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Chapter Text

The term 'kidnapped' was one that triggered a number of emotions for Team Flash.

The first was always fear. Fear for their friend or loved one, and if that person's ok, of course.

The second was annoyance. How an earth does this KEEP happening to them ALL the time? It's tedious at this point.

And the third always resulted in a simple question:

"How do we get the back?"

Now, normally, it's Barry asking the question to his team mates as one of his friends are usually the ones being kidnapped as a way to get to him. So it made a terrifying change when this time the question was asked by Iris about Barry, Cisco and Caitlin instead.

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Barry had just arrived back at STAR labs after dropping a bank robber at CCPD.

He wandered down the corridor towards the Cortex with a smile on his face after a successful mission, only for that smile to instantly drop when he walked into the room.

"GUYS?!" He shrieked, running to two limp forms on the ground behind the desk.

"CISCO!!" He called, shaking his best friend harshly.

"CAITLIN?!" Neither were showing any sign of waking up.

Panic was really starting to set in as he pulled out his phone to call Harry and Joe, hoping they weren't too far away. As the phone rang, he noticed a small metal canister just under one of the desk chairs.

"Hey, Barr! What's up?" Joe asked casually.

"JOE! I just got back to the lab and Cisco and Caitlin are unconscious! I need you to get here now! I'm gonna call Harry now too." Barry explained, reaching down to pick up the canister.

"WHAT?! No, no, I'll phone Harry! Do you have any idea what happened??" Joe replied.

Barry examined the metal device, rolling it over in his hand as he tried to find the words to respond through his panic.

"I don't know. But there's this weird canister thing here in the Cortex. Maybe some kind of gas that knocked them out?" Barry wondered, looking at his friends and back to the device as he knelt down beside them.

There was silence on the other end for a moment before Joe's voice came through, even more panicked than before.

"BARRY GET OUT OF THERE!" He shouted, startling the speedster before he continued.

"IF CISCO AND CAITLIN WERE DRUGGED, THAT MEANS THE PERSON WHO DID IT MAY STILL BE THERE!! TAKE THEM AND GET OUT!" Joe explained.

Barry jumped to his feet, looking around the room and over his shoulder before dropping the canister.

Little did he know that there was a tranq gun barrel aimed directly at him from a hidden spot, across the room, in the med lab.

"Crap, ok, uh. I'm gonna run them both to the hos- AGH" He stopped, feeling a sharp pain hit his upper arm. Barry tried to look round and reach for where the pain was coming from, only to find a dart sticking into his arm.

"BARR?!... BARRY?!" Joe was calling out for him as his world began to spin around him. He dropped his phone as the drug started to take effect and he could now only hear muffled noise coming from Joe... or at least it sounded like Joe.

He wasn't sure.

Was it even a voice?

Did it matter?

Why was he feeling so tired all of a sudden?

Black spots?

Why was he seeing black spots?

Suddenly, the floor harshly met his face as he collapsed clumsily, just to the right of Cisco.

The last thing he saw before the darkness consumed him was a man shaped mass that hovered over him with a dark smile.

"I knew I'd get you eventually."

Barry finally passed out to the sound of, what he guessed was, his phone being crushed under the man's heavy boot.

Chapter Text

The darkness seemed to stretch on for an eternity, but when Barry finally regained consciousness, he found himself in a dimly lit room, strapped to a chair, his head pounding with a dull ache. As he struggled to lift his head, he realized he wasn't alone.

"Oh, Barry, thank god..." Cisco sighed in relief.

"Cisco?... Cis- Cisco is that you?" Barry stuttered out between grunts.

"Yeah dude, it's me. You weren't waking up... We, we thought- You're ok right?" Cisco replied hesitantly.

"We?"

"I'm here too, Barry." Came a second voice from across the room.

"Cait. Ca- Caitlin!... Are, are you both ok? I came back and... You were both unconscious." Barry asked, ignoring Cisco's question.

"We're ok, Barr. It's you that we're worried about. You were out for a really long time."

Barry let out a sigh of relief, knowing his friends were at least conscious and seemingly unharmed.

"They shot me... with a tranquilizer, I think. There was... There was this canister, device, thing on the floor in the Cortex when I found you both... D'you- Do you know what happened?" Barry was struggling to keep his head raised and keep a train of thought, but he tried his best.

"We were in the Cortex, waiting for you to come back, and finishing up the stats we had from the bank robbery to send to CCPD, when suddenly this gas filled the room." Caitlin explained.

"Cisco tried to breach us out, but... he went down a moment later. Next thing I knew, I was waking up here and saw you two across from me." She finished.

"Yeah, we woke up around the same time. That must have been at least an hour ago... But there's no clock in here so we're not sure. We've been trying to wake you up ever since." Cisco told his friend.

Barry listened through his growing headache, trying to gain as much information as possible so that he could get his friends out safely. He had a sudden idea.

"Cisco, any chance you can vibe and see where we are?"

"No chance, amigo. I've been trying since we woke up, but both Caitlin and I can't use our powers. We think it's got something to do with these glamorous new accessories we've been gifted." Cisco explained, moving his ankle slightly so Barry could see what he was talking about.

"Is that?-"

"Yep! Meta cuff."

Barry tried to look down at his own ankles when he suddenly became hyper aware of the fact that he was still in his Flash suit... But his face was uncovered.

"Oh hell no..."

"I'm sorry, Barry. But I think it's safe to say that who ever did this... They knew exactly who they were taking." Caitlin said with a worried voice.

"Ok, um. JOE! Joe. I was- I was on the phone to Joe when it happened! He's gotta be looking for us with Harry and Iris! We'll be found soon, guys. We're gonna be ok."

Though, just as he finished his sentence, the door to the room creaked open with a loud creak.

'Large, heavy and metal' Cisco thought to himself. As they couldn't see much, due to the little light and lack of windows, they had to use every piece of info they could find using their other senses to help them get out.

A figure stepped inside, their heavy boots clumping against the ground.

'Stone floor and no external noise outside the room.' Cisco mentally noted down.

"Well, well, well, look who's finally awake." A sinister voice echoed through the room. The trio's hearts sank as they each recognized the voice.

"Eiling..." Barry muttered, venom clear in his voice.

"Good to see you again, Mr Allen! Mr Ramon. Dr Snow. I have to say, it was quite a surprise to find out all THREE of you now have meta abilities. But I can't complain... It gives us more to work with and learn about."

"Whatever it is you're planning, you're stupid to think we'll cooperate with you, Eiling." Barry said defiantly, his jaw clenched.

Eiling chuckled darkly and took a step towards the speedster.

"Oh, I don't expect you to cooperate willingly, Mr. Allen. But rest assured, we have ways of making you comply."

"What do you want?!" Caitlin demanded.

"When the particle accelerator exploded, thousands of people were given abilities beyond the US military's weaponry. I have been tasked to run tests on metas and find out how these abilities work, then create a way to either permanently erase them, or power the military with fire arms equal to those abilities. And I thought... Who better to run these tests on, than the Team Flash trio?" Eiling smirked.

"Our friends will find us. They'll stop you." Cisco spat, staring at the General with dark eyes.

"I doubt that." Eiling laughed.

"Now." He continued.

"Who should we start with?" The three remained silent, refusing to look at their captor.

"No volunteers? Ok. Then what if we go with our lovely Dr Snow first?" Barry's head snapped up.

"No! No, take me! Leave her alone." He argued, fighting against the chains keeping his hands in place.

Eiling's face was plastered with a smug expression as he agreed, knowing that Barry would've put himself first before endangering his friends.

"Hold still, Mr Allen. We've got to take you to the lab and we can't have you trying to escape on the way there, can we? Powers or not... We know you pack a punch." Eiling explained as a woman in a white coat approached Barry with a large needle.

"Wait what is that?! What are you giving him?!" Caitlin yelled, trying to get a better look at the liquid inside the syringe.

"Just something that'll make him a lot easier to work with, Dr Snow. Nothing to worry about." The General replied.

"No! You can't!!! Eiling, you monster!!! STOP!!" Cisco pleaded.

Barry tensed as the needle approached, but he couldn't do much to resist. The sharp sting of the injection was followed by a wave of drowsiness that washed over him. The cold liquid coursed through his veins, making his muscles relax against his will. His eyelids grew heavy, and his thoughts beginning to blur.

Cisco and Caitlin could only watch in terror as their friend's head suddenly dropped to his chest and he slowly slumped forward, only being held by the chains around his hands behind the chair.

"Cisco... Caitlin..." Barry mumbled, his voice barely a whisper. He felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness as the drug took full effect.

Eiling watched with satisfaction as Barry succumbed to the injection.

"That's better. Get him to the lab." Eiling ordered and two large soldiers came in to carry the speedster away, holding him under the arms as his feet dragged across the floor.

"Oh my god, Barry... No..." Caitlin whispered, holding back sobs.

"EILING! IF YOU HURT HIM I SWEAR TO GOD. I WILL KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME?! I'LL KILL YOU!" Cisco screamed, wrestling against his chains as the large metal door finally closed, leaving the remaining two in almost complete darkness.

Chapter Text

Back at STAR labs, Harry and Iris were doing their best to find their friends while Joe worked with Captain Singh and the rest of the CCPD to track down the trio.

Iris had also called Felicity to see if she'd be able to help. Felicity assured her that she'd be on the way ASAP with Oliver and Dig.

With Team Arrow, the remainder of Team Flash, and the entire CCPD looking for them, Barry, Cisco and Caitlin should be safe and sound in no time...

They hoped.

"We've got nothing." Harry said frustration, throwing a cup of pencils across the room.

"No traces, no signals. Whoever took them knew exactly how to cover their tracks."

Iris was doing her best to hold back the panic and growing tears in her eyes when she heard a group of footsteps bolting down the corridor.

She spun on her heel to face the entrance to the Cortex, to find the three people she knew were perfect for this job.

"Felicity!!" She shouted, running to the blonde and pulling her into a desperate embrace.

"Thank you so much, guys, for coming! We need all the help we can get, and so far we're coming up with squat." Iris explained.

"We'll do everything we can." Oliver promised as he walked further into the room, seemingly scanning every part of it.

"So, Barry told Joe that both Cisco and Caitlin were already out when he arrived?"

"Yes. There was this..." Iris picked up the canister from a near desk.

"On the ground." She finished, handing it to Oliver.

"A knock out gas." Oliver confirmed.

"I've run some tests on it but there are no finger prints, company labels or even a data code to help identify where it's come from." Harry tells the group.

"What about a chemical residue? If we can identify the type of gas used, we could trace it to the place, or places, it may have come from?" Dig suggested, stepping forward.

"It's definitely worth a shot. Miss Smoak, can you assist me in the lab?" Harry gestured for Felicity to follow him.

Iris' eyes then lit up with realization.

"Wait! Maybe we don't even need to do that. The air filtration system that Cisco installed all over the lab! If there was a gas, there might be traces of it left in the filters. The scanners will tell us automatically what type of chemical it was."

"Dig and I will go and check it out." Oliver announced, running out of the room with Dig in tow.

"Have you heard from Joe? The CCPD get anything yet?" Felicity called out.

"They're checking surveillance cameras in the area and interviewing witnesses who reported a number of black vans travelling through the city, heading in the direction of STAR labs, just 20 minutes before Barry called my dad. But nothing substantial so far." Iris told her, running an anxious hand through her hair as she stared at the empty mannequin on the other side of the room,

"We're going to find them, Iris. I promise you!" Felicity assured her with a comforting hand on Iris' shoulder.

Iris believed her, she just hoped it'll happen before any of them get hurt. Or worse.

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Time passed slowly and painfully as Cisco and Caitlin sat in darkness. With no windows to tell the time, or anyone coming in an out, it was impossible to say how long it'd been since they last saw Barry.

There had been muffled screams at one point, and the pair prayed to every deity in existence that they didn't belong to their friend. The thought of Barry being practically tortured by that monster made their blood boil while also shattering their hearts. Though after a while, the screams suddenly stopped.

This scared them even more.

At least with the screams, if they WERE Barry's, it confirmed he was still alive. But now there was nothing... And that was even more terrifying.

Eventually, after an agonising amount of time, the door finally opened again, blinding both Caitlin and Cisco with the light from what looked like a long concrete corridor. Eiling's clear silhouette appeared at the entrance.

"Ah, hello again, you two! How are we feeling?"

"WHERE IS HE?! WHERE'S BARRY?!" Caitlin shrieked, her voice cracking under the strain.

Eiling just laughed and signaled for someone to the left of him to step forward.

"It was a good first test! Though he definitely squirmed a bit when he woke up from the anesthetic." The General continued as the same two soldiers dragged an unconscious Barry back into the room.

The air got caught in Cisco's throat as his eyes fell on his best friend.

There was blood. Everywhere.

The top half of his suit had also been unzipped and his chest was filled with random slashes and large bruises.

The soldiers dropped Barry abruptly, making the pair wince and pull at their chains aggressively.

The men then yanked Barrys arms up, to tie them to a bolt sticking out of the wall above him, leaving him practically hanging from his hands.

Caitlin couldn't help the tears that spilled out as she took in the sight of her friend on the ground. She wanted nothing more than to go to him and check him over, to make sure he was ok... Or as ok as he can be under the circumstances.

Then, as if Eiling had read her mind, he gestured for one of the soldiers to unlock Caitlin's chains, allowing her to check over Barry, while still having her hands behind her back.

"We'll come back for our next volunteer in a few hours. Make sure he doesn't die in the mean time, Dr Snow. Oh. And I should let you know, there's a hidden night vision camera in here... If we see a single escape attempt, we'll just tie you back up again. Understand?"

Caitlin nodded, keeping her eyes on her friend and patient.

"Good. If you behave, we'll let you have a little more light and maybe even a cup of water each." Eiling raised his eyebrows teasingly before walking out of the cell and slamming the door behind him, leaving the trio in darkness once again.

Chapter Text

"Is he ok??..." Cisco asked frantically.

At first, there was no response, so he asked again a little louder.

"Caitlin?! Is Barry ok??"

"He's breathing. It's a little laboured, but his air ways are clear as far as I can tell. I can't check his pulse or look him over properly without my hands though." She curses.

"Are you able to put your legs through the loop? If you do that, your arms will be in front of you." Cisco suggested.

"But they said that if I try to escape, they'll just tie me up again... And Barry needs my help."

"You're not trying to escape! You're just doing what Eiling told you! Keeping Barry alive... Do it!"

Caitlin nodded and leaned against the wall, trying to bend and fit her legs through the small loop made by her chained arms, one at a time. After a slight struggle, she finally did it, and Cisco cheered her on proudly.

"Oh Caitlin if I could clap my hands right now I would!" He tells her with a smile.

She bends down and does her best to find Barry's pulse while her hands were still bound, exhaling in relief when she found it.

"Strong pulse. It's a little fast but it's there... Barry? Barry, can you hear me?"

Caitlin reaches up and takes hold of one of Barry's hands.

"Barry, if you can hear me, can you squeeze my hand? Doesn't have to be hard... Just as much as you can." She and Cisco wait in silence for a moment, only for Barry to not move. His head remained limp, his chin against his chest, and his eyes remained closed.

"What have they done, Caitlin?..." Cisco whispered, in disbelief that a person could do this to another human being.

