## Three Days After the Meeting with Wells
Karan woke up at 2:47 AM to the sound of someone moving through S.T.A.R. Labs with the kind of careful stealth that suggested they really didn't want to be caught.
The enhanced hearing that came with his armor had taken some getting used to—he could pick up conversations three floors away if he focused, hear heartbeats and breathing patterns that told him more about people's emotional states than he was entirely comfortable knowing. Most of the time he tried to tune it out, but tonight something about the rhythm of footsteps in the corridor outside his room made him sit up and pay attention.
Someone was sneaking around the facility at nearly three in the morning. And given that the only people with access to S.T.A.R. Labs after hours were himself, Barry, and Wells, it was either his roommate up to something he didn't want to share, or their guardian engaged in whatever mysterious nighttime activities occupied Eobard Thawne's attention.
Karan slipped out of bed, pulling on jeans and a t-shirt with the quiet efficiency of someone who'd gotten good at moving without making noise. The corridor outside his room was dimly lit by emergency lighting, empty except for the lingering trace of ozone that suggested someone had been moving very fast through the area recently.
*Barry,* he thought, following the faint scent trail toward the lab areas. *What are you up to at three in the morning?*
He made his way through S.T.A.R. Labs' residential wing toward the main facility, using the enhanced stealth capabilities of his armor to move without triggering any of the motion sensors Wells had installed throughout the building. It was a useful skill he'd been developing—the ability to manifest just enough of the armor's power to benefit from its capabilities without the full golden light show that would announce his presence to anyone in a three-block radius.
The trail led him to Cisco's workshop, where a sliver of light leaked out from under the door and the sound of quiet conversation drifted through the walls.
"—still think the mask needs better peripheral vision," someone was saying in Cisco's voice. "I know the aesthetic is important, but if you can't see threats coming from the sides—"
"The enhanced reflexes compensate for the visual limitations," Barry's voice replied, though it sounded slightly muffled. "And the design is intimidating enough to make most criminals think twice before they try anything stupid."
Karan crept closer to the door, using his enhanced hearing to pick up the full conversation.
"Plus," Barry continued, "the red works with the whole speed theme. Lightning, fire, kinetic energy—all the visual associations that make people think 'fast' and 'dangerous.'"
"Okay, but can we at least add some kind of heads-up display to the lenses? Real-time tactical information, GPS navigation, communication systems—"
"Cisco, it's a superhero costume, not a fighter jet."
"It could be both! That's the beauty of having a genius engineer as your support team!"
Karan felt his pulse quicken as the implications of what he was hearing sank in. Barry had been having secret conversations with Cisco about costume design and tactical systems. Which meant Barry had been planning his own superhero activities without mentioning it to anyone.
Including Karan, who had literally been caught on camera doing the exact same thing just a few days earlier.
He pushed the workshop door open without knocking.
"So," he said, stepping into the room, "this is what 'coordination and planning' looks like when I'm not invited to the meeting?"
Both Barry and Cisco froze like teenagers caught sneaking out after curfew. Cisco immediately tried to step in front of whatever he'd been working on, while Barry spun around with the guilty expression of someone who'd been caught doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing but in secret.
Except Barry wasn't wearing his normal clothes. Instead, he was dressed in a form-fitting red leather suit that covered him from neck to toe, complete with a cowl that left only his jaw visible and what looked like a stylized lightning bolt across the chest. The costume was sleek, professional, and unmistakably designed for high-speed movement and combat situations.
"Karan," Barry said, his voice carrying that particular tone people used when they were trying to buy time to come up with a reasonable explanation. "I can explain."
"Can you?" Karan crossed his arms, looking between Barry in his Flash costume and Cisco surrounded by what appeared to be enough high-tech equipment to outfit a small army. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you two have been planning your own superhero operation behind my back. After lecturing me about the importance of coordination and team communication."
Cisco winced. "Okay, when you put it like that, it does sound pretty hypocritical."
