Episode 19 - Killer Bees, Really?

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B A R R Y

I rolled over and reached out to turn off the buzzing on my alarm as it goes off. I turned back over and stretched my arms out and turned to face Caitlin beside me. She's so beautiful, adorable, and cute. She had a small smile on her face and was drooling a little bit on the pillow. I'm so glad she's in my life. I kiss her on the cheek and get ready for the day.

T H I R D   P E R S O N

Caitlin re-enters the room reading off the chemical breakdown in the victim's blood sample on her tablet.

"Death by apitoxin" she informed the rest of the team as she stopped to lean against the desk facing everyone.

"Honey Bee venom," Sophia muttered. "That's a new one."

"Bees... why'd it have to be bees?" Cisco said.

"Indiana Jones really?" Sophia rolled her eyes.

"It's a classic," Cisco said.

"Come over to my house and I'll show you a real classic."

"But when a honey bee stings the stingers are literally torn out from their abdomen and they die," Caitlin added after clearing her throat.

"But there were no stingers in the body. And no dead bees in the car." Barry told them.

"A honey bee can only deposit 1 milligram of apitoxin when it releases its stinger." She stated.

"And yet Miss Kang was found with enough venom in her system to kill a herd of elephants. It appears not only is a metahuman controlling these bees but also increasing their toxicity." Wells added to the conversation.

From the corner of her eyes, Caitlin noticed as Barry shifted uncomfortably. Caitlin knew something was eating away at him. But Caitlin bit down on her bottom lip and continued to keep a cautious eye on Barry.

"Bees communicate by releasing pheromones maybe this meta is controlling them through secretion," Barry said bluntly as he avoided Dr. Wells' intent gaze.

"Anyone want to join me in getting a beekeeper suit?" Cisco proposed.

"I'm pretty sure I can outrun a bee," Barry replied with a smirk.

"Just don't run into a lake." A familiar, feminine voice said from the doorway. Caitlin started to grin. Felicity Smoak was back at STAR Labs. "They'll wait for you to come up for air and then they'll sting you. On discovery channel, it turns out there's a lot to discover."

Caitlin waved at her old friend, but Barry looked slightly less excited. "Felicity.. what are you doing here?"

"Can you guys come outside?" Felicity said.

"What exactly are we waiting for, Miss Smoak?" Dr. Wells said as the team was outside of S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Up there!" Felicity's finger shot towards the sky.

"Is that a bird?" Caitlin wrinkled her nose, trying to see the shape against the dark clouds.

"It's a plane." Cisco contradicted.

"It's Superman!" Sophia yelled excitingly. (Superman is her favorite superhero)

It was not a bird or a plane nor Superman. But a man in a metal suit crashed down from the sky and landed heavily, cracking the pavement. "It's my boyfriend," Felicity told them with a grin.

The helmet came off, and the man underneath grinned. "Hi!" He waved. "I'm Ray."

"I'm too late," Barry told them over the com.

"Where are the bees?" Cisco asked.

"I don't know. There's no sign of them." A long pause. Then, "Found them."

"Barry, don't let them sting you!" Caitlin said.

"Yeah, that would be preferable!" He snarked. They watched his tracker speed around the building. "Uh, how do I get out of here?!"

"Take the East Wing. It's the quickest way out of the building." Cisco said.

They saw his dot move towards that wing and then stop. "Guys!" He yelled. "They're everywhere! I'm surrounded!"

"Barry!" Caitlin cried. "Guys, his vitals are down. He's flatlining. We have to do something!"

Sophia's phone rang. "It's Joe." She pressed the speakerphone, and Joe's frantic voice filled the air.

"SOPHIA! Barry doesn't have a pulse."

"Step away from him!" She commanded. "We need to jumpstart his heart. There's a defibrillator in his suit." She raced over to her computer and frantically began to type.

"Charge it to 300 hundred jewels," Caitlin commanded Harrison.

He clicked a button on his computer. "Charging in 3-2-1."

Caitlin stared at Barry's vitals as they were rapidly spiked. But all too soon, they had flat-lined again. "Try it again!" Her voice shook. All of her was shaking. "400 jewels!"

"Come on Barry," Sophia said as her hands were wrapped behind her head. Wells clicked the button again.

Nothing happened for the longest moment. Then Barry's vitals shot up. And they could hear him coughing over the coms.

As soon as Barry got back to STAR Labs, Caitlin punched him in the chest. "Ow!" He yelped.

