Work on identifying my apparent electric twin continues for the next couple hours before I finally sigh and excuse myself from the Cortex. Something's been bothering me and I have to go to someone.

A very specific someone. A very specific someone who hates me with no real valid reason. Even Joe gave me a chance, what the actual hell Dr. Wells.

Anyway back on track.

"Deep breaths Rani, you can do this," I say to myself, before turning the corner and approaching the man in the wheelchair who does not trust me at all.

"Ms. Raymond?" Wells asks, surprised by my sudden appearance.

"Dr. Wells, I need to ask you something."

He sighs, "Rani right now is not the time, Bar-"

"It's about my powers!" I say, cutting him off. He wheels back around, a curious expression clear in his face.

"I'm listening."

I sigh, thankful that he didn't roll away. "The real reason I didn't come back quickly enough is because of...this." I roll my sleeves up and show him the gloves that Cisco had created.

Or rather what was left of them. The gloves were almost completely burned away at the fingertips and the mangled circuitry was giving off massive amounts of heat as it desperately tried to subdue the electricity within me.

Dr. Wells stares at the fraying gloves in shock, taking off his glasses in disbelief, muttering something under his breath. "You didn't come back because you were scared."

I nod. "A couple days into my stay at my aunt and uncle's and I'm finally able to tell them about what actually happened to me. They asked me if they could see what I was capable of. I-it was just going to be something small, just a little flicker at the ends of my fingertips. But I........ I underestimated the power that these gloves had been holding back and they combusted right in the kitchen I was in. I was able to stop the fire.......but not my powers. I couldn't come back until I knew I had somewhat fixed the gloves. Once I did, and everything was okay with my aunt and uncle, I finally took Barry's call and returned."

Wells nods thoughtfully before looking back up at me. "You could have gone to Cisco or Caitlin or even Barry about this. Might I ask why you came to me?"

I sigh again, starting to second guess my decision to come back here. "I know you don't trust me and you've got every right to think that. What I did in Starling will always be a part of me, Barry helped me see that so if you can't see past that so be it. I can respect that and I'll stay out of your way. But you're the best shot I have at fixing or at least controlling this."

"I see," He says before looking back out the doorway. Cisco's working on identifying the meta that took away Barry's powers and Caitlin is still where I left her, trying to console and calm down Barry. "It looks like our resources are elsewhere right now. Perhaps once Barry regains his speed, we can deal with your......dilemma, however, I believe this might just figure itself out."

"You're oddly confident about this," I respond, raising an eyebrow.

"Call it a good feeling," he responds a little ominously.

"Alright, I trust you Doc," I respond. "Thank you."

"Of course Rani." He says and I walk back out to the cortex, drawing a confused look from Cisco as I plop down on the chair next to him. "Everything good?"

I nod, still feeling a little nervous, but not nearly as fearful as before. "Yeah I think so, there was just something I needed to ask Wells. The fact that he actually listened which kinda surprises me."

"Other than whatever beef he has with you, Dr. Wells isn't a bad person Rani," Cisco says, patting me on the shoulder supportively. "I'm sorry he's being like this."

"It's okay, Cisco." I sigh, looking over at Barry and Caitlin having a serious talk in front of us. "Did you get anywhere while I was away."

Cisco nods, typing in a command to bring the search to the front of the screen. "Yeah, we were able to reduce the search and should have it within the next half an hour."

I scan the code and spot a little imperfection that could possibly be fixed. "Maybe this doesn't have to take that long," I mumble, pausing the search before reworking the slowest link.

And just like a charm, the computer beeps with this result. "Never leave for two weeks like that again," Cisco marveled, the smile growing on his face.

"Farooq Gibran." He calls out to Barry and Caitlin who turn around confused.

 "Who?"

"The power vampire who jacked your speed." Cisco answers. "We hacked into the surveillance footage from the Petersburg substation. Once we got his face, it was easy to find a match. Plus Rani helped the hack a little more legal with her software from CCPD." He giggles holding out a hand to me for a fist bump.

Chuckling, I fist bump him back before turning back down to the information on the tablet. "It says here he climbed an electrical tower the night of the accelerator explosion."

"No surprise where his powers came from," Caitlin remarks, before getting cut off by an alarm.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Cisco exclaims as the four of us race over to the computers. He pulls up the camera in question and we find ourselves face to face with the metahuman in question.

"Dr. Harrison Wells, I need to see you!" Farooq demands. "Come on, I know you're inside."

"Oh god, this is bad," I mumble to myself as we all share a nervous look.

"I just want to talk Dr. Wells!"

"What do we do?" Caitlin gulps. 

"I don't know," I respond as Farooq launches an electric bolt in an unknown direction, causing the power of the entire building to fluctuate before disappearing from the frame completely.

The power shuts off completely and a hand finds its way to mine. I glance over at Barry with a strained smile, before holding his hand gently in mine.

A final thud causes all of us to jump in fright as Barry voices the startling fact that we all have realized.

"He's inside."

I snap out of my trance, realizing that we don't have much time before he makes it up here. "We can't just sit here, we've got to call someone and find Dr. Wells."

