EXPEDITE ▇▇▇▇ VOLUME ONE
━━ ❛ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔 ❜
chapter no. 028!
ZOOM TAKES OVER CENTRAL CITY
Some people are calling it the meta-pocalypse, the days when Central City was overrun by an army with powers beyond imagination. But in these dark times, we must never forget our own strength, our own power to fight back. That it is only in the blackest of nights that we can truly see the light and know for sure we are not alone. We are never, ever, alone.
Lowering the newspaper as they stepped out of the elevator, Barry glanced at the reporter beside him. "Iris, this is really good. Thank you for giving people the hope they need to get through this," he complimented, handing the newspaper back to her.
Iris smiled widely. "Thanks, that means a lot, and the people need to know things will be okay. We'll get our city back," she replied, not thoroughly convinced by her own words.
"Guys," Cisco breathed, running up to the two. "You have to come see this." Turning around, he ran back to the Cortex, two sets of footsteps following.
Furrowing his brows, Barry frowned. "Cisco, what are you... Caitlin?!" he gasped, immediately speeding to her side. The brunette sat on a stool, her eyes wide and roaming the room.
Sighing, Henry Allen, who had recently decided to move back to Central City, looked at his son. "She's in shock. A little... dehydrated and malnourished, but I think she'll be fine," he observed, taking her pulse to ensure her heartbeat was normal. Caitlin sent the team a wobbly smile, tears in her eyes.
Barry crouched down, placing a hand on her knee as he stared at her worriedly. "What happened? How did you get away?" he asked, watching as she shrugged shakily.
"He let me go. I didn't think he would, but he said it was too dangerous for me to stay with him, so he let me go." Caitlin answered quietly, biting down on her lip.
"Dangerous?" Iris echoed, her brows scrunching together.
Caitlin nodded, tears sliding down her cheeks.
"Snow," Harry began, "Hunter's not here. You're safe."
The woman shook her head frantically, looking around at everyone else. "It's not him I'm worried about. It's Aureolin. She's going to overrun the city with Zoom. You can't stop her." She placed her head in her hands as more tears fell.
Barry turned to look at Cisco, who was just as lost as he was. Jesse opened her mouth but then closed it, frowning. Iris raised her brows and looked at Harry, who had reacted the same way.
"Aureolin? Who— who is that?" Barry questioned, a sinking feeling beginning to weigh down his heart.
Caitlin looked up, and her bottom lip trembled. "She's the speedster that killed Piper's parents. Zoom works for her and has been for months."
"He only wanted Piper because Aureolin wanted her." Cisco gasped.
Barry pushed down the lump in his throat, feeling his eyes begin to water. Based on what the purple speedster had told them about her parent's killer, she was ruthless and careless. She didn't care about anything or anyone. The only thing she cared about was hurting Piper, which meant...
"Caitlin, where is Piper?" Barry choked out, his voice sounding like a hoarse whisper.
Looking at one of her best friends, tears began to pool in her eyes again. "I-I don't know," she whispered, gulping. "The last time I saw her, she was with Aureolin and two other men from Earth-Four."
Barry stood and pressed his lips together, turning around and running his hands through his hair. He squeezed his eyes shut and breathed in heavily.
"How long ago was that?" Harry asked, glancing at the brown-haired man who was on the verge of another breakdown.
Barry had been extremely susceptible to emotional and mental breakdowns during the past two weeks. When he was out as the Flash, he wasn't running as fast as he normally did and wasn't as motivated to save people as he was when he was with Piper. He frequently took breaks from team meetings and had called out of work several times. All he did was pace, worry, and cry. Nobody had seen him in this state of stress and brokenness before.
Last week, Joe called Henry Allen, asking him to come back and help with Barry. Since he arrived, Barry had improved but not by much.
"A little over two weeks ago..." Caitlin murmured, looking down at her hands guiltily. She felt like it was her fault. She should have said something when Aureolin and her henchmen inspected Piper's body. She should have said something instead of sitting there quietly— a bystander. Maybe if she had spoken up, things would have gone differently, but she would never know now.
