"Parker?" Joe was calling. "Parker, please, wake up. I need you here."

Parker knew nothing of where she was besides in the sewer --due to the horrid smell-- and that she was beside Joe West, who wouldn't stop calling her name.

"Parker--"

"Joe, stop," Parker finally whispered. "Please stop talking."

In all honesty, her head was pounding worse with every passing second.

Grodd hadn't shown any mercy when he knocked her head against the wall. (Yes, Cisco laughed when he heard she got knocked out.)

Parker brought her hand away from her eyes, blinking hard to adjust to the bright lights above her.

In the corner of her eye, she saw a giant shadow, causing that to be the first place she looked.

Grodd stood hunched over, fists on the floor. He (unnecessarily) guarded the doorway.

It wasn't like Joe and Parker were going to attempt escaping-- they weren't stupid enough to believe they were capable of battling against a gorilla.

As Parker's wide eyes met Grodd's, he snarled at her, wanting to scare her.

Parker raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. If anything, she thought Grodd would be more terrifying.

On the bright side, seeing Grodd had toned down her fear significantly.

Fractions of hope remained clear in her head. She had faith in Cisco to find the tracker embedded in her foot; she knew Barry now had motivation against Grodd.

Those two things were ensuring Parker that the cause of her (predicted) early death wasn't going to be in the sewer.

"Do you have anything on you that could help?" Joe asked, in a whisper.

"Joe, there is a gorilla standing there who can understand our words," Parker pointed out. "And no," she added.

A burst of steam popped from a flare down the alley, causing Parker and Joe to flinch.

Curious enough to inspect the commotion, Grodd stomped off down the alleyway.

"I may have not so accidentally shot myself in the foot with a tracker," She admitted to Joe, once Grodd was out of hearing range.

Joe's mouth dropped, presumably aiming to ask, 'Why?'

A bored look from Parker made him close his mouth and think about exactly why she would shoot herself.

The trackers were connected to the computers back at S.T.A.R. Labs. The original plan was to shoot Grodd, and find him when the signal was activated. Since Barry failed to shoot Grodd, Parker did it herself and succeeded, hence the flares starting to smoke.

Team Flash had found them.

"Parker, you're a genius," Joe whispered proudly.

As Parker predicted, her death wasn't down in the sewer, kidnapped by a meta-gorilla.

Exhaling an adrenaline filled sigh, Barry Allen fell into normal speed in front of Joe and Parker.

"Hey, guys," He greeted.

Parker opened her eyes. Sure enough, the Flash was there, holding his hands out to her.

When Barry helped her to her feet, she threw an arm around his neck, pulling his lips to hers.

Parker wasn't sure of her future relationship with Barry, but in the moment, she knew how she felt about him.

Barry didn't make some comment about it, luckily. He kissed her back with equally intense force, showing her, without having to say it, that he missed her too.

Though Parker wasn't ready to fully admit it, she wasn't eager to give up that feeling.

"Foster dad with broken ribs is here too," Joe said casually.

"Right!" Barry said, helping Parker lean on the wall. "I'll take Joe first. I'll be right back, I promise."

"Don't take your time."

Barry returned for Parker in record time. He swept her off her feet and ran. He skidded to a stop in the treadmill room at S.T.A.R. Labs.

Parker sat on the floor while Barry left to change into his regular clothes. By the time he returned, Parker was sprawled on the floor, eyes shut.

"Tired?" Barry wondered.

"A bit. We might have to have Caitlin check out my ankle, I think I sprained it. Did I tell you I was in the middle of a tug-of-war with Cisco and Grodd?" Parker asked, lifting her head. "If it hadn't been me, it would have been really cool."

"I'm just glad your safe. Listen, Park, I--"

Already knowing where the conversation was headed, Parker cut him off, promising, "One day we'll talk about it, Barry."

"Why not now? I mean, you kissed me. I felt it, Park. You aren't ready to let this end," Barry said.

His irritation was present, showed in the way his words were clumped together and his hand movements.

"You're like an annoying kid. Do you ever stop?" Parker asked, eyebrows raised.

"I prefer to be called persistant," Barry muttered.

"Yes, Barry, I kissed you," Parker recalled, twisting her hands around each other nervously. "And, you're right, it's because I'm not ready to give you up. I don't want to break up with you."

"Then why are you push me away?" Barry said in an exhale. "You want to be with me, and I want to be with you. What's holding you back?"

Because I'm supposed to die, predicatable doing Flash business and I don't want you broken over it. Because Iris West-Allen is supposed to happen in about ten years.

Parker tore her eyes away from her hands and looked at Barry, a tight-lipped smile on her lips.

"I don't like knowing that you're not going to end up with me. That's it," Parker insisted.

Barry didn't respond, due to the door opening. Caitlin and Cisco joined the conversation, changing the topic with no regard to what the couple had been arguing about.

"Maybe it's a good thing we didn't catch Grodd," Caitlin announced, "Where would we keep him? I don't think our prision is equipt for a gorilla."

She took a seat beside Barry on the treadmill; Cisco sat next to Parker on the floor in front of the other two.

"Joe mentioned that Grodd called Wells 'father,'" Barry said, "It makes sense that Wells would order Grodd to come after us."

"Maybe that's why he didn't kill Joe and I," Parker agreed.

Barry nodded. "I think Joe is right. Everything that Grodd did was to distract us."

"Barry, I'm sorry the headset didn't work," Cisco rushed out. "It wasn't strong enough. You could've been killed out there."

Barry shook his head, convinced that there was a positive to come from Cisco's so called negative.

"No, your tech worked, and it proved that we don't need Wells. The four of us took on Grodd and rescued Parker and Joe," Barry said proudly.

"So maybe it was three," Parker corrected.

"Shut up, you helped, even if you weren't there," Barry said.

"Actually, it was the five of us," Caitlin corrected.

A quick silence passed as everyone understood her reference. Iris was here at the Lab too, though Parker didn't know exactly what she did to help, she was still willing to accept a new member.

Parker held Cisco's shoulder and pushed herself up, hobbling to Barry. She collapsed into his lap, arms wrapped around him tightly.

"Team Flash group hug!" She called.

Cisco and Caitlin's arms wrapped around the other two, suffocating Parker, but still, the feeling was sweet.

=============

Following an examination by Caitlin, who told Parker that indeed, her ankle was sprained, Barry offered to run her home.

Parker held out her arms to Barry. He waited no longer to hold her and took off running.

Coming to a final stop in front of her apartment door, he took the liberty of drawing the keys from her left pocket and opening the door.

He swept Parker off her feet once more, carrying her to her bed at normal speed.

Parker stood, hand on the backrest for balance.

"Thanks, Allen," She said, a genuine smile on her lips.

"Anytime. Have a good night, Park," Barry said.

As he took the first step out into the hallway, Parker called his name, causing him to turn around.

"'You helped, even if you weren't there,'" Parker quoted, pausing to bring her eyes to his. "What did you mean by that?"

"Every single time I'm out there, I know that you're doing everything you can to help me come back to you. Its.. Y-You do more than you know," Barry stuttered, trying to find the right words. "You mean more to me than you know. You weren't there today, but the thought of you was what motivated me to get you back. The thought of.."

Parker blinked, and Barry was behind her, arms circling around her waist.
"Getting to hold you again. And I don't want to let go this time."