Only Because I Need You

Wanted: A Frosty Feline

Barry strode into the cortex. In his hand was a cardboard cupholder that held six piping hot coffees. There was more of a bounce in his step than usual. He had experienced one of the greatest morning of his life. For once, he did not wake up late and hurriedly have to use his speed to get ready and having time to spend close to Iris whilst she still slept. He then of course had to pick up coffee for the team since it was a Saturday and they should technically have been off work. He beamed at his fellow teammates, who in return gave him kind smiles. Iris and Joe were speaking in hushed tones towards the back of the room, but Cisco and Harry doubled over the front desk, their eyes wide and their brows pulled into a frown, "Is everything okay?" Barry asked as he neared the table, placing the coffee carefully on the desk.

He watched in slight amusement as all the coffees disappeared one by one, luckily, he had salvage his own coffee. He cradled it in to his chest, long before any of the vultures he called friends could get to it. Cisco shook his head slightly, "some of the security systems are acting up," he murmured.

"Check to see if the cameras are in a loop," Harry commanded, standing tall over Cisco.

"I am," Cisco snapped back. He tapped furiously at the keys, his eyebrows slowly pulled closer and closer together, Barry feared they would merge into one giant one, "the cameras in the pipeline are looped," he clicked his fingers.

"Then we must have been attacked over night somehow," Joe interjected, his hand rested over his gun. It was a habit Barry noticed that Joe had developed a few years back. Whenever the detective felt threatened or worried, his hands would seek the nearest weapon to rest on. Barry understood it to a certain extent, when he felt nervous or scared, the smallest thing could send him running off into the speed-force.

"Okay, I managed to-" Cisco froze mid sentence, the colour drained from his face. Barry, being the only one who couldn't see Cisco's monitor was left guessing, but from the looks on the rest of the teams face, it could not be good. Joe inhaled sharply, wrapping an arm around Iris and pulling her into her chest. Iris on the other hand seemed frozen, her jaw fell slack.

"What is it?" Barry questioned them, raising his eyebrows.

"Ethan is gone," Harry's voice cracked a little, his eyes were trained on the screen like a child carefully watching a bee as if flies past.

"What do you mean gone?" Barry demanded, he sped around to the other side of the desk, and looked over the top of Cisco's head. Paper flew around with a soft whoosh. The screen clearly showed an empty cell, nothing inside it seemed out of the ordinary, aside from the glass that was shattered across the floor, leaving a gaping hole that lead into the main corridor, "Are you sure that is Ethan's cell?"

"Yes I am sure," Cisco snapped back.

"Where is Caitlin?" Irises small voice cut through the air, "shouldn't she be here by now?" Caitlin was usually the first in in the Lab, so it was strange to Barry that she wasn't there. A small wave of nauseating panic washed over him. If Ethan was free, then Caitlin was at risk whilst alone.

"I sent her a text a couple of hours ago but she didn't reply," Cisco added, pulling his phone from his pocket and switching it on. He had no new notifications.

"What do you mean she didn't reply, Caitlin always replies to text messages straight away," Harry snapped at Cisco, crossing his arms over his chest in frustration.

"Well she hasn't replied," Cisco bit back, shoving his conversation with Caitlin on his phone directly into Harry's face. The man from earth to clenched his jaw and let out a long sigh.

"She might just be running late, or have run into an issue at home," Iris suggested hopefully.

Barry moved into the speedforce instantly. Time around him ground to an unsteady halt. He could feel the thundering of his feet below him and the soft crackling of his lightning trail. A sense of calm washed over his senses. His breath and the soft pounding of his heart synchronised. His clothing whipped against his skin and in no time at all he was standing back in the Cortex, "she isn't at home or on her usual route here," he told them his sense of panic and alarm returning to haunt his senses.

"Maybe it has something to do with two face disappearing," Cisco added suddenly, his eyes narrowed at the empty cell displayed on his screen, "in-fact let's see how he escaped," he added darkly. His hands began to fly over the keys. His shoulders tensed in concentration. A few seconds of waring silence passed between them, "got it," he announced proudly, slouching back into his seat. The screen flickered to life showing Caitlin standing tall, facing off against Ethan. Her whole body was rigid, but not with fright, with a steely determination. Barry couldn't help but feel a little proud.  He knew he could be an ass when he was angry, never mind insane, so it was good of her to stand up to him. They talked sharply, it seemed as though it was just a normal check up from Caitlin. Time ticked onwards and Barry found himself rocking on the balls of his feet. Finally, in the corner of the screen, a thick cloudy smoke crept closer to Caitlin, who's attention was focused on Ethan. It curled around her legs and in a matter of seconds her body had begun to fall limp. Barry ground his teeth as Ethan watched her impassively with a smirk.

Caitlin at last noticed the smoke, she jumped back in surprise her eyes darted around the corridor that was filled with the grey gas. She stumbled a little, throwing her hands out to steady herself. Then it was Ethan's turn to be affected, the speedster's head tilted up towards the vent. He blinked slowly before his eyes widened in alarm before he staggered over to the wall, gripping onto it tightly. Caitlin was the first to fall, her body hit the ground with a sickening thud. Ethan's tired eyes followed the movement carefully but he did not last much longer. He too, collapsed shortly after, his body slid down the wall into a pile on the floor. A few more minutes ticked aimlessly by as the pair lay completely still. Their chest rose and fell in complete discord.

Barry's chest tightened and he risked a glance at his team mates. Their eyes were glued to the screen like someone watching a car go sailing off a cliff. He knew that they were just as worried about Caitlin as him, which only intensified his fear. Soft footsteps filled the air, drawing Barry's attention back to the screen. A group of four large men in dark clothing entered the screen, their faces were concealed with some form of a creepy gas mask and they spoke in hushed tones to one another. Barry clenched his fists as one of the men leant over and placed a cuff on Caitlin's wrist with a click. It let out a soft glow, Barry could only wonder what it did. Two of the slightly smaller, though by no means small men stood at either end of Caitlin before they stopped over and picked her up under her shoulders and legs. They waddled out of shot with Caitlin in tow.

Only the two larger men remained. They peered through the glass at Ethan as though he were a puppy on display in a pet shop. They nodded to one another. One man placed small devices on the glass before he and the other took a good few steps backwards. A few seconds later and the glass began to vibrate violently. Waves formed from where the metal devices were and rippled across the surface of the clear material. The rippling intensified until the glass completely shattered. The men glanced at one another before they entered Ethan's cell, slightly hesitantly. One man bent over and plucked the small device from the debris and shoved it in his pocket. They then proceeded to lift Ethan as they had Caitlin, walking him out of shot. The screen flickered and turned black.

"I guess we know Ethan didn't brake himself out then," Harry offered the team's attention turned to him.

"Clearly," Joe stated blandly, "but the question is, who did?"