Jesse stepped forward, crossing her arms. "Do you know if she's still alive?" she asked hesitantly, her eyes trailing over to Barry. Her question hit the speedster like a tsunami, and he turned around.
"Piper's alive. She's alive." Barry shook his head, and the brown-haired girl frowned.
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Cisco shot him a look. There wasn't much left that the scarlet speedster was holding onto. If they took away his hope, what would be left?
────
THE IMPACT OF HER BODY SLAMMING ON CONCRETE NEARLY SHATTERED HER FROM THE INSIDE OUT. Groaning, Piper Lita turned onto her side slowly, her vision blurring. "Return her to Team Flash when you get the chance. Once you get Allen to agree, we'll be back." Jeremiah spoke from the doorway of Barry's lab at CCPD. Pressing down again on the disc, he disappeared in a whirl of blue.
Hunter Zoloman moved his eyes to the redhead who was struggling to sit up. If one were to stare at her, they'd notice how her shirt was covered in dirt, blood, and gashes and revealed all the bruises painted on her. Her leggings were torn in random areas, and she was barefoot, her feet sprinkled with dry blood.
Frowning slightly, the blonde made his way over to her, crouching down. "Here," he stated, offering out his hands to her.
Looking from his hands to his face, she reluctantly let him help her up. Once her feet made solid contact with the floor for the first time in what felt like forever, her knees buckled at the weight of her body. Catching her, Hunter witnessed how her body trembled at his touch.
"Do you want to sit down for a second?" he suggested, to which she responded with a nod.
Placing her in Barry's office chair, he stepped back and stood there stiffly. There was nothing he could do with her. She was injured beyond meta-human healing and couldn't even stand. It was clear to him, and anyone else who saw her, that she was broken. Not just physically but emotionally and mentally. What happened to her on Earth- two after he and Caitlin left was the thing of nightmares. He'd never beaten someone to the point that Piper Lita was at in this movement.
"Can you talk?" Hunter asked, peering down. She shook her head, wincing as she sat back in the chair. The speedster sighed, crossing his arms as he watched her close her eyes and breathe in and out deeply. "Do you want me to take you to S.T.A.R. Labs?" he muttered. Another nod.
Speeding in and out of the room, he came back as in his suit, blue lightning breaking off him in forked cracks. Walking over, he picked her up in his arms and stared at her peculiarly through his mask as she wrapped her arms around his neck. After making sure he was holding onto her tight enough, he dashed off.
The city whooshed by in a mountain of colors, the sounds of horns honking and laughter filling the hundreds of streets.
Bursting through the front doors of S.T.A.R. Labs, Zoom raced to the Cortex. As he traveled down corridors, he could hear various voices growing closer.
"I can open another breach, and we can do another snatch and grab mission."
"Ramon, you have suggested that over ten times. Stop. The answer is still no."
"You know what? I really don't appreciate your negative-ass attitude. Maybe I'll just open a breach and send you somewhere random right now."
"I really don't appreciate you only having one completely and utterly pointless idea. Lita is more than likely already gone."
"Guys, can we please just stop—" Barry's voice was cut off by a streak of blue lightning passing by where he stood next to the computers in the Cortex. Harry quickly pulled out his bazooka, and Joe held up his gun, ready to fire.
Coming to a stop, Zoom stared gravely at everyone. "I believe I have something that's yours." Everybody's eyes darted to the woman, who was barely conscious.
"Piper!" Caitlin yelped, rushing from where she sat in one of the side rooms.
"What the hell did you do to her?!" Barry shouted, his eyes wide with fury as he stared at the bloodied and damaged body of the woman he'd been missing like crazy.
Ignoring his question, Zoom placed her in a chair, ensuring she wouldn't slide off. Piper's eyes fluttered open, and she groaned, wincing at the sharp pain in her chest.
"Be careful. Meta-human healing won't fix her this time." Zoom growled before darting out.
The sound of footsteps bounded towards the redhead, and she forced herself to glance up, her eyes settling on Barry first. Ordinarily, she'd smile, regardless of how much pain she was in, but that part of her was absent at the moment.
"Piper, what happened?"
"Are you okay?"
"Did Zoom do this?"
"How are you feeling?"
