Response to reviews:
Aragorn II Elessar: Thanks.
Yeah, poor Barry. Yeah, August's plan is definitely the victor on this one.
Thanks. Yeah, Barry tried (and failed unfortunately).
Happy to hear it, as always.
Bl4ckHunter: No, it really isn't. Yeah, Thawne is pretty much the necessary evil. Let's see, let's see.
Barry groaned in pain as he inhaled a breath of air. He found himself lying on an ice-cold marble floor, dressed in dark blue prison-style clothes. Barry rose to his feet as he found himself in a prison vault, only this time, he was on the other side of the force field. This time, he was no longer the one visiting the prisoner, he was the prisoner. Instantly, Barry ran forward at human speed before crashing into the force field as he staggered back, orange energy visible on the point of impact for a few moments. Then, the energy vanished from sight as Barry looked up at the ceiling, noticing the security camera at the corner of the ceiling on the other side of the force field.
"Hey," Barry said in a loud voice, looking at the camera. "Hey, guys. Listen to me, I know how this all looks but you have the wrong guy. I am not Godspeed…" then Barry found himself banging against the force field in rage. "I'm not Godspeed, dammit! You have the wrong guy! Listen to me! It's Steven Grant. His real name is August Heart. Guys. Guys! Dammit Coulson, just hear me out."
"They can't hear you," a familiar voice said from the dark as Barry felt an ice-cold shiver run down his spine. "They disabled the audio the moment they brought you here."
Barry turned around as he faced the direction of the voice, a man stepped out of the darkness, revealing his face to the light as Barry clenched his fist tightly. One word escaping his lips and echoing through the cell.
"Thawne."
Eobard Thawne smiled evilly, his hands behind his back. "Welcome back, Barry. Looks like we're gonna be roommates."
In her room, Daisy was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking down at the floor as she stared at it with emptiness in her eyes, her face holding the emotion. She found herself in silence for the last three hours. Barry had been captured last night around a few hours past midnight during his attempted and failed breakout. It was currently six in the morning, five hours after Barry's arrest. All Daisy knew was that he had been placed in one of the prison vaults, which one he was in or who he may have been in with, she didn't know. She didn't want to. Barry had betrayed her trust, lied to her, kidnapped her best friend and made her and all of S.H.I.E.L.D. believe he was dead only to torture him more. What was worse was that Daisy was pregnant with his child and even before finding out, she had to deal with Barry telling her to her face that he wouldn't be part of their child's life Daisy felt sick, horrified even. All this time, the man she loved was the same person who nearly killed her and tormented S.H.I.E.L.D. It was Ward all over again. Time and time again, Daisy had put her trust in people. Ward, Jiaying, even Barry. And they had all betrayed and lied to her. Daisy was so far lost in thought that she almost didn't notice or see May standing by the door. May didn't say anything, she simply sat beside Daisy on the bed as she put her hand on top of Daisy's. She knew how hard it was for her. To find out that the man she loved, the father of her child, was not who she thought she was. Daisy leaned her forehead against May's shoulder as she sobbed, tears pouring out of her eyes. May wrapped her arms around Daisy as she suddenly felt one thing that she had never felt before: a mother's love for her daughter.
In the director's office, Coulson, Bobbi, Mack, Hunter, Steve, Tony, Natasha, Clint, and Sam observed the footage of Barry in the prison vault with Thawne.
"I can't believe it was him this whole time," Hunter said.
"I knew we couldn't trust him," Mack muttered under his breath.
"Fitz was really alive this whole time?" Bobbi asked incredulously.
"We found him in Allen's base," Tony replied. "Along with the evidence he's Godspeed."
"How is he, by the way?" Steve asked.
"He's in a critical condition," Coulson explained, feeling a bitter taste in his mouth as he spoke. "But the doctors are sure he'll pull through. We called in Simmons and she's with him right now. She was just as shocked as we were."
"Are we seriously the only ones who don't see this as a pack of bull crap?" Clint said incredulously, gesturing his hands towards Sam and himself.
"It's him, it has to be," Hunter argued.
"I dunno," Natasha said. "Seems pretty convenient that we found all this evidence against Allen almost right after we found the guy we suspected to be Godspeed."
