EXPEDITE ▇▇▇▇ VOLUME TWO
━━ ❛ 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 ❜

chapter no. 039!

𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙒𝙀𝙀𝙆 𝙇𝘼𝙏𝙀𝙍. . .

     MUMBLING ANOTHER APOLOGY UNDER HIS BREATH, BARRY ALLEN PUSHED THROUGH THE CROWD OF POLICE OFFICERS AS HE MADE HIS WAY TO CAPTAIN SINGH'S OFFICE. Glancing down at his watch, he internally groaned at the time. He was late. Again.

     Once he made his way to the office door, he knocked once, rocking on the back of his heels anxiously. "Come in," Singh called from inside.

     Grabbing onto the doorknob, Barry quickly pushed his way in, shutting the door behind him. "Hey, sorry I'm late. I had to meet somebody and—" his voice faded away as he saw the familiar blonde CSI sitting on the couch.

     "You can add tardiness to the list, Captain," Julian spoke coldly, his arm resting on the armrest and hands folded neatly. Barry looked from him to Singh, bewildered.

     Taking in a deep breath, Captain Singh sighed. "Allen, it's been brought to my attention that you've been giving yourself unauthorized access to your colleagues' case files."

     A pot of anger grew in the pit of his stomach as his eyes narrowed, glaring slightly over to Julian, who stared back at him smugly. "Excuse me?" he asked, looking back to the Captain.

     "Along with multiple infractions, repeated absences, disappearing throughout the day, phone call interruptions, guests in the lab. The list is quite extensive, Captain." Julian shrugged innocently, watching as his superior rubbed his temple, eyes shut.

     The word guests was what caught Barry off-guard the most. He knew that the man was talking about Piper. No one else visited him in the lab except for Iris on occasion and Cisco and Caitlin. The three of them were allowed to be there. Piper, however, not so much. The lab was full of evidence, case files, and equipment that was sealed to everyone but CCPD employees.

     "I'm sorry," Barry started, raising his right hand, which held tightly onto his coffee cup, "with all due respect, I do my job here."

     Captain Singh nodded, leaning against his desk as he looked at the man he'd known for years. "You do good work here, Allen. Don't jeopardize that by thinking the rules don't apply to you. Understood?" he asked, raising a brow.

     Barry nodded. "Yes, sir."

     Julian scoffed, looking between the two with his mouth slowly dropping in shock. "Sorry, Captain, that's it? Sir, I document eight different—"

     "Nine."

     "—Nine different violations of regulations, and he gets a fifteen-second talking-to? You're not even going to question him about his girlfriend who, although very kind, comes to visit him frequently? In our lab? Where there is countless—"

     "Allen, you have a girlfriend? I didn't know that. Since when?" Captain Singh asked, intrigued, completely cutting Julian off.

     The blonde snapped his mouth shut, grumbling under his breath as his coworkers' eyes widened.

     "Oh, no, no, no, no. I-I don't, she's not my... No. Piper and I are uh, just... friends." Barry stuttered, a bitter taste resting on his tongue after he called her his friend. Of course, they were friends. Best friends, but both of them wanted more than that. It just wasn't a good time.

     Julian's ears perked up at hearing the startling news.

     "We'll talk about your love life later, Allen. We're done here. You can go." Captain Singh announced, walking around his desk. Barry nodded and went to the door, opening it and sarcastically gesturing for the blonde to go first. Julian rolled his eyes, picking up his pace as he walked down the hall.

     Following his coworker, Barry scowled. "Were you really just being a tattletale?" he questioned incredulously. "That's bush league, man."

     The blonde dismissed the comment for the first time ever and turned around with a curious gleam in his eyes. "Is it true?" Julian asked, watching as the brown-haired man's facial expression went from one of annoyance to perplexion. "Is Piper Lita not your girlfriend?"

     Those six words were phrased into a question that the scarlet speedster didn't want to answer. If he was going to give anyone an answer, the last person would be Julian Albert.

