Please read the bold writing underneath the Disclaimer. Read all of it please :)
Summary: [7x05] Psych's powers did much more damage to Barry.. and only Cecile knows the full extent of it.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Flash, the characters, the storylines. None of this is mine, not even the title. The title is the name of the episode of which this is from.
Before we get into this story, I want to explain something regarding this story. I am re-writing a certain part of the episode for more dramatics and because I want to use the entirety of this just to put my point across regarding mental health and how it affects people; more specifically, men.
If you've read all of my books, they all revolve around the same themes: Depression, Self-Harm, Anxiety and Suicidal Thoughts. If you've read all of them, you will also notice how I only focus on men and their takes with mental health. Now, I am a female writer, so you'd think I'd focus on more women and empower them to open up. Of course I want women to feel comfortable enough to open up and explain to someone their thoughts and their mental health just so we don't have to go through it all alone. But, men are supposed to be 'tough' and 'manly' instead of being 'emotional' and 'weak' like their views on women (not all men but a lot of men do have these views on women). I write about men and their struggles with mental health and abuse to normalise it. I know there are thousands of people out there who struggle with these regardless of gender so if I can get through to them and help them without knowing them personally or their stories I want to do that. Although I have said before that I write for my own benefit, I do hope that my work helps you with whatever you're going through. Men need to start talking about what they are going through, just because others decide to be 'manly' and keep everything to themselves until it destroys them doesn't mean you have to be the same. If anything, talking and starting a conversation regarding this makes yourself look a lot stronger then you think. Opening up doesn't have to be as tough as it is, but because of these younger generations and how we treat one another, the world is a dark place but no-one would ever know that because we all plaster fake smiles on our faces and walk around as if our world isn't burning down with each step. Please reach out to friends and family members during this global pandemic because mental health has only gotten worse. Domestic Abuse will be even worse then before too with everyone being ordered to stay at home and work from there. Check in on each other, we need socialisation much more then we used to as we took it all for granted.
I hope you're all happy, genuinely happy, I hope you're all healthy and that your families are all well. If anyone ever needs to talk, my DM's are open. I know I barely have any friends on this site but I want to have friends and help you all in any way I can.
Barry was paralyzed with fear. He was only trying to capture their elusive meta, who Cisco dubbed as 'Psych' but he had whammied him, and now, everything around him was frozen.
The Scarlet Speedster blinked and suddenly he had been transported to the Speed Lab back at S.T.A.R. He could hear his team, he could hear Iris asking him what was going on but his mouth was completely dry from anxiety. His chest felt as if there was an elephant on it and he hated it. He hated this feeling of not being able to breathe. Every time he looked down at his chest, he could see that nothing was on his chest but it made him feel even worse. Barry had his back to the track when he heard it. He heard the 'ping'. He turned around slowly, tears building in his eyes as he stared at them.
"Ollie?" He gasped out, his chest even tighter.
There, before him, was the Green Arrow. His hood wasn't on his face, instead, it was draped down. resting against the man's quiver of arrows. Barry wanted to hug him, wanted to break down in his arms about this whole situation, about how he wished it was him that had to die in Crisis rather then the man who had children waiting for him. Barry took a step forward, as did Oliver.
"You failed," Oliver rasped out, pulling an arrow out of the quiver, making Barry pause.
Oliver continued walking forward towards Barry, stopping just in front of the Scarlet Speedster. Barry remained frozen, his heart thumping widely.
"This is all your fault," Oliver growled at him, his face blank as he spoke.
Tears were streaming down Barry's face by now. He didn't know whether to run or to hit the man, but then this nagging voice in the back of his head chimed in, arguing 'he's your mentor. you hit him he can easily take you down and make this much worse'.
"I didn't sacrifice myself just to watch you cry every second about how slow you are," Oliver spat at him, " I didn't sacrifice myself just to see you cower before each villain you encounter. I taught you better then that"
"You're weak and nothing without a stupid little pep talk each time someone is smarter then you are"
Everything happened so quickly. The next thing Barry realised was that there was an arrow sticking out of his abdomen. The Scarlet Speedster went to try and rip it out, only for Oliver to hit him in the face, making him land on the floor with a thud. Blood slowly trickled down from Barry's nose but he didn't care, he just wanted that arrow out of him. He shakily got a grip of it, but before he had the chance to yank it out, Oliver had stalked towards him once more, grabbing a fistful of his suit just above where his heart was. The menacing look in Oliver's eyes made Barry's spine tingle in a way that really didn't sit well with him.
"I sacrificed myself for nothing," Oliver added, punching Barry in the face more, "It should've been you that died, not me"
Then that's when Oliver no longer had any mercy towards the Scarlet Speedster. He ripped the arrow out of the man and this time rammed it into Barry's shoulder, smiling widely as the man tried to weakly push him away. Taking a deep breath, Oliver raised his fist away from Barry's shoulder and started punching him again, watching in grim satisfaction as his face slowly bruised and blood began spilling out from some of the abrasions on his face.
By the end of it, Barry's eyes were barely open, they were loosely rolling around in their sockets as Oliver stood from him, watching with a smile as Barry gasped for air. With one last kick to Barry's chest, he walked away and out of the Speed Lab.
Barry's world was darkening at a rapid pace, everything around him was doubled. His hearing was gone, instead a white noise filled them, with his world shutting down moments later.
When Barry awoke in S.T.A.R Labs hours later, everyone could tell there was something wrong with him. He seemed agitated, tense and scared? He was scared? At least, that's what Cecile read when she used her powers on him. Iris remained by his side until he had fully healed, she could tell that he needed her. Only Barry, Iris and Cecile were in the room after he had been given the all clear to leave.
"Iris, can I talk to him please?" Cecile asked softly, not wanting the Scarlet Speedster to hear them. Iris nodded her head hesitantly, turning around to face her husband. She approached him slowly, wrapping her arms around him for a brief moment as he sat up in the bed they had put him on. He had this terrified look on his face as she pulled away, as if he was scared that once she left he'd never see her again. It was very painful to see.
Iris just simply pecked him on the lips and walked away, not uttering a single word to him. Barry watched her leave the room, his grip on the sheets underneath him intensifying.
"We need to talk, Barry"