Speed War
6
'Why does it always rain on days like this?' Iris found herself thinking as she stood under her black umbrella, protected from the downpour. She and everyone there were dressed in all black and even with the rain she could feel the sadness in the air.
The entirety of the Central City Police Department was present as was customary for the funeral of a fallen officer.
It had been a beautiful service despite the circumstances. Iris had held Barry's hand throughout, knowing what he was dealing with inside and how much worse it was made now.
Barry had to lie about what happened.
Patty had been killed in Barry's home and the CCP was going to find out. Barry had returned to the scene, forcing himself to look at Patty's corpse again. Then call the police and report the attack. He'd told them what truth he could, that he and Patty had been attacked by some sort of meta with powers like the Flash. His wounds he'd suffered marked him enough so his story was believable.
Barry would be the one to do the autopsy and write the report so again he'd lied to cover up the time it'd taken to call them.
Now he was standing with the other officers, Joe next to him for support. He was a wreck. Hadn't spoken much or been taking any phone calls. The others had told Iris that he'd been ignoring Kara's calls and texts as well choosing to sulk and brood. He was in pain, that was without question, but everyone else also commented on the fact that he wasn't sulking and brooding in defeat. Barry wasn't falling apart because of this, they could all see the fire in his eyes.
Now, at the funeral, Iris noticed it for the first time as she stared at Barry. He was glaring blankly at the coffin that was being lowered. If he was crying she couldn't tell because of the rain but she could see his eyes. Behind the sadness on his face there was an anger that she'd never seen before.
It frightened her.
Once the coffin had been lowered and the final processes completed everyone began to return to their cars and limousines except Barry and Joe.
Iris made her way over to them carefully so she wouldn't slip. "How are you feeling?" She couldn't think of anything else to say.
Barry didn't respond. He clenched his fists tightly and just stared at where they had buried Patty.
"C'mon, Barry. Let's get out of this rain," Joe said with a shiver.
"Yeah dad's right. You can brood back at Star Labs," Iris attempted a joke.
Barry just nodded but didn't turn around. "I'll meet you guys there," he said in a barely audible whisper.
Iris opened her mouth to say something but Joe touched her shoulder and shook his head. "Alright, Barry," he said and pulled Iris along.
Caitlin Snow walked into the workshop chewing on a sandwich and looking a little down.
"Any word from Professor Stein or Jefferson?" Cisco asked when he saw her come in. Caitlin shook her head and continued to eat in silence.
"How's the work on my gun coming along, Mr. Ramon?" Wells asked from his area.
"Now that I've had some time with it to really see how it works I can amplify the power and fire rate. Might have to sacrifice some accuracy though-"
"Do not mess with the accuracy of my weapon," Wells cut him off.
Cisco looked glum, "It would only be a little bit..."
"Do not mess with the accuracy of-"
"Alright. Alright, Harry I got it." Cisco rolled his eyes and went back to work.
"How are we going to do this you guys? Barry's never faced anything like this. We're all out of our depth." Caitlin was clearly shaken by everything.
"First," Wells put down his tools. "We're going to start by not letting this get us down, Miss Snow. Yes, we're out of our depth. Zoom, Reverse Flash, Trajectory; they're murderers with super speed but if we don't draw a line and stop them who will? Zoom controlled my Earth alone, what do you think will happen with a team like he and Thawne? I for one refuse to sit idly by and do nothing."
Cisco and Caitlin stared mute at Wells. "What?" Wells asked after a moment.
"That was inspirational..." Cisco replied and Caitlin nodded, getting up from her seat.
"I'm going to go do some research. Maybe I can find something helpful in some of Barry's old fights." Caitlin smiled at Wells. "Thanks, Harry."
Wells closed his eyes, "I wish you all wouldn-"
"Just roll with it, man!" Cisco grinned. "This is what it is, baby!" He spread his arms and bounced his shoulders back to the desk.
Wells returned to his work while Cisco did the same. The two of them tinkered in silence for a short while before Cisco said, "We know that your gun can hurt speedsters but only if we can hit them."
"Right," Wells agreed, not quite sure where Cisco was going with this but assuming nowhere.
"Which means the first issue we need to solve is-
"How to slow them down." Wells finished the obvious and continued to work, satisfied that he'd been right and they were again talking in circles.
Cisco was silent for a little while and then his eyes lit up. "Captain Cold!"
"Captain who?"
