CHAPTER SEVEN
Day of the Particle Accelerator Explosion
Upbeat music blasted from the stereo of Farooq's car, his two friends, Jake and Darya lounging on the hood as they watched him climb up an electrical tower. Laughter left their lips when they weren't occupied with consuming alcohol. They were having a fun time, enjoying themselves before the big reveal, eagerly waiting for the particle accelerator to be turned on. At first, they found it funny that Farooq was climbing the pole, but when they noticed he was going too high up, and that's when the worry started to set in.
"Farooq, it's not safe," Darya, yelled out as he went higher and higher. "Come down! Farooq, I'm serious." She honestly loved his carefree attitude and his daredevil like personality, but sometimes he needed to be reminded that not all his ideas were safe. As he mounted the structure, moving higher and higher she could feel the anxiety pounding in her chest, but tried to keep it at bay and quirked him a smile when he looked down at her and winked.
"It's gonna rain," Jake piped in, looking at the storm clouds brewing ahead.
"Y'all are tripping. This is the best seat in the house," Farooq shouted down to them, as he looked at the particle accelerator, waiting for it to turn on. He had a view of the whole city, glowing lights, tall buildings and all. "Whoo!"
"You know, when I said we should watch the particle accelerator turn on, I just meant we should get naked and howl at the moon," Darya mused, with a smirk on her face as she looked over at her friends. Her worry had dissipated quickly, and she was feeling more relaxed now that she saw Farooq hadn't moved higher up.
"It's already on," Jake commented.
"Consider me unimpressed."
It was at this moment that the accelerator had exploded, the illuminating orange light pulsating throughout the city and heading towards Farooq who was too drunk to realise this was not a good thing.
"Whoo! Yeah, Baby. Oh, this is awesome!" Farooq exclaimed, unable to take his eyes of the phenomenon exploding throughout the city.
"Are you seeing this?" Jake asked with wide eyes, turning to Darya who also had the same bewildered expression as she watched the light move towards them.
"Oh man, I think I am tripping."
"Oh, man," Farooq breathed out, frantically trying to climb back down before he got hit by the blast.
"Get in the car! Get in the car!" His friends yelled out from below, fearing the explosion that was heading toward them.
"Farooq! Farooq!" they screamed, calling out for the friend, but alas, it was too late.
And not just for Farooq, but for all of them.
Present Day
It was bright sunny morning in Central City and Sophia was thankful for that. The last week had been gloomy and wet, and troublesome at the very least, and she needed some positivity in her life. And that's where Barry Allen came in.
Her car had broken down as she was returning home from work. It was 1am and she had just finished her shift, running out of the hospital and to her car with a poorly made umbrella, to protect herself from getting wet in the thunderstorm. She had been driving for five minutes when she felt her car start to slow down, the back wheel was torn into, and loosing pressure fast. She thought it was her only problem- that was until her engine started smoking. So there she stood in the rain, drenched from head to toe with her car broken down on the side of the road. Of course Barry came to her rescue, dropping her home within seconds as he promised he'd get her car fixed, and not to worry. He had helped her inside her apartment, zooming in and out of her bedroom, passing her a towel to dry herself off with, and he had turned on the shower, the hot steam filling up her bathroom as he ushered her to go and get dry. He had even made her a nice warm cup of hot chocolate, leaving it on her bedside table before going home. She had walked out of her room, surprised to see that there with a note from him. She smiled at the memory, and she knew that it was one she would cherish for a long time.
So here they were the following week, car-pooling together… in a sense, well not really since Barry didn't own a car, and he was just running them back and forth to Star Labs whenever need be. They had decided to grab a morning coffee at Jitters before heading into their second job for the day.
They had just walked out of Jitters, when they were pulled onto the side of the street, Sophia's coffee thrown to the ground and a gun pressed to her neck. Surprisingly her first reaction was to groan at the destroyed coffee sitting at her feet, rather than freak out about the gun pointed to her neck. Being thrown in dangerous situations seemed to be the norm these days, and she was just annoyed that her coffee had to pay the price… well her wallet more like it.
"Don't try nothing, or your girlfriend dies," The mugger stated with a smug face as he inclined his head in Barry's direction, motioning to his pocket. If she was being honest, Sophia felt a pang in her heart when the mugger called her his girlfriend, knowing that it wasn't true in any way, shape or form. "Wallet, Now."
"Oh this is awesome," Barry breathed out. He couldn't believe it. Of all people this guy had decided to mug, it was him. A rush of excitement and adrenaline was pumped through his veins and he could feel the bounce in his step.
"You've got to be kidding me," Sophia and the mugger said in unison. She was half terrified at the gun pointed at her, and the other half was just annoyed at both the mugger and Barry. Come on Allen, just do your thing. Zoom in, tie this guy up, and go buy me another coffee.
"Hold on, Okay? I'm just gonna set this down," Barry said, placing his coffee on the ground before he stood back up, laughing. Sophia frowned at this. Yes it was hilarious, but there was a gun pointed at her. You really are slow for someone so fast she groaned internally.
