Barry stood with his arms crossed, feeling exposed being in front of the Rogues without his Flash suit on for the first time. Well, for the first time knowing it, since he had technically seen Lisa while out of the Flash suit when he and Cisco first met her.
After Lisa had finished explaining the situation to Cisco over the phone, and Cisco relayed everything to Barry and Caitlin, Barry had wasted no time telling Lisa to come to the labs immediately so they could work out a plan of rescue. He should have expected she'd bring Mick Rory with her.
Lisa was in her usual all black attire and leather, gold gun hanging from her belt, Mick in his more khaki-colored and soot-covered getup, goggles around his neck like Barry was used to from Cold, with his gun not obviously visible but definitely on him somewhere. They were dressed and ready to go on the hunt. Barry really had no idea what he was getting himself into.
"How much time do we have?" he asked stiffly.
Lisa checked her watch with an irritated grimace and shuffle of her feet. "Less than an hour before those brats said they'd reveal their location. They're holding Lenny somewhere, and as soon as they name the place, it's going to be a free-for-all."
"Dumb brats actually think they'll live through it," Mick grumbled.
Barry agreed that these young up and coming criminals were idiots, but he didn't like the way Mick's words were equal parts scoffing and threat.
He stood at one end of the main labs with Cisco and Caitlin hovering behind him, while Lisa and Mick remained on the other side of the room. Barry had let Joe and Eddie know to be on standby; this was going to affect a lot of people when things went down, depending on the location. Someone would need to send in police to the area to keep civilians out of the line of fire.
Of course Joe hadn't been on board with the idea of Barry inviting the Rogues to the labs—again. But what could he do? Lisa had hysterically admitted over the phone that Len had been abducted, and that a post had gone out over the web to every low life in Central City to await a location for first crack at killing him—as long as they were willing to pay. It was like some twisted game show.
It hadn't taken long for Cisco to confirm that the abduction was real and not another trick, discovering the message floating around the Internet with a picture of some young guy Barry didn't recognize holding the cold gun to Captain Cold's own head, too close up on his body to see their surroundings. In the picture, Cold had looked as Barry would expect in such an impossible situation: calmly controlled and glaring, despite the frozen state of one of his legs.
"Yeah, well these 'dumb brats' were smart enough not to give up their location right away," Lisa said, pulling Barry back to the conversation, "but Mick's right. Those kids will be the first to die when unfriendly faces start showing up, and even if they do have Lenny's cold gun, that isn't enough to hold everyone back. They won't see a dime for this. Too many people will be gunning for a dirty end in there to care about paying for their shot."
"It's simple," Mick said, his gaze heavy and unnerving as it rested on Barry, "as soon as they post the location, you flash in there and get Len out. We'll take care of the rest." The way his lip curled spoke of all kinds of fire and brimstone.
"No way," Barry stared him down, "you're not taking anybody out for this if you want my help. And I can't just flash in there and hope for the best. We have no idea what to expect, how many guys there are, how or where they'll have him in whatever building they're holed up in, or whether or not they'll simply shoot Cold at the first sign of trouble. If we do this, it's going to be together, slowly, until we have a clear line of sight on him, and then I'll speed him out of harm's way—only then. But no killing, even after I'm gone and this is over; no retribution for this."
"You gotta be fucking—" Mick started to stalk forward with murder in his eyes, but Lisa held out an arm to keep him back. He eyed her in frustration, clenching his meaty fists at his sides, but reluctantly obeyed.
Lisa stared at Barry coldly. "That's real rich, you know? 'If we do this', 'if you help'. Like it isn't your fault they took him in the first place."
Barry rocked back in the face of her accusation, unable to stop his arms from loosening and then falling to his sides. "My fault…?"
"Didn't you read the damn post?" she bit out. "Said they found Lenny freshly beat on by The Flash, unconscious in some warehouse."
Barry's stomach plummeted. He hadn't read the post; Cisco had paraphrased it. Cisco had… He looked back at his friend and saw the way Cisco slumped and looked away.
