A/N: Welcome to the real start of this story! First chapter was just a sneak peek, but this is the first of many weekly chapter. Enjoy!
I don't know if the Guest who asked about When Fear strikes in the comments of my other fic is reading this fic too. If you are: Yes that story will have an ending and the next chapter is coming soon. I just got back from my writing hiatus and started writing new chapters for all of my stories, starting with the more awaited one (top priorities were chosen based on the comments). I started working on When Fear Strikes new chapter and it should be ready at the end of next week or the beginning of the other :)
''Step away from him!'' Ordered Cisco, ready to take out this guy in a hand-to-hand combat if he had to. Power or no power, the engineer was determined to defend the speedster's life at all cost. He didn't wait months to see Barry come back to them just to lose his friend forever at the end of this new psycho who somehow possessed a hate for both Flash and Ghost.
''I'm surprise you two even know each other.'' Laughed the hood man, not caring about the empty threat he just received from the depower Vibe. Grabbing another metallic pole, he close in to the fallen speedster, determined to stop messing around and finish the job.
He barely had his hands on his new weapon that Cisco flew right at him, punching the guy right across the face, adrenaline filling his body, making him forget the pain and the numb feelings in his limbs. Nobody was going to take his friend away from him.
Vibe's hand barely connected with his target that his adversary turned around, sharply hitting Cisco on his right side, efficiently cutting the air supply, sending him crashing on the ground, a couple of feet away. Despite the pain in his leg, Barry managed to get back up and lunge himself forward, succefully gaining the man's attention, distracting him from Cisco, still recuperating from the shock, on the ground. While succeeding in giving his friend a break, he received the metal pole right across the chest, sending him many meters away, crashing into the closed window at the back of the room. The sound of broken glass pushed Cisco back on his feet, charging into the room, eyes widening in horror at the view of the two dark blue gloves desperately trying to hang on the window's frame, desperately clenching at anything to help him pull himself back on safe ground.
''No!''
His instincts kicked in before his brain could really understand what he was doing, dashing passed his adversary and straight at the window, his arms stretched as far as humanly possible to try and catch his friend, he was so close, he could help him…Cisco was barely inches away when the speedsters' hand lost their grip and disappeared from the view.
''NOO!'' He screamed louder, his body coming to a violent halt, connecting with the wall and the window's frame as he reached the limit of the room, his eyes going down just in time to helplessly witness the end of his friend's fall from the 3rd floor, right on the pavement.
''Barry! '' He found himself screaming, the word leaving his lips without consciously realizing he just let slip the Ghost's identity. Thankfully, the other man had already left the room, which could not be such a good thing if he was on his way to make sure the job was done.
Looking down from the view of the 3rd floor's broken window, it was hard to tell in the darkness if the man down was moving, if Barry was even alive. The very dim street light wasn't much help to discern anything, other than a form lying on the ground.
''Oh, thank God.'' He whispered, the second he heard groans of pain coming from the pavement; the speedster was still alive.
Never in his life had Cisco been more grateful to hear police's siren approaching in the distance. Joe was on his way!
''Don't move, help's coming!''
It was at that moment Cisco finally realized that the attacker was gone. Was that man going to finish Barry off? Even if his intended target was Flash, this man clearly had no lost love for the Ghost either. In a heartbeat, Vibe left the room too and sprinted in the stairs, ignoring the pain in his side from the hit he just received. It didn't take long before he was heavily breathing under the effort, giving everything he had in that sprint in hope to get down there before the Meta, or at least before the other man had the chance to do anything more. Puffing as he got to ground level, wishing he had taken a couple of laps of training around that speed lab himself before going out on a mission, Cisco ran outside, harshly pushing the door wide open and scanning around. Other than the approaching siren, the only sound he heard was the sound of someone running away. Turning his head to the right, he barely got the time to catch a glimpse of the mysterious meta he just fought as he disappeared in the darkness, turning around the corner of the street. They would need to get him another day as there were more urgent things to attend to right now.
Turning his heel in the opposite direction, Cisco dashed to the location under the window, where Barry badly fell.
''Please be ok, please be ok.'' He told himself, closing in the right spot.
Where was that spot exactly? It was around here, Cisco just knew it, but he couldn't see a single body on the ground or hear the grunts of pain anymore. If only there was more light around these parts. Looking down a bit more carefully, that's when he finally saw it; the pool of blood on the pavement, instantly making him gasp. At least, there wasn't any body lying unresponsive in it, which was good, but he couldn't have gone too far after that fall, not to mention the injury he got fighting moments earlier.
