Parker was forced to slap her cheeks every few minutes to keep her eyes open as she followed the familiar path into S.T.A.R. Labs. She, not surprisingly, blamed Iris for her fatigue. The aspiring writer kept her friend up all night, reviewing an assignment on The Blur. 

"I just need to know who he is. How did he get those powers? What made him want to save people? You know?" Iris had asked.

"Oh, I know," said Parker, internally cackling, since she knew those answers.

Minor help on Iris' essay easily turned into seven hours of reediting the paper together, three separate times. Iris hadn't minded staying awake so late, seeing as she started late at work the following morning. 

The same couldn't be said for Parker. Bright and early, too early, she stumbled into the Cortex and curled into her computer chair. At long last, she allowed her eyes the bliss of staying closed. 

A collective gasp hit the Cortex. It was as though a record had scratched, how fast everyone came to a complete stop. 

"No losers? No geeks?" asked Caitlin, squinting. 

"Weirdos, even?" asked Barry. 

"Not in the mood..." yawned Parker.

Cisco applied his hand over her forehead. "She feels a little cold."

"It's almost in the negatives outside," defended Parker. Understanding they weren't going to allow her to rest, she slouched in the chair. "You guys up for some questions?" 

"Shoot," said Dr. Wells. 

"Do you think the speed will carry onto his kids?"

"It's entirely possible."

"Could he age could age faster?"

"Not that we know of."

"Can we teach him how to actually fight?" 

"I second that," said Barry. 

"Teaching him could be very beneficial, you know, he could get, like, four hundred moves in before his opponent had a chance to react. He might even already have Jackie Chan level skills and we wouldn't know," said Parker. 

Dr. Wells nodded. "I don't see the harm in it."

"How long do you think it takes for the meta-humans to discover powers? I mean, for all we know, it could very well be one of us and we wouldn't have a clue."

"An interesting thought. One I may consider looking into," said Dr. Wells.

"All right," said Parker, pleased. "Donuts in the break room?"

"You know it," said Cisco. 

Parker walked to the break room. She shoved one donut into her mouth, then noticing the decaying sprinkles, paused to search for a plate. In the midst of reaching into the cabinet, a hand grabbed it for her. 

Barry set it on the counter. "There you go."

"I could have got it," muttered Parker. 

"Oh, right, yeah," said Barry. He went quiet, seeing as he didn't have a valid explanation for helping where it wasn't needed. "So, I heard it was Open Mic Week at Jitters. Are you going?"

"If you wanted to hear me sing again, you could just ask."

"You'd probably think I was a creep."

"You might be correct."

For a split second, their eyes locked. Parker averted her eyes first. 

"Well, I'll see you around, I suppose," mumbled Barry. 

"I am," said Parker before he could leave. "I am singing. Tonight."

"Good luck."

"Will, uh, I see you there?" 

"I don't know exactly. Might be some reports I need to take care of," said Barry coolly. "You would understand."

"Oh, of course," said Parker. She made sure to turn before he could catch the grin on her face. 

"See you, Parker."

"See you, Barry..."

××××

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's not like I've got much to lose."

"Other than your dignity?" 

Parker massaged her temples. "Please, for the love of God, stop talking before you freak me out." 

"I can do that," agreed Iris. 

Six minutes were left until she was supposed to officially perform. In attempt to rid her nerves, Parker hopped around behind the curtain, performing silly dances and singing songs in stupid voices. 

"I've never seen you this nervous," admitted Iris. "You would think the source of your nerves would come from the crowd."

Parker froze. "That is why I'm nervous."

"No, it's not," smirked Iris. She ducked through the curtain. "Hello, Jitters! Welcome to Open Mic Week. We have a very special woman for you to hear tonight. Her name is Parker Sylas. Let's give her a warm welcome, yeah?"

Parker slipped through the red drapes and took a seat on the wooden stool. She couldn't bring herself to meet anyone's eyes. Seeing who was in the audience could ruin the entire experience. Glancing at their feet instead, she waved politely. 

Iris adjusted the microphone stand to Parker's height. She patted her back encouragingly before she left the stage. 

"Hey, everyone. Tonight, I'll be singing four songs. Perhaps, if I'm well-liked, I'll do a couple more. That may be pushing it," chuckled Parker. "So, here's my first cover."

Parker got through two songs before she became comfortable on stage. Having the crowd listening intently took away some of the nerves. When she gained the courage to meet the audience's eyes, she found that some were singing along with her. 

In between her third and final song, Parker held a hand in the air to pause the guitarist sitting behind her. She looked into the crowd and said, "All right, so if you guys are up for it, I'll take a song suggestion. The twist is that whoever suggests it has to come up here and sing with me."

At first, dozens of hands shot into the air. More than half dropped by the time she finished talking. A sweep of the crowd made one boy stand out. 

Parker pointed directly at him. "You, with your Hollister catalog looking ass. Get up here."

The corner of his mouth tilted up in a smirk. He walked to the stage. He brought his own stool to place beside her. 

"What's your name?" asked Parker. 

"Isaac."

"How old are you, Isaac?"

"Eighteen."

Parker nodded. "All right, eighteen year old Isaac, what do you want to sing?"

"You look like a lady who's familiar with Fall Out Boy. Young Volcanoes on your playlist?" asked the boy. 

"Number one," said Parker, winking. "I'll start."

"Hit it," ordered Isaac. 

"When Rome's in ruin,
We are the lions free of the coliseums
In poison places, we are anti-venom
We're the beginning of the end."

Isaac leaned close for the microphone to register his voice. 

"Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds
It's all over now
Before it has begun
We've already won."

"We are," said Parker, stretching the word. 

Isaac chimed a fast, "We are," over her. 

"Wild," they sang in sync. 

Parker sat and watched him sing. His mellow voice was blissful to her ears. How such a wonderful voice could come from a random choice in the crowd was intoxicating to her. 

"Well, come on, make it easy, say I never mattered
Run it up the flag pole
We will teach you how to make boys next door out of--"

Isaac slid his hand over her mouth before the swear could exit her mouth. It brought a giggle from their lips, as well as the crowd's. 

When the song finished, Parker and Isaac took a bow together. They slipped behind the red curtain for privacy. 

"You were amazing," gushed Parker.

Isaac bumped his shoulder against her own. "We sound great together."

"We should do it again sometime."

"Oh?"

Parker stopped. "Oh, no. No! Not that. You're too young. You're eighteen, but too young for my preference."

"How old are you?" asked Isaac. 

Parker scribbled her number on a napkin. She passed it to him. "Last two digits of my number."

"Twenty-four," read Isaac. He smirked. "Lucky for you, I'm into older women."

"Kinky."

"Parker!" called Iris from the door. 

"Duty calls," defended Parker as an excuse to leave.

"See you around, Parker."

"Will do, kid."

Iris spent a full five minutes praising Parker for the performance. She went on and on until her cell phone rang; Eddie wanted to see her. 

"Booty call?" asked Parker.

"Oh, stop it," blushed Iris, "but, yes. I'll see you later?"

"Of course. Be safe," she warned. 

Iris patted her bag knowingly, then left Jitters. 

Parker's eyes scanned over the dispersing crowd. She caught the eyes of one man. She smiled. Thankfully, she saluted his way. 

Barry Allen grinned back at her.