"I mean, this is crazy," Barry laughed, "There are literally hundreds of thousands of people in Central City, and out of everyone you could have picked to rob, you pick me."
"What, are you sick? Do you want your girlfriend to die?" The guy asked, and looked at Sophia, whispering to her "Are you sure your boyfriend actually likes you?" I honestly have no idea she thought. The mugger shook his head, now pointing the gun at Barry, but his arm still firmly around Sophia's neck, keeping her from moving. "Money, Now." He demanded.
"I- Just, you're really gonna be kicking yourself man. I mean if there was an Olympics for bad luck, you didn't just medal pal. You Michael Phelps-ed."
"I think he gets the point Barry," Sophia deadpanned.
"I'll count to three. Then I'm gonna shoot you," The mugger threatened, and Sophia cringed at the smell of his breath, and her heartbeat quickened at the notion of either herself or Barry getting shot.
"One."
"Yeah."
"Barry," Sophia groaned.
"In a second honey." Her heart skipped a beat. Honey? HONEY? What is this guy doing to me?
"Two." And with a whoosh, in that second, he had rushed over and moved Sophia to the other side of the street. He then turned around, and stripped the mugger of his clothes, leaving him in his underwear and hand cuffed, at least not before bringing over a police officer to arrest him.
"Really?!" Sophia nearly yelled at Barry as he came back with the biggest smile on his face.
"Come on, you have to admit that was hilarious." Barry said with a goofy grin, his hands in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his feet.
"He had a gun. Pointed. At. My. Head." She emphasised each word, shaking her head as he did so.
"Okay, so for future reference, get rid of the gun before I start going off on a rant… also I'm sorry," Barry apologised, "but come on, that was great." He finished off, a smirk still on his face. Sophia rolled her eyes trying to maintain the angry façade, but was unable to contain the smile that was trying to break through at his goofy behaviour. Oh god, I've fallen for a goof ball.
"Yeah it kinda was," she admitted, "but now you also owe me another coffee Mr. Allen."
"Oh man." He swore that the whole time he'd known Sophia he's always managed to destroy her cup of coffee whenever they go out.
"Yeah, anyway we're late, and Wells isn't gonna be happy," Sophia told him, and without wasting anytime he picked her up in his arms, and ran the two of them over to Star Labs. Sophia had her face pressed into Barry's shoulder, not wanting to look up while they moved in super speed, for fear of getting a bug stuck on her face, or worse her mouth. After hearing about Cisco and Caitlin discuss this particular topic a few weeks back, she was now very cautious when travelling via the super-speed train ride that was The Flash.
When they arrived at Star Labs, Barry set Sophia down and she smiled, straightening out her shirt as they moved over to the team, conversing in the corner of the room.
"Late is kind of his signature move."
"Sorry, guys, I got a little held up." Sophia nearly laughed, but kept quiet as she saw the look on Dr. Wells face. He did not seem to be happy. "You had to be there."
"I'm gonna need a moment or two alone with Barry," Dr. Wells announced, and everyone slowly backed away.
"Ooh, you're in trouble."
"Told you so," Sophia mumbled under her breath, as she followed Caitlin over to her desk.
"Spoken to Anna recently?" Caitlin asked, slowly. Since Sophia had come back from metropolis, she hadn't mentioned much of Anna, not really going into details of what happened that night. Caitlin was curious to say the least, but mainly because she wondered if Ronnie was still alive, and if he was, what could she do to help him?
"Uh- Yeah. Last night actually. She's doing well."
"Is she a meta-human?" Caitlin whispered to Sophia. She was scared that if the others found out that Ronnie was the burning man that he would end up with a similar fate to those they had encountered and taken down as team flash. She wondered if that's why Sophia kept any knowledge about Anna post-explosion basically hidden.
"Uh- I-We're not sure, she's working on figuring that out, but I don't think so. I think something else happened that night, equally crazy but not to her," Sophia elaborated, speaking softly to Caitlin, not wanting anyone to listen in.
"If she was, what would you do?"
"I guess, I'd support her in any way possible. I mean, not all meta-humans are bad, Barry's a perfect example of that. Plus, most of the meta-humans we've come across have had previous criminal records, and have generally just been psychopaths, so… you can't really paint everyone with the same brush." Even though Sophia said this, and she believed it to be true, there was a part of her that was still scared for Anna. She saw firsthand what this change could do to some people, and she was worried that it was still a possibility, and so even though she brought across an all accepting façade, Sophia was sure that if she was a Meta there would be more problems to follow.
"Well enough of that talk, want to help me analyse some blood?" Caitlin changed subjects fast, and this made Sophia slightly suspicious, but she didn't question it.
"Sure. Let's ditch Cisco," Sophia winked, and they left, leaving Cisco at his desk, with his earphones perched on his head, to continue whatever he was doing. She peered over his shoulder just as she was leaving, and was 99% sure he was playing Galaga, but thought no one would notice… which she did.
