Silver Trickster ⚬ Barry Allen [1]

51. Finish Line

Present

"I can't believe them," Barry mutters to himself as he stares at the glass, no longer being able to see his friends. "I can't believe that they would do something like this."

I wanted to answer Barry, but something was caught in my throat. Ever since I woke up in here, something wasn't settling right in my stomach, and it made me feel queasy. My eyes stay locked on the floor as I focus on my breathing, my heart racing in my chest as well. It wasn't until I started to breathe harder when Barry noticed there was something wrong with me, causing him to furrow his eyebrows.

"Raven?" he asks me, but I couldn't reply. "Are you okay?"

My hand goes to my chest then as I clasp away at my heart, afraid that it might leap out of my chest. The walls feel as if they're coming closer to me as I back away into the wall, my breathing out of control now. What was wrong with me?

"Raven!" Barry shouts as he scoots over to me, panic in his eyes. "Breathe, Raven, breathe-"

"I-I can't," I'm able to choke out, wondering to myself how I was even able to get those words out. I try to say more, but my mouth doesn't let me.

The next thing I know, I'm watching Barry hold up his hands as he stares at me directly in the eyes, making sure that I was paying attention to him. "Count down with me, okay? Trust me on this."

I stare at his fingers for a long moment, not sure what good this was going to do. Somehow though, I'm able to speak. "Ten..."

After I say this, Barry drops another finger and gives me the look to count again. Slowly, I cite the numbers all of the way back down to zero. As I do this, I feel my heart rate slow down to it's normal rate, along with my breathing. Somehow, counting down Barry's fingers relaxed me and made me able to get a grip on myself again.

I take a deep breath. "H-How?"

"You must have been having a panic attack," Barry states as he falls back up against the wall facing me. "I used to get them as a kid...after my mom had died. Joe would always count down with me to help me, and I thought maybe it'd work on you."

I stare at him for a long moment, trying to process the fact that I had a panic attack. "The last time I was in here was when you locked me away. I guess being in here again made me feel alone, I don't know. That's the first time something like that has happened to me."

Barry's eyes search mine for a moment. "You're okay now, that's what matters."

"Thank you," I say softly, my eyes drifting to the floor as silence wraps around the two of us, but only for a moment. "Barry, we need to get out of here."

He looks back at the glass. "There's no way for us to get out of here. We'll have to sit this one out until someone lets us out..."

"Do they really think they can go up against Zoom without us?" I ask, an unsettling fear creeping back into me. "They don't understand what he's capable of."