"Pretty hypocritical?" Karan's voice rose slightly. "Cisco, three days ago you guys gave me a twenty-minute speech about the dangers of operating alone, about the need for backup and communication and proper planning. And now I find Barry suited up for patrol at three in the morning?"
Barry had the grace to look genuinely ashamed. "You're right. We should have told you. It's just—"
"Just what?" Karan interrupted. "You decided you didn't trust me? You thought I couldn't handle knowing about your secret nighttime activities? Or did you figure that since I'd already been caught on camera, I was too much of a security risk to include in your plans?"
The workshop fell silent. Cisco was looking between them with the expression of someone watching a family argument and trying to figure out whether to intervene or just back away slowly.
Finally, Barry pulled off his cowl, revealing hair that was sticking up at odd angles and eyes that were bright with guilt and frustration.
"It wasn't about trust," he said quietly. "It was about... God, this is going to sound stupid."
"Try me."
"I was jealous."
Karan blinked. "What?"
"I was jealous," Barry repeated, his voice gaining strength as he continued. "You woke up from our comas and immediately started helping people. Without hesitation, without fear, without spending weeks agonizing about whether you were ready or what might go wrong. You just saw people in trouble and acted."
He gestured at his costume, his expression equal parts self-deprecating and determined.
"It took me three weeks to work up the courage to even put this thing on. Another week to convince myself that I could actually help people without making things worse. And even now, I'm sneaking around at three in the morning because I'm terrified that someone's going to realize I have no idea what I'm doing."
Karan stared at him, completely thrown by the unexpected confession. "Barry..."
"You want to know why I didn't tell you I was planning this?" Barry continued. "Because you make it look easy. You see someone in trouble, you manifest divine armor, you handle the situation with the kind of confidence that makes people think you were born for this. Meanwhile, I can barely control my speed without running into walls, and I spend half my time convinced that I'm going to accidentally hurt someone I'm trying to help."
Cisco cleared his throat gently. "For what it's worth, Barry, you've been doing great in the training simulations. Your control has improved dramatically over the past few weeks."
"Training simulations aren't the same as real situations with real people at risk," Barry said, though he shot Cisco a grateful look. "But you're right that we should have included Karan in the planning. Especially since he's the one with actual field experience."
Karan felt the last of his anger drain away, replaced by something that was part sympathy and part exasperated affection. "Barry, you idiot. Do you think I make it look easy because I'm naturally gifted at superhero work?"
"Don't you?"
"I make it look easy because I'm terrified that if I hesitate for even a second, someone's going to get hurt while I'm standing around second-guessing myself." Karan moved closer, his voice growing more serious. "Every time I put on the armor, every time I intervene in a situation, I'm scared out of my mind that I'm going to mess up, that my actions are going to make things worse instead of better."
Barry's eyes widened slightly. "Really?"
"Really. The only reason I seem confident is because I've already died once trying to help someone, and that experience taught me that the regret of not acting is always worse than the fear of acting imperfectly."
"You died trying to help someone?" Cisco asked, his eyebrows rising with interest.
Karan paused, realizing he'd revealed more about his previous life than he'd intended. "It's complicated. The point is, Barry, you don't need to have perfect control or complete confidence to be a hero. You just need to care more about other people's safety than your own comfort."
He gestured at Barry's costume, taking in the professional quality of the construction and the obvious thought that had gone into its design.
"And from the looks of this setup, you've been doing plenty of planning and preparation. This isn't the work of someone who doesn't know what they're doing."
Barry looked down at himself, as if seeing the costume properly for the first time. "Cisco did most of the technical work. I just... wore it and tried not to trip over my own feet."
"Don't sell yourself short," Cisco interjected. "Barry, you've been running simulation courses at speeds that would make a fighter pilot nauseous. Your reaction times are off the charts, your spatial awareness is incredible, and you've mastered precision movement that most people couldn't achieve with years of training."
"Plus," Karan added, studying the costume more carefully, "this is impressive work. The aerodynamics alone must have taken weeks to perfect."