     Narrowing his eyes, he took a step forward. He understood why Julian was asking; why he was intrigued and attracted to the scarlet-haired beauty. Anyone who didn't find the woman likable or lovable was ridiculously blind and dense. Piper Lita was the definition of perfection itself. Everything about her, the good and the bad, made her so beautifully unique and euphoric.

     Barry didn't blame Julian for liking her, he just didn't like knowing that the man was interested in her enough to try to pursue something.

     "It's complicated," he answered, deciding that was the only answer that was not a complete lie. Part of it was true. It was complicated but complicated because there were obstacles that needed to be overcome before the two could reach a place where they could be dedicated to one another.

     The blonde raised a brow, taking a step forward. "Is she single?" Julian asked, knowing that he couldn't avoid answering that with a skeptical response.

     Pressing his lips together, he breathed and nodded slightly.

     "Then I see no harm in asking her to go get coffee or lunch sometime," Julian shrugged, giving Barry a mildly friendly smile. "I've got work to do. Cheers." The brown-haired man opened his mouth to protest, but his co-worker was already turning a corner, leaving him alone in the hall.

     Breathing in deeply, Barry rubbed his forehead, feeling a strong headache coming his way. Suddenly, his phone started ringing, and he groaned, reaching into his back pocket for it. Looking at who was calling, he sighed in relief, desperately needing someone to vent to about his ever-growing hatred for the man with whom he had to share his office.

     "Cisco, I swear to God that I've never wanted to knock Julian out this badly before," Barry complained, beginning to walk down the hallway.

     "Good morning to you too, sunshine. By the way, you're on speaker," Cisco added.

     "Your voice sounds really hot over the phone," a feminine voice blurted, and the brown-haired man smirked.

     Coming to a stop, he leaned against the wall. "Oh, really?" he replied, smiling cheekily; all thoughts of Julian gone. A rosy tint was rising to his cheeks as all he wanted to do was be sitting beside the redhead.

     The sound of someone faking gagging could be heard on the other end, and Barry rolled his eyes. "Stop flirting with my girlfriend, ding dong. I'm not paying my phone bill for this." Cisco retorted, resulting in the speedster rolling his eyes. "Look, I'm calling because there have been thirty hits downtown on the meta-human app."

     All images of him and Piper together disappeared from his mind as Barry straightened his posture. "What are we looking at?" he asked.

     "Well, nothing really. Every traffic cam in a ten-block radius suddenly went down, so we're flying blind, and the hits are all over the map." Cisco answered, the sound of keys clicking echoing through the phone.

     "All right, well, there's one way to see what's going on," Barry stated, hanging up and dashing out of the precinct, heading straight for downtown Central City.

     The city whooshed by in a mountain of colors, the sounds of horns honking and laughter filling the hundreds of streets. Barry sped in between cars, his eyes narrowed and focused. "Most of the chatter's coming from the harbor district," Cisco announced through the comms.

     The scarlet speedster skidded to a stop, noticing the fleeing crowds of people, yellow lightning bouncing off the balls of his feet. His eyes cast around the street, taking notice of the multiple cars on fire and the broken lampposts that had collapsed to the ground. People pushed past him, racing to get as far away as possible.

     "All right, I'm here. It's a bad scene, man." Barry spoke, watching as sparks shot off a bus. The sound of terrified screams got louder, and the speedster looked up, his eyes widening.

     "You should be right on top of it, Barry," Cisco replied, his voice barely audible over the sound of cars crashing.

     "Or on top of me," Piper mumbled, and Barry blinked, feeling his cheeks growing hot.

     "Really, Lita? Right now?" the sound of an annoyed Harrison Wells echoed.

     "Harrison, I would not test me right now," she fired back, a trace of anger evident in her voice. Piper gradually surpassed her anger with everyone else but the scientist. Harry had pushed her one too many times, and this time seemed to be the one that cracked their relationship in a major way.

