It had been two weeks since Winnie had woken up and she was getting a bit sick of all the tests. It seemed that Caitlin was running every single one availible on her and it was getting pretty old. She understood why Caitlin felt the need to run all of them but Winnie was tired of being stuck inside without any plants or fresh air. 

Sure, she was getting along wonderfully with everyone, especially Cisco. They both had quite a bit in common but, Winnie missed the outdoors, she missed Iris, and she missed Barry. 

Every other day, Joe would come in to check up on Winnie and they would talk about their day but,most days were the same when she was cooped up in Star Labs.

"I'm telling you, Winn. You have to watch Inception! It's one of the best movies ever created!"

"I would have but, I already told you that I never got around to it. If you really want me to watch it so bad, why don't you just bring the DVD over and we can watch it together?"

"Alright, alright. But, I'm holding you to that." Cisco grinned back at Winnie, "Now, let's try it again."

"Ugh." Winnie groaned. While Caitlin had been trying to make sure Winnie was healthy, the doctor had also assigned Cisco the task of helping their patient with her physical therapy. Unlike Barry, Winnie's muscles had distrophied and she had some trouble walking. 

"Why did I have to go into a coma and go through this pain?" Winnie sighed. She used her arms to help push herself off the hospital bed that she had been using. Cisco walked up to where Winnie was standing and stood close enough for her to grab on to him, if need be. 

"It's too late now, you're just going to have to deal with it until you can walk normally. Now, come on we've got some walking to do." Cisco held out his arms for Winnie to hold on to for support and took a step back.

Winnie wobbled for a second as she moved one leg forward. As Cisco took another step back, Winnie tried her best to keep her legs steady and took another step. 

"You know what? How about I take you out wherever you want once you're back to walking by yourself? We could go to a restaurant or the movie theatre, maybe an amusement park of sorts. My treat." Cisco said perking up at all of the ideas.

"Are you trying to incentivize me, Cisco?" Winnie asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Maybe I am, or maybe I just want to spend time with my new friend. We are friends, right?"

"Of course, Cisco." Winnie said, "I'd like to spend time with my new friend too."

Cisco smiled and stopped walking, causing Winnie to bump into him.

"Oh, sorry. I wasn't paying attention." Winnie apologized.

"No, that's amazing, actually. You just walked more than you have the past few days! That's progress!" Cisco said excitedly.

Winnie turned around and realized that they had moved all the way out into the hallway. She hadn't even noticed. 

"At this rate, I'll be taking you out in no time." Cisco continued, "Oh, maybe I can take you to the Harry Potter Convention in October! It's going to be so awesome this year because I finally have someone else to go with me!"

"Yeah, I'm so excited. I usually have to drag Barry along with me but, now I don't have to!" Winnie said with a huge smile plastered on her face.

The two began to walk again, with Cisco leading the way again.

"We can dress up and everything! What's your house?" Cisco asked. 

"My house is-"

"Cisco!" A voice yelled from behind. 

Startled, the two turned their heads to see Caitlin walking up to them, an annoyed look on her face.

"I thought I told you to keep Winnie in her room." 

"I was trying to but, we weren't making much progress in there. It was getting kind of stuffy and we were both kind of tired of trying to walk around in circles. It also helps that there isn't anything to sit on out here, that way Winnie has a chance to walk around more. Besides, look how far we walked. We're almost to the cortex! She hasn't seen the cortex, yet!" Cisco said.

"Do you mind if I talk to Cisco for a second, Winnie." Caitlin asked in a much gentler tone.

Winnie looked at Caitlin and back at her hands, which were holding onto Cisco for support. "I would love to let you two speak privately but, there is a slight problem here."

Caitlin looked between her friends and realized that Winnie still had trouble walking by herself. "Oh my god, I'm sorry Winnie. I forgot for a second. Um, Cisco would you mind taking Winnie back to her room and then we could talk."

"Fine." Cisco slowly turned around and cautiously guided Winnie back to her room. 

Eventually, Cisco and Winnie made it back to her room and he helped her sit back down. 

"Alright, I guess I have to get going." Cisco said, a bit disappointed that he couldn't hang out with Winnie longer.

"I guess so. But, don't feel bad, I'm making progress. Plus, I've got my book to keep me company." Winnie said, waving her book around and grinning.

