Just a Touch

Barry Allen sat in the office tapping his fingers nervously and just keeping them from fidgeting in super speed. After two months he was finally here, finally ready to move on to the next step. It was what he wanted really, the culmination of so many of the points he'd been working towards; making a proactive decision about something personal in his life, control over his powers in that aspect, learning more about KF-lady…. Iris.

He shouldn't be so anxious. Only good things could come out of today.

He just had to keep saying that to himself. Eventually he'd believe it right?

The door handle moved and Barry whipped his hands into his lap, then stretched them out again along the arms of the chair, then crossed them over his chest, then held them loosely in front of him. By the time the door handle had decompressed fully he'd switched through one hundred and thirty-five different ways of having his hands before realising he was being ridiculous and putting them back how he'd started.

"Ah Mr Allen, nice to meet you again." Dr Wells smiled cordially as he walked into the room.

"Yes Dr Wells, er you too." Barry replied, half lifted out of his seat and then back down again.

"My apologies for the delay. I hope the wait hasn't inconvenienced you too much."

"No, no, not at all," Barry answered, rubbing the back of his neck.

Dr Wells observed him through his spectacles, eyes glinting with what could be amusement. "Enough extra time to increase your nerves though, it looks like."

Barry let out a huff of laughter. "Yeah but I was pretty nervous anyways so…"

"Well let us begin by going over the agreements so far shall we?"

Barry nodded. Business talk, he could handle that. It was time to focus on the practicalities of this.

"As stipulated in the primary interview, the purpose of the match programme is to help young metas like yourself develop and control your powers in all aspects of your life, with a specific focus on an area you have highlighted as of concern to you." Dr Wells briefly looked at something on his computer screen, then turned back to Barry. "Is that still understood and agreed by yourself?"

"Yes."

"Good. So the area you highlighted as a concern was physical intimacy, correct?"

Barry felt blood rush to his face. "Yes."

"Not an uncommon concern for metas I'm afraid," Dr Wells said and turned back to his computer screen. "Unfortunately not one that many wish to rectify with help."

Barry could understand that; it was excruciating to have to sit through interviews and explain that he only lost control of his powers when he was close to being intimate with someone. But it was even worse knowing that he could hurt the person he would least want to because he had a lack of control.

"You have so far complied with the stipulations of the programme?"

"Yes," Barry answered. "I've declared my participation to a family member, nominated a sponsor and had them accepted, filled in all the paperwork you've sent me, attended the interviews and I've been corresponding, via your secure email, with the therapist and the contact."

"Very thorough Mr Allen. Well you've met with all our requirements so I'm pleased to say that you have been accepted onto the next stage of the programme."

Barry let out a whoosh of breath he hadn't even been aware he'd been holding.

"A reminder of caution Mr Allen," Dr Wells said softly, and it was the softness of the tome that made Barry tense up, feeling the weight of Wells' stare. "We here at Star Institute are dedicated to help you solve any problems with your metahuman abilities. We are not a dating service or hook-up medium. Although your area of concern will involve practicing intimacies, Star Institute is here to support the scientific aid of developing your powers within a controlled environment so that you may take that control and apply it to your own real world settings. If at any stage a staff member of the programme believe that is being misused you will be ejected from the programme and the penalty stated in our contracts will be enforced. Understood?"

"Yes Dr Wells. I understand."

"I know this will be a delicate situation for you but to be absolutely, bluntly clear; Star Institute is not providing a woman for you to engage in sexual intercourse. We have found a participant via the match programme who has powers that will negate your own and issues of a similar concern. Together you may work through the practical problems of your concern in a safe, secure location whilst medical and scientific help is nearby. If your intimacies extend to the practice of intercourse that will be a private decision made by you and the participant; is not something Star Institute condones, but it is not what the programme is offering."

"It's not what I want," Barry said. "I mean it is what I want eventually but not with you. I mean, not with you Star Institute, not you, you. I just want to be able to be close to someone without worrying holding their hand or kissing them with give them friction burn or electric shock."