     Forcing himself to ignore Piper's very suggestive comment, the scarlet speedster looked up, gulping as he saw what was turning down onto the very street he was standing in. "What is it? Causing the attack?" Cisco questioned, getting back to the situation at hand.

     "It's a... monster?" Barry answered hesitantly, taking a step back as a gigantic, green alien-like creature roared powerfully.

     More sparks shot off nearby lampposts before they collapsed to the ground, the sound of people screaming only intensifying. As the monster strolled forward, a transformer, about twenty feet away, exploded, resulting in only more chaos. Barry turned his head, looking behind him to make sure there was only one of the unknown monster.

     "Guys, did you hear me? There is a monster in Central City." Barry declared loudly through the comms, hoping everyone heard him over the yelling.

     "What are we talking? Yao Ming size or Andre the Giant?" Cisco asked semi-jokingly.

     The speedster rolled his eyes. "No, it's like, an actual monster."

     Keyboard keys could be heard clicking as Piper asked, "What even makes that?"

     "I don't even know that," Harry admitted, and Barry began running, grabbing people and rushing them down the street, desperately trying to help as many as he could.

     "S.T.A.R. Labs satellite, show me something. Whoa. You ever see anything like that on Earth-Two or Four?" Cisco asked Harry and Piper, both of which responded with no.

     A black car started reversing and did a one-eighty as a bus pulled up beside it, and a taxi driver drove straight into a car across the street. Barry's eyes widened, and he rushed to the bus, his eyes widening when he saw that Iris was already there, trying to pry the doors open. "Iris, what are you doing here?" he asked incredulously, joining her side.

     "Working on a story," the reporter glanced at him, "and last time I checked, you don't need super-speed and a red suit to help people."

     The two of them grunted, successfully prying the doors open and stepping back as a mass of people spewed out, dispersing in every direction.

     "All right, get out of here. I'm gonna try to stop that thing." Barry stated, nodding in the direction of the monster. Speeding away from the bus, the local hero came to stop a block away, his brows furrowed. "Cisco, where'd it go?"

     "Can't track it if I can't see it," the long-haired boy replied, sighing heavily.

     "Use your ears, you dipshits. What do you hear?" Piper asked, a lace of annoyance intertwined in her tone. Barry frowned slightly, tuning in to his surroundings.

     "What do you hear?" What is this? You guys like to play some little game on Earth—" Harry retorted before Cisco cut him off.

     "It's a car alarm. I can use the car alarms to track the monster's direction."

     The scarlet speedster's eyes danced around, looking out for a glimpse of swamp-green mayhem.

     "We got him," Cisco announced triumphantly. "Head north three blocks." Barry sped down three blocks, coming to a stop as he noticed that not one person was in sight, and the monster was gone. "I lost him," the long-haired boy announced in defeat over the comms.

     "Yeah, me too."

────

     COFFEE WAS A DRUG, AND BOY WAS PIPER LITA ADDICTED. If one were to combine her occasional sleepless nights with her anxiety attacks that no one knew about, the meltdown that happened because of Savitar last week, and the constant flashing back to the same memory of her in her car back on Earth-Four, they would need coffee to keep functioning too.

     The redhead had just finished downing her third cup of the morning when a gust of wind flew by her, and a trail of random papers followed. Placing the S.T.A.R. Labs coffee mug down, the woman looked up, giving the scarlet speedster a small smile as she noticed that he was already looking her way.

     A clan of butterflies fluttered around in Barry's chest as his clover-green eyes locked on her. It was a small moment, but the way Piper looked was magnificent.

     Her red hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and loose, curly strands framed her face. She was wearing his navy blue flannel that was a couple of sizes too big for her yet looked better on her than it ever would on him. There were mildly heavy dark circles underneath her eyes, but they were gradually getting somewhat better, or at least that's what Barry liked to think.

     Ever since the attack involving Dr. Alchemy and the Rival, she'd been more on the edge and aggressive than usual. Nights went from being sleepless to being filled with nightmares. Jumps when a door slammed, turned into her punching whoever had slammed the door; her victims primarily being Barry and Erin. She'd been less energetic and engaging with the team. That included snapping at Harry more than usual.

