Chapter 3

Glasses and masks do not mix. It's pretty much a fact of life. The mask won't fit over the glasses for obvious reasons and if the glasses go over the mask then, unless the mask is thin, it'll push the glasses further down the wearer's nose, dislodging the curve of the stems from the optimum placement behind the ears and losing a not insignificant portion of their field of vision. Not to mention that whichever one is worn on the outside becomes more prone to falling off entirely.

So Hartley was prepared to tell Cisco thanks, but no thanks, when it came to whatever mask he had in mind. Even if it was a spare mask left by the Arrow and thus matching Hartley's green hoodie aesthetic, despite how cool that would actually be because...

Glasses and masks do not mix.

Except what Cisco hands Hartley as they run for the garage is... not a domino mask. It's a pair of goggles. In fact they're... Hartley's goggles. His old welding goggles - which he knows are his because he'd scratched HR onto one side. And he'd altered the lenses to match his prescription after he'd gotten sick of using a random pair of goggles that, though they did cover his glasses, pushed the nose pads uncomfortably against the corners of his eyes and really dug them in.

Not only could he wear these goggles comfortably and still see out of them, but they'd cover a good percentage of his upper face and the lenses were green, fulfilling his need for a dramatic, color matching aesthetic.

And Cisco just... happened to have them on hand. Called them Hartley's 'mask'.

Hartley was... probably reading way too much into that.

Once they arrived at the STAR Labs van, Hartley got in the back while Cisco drove. Hartley swapped his glasses for the goggles at that point, tossing his regular glasses into the front passenger side seat for safe keeping. Zipped up his hoodie and pulled the hood over his head. Checked his comfy - and dramatic - boots to be sure they weren't about to come unzipped or unlaced in a fight.

And he's pretty sure Cisco did actually run a few lights there, based on the man's swearing.

They arrive in the alleyway behind Jitters just in time.

Caitlin is there, screaming at Eiling and his men as they were trying to drag a handcuffed Ronnie Raymond into their own black van. Barry is on the ground, covered in painful spikes, and recoiling from hands reaching out to put him on a stretcher.

Hartley doesn't waste any time as he jumps out of the side of the van. His gloves are primed and they work just fine.

The air screams as Hartley sends Eiling and his men sprawling to the ground. Caitlin doesn't even hesitate in response. She grabs Ronnie's arm and yanks him to the ground; Hartley takes that as his cue and fires again, knocking over the soldiers who'd been dragging Ronnie along. He amps up the power on his third attack, shoving the black van back several feet and putting a sizable dent in the open door that'd make closing it likely quite impossible.

"Get the Flash," Hartley told Caitlin, heading for the soldier who'd fallen beside Ronnie. Rolling the guy over and holding up a hand - with his glove on the lowest setting now, not that the soldier needed to know that - said, "where is the key to the cuffs? Trust me, you don't want to end up like that van."

The soldier tilted his head up to look at the van and paled. "Front right pocket," he answered, putting his hands up.

Carefully, Hartley depowered his other glove entirely and fetched the key, shoving it into his own pocket before priming the glove again. Cycling through the settings back to something that'd knock people off their feet again, Hartley covered their retreat back to the STAR Labs van.

It was all over in minutes, but Hartley's brain didn't stop racing when Caitlin slammed the van door shut behind him. He depowered his gloves again and then swapped his goggles for his glasses so he could see better in the darkness of the van's interior. "We can't go back to STAR Labs, that's the first place Eiling will look for us."

"Dr. Wells..." Caitlin started to say, but Hartley cut her off sharply as he pulled out the key to unlock the cuffs on Ronnie's wrists.

"Eiling used to be Harrison's main military contact. After their falling out, STAR Labs stopped doing military related jobs altogether. He doesn't have the contacts to force Eiling to back off and whatever blackmail he has on the guy might be enough to protect Barry or Ronnie but not both and certainly not Barry, Ronnie, and Stein."

"He's right," Ronnie agreed. "Martin's in trouble too."

"Well then what do you suggest we do instead, because I can't keep driving aimlessly," Cisco called from the front.

"And I need someplace still so I can remove these spines from Barry," Caitlin said. "If I do it in here while the van's in motion, I might make things worse."

Hartley closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. "Okay, so... Cisco get us to Fifth and Callaway. There's an alleyway right after the lights that you can drive through - no cameras. Ronnie and I will get out there and head for Mercury Labs. Tina owes me a favor which will get us in the door and once she hears what Ronnie has to say then she'll be more than happy to sic her own government contacts on Eiling. We'll have to get the Steins to join us before Eiling goes after them next, if we can. Meanwhile, the rest of you go to Harrison's house. It's remote and he'll have at least some medical supplies on hand. And pliers."

