant sounds over the phone that made Bibiana realize that he was at a party. "Yeah. Okay. Bibi, I have to go. We are going to cut open a pig."

The girl looked at her phone confused before she put it in her pocket. She looked over at Caitlin and Cisco and gave a shrug.

"I'm meeting him and his girlfriend one of these days," Bibiana informed them.

"Don't play matchmaker," Cisco warned Bibiana. "We all know how that worked out last year."

"Hey! I didn't know that she was racist and a privileged white girl," Bibiana shot back. She crossed her arms and made a mental note. Do background checks.

The elevator doors opened and the three walked into the CCPD. They saw Barry awkwardly talking with Eddie. It didn't seem like a time to bother them so they walked over to the stairs to head to Barry's lab.

"We should wait for him," Caitlin told the other two. They stopped on the stairs and watched Eddie have a dreamy face.

•
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•

"Okay, can we go over this one more time?" Cisco asked.

"Yes. You put the glasses on, fall asleep and start dreaming. Not that hard," Caitlin explained to Cisco again.

It was night time and they were preparing for Cisco's dream. Bibiana triple checked that everything was correct before she added her comment.

"If I have too, I'll put on the audiobook to learning how to fire an RK two twenty-seven. To get you to go to sleep."

"Except I'm pretty sure I die in this dream. If I go back into it, will I die in real life? What are we talking about? Is this Inception or Dreamscape?" Cisco asked.

"Here, drink this," Joe told Cisco, handing him a glass of milk.

"What am I five?" Cisco asked.

"Better than my suggestion," Bibiana commented.

"Just drink it," Joe said.

"Okay, I'll drink it," Cisco replied. He drunk the milk.

"You're gonna be fine, Cisco," Barry assured him.

"Okay," Cisco said, laying down on the table.

"The glasses are emitting a low-level delta wave, which should help you fall asleep," Caitlin explained. She placed the glasses on him.

Bibiana walked over to one of Barry's table and hopped on it. She swung her legs, ready for the process to happen.  After all, she was going to help produce the electricity.

She grabbed one of the wires and started to emit strings of electricity. Purple electricity to be exact.

"Okay. I gotta warn you, though, usually it takes me a long time," Cisco told them. He was already started to sound sleepy. "I mean, I'm not saying I'm like an insomniac or anything...."

"I kinda like this Cisco," Bibiana said. A smile was plaster on her face.

"Ah. So that's how you get him to shut up," Joe said.

"He's entering REM. It's working," Caitlin told them.

Another pulse of electricity left Bibiana's body as more was being made. It caused her to feel hungry.

"Cisco, can you hear me," Barry asked the unconscious body. "You're dreaming, bud."

"I can try but I might be out trying to help Barry," dream Bibiana admitted.

"Okay, I will take Dr. Wells to Jitters so you can do whatever it is you wanna do," dream Caitlin agreed. The two girls exited the cortex leaving Cisco alone.

"Whoa," Cisco said, amazed. It actually worked. "Guys. This is madly freaky."

"Okay, well, um, where are you?" Barry asked.

"Um... In the Cortex," Cisco informed them after looking around. "I mean, I know I'm just dreaming that I'm in the Correx but it feels so real," Cisco said, poking his face.

"What is happening in the dream?" Barry asked Cisco. Bibiana stared at Cisco's sleeping body and wondered what he was doing.

"Caitlin and Bibiana just left. I asked Caitlin to take Wells to Jitters. Bibiana said she'll try to help distract Wells," Cisco told them.

"We know how that ended," Bibiana muttered, sending a safe amount of electricity.

"Why do you want Wells out of the lab?" Barry asked.

"I think he might have tampered with my work," Cisco answered. "I need to check."

He left the cortex and slowly started to head towards the bunker.

"Okay, I'm walking to the bunker," Cisco informed the team. He looked down and noticed his shirt. "Oh, man. I love this shirt. I thought the dryer ate it."

"Ha, ha," Joe laughed.

"Focus, Cisco," Barry told him.

The girl with electricity cracked a smile. Some people can never be serious in a serious situation.

"Okay, okay," Cisco said. "All right. I hear Bibiana's voice. She's coming into the bunker."

"I have something to tell you," Bibiana told Cisco.

"Aren't you suppose to be with Caitlin?" Cisco asked.

"Caitlin got it covered," Bibiana replied. "Like I was saying, I have something to say."

"What is it?" Cisco asked.

"I want to know what I'm saying. Especially if it's a secret I didn't know I told someone," Bibiana said. This caused Cisco to not hear what dream Bibiana said.

