If crazy were equal to genius, Professor Providence would be considered a massive cut above the rest. Her ideas were revolutionary in the scientific community, inspired. Rewriting the human genome with micro-machinery, repairing cellular damage at the most basic level, absolutely genius. The only downside of her research was the ethical implications of such work. Human experimentation would be necessary, and her way of finding test subjects was considered to be... questionable at the least.
With the new powers she could now wield, she had no concern for the rules of the scientific community. No concern for their moral code. If she didn't have the result she wanted, she would force the results to change. She would make the world fall to its knees before her. She stalked through the rows of beds filled with her test subjects, 'Mr. Fussy' close on her heels. Such desolation ran through the thoughts of those immobile, such loneliness and emptiness. Beautiful sadness, a prison of her own design. She leered down at the empty faces of her captured pets. They would be nothing without her power. They were nothing. She was their God, and she would rule above all things.
And now the Flash was her own to keep as well. Barry Allen, her new little pet, hers to play with and mold in the image she desired. She would figure out how to separate his speed, and get what she wanted, there was no doubt in her mind. She would succeed. The sharp clicking of her high heels echoed in the almost silent rooms expanse, punctuating the hum of the machines and the buzz of the lights. All of their hearts beat in synchrony, captive breaths inaudible in the mix of almost silent sounds.
The creature at her side moved silently, its size daunting, sheer strength inspiring fear in almost all who gazed upon it. So intelligent, but its genius mind was still hers. Still able to be controlled. For now.
'Mr. Fussy' was not her pet. No, it was her follower. A member of her vast congregation. It may have looked like an animal, may look to be nothing but brute strength and power, but its mind was strong, and it was most definitely one of her favorite creations. She knows that it did not respect her, and neither did the others, but no matter. Once she was known as the God she was, she would have millions of creatures like it, not just the handful she had under her command at the current moment.
She turned her mind from the thoughts of rebellion running through her creatures mind, and she latched back onto the despair coursing through the veins of all those she had captured. Beautiful misery and pain. She reveled in the carnage she had planted in their minds. Broken. Completely shattered, unable to live without her. They were almost ready to become part of her favorite creations.
She just needed a little bit more time to work.
Just a little more time.
*Providence Waits*
"You're telling me that they've been at MERCURY this entire time!?" Cisco shouted at Oliver, the only person who was able to bring in any sort of a lead from his excursions in the criminal underworld. He shouldn't yell at the messenger, but there wasn't a lot of options were there?
Cisco was pacing around the Cortex, anger and frustration written across his face. "Why wasn't I able to track him there? I should have been able to figure this out! It was in the damn video!" Frustration flowed around him in rolling waves, almost tangible. It only added to the already tense atmosphere in the room. Ever since Oliver had gotten back from his little 'visit', things had been uncomfortable. They needed to mount a rescue effort, but they had no idea on how to break into a destroyed and abandoned building with no blueprints available for reference. Especially with that thing from the video to take into account. Whatever that thing was, it would be a real problem.
Caitlin shook her head, "Cisco, we didn't know how important that building was to her, you couldn't have expected to find this out." What kind of person stays in an abandoned building just because they used to work there? A crazy person, that's who.
"Well, it's pretty obvious that Barry did!" Cisco sat heavily in his seat, turning back to Oliver. "Did Dr. McGee tell you anything else that we can use? Anything about what she had been working on?" If they knew what she had been doing they could figure out a way to stop her.
Oliver shook his head, "no, she didn't know anything, just that she had no qualms about human testing."
"Human testing?" Caitlin's eyes went wide, shock clear in her expression. "What was she… what was she testing on people?" As a doctor, she had no idea how someone could just break their code of ethics like that. How they could just go and test on people without any sort of informed consent.
Oliver frowned, "genetic manipulation or something like that, I don't really understand it." He pulled out a heavy, thick, file with the symbol for MERCURY Labs embossed on the front. "McGee said that all of Providence's MERCURY sanctioned findings are in this folder."
Caitlin thumbed through the thick folder, skimming its content. "We need to make a plan," she said, not looking up from the pages, lost in the complexity of the research. It truly was brilliant. "We need to get Barry, Snart, and all of those people in the video out of there." She looked up from the folder and turned to Cisco and Oliver. "I think we need to call the Rogues, then we need to call Lisa, need to let her know that we can finally get her brother back."
