Only Because I Need You

Evaluation

Caitlin flicked through the young child they had met at the dock's file. He was young no doubt. Eight to be exact. His small form rested on the gurney in the medical wing of the cortex. A thin white blanket was pulled over his frail body, right up to his chin. His chest rose and fell rhythmically, his small features were screwed up in apparent terror. The soft churning of machines and gentle smell of sterilisation put Caitlin's mind to rest as she read onward, standing by the boy's side. Barry was towering over the boy's bed, his face wrought with concern and confusion. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest and his brows pinched together, "his name is Sonny Kirkland," she muttered through the silence, mostly for herself, "he is eight," she continued on when Barry stared at her with intrigue, "he went missing the night the particle accelerator exploded, his mother disappeared on the same night. Both his eardrums have ruptured, which explains why he didn't react to your voice," she hummed in pity. Her eyes softened as she looked at the little boy. His floppy blonde hair stuck out in all direction and his delicate features twitched every so often.

"Does that mean he will be deaf now?" Barry questioned her.

She pursed her lips and shook her head, "temporarily, it will heal in a few months, but he most likely will have ringing in his ears for the rest of his life,"

"What about his father?" Barry mumbled, the noise barley escaped his lips.

"He is in Central City" Caitlin mused, "but we couldn't find his exact whereabouts,"

"Is he a meta?" Barry asked, raising his eyebrows, his eyes landed on the child, gently assessing him.

"I have ran some tests on his cells," she replied, "they are similar to Cisco's in many aspects, but they are also so much more complicated,"

Barry faintly nodded his head, "so he was the one that opened the breach then?" His eyes never left the boy's face. Caitlin could tell that Barry wanted to help this boy in every way possible, but he was also very wary of him. It could not be a coincidence that Savitar appeared out of thin air right as the child began to panic.

She pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side, "it's very possible," she hummed, looking gently at Barry. He returned her stare, his shoulders dropped a fraction. They both knew that a child having powers whilst growing up was a recipe for disaster, but that they would all try their very best to help him.

A few days later and team Flash had grouped up in the cortex. Despite being together, none of them wore smiles. Their posture was straight, but still loose. Harry, Barry and Iris stood around the long and curved welcome desk in the centre of the cortex. Caitlin and Cisco were standing in front of them, their large, portable TV by their sides. On the screen was a gruesome image of a middle aged woman, her throat was ripped to ribbons and her eyes rolled back into her skull. The poor lady was lying on some kind of tarmac in a pool of her own scarlet blood. Barry could practically taste the thick metallic smell of blood, "this is the third body to show up in one night," Caitlin told them, glancing over at the screen, "all ended up looking just like this," she gestured to the woman, "it would seem that the media had assumed the murderer was a rabid dog of some kind," she pressed her lips into a thin line and raised her eyebrows, "but the sample of the victims blood that Barry brought me had traces of venom lingering in it, similar to the kind of venom you would find in some species of Box Jellyfish or Irukandji Jellyfish, extremely poisonous and extra ordinarily painful to humans when stung,"

"So these people were stung by some kind of jellyfish and then killed?" Iris scrunched up her nose and pinched her eyebrows closer together. Barry couldn't help but stare at the way her eyes inquisitively bore into Caitlin's. He was mesmerised by her curiosity.

"That's the interesting part," the corners of Caitlin lips tugged up into a smile as she swung her arms by her hips, "the venom was incredibly potent, however it would have taken the victims a while to die from the sting. The report I read from the pathology department of CCPD do state that the cause of death was the injuries on their necks,"

Cisco was standing stick straight, his entire frame rigid, the image on the TV was just out of his line of vision. Barry held himself from cracking a smile at Cisco's apparent discomfort. The physicist had no tolerance for gore, "Caitlin and I were brainstorming," Cisco added in, crossing his arms over his chest, "we think that whatever did this was not trying to sting them or poison them, but it was already on whatever weapon they were using,"

"Right, So your conclusion for these murders is that a Jellyfish is walking around and killing people with its razor sharp stingers?" Harry raised his eyebrows, standing tall over Cisco and Caitlin, he pinned them with his stare.

"Well... maybe," Caitlin nodded, "it could be a meta human if some sort," Barry and Iris traded a wary glance. Barry could feel fear rolling off of his wife in waves. Ever since they were little, after their first late night showing of Finding Nemo, Iris had been terrified of jelly fish. If she saw one she would not hesitate to scream and hide behind Barry. On one of their most recent date nights, Barry had been falling half asleep on the sofa next to her as they were watching a nature documentary, only to be pulled from his relaxed state by a very loud and piercing scream from his wife. He was very amused to find her clinging to his arm at the sight of a tiny translucent jellyfish on the screen in front of them.

"Well that's just perfect," Harry rolled his eyes, "but how do we stop them?" He asked, raising his arms into a patronising shrug.

"Alright, keep calm," Cisco made soothing gestures with his hands as though he was petting a terrified kitten, "we don't even know if that is true or not, it was all an educated guess,"

"As of right now, there is no anti-venom for that kind of sting and we haven't even seen if it is even a meta yet, so for all we know it could just be a human with a venom coated blade," she explained, glancing at screen, "a very serrated blade,"

"Well then, we had better roll up our trousers and start wading in the rock pool for some jellyfish then," a crooked smile split Harry' features. Barry couldn't help but form a smile of his own whilst he witnessed his friend's expression infect everyone in the room.