     Overall, she hadn't been acting normal or as normal as she usually did.

     Returning the small smile that hadn't made an appearance lately, Barry leaned against the railing, looking at both Harry and Cisco, staring down at the computer in the center of the desk. "I don't get it," Cisco mumbled, dumbfounded. "I don't get it."

     Looking to her right, Piper raised her brows as she peered questionably at her best friend. "Get what?" she asked, propping her right elbow on the desk and resting her chin in the palm of her hand.

     "Every meta-human we've encountered has been exactly that, meta-human, so where did this thing come from?" Cisco inquired, waiting for somebody to give him the answer so his mind could stop running in endless circles.

     "I don't know where it came from, man. I just, it just vanished. That's all I know. It was gone." Barry explained, snapping his fingers together.

     Harry groaned dramatically, causing all eyes to drift to him. "Look, we can discover where he came from later, but right now, we need to figure out how to stop this thing," the scientist snapped, sliding his glasses on.

     The other two boys nodded as Piper stared at her empty coffee mug, trying to think of ways they could stop a monster that could disappear into thin air.

     Wait, just a frickity frack—

     "Okay, this might sound insane. Who knows, honestly, it's probably the coffee talking, but what if we use carbon fibers to capture him?" Piper suddenly asked, lifting her head up as she looked at everyone. The three men stared back at her with blank facial expressions, completely lost as to where she was going with this. "When I was a kid, there used to be these ropes made from carbon fiber that my friends and I used to jump rope with. They're ultralight but strong enough to pull literally almost anything. We could restrain the monster with that."

     Cisco nodded his head slowly, flicking his eyebrows up. "It's not a bad idea," he shrugged.

     Piper smiled, looking back to the other two. "Now you guys can quit staring at me like I'm fucking stupid. Sometimes I have good ideas," she retorted, sticking her tongue out at the scientist who was rolling his eyes.

     "Harry and I can try it out down in my workshop," the long-haired boy suggested, glancing at the scientist who shrugged in response.

     "Before you do that, something else was weird, though." Barry began, straightening his posture as all attention swiveled to him. "I-I saw a transformer explode as this thing passed by it."

     Piper frowned, glancing at Cisco, who also resembled the same confused yet somewhat troubled expression. "What's weird about that?" the long-haired boy asked, looking at the speedster.

     "Monster didn't even lay a finger on it. It exploded before it got to it." Barry stated, causing the redhead to open her mouth to comment but immediately shut it, not entirely knowing how to respond.

     "Kind of reminds me of that Hitchcock movie where the extra covers his ears before the gun goes off." Cisco chuckled, and Barry nodded in agreement, faintly smiling at the movie reference.

     Harry rolled his eyes at the two. "Allen, the monster could have emitted some kind of electrical pulse. Do you think there's any way I, or you, could get a look at the transformer?" the scientist asked, causing the brown-haired man to look his way.

     "No. The whole place is a crime scene now with Julian in charge of it." Barry replied bitterly, glaring at the floor.

     "Allen..." Harry said slowly, glaring at the speedster as he sighed.

     "Yeah, all right," the speedster muttered, walking around the computers and out of the room.

     Looking up from where she was sitting, Piper quickly hopped out of her chair and followed him out of the Cortex. "Barry," she called, stopping as he turned around to face her, a smile automatically gracing his cheeks. "Can I come with you? Back to CCPD."

     Furrowing his brows, Barry tilted his head to the side. "Why?" he questioned.

     "I want to ask Julian about the husks of skin," she breathed, noticing that the brown-haired man froze, his body tensing up at the mention of his co-worker's name. "I'm not taking no for an answer," she added.

────

     "JUST STAY HERE," Barry whispered, giving Piper a pointed look as he walked into the lab, leaving her leaning against the door frame. Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and watched as Julian packed his things together to go to the crime scene. She tilted her head, checking him out quickly before letting out a quiet breath.

