Within Seconds: Sylas & Allen

Grab Those Tissues

Zoom was over the moon. Barry's slip up meant the race was in the very near future. It was give into the race and help him destroy the infinite Earth's, or have him keep Parker captive for nine months and withdraw any and every bit of Speed Force that was evident in their child. He held no doubt it would be enough to open the infinite Earth's. 

He wanted to desperately stage another phone call, just to taunt the married couple profoundly about their child. Empty threats against their child would bring Barry closer to the breaking point. He didn't get the chance to make a call, or see Parker, for a day or so, because of their idiotic friends. 

When he did, he slid into the room, jolting Parker awake from her sleep. He placed a water bottle and a tiny bag of trail mix on her lap. 

"What the hell? Trail mix?" she asked, disgusted, "There's raisins..."

"Eat it," he ordered.

"Fine, but if I throw up, it's on you. Now, what happened? Where were you?"

"Your friends trapped me on Earth-2."

"Without Barry? They probably failed."

"Turns out you and Joe were enough to get him to race me."

Parker almost spit out the trail mix. "He agreed to it?"

Zoom didn't have to answer for her to create an appropriate response. Instead, he left the room for a moment. He returned with the lamp from the hall. He placed it in the back corner. He then brought in a shooting bench. A rifle was set on top of it.

Parker looked around the room. Judging by the lack of windows, she assumed she was being hidden in a basement. It was under construction. Across the room was a discarded jackhammer. Multiple yellow helmets were strung along the floor. 

She craned her neck to see what Zoom was up to. She let out a squeak. The rifle he put together was placed entirely too close to her. It was placed a few feet behind her, just left of her shoulder.

"Precaution," he explained.

Parker took note of where the rifle was pointed. Instantly, she knew the plan. Zoom planned for Barry to find her. He planned for the rifle to make a head shot the second the door swung open. They both knew the likelihood of success. 

Nevertheless, Parker still said, "That's not going to work."

"You know your husband. You know that's not true," said Zoom.

He untied her hands. He placed a cell phone in it. She called Cisco's cell. 

"Baby? Baby, has he hurt you? Is Joe in there with you?"

"I'll make you a deal, Flash," said Zoom, "it's going to take Cisco hours to trace the coordinates of this phone. It's guaranteed he'll have them by the time we're finished racing."

"Why are you doing this?"

"You beat me, you save the multiverse, you save your friends, your wife, your child. You win, and you find where she is. You save her. I leave her alone."

"What makes you think you're leaving this race alive?" asked Barry.

"Because if Cisco isn't able to find her, I'm the only one who can."

Her husband was silent. He was pondering the offer.

"Barry," snapped Parker, "You can't. It's a--"

"Shut up," ordered Zoom.

"Make me," she challenged. She succeeded in following his order when his sharpened claws enclosed on her stomach. 

"I..."