It was probably an hour later that Barry showed up needing help in identifying a dead body from a crime scene. Sophia had seen some pretty gruesome things, being a nurse and all, but this face was beyond recognisable.
"His face is melted off," Caitlin said, squinting as she looked at the photo, as if it would help put his face into focus.
"How's that picture gonna help ID him?" Barry asked. The face wasn't recognisable to be even that of a human at this point. It had been mutilated beyond recognition.
"I got mad skills," Cisco stated, and Sophia let out a snort, covering her mouth with her hand and trying to pass it off as a cough when she attracted Barry's stare.
"Please don't ever say that again."
"Hey, are you okay?" Barry asked Caitlin who still looked a bit off, something Sophia had noticed since this morning and when she was asking questions about meta-humans.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Caitlin responded, and when neither of them acknowledged this she said it again. "I'm fine."
"Alright." Barry nodded.
"Facial recognition software, it's designed for archaeologists, and it should help us ID your crispy corpse."
"Nice alliteration there Cisco," Sophia mumbled out as she leaned her elbows on the desk, her hands supporting her head as she watched Cisco type away on his computer.
"Thanks," He said appreciatively, quirking a smile.
"The question is how did he get fried in the first place?" Caitlin said, and Sophia hummed in agreement.
"Is there a meta-human out there that can control electricity? It'd take a serious electrostatic discharge to cause that level of tissue damage."
"Guys," Cisco called, breaking them out of their discussion about the new meta-human. "According to the software, there's an 82% chance your victim looked like this," Cisco announced, clicking on the photo to enlarge it. Barry sighed at the '82%' giving Cisco a look, only to be sassed back in response. "Hey, it was zero when you walked in here pal."
"Can you cross reference that with the DMV database? Maybe get us a name?" Barry asked, resting his hands on the table as he leaned forward to look at the computer.
"Absolutely. This software can do just about anything now that Felicity reprogrammed it." With a few clicks, here and there, Cisco got a hit. "Casey Donahue. No wife, no kids. Used to work at the Petersburg electrical station."
"That can't be a coincidence." Barry stated, and they agreed.
"That's weird." Cisco mused, "Someone just used his ID to enter the substation."
"The Petersburg grid is experiencing a power drain right now," Caitlin spoke up as she monitored the readings on her screen.
"Barry," Sophia called out to him as he moved to suit up, placing her hand on his arm, causing him to turn around. "Be careful." His eyes met her worried gaze, and he nodded giving her a reassuring smile before running off to catch the new meta.
She took a deep breath, and they all looked at each other, each member worried for his safety. If the meta could easily melt off Casey Donahue's face, they wondered what the hell he could do to Barry. They sat down, turned the volume on loud and tried their best to be patient, listening into the conversation.
The heard the crackling of electricity, and zapping noises, and then there was a raspy voice declaring "I need to feed." Which they assumed was the meta. More zapping noises ensued, and they heard Barry scream, and the monitors went crazy. Barry's vitals were overloading in every sense of the word and they started to fear the worst. Sophia rushed forward, pressing the button down on the mic.
"Barry! What's happening?" Sophia's panicked voice rang out through the com system, only to receive Barry's screams in response, setting her anxiety through the roof.
"Get out of there!" Cisco yelled. "Run Barry."
"I-I can't. My speed, i-it's gone."
Barry was now back at Star Labs, out of the red suit that Sophia loved so much, and was dressed in a navy blue Star Labs jumper, and matching sweat pants.
"He runs slow even for a normal person," Cisco said bewildered, as he watched Barry run on the treadmill, performing horribly compared to his usual days. Sophia smacked Cisco's arm, not caring when he yelped in pain. He deserved it. God, I can't imagine what is going on in his head right now.
"Not helpful Cisco," Sophia berated. Ever since Barry had arrived back they could all tell that he was devastated.
"You can't just lose your powers okay. Your DNA was transformed by the particle accelerator blast, there's no way to un-transform DNA." Caitlin explained, slightly aggressively Sophia might add. They were all frustrated at the situation, Barry the most.
"Yeah, tell that to the uber driver who charged me 65 bucks to take me here. I had to tell her I was coming from a cosplay party." Sophia cringed at this.
"So we were wrong."
"This meta-human doesn't electrocute people, he siphons electricity, thereby removing your power," Dr. Wells elaborated as he rolled into the room.
"All right, do we think this is temporary or?" Barry asked, trying to keep up the positive façade.
"We have to run some more tests," Caitlin said, immediately feeling guilty at the look on Barry's face. She hoped that it was temporary and there was a way to get his speed back.
"Yeah." He sounded deflated. "I've got to warn Joe."
"Barry, we will find a way to restore your speed," Dr. Wells promised and Barry didn't say anything, only sighed before leaving the room.