     The scarlet speedster had, reluctantly, told her about what apparently happened earlier that morning with the blonde CSI and how he was interested in her. The news didn't entirely surprise her, considering she already knew from gossiping with Cisco and Caitlin a couple of days ago that the man more than likely had a thing for her. She didn't mind, Julian was sweet, but her heart was dead-set on Barry.

     It would always be Barry.

     "Hey, Julian." Barry sighed, ruffling through the papers on his desk as the latter raised his gaze.

     "You seen this?" Julian asked, nodding his head towards the TV behind his desk where coverage of the attack was being broadcasted. "It's bad enough we have the metas destroying the city. Now we have this thing to worry about."

     The brown-haired man nodded, keeping his gaze on his desk.

     "Is there any point in me asking where you've been for the last hour? Or should I just assume the rules still don't apply to you?" the CSI asked, stopping in his movement and turning to face Barry.

     "I was, I..."

     Rolling her eyes, Piper walked into the room, uncrossing her arms. "He was with me," she said, causing both men to look at her. "I was at work and needed a ride. My car is currently in the shop, so I called Barry. I'm sorry about any inconvenience that may have caused."

     A smile spread across Julian's lips at the sight of her, his heart only growing warmer the more she talked. "That's all right. No apology is needed, darling. I completely understand," he replied, sticking his hands into his pockets. She smiled softly. "Where do you work?"

     "I work for S.T.A.R. Labs. I'm a cytologist," Piper answered, recalling her old profession from when she lived on Earth-Four. A profession that had ended and faded away years ago, along with half of her knowledge.

     Julian's brows raised. "Oh wow, that's quite impressive," he complimented.

     Looking in-between the two smiling adults, Barry breathed in deeply, trying to contain his jealousy. "Anyways," he interrupted, causing the blonde to turn his head back towards him. "Look, man, so I know that... you and I... we got off on the wrong foot. We never managed to find the right one, and I'll take that. That's probably my fault, but I just... I don't want things to be like that anymore, you know? I-I'd like it if things changed."

     The redhead stepped back a bit towards the speedster, watching him as he spoke the words he'd dreadfully utter ever since they left S.T.A.R. Labs.

     "It's funny, 'cause I remember you saying something similar to that right before you stole the case from underneath me," Julian spoke bitterly, placing a hand on his hip. Barry raised his pointer finger, ready to interject before the man continued. "Do you know what it's like to work side-by-side with someone with such little regard for the rules? You may very well be contaminating my work."

     Placing a hand over her mouth, Piper held herself back from laughing at the two. Barry's facial expressions, combined with Julian's criticisms and British accent, were enough to make her almost die laughing.

     It was tensely quiet until the speedster looked up, ignoring the foul taste in his mouth as he forced himself to speak. "That's exactly why I want to learn from you."

     The blonde CSI blinked, his face blank as he stared at the latter. "I don't follow," he said, looking back to his desk and continuing to pack his equipment.

     "I just, you know, whenever I read your reports, it's clear that your evidence collection techniques are far superior to mine." Barry cleared his throat, walking forward and stopping in front of the blonde.

     Julian raised his head, looking at him as he scoffed slightly. "Go on."

     Piper's eyes darted between the two as she watched the brown-haired man struggle with complimenting and kissing up to his coworker.

     "I don't know; I mean, if I could just shadow you for a day, maybe ask a few questions, I think you could really help bring my skills up to... snuff. What do you say?" Barry purposed, gesturing to the CSI, who was shrugging on his blazer.

     Julian sighed before furrowing his brows, appearing to give some genuine thought to the offer. Then, he shook his head and scoffed again. "Sorry." He walked around Piper and Barry and toward the open entrance.

     Noticing the frustrated and disappointed look on Barry's face, the redhead sighed, deciding to take one for the team. "Julian," she called, watching as the sound of her voice caused him to pause. Barry looked over at her, giving her a perplexed expression as she stepped forward. "Would you want to go out tonight?"

