"Hartley's gone."

Parker's mind automatically went to worst case scenario, thinking Hartley had figured out a way to break out or use his powers.

"What?" Barry hurriedly asked, "How is that even possible?"

"I let him out," Cisco continued.

Parker's lips split. She took one step forward, but her outstretched hand grabbed by Barry.

He tugged her back into place beside him and firmly grasped her hand in case she tried to go for Cisco again.

"I know you're mad, Parker," Cisco mumbled.

Parker opened her mouth, but with a second thought, shut it, instead giving a deep sigh.

Cisco looked at Caitlin, his eyebrows furrowed. "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."

"Why?" Barry snapped, taking his turn to yell. "What were you thinking? You know how dangerous he is!"

"Hartley said he knew what happened to Ronnie--"

"Something we could have figured out ourselves, Cisco! Did you ever think that he's a criminal and he might be lying just to escape?" Parker yelled.

Caitlin took off her sunglasses, revealing her grief stricken eyes. "Cisco, I told you to let it go, I didn't want you looking into that for me."

"I wasn't doing it for you!" Cisco quickly defended himself, "I.. I sealed Ronnie into the accelerator before it blew. He told me to wait two minutes, and I did, and he didn't come back.. I can't stop thinking that ten..twenty seconds, and maybe Ronnie wouldn't be like he is now. I'm so sorry."

"You carried that around this entire time?" Caitlin asked.

She tapped twice on the desk before walking around it, her eyes on the floor.

"Do you know what Ronnie would say, if he was here? He'd say you did the right thing. It wasn't your fault. What happened that night wasn't anyone's fault."

Parker's eyes very quickly flickered to Dr.Wells.

"Now, come on," Caitlin said with an encouraging smile. "Don't we have a teleporter to catch?"

Parker wasn't ready to let Cisco off the hook. However, she knew it wasn't her call to forgive him or decide a punishment. All she could do was give him an earful about safety and that would be the end.

Dr.Wells seemed awfully happy to change subjects. He clapped his hands together and moved his wheelchair behind the desks, finding a video of particulates from Shawna.

Caitlin and Cisco peered over the computer screen; Barry and Parker leaned on the desk to get a closer look.

Little squiggles were shown in a normal light. They moved erratically.

"Now, this is the normal behavior of the particulate that Shawna left behind," Dr.Wells explained. He hovered a finger over a button. "Watch what happens when we remove light."

The screen turned green, causing the squiggles of DNA to fall still. Some moved slowly, but most of them stopped completely.

"So, it's lights off, basically. She can't teleport if she can't see," Parker said, looking for Dr.Wells for confirmation.

He nodded.

"How do we do that?" Caitlin wondered.

Parker opened her mouth to suggest an idea, however, Barry's cell phone cut her off.

Barry mumbled an apology to her and answered his phone.

Parker almost continued talking to explain her idea, but decided not to, in order to avoid explaining again.

"Yeah, I'll be right there," Barry said. He stared at his phone with a confused face before he met her skeptical eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" Parker asked.

"My dad.. He's been stabbed."

Parker's eyebrows raised. "Oh. Do you want me to c--"

Barry Allen swept his hands under her knees and carried her from S.T.A.R. Labs without a warning. He needed her there, and he needed to get both of them to Iron Heights fast.

>>>>>

Parker was desperately huffing and puffing for air while Barry dragged her though security checks and speedy pictures for their Visitors Passes.

By the time they jogged to the infirmary and found Mr.Allen, she was attempting to take long inhales and short exhales. Inquiries about her breathing would result in lies to Henry, which was the last thing Parker wanted to do.

Barry found the door with the name tag of Henry Allen on it. His shoes squeaked against the floor as he stopped.

"Parker, are you alright?" he asked.

His hands rested under her jaw, bringing her face up to look at him. In doing so, he forced her mouth shut, an end to her mouth breathing.

Parker pushed against his chest, taking a couple steps back. She leaned heavily against the wall, her eyes shut, focusing on breathing regularly again.

"Park, I'm so sorry. I should have--"

"Barry! Parker!" Joe interrupted, popping his head out of the door. "I thought I heard you two. Come on in."

Barry turned back to Parker and held out his hand. A disappointed look was etched into his face-- not at her, but himself. He knew of the breathing difficulties that came when people were carried at that speed, but caught in a moment of fear for his father, he neglected them. It was his fault Parker couldn't breathe.

