Hey Guys! So sorry that I did not update in freaking years, but I finally managed to finish this chapter. I am still not totally happy with it, but, work in progress, right? Between constantly rewriting this chapter (screw writer's block) and trying not to drown in my schoolwork, I did not have much time for updating. But it is here now! So sorry for not updating sooner. Please bear with me!
Last time:
"Cisco! Stop! You are killing him!"
Cisco's body went still, still vibrating from whatever the hell had just occurred. He staggered backwards and fell to his knees, vaguely aware that Kendra had now kneeled next to him and was taking his face into her hands. All he could see was the limp body of the man he had possibly killed lying in front of him.
xXx
The first thing Cisco was aware of was the bright light. Curse bright lights. They should be outlawed. Invading his eyelid space like this.
Slowly, Cisco opened his eyes. His eyes landed on a dark siluette in the doorway, facing away from him. Eventually, the dirty blonde hair came into view. Jay.
A click that sounded suspiciously like a wheelchair came from his right side. He turned his head to see Barry, currently typing on his phone with his right hand, fiddling with the wheelchair's brakes with his left.
And then everything that happened, everything he did, came crashing down on him. A shout sounded in the distance, and Barry appeared in his field of vision, green eyes awash with concern and fear.
"Cisco!"
He was hyperventilating. The bed started shaking. Why was the bed shaking? The light above his bed shattered. Jay appeared with a syringe in his hand. Without thinking, Cisco's hands shot up, and the concussive waves drove Jay into the wall.
"Cisco!"
Cisco couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. He flew out of the bed, collapsing on the shaking floor and taking his head in his hands. He had to make it stop. MAKE IT STOP.
A hand was on his shoulder.Cisco forcefully shoved the hand off and broke into a sprint, ignoring the sound of Barry's chair clattering to the ground. He had to get out of here. He was dangerous. The ground was trembling under his feet, but they carried him down the passage, a path he knew well.
"Ramon!"
Harry tried to get in the way, but was unceremoniously thrown down the hallway, tumbling as the concussive blasts pushed him back. Cisco just kept running, totally unaware of what was going on around him or what he was doing. He was dangerous. He had to get to the pipeline.
He made it to the pipeline, unlocked one of the cells and ran into it, the cell closing and locking behind him automatically. He bunched himself up into the far corner and took his head into his hands.
Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop.
The cell was shaking now too. Cisco wished it would bring the accelerator down on top of him.
A hiss startled him, and his eyes widened as he observed a white gas drifting through the vents of the cell. He whipped his head around to see a terrified Caitlin, trembling as she let the sedative through. Cisco tried to get up, collapsing back to the floor as the sedative began to take effect. He observed Caitlin run up to the cell and put her hands against the glass before his world went dark.
xXx
"Jay. Hey! Jay, you okay?" Barry called out, pulling himself across the floor to get closer to Jay, who was slumped against the wall with a dazed look glazing over his eyes. Barry cried out and arched his back, a sharp pain radiating through his spine from the unusual movement.
"Jay!"
Jay snapped back to alertness at the volume of Barry's shout. Without a word, Jay scrambled to his feet, righting Barry's chair in one movement. Barry's back arched again with a spasm of pain, a strangled cry escaping his lips. Jay rolled Barry onto his back and scooped him up into his arms, depositing him on Cisco's abandoned bed. Barry clenched his fist as another wave of pain shook him, his legs bouncing with uncontrollable spasms.
Before Barry knew it, Jay had injected him with something. Barry closed his eyes, bundling the sheets in his fist as he tried to block out the pain. Eventually, the pain subsided, and he opened his eyes to see that Caitlin and Harry had joined them, everyone watching him with bated breath.
Barry looked up to see that his right leg was still twitching slightly. He flopped back onto the pillow, shutting his eyes again. Shutting their worried looks out. He did not need their worry.
An inexplicable wave of dread coursed through his chest. He shot up to a sitting position, wincing as the movement produced a new pang of pain, "Cisco?"
Caitlin bit her lip, "I...he's in the pipeline."
"What?" Barry bit out perhaps too forcefully.
"He locked himself in." Caitlin explained, "He was panicking, and getting worse, so I gave him a sedative."
"You gassed him?"
"He was going to hurt himself, Barry. What else was I supposed to do?" Caitlin stopped, surprised at the sharpness of her tone.
Barry sighed, pressing his fists into his eyes.
Jay spoke up softly.
"Barry, we need to check your back. All of that movement may have hurt something..."
Barry clenched his jaw, effectively ignoring Jay's concern. He suddenly felt extremely urgent and irritated.