"Yeah, he tricked you out of the bank," Lisa pressed on, "got one over on you again, boohoo. But you acting all high and mighty about not hurting people when you're the one who knocked him out and left him there—"
"I didn't knock him out!" Barry called as he whirled his attention back to her. "He was fully conscious when I left that warehouse. I didn't…I mean…" He ran both hands back through his hair as he was reminded of the painful encounter from that morning. "I hit him, but I didn't…he wasn't knocked out."
Lisa looked mildly appeased when Barry looked back at her, though still heated and frowning. Then recognition filled her face. "Was he shaking?"
"What?"
"Before you left him," she snapped, "was he shaking?"
And…well, yeah, he had been, but so had Barry. They'd both shook in the heat of battle, or so he'd assumed when he caught sight of Cold's hands trembling. Nausea filled Barry's stomach as he realized what Lisa was implying. "Toward the end…more so. A little," he admitted.
Lisa let out a long breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her face had shifted into anguish rather than anger. "That damn idiot. He kept trying to push. I should have made him wait, should have said no when he wanted to pull this heist today. He was all off with the Mendozas too, too twitchy and hesitant to do more than ice a bunch of limbs. I figured he'd be better after a normal job, but he must have had another attack..."
"Attack?" Caitlin spoke up, daring to take a step closer beside Barry. "He was still having panic attacks?"
"Still?" Lisa repeated bitingly as her gaze sharpened on Caitlin. "He had them here too?" She shook her head when all of Team Flash shared guilty looks. "I don't know what you did to him while he was here those few days, but Lenny hasn't had attacks like that since before he moved out of the house as a teenager."
"What are you talking about?" Mick broke in, and Lisa turned to face him like she'd been regretting this conversation. "Is that why he couldn't stomach offing Mendoza, like he hadn't done it a million times before?" Then he surprised Barry by turning to look at him again rather than waiting for Lisa to answer. "What did you do to him, huh?" he practically growled. Lisa looked back at Barry with equal challenge.
It was like they thought he'd tried to brainwash Cold or something. "He's the one that tried to do something to me!" Barry defended. "That first bank job, when I flashed away with him, he was firing at me and froze a piece of walkway that fell. He'd done nothing but lie to me, so when he tried to warn me about it coming down, I didn't listen. He pushed me out of the way and…and hit his head."
Barry felt guilty again for his part in how all of this had begun as Lisa and Mick's eyes went wide. They hadn't known; it couldn't have been some elaborate scam if Cold kept them in the dark even after he returned from S.T.A.R. Labs. After that morning Barry had been so certain Cold had faked it all, but that camera footage, the continued panic attacks…
Barry barreled ahead to explain. "The hit to the head made him lose his memory. When you came that night, Lisa, he wasn't lying to me…he was lying to you. He pretended he still remembered, but at that point the only thing he really knew was your name and a few things from your childhood. He faked the rest so you wouldn't make him leave." Because he hadn't wanted to leave, he hadn't wanted to remember…
The way Lisa's remaining anger dripped out of her until she sagged, weighted down by sorrow and surprise, proved she believed Barry, though Mick was harder to read, just frowning, his brows tight.
"He started having attacks whenever he tried to fight remembering," Barry said.
"Why didn't he want to remember?" Mick asked through what Barry almost took for a pout. "Wouldn't that mean he was healing?"
Lisa's lips quirked up in the tiniest, mournful smile. "Because he had a cute boy and a fresh start, Mick. Can you blame him?"
Barry couldn't help noticing the way her eyes darted behind him as she said that, and he didn't have to guess to know she was looking at Cisco. Though he did blush a little that she wasn't at all hiding that she knew something beyond friendship had happened between him and Cold.
Mick looked confused, like he couldn't grasp the concept of a 'cute boy and fresh start' being at all appealing. In the end, he eyed Barry critically and shrugged, leaving Barry feeling like he'd just been judged and found wanting.
Lisa pushed on undeterred. "Lenny said he got his head turned around and just wanted to brush it off. But he couldn't. I told him getting all wrapped up in you would end badly. Figured I was helping, saving him the inevitable heartache, but I saw how his first attack went down. He only started shaking and losing his breath when he was trying to lie to me about what really happened between you two."
