Percy
When I wake, I'm not in the hotel. I rub the sleep out of my eyes, my arms and legs still drowsy from the peaceful nap I had. I quickly gaze around at my surroundings and I let my body relax from its tense. I was back in S.T.A.R. Labs, and I believe I was just sleeping in the medical bed in the med bay, although I'm not sure why. I'm ninety percent sure I wasn't hurt. That other ten percent wasn't exactly sure.
I heard a muffled conversation, but more like an argument, coming from the Cortex. I step out of bed and walk down where Barry, Wells, and Joe were near the computer screens. And as I guessed, Barry was arguing with Wells and Joe, but I couldn't tell what the problem was.
"It's for your own good, Barry," Wells says in a calm state, exactly the opposite of Barry's. I was surprised at his emotions right now, just earlier, he seemed so collected. I looked at the clock on the wall and it read 5:32. I slept for longer than I anticipated. But outside said otherwise. From the windows, the sun was still high, but gradually setting.
"My own good?" Barry repeats, insulted at the words. He staggers back and looks at the two men with disgust in his eyes. I knew this wasn't my conversation to listen to, but what was I supposed to do? The only exit in the room is between me and them.
I slid back into the room and pressed my back against the wall, listening closely.
"You're too close to this," Joe begins but at that, Barry goes on a rampage. And despite our little encounter earlier, I feel bad for Joe at the moment.
"I'm too close to this? Maybe you're not close enough! Maybe if you told me that he was here, what, three weeks ago? I could've been prepared." His teeth grind together and even though I can't see him, I feel the anger in his body rising.
"Now, now. You shouldn't blame Joe for wanting to keep Iris safe, Barry." He tuts.
"That's why I have to be here! I'm your best and pretty much only chance at catching this guy!"
"Percy is right there in the med bay, do you not find him capable of handling the Reverse Flash? Are you doubting his abilities?" Wells asks and I resist the urge to stumble back at his words.
"No, I'm not, he's a strong kid but his abilities mean nothing up against the Reverse Flash. It's just that he could incapacitate Percy before the blink of an eye. I'm the only one who matches his speed."
"Not in this state, you aren't," Joe adds and Barry just sighs in despair.
"This is my fight."
"Not today, Barry."
With that, I peak my head around the wall and watch as Barry storms out of the room without another word. And for once, I think Joe and Dr. Wells did the right thing.
After a long exhale, Joe asks Wells, "do you think we did the right thing?"
"I do, I really do. He's safer back in his lab at CCPD, not here."
"Yeah, yeah, you're right." Joe says before walking out of the Cortex, Wells follows behind.
•••
With the Cortex empty, I hop out of the med bay. I try to shake their conversation out of my head while I search for Annabeth. It doesn't take long before I find her and Cisco in his lab, tinkering with some machine. "Sleeping Beauty is finally awake," Annabeth punches me in the arm playfully as I walk towards her. I engulf her in a hug before I reply.
"Don't judge, I was tired," I pout.
In response, she just laughs.
"Ugh, you guys are so overwhelmingly cute, it's making me sick. I'm out of here," Cisco raises his hands in mid-air and walks out the room. I cast Annabeth a funny look, and I laugh.
"Are you worried about tonight?" she asks, immediately changing the mood of our conversation.
The end of my mouth tugs downwards. "A little. But it's nothing we haven't done before, right?"
"I mean, technically, we haven't encountered a man who can run at super-speed yet, so this is a first."
"You got a point." But before Annabeth can respond, Cisco pokes his head in the lab, looking at us.
"I thought our love was too overbearing for you, Cisco," Annabeth mocks him and he just replies with a groan and a roll of his eyes.
"Eddie's here with his task force. We're meeting in the Cortex, and Caitlin wanted me to tell you guys," he said in almost one breath and left as soon as he came.