Sophia was carrying two cups of hot chocolate, with pillow white marshmallows floating on top, threatening to overflow the balance of the chocolatey goodness. She had passed by the cortex, only to see Barry sulking as he sat in the room, staring at his red suit on display. So it was decided that she would run a search mission through the kitchen cupboards at Star Labs to procure some hot chocolate, which was easy enough to find when she looked through Caitlin's drawer. The marshmallows were a bit harder to locate, but once she went through Cisco's stash of sugary goods, she managed to get some, and the mini kind as well, her favourite.
So there she was, walking towards Barry, who was still mind you sitting in the same position as he was twenty minutes earlier. At least it was easy to find him she thought. She took a seat next to him, holding his cup right in front of his face, distracting him from his thoughts.
"One hot chocolate, topped with what seems to be too many mini marshmallows for a Mr. Allen," Sophia announced, with a smile on her face, trying to cheer him up, but she could see that his expression hadn't changed much.
"Thanks."
Oh well, at least it's something. It was silent for the next ten minutes, as they slowly sipped their warm drinks, relishing in the comfort it brought. Sophia was just finishing off her drink off, chugging the last bit when Barry spoke.
"You think I'll ever wear it again?" He asked, in a soft voice. She put her empty cup down next to her, and turned to him.
"Yes." She said confidently, her gaze moving from Barry to the suit. But the thing was… it wasn't just a suit, at least not anymore, it was a symbol, a symbol of hope, and freedom, and safety. But to her it was more than that, it was a symbol of home and comfort.
"How can you be so sure?" He questioned, looking at her. Despite his depressing mood, a small smile made its way on his face. She had a froth moustache from the hot chocolate.
"You've got a bit of," Barry said, motioning to her lip, his gaze focused on her mouth. Embarrassed, she brought her hand up to her mouth immediately, wiping it away.
"Sorry. I-I just know, you'll wear it again."
"I didn't have my speed for very long, but now that it's gone, it feels like a part of me is gone too," Barry admitted.
"With or without your speed, you're still Barry."
"But I'm not, I'm not the best version of me."
"I didn't know you before you become The flash, but I know that your heart… your courage… that's what makes you so special Barry. That's what makes you a hero…Not the speed." For a moment it was silent, and her kind words comforted him as best as they could, but there was still a heavy doubt sitting in hit gut.
"I know, but I love being The Flash. I love everything about it, the feeling of running hundreds of miles per hour, wind and power just rushing past my face… being able to help people… I'm not sure I can live without it Sophia," Barry confessed, looking down at his hands that were resting in his lap.
"We'll find a way to get it back. I promise you." And with that, she leaned her head on his shoulder, taking a hold of his hand, and trying to comfort him. His fingers intertwined with her own, and she gave them a light squeeze and she swore she felt a shock of electricity burning her hand as they touched. And of course to the rescue to ruin the lovely moment was Cisco Ramon, and trailing behind, the gorgeous Caitlin Snow.
"Farooq Gibran," He yelled running into the cortex, with his tablet in hand.
"Who?" Barry asked, turning around, as the two split apart.
"The powers vampire who jacked your speed." Sophia was sure Cisco had no filter, "I hacked into the surveillance footage from the Petersburg substation. Once I got his face, it was easy to find a match. He climbed an electrical tower the night of the accelerator explosion."
"No surprise where his powers came from," Caitlin commented. Suddenly, there were multiple alarms going off, and a big WARNING sign popping up on screen. Someone had entered Star Labs, and that someone was Farooq Gibran.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Cisco pressed a few buttons, sending the place into a total lock down, closing the front doors to any access of the cortex, to lock Farooq out, but that probably wouldn't hold him for long.
"This is not happening," Caitlin shrieked, the panic was starting to set in.
"Dr. Harrison Wells, I need to see you!" Farooq yelled, as he walked through the vast halls, following the electricity. "Come on, I know you're inside," he taunted, electricity crackling from his fingertips, and his eyes glowing an illuminating blue as he hunted for Wells.
"Open the door. I just want to talk, Dr. Wells." Farooq said, as he pounded his fists on the door, sparking electricity with each punch.
Meanwhile on the inside of that door, everyone else was freaking out. Barry had no powers, and the super freak was at their door, and they had just received a call that Joe and Iris were taken hostage at the CCPD. This day was turning out worse than expected. Not to mention that they had no idea where Dr. Wells was, only that he was probably helpless, roaming around on his wheelchair in Star Labs with a meta-human on the loose that was after his head.
"I need my powers back now."
"I have a theory, it's untested."
"I'm willing to roll the dice." Sophia just hoped that this would turn out to be safe.
"Okay, you've lost your speed, yes, but nothing has changed inside you on a subatomic level. In other words, your cells are still primed," Caitlin explained.
"They just need a jump start," Cisco piped in, nodding his head as he started to do the math in his head.
"Okay, how do we do that? How do we jumpstart me?" Barry asked, starting to seem quite jumpy and anxious.
"We need to replicate the initial jolt to your system, but that would mean a peak current of at least 20,000 kilo-amps."
"Are you insane? That would kill him!" Sophia nearly lost it. "That's more electricity than they give to people in an electric chair."