"I'll see if Joe responds," Barry says and pats his pockets kinda awkwardly. If it wasn't for the situation I would have laughed, because Barry only gets like this when he leaves his phone at the prescient. I hand him mine before turning to Cisco and Caitlin. "Do you guys have a backup generator or something so we can at least see where we are or contact someone?"

"Yeah I just need your help, and that tablet," Cisco responds and Caitlin and I help Cisco to rewire the circuitry of the computers and start up the spare generator in the building right as Dr. Wells wheels into the Cortex.

"Are you alright?" I ask, getting up from my spot next to the computer tower and he nods.

"We've got a couple hours before that runs out," Cisco remarks. "I just hope our power junkie doesn't get to the generator first."

Barry walks back over to us, looking paler than he did before. "Joe and Iris are in trouble, there's a hostage situation at the prescient. I need my powers back NOW."

"I have a theory," Dr. Wells admits. "It's untested."

Barry and I share a look. "I'm willing to roll the dice." 

"Okay, you've lost your speed, yes," Dr. Wells explains. "But nothing has changed inside you on a subatomic level. In other words, your cells are still primed."

"They just need a jumpstart."  Cisco realizes, a smile growing on his face.

"A jumpstart," I murmur. "What kind of charge are we looking at here?"

"We need to replicate the initial jolt to Barry's system," Dr. Wells answers.

"But that would mean a peak current of at least 20,000 kilo-amps," Cisco realizes, after quickly doing the math in his brain and Caitlin's eyes bug out in shock. "Are you insane?! That's more electricity than they give to people in the electric chair."

Dr. Wells sighs, "Caitlin, with Farooq in the building, we're all looking at a death sentence here."

"With all due respect Dr. Wells there's a difference between a death sentence and sacrificing someone for the apparent 'greater good'!" I insist.

"Oh, and you'd know about that wouldn't you Karma." Wells snaps back. I grind my teeth at his response but stay silent.

"Rani helped me get the spare generator's online." Cisco remarks. "If we reroute the power it's using right now, we could get a charge that big."

"But we need something that can transmit the load from the generator to Barry's body without shorting out," Dr. Wells says skeptically. 

"The treadmill," Cisco realizes with a grin. "My baby could take the charge."

"And if Barry can't?" Caitlin asks, voicing my concern.

"Well, that's up to Mr. Allen." Dr. Wells says and Barry glances around the room at all of us before heading to the exit.

"Where are you going?" Caitlin questions. 

"I'm gonna talk to him," Barry answers. "You didn't see him at the substation. He needed to feed. I got super speed out of the particle accelerator blast, but his best friends died. He woke up with a disease."

"Earlier today, you worked a crime scene where this metahuman electrocuted an innocent man," Wells argues. "He's a murderer! And you are powerless to defend yourself against him."

"He may just need help like I did," Barry counters, glancing over at me. "I don't need my powers to offer him that. I have to try."

"Then I'm coming with you," I add and thankfully, he doesn't protest and the two of us exit the Cortex and carefully make our way through the hallways, before finding him near the elevators, hands primed to fire.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, easy," Barry says holding one hand out at Farooq and the other around me. "We're not gonna hurt you."

"You can't hurt me," The meta almost painfully chuckles. "Where is Harrison Wells?" 

"Look, we know what happened to you," I start.  

"The night of the accelerator explosion, it changed you," Barry continues. "It changed all of us."

Farooq's hands slowly lower and the electricity in his hands slowly fades away. "You were the one in the red suit. I fed from you," He realizes before looking over at me. "I thought you were a power source protecting this building, I can feel your power," He states before taking a step forward. "I have to keep feeding." 

"All right, I know this has to be terrifying!" Barry says and we quickly glance at each other, realizing we might not get through to him. "That's why we want to help you."

"The night of the explosion, when the light hit me, it stopped my heart." Farooq reminisces sadly. "Jake and Darya..."

"They were your friends," Barry states, remembering the news article we saw. 

"I woke up, and they were beside me, dead. They tried to give me CPR. They were touching me, and I electrocuted them." 

"None of that is your fault," I respond. 

"I know," He murmurs before looking down at his hands as they charge up with electricity. I carefully charge up my hidden hand as well, hoping that he can't sense it. 

"Wells did this to me."

 Well shit, there goes that plan.

"Farooq, you need to listen to me," Barry tries but Farooq is clearly done with small talk and throws a bolt of electricity at both of us, throwing Barry and I off our feet.

I thankfully tuck and roll onto my feet and right as Cisco hits the lockdown switch I roll under the metal door, desperately trying to ignore Barry screaming out my name.

Farooq throws another bolt at me and almost instinctively, I parry it with my own.

"How?" He asks and I smirk, charging up both of my hands to the highest my gloves will let me go.

"I don't know," I respond nonchalantly, throwing a bolt right by his feet and moving down the deserted hallway. "I guess it comes with having a little more flare than my speedster friend. You want to feed? Come and get it." 

》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》》

bonus: what rani was thinking when ducking and rolling