Felicity and the First Avenger: B-Sides and Rarities (Part 2) -- For Science

For Science

Co-Authored by srmiller of AO3

Summary: "Something tells me I'm going to regret asking this, but. Why are Barry and Steve sitting in there half naked and covered in sensors?"

Prompt: 

This grew out of a conversation Sam and I had after the episode where Caitlin makes some homebrew for Barry because he can't get drunk. Somehow, it morphed, we wrote it, and then accidentally shelved it.

Setting: Arrowverse: Post 2x14 AU. Flashverse: First season AU Marvelverse: About a year post Avengers and the end of CA: The First Avenger. This chapter is pre-CA: TWS.

This takes place not long after Steve and Felicity have met.

FOR SCIENCE

Breathless, Felicity hurried into the S.T.A.R. Labs testing center, leather satchel banging against her hip in time with the clack-clack of her heels on the cement floor.

"Ugh. I did not mean to take so long. The guys had a Thing out in the field and it took forever to sort them out. There is no such thing as idiot-proofing a program. But I'm ready to go out any time you guys..."

She stopped. Caitlin was alone, a white lab coat over her sequined black dress, her attention on the monitors lining the testing console in front of her.

"Caitlin?" she asked, uncertain. "Where are Barry and Steve?"

The geneticist adjusted a monitor knob with much more care than needed, not quite meeting Felicity's eyes. "In there."

Felicity stepped closer to look through the window on the wall. Usually, the room beyond held only Barry's treadmill and the bulkier pieces of S.T.A.R. Labs' power supply. Now, it was also furnished with two folding chairs, a card table bearing a trayful of glass beakers, and...

Felicity hauled her mouth shut with a snap, glad she'd managed not to drool.

"Caitlin. Not. That I don't want to thank you. For the scenery." She knocked her knuckles against her forehead in an unsuccessful attempt to bring her lust-fogged brain back online, then shook her head. "Something tells me I'm going to regret asking this, but. Why are Barry and Steve sitting in there half-naked and covered in sensors?"

Both men looked up as she spoke, blinking owlishly at the window. Steve's once neatly combed blond hair stood up in hedgehog spikes, as if he'd raked his fingers through it a few times and had forgotten he'd done so. Barry, who looked even worse for wear, gave her a cheery, beery wave, nearly toppling off his chair as he did.

"Hiiiii, F'lic'ty," he called. "We're doin' a science 'speriment!"

Felicity turned on Caitlin, who flushed as she gestured to the bank of monitors on the console, each showing a different graph. "I needed to measure and regulate-"

"I told her we coulda left our shirts on," Steve interjected. He sat upright, shoulders squared, but he stared at Felicity as if focusing required all his concentration and his Brooklyn accent was thick enough to cut. "But she said she hadda use the sensors."

Felicity did a double take, this time not because of the mind-melting display of muscles. Wait. Was Steve --

Diving for the console, she fumbled around until she managed to cut the intercom.

"Caitlin Snow, did you get Steve and Barry drunk?" she demanded. "Why? And how? I didn't even think that was possible."

"Kind of. Actually, sedated. It's supposed to make them sleepy, not drunk." Caitlin winced, holding up a hand as Felicity opened her mouth to speak. "S.H.I.E.L.D. gave us an emergency order for a sedative that works on individuals with accelerated metabolisms. So many metahumans and Enhanced have them. The agents want some way to subdue criminals besides using stun batons or guns."