"Soph, with Farooq in the building, we're all looking at a death sentence here," Barry tried to reason, and she just shook her head. "Fine," She sighed, this was the only way, "But the spare generator is offline." She pointed to the screen, "So how is this going to work?"
"If we reboot it, we could get a charge that big. We need something that can transmit the load from the generator to Barry's body without shorting it out." Cisco rubbed his chin, trying to think it over.
"The treadmill!" Caitlin supplied.
"My baby could take the charge," Cisco nodded in agreement.
"What if Barry can't?" Caitlin asked, just as worried as Sophia.
"Well that's up to Mr. Allen," Dr. Wells appeared, in the room, everyone sighing in relief as the missing doctor arrived. Barry moved past Wells, and towards the door that stood between them and Farooq.
"Where are you going?" Sophia called out for him, moving to catch up.
"I'm going to talk to him."
"No." When Barry gave her a look, she crossed her arms, firmly standing her ground, "No. He could kill you."
"Okay, you didn't see him at the substation. He needed to feed. I got super sped out of the particle accelerator blast, but his best friends died. He woke up with a disease." Barry tried to explain, and show them reason. He was an innocent guy who had something bad happen to him. He just needed help.
"He's a murderer, and you are powerless to defend yourself against him." Caitlin threw in.
"Hey may just need help like I did, I don't need my powers to offer him that. I have to try." Barry said with a tone of finality. And even though Sophia didn't want him to go into the line of fire, she understood where he was coming from, after he spoke.
"Be careful Barry," Sophia said and he nodded, motioning for them to move somewhere safe.
Barry pressed the button, opening the door up, as everyone stood back and to the side. Meanwhile, Barry walked out into the hall slowly, finding it hard to see with the power out. He kept walking, on high alert, as he saw the shadow of someone, assuming it was Farooq.
Farooq turned around, bright electricity sparking from his hands as he growled at Barry.
"Hey, whoa whoa, easy," Barry said, holding his hands out in front of him as a sign of peace. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
"You can't hurt me," Farooq spat out. "Where is Harrison Wells?" Farooq demanded.
"Look, I know what happened to you. The night of the accelerator explosion it changed you. It changed me too."
"You were the one in the red suit," Farooq said, with a confused expression, coming to the conclusion that Barry was The Flash. "I fed from you, I have to keep feeding," Farooq said, moving forward towards Barry.
"All right, I know this has to be terrifying, that's why I want to help you okay? The night of the explosion, when the light hit me, it stopped my heart. Jake and Darya they were your friends."
"I woke up, and they were beside me, dead." Farooq said, looking down with a solemn expression. He had killed his friends, and he couldn't bear the guilt. "They tried to give me CPR, they were touching me, and I electrocuted them."
"This is not your fault."
"I know. Wells did this to me," Farooq growled, adamant on getting revenge.
"Farooq, you need to listen to me." And without a second moment's notice, Farooq blasted Barry with a bolt of electricity, sending his body flying through the air, and back into the room he entered from. Cisco ran over immediately, deadlocking the door, whilst Caitlin ran over to Barry, helping him up as he groaned in pain.
"Not sure how long that will hold."
"Done being noble, Mr. Allen?"
"Caitlin get him to the treadmill." Dr. Wells ordered, and she nodded, helping Barry over there, with her arm around his shoulder. "Cisco and Sophia, bring the generator online."
"Make sure Barry gets the charge." And with that Dr. Wells moved to go his own way when Barry called back.
"What? You're not coming with me?"
"I am not leaving you. Listen to me. Of everything I've done in my life, of everything I have invented, my most important creation is The Flash. Barry Allen must have a future." Wells explained, "Now go." He ordered, and they left.
At this point, Sophia and Cisco were making their rounds to get the power back up. When they ran into a problem. A big problem. Farooq had somehow managed to get out, and was now heading their way. Panic welled in her chest as her mind raced, trying to come up with a way to escape this situation.
"Cisco, run, get the power up. I-I'll distract him." She rushed out, not sure of how everything was going to play out. She knew that it was stupid, but it was the only thing she could think of in that moment. It was either that, or both of them get fried, and their whole plan fail.
"What?! No, are you crazy?" Cisco called out, his feet skidding in the hallway as he realised Sophia wasn't right behind him. She had stopped a while back and was listening out for Farooq.
"Yes, I am, now go, otherwise we're all toast! Go!" She yelled out for him, and reluctantly he ran trying to get the power up before something bad happened. As Farooq caught up, Sophia made sure she had caught his eye before she ran in the opposite direction of Cisco, down another set of hallways that lead to their make-shift prison. Evidently she wasn't fast enough, as she was slowly backed against a wall with Farooq stalking forward threateningly. God I hope you get the power up Cisco.
