"You look like you need another coffee," Joe commented, coming back in the medical bay with a cup in his hand and his coat on his back, "should've grabbed you one on the way, want mine?" He kindly offered seeing the doctor badly yawning while absently reviewing the same test results over and over again.
"Thanks, but I don't think caffeine as much of an effect on me anymore.'' She answered back, declining the offer as she reluctantly moved her glance away from the computer screen. She hadn't had a single minute of sleep during the whole night and it was really starting to take a stroll on her.
The intensity of the lights diminishing outside the room had both person tensing up, with that last turn of event still fresh in their minds.
"How's Barry?" Inquired the detective, nervously looking down at the hero who was back at his seemingly peaceful sleep, with the crucial assistance of all the medical equipment.
"He's... stable again," she answered, biting her bottom lips and slightly turning her head back toward the computer.
An hour earlier, Wally came back with the portable generator and in a matter of seconds to stabilize the situation. Quickly and efficiently, the team managed to hook all the medical equipment to the generator, including the ventilator, before Barry's heart would stop beating once more, and they managed to get the speedster breathing again. Except, Barry was still completely comatose and unable to give a single response to any outward stimuli.
"Is it going to take 9 months again?"
The hesitation in the doctor's face and the way she clenched her fists on the desk were lost on the detective as he only had eyes for the unconscious man, but it wasn't lost on Cisco who frowned as he was entering the room.
"It could... take some time," Caitlin finally answered, tensing up at the way Cisco was suspiciously looking down at her, but regaining her composure for Joe who took back his place on the white chair next to the bed, "he... we're still trying," she quietly said, almost whispering, doubting the man even heard her.
Getting up from her post, especially now that the speedster wasn't alone in the room, she joined her other friend outside as Cisco was gesturing at her to come over in the cortex.
"Mind telling me what's wrong?" He instantly inquired as his eyebrows furrowed.
"It's no-" she tried to dismiss, only to get cut in the middle of her sentence.
"Caitlin, I know you, don't lie to me."
That he did, she couldn't get away with lying so easily, so instead she just wiped her nose and tried changing the subject in a not so subtle way, "Just, not now, Cisco. Please. Just tell me you figured out what's wrong."
The glare Vibe sent to his friend was clear, even if he did comply with letting the subject go, for now, you won't get away for too long with that.
"I managed to find the anomaly, it's like nothing I've seen before-"
"Which say a lot coming from you."
"-but I think we can get rid of it by doing a complete reboot of the system," stated Cisco with clear confidence, "and once we done that, we'll get our boy back on his feet."
"Yeah…" Caitlin trailed without enthusiasm, biting her bottom lips, "how sure are you that it will work? It can't be a coincidence that this thing, whatever it is, tried to kill Barry, twice now."
Cisco ran his hand through his hair as he looked down at the tablet he was holding, "Look, I don't know exactly what it is and what's causing it, but, right now, I don't care. The only thing that matter is destroying that thing before it makes another attempt on Barry's life. We need to save our friend and we can do that if we cut the power everywhere at the same time, before rebooting."
"And you're sure it's going to work?" she asked, still sceptical, it's not like their last attempt worked so well.
"It will, believe me, it will this time. I just need a couple of hours to prepare everything."
Caitlin nodded and looked back at her patient and at his foster father who was tenderly talking to him. In the next instant, her shoulders tensed up and she started shaking slightly.
"Cait?" Asked a worried Cisco, reaching out for his friend who was turning her back against him, "He'll be okay. He's strong and he is in amazing hands."
His attempt was a nice try, but instead of giving his friend comfort, Caitlin's head bowed down and went into hiding between her hands. Her barely contained sobs could be clearly heard by the man standing behind.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" He said softly, hurrying to position himself between the medical bay and his doctor friend. The engineer was obviously struggling to get her to make eye contact and reveal her face again, "what's wrong?"
The teary eyes that finally agreed to meet his had his stomach sinking in dread, his instinct screaming at him that he didn't really want to hear the news.