Oliver shrugged, it was a good a plan as any, working with criminals instead of law enforcement. Besides, now they had a real chance to make this right.
*Providence Waits*
Fucking Hell, Snart was singing again. Barry had been trying to tune out his constant ramblings for the past half hour, instead focusing on finding any sort of weak point in the door jam. Those rusty hinges would be easy to snap once he had his speed back. Any second now, he thought, running his hands over the cold metal and wood once more, feeling his connection to the Speed Force strengthen with every passing moment. Any time now.
"Hey, I just met you," Seriously? That was what he was going to sing now? That abomination?
"And this is cra-a-a-zy," Nope, no, no way. This can't be what's happening. Nope. Barry refused to believe that Snart even knew that song.
"But here's my number, So call me maybe!"
Barry groaned and lightly smacked his head against the wall, trying to focus on anything other than Captain Cold's extremely pitchy, yet enthusiastic, rendition of 'Call Me Maybe'. Anything but that. It was just wrong , it seemed like it should be against the laws of nature and the universe. The man was truly insane at this point, no denying it.
"Barry. Hey, hey, Barry!" Snart's voice rang out in the cold room, cheerfulness even with their dreary location.
The aforementioned speedster slammed his fist into the door, hints of the Speed Force rattling and shaking it in its frame. Dammit, what did he want now?! He was so close to being able to get them out of here. So close to their freedom. "What is it Len," he said, the fake cheerful tone of voice not betraying his frustration towards the man. He didn't really know what was happening at this point. Why was this his life? He's not supposed to be on a first name basis with his criminals!
"Um, do you think, hehe, Barry, do you think that pigeons have feelings?" Barry sighed heavily and he turned to face Captain Cold, the man was sitting on the ground, a dazed, almost vulnerable, expression on his face. He rambled on, completely oblivious to the annoyance Barry was feeling. "Do you think they do? Because I called a pigeon on the street 'Lard-ass' a few days ago. Do you think I hurt its feelings? I don't want to hurt pigeons feelings, no matter how gross they are!"
Barry turned back to the door and rested his head on the cool wood with a sigh. Dammit, what the hell had happened in Snart's mind? What had Providence done to him? He just looked so lost, almost helpless. The speedster wanted to help him, to save him from himself, but he knew he wasn't qualified to handle this kind of situation. They needed a trauma counselor, someone who knew how to do this right.
"Barry, are you listening to me?"
"Yeah, I'm listening." He heard shuffling behind him, and again he turned, finding Snart less than a foot away, a serious expression written across his features. "What is it now, Snart?"
Snart looked anywhere except into Barry's eyes, the serious look darkened into something more like sadness. "I'm just glad that you, well, that anybody at all decided to try and save me." He looked up from the ground, finally meeting Barry's gaze. "I just…I wanted to thank you, Barry. For everything, being here and for always believing that there was good in me. Just, thanks..." Snart looked away, turning and leaving before Barry could respond, and walked back to where he had been sitting and slumped to the ground. Isolating himself back into his own mind, cutting himself off from the world again.
The Flash turned back to the door, he hadn't realized just how Snart felt. Hell, he never really thought about it. He closed his eyes and felt for the whispers of the Speed Force, calling upon its power. He felt fierce electricity surge through his body, lighting up his every nerve and he rammed a vibrating fist into the rusty hinges, shattering them upon impact. The door rocked and jerked in its frame, so close to breaking. So close to escaping.
Freedom. He could almost taste it. The sweet air of freedom.
He hit the door, again and again, smashing through the wood, bending the frame, ultimately destroying the lock on their prison. Barry turned back to the almost catatonic Snart, he needed to get him out of here, the others would have to wait. He scooped the immobile Snart up into his arms, and rushed out of the cold room, leaving only a gust of wind and streaks of lightning in his wake.
*Providence Waits*
Speed.
Such speed.
Leonard Snart felt almost high on the feeling. God, it was amazing, the wind, the blur of the world falling away. It was beautiful, absolute poetry in motion. Then as soon as it had started, it was over. The wind stopped rushing by and the world stood still once more. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was talking to the Flash… "Barry?" he questioned, looking around the room for the scarlet speedster. "Where'd you go kid?"
The room was bare except for computer monitors and glass panels, it was oddly familiar. STAR Labs? Snart walked on shaky legs to the nearest door stopping in his tracks with what he heard.
Whispers. Familiar voices, ones he hadn't heard in what seemed to be forever. Who was it that was talking out there? He leaned close to the door and listened into the hushed conversation.
