A/N: like I promised, ready for the weekend. Enjoy!
Like the first part, I did this all by myself, without my Beta, so please don't murder me for the mistakes. My awesome Beta is busy with the new Message in a Bottle chapter. Yup, now that all my stories are over, I'm putting back almost all my attention into writing so many chapters of that story that you'll have regular updates in January.
Oh and AGirlsTaleAuthor; yup I am still riding. Still injured in my knees and I'll still need a couple more months to recover, so only dressage and trail riding, so not jumping 'til I'm 100%. When I get too impatient I remember Henry's wise words; ''Sometimes you just gotta slow down to get back to where you want to be.''
Despite Caitlin's best efforts, she wasn't able to keep her eyes open while waiting for the satellite to finally spot Barry's location; she ended up falling asleep on one of the medical bay not that long after giving Dominic a clear bill of health and letting him go home. Not that far from the bed, Cisco was asleep too, on the chair positioned in front of the desk. The engineer's head was resting on his crossed arms on the furniture, right in front of the computer that was tracking Barry's SpeedForce energy. So far, nothing came up.
At the moment, Iris was the only one still standing and still fighting off sleep. No matter how worn out she was, she was refusing to leave her post 'til her husband was found alive. Alive. There was no other possibility than finding him alive. Maybe she could, and should, take a quick nap considering how she would be no good to the team if she was too exhausted to keep her eyes open…On the bright side, she wasn't the one fighting on the field.
When she heard the familiar whoosh sound of an entering speedster, she almost didn't turn around in fear of being disappointed. What if it only was her imagination or Wally showing up? No, it was neither of these possibilities, it was him.
''Barry!'' She breathed out in joy and pure relief.
He was back, he was alive and was standing. Well, mostly standing; he was on his feet, but he was heavily leaning against the wall. While hugging him as tight as possible, Iris quickly took notice of the way the grip her husband had on her was slacking a little more with every second and she felt how laborious his breathing against his neck seemed to be.
''Barry?'' She asked worriedly, her concern exponentially rising when she realized all of his weight was equally distributed between herself and the wall.
The fact that she obtained absolutely no answer and that her husband's eyes were tightly closed didn't help to ease the anguish building up in her guts. Sure enough, a mere moment later, Barry's body went completely slack and gravity claimed him all the way to the floor, taking Iris along with him. Without the force needed to support Barry's weight, despite her fit body, all Iris managed to do was to keep the hero's head from hitting the floor at full speed.
''Help! Cisco! Caitlin!'' She shouted, barely turning around for half a second while strongly shaking Barry's shoulders, desperate to rouse him up. ''Come on, Barry, stay with me. Open your eyes. HE-''
She didn't have time to finish her last word before the cavalry arrived in the form of Cisco who knelt down to the ground and next to his two friends with a resonating bang. Even in her panic state, Iris winced at the sound; that probably hurt. But, even if it did, Cisco showed no sign of it as he was too busy assessing the situation.
''What happened? How did-''
''He just showed up. Go get me C-''
''On it!'' Interrupted Cisco, already jumping back on his feet faster than Barry would and rushing back at full speed in the medical bay. Arriving, he shook the doctor's shoulders as fast and hard as he could.
''What's-'' Gasped Caitlin, her eyes opening just as fast as the speed of her racing heart. ''Where's the fire?'' She said, instantly awake and ready to jump into a fight when she saw the panic in Cisco's eyes.
''Barry!'' It was all he said, all he needed to while pointing toward the cortex's door.
Looking in that direction, the doctor instantly spotted a pair of red boots sprawled on the floor with the rest of the body hidden under Iris.
Jumping on her feet in a fraction of a second, Caitlin snatched her penlight from the nearest table and rushed to where the CSI was laying still, landing on her knees and next to his head.
''Barry? Can you hear me?" Asked Caitlin, prying the speedster' eyes open one by one and flashing a light into them
The hero groaned and weakly tried to close his eyes at the intrusion. His head moved to his right, trying to escape the light, but otherwise showed no other sign that he was aware of his surroundings. Reading the doctor's mind, that or having seen Barry comes back injured way too often, Iris opened up the suit before Caitlin had to ask. Thankfully, there were no bloody and gruesome injuries at first sight, other than some pretty impressive bruises, not that it excluded the possibility of more problems hidden underneath the skin. Moving down on the man's body, the doctor expertly probed his chest and limbs, wincing in sympathy at the weak whimpers of pain she got in answer as she started pressing down the ribs.