"Never do that again. Never never never!"

He caught her fists and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry," Barry said kissing her.

Sophia walked over. "You scared the hell out of me don't ever do that again." She said hugging him tightly.

"That is it for the defibrillator. It is completely fried." Cisco said.

"You're lucky to be alive Mr. Allen." Harrison sounded upset, but also extremely relieved.

"I was very specific that you not die." Felicity hissed.

Barry collapsed into a chair. "Cisco." He asked. "What happened out there. I followed your directions exactly."

"I'm sorry." Cisco looked miserable. "I led you the wrong way. The schematics that we had, they, um, weren't up to date."

"They weren't up to date, what? That's never happened before."

Felicity swayed from side to side a little, a teasing smile on her face. "What you think Cisco was trying to get you killed?"

There was an awkward silence. Caitlin glanced up from her tablet where she was scanning Barry's blood, frowning. "No!" He said finally. "No, why- why would he do that?"

Felicity squinted at him. "That's why I was joking."

Barry laughed nervously, and Caitlin cleared her throat. "Uh, good news: The antitoxin is out of your body. You are back to normal." She sent him a glance. We will talk about this later.

Felicity breathed a sigh of relief. "Terrific." The next second and he was standing behind the desks, dressed in a suit. "Alright, Felicity. We're gonna be late for dinner."

"Are you sure that's wise, Barry?" Dr. Wells said.

"Maybe you should order in tonight?" Cisco suggested.

"Yeah!" Ray agreed. "We can cancel."

Barry shook his head. "I'm fine! Alive. Hungry. Alright? Let's go." He said offering his hand to Caitlin.

The pair turned and walked out of the door. Ray and Felicity shrugged at each other and followed. "That was weird," Cisco muttered.

"Yeah." Sophia agreed."Why didn't we get invited to dinner?"

"Ahh Who needs them. How about we binge-watch Doctor Who and order some pizza." Cisco offered.

"You mean Like a date?"

"Yeah... Like a date." Cisco replied sheepishly rubbing his neck.

Ray and Barry both held a door open for the girls, and they rolled their eyes at each other as they walked into the restaurant. "Ok, I get that it's gentlemanly and all, but I have been opening my own door for many years; I think I've got it handled by now," Felicity muttered, and Caitlin laughed.

"Hey, guys!" Felicity called over to Eddie and Iris, who were both seated at the dinner table already. "Wow Iris, check you out!"

Iris laughed and gave both the girls a hug. "Hey, Caitlin."

"Hi, Iris." Caitlin smiled. "You look great."

Felicity introduced Ray, and soon they were all seated around the table, drinking wine and looking at menus.

"So, how did you guys meet?" Eddie asked Felicity and Ray.

Ray beamed, a natural resting face for him, it seemed. "I bought out the company where Felicity worked, so she was forced to join me at Palmer Tech."

Felicity winced and quickly added. "It's not as creepy as it sounds."

"Barry," Ray spoke up as their dishes were set down. "I envy you, spending so much time at STAR Labs. Dr. Wells is a personal hero of mine. I mean, it's amazing just being in the same room as him."

Ray babbled on, but Caitlin saw Barry's face fall. He didn't look at her, and she wondered worriedly what was up. Was it a medical problem? Maybe from the bee stings? It didn't seem likely, but maybe she should run some tests, just in case.

Caitlin reached under the table and squeezed his hand. He squeezed back.

Then Barry's phone rang.

"Hey, sis..."

"Barry you've got to get to S.T.A.R. labs NOW!"

Barry and Caitlin rushed to S.T.A.R. LABS and saw Cisco on the floor with Sophia applying pressure on his chest.

"Come on, wake up please," Sophia said her voice cracking with tears streaming down her face.

"Cisco!" Caitlin cried kneeling on the pavement.

Barry slid to her side a second later. "Hold on, I'm gonna try something." His hands became two blurs of speed, lightning crackling between them.

Placing his hands on Cisco's chest, Barry zapped him, and Cisco flopped like a dead fish on the pavement. There was a long tense silence where nothing happened, Sophia and Caitlin started to cry.

Then Cisco gasped and opened his eyes. Barry helped him up, and Caitlin placed her hand on his shoulder. "Either my fear of bees is over," Cisco muttered. "Or it just got a lot worse."

Sophia gave her friend a tight hug. "Next time how about we go to big belly burger instead." She smiled.

"I'd like that."