"Check the math," dared Caitlin, "your dispersal models don't correlate."

"Uh, they do if you factor in the seasonal fluctuations in reproduction cycles," argued Cisco. 

Parker huffed when they walked from the elevator, without so much as a thought to her. She threw her leg in between the closing doors, causing them to retract. Frustrated, she jerked her skinny arms along the wheels, attempting to catch up with the two. 

From a conjoined hall, Dr. Wells appeared beside her. Amused, he asked, "How are you today, Ms. Sylas?"

Parker forced a believable smile. "Just fine, Doc."

"And what exactly are we debating?" wondered Dr. Wells. 

"The average number of bugs Barry swallows in a day of running," admitted Cisco. 

"I look forward to watching you accept your Nobel," said Dr. Wells. 

Cisco's brow raised. "Oh, now that I think about it, that's sort of gross for you, isn't it, Park?"

"I don't kiss and tell," said Parker flatly. 

"Which isn't a denial!" 

"Why are you in that wheelchair?" asked Caitlin. "It isn't as though this job requires physical attributions." 

"Ms. Sylas and I had a debate of our own," said Dr. Wells. 

"I now understand why he uses mechanical over regular."

Parker, for the life of her, couldn't get the wheelchair to turn without hitting the wall, which in turn, caused Caitlin and Cisco to come to a stop at the Cortex door. 

"Barry?" called Cisco. 

"Barry, are you okay?" gasped Caitlin. 

On the floor of the Cortex lay Barry Allen, clutching his stomach with pain. 

Parker leaped from the wheelchair. By his head, she dropped to the floor, pressingly two fingers underneath his defined jaw. Her shoulders eased when she felt his pulse. It was slow, but it was there, and that made all the difference.

××××

By an unconscious Barry's side, Parker stretched across the bed with him, nose buried into a book. His right hand was raised, due to the metal cast engulfing most of his arm.

She felt his unharmed hand twitch against her foot. She lowered the book, meeting his squinted eyes. A smile broke across her face. 

"Parker," he said quietly. His eyes opened a sliver, then closed. He smiled. "Funny."

"If you're referring to the deja vu, I totally agree," agreed Parker.

Parker's hand ran through his hair, pushing it back and flattening it, a repeating cycle. Playing with his hair was the single thing she could do to ease his mind from the pain. 

"Thirteen fractures," she whispered to him, recalling what Caitlin had diagnosed. "You also have a concussion--"

"--three cracked ribs, and a bruised spleen," finished Caitlin. She entered the room, Dr. Wells and Cisco on her heels. "Even with your powers, you'll need a few hours to heal."

Parker's hand came to a stop. She didn't withdraw her hand. 

Barry knew why, for he felt the same way. He didn't want her to stop, either. He took her hand in his own, lacing them together, keeping some form of comfort between them. 

"What exactly did you hit?" asked Dr. Wells curiously. 

"A man," muttered Barry viciously. "A big, bad man. His skin changed when I hit him. Like, it turned to metal."

Dr.Wells raised his eyebrows. His eyes were distant. "A man of steel..."

"You went after a meta-human alone? Dude, why didn't you call us?" asked Cisco. 

"I didn't know what he was," insisted Barry, swinging his legs over the the bed. "Besides, I was off duty."

Caitlin raised her brow. "Hm..." 

Beside her, Cisco made a hole with his index finger and thumb, while his other pointer finger entered and exited the circle.

"He wasn't with me last night," muttered Parker. 

"Well, you're lucky he didn't knock out your teeth. Those puppies don't grow back," said Cisco. 

Barry's eyes stayed trained on his lap. "Strange thing was... Feel like I knew him."

"What do you mean?"

"He said something that was familiar. But he's gonna hurt someone if we don't stop him," predicted Barry. "So, how do I fight a guy that's made of steel?"

"Very carefully," Parker confidentially stated.

Barry pressed his hand over her mouth, silencing her. He looked to Dr. Wells for an answer. 

"We will find a way," promised Dr. Wells. "Tonight, you heal."