"Are you in any pain?"
Questions came at her from the left and right, hitting her in the head each time. The number of voices speaking all at once was overwhelming, and she could feel her hands begin to shake.
"Stop talking. All of you. She's in shock, and everybody crowding her and talking all at once will only worsen the pain or trigger some form of PTSD. All of you need to give her room to breathe." A voice that Piper recognized spoke, and she looked up to see Henry Allen staring down at her.
Lowering himself to her eye level, he gave her a gentle smile. "I assume you know who I am?" he whispered. Nodding slightly, she winced. "Good, well, it's finally nice to meet you. Barry always talks about you; you're special to him. Can you stand?" Henry whispered, his voice low enough to where only she could hear him. She shook her head. "Can you talk?" Another shake.
"Is it okay if I move you to a hospital bed? That way, you will be more comfortable, and we can examine your injuries." His eyes racked over the pain that had been inflicted on the girl. Frowning, he sighed quietly. She nodded.
Reaching under her legs and scooping his hand behind her back, he carefully and slowly picked her up. Walking to the left side room, he placed her on the bed, giving her a small smile.
Everyone else walked in and surrounded the bed. Erin, Iris, Caitlin, and Joe had tears in their eyes. Harry was rubbing his temple, worry plastered across his face, an emotion he rarely showed. Jesse was tapping her foot anxiously as she watched Piper with blurry eyes. Cisco's eyes were red, and he was trying to hold himself together at the sight of his best friend's body. Lastly, Barry had a few tears slowly melting down his cheeks, and he pressed his lips together.
Picking up Piper's left arm, Henry examined the cut that ran around the rim of her wrist. It was dark red, almost black in some areas, and cut into her skin deeply on the bottom side. There were strokes of purple and blue scattered randomly across her arm and a few cuts. His eyes trained back to the cut around her wrist, and he furrowed his brows, having an inkling of what caused a cut that deep.
"Piper," he began, causing her eyes to drift to him, "were you handcuffed?"
"No, Caitlin!" Piper screamed, thrashing in her chains, desperately trying to break free. The team watched, amused.
After a few seconds, she gave up, sighing as the muscles in her back were growing sore. She could feel the rim of the handcuffs slicing into her wrists, and she grimaced. Walking up, Zakai, the other person she recognized, pushed her hair away and wrapped his hands around the back of her neck. Running his fingertips along the chain of her necklace, he pulled it out from underneath the suit.
Shivers were sent down her spine, distracting her from the burning pain that she was experiencing due to being only held up by her arms. She watched nervously as he pressed down on the silver heart charm. Her suit and eyepiece retracted back into it, leaving her in leggings, converse, and a sweatshirt.
Blinking, she looked back to the ceiling.
Taking that as a yes, Henry frowned. "How long were they on you? A few days or the whole time?" he asked kindly, not wanting to trigger an anxiety attack.
Unsteadily, she held up two fingers, indicating it was the latter of the two. "The whole time?" She nodded.
Henry looked at Caitlin and sighed. "She can't stand, walk, or talk. From what I can see right now, she's suffering from Hematoma in multiple areas of her body. More specifically, from her clavicle down her to coxa, possibly even to her pelvic bones. This would explain why the bruising in those areas are much darker and thinner, making them more painful to the touch."
The heroine was lying flat on her back, her eyes directed at the ceiling as she tried to go to the headspace she'd been living in for days on end now. "Piper," Caitlin spoke softly, her voice causing the woman to flinch. "Can we lift up your shirt? We need to see more of your injuries." Piper nodded.
Everybody watched as Caitlin carefully pulled up the blood and dirt-stained shirt. Erin's hand flew up to her mouth, and she turned away, her body shaking with silent sobs.
Harry ran his hands over his face, glancing away and up to the ceiling, mumbling quietly to himself.
"Oh, my— no. No." Barry whispered, falling into the chair beside the bed. Covering his face, he leaned forward, and his tears leaked through his fingers.
Piper's stomach was a rainstorm of blacks, blues, purples, reds, pinks, and browns. All the colors collided with one another in a cluster of chaos. Towards her upper chest rested the pink and brown discs of affliction, overlapping with streaks of bright red. Horizontal, precisely thin cuts ran across her lower chest, looking more recent than the others. Below them swirled an array of dusty blues and purples, small strokes of black peeking out from underneath.
