A few alternate scenes from The Flash 3x15/3x16 with more Barry/Cisco fluffiness. No slash whatsoever except maybe a few nods at the current Barry/Iris relationship. Lines it italics are taken directly from the episode. I own nothing except a few Flash comic books. Please don't sue me.
He felt such intense pain, he almost felt like passing out. Savitar had just stabbed him in the shoulder, and it was all he could do to stay awake. All at once, the dark alley brightened, light shining through the breach that had just opened, thanks to Cisco. He felt himself being pulled up, and then a few seconds later, being laid down upon a bed.
The bright overhead light was shining in his face, and he could see faint outlines of people he recognized; Joe, Caitlin, Cisco, and Julian, standing over him. He felt a hand on his chest, keeping him steady.
"The blade didn't hit your organs, but it did shatter your clavicle." Caitlin said.
"Hang in there man, hang in there." Cisco said, in a worried but reassuring voice. Then Barry heard Caitlin say something that made him feel faint. "We have to take it out. Any medicine I give you, your metabolism will burn right through."
"Alright, just do it okay, just do it!" Barry said, breathlessly. He heard Julian say something indistinguishable, felt Joe place something in his mouth, and Cisco clutching his hand. After a second of excruciating pain, he was in absolute darkness.
After a few minutes, he woke up. He started and looked around, at last able to see everybody who was there. Caitlin, standing beside the bed, Joe and Iris, on the other side of it, and Cisco, Julian, HR, and Jesse, all standing at the foot of the bed. All with worried looks upon their faces.
"How long was I out?" he said.
"Not long. Are you in much pain?" Caitlin responded. Barry didn't respond and turned his head to look at Joe. The face of the man, who was basically his father broke his heart, and he felt tears come into his eyes. Joe was staring with a faraway look in his eyes, clutching the burnt remnants of Wally's suit.
"Joe, I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Barry said, his voice breaking.
"It's not your fault." Joe responded, and a few tears fell from Barry's eyes, then Joe asked something even more heartbreaking.
"Where is he? I mean, is he in pain, is he . . . ?" At these gut-wrenching words, Barry heard Jesse run out of the room sobbing, and saw HR go after her.
"One will suffer a fate worse than death." Cisco said, quoting the prophecy they had heard from Savitar. Barry looked at him when he said that, and Cisco tried to give him an encouraging smile.
"What are we going to do? We have to bring him back, we have to save him. I can't lose Wally, Barry," Joe said, then he left the room in tears. Iris stepped over, grasped his hand firmly, then went after her father. Barry did not miss the fact, however, that Iris had removed the engagement ring Barry had given her.
After Iris left, Julian followed a few moments later muttering a, "see you soon, mate." and then it was just Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin.
"I'm sorry. I was afraid." Caitlin said through tears.
"I know. Believe me, I know. Fear makes us do a lot of things that we shouldn't. My fear's the reason for all of this." Caitlin nodded and left the room, but not before running her hand through Barry's hair, giving him a slight sense of calmness, leaving Barry alone with Cisco.
"How you feeling, man?" Cisco asked, stepping up to the side of the bed.
"Terrible." Barry replied. Cisco nodded understandingly and said, "It's gonna be okay, Bar. We'll find some way to get Wally back and stop Savitar.
"But what if we can't, Cisco? What if . . . what if we lose this one?" Barry said, sitting up painfully. He grimaced at the pain in his shoulder.
"Then . . . we'll lose together." Cisco said, putting his hand on Barry's uninjured shoulder, squeezing it gently, then giving it a slight push. Cisco's way of telling him to rest.
"Get some rest, man. We need you." At this, Barry nodded, closed his eyes, and fell asleep almost at once from sheer exhaustion, not noticing Cisco sitting down in the chair next to the bed and falling asleep as well.
After a few hours, Barry woke up to the sound of Caitlin doing something in the room. It was dark, and apparently she had left the light off in order to keep him asleep, which Barry was grateful for. He listened to her movement a few minutes longer, but then sleep claimed him again.
Another few hours passed before he woke up again. He looked around and heard nothing but saw Cisco still sitting in the chair, sleeping peacefully. Barry was touched by the fact Cisco had stayed with him the whole night. Barry adjusted his position, so as to be more comfortable, but apparently the creaking of the bed was loud enough to wake Cisco. Cisco looked around groggily, and stretched, glancing at Barry.
"Hey buddy. How're you feeling?"
"Better. Ready to catch Savitar."
"Hm. Well, you were asleep for about eight hours, so you're probably almost fully healed. You hungry?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, I'll get you some food."
"Thanks, Cisco."
"Sure thing, Bar." Cisco walked off down the hall in search of food. He came back about twenty minutes later carrying a large paper sack and two cups of coffee with a Jitters label on them.
"Here you go, Bar." Cisco said, handing him the coffee and pulling about 8 pastries out of the sack. Barry wolfed them all down hungrily, once again appreciating how much Cisco understood him, remembering his need for sustenance. Cisco sat down on the edge of the bed, sipping his coffee.