"I don't know... I'd say they were testing his speed healing due to the randomness of the injury placements, but seen as he's wearing a meta cuff, they must have known that his healing doesn't work with it on... That makes me believe they just did this for the sake of hurting him... What sick, inhumane, monsters." Caitlin growled, unable to comprehend how someone could be so cruel.

Though, little did they know, Eiling had actually taken the sick torture session as an opportunity to extract an unnecessarily large amount of Barry's blood. Hiding the incision point under all those cuts and harsh bruises.

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Meanwhile, at STAR, the combined teams were doing their best to find every piece of evidence they could gather.

Luckily, Felicity had found that the chemical compound discovered in the filtration system, was one that is only listed under use of the US military. Of course, for Harry and Iris, this set off alarm bells.

"West. You don't think this could've been..."

"General Eiling..." Iris finished, agreeing with Harry.

"Sorry, who?" Oliver asked, walking to the main desk with his arms crossed over his chest.

"He, um, he used to work with the old Harrison Wells- Or, I mean, Thawne. Reverse Flash. He worked with him for years before the particle accelerator exploded on different projects... One of which resulted in a sentient gorilla..." Iris explained.

"O...K... Well, THAT aside... Having a name gets us one step closer to tracking down Barry, Cisco and Caitlin." Oliver replied.

"But! The last time, Eiling kidnapped Martin Stein while he was still part of the firestorm matrix with Ronnie! Caitlin told me that they only found him because Ronnie could 'sense' where Stein was or something. How do we figure it out this time?" Iris asked desperately.

"Every military base has a key card system. They have to due to security and, lucky for us, I have some experience with hacking into those kinds of systems." Felicity chimed on excitedly, taking a seat at a monitor and typing away at the keyboard.

"But how is a key card system going to help?"

"Every base is connected to the same system. All I need to do is see which base General Eiling's card was most recently used at and we'll have a location." Felicity explained with a smile.

"That. Is genius." Harry stated.

As Felicity worked away, the others waited anxiously. It was then that Joe came running in.

"Hey guys! Have we got anything??"

"It was General Eiling, dad. He's got them. But Felicity has a way to find out which military base he's holding them at."

"Oh when I get my hands on that bastard..." Joe said through gritted teeth, raising his hands and pretending to strangle someone.

"How's it going at the station?."

"Well, I had to be careful because, obviously, they were taken while Barry was still in his suit. So I had to ask for help while also trying to explain why I couldn't call The Flash to help us look for them. But, guys, I'll be honest... We may need to take a team from the CCPD in with us... Where ever it may be. And I know Barry would be annoyed at me saying it, but if a few officers need to find out his identity for the three of them to be brought out of that place alive, so be it." Joe explained anxiously, and was surprised when both Iris, Harry and Felicity nodded in agreement. They all looked to Oliver and Dig for their opinion.

"Barry is not going to like it at all, and I'd be a hypocrite to say I happily agree with that plan... But like Joe said, if we want to get them all out safely, it may be something we have little choice in." Oliver replied. Dig also nodded in response as he thought over everything.

"I GOT IT!" Felicity suddenly yells, raising her hands over his head in victory.

"Base 16... It's about 3 hours from here." She told the group as they each looked at the map on the monitor.

"Ok. We've got no time to lose! Dig and Iris, come with me. We'll head down to the weapons room and grab as much as we can. Wells and Felicity, go and get the STAR van ready. Joe, call your team from the CCPD and tell them where to meet you. Let's go get our friends back." Oliver ordered.

Chapter Text

Back in the cell, Caitlin was just starting to rouse Barry from unconsciousness. She was receiving small grunts and groans from him to answer questions when the door abruptly opened once again.

A silhouette appeared in front of the blinding white light. Though this one wasn't shaped like Eiling.

"Oh come on! Surely it hasn't been a few hours already!" Cisco stated sarcastically, trying to keep his anger at bay.

"No. It hasn't." Said a new voice.

"But General Eiling wanted me to bring you these." The new person threw 3 plastic cups into the cell carelessly, as well as a single bottle of water.

"Don't drink it all at once! Who knows when you'll get the next one." The man said before turning and shutting the door behind him once again.

"DICKS! ALL OF YOU! EVERY. SINGLE. ONE OF YOU!" Cisco yelled after the man.

Caitlin got up and raced to the water, ignoring the cups and immediately tearing the lid off the bottle.

"Here Cisco, you first. Take one large gulp for now..." Caitlin said gently, aiming the lip of the bottle to Cisco's mouth.

He'd never been so thankful to taste water.

That gas must have really dried his throat out.

"I'll never say water is a boring drink for boring people ever again..." He said, making Caitlin laugh during such a scary situation.

Caitlin then ran to Barry and lifted his head, talking softly to him to try and bring him back around. It seemed that during the small time it took for the solider to drop off the water, Barry had completely passed out again.

"Barryyy? Barry, we have water. Come on... I need you to take a drink for me, ok? Can you do that?"

For a moment, there was no response. But after a few more soft prods, Barry began to wake up.

His eyes fluttered and Caitlin worried as she saw the whites of his eyes behind the lids. Whatever that drug was... It'd definitely done its damage.

"That's it, Barry... Look at me. It's Caitlin..."

Barry's eyes finally opened, glazed but gradually showing awareness. His breathing was shallow, and every movement seemed to cause him pain, but he managed a weak smile at the sight of his friend's face.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, buddy." Cisco stated with a greatful voice, delighted to see his best friend smile even after everything he'd just been through.

"hmm... hey..." He managed back, earning a happy response from his friends.

"Hi!... Do you think you could take a sip of this water for me?" Caitlin asked again, touching the lip of the bottle to his mouth, to which he tilted his head back as much as he could to take a drink.

"How are you feeling?" She asked sympathetically, pulling the bottle away after he'd had enough.

"it hurts... everywhere." He stated bluntly, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to shift slightly. Caitlin took note of the strain in his voice.

"I'm so sorry..." She replied, placing a hand on his knee.

"Can you remember anything from when you out there, Barr?" Cisco asked from across the room.

Barry didn't reply for a second while he tried to collect his thoughts.

"We um... We heard you... Sc- screaming." Cisco stuttered.

That was when it all came flooding back to Barry like he'd been struck by lightning all over again.

His breathing began to speed up and his eyes darted around the room frantically.

"They kept- They cut me! And- And hit me! Over! And over! I asked them to stop! I begged- But they just kept going! They... I think they took my blood..." Barry explained, tears building in his eyes as he remembered the horrific trauma he'd experienced.

Caitlin and Cisco's hearts shattered all over again as they listened to Barry recount the brutality he endured. Caitlin reached out and gently placed a hand on his face, rubbing her thumb against his cheek to offer what little comfort she could.

"We're not going to let them do that to you again, ok? Joe, Harry and Iris will find us soon and we'll get out of here safe and sound." Caitlin told him, hoping he'd believe it. Even if she didn't quite believe it herself.

Barry nodded weakly, trying to find solace in Caitlin's words despite the overwhelming fear and pain he was feeling. He knew deep down that their friends were doing everything they could to find them, but the thought of enduring more torture until then, or worse, Cisco and Caitlin enduring was he just went through, was almost unbearable.

"Eiling said he'd be back in a few hours to pick his, air quote, next volunteer, air quote..." Cisco's friends looked over at his with puzzled expressions.

"I don't have my hands to make air quotes right now so yes, I have to say it out loud. Anyway... There can't be that long of a few hours left so, Caitlin, I want you to know, not that I'm letting you have a say, I'm going next."

"Cisco, no!"

"You need to be here with Barry! Also! if I come back in any sort of state like he's in, I'll need your medical skills too... And hopefully, the others will save us before it gets to the time that they want you." Cisco explained as he stared at the floor.

Caitlin knew there was no point in arguing, whether she wanted to or not.

"I'll go again..." Barry whispered and Cisco would've thrown something at him if he could.

"Like hell!! They'll kill you if you go again, Barry!" He yelled.

"It's true... And I'm sorry to say, but a lot of these cuts already look infected. You need to rest for as long as you can."

That gave Cisco an idea.

"What if that's what I ask for?" He stated.

"What?"

"Well, I'll promise to go and do their little experiment willingly, and not make a fuss, IF they bring in some medical supplies. I mean, they can't let Barry die! They need him for these messed up tests they're doing."

"Cisco are you sure?... I can't even bare to think about what it'll mean for you in there."

"Barry needs medical attention. And to do that, you need the right supplies. I'm not going to let my best friend die from an infection due to this lot's, disgusting and, most likely, rusty tools."

Caitlin hesitated for a moment, torn between wanting to protect her closet friend from Eiling's clutches, and what might happen to Barry if he goes on much longer with these injuries untreated.

"Okay." She finally said, her voice trembling slightly.

"But Cisco, don't try to bargain for any more than the medical supplies... you can't put yourself in any more danger than you already are. And I, of course, promise to help you the best I can when you get back, no matter what state you may be in."

With their plan set, they waited anxiously for Eiling's return, hoping that Cisco's sacrifice wouldn't be for nothing.

Chapter Text

Lucky for the trio, though they didn't know it, their friends were only an hour out, and each one was decked out with their own weapon, ready to take on whoever may get in their way.

"GO LEFT!" Felicity shouted from the passenger seat and the team braced themselves as Harry swerved the van to follow her instructions.

Joe had decided it best to gather a group of no more than 5 officers, Captain Singh included. The 6 of them were in a police van following at a distance so that the STAR vehicle wasn't in sight. The longer he could keep people finding out that STAR labs is involved, and therefore potentially finding out Barry's secret, the better, but he still needed the best men on the squad to help.

Singh could sense there was something Joe wasn't telling him, he didn't exactly want to pry as he knew Joe was most likely one jab away from a panic attack, but these were his officers he was potentially putting in danger. He needed to know all he could get.

"What's the plan then, Joe? I still think we should've brought at least a SWAT team. Especially seen as you're not telling us where we're going, or how you figured out where Barry, Dr Snow and Mr Ramon are?!"

"Please, David. I know I'm asking a lot of you but I desperately need you to trust me. And once we save them, I will tell you... everything." Joe regretted it the moment it came out of his mouth, but there was nothing he could do now.

"You better! I am going against every rule in the book for you right now!!"

"I understand that. And you have no idea how much I appreciate it... I know you're putting your neck out for me here, but please just trust me." Joe finished, glancing between the Captain and the road.

"Alright. But if anything happens, if any of my officers get hurt, or worse, because you didn't give me all the information, I will be charging you equally as responsible." David promised him.

Joe nodded nervously in response, looking up at the GPS Felicity had hacked so he could follow them.

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Barry was starting to become more lucid as time went on. Though that didn't help the amount of pain he was feeling all over his body.

His insides felt like sand paper and every ounce of his skin burned with white hot agony.

Caitlin made sure to keep him as hydrated as she could without using up all the water while keeping an eye on how his injuries were doing.

"I can see the start of an infection in at least 4 of these incisions... We're running out of time, Cisco." She announced to her friend.

"That dick should be back any minute for his next torture session. I'll get you those supplies, Caitlin, I promise."

As if Eiling was standing outside the cell listening, there was a sudden, startling, jolt on the other side of the door, and the large metal plate slowly creaked open, spilling light into the room once more.

"So! Who's ready for some tests?" Eiling smiled, looking between Caitlin and Cisco.

This was Cisco's chance.

"I'll go! But before I do, I want to make a deal."

"Oh really? And what makes you think that this 'deal' will hold any ground? I could just drug you and drag you out like I did with Mr Allen..." Eiling laughed.

"Barry's wounds are infected. And as he's, unfortunately, unable to use his speed healing right now due to certain circumstances..." Cisco comments, glancing down at the cuff on Barry's ankle before continuing.

"Caitlin needs medical supplies to treat them or he'll start to get very ill very soon. All I ask is you provide her with the supplies that she needs to help him, and in return, I'll come with you willingly and do whatever test you want to do without question. I won't kick up a fuss, I won't try to escape... I'll cooperate. I'm sure you pumping us with drugs all the time is going to mess with your tests eventually anyway, right? So wouldn't it be helping you if I went with you willingly?"

Eiling stared at the younger man for a moment, contemplating his request.

"I know you don't want The Flash dying before you can perform all your tests on him." Cisco finished with a slight smirk.

Caitlin kept her eyes on Barry, who was fighting every one of his morals to stop Cisco from sacrificing himself. He knew he was in no state to argue but he couldn't bare the thought of Cisco getting hurt for his sake.

"Fine. What do you need Dr Snow?"

"May I write a list for you?... I, um, I just don't want you to forget... anything..." She stuttered out, hoping that Eiling wouldn't take that as an insult.

He silently stepped forward and Caitlin braced herself for whatever may come. Thankfully, she was only struck with a pad and pen, as Eiling threw them towards her.

"Make it quick. Before I change my mind."

Caitlin shakingly grabbed the objects and racked her brain for everything she'd need. She also made sure to write each thing down in bullet points, so there'd be no potential mix up or confusion. She drew little asterisks next to the most important things.

- Warm water and 2 clean wash cloths *
- medical gloves
- cotton pads
- antiseptic cream *
- bandages

She passed the paper back to The General and prayed that he'd allow the finding of each of the items.

"I'll get these to you within the hour. Mr Ramon, now to hold your end of the deal." Eiling said, signalling for the same two soldiers to come and and unchain the younger man.

Cisco gave his friends a forced smile before he was walked out of the room and the door was shut behind him.

"He's gonna be ok, Barry... He's a tough egg to crack." Caitlin tells her friend with a gentle voice.

"I know. I just hate the fact that he's doing it for me. At least when we get out of here, I'll heal almost immediately... He won't."

"You can't heal if you're dead, Barry. THAT is why Cisco is doing this."

Barry nodded, pushing away the guilt that was building in his chest. He just hoped Cisco wasn't put through the same treatment he was a few hours ago.

As Cisco was escorted down the dark hallway towards a pair of double doors, he wanted so desperately for time to slow down. He wanted this disgusting mouldy corridor to never end as he began to really think about what might be waiting for him on the other side of the doors.

He couldn't help the sudden slip of a tear as the possible scenarios bombarded his mind.

When they reached the lab, faster than expected, Cisco was greeted by a team of scientists and technicians, all of whom were eagerly awaiting their next test subject with dark, sinister smiles on their faces. He felt a shiver run down his spine as it truly hit him in this moment what was about to happen.

The soldiers walked him to a dentist-like examining chair and practically threw him into it, telling him to sit and stay down.

Cisco was many things...

A genius

A hero

The self proclaimed 'best hair' of Team Flash...

But he was also a good person and an even better friend.

He'd made a promise to cooperate with Eiling for Barry's sake and Cisco was a man of his word.

So he shuffled back into the seat with shaky legs and prepared himself for what ever agonising pain that may come.

Chapter Text

"Now! Mr Ramon, as I trust you to hold up your end of the deal. Why don't you give my colleagues here an... instruction manual, per se, to your meta abilities while we run our tests?" Eiling asked. Though, it was less of a question and more of a demand as he paced back and forth at the foot of Cisco's seat.

Cisco dragged in a deep breath as two women in white coats approached him with a tray of equipment.

"I, um... I'm what my team and I have dubbed 'a breacher'. I can..." He cleared his throat, unable to comprehend that he was really telling the worst person on the planet how his powers work.

"I can open breaches, or portals as you dumbasses would say, to anywhere on Earth." He was going to finish with 'This Earth and every other Earth' but he thought that maybe letting Eiling know there were other universes may not be the best idea.

