Pay attention now, this gets tricky. ;)

Chapter 9: Standoff

Barry races through Central City, his heart pounding almost as fast as his feet. He can feel the familiar fear in his gut, and even though he's running he can feel it trying to expand.

It's oddly backwards that even though he entered the dream world with Dr. Hebbian's permission, so to speak, this time running doesn't help the fear as much. Maybe it's because Iris isn't here any more. Maybe it's because he has yet to find Holly despite having searched the most likely places already. But it's probably more because he left Iris on the other side, facing a dangerous metahuman even if he is locked inside a pipeline cell, and Barry is very aware that he has a limited amount of time to work with. Dr. Hebbian had allowed Barry to enter, but their truce was tenuous at best, and Barry isn't sure if or when it's going to expire. He tries not to flinch from shadows he runs past, telling himself that the doctor isn't going to suddenly jump out of one.

All the same, he speeds up as he runs through a dark alley, constantly on the lookout for Holly…


Iris crossed her arms to keep her hands from shaking, watching as Cisco and Caitlin each grab under an arm and pull Barry's still form, still in his suit and mask, out of Dr. Hebbian's cell. She was glad she wasn't around to see the other occasions Barry had entered the dream world if they all looked like this. She also understood why Henry hadn't been able to watch any of them. Dr. Hebbian's hands on her husband's head, his body going limp and dropping to the ground, his eyes rolling into the back of his head before closing…it was horrible to watch. She knew too well that Barry had already seen the same thing happen to her, and thinking that he must have felt the same distress made her want to cry. It was something she would never be okay with watching, even if Dr. Hebbian had been more cooperative this time around.

The cell door slid shut. Joe, who had been carefully aiming his gun at the doctor the entire time, moved with it to prevent any escape attempts. Once Dr. Hebbian was safely locked in his cell Joe finally holstered his gun. Iris moved down to stand next to her father, avoiding the sight of Caitlin and Cisco putting Barry on a gurney and heading to the med bay. She knew exactly where her husband was, and it wasn't on that gurney...

In the end, it was Henry who provided the solution to their problem. With all the stress and chaos surrounding Iris's coma and Barry's attempts to bring her back, no one had noticed Henry making regular visits to the pipeline. The occasions Barry had allowed Dr. Hebbian to put him in a coma Henry had made sure he was somewhere else. When Joe had confronted the doctor he'd been off doing research at the university library and calling Caitlin to discuss his findings.

Henry had brought up the possibility that perhaps Dr. Hebbian would allow Barry to enter the dream world one more time and extract Holly in exchange for something he really wanted. Barry had been doubtful. Joe had outright snorted, but Henry kept talking.

"Dr. Hebbian was a successful psychologist, right up until he became a metahuman. Once he did, the fear center in his brain became so overactive that he himself felt like he might die when it got to be too much," Henry argued. "To Dr. Hebbian it was a necessary evil to siphon off his fear, and it was something he actually felt guilty about. If we can somehow find a way to help him shunt off excess fear in a better way that doesn't harm anyone, he might jump at the chance."

"Whoa, he's almost like a reverse vampire." Cisco looked thoroughly entertained by the idea.

Joe shook his head. "It sounds too risky. How can we be sure he'll keep up his side? Once Barry's in there all he has to do is meditate and go find him."

"But if he really wants a cure he'll go with it," Barry mused, "Unless he doesn't believe we can do it. Can we do it?" He looked from Cisco to Caitlin and back to Cisco again.

"I, uh," Caitlin stammered slightly as she thought it through. "Well, theoretically, if we could isolate the area that is overactive in the amygdala and make something that could cancel some of the over stimulation out, then yes…maybe…" She looked to Cisco, who also looked deep in thought.

"Maybe I could design some tech that fits over the ear, like a hearing aid or something. I can give it a shot."

"So it might actually be possible?" Barry looked impressed.

Joe still looked worried. "I don't trust the good doctor. Someone needs to distract him while you're in there so he can't go all meditation attack on you, Barry. I'll stay down there, maybe my gun will keep him occupied—"

"No, I'll distract him." The others turned to see Iris, freshly changed and out of the med bay. "I can keep him from changing his mind."

Joe was already frowning in response. Barry moved to her, looking into her face with a worried expression.

"Iris, he could have killed you. He almost did. You don't have to—"

"I can't go back in with you, but I can help you out here. You go get Holly. I've got this side covered." She gave him a reassuring smile, while her eyes flicked toward her father who looked like he was about to object as well. Joe caught her glance and closed his mouth reluctantly.

Barry's eyes were still concerned, but he let himself smile. "If you're out here I don't have to worry about a thing." He kissed her quickly, ignoring the rest of the group.

