Escaping the Speed: Chapter Two
BARRY POV:
A harsh shiver forced Barry's weak body to spasm. In that unconscious movement, the speedster learnt a few things. The first was that he was in pain. So much pain that even small movements felt tortuous to him. The second thing he realized was that there was a body sitting on top of him. With his eyes still closed, Barry couldn't tell who the person was. Immediately though, he knew it wasn't Iris in an act of kindness and love, and it was Caitlyn being gentle as she tried to patch him up after an evening fueled with speed. He had no idea what was going on, whether or not he was still in the speed force or if, by some miracle, he managed to escape the speed prison. If Barry was being completely honest with himself, he didn't even care what situation he was currently in. The pain in his chest with each breath he took, the waves of agony that radiated throughout every nerve in his weak body left the speedster feeling exhausted. The forensic scientist in him was screaming, begging him to analyze the current situation-but after the endless torture he had endured during the past six months Barry no longer trusted the world around him. The speed force quickly forced Barry to have a psychological battle within himself: constantly fighting what is true and what he is being forced to believe to be the truth. The endless fight for the truth left Barry feeling completely and utterly exhausted.
Vaguely Barry felt cold hands on his chest, sliding up and down slowly. The motion was comforting and helped ground him; allowing him something to focus on that wasn't causing pain. He was aware the person on top of him was a women, her nails gentle on his bare skin. If Barry was able to recall his training as a forensic scientist, Barry would be able to know that she was a stranger to him; her perfume unfamiliar to him. All he cared about was the gentle motion of her hands on his chest, the kindness in the action was unusual and strange to him. All he had endured lately was nothing short of cruel and calloused terrors.
Without any warning the hands stoped moving, leaving his chest all together. Frustrated, Barry let out a low groan. His distraction was gone, the kindness short lived and already dearly missed. With nothing left to ground him, Barry's mind once again began to drift.
Without thinking, he opened his eyes. His head was facing the left, and was suddenly looking at a bare concrete wall. Slowly, and with another groan escaping him, Barry rolled his head to the right; a glass window met his eyes. Staring at his reflection left him repulsed at the sight. He was laying limply, weakly on a concrete ground in the confines of a concrete room. The lower half of his body was covered in the now ratted and ruined cloth of his once nice black suit. He noticed, with much confusion, that he was only wearing one shoe. His chest was bare and covered in cuts and bruises. He looked like one of the victims he used to process evidence for. It took Barry a moment of searching his reflection before he managed to find a patch of skin that was left untouched from any markings of injury. The small patch was peaking out the top of his pants on his right hip. Though he couldn't examine the left side of his body, Barry knew it hurt so he assumed there would be more injuries scattered upon it. The part that repulsed Barry the most was the fact that his ribs could be seen jutting out of his chest. He knew it looked worse than it was since he was laying flat on his back, but the sight startled him nonetheless. Usually Barry tried to keep his face clean and shaven, but given his currently circumstances he wasn't upset that he could see some facial hair on his face. He had a bloodied lip and a black eye covered his left eye; leaving it half closed. It didn't surprise the injured hero that his eyes looked sad; sadness had become a dear friend of his lately. What did surprise the hero was the sight of a black leather collar around his neck. Barry knew he was in for a new version of prison at the sight of it, but he didn't spend much time on the implications the collar would bring.
The women caught his attention as she picked up a long sword. The strange women had a glint in her green eyes that should have spiked a sense of fear in him, but it didn't. His body had been beaten, whipped, burnt, stabbed, and that was just the beginning of it. The speed force was angry with him, Barry knew that. What could this women do to him that he hadn't already experienced? Torturing him, using the people he cares about against him, forcing him to relive his failures again and again. Convincing his mind that his victories weren't real and that every single act the Flash did was deadly and ruined the lives of Central City. It had all consumed his life for weeks upon weeks, day after day. No; Barry hadn't been afraid of being hurt for a long time and this women wouldn't be any different.
Exhaustively, he forced his head to roll until it was upright so he could easily watch the sword. He wondered what the strange women would do with it; curiosity for what was to come fueling his attention.
TEAM FLASH POV:
It didn't take long for the members of 'Team Flash' to realize that the glass that separated them and Barry was in fact a one-way glass. They could see him but he couldn't see them. Barry thought he was still alone; the thought broke their hearts. They were all there, so close and yet to far out of reach. Julian was analyzing every small detail he could, trying to find anyway to help his friend. Cisco was experimenting with his powers, trying to vibe his way out of the chains and into the concrete room. Without his glasses though, the task was made far harder and he had never been more irritated at himself for his lack of experience with his meta-human abilities.
Iris could feel the tears cascading down her checks but she ignored them. Her emotions wouldn't help Barry get out of this situation. Collared, injured, dazed, and feeling all alone. Joe was seething. His anger was radiating off of him in waves and Iris and Wally could feel his anger boiling inside him. They needed a plan, and they needed one fast.
Silently thinking of any possible way to help their injured friend, they were forced to watch the women who stood above Barry. In her hands was the long sword used to cut the speedster free from his chains. The tip of the blade hovered over Barry's check, grazing it light enough so the skin wouldn't break. With carefully calculated movements, the sword was slowly dragged down his body; from his check it moved and hesitated just over his neck before making its way down his chest before finally stopping where his shredded pants rested on his hips.
She leaned forward resting her hands on the speedsters chest as she whispered something into his ear. Her words went unheard by those in the other room, but they brought the delirious speedster's attention more into focus. His reaction was hard to miss: his entire body tensed, and his eyes widened.
What happened next was unexpected. The women got up and quickly left the room. On her way out she laid the sword on the ground next to Barry before existing the concrete room. Wally saw the lightning flash in his mentors eyes, but it happened so fast the others didn't notice. Kid Flash smiled; he had just realized two things. One, Barry had his speed, maybe not complete control over it at the moment, but he could reach it. Two, Wally was able to notice it. Perhaps he couldn't phase out of the chains, but he could still access his speed. The quick moment gave Wally hope that he could call on his speed in a different way, other than phasing. He just hoped that Barry's speed was working still and that he could use it if the women came back in the room. One look at Barry and Wally knew that he wasn't in fighting shape, but it didn't take a genius to realize that Barry would probably have to fight his way out of this.
TO BE CONTINUED...
So I am a terrible person and I had writers block for the longest time I am so very sorry that this chapter took a month to post. Truly, my apologies. BUT THAT BEING SAID if you have any requests or ideas as to where this story should go, let me know!
Published: October 16, 2017
Status: In-Complete
Next chapter will be published ASAP...I will try to be better but am also a college student taking psychology and philosophy classes while being an active member in my sorority. XOXO, until next time my fellow Flash lovers!
ALSO I PROMISE TO TRY TO MAKE THE REST OF THESE CHAPTERS LONGER!
ALSO: would your rather have more Barry's POV or more of Team Flash POV or do your like having both?!