"Interesting... And how, pray tell, Mr Ramon, can you open one of these 'breaches'?"

"I just, I think about where I want to go, reach my hand out, and it opens..."

At that moment, both of the scientists took hold of Cisco's hands and pinned them to either side of the seat.

"HEY!? Hey, Hey, Hey! I've already said I'd cooperate, there's no need for that!"

Eiling ignored Cisco's protest and continued with his questioning.

"What else can you do, Mr Ramon?" He demanded as Cisco watched the scientists strapped his hands into two heavy clamps under, what looked like, two huge magnifying glasses.

"I can v- OW! Seriously girl, there's no need to be so aggressive!..." He yelled at one of the scientists.

"I can vibe things. It's like getting... visions? Of People, places, the future, the past... it can happen randomly, or when I focus on a certain person or location." Cisco explained, glancing back and forth between Eiling and the scientists who both now seemed to be taking seats next two either one of his hands, picking up a scalpel each that was already covered in dried blood.

"Oooooh no! You are NOT touching me with those! I said I'd let you run your tests, I did not say I'd let you cause me an infection like what you've done to Barry by using disgusting equipment! I want you to clean and sterilise those, or grab a brand new set, before you even think of using them on me."

The scientists turned to Eiling with looks of extreme annoyance before he nodded to them with frustrated sigh.

"So these... vibes, visions, whatever you want to call them. You can use them to see and hear anyone in the world? Allow you to spy on them without them knowing?" Eiling queried.

"I- I guess..."

"I want to see it."

"Excuse me?"

"I want you to show me how it works!" Eiling repeated.

"Ok??? But, uh... You'll have to take off the cuff."

The General gestured for a soldier to approach with a screwdriver who began removing the meta cuff from Cisco's ankle.

"Now show me."

"And what if I just breached out of here instead?" Cisco leaned forward as much as he could with a sly smile.

"I could get into the cell, grab my friends... and be a thousand miles away before you know it."

Eiling chuckled gruffly.

"Well, one, you're wrists are strapped down with 3 inches of thick, unbreakable, iron, and two, the second you opened your breach, I'd detonate the hidden explosive in your cell, killing Dr Snow and Mr Allen instantly."

Cisco bit harshly at the inside of his cheek, his blood beginning to boil the more he looked at the smug expression on Eiling's ugly face.

"What exactly do you want me to vibe?"

"I thought you'd never asked! Let's start with something simple, shall we? Tell me how Mr Allen is doing."

Cisco took a deep breath, trying to calm his rising anger before focusing on tapping into his powers. He closed his eyes and concentrated, reaching out with his mind to connect with Barry's consciousness.

Images began to flash in front of his eyes as he found himself back in the cell with his friends.

"Someone's just arrived with the medical supplies. Caitlin is starting to patch him up but... he's not looking good." Cisco described with an anxious voice, his breath catching in his throat as he really took in how pale and clamy Barry was looking.

Eiling nodded, satisfied with Cisco's demonstration.

"Impressive. Now, let's see what else you can do." He suggested as Cisco brought himself back to his body, looking over at The General with pure hatred in his eyes.

The scientists soon arrived with a brand new set of tools and took their seats once again. Cisco braced himself as they both looked to Eiling for permission before they began to slice into Cisco's hands. He couldn't help the scream that erupted from his lungs.

The two women continued cut deeper into the skin as Cisco writhed in agony, tears streaming down his face.

"You son of a bitch!! WHY?! Why are you doing this?!" Cisco growled through his teeth.

"We just need a skin sample. You said your breaching ability comes from your hands... We just want to run some tests on your skin cells in that area."

"Just cause I use my hands to create a breach doesn't mean the cause for them is literally at my fingertips!"

"Yes, but we can't be too thorough, Mr Ramon. Besides, this is a fantastic opportunity to test your 'vibe' skills while your mind is on other things." Cisco wanted so desperately to just pass out in this moment, to stop the pain, to prevent himself from feeling any more torture, to stop hearing Eiling's grating voice... But he made a promise.

Eiling stepped closer and pulled out a photograph from his back pocket.

Cisco did his best to look at it through blurred eyes. It was a soldier, most likely one who worked under Eiling.

"This man is somewhere in this building. I won't give you a name, I won't give you any details on his job here, only this photograph. I want you to use your abilities and tell me where he is and what he's doing. Let's put your visions to the test."

Cisco felt a surge of fury and desperation shoot through him as he stared at the photo. There was no use in fighting. He focused his mind as best as he could, trying to push through the pain and fear. He reached out with his powers to connect with his surroundings and images began to flicker in his mind once again, disjointed and chaotic at first, but slowly forming into a clearer picture.

"He's in a control room... monitoring security feeds. He's-" Cisco stopped as he looked at one of the screens. There was a small box in the top right corner showing the camera feed of somewhere outside, and what he saw made his heart skip a beat.

It was Iris and Harry, powered up with weapons bigger than their torso and heading for the main building with Team Arrow following just behind them. Luckily, the security guard he was spying on hadn't noticed yet.

"He's what, Mr Ramon?" Eiling asked, startling Cisco as he realised he needed to make something up to keep The General in the dark of what was really going on.

"He's... He's eating a sandwich. Chicken and mustard by the looks of it, who the hell puts those two things together? Especially in a sandwich? That's just-"

"Ok, thank you. That's quite enough, Mr Ramon."

Cisco pulled back, allowing the vision to fade away as he opened his eyes to look up at his captor, wanting so badly to tell him how screwed he is now. But he knew he just had to hold out a little longer.

Help is on the way.

He only wished he could tell Barry and Caitlin.

Chapter Text

On the outside, Joe had just pulled up to the hidden side entrance of the base and was preparing to give the Captain a quick run down while the other officers suit up in their vests.

"Now, I'm sure you are wondering where the hell we are?"

"Yes, Joe. And why this looks suspiciously like a military base."

"It's... It's because it is..." Joe muttered nervously.

"WHAT?!" Singh shrieked.

Joe threw his finger to his mouth, begging for the Captain to be quiet.

"Why the HELL would the MILITARY want Barry Allen and his friends?!" Singh demanded.

"Do you remember that General from a few years ago? General Eiling?"

"Yes. Why?"

"He was a real fishy guy who used to work with Harrison Wells back in the day... Barry, Caitlin and Cisco were the ones who ratted him out to his Cheif for some really awful stuff he did with Wells, and since then, he's been out for revenge against the three of them." Joe lied, hoping that would be enough to keep the team going for now without giving any other details.

David thought over what Joe had said for a moment before speaking up again.

"Why wasn't this brought to us before now? Why wait until they got kidnapped for the city police department to find out about a corrupt military General?"

"He threatened them." Joe replied, wanting desperately for Singh to stop asking questions.

"Even more of a reason for them to come to us! To me! If you knew about this, why didn't you say anything? You know I would've been able to help them."

"Because..." Joe's mind went blank... He'd run out of excuses. Maybe he could try and tell the truth without telling the WHOLE truth.

"They're metas... Caitlin, who, as you know, has also been called Killer Frost, and Cisco is Vibe." Joe explained guiltily. He knew the two of them were going to kill him for this later, but maybe it's for the best.

"I knew about Snow. But Ramon too?... And Barry?" Joe stayed silent for a moment, desperately not wanting to out his son to his boss at the Scarlet Speedster, but he remembered how he'd told the team that he'd do anything to protect Barry, even if that meant revealing his secret to someone.

Turns out though, he didn't need to say anything.

"Oh my god..." Singh whispered, shuffling closer to Joe so that the others couldn't hear.

"Allen's The Flash... Isn't he?" Joe's breath was sucked out of him as the sentence left Singh's lips. He could only nod in response as the Captain slumped back in his seat, taking in such a huge piece of information.

"How could I not see it?! The sudden disappearances, the late starts, how neither of them were ever in a room at the same time... That's why you were so adamant that The Flash couldn't help us with saving them..." Joe nodded again.

"Please! Please for the love of God, David... Do not tell anyone about this, especially the rest of the guys. I have trusted you with my life for years, and so has Barry, whether he's shown it or not. Please, keep this to yourself. If the 4 of them find out in there for whatever reason then so be it... But please don't let that reason be that it came out of your mouth."

Singh contemplated it for a moment before he reached out his hand to Joe, who took it and shook it with a thankful expression.

"Is there anything else I need to know that they can't before we go in there?"

"Uh, yeah actually..." Joe replied, scratching at his head as he thought of a way to tell the Captain that Team Arrow were here to help too... Not to mention Iris, and a new, non-evil, version of Harrison Wells.

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Only minutes later, the team from CCPD, including a very star struck Captain Singh, rounded a final corner to find Team Arrow and the remaining members of Team Flash flat against a wall, staying out of sight of more cameras and patrolling guards.

Joe stayed low and pulled out his phone, letting Iris know he was nearby with Captain Singh and the others ready to go when needed.

"Oliver, pull your hood up, my dad's close by with his team of CCPD officers, including the Captain. Harry, you should probably hide your face too." Iris whispered and both quickly obeyed. Oliver threw his mask on and covered his head with his hood while Harry pulled ski mask out from his pocket.

The fact that they were about to storm a military base that's armed to the teeth with weapons that are, most likely, illegal to possess, put each of them on edge as they tried to come up with an idea of how to get inside.

They couldn't exactly just go through the front door.

"What's our plan, guys?" Harry asked, chambering a round in his gun.

"If I can get on the roof, there's ALWAYS an escape hatch that'll lead into the building." Oliver suggested.

"We're all going in together, Oliver." Iris told him.

"We've made it this far, there's no way we're gonna wait out here whole you go in alone." She explained.

"I can try and grab the schematics of the building but... hacking a key card system is one thing. Accessing the blueprints of an entire military base is a whole different kettle of fish." Felicity told the group, pulling out her tablet to do what she could.

"Let's split up into teams." Oliver suggested, his voice low.

As Felicity worked on her tablet to fight through the many thousands of security walls to get those blue prints, Oliver signalled for Joe to bring his team over so they could talk through a plan.

"Iris and Dig, you come up to the roof with me. Felicity, try to create some kind of diversion using the tech towers at the front gates. Then Harry, you head in with Joe and his team when the front guards are distracted. Seen as Iris and Harry have the largest and more powerful weapons, it's better to have one of them on each team. We'll meet up in the middle and hope that we don't run into Eiling on the way." Each one of the group nodded.

"Here, take one of these." Iris handed out 5 small ear buds to her dad and friends before putting a final one in her own ear.

"These will let us talk to each other if we get separated. Dad, I don't have more for Captain Singh and the others but I assumed you'd probably stay with them no matter what anyway?" Iris quietly said to Joe.

"How you doing with those schematics, Miss Smoak?" Harry asked, looking over shoulder.

"I have no idea who set up this security system but I'd like to shake their hand... This is decked out! I might actually be here a while trying to get through this." Felicity exclaimed.

"We may have to go in blind." Dig suggested.

"That is a TERRIBLE idea." Harry replied, running a hand over his covered face.

Oliver let out a frustrated grunt

"Well then, what do YOU suggest, genius?"

"We grab one of the guards and force him to give us access through a back entrance or something? People can be very helpful when you have a super weapon pointed at their heads."

"Ok, look, the more time we spend out here arguing over an idea to get inside, the longer Barry, Cisco and Caitlin spend trapped by someone who has proven time and time again that he's willing to cause someone pain just for the sake of it. God knows what state they're in right now!" Iris told them, deciding to step forward and take charge. Of course, she was immediately backed by Felicity.

"Iris is right. This getting us nowhere, guys."

"O- Arrow, go with your original plan, head up to the roof, but with Harry. Dad, Captain Singh, take your team around the back and look for a second entrance. Dig, come with me through the front. As you have a military background yourself, maybe we can use that to our advantage and find a way inside without causing alarm. Felicity, you go back to the STAR van and use the tech in there to see if it'll allow you any easier way into the base's system. If, by God, you get access to those schematics, or something similar, you could help direct us. Then we'll have people on all exits of the building, Eiling and his men will have nowhere to run."

"Now that's a plan I can get behind!" Dig laughs.

"Ok, let's move out!" Oliver claps his gloved hands and the group scatters, leaving Felicity behind to make her way back to the van.

"Remember guys..." Iris pressed into her ear piece.

"We do everything we can to avoid taking any lives tonight, ok? Harry, put your gun in stun mode!" She heard an annoyed grunt come from the man on the other end but knew he'd do it without being asked twice.

"We're coming guys." She whispered, praying that her friends were ok.

Chapter Text

Back in the lab, the room was filling with screams as Cisco was subjected to more torture. Eiling had decided to take a sample, or two, of Cisco's blood too, while also testing the extent of his mental abilities. They were firing electric pulses through his brain and demanding him to continue using his powers to 'vibe' other people while they ran scans over his neural pathways.

At this point, to say Cisco was exhausted was an understatement. There was now blood pouring from his nose and ears, and every time he felt that he may finally pass out, another jolt of electricity would shoot through his mind, startling him back to consciousness with agonising fire.

In the little moments he got to think, or at least try to think, he prayed that his team would HURRY. UP!!

Caitlin could do nothing but listen to her friend's gut wrenching screams, feeling utterly helpless as all she could do right now was care for Barry, who was becoming increasingly worse as each minute went by. It was about 20 minutes ago that the slight fever had really started to take hold, and Caitlin had nothing but a bowl of, now cold, water and a, now bloody, wash cloth to cool him down.

Barry's condition was deteriorating rapidly, and Caitlin's medical supplies were dwindling. She knew she should really ask for more, but it would mean risking her own life, and she couldn't do that while Barry was still in this state. If anything happened to her, not only would he have no chance at survival, but Cisco wouldn't have anyone to care for him when he came back too.

As if on queue, the sound of the latch being jogged echoed throughout the cell as the door was pulled open.

General Eiling entered, point a pistol at Caitlin to make sure she wouldn't move. He was followed by the same two soldiers as before, who dragged a now unconscious Cisco into the room.

"Cisco!!... WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" Caitlin shreiked as the soldiers chained him up on the other side of the small, stone room.

Eiling ignored Caitlin's question, instead turning his attention to Barry, who was barely conscious at this point.

"Ah, Mr. Allen. You're looking worse for wear." Eiling remarked, a sinister grin spreading across his face.

"I trust that you're taking good care of him, Dr Snow? I hope you'll find it no trouble to treat two patients?"

Caitlin glared at Eiling, her hands trembling with anger and fear. She wanted nothing more than to leap at him and tear him apart. But she remained silent, trying to keep herself composed for her boys' sake. Part of her knew if she said or tried anything now, no matter how tempting and deserved it may be, it'd be the two of them who paid the price, and she couldn't risk tha.

"We'll give a few more hours to take care of these two before we run anything with you. I notice you've run a little low on those medical supplies... I'm guessing you'll be needing some more? Well tough. You can work with what you have left... That is, unless you have anything else you can offer me in return?"

In that moment she honestly would've done anything for her best friends to receive the help they needed, but she knew that it'd most likely result in more pain. As much as Caitlin would sacrifice herself 100 times over for their sake, she also realised that she was the ONLY one keeping them safe now. They needed her more than ever.

"Nothing? I guess we'll see you soon then." Eiling finally announced before he took his leave.

As soon as the door was closed Caitlin bolted to Cisco so fast she almost gave Barry a run for his money. She pushed his long hair aside so that his face was visible, shifting strands that seemed to be stiff with dried blood out of the way. Her heart broke for what felt like the thousandth time that day the moment she caught a clear view of her friend's face.