Annabeth hops off her stool and leaves the room. "Better get dressed, Seaweed Brain, unless you want them to know your identity," she called out behind her as she left. After a minute of putting on my suit (Why is the belt buckle so complicated, Cisco?), I entered the Cortex, where a group of people were awaiting us. I noticed the blonde detective in the middle of the group. You could barely distinguish any of his cop friends. They all wore black vests and armor, all carrying similar rifles in their hands. The only piece of skin you could see were their eyes.
They looked at me and I looked at them. "Sup," I said, nodding at the cops and they nod back. I want to give the blonde detective I now recognize as Eddie a dirty look, but since my hero identity, Hydro, (don't judge, it wasn't my idea. I got that name after helping Barry with this guy called Mark Mardon who could control the weather), has no history with Eddie, it would be too suspicious.
And Iris had thought it would be cute to post in one of her blogs to dub me as "Hydro." And, come on, Iris. What kind of name is that? I'll need to have a conversation with her about that.
Annabeth and I lean against the wall as Cisco hops in his chair and immediately starts typing. After a quick moment, he hits the 'enter' key and looks at us.
"Just sent out a pulse."
The screens on the desk and the tv's all around the room displayed the same thing: security cameras showing the trap down in the basement. It was empty, but the suspense was killing me.
"How do we know this trap is going to work?" I ask.
"Because I helped make it," Cisco said, smiling. I give him an unimpressed look.
"Kidding, sorry. I sent up about three charges into an open satellite. So, I mean, if anyone's looking for tachyonic particles, they'll find them here." As soon as the words left his lips, I almost jumped back as the Reverse Flash got caught in the trap. I wasn't certain it would work, but watching the Reverse Flash trapped in the invisible barrier, I knew my doubts were wrong. The Reverse Flash attempted to punch at the invisible walls, but it was no use.
"Let's go see what we caught, hm?" Wells suggests and we all go down to the basement.
•••
When we burst open the doors of the room, the only light that illuminated the room was the Reverse Flash's glowing, red eyes. That was until the CCPD task force came in and the flashlights on their rifles added more light. "Cisco, lights!" Wells shouts.
Cisco turns the lights on in the room from his spot upstairs, safe and sound. The lights flicker for a moment before turning on completely. The task force aims their guns at the Reverse Flash, in case of anything. But his raging moment was over, and he stood in his spot, looking over all of us.
Annabeth scans the room quickly and whispers so that no one except I could hear her, "Where's Barry?"
I was surprised she didn't figure it out sooner. "They didn't want him here," I whisper back. "He's back at CCPD."
Returning my attention back to the scene in front of me, I noticed Eddie, who was standing a few feet in front of me, was shaking badly. He was scared, and he had every right to be.
"Detective Thawne? You may read him his rights," Wells says expectantly but Eddie just trembles in response. He wasn't this scared when going against Snart and Rory. He was also the one who insisted on coming here. But before Eddie can say anything, Joe steps up to the Reverse Flash, causing everyone to widen their eyes.
"You murdered Nora Allen fourteen years ago," Joe asks. "I want to know why."
But when the Reverse Flash finally speaks after moments of silence, he doesn't speak to Joe. "Dr. Wells, nice to finally meet you."
Wells rolls closer and after another pause, he says, "What do you want with the tachyonic particles?"
"My goals are beyond your understanding."
"Oh, really? I wouldn't underestimate my smarts. I knew any trap we manufactured would have to be invisible due to your speed. And I knew your cells could repair themselves at extraordinary speeds so you can withstand the damage this trap is doing to your body at this moment. I know this because your powers are exactly like those of the Flash," he states with a finish that sends alarm bells ringing through my head. I couldn't see the Reverse Flash clearly due to his face vibrating, but I could swear he was smirking.
"Oh, but I'm not like the Flash. Some would say. . . I'm the Reverse."
We all stay rigid in our spots, not daring to move. But Caitlin's voice booms through the speakers in the room, startling everyone. "Evacuate! Right now! Get out of there now!"
