Only Because I Need You

Desperate Measures

The pair of speedsters circled the Tornado constantly. It slowly began to loose speed and unwind itself. Barry was still in shock, his heart was hammering in his chest. "You're doing it Barry!" Cisco cheered in his ear, "the Tornado is being cancelled out,"

"Umm, guys," Barry's voice was slightly shaky, he watched Savitar like a hawk, slick blood had begun to soak his black clothing, "remember the jelly looking Meta from earlier?" He asked, his voice still slightly strained as he yelled over the wind, "the Tornado picked her up and she hit Ethan," the man in question had clearly begun to struggle to keep moving, his chest was heaving and his head was slung low. He showed no signs of being able to hear what Barry said, he most likely couldn't because of the deafening wind.

"Is he still running? Did her claws hit him?" Caitlin's voice echoed down the comm. She had clearly just arrived back into the Cortex, but was already ready to work.

"He is still running, but her talons pretty much impaled him," He replied squeakily, the wind began to die down and the Tornado was shrinking at an increasingly faster speed.

"Barry if she was the Meta that killed all those people, then there is a chance he could have been injected with her venom," Caitlin's voice was urgent, "that venom could kill him, never mind the injuries he sustained from being impaled,"

Barry felt a tug at his gut. He understood what she was telling him. If he didn't bring Ethan back to S.T.A.R. Labs then he would most likely die. Yet Barry was not sure he wanted to help his evil twin from the future. He had caused him so much pain and so much distress. Did he really deserve to live? Barry shook his head, that choice was not up to him. He couldn't choose who got to live and who got to die, that wasn't fair. Even if it was himself, he still deserves a chance to live and besides, Ethan had just helped to save Central City. Barry owed him, "the moment this Tornado is gone, I will find a way to bring him back to the lab,"

"You most likely won't have to do much, from what you described, he won't put up much of a fight," Caitlin responded coolly. Barry nodded his head and continued running, keeping Ethan in his peripherals at all times.

It didn't take much more time until the pair had successfully stopped the Tornado, however, there was little they could do about the hail storm. Barry broke out of the speedforce with a jolt, bending over pulling in gasps of fresh air to calm his racing heart. He slowly righted himself, glancing around to find his evil counterpart. Ethan was doing much the same as Barry. He was doubled over, one hand pressed against his knees, the other against his stomach and his chest was heaving. He raised his head, glaring daggers at the Scarlet Speedster. Thick, dark blood began to drip down from his abdomen and beads of sweat were running down his forehead, Barry raised his arms slowly, "Ethan," he spoke the man's name, and took a few cautious steps towards him.

Ethan stood up straight, his body straining with effort. The hail thundered down around them, pounding onto their skin, "What?" He asked between shaky breaths. His glare was clearly half hearted. There was none of the usual heat behind it. It almost seemed as though he was glaring out of habit.

Barry crept a little further forwards, placing his feet gently on the ground. He felt as though he were creeping up to a wild dog that had its foot clamped in a bear trap, "you're hurt, badly," he was only ten or so meters away from Ethan, but he could still see thick globs of blood running down his front, causing his shirt to stick to his chest.

Ethan's eyes opened wide in alarm as Barry crept closer. He staggered backwards and began to desperately glance around, "Good observation," he mumbled under his breath, his words were mushed together slightly.

"Barry if you keep distracting him then he should loose consciousness soon, make sure he doesn't escape," Caitlin's breezy voice commanded him. Barry sucked in a breath, calming his thundering heart. He could do this.