"Caitlin."
Caitlin looked up.
"Get me my chair, please."
"Barry, you..."
"Get me my chair, Caitlin."
"Barry, you need to calm down. You hurt yourself," Caitlin chided, pushing Barry back down to the bed.
Barry shot straight back up, throwing Caitlin to the side.
"GET ME MY CHAIR!"
"BARRY!" Jay shouted, his eyes blazing. Caitlin just shook her head. "Call Joe." She mouthed.
Jay set his jaw, begrudgingly moving to do just that when Caitlin gave him a pleading look.
Barry, however, was not deterred, and was scrambling closer to the edge of the bed, paralysis forgotten.
"Barry, you are going to fall." Caitlin pleaded, slowly moving toward him. Harry neared, just in case Barry lashed out again. Barry's vision swam, urgency bursting in his chest, fear rising like bile in his throat.
"I need to see Cisco. CAITLIN GET MY CHAIR! ZOOM IS COMING!"
Barry was screaming now, his eyes wild and on fire. He pulled himself closer to the edge of the bed, panicking as he realised that his legs would not move.
"My legs are gone. MY LEGS ARE GONE!"
"No, they are not Barry. Please calm down." Caitlin pleaded, bringing her hands up to still her friend.
Barry suddenly felt cold. The events of the past year all crashed down upon him at once. He looked to Caitlin, his eyes desperate, "Caitlin...I'm so sorry. I couldn't save him."
"Barry..."
"I couldn't save him. I couldn't save Ronnie."
"Barry..." Caitlin tried again, taking her friend's hands in hers.
Barry pulled back as if he had been burned. He did not deserve this. He did not deserve her concern, her pity, her friendship.
"No, Caitlin. You hate me. I killed him. I killed your husband. I let Ronnie die!"
"No, Barry. It is not your fault. It is not your fault..." Caitlin pulled back hopelessly, shaking her head as tears stung her eyes.
"What could be causing him to act this way?" Harry asked, getting the restraints ready just in case.
Caitlin blinked back the tears in her eyes, "It may be what Jay gave him, but something else is at play here. Barry, no, Barry it's okay, it's okay." She soothed a shaking Barry who was attempting a second time to climb off the bed, taking his hand in hers regardless of his previous reaction to the gesture.
Barry's tear-filled eyes met Caitlin's, his breathing ragged and voice hoarse, "I killed him."
Caitlin shook her head, tracing her hand along Barry's face in spite of herself, "No, you didn't kill him. It was Ronnie's choice. He had to go."
Barry chuckled bitterly at the familiarity of that statement, until his eyes landed on Harry for the first time, widening as they did so.
"Caitlin, get back." Barry lowly ordered, pushing Caitlin behind the bed, his eyes darkening dangerously.
"Barry..." Caitlin protested.
"It's Dr. Wells, Caitlin. Get back."
"No, Barry. It's Harrison Wells from earth-2..."
"YOU KILLED MY MOTHER!"
"Barry, it's not him."
Caitlin's pleas fell on deaf ears.
"Why did you kill her? Why do you hate me?"
"Allen. I..."
"WHAT DID I DO TO YOU?"
Harry stepped closer to Barry, putting his hands out to still the young man. Barry just shuffled back to the headboard, pushing Caitlin further away from Harry. His breathing was growing increasingly erratic.
"What did I do to you?" Barry's voice was barely above a whisper.
Harry took in the sight before his eyes. The kid, yes, the kid, looked barely older than Jesse, even though he was a good seven years older. Barry was shaking now, tears streaming down his face, looking up at him with pure betrayal and, fear.
Fear.
That was the emotion expressed the entire past five minutes. The emotion expressed by Ramon when since he woke up till when he locked himself in the pipeline. The emotion expressed by a metahuman with powers that were greatly amplified, powers reliant on vibrations, powers that could manipulate brain waves.
"Garrick! Get the restraints, now." Harry ordered Jay, who had just come running back into the cortex.
Jay paused.
"Just do it!" Harry spoke desperately, watching the fear in Barry's eyes deepen, his hands that were holding Caitlin behind him beginning to twitch.
"Snow."
"Yes?"
"We need to measure his brain activity. His brain waves may have been manipulated." Harry explained, moving closer to Caitlin. Just there he realised his mistake.
Barry's fist flew, connecting squarely with Harrison's jaw. Harry staggered backwards, surprised at the weakened young paraplegic's strength. Yet, adrenaline could accomplish anything.
"Stay away from Caitlin! I won't let you hurt her!" Barry yelled, his green eyes turning feral, his nostrils flaring.
