Chapter 7

When Wally and Jaime got to the Hall of Justice, most of the team, and some of the league, were already there. Batman was already speaking to everyone, so they tried to tune into the conversation as soon as they got there.

"...we put our unwavering trust into every member of the league and the team, but, as you all know, allegiances can change. Ever since the league was formed, I've prepared certain… failsafes… in case anyone in the league needed to be, well, contained…"

Most everyone in the league had already known that batman would be prepared to take any of them out if he had to, but it was news to most of the team. No one was bold enough to challenge Batman, so they all either stood in silence, waiting for a further explanation, or mumbled their thoughts to each other. Batman continued to speak over the murmurs.

"There is a failsafe for each league member. Every superpower has a weakness, and I've harnessed those weaknesses into something that can be used to stop any superpowered, out of control villain. Or hero… but as of this morning, it appears someone has got ahold of my supply. It's worth noting that whoever did it was able to locate and break into the Batcave, which means that now mine, Robin's, Nightwing's and potentially Batgirl's identities are all at risk. I have a few leads, so I'm going to send you out in teams of two to do recon. I suspect the Reach is behind this, but we need to be sure. In the wrong hands, that tech can render the league powerless to stop whatever it is they're planning..."

-Bart-

"I said… I'm ready." He was still trembling, but as his breath steadied, he began to speak with more conviction, "Just… tell me what you want me to do."

With that, Zoom loosened his grip on Bart's neck and slowly laid him on the ground. Bart let himself close his eyes and prayed that he would somehow lose consciousness again.

"I'm a man of my word. That's all you needed to say. But there's not much you can do for me in your condition." Then he gently untied Bart and carried him bridal style to another room. Bart didn't open his eyes. He felt himself being laid down on something soft. A bed? It was surprisingly comfortable.

"I hope you understand, I can't let you roam around freely just yet. But you'll be much more comfortable here until you feel better. Get some rest." Eobard said, and then left. Bart heard the door lock. He kept his eyes shut. Maybe if he closed them tight enough, when he opened them it would all turn out to be a really bad dream. Maybe if he closed them hard enough, this would all just go away. He curled up in a ball, and refused to open his eyes.

...

When Bart was younger, he used to have one sided conversations with his mom, or the idea of her, at least. He would update her every day on how he was doing. Sometimes he would just cry and tell her how much he missed her. When things got really bad, he would tell her how afraid he was, and he would picture her telling him everything was going to be okay. He would always end up feeling better after those little talks, even if he had just been talking to himself. It had been years since he'd tried talking to her like that, but after hearing her talk back for the first time since he was six, he remembered how good it felt to pretend like she was here, listening. If he kept his eyes closed, he wouldn't be able to see that she wasn't there. So, for the first time in years, he talked to his mom, and imagined she was laying down next to him.

"Mom… I don't know if you can hear me, but I… I'm sorry..." He trailed off. He wondered if she would even want to talk to him now. She had just told him how proud she was, but then… he gave in to Zoom. Bart couldn't imagine she would still be proud of him after he was too weak to stand up to the man who had her killed.

"I'm so sorry…. I'm sorry, mom… I hope you can still love me." he was sobbing now. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

He couldn't manage to say anything else. He just buried his face in the pillow and cried himself to sleep.

After a restless nap, he finally opened his eyes to observe his surroundings. He was on a bed in the corner of what probably had been a cell. There was a sink and a bathtub on the other side of the room with a pair of crutches leaning against the sink. Next to his bed was a wheelchair.

Since Bart couldn't get any rest, he took advantage of the privacy and was determined to try to do something. The idea of taking a bath crossed his mind, but he decided against it. It was too much water, and he wasn't ready for that yet. Instead he hauled himself into the chair and made his way over to the sink. He grabbed onto one of the crutches and pulled himself into a standing position. His legs were aching and wouldn't hold his weight for long, but with the help of the crutches, he was able to quickly wash his face and drink some of the water from the sink. He looked up, almost expecting to see his reflection, but there was no mirror. It probably wouldn't have been such a pretty sight, anyways. He let himself fall back into the chair, exhausted. He hadn't realized how much energy it would take to get across the room and stand for a minute.

