Barry and Blaine were sitting on opposite sides of their cage-yes they managed to take the middle bars out and make it one huge cage-in silence. Blaine had his gaze drawn to the floor beside him whilst Barry was looking at every corner in the cage, trying to find an escape route. They didn't have long until the Enlightenment so whatever they were planning they'd have to pull it off now. Groaning, Barry looked at his bruised hands, paling at the sight of his swollen and broken knuckles. Ouch..
"That's what you get for punching some metal bars, Mr. Allen," A female voice spoke, surprising the duo. Barry jumped up at the voice. Blaine, however, remained skeptical of the whole situation.
"Marliese?"
Foundry [Star City]
2 hours and 22 minutes until Enlightenment
Oliver, Cisco and Caitlin were all looking at the security footage from the alleyway from where Barry was taken, shocked to see who it was.
"Isn't that Hunter?" Cisco asked Caitlin, paling by the second. Caitlin silently nodded her head, hurt blossoming in her chest at the betrayal. They had all watched him die, so seeing him there really confused them all.
"Wait," Oliver began, pausing the footage, "Wasn't one of Jessie's abilities to bring people back to life?"
That cast the room into an awkward silence. No wonder he allowed for himself to get taken, he had been giving directions to do so just so he'd be able to slip away when their backs were turned and bring Hunter back to life. It was quite a genius plan really.
"We were played, again" Cisco commented, angrily throwing his hands up into the air and bringing them back down to rest by his sides. Caitlin pressed a hand onto his shoulder, calming him down. Iris, however, remained deadly silent, and it was quite frankly frightening Oliver of all people. Usually, Iris was the type of person to yell and scream until she had nothing left in her but she was being uncharacteristically quiet and it was really annoying the vigilante.
"There's only two hours until the Enlightenment, we should focus on that, then get Barry afterwards" Iris finally spoke and Oliver looked at her, he had no idea if he should feel proud for her or not. That wasn't an easy call but she was still choosing to make it and it made him smile.
Cisco looked at Iris in disbelief as she continued to defend her choice whilst Caitlin just looked down at the ground, conflicted. She knew where Iris was coming from, but at the same time, she wanted Barry back just as badly as Cisco did.
"Guys," Oliver yelled, gaining everyone's attention, "It's what Barry would want us to do"
It was at that statement that Cisco just sighed and nodded his head. He would save the world before he saved his best friend, even if he didn't like that idea.
Back at the Warehouse
The same time
Marliese was looking at the two men in the cage, her gaze drawn back at the trembling figure of Blaine. She paled at the thought of what her husband was planning for him. She knew he planned on killing Barry after the Enlightenment success but Blaine was just an innocent bystander, brought into this whole mess by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. She sighed softly as she thought about her options, she could:
-Help the duo escape
-Let Blaine out and keep Barry in the cage
-Plead with DeVoe to let Blaine out
Looking around the room, she bit her lower lip, realising there was no escape. They couldn't go through the house, DeVoe would spot them within seconds. Groaning, she rolled her eyes at the boys and walked towards the cage, a plan forming in her head. She hoped this would work, it was quite literally the end of the world if it didn't.
Foundry [Star City]
55 minutes until Enlightenment
It was finally nearing the Enlightenment. There was less than an hour now until it was set to happen and so far, the teams were in shambles without Barry. Oliver was the only person holding the place together, and that was surprising a lot of people, mainly Felicity. So far, they had come up with a plan if the satellite wasn't the one they were after. If that were to happen, then they'd send out a mass virus that has already been constructed to every satellite on the globe and hope for the best, and if that were to fail, then Kara had made sure her Earth would be more than hospitable for them and their loved ones. Sure, it was cowardly to run away, but if they didn't, then the whole world, including Barry and Oliver, would be under Devoe's control and they couldn't take that.
Oliver was watching the security footage intently as he waited for the minutes to fly by. He hated the waiting game but he had grown accustomed to keeping himself occupied in those moments. Iris was sitting on the steps by the elevator, scrolling through her phone at pictures of her and Barry. Tears were in her eyes as she looked at how happy he seemed back then, regardless of what he had been put through with bullying and his mother's death.
Cisco and Caitlin were in another part of the building, practising their powers as they tried to forget about Barry's predicament. Their best friend was in trouble yet here they were, fighting to save the world he risked his life for time and time again. Maybe this is what it would be like when the Flash is gone, but they didn't want to think that. They didn't want that pressure just yet.
Felicity and Diggle were watching both Caitlin and Cisco in silence. The pair never expected their lives to become this type of never-ending rollercoaster but at the same time, they loved it. Well Felicity did, Diggle just wanted some normality to his life. First, he learned that Oliver became the Vigilante after he saved his life from poison and now, he knew that Barry had become 'The Flash' after being struck by mutated lightning the night the Particle Accelerator blew up and he also knew an aline, better known as either Kara or Supergirl. It had really been a crazy 4 years.
"You think Barry's okay?" Felicity whispered to John, who simply looked at her and smiled softly.
John nodded, "Yes, I do think he's okay"
Felicity still looked worried about the speedster though, "He's Barry Allen. He survived getting struck by lightning twice and he's escaped death more times then we can count. He'll be fine"
That put a smile on the hacker's face.
