Barry hears talking making his headache hurt worse. He tries to talk but can't make much more than a grunt, then he feels something keeping his mouth open and something down his throat. He bites down and opens is eyes, he sees white walls and whatever is keeping his mouth open. He gags trying to get it out before grabbing it and trying to yanking it out. He hears someone shout something before a few people start to hold him down. He fights as they pull a tube out of his mouth. He doubles over trying not to throw up, someone gives him a trash can before the disgusting flavor fills his mouth. He hold the tiny trash can shivering until all he can do is dry heaving. He feels someone place their hand on his back, if he had all his strength he'd punch them but their touch actually soothes some of his pain.
"Are you alright?" Someone asks him oddly slow. "Not really..." His voice sounds scratchy and hurts to use. Barry lifts his head to see who's around him. A doctor is at the foot of the bed, a few nurses are on the sides, and a cop in uniform is stroking his back. "What happened?" All Barry can recall is a mission to get a drive, some flashes of lightning, and blood a lot of blood. "You got hit by lightning and fell into a coma." The doctor tells him. "A coma? For how long?" "Nine mouths." A nurse says. "Nine months! No I couldn't have been out that long, it's not possible." The feeling of dread starts consuming him. What happened to him, what had he missed in his coma, how much money did he lose by just being in the hospital?
The anxiety causes him to start shaking, the cop behind him pulls him into a hug trying to calm him down like a child. "It's ok, calm down, everything's going to be fine." The man whispers into his ear. After a while he calms down and the man lets him go. "We'd like to keep you here for another week just to make sure you're alright." The doctor tells him. "No! I don't want to be here, I hate hospitals, I hate doctors, and I especially hate needles!" He narrows his eyes at the doctor. "Come on one week isn't that long, plus you just woke up so maybe a week of rest would be good." The cop tells him. "Who the hell are you? How can you know what's good for me better than myself?" Barry glares at the man who seems to be a bit taken aback by his harsh words. "I... I just don't want you to get hurt." The doctor and nurses look between the two and begins to leave. "We'll let you two sort this out..."
Barry watches the nurses leave glaring at all of them. "You didn't answer my question. Who are you?" Barry scans the cop trying to understand why he is near him. "I'm Lenard Snart, I found you when you got struck by lightning at STAR labs. By the way the chip you sole got fried." Lenny tells him. "W-whatareyoutalkingaboutIdidn'tstealanything!" Barry quickly lies, Lenny just gives him a weird look. "I didn't understand any of that, but don't worry I didn't tell anyone about it." "Why not?" Barry asks being as untrusting as his friend Hal was to Lenny. "Because you now owe me, and you can fulfill that by staying here at least for three days." "...Fine, but after three days I'm leaving immediately." Lenny smiles and holds out his hand. "Deal?" Barry looks at his hand for a few seconds, but then grabs it. "Deal."
Barry waits impatiently for the days to pass. The second day his foster father Darryl shows up. "Hey, how are you doing?" Darryl tries. "How do you think?" Barry grumbles as he changes channels on the TV. "Not good? Those scars look painful, do they hurt?" Darryl points to the gigantic lightning scars on his torso. "Not really, I can't even feel them." "Did you tell the doctor that?" Darryl asks. "Hell no, I don't need them trying to keep me here even longer." Darryl give Barry a concerned look. "Please don't be like that, they just want you to be healthy." "I am healthy." Darryl sighs realizing how useless it is to persuade Barry to talk to the doctor. "Here take this, call me if you need anything." Darryl hands him a bag with some food. "Whatever." Darryl leaves with a sad sigh.
Barry is starting to get restless on the final day, he can't manage to sit still for longer than a minute. "Excited?" Barry snaps his head to the familiar voice of Hal. "Nah more irritated, so where have you been?" "Well I went to Coast City when you wouldn't wake up but after a month or so, and something amazing happened." Barry notices a green glowing ring on Hal's left hand. "You got hitched to a chick who loves green?" "What? Oh, no. Do you really think I'd ever settle down? Hell no." Barry shrugs, and grabs Hal's hand to see the ring. "So how'd you get it? And what is it?" "Well it's a ring obviously. I got it from a dying alien." Barry burst out laughing. "Ya let me guess it's also magic." Hal glares at him. "Yes actually it is." Another burst of laughter erupts from Barry. "Prove it." Hal smiles before saying a strange rhyme. "In brightest day, in darkest night, no evil shall escape my sight, beware the power of green lanterns light!" A bright flash of light blinds Barry for a a few seconds, once it disappears he sees a bright glowing green skin suit stuck to Hal.
