Jumping right into the action;)
Flash hides the bomb at the base of the radio tower. If he can end the transmission, then the chips in his teammates' heads will be useless. Or so he hopes. He's on his own for this mission, seeing as the rest of the league is brainwashed.
Once activated the bomb needs 10 minutes before it explodes. Just as Flash is about to flip the switch, he hears a beeping in his ear. His comm link. Frowning, he puts a hand to his ear to answer, "Flash. Who's on the line?"
"Hello Wally," The voice says.
"Supes. Good to hear your voice. We can talk after I save your ass from that chip planted in your skull."
Superman sighs, "You don't understand Wally. I don't need saving. None of us do. This chip- this nanotechnology- it takes pain away. I haven't felt this content in years. We only want the same for you. Please, join us. It is the key to happiness. Accept the chip and be at peace at last."
Flash snorts. "You're out of your damn mind. You sound like a robot."
There's a pause on Superman's end. Finally he continues, "We cannot let you destroy that transmission. Shayera is currently holding a gun to our friend Bruce's head. Be in the Batcave in the next 20 seconds or she will fire it."
The breath catches in Flash's throat. "You're going to kill Bats? Are you insane?"
"18 seconds."
"Superman!" Flash yells. "I know you don't want to do this."
"17 seconds." He knows that Superman is not bluffing. The chip made his teammates detached and emotionless- and dismissive of the unspoken moral code they followed. Earlier that day, Wonder Woman and Shayera had slaughtered a group of people rioting against the League and its sudden endorsement of the chip.
Flash bites his lip nervously, his gaze flickering from the bomb to the horizon where his brainwashed friends were waiting. If he left, he'd be leaving the bomb vulnerable and unprotected. If he stayed...
"15 seconds." Flash hears the faint click of a gun in the background.
"Okay, okay. I'm coming now." He flips the switch on the bomb, praying to God that it detonates in time, and takes off towards the Batcave. He reached the front door of the Manor in 5 seconds.
The door to the mansion swings open and Alfred greets the speedster, smiling with that familiar blank look in his eyes.
"Please come in. They are expecting you."
Flash steps into the house, eyeing the butler suspiciously. "Even you, Jeeves?" He mutters.
Alfred leads him to the grandfather clock leading into the cave. The clock slides to the left and Flash descends the stairs where the League (minus J'onn and Wonder Woman) are waiting. The team had taken off their costumes, wearing their regular civvies.
True to Superman's word, Shayera is holding a pistol to Bruce's temple. Both of them are devoid of emotion as if the Thanagarian isn't one moment away from ending Bruce's life. Her finger is on the trigger, and Flash suddenly realizes she's still counting the seconds.
"Wait!" Flash calls, lunging forward.
Before he can reach Shayera, green chains wrap around his ankles, sending him crashing into the ground.
He twists himself around and John is towering over him, ring pointed.
"...Hey GL," Flash says.
John smiles. "You came. Good decision." He nods at Shayera, who lowers the gun.
The Green Lantern crouches next to Flash. "But you haven't taken the key yet, so we're not done."
Flash scowls. "I'd rather stuff my face in Grodd's smelly pits than take your dumb chip."
"We'll see," Another voice says. Clark steps toward Flash and without any warning, digs his heel into Flash's palm. Flash gasps in pain and reaches with his free hand to pry Clark's foot off, but John catches it and slams it back into the ground.
Clark's eyes turn red and Flash pales. Superman wouldn't-
Suddenly, searing pain rips through the speedster's thigh. He cries out in pain as Superman's heat vision cooks his leg. When he finally stops, Flash feels sweat dampening his hair.
"Wally, the key can take your pain away." Superman holds out a small piece of tech to the speedster. "Just swallow it and your pain will disappear."
Flash shakes his head weakly.
Shayera and Bruce move to stand alongside Clark, uncaring of the torture going on in front of them.
Bruce suggests, "Start breaking fingers."
Green Lantern grips Flash's middle finger and swiftly bends it backwards, breaking the bone. Flash groans in pain as John takes hold of his ring finger, about to do the same.
"You have nine more fingers Wally. Imagine this pain times nine. Just take the key," John says.
Flash squeezes his eyes shut and croaks, "Never."
John breaks the ring finger too, then the pinkie. But Flash stays resilient even as tears start to slip down his cheeks. Because he knows something his teammates don't- that in less than 10 minutes, the bomb will go off and his friends will go back to being their normal selves. He just has to stay strong until then.
"Obviously, physical pain isn't working," Clark huffs, stepping off of Wally's hand while John drops the other one.
"We'll take the same approach as we did to lure him here," Shayera says as she pulls the mace from out of her belt.
"I understand," Bruce answers as he kneels to the ground in front of her.
Clark holds the chip out again. "There are only two ways that this can end. Either Bruce dies right here in front of you, or you swallow the key and save him and yourself."
"No," Flash whispers. "Please, don't do this," He pleads.
"It has to be done," Shayera says as she tightens her hold on the mace and begins winding up.
Flash pushes himself up a bit. "Shayera," He begs, tears springing to his eyes. "Please, Shay."
It goes in slow motion. Shayera pulling her mace back then bringing it forward, like a baseball swing. Bruce's eyes fluttering shut as he accepts his fate.