Unknown Location
30 minutes until Enlightenment
The plan was simple. Well, it was the most simple one they could create in the small timeframe they had. Marliese would attempt to convince DeVoe to let Blaine go as long as he agreed to never mention this to another living soul. Whilst Marliese was doing that, Barry would then wait for the signal from Marliese and then he would use his speed (yes, he had his speed the whole time and made sure Blaine believed he didn't) to vibrate himself beyond the natural frequency and just hope for the best afterwards.
Blaine was looking at Barry, seeing how tense the speedster was. After Marliese had offered to help them, they had taken the time to explain to Blaine the whole situation about the Enlightenment and how urgent it was that he just knew his place in the plan. They really needed this to go off without a hitch.
"Bas, I just want to let you know," Blaine began, sighing when Barry slightly moved his head, acknowledging the man, "That whatever happens, thank you for everything you've done for us"
Barry lifted his gaze from the floor and looked at the Ex-Warbler, pulling the man in for a hug. Blaine felt the taller man begin to unwind and stop tensing and that put a smile on the Ex-Warbler's face.
"We're all in this together, Y'know?" Blaine mumbled in the embrace, his smile going wider as he felt the taller man begin to laugh softly.
"Stop quoting High School Musical" Barry retorted, putting Blaine at his arm's length.
The pair were smiling at themselves for a little bit when Marliese walked in, a huge smile on her face as she caught the attention of both of the men. She walked towards the console though, pressing a few buttons and both Blaine and Barry watched in happiness as the cell door opened and she walked in, pulling Blaine by the arm out of the cage.
Phase one was done, now it was time to move onto Phase two.
10 minutes until Enlightenment
Barry felt dread build up in his chest as a timer began ticking away on the console. He felt himself paling at the sight of the bold, red numbers taking up the whole screen.
He took a deep breath and began vibrating when he heard the door open and a whizzing sound filled the room.
DeVoe flew down to the cage, smirking as he noticed the man was gone. He pressed a button on his chair and suddenly the cage door opened, letting the speedster speed out without a second thought. DeVoe could feel the electricity in the room, could feel the heat of the speed-force as it danced around the room, sudden bolts of lightning bouncing around the room as Barry became visible once more. Sighing, DeVoe closed the cage door and turned around, smiling as he noticed that Barry was standing perfectly still next to the console.
"Very smart, Mr. Allen," DeVoe began slowly, "You vibrated faster than what they eye could keep track of"
The man simply smiled and sped away from the console and onto the other side of the room, this time he was beside the door; the open door. Smiling, DeVoe waved goodbye to the speedster and watched in amazement as red and yellow lightning lit up his home in one big whoosh.
The Thinker looked back to the monitor above the console, hope filling his chest as it read 5:23 until the Enlightenment.
5 minutes until Enlightenment
Now that Barry was out of DeVoe's house, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, smiling widely as he noted he had perfect service out here. He unlocked his phone and opened his contacts, clicking Iris' name and pressing his mobile to his ear.
It took a couple of rings but she did eventually answer.
"Barry?" She asked, hope evident in her voice. Barry smiled and nodded his head, turning back to Devoe's house for one final glance before speeding into an alleyway, his phone call now linked to the Comm system from his suit.
Barry held pressure on his right wrist for a second, sighing softly as he felt the familiar material of his suit climbing its way up his skinny body and his cowl forming over his head. Soon, he was no longer Barry Allen and instead, he was now The Flash.
"Barry?" Iris asked for a second time, and that brought Barry's attention back from his suit and onto the phone call. He pressed his right hand to his earpiece outside the suit.
"Yeah, it's me" He replied. Tapping his earpiece twice, he managed to connect it to Gideon, and waited for the phone call to be transferred from Iris' phone and onto the Comm System back in the Foundry. It took a couple seconds for that to happen.
Foundry [Star City]
2 minutes and 13 seconds until Enlightenment
Felicity groaned as she noticed their comm system had another attachment. She was just about to remove them from the system when they spoke, gaining the whole room's attention.
"Remind me to never go into another Alleyway again" Barry said, chuckling softly at the end. Cisco and Caitlin ran over to the console, grabbing the microphone and screaming into the mic.
"BARRY!" They screamed, and you could practically hear Barry wince at how loud they were.
"Guys, focus," Oliver commented as he walked into the room. He had just managed to get through to the duo that whilst finding Barry was still a priority, they did in fact have other things to worry about.
"Ollie, glad to see you missed me" Barry sarcastically commented, making Oliver's eyes fly open. Well damn, that was easy to help him.
"Bartholomew Henry Allen, you're going to speed your ass all the way back here, do you understand me?" Felicity commanded the speedster, smiling as she heard him respond with the sound of whooshing from him running.
"You need to send him the coordinates, Felicity" Oliver commented, "He doesn't know his way round Star City remember?"
Cursing softly, Felicity wirelessly sent the coordinates to Barry's suit and within seconds the Scarlet Speedster himself appeared in the Foundry, collapsing into a chair as his cowl came off. Caitlin began to rush over to the speedster when another voice made them all jump.
"You've got the wrong satellite"