Before long, Bart felt himself being wheeled back to the bed. He must have fallen asleep in the chair. Zoom lifted him up and softly put him down on the bed in a sitting position, leaning Bart's back against the wall. He set a water bottle and a plate of food with two pills on it down next to Bart.

"For the pain." He said, pointing at the pills, "How are you feeling?" Zoom almost sounded like he cared.

Bart was careful not to set him off again. He would take this treatment over what he was getting before any day. "Better, Professor Zoom. Thanks." Bart leaned his head back against the wall. He was starving, but he was also tired. The food could wait a few minutes.

"Please, you can call me Eobard now. Here," He took Bart's hand and dropped the pills in it, then handed him the water bottle. "this will help." He must have noticed the skeptical look in Bart's eye, because he continued, "You don't have to take them if you don't want to. Would it make you feel better if I took one first?"

Bart considered it, but decided to just take his chances with the pills. He didn't want to do anything to make Zoom angry again. "No, thanks, uh, Eobard." Then he swallowed the capsules and chased it down with a little water.

"Good. I'll give you some privacy. Rest well, son." Then he left Bart alone again.

Bart knew that Eobard would turn on him in an instant if he did anything to set him off, but there was a kindness in his voice now that Bart had never heard before, and it was… kind of nice. It was messing with his head. Some part of him actually wanted Eobard to care for him, if he stayed on his good side, maybe things wouldn't be so bad. Another part of him wanted the harsh treatment again, just so he would never forget how evil Eobard Thawne really was, and is. Was he really so desperate for love that he would settle for getting it from Professor Zoom? He didn't feel like he deserved any better...

No. He needed to snap out of it. This was exactly what Zoom would want, and there was no way he was going to give in to that. Bart had to remind himself that the kindness was fake and temporary, just until Zoom gets his way. For now, he needed to figure out a way to escape.

The next morning (well, Bart really wasn't sure what time of day or night it was, but he had just woken up from a long sleep), Eobard was already in the room when Bart awoke. He had left the door open.

"If you feel up to it, I'd like to switch things up today. What do you think?"

After a little effort, Bart sat up in the bed. "What did you have in mind?"

Instead of answering, Thawne reached towards Bart's neck, but retracted his hand when Bart flinched away.

"I already told you, I'm not going to hurt you anymore. But I'm still not a patient man, and I'd like it if your injuries would just heal already so we can get started. I'm going to take the collar off now, alright?"

Bart stared at Eobard with wide eyes, he thought this would take much longer. "R-really?"

Eobard answered by removing the collar.

Bart looked at his hand, and watched as the bruises and cuts from the rope on his wrists began to heal before his eyes. He wasn't healing as quickly as he normally would, but it was better than the slow agony of healing with no powers. He vibrated his hand, just to make sure he had his speed back. Eobard looked away for a moment to pull out a couple more pain pills, but when he turned his focus back to Bart, he was no longer in the room.

"As expected…" Eobard muttered.

Bart had vibrated through the wall instead of using the door, and ran for any exit. His broken legs could punish him later, for now, he just needed to get out. He figured if he could do that, he would just hide or find help or something. If he got just a little bit of a head start, maybe Zoom wouldn't be able to find him. It wasn't much of a plan, but this was his first real shot at freedom, and he was damn sure going to take it. He could figure the rest out later.

He went to vibrate through the last wall standing in the way of his liberty, but as soon as his body made contact with it, he was on the floor. He could only see white, and there was an intense ringing in his ears. He felt like he hit a brick wall. Or an electric fence. An electric brick wall. He must have blacked out for a few seconds.

When his vision started to come back, his collar was back on and he saw Zoom hovering over him.

"I have to say, I'm impressed. It would have been such a shame if you had really broken so easily. I'm glad to know we'll have to spend more time with that process. You had me for a moment, though, son. Well, fool me once..."

Great. That was the shortest almost escape ever.

Still weak from the shock, Bart didn't fight at all as his wrists and elbows were tied tightly together behind his back.