His brave girl forced a smile, switching her breathing to go through her nose. "Okay. I'm ready."

Barry wasted no more time. He led Parker into the room and pulled a chair over for her, sat her down, then walked to the other side of Henry's bed and sat in the other available chair.

Henry was not awake. His eyelids were closed peacefully, his head bent at an awkward position on his shoulder. The important part is that he looked peaceful.

"Barry," Parker whispered cautiously. "I don't think we should wake--"

"Dad!"

"Barry!" Two voices chorused, yet one was in a scolding tone and the other was shocked.

Barry raised an eyebrow at Parker, practically saying, 'Fight me.'

"I'm going to kick your ass later," She grumbled, rolling her eyes at him.

Henry tuned out their conversation. He was looking at Parker with a grin so large you wouldn't have known he was stabbed in the first place.

"Parker! You came.." Henry said, and for a moment, everyone thought he was going to cry.

Parker nodded her head happily, her hand over her heart in admiration. "Of course I came, Henry. Barry's not the only one who's allowed to care about you."

Henry shook his head, although there was a shy smile on his lips. "You're too good to me, Parker."

Parker did a cheesy wink and slouched in her chair. She met Barry's eye, widening her eyes for a second to allow him to proceed with the interrogation.

"Dad, what happened?"

Henry sighed as though it was no big deal and said, "A rather stern reminder to not poke around in Stockheimer's business.."

"Dad," Barry said in a rather shameful tone. "I told you to stop."

Parker was glaring at Barry, who noticed, but chose to ignore it. She kept her mouth shut, because that was his dad and he was allowed to be worried, but she didn't think Barry understood the situation from Henry's point of view.

Joe, on the other hand, had no problem trying to defend Henry.

"He called us with more Intel. It helped us track down Clay and Shawna and arrest Stockheimer," he clarified.

Henry grinned, his pride growing. "Plus, I managed to screw up his big heist too, so.."

However, for Barry, that only added fuel to his anger.

"You two kept working together and didn't tell me?"

"It isn't his fault," Henry explained, a growing pout on his lips. "I did it to help you."

"You getting stabbed and beaten is not helping me," Barry snapped.

He caught Parker's eye. She held out her hand flat and moved it a down motion, a signal to calm himself. Barry took a deep breath.

"Look, I don't get to feel useful in here very often. So if I can help you, I'm gonna want to be there with you. Just like you've been there for me all these years."

Henry made a good point, so good that Barry's anger vanished and was replaced with guilt. He held Henry's hand and squeezed it as an apology.

Parker completely missed the Allen bonding moment, her mind clouded with something else. Henry had gotten stabbed and Barry was angry with Henry for it. But no one mentioned who did that to Henry.

Parker shot up in her chair, bringing the attention on her. "Henry, can you tell us who did this to you?"

"No--"

"You said you want to help Barry. So help him," Parker said. Softer and less forceful, she continued with, "I think we have a friend who might be able to put him in his place."

At that, Barry too sat up. The corner of his mouth shot up, his eyes glazed with admiration for her and her brilliant idea. He hadn't even thought about the Flash being able to do something.

"Julius."

>>>>>>

After Joe, Parker, and Barry were out of Iron Heights, the Flash made an appearance and threatened Julius. He found vital information from the interrogation, which led Barry to Clay and Shawna. Clay escaped and Shawna was put away in the pipeline.

During all of that, Joe took Parker to her house. They made small talk on the ride, until Joe brought up Dr.Wells.

"Eddie and I haven't found anything," he announced.

"Same," Parker agreed. "I've been watching him and it's just.. I don't know. He's hiding his secrets well, but I intend to find out."

Parker had a nauseating feeling in her stomach about Dr.Wells. Something told her she was missing a huge sign, but she had no proof. There were clues, though she certainly didn't have access to all of them.

Tired, confused and exhausted, Parker crashed immediately when she got home.

In the morning, she was pried from her slumber by a phone call from the one and only Iris West.

"Did you know Barry's on a date? With a sports reporter? Linda Park! Who knew Barry even watched sports?"

Parker wiggled her phone until it broke from the charger. She rolled back into her dent in the memory foam mattress, her head stuck under a pillow to resume the darkness. Her eyes were closed, still allowing her brain to wake up before her body was forced to follow.

"Good morning to you, Iris," Parker sarcastically mumbled. "He watches baseball. Did he look strange? Like he's cheating?"