Any remaining fight drained out of Barry as she finished, remembering that the same thing had caused Cold to panic when he was here—trying to lie to himself about who he was, terrified he'd remember being Captain Cold and fighting against it. Had it been the reverse once he remembered? The way he'd looked in that last camera footage…
"He was trying to pretend like he was still the same…but he wasn't," Barry said, because it wasn't a question in his mind anymore, and somehow that hurt worse than before, when he'd just thought Cold had lied to him. Now he knew it had been the truth, and Cold had tried to bury it rather than admit he'd been changed.
"Yeah…and he kept trying harder," Lisa said, remorseful that she hadn't understood the truth until now, hadn't known how to help him, "but it obviously wasn't enough. You got in his head, Flash, made him panic, really panic about who he is and what he wants. So now you better save him," she perked up, trying to smirk but there wasn't any challenge or threat in the demand, just pleading and anxiety for her brother. "You have to."
Barry nodded without even having to think about it. Of course he'd save him. Saving's what he did. He owed Cold the returned save, after the walkway, the amnesia, all this mess. What Cold owed him for how he'd tried to push him away afterwards…Barry honestly didn't know if there was anything that could make up for that. But he'd still save him.
"We don't have a lot of time," he said, backing up a step and turning slightly so that he could see Lisa and Mick on his left and Cisco and Caitlin to the right. "We better come up with a good plan fast, and get there the second that location goes live. But I mean it," he looked to the Rogues, "we do this my way, or I'm handing all three of you over to the police when it's over. Nobody dies. No revenge later. I give the orders and you listen to what I say."
Mick sneered and clenched his fists again, but looked to Lisa. Whatever pleading expression she gave him in reply seemed to work, because when she looked back at Barry again, they both nodded.
Lisa even smiled. "I suppose it's the least we can do since you were so good about revealing your secret identity today. Gotta admit, I was surprised you weren't wearing the suit when we came in."
"What?" Barry looked down at his work clothes then back at them. "But…but you already know my secret identity. Cold told you, didn't he?"
Lisa eyed him humorously. "Uh, no, honey, he didn't. Remember? That's why you wore the mask the last time we teamed up."
"But I thought…" Barry trailed as Lisa shook her head and Mick actually smirked. Shit. Cold had been on the level about that and hadn't betrayed his trust—at least not about revealing his identity to anyone. Barry was honestly thrown. And felt supremely stupid.
"Don't feel too bad," Lisa winked as she crossed the room to join Cisco, to which he looked a little startled, but then they would need to all be near each other to form a working plan. "I remember you from the bar when I first met Cisco here. I would have figured it out eventually."
Len was freezing. He snorted at the irony.
His iced leg was part of it, numb now and even more useless, not that he was standing anyway to attempt an escape. They'd stripped him down to his button down and slacks, and tied him to a chair. He didn't know where he was, the building dark and heavily industrial, like an old factory. It was probably home for these kids, some abandoned building they squatted in and felt safe. Funny how they were about to let Hell rain down upon it.
A few of the boys lined the room and stood at the door. The skinny pick-pocket, who Len had learned was called Twitch, sat cross-legged on the floor in the corner with a laptop and a timer, while Chalo paced around Len holding the cold gun. The young gang leader wasn't nervous; he was anxious, unable to sit still in his excitement over what was coming.
Len had tried to warn them that this wouldn't end well for any of them, but while several of the others looked wary, Chalo never seemed discouraged. Len wondered if the kid had an honest to god death wish, knew exactly how this would all go down, and just wanted to witness the destruction, even if he ended up as another casualty.
On second thought, Len decided he wouldn't have taken this kid under his wing. He didn't care for straight up psychopaths. Everything had a purpose, a plan; destruction for the sake of destruction wasn't any fun. Frankly, he found it boring. Mick skirted that line fairly often, but Mick was…Mick.
At least the brats mostly left him alone now. After that damn photo they'd taken, which Len was certain Lisa had seen by now and was probably driving her mad with worry and furious indignation that he'd let this happen, the kids hadn't even taunted him much, though every so often Chalo would make some snide remark. The fact that Len no longer responded obviously spoiled the fun.
