Running Over Water

[30 - Cat Videos]

Barry

"Dude, look at this hi-LAR-ious cat video I found on YouTube," Cisco shoved his phone in my face where I just chuckle and take a step back.

"This is your fifth cat video you've showed us in the past fifteen minutes, Cisco. That's five more cat videos than I'd prefer," Caitlin said, looking up from her book with an exasperated look on her face.

"Well, good thing I'm not showing you this video, now isn't it?" He sticks his tongue out at her and she just rolls her eyes and goes back to reading her book.

"Okay, okay, just show me the video."

"Here, look," Cisco presses the 'unpause' button on the screen and a video shows a cat playing the piano wearing a top hat. It is quite a funny sight to see, I don't know what Caitlin's upset about. How could you not love cat videos.

The cat (named Wiggles) was halfway through his song of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' when my phone began to vibrate against my back pocket, the "Sencha" ringtone getting louder and louder. "Sorry, one moment."

I pull the phone out my pocket and look at the caller ID. "Huh, Iris is calling me," I look up at Cisco who's waiting impatiently for me to start and finish the call so we can continue the cat video.

I pick up and I hold the phone against my ear. Iris speaks before I can even say hello. "Barry, listen, Percy got this creepy weird feeling and went down this staircase, and he told me to call you and Joe, but I'm pretty sure you should go find him because he seemed pretty freaked out."

"Wait, what happened?" My voice was laced with concern, and Cisco and Caitlin began to pay attention to my conversation.

"I have no idea! We were just walking around and then he mentioned he felt something was wrong as soon as we past that door. And then he just left."

"All right, I'm coming down." I hang up and look up at my friends.

"Can you guys call Joe and tell him to meet us in the basement. Somethings up with Percy, and we need to figure out what's wrong."

——

When we reach the the door, I told Iris, Cisco, and Caitlin to stay up there to get Joe while I go down and find Percy.

I rush down into what I assume is a storage room of a sort; boxes teemed the room so there was barely any left space to walk. But there was makeshift pathway to get to one side of the room to the other. Once I noticed nobody was here, I ran off into an open door which was already open once I walked in, indicating someone had opened it earlier, presumably Percy.

In there was a larger room that reeked of ripe metal and sweat, a low buzz emitted from the lights that lit up the room.

My head turned to a small grunt from the corner of the room. And I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Eddie.

"Oh, Eddie! Oh, my god," I ran up to him, assisting Percy who was untying his hands that were tied against the wooden chair. "Hey, we got you now, buddy.

"Thawne- his-" Eddie mumbles out before his eyes fluttered shut.

"Thawne?" Percy looks up at me, and I shrug.

Once we cut him free, "Let's get him out of here," Percy says, wrapping his arm around a slouching Eddie. He lifts him up, and I wrap my arm around his waist, helping hold him up.

Eddie wasn't in exactly the best shape at the moment. He was clearly dehydrated and exhausted but he didn't seem hurt in any way. But I couldn't imagine the things the Reverse Flash said to him. "Let me bring him upstairs, you go get the rest of the team know we found Eddie."

•••

Percy

I nod my head as Barry runs off, tightly holding on to Eddie who's face was pale as a ghost. I sigh, finally glad to have gotten Eddie safe. I may not love that guy, but we're kind of similar, him and me. So a part of me will always kind of like him.

Right before I'm about to go up a ladder which seems to lead upstairs, something catches my eye near the chair Eddie had been tied too.

I tilt my head as I bend down to get a better look at it. My eyes widened as I realized what it was. I know an engagement ring box when I see one.

I carefully pick it up, examining the blue velvet case before opening it to reveal a huge square-cut diamond ring that probably cost more than my entire apartment. "Oh, gods," I mutter before pocketing the box and going back upstairs.

•••

While everyone is crowded around Eddie in the med bay, fussing over Eddie who seemed to have gotten a bit more color in his face, I quietly pulled Iris aside.

She gave me a questioning look as I pulled the ring box out of my pocket, and I can tell Iris knows what it is before I even present it to her. She gasps as her hand flies to her mouth in shock. She stumbles back a step, holding onto the wall for support. "Oh, Eddie," she sobbed out, gently grabbing the box out of my hands.

"I found it nearby where he found him, he was probably going to propose to you that night he got kidnapped but never got the chance to," I say, watching as Iris look at the box, she stroked the velvet back and forth as she nods at me.

"Thank you, Percy, thank you so much for finding him," she looks up at me as a single tear falls from her eye. I smile at her in response, and leave her alone in the hallway.

•••

Would you rather be in prison for five years or be in a coma for a decade?

WIldman98