Cisco smiled at the comment, "Yeah, you should be proud. You're looking better everyday."

"Thanks, Cisco. I wouldn't have been able to make it this far without you."

"I'm sure you would have done just as well without me distracting you."

"That's not true. Your distractions have helped me keep my mind off the fact that I miss my garden and sister."

Cisco blushed slightly at the comment, he wasn't used to such nice comments from people he just met. Though, he did feel as if he'd known Winnie for years.

"Hufflepuff."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"My house, I'm in Hufflepuff. You know, with the badgers." She clarified making little paw movements with her hands.

"Well, that's not too surprising."

"What makes you say that?"

"You're probably the sweetest person I know. So, I guess it doesn't really surprise me. I'm in Ravenclaw, by the way." He said, making little flapping motions with his arms, "Caw, caw."

---

Cisco made his way down to the cortex and walked up to Caitlin, who was busy working on a desktop.

"What's the problem Caitlin? I was just trying to help Winnie."

"My problem is that Barry could have come in anytime and he would have found out that Winnie is awake."

"What's wrong with that? Why do we have to keep it a secret from Barry? He's our friend."

"Because Joe and I both agreed that Barry should be focusing on his training and not on-"

"Not on what Dr. Snow?" A new voice asked as he wheeled into the room.

Both scientists turned their heads to look at their boss, Harrison Wells. 

"I was just telling Cisco why it isn't a good idea for Barry to find out that Winnie is awake just yet." Caitlin explained.

"And why isn't it a good idea?"

"Because Barry needs to be training and improving his abilities."

"Yes, Barry does need to learn how to better control his powers but, I don't think it's a good idea to keep this from him for a long time." Dr. Wells said, folding his hands in his lap. 

"I understand that but, I just thought that Barry might get distracted and-" 

"Winnifred means a lot to Barry and he is going to get upset if he finds out that we kept this from him. So, while I do know where you're coming from, I don't think Barry will see it the same way." Dr. Wells said pointedly.

Caitlin looked down at her shoes and Cisco didn't know where to look. Trying to argue with Dr. Wells felt wrong and they didn't know how to respond.

"We'll discuss this matter, later. I've actually come to ask if Winnifred has shown any signs of... powers, yet?" Dr. Wells said dropping his voice at the end.

Caitlin shook her head, "No, she hasn't shown any symptoms or signs of any sorts of powers. I don't think she has any."

Dr. Wells locked eyes with Caitlin, a thoughtful look on his face, "Well, if she does, I want to know."

"Of course." Caitlin nodded.

By then, Cisco decided to start working on fine-tuning his suit (Barry's) and listened to the awkward silence that followed.

After about an hour of working, Barry and Joe strode into the room. They explained the newest case that the CCPD were working on and described the situation that they were in.

"Fascinating, a metahuman that can manipulate poison gas." Dr. Wells said.

"Is it just poisonous gas or all aerated substances?" Cisco jumped in.

"And how is he able to formulate the connection? Is it physiological or psychological?" Caitilin added.

All three scientists gathered around the computers in the middle of the room chatting, excitedly about this newfound metahuman. Meanwhile, Barry and Joe watched confused at their overlapping speeches.

"They get really excited about this stuff." Barry said turning to speak to Joe.

"The only thing I'm excited about is putting criminals behind bars, except Iron Heights isn't exactly equipped to handle metahumans." Joe said pointing out a problem that had been bothering him for a while.

"Well, I guess it's fortunate that the metahumans we've encountered so far are no longer with us." Dr. Wells stated.

"Well, unless we're planning on executing every super criminal we stop, you geniuses are going to have to come up with some place else to hold them."

"A metahuman prison. Sweet." Cisco said dreaming of all the powers they would encounter in the future.

"Until we figure a way to remove their powers." Dr. Wells added.

"There is one place here that might hold them." Cisco said after the idea popped into his head. Caitlin and Dr. Wells turned to look at him.

"You can't be serious." Caitlin said, "I mean, we haven't been down there since the... it's cordoned off."

"Cisco is right, it could be modified to act as a makeshift prison." Dr. Wells said agreeing with Cisco.

Barry and Joe looked confused. 

"What could?" Barry asked.

"The particle accelerator." Dr. Wells said.