There was smeared blood over his cheeks and neck, obviously from his nose and ears, and Caitlin glanced up to find several layers of dirty bandages wrapped around both of his hands that were hanging limply from the chains above him.

"Oh Cisco..." She whispered sympathetically. She reached behind her to grab one of the wash cloths, dipped it in the now dirty and cold water, and began gently wiping at the blood, occasionally calling his name in an attempt to rouse him.

After a while, there was a slight groan and Caitlin noticed Cisco's head trying to lift.

"Cisco? It's Caitlin. I'm here."

"... Cait-.." He whispered, his voice strained and hoarse.

"It's me, you're safe, Cisco." She assured him, wiping off the last few drops of blood.

"Th're C'ming..."

"It's ok, don't try to talk for now alright? Let me patch you up first."

"No... H'rry... Ir's... Th're here..." He tried to explain, hoping it was enough for Caitlin to understand.

At first Caitlin wondered if Cisco was hallucinating due to the trauma he'd just been through but the sliver of hope left in her chose to push, asking Cisco to clarify what he meant.

"I saw them... Eiling... He- He took off the cuff... I saw them outside..." He told her, his words getting clearer as the fog in his mind began to disappear.

"They're with Team Arrow..." He finished.

Caitlin's heartbeat picked up rapidly at the news and she turned to look at Barry, seeing his clamy, pale skin almost lit up against the dark wall behind him.

Help is on the way.

She spun round to face Cisco once again with a smile as she realised it was only a short matter of time now before they were saved and back home at STAR.

"Does anyone know?"

Cisco shook his head, though he regretted it instantly after the sudden rush of pain that shot through his skull.

"I think- I think we'd know by now... if anyone did." He stuttered, squeezing his eyes shut to block out the pounding migraine.

"We're going to be okay. Just a little longer and we'll have you two at 100% again. Just hang in there, Cisco." He managed a weak nod, his eyes fluttering open to meet Caitlin's gaze.

"I'm so sorry for what they put you through." She told him, rubbing his cheeks with her thumbs. She couldn't help but notice the built up tears in his eyes that were threatening to spill over. Though he was clearly trying to hold them back.

"How's Barry?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

Caitlin sighed as she glanced over to the very unwell Scarlet Speedster.

"Not good... But he's strong! He'll make it until we can get out of here."

Cisco nodded, unable to take his eyes off his friend.

"Just a little longer..."

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"Guys do you copy?" Felicity called out, pressing down on her ear piece.

"Hearing you loud and clear!" Came Oliver's voice.

"We copy!" Joe replied.

"Tell us you've found something, Felicity." Iris asked as she made her way to the front gate with Dig.

"No success with any schematics, but I HAVE managed to access the security cameras. You know, for a military base, their surveillance tech is HORRIFICALLY underwhelming, and incredibly easy to get into..." Felicity remarked with a laugh.

"Any sign of Barry, Caitlin and Cisco?" Oliver asked as he continued to scale the side of the building with Harry just behind him.

Felicity typed away at her keyboard, looking for anything that might help.

"Nothing so far. All I got right now is outside the base and a few corridors. Oh! Joe! Two of your guys are visible on the camera to your right. Get them down quickly!! We have to assume there are a group of security guards watching these too."

Joe was quick to grab the scruff of his fellow officers' necks and drag them down behind a close vehicle with Captain Singh and the others.

"STAY. DOWN." He instructed.

"Iris! Dig! How are you doing at the front?" Felicity scanned the main entrance cameras, making sure the pair weren't in sight.

"We're making a call to Lyla to see if she can pull some strings and create a fake 'visit from ARGUS.' Then the two of us will be able to get access to the base as Dig will be on the system as an expected visitor."

"Amazing! Oliver?! Harry?! What about you guys?"

"We're almost there! It's just taking a little longer than expected." Oliver replied.

"How so? What's going on, guys?" Iris asked, her voice glitching a little from interference.

"I've calculated that the guards do a single round of the base's exterior every 7 minutes and 34 seconds. Therefore, While Mr Queen and I are trying to get to the top of this thing, we have to hide from the guards every 7 minutes and 34 seconds so that we don't get caught! If they see us up here, not only will all of us be screwed, but Mr Queen and I will most definitely be shot and killed immediately!!" Harry explained, sarcasm very evident in his voice. Team then noticed a very frustrated huff coming from Oliver as he fought the urge to just knock Harry off the ladder they were currently climbing and carry on himself.

Felicity couldn't help but chuckle.

"Got it, Harry. Just keep moving! Keep doing what you're doing and you'll be up there in no time!"

Felicity pulled away from her ear piece and continued to work on the base's security systems, hoping that she'd find that one golden egg to help her friends.

Chapter Text

As the teams outside the base continued their efforts to infiltrate and rescue their friends, the situation inside the base was becoming increasingly dire.

Barry's condition continued to worsen, despite Caitlin's best efforts to treat him with the limited resources available. His fever pushed on, and his breathing became shallow and laboured. He was now almost heaving, and his hands being suspended above him didn't help as it just increased his inability to bring in new air.

Caitlin could see the worry etched on Cisco's face as he watched his friend's deteriorating state, unable to do anything to help. She too was starting to feel the same way. All she could do now was offer Barry the little cold water she had left to ease his fever, while also tending to Cisco as best as she could under the circumstances.

Cisco had told Caitlin what those monsters had done to him, specifically his hands, and Caitlin was determined to check out the wounds to the best of her ability before he ends up in a similar state to Barry.

Carefully, Caitlin examined Cisco's hands, wincing at the sight of the deep cuts and bruises. She cleaned the wounds with the remaining water, trying to use the final part of the wash cloth that was still clean... Well... Cleaner than the other parts, and she applied the last sliver of antiseptic cream left in the tube she was provided by Eiling for Barry. Once finished, she observed the now empty tube, almost huffing with laughter at how obnoxious it was. It was basically the size of her thumb, and Eiling had expected her to make it last??

Impossible.

Especially when she had to use it on the many wounds that HE created.

Caitlin applied the very last of the available bandages, cursing when there was only enough to go around one of Cisco's hands.

She couldn't just leave one of the wounds exposed, so she made the quick decision to grab and rip at one of her sleeves, yanking it off and using it to wrap the other hand.

"Thanks, Caitlin." Cisco mumbled, offering her a small, grateful smile despite the pain etched on his face.

Caitlin returned the smile, though it was tinged with worry.

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After what felt like forever, Oliver and Harry finally made it to the roof! They slowly advanced towards a clear hatch in the centre, making sure there were no towers or cameras around that could see them, before they unscrewed the large metal bolt and made their way inside.

Oliver went first, popping his head in to scan the area and make sure the coast was clear before he and Harry could jump down.

He then slowly made his way to the white, tiled ground below him before nocking an arrow and standing guard while Harry came down, struggling a little with the huge weapon around his shoulder.

Once both were inside, they quietly shut the hatch and watched each other's backs as they made their way down each corridor they came too, keeping an eye out for soliders, Eiling, and most importantly, their friends.

"We're inside." Oliver whispered, poking at his ear piece and keeping a clear view on his surroundings while Harry wandered behind him with the gun ready to shot when needed.

"YES!! Ok, great job guys!!! Listen, I have an idea! If you two can find your way to the security office, or, you know, the camera room, maybe we can connect me to the system manually and it'll give us a better chance of using the camera feeds all over the base! Not just in a few select areas!" Felicity's voice came through the earpieces, full of excitement and clear determination.

Oliver nodded to Harry, who acknowledged the plan with a quick nod of his own.

"Got it, Felicity. We'll look for it now." Oliver replied in a hushed tone as he gestured for Harry to follow him.

As they continued to navigate through the maze-like corridors of the base, Oliver and Harry remained vigilant, avoiding any encounters with guards and staying hidden from surveillance cameras.

Meanwhile, after a lot of persuasion on Lyla's part, both Iris and Dig's 'visit' had been cleared and the two were now being walked towards the main entrance by 3 soldiers with guns. They just prayed that Eiling hadn't been informed of their arrival yet.

Joe, Captain Singh and their team had made it around the back of the building, and were just a few steps away from a seconds entrance.

"Joe! Stop!" Felicity shouted suddenly through the comms.

Joe instantly halted, throwing his hands out to stop the others.

"What?! What is it?!" He pressed his ear piece.

"There are two guards about to round the corner. If you run for the door now, they'll see you."

"Copy that. Thanks Felicity."

Joe relayed the information to Singh and the team. They quickly took cover behind nearby crates and waited for the guards to pass. Once the coast was clear, Joe quickly asked Felicity if they were good to go and she checked the surrounding area before confirming.

They made a dash for the entrance, ripping open the door and slipping inside before anyone could notice them.

"Ok, we're in too!" Joe announced to Felicity and the others while receiving a very out of breath, but relieved, pat on the shoulder from Singh.

"So are we." Iris whispered, trying to be subtle in front of the soldiers who had just given them access to the building and were waiting patiently for someone of authority to come down and meet them. Once again Dig and Iris hoped that this 'person of authority' wasn't Eiling.

"Well done guys! Ok, we're just waiting for Harry and Oliver to make it to the security office and we can really begin our rescue." Felicity smiled, leaning back slightly in her chair.

On the other side of the base, however, things were about to become a little heated.

Oliver and Harry had finally reached a hallway that held a door with 'staff only' written on the opaque window. Just as the two were about to make their move, there was a startling shout from behind them.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"

The voice echoed down the corridor, and both of the men halted, looking to each other and cursing. They turned slowly to see several armed soldiers, aiming their guns directly at them.

Oliver exchanged a quick second glance with Harry, silently communicating their next move. Oliver placed down his bow and arrow and raised his hands in surrender, while Harry slowly lowered his weapon to the ground before doing the same.

One of the soldiers approached them with a stern expression before it transformed into a smug.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the infamous Green Arrow! And look you've brought a friend!! I'm sure General Eiling would LOVE to see you."

"I'm sure he would... But we have other things on our to do list to complete first." Oliver snarked before suddenly grabbing an arrow, before jumping forward and wrapping an arm around the soldier's throat, using him as a human shield while holding the sharp arrow close to his skin.

Harry than picked the gun back up and fired at the group of armed men, sending them all flying backwards with a surge of blue electricity. They were out before they hit the ground.

Wells then turned and aimed the gun at the man Oliver was holding and changed the setting from stun to kill.

"You are going to come with us. You make any move to alert your General that we're here, we'll shoot you. You make any attempt to escape, we'll shoot you. If you so much as piss me off, we'll shoot you. Do you understand?" Oliver pried, slightly piercing the soldier's skin with the point of his arrow.

The man nodded, squeezing his eyes shut out of fear.

"Good! Now... Why don't you help us out by getting us in there." Oliver said, pointing towards the 'staff only' door.

Chapter Text

With the soldier now under their control, Oliver and Harry swiftly made their way to the security office, their captive leading the way with a mixture of fear and compliance. As they approached the door, they heard a noise coming from inside. It sounded like a muffled voice, as if someone was talking on the phone. While Harry kept the gun aimed at soldier's head, Oliver forced him to knock on the door, telling him to get the person inside to leave while not alerting him that they were there.

The soldier did as he was told, knocking on the door and announcing himself. After a moment, the door opened slightly, revealing a man inside with a headset on.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but I'm going to have to ask you to step out for a moment. We've had a breach in security, and General Eiling has asked to see you so he can get to the bottom of it." The soldier said, trying to keep his voice steady despite the gun aimed at him just hidden behind the wall.

"Oh, right! Uh, of course! I haven't... I haven't seen anyone on the cameras. I- I don't think I have any way."

"It won't take long. I'll- I'll cover for you here while you're away." The soldier said as calmly as he could.

The security guard nodded, removing his headset and hastily making his way out of the small office, only to be grabbed instantly by Oliver and thrown into the wall behind him, knocking the guard out cold.

Harry then pushed the solider inside using the barrel of his gun and Oliver followed them in, shutting and locking the door behind him.

Once Inside, they found rows of monitors displaying various camera feeds from around the base.

"Alright, Felicity, we're in. What do you need us to do?" Oliver said into his earpiece, taking a seat in front of the monitors and watching each one in case anyone approached.

Harry sat the soldier down in a corner and kept the gun, and his eyes, trained on him at all times, while making sure his hands were in sight constantly to prevent any potential calls for help.

Felicity's voice came through the earpiece with a little crackle due to the excitement in her voice.

"Great! I need you to connect me to the base's mainframe so I can access the camera feeds remotely. Eiling most likely has access to the security footage on his own devices so that he can keep track of everything himself, so there should be an option somewhere on the screen where you can do it with our tech. Look for a settings menu or a 'connect devices' button."

Oliver quickly got to work, scanning each monitor for what Felicity was talking about before he finally landed on a screen displaying system settings. He navigated through the menus until he found the option to connect external devices. With a final few clicks and a quick confirmation from Felicity that it had worked, he managed to establish a secure connection between the base's mainframe and the monitors out in the van.

"I'm in!!!" Felicity shouted as her own monitors began to fill with camera feeds and folders of old saved footage.

"Great! Let us know what you find." Oliver and Harry watched as the screens around them began to move and work on their own, showing Felicity scouring through each of the feeds.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Iris and Dig's hearts were starting to race with anxiety as they were forced to wait for this 'person in authority' to come down and greet them. It had been over 10 minutes at this point, but due to their stress, time seemed to be going much slower.

Suddenly, the door at the end of the hallway swung open, and a man stepped out. He wore a stern expression, and his eyes immediately locked onto the pair.

"Can I help you?" he asked, his voice firm and commanding.

Iris stepped forward, maintaining her composure despite the nerves churning in her stomach.

"Yes, we're here to... We're here to meet with General Eiling. We have important business to discuss."

The man's gaze narrowed, suspicion evident in his eyes.

"And what business might that be?"

"We're here on behalf of ARGUS." Dig interjected smoothly, his tone confident and authoritative.

"It's a matter of national security. General Eiling has been notified of our visit... He should be expecting us" Dig lied, hoping the man would take the bait.

The man studied them for a moment longer before finally nodding.

"Very well. Follow me."

Iris and Dig exchanged a quick glance before falling into step behind the man as he led them further into the base, leaving the armed soldiers behind at the entrance.

"Nice work, guys." Came Felicity's voice from the comms as she watched them on the cameras.

Joe and his team were making their way through the never ending corridors, keeping their weapons loaded and ready if needed. So far they had been lucky to not come across any more soldiers, but that didn't stop the surge of anxiety that hit them every time they turned a corner.

That was why Joe almost jumped a mile when Felicity's voice came suddenly through his ear piece.

"I think I found them, guys!!!" She called out.

"Oh! Sorry Joe!! I didn't mean to startle you." Joe caught his breath and looked up towards a camera in the top right corner of the corridor.

"A little warning next time, Smoak?" He whispered.

"Sorry again! But seriously, I think I may have found them!! There's this hidden night vision camera feed that's labelled 'Cell 4' and it's locked behind an 11 digit code, but it's creation date was today. I bet you that's the cell holding Barry, Cisco and Caitlin!" Felicity scanned the other cameras to see if there was even a glimpse of any doors with numbers written on them around the base. But after a few minutes of looking, she came to the conclusion that Eiling most likely wouldn't have cameras installed in those sorts of areas just incase he was ever caught.