Caitlin moved away from Barry, who grabbed her wrist with astounding force. "Stay behind me, Caitlin!"
"Barry, I need to hook you up to the brain monitor." She tried, attempting to pull her wrist from Barry's desperate grasp.
Barry just gripped harder.
"Barry."
Barry's breathing was getting shallow and laboured. Jay gently took his other wrist to restrain it to the bed, only for it to be ripped from his grasp and to be elbowed in the stomach.
"Barry. Calm down. He is not going to hurt you." Caitlin reassured him, relaxing her arm in Barry's grip, which was firm enough to cause bruising.
Barry's eyes shot to Jay, who simply moved to slowly take Barry's arm again. Barry flinched at the touch, scrambling back as far as his paralysed legs would let him, letting go of Caitlin's arm and grabbing her around the waist instead, pulling her closer to him. Holding her as if she were his last lifeline.
"Don't leave me Caitlin." He breathed, his voice small. He was reminiscent of a scared little child clinging to his mother, sitting on the bed and holding Caitlin close to him, his head buried in her stomach.
Caitlin awkwardly carded her fingers through Barry's hair, soon resembling soothing strokes.
"It's okay, Barry. We just want to hook you up to the brain monitor, okay? I am not going to leave you. Jay will get the monitor, and I will hook you up. Okay?" Caitlin suggested, her voice lowering to a soothing tone, as if she were speaking to a young child.
Barry just tightened his grip around Caitlin's waist. Caitlin looked to Jay, who silently wheeled the brain monitor closer, handing the wires to Caitlin, who stopped carding her hands through Barry's hair for just a second to fix them around his head. The trembling boy didn't move, Caitlin was still there. He did not have reason to.
"Did you reach Joe? Caitlin asked, having successfully applied the wires around Barry's head.
Jay nodded affirmatively, "30 minutes. He is on a case."
Caitlin nodded, refocusing her attention to Barry, "Barry, you have to lie back. Okay? I am not leaving you."
Barry nodded slowly, reluctantly lying his trembling body back on the bed. His hand found Caitlin's, and he took it in a death grip, his eyes squeezed shut.
"The emotional centres in his brain show signs of being overwhelmed." Jay stated.
"His brain waves are abnormal too, they are not operating at their usual frequency, although they appear to be returning to normal." Caitlin added, studying the screen.
Harry nodded, "I believe that Mr. Allen's erratic behaviour can be attributed to an alteration of brainwaves by one Cisco Ramon."
Caitlin gave Harry a questioning look.
"Ramon's powers are based off vibrations. Said powers are greatly amplified. It is possible that in the intense fear that he experienced upon waking up and realising what had happened, he somehow transmuted that amplified emotional state to Barry. Resulting in what happened here."
Caitlin nodded, "That makes sense."
The trio stood in silence for a moment as Barry's breathing calmed and his brainwaves returned to normal.
Barry's grip on Caitlin's hand relaxed. His eyes slowly opened.
"Caitlin?"
"I am here, Barry."
Barry slowly sat up.
"What...what happened?"
"Let's just say you had a bit of an extreme reaction." Caitlin reassured.
"Reaction to what?" Barry queried, looking around the room for an explanation.
"Ramon gave you bad vibes." Harry supplied.
Barry's eyes widened, "Cisco, is...he okay?"
Caitlin bit her lip, "We don't know. He locked himself in the pipeline. I had to sedate him."
Barry nodded, he frowned as his eyes caught the motion of Caitlin's hands. He grabbed Caitlin's arm, his face contorting with worry as he observed the bruises forming on her wrist.
"Cait. Did I..."
"It's okay, Barry. You didn't do much harm. You were scared." Caitlin tried to reassure him, retracting her arm.
Barry turned to Jay and Harry.
"How extreme was my reaction?"
"It was not..." Caitlin tried.
"Pretty extreme." Harry interrupted.
Caitlin gave Harry a look, the latter throwing up his hands, "There is no need to sugar coat it, Snow."
Barry raised his eyebrows, "Guys."
Caitlin sighed, "Your behaviour was erratic..."
"Very erratic." Harry drily supplied.
"And you had us very worried." Caitlin forcefully continued, glaring at Harry, "But you calmed down soon enough before anything bad could happen."
"Did I hurt anyone?"
"No."
"Yes." Harry declared firmly, staring Caitlin down.
Barry turned to Harry, giving him a questioning look.
"You threw her across the room. You also bruised her wrist. You hit Garrick. Yes, I would say that you did hurt - someone. But no damage was done."
Barry's eyes widened.
"I threw you?" He asked Caitlin frantically.