"Never mind who he is it's what he does. His cold gun! It's capable of stopping a speedster for a brief time." Cisco got up and started digging through papers that looked like pages of blueprints designs.
"How does that help us?" Wells went over to him.
"Because Cold blackmailed me into upgrading his gun-"
"How did he-"
"I don't want to talk about it," Cisco cut that conversation short. It was a touchy subject. "Somewhere in here should be the blueprints for his cold gun."
"We could replicate it!" Wells caught on and moved closer.
"I'm thinking you armed with something like that..." Cisco smiled as he found what he was looking for. "Harry my friend, let's get to work."
Barry stood in the shadows of an alley and glanced around. He picked his phone out of his pocket and saw more missed calls and texts from Kara. He couldn't take them, not while he was feeling like this. Sure, he could lie and say it was the loss of a fellow officer to his rivals but lying to Kara was wrong. Barry had liked Patty and even though he'd told her about Kara the feelings were still there. Now he was torn up about her loss.
He put the phone into his pocket, took another quick look around and then started to run.
Everything around him was nothing but a blur as he passed through mountains, forests, deserts and then was running across the vast waters of the ocean.
The ocean fell behind and turned into more land that he paid no attention to. His only concern was escaping and being alone for a bit.
He ran like it would save Patty.
Tearing across grassland, asphalt, desert, mountain trails, oceans, lakes and swamps in mere seconds. Barry was passing sights and wonders few humans ever viewed but he didn't care. His mind was locked on revenge and how he could get it.
Barry had never felt like this before. This burning sensation that he knew he couldn't quell. This intense rage and hatred. He wondered if this was what Oliver felt like.
How much more could he lose? Thawne had taken his mother and Patty, Zolomon his father and now the few remaining people he had left were in danger as well. All he could do was run as fast as he could to clear his head.
After an unknown amount of time running Barry came skidding to a halt beside a running waterfall somewhere in a jungle. It was hot and humid and he had no idea where he was but the air was fresh, he was alone and the sounds of nature were relaxing for him so he sat on a rock near the water's edge.
What could he do?
"Thawne, Zolomon and Harmon..." he listed off their names in his head, shaking it after he finished.
He and Wally would have died if it wasn't for Cisco and Wells. What they'd done wouldn't work twice, Barry knew that. Thawne and Zolomon were too smart to fall for that separately, together Barry was sure they'd be prepared. Barry needed to even the odds first before he could even think about tipping things in his favor and going into the fight with advantage.
But how? He had to fight fire with fire somehow but what could he do?
He closed his eyes and leaned back into the soft earth, not worried about the insects of animals. The silence here was relaxing in a way he'd never felt before. Not silence in a sense that there was no noise but that there were no human or man-made sounds to be heard anywhere.
If he focused he could hear the running water, the sounds of trees and things moving mingling with various animal sounds that echoed throughout the canopy above.
It seemed like an eternity but nothing came to Barry and he sat up and looked around. He had no ideas but he felt refreshed and relaxed, his mind at peace from having sat so long alone. Then an idea came to him.
Maybe the fact that he was alone was why he couldn't think of anything. Anytime anyone had come up with the game changer ideas it had been at Star Labs together with everyone. Barry grinned and stood up to brush the dirt and bugs from himself before taking off.
Joe closed the door and hung his coat and hat beside the door. He sighed heavily while placing his wallet, keys and gun down on a table. Losing Patty was a severe and unexpected blow. Both his sons had nearly died and potentially still could be killed.
'Hell, we all could.' Joe rubbed his head and walked toward the living room, turning on the light as he did revealing a shadowy figure sitting on his couch. He jumped and stepped back.
"Wally?"
His son didn't move.
"Wally is that you?"
Joe took careful steps forward. He heard light sniffling and as he got closer could see Wally shaking a little so he immediately sat down and pulled his son close.
"Wally...son, what's wrong?"
Wally shook and cried for a time and Joe fell silent, content to just hold his son and try to help him through whatever this was.
After a while Wally sat back and wiped his eyes, he didn't look at Joe but instead stared straight ahead as he said, "I thought we were going to die, dad..."
"Wally, no-"
"I felt it. In my gut while I was fighting Trajectory. When I realized she was better than me I felt like we were going to die. And there was nothing I could do about it." He finally looked at his father. "I'm afraid, dad."
Joe embraced Wally again, silent, words escaping him briefly. His boy needed protecting and there was nothing he could do. Joe fought back the tears and gripped Wally's shoulders pulling him away some.