"P-please, I don't want to hurt you, I-I can help you, I-I'm a nurse," Sophia pleaded breathless after running, her hands out in front of her as a sign of surrender. Farooq tilted his head to the side as though he was contemplating the idea. He looked like he was in pain, his brow furrowed, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. His hand twitched in her direction and she flinched on instinct. It was as though he was testing her. This reaction seemed to be the wrong answer, and he let out a throaty laugh that sounded fake.
"I don't care," He choked out as he clenched and unclenched his fists.
"P-Please, Farooq. I can help, W-We can help, you don't need to do this," Sophia breathed out. Her words were her last hope, and they didn't seem to be helping her very much.
"I need to feed." Was all he said, and before she could try and find a way out, the electricity flowed from his hands, and into her body, zapping her shoulder. She let out an unearthly scream as the electricity sent shock waves of excruciating pain surging through her body. She could feel the burn on her shoulder, as her skin sizzled.
Much to her surprise, her body's first reaction was to send out a pulsating wave of energy, blasting Farooq, sending him hurtling back against the floor. She looked down at her glowing hands with wide eyes, unsure of what was happening. What the hell was that? Was her last thought as she felt all the energy drain from her body, at this point she could barely breathe through the pain. He got up, ready to attack her again, when she slumped down against the wall, her eyes fluttering shut as darkness encompassed her vision.
Farooq glowered and moved on forward with heavy footsteps echoing throughout the halls of Star Labs, ready to find Harrison Wells.
Ready to end it all.
After Barry's encounter with Tony, he ran back, trying to meet up with Cisco and the others. As he was running back, trying to get away from Farooq before he got fried, he saw Sophia collapsed on the floor unconscious.
"Sophia!" Barry yelled, expecting her to wake up and respond. He moved over to her as fast as he could, skidding as he bent down to her level. No, not you, oh god not you.
"Oh my god, please be alright," He whispered, as he put his hand to her pale neck, trying to find for a pulse. For a moment there was nothing, and his breathing became heavier as the panic started to set in. Then he felt the smallest blip and relief flooded through him. He looked her over, inspecting to see if she had been hurt anywhere else when he noticed blood soaking her right shoulder. He carefully shifted the fabric of her shirt, the vicious burn marks evident immediately. Her shirt was basically charred, and the skin a tender pink, as blood trickled down the skin.
"You're gonna be okay, I promise." He kissed her forehead. He could hear the crackling of electricity nearby, and was quick to place one arm underneath her back, and the other under her legs, lifting her up as he moved as fast as he could with her in his arms. By the time he arrived, Caitlin and Cisco were the only ones there, waiting patiently.
"Oh my god, is she alright?" Caitlin said, rushing over, as Barry set Sophia down on the floor gently.
"Her pulse is slow, but she's breathing," Barry said, as he tried to catch his breath, his hands on his knees. When he stood up, he noticed dark patch on his jeans and looked at his hands. He had blood stained on them. Tony's blood... Sophia's blood... he didn't know anymore.
"You're winded. That's not good." Caitlin commented, as she checked Sophia out. There was a nasty flesh wound on her right shoulder, must have been where she got hit with electricity. She got to work, quickly patching her up, and then moving to take a sample of Barry's blood to see what went wrong with the jump start, and if the process had worked at all to give him his speed back, because right now, they needed it more than ever.
"I can't believe he's dead," Barry breathed out as he paced the room back and forth.
"Dr. Wells?" Caitlin turned her head so fast she was sure it was going to fall off.
"No, no. Tony Woodward," Barry said much to their surprise and Caitlin let out a sigh of relief that Dr. Wells was alright. "He escaped from the pipeline, he must have got out when the blackout hit."
"Not possible. The pipeline was designed to withstand a power outage," Cisco concluded. "Someone had to have let him go." That left an unsavoury feeling in all of their stomachs as they thought about this notion.
"I did, I released him," Dr. Wells announced as he rolled back into the safety of the room, his statement causing the team to look at him with calculating eyes.
"Why?" Barry asked, tilting his head to the side as he looked on at someone he admired, not believing that he could do something so calculated, so cruel, so inhumane.
"To divert our intruder's attention while we worked to restore your speed." Dr. Wells explained with a heavy heart.
"You used him as a distraction." Barry couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"An unnecessary one, as it turns out. It seems the plan has failed." Dr. Wells replied, as he looked over to see Sophia on the floor, still in unconscious.
"I have his blood on me," Barry's distraught voice went on, "I have Sophia's blood on me," he yelled in anger as he looked down at his hands that were stained with blood. He felt sick to his stomach with guilt, and as he looked over at the unconscious woman lying on the floor, he could feel his anxiety starting to set in. "How could you do that?" He continued, throwing harsh words at Wells in an effort to throw his blame onto someone.
"You're showing a lot of sentiment for a man who tormented you as a child." Wells countered, his voice rising in volume.
"Tony might have been a bully then, and now, but he didn't deserve to die," Barry spat. Yes he disliked the man more than anyone else in the world, but he did have morals, and sacrificing Tony as a pawn wasn't the ethical thing to do.