     Barry's jaw dropped as he stared at her in disbelief and his coworker turned around, a smile dancing across his lips.

     "Go out? As in a date?" Julian questioned, glancing at Barry, who looked like he was struggling to breathe properly.

     Piper... The things you do for this boy.

     "Yes. On one condition," she paused, holding up an index finger. Julian nodded. "You let Barry follow you on this case and shadow you for the day."

     The CSI's eyes darted between her and Barry, resisting the urge to smirk as he noticed his co-worker's heartbroken yet bewildered expression. "Sounds good to me. Allen, you can't slow me down, though," he warned, nodding towards him.

     Blinking, the speedster looked at him wearily. "I would never," he remarked sarcastically.

     "All right, meet me down at the elevator in five minutes," Julian replied before looking to Piper. "I'll call you later, Piper. I look forward to tonight."

     Piper nodded, giving him a small wave and watching as he disappeared down the hall.

     Once the blonde was out of earshot, Barry turned to Piper. "What the hell was that?!" he exclaimed; his brows raised significantly high.

     "I just got you the case. Now, you can go look at that transformer and investigate. We've gotta learn more about this monster. Also, you can ask him about the husks." Piper explained, tucking a loose curl behind her ear, and he groaned.

     "No. I mean, why did you just ask Julian out? The guy has a thing for you!" Barry pointed out, his voice growing high.

     "I did it to get you on the case! You know he was never going to say yes, but now, he has. I'm taking one for the team, dumbass," she defended, crossing her arms.

     He groaned again, running his hands over his face. "Taking one for the team? Piper, what about us? I thought you—" Barry's sentence was cut off as she stepped forward, pressing her lips to his. Immediately, his eyes fluttered shut, and his arms wrapped around her, pulling her body closer to his. Uncrossing her arms, her hands reached up and grabbed onto the collar of his shirt.

     Feeling their lips begin to move together in a smooth rhythm, Piper pulled back, only for Barry to lean forward and reconnect their lips.

     The bottom of her flannel shifted as his hand slid up her bare skin, causing a wave of goosebumps to appear. Her knees began to grow weak as their lips continued to dance over the others, and she moaned softly as Barry bit down on her bottom lip.

     Sparks were coursing throughout her body as she forced herself to pull away, her chest rising and falling quickly. "Don't," she whispered, out of breath, "ever question my feelings for you. The way I feel for you will never change, Barry Allen. Now, go investigate a monster."

     Looking between her eyes, he smirked. "Maybe I should get jealous more often if this is how you react," he murmured, kissing her lips softly.

     Rolling her eyes, she stepped back. "I will never react like that again unless you leave and go meet Julian. Remember, I'm going on this date later so your ass can track down Central City's newest meta-human," she retorted, pointing her finger at him.

     "We're finishing that later," Barry smiled, grabbing his bag, which rested in the chair behind his desk.

     "You wish, now go," Piper urged, gesturing towards the open entrance.

     With a mischievous smile lining his face, the scarlet speedster pressed a kiss to her cheek before jogging out of the lab.

────

     THE LEATHER JACKET SLIPPED OVER HER SHOULDERS AND SHE PULLED HER STRAIGHTENED RED HAIR OUT FROM UNDERNEATH. Looking into the mirror, she nodded, approving of the outfit Erin had picked out. Fake snake-skin silk pants hugged her legs, and she wore a cropped white long-sleeve top, accompanied by gold necklaces hanging around her neck. A small smile spread across her lips as Erin came up from behind, wrapping her arms around her waist.

     "You look hot," she stated, to which Iris nodded in agreement from where she sat on the pull-out bed in the room Harry stayed in.

     Piper snorted, shaking her head. "Honestly, I feel like I just dug myself into a hole with Julian that I may not be able to get out of," she admitted, sighing.

     "Oh, you definitely did," Erin responded, rolling her eyes as the reporter gasped.

     "Babe, don't say that! P's got this. It's just one date!" Iris said optimistically, sending the redhead a bright smile.