"Son," Joe glared into his eyes. "I've been where you were. Powerless, weak, staring death in the eyes and I felt that same thing you felt in my gut. Mark Mardon made me feel like that twice and when I saw Grodd in the sewers for the first time..." Joe snickered a bit and shook his head. "Let's just say your father needed to change his pants after that."
Wally and Joe shared a moment of laughter before Joe continued, "When I was in the moment it was the most terrifying thing I ever experienced but I survived. I made it through because even though I was pissing my pants I never gave up hope. You can't give up hope, Wally. The odds are stacked against us, yeah, but that's nothing new. We may not have a plan now but I can promise you something."
Wally looked at his dad, "What?"
"Whatever plan we do come up with won't work unless you get your head right and get back in the game, son. We need you. Barry needs you. You're both my sons and I promise you that you aren't fighting this alone."
Wally hugged Joe, "Thanks dad. I needed that."
Both of their phones began going off and they checked them. "It's from Iris..." Joe said.
"Mine too. It says meet at Star Labs."
Joe sighed heavier than he had when he got in and began walking towards the door, "I just got in."
Wally chuckled and followed.
Eliza Harmon paced back and forth, mumbling to herself and sweating profusely while Hunter Zolomon stood off a bit away from her with folded arms just watching. She rubbed her arm a bit every now and again and would move erratically in and out of super speed.
"Junkie habits..." Zolomon groaned once or twice and she snarled but said nothing. They both knew he could kill her in an instant.
This continued for an hour or so before a portal opened and Thawne came through with a deep breath as he stopped. In his hand, he held a small brown paper bag that he handed to Harmon.
"Thank you..." she snatched the bag and nearly tore it apart to get the speed drug inside. She injected it in her arm and her body felt a flush of renewal run through it. Her connection to the speed force wasn't natural like the other speedsters but rather the result of an experimental drug. Thawne had been going back in time getting her doses of the drug as she needed them, greatly increasing her speed.
She checked how many vials she had left after Thawne's latest refill, 'Three...' she thought and put them away.
"How long are we going to keep indulging this drug addict?" Zolomon demanded with a nonchalant gesture toward Harmon. She growled and rushed into his face with her lightning sparking a bit. "Oh," Zolomon grinned. "Scary..." His sarcasm angered her more.
"Once the Flash is done we can do whatever we want..." Thawne took a seat after making himself a drink. "...she needs that drug to keep pace so I'll give it to her," he concluded with a sip and then cast a stern glance at Harmon. "Be warned, that will kill you if you use too much."
She looked at him as if trying to discern if he was lying or not. "Thanks for the heads up," she finally muttered. "So, what's the plan?"
"We should have attacked Star Labs and killed them all!" Hunter Zolomon raged.
Thawne said, "We can't be taken unawares like that again. We need to be able to protect ourselves from whatever weapons they hit us with."
"I've told you they were from my Earth. There's nothing here that can stop that." Zolomon rubbed his temple.
"We have no way of getting to your Earth." Thawne looked thoughtful for a few silent moments. "Meeting them on their home turf is foolish regardless of what plan we can think up. We've got the numbers and the speed on our side."
"So then let's set a trap for him." Trajectory sounded as if she thought it was a new idea.
"Enough with the traps. Enough with the clever plots and patience. We've tried things your way and nothing has worked." Zolomon slammed his fist onto a table. "It's time we tried things my way, Thawne."
There was a brief second of silence as Thawne and Zolomon glared at each other. Short, to the normal eye but long for speedsters. So long, Harmon feared they would fight again. Zolomon felt it to and shifted a little from side to side letting his possible opponent know he was ready.
Then Thawne surprised them both and replied, "Alright, Zoom. How do you want to do this?"
Joe and Wally walked into the main hub of Star Labs to see Cisco, Caitlin, Iris and Wells already waiting and pouring over notes and diagrams.
"Barry here yet?" Joe questioned while making his way to the others.
"Not yet but we've got the beginnings of a plan coming along," Cisco told Joe and Wally.
"Oh yeah?" Wally got a little excited. "What is it?"
"We're going to bring the evil speedsters here." Cisco clapped his hands and made a mind blown motion.
Joe looked at everyone, pausing for a minute to wait for Cisco to say he was joking. "Cisco, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
"That's what we said." Caitlin motioned to her and Wells.