"Cool right? Guess what that's not even the best part." Hal revels in Barry's amazement and begins to make something from his ring. Barry watches intensity trying to understand what is happening, he sees the green light turn into a perfect green replica of him. "Pretty cool right?" Hal boasts making the replica mimic Barry. "Wow, just wow, can it just make whatever you want?" "Pretty much, but it disappears if I'm not concentrating or runs out of power." Hal tells Barry who is messing with the replica. "Still it's pretty cool wish I had something like that." Hal powers down the ring so no one notices the glow of his suit. "Anyway let get going." "Can't still have two hours before I can leave." Barry glances at the clock in spite. "Why?" Hal questions "Lenny's coming by to check on me, making sure I didn't break our deal." "Deal?" Barry waves his hand and starts asking more questions to change the subject.
Barry and Hal continue to talk about events Barry missed until they hear the door open. Lenny walks in with a woman neither of them know. "Oh hi Hal, it's good to see you." Lenny says as he notices him. "Who's she?" Barry asks. "Oh this is my sister Lisa, she just wanted to are sure you get home alright." Lisa gives them a bright smile, but Hal just laughs. "So you two want to come all the way to Coast City with us, bit far for someone you don't even know." "What? I'm not going to Coast, I'm staying in Central." Barry tells Hal. "Dude our stuff is at my place in Coast, plus you don't even have an apartment here anymore." "I said I'm staying in Central, I can get an apartment pretty easy, I just need to find a job." Barry argues, with both men starting to get more and more heated with each comment, Lisa tries to calm the situation. "If you need a place to stay, Lenny has a spare room you can stay at until you get a job." Barry and Hal turns to the siblings. "Really, and is that ok with Lenny?" Barry asks. "Uh sure, I don't see why not." "Good it's settled, Barry will stay with Lenny and Hal will hold on to Barry things until he has a place to put them." Lisa claps her hands telling the men that there's no room to argue with her.
Lenny calls a nurse to bring them the paperwork to release Barry. Barry runs through the information quickly trying to leave as fast as he can. "Done!" Barry hands back the papers gaining a look of shock from everyone. "There's no way you filled out five papers in ten seconds." Hal says. "That was not ten seconds more like ten minutes." "No it was ten seconds." Lenny says as the nurse looks through the pages. "Everything's in order and filled out..." She says, looking at Barry with wide eyes. The nurse quickly takes the paperwork and leaves, running like a bat out of hell. "What scared her?" Barry asks no one in particular. "You probably." Hal says nonchalant as he returns to his normal composure. "Uh... let's go they'll call if we missed some paperwork." Lisa says clearly uncomfortable being near Barry.
They head out to the parking lot in silence. Lisa abruptly stops in her tracks making the guys slow down and turn to her. "What's wrong sis?" Lenny asks. "I just remembered that I have to get back to work soon, so you guys can ride with Hal right?" Lisa squirms under Hal's vision. "I guess-" Hal can't even finish before Lisa bolts away tossing a quick "goodbye" behind her. "Is your sister always like that?" Barry asks as the men follow Hal to his car. "Not really, I'll ask her about it later..." Hal unlocks his car as they approach only to have a flash of light zoom past him, in a second Barry goes from behind him to shotgun in his car. "You saw that too right?" Lenny asks him. "Ya, same as before..." They get into the car in near silence aside for Barry fidgeting with a toy he found on the floor. "So where's you're house Len?" Barry asks. "Huh- oh, sorry it's 649 North Avenue."
It doesn't take long to get to Lenny's house. Once there Lenny gives them a small tour of his two story house, Lenny leaves Barry and Hal in the guest room to go get some blankets and pillows for Barry to sleep with. The second he leaves Hal grabs Barry's arm. "What the hell is up with you!" He whisper yells as to not make Lenny come back. "What are you talking about? I'm fine, what up with you?" Barry tries to make Hal release his arm but to no avail. "Dude you keep speeding through stuff like that paperwork and running to the car. How the hell are you so fast?" Barry takes a second to think. "...I don't know but to me everything just seems to be really slow, and I do mean everything even talking." "How long has it been like this?" Barry shrugs as Hal finally release his grip. "Since I woke up, but I thought I was just bored." Barry watches Hal pace back and forth in deep thought until he stops. "So it's true meta humans do exist, and that accident must have triggered yours to activate." "Meta humans?" Barry rises a brow trying to understand what Hal was talking about. "Dude you're a meta, you're better than human now you got powers."
The door creaks open as Lenny returns with the blankets. "Sorry it took so long, what are you two talking about?" Lenny places the blankets on the bed. "Nothing really, hey I'm going to take Barry out around town so he can stretch his legs we'll be back later." Hal says not really giving Barry a choice in whatever he was planning to do. "Oh in that case here Barry it's the key to the house, don't stay out too late." Lenny tosses Barry a key as Hal rushes him out the door. Once outside Hal shoves Barry into his car. "Ok so what are we doing?" Barry asks. "As I said we're going to stretch your legs, in other words we're going to see how fast you are." Barry gives Hal a strange look. "Shouldn't we keep this under lock and key until I get the hang of it?" "Relax Bare, I'm taking us to the old wear house on the edge of town so no one will see us."