The mention of that cursed place caused Caitlin to think about the horrible night of the explosion. The one where Ronnie died. She missed him every day and wished they could have just gone to Tahiti like she'd wanted. It would have been absolutely magical.

"Caitlin, Caitlin." Dr. Wells said snapping her out of her trance, "Did you hear me? We're going down to to the accelerator ring."

Barry could tell that something was bugging Caitlin and realized that she didn't want to go down there, "Actually Dr. Wells, I could use Caitlin's help identifying the poison gas."

Dr. Wells turned to see Caitlin sigh in relief and nodded his head, "Okay."

"If that's okay with you?" Barry asked Caitlin.

"Let's go."

--- 

Barry and Caitlin were sitting in an empty silence as they waited for the DNA results to come through.

Caitlin let herself look around the room, trying to understand Barry better. Sometimes you can learn a lot about a person based on what you find in their workspace and that's what she did. 

She looked at the walls and saw a few pictures that Barry had pinned to a corkboard. The first one she saw was of Barry and Iris sitting on a ledge surrounded by shrubbery, both laughing. The next picture she saw was of Joe who had his arm draped over Barry's shoulders, both smiling for the camera. 

The last one on the corkboard was of their little family. Barry was wearing a graduation gown a big grin on is face and his arm casually tossed around Winnie's shoulders; Winnie was wearing a sheepish smile, her cheeks slightly flushed; Joe was standing on Barry's other side clapping his hands and smiling at the two; Iris stood beside them holding what Caitlin assumed was Barry's diploma and laughing as well.

The sight of these pictures made Caitlin smile. She turned to see what Barry was doing and saw him staring intently at a picture frame that sat on his desk. He was turning a model of a molecule around with his hands and a faint smile played on his lips. 

Curious, she walked behind him and saw that it was a cute picture of Barry and Winnie. They must have been in a park and they both wore the happiest smiles she'd ever seen.

"Winnie means a lot to you, doesn't she?"

Barry's head whipped around breaking out of his trance, "Huh, oh. Uh, yeah. She-she does."

Caitlin felt a smirk trying to find it's way onto her face, "She's seems like an amazing person."

"The best, she's the best person I know." Barry said with a sad smile on his face.

Caitlin's lips dropped into a frown, realizing that she'd upset Barry, "Are-are you okay, Barry. I didn't mean to upset you, it's just that I-"

"No, no you didn't do anything wrong. It's just that I miss my best friend. The last thing I remember doing with her was fighting. I was afraid that we'd lose touch because she was moving away to Starling City and I didn't know how to react."

Caitlin moved to the other side of the table that Barry was sitting at and looked down at the floor as he spoke. She felt guilty about keeping Winnie a secret and didn't know how to respond to the feelings that Barry was sharing with her. 

"Can I ask you question that you don't have to answer?" Barry asked Caitlin, putting down the molecule he was fidgeting with.

"My least favourite kind of question, shoot."

"Ronnie, what was he like? You just, never talk about him that much."

"We met when we were working on the particle accelerator. He was the structural engineer. He liked to joke that he was basically a very high-priced plumber. We were very different. You might've noticed that I can be a bit guarded. Ronnie knew how to make me laugh. He... used to say we were like fire and ice. He wasn't supposed to be there that night. He was just there for me. He umm..."

A beeping noise interrupted Caitlin's thought and she turned to see the results.

"It says that there was no residue of gas in the tissue. Poisonous or otherwise."

Barry wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion, "Must've evaporated. We'll need to get a fresh sample."

"Wait, this can't be right. It says that there are two distinct strands of DNA inside the tissue." Caitlin said, walking over to show Barry the sheet with the results.

"How did someone else's DNA get inside the victim's lungs?"

The two looked at each other in confusion, whoever or whatever killed the gang was a lot more complicated than they thought.

---

Later that day...

Winnie had spent most of the day reading and she was 3/4 of the way through her book. Her eyes were beginning to feel strained and she had to take a break. Luckily, that was when Cisco entered her room.

"Hey, how you holdin' up? Not too bored, yet?" 

"Wow, you have perfect timing, Cisco. I was just going to go looking for you."

With Winnie's odd comment, Cisco raised his eyebrows to ask how she planned on accomplishing that.