Cisco beamed with pride. "The suit's designed to minimize air resistance while maximizing protection and mobility. The boots have specialized traction systems for high-speed turns, the gloves include grip enhancements for handling delicate situations, and the whole thing is lined with impact-dispersing materials in case Barry runs into something solid at super speed."
"Which happens more often than I'd like to admit," Barry said with a self-deprecating grin.
Karan laughed despite himself. "Okay, I have to ask—how many times have you actually taken this out for field testing?"
Barry and Cisco exchanged guilty looks.
"Define 'field testing,'" Barry said carefully.
"Real situations. Outside the lab. Helping actual people."
"Well..." Barry ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even further. "There may have been a few incidents where I happened to be in the right place at the right time to help with some minor emergencies."
"Such as?"
"Car accidents, mostly. A few medical emergencies where someone needed to get to the hospital faster than an ambulance could manage. One apartment fire where I was able to evacuate people before the fire department arrived."
Cisco pulled up a tablet, scrolling through what appeared to be a detailed log. "Seventeen separate incidents over the past two weeks. Zero civilian casualties, zero property damage, zero situations where Barry's intervention made things worse."
Karan stared at them both. "Seventeen incidents? Barry, you've been operating as Central City's speedster hero for two weeks and you didn't think to mention it?"
"It wasn't like that," Barry protested. "I wasn't patrolling or looking for trouble. I was just... around when things happened. And after what Dr. Chen said about mythological heroes becoming isolated by their abilities, I thought maybe it would be better if I kept my activities separate from the team stuff."
"Separate how?"
"So that if something went wrong, if I made a mistake or got in over my head, it wouldn't reflect on S.T.A.R. Labs or compromise your ability to help people." Barry's expression grew more serious. "Karan, your armor provides identity protection, but my speed doesn't come with built-in anonymity features. If someone connects the Flash to Barry Allen, they'll be able to trace me back to everyone I care about."
The use of "the Flash" as his superhero name wasn't lost on Karan, though he didn't comment on it directly. "So you've been operating alone to protect us?"
"I've been operating alone because I was scared of letting the team down," Barry corrected. "The protection thing was just a convenient excuse."
Cisco looked up from his tablet. "Actually, Barry, we might have a solution for the identity protection issue. I've been working on something..."
He moved to another workbench and picked up what looked like a small, sophisticated device about the size of a smartphone.
"Voice modulator and facial recognition scrambler," Cisco explained, attaching it to Barry's costume at the throat. "The voice modulator changes your vocal patterns enough to prevent recognition while still keeping your speech clear and understandable. The facial scrambler projects a localized energy field that interferes with recording equipment—similar to what Karan's armor does naturally, but technologically assisted."
Barry touched the device, his expression shifting to one of impressed surprise. "This is incredible, Cisco. When did you have time to build this?"
"I've been working on it since we discovered Karan's natural identity protection capabilities. Figured if we were going to be a team, we should all have access to the same defensive measures."
Karan felt something warm settle in his chest at the casual reference to them being a team, at the evidence that Cisco had been thinking about their collective security even while Barry was struggling with his fears about solo operations.
"So," he said, settling into one of Cisco's desk chairs, "what's the plan now? Are we going to keep operating separately, or are we finally going to do this properly?"
Barry and Cisco looked at each other, then back at Karan.
"What do you mean by 'properly'?" Barry asked.
"I mean as a team. Coordinated efforts, shared intelligence, backup protocols for when things go sideways." Karan grinned, that crooked smile that had gotten him into trouble in multiple lives. "I mean we stop sneaking around behind each other's backs and start being the heroes Central City actually needs."
"All three of us?" Cisco asked, though his excitement was obvious.
"All three of us. Barry's got speed and Cisco's got the technological expertise to support field operations. I've got the armor and weapons capabilities. Together, we can handle situations that none of us could manage alone."
