Within Seconds: Sylas & Allen

Not Much Different

Accepting the challenge of being tested, Jay followed Caitlin into the lab attached to the Cortex. He sat on the bed, shirtless, while she began the testing process, by sticking tiny circular pads to his chest.

Parker stood in the doorway, her back against the doorframe, watching Jay and Caitlin, and monitoring the remaining members as they shared hushed conversations.

"No hat?" Jay asked, addressing Parker.

Parker looked at the hat in her hands. "Well, it's metal. Hurts your head after a while, you know?"

One corner of Jay's mouth raised knowingly.

"So, Mr. Garrick, how long have you been the Flash?" Caitlin asked.

"Not long enough to be a Mister," he laughed. "Jay, please."

"Jay," Caitlin agreed.

"On my world, I've been the Flash for about two years."

"How did you get your powers?" Parker asked.

"Not really sure," he admitted. "I was at my lab, trying to produce heavy water without any residual radiation, when there was a blinding light. I fell into a coma, when I woke up, I could run almost as fast as the speed of light."

Caitlin and Parker glanced at each other. "Guess our two Earth's aren't so different after all," Parker said.

"Did you say lab? Are you a scientist?" Caitlin asked.

"Certainly didn't work in a place like this, but, yeah. I had a respectable solo operation. Part-time chemist, part-time physicist. Part-time superhero," he added. Looking at his feet, Jay gave a huff. "I can forget that superhero part now, though, huh?"

"Is any of this possible?" Iris was asking when Parker looked out to the Cortex. "A breach to another Earth?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was true," Parker said, moving into the main section. "He's got a legitimate story."

"I thought you'd be the most skeptical," Cisco said.

"She was with Wells," Barry agreed.

"That's because Wells didn't pass the Villain Detector that lives within my bones," Parker said. In a serious tone, she continued, "Look, everyone who walks in that door gets a chance. Even though he came a bit unexpectedly, so far, Jay hasn't ruined his.."

Barry rolled his eyes to Martin. "What are you thinking?"

"Just recently, the many-different-worlds theory proposed that interaction with parallel universes was plausible. Now, if what Mr. Garrick is saying is true, that theory has been proven sooner than we thought."

"It doesn't add up," Barry disagreed.

"Excluding his lack of speed, the rest of it has potential," Parker argued.

Stopping the couple's argument, Joe interrupted, saying a very frustrated:
"I don't understand what any of you are talking about."

"So," Cisco and Parker chorused, both ready to explain. Surprised, Cisco backed off, eager to see Parker participate instead of listen.

"Jay is saying he's from a mirror world, a parallel universe, that's similar to our own," Parker said.

"Multiverse would be a more apt description," Martin added.

Clueless, Joe shook his head. "Nope, not helping."

"Bless your heart," Cisco mumbled.

Parker was excited to be the one explaining. On a roll, she hurried around the Cortex, trying to find objects she could use to physically show an explanation. She grabbed a dry erase board.

"Earth-1. Earth-2," she introduced, drawing two circles. "We live here. Jay lives there."

"So he says," Barry corrected.

Martin took the marker from her fingers. He drew five other circles.
"These other Earth's: three, four, five, all of them, are nearly identical to ours. They all exist at the same time, creating endless alternatives to what we have here," he continued. "For example, the Joe West on Earth-2, your doppelganger, maybe he's not a Detective. He could be a Nobel Prize Winning Physicist."

"Barry Allen, you're the Flash here," Parker said, giving Joe another example, since she understood. "On Earth-2, you could be a garbage man."

"He'd pick you up," Cisco said.

Parker narrowed her eyes. "Are you calling me trash?"

Cisco smiled innocently.

"Okay, I'm assuming that the people on all these other Earth's work to make money to pay bills and such," Joe said.

"I would imagine."

"So we've got that in common!" he said. Tired of the science nonsense, he started walking out of the Cortex, shaking his head. "I'm heading back to the Station. Call me when things start to make more sense. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole idea of time travel."

"There is, uh, one problem that remains," Martin introduced. "If Mr. Garrick is telling the truth, there is a breach somewhere in Central City that we need to find, and close, for good."

"How do we find it?" Parker asked. After a few seconds of silence, she rolled her eyes. "Okay, does anyone have a guess at how we can start looking for it?"

"I suggest we put our heads together and come up with a solution," Martin said. His encouraging smile faltered. "Not literally, of course. Those days are over."

Martin left the Cortex, leaving the remaining members stuck in an eery silence.

Eager to make noise, Iris approached Caitlin. "What did you find?"

"Jay's heart rate is extraordinarily low. He does have regenerative capabilities. Other than that, I'm not seeing any signs of the Speed Force in his system," Caitlin admitted.

"We don't even have proof that he's a speedster, much less from another Earth?" Barry asked skeptically.

Caitlin glanced into the lab, ensuring Jay's attention was elsewhere. "Jay doesn't know this, but while I was testing his heart rate, blood pressure, and motor responses, I also measured his autonomic reactions while we were talking," she whispered.

"You gave him a lie detector test?" Iris asked.

"And he passed it."

Parker looked at Barry. "I believe him, Bar."

"What if he's not a good guy?" Barry challenged. "What if he just wants to find our weaknesses?"

With those words, Parker understood why he was so hesitant to trust Jay. It wasn't because of his personality, or the proposition of different Earth's. It was because Jay was a speedster, like him. More importantly, like Wells.

"Barry," Parker said softly. "He's not.."

"Keep running tests," Barry said over her. He started to leave. "See what else you can find out."