The Not-so-abandoned Warehouse: Thursday Evening

[badassprodigy]

Barry was back in his portion of his warehouse running experiments on a certain device which was sitting in the middle of a block of ice.

While he waited for the results on the most recent readings, he did something he hadn't done for a while which was initiate a connection to his remote lab back in his home dimension. He had shut down most of the operating equipment there but for one reason or another he was looking at the GPS tracking system he had in place for his friends and family. (Some people might call it an invasion of privacy but Barry had reasons, okay?) Looking at his scanner he could see the two blips for his mother and father. There was another two blips which were practically on top of each other representing Jeremy and Roxie and then... there was the single blip for Sara.

Barry stared at the screen for few moments taking it all in before terminating the connection and going back to his experiment. This was no time to be homesick or missing people.

There was science to do.

In a fancy hat.

As you do.

[Open Warehouse. Open Post. Subject to SP this evening.]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

See? He was already taking her more seriously, calling her SJW rather than Rainbow! That was probably a step in the right direction.

Right?

Twirling her ribbon to get the momentum up, she let the stick slide through her fingers and caught a length of fabric a few feet behind it. "Head!" The fiberglass stick went slamming into the back of the closest dummy's head. Catching the flying ribbon with a foot, she flipped, sending the stick flying backwards into the dummy behind her. "Right arm!" The stick smacked into the dummy's right bicep with a satisfying thwack. Yanking on the ribbon, the stick changed direction again, sailing back to the first dummy and hitting it right in the "Solar plexus!" A kick and the stick was flung into the hip of the dummy closest to Barry, right on the heels of her call.

She was going through several simple routine moves as she flung her stick into the dummies. It was how she'd learned and she wasn't sure that she could get the necessary accuracy by staying still. After a few minutes of warming up, she started speeding up. Her flips sent her flying all over the rooftop and she stopped using the stick only for ranged attacks. A low roll had her tossing the stick around the bottom of the dummy, tangling it in ribbon. When she bounced back up to her feet, she tugged and the dummy toppled over. A high roundhouse sent her flying over another dummy's head, and the stick flashed out to smack into a temple. She ran at the third, tossing a loop of ribbon over it and kept running until it too crashed to the roof.

When she came to a stop, barely breathing heavily, she stood in front of Barry, beaming, with all three dummies down and the ribbon fluttering at her ankles. She might even been posing a bit--if so, she wasn't going to tell.

[Link goes to a rhythm gymnastics vid. Starts at 40 seconds in; the next 10 seconds are pretty neat if you're interested.]

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry watched and gave a nod of approval when she was done. "Not my style but I don't have the speed you do," Barry commented. "The calling out of your attacks was for my benefit, right?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"No," Kathy deadpanned. "I figured that calling out where I'm about to hit someone and giving away my location is a really smart idea. I'm extra-looking forward to it if they have guns!"

There was a nascent smart-ass lurking beneath Kathy's meek demeanor.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Seems to me you'd be better off with a stunning ray gun than a ribbon," Barry said shrugging off the sarcasm. "But if you're going to be hopping around like I can probably improve upon your protection with your gi."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Stunning rays require a different kind of aim," Kathy said. "Or, rather, I think so. And--you can? Are you sure?" She gave him a hesitant smile. "I didn't come knocking on your warehouse door expecting to get presents, Barry. Or need them to be convinced you're a decent guy."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"You didn't even know someone was even in my fucking warehouse," Barry said shaking his head. "And this isn't a present. It's to prevent you from getting fucking shot because someone isn't afraid of a ribbon coming at their head. I mean you look fast and can handle a fight but I'm guessing your not immune to bullets. I've made some lightweight material that will provide you better protection."

...

"And we can make a better mask and find you a voice modulator."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm not really worried about anyone recognizing my voice," Kathy said with a shrug. "I mean, I highly that I'll be recognized in Baltimore. But I'm not going to turn down help."

It was hard, though. She still felt she ought to turn it down, if for no other reason than because she didn't want Barry to feel as if he had to give her things. On the other hand, he sincerely seemed to want to help, which meant that refusing might offend him.

In the end, necessity won over politeness. She couldn't afford to be coy when she really might run into guns.

"Thank you. I really am grateful the help. I'm trying not to be stupid about this, so... Anything you can offer to help keep me in one piece is much appreciated."