It was cold and dark, and in a few minutes Len would go out like he'd always expected: surrounded by enemies with the lowest odds of survival imaginable. Nothing else could have been enough to take him out. He'd feel proud if he didn't want to kick himself for being such a fool.
He let his mind drift when he heard Twitch inform Chalo that the location had successfully gone live. Len was deep inside the building, far in the back from what he remembered of being dragged in here. Some of the kids were at the main entrance and inside other rooms, calling in updates to Chalo on their phones. They were supposed to lead anyone who showed up into the back after they paid.
Len had thought it the stupidest plan these kids could come up with. Maybe if they were only dealing with lesser criminals like themselves, lower grade scum, there would be some honor among thieves, but all of Central City? They didn't know the league of villain that existed out there, who wouldn't hesitate to off some young guys trying to play in the big leagues. Chalo either didn't care, or honestly thought the cold gun would save him.
It wouldn't be long now. Len closed his eyes and pictured his sister coating every thug in Central with her gold gun. He pictured Mick melting it all in turn as he set the city ablaze. He was really going to miss them, for all the times Lisa drove him crazy and purposely tried his patience, and every time Mick lost his temper and went against Len's orders, only to begrudgingly apologize later if it had messed up their plans.
Len didn't know why he had always been willing to forgive Mick and go on being partners when half the time they were at each other's throats. Fire and ice really was how to describe them even before they had their guns. But then, Len supposed it was just like him and Lisa, so it wasn't surprising things were the same with Mick. It must be what it was like to have a brother. The thought almost made him smile.
And then, without even trying to conjure the kid…Len pictured Barry. He didn't really have anybody else in his life, not anyone that mattered.
He pictured Barry in the Flash suit, shaking with anger. Pulling the mask from his face, looking at Len in concern. Wearing his S.T.A.R. Labs sweatshirt, smiling and blushing and rubbing the back of his head. His voice echoing in the bathroom, singing low and melodic. The smooth line of his chest and hips and long legs—bare. The blur of his movement, the feel of vibrations, the press of his lips… The spark of something deeper than Len deserved shining in hazel eyes.
Then those same eyes filled with tears and grief and mourning and…damn it. Len had wanted to ruin Barry and he'd succeeded. If he had another chance, he wasn't sure what he'd say to the kid. No apology could ever be enough; it would just sound insincere, and Barry wouldn't believe him anyway, not anymore. Even so, he tried to imagine the words he'd use, all the things he'd never get to tell him.
What amazed Len, and hurt the most too for what he'd lost, was that Barry hadn't wanted to change him; that was the paradox of Barry Allen. He had been so certain Len was already a good man, encouraging him to remember who he really was. No, he didn't want Len to change, he wanted him to recognize the part of him that really didn't want to be the bad guy, that had been smitten by Barry because the kid was so thoroughly good and made it fun to be better, to be the best without anyone getting hurt or killed.
Len wouldn't have agreed to it in the beginning if he hadn't liked the idea. If Len somehow got out of this mess, he'd still probably kill anyone who in turn tried to kill Barry, or Lisa, or Mick; he couldn't imagine shaking that compulsion. Even if he tried to be good, to let his obsession with The Flash turn into an obsession with helping the kid save this city, he'd probably slip up on occasion and want to do bad, dangerous, roguish things.
But if what he really wanted was to one-up the competition, always a step ahead of the next guy…was it really so different if he did those things on the other side of the law?
Mardon's face sure would be fun to see stunned and accusing. And being a bad guy turned good sure would put the kibosh on thinking he was destined to turn out like his father. That a crooked cop raised two criminals was textbook inevitability, but there were times, many times, long before Barry Allen showed up in his life, when Len wondered if that was really what he wanted, to be just another statistic that proved he couldn't escape his father after all.
He just wished he could tell Barry that he wanted to try, that he'd probably always be a Rogue, but he'd still try if he could, and check out the view from standing beside Barry rather than opposing him. He'd love to be by Barry's side…and make up for the tears he'd caused.
If that meant in his last few minutes on earth that his soul was saved, he didn't really care. He just hoped someone was always around to save Barry.