A long, jagged cut was splattered diagonally on her stomach. It began in the mess of blue and purple and ended in the black, red, and purple puddle down near her hip bones.
Henry slowly felt tears of his own rise as he stared at the damage. She was only twenty-six, the same age as Barry. She was too young to ever experience such torment.
"P-Piper, I'm going to have to feel around some so I can check for any bleeding or fractures. Is that okay?" Caitlin asked shakily, wiping away her tears as she slid on surgical gloves.
Piper looked at her and nodded slightly, averting her eyes back to the ceiling. She preferred it to the concrete basement she'd been kept in at Brenner Labs.
Feeling Caitlin's cold hands brush against her stomach, she involuntarily flinched, squeezing her eyes shut on instinct. "It's just me, okay? You're safe." Caitlin whispered, knowing she was more than likely scared out of her mind or experiencing flashbacks. The brunette ran her fingers over her stomach and ensured her touches were light. Noticing a dip in her chest, Caitlin brought her hands to where the left side of Piper's rib cage was.
Heavy breaths of air exhaled from Jeremiah's lips as he threw another blow, watching in sick satisfaction as her body fell backward, the sound of chains rattling. He swung his leg up and kicked her chest, smirking as he heard a groan of pain.
"Step aside, Hogan. It's his turn, isn't it? Director Miles Warren?" Athena quipped, raising a mock-curious brow as she shoved the man forward. Fumbling over his own two feet, Miles fell to the ground with a thud.
Zakai stepped forward and picked him up, making sure the collar around his neck was still fastened tightly. Spinning the man towards the dangling woman, he stepped back.
"Go ahead, Miles. Don't be shy." Athena called, waving softly to the redhead whose eyes were wide, staring at her friend, and partner, in shock.
Growing bored with how slow things were proceeding, Jeremiah pressed down on the switch in his hands, watching as purple lightning sputtered from the collar and electrocuted Miles. Screams of pain echoed, and Piper felt tears fall down her cheeks.
"Either hit her, or you die. Which one is it?" Hogan asked, crossing his arms.
Miles was panting heavily as he made eye contact with Piper, his eyes foggy and bruised. It was apparent that she wasn't the only one being tortured for fun either.
"It's okay, Miles. It's okay." Piper choked out, pushing down the lump in her throat.
Lie.
The MHTF Director shook his head, refusing.
"I'm not going to let you die; hit me. I can take it." Piper lied again, feeling the handcuffs cut into her wrists more.
The man with black hair finally nodded, straightening up his posture. Bringing his fist up, he collided with her rib cage. The sound of bones cracking could be heard, and she cried.
As soon as Caitlin's fingers touched the bruised skin, Piper immediately screamed, shaking her head side-to-side frantically. Bringing her hands up, she pushed Caitlin away. Sobs racked up her spine, and tears automatically spilled over. Clutching her hands to her chest, she squeezed her eyes and sobbed, every fiber of her being shaking compulsively.
The panic swimming in her abdomen was a cluster of sparklers as she could feel the tension boiling into her muscles and bones, her mind replaying her own words: "I can take it." Like a horror movie, the words played again and again in her mind, as if somehow her brain was unwilling to let the memory go in its attempt to revisit the past.
Moving quickly, the brunette made room for Barry as he approached her. "Piper, hey, hey, breathe. I'm right here, okay? You're safe. You're home." The sound of his voice broke through her wall of torment, and her breathing slowed. Noticing this, he reached down and touched her hand. Almost instantaneously, Piper curled her fingers around his hand, allowing him to slowly pull hers away from her face.
Barry felt a tear of his own fall as he wiped away Piper's, resting his hand on her cheek.
Leaning into his touch, Piper hiccupped, her breathing beginning to slow down the longer she held eye contact with him.
"You're home."
────
NEARLY ALL THE LIGHTS IN THE BUILDING WERE OFF. The windows were shut, and the only voices to be heard were hushed and anxious. Harry had gone around the facility, shutting all blinds and turning off all the lights. The recently recovered speedster needed as much rest as possible, and they wanted to ensure she got it peacefully.