Flash feels a rush of adrenaline. He will not let Bats die. Not today, not by the hand of a teammate. Not when they're so close to being saved. He grits his teeth and vibrates- violently- out of the chains on his ankles. He lunges towards Bruce, shoving Lantern out of the way as he goes.
The speedster is able to pull the man out of the path of the incoming mace before time speeds up again.
Shayera glares at Flash. "Kill him," She snarls.
Flash stumbles backwards as the four Leaguers approach him. Five minutes have passed, He thinks and Clark's eyes turn red again.
I just need to hold out for five more.
Flash does his best to dodge their attacks and fight back without seriously hurting his friends. After all, he doesn't want them to wake up with real injuries. He hurls Shayera into Clark, he manages to steal the ring off GL's finger, and he ducks whatever punches Bruce throws at him.
But he realizes quickly that he can't go on much longer in his condition. His leg is throbbing, his head pounding, and his broken fingers were numb. He glances up at the entrance to the manor.
I need more "Hide and Seek" and less "Cats and Mouse."
He races up the stairs and zig zags through the many hallways and rooms in the manor. He skids to a stop inside a bedroom, leans against the wall, and waits. The longer they spend looking for Wally, the less time they spend looking for the bomb. Which should be going off in...
Three minutes. Just 120 seconds, Flash thinks to himself.
"Wally West, did you forget that I have X-Ray vision?" Clark calls from down the hall. Flash curses.
With a groan of pain, he pulls himself up and takes off to find a different part of the mansion to hide in. He stops at a fancy door, glances in both directions to make sure no one else is in the hallway, and goes inside.
Bruce's room, he discovers. The walls and bed sheets are the Bat's favorite color: morning blue. On the dresser is an untouched (now cold) bowl of french onion soup. A traditional katana hangs on the wall. Although the room lacks anything truly personal, Flash just knows that this is Bruce's.
Suddenly, the door to the bedroom is kicked down and Bruce steps inside. Flash quickly grabs the katana off the wall and holds it up in defense, using only his good hand.
"Don't make me use this!" He warns the billionaire, but is ignored when Bruce rushes at him. Flash steps to the side to avoid getting tackled, but Bruce predicts the move. He yanks the katana from Flash's hand, then grabs the front of Flash's costume and hurls him to the floor a few feet away.
Before Flash can move, Bruce drives the katana into his thigh with full force, exactly where Clark had burnt him. The sword goes straight through his leg and digs into the wood under him, pinning him to the floor. Wally screams in, his back arching in pain. He reaches for the katana, but Bruce kicks him in the face so hard, Wally is seeing double. Dazed, he doesn't react when Bruce straddles his hips and wraps his hands around his throat.
Then Bruce starts squeezing.
And Bruce is a strong man.
Wally feebly claws at Bruce's arms in an attempt to make him loosen his grip. He has nowhere to turn, because Bruce's knees are planted on either side of him.
Bruce's rough fingers dig into Wally's neck and Flash starts to lose consciousness. He wants to tell the man above him that he doesn't want to die like this. He wants to tell him a lot of things, actually. As he starts to lose his train of thought, Wally focuses on Bruce's eyes.
A long time ago, when he was young and foolish, used to think that Batman was devoid of any emotion at all. Incapable of feeling them, even. But as they worked together more and more often Wally learned the small tells that revealed Batman's feelings. A twitch of his lips, or a wrinkle in his nose, or, in the rare instances when he worked with Bruce Wayne: his eyes. Even if the rest of his face was blank, Bruce's eyes almost always betrayed him.
But looking at his eyes now hurt almost as much as the katana in his leg. If he thought the man was emotionless before... well, he was plain dead right now. There was something downright terrifying about getting strangled to death by Bruce Wayne while he has acts as if he's simply doing a chore.
Black starts creeping into his vision and Wally legitimately thinks he is going to die. Bruce's fingers are still pressed into his throat and the speedster doesn't have the energy to keep fighting.
Suddenly, like a miracle, Bruce gasps sharply and the pressure on his neck is gone. Wally coughs and gasps for air, observing Bruce as he seems to recollect the past four days, and every emotion he felt in that time crashes into him at once.
Mortified, Bruce's gaze slowly travels down Wally's body as he registered what he'd nearly accomplished. Wally pushes himself up on his elbows, his head spinning from both a lack of oxygen and Bruce's kick from earlier. Bruce suddenly seems to realize his current position, and swings one of his legs over so that he's sitting next to Wally instead of looming over him.
Slowly, he reaches for Wally's face. Without thinking, Flash flinches away from his outstretched hand. The hurt expression on Bruce's face made Wally immediately regret it.
Bruce swallows thickly, turning his attention instead to Wally's leg.
"I'll get a medkit and have Alfred patch that up," He says, his voice lacking its usual gruffness.
He watches Bruce hurriedly leave the room.
Wally wants to call out to him, to hug him, to assure him that everything's okay, but the aching of his throat stops him.
Let me know what you think! I'm working on chapter two as you read this. It's going to be mainly Bruce's POV on how he's coping with this whole thing. Lotta feels to come I think. That'll be out sometime next week so keep ur eyes P-E-E-L-E-D!
Also, if you didn't notice, I just finished season 3 of the 100 :)