Static and harried voices crackled from Chalo's phone.
"Rhodie, come again?" Chalo asked. "Someone already here?" When there was no immediate answer, he pressed the speaker button, and chaos filled the room from the other end of the phone. Screams and shouting and…
…and the distinct sound of something like a flame thrower.
Mick, Len thought as his eyes sprung open. But how? How could they have found him so quickly when the location only just went live? Unless…
Len grinned despite himself. If he was hallucinating in his last moments, so be it, but there was only one person fast enough to have brought the cavalry in time to save him.
Barry flashed around the entryway, snatching up guns and hurling them at the walls and floor at lightning speed until they shattered, useless, while trying to be gentler with how he knocked heads together to put the guys out. He wanted them unconscious not dead. Of course Mick and Lisa had other ideas, like reflex, aiming their weapons directly.
Barry darted in front of Mick as he was about to unleash his flames on a kid already disarmed and on the ground. "No!" He spread his arms wide to block him, even if it might mean he was at risk of getting baked himself. "Diversion and scare tactics only. No one gets fried."
Mick's eyes didn't need to be fully visible through his goggles to know he was glaring. He dropped the gun to his side. "Then get moving, Flash. There'll be worse enemies than these stupid shits in minutes, less, so hurry your ass."
Barry would have scowled in the face of basically being called too slow if he didn't get that Mick was worried. He wanted to save his friend, because for whatever reason, he and Len were close for all the times Barry had seen them argue. He'd picked up on just how much Mick cared during their planning at the labs, how many times Lisa's hand had drifted to Mick's arm or shoulder, squeezing subtly, reeling him back in from whatever distress he was feeling.
Of course their best plan wasn't much of a plan at all until the location went live. Disarm as many as they could and prevent them from falling back to wherever Cold was being held, so that once they reached their target, there wouldn't be as many of these kids to face off against or to use Len as leverage.
The heart of the plan was still happening through Barry's com, as Cisco frantically looked up blue prints on the building and started feeding options for him on where to go.
Barry whirled around and pulled back a fist as he dropped down to the kid on the ground.
"Wait!" the kid called in abject horror, hands up and shaking. "I'll fucking leave! I'll just leave! I don't want anything to do with this! Chalo's out of his damn mind!"
"Where is my brother?!" Lisa bellowed as she came around Mick to hover above Barry and the young man, her gold gun whirring dangerously. Barry trusted that it was only a threat.
"Barry," Cisco chimed in his ear, "there's a large room at the back, through a maze of different hallways to get there. A few ways are shorter than others, but there's no way to know if any of them are blocked."
There was one way. "What's the fastest route to get to them?" Barry demanded of the young man, using his speed to snatch him up by the shirt and pull him close, which definitely seemed to scare the kid more than Lisa or Mick's guns. "Talk!"
"Th-through there!" he stuttered, pointing through one of several doorways. "Main corridor to the end, then a left!"
"You better be right," Lisa growled.
"I swear, I swear!" he said, then looked at Barry like he thought nothing could be as scary as The Flash holding him by the scruff. "We thought you were the one that left him there, man. I'm sorry…shit. I don't want nothing to do with crossing you!"
Barry dropped the kid back to the floor as he stood, satisfied but bitter at the reminder that he was partly to blame for Cold being here, when a voice from a phone on the ground suddenly blared, "Rhodie, what the hell is going on!?"
Rhodie backed away from the phone, scooting frantically with his hands still raised as if to say the phone was all theirs to deal with as they wanted.
Mick snatched it up before Barry could. "I'm coming to turn you to ash, you little fuck."
"Mick!" Cold's voice yelled plainly through the speaker.
They all three shared relieved, triumphant looks, but the phone went dead after that, the other line disconnected, and Mick chucked it back to the ground. He turned his gun on Rhodie but didn't fire. He gestured with it back toward the door they'd first entered, and the kid got the message. He scrambled to his feet and darted out into the sunlight.
Barry sighed in relief, but they didn't have much time. Part of the plan was also to have remained below the radar so they could reach Cold without anyone getting itchy trigger fingers, but Mick's temper had gotten the better of him. They had to hurry.