"He said it was like the opposite of the Flash," dream Bibiana told Cisco.

"Now we're running tests on the containment system," Cisco informed the rest of the team. "This data doesn't make any sense."

"It's really not," dream Bibiana agreed.

"All the super-capacitors, they were all fully charged," Cisco explained. "There's absolutely no reason that the man in yellow should have escaped."

He walked over to a part of the machine and started to mess with it. The machine flickered before the Reverse-Flash stood in the middle. Trapped like a fly in honey.

"Oh, my God," Cisco said. "It was just a hologram. He tricked us."

Bibiana shared glances with everyone. She felt her mood go down.

"Hello, Cisco. Bibiana," Dr. Wells announced his presence. The two turned around to see Harrison Wells standing there.

"Oh, God. Wells is here," Cisco informed the team.

"Cisco, it's just a dream. He can't hurt you," Caitlin assured the sleeping boy. Everyone got closer to Cisco, even Bibiana got hopped off the table.

"You better be right about that," Cisco told Caitlin.

"My name is Eobard Thawne," Dr. Wells said.

"Eobard Thawne," Cisco repeated.

"Is Eddie your nephew?" Bibiana asked, digging her nails into her palm.

"Let's call him a distant relative," Thawne replied.

"Thawne, like Eddie Thawne?" Joe asked.

"You killed Nora Allen," Cisco said.

"Why?" Bibiana asked.

"It was never my intention," Thawne said, closing the laptop.

"Wait, Nora. What about my mom?" Barry asked Cisco. Bibiana placed a hand on his shoulder and frowned.

"He's confessing," Cisco informed Barry.

"Cisco," Barry said.

"He-- He didn't wanna kill her," Cisco informed to the team. "It was you, Barry. He was trying to kill you.

The EKG started to beep rapidly. This caught Bibiana's attention. The beeping was never a good sign.

"His blood pressure's 200, and his heart rate is 147," Caitlin told everyone. "Guys, he's losing higher brain function. Cisco, you're gonna be okay. It's just a dream. You're gonna be okay."

"Maybe this will push the Flash," Thawne said.

Bibiana immediately shot electricity at Thawne but he was fast and moved out of the way. He ran straight towards Bibiana and shoved his hand into her chest. Cisco watched as she fell on the floor dead.

Eobard turned away from the body and looked at Cisco. He raised his hand, ready for the second kill.

"I have grown quite fond of you, Cisco," Eobard told him.

"His hand, it's vibrating. He already killed Bibiana. He's gonna kill me," Cisco informed the team.

"Listen to me, Cisco," Bibiana told the sleeping boy. "I'm here. I'm alive and so are you."

"He's gonna gave a stroke," Caitlin said.

"Get him out of there," Barry yelled.

"In many ways, you've shown me what it's like--" Eobard was slowly lowering his hand to shove it into Cisco's chest.

"Help me. Help me, please," Cisco begged.

"Cait," Barry said.

"--to have a son," Eobard finished his sentence.

"Help me!" Cisco yelled. Thawne stuck his hand into his chest while he had an evil smile. "Noo!"

Cisco woke up gasping and Bibiana looked at him with worried eyes. It must've been traumatized to see his death and live it all over again. She was glad in a way for not having the dreams. But she hates how Cisco had to bare it all on his own.

The girl quickly took a seat in her old spot. The whole experience caused her heart to race and she was only watching Cisco talk.

"Oh, God," Cisco said. "It felt so real."

"Barry?" Joe asked. Bibiana's eyes darted over towards her boyfriend.

"My mom," Barry replied. "This was my fault."

"It probably wasn't," Bibiana assured Barry. A frown was placed on everyone's face before Barry's phone started to buzz.

"Hello," Barry said answering it.

Bibiana pulled out her phone and pulled up two pictures. One of her entire family and another of the team except Dr. Wells wasn't in it. She was determined to protect her entire family at whatever cost.

"Dr. Wells," Barry said. Bibiana snapped her head up and stared at Barry with wide eyes. She hopped off the table and rushed to Caitlin, Cisco, and Joe's side. "Yeah, sorry, yeah, it's a bad connection right now. Why? What's going on?" Barry pulled the phone away from his ear and put it on speaker. "A fire, where?"

"New Brighton," Wells informed Barry. "Bradford Tower High-Rise."

"I know that building," Joe said. "That's where Captain Singh's fiancé works."

"On my way," Barry said, speeding out.

"And I'll try and catch up," Bibiana said, quickly. She took out her duffle bag and ran out of the small lab.

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jmc