Chapter 3: C is for Claustrophobia

Barry watches the numbers fly across his computer screen, to anyone else it would be too fast for anyone to read but for Barry, it was fast enough.

Barry is broken out of his concentration at the sound of two people walking in his direction. Quickly reverting back to a normal human speed, Barry prepared for his unexpected visitors.

Hal was walking in Barry's direction with a bag of what Barry assumed was their lunch. Smiling, Barry's gaze drifted to the other person entering the lab.

His smile faltered.

Oliver was walking behind him, his usual flirty smile in place.

Smile now completely gone, Barry rolled his eyes before turning back to his computer screen.

"Hey, Hey, Bar! Decided to visit since I was rolling through Central." Hal was smiling, but he was giving Barry a look that was screaming 'play nice!' Barry raises an eyebrow, while Hal places the three bags of Big Belly Burger on his desk before taking a seat.

When Barry looks around for where Oliver is, he finds him trying to flirt with Patty, who didn't look amused. She was standing in front of her desk, papers in her hands, an eyebrow raised and a frown maring her features.

Barry directed an annoyed glare at Hal, before standing and walking over to where the two were standing. He put on his usual happy calm smile. "Hey, Patty. Do you have those papers that I need to finish up the blood analysis?"

Shooting Barry a grateful glance, Patty ran with it. "Yep! All of it is all right here." She handed him the papers before turning to Oliver. "Thank you, but I'm not looking to get together with anyone right now. But I'm flattered." She gave Barry another grateful look before heading away from them.

Oliver looked disgruntled. Barry cleared his throat. "Aren't you together with Dinah?"

Oliver raised a confused eyebrow. "Yeah, what are you getting at?"

Barry stared at him, unimpressed. "You know what? I don't know why your personality always manages to shock me." Shaking his head in resignation, Barry walked back to his desk.

Hal gave Oliver a 'What the hell' look. Oliver shrugged.

They all sat down digging into their food.

"So, Barry. Why are you running a blood analysis?" Hal questioned, taking a large bit of his burger.

Unwrapping his burger, Barry waved off the question. "Oh it's nothing too concerning. I'm just getting some blood data in the system for the guy the police caught two days ago."

Oliver and Hal glanced at each other with knowing expressions. Ollie leaned forward. "The police caught him? Or did Flash and Kid Flash?"

Barry choked on his food, shaking his head in protest. Clearing his throat, he glared at them. "Look, what matters is that he was caught!"

They were still smirking at him but they moved onto another topic. Suddenly, they all felt their coms vibrated to show that they were being used. Looking at one another they headed out of the now crowded room.

They headed toward the stairs, but Hal stopped them. "Wait. Most of the others are using the stairs. Let's use the elevator to get some privacy."

The three heroes gathered in the elevator, Barry pushing the button that would take them to the ground floor.

Hal took out his com and quickly put it in his ear. The other two quickly followed.

"What's going on?"

"Lex luthor is back. He's gathered a group of villains to help him steal some plans to better his business. Captain Cold and Doctor Light are in Central. I'm sending Kara down to help but if you guys are closer than we can finish this up faster." Superman stated, flying as fast as he could toward Lex.

"Roger that, Sups. We'll handle it." Barry reassured, impatiently for the elevator doors to open.

Suddenly, the lights went out and the box gave an ominous and violent jerk as the elevator stopped it's descent.

The three men held on to the bar behind them to keep them from falling, painfully to the floor. Barry touched his com, "Um. Scratch that."

"What's wrong?" Barry could feel the concern and panic coming from the boy-scout. "Nothing life threatening, the elevator we are in just lost power and we can't get out."

There was a curse on the other side of the line. They looked at one another shocked.

"Did he just curse?" Oliver pointed to his com, not believing what he'd heard.

Hal nodded, looking just as baffled. Barry spoke once more, a frown crossing his face. "Language, Superman! Look. Tell Kara to not worry about us for the time being. We'll still be here when she finishes the fight."

"Alright. I'll let her know. Superman, Out." The com went off.

Barry let out a put-upon sigh. "As if this day couldn't get any worse. Thank you Hal for getting us in this elevator!"

Hal frowned, "How was I supposed to know that this was going to happen? Like do you think I just asked the electricity gods to strike this elevator and strip it of its power. Are you sure you didn't accidentally make the Speed Force angry again? "

Barry's eyes flash red with electricity. "That was one time Hal! One time!"

Oliver claps sarcastically, "Finally! The great, can-do-no-wrong, Barry Allen finally acknowledges that he can also make mistakes!"

"You're one to talk. I don't go around trying to get laid by every woman that I encounter. Because I, for one, value my wife and our wedding vows. And at least my protege has something to do with me and doesn't actively avoid me!"

The elevator went dead silent, Hal and Oliver stared at Barry in shock. Barry rubbed his eyes roughly and tried to stop the flashbacks that were running through his mind. Sliding down to the floor of the elevator, Barry curled in on himself.

Hal immediately knelt in front of his best friend, who by now was struggling to control his rapid breathing. Barry was back in the cold, damp basement of his second foster father.

Barry lands roughly on the floor of the basement. The voice of his second foster father ringing out from the other side of the door. "You won't be getting out of there until after you understand that you are not better than anyone else!"

