''You want to do what?! What the hell is going on here'' exclaimed Iris the second she entered the cortex with her brother right behind, right in the middle of a heated conversation between Joe, Cisco and Caitlin.
*Great* though Caitlin, she was already having trouble with Joe and Cisco and now it was going to be a 4 on 1 battle, even though part of her wasn't so keen on winning that fight.
Cisco saved her the explanation by speaking up.
''Barry woke up while you were gone and...and, he wasn't a happy was fighting, trying to get away, from Caitlin and Joe. Caitlin had to sedate him. He acted like he was terrified of us.''
Iris just stood there in confusion, unsure how to react to this.
''I think we need to consider restraining Barry before we know what's going on with him.'' repeated Caitlin at the newcomers before they could speak. ''He wasn't too hard to keep him down in his state, but we're not sure what to expect next time.''
''You think he's dangerous?!'' Lashed out Iris a bit harder that she intended to. ''He's Barry! He's our family, our friend, your friend, not a prisoner. He was just confused.''
''And you two on onboard with that?'' accused Wally, looking closely at the two other men in the room.
''I don't like this either.'' Started Joe, uncomfortable, his face tensed with doubt and uncertainty. ''But, I saw his eyes when he woke up, he looked right at me, at Caitlin and looked absolutely terrified. I don't want to harm him, but we already lost him for months, I don't want to risk having him bold on us before we can get a chance to clear this all out. We can't risk him outside in that state.''
''Whatever or...whoever did this to him...did quite a number on him.'', started Caitlin, looking uncomfortable, sharing a look with the two people who were there when the speedster woke up, a look that didn't go unnoticed.
''What? Just tell us.'' intervened Wally on the behalf of his sister and for himself.
''Barry called Caitlin; Killer Frost...''
''Killer who now?'' responded the young man. People in the labs sometime forgetting how new Wally was in Team Flash. Iris decided to take the lead on the explanation.
''In the world where Zoom, Harry and Jesse came from, Caitlin's doppelganger was an evil metahuman called Killer Frost who she was working for Zoom. But she's dead. Isn't she?'' finished the woman, turning around to face Caitlin for the confirmation.
''I saw her die in front of me, there's no way she's still alive.''
''Is there any chances she'll still alive on some other Earth?'' asked Wally, taking everything in his strides.
''Guess it is...there's only one person who can tell us what really happened and he's in no shape to do so...'' Cisco said, all of them turning around at the same time to look at the sedated contemplation didn't last too long before Iris spoke up again, not really to let go on her position.
''If he thinks you're Killer Frost and you want to hurt you, aren't you only giving him reasons to keep believing it by tying him up? What if he only gets more agitated? Get his power back, vibe through it and run away''
''She's got a point'' said Joe, turning toward Caitlin. ''There's gotta be another way to get through to him.''
Before anyone could answer, Cisco took the lead:
''Let me give it a try. Let me be alone with him next time he wakes up''
***FLASHFLASHFLASH***
They didn't have to wait too long for their chance second with the speedster. As Caitlin predicted, the sedative she gave him only lasted a couple of hours. Caitlin was monitoring her patient and his stomach wound when he started to shift and move under her hands, his head starting to move, his eyes trying to open. The doctor shared a *good luck* look with Cisco, who's been sitting in the uncomfortable chair for the past few hours, before swiftly making her way out of the medical lab and out of the cortex. She joined the rest of the gang in another nearby lab where they had a computer set up to show a live feed of the camera in the med lab, needing to now the second something would go wrong.
Both Iris and Wally, were seated near the entry of the lab, quickly discussion among themselves, staying at some distance of the computer on the other side of the room, while Joe's eyes never left a movement unnoticed on the screen. Both of the detective's kids moved their heads up and nodded in understatement to the doctor who passed by them, comprehending that Barry was finally joining them again.
''Hey man.'' Quietly started Cisco, not wanting to hustle the young man.
He watched closely his friend fighting to open his eyes, his head turning toward Cisco, wanting to see who was talking to him. Slowly but surely, he found the strength he needed to lift his second Barry made eye contact with Cisco, his eyes went wide in surprise, than in hope.
''VIBE! You're alive? How's that possible?!'' He exclaimed, trying to get up fast, only ending up falling back on the bed, grunting in pain between his teeth for a second, his hand automatically going for his abdomen's bandage. Barry spoke up again after a few seconds, acting as strong as he could even if Cisco knew his friend enough to see the pain in his eyes was still strongly resonating: ''How did you…I saw her kill you. She pushed you off the cliff's edge, I saw it!''
Vibe? Ok. That was interesting. At least Barry wasn't freaking out, so Cisco decided to play with it for a second, see where it would lead. Cautiously, Cisco reached for his friend's shoulders to keep him in a laying position.
''Easy there buddy, I'm ok. You need to rest.''
''Rest? No, no. Killer Frost, I saw her, she's here. We need to get out of here right now. '' Barry was turning his head around quickly, trying to spot his enemy, struggling to put Cisco's hands away so he could get up.
Cisco compromised and let him at least sit, so the man could at least monitor who was in the room. The simple fact of having a view on the entries seemed to calm the speedster.
''You're back on Earth 1 man, you need to relax, you're ok, you're safe.'' At that sentence, Barry stopped moving and stared directly into Cisco's eyes, confusion all over.
''Back? But, I never left this Earth, what is going on here?''
Ok, seriously, what the hell was going on here? All the thoughts in Cisco's head right now could resume to that. How could Barry have fought with Killer Frost and pretend at the same time that he never left this dimension, this Earth. Did Barry lost his mind or something?