Henry proposed that he be the one to make the offer, since he was on more genial terms with Dr. Hebbian. The rest of the group had to agree…

Dr. Hebbian was eyeing Joe and Iris suspiciously, backed up against the wall, eyes hard and piercing. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Iris caught her father's eye and tilted her head, telling him to leave. Joe grudgingly stepped away, moving down past several empty cells to give Iris some privacy with the prisoner but not leaving the pipeline entirely. The doctor looked slightly disappointed but said nothing.

After watching her father to make sure he wasn't going to present a problem, Iris turned her attention back to Dr. Hebbian. He was staring at her, and the look on his face told her he clearly remembered her. She gave him a small friendly smile. If she could keep the atmosphere genial she would. Anything to keep Barry safe. He was trying to keep his face blank but there was a look in his eyes, something small behind the hard and piercing front that she recognized. Before she realized it her look had softened considerably.

"Is the fear always there? All the time?" She kept her voice quiet.

The doctor looked up, an eyebrow quirking in slight surprise, but he answered easily. "Yes. All the time." His voice lacked the hypnotic quality it had in the dream world, but it was still smooth and deep.

"Even now? You just siphoned some off."

He looked directly into her eyes. His eyes were boring into hers, practically drilling their way in. "It's getting worse. It has been for a long time."

She couldn't help breaking their eye contact. "Does being in here amplify it?" She was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

The ghost of something—disappointment?—flitted over his face. "Yes," he hesitated slightly before he continued. "I feel it all the time now. Sometimes I feel like I'm choking."

"I know that feeling." As she said it, Joe shifted ever so slightly in his stance several feet away. She spared him a quick glance to make sure he wasn't coming closer, then looked back to the doctor. He was still staring at her, unblinking. It almost felt like he was trying to communicate with her. She realized that she was feeling fear right then, that empty space in the pit of her stomach as she wondered if Barry was okay, if he'd found Holly yet.

She pushed those thoughts away to ask another question. "How did you find out you could do…what you do?"

He gave her a humorless smile, a cynical shrug. "The first time, it built up so much I thought I was going to die. Maybe that would have been better. I was in my office, late, the fear was choking me, building up. I couldn't take it. The janitor walked in, asked me if I was okay. It was…instinct. I just grabbed him. I could feel energy passing from me to him, and I was feeling better. But when I let go, he just dropped. I could feel some part of him…with me…and I tried to hold on to him. I tried to give him a life. And the dream world formed. I didn't know I could do that. But it didn't help. Nothing helped. He died. After that I never wanted to do that again. Never." He boldly met her gaze again, and she could see that truth in his eyes.

"But you did." Her voice was barely a murmur.

He laughed this time, a bitter sound. His eyes hardened. "Yes. I did. The next time it became too much, I tried to go somewhere that I could be completely alone. I tried. It did no good. The worse it got, the more I thought I was going to die. But I didn't. I got so scared I ran out of my hiding place, and I tried to go home where I might feel safe. I wasn't thinking clearly. I turned a corner and there was an old lady. Before I even realized what I was doing it was done. The fear was so strong, I couldn't think rationally."

Unbidden, a memory of Barry attempting to strangle Dr. Hebbian in the dream world arose. Iris pushed it away. "Fear can make people do terrible things."


Barry comes to a stop on a rooftop, staring out at the city and wracking his brains. He's already been to Holly's apartment, CCPN, and the gym that Iris took her to. He's canvassed the city, scouting every park and many alleys. He really hates the idea that he might be too late. That he's failed Holly. That maybe she's already gone. Fear starts to build. He shuts his eyes, pressing them tightly shut for a moment to focus, then opening them and looking around. He tries not to think about Iris, worried that she might be having trouble with the doctor. But how can she be? He's locked up. He tries to slow his own his breathing, looking around for something to distract him.

That's when he realizes where he actually is. He'd come there without even thinking about it, on pure instinct. Because it made him feel closer to his wife.

He's on the rooftop of Jitters.

He laughs slightly, looking out on the city, and he knows where Holly is. Where she has to be. The only place she'd go if she were scared and missing Iris.

He races off, deeply hoping he's right.


Iris waited for the doctor to acknowledge her last statement, but he was focused inward, deep in thought. She watched him closely to make sure he wasn't trying to enter his dream world, but his eyes were open. He just appeared deep in thought. Still, she kept talking, to keep him distracted. She needed to make sure Barry was safe. "So you go somewhere, even after an episode, to stay away from other people?"

He gave a short nod. "By the end I tried to stay away from people altogether. I never knew when it would flare. My practice wasn't safe. Not after—" he stopped, giving her a guilty look.

Iris nodded slightly. "After Holly."

He breathed out a deep sigh, as if he'd been holding it for weeks. "I never wanted to hurt her. She was a patient; she basically just needed someone to talk to. I should've sent her to someone else. But she was sweet, kind. I enjoyed talking to her. I shouldn't…I should've sent her away."