"Does Caitlin, Cisco or Sophia, or me or you?" I had a choice to make, him or us," Wells shouted, "I chose us without a second thought."
"All your talk about miracle cures and scientific breakthroughs, but you don't care about people at all." Barry spat out, furious at Wells decision to basically kill Tony in order to save them.
'Well, maybe you care too much Barry." Wells threw back, taking a deep breath and trying to keep his cool. "I know being a hero is important to you, and I respect your ideals. I just don't have the luxury of sharing them."
"Oh, I forgot," Barry scoffed, "your games chess. We're all just pawns to you right? So what's your move, doctor? Which one of us gets sacrificed next? Because Sophia's already been thrown in the deep end because of your actions."
Wells didn't have time to answer, as Farooq was gaining on their location, trailing a spark as he did so.
"We have to get out of the facility."
"We just left him on level D. We'll never make it to the main entrance from here."
"What about the garage, the mobile lab van?" Cisco asked.
"It's my move, Mr. Allen, and I say we make a run for it." Wells said, and Barry picked Sophia up again ready to make their escape to the garage when Caitlin yelled.
"Oh my god!" Caitlin exclaimed, "Barry, look. Your cells, they're rapidly regenerating!"
"I still don't have my speed," he said, his face scrunching up in frustration as he looked down at Sophia who was resting in his arms.
"It must be mental, not physical."
"Oh, you have the yips," Cisco said.
"The what's?" Barry asked, sounding slightly offended.
"You know. When a second baseman all of a sudden can't throw to first or a golfer tries to putt and they get all embarrassed and upset, and then that makes the yips worse, and it's a hot mess, and then they feel like even more of a failure."
"That's not helping." Barry said with a deadpan expression. He didn't know what to do. He was trying everything he could think of, but he still felt helpless.
"Look, you asked if I believed you were struck by lightning for a reason, if you were chosen. I believe, you should too."
"Let's move." And with that they made for the garage, praying nothing would go wrong.
Sophia slowly drifted away from the land of dreams, and into reality. She kept her eyes closed shut, not wanting to open them, as she tried to maintain her breathing. She could feel a weight on her right shoulder, and with every breath, it burned, so much so that she was sure if she moved even slightly it would hurt even more.
She heard shouting. A familiar voice, one she thought to be Dr. Wells, the other a hostile tone that she could only assume to be Farooq. She lay there, for a moment longer, this time slowly opening her eyes, her vision blurry at first before it cleared up. She could see part of Caitlin's hair, in front of her, and she assumed she was laying on her lap, from the uncomfortable position her back was in. Sophia opened her mouth, greedily gulping in the air, her lungs feeling like they were on fire like they were being deprived of oxygen, which wasn't true, it was just her asthma playing up. She started to hyperventilate, and then passed out due to the lack of oxygen, something Cisco would have teased her about later, but since she saved his life and all, he let it go.
It was now 15 hours post-blackout, and Sophia was just coming to, as she laid down in the med bay. Her hand twitched and she felt soft sheets underneath her fingertips. She could hear the familiar sounds of the monitor beeping indicating that her heart was beating at a normal rate. She could feel the uncomfortable blood pressure cuff strapped to her arm that wasn't bandaged up, and that's when her hearing kicked in completely, and she could hear her friends fussing about.
"Let's play some arctic monkeys, it's her favourite, maybe that'll wake her up," Cisco suggested.
"Really Cisco…" Barry said, as he lounged in a chair next to Sophia's bed, reminding him of the time she got hit by Nimbus and was hospitalised. The memory had then added to the guilt that was currently resting upon his shoulders. She had always been there to protect them, always been there to sacrifice herself so someone else wouldn't get hurt, and though she had come out of both alive, he knew that if it kept moving in this direction, one day, she might not be so lucky, and that was a scenario he wasn't willing to give life to.
"What? Gaga. That's what woke you up after 9 months," Cisco responded, sticking his tongue out as he did so.
"She'll be up soon," Caitlin reassured everyone, trying to get them to shut up as she adjusted Sophia's IV, trying to focus on doing it right. "You just need to be patient."
"Yeah guys, I'll be up soon." Sophia's voice croaked out, her eyes still shut as she lay in the bed, causing both Cisco and Barry to jump in surprise.
"Oh my god," Cisco shrieked, falling of his chair.
"You're awake." Barry breathed out in relief, recovering smoother than Cisco.
"It seems so," Sophia said, slowly opening her eyes so they could adjust to the bright lighting in the lab. Cisco seemed to notice this, and dimmed the lights around her bed, making it easier for her. She sent a silent smile of thanks his way, and he responded with a grin of his own, happy his friend was alright.
"Mind helping me sit up?" Sophia asked, and a second later, Barry was lifting her up, and moving her legs to the edge of the bed, letting them fall off. She rotated her ankles, relishing in the movement, they had become stiff after being in the same position for a long time.