''Barry? Answer me, man. Make a sound.'' Called out Cisco again, and again, walking a couple of steps into the darkness of the dark alley. Barry just had to be close by, probably just hiding to protect his life. ''He's gone now, just tell me where you are and we'll help you. Caitlin can take a look at your wounds.''
Silence and darkness were the only answers he got, maybe he wasn't looking at the right place. Turning around, back to where he started, he knelt next to the blood puddle, not even noticing the figure that crawled from behind the garbage container in the alley, barely steps away from where Cisco was standing a moment ago. The only thing Cisco needed to do right now to see the Ghost was to turn around just one last time. His best friend was just there, sitting in the middle of the alley, taking back his mask to reveal his pained expression. There was hesitation all over his face; what should he do? Part of him just needed to make a sound and let his presence known, and yet there still was that other part holding him back. He couldn't come back, not yet, he wasn't ready.
Cisco didn't turn around, too busy staring at the blood on the ground; it wasn't that big of a pool, meaning that at the very least Barry probably wasn't bleeding out at the moment. Unconsciously, Vibe lowered his hand all the way to the ground. The second he made contact, he froze, a familiar sensation spreading in his body, disconnecting his mind from the present time and place and sending it somewhere else.
***FLASHFLASHFLASH***
The next second, he wasn't in the dark on the pavement anymore; he was witnessing Barry, with his mask on, badly limping in an old apartment building hallway. While this place wasn't abandoned like the one they just went in, it looked incredibly old, dusty and falling apart, a place that nobody respecting himself would ever choose to live in this. His left hand would go down every couple of steps to graze the metal pole still impaled in his thigh, only leaving the wound alone to grab the filthy wall in a weak attempt to keep his balance and keep advancing toward his goal. Blood was staining his costume and it was hard to tell if the bleeding had completely stopped by now or if it was still flowing on the suit and on the ground too. But to be honest, there was no way to tell if any fluid was falling on the dark brown carpet that probably hasn't been washed in like, ever, since that building was built.
Finally making his way to room 401, right at the corner of the hallway, Barry quickly glanced over his shoulder before swiftly unlocking the door with shaking hands. Entering the dusty premises, that was almost just as messy, empty and grubby than the rest of this building, he grunted under the effort to make the final steps to the small bathroom, before letting himself collapse on the floor. His exhausted, pained, body was visually shaking as the speedster used his remaining strength to try and grab his cellphone next to the bathroom sink, only succeeding in clumsily making it fall to the ground next to him. Finally getting a hold on the device, he quick dialed a number, an unknown number to Cisco, as the vibe was slowly starting to fade away.
''Barry?'' Said a feminine, but distorted voice sounding like it was coming from far, far away.
''He…l…''
''B…..r…''
***FLASHFLASHFLASH***
Cisco gasped like a drowning man as he was violently sent back to reality. 8:23 pm, that was the time he saw on the cellphone. It couldn't be that late just yet. If he was right, he still had time. He couldn't find Barry right now, but he now knew where the man was going to be, or at least he had part of the answer. And who was that woman? Her voice was very familiar, very familiar, and yet he was sure it wasn't someone working with him on a daily basis. It sadly meant the speedster wasn't going to call Caitlin for help, despite his condition. Who else?
''Cisco! Are you ok?!''
Cisco instantly turned around to the sound of another familiar voice; Joe West had arrived while Vibe was in a trance and was now running toward his position, his voice full of concern. The detective's eyes widened the second Cisco got back on his feet.
''Hey, hey, don't move, stay down.'' Urgently added the detective, rushing to go to the scientist's side, extending his arm to support him.
It took a moment for Cisco to understand the reason of that panic, until he finally noticed Barry's blood on the lower part of both his legs and on his hands.
''No, no.'' He corrected, moving out of the detective's grip. ''It's not my blood, I'm fine.'' Well, except for his side that was still hurting like hell, hopefully he wasn't stuck with another broken bone, barely couple of weeks after getting free of his arm's cast.
''Then, who's blood is it? What the hell happened?''
''It's….'' It's Barry, Joe needed to know, but Cisco had a bad feeling about all of this. If, despite his injuries the speedster still decided to leave, it only meant that something was still holding him back, whether it was mental or something more. Either way, Barry wasn't coming back soon, unless Cisco could just talk to him alone and try figure things out together. That's it, that was the plan, for now.
''I'm not sure. '' He finally lied to Joe. ''But the Meta is gone for now. I'll explain everything once we're back at the labs. Let's go.''