Parker slid from the bed, sweeping her book from the floor. She pushed back his hair. She pressed a kiss to the top of his hairline. Against his forehead, she whispered, "Be good, okay? Stay in bed."

"Where are you going?" asked Barry hopelessly. 

"Just to make a call," insisted Parker. She sent him a last smile, then disappeared around the corner, needing privacy. 

××××

In the comforts of a bookshop, one she hadn't seen since school, Parker sat in an arm chair in the back. She withdrew a sticky note from her purse, then carefully dialed the number into her phone. Her fingers tapped along the edge of the leather couch while the beeps rang in her ear.

"Hello?"

"How do you do it?" asked Parker. 

"Do what? Who is this? How on earth did you get my number?"

"It's Parker," she said impatiently, "Sylas. You know, Barry's friend? How do you not worry about Oliver being the Arrow?"

"How did you--"

"You and Barry share a lot of similarities. Being smooth is one of them. Look, I won't tell anyone, no worries. Just answer the question, please."

Felicity Smoak let air drag from her mouth.

Parker's fingers tapped viciously along the couch, anxious to get an answer from someone who was qualified.

"Well, I do worry. It's a dangerous job, and one should always worry a little. But you just have to focus on the fact that you've helped them to be the best they could be, and that they have the power to defeat their enemy and stay safe."

"Thinking like that would probably diminish about ten percent of my worry," muttered Parker.

"At least it's more than nine percent."

Parker's head dropped into her hand. "We aren't even dating and I'm worrying like hell."

"But you like him. Quite a bit, from my observations."

"Can't deny that," said Parker. She paused. "Listen, Felicity, we got off on the wrong foot. I want to apologize."

"No need to! We're going to be friends. Best friends. If that's okay?"

"Perfect."

"So, now that we're friends, I expect a text or a call when Barry and you get together."

"Parry," said Parker without thinking, "Parker plus Barry equals Parry."

"Oh, that's adorable."

"You're such a dork."

"I'm adorkable. Just like Barry."

Parker giggled. "Okay, Felicity. I'm going back to my nerds. See you soon."

"Definitely."

××××

Cisco gaped at Barry. "Your childhood nemesis is now an unstoppable meta-human? Okay. That's seriously messed up."

"I had a childhood nemesis," pouted Caitlin.  Lexi La Roche. She used to put gum in my hair..." 

"Jake Puckett. If I didn't let him copy my homework, he'd give me a swirley," said Cisco bitterly. 

Cisco and Caitlin looked to Parker expectantly. 

"I just dragged kids who were mean. I might have been the bully," said Parker honestly. 

Barry shook his head. "No, you used force to stop the bullying."

"Yeah, and when verbal words wouldn't work, I'd hit them."

Cisco laughed. "That's the Parker I know."

"Using physical action probably wasn't the solution," protested Caitlin.

"You're probably right," she agreed. 

"Great, so now that we've established that we're all uber-nerds, what are we going to do about Tony?" asked Barry impatiently. 

"Glad you asked!" praised Cisco, leading the three to his workplace."We're going to train your boy toy, Karate Kid style. "

"Not my boy toy," said Parker, but was, of course, ignored.

"Behold!" shouted Cisco, ripping a drape from the statue. "I call him Girder."

Parker circled the robot. She grimaced uncomfortably. She was not at all comfortable with Barry's bare knuckles hitting the metal, nor the metal hitting Barry, but she decided to keep her criticism to herself. Giving Girder a chance was deemed as polite for her friend. 

"For the record, not my idea," said Caitlin.

"I had no part in this, either," said Parker. 

"Fighting is psychics. It's not about strength, it's not about size. It's about energy and power. Channel your speed the right way and you can totally take this bad boy down. Now, obviously, your Girder is a moving target, so..." Cisco paused to hand a controller to Parker. "Thought you would like to do the honors, Sylas."

"Fuck yeah, Ramon," said Parker excitedly. 

Caitlin rested her hand over her heart. Worried didn't begin to describe her feelings for Barry in the current situation. "I have ice and bandages standing by," she assured. 