''Definitely bruises ribs and at least one broken-'' She stated halfway in her examination. ''Make that three.'' She corrected when Barry arched his back slightly and weakly waved his hands in a faint attempt to free himself from the source of his pain. ''Shhh, it's okay, you're safe now.'' Added the doctor.
''What's the prognosis?'' Wondered Cisco, standing right behind the two women with his shoulders tensed in anticipation and ready to jump in to assist at any time.
''I can't find any significant damage other than his ribs; he's probably worn out and dehydrated. I'll hook him up on some IV and he should be fine.''
They all sighed in relief at that. What a night. Good thing it was almost over. Teaming up, the three of them quickly and efficiently transported the man in a medical bed before taking his suit off. As Caitlin was inserting a needle into Barry's arm, Cisco's loud ringtone made itself known and earned the engineer a sharp glare from Caitlin.
'Mind letting me work?' Told the sharp eyes.
Taking his cell out of his pocket, Cisco almost dismissed it 'til he saw the name calling. Oh, they should've called him right away.
''Cisco!'' Boomed Joe's voice as soon as Cisco picked up. ''Tell me your satellite picked up Barry's Speedforce! I have witnesses who reported seeing the Flash crashing into their windows-''
''Joe, we-''
''- and one who sworn she saw a red figure falling from the sky and into the water. Except, I can't find anything on the scene. Please, tell me you have anything, something! Or you could breach over and-?''
''Joe, stop!'' Shouted Cisco, finally succeeding in interrupting the older man. ''We have him, we have Barry and he's-''
The line went dead on the other side like the other man had stop breathing under the mixed emotions probably attacking him at the moment; relief, worry, happiness, surprise...?
''When did that...? Is h-''
''He showed up a couple of minutes ago in the cortex and collapsed, but Caitlin thinks it's because of dehydration and exhaustion. She's with him now.''
The uncomfortable silence continued for a few more moments, just enough for Cisco to start doubting there was anyone still on the other line. Just as he was about to add something, the detective finally spoke again with urgency.
''I'm on my way, I'll be there in 5 minutes.''
***FLASHFLASHFLASH***
''Devoe, NO! JOE!'' Shouted Barry's voice, waking up screaming and pushing his body upright and seated on the bed with his glance darting all over the room. In his confused and panic state, his eyes were moving way too fast for his brain to register a single thing he was actually seeing. His racing heart was painfully pumping hard into his chest and he almost jumped out of his skin when an unknown hand grabbed his arm.
''Hey, hey. Easy son, take it easy. I'm here.''
That voice...Joe? Forcing himself to slow down, Barry turned his head and locked his vision on the blurry form on his right.
''Are you back with me?'' Worriedly asked Joe as the hero just kept on blinking and staring for a couple more seconds. Had Devoe done something to his mind?
''Joe-''
The older man finally breathed out in deep relief, so Barry could still talk and recognize him.
''-are you ok? Devoe did he…he said that-'' Babbled Barry while scanning the detective for any signs of injuries.
''Calm down, Barr, I'm fine.'' He assured, smiling comfortingly. ''I'm not the one in a hospital bed right now.''
Mildly convinced, Barry still forced his breathing to slow down at a more normal pace: ''Devoe, he has cameras everywhere and he showed me that you were on his porch, right after he told me there was no happy ending.'' He tried to explain, his brain still a little scramble from the experience.
No happy ending? That didn't sound good.
''What did he do to you? How did you escape?''
''He didn't have time to do anything, I outsmarted him before he could lay a hand on me.'' Proudly said Barry.
It wasn't much of an answer, but it was enough for now. What was important at the moment was that Barry was back and unharmed, so was Caitlin. Everything turned out ok and the detective couldn't help the smirk on his face at the idea that they finally managed to play the player for once.
''Great job on this one. But I swear, if he ever touches you or anyone else again I will-''
''Hey, it's ok, whatever he has plan next, we'll deal with it like we always do.''
Even if he managed to escape out of the energy's prison, Barry still had a bad feeling about all of this. A feeling he just couldn't shake it off. It almost was too easy. Yeah, sure, he had to think of a new way to use his powers, got pretty banged up in their fight and Devoe's chair almost caught him another time... but still. Devoe was smart, he would've known that the same trick wouldn't work twice and he instantly guessed out how Barry managed to get invisible. Hell, he didn't seem surprised by that feat. How come he didn't think of that before lowering the energy field? Unless...unless he wanted Barry to get out?
No, Barry was just getting paranoid. It was Christmas time, time of the miracles; Barry needed to accept and celebrate every victory he could have against his foes, like the one he just had.
''Where is everyone else?'' He finally asked, smiling, ready to celebrate.
A/N: Leave a comment :)