Bobbi shook her head. "We did everything we could on this guy. Fingerprint scans, blood tests, polygraphs, we tore down and searched his entire apartment inch-by-inch. We even took spit samples and cut his fingernails. Everything checks out, he's not a speedster and he is Steven Grant."
"Allen even tried to break out of the base," Mack added.
"Yeah," Clint shot. "'Cause he knew that we thought he was Godspeed. Not 'cause he was guilty."
"We found Fitz in his base of operations," Coulson argued. "And he was the only one who had any actual leads of Godspeed this whole time and how? Because he was that smart?" Coulson then scoffed. "No, he was just fooling us this whole time."
"Oh wow," Sam said sarcastically. "So the thought that he's a murderous psychopathic speedster is much more believable than the fact he's a speedster with better detective skills than any of us."
"They're right," Steve admitted. "We have to consider the possibility that Barry may be innocent."
"Cap, with all due respect," Coulson began. "That isn't much of a possibility. We've already contacted General Talbot and the U.N. They're on their way to move Barry to a secure location."
"I'm sorry, what?" Clint spat, his voice suddenly raising.
"Barry's being moved to an offsite location," Coulson explained. "For imprisonment."
"Oh, that's bull crap!" Sam exclaimed.
"Coulson, you have to rethink this," Steve said, hoping to reason with the S.H.I.E.L.D. director.
"It's not my choice, Cap," Coulson sighed, saddened that he had to disappoint his childhood hero. "This is coming from the President and from the U.N."
"So we're just gonna leave him to be locked in some hellhole?!" Clint demanded.
"Clint-" Natasha tried to say.
"Nat, don't," Clint warned. "There is something seriously wrong about this. And you know it. Hell, all of you know it. You just won't admit it because you're all too damn desperate to put the blame on someone."
"We have evidence, we have proof," Mack argued.
As all the Avengers and the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. suddenly found themselves in a heated and increasing argument, loud and angry voices began echoing through the area. Meanwhile, back in one of the prison vaults, Barry and Thawne were circling around one another, maintaining eye contact. Barry clenched his fists tightly, rage on his face and in his eyes. Thawne had an evil smile that masked his face, his arms behind his back. The differences between him and Barry were clear. Thawne had a more relaxed and calm posture. Barry had a serious and rageful stance, as shown by his clenched fists and angry look.
"I can't believe they would lock me in here with you." Barry muttered.
"This is gonna be so much fun," Thawne said with a chuckle. "You want top bunk? C'mon, my treat."
"Like hell."
"Oh, what's the matter Barry? Don't trust me?"
Barry and Thawne stopped circling one another as they stopped in their current positions. Thawne was three feet away from the force field while Barry was a good thirteen feet away.
"What makes you think I would ever trust anything from you?" Barry spat.
"Well," Thawne began as he brought his hands together, in front of him, with a clap. "From the look of it, you don't really have much of a choice. If you wanna get out of here, you're gonna need my help. Oh, and if you wanna stop Godspeed, you're also gonna need my help."
"I can handle myself," Barry retorted. "I don't need your help."
Thawne then chuckled as he smiled evilly. "Right. And how's that going for you?"
Barry scoffed. "Okay, I'll bite. Say I can, somehow - just somehow, trust you. How exactly are we supposed to get out of here-" Barry then cut himself off as he raised hands in the air before waving them to the opposite side. "No, you know what, don't even tell me. I don't even wanna hear it."
"Oh really?" Thawne said slyly.
"Lose the grin or I'll wipe it off your face."
Thawne held his hands slightly above his waist as he made a fake fear-like, trembling sound.
Meanwhile, in another prison vault, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Piper and Davis made their way from the door and down the stairs.
"The hell happened to the cameras here?" Piper asked.
"Allen," Davis explained as the pair arrived at the ground. "Switched off the cameras and the audio when he tried to question Steven Grant."
Piper snorted. "Guess we finally know who Godspeed is and who's under the Flash's mask."