Barry successfully ducked Girder's first swings. He got in a couple of hits to the robot's abdomen and back. On the last punch, Barry's fist ran too far forward, leaving Girder a clear shot. He took it. Barry bent over in pain. Girder hit his back roughly, sending him to the ground. 

"Barry?" cautioned Parker. 

"I'm pretty sure I just dislocated my shoulder," he wheezed. 

Carefully, the trio moved Barry to the medical bed once more. He lay on the bed, gripping the edge hard enough to turn his knuckles white. 

"Okay, not gonna lie, this is going to be quick, but extremely painful," said Caitlin when she finished pressing lightly on his shoulder.

Barry's phone interrupted a response. He craned his neck to see the Caller ID, then groaned, "Oh, speaking of pain... Hey, Eddie! Yeah. I'll be there in a second."

"Do they need me?" asked Parker.

"Not as far as I know," said Barry. 

Caitlin hovered her hands over his shoulder, testing different angles of where to place her hands. As she did so, she innocently wondered, "When you said you were 'off duty' yesterday, you weren't visiting Iris again, you know... In disguise?"

Parker raised her brow. Around her index finger, she twirled a pair of scissors menacingly. 

"'Cause that would be reckless. And a little creepy."

"No," said Barry instantly. 

Parker handed the scissors to Caitlin. She hovered her own hands over Barry's shoulder, waited for Caitlin to agree, then placed her hands on his shoulder.

Barry made a sound of protest. 

"What?" asked Parker. 

"You're not exactly..."

"Gentle?" inquired Parker. A tight smile was on her lips. "Don't worry. I'll do just that."

Caitlin started a countdown from five. 

Parker pushed down on Barry's shoulder on three. 

"Parker!" whined Barry.

"Have fun at the crime scene!"

××××

Caitlin and Cisco, bless their hearts, tried their best to intently listen to Parker's rant. Caitlin was truly listening. Cisco found himself zooming in and out of her words. 

"He is so stupid!" groaned Parker, pacing in front of the computer desk, "How could he not think that his actions have consequences? If we found out he hangs around Iris on his free time, he has to know it won't be that hard for others to find out!"

"Of course," said Cisco; words to assure her he was listening. 

"Does he think we're stupid? Honestly, if he wasn't with me, or you two, the last choice is one of the Wests. He literally has no other friends, it wasn't hard to connect the dots!"

"At least we're secretive about our relationship," said Caitlin. 

"Eh, debatable," said Parker. "Captain Cold saw all of our faces, and we let him get away."

"We'll be fine, Park," assured Caitlin. 

"He's just so clueless about how what he does might effect other people. I'm giving him a free card the first time, but if he keeps doing this over and over, it will not go smoothly. I'll kick his ass."

Cisco laughed. "Oh, Park. I love Angry Parker."

Parker bitterly sipped her water, her eyes squinted in a rock hard glare.

Cisco and Caitlin glanced at each other. They both thought Barry Allen being reckless was the main idea of this session. Judging from her glare, there was something else wrong. 

"Hey, what's the weather?" inquired Cisco. 

Parker turned her squinted glare to him. "Why?"

He craned his neck to look out the window of the cafe. "I think it's cloudy with a chance of Parry."

Caitlin shook her head, almost dumbfounded by how non-subtle Cisco was.

Parker legitimately growled at Cisco. "No."

"I think you see it, too," said Cisco. He leaned forward on the desk. "What's the dilemma with dating him?"

Parker took time to overlook the two dweebs sitting in front of her. In times of need, she trusted them to always aid Barry. Trusting them with her feelings and emotions was an entire different level of friendship. 

"Park," said Caitlin softly. 

"I don't feel smart enough for him," sighed Parker. "We have stuff in common, but not like him and Felicity do, you know? Seeing how they were together made me feel like things weren't as good they seemed, like I'm not a good match for him."

"Have you mentioned this to him?" asked Caitlin. 

"No."

"Well, there's your answer. You tell him all of that and see what he says. The worst that's going to happen is it'll be awkward for a while."

"I don't like making it awkward for you guys," said Parker. 

"We'll push through it," shrugged Cisco. "All will end well."