F O R T Y:
the art of useless

"Where am I?" Bibiana asked with a groan. She slowly sat up and found herself in S.T.A.R. Labs. The girl clearly remembered passing out in her apartment. After walking all the way back to Central City since her powers weren't fully functioning.

"In S.T.A.R. Labs," Cisco said, walking into the room. Caitlin wasn't answering her phone since she was passed out in bed. It had only left Cisco, Barry, and Dr. Wells to make sure the girl was okay.

"Where's Barry?" Bibiana asked next. There was a feeling that she had seen him before in her apartment too.

"He went out to get coffee," Cisco answered. He was waiting for the important question.

"What happened to me?"

"You were not eating enough," Cisco said, grabbing a tablet. He shoved it into Bibiana's hands for her to see it herself. The girl looked at it all and saw that they were low when she arrived.

"Does this mean you used forty of those..." Bibiana paused while snapping her fingers. "I.V. bags?"

"Add ten more to it," Cisco said. He shook his head. "This also showed that you were overworking your body. How?"

Bibiana rubbed her head. What did she do that day?

"Uh... my stove stopped working so I had to start it up," Bibiana said. Her mind raced through everything she did. "Then after eating two scrambled eggs, I realized I was late to work. So I zapped myself over here. I had broken something so I charged it up. Then there was the whole thing with Shawna. I tried to zap myself on top of that building but I've overshot it."

"It's going to be okay if you go back to eating a lot or eating my nutrition bars," Cisco said, handing her one. He let out a sigh before he remembered he was in trouble. "You might want to be in the cortex for what will happen next."

⇝⇝⇝

"What's wrong?" Barry asked, his eyes landed on Bibiana. She sat on a rolling chair beside a mad Dr. Wells. Caitlin who looked like a suspicious person had also looked at Bibiana. Even if the girl wasn't sure.

"Cisco has something that he needs to tell you," Dr. Wells announced. The girl opened up her nutrition bar and took a bit out of it.

"Hartley's gone," Cisco confessed, turning to Barry and Caitlin.

"He escaped from the pipeline?" Barry asked. He couldn't believe the luck they were all having. "How is that even possible?"

"I let him out," Cisco admitted. Bibiana tried her best to not to choke on her food. She wasn't sure she heard her friend correctly. Cisco asked Caitlin something. "Are you mad? I can't tell with those glasses on."

"I'd like to yell and wave my arms but I'm afraid I'd throw up," Caitlin said. The girl in the S.T.A.R. Labs sweatshirt immediately assumed Caitlin had a hungover or was pregnant. Bibiana decided it was the first option.

"Why? What were you thinking?" Barry asked. "You know how dangerous he is."

"Hartley said he knew what happened to Ronnie," Cisco said. Bibiana stayed quiet, not wanting to say anything. She could kind of grasp where Cisco was coming from. It didn't mean she wasn't mad.

"I told you to let it go," Caitlin said, removing her sunglasses. "I didn't want you looking into that for me."

"I wasn't doing it for you," Cisco explained. "I... I sealed Ronnie into the accelerator before it blew. He told me to wait two minutes. And I waited, but he didn't come back. And I can't stop thinking, 10... 20 seconds... and Ronnie wouldn't be like he is right now. I've wanted to tell you so many times. I'm so sorry."

"So you carried that around this whole time?" Caitlin asked. She walked around the main table and towards Cisco. "Do you know what Ronnie would say if he was here? He would say that you did the right thing. It wasn't your fault. What happened that night wasn't any body's fault. Come on. Don't we have a teleporter to catch?"

"I completely forgot," Bibiana admitted, crumbling up the wrapper.

"We do have a teleporter to catch," Dr. Wells said. "And fortunately, we do have a promising theory. Take a look at this."

Bibiana got up from the rolling chair and walked over the computer. Her body felt stronger after resting up and eating. She stood behind Dr. Wells, staring at the screen.

"Now, this is the normal behavior of the particulate that Shawna left behind," Dr. Wells said, typing away. "Watch what happens when we remove light." The screen had a green overlay and the particulate stopped moving. "Shawna can only become entangled with something she can see. Take away her ability to do that-"

"She can't teleport," Cisco finished the sentence.

"Exactly," Dr. Wells said.

"So we just need to get her into a dark space," Caitlin said. "How do we do that?"

Barry's phone started to ring.

"That's a valid question," Barry said, walking away with his phone. They all heard Barry have panic in his voice when he answered.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Wells asked, turning around.