"This is really gonna keep sucking for me, isn't it?" Barry asked, voice shaking.

"Sorry, but yeah." Hartley peeled off his gloves and hoodie, hating to let go of what felt like his Pied Piper armor. But they went into the front seat with his goggles anyway. "You'll need to park the car out of sight and hide my gear in case the van is found. No one is going to support Eiling barging into the home of a paraplegic man and Eiling knows it, so as long as you three keep out of sight of the various and ridiculously large windows on that place, you'll be safe."

There is silence as they all think the plan over. It's hard to read Barry's face, what with the cowl and the obvious pain, but Caitlin's face says she hates this plan. Hates being separated from Ronnie and hates the idea of trusting Hartley even though he pretty much just saved the day.

"Let's do it," Cisco declared, turning in the direction of Fifth street.

"It's a good plan," Ronnie agreed, brushing a hand gently against Caitlin's shoulder. "I'll be seeing you again soon, Cait. I promise."

The alleyway reeks of something that's gone off in the trash and Hartley has to breathe shallowly to deal with the stench. But they're only about a fifteen minute walk to Mercury from here - assuming the signal lights work in their favor. They probably won't, of course, to it'll probably be more like twenty five minutes.

Ronnie had been one of Hartley's more bearable coworkers before getting fired. He was good at reading an audience and had generally accepted that Hartley wasn't interested in making friends or listening to his jokes. So Ronnie kept things professional between them and they worked well together as a result. But a lot of things had changed since then. And, much as Hartley didn't want to spend the long walk to Mercury labs chatting, Ronnie deserved at least some answers.

So when they emerged from the alleyway into the much less... pungently aromatic sidewalk and turned left, Ronnie asked, "what brought you back to STAR Labs?"

And Hartley answered, honestly, "getting vengeance on Harrison. Which didn't go so well. Ended up promising to help out the Flash in exchange for not getting handed over to the police."

Ronnie was clearly at a loss for words. Hesitantly - very, very hesitantly - he asked, "seriously?"

And so, in excruciating detail, Hartley explained his many grievances against Harrison. It took a while, but then they had a long way to walk.

Once Hartley was finally finished, Ronnie asked, incredulously, "and all you did was blow out his windows?"

"And attacked the Rathaway Industries building. A few more window casualties there too. Shattering glass hurts to hear, but a sort of satisfying pain to be honest."

"Masochist."

Hartley just smirked.

"Seriously. I die for a year and everything just goes to hell," Ronnie muttered.

Clarissa Stein had spent the last several months believing she had a stalker. And while it turned out the man following her was - mostly - her husband, the fact was that she'd been right.

And while Martin was extremely apologetic about alarming her, Clarissa wondered if, perhaps, those months of paranoia were a blessing in disguise. Because it meant that she had, in her purse, a cannister of mace and a small, but powerful, taser on hand when the armed soldiers broke into her house and threatened her, her husband, and her daughter.

The taser came out first and her aim was true, hitting the first soldier who came barreling through the kitchen door right in the neck. It was a one-shot device, though, so she grabbed the mace next. The pepper spray filled the air and made Clarissa's throat sting, but it also made the soldier who dared go near her daughter shriek in pain and cover his eyes, running for their kitchen sink. Lily went for the gun in the holster of the tased - and hopefully unconscious - soldier on the ground while Clarissa turned her sights on the third, and final, soldier who was trying to save face and haul Martin away.

Another soldier downed by capsaicin to the eyes and throat gave the Steins time to run for Lily's car parked out front.

"Where do we go?" Lily asked, voice panicky as she pulled away from the curb and began driving down the street. "The police?"

Doubt hung over them.

"If they really are military, it can't be a legal, sanctioned operation to kidnap American citizens out of their own homes," Lily continued. But they all knew that didn't mean the police would actually protect them from government overreach.

Protect and Serve might be their motto, but they all knew that was more likely to generate idealistic lip service than actual serving and protecting.

"Mercury Labs," Martin said, voice slow and uncertain, as if the words were unfamiliar somehow. Then, stronger, he said, "Ronald's headed there. I can sense him."

"They're after him too, aren't they?" Clarissa asked. When Martin nodded, she murmured, "I hope Caitlin will be okay."

"I get the impression she's alright. At the very least, I don't feel that he's too worried about her wellbeing right now." Martin paused a moment. "You were spectacular, my dear."