Barry was quiet for a moment, clearly thinking through the implications. "What about Dr. Wells? We were supposed to talk to him about our superhero plans."
"We still will. But maybe we approach him as an established team with a track record, rather than as individual experiments looking for permission to help people."
"You think he'll be okay with that?"
Karan thought about the calculating look in Harrison Wells' eyes, about the way the man seemed to catalog every detail about their abilities and development. About the fact that Eobard Thawne was probably already tracking their activities through the various surveillance systems he'd installed throughout S.T.A.R. Labs.
"I think Dr. Wells will be interested in our effectiveness, regardless of how we achieved it," he said diplomatically. "And I think he'll be more comfortable with our activities if he knows we're looking out for each other."
Which was true, even if Wells' comfort came from different motivations than Karan was implying.
Cisco was practically bouncing with excitement now. "So we're really doing this? We're becoming Central City's superhero team?"
"Looks like it," Barry said, and his smile was growing more confident by the moment. "Though we're going to need to establish some ground rules about communication and coordination."
"Agreed," Karan said. "No more solo operations without team notification. No more keeping secrets about our activities from each other. And we need contingency plans for when things don't go according to plan."
"Because they never do," Barry added.
"Because they never do," Karan confirmed.
As they began sketching out the basic framework for their partnership—communication protocols, territory divisions, backup procedures—Karan found himself thinking about Kendra and her suggestion that they coordinate their efforts. Soon, he was going to need to tell Barry and Cisco about her, about the fact that Central City was developing a larger community of enhanced individuals than they'd realized.
But for now, it was enough that the three of them were finally being honest with each other about their intentions and abilities.
They were going to be heroes. Together.
And whatever challenges came next, at least they wouldn't be facing them alone.
*This,* Karan thought, watching Barry and Cisco argue about the optimal placement of communication devices in the Flash costume, *is going to be very interesting indeed.*
Outside, Central City slept peacefully, unaware that its first official superhero team had just been born in a S.T.A.R. Labs workshop at three-thirty in the morning.
Though given the way their luck tended to run, Karan suspected the city's peaceful sleep wouldn't last much longer.
After all, in his experience, the universe had a way of providing challenges exactly when heroes were ready to face them.
Whether they were actually prepared or not.
—
Karan paused mid-conversation, his expression shifting to that particular look of someone who'd just had a sudden realization. He turned to Barry with renewed focus, studying the voice modulator Cisco had attached to the Flash costume.
"Wait," he said, holding up a hand. "Barry, why do you even need technological solutions for identity protection?"
Barry looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean theoretically you should be able to vibrate at super speed, right? You can move faster than the human eye can track, theoretically phase through solid objects when you really push your abilities..." Karan's voice gained momentum as he worked through the implications. "Why couldn't you apply that same vibrational control to more specific parts of your body?"
Cisco's eyebrows shot up with interest. "You're thinking about targeted vibration applications?"
"Exactly. Barry, you can already control your speed with enough precision to move at normal human speeds when you want to blend in. What if you applied that same level of control to just your vocal cords? Vibrate them at specific frequencies to alter your voice naturally?"
Barry opened his mouth, then closed it, clearly working through the concept. "I... I never thought about that. When I'm using my speed, it's usually all-or-nothing. Full acceleration or normal movement."
"But that's just because you haven't practiced the fine motor control yet," Karan continued, warming to the idea. "Think about it—if you can theoretically phase through walls by vibrating your entire body at specific frequencies, you should be able to vibrate smaller parts of yourself at different rates."
He stood up, beginning to pace as his thoughts accelerated.
"Your vocal cords, your facial muscles, even just the surface of your skin. If you could maintain a low-level vibrational state while appearing completely normal, it would scramble recording equipment just like my armor does, but without any visible energy signature."
Cisco was already pulling up new screens on his tablet, running calculations. "The physics actually works out. If Barry could maintain controlled vibrations at frequencies just above normal human perception—say, around twenty-five to thirty hertz—it would create enough distortion to interfere with facial recognition software and audio recording without being detectable to the naked eye."