Iris felt a pang as she watched him. "She figured you out. That's why she came to talk to me. She thought there was a connection between your sudden absences and a new coma victim being reported. She knew I wrote about strange occurrences and powers so she came to me. I told her not to see you again. I told her not to go back."

He closed his eyes, a tortured look on his face. Iris was just starting to tense, worried he was about to try meditating, when his eyes opened again. They looked dark, almost black. "I wish she had stayed away. She came, to say goodbye I think, and something she said…I knew she'd put it together. I got scared. And after she was gone, you found me. I heard voices; your car was out back so I went to investigate. I saw the Flash leave to go inside, and I knew you were here for me. I…the fear jumped out of nowhere…sorry." He practically mumbled the last word.

"If you're sorry, then why were you attacking us inside the dream world?"

"I'm trapped in here, the fear keeps building, and even the Flash provoking me to siphon some into him doesn't help enough. I wanted you two out of my dream world, out of the picture so I could—" he stopped suddenly, shutting down in a matter of seconds.

Slightly disconcerted, Iris kept talking. "Just hang on, it'll be over soon and these people can help you. We'll help you."

He had a slight smirk on his face, and then his eyes met hers again, and they were black pools devoid of any hope. She could tell he didn't believe her. Her hands clenched into fists as she felt herself tensing for some unknown threat.


Holly sits huddled in her hiding place, head buried in her knees, sobbing quietly. The sounds that she'd heard earlier but was too scared to investigate were gone. The rushing wind and then a voice calling her name had only accelerated the fear that was already clawing at her. Maybe that was just some end stage symptom, hallucinations. She's alone now, but still so scared.

She came to work that day, but Iris wasn't there. She tried so hard not to panic, but inevitably the fear had choked her by midday. She'd run as far as her legs could carry her, but it hadn't helped much. Iris is gone, and that can only mean one thing. If Iris, who can run so fast and hold off the virus so long, has died, then what hope is there for her? It's hopeless.

She keeps her head buried in her arms, propped on her knees, so she doesn't have to look at the hands that are starting to glimmer, growing lighter by the second. Her sobs are becoming live things, clawing up her throat, choking her, cutting off her breath—

"Holly?"

The voice is so soft; it takes her a moment to realize anyone has spoken. She freezes, then lifts her head up slightly, afraid to look out of her hiding place, still staring at her knees. It gives him the opportunity to speak again before she gets a really good look at him.

"Iris sent me."

Her breathing is still coming fast, punctuated with small hitches, but she's not sobbing anymore. She looks up from under Iris's desk at CCPN, unable to keep the hope from her voice.

"I—Iris?"

"Yes."

She finally looks at him, sees him in the dim light. His tall form folded to get closer to her level, his kind eyes behind a red mask. She eyes him suspiciously. "How do I know she really sent you?" It seems way too good to be true.

He smiles, the way he would at a small child, kind and gentle. "Because she told me to give you this."

She looks at his hand, held out but not so far as to invade her space, and sees what he's showing her.

It's Iris' mask.


Iris could feel her breathing start to quicken. Something was going sideways with this conversation but she couldn't pinpoint it yet. She struggled to remain calm. "You don't know these people, they're very smart and they have done some amazing things. They can help you."

"Nothing can help me." His tone has a ring of finality to it. "I've tried it all. Meds, electroshock, sheer force of will. I wish I could die, but I never do. They do. They always die. It's too late." He leaned his head back on the wall behind him, slowly sliding down to sit on the floor. "I'm a rabid dog."

Iris stared at him, and a frisson of fear ran up her back.


Iris' mask.

Just the sight of it is enough to help Holly keep some fear at bay. Enough to look him in the face. "Why couldn't she come?"

"She's…umm…recuperating. I helped her beat the virus. She sent me to get you, so you can beat it too."

She stares at him, tearstains on her face, skin still glowing slightly. "Really?"

"Yes. She trusted me, Holly. You can trust me too. She told me how she took you running, how she helped you fight it. Let's beat it. We can do it together."

She looks at him, at the mask in his hand again. "I don't know..."

"I'm going back to Iris, but she's going to be really mad at me if I don't come back with you, Holly. You can beat this. Remember when she told you you'd be great?"

"Yeah."

"You still can. I tell you what, why don't you put this on?"

She stares at it, at him. "The mask? I can't."

"Yes you can. Put it on, be brave like Iris, and let me help you."

She looks at him one more time, in his red suit and mask. He reminds her of Iris. She takes the mask from his palm and slips it over her head, settling it in place. It makes her feel braver somehow. "Okay." She crawls out from under the desk.

His face relaxes somewhat into a relieved friendly smile. "Nice to meet you, Holly. Can I pick you up?"

"What?" She's just barely gotten to her feet, and now pushes back into the desk behind her.