Suddenly, the two agents stopped in their tracks, their bodies remaining still, their eyes raised in shock as they stared through the invisible, energy barrier inside the vault. On the other side, there was nothing, no one inside, no sign or trace of anyone ever being inside. Davis and Piper tilted their heads to face another as they exchanged glances of shock. Then, before they could do anything, their bodies were blown back by a flash of white lightning. Their heads were ripped off as their headless bodies were splattered through the walls of the prison vault. Sounds of phasing became more and more prominent within the vault before a figure of a man, one dressed in a full white prison uniform, appeared before the remnants of the bodies.
"Next phase begins," August Heart said with an evil smile as he sped out of the vault in a flash of white lightning.
In her room, Daisy was sitting on the ground, leaning on the side of her bed, May was sitting next to her, their hands intertwined together. Neither of them had spoken or said anything. Daisy didn't have the strength to say anything and May didn't want to out fear of bringing out more pain from Daisy. So instead, she simply held her hand and comforted her as much as she could. The silence between the pair remained when suddenly, the door to the room burst down open as May and Daisy instantly got to their feet reflexively. Godspeed walked through the door as Daisy and May's eyes grew large in horror.
"May," Daisy gritted. "Run."
Daisy raised her hand, aiming it towards Godspeed, ready to send a quake of vibrational energy. However, she was far too late. In a flash of white lightning, Godspeed sped over to May, tapping his two fingers against her head as she was sent flying before crashing into the wall. Before Daisy could react, Godspeed grabbed her neck with his left hand before lifting her off her feet. He slammed her against the wall, tightening his grip as Daisy suffocated. With his right hand, the speedster pulled off his mask, revealing the face of August Heart as Daisy stared in shock.
"Confused?" August asked with a smile. "Don't be, Daisy. See, it was me. This whole time, it was all just me. I planted the evidence in Barry's lair, I ensured that you, the Avengers, and all of S.H.I.E.L.D. would turn against him…" August then chuckled. "And you know what? It actually worked. C'mon. We have a stop to make. And then we'll go for a run."
Daisy and August disappeared in a flash of white lightning from the room within an instant.
Inside another prison vault, behind the invisible energy barrier, Barry and Thawne were equally spaced out from one another. Thawne was sitting down on the ground, leaning his back on the wall he was on. Barry was standing across from him, leaning on the opposite wall. The invisible energy barrier was on Barry's right and Thawne's left. They were both a good few feet away from it. For the past few minutes, Barry had been watching Thawne, observing him for any suspicious movement or action as he awaited for his contingency plan (the electronic device he placed in the generators for the power-dampeners) to enact itself. As Thawne continued tapping his fingers on the ground, Barry turned his head to the side as he suddenly noticed the small, red-dot light on the security camera going dark. He frowned in confusion and the next thing he knew, a certain woman with short, brown hair fell to the ground not too far from the energy field. Barry stared in horror as he immediately raced over to the woman only to be stopped by the energy field. He kneeled a few inches away from the barrier, placing his hands on it as he looked at the woman in sorrow.
"Daisy?" Barry called. "Daisy? Hey, are you okay?"
The energy barrier then deactivated as Barry rushed past it at human speed, his powers being dampened by the power-dampening devices. He rushed to her side, kneeling beside her. Barry held Daisy in his arms as she looked up at his worried eyes.
"Barry…" Daisy breathed, wincing in pain from an injury on her leg.
"You're hurt," Barry said as he helped Daisy get onto her feet.
"You were right," Daisy said, looking at him with a desperate look. "You were right."
"Indeed you were," August Heart said, stepping out of the shadows, the light revealing his face. "You were right about me, Barry."
"Heart." Barry gritted, wrapping his arms protectively around Daisy.
"So you're the famous Godspeed," Thawne inquired.
August smiled, his arms behind his back. "Eobard Thawne. Pleasure to finally meet you at last. Though, I'm afraid this conversation is a little out of your jurisdiction."
Instantly, August sped over to Thawne in a flicker of white lightning as Thawne was sent flying before crashing onto a wall and falling flat to the ground unconsciously. Barry and Daisy staggered backwards in shock as August tilted his head towards them. He chuckled, his eyes flickering with white lightning as he did so.
"Surprised?" August taunted.