"You really thought I wouldn't be prepared for this exact thing? I had hoped you really came around, but I'm not dense. I took the necessary precautions." By now, Bart's ankles had been tied together. "Any living thing that goes faster than the average human is capable of moving will not be able to get in or out. Courtesy of the Batman."

Bart winced as his ankles were pulled up towards his wrists and he was securely hogtied. He was being tied way tighter than was necessary, and he knew the purpose wasn't to restrain him, but to make him as uncomfortable as possible.

"But... you can get in and out?" Bart said, more to himself than to Zoom. He was still dumbfounded as to how this could have happened. He was so close. He was free, even if only for a fleeting moment. He was free...

"Yes, well. I walk. And besides, I can disable it whenever I want to." Then he pulled out a rag and some more duct tape.

Bart squirmed in his binds. "Please don't, I promise I'll be quie-mfm mmph!" Bart was interrupted when the rag was stuffed into his mouth. Zoom proceeded to wrap the tape tightly over his lips and around his head several times.

"You don't have the best track record for making good on your promises, and I like you so much better this way." Bart was panting through his nose. He felt like he couldn't breath again. Zoom pulled out another piece of rope, which just made Bart more restless. He wondered what else Zoom could possibly need more rope for, since he really couldn't move much at all. When the rope was wrapped around his neck, he lost it. He struggled as much as he could, but Zoom yanked the rope around Bart's neck, and he got the message and settled down in defeat. The noose was then tied to Bart's ankles and tightened so that he had to painfully arch his back in order to keep from suffocating himself. Zoom finished off his handiwork by wrapping a blindfold around Bart's eyes.

He took a step back to admire his work. "Yes. I definitely like you better like this. Well, I'll be back in about an hour. Try not to strangle yourself while I'm gone."

Bart let out a muffled cry, but Zoom ignored him and walked away.

Once Zoom was gone, Bart panicked even more. Even someone without so many injuries would have trouble holding this position for an hour. He really didn't know if he could do it. Arching his back in this way made his broken ribs poke into his his lungs, so even without the threat of suffocation it would still be hard to breathe. He had to take quick, shallow breaths in order to avoid what he assumed was the feeling of one of his lungs being punctured by said broken ribs.

Was this really how he was going to die? He supposed it would be a less painful alternative to what he had expected. Maybe it wasn't so bad. If he died, then Zoom would have no more leverage on the Flash, and the team could focus on stopping the Reach without feeling guilty. Maybe he'd get to finally be with his parent's again. It wouldn't even be that painful. In Bart's twisted sense of the world, this was a relatively peaceful way to go.

Relaxing into the noose and letting it put him to sleep would be easy. For some reason, though, Bart didn't let himself rest. Maybe it was his body's instincts to want to stay alive, or maybe some part of him really didn't want to die yet, after all. He rolled himself onto his side. The movement made the noose a little tighter, and it choked him for a moment, but once he was on his side, he was able to use the ground to help him stay stretched back without having to worry about balancing. He tried to calm down and focus on taking slower, deeper breaths, but found that his throat was too constricted. He knew he wouldn't be able to relax at all, so to keep the time passing, he started counting the seconds until Zoom's return.

...

The noose caught Bart drifting off at a little over 900 seconds in, and the pull on his throat was sudden and swift enough to wake him right away. It took every ounce of energy he had to pull his head far enough back to relieve the pressure from his neck. The adrenaline rush of almost dying again definitely gave him an extra boost of energy, though, and he continued counting.

Nine hundred twenty three…

Nine hundred twenty four…

Bart? Is that you?

Nine hundred twenty five…

Bart almost dozed off again but jerked himself back into position before he'd completely relaxed. He felt like he'd been dreaming.

Stay… awake… nine hundred twenty… uh... nine hundred twenty six

Nine hundred twenty-

Bart! Can you hear me?

Okay. That was definitely not a dream. Bart knew that voice.

...M'gann?


AN: I am finally starting to get some writers block. I have a few different versions of the next chapter written out and I really don't love any of them. So, if anyone has any ideas, let me know! I love the reviews so much and they keep me going. Let me know what you think so far and if there's any errors so I can fix them :)