"Thanks, Cisco." said Barry, stretching and standing up slowly. He walked gingerly down the hall towards the cortex, Cisco beside him, his hand under his friend's arm, keeping him steady. In the cortex, he found Caitlin and Julian discussing theories on how to bring Wally back. They stopped talking when they saw Barry, Cisco close behind him. Barry walked past them, stopping and staring at his fresh, new suit, replacing the one that had been ripped and torn from last night's events. He felt guilty, knowing how much work and effort Cisco put into those suits, but was thankful that Cisco always had a backup suit available. He heard HR enter behind him, say "good morning," and a few minutes later, a depressed Joe and Iris behind him saying "hi" to everyone else. As he stood there thinking, Barry realized what he had to do.
"Cisco, get the breach room ready." he said.
"Okay. For what?" Cisco responded, the nervousness for his friend embedded in his voice, derived from the fact that he was pretty sure he knew what Barry wanted to do.
"I'm going to save Wally."
"How exactly are you going to do that?" Julian said, voicing Cisco's concerns.
"I'm going back into the Speed Force." Barry said with finality.
He turned and faced everyone, who all had scared or skeptical looks upon their faces. The first to speak was Joe.
"I'm just trying to wrap my mind around you going into the Speed Force again. Savitar said he was there for years, you said it was like being in space."
"I know."
"So what are you going to do? Are you gonna run in there and run around till you find him? It's endless."
"I know," Barry said, "but this is the only way to save Wally."
"Yeah, yeah, I just - we need a plan. I - I don't wanna lose both my sons." Joe said, looking at Barry with a fatherly look.
"Look gang," said HR, "I don't understand the Speed Force, but there are plenty of people in this room," he paused in order to look around the room, "who do."
"Am I correct in assuming there's a point coming?" Cisco said, and Barry couldn't help grinning, in spite of recent events.
"My point is, why can't you use your knowledge to fashion some sort of safety precaution for young BA right here, so that while he's in the Speed Force, he doesn't get lost."
"Oh, so you're saying that I can just whip some kind of inter-dimensional tether to just anchor him to the universe?" Cisco asked.
"Yeah."
"That's exactly what I can do." Cisco said, the scientist look leaping onto his features.
"Yeah, now we're cooking with helium." HR said.
"Yes, I like it and I can add a biological component that will measure his vitals when he's in the Speed Force," exclaimed Julian.
"That's a great idea," Caitlin said, ignoring the 'thank you' from HR, "because if we can monitor Barry's vitals, we'll know if they fluctuate, and we can pull him out."
"You mean, pull us out." Jesse said. Barry gave her a look that said 'don't argue' but Jesse disregarded it. "Yeah. If you're going in there to save Wally, than so am I."
"Jesse, you're going to stay here." Barry ordered.
"Yeah, because if you're father finds out you're lost in some negative world, the first person to get a broken schnoz . . . is me." HR said, looking at Jesse.
"There's a negative world?" Cisco asked with interest.
"Yeah, negative world."
"Really? They have Super Mario on Earth-29?"
"Oh, yeah, challenge me." replied HR.
"Barry, you need my help. Your shoulder is still broken." Jesse said in a quiet voice, walking up to Barry.
"It's okay. It's almost healed."
"No, look, I can do this." Jesse insisted.
"I know, but I need you to stay here. Keep the city safe while I'm gone. And this is something I have to do alone, okay?"
"Fine." Jesse gave up.
"Let's get to work." Cisco said with finality. Everyone went off to work on their own specific dilemma, while Barry took Iris by the hand and walked into the hall, discussing something personal.
After an hour or so, Barry called down to the lab where Cisco, Caitlin, and Julian were working.
"Cisco, you about ready?"
"Born ready." Cisco said.
"Okay. Here's winging it." Cisco said, the whole team down in the breach room, about to send Barry into the Speed Force.
"Winging it? Wait, what do you mean?" Joe asked, worry for his son passing across his features.
Cisco began, "Well, I mean, I don't really have a map of the Speed Force, so when I vibe Barry into it -"
"You have no idea where I'm gonna land" Barry finished.
"But the good news is, if he gets stuck on the wrong side of the tracks, now we can fish him out." Cisco replied, excitement and worry both on his face.
"Find my boy." Joe said, walking up to him and giving him a hug.
"I'm gonna do whatever it takes." Barry replied, giving him a small reaffirming smile.
"Thank you." said Iris. There was a short, slightly awkward interaction between them, then he nodded at Jesse and went to Cisco.
"Are we ready?" he asked, eager to get this over with.
"Good to go." Caitlin replied. Cisco clasped his shoulder and vibed, saying, "To infinity and beyond." All at once, they were in the midst of the Speed Force, and Barry could feel the speed, coursing through him, stronger than usual.
"Okay, once I let go, you're on your own." Cisco said.
"Do it." I said, not wanting any prolonged goodbyes.
"Good luck, man." Cisco gave a Barry a quick hug and left, and Barry was alone, running through the Speed Force.
P.S. Watch The Flash 3x16-3x23 for the rest of the story. Available on Netflix.
P.P.S. I had a lot of fun writing this story. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I love Barry and Cisco friendship fluffiness.