"How?" Barry demanded, forcing Daisy to stand behind him as he kept his arm in front of her protectively.
"Pure speed," August explained, pacing around the prison vault area. "See Barry, there's a reason behind speedster lightning. The color is based on how strong your speed force connection is. Yellow lightning is about an alright or weak connection. Purple and blue usually indicate a strong connection. Orange, your color, is the strongest speed force connection…behind white. See, white lightning is special. It's different. It implies the purest and strongest speed force connection yet. It's pure. You know how dark matter empowers metas? That's why a speedster's powers can be dampened. But…if you could reach pure speed…achieve white lightning, you'd be immune just like me.
Cause it's a pure speed force connection and you can't dampen that."
"And Thawne's?" Daisy asked. "How come he has red lightning?"
"Courtesy of the negative speed force," August explained. "Not that that's a concern right now."
Instantly, the door to the prison vault burst open as Steve, Natasha, Sam, Clint, and an unsuited Tony entered the prison. They stood by Barry, spread out through the prison vault area as August smiled at them.
"Welcome, my friends," August greeted.
"August Heart," Steve said, taking a step forward.
"That is the name that was given to me," August said.
"What do you want?" Barry demanded as he and Daisy held hands tightly.
"You, Barry," August replied. "I want you. Specifically, I want you and me to have our dear so, final showdown. A battle. A fight to the death. It's simple. We keep fighting until one of us dies. One shall stand and the other shall fall."
"What makes you think I would ever go for that?" Barry asked.
"This does." August said coldly.
In a flicker of white lightning, August disappeared from the prison vault, his body vanishing from sight, traces of his presence weren't visible. Barry felt a wave of relief washing over him as he clenched his hand tightly around Daisy's. His eyes grew in horror when he felt his hand holding nothing but air. Barry turned around as he saw everyone except Daisy standing behind him. A look of rage and horror filled his face as a dark realization dawned upon him: Godspeed had taken Daisy hostage.
Later
"Did you find her?" Coulson asked worriedly.
"No and my answer hasn't changed since the thirty seconds you asked me." Tony replied as he kept typing on Coulson's computer.
As Tony continued typing, Coulson paced worriedly around the room. Mack, Bobbi, Hunter, May, Natasha, Steve, Clint, and Sam, were also in the room looking at Tony as they waited for an answer. For several moments, the room was silent save for the sounds of Tony's typing on the board. Just then, a flash of orange lightning flickered inside the entire room as Coulson was suddenly raised off the ground by two feet. A hand was strongly around his throat as eyes, flickered with orange lightning, glared him down. Everyone else in the room didn't dare interfere.
"You have twenty seconds to explain to me why I shouldn't rip you to shreds for your little stunt." Barry gritted.
"If you're talking about the cell-" Coulson tried to say.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Barry demanded. "Locking me in there with Thawne? After everything? You just thought that I was the enemy? Two years dammit. Two years we've known each other and you just took me for some murderer?"
Without waiting for an answer, Barry let go of Coulson as he angrily turned around to face the Avengers.
"And you all," Barry began. "You didn't bother to think otherwise?"
"We didn't know about Thawne," Steve assured. "And locking you up was just a precaution."
"Look man," Sam said. "I know you probably don't trust us but we're here to help. Any way we can."
Barry sighed. "Let's just focus on finding Daisy and I'll take it from there. If Godspeed sees anyone besides me there, God knows what he'll do."
"What exactly does he want?" May demanded, concerned for Daisy's safety.
"A fight to the death," Barry deadpanned. "With me."
"You sure you're ready to kill him, kid?" Clint asked. "'Cause that's a big step to take. Especially for you."
Barry nodded. "We'll cross that bridge once we get to it."
"That bridge is already here," Tony said as everyone faced. "We've got a location."
"Well, mate," Hunter said, slapping the back of Barry's shoulder. "Might wanna prepare yourself. You got a fight to win."
A/N: I was originally gonna have Barry and Thawne team-up and go against Godspeed together but then I decided against it and I'm really just trying to wrap up this arc and move on to the second out of the third one. This arc will end in the next chapter with Barry and Godspeed's fight, the resolution to that and a possible hint at the next arc.