"I understand Mr Allen, I've read your testimonials. Believe me when I say if anyone thought for one moment you were trying to abuse the system you would not have made it this far. But I have to be clear and have to be certain."

"I get that." Barry nodded.

"As I said however, you are through to the next stage of the programme. If you are willing, you will meet your contact today and see how the first session goes."

"Today? Like now today?" Barry said. "My contact? KF-Lady?"

"Yes, your correspondent contact is your partner in the programme, hence your communication over the last fortnight. By your own admission you have both said it has been pleasant to talk with one another and have formed a friendship of sorts. This should offer a good transition into developing your area of concern."

"Yeah, no, it's been great to talk to her," Barry rushed to explain. "I just didn't realise I would be meeting her today…"

Dr Wells smiled politely. "It just got real, hmm?"

Barry huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Let's not drag this out now Mr Allen." Dr Wells stood up and motioned for Barry to follow him out of the room.

They headed down a wide corridor that somehow managed to be utterly non-descript yet remind Barry of a hospital; off-whites that should be calming but felt just this side of sterile. Like the decorator had aimed for open and airy, and instead got bland and sanitary. He knew he was hyper-focusing on such a stupid detail but he needed something to let his mind obsess over. What was coming next was huge for his life and he needed to just not over-think it.

He'd made it through so many stages of the programme so far. The last one had felt daunting at the time. He'd been sent an email address through Star Institute's server so he could communicate with another meta participating in the programme. KF-lady was the handle and he'd been emailing her for the past two weeks, starting off with general conversation about the weather and living in Central City and moving on to more personal topics and interests. He felt like they'd clicked and had happily emailed her several times a day and anticipated her replies eagerly. Now though, to meet her in the flesh? To know she had a problem with her powers similar to his own, and what they might have to do to solve their problem and gain control? Barry was all over the place.

And obviously walls and how they were decorated was nowhere near a strong enough thought process to keep his mind from obsessing.

Dr Wells reached a door and led Barry inside. There was a woman sat in front of a desk, a computer turned on in front of her but her attention was on the magazine in her hands. A sofa and a filing cabinet, a small kitchenette and a wardrobe were the only other things in the room. And a big black door on the other side of the room.

"This is the antechamber leading to your private room. You will enter and exit this way only to access the room. Molly here is going to keep an eye on your vitals and if anything is worrying you or you think something is going wrong, you may call her for assistance. Molly will not be watching what you do in the room and will only enter if you ask her too. There is a scanning device in the room but it does not record visual or audio data. We recommend up to two hour sessions. If you go over the time period, Molly will alert a buzzer. The only reason Molly will enter the room is if there is an emergency within the building and we need to evacuate; even then she will follow procedure and sound the buzzer first."

"Yeah I remember the scanning thing from one of the forms." Barry muttered, trying to process all the information whilst not freaking out that there would be a person outside the room the entire time and not think about who could be waiting in the room for him right now.

"Very good Mr Allen. When you are ready, you can enter the room."

"N-Now?"

"As I said," Dr Wells replied gently. "When you are ready."

Barry looked at the big door, thinking sterile and bland had gone out the window and the thing that was left was ominous. Maybe it was a last-ditch attempt to make you question what you were about to do but Barry had come too far to pass this up now.

He took a deep breath and moved forwards. Grab the handle, turn it, open the door and step into the room.

A sofa, a kitchen area, a television and other nice but non-descript furniture were all scanned in his peripheral vision as his eyes focused on the other side of the room, and the occupant that stood as he walked in.

She was here.

AN:

So yeah this is a pretty random idea that was born out of a line of dialogue from a season 1 ep I re-watched recently and the fact that so much of the time it feels like Barry and Caitlin have more chemistry in one look then Barry and Iris do in a love scene. But that's just my opinion. I'd love to hear anyone's opinions on this first chapter so please review.