I shuddered, still not fully coming to grips with Zoom taking Joe. It couldn't of happened. But it did. I walked into the the empty building of Star Labs. Caitlin had brought Jesse and Harry back to her home, and Wally and Iris had retreated back to Joe's house. But still I found myself pacing around the now brightly lit up cortex of Star Labs, not quite being able to shake off the feeling that someone was forgotten. Someone was missing from the picture. Was it Joe? Yes, in some way. But not quite. Then it struck me, in a painful way.
Barry.
We had forgotten about Barry.
Panic surged through me, and without thought I abandoned the thought of checking on Barry through the video camera, I started to run to the elevator, knowing that was my quickest way down all the stairs.
10 minutes. 10 minutes, was my quickest way to the pipeline. I cursed myself, briefly wondering if taking the stairs would have been quicker. I frowned, I didn't think so. I walked briskly over to the computer operating our metahuman prison. Putting my hand down on the un-locking mechanism, I held my breath. I wasn't really sure what I was expecting to find. The door began to lift open, and I started to get anxious when I didn't hear Barry's voice start yelling, begging me to let him out.
60/40. That was my excuse. I felt terrible. I felt terrible because it was wrong. Barry hated being immobilized. I knew that. It was wrong to put someone, a person, in a cage. I winced, remembering the look on Barry's face when Harry had shot him, the raw pain. And it had been painful. A 3 inch long needle, and pretty thick. I didn't even remember Harry taking the dart out, which caused a raw surge of anger to wash over me. Barry was sitting in a cell, not having eaten in 6 hours,(which didn't count the additional 4 before he became our prisoner) with a 3 inch long dart in his shoulder. A dart at such an angle that Barry couldn't pull it out. Oh it made me mad alright. How dare they treat my friend...
Was Barry even my friend anymore? My brother? I had openly betrayed him. Put him in a cage for crying out loud. I felt guilt weight down in stomach. Had I lost a friend?
The door opened fully now, and I could clearly see Barry lying on his side, back to me. Sure enough the dart was still embedded in Barry's shoulder. I frowned, realizing that Barry was shivering. Each time his body racked with tremor, the dart would wobble in his shoulder. I wanted that dart out. I wanted it out now. But I couldn't open the door. Barry could run out. I pressed my face against the glass and called Barry's name.
"Barry?" I called. "Barry?" No response.
" Barry!" I called again. This time louder, my hand tapping on the glass. Barry twitched, but otherwise stayed still. Fear began to settle through me, washing away most of the guilt,(though not permanent) and slowly rising into panic when I realized Barry wasn't sleeping. That was it. I didn't care. I needed to know if my friend, my brother, (no matter what circumstances I was on with Barry right now) was alright. My fingers pressed the code for unlocking Barry's cell.