"Thanks." She said, giving him a small smile. Barry just kept staring at her, and it was at that point that Cisco declared that he forgot he had to get something for Dr. Wells, giving Caitlin a look, to get out of there. Caitlin then came up with the excuse of having to go feed Sophia's cat since she hadn't been home in the last 24 hours. So now it was just her and Barry sitting alone after the two had said their goodbye's.
"How are you feeling?" Barry asked tentatively.
"Like I got electrocuted," Sophia laughed at herself, and winced in pain as she moved too much. "Too soon." She looked down at her shoulder to see that it was bandaged up quite well, and there were no specks of red to be seen on the thick white gauze, something she was thankful for.
"I'm sorry," Barry apologised, and Sophia's head shot right up, not expecting to hear those words.
"Why are you apologising?" Here he goes again being a goof ball. Better not be blaming himself.
"It's my fault you got hurt," Barry whispered. Oh my god she yelled internally.
"Yeah," and at this he looked down, "It's totally your fault, and I mean you're the one who electrocuted me and all," Sophia scoffed, "You're a doofus," she shoved his shoulder playfully, and he looked up with a solemn face.
"I-I thought you- you could have died," Barry choked out.
"You could have too, when you went out to talk to Farooq, you could have died then too."
"But that's different," he countered.
"Why?" She asked curtly, with a furrowed brow. How was it any different? She knew that she would feel the same anger, the same guilt, and the same sadness if something had happened to him. They were a team, and if it had happened to any single one of them, she knew that it wouldn't be different.
"Because- it just is."
"Not to me it isn't." Barry sighed in defeat, this girl was seriously stubborn, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
"Just give me a hug already Allen… just be careful of the shoulder," Sophia said, and Barry leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her waist carefully, as she put one arm around his neck, resting her head on his chest. They stood there, arms encircled for longer than she thought friends should have hugged, but she decided that she didn't care. She almost died, and if this was her reward, then she was going to take it.
Barry moved back, to break the hug away when he noticed how close they were to each other. His nose was brushing hers, their lips within inches of meeting, so close she could feel his breath fan across her skin, and her stomach erupted into butterflies at the anticipation. Slowly he inclined his head forward and Sophia's breath hitched, her heart starting to beat faster as their lips nearly brushed… and she was sure that they would have kissed… that was if the monitor hadn't gone off, indicating that her heart rate was increasing and, at a rapid rate. She moved back as though the beeping noise had burned her, and her pale cheeks finally donned some colour as she turned pink. Barry didn't say anything, he just bit his lip and tried not to smile, unable to take his eyes off hers, fascinated by the golden brown that looked back at him.
"C-Could I have some water, please?" Sophia asked, fake coughing, asking for Barry to go grab her a glass of water, as she prayed to god that he didn't realise what had just happened. She told him to take his time as she sat there melting like an ice-cream cone on a hot summer day, basically dying of embarrassment. Id-i-o-t. Her brain sang, and for once she damn well agreed.
"I-I wish I could just tell you- how I feel about you," Barry said to a frozen Sophia as he used his super-speed to admit something he had kept hidden for quite a while now. He wasn't sure if was because he didn't know how to tell her, or if it was because he was scared of rejection, or the fact that he had loved Iris, and he wasn't sure if he was completely over her, even though he knew that as each day went by, he was developing strong feelings for Sophia.
Barry came walking in the room a minute later, with her glass of water, and she accepted it gratefully. They spent the next hour or so debriefing on what had happened after she passed out, and all she could think about was the weird energy that was coming off her hands. She so desperately wanted to tell the others, especially Barry, but she wanted to be sure. So she decided to keep it a secret for now. It was getting quite late, and Barry dropped Sophia off at her house, helping her get changed into something that didn't smell burnt. He admitted that he blushed himself as she asked this favour, and using his super speed, he helped her get dressed and ready for bed.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Rest up." Barry said, as he walked towards her front door.
"Will do Captain." Sophia fake saluted with her good arm, "Goodnight Allen," She whispered.
"Goodnight Lang."
A/N:
SO THEY NEARLY KISSED. SORRY TO BE A TEASE, BUT LIKE IT NEEDED TO WAIT A BIT, BUT, TALK ABOUT THEM CUTIES.
I guess near-death experiences sort of do that to you.
Also… her powers popped up again, and at the most convenient of times. But this time SHE REMEMBERS.
SHE KNOWS.
Next chapter will explore that, and hopefully answer all of your questions. This is also one of my favourite chapters so far. Just because there is a tonne of action, and excitement, and like a lot of angst and feels and just yes it was so fun to write.
Thanks again for all the favourites/follows and reviews. So excited to see we are nearly at 50 follows for this story! Currently pre-prepared this chapter, because I'm away on holidays, and uploading this from my phone, so hang in there with me.
I'll try my best to respond to reviews via PM etc. There seems to be a problem with the reviewing system on the website, but alas, i still get the notifications via my email. So please leave a review if you enjoyed this, tell me your thoughts and feelings on this chapter, hell on the whole story, its really important for me to understand if things need to be changed or improved upon.
Heroherondaletotherescue. x