"If I pick you up, then we can run. Like you did with Iris. It'll help."

"You can run like Iris?"

"Yup."

"Okay."

He gently picks her up in his arms, slowly lifting her up bridal style. She holds his shoulders awkwardly. "You could go piggyback style if you want," he offers.

That actually gets a small laugh from her, and he can feel her relax slightly. "No thanks."

"Okay."


"You're not a rabid dog." Iris could feel that her voice was slightly unsteady.

"I am." His voice was certain, but there was no heat to it. Just calm acceptance. "The Flash didn't bother to check my belongings there, but if he had, certain things might have been made clear."

"Like what?" She moved closer to the glass door, almost bumping into it. Joe was starting to shift nervously further down.

He didn't even appear to hear her question as he pushed forward. "I'm sorry you two showed up that day. It would've been a lot easier if you hadn't. I'm sorry you got mixed up in it, but at least now no one else has to die." He closed his eyes, sitting against the back wall of his cell, and lowered his head.

Iris slammed the glass with her fist. "What are you doing?" Joe pulled out his gun and approached as she caught the last words Dr. Hebbian murmured, eyes still closed. "I'm a rabid dog. And there's only one thing you can do with a rabid dog."

"No!" Iris barely had time to hit the glass again before Joe was there, gun drawn, starting to punch in the code to open the door. She gasped in horror as she realized what was happening. She flashed on the memory of Hebbian being strangled by Barry, how he just lay there and didn't fight back. She was almost positive there had been a gun hidden in his sleeping bag five days ago.

This was Dr. Hebbian's plan all along.


Barry's just turning around, Holly in his arms, when he stops suddenly. Holly looks where he is looking and gasps softly, tightening up instantly.

A man is standing at the other side of the room, close to the exit. The lamplight from outside gleams softly on his balding head, his piercing eyes appraise them. He doesn't move. He looks threatening, but also sad.

"It's too late." His voice is calm, which only seems to amplify their fear.


"Dad, no!" Iris grabbed her father's hand and pulled it from the keypad. If he entered the cell with his gun, it was all over. There was no way she could defuse the situation then. Joe gave her an incredulous look and moved to punch in the code again, but she shoved herself in front to push him back from it and addressed the prisoner.

"Dr. Hebbian—"

"It's too late." The doctor's voice was saddened, but his eyes were still closed.

"No it's not! Doctor, a rabid dog doesn't care who he hurts until he's put down. You might not be able to control it but you do! You do care! You are not a rabid dog!"

Her voice rang in the open pipeline, echoing down the corridor. There was a moment's pause. Joe hesitated, horrified behind her as he realized what Dr. Hebbian wanted him to do.

"Please let these people help you. Don't give up." Her voice was quieter, but still urgent.

The doctor's eyes stayed closed.


The shadows are thick in the darkened room, and Barry can feel the fear welling up in him as he sizes up Dr. Hebbian. Finally Barry meets his eyes. "You remember our agreement?"

There is a pregnant pause in which the other man hesitates slightly. He looks turned inward, listening to a different voice. Holly can feel her new friend tensing up, ready to fight.

Then, finally, the other man nods slowly.

Barry nods back, muscles relaxing somewhat. "Thank you."

They watch as Dr. Hebbian closes his eyes. He slowly ripples, fades and vanishes.

It's only when they're all the way outside that Barry smiles down at Holly. "Let's go for a run before we do anything else, it'll help you prepare for what's next."

By this time, she's ready to trust almost anything he says.

"Okay."

He flashes a smile at her. "Everything's going to be okay, Holly."

His golden lightning flashes as they speed away into the night.


Joe was too terrified for Barry to wait any longer and was just starting to key in the code again when Dr. Hebbian's eyes finally opened. He looked directly at Iris, reading the desperation in her eyes, but also the conviction.

"Alright." He leaned his head back but kept his eyes open, waiting.

Iris breathed out a shaky breath. Joe turned away, resisting the urge to throw his gun far away. He ran a shaking hand over his forehead.


"You ready?" The red-suited stranger smiles down at her, still carrying her. She tries not to look down, tries not to look at the railing or the surrounding buildings.

She breathes deeply a few times, gathering her courage. "Yes."

He steps over the railing and drops feet first off the building. They're both falling…faster and faster…falling…

Holly opened her eyes.

"Call her doctor! She's awake!"

Holly blinked at the ceiling, wondering why she was hearing the beep of hospital machines. Someone grabbed her hand. She turned her head on the pillow and spotted someone she hadn't realized she'd been deeply longing to see: Her mother was squeezing her hand while tears streamed down her face.

"Mom."

"Holly, honey. I've been so afraid."

"Me too, Mom. Me too." When she couldn't say anything else, her mother leaned over to hug her tightly. They clung to each other until nurses interrupted them.