"Let's go," Barry said, and led the way through the door Rhodie had indicated.
The building was completely without windows along the hallway, dark and humid inside, like whatever it had been used for as a factory still attempted to work on occasion, leaving the place filled with steam. Only it was damp and chilly rather than hot, like that first blast of air conditioning on a muggy day. It made Barry's suit feel like it was sticking to him even as he shivered.
There were doors all around the corridor, and an obvious fork at the end leading left and right as Rhodie had said. Barry trusted that the kid had been scared enough to offer the truth.
They moved slowly, checking the rooms on either side of them for any ambushes as they went. One was easily spotted, the kids unprepared inside as Barry came into view. He was able to dash in, disarm them, and knock them out before either Lisa or Mick even realized. But their eyes were on him through the doorway once they noticed his disappearance, distracting them from seeing movement in the room across the hall—behind them.
Barry saw it only vaguely, indistinct, but he could tell that the figure approaching was larger than any of the kids they'd seen so far and packing heavier artillery.
"Look out!" he called, and flashed forward in front of Mick and Lisa into the unknown assailant, tackling him to the ground. There was someone else behind him, Barry only saw as he landed atop the first man, ready with another gun that moved to point at Barry's head.
A blaze of bright, golden light blinded him a moment, and when he looked back up, the gun that had been trained on him was now fused to the new assailant's hand in a mottle of gold.
Barry felt a strong grip on the back of his suit yank him upright, a little intimated at how easily Mick hefted him from the ground and off of the man he'd tackled, who groaned and appeared to still be conscious. Lisa stepped in and kicked the man in the face, while Mick pushed Barry aside and stepped over the man on the ground to get to the one Lisa had shot—gaping wide-eyed and disbelieving at his gold-coated hand—and pistol whipped him with the butt of his gun.
"You know…frying them would be faster," Mick grumbled, though Barry got the distinct impression Mick was actually a little amused.
So he decided to reply in kind. "I get enough of faster. For some things, I can be patient. And thanks," he added at both of them with a look to the downed men, though he wasn't only grateful for the rescue—they'd actually listened to him and shown some restraint.
Mick offered a noncommittal grunt, but Lisa crouched down beside the man Barry had first bowled over in the doorway. She shook her head. "I recognize these two. They're from Santini. They must have been close when the location went live. We're out of time, Flash, so you better start liking being fast again, because if they got in," she gestured into the room at a busted window as she rose from the ground, "other aren't far behind."
They hurried back into the corridor and continued at a faster pace, Barry still on point as he watched for any other attempts at ambush, but the original group of young men didn't appear to be that numerous.
They hit the fork at the end of the corridor and turned left as Rhodie had instructed, only to see that the door at the end of this new hallway was open—and Barry could clearly see Cold within, tied to a chair, an indecipherable expression on his face as their eyes met. Time stilled.
Then the kid with the cold gun stepped into view, and two others on guard inside the door darted around from the sides to open fire.
Barry flashed back around the corner, pulling Mick and Lisa with him. They waited until the first barrage of bullets finished, then Barry bounced on the balls of his feet, ready to flash back into action. "I could see him. I can get to him."
"Wait," Lisa hissed, grabbing the front of his suit to hold him still. "You said nobody dies, and I said no dumb heroics. Think smart, Flash. Mick, you cover him," she turned to her companion. "Light the hallway up so those idiots have to duck out of the way, then Flash will have a better chance to slip through undetected."
Barry was impressed. He'd always assumed all of the strategy came from Len, but Lisa was no slouch either. He looked to Mick for confirmation, and the larger man lit up with a grin. He pressed himself to the wall, gun ready, then started firing before he'd even fully turned to walk his way down the hallway, howling like a beast to add to the fear he was sure to instill in their enemies.
Barry followed behind Mick, staying at his back, and waited for the moment when Mick finally stopped firing to flash around him right through the open door.
Everything stilled again as Barry moved as fast as he could in a straight line right toward Cold. As he crossed the threshold, he saw the two young men who had been firing around the door both having dived for cover on either side as predicted, covering themselves to protect them from flames that were no longer fanning toward them. He saw a kid in the corner to the left clutching a laptop, unarmed and terrified. Then he saw the kid Rhodie had called Chalo, the leader, the one from the picture with Cold on the web, still holding the cold gun.