"Yeah, mom," Lily added, her voice a touch hysterical sounding. Clarissa thought that, perhaps, Lily shouldn't be the one driving. Even though it was her car. "You were amazing. I didn't know you even had a taser."

"Yes, well... I did say I was getting some protection after noticing I had a stalker," she let her voice take on a teasing note.

Martin sighed, "well, if being able to take out two soldiers in our kitchen with a taser and some mace is the results of my actions... I'm still quite sorry for alarming you, Clarissa, but I'm glad at least one of us was prepared for a fight."

"And it was your certainty that Ronnie and Caitlin were in danger that had me gathering up my purse already when they broke in," Clarissa reminded him. "Though, Lil, I think you should have your father pass me the gun you took off that one soldier." She mouthed 'check the safety' to Martin, who nodded and did so when Lily, carefully, passed him the gun.

None of them had any real experience handling a gun outside of a firing range, but Martin had done enough work for the military over the years that both he and Clarissa had taken it upon themselves to learn the finer points of gun safety and handling. Lily, however, never had. (It had been years since Clarissa had last bothered to fire a gun, but she'd been the better shot compared to Martin. It stood to reason that still held true.)

The gun was then quietly tucked away into Clarissa's purse to take the place of the discarded taser and the emptied cannister of mace.

It didn't make her feel any safer, but it did leave her with a sense of resolve. Clarissa Stein was not going to be losing her husband again any time soon. Not without putting up a serious fight.

Cisco can feel Caitlin's stare on his back the whole way from the alley where they'd dropped off Hartley and Ronnie to the driveway in front of Dr. Well's very... modern... house on the outskirts Central City. It wouldn't have been a bad drive from STAR Labs, but they'd gone somewhat out of their way to drop off the others decently close to Mercury Labs before taking a slightly circuitous route to Dr. Wells house.

Barry's every breath sounds pained and Cisco doesn't want to even think about how every wound is going to have to be ripped open anew or how they're probably going to have to cut the suit off of him or...

Thankfully, Caitlin called ahead and Dr. Wells is waiting outside for them, directing Cisco to go down the drive and around the house into the open two-car garage. He parks, carefully, beside the modified van that Dr. Wells drives - the gas and breaks converted from pedals to hand controls, which Dr. Wells had to pretty much relearn how to drive in order to operate, all while unlearning years of muscle memory in the process.

He'd let Cisco inspect everything the first time Dr. Wells drove the updated van to work. It had been pretty interesting to see and Cisco had wondered if maybe there was a way to make the conversion process cheaper. Not every paraplegic could afford to buy state of the art wheelchairs and retrofit their cars, after all. Unfortunately, Cisco had really only found ways to make it pricier - faster and more efficient, but pricier nonetheless. So he'd kept quiet on his little project and set it aside for sometime down the road.

Cisco shoved Hartley's things into a messenger bag that'd been forgotten in the van and stuffed in the glove compartment at some point. Cisco had left it in there as a useful carry-all on occasion after he'd first found it the day they'd taken Barry to Ferris Air for the first time. Times like this when he had a number of things he didn't want to lose track of.

Then he was out of the van and hurrying around to help Caitlin get Barry out of the van. It was a tight fit and Cisco winced when one of the spines sticking out of Barry's arm scratched along Dr. Wells' van. Not only did it make a horrible sound scraping against the paint, but Barry let out a strangled whine of pain.

Thankfully Dr. Wells had left the door to the garage from the house unlocked and Cisco smacked the garage door controls on the way inside, metal and blacked out one-way windows dropping down to hide the STAR Labs unmarked white van from view.

Dr. Wells met them just inside and directed them to the guest room where Caitlin immediately helped Barry to lay down. Then she turned to Cisco and Dr. Wells and rattled off a list of things she needed. They split the list and hurried to gather everything, Cisco taking the garage to find pliers and the kitchen to find a bowl she could drop the spines into (as well as scissors to cut the suit with) while Dr. Wells went to his bathroom to retrieve things like rubbing alcohol, bandages, and hydrogen peroxide.

When the first spine came out, Barry screamed in pain and Cisco's brain went a little fuzzy in sympathy.

They were only halfway done when Eiling showed up at the front door. Barry looked almost relieved for the respite it offered despite the danger they were in, laying back against the pillows and the blood speckled sheets and trying to keep his breathing steady while Cisco and Caitlin watched the holes left behind by the spines already removed slowly close. It was a long, tense silence in the darkened room - lights off and shades drawn - as they waited for Dr. Wells to come back with the all clear.