Caitlin rolled her eyes, "No. More like pushed me. I am fine. You didn't hurt me."
Harry turned to leave.
"Harrison." Jay called, "You are leaving out the bit where Barry slugged you soundly across the jaw. I thought, since you were being so thorough, that you would have liked to mention it."
Harry stopped in his tracks, and spun around to face Jay, his face turned to stone.
"I hit you?" Barry tried cautiously.
Harry huffed impatiently, "Yes. Yes you did. I didn't mention it, Garrick, because I thoroughly deserved it. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a metahuman to check on."
And with that, Harry spun on his heels and stalked off to the pipeline.
Caitlin bit her lip.
"I should probably go check on Cisco, too." She said after a moment's hesitation, cautiously following after Harrison.
xXx
Patty was stupid. Okay, not that kind of stupid. She double majored in physics and chemistry, and she is one of the best detectives in the business. She had an extremely high IQ. No, the type of stupid she was evidencing was that kind of stupid where you do stupid-ass things because you are driven by emotion and hatred and you go after the guy who killed your Dad and is now a metahuman without a weapon because you are just way too fucking stupid and drunk to think up a plan.
It was the kind of stupid that resulted in her waking up in the hospital without any recollection other that storming into the warehouse with her pistol drawn.
Patty squeezed her eyes shut, the flourescent lights piercing her skull. She groaned as she rubbed her forehead. Definitely a hangover.
And that's when the pain hit her. It blossomed across her stomach and ran up and down her left arm to her wrist. Her back screamed in pain at the slightest movement, and her right knee felt like it had been torn in two. She drew in a sharp breath, suddenly acutely aware of how every inch of her body was shrieking in pain.
What did she do?
"Patty?"
Her eyes slowly eased open at the gentle voice, and Barry's startlingly green eyes swam into view. She realised with a stab of guilt that the red-rimmed orbs showed signs of crying, and that the lines on his painfully pale face were deeper than usual.
She made her best attempt at a smile, but she was sure that it looked more like a grimace.
"Hey." She finally managed to croak out. The heaviness on her heart lifted a little as Barry's face broke into a very rare grin.
"Hey," He replied, keeping his voice soft, "You took a lot of hits."
Patty grimaced, "Yeah. Don't know exactly what I did to get them."
Her heart sank again as Barry's face fell. She tried to sit up, only for Barry to gently still her with his hand on her shoulder.
"That is probably not the best idea, Pat."
Patty nodded, observing her boyfriend. He was pulled up as close to her bed as his wheelchair would allow him to be. He looked sick. And worried. His skin was pulled tightly over his cheekbones, and his face was a shade of white that she had never seen on him before. His pale lips were pressed into a thin line, and his forehead formed worried creases between his eyebrows.
"How long was I out?"
"Two days." Barry whispered, his voice hoarse.
Patty couldn't stand it anymore, "What's wrong, Barry?"
Barry half-heartedly coughed out a disbelieving laugh, he looked to the side, biting his lower lip thoughtfully. He brought his face up to her eyes again, smiling sadly as his own eyes glistened with moisture, "What do you remember, Patty?"
"Don't change the subject..."
"I'm not."
Patty stopped, searching Barry's eyes for any clues for what he was getting at. His eyes were desperate, pleading for her to remember. Something.
Barry snaked his hand into hers and touched his forehead to her wrist as she shook her head.
"Barry, what's going on?"
Boom! Cliffhanger! I said I would work in that whole Mardon vs Patty thing somehow. Don't worry, it is not finished. I will still flesh out that whole situation and how Snart will warn Barry before it is too late. Also, I felt that Cisco should be able to somehow affect people's emotions with his vibes. It would be pretty cool. Now, for the apologies: I am terribly sorry that my medical shit is not up to standard. I do try my best to research this stuff, but there is just so much time in a day, and I am really not cut out for the medical side of things anyway, so I am really sorry for all the inacuracies. As a self-proclaimed hacker, I always cringe at any story's inaccuracies regarding computery stuff, so I can just imagine how you nurses and med students reading this must feel. I am terribly sorry. If you guys have any pointers, please pm me and I will edit the chapters accordingly. Please. I hate being inaccurate. Also, I am really sorry for the inconsistency of my updates. I did warn you guys, but schoolwork is no excuse. I made a commitment to try and update this as often as possible and so far I have not been living up to that. I am really sorry. Truly sorry. (Okay, now I sound like Ten. Stop it Chara!)
Anyways, as usual, I hope you guys are enjoying this story so far and if you have any suggestions, requests, constructive criticisms or digital brownies, please post a review and/or pm me! Lots of love and God bless!