It was during that time that she realised how close Iris and Dig were to Eiling's office.

"Iris! Dig! You're about 4 corridors and 2 staircases away from Eiling. You're gonna have to do something about this guy you're following before you drop yourselves in it!"

Iris and Dig exchanged a determined glance. They couldn't afford to let this man lead them directly to Eiling. They needed to act fast.

They used the fact that the man was in front of them to their advantage. In one swift motion, Dig ran forward and placed a hand over the man's mouth while wrapping his other around his arms and waist.

Iris quickly moved in, grabbing the man's legs and bringing him down to the ground with a thud. Before he could make a sound, Dig applied pressure, holding his arms tight around the man's throat, rendering him unconscious.

The two breathed a sigh of relief as they dragged the man into a nearby empty room and stealing his pistol and anything he could use to call for help, before they turned and left him there, locking the door behind them. They then moved a heavy cabinet in front of the door to keep him contained.

"Nice work, you two! Now! If you head down the corridor to you right and go down the staircase at the end, you'll find Joe! Go now! Just be careful, there is a group of armed guys just a few corridors away from the staircase. Don't let them see you!"

The two of them wasted no time, quickly bolting down the hallway Felicity had led them towards, hope radiating in their veins as they realised how close they were to really pulling this rescue off.

Chapter Text

"Yes or no? Do you know what the code is for the night vision camera in the cell?" Harry demanded, pushing the barrel of the gun against the soldier's temple.

"No! No, I swear! The General is the only person with access to those! He creates the codes himself!" The soldier shrieked, trying to move his head away from the gun's aim.

"With 11 digits... it's gonna be a pain in the ass to crack... That's gotta be over a million different combinations, surely?"

"Nine hundred and ninety-nine billion, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine combinations actually... If you wanna be accurate about it." Harry corrected.

Oliver stared at his partner with annoyance before turning back to the monitors.

"If only we had a speedster right now... All nine hundred and ninety-nine billion tries would be done in a matter of seconds..." Oliver huffed.

Harry tried to brainstorm ideas while looking around the room. His eyes fell on the keyboard in front of Oliver. It was an old one that still held the number keypad on the right side.

Light bulb.

"What if it's a word?" He said suddenly.

"What?!"

"The 11 digits! What if it's a word." He clarified.

"There are thousands of 11 letter words in the English language... How are we gonna pin it down to one?!" Oliver replied, running a hand over his masked face.

"There's almost thirty thousand actually. But no. That's not what I mean. What if it's like those keypad that used numbers to represent letters? Like on old flip phones. R equals 7, 7, 7. B equals 2, 2... We just need to figure out the word and we'll have the number sequence."

"Harry that's Brilliant!" Iris yelled in excitement.

Oliver grabbed a near notebook and pencil, drawing out a quick cypher, similar to the keypad of an old phone, to help them with figuring it out.

"Try 'Eiling'." Harry said.

Oliver wrote out each number that corresponded with the letters of Eiling's name before shaking his head.

"14 Digits. too long."

"Guys it could be literally anything!" Felicity shouted.

"No. Eiling did all of this as a vendetta against us. Against... Try 'Barry'."

Oliver did the same thing, writing down each letter and matching it to its letter.

He ended up with the sequence:

'222777777999'

"12 digits. Just one too many."

There was silence for a moment as the whole group tried to think, before Joe spoke up.

"Try 'Flash'." He said.

Once again, Oliver got to work writing out the numbers and letters until he ended up with:

'35552777744'

"11 DIGITS!" He yelled.

"Well done, Detective West!" Harry smiled.

"Ok Felicity, here's the sequence..." Oliver read out each number and the two of the double checked it had been heard right before Felicity pressed the enter button.

"Here we go! Keep everything crossed guys."

Everyone waited impatiently as she finally clicked enter, bursting with anticipation.

"I'M IN!!!!" She screamed.

Each team member smiled brightly with success. It was also at that moment that Iris and Dig met up with Joe and Singh.

"Dad!!" Iris called to him excitedly with a quiet voice. Joe opened his arms wide and brought his daughter in for a hug.

"Ok, Felicity, what do you see?" Oliver asked, eager to get the next steps underway.

Felicity wanted to reply with good news. To tell the team that their friends were safe and unharmed, but every time she tried to open her mouth, she just felt bile rise up her throat and tears well up in her eyes.

"Felicity!" Oliver called again.

"I- I have eyes on them... Guys- it's not good. Barry looks REALLY unwell... And Cisco doesn't look any better... Caitlin seems to be the only one who's free to walk around the cell. She also seems mostly unharmed, thank god." Felicity explained, her heart dropping to her stomach at the sight of her friends.

Oliver's expression hardened as he processed the information.

"Okay, we need to move fast. Felicity, can you see anything in the cell that may tell us where in the facility they are?"

It took a moment for Felicity to process what Oliver had said while she stared at her broken friends. But a little information button at the bottom of the screen suddenly caught her attention.

"There's something here that's supposed to represent a location but I don't understand it."

"What does it say?" Iris asked.

"Red 4?" Felicity replied.

"Red 4..." Harry repeated, trying to think of what it might mean.

"Red is the name of the floor." The soldier in the corner of the room said suddenly.

Both Oliver and Harry looked at the man with stern expressions, urging him to say more.

"The cells and labs are held on floors that are given colours for names rather than numbers. It allows The General to be discreet about what he's talking about rather than saying 'floor 3, cell 2'. Just incase there are potentially intruders or spies listening."

"You get that, Felicity?" Oliver asked.

"Yep! Scanning for anything with the word 'Red' on it through the cameras now."

As Felicity scanned through the cameras, her eyes finally landed on a set of double doors that was just on the corner of the camera feed, only just hidden by a wall. There was a large red spot just above the doors.

"I got it, I think! It's 2 floors below you, almost at the basement. There's a red sticker above a pair of double doors!"

"Great! Iris, Dig, Joe, Singh, can you guys make your way there? We'll come and meet you." Oliver instructed.

"We're on it!" Joe replied.

"They won't make it in..." The solider said, catching Oliver's attention.

"That level has a lock on it that changes the pass code every 12 seconds. You have to request access at the door and it'll send the correct pass code at that moment to your pager and you have to enter it in under 12 seconds. It also sends an automatic alert to General Eiling if you even attempt to enter the red floor as it's a top secret section of the facility."

Oliver's jaw clenched with frustration as he stared at the soldier. Harry pushed the gun a little harder into the man's temple.

"Do you have one of these 'pagers'?"

The soldier shook his head.

"They're only given to higher people in authority. I've never even been on the red floor."

This caught Iris' attention.

"Wait! Dig, the guy who brought us up here, he had a little handheld device on him that had a small screen on it. Was that his pager?! HE was a person in authority!"

Dig snapped his fingers and dug into his pocket, pulling out the little grey device and throwing it to Iris.

"That is definitely a pager." He confirmed.

"So we can get in?!" Joe asked happily, reciving relieved nods from his daughter and friend before turning around and smiling at the Captain and his men who were watching the other corridors in case anyone was to come at them.

"This will mean that Eiling will definitely know we're here though. If he gets a notification every time someone tries to enter the red floor, he's absolutely going to either check the cameras, if he hasn't already, or he's going to come down here himself and see what's going on." Dig told them.

"Well then we better be quick! Wells and I will meet you all down there with our new friend. Felicity, keep an eye out and let us know if there are any other guards or soldiers around while we're making our way to the others." Oliver ordered.

"On it!" Felicity replied and the pair made their way out of the office with their hostage trapped between them, the gun still pointed at him.

Chapter Text

"I mean... at least we've not heard any fighting or anything yet, right?" Cisco asked trying to break the anxious tension as the trio wait in the cell for their friends to arrive.

Caitlin had managed to bring Barry round with some splashes of water and by squeezing at his cheek a little. He was still
quite out of it, but at least his eyes were open and he was slowly responding to his friends, whether he made sense or not.

"Not long now, Barr. They'll be here soon." Cisco assured his friend, sighing at the broken sight of him.

"Is there any way at all to tell how long it's been since Eiling brought you back? I'm concerned that it'll be 'my turn' before the team arrives and I can't even think about leaving you both right now." Caitlin ran her chained hands through her hair, glancing between her two best friends as she imagined the state they could be in when she got back.

"It's almost might be time for you to be dragged out of here and into that awful lab and you're worried about US?? Caitlin!! We're going to be fine... Please think of yourself just this once."

"I can't, Cisco. If I think about what they might do... to me... I'll probably break... I'm terrified! But I need to block that out right now while I'm here, unharmed and helping you two." Cisco listened and bit the inside of his cheek while nodding.

He understood what she meant.

He didn't want to...

But he did.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ok guys! If this works, we're only going to have a few minutes at most to get them out of here before Eiling finds out what's going on... If he doesn't already." Iris explained to the group, holding the pager in her hand, ready to hit the button on the door pad.

She reached out with a shaky hand and a deep breath, ready to complete the task, before she was abruptly stopped by Harry.

"Wait wait wait! Shouldn't we have a plan here? What if this floor is packed with soldiers? What if we can't get the cell door open? What if Eiling is already waiting for us?"

The group huffs in annoyance and anticipation as Oliver steps forward, his hostage still under his hand.

"Shoot them, shoot it, shoot him." He stated bluntly.

Harry scoffed at the sarcasm but took the answers without argument.

"We ready?" Iris asked as she reached out for the pad once again.

"Not really but will we ever be?" Joe replied, signalling for Captain Singh and his troop to stand on look out outside the entrance and telling them to shout if they get any trouble.

With a collective deep breath, Iris pressed the button on the door pad, activating the request for access. The tension in the air was palpable as they waited for any kind of response.

Suddenly, the pager in Iris's hand buzzed, displaying a string of numbers, and the pad on the door now showed a panel full of numbers. Without hesitation, she swiftly entered the code, her fingers moving with practiced precision but shaking slightly under the pressure. There was a tense moment of silence before the lock disengaged with a soft click and the group had to hold back their uproar of successful cheers.

Joe and Dig pulled out a pistol, Harry raised his gun and Oliver shoved the soldier foward and nocked an arrow. The group glanced at each other before taking the first hesitant, but quick, step inside.

"Roughly, how long we got til Eiling gets down here?" Oliver poked at the soldier with his bow.

"He's most likely on his way down here right now. I hope he catches you all and throws you in a cell like the one your friends are in." He jabs.

As if on queue, Felicity's voice came frantically over the comms to alert the group that she'd seen Eiling running down a staircase. He was definitely on the way.

They needed to hurry.

"If there are any guards down here they for sure know we're here now because he would've told them. I think the time of being cautious and safe are over..." Iris announced, pulling out a pistol from her belt that her dad had given her. She wished she'd kept hold of that super powered weapon from STAR, but she knew there would've been no way for her to get inside of she had that huge gun with her.

The team nodded and began to jog down each corridor, watching for guards while also checking every door they came across.

"What was the cell number again?" Joe asked.

"It was 4, but these doors aren't numbered. I doubt they'd have the cells so close to the entrance, they'd most likely be further down." Harry explained.

The group eventually met a split in the corridor.

Left or right?

There's silence for a moment before John suggested the WORST idea EVER!

"... Split up?"

The entire group whipped their heads round to look at him with expressions of disbelief.

"Are you insane?!"

John held his hands up defensively.

"Hey, it's just a suggestion! We need to cover more ground quickly and we are potentially seconds away from being shot, arrested and or killed by Eiling."

Oliver sighed, knowing John had a point. Splitting up was dangerous, but time was running out. He turned to the team, his expression hardening.

“Okay, John and Iris, you go left. Joe, Harry and I will take right, maybe this waste of space can be of some more use.” Oliver taunted as he shook the young soldier.

“Felicity, where's Eiling? You see him?"

he's at minimum 2 floors away! may be even closer! You need to move!!" She urged.

They exchanged tense nods before dashing off in their assigned directions, weapons at the ready.

As Joe, Oliver, and Harry jogged through the long corridors and past many darkened and locked laboratories, they finally rounded a corner, and heard the faint murmur of voices.

A lot, of voices.

They slowed their pace and crept closer. The murmurs became clearer—a group of guards standing in front of a heavy door, armed to the teeth with guns and batons.

One guard had his hand hovered near his radio, ready for whatever may round the corner.

"Eiling's guard dogs... and with how many there are, I'm guessing Barry, Cisco and Caitlin are behind that door." Oliver whispered to the others.

The soldier then decided to take matters into his own hands.

"THEY'RE ROUND HERE! HEY! THEY'VE GOT ME! HEY!!!" He screeched, obviously catching the jittery attention of the many guards around the corner who raised and cocked their weapons immediately.

"Damn it." Joe growled.

Oliver looked round at both Harry and Joe before making the sudden decision to toss the soldier out into the line of fire.

The young man fell to the floor in front of the guards, frantically throwing up his hands and begging them not to shoot.

The guards hesitated, caught by surprise from the unexpected sight of one of their fellow soldiers being used as bait.

Taking advantage of their momentary confusion, Oliver darted forward, firing a precise arrow that struck one of the guards in the shoulder, disarming him instantly.

"FIRE!!" one of the armed men screamed.

Gunfire erupted, echoing loudly through the narrow corridors, and Oliver threw himself back behind the wall with Harry and Joe. The young soldier flattened himself against the cold hard floor, covering his head and praying that he won't be hit by a stray bullet.

"Well that worked." Harry stated sarcastically.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Iris and Dig had made it down several corridors, on high alert as they round every corner.

"it's weird that we've made it this far without any bullets being fired at us yet."

Dig nodded in agreement, his eyes scanning each shadow and corner for any movement. The silence was deafening, the lack of confrontation unsettling. They rounded yet another corner and stopped in their tracks—three guards stood by an open door, talking amongst themselves.

“I guess our luck just ran out,” Dig remarked quietly, tightening his grip on his weapon.

"Yes. Mr Diggle... I believe it has." Came a rough voice behind the two.

"oooh I know that voice." Iris huffs, lowering her weapon.

The pair slowly turn on their heels and face the owner of the voice.

"Eiling..."

Chapter Text

General Eiling stood there, a smug grin on his face as he watched Iris and Dig like a predator, flanked by two more armed guards. He gave the two a condescending once-over, his posture relaxed yet menacing.

“You really thought you’d waltz in here undetected?” Eiling sneered, shaking his head in mock disbelief. The three guards from around the corner then appeared, now aware of the intruders.

“You heroes are always so predictable.”

"We made it this far without you finding out, didn't we?" Iris bit back.

"Perhaps... But I don't see how you're gonna get out of this one."

Iris and Dig exchanged a look, tension radiating between them. They could only hope the others were doing better than they were.

It was then that they heard distant chaotic gunfire.

"Now I wonder what that could be..." Eiling smirked.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Caitlin! Do you hear that?!" Cisco urged with hope in his voice.

"Guns... Gunfire?" She replied.

"Help has arrived!!" Cisco sang excitedly!

Barry, still groggy but more alert now, struggled to sit up against the wall. His eyes flickered with a mix of relief and fear.

“We need to be ready when they come. We might only have a small window to get out of here.” Caitlin explained.

“I can’t run like this, Cait.” Barry muttered weakly, wincing as he tried to re-adjust himself.

“I don’t want to slow you guys down.” He finished.

“Stop it, Barry.” Caitlin said sharply.

“You’re not going to slow us down. We’re not leaving without you. We’ll carry you if we have to, okay?”