"My dad," Barry said. "He's been stabbed."

⇝⇝⇝

"Electric Storm, how's it going with blowing out the lights?" The Flash asked over the comms. After the Flash had got information out of a prisoner, they had rushed to capture their metahuman.

Bibiana looked at the riped wires and tried to think. She needed to hurry since the Flash was fighting with Shawna.

"This would be better if I was an electrician," Electric Storm replied.

"Bibiana, remember. Shawna cannot teleporter if she cannot see. Limit her field of vision," Dr. Wells told her.

"I'm working on that," Electric Storm replied.

"Bibi, you're freaking Electric Storm," Cisco said. Bibiana looked at the wires before she grabbed them and sent a massive amount of electricity through it. All the lights in the tunnel blew a fuse.

"Flash, it's your turn," Electric Storm said. She turned and saw that the headlights of the car went off when a red streak went over it.

⇝⇝⇝

"Hey, Bibiana," Iris said over the phone. The hacker laid on her couch with her laptop on her lap.

"Hi, Iris. What's up?" Bibiana asked while she stared at the screen before her. Chris Evans is a fine looking person while he's fighting Hydra.

"Can you do me a favor?" Iris asked. The hacker bit her lip.

"Sure? What is it?" Bibiana asked.

"Can you get me a picture of Electric Storm from surveillance?"

⇝⇝⇝

"Hey, what're you doing here?" Iris asked Barry. He was standing in the middle of the place she worked at.

"Hey," Barry greeted.

"If you came to check on me," Iris said. "That is really sweet but I think everything's gonna be okay."

"I'm glad," Barry replied. "Uh... I actually am not here to see you."

"No?" Iris asked, confused.

"No. I have a lunch date," Barry said happily.

"Hey, Barry," Linda said, walking up to Barry and hugging him. Iris stared at the two confused. She swore Barry and Bibiana were dating when she called her. Linda let go of Barry and looked at Iris. "Oh, hey. You're our new stringer, right?"

"Yeah," Iris said, still confused.

"I'm Linda Park. Sports," Linda said.

"Iris West," Iris said, shaking Linda's hand. "How did you two meet?"

"Well, it's actually a funny story," Linda said.

"Iris," Bibiana said, walking up to her. She was looking down at her phone, replying to a question Kai asked. "I got what you said you needed. Sorry, I took a while, I got lost on the way back from the restroom."

"Thank you," Iris replied, taking the flash drive from Bibiana. The hacker looked up and smiled. Then it came to her that there was someone else there.

"Oh, hi," Bibiana said, cheerfully. She was secretly tried but it was her day off and she wanted to spend it well. "I'm Bibiana Solace. Part-time scientist and full-time Netflix watcher."

"Linda Park," Linda introduced herself, shaking Bibiana's hand. "I handle the sports division here."

"Awe, sweet," Bibiana said. "You got to inform me when the Navy wins when I miss the game. Anyways, Barry, I'm ready for our date."

"So that funny story," Barry said, turning to Iris. "I'll have to tell you later after I take Bibiana out."

"I've been dying for food," Bibiana said, pulling on Barry's arm. She was hungry and she didn't want to pass out again. "Can we go before I pass out from hunger?"

"Have fun you two," Iris told them as they left. Linda stared at the door after they left.

"That's his girlfriend?" Linda asked Iris. They could see Bibiana jumping on Barry's back as they laughed through the windows.

"The one and only," Iris replied with a smile. She was happy that her best friend found someone that'll make him happy.

The girl looked down at the flash drive that contained exclusive pictures of Electric Storm. She was grateful that Bibiana hacked the heavily secured footage.

⇝⇝⇝

"I think I love this place," Bibiana said, staring at her food lovingly. They had ordered a decent amount of food and had already finished half of it.

"You have to thank Joe for finding this place," Barry replied. The girl picked up a knife and tried to cut her burger. Barry looked at the girl confused on what she was doing.

"What am I doing?" Bibiana asked herself. It had happened earlier too. She was heading into her suit chamber to meet up with Barry. Instead of hers, she was standing in Barry's empty one. Caitlin had to direct her to her own suit.

"Caitlin said that you might be confused for a few days," Barry told Bibiana. He reached across the table and grabbed ahold of her hand.

"Oh," Bibiana said. "Did I tell you about the prom dress?"

"No," Barry answered with a smile.

•○•
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JMC