"Plus," Karan added, getting excited about the possibilities, "it would be completely self-contained. No external devices to malfunction or get damaged, no power sources to worry about, no technology that could be traced back to S.T.A.R. Labs."
Barry was staring at his hands as if seeing them for the first time. "You really think I could learn that level of control?"
"Barry, I think you can run across water without falling through. You can vibrate through solid concrete without losing coherent molecular structure. Compared to that, selective facial vibration should be relatively straightforward."
"Relatively straightforward," Barry repeated dubiously.
Cisco was grinning now, clearly enchanted by the technological elegance of the solution. "Dude, this would be like built-in stealth mode. No equipment to maintain, no batteries to charge, no external dependencies. Just pure biological application of your existing abilities."
"It would also give you another tactical option," Karan pointed out. "Right now, your speed is primarily useful for movement and impact force. But if you could apply vibrations selectively, you could potentially disrupt electronic devices, interfere with weapons systems, even create localized distortions to confuse enemies."
Barry sat down heavily in one of Cisco's chairs, clearly overwhelmed by the implications. "This is... this would change everything. Not just the identity protection, but the entire way I approach using my abilities."
"The question is whether it's safe," Cisco said, his engineering mind already identifying potential problems. "Barry, if you're vibrating parts of your body at different frequencies, what does that do to your overall physiological stability? Could you accidentally vibrate yourself apart?"
"That's a valid concern," Karan acknowledged. "But Barry's already demonstrated that he can phase his entire body safely. This would just be applying the same principle with more precision and less intensity."
Barry was quiet for a moment, then held up his right hand and focused. After a few seconds, his fingers began to blur slightly—not with movement, but with a subtle vibration that made them difficult to focus on directly.
"Oh wow," Cisco breathed, watching the effect with scientific fascination. "Barry, can you feel that? Any discomfort or instability?"
"It's weird," Barry said, studying his vibrating fingers. "Like a really low-level tingle. But not painful or destabilizing. Just... different."
He concentrated harder, and the vibration intensified until his entire hand became a barely-visible blur. Then he gradually reduced the effect until his hand looked normal again, though there was still a subtle distortion around the edges that would probably interfere with clear photography.
"This is incredible," Cisco said, already taking readings with various devices. "Barry, you're generating controlled vibrations at frequencies that would definitely scramble most recording equipment, but they're so subtle that they're barely visible to direct observation."
Karan nodded approvingly. "And that's just with a few minutes of experimentation. Imagine what you could accomplish with dedicated practice."
Barry was staring at his hand with a mixture of amazement and apprehension. "This feels like cheating somehow. Like I'm bypassing all the hard work Cisco put into the technological solutions."
"It's not cheating," Cisco said firmly. "It's optimization. Using your natural abilities to their fullest potential instead of compensating for imagined limitations." He paused, then grinned. "Though I have to admit, part of me is disappointed that my cool gadgets might be obsolete."
"Not obsolete," Karan corrected. "Backup systems. Technology fails, but it's good to have redundancy. Plus, there might be situations where Barry needs to extend these effects beyond his immediate physical presence."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what if you need to protect someone else's identity, or disrupt surveillance equipment at a distance, or create vibration fields that cover a larger area than just your body?" Karan's smile widened. "Your technological solutions could be adapted to work with Barry's natural abilities, amplifying them rather than replacing them."
Cisco's eyes lit up with renewed enthusiasm. "Resonance amplifiers. Vibration field generators. Frequency modulators that could extend Barry's capabilities to his immediate environment..." He was already pulling up new design schematics on his tablet. "This opens up completely new possibilities for tactical applications."
Barry was still experimenting with his hand, gradually extending the vibration effect up his arm. "How did you think of this? I've been using these abilities for weeks, and it never occurred to me to try selective application."
