Cisco's eyes lit up in delight as he listened to the low rumble coming from the pod. He was far too big to climb in, and to get it to move he would need to input a date sequence that he could not quite understand. Nonetheless, he had succeeded in repairing the pod and switching it on. He had made progress.
"Cisco, there you are!" Clark's concerned voice broke in over the roaring of the engine. Clark joined him and stared down at the pod. He was instantly silenced and by the look on his face, Cisco could tell that he recognized the machine on a personal level.
Clark placed his hand down on the machine. "I know this…" he mumbled to himself. "I think… I think that this belongs to me… Don't ask me how I know. I can just feel it."
"Great," Cisco pointed down at the computer system inside the pod. "Maybe you can work out what that language is."
Clark looked down at it and shook his head. "I can't be sure. I don't remember."
"Maybe I can help you." Cisco placed his hand on the pod and willed a vision to come. At first there was nothing. But then it was as if a movie was playing out in his head. He saw a panic-stricken mother and father forced to place their baby in that exact pod. The baby was wrapped in a red blanket. The same red blanket that Cisco had seen earlier. The father typed in a code and pressed his hand onto the screen leaving his handprint. The pod set off far from the planet and traveled into outer space. The home planet exploded shortly after along with all those that remained. As time went passed, the pod traveled to earth and in it, the baby slept in a cryogenic state. The pod eventually travelled to earth and crashed in that exact location in the cave. Scientists scoured the cave searching for the pod, but it had remained untouched until now.
Then, just as the vision had appeared, it disappeared yet again. Cisco smiled over at Clark. "Well, I don't think we can use it as a weapon… But at least it works. How are you feeling anyway… You still look fatigued. Where's Caitlin?"
"I kind of left her outside the cave. She wanted to call my mom. But I want to help. Please, let me help."
Cisco looked around them. There didn't seem to be a trace of the Kryptonite around, but he really didn't want to risk the kid getting hurt by searching for Barry and Astrid. Nonetheless, Clark seemed much too stubborn to not help.
Cisco stared down at the pod and then back up at Clark. He had an idea that would benefit them both. "Okay Clark… How fast can you get all those kids out of this cave and to safety?"
Clark grinned. "You can always time me." But before Clark could leave, Cisco asked him to wait.
"Oh, before you go… I found this… I think it's a blanket or something!" He handed him the red blanket that he had found stashed in the pod while he had been trying to repair it. It was the same blanket that he had seen in his vision.
Clark eyed the red fabric and flicked off some of the dust. "It looks like some sort of cape."
Cisco shrugged. "Whatever it is… I might have an idea for it later… Provided you can help me get my friends back!"
Clark gave Cisco one last nod and left quickly to carry out his part of Cisco's plan. He would remove everybody out of the cave before they even had the chance to figure out just what was going on.
Cisco laughed to himself. "Barry is going to be so jealous of that one." He waited by the pod, examining the computer system. He remembered the data sequence from the vision. He could do that part himself, but theoretically speaking, he would need Clark's handprint to set it in motion.
Astrid grimaced at the pain in her gut. She was bleeding out and feeling very weak. Both she and Barry had been tortured relentlessly. Lex Luthor currently had a blade driven into Barry's stomach and continued to interrogate him. Unfortunately, neither of them was healing as the power dampening cuffs were their vulnerability. But Barry would not speak.
"Leave him alone!" Astrid groaned. "Please, just leave him alone! I'll do it… I'll help you!"
"Astrid, no you can't!" Barry groaned.
"Good girl," Lex said as he turned and approached her. "But, you need to understand that I will need you to prove your loyalty. You will kill your friend here and then you will tell me what you know about the Kryptonian. I know that you know."
Astrid gasped. She looked over at Barry and then back at the alien who had a hold of Lex. There were tears in her eyes and she couldn't wipe them away. "But… But he will be of use to you… I can't kill him. He will be an asset!"
For a moment, Astrid knew that he was contemplating her words. Finally, he agreed. "So tell me where the Kryptonian is."
Astrid looked over at Barry, and then back at the Lex Luthor imposter and said "even if we were to tell you… You will still lose! There are many of us who will fight you! You will only fail again! Many are mighty! Remember that!"
In an act of aggression, the daemonite drove the blade into her stomach swiftly making her gasp.
"Leave her alone!" Barry yelled. "The Kryptonian is…"
"Barry, No!" Astrid groaned. "D-don't tell him!"
"I have had it with your childish games!" the daemonite said as he inched the blade upward in Astrid's stomach forcing her to gurgle. "B-Barry…" she murmured.
"Astrid, No!" Barry cried in an uncontrollable fit. "Take me! Kill me! Don't hurt her please! Stop!"
Astrid could feel the taste of metal in her mouth and the warm liquid of blood rose up in her throat. This had been the same cave that she had lost her father in. It seemed fitting that this would be where she would die. She wondered where DR Fate was. Maybe he had been forced to keep out of this one.
She looked over at Barry and sent him a comforting smile. "B-Barry… T-Tell Cisco…"
"No, Astrid! Astrid! No! No! Get away from her!"
"Barry… I'm sorry." she murmured. She felt the blade hit an artery and the warmth ooze that sprung forth from her stomach told her that she didn't have enough time or strength to say everything she wanted to say. The power dampening cuffs ensured that she couldn't communicate telepathically either.
Her eyes started to close. The final noises she heard were Barry's screams as she bled out slowly.