"Yes, but Mr. Ramon has a point," Wells argued. "Bringing them here gives us home turf advantage. Defenses that can aid us and traps that can be set."
Joe looked thoughtful so Iris continued, "Every time Barry has fought them before it was on their terms and they had an ambush ready. We can't go into another fight like that."
"Alright, I can get behind this." Wally almost bounced with a bit of confidence. "So how are we gonna get them here?"
Everyone's faces went blank. "We uh..." Cisco coughed a little. "We have no idea."
Joe and Wally's shoulders dropped. "I thought you guys said you had a plan?" Joe walked to his left and sat in an empty chair while saying that.
"We said we had the beginnings of a plan, actually," Cisco pointed out.
"It's better than nothing I suppose." Joe sighed. "What about whatever you guys were building?"
"That is actually en route to be finished quite soon, my friend." Cisco clapped and smiled like an excited salesman. "We've got the idea and the blueprints, just got to build and see what happens."
"How long will whatever it is take to build?" Iris looked at the blueprints.
"Ah, Mr. Ramon and I should be able to have a working prototype up in a day or so." Wells cleaned his glasses as he watched Iris look around the paperwork.
"Now all we need is for Barry-"
"Sorry I'm late guys." Barry entered in his trademark fashion and, to the surprise of everyone, looked visibly better.
"How you holding up?" Joe asked him in attempt to pry for answers.
"I'm better," Barry replied with a half-smile. His time alone had really refreshed him. "I'll feel much better when this is all over."
"Agreed," Wells said. "We were just putting together our plan."
"Alright." Barry looked hopeful.
"We lure them here to fight them." Cisco did the mind blown gesture again. "Genius. I know."
"I had thought about that at first," Barry laughed a little. "But I said, even Cisco would call that idea crazy." Everyone laughed for a little while and the mood seemed to lighten some before it returned to contemplative quiet. "How would we even get them here?"
"We don't know but we're taking suggestions." Caitlin's attempt at humor fell short but the point was received.
"We're getting somewhere," Iris tried to raise hope. "Wells and Cisco are making some tech, we can set some traps. We just need to figure out how we get them here and what we do once they're here."
"Thawne seems to be the leader," Barry told them.
"Maybe separating them somehow?" Wally offered.
"I like it." Cisco pointed at Wally.
"Even then we'd still be outmatched," Wells noted. "Our tech may disable them and that's if we're able to hit them at all."
"And Barry can't fight Zoom and Reverse Flash alone." Joe added, remembering the dread he'd felt during Barry and Wally's last encounter with the three.
Barry's eyes widened. "Maybe we don't have to be alone."
"I'm not following." Wells said while chewing on his glasses.
"We need another speedster to even the odds but we've only been looking here for help." Barry looked at Cisco. "You feeling up for a quick vibe? We're going to Earth-2 to get Jay Garrick."
Cisco laughed and pumped his fist, "How did we not think of that before?!" he slapped himself on the forehead softly.
"Now we're really getting somewhere," Joe stood up with an approving head nod. "So, what's next? You two go off to Earth-2 then what?"
"We get Jay," Barry said. "Wells keeps building and Caitlin can help if he needs it while you two..." he pointed at Iris and Joe, "...get Wally back downstairs and training. He must learn to phase if we're going to win this. When we get back with Jay we'll figure out how we get them here and then start setting up everything."
"Alright," Wally said with newfound zeal. "I've got this, guys." He started to leave and Iris followed him.
Joe took a second and went to Barry, "Be careful out there." He patted Barry's shoulder then went the way Iris and Wally had just left.
"Good luck, Mr. Allen." Wells nodded as he left for the workshop.
Caitlin was close behind him, "See you when you get back." she smiled at them both.
Everyone was visibly renewed from the small bit of planning they'd done. Barry allowed himself to feel good for a moment then turned his thoughts back to why he was doing this. "C'mon, Cisco. Let's go."
"We've got a 171 in progress. I repeat, a 171 in progress. Car 32 en route. Send backup. Assailant is armed and dangerous."
A Central City Police car sped down the streets passing the cars that pulled to the side of the glistening city. The officer pounded his foot on the pedal as if that would give the car more speed to make the destination quicker.
"We're not gonna make it!" the passenger told his partner. "It's gonna be just like last time!"