Karan shrugged, trying to look casual about the insight that had come from his knowledge of future Flash capabilities. "Sometimes it just takes an outside perspective to see potential applications you're too close to notice. Plus, working with my armor has made me think a lot about how supernatural abilities can be applied in subtle ways, not just dramatic ones."
"Speaking of which," Cisco said, "your armor's natural identity protection might be even more sophisticated than we realized. If it's generating effects similar to what Barry could achieve through controlled vibration, but doing so automatically and at the quantum level..."
"One impossibly advanced supernatural ability at a time," Karan said with a laugh. "Let's get Barry comfortable with face-vibration before we start analyzing the metaphysics of divine armor."
Barry had managed to extend the subtle vibration effect to his entire head now, creating a barely perceptible distortion that would definitely interfere with facial recognition while being almost invisible to direct observation.
"This feels really strange," he said, his voice carrying a slight harmonic quality that wasn't quite an echo but wasn't normal either. "But also kind of amazing. Like I'm finally using my abilities the way they were meant to be used."
"How's the voice modulation?" Karan asked.
Barry experimented with different levels of vocal cord vibration, his voice shifting from the subtle harmonic effect to something more dramatically altered before settling back to nearly normal with just enough distortion to prevent voice recognition software.
"I think I could get used to this," Barry said, grinning despite the weird sensory experience of vibrating his own face. "Though it's going to take some practice to maintain the effect without conscious effort."
"Everything worthwhile takes practice," Karan pointed out. "But this gives you complete control over your own identity protection, with no external dependencies or technological vulnerabilities."
Cisco was taking readings from multiple devices, his expression growing more excited by the moment. "The applications for this are incredible. Barry, if you can maintain low-level vibrations indefinitely, you could essentially be in a constant state of passive stealth. Immune to most forms of surveillance, resistant to certain types of attacks..."
"Plus," Karan added, "it would make you much harder to track or identify, even for people with enhanced senses or supernatural detection capabilities."
Barry let the vibration effects fade, returning to completely normal appearance and voice. "This is going to change everything about how I approach hero work. No more relying on speed and surprise as my only tactics."
"Though speed and surprise are still pretty effective," Karan said with a grin.
"True. But now I'll have subtlety and stealth as options too." Barry's expression grew more serious. "Karan, thank you for thinking of this. I know it seems obvious in retrospect, but sometimes the most obvious solutions are the hardest to see."
"That's what teammates are for," Karan replied. "Fresh perspectives, creative problem-solving, and catching the things you're too close to notice yourself."
As they began discussing training regimens for Barry's new vibrational capabilities, Karan found himself thinking about how much more effective their team was becoming through this kind of collaborative development. Each of them brought different strengths and perspectives that made the others more capable than they would be alone.
Which was going to be important, because something told him Central City's challenges were about to become significantly more complicated than convenience store robberies and car accidents.
But at least they'd be facing those challenges together, with abilities that were growing more sophisticated every day.
And if Barry could master selective vibration control, they'd have tactical options that even Eobard Thawne might not anticipate.
That alone made the late-night discovery session worth losing sleep over.
—
## Meanwhile, the next day at Jitters
The afternoon rush at Jitters was winding down, leaving Iris with the familiar task of wiping down tables and resetting the coffee shop for the evening crowd. The work was mindless enough to let her thoughts drift to the story she'd been researching—the increasing number of unusual incidents around Central City that the official channels seemed determined to downplay.
"Iris!" Marcus called from behind the counter, his voice carrying that particular tone managers used when they were about to make your day more complicated. "Can you come here for a minute?"
She finished stacking chairs and made her way over, noting the young woman standing beside Marcus with the slightly overwhelmed expression of someone trying to make a good first impression. She looked about eighteen, with blonde hair that seemed to catch the light in unusual ways and blue eyes that held an alertness that went deeper than typical college-age anxiety.
"Iris, I'd like you to meet Kara Danvers," Marcus said, gesturing to the newcomer. "She's our new hire, just started at Central City University's journalism program. I was hoping you could show her the ropes, get her comfortable with the systems."
