Within Seconds: Sylas & Allen

All In His Head

Stunning Parker into silence didn't happen often. Death was a decent factor to it. But, this time, it wasn't Jay Garrick's death that silenced her. Thinking of how Caitlin was going to react to yet another man being stripped away from her, well, that hit Parker straight in her gut. At that point, it seemed as though the world wanted to break them,enough for it to break the team from within.

I don't know that anyone expected Caitlin to automatically react in anything except denial. "He's not dead. He's not dead," she mumbled to herself, staring at the spot where the breach once stood.

"Caitlin," said Barry softly.

"He's not dead, he's not. He's not."

"Cait," whispered Parker.

Caitlin shook her head wildly. Her brow furrowed, her lips turned upside down. She smacked away Cisco's outstretched hands. "This isn't happening. This isn't happening again."

Cisco left his hands outstretched. He waited, for her to finally decide she didn't want to be around anyone. She grabbed his hand. He led her from the basement, sending a nod to Parker, ensuring he had her taken care of for the time being.

Barry broke the stunned silence. "Open it."

"Allen," said Harry.

Barry took a step for him. Harry took a step back. "Open it up. I need to go back," he said.

"I can't do that."

"Open it up!"

"Allen!" shouted Harry. "The breaches are closed. All the breaches are closed."

"Why can't we just open one?" asked Joe.

"The quark matter energy we used to seal the breaches, it prevents them from being opened, ever again," said Harry. His voice lowered. "There's no going back to our world."

Jessie perked up. "Wait... We're trapped here for good?"

"Yes."

"We can't let Zoom get away with this," said Barry. "He just murdered Jay right in front of us."

"There has to be something we can do," said Iris.

"There's not," said Parker.

"Not this time. It's over," said Harry.

Barry watched the place where the breach once stood. He shook his head. "No," he said, then hopped the steps, jogging away from the basement.

Parker followed. "Barry, Barry," she called after him. He stopped. "Listen to me..."

"I know what you're going to say," he said.

"What do you expect to do, Barry?" she asked.

"I have to do something."

"We made a decision to close the breaches, to seal off Zoom forever. We have to live with that. We have to live with what he did to Jay. And we have to let it go. You can't do anything to Zoom without jeopardizing this world. Is Jay worth that to you?"

"He is to Caitlin," said Barry. He squeezed her hip, a gesture for strength, then stepped into the Cortex after Cisco and Caitlin.

Parker waited outside. She tried not to eavesdrop on their conversation, but the empty halls of S.T.A.R. Labs made the echo of their voices project.

"How's she doing?" asked Barry.

"Not good. Tried to get her to go home, but she refused to leave, so, you know, I just sat with her until she fell asleep," replied Cisco.