''Man, you're scaring me'' Cisco stated unsure what to do.
''What are you playing at? Help me get up, let's get out before she comes back'' Barry was pushing through the pain as he put the blanket away and tried getting out. His movement stopping just as suddenly when the hero's whole upper body slumping forward, his right arm surrounding his stomach, a sharp hiss of pain escaping his lips.
''Buddy, hey, stop. Do you trust me? Please.'' The pleading wasn't exactly intended, but Cisco couldn't help the clenching in his chest in seeing his friend in pain and having no idea how to help him.
There was definitely doubt in the speedster's mind, his face tensing, frowning, hesitating. Barry obviously didn't like where this was going, especially considering the young man in front of him wasn't even trying to help him get out before Killer Frost would reappear. He finally decided to go for a nod.
''Yeah, I do.''
''Alright, listen up.'' Cisco started, taking a deep breath. ''Whatever happened to you, it's over, everything is over. You just came back to us.''
''Vibe, What about the war?'' Interrupted Barry before his friend could finish his sentence.
''What war? Barry, everything's been calm here since you killed Zoom.''
''No no….you're lying, the war isn't over, you're lying to me! I saw Frost, she was doing some experiment on me, I started hallucinating, we need to go now me before she…''
''Barry, you need to calm down if you want to …''
In a split second, Cisco saw the face of Barry changed, from *I'm listening, I'm trusting you* to full blown out anger and betrayal.
''You're not Vibe! You're working for her!'' Lightings and electricity sparkled in the young man's eyes, looking like a wild animal ready to attack at anytime to defend his life. ''I knew the real Vibe was dead!''
Instinctively, Cisco jumped on his feet and almost took a step back, but he got a grip on his fear just in time to keep his ground and try to ignore his now racing heart.
''Calm down Barry, please. I'm not going to hurt you, neither is anyone here. Do you remember when you left, when you told Iris you needed some space?''
''I...ris?''
The agitation stopped, Barry's light in his eyes seemed to fade, there was light but nobody was home for a moment. *There you go, come on buddy, come back to us.* thought Cisco. Barry finally came back and turned his glance once again in the direction of the other man.
''Isn't it Detective West's daughter?''
Cisco frowned, that wasn't like Barry at all to call Joe by his function, and even less to forget Iris. But to be fair, nothing was making sense about the hero since he came back to them. Was he brainwashed or something? Unless it wasn't their Barry but one from another Earth? The scientist tried to keep it cool.
''Yeah that's it, you go it.'' he encouraged the speedster. ''You were outside Joe's house, with Iris and…''
''Iris….Joe…I don't…'' Barry's head suddenly falling against his chest, his face wincing in pain. ''What's wrong with me? What did you do to me?''
Cisco's instinct wanted to help, comfort the speedster, but he had no idea what to do with his hand, frozen in mid-air, unsure if he could touch the speedster without making him bold. He needed Caitlin at this moment, but something told him Barry wasn't ready to face her again, not yet.
''What's wrong buddy?''
''It's m head. It hurt. Make it stop.''
Before the young engineer could make the decision to call the doctor, Barry slowly put his head up, the pain still spreading in all of his features, but there was something knew, there was recognition flashing in his eyes this time.
''….Cisco?'' he confusingly asked, sounding like a four year old needing reassurance that he was safe.
***FLASHFLASHFLASH***
Iris frowned as she observed her brother sitting next to her, as Wally was playing with his phone. Well, playing was a big word since the boy's been staring at the screen for minutes now, not doing a thing.
''It's already 5, we're going to be late.'' Suddenly said Wally, out of the blue''
''What?'' What the hell was he talking about, it was almost midnight now.
''That's what you said to me when we were at the station and dad got called by Singh, you were worried we would be late for dinner if they were to talk too much.''
''Yeah, kind of ring a bell, don't see what this has to do with anything Wally.''
Really Wally? Thought Iris, it was a bit late to think about dinner. Something sort of came up...With all that was happening, she couldn't believe that her brother was still thinking about their restaurant plan they missed.
''You remember what you I answered you back?'' continued Wally, ignoring her intervention.
''Well….no, not really. I don't get…'' Before she could finish her sentence, she was cut again.
''I didn't say anything because I was too busy answering back my pal Paul who wanted to hang out tonight. Look.''
He hold up his phone that was on a chat with his friend, the last answer send at exactly 5:01 pm, by Wally West. Iris could sense something wasn't right with this picture, but she couldn't say what exactly. Seeing her sister was still trying to put everything together, he decided to help fill-in the blanks.
''I had my phone with me when we left the station, I'm sure of it!''
''Really? That's incredibly lucky you didn't found it in your pockets and that we made a stop'' Said Iris, her eyes widening in realization on how close they came to not found Barry until it was too late. Her brain pictured for her some very clear mental images of Barry bleeding to death on the floor, all alone 'til he was a white, cold, corpse.
''No no, you don't get it. I had my phone when we left the house and when to the station so dad could return the files. I had it in the station when dad was talking to Singh, but I didn't have it in the car. I found it in my room at home.''
Iris frowned: ''How is that possible? You're sure?''
''Positive!'' answered her brother. ''And the text message proved it.''
''You don't think that Barry came running in the station, stole your phone and put it back in your room just so we could find him? If he came by the station, why not just wait for us at the car?''
''I don't know Iris, but I think someone, or something, really wanted us to find him.''
A/N: I'll finally explain my vision of Flashpoint next chapter :) Thanks for reading and leave a comment