Their conversation was interrupted by the sudden realisation that the gunfire had stopped. Then a sound of a large metal panel, or door, being broken open. Shouts and the pounding of boots began racing down a long corridor, towards their cell.

Caitlin held her breath, and they all strained to hear who it might be.

The door to the cell block burst open violently, and the trio's hearts dropped as they tried to fight through the sudden blinding light to see the faces of the intruders.

"Oh, thank god!" Said a familiar voice.

The first thing Cisco saw was a bow with a nocked arrow.

It was Oliver! Flanked by Joe and Harry. The three of them looked a bit battered and exhausted, but they couldn't help the smiles that appeared on their faces as they saw the kidnapped three.

Relief washed over Caitlin, and she almost sagged against the cell walls.

"God, Barry!" Joe shouted, running towards his adopted son. With the light on him, it was easy to see the lack of colour in Barry's face, and Caitlin had to hold on a gasp as she got the first real look at her friend's face in a while.

The exhaustion was palpable, but Barry forced a weak smile as Joe reached him.

“Joe…” Barry croaked, the sound raspy and strained.

Joe knelt beside him, worry etching deeper lines into his brow.

“We’re getting you out of here, son. I promise.” He pulled Barry into a brief, awkwardly positioned embrace before quickly glancing around the cell.

"Yeah! I'm ok too!" Cisco assured them sarcastically.

"Ah, Ramon... am I happy to see you!" Harry announced with a smile, walking towards the young breacher.

"Let's get them out of those chains and get out of here." Oliver suggested.

Joe agreed, jumping to his feet and aiming his pistol at the point where the chain around Barry's wrists meets the wall. With one pull of the trigger, the chains dropped and so did Barry. His arms fell to his lap and he slumped over, losing all strength like a rag doll.

Caitlin rushed to his side, working with him to sit him upright.

"Come on, let's get you up, shall we?" She ushered him with a comforting smile.

“Cait… I don’t think I can—” Barry began, but she shook her head fiercely, determination flooding her veins.

“Stop talking. Just lean on me.” She wraps one of his arms around her shoulder and gets ready to hoist him up.

"Joe, Harry, you unchain Cisco. I've got Barry." She assures the man.

Joe moved quickly to 'unlock' Cisco’s restraints, helping him to his feet. He stumbled a little, letting Joe hold him up securely.

"You good?"

"I have been treated like a lab rat for god knows how many hours... But I'm ready to kick Eiling's ass." Cisco replied sternly.

"Good to hear. Let's move!" Oliver urged, eyes on the door as the thumping of heavy boots began to sound in the distance.

Caitlin struggled to support Barry's weight as he leaned heavily against her. She could feel the heat radiating off his skin, a stark contrast to the icy grip of fear settling in her stomach.

“You’re doing great, Barry. Just keep leaning on me and it'll be ok. One foot in front of the other."

With Harry leading the way, his gun raised and ready, the group slipped into the corridor. Oliver kept his bow drawn, scanning for any signs of danger while joe and Caitlin helped Cisco and Barry along.

They reached the large metal door and Barry took notice of the many bodies lining the cold floor, most with arrows sticking out of them.

Oliver could sense the thoughts in Barry's mind and instantly spoke up to defend himself.

"They're not dead! I just... electrocuted them."

Barry couldn’t help but chuckle weakly at Oliver’s sheepish admission.

“Electrocuted, huh? Guess that’s one way to do it. What about the ones without arrows?”

"That was me! stun setting on the gun." Harry explained.

“Dont worry about them. Focus on moving.” Caitlin urged, adjusting her grip on the speedster. The adrenaline coursing through her veins fueled her determination.

“We need to get out of here before Eiling shows up with more reinforcements.”

"yeah, uh... too late?" Harry announced, charging his gun and aiming it towards a group of guards at the end of the corridor, being lead by the super villain general himself.

With Iris and Dig?

"Barry!!" Iris yelled from behind Eiling, wanting nothing more than to run to her lover. Her heart raced as she saw him leaning heavily against Caitlin, still vulnerable from his ordeal.

General Eiling inhaled sharply, his eyes narrowing as he took in the sight of the group.

“You fools think you can just stroll in here and take my experiments?” he sneered, his soldiers raising their weapons in response.

"Funny you think you'll get out of here alive." The group took a step forward, prepared for anything.

In the tense moment before an inevitable bullet filled fight, the few lights above the two groups went out, and a voice came over the facility speakers.

"Yeahhhh, I don't know about that General Dumbass."

It was Felicity. She had finally hacked all servers and functions of the facility and was in full control of the whole base.

Chapter Text

"Miss Smoak, I presume?" Eiling called into the dark, drawing his pistol from its holder.

"You bet! And I'm not going to let you hurt them. not any more."

"that's very bold and hopeful of you, Miss Smoak... But all you've done is switch off the lights. Your friends are still surrounded." Eiling remarked smugly.

From across the room, Barry was doing his best to build his strength and stand on his own. If it came to it, he'd protect his family til the end. With or without his speed. But there was little he could do in this state.

"No, Barry. You're still hurt!" Caitlin warned him, gripping his shoulder tightly.

"I need to do something..." He replied softly through grinding teeth.

Eiling’s grin stretched even wider as he noticed Barry’s feeble attempt.

“Ah, Mr Allen... Pathetic. This is the great Flash? I expected more of a fight.”

"Then you'll get one!!" Oliver shouted deeply, nocking another arrow and aiming it at the General, the aim was so perfect, it was almost as if the lights were still on. The rest of the group cocked their guns, ready for anything, and the soldiers on the other end of the corridor did the same.

Eiling chuckled.

"Your Metas are powerless. Do you honestly think you're going to get far? Even your friends out there from CCPD didn't stand a chance."

"What the hell did you do?!" Joe growled, worried for his friends.

"They're not dead if that's what you're worried about. I can't risk having the CCPD investigate the death of multiple officers at my facility." Eiling replied.

Felicity's voice then came through the group's earpieces.

"Cover your ears!" She demanded. The gang obliged and Harry informed Barry, Cisco and Caitlin to do the same.

Within seconds the building filled with a horrendous screeching sound that was enough to shatter anyone's eardrums.

Eiling and his soldiers threw their hands to their ears, dropping their weapons harshly to the ground. They too, then dropped to the ground.

The white lights above came back on, blinding the group like heavens gates were opening.

"RUN!" Felicity's voice echoed, sending her friends into a sudden bolt towards the door, jumping over struggling soldiers.

Joe was quick to kick Eiling's pistol far away from him as he tried to reach for it.

Once they were out, Felicity shut off the noise and dropped the metal door at the end of the corridor, locking and securing Eiling and the soliders inside.

"Felicity! You'll have to direct us out of here!" Dig called out as he and the rest ran through the corridors, Cisco and Barry staggering slightly with Caitlin and Joe clinging onto them.

"Ok! Um... Go up 2 floors! There are stairs on your next right!"

"On it!" Oliver replied.

Joe caught sight of his fellow officers and Captain and quickly ran to them with Cisco under his arm. The men were sprawled out on the ground, unconscious.

"Captain Singh!" Joe called out, waking the man up instantly.

"Joe!... What... What happ- Mr Ramon! You're ok!" Singh said relieved.

Cisco waved with an awkward smile.

"What about Allen?"

"Barry's ok too. Come on! Wake the guys up, we're gonna get out of here." Joe assured him.

Cisco then pulled on Joe's jacket, pulling him down to ear level.

"What about Barry?" He asked through his teeth.

Joe looked confused.

"If they see Barry in a meta cuff, they might find out he's The Flash?" Cisco explained.

"The we'll have to deal with that later. Right now, we need to get you guys and these guys out of here safe and sound." Cisco sighed heavily and nodded. The pair then went to join the rest of the group with Singh and the others following close behind.

When they finally reached the staircase, 3 of 8 out of the team had already started their ascent but were pulled to a halt when they heard a yelp from Caitlin behind them.

"Barry! Barry are you ok?!" She called, kneeling beside the speedster, who was now on the floor, gripping the first concrete step.

"I can't... I- Can't go anymore... I'm sorry." He whispered breathlessly.

Iris practically jumped down the few steps she'd made it up and dropped to her knees next to Barry.

"Come on, Barr. It's only a little longer and we'll be out of here. We'll both carry you and help you up the stairs. Come on, babe, please!?" She pleaded. Barry nodded and allowed Iris to wrap an arm under his shoulders in an attempt to help him up, with some added help from Caitlin.

He wasn't even a step up before he collapsed again, this time taking both Iris and Caitlin down with him.

"It's no use. Please, guys, just go without me! Get yourselves out... I'll be ok."

"Oh shut up, Allen! That lunatic will kill you if you stay! Not that we'd allow you to do that anyway." Harry spoke up, looking to his fellow teammates for agreement.

"He's right, Barr. There's no way we're leaving you here." Joe agreed.

"We just need to get that meta cuff off your leg. Then your abilities will start up again and you'll be able to speed heal." Cisco assured him.

"What about Singh and the guys? They'll find out I'm The Flash." Barry asked concerned.

Joe scratched his head and cleared his throat.

"Well... Singh... already knows... And for the others, like I said to Cisco, we'll just have to figure it out later."

"WHAT?! Captain Singh knows I'm The Flash?!" Barry questioned, receiving nothing but a nod from the others in reply.

As if on que, Captain Singh appeared behind the group, assuring them that all of the officers were awake and on their way over.

"It's good to see you, Allen." He said with a smile.

"Yeah, uh... You too, Captain..." The speedster replied.

"Is there any way we can get all of them out without them finding out I'm The Flash?" He finished.

"I've thought about that already. If you know the way out, we can go first. It's what we're trained for, things like this, and would happily go ahead of civilians to keep them safe. Plus, don't you have someone in the STAR van keeping tabs on whether any guards are around?" Singh asked.

"Felicity, yes. She can let you know if people are in your area. Here! Take this, she'll be able to talk to you directly." Iris said, handing Singh her earpiece that he put in immediately.

"Hey! I'm Felicity, I'll help you and your men out of the building."

"Thank you!" Singh replied before nodding to the group and leading his men up the staircase, following Felicity's instructions.

"Now, back to this thing. Any way we can get it off here and now?" Iris asked her team, gesturing to the meta cuff.

"Without shooting it and possibly hurting him in the process? I don't think so." Dig replied, scratching at his chin.

"Well there's gotta be a way!" Cisco insisted, looking frantically at the cuff around Barry's ankle. His mind raced, thinking of SOMETHING that could possibly help.

Then.

Light bulb.

“If we can short-circuit it, maybe I can fry it without harming him.” Cisco suggested, eyeing the small blinking light on the device. He glanced around, looking for anything that might work as a conductor.

“Harry, hand me your gun.”

Harry blinked, confused but did as asked. Cisco took the weapon and started prying at the metal on the barrel, ripping at the many wires and mechanisms inside. Harry tried to protest, watching as his invention was torn apart, but was quickly shut up by Joe sending him a look.

Cisco knew he only had one shot. If he messed up, the device could send an electric shock strong enough to knock Barry unconscious... or worse.

The rest of the team watched anxiously as Cisco fiddled with the gun, muttering under his breath.

"Oliver, can I have one of your arrows?" He asked, raising a hand without looking at the archer.

Oliver obliged and, like Harry, watched painfully as Cisco snapped it in half and jammed the arrow head into the cuff on Barry's ankle, trying to dislodge the mini screws around the flashing red light.

He prepared to connect 2 of the gun's wires to a small part of the cuff and prayed to God that it worked.

"Here goes nothing..."

"1..."

Barry squeezed his eyes shut.

"2..."

Iris and Caitlin shifted slightly just in case something went wrong.

"3!"

The wires connected.

There was a zap and the sound of circuits being fried, followed by a small puff of smoak coming from the cuff. But no electrocution, thankfully.

The red light went out and Barry felt the power dampening disappear almost instantly.

Lightning began to crackle and fizzle around his body and eyes, the energy shooting through every one of his nerves as the speed healing started to get to work.

"Now that's what we like to see!" Joe laughed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Iris rubbed her hands up and down Barry's back, a huge smile on her face as she stared into her husband's lightning filled eyes.

She always loved it when they did that. It's always so beautiful... like watching the most stunning fireworks light up the world. Her world.

"Guys! Sorry to break up this great moment but... You've got guards coming your way! they're 3 floors up, you've gotta go!!" Felicity explained urgently.

Barry rose to his feet, looking round at his team with a freshly found strength, his wounds already beginning to heal, and infection beginning to clear up.

"I think I've got enough adrenaline to get us to the boarder of the base. Let's get out of here shall we?" Barry asked with a proud smirk.

Chapter Text

The air crackled with anticipation as the team braced themselves. Barry flexed his fingers, feeling the familiar hum of the Speed Force course through him once again. It was like being reunited with an old friend, one who brought strength and a renewed sense of hope.

“We’re ready.” Iris confirmed, taking a deep breath as she looked around at the team, her eyes landed on Diggle who was trying to hold himself together.

"Well... Almost all of us."

"Someone better have a bucket ready." Dig muttered.

Barry positioned himself and took hold of Iris and Oliver's hands, who in turn took hold of the hands of the person to beside them. This continued until the group made a full circle.

"Here we go!"

With a burst of yellow lightning, he took off, his speed wrapping around him like a comfort blanket as he pulled his family along with him.

The world around them blurred, the white oppressive walls of the facility flashing by as they made their way through the labyrinth of stairwells and corridors. Guards barely had time to raise their weapons before Barry and his friends were gone, leaving only a faint trail of electricity and gusts of wind in their wake.

“Two more turns, Barry!” Felicity’s voice crackled through the comms, guiding them through the maze.

“I’ve disabled as many security protocols as I can, but they’re regrouping fast! There's a group around the front entrance prepared for you! Singh and the others haven't reached them yet." She finished.

"They're not going to get a chance!" Barry grunted, his voice strained. His legs pumped faster, pushing his speed to the limit. He felt the weight of carrying his friends, but he refused to slow down. They were almost there.

They rounded the last corner and Barry zoomed into the guards at the door tossing them all like ragdolls across the room and into the walls, knocking them all out. He then pulled his friends out with him as he phased them all through the glass doors and into the cool fresh air.

'The main gates are in sight! Just a little further.' He thought to himself.

"Hang on guys!"

Running was getting harder and harder with each step he took.

Eventually, they had made it though the gates and Barry came to sudden halt, throwing himself and his friends flying across the grass spread around the entrance.

They landed with a heavy thud, a tangle of limbs and bodies sprawled on the ground. Panting, Barry rolled onto his back, staring at the star filled sky above, trying to gather his thoughts. The fresh air felt surreal after the stifling confines of the base, but his was heart racing! Not just from the speed, but from the memories of everything that happened to him and his friends.

“Is everyone okay?” Oliver gasped, pushing himself up to a seated position.

“Fine! Just… give me a second.” Caitlin wheezed, brushing dirt off her clothes.

“Right as rain!” Cisco chimed in, albeit a little shakily.

“But maybe next time, we can just take the elevator?"

"What was that, Barr? feel like I've been thrown into a brick wall!" Joe belly laughed, rubbing at his limbs that made impact with the ground so harshly.

Dig flew onto his side, throwing up instantly.

"I'll never be used to that." He strained, wiping at his mouth.

"Sorry! I don't know what happened..." Barry tried to sit up, suddenly feeling super lightheaded. Caitlin noticed immediately and grunted as she fought through the aches to get to her friend.