Everything after happened so fast, that without my demigod senses, I would never have been able to track what happened. The Reverse Flash had somehow managed to break out of his prison, and he grabbed Wells from his wheelchair. Now, they were both in the trap. And the Reverse Flash was beating Dr. Wells to the pulp.
Even through his fast movements, I saw he was kicking and punching. And nobody could do anything about it. I felt everyone tense around me, all thinking the same thing: what a mistake we started. "Cisco! Turn off the barrier!" Joe shouts.
Cisco just replies, "If I do, that thing is going to get out! I can't risk it!"
He doesn't refer to the Reverse Flash as a he, but more so a thing. As he should. Watching him hurt Wells goes far past what a human being would do. Instead of waiting for Cisco to turn it off, Joe grabs an enormous wrench from a table and hits the computers with it. To my right, Annabeth let out an audible gasp. I knew she was hurt that Joe was ruining her hard work, but we both knew it was necessary. Dr. Wells was going to die if we left him there. And as much as I was suspicious of him, he didn't deserve to die. Joe hits it over and over again before the barrier turns off. And at that, everything goes more wrong than it already did.
The trap is broken and The Reverse Flash immediately runs out and grabs the tachyon prototype off its pedestal and disappears. We all breathe heavily as everyone with weapons aims their guns in the air, watching out for the speedster. "Find him!" Eddie yells.
I hold my stance and so does Annabeth. But I felt a pair of eyes stare down my back. I knew that feeling all too well, and I spun around. Unsurprisingly, the Reverse Flash stands near the entrance.
Everyone follows my movements and aims their guns at the Reverse Flash. "Do not move, or we will shoot," Eddie said. As much as I wanted the Reverse Flash gone, I knew that the CCPD's weapons were no match against the evil speedster. He could kill most of the people in this room in a millisecond. Seeing the lightning flickering around him, I decided that it was time to act.
I summoned water from my utility belt and I sent a blast of water towards him, knocking him down. Immediately, I froze the water, encasing him from the neck down in a block of ice. For a moment I had thought that we had won. Before I could say anything, however, I noticed the smirk plastered on the Reverse Flash's face, the exact same smirk he had just a few seconds ago before breaking out of the forcefield. Oh, no, I thought to myself, before the Reverse Flash vibrated through the ice and ran at me. I tried jumping out of the way, but he moved too fast, and knocked me across the room. I could feel a few on my ribs crack on the impact, groaning in pain, I look up.
He runs around in a red and yellow blur. He goes towards every man in the task force and when he stops moving, they all tumble to the floor in heaps. I gasped at that, barely comprehending what happened. It was hard to tell if they were alive due to their chunky clothing, but I think I already knew the answer to my own question. Eddie and Joe are the only ones still standing.
The Reverse Flash goes up to Eddie, and they hold eye contact. But it ends when Joe fires shots at the speedster. A failed attempt, of course, but a good effort. He pushes Eddie on the ground and runs to Joe. He pushes Joe against the trap, keeping him in a choke hold. Even though they were far away, I could still hear the Reverse Flash's cold, raspy voice. "I told you to stop hunting me."
And with that, he leaves Joe to slip to the ground, still conscious, thankfully. After that, I'd hoped everything was over with, but I knew the Reverse Flash had more tricks up his sleeve. Before I even realized what was happening, I felt a hand at my throat, and I'm pushed against the wall, fear stopping me from making a very inappropriate joke. Annabeth calls my name, but her voice seems so distant that it hurt. The Reverse Flash was so close to me, it reminded me of our last encounter. "I gave you your chance to leave, Perseus, now others will pay the price."
I feel his hand leave my throat and I drop to the ground, letting out a loud breath as air freely comes to my lungs. I sigh, thinking that the torture was over, but I was wrong. He really meant it when he said others would pay the price because it was only a second after I was dropped, when I heard Annabeth scream. I whip my head towards her, just in time to see Annabeth collapse onto the floor, with a blur of red lightning streaking out the door.
——
I love cliffhangers. Don't you?