     Erin rolled her eyes, giving her girlfriend a deadpanned look. "Don't lie to our friend like that," she retorted.

     Piper groaned, pulling out of her best friend's arms and turning around. "If you don't shut up, I'm only going to get more nervous," she warned, reaching over for her purse and hoisting it onto her shoulder.

     The door to the room opened, and Caitlin poked her head in, gasping when she saw Piper. "Oh, my gosh, Piper, you look beautiful!" she gushed, and the woman blushed. "Before you leave, we're debriefing and going over everything we know so far in the Cortex," she added, opening the door wider as Iris made her way out.

     "Sounds good. Let's go," Erin replied, grabbing onto Piper's hand and dragging her out of the room, Caitlin and Iris walking beside them.

     "Barry's already jealous and annoyed enough that you and Julian are going out. When he sees you like this, it will add more to that." Caitlin noted, nudging Piper as a smirk spread across her face. The redhead groaned.

     "Which is only going to make the oh-so-obvious sexual tension that follows you guys everywhere even more obvious," Iris laughed.

     Piper's face burned red. "All of you need to shut up," she grumbled.

     The other three simply shared knowing looks as they entered the Cortex where Barry, Cisco, Joe, and Harry were gathered.

      Joe was the first one to notice their arrival, his brows raised as he looked over at Piper. Catching his daughter's eye, he chuckled quietly as she pointed to Barry and then drew a heart in the air with her fingers.

     "Transformers are the key. Anytime the monster's shown up, any nearby has exploded," the brown-haired man established, watching as Cisco typed away on the computer.

     "Car alarms keep malfunctioning too," the long-haired boy mumbled, glancing up before looking back down. Doing a double-take, he quickly looked back up, his eyes widening as they rested on the beautiful woman who was standing in front of the desk. "Wow," Cisco breathed, standing up straight.

     Raising his head, Barry looked up from the computer screen to see what Cisco was gaping at.

     The moment his eyes landed on Piper, his jaw dropped, and his eyes widened. She looked absolutely breathtaking, more so than she usually did. Glossing over her outfit, a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips before it crashed at Cisco's words.

    "Julian's one lucky dude," the long-haired boy admitted, nodding towards the woman.

     Piper rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Yeah, well, I hope this goes well because the last time I went out on a dinner date, it ended with the dude having a black eye and bloody nose," she sighed, noticing the amused look that crossed Detective West's face.

     Erin snickered, covering her mouth with her hand once the redhead shot her a playful glare.

     "You look beautiful," Barry breathed, causing the woman to look at him, her cheeks flushing pink.

     "Thank you," Piper said softly, giving him a small smile. The two held eye contact, neither wanting to break it as everyone began to go over everything they knew about their current meta-human.

     Gesturing with his head to the entrance, Barry walked out of the room, hoping the redhead was following behind him.

     Piper walked around the row of computers and gave Erin a small wave goodbye before she left. Once she was out in the hallway, the brown-haired man grabbed onto her hand and raced them to Cisco's workshop. Papers flew everywhere, and Piper brushed her hair out of her face, looking up at the speedster in confusion.

     "Barry, what—" The sound of her voice became muffled as Barry cupped her cheeks and pressed his lips to hers softly.

     Before either of them could deepen the kiss or move, she pulled back, her eyes fluttering open. "Bar, I have to leave soon," she whispered, feeling his hands wrap around her torso, bringing them closer. The sound of her breathing hitched as Barry pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head.

     Piper wrapped her arms around him, relaxing in his arms.

     "I don't want you to go," the brown-haired man muttered, frowning as he ran his hand through her hair.

     "I know, but I was the one who asked him out in the first place so we could help the city. I'm going through with this date, and it's just one date, okay?" she clarified.

     Barry nodded, trying his best to push aside the uncomfortable feeling in his chest as he let her go, stepping back. Looking her up and down, he sighed, rubbing his temples. "If he tries to kiss you, I will kill him."