She took one look at his face and made her deduction.

"I think that adrenaline of yours has run out Mr Allen." She told him regretfully.

Barry sighed, slowly getting to his feet and taking Iris' hand to help her up.

He was then hit by such awful nausea that, for a moment, he felt exactly the same as Dig.

"Man, if this is how running at super speed makes you feel, Dig, I am SO sorry!" He said, blinking harshly and shaking his head to try and clear his vision.

"Barry I think we should get you say down for a second... You look like you're gonna pass out." Oliver stated, reaching out for the speedster as Iris took hold of Barry's bicep, trying to keep him steady.

She searched his face, willing him to focus.

"We’re safe now. Just breathe. We made it." Her voice tight with concern as she took her husband's face in her other hand.

“I’m fine!” Barry insisted, though the tremor in his voice betrayed him.

“I just need a moment.” He swayed slightly on his feet, and Iris tightened her grip.

“Right. Just a moment, huh?” Oliver said, eyeing him skeptically.

You’ve already pushed yourself too hard, Barry. Look they aren't going to catch up with us for at least a few minutes, take a second to catch your breath!" Cisco urged him.

Caitlin was already checking Barry’s pulse, her fingers gently pressing against his wrist.

"That is WAY too fast, Barry. Even for you. You need to sit down."

Barry felt the world around him sway, tilt, and blur as the stars above became brighter and out of focus. He leaned heavily against Iris, the warmth of her presence grounding him even as he struggled to steady his breathing.

He didn't even notice a second pair of hands grabbing him as he slowly fell to the ground against his will, his vision faded in and out of focus.

“Barry!” Iris shouted, panic flashing in her eyes as she dropped down beside him, her hands hovering over his shoulders, unsure of what to do.

“Stay with me, Barry.” Oliver urged, kneeling on the other side.

Caitlin could see the strain etched into his features, the exhaustion palpable.

“Just breathe.”

The team formed a protective circle around him, their concern heavy in the air. The adrenaline rush had given Barry a momentary high, but now it was crashing down.

“I… I’m fine.” Barry murmured.

“I just-”

"Need a minute?" Harry interrupted him.

"We just need to get over the tree line over there and Felicity can come around and meet us." Dig told them, looking over his shoulder to make sure there was no armed guards coming for them.

He caught eye of movement by the main entrance and his heart rate sped up.

"We've got company." He said, pointing to a group of armed men running out of the base. Joe looked closer at them and smiled.

"It's Singh!"

"Oh thank god they made it out." Cisco sighed with relief.

Barry closed his eyes, taking a moment to collect himself as he took a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill his lungs.

“Okay." He whispered, opening his eyes.

“Let’s get moving.”

Iris and Oliver helped him to his unsteady feet, taking an arm each to wrap around their shoulders.

“You can walk, right? Or should we carry you?” Oliver joked.

“No carrying." Barry protested weakly, but a hint of a smile broke through the tension.

“I can walk."

He took a tentative step, followed by Iris and Oliver, who positioned themselves on either side of him.

“Just a little further." Joe encouraged, glancing toward the treeline where the shadows of the forest loomed invitingly.

The team moved cautiously, the adrenaline still pumping through their veins but tempered by the weariness that followed the escape. They navigated through the open field, the cool breeze brushing against their skin.

Suddenly, the sound of yelling and rapid boots crunching against gravel echoed in the distance, causing everyone to freeze in place.

They turned to see Singh and his men being chased by a huge group of guards, Eiling front and centre.

The group just watched for a moment, unsure of what to do to help them while Barry was out of commission.

Though the immediate gunfire that came next got them moving again.

“Get down!” Oliver hissed, pulling Barry down beside him as they crouched behind a bush.

Joe watched his Captain and friends as they chaotically raced against the bullets being fired at them. Thankfully, they all made it out past the gate and were running towards the hidden area behind the base that held the police van.

To avoid Eiling following them, Harry made the split second decision to call out and bring attention to the team.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Joe yelled grabbing Harry and scrambling to hide further in the grass.

"Do you really want them going after your colleagues, Joe? At least if they go after us it means that Singh will be able to get away safely and Felicity is just around the corner with the STAR van." Harry then shouted again, gaining the attention of about 30 soldiers and their General.

"GO GO GO!" He yelled, dragging Cisco and Oliver to their feet with the others following close behind.

Chapter Text

Adrenaline surged through the group as they sprinted into the thick underbrush, the sounds of gunfire ringing out behind them. Barry could feel his energy waning, but there was no way he would allow himself to falter—not now. The thought of his friends and family in danger pushed him forward, one shaky step at a time.

"Keep moving!" Iris urged, her voice steady despite the chaos.

There was a sound of a large vehicle racing away on the other side of the trees and Joe saw the symbol of the CCPD. At least they were able to get away safely.

"ALMOST THERE!! JUST A LITTLE FURTHER! FELICITY WHERE ARE YOU?!" Dig shouted into his earpiece over the echoing sound of bullets flying around.

"I'm on the way! There's a road on the other side of the woods! I'm going to pull up there in about 10 seconds. GO!" She replied urgently and the sound of an engine could be heard in the background. Harry and Oliver then saw headlights in the distance, slightly obstructed by the leaves.

"THERE SHE IS! COME ON!!" Oliver alerted the group.

Everyone followed as fast as they could, avoiding bullets left and right.

Felicity saw them coming and quickly jumped out to open the large sliding door. Each one of them flew into the van, slamming the door behind them as Harry jumped into the driver's seat, Felicity taking her spot in the passenger's seat again.

"GO, HARRY, DRIVE!" Iris shrieked, holding Barry close to her chest as they sped past the firing soldiers, bullets creating dents and holes in the van metal, making the group scream.

"I told Singh that you were safe out so he left about a minute ago with his men!" Everyone is safe!" Felicity assured everyone.

As the van sped away, the weight of the moment began to settle in. Everyone in the vehicle was still breathing heavily, adrenaline coursing through their veins, sweat pouring down their faces, their limbs and muscles aching from all of the running, but they were alive. They had made it out, against all odds.

“I can’t believe we did it!” Cisco exclaimed, still trying to process what had just happened.

"We're not out of the woods yet. Eiling is most likely getting in his truck now and following us. Where can we go? It'd just be dumb to head back to STAR labs wouldn't it?" Dig asked, looking around at his team.

"We could go to the station? Singh will be there just before we arrive and after what Eiling said, I doubt he'd come into a police station with armed guards." Joe suggested, earning some agreement from the others.

"Ok, well... if that's where we're heading, we should pull up surveillance of around STAR labs. Eiling might head there to catch us by surprise when we go back." Oliver said, gesturing to the monitors across from him.

Felicity then had an idea.

"What if we just take you guys back to Star City? It'll be far way enough from Eiling AND it'll mean we can tend to Barry and Cisco's injuries properly without anyone questioning what happened or why Cisco and Caitlin are wearing meta cuffs... We can still keep an eye on STAR labs using the cameras and if anything happens, we'll be ready."

Everyone's eyes connected with one another, thinking over Felicity's plan, before nodding and deciding it's the best option. Iris then looked over at Cisco and really took in how he looked right now. They'd all been so focused on Barry, they forgot to check on the tech genius.

"Cisco, how are you doing? I'm sorry, we haven't really asked."

"Honestly? I feel like I'm burning from the inside out. My hands are numb and I have the WORST migraine I've ever had... If only I had speed healing am I right?" He chuckled darkly.

"I guess I did the same as Barry and just powered up enough adrenaline as I could muster for us to get out of there. But I think I'm all out now." He explained, slumping against the wall of the van behind him.

"We'll get you back to the bunker and checked out properly. You may have some kind of infection in your hands or something if they're numb." Felicity explained, earning a concerned sound of agreement from Caitlin. She decided to check her friend out as best as she could.

"Do we have a first aid kit?" She asked.

"Yes! it's under Harry's seat." Felicity replied, pointing to a small green box under the driver's seat. Joe reached for it and threw it over to Caitlin, who immediately got to work.

She pulled out a little white bottle of antiseptic rubbing alcohol, and some cotton pads, pouring some of the bottles contents onto them and taking Cisco's hands in her own.

"This is going to hurt. Here, bite down on this." She placed a cotton swap in his mouth and apologised in advance for needing to hurt her friend more than he already had been.

"1... 2... 3!" She placed the rubbing alcohol on the injuries in his hands and Cisco let out a blood curdling scream. Even Joe had trouble listening to it without tears forming in his eyes.

About a minute later the stomach turning noise became almost whimpers as Cisco tried his best to relax now that the burning pain had begun to subside.

"That! Was not fun at all!" He yelled through his teeth sarcastically.

"I'm so sorry! But hopefully that will help clear up any building infection. At least until we get to Star City."

Cisco sighed in response and tried to make himself comfortable, wincing every now and then as he tried to move. He casually glanced over at Barry, noticing how quiet he was through all of that. Barry Allen would never willingly just let his friend go through pain without trying to help ease it as much as he could.

“Um... can we check on our resident speedster please?" Cisco tried to point to his friend, his hands shaking heavily now and firey pulses shot through his fingers as he moved them.

Barry's eyes were closed and his head was using Iris' shoulder as a pillow.

"Barry? Barry can you hear me?" Iris called, shaking her husband slightly, causing his head to move from her shoulder and drop to his chest.

The team gasped and Ollie reached for Barry's head to level it again with Iris' shoulder.

Caitlin jumped up, looking at Cisco worryingly before making her way over to Barry, checking his pulse and his breathing.

"He's got a strong pulse and his breathing is a little uneven but ok under the circumstances. Barry? It's Caitlin! If you can hear me I need you to open your eyes."

Barry didn’t respond. His face was flushed, sweat beading at his hairline. Caitlin's brow furrowed, and she gently shook his shoulder, trying to rouse him.

“Barry, come on. We need you to wake up.”

Iris felt tears building in the corner of her eyes as she felt her husband's sweaty hair brush her cheek.

He remained motionless, his breath coming in shallow gasps now. Iris’s face contorted with fear, her hand gripping his arm tighter.

“What’s wrong with him?” She whispered frantically, her eyes darting between Caitlin and the others.

"He has an infection. I was doing my best to treat it in the cell... Cisco sacrificed himself to Eiling so that I could get some medical supplies to help him." Caitlin explained, glancing at Cisco as she remembered how he looked when Eiling threw him back into the cell.

"I don't know what they did to Barry in there, but all we heard were screams... He came back to us with cuts and bruises all over his torso." Iris couldn't hold back any more after hearing that and instinctively wrapped Barry up in her arms, holding him close to her like a protective shield.

"Ok so it's clear he has some kind of infection... But with how lathargic he is and drained of energy, as well as his really pale skin... Is it possible they did a blood extraction on him?" Felicity asked, turning in her seat to face the speedster.

"They took mine! It was hard to really know what was going on through all of the electricutions and... torture... But he definitely took some of my blood. As well as some skin samples. That's why my hands are like this... Oh my god Eiling has our blood... He has Barry's blood."

The silence that followed Cisco’s revelation was thick with horror and disbelief.

“He… has your blood?” Diggle echoed, his voice low. Eiling’s fixation on metahumans was well-documented, but if he had access to Barry’s DNA, and therefore the Speed Force, there was no telling what kind of experiments or weapons he might devise. Knowing he had Cisco's blood also meant the potential plan for experiments to crest breaches and travel to other world's. This could result in a genocide of Metas on every earth.

“We can’t let him keep it.” Oliver said firmly, his eyes hardening with resolve.

“If Eiling figures out a way to replicate Barry’s speed or Cisco's vibes and weaponize it, not only would that screw us, but it could screw the world too... Every world."

“It could be catastrophic.” Harry finished, gripping the steering wheel tightly. His eyes darted to Barry and Cisco through the rearview mirror, worry etched in every line of his face.

"We'll figure something out. But we have other things to sort out first." Joe urged, gesturing to Barry and Cisco.

As if on que, Barry stirred, a soft groan escaping his lips. Iris’s heart leapt with hope as she gently cradled his face, brushing a few strands of damp hair away from his forehead.

“Barry? Can you hear me?” she whispered, her voice trembling.

Barry’s eyelids fluttered, but he didn’t fully open them. His head lolled slightly, and a faint mumble escaped his lips, incoherent but unmistakably filled with pain and exhaustion.

“Stay with me, Barry.” Iris pleaded, tightening her grip on his hand.

“We’re almost safe, okay? Just a little longer.”

"Was someone screaming?" He whispered, his voice hoarse and strained.

Caitlin exchanged a worried glance with Cisco, who looked pale and drawn himself, his own injuries taking a toll on him.

Cisco forced a weak smile despite his pain.

“Nah, man, you’re just imagining things. We’re all fine. Just focus on breathing and staying alive, okay?”

Barry nodded slightly, his head bobbing unsteadily.

“Okay… Okay.” He murmured, his voice trailing off as his eyes fluttered shut again.

The group shared sympathetic looks with Cisco. Even when injured he still looks out for his friend.

The silence that followed was tense. Everyone was on edge, hearts racing as the van sped down the dark, winding road towards Star City. Felicity glanced back nervously, her eyes flicking from Barry’s limp form, to Cisco slumped in the back, to the worried expressions on her friends' faces.

"I'm going to call Curtis and get him to set up the med bay with everything we might need." She said, her fingers already dialing as she turned back around.

“We’ll be there soon, Barry.” Iris whispered softly, leaning her forehead against his. Her eyes squeezed shut as she took in his shallow breathing and the way his body seemed to tremor slightly.

“Curtis, it’s me. We need the med bay prepped. Now. Barry’s in bad shape, Cisco is too. I’ll give you details on the way, but we’re gonna need everything you’ve got.” Felicity’s voice was low but urgent as she relayed the message.

The minutes felt like hours as they raced towards their destination. The only sounds in the van was the hum of the engine and Cisco and Barry’s labored breathing. Caitlin stayed with Cisco, holding his arm in her hand comfortingly and allowing him to rest his head against her like Barry was on Iris. She'd occasionally move her fingers to his wrist to check his pulse, thankful each time she felt a strong thumping against her fingertip.

Cisco eventually fell asleep from the exhaustion, comfortably leant against his best friend, knowing he was finally safe.

The rest of the team exchanged worried glances as they took in the sight of Cisco and Barry, but remained silent, allowing the two heroes to sleep.

Chapter Text

Finally, after what felt like forever, the team arrived at their destination. Felicity jumped out of the van to help them inside and Iris and Oliver carried Barry into the building, followed by Joe and Caitlin who were carrying Cisco. Harry and Dig made the decision to stay in the van just on the off chance that Eiling had their location and would be ready to inform the team if he arrived.

Once inside the bunker, Curtis was already waiting, his face pale with concern as he motioned them toward the medical area.

"Oh my god..." Curtis whispered as he took in the sight of Barry and Cisco in such a state.

"Um... G- Get them on the tables, now. I’ve got blood bags set up, and everything else Felicity asked for." He said, his hands shaking slightly as he led the way. The room buzzed with equipment, and the sterile scent hit their noses as soon as the group entered.

Iris and Oliver gently laid Barry down, while Joe and Caitlin did the same with Cisco. Vibe still hadn’t woken up from his exhausted slumber, and Barry’s breaths were shallow, his face flushed and ghost white.

Caitlin and Felicity immediately got to work.