Breathing heavily, Barry scooted back until he bumped into the wall behind him. Running his hands along the wall behind him, he started to look for a way out but finding none he quickly stood and frantically ran back to the door.

Slamming into the door, Barry pounding on it progressively getting more and more desperate. "LET ME OUT! PLEASE! THERE'S NOT ENOUGH ROOM! PLEASE! I'LL BE BETTER! I'LL NEVER DISAGREE AGAIN! PLEASE!"

Knuckles bleeding and aching, Barry slid to the floor, back against the only way out. Barry violently sobbed in absolute terror. With almost no energy left, Barry gave out one final call for help. That sadly fell on deaf ears. "Mom. Dad. Please. Come back. Please."

Back in the elevator, Barry had started sweating profusely, and wheezing for breath. Hal and Oliver, who finally realized that something was seriously wrong, tried to get Barry's attention but nothing they did seemed to work.

Hearing Barry muttering something under his breath, Hal leaned closer to hear what his friend was trying to say.

"Mom. Dad. Please. Come back. Please. Don't leave me here alone."

Eyes widening, in realization. Hal realized what was happening. Barry was Claustrophobic.

"Shit!"

Oliver's gaze shot to look at Hal in alarm. "What's wrong?"

"Barry's Claustrophobic. He told me that a while back but it didn't click until now. We need to somehow get his attention and distract him from our current situation."

Pulling out his phone, Hal checked to see if he still had signal. The electricity gods were apparently on Hal's side for once because he found that his phone had two bars.

Unlocking his phone, he scrolled until he found the one person he knew that could instantly get Barry's attention. Bringing the phone to his ear, Hal impatiently tapped his hand against his leg. He got an answer on the first ring.

"What's wrong with Barry?"

Closing his eyes, Hal let out a sigh of relief. "He's currently having a panic attack. He might be having a flashback as well because he keeps muttering about his parents."

"Let me talk to him."

Without another word, Hal put the phone on speaker.

"Barry? Barry, Honey. Can you hear me?"

Hal instantly saw Barry relax at hearing his wife's voice.

Blinking, Barry rubbed his eyes again, this time less violently. "Iris?"

Oliver and Hal winced. Barry's voice sounded small and defeated.

"Hey, Honey. I need to just focus on my voice okay? Can you do that for me?"

Barry nodded, moving closer to the phone. Realizing she couldn't see him nod, he responded. "Yeah. Yeah." Clearing his throat he continued. "I can do that."

Iris got him to talk about his day. It was highly effective. Slowly but surely, Barry started to uncurl himself and relax.

Hal pulled out his commutator. "Hey, Kara. Are you there?"

"Yep. I hear you loud and clear, Flashlight. I was just about to call you. I'm heading in your direction. I've handled the situation down here."

Hal sighed in relief for the hundredth time in the last hour. "Good."

Kara frowned. "What's wrong? Clark said you guys weren't injured."

"We aren't but Barry's-" Hal trailed off, deciding that Barry probably wouldn't want anyone else knowing what happened.

"Barry? What's wrong with Barry?"

Hal shook his head. "Nothing. He's just getting impatient. You know how speedsters are."

Kara let out a laugh. "Yeah. Alright let's get you guys out of there."

The com went off once more. Hal turned to Barry, who looked like he was feeling significantly better. Kneeling down, Hal gave Barry a sympathetic smile. "Are you back with us, Buddy?"

Barry smiled back at him and nodded. Hal helped Barry back to his feet.

After the three heroes were out of the elevator. Barry's boss, Captain Singh, called Barry over to come and talk with him.

As soon as Barry was out of ear shot, Hal grabbed Oliver by his collar and glared at him. "Alright, Oliver. Listen. You don't say a word about what happened in that elevator unless Barry himself brings it up. You hear me? If I hear you telling anyone else about this. It won't be pretty. You got it?"

Oliver looked startled. "I thought we were friends?"

Hal shoved Oliver away from him. "We are. But Barry and I. We're closer. Trust me. Barry's an amazing friend. Maybe if you tried to get to know him you'd know that."

After getting the go ahead from his captain to head home for the rest of the day, Barry took a deep, calming breath. Banishing all of the memories from his childhood in foster care with the thought of seeing his wife again.

Feeling more like himself, once more. Barry steadied himself before heading back in the direction of his friends. Well at least one of them could be considered a friend. The other? Barry wasn't sure yet.

A gorgeous woman with Blonde hair walked through the doors of the CCPD, looking like a woman on a mission. She stopped when she got to where Hal and Oliver were. Oliver's face had turned pale when he saw her. "Oh hey, Dinah."

Barry walked back over to them, looking extremely exhausted. He smiled at the woman. "Hey, Dinah."

She smiled brightly at Barry, before turning her stern gaze to her husband. "Where have you been!"

Oliver glanced between Hal and Barry. Hal was giving him a pointed look while Barry was giving him a slightly worried glance. Clearing his throat, he turned back to her. "I got stuck in the elevator here with Barry and Hal."

Barry gave Oliver a playful smirk. "He also made time to flirt with one of my co-workers."

Oliver gasped, "Barry!"

Dinah gave Oliver a glare that promised him pain.

Barry held on to his smirk, "Alright, guys. Iris is expecting me at home. I'll catch up with you guys later."

Barry walked away with a smile on his face. Hal laughing at Oliver as he was pulled away by a very angry looking Dinah.

...

End of Chapter