"Of course," Iris said, extending a hand with a genuine smile. "Welcome to Jitters, Kara. Fair warning—the espresso machine has a personality disorder, and the register occasionally decides to take extended breaks from basic mathematics."
Kara's handshake was surprisingly strong, and her answering smile was warm despite what looked like carefully controlled nerves. "Thanks, I appreciate the heads-up. And the help. Everything here is so..." She gestured around the coffee shop with what appeared to be genuine bewilderment. "Different from what I'm used to."
"Different how?" Iris asked, already beginning the tour by showing Kara the various coffee brewing stations.
"Oh, you know. Small town girl, big city coffee culture." Kara's laugh was a little too bright, as if she was working to maintain a specific persona. "Where I'm from, coffee came in two varieties—black or with cream. This menu looks like it was written in a foreign language."
Iris studied her more carefully, noting the way Kara seemed hyperaware of her surroundings, how her eyes tracked movement with unusual precision, and the fact that despite claiming to be overwhelmed by coffee culture, she moved through the space with confident grace.
"Where are you from?" Iris asked, demonstrating the proper technique for steaming milk while watching Kara's reaction.
"Kansas. Really small town in Kansas that you've definitely never heard of." Kara's response was quick, practiced, but something about her posture suggested she was uncomfortable with the topic. "What about you? Central City native?"
"Born and raised. Though I've been thinking about branching out lately." Iris handed Kara an apron, noting the way the other woman immediately tied it with military precision. "The journalism program is competitive here. What made you choose Central City University?"
Kara paused just long enough for Iris to notice, then smiled with renewed brightness. "The program has a great reputation for investigative journalism. Plus, with everything that's been happening in Central City lately—the unusual incidents, the reports of enhanced individuals—it seemed like the perfect place to learn how to cover real stories."
Something in her tone made Iris look up sharply. "Enhanced individuals?"
"You know, the rumors. People with abilities that shouldn't be possible, operating around the city. I've been following the reports online, and there seems to be a pattern of incidents that traditional journalism isn't covering properly." Kara's eyes were bright with what appeared to be genuine curiosity. "As a journalism student, I find it fascinating how certain stories get buried or dismissed as hoaxes."
Iris felt her pulse quicken. This wasn't just casual conversation—Kara Danvers was fishing for information about the very subjects Iris had been researching.
"What kind of incidents?" Iris asked carefully, beginning to show Kara how to operate the register while keeping her tone conversational.
"Enhanced speed, for instance. There have been multiple reports of someone moving through Central City at impossible velocities, always in connection with emergencies or people being helped. And there's this other figure—someone in golden armor who seems to appear whenever there's trouble."
Kara's voice carried the enthusiasm of someone genuinely excited by a good story, but Iris caught something else underneath—a kind of professional assessment that seemed far more sophisticated than typical college-level interest.
"You've done a lot of research for someone who just arrived in town," Iris observed.
"I like to be prepared. Plus, stories like this—if they're real—they're exactly the kind of journalism I want to be doing. Getting to the truth behind the official narratives, showing people what's really happening in their communities."
There was something compelling about Kara's passion that reminded Iris of her own determination to uncover the real story behind Central City's recent changes. But there was also something guarded about the way Kara presented herself, as if she was very carefully managing what information she revealed.
"Well," Iris said, making a decision, "if you're serious about investigating those stories, you should know that I've been looking into some of the same incidents. Maybe we could compare notes sometime."
Kara's smile brightened considerably, and for a moment, her careful composure slipped enough to show what looked like genuine relief.
"I'd like that very much," she said. "It's nice to meet someone who takes these stories seriously instead of dismissing them as social media nonsense."
As Iris continued the training, showing Kara the various systems and procedures she'd need to know, she found herself wondering exactly what Kara Danvers' real story was. Because despite the cheerful college student persona, everything about her suggested someone with far more experience and capability than she was letting on.
Which, in Iris's experience, usually meant the story was about to get much more interesting.
---
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