"He's…. Barry…he's…he's…Ba…B…" Each word was struggling to come out as Caitlin's airways were mostly occupied by the simple task of getting air in and out, an exercise that was getting more arduous by the second.
"Come on, deep breath, in and out," softly commanded Cisco, while helping his distressed friend to find her way to the closest chair and sitting her down. He still took one second to make sure the sudden and unexpected reaction was lost on Joe, who was still too preoccupied by his son.
"That's it, girl," he encouraged by patting her friend's knees when Caitlin finally complied, imitating her friend's breathing pattern.
It was with silent tears streaming down her face that she found the strength to speak again, "He's gone, Cisco. It doesn't matter what we do."
G… gone? As in gone? Finish? Done? As in… the D word?
"I don't…" Cisco stuttered out, stopping mid-sentence with his mouth half-opened.
"I need to double check it tomorrow, but…" Caitlin closed her eyes for a moment, preparing carefully her next words, "but he has no brain activity left," She tearfully explained, loudly sniffing.
"No, it can't be," protested Cisco, violently shaking his head from one side to the other, fighting off the idea. As long as they didn't accept it, it wasn't going to happen, right? The man almost knelt to the ground in shock, he couldn't lose his friend, "He's not going to leave us, I'm not going to give up on him!"
"Whatever we do, please, don't tell Joe, Iris, or Wally… not yet, not until I'm certain." begged Caitlin, wiping more tears with the back of her hands.
"They shou-"
Whatever he was about to say got lost as the room was once again plunged into darkness for just an instant before the lights came back and went off again, and back, and off again.
"Let's take care of this first, and then we'll find something to help Barry. We will!" Cisco pulled himself up, burning with determination, unless it was desperation. Can't be a coincidence these two words were somehow similar.
The man turned toward the medical bay, listening to the distant and the constant beeping of the machines keeping track of the fallen superhero's vitals and keeping him alive. The lights of the medical bay might look like they were about to have an epileptic crisis, but they were the only thing in that room still connected to the main power as all the medical equipment were still on the separate generator. Ignoring the quickly flashing lights, Cisco whispered, ''you've gotta fight this, buddy, I refuse to believe that you're gone."
***FLASHFLASHFLASH***
For the last hour or so, Iris had been continuously typing on her laptop, working to meet the deadline for her next article and trying as best as she could to keep her mind busy on things other than the current situation. Uncomfortably sitting on the chair, with her feet resting against the side of the bed and with the computer resting on her tights, the journalist was badly failing at staying concentrated. How could she hope to care about her job under these circumstances? Her patience sure wasn't at its highest at the moment and it was the understatement of the year to say so as she loudly cursed when her electronic device suddenly decided to freeze without warning.
"Dammit!"
She should've saved her work more often; it was going to be a full hour of work lost if she couldn't get it back. The reporter was in the middle of hitting her keyboard in frustration when the room's speakers crackled, announcing a coming message.
"Alright, everyone-" Cisco's voice came through, "-get yourself ready, it's about to get pretty dark in here. Just make sure to stay away from anything electronic."
Not that my damn computer is good at anything, thought Iris, rolling her eyes, but still putting her feet off the bed and on the floor before disconnecting her computer's charge cord from the wall.
Once it was done, she put down the device on the desk and, coming back to her chair, drew it closer to the bed before taking back her place in it. Her warm hands went to take Barry's left one, needing to feel her lover in the dark for every second that would follow. For countless times, her voice had been the pillar that kept the hero standing and the one thing that took him back where he belonged. This time wasn't any different, their connection would bring him back and, for the moments of darkness that were about to come, his presence was going to keep the young woman grounded.
She barely ever saw or heard her dad and Caitlin coming into the room and taking place to watch over Flash the same way he used to watch over them and his city.
A/N: Leave a comment, always so much appreciated. Is there still hope?
And meanwhile I'll just slowly walk away , laughing evily, and hope you guys don't kill me :) See you friday for more Long Way Home