"As soon as he started to walk away, I dialed your number and he said there was a note on the fridge for you. Might want to check that out."

Parker whimpered. She had lost track of how many times Iris woke her up at a ridiculous hour. (A ridiculous hour that particular time was 11:30 a.m.)

It wasn't like Parker was required to show up for work at a certain time. Perks of belonging to a company that only has four occupants: the boss didn't care what time you showed up, as long as you showed up sometime during the day.

With this early start, Parker decided to obey Iris' message. Barry wasn't going to dump Parker-- they were in too deep. But that hadn't stopped the butterflies in her stomach about what the note might say.

Parker rolled out of bed and waddled into the kitchen. There was a bright yellow sticky note on the fridge. She ripped it off.

"'My dearest, darling Parker Sylas, I have left you this morning. Because I know you so well, I figured you were going to sleep in, so, because I like you so much, I'll let you sleep. I'm going for a lunch thing with the girl at the bar, Linda Park. Don't be jealous or worried. My one and only is you. Forever and always, B.A.'"

Parker didn't have to ask for Iris' response to the note. Not halfway through the first sentence, Iris was going, "Aw," and it continued through the entire letter. Parker felt that way too. There was no better way to describe the note than those two letters.

"Yeah, I gave him permission to make friends with her. I'm not worried."

"Well, now that he's gone for lunch, you aren't busy and I'm about to take my lunch break. Would you like to meet up?"

"It would be my absolute honor, Iris West. Jitters?"

"As always."

>>>>>>>

Parker arrived at Jitters half an hour later. She found Iris on the second floor. Her half of the table held a laptop, paper and coffee. Parker's side of the table had orange juice and a blueberry muffin.

"You shouldn't have," Parker teased.

Iris glanced up from her computer as Parker sat down. "I figured you would want breakfast. I know you well enough to order your food."

"Should I be surprised or creeped out?" Parker joked, smiling. She took a bite out of her muffin. "What are you typing?"

Iris' quick fingers slowed. Her eyes darted from the keyboard, to the screen, then--almost nervously-- to Parker's.

"Just an essay," Iris covered. "Don't speak with food in your mouth."

"Boo-hoo," Parker grumbled. "Seriously, what are you writing about? You're being strange."

"I'm always strange."

"Stranger than normal," Parker shot back.

The girls fell into their habit of a stare down. Their brown eyes narrowed into slits and they both glared, waiting for one to back down first.

Parker won that battle, only because Iris couldn't hold her thoughts in anymore. But she couldn't continue and confess to Parker, due to the other S.T.A.R. Labs worker and a very smiley Barry Allen walking up the stairs.

"I'm taking Parker on a date soon and I really think that--"

"Are you sure you're not moving too fast?"

"Cisco, it's been almost two months.. A date is just a date."

"Okay, but I'm pretty sure the sexual tension just builds like every day. But I meant going too fast, hurrying. Look, I mean, you're fast, but there's fast, and then there's fast. Am I being subtle enough?"

Barry shook his head shamefully. "You're really not."

Barry and Caitlin noticed Parker, even met her eyes, but they stayed silent and let Cisco babble.

He was clueless to anyone else on the floor. His back was turned in the direction they were walking, taking small steps back while staring pointedly into Barry's eyes.

"Well, what I'm saying is that you're going to need to think about a lot of dead puppies, like we're talking a whole kennel. And baseball. Cold showers--"

Parker pressed her hands on Cisco's back as he stepped in her way, almost plowing over her.

"Stop making him blush, Cisco. Barry and I will be just fine," Parker promised.

Cisco opened his mouth, probably to say more on the subject of moving too fast, but a phone call interrupted him. He stepped away from the group.

"Good morning, my love," Parker greeted to Barry.

She held her arms out and Barry fit into them, dropping his neck to kiss her hot chocolate tasting lips.

"Linda's cool, if you wanted to know. I think you two should meet. You would probably get along so much better than I do with her," Barry admitted.

Parker patted his cheek lovingly. "Well, if you haven't noticed, you're a dork when girls are around. I feel bad for her."

Barry rolled his eyes and settled them behind her. His brow furrowed.

Parker pulled away from him to look. She was torn from Barry's grasp by Cisco.

"Hey, sorry. Park and I are needed."

"For what?" Parker and Barry chorused.

Cisco made an unsure noise. "Lots of things. I need you for the day. Or night. A long time. I don't know, bye everyone!"