Caitlin set up the blood bag line, inserting the needle into Barry’s arm with the precision of someone who had done this far too many times for comfort. Felicity moved to do the same for Cisco and looked round to monitor his vitals, her fingers dancing over the equipment with practiced ease.

"Curtis, can you pass me the antiseptic and as many bandages as possible?" Caitlin asked, keeping her eye on Barry and his shredded torso. Curtis fumbled with the plastic packets that held the cotton bandages and tape, his hands trembling with anxiety over everything going on.

Iris, Oliver and Joe stood frozen against the wall opposite, watching as Barry and Cisco were worked on.

"Cisco's levels are still a lot lower than I'd like them to be. I'll add an IV drip, he needs more fluids." Felicity stated from the other med table.

"How are the incisions on his hands?" Caitlin replied.

Felicity lifted one of Cisco's hands, taking a good look at the deep and hacked job of a surgery that was done to it.

"There's quite a lot of raised, red skin around it. Both hands are getting quite swollen." She explained.

"Damn it..." Caitlin glanced at Cisco's swollen hands, her brow creasing with concern.

"We need to get ahead of that infection now before it spreads further. Felicity, you'll have to administer antibiotics." She grabbed a syringe from the nearby tray and quickly passed it to the blonde.

Felicity looked a little struck for a moment, but was quick to inject the liquid it into Cisco’s IV, hoping it would take effect soon.

Iris stepped towards Barry, taking one of his hands in her's on the other side of Caitlin. She hadn't really had the chance to look at him since they escaped the base. They were either running, under the night sky, or in a closed off and moving van. But now? he was under white medical lights, his pale features prominent, as well as the deep dark circles under his eyes. If he was awake right now and saw himself, he'd probably say he looked like a Tim Burton character.

Iris pull his hand into her chest, squeezing it with all her might and praying that if she tried hard enough, Barry would hear her mental pleas for him to recover.

Caitlin occasionally snuck Iris quick glances, feeling terrible for everything that was happening. She wished she had done more in the cell to help him, not that she was given a lot to work with. She quietly cleared her throat and shook her head.

'Right now, he's your patient, not your friend. Don't get emotional.' She thought to herself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The minutes ticked by unbelievably slowly.

Felicity had just finished dressing Cisco's wounds, making sure they were clean and safely wrapped up, when there was an audible gasp from the other med table.

Iris' heart almost jumped out of her chest when the hand she was holding suddenly jolted.

Barry's eyes snapped open and he instantly began to panic. There was this terrified look in his eyes that Iris hadn't seen since Thawne was around, and within a second, he was across the room in a burst of crackling yellow lightning.

Caitlin flew backwards slightly at the great speed that zoomed past her, but was luckily caught by Oliver running over and grabbing her arm.

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS ANYMORE!" He shrieked.

"Hey! Barry calm down, son!" Joe called out with arms raised.

"NO! NO! DON'T COME NEAR ME!" The speedster shouted back, his voice cracking harshly as tears began to roll down his face.

Iris tried to go after him, to calm him down, but was stopped by Caitlin as she realised what had happened.

"Iris! Stop... He just woke up on a metal table with a bright light above him and someone working on him... He thinks he's still at the base. With Eiling." She explained.

Iris' heart shattered at the realisation. The haunted look in Barry’s eyes confirmed Caitlin’s fears. His breaths were rapid, his gaze flickering between each of them like a scared and cornered animal.

It was almost as if he was searching for something familiar, something that didn’t scream danger, but with the bright lights behind them all, all he could see were silhouettes, not faces.

“Barry, it’s us!” Iris cried, taking a small step forward.

“It’s Iris. Caitlin, Felicity, Joe, Curtis and Oliver are here too... You’re safe now. You’re in Star City at Oliver's bunker. I promise you're safe."

But Barry seemed deaf to her words, his body tense and his lightning fizzled and crackled erratically around him.

"Iris... You need to step away." Joe said sternly.

"What? Why?"

"Because I think he's about to throw lightning at you." Curtis jumped in, nervousness in his voice.

Oliver took a cautious step forward, placing himself between Barry and the rest of the group, his hands raised in a non-threatening manner.

“Barry, it’s me. Oliver. Eiling isn’t here... We got you out! You're not at that place any more.” He said slowly, his voice calm and controlled.

"Caitlin, turn off the lights." Joe suggested. She obliged and the electric buzzing filling the room died down the second the white medical lights switched off.

Each of the silhouettes suddenly became more visible and grew faces.

Barry’s breathing hitched, his eyes darting wildly around the room at each face. The flickering light from the electrical bolts dancing along his body cast eerie yellow flashes on the walls. He looked like a man on the verge of shattering, holding himself together by the thinnest of threads.

It was then that he caught sight of Iris' eyes for the first time and he harshly came back to his body, dropping to the ground as he finally realised where he was and who he was with.

“Eiling... He...” Barry’s voice was barely a whisper, his eyes reflecting sheer terror.

“He said… He’d kill you all... He tortured me, and- and he said that if I fought back, he'd kill you all and make me watch."

“Barry, listen to me.” Oliver took another step towards the speedster, speaking firmly but gently as he knelt down to be at Barry's eye level.

“We’re all here. Eiling can’t get to you anymore. And he isn't going to hurt any of us, I swear... But you need to let us help you.”

There was a moment of stillness as Barry seemed to process Oliver’s words. His gaze softened slightly, and the yellow electricity began to calm and dissipate. Slowly and hesitantly, Barry took a deep breath, allowing his heart rate to calm too.

But then, as if the time couldn't be worse, his eyes fell on Cisco, who was still unconscious on the med table. Barry’s panic spiked again, his lightning flaring to life once more.

"Cisco!?! No no no... What happened to him?!" He demanded, speeding over to his friend.

"Barry he's gonna be ok! Eiling hurt him too, but Felicity and I have helped him and he's gonna be fine, I promise." Said a voice behind him. Barry turned at neck breaking speed when he realised who's voice it was.

"Caitlin! You're ok!!" He exclaimed, allowing the lightning to fade properly before jumping over and pulling her close to his chest. She of course reciprocated with a relieved smile and squeezed him tight.

Well, tight enough without irritating any of his injuries.

Barry pulled away and looked around at his friend's, his eyes landing on Iris once again and practically pouncing at her with a large white smile, so thankful to see her again.

Iris wrapped him up in her arms, like she had done in the van, and placed a hand on the back of his head, running her hand comfortingly through his hair, like she's done for years whenever he has a nightmare.

Caitlin smiled and chose to turn and go back to working on Cisco. Making sure everything was ok with his vitals. Barry then pulled away from Iris and joined Caitlin next to their tech genius best friend.

"What happened to him? I remember him getting my meta cuff off... But what did Eiling do to him??" Barry repeated, looking at the bandages and dried blood on Cisco's skin.

Caitlin’s gaze softened as she watched Barry’s concern for Cisco. She took a breath, weighing how much to tell him without overwhelming him more.

"After... After you came back to the cell... Cisco made a deal with Eiling to go next in return for medical supplies so I could help you... Do you remember that?" She asked carefully.

Barry nodded softly, feeling guilty as he looked down at his brave friend.

"Well... Eiling then tortured him too... carved into his hands and... ele-" Caitlin's voice got caught as she chocked up thinking about Cisco being hurt so badly. She cleared her throat and wiped at her eyes before trying again.

"Eiling electrocuted him... He also, um... He took samples of both yours and Cisco's blood."

Barry’s fists clenched at his sides, a flash of anger crossing his face as his eyes lit up with lightning. He’d expected pain and suffering for himself, but knowing that Cisco had been tortured because of him?... It felt like a knife twisting in his chest.

“I should’ve-” Barry began, his voice breaking, but Caitlin cut him off.

"No, Barry. Don't even go there. This is not your fault so don't even try to blame yourself. Cisco did what he did so that I could help you. You were dying. If he hadn't done what he did, we would've been dragging your dead body out of that place for sure.

Barry nodded slowly, tears threatening to spill again. He looked at Cisco’s sleeping face, his fingers trembling as he gently touched his friend’s wrist, looking at the bandage on one of his hands.

“I’m so sorry, Cisco." He whispered, voice barely audible.

A silence filled the room, broken only by the beeping of the monitors and the soft hum of the equipment. Barry took a seat back on the med table and swallowed hard, deep in thought. He then seemed to gather his resolve, his face hardening.

“What are we going to do about Eiling?” His voice was still weak, but a fire burned in his eyes.

“We can’t let him get away with this. Especially if he has our blood."

Oliver stepped forward, his expression grim but determined.

“We’re already working on it. We have every resource at our disposal looking into what Eiling could be doing, or anything else he may be hiding. We have a theory that he may show up at STAR labs again so that's why Felicity thought it was best to come here instead. We'll figure out a plan of action later. But right now, Barry, we need you to rest.”

Barry shook his head adamantly.

“No. You don’t understand what he has. He’s got more than just our blood. He knows things about the Speed Force, things he shouldn’t know. He kept mocking me with it as he cut into me over and over and OVER!" The speedster yelled through gritted teeth.

"If we don’t stop him soon, he’s going to hurt a lot more people.”

“And we will stop him." Joe interjected, his voice calm but commanding.

“But you need to trust us, son. We’ve got this.”

Barry opened his mouth to argue, but Iris stepped in front of him, her hands framing his face.

“Barry, please. You just got out. We can’t risk you getting worse... You really scared us before. Scared me... Please trust us. Just for a little while, okay?”

Barry stared into Iris’ shining and pleading eyes, feeling his resistance crumbling. He was exhausted, every fiber of his being aching. But the thought of sitting back while his friends faced Eiling without him… It was unbearable.

No matter how much he wanted to fight it, all he could see was the fear in Iris’ eyes. The fear of nearly losing him again. He couldn’t do that to her. Not after everything they’d been through.

“Okay.” He finally whispered, dropping his head.

Chapter Text

"I wonder how things are going in there..." Dig thought out loud, leaning back in his seat.

"They're fine. Allen and Ramon are always ok in the end. You know how many times both of them have almost died? At least ten. Each." Harry replied, tapping away at the steering wheel.

"They're strong. They're fighters. They'll be fine." He finished, reciving a nod from Dig.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the bunker, Oliver, Felicity, Joe and Curtis were working to find out more about Eiling's plans and his possible whereabouts right now.

Caitlin and Iris were with Barry and Cisco, keeping check on the pair as they slept. It had taken a while for Barry to fall back asleep, but after some strokes through his hair from Iris, as well as her beautiful humming, he was out like a light in minutes.

Caitlin sat quietly, watching over Cisco, the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor the only sound in the room. She glanced at Barry, who was finally resting, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. Iris sat by his side, gently holding his hand, her soft humming lingering in the air.

After everything they had been through, it felt surreal to have a moment of peace.

But of course... No rest for the wicked.

Caitlin was shaken from her deep thought when a sudden soft beeping began on Cisco's monitor. Not enough to alert anyone, but just enough for Caitlin to jump up and check what was going on.

Cisco's temperature was slowly rising.

"Must be due to that infection." She whispers to herself, catching the attention of Iris beside her.

"What is it?"

"His temperature is rising pretty high. I need to cool him down and get some more antibiotics in his system." The Dr replied.

Iris jumped up, abandoning Barry's hand to help her friend.

"What can I grab? Wet towels? Ice pack?" Iris asked, looking around the room for a possible solution before glancing down at the ground. Her eyes landed on the meta cuff still on Caitlin's ankle.

"You... We just need to get that meta cuff off and you can cool him down."

Caitlin glanced down at the meta cuff still clamped around her ankle, having almost forgotten about it in the chaos of everything.

"I need something to pry it off. I don't know how to use wires to disarm it like Cisco did."

Iris scanned the room quickly, her eyes settling on Felicity’s workbench.

"Hold on!" She rushed over, rifling through the assortment of tools and tech gadgets until she found a sturdy screwdriver. Running back to Caitlin, she knelt down beside her and began working at the device.

“This should work. Let's try to wedge it in and pop it open.” Iris said, straining as she stuck the screwdriver down the side of the cuff.

Finally, after several failed attempts, swapping of tools, and yells of frustration later, both Iris and Caitlin cheered when a satisfying pop came from the device, and the cuff released, clattering to the floor.

Caitlin wasted no time. She placed her hands over Cisco’s burning skin, focusing all her energy on lowering his body temperature. A faint blue glow emanated from her hands as her frost powers gently cooled Cisco down.

“That should help for now, but we need to keep a close eye on him." Caitlin said, her voice calm but firm. She wiped the sweat from her brow, relieved to see Cisco stabilizing.

"We got him!" Oliver called, waving from the monitors for Iris and Caitlin to come over.

The pair ran to the rest of the group, curious as to what they've found.

"Felicity and Curtis hacked into some of the security cameras around Central City. It's just like we thought..."

"He's as STAR labs waiting for us?" Iris deducted.

"His soldiers are... There's no sign of him yet. But! We've also managed to get through to some encrypted military files under Eiling's authority and-" Felicity was interrupted by an amazed scoff from Joe.

"How the hell do you just manage that so easily?" He laughed.

"Well, seen as Eiling knows we're on to him already, what's the point of being discreet anymore?" She replied with a chuckle.

"Wait... He can't track the hacking back to here can he?" Caitlin asked with wide, concerned eyes.

"Noooo! No of course not!... Maybe..."

"MAYBE?!" The group yelled in unison.

"Look, our scanners and software seemed to have a power outage for approximately 3 seconds while you guys were on your way here. I mentioned it to Felicity and she's not too worried... But there's always that chance that those 3 seconds cost us our most valuable asset... Being untraceable." Curtis explained, earning a groan from the team.

"What could possibly cause that?!" Oliver demanded.

"I... Don't know. Due to it messing with the software, I couldn't pinpoint where it came from." Curtis replied. That was when Iris was struck with a very concerning thought.

"What if it was him? Eiling?"

"Nooo! I mean... He's never been here. He wouldn't know where we are, and plus! He was so far out from us that he couldn't have followed us here without us knowing... Right?" Felicity looked over at Oliver for confirmation.

"What if... he just hit the whole city with it and just hoped it'd hit us too?" Joe wondered, looking around the group.

"But that still wouldn't answer how he knew we were here?!"

The group's conversation was broken by the sudden loud sound of radio noise.

"Guy!" Harry's voice came through, slightly crackly.

"Wells! Everything OK?!" Joe replied.

"We've got company. There's a van that pulled up around the corner about 2 minutes ago and no one has attempted to get out or get in. it's just slightly hidden behind a wall at the end of the road." Harry explained.

Everyone in the bunker froze, their hearts pounding in sync with the tension suddenly gripping the room.

"He wouldn't risk attacking us on our own turf would he?"

"We did."

"We need to be ready for anything. Eiling's soldiers may be at STAR but from what I can gather after today, that man is never powerless." Oliver said quietly, his voice tight as his mind ran through several scenarios of what he'd do if Eiling was to walk in right now.

"Iris, stay with Barry, Cisco and Caitlin. I will not let that bastard take them again. Felicity, Curtis, lock down the bunker and put up every defensive measure we have. Joe, you're with me." Joe nodded, reaching for his gun, instinctively checking it.

"We'll join Dig and Harry outside. If it’s an attack, we'll do what we can." Oliver assured the group.

"Please! Be careful. If he shoots first, you better hit back." Felicity tells the pair sternly, receiving a sarcastic salute from Oliver.

"Yes, ma'am."