"I was going to use the walls, besides I'm getting better." Winnie tried to reason.

"You are but, you should still try to avoid walking when there's no one else around to help you." Cisco said the concern clear in his voice.

"Fine, fine. Emergencies only." 

"Anyways, I brought a surprise for you." Cisco said in a sing-song voice. He cheerily waved around a DVD box that he'd hidden behind his back and a bag of microwavable popcorn, "Inception."

Winnie rolled her eyes, "Alright, alright. I'll watch it with you, as long as you share the popcorn."

"Who do you think you're talking to? Of course I'll share my popcorn with you. Sharing is caring after all!"

Cisco walked over to the DVD player sitting in the T.V. cabinet that had a handful of other DVDs that Cisco had watched with Winnie and Caitlin. He inserted the disc and left it so that the beginning trailers could play. 

"It's all set, I just need to put the popcorn in the microwave. I'll be back in 5." Cisco said walking out. But before he'd completely disappeared, he popped his head back in the doorway. "You don't need anything before I leave, do you?"

"No, I'm good. All I need is that popcorn and you, that way I have proof that I actually watched the movie."

Cisco gave her an exaggerated thumbs up and left the doorway, leaving Winnie's line of sight. Whistling, Cisco made his way to the room next to Winnie's. There, Cisco popped the bag in the appliance and clicked the timer button a few times before he was interrupted by a ring from his phone. 

"Cisco, we need you here in the cortex... like right now." Dr. Wells said in a strict voice, "Barry's out in the field and we need your help here on coms."

"I'll be right there." Cisco put his phone into his pocket and ran out of the room, not realizing that he'd clicked the button a few more times than necessary.

---

Winnie glanced anxiously at the clock by her bed, she had been tapping her fingers against the frame in anticipation for the past few minutes.

It'd been just barely 3 minutes since Cisco had left, yet it felt like an eternity for Winnie. She was bored and she couldn't read her book because she was at the part where she wouldn't be able to put it down again, once she started.

But, once the smell of something burning reached her nose, Winnie couldn't help but wonder what Cisco could possibly be doing. 

All of a sudden the beeps of the microwave signalled that the popcorn was officially done. Winnie waited for it to stop and Cisco to come back embarrassed that he'd burnt the popcorn but, a minute passed and it still hadn't stopped.

This was it, Winnie couldn't just sit there and let that darn microwave annoy her any longer. She cautiously got up and made very wobbly steps to the wall. Once she reached it, she nearly collapsed and had to take a few seconds to steady herself. 

"Okay, Winnie. This is it. You've done this plenty of times with Cisco, Caitlin, and dad. Of course, you can do this. This is the emergency you've been waiting for."

She inched her way towards the door, leaning all of her body weight against it in an attempt to hold herself up. 

Eventually, she reached the room with the microwave to find Cisco missing. 

"Cisco? Are you there? This better not be a joke." She announced.

Receiving no answer, Winnie made her way deeper into the room and stopped the continuous beeps from the microwave. She opened it to find a hot bag which she fiddled with. She wasn't by no means surprised to find that most of the bag was filled with burnt popcorn and left it on the counter to deal with later.

She had to find Cisco because she was pretty sure that he would never leave something in the microwave unattended like that.

"Cisco?" She called out as she slowly made her way down the hallways of the laboratory. After a few minutes she found her way to an open doorway that led to a room she'd never been in. 

Inside, she could hear voices, "...going to hurt a lot."

"It's a small needle, you probably won't even feel it." With that, Winnie's ears perked up having heard Cisco's voice.

She moved into the door's frame and froze when she saw Caitlin standing over Barry, who wore an odd looking costume. When she inspected the scene further, she noticed tha large looking needle in the doctor's hand.

"You're definitely going to feel it." Caitlin said as she leaned over him.

"W-Winnie?" Barry croaked as he saw a shadow creep into his view.

Caitlin, Cisco, and Dr. Wells all swivelled their heads to find Winnie, wide-eyed with her mouth opening and closing but, no words quite coming out.

"Winnie? What are you doing here?" Cisco asked, concerned.

"Caitlin! Do it now, or we're going to lose him." Dr. Wells commanded.

"C-Caitlin? Cis-Cisco? W-what's happen..." Winnie began