"Shut up, man! We're gonna save this girl! We're gonna-"
A bright reddish and yellow streak shot passed them so quickly it shook the car. The passenger leaned out the window and smiled shouting, "It's the Flash! He's gonna save her!"
Outside the bank, several officers were standing with their weapons trained on a lone gunman with his weapon to a girl's head. "Back away or she gets it! Leave your keys and weapons in that car then back the hell away!" the gunman had a bag hastily stuffed with money around his shoulder and the began to awkwardly step toward the car he'd pointed at.
The girl had tears on her face but was relatively calm for some strange reason.
"I said back the hell up!" the gunman waved his weapon at the officers for a second before placing it right back on the girl's head. "Yeah, yeah that's it. Back the hell-"
Wind blew, and both the man and the girl covered their eyes for a second. When the gunman opened his eyes his own grew wide with panic.
"You know," said the speedster standing with his fists on his hips. His metallic hat reflected some of the bright sunlight. This was Jay Garrick, the Flash of Earth-2. "It's bad manners to curse in front of ladies."
"Flash!" The gunman began to alternate pointing his gun at Flash and the girl. "Stay back! I-I Swear I'll kill her, man."
"Now, now. You haven't done anything you can't come back from. You kill that innocent young woman and there is no coming back from that." Jay Garrick held up one of his hands in a calming manner. "Why don't you just put down the gun and we'll have ourselves a talk about what can be done to fix this?"
"Screw you man-" The gunman went to aim his gun at the Flash but this time the girl drove her elbow deep into his groin then turned to run.
The man shouted and began to fall but still aimed his gun at the girl.
Jay took off toward her.
The gun fired and Jay watched the bullet start to move.
He kicked it up a notch and grabbed the girl, pulling her to the side just in time for the bullet to miss her.
"Are you alright?" Jay asked the girl.
"Fucking Flash..." Jay didn't have time to even glance over his shoulder as he heard the gun going off behind him. No time to safely move the girl. He hadn't seen the direction the gunman had shot and might run her right into the bullet. He clutched her close deciding that taking the bullet was the best option. The speed force would aid him in healing quickly. He gritted his teeth and prepared.
Nothing happened. Then he heard applause from the cops and civilians who had gathered around the scene.
He opened his eyes and looked back to see the gunman completely tied up and laying on the ground. "What the...?" Jay looked around.
"Looked like you could use a hand."
Jay smiled, knowing the voice without even having to turn around to see the face. "It's been a while, Flash." Jay extended his arm to Barry Allen, dressed in full Flash attire with Cisco smiling behind him.
"Yes, it has, Flash." Barry embraced Jay, feeling that small tug of pain, he felt looking at the face of his dead father. It was a cruel twist of fate that the Earth-2 Flash had been a doppelganger of his father, Henry Allen.
"Barry...?" he heard a sweet voice whisper and turned to see Harrison Wells' daughter, Jessie standing next to them.
"Jessie?" Barry hugged her.
"You know her?" Jay asked.
"Yeah, she's my friend's daughter." Barry smiled.
"Jessie what happened? I didn't even notice it was you there." Cisco gave her a hug.
"Wrong place, wrong time." Jessie shrugged. "After Zoom, this is nothing you know?" Barry's face fell and Jessie noticed. "Barry, what's wrong? Is my father OK?"
"Yeah, everybody is fine but..." Cisco let his voice trail off not wanting to be the bearer of sad news.
"But what?" Jay looked concerned. "Has something happened on your Earth?"
Barry nodded his head, "Yeah. It's why I came here. I need your help Jay. Zoom is back and he's teamed up with Trajectory and Reverse Flash."
"What? But how?" Jay felt his heartbeat quicken and Jessie looked more afraid then she had with a gun to her head.
"Reverse Flash went back in time and got them. They've already killed someone close to us." Cisco said and Barry visibly tensed.
"Alright. I'll help you," Jay said with a stern face. "We've got to take that monster down once and for all." he extended his hand to Barry and they shook hands.
"I'm coming too." They saw Jessie standing next to them with her arms folded, again forgotten.
"Ah, Jessie I don't think-"
"I haven't seen my dad in god knows how long and you just told me Zoom is back. I know he's working on something crazy that can get him killed to stop Zoom." Jessie cut off Cisco with a furious point in his face. "I want to see my dad and I'm not taking no for an answer." Her arms refolded and she glared daggers at the three men.
Cisco groaned as he saw the resolve break in everyone. "Harry's gonna be pissed..."