"-can't just let him leave like this-"
"-don't know what to do-"
"-needs help-"
"-who's going to help a criminal-"
"-that's my brother you're talking about-"
"-and my friend-"
"-he needs help-"
The voices conversation continued as Snart wandered away from the door, lost in the darkness of his own thoughts.
Why was he here at STAR Labs? He couldn't remember much after the heist gone wrong, just brief flashes of memory, patches of white and red. Barry was there. Wasn't he? He didn't know anymore, only knew that there was something wrong with him. At least that's what Providence had told him. She had said that he needed to admit to himself that he had done something wrong, something she didn't approve of, and if he did then… he didn't remember what she had promised him in return. Something about being one of her chosen. Something to do with a God. He just didn't remember. There was just so much that was missing, how long had he really been gone?
Humming softly to himself, Snart meandered down the hallway, further into the inner workings of STAR Labs. So much glass and rounded edges, very Art Deco. Modernistic to the point of futurism. His hand trailed across the walls as he walked, listening to the buzz of the lights overhead. The hallway curved and he followed it, walking down to the empty pipeline. Snart stared into the incomprehensibly huge space of the dark accelerator interior, it was truly amazing, commanding respect and awe from those who looked upon it. Sure, he may have no idea how it worked, how it really functioned, but it was still an extraordinary view. It was magnificent.
He sat with his legs hanging over the edge and just stared into the vastness of the accelerator. It made him feel… not quite empty, closer to disillusioned, insignificant in the full scope of things. Such power from something that looked like nothing but empty space, it was just overwhelming. His tuneless humming continued, echoing slightly in the inky depths and ringing back to him a few seconds after the original, distorted and unrecognizable. It was beautiful in its disarray.
Footsteps behind him, two pairs, quiet at first, growing louder each step. Heels, and some kind of heavy boots. Whoever it was, they were almost running. Wonder why, he thought, continuing his soul searching, gazing out into the emptiness of the accelerator. So desolate, yet so welcoming.
"Lenny?!" Snart heard the sharp click of heels and felt the arms of his sister wrap around his shoulders, pulling him away from the edge. "Mick, down here, I found him!"
Heavy boot steps, Mick, came thundering down the corridor, and a heavy hand fell onto Snart's shoulder. "Boss, you're still here," Mick's voice rumbled through the hall, familiar, yet so far away.
Len nodded slowly in way of response, still staring into the accelerator. Still humming quietly to himself, barely registering the presence of those who were closest to him, not noticing the only people he cared most about. Not noticing the warm arms wrapped around him, not noticing the panicked tone in his sister's voice as he failed to respond to her. Just staring off into the dark vastness. So beautiful in its nothingness, almost an echo of his own shattered mind.
"Mick, grab his arms, help me carry him." Lisa was terrified, they had just gotten her brother back and he wasn't responding. The Flash had warned them that something was wrong, but she didn't know how bad it was. Lenny didn't seem to even notice she was there. She and Mick carried Len back to the others, hefting him up onto the hospital bed in the laboratory. "You guys have to help him," Lisa said, tears threatening to fall at any moment. "You guys need to do something!"
Len shifted his vacant, empty gaze onto Lisa, a hopeful smile spreading across his face. "Lis, Mick, when did you two get here?" His tone of voice was far too calm, and he spoke slowly, words slurred, almost as if he had been sedated. "I really, really, really, missed you two." He sat up on the bed and pulled Lisa into a one-armed hug, "c'mere sis, you too Mick," he said, empty hand latching onto Mick and pulling him into the hug. "It's good to see you two again, it's been waaaaay too long."
Mick stood there awkwardly, arms pinned to his sides by Len. He was not what you would call the hugging kind. Now Lisa on the other hand, she was returning the hug wholeheartedly, arms wrapped tight around her brother.
Oliver and the members of Team Flash looked away in discomfort, this was just a little too weird, even for them.
"Barry! C'mere, get in here." Len grinned widely, his eyes still dull and glazed over. The speedster shook his head, "no thanks Snart, I don't think there's enough room." There was plenty of room, but Barry really did not want to be involved in that hug. Lisa looked like she was about to cry, and Mick, poor Mick looked like he was about to light the entire city on fire from confusion.
"If you say so kid."
Barry turned back to Oliver and the rest of his team. They needed a plan to take Professor Providence down.