Joe gave him an uneasy look, but still decided to trust the engineer's judgment, nodding, it will have to wait for a moment. Witnessing the trust the older man had in him, Cisco felt guilt in his stomach knowing he was hiding the biggest secret at the moment. Both the detective and the engineer started walking away from the scene, completely unaware of the pair of sad eyes still sitting in the alley behind, watching his and Joe's every move.
'You're doing it for Barry, and indirectly for all of us.' Cisco told himself, trying to convince his mind he was doing the right thing.
''Wait.'' He said, just before entering the detective's car. ''What time is it?''
''It's…7:41. Why?'' Answered Joe, frowning, after he had the chance to look at his watch.
''Nothing, just…asking.''
***FLASHFLASHFLASH***
''There you go.'' Said Caitlin, finalizing her examination and taking her gloves off. ''You're pretty lucky you didn't have any bruise or broken rib. Pretty sure we told you to be careful.''
''I was!'' Defended the engineer, insulted.
''Yeah, well, the huge ecchymosis on your side might disagree with that. '' Said Caitlin, trying to sound annoyed, but relief was still clear in her voice, happy that while nothing happened as planned, Cisco came back fine. Mostly.
''Let me get this straight.'' Intervened Joe, who had his back against the door of the medical bay, standing next to his daughter. ''Our target attacked you, but stopped when this other…person, appeared out of nowhere?'' Cisco nodded. ''And you were able to get out of them while both of them were fighting each other?''
''That's pretty much it. Guess he hated that new person more than he hated me.''
''Something doesn't make sense here.''
''How can this guy neutralize your abilities?'' Wondered Caitlin, her brain already starting to work on the problem. ''You think we could try and get a simple of his blood or-?''
''Look-'' Interrupted Cisco before looking at his phone resting on the table next to him, checking the time; 8:20 pm. It was almost time. ''I'm just tired can we look at this tomorrow?''
''Yeah…sure.'' Slowly replied Caitlin, sending not-so-subtle looks at everyone around; something was definitely up with her friend, Cisco doesn't just call it a night like that with a killer on the loose and without debriefing everything in detail with the team. Unless he was just in a bad place after his first and disastrous mission. After all, Barry did almost quit after his first encounter with Multiplex. Some alone time might be what he needed right now.
''If you want to talk, call me. '' Added Caitlin, making her way out of the lab, followed by the rest of the team.
''Sure.'' He said absently just before his friends were too far away to hear, his mind working hard on figuring who that woman on the phone was. It was killing him, he just knew who It was.
'Think Cisco, think.' He told himself, eyes closed in concentration before snapping them open a moment later, jumping off the medical bed and on his feet. Felicity! Had to be. Who else? That would surely explain how their speedster' friend was able to completely disappear off the map; she's the one who helped him disappear without leaving a single trace behind. She probably got him his new phone and fake credentials and credit cards to stay off the grid, after all, he must've known his friends would still try to come after him.
But why? Why would Felicity, of all people, just help Barry like that without telling the rest of the hero's team? After everything that happened with Oliver in the last couple of years, she should've been the first person to know what it's like to be a long time without having news of someone you care about. Why didn't she say something?
First thing first; taking out his phone, he dialed the number he saw in his vision, the other line picking up immediately.
''Hang in there Barry, I'm on my way. Stay wit-'' Instantly said Felicity's worried voice.
''Hello Felicity.'' Interrupted Cisco dryly. ''Where's Barry?''
Instantaneously, the other line went dead silent.
''Hey…Cisco. Barry? Barry who? I don't…''
''Cut it, I'm aware that you know where Barry is, I also know he called you barely a minute ago and he's hurt.''
''How do you…What makes you think that-''
''I have powers, remember? Now, tell me where ''
''Cisco, he's…he wouldn't be too happy if I was to tell you.'' Finally said Felicity, after another moment of hesitation, admitting defeat. There was no point playing numb anymore.
''Felicity, he's hurt, bad. I was there. He fell from the 3rd floor window, but he hid before I could get down.'' No need for powers to hear, feel, the hesitation. ''Please, Felicity, he's my friend, let me help.''
''I know I'm going to regret this, but…fine. Are you at S.T.A.R.?'' She finally conceded.
''Yes.''
''I'll pick you up in 10 minutes.'' She said before ending the call.
A/N: Leave and comment and try not to murder Barry for being an idiot, I still need him :O
See you next Friday for the Chapter 3!