But he wasn't aiming at the entrance. He had the gun trained on Len—and he'd already pulled the trigger.
A blast of ice was in mid-eruption from the end of the cold gun. Despite the incoming danger, Len's eyes focused on nothing but Barry as he dashed into the room. Len knew what was coming, but he didn't look afraid. He just stared at Barry's impending approach, and that wash of grief Barry had seen in the camera footage outside S.T.A.R. Labs filled his expression in awful slow motion, almost making Barry trip over his own feet.
He wasn't going to be fast enough. He wasn't going to make it before Len was hit with the ice.
He watched it all unfolding like a still motion picture, the way Len looked at him without trying to hide any of the emotion clear on his face, and then closed his eyes, accepting his fate, because he knew…he knew Barry couldn't save him.
"No!" Barry cried as he knocked the cold gun from Chalo's hands, sending the remaining blast of ice careening off to the left to hit the wall before it finally stopped and the gun clattered to the floor. But the damage was done. Len was completely covered in ice, head to toe, engulfed.
Chalo whirled to face Barry with a snarl, and Barry didn't think, couldn't think of anything but Len frozen in ice, didn't even recognize that he was howling in anger until his fist connected with the kid's jaw and dropped him with an eerily reminiscent crack to how he'd downed Len earlier. Only unlike Len, the kid was flat out unconscious, and good for him; Barry wasn't sure what he would have done if he'd had to hear that asshole spout off any smug remarks.
Lisa screamed when she and Mick entered the room behind him, and as Barry came back to his senses, he worried they'd take out the remaining young men in the room in their fury. But when he turned, he saw Mick cowering the kids from the doorway into a corner, threatening them with his gun but not using it. The kid with the laptop stayed huddled where he was, knowing better than to make any foolish moves.
Lisa rushed forward to join Barry with a look of utter panic and horror on her face as she took in the full sight of Len in ice. "Flash," she choked out.
"Cisco," Barry spoke into his com, "you made the cold gun non-lethal. What does that mean?"
"Wait, what? What are you—"
"If someone's completely covered, how long do they have?!" Barry shouted.
Cisco got with the program instantly. "The new settings for the gun mimic cryogenics, but not fully. If the thawing process can start in a few minutes, the person who's frozen should be able to come out of it without any permanent damage. But it has to be immediately if they were fully covered." He paused only for a moment as his mind began to work in overdrive. "There's that giant tub in the floor below us. If we fill it with lukewarm water and slowly heat it…"
"Do it," Barry ordered. "Get things ready. I'll be there in under a minute if I can manage." He centered his gaze on Lisa. "You and Mick have to get out of here. Joe and Eddie have the police on their way, and you know others will be coming. Meet me at the labs."
Lisa's eyes were damp with tears and indecision, but she nodded, looking at Barry with such devout trust, he felt weighted down and knew there'd be hell to pay if he failed her. She looked to the lightning bolts at the side of his mask as she spoke. "Cisco…please…"
"Shit, shit…" was Cisco's response, which she thankfully couldn't hear. Barry picked up the distinct sound of Cisco running, darting through the labs to the elevator, and heard Caitlin calling after him, hot on his heels.
"We'll save him," Barry promised Lisa, a hand on her shoulder, a momentary squeeze in support, then he looked past her at Mick, who also looked stricken and unsure in a way Barry had never seen before, but also ready to get both himself and Lisa out of there, Barry had no doubt.
So he turned to Cold—to Len—frozen in ice from his own gun, and Barry didn't feel any of the justified anger and self-satisfaction he once thought he'd feel seeing his enemy done in. He just wanted to make sure Len was okay, to talk to him again, demand an explanation for that last haunted expression he'd thrown him, looking like he wanted nothing more than to tell Barry he was sorry.
If that was true then Barry wasn't letting him get away without offering that apology someday—not a chance in hell. He grasped the encasement of ice as best he could, and flashed out of the building in the direction of S.T.A.R. Labs.
TBC...