She slept on the hospital bed in a side room in the Cortex. Caitlin had given her heavy pain medications earlier, knocking her out. She slept soundly in sweatpants and Barry's S.T.A.R. Labs shirt that he'd been wearing earlier. To change her quickly without her feeling any pain, the team had gotten Barry to change her. At first, he was opposed to the idea; he didn't want the first time he undressed her to happen purely because she needed to be without experiencing pain. However, after she'd given him a weak thumbs-up, he did it and did his best not to look.
Henry and Caitlin had just finished whispering to everyone the results of the tests and scans they were able to take of Piper's body when Joe sighed heavily, running a hand down his face. "Meta-human healing really isn't going to help this time, is it?" he asked, dreading the answer to the question everyone had been thinking.
The brunette looked up from the x-ray in her hand, lowering it. "No, it's not. I'm not even sure if she still has her speed." Caitlin admitted.
"Why wouldn't she? No matter how much you hurt a meta-human, their powers don't disappear." Jesse spoke, furrowing her brows.
Averting his eyes away from Piper, Cisco shook his head. "That's not necessarily true. We don't know what chemicals, along with dark matter, were transferred when Piper was hit by the Experitron Lumination Modificator Engine explosion. The technology and science on her Earth are far more advanced than ours. There's no way for us to know for sure how much damage her body can take before it affects her speed. With Barry, he can only exhaust so much speed until he slows down and loses it temporarily for a day or two," the long-haired boy explained, gesturing to the scarlet speedster.
"I ran a test on her DNA, looking for dark matter..." Caitlin whispered, playing with her hands as everyone directed their attention to her. "There wasn't any. One of Aureolin's friends scanned Piper's body when we were on Earth-Two. There was no trace of dark matter in her system then, and there isn't any now."
Barry looked over to where Piper lay; shallow and even breaths left her lips slowly.
Harry rubbed his forehead, staring down at the ground. "We need to find out what happened to her and her speed. If she doesn't have her speed, it could take months for her to completely heal physically," the scientist stated, sliding off his glasses.
Disregarding the conversation at hand, Barry walked away and into the side room. Growing closer, he sat down in the chair next to the bed and reached for her hand. He interlaced their fingers and brought her hand up, pressing a soft kiss to it. With his other hand, he brushed some hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear before scooting the chair closer. Keeping their fingers locked, he pressed another kiss to her hand.
Tears began to brim in his eyes, and he looked to the floor, squeezing his eyes shut.
He couldn't remember the last time he had a peaceful night's sleep since Zoom took her. Every night was spent staring at the ceiling and going over every memory he had of her. The one memory, however, that he went back to the most was the night they almost kissed.
Barry could physically remember how close they were and how it felt to hold her in the way he had wanted for so long. He remembered exactly how it felt when their lips brushed and how he was less than an inch away from being able to feel her; express how he felt for her because he knew words wouldn't do justice. If only he'd had the courage to finally seal the deal before Joe and Wally came home, so many things could've happened between them.
Feeling a hand squeeze his shoulder, Barry looked up, sniffing as he brushed away his tears with his free hand.
"Hey, slugger," Henry whispered, pulling another chair up to the bed. Barry nodded slightly, unable to force the small smile off his face. "She'll be okay, son. She'll pull through from what you and everybody else have told me about her. Piper's a strong woman. I can see why you love her so much."
Barry nodded again, sniffing. "Is it that obvious?" he muttered, lightly chuckling before looking back to the redhead.
Henry chuckled, watching as his son stared at the sleeping woman with bright eyes, pure love shining in them. "It is, but it's also obvious that she loves you too. I saw how she looked at you earlier when you calmed her down. It was a look I'd never seen before, but it was powerful and held a lot of emotion within it." He smiled as his son's cheeks burned pink.
"I really need her to be okay," Barry's voice broke off, and he squeezed his eyes shut. "I-I don't know what I'll do if she isn't."
Leaning over, Henry wrapped his arm around his son and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "She'll be okay."