Within Seconds // Barry Allen

Breaking Free

It didn't take much longer than two minutes in the mall for Parker to understand that going to the mall wasn't the brightest idea. On her, she had three crumpled five dollar bills and an abundance of change.

Parker window-shopped before heading to the food court. Often, she came across little things that reminded her of Barry, such as a bright orange shirt that read, 'When I was your age, Pluto was a planet,' or some type of science object that he would love. It was clear the universe was desperate to remind her of Barry Allen.

Finished walking through the first level, Parker prayed for the next to be clear of Barry Allen related things. She waited for the elevator to come down. When it did, a woman on the phone pushed past her, rather rudely, to get in.

"Excuse you!" snapped Parker.

"What?" asked the clueless woman.

A hooded man slid into the elevator doors. He pressed a button quickly, slamming the doors shut to shun Parker from entering.

Frowning, Parker decided it best to take the stairs.

Barry

"Parker said it was in the main elevator in the north wing," said Cisco.

Through Central City, Barry raced, pushing his legs forward and as fast as he could. Worried didn't begin to describe his emotions.

"Which one is the north wing?" asked Barry.

"The one with the Big Belly Burger," said Dr. Wells, then shamelessly added, "I eat."

Barry slid through an opened entrance. He found the north wing by following the trail of cops and yellow tape. He examined the deceased woman quickly. It resembled the previous murder: no signs of external problems, only internal.

A glance to the surrounding crowd successfully granted him peace. He spotted Parker towards the back immediately, the nail on her thumb between her teeth. He ran for her. He swept her from her feet, then carried her into a storage room. Her feet hit the floor, throwing things back into normal speed.

Parker

Parker's eyes flew open. "Holy shit. Did I just teleport? Am I alive?! Oh my Go-"

Barry bent down and tenderly held her panicked face in his hands. He tucked the stray strands of hair behind her ears. "You're fine, you're fine. I just moved you away from everyone."

"Okay, fine, well, look, in the elevator, something weird happened," she admitted.

"Regular weird, or meta-human weird?" asked Barry.

"Meta-human weird," agreed Parker. She met Barry's eyes. Her face scrunched. "Why are you looking at me like that, Barry?"

Parker squeaked when he roughly brought her into his arms. She silenced her struggle for breath, letting him rejoice in his relief.

"That woman could have easily been you," he whispered.

"No," disagreed Parker, forcefully wiggling from his embrace. "No, that's where you're wrong. I think he specifically went for her. I tried to get in that elevator--"

"Why?" said Barry exaggeratedly.

"To kill a chicken, Barry," said Parker sarcastically. "I was trying to go to the next level. He stopped me from getting in."

Above their heads, a vent creaked. Green fog began seeping into the enclosed space.

"You can't be here," said Barry hurriedly.

Parker took fast steps to the door, rambling, "Keep your mouth shut, don't breathe him in, remember to--"

"Yes, Park, go," said Barry urgently.

Parker subtly slipped from the door. She walked past the crowd of cops, through the mall, then to the front. She waved like a madman for a cab.

"Get me to S.T.A.R. Labs, stat!" ordered Parker when she dove in.

"You sure?" the man asked, looking in his review mirror.

"Did I stutter?"

Upon arrival, Parker threw the remainder of her money at the driver. She sprinted in the direction of the lobby, though came to a stop, when she saw the front gate broken open. Never before had the chained gate been touched, let alone been broken through.

Panic stirred in her stomach. Her mind went straight to the worst case scenario regarding Barry's condition.

Faster than one could utter his name, Parker sprinted through the building and into the Cortex. She found Dr. Wells, Cisco, and Caitlin hovering over a twitching, breathless Barry.

Parker practically dove over Dr. Wells to be by Barry's side. She brushed his hair from sticking to his sweaty forehead, whispering, "Breathe, honey, please... Just breathe. I need you to focus on getting any little breath in. Anything you can, yeah?"

"Cut me open!" gasped Barry. "The poison is still in me!"

Dr. Wells looked proudly upon the man. "He brought us a sample. Caitlin, do a pulmonary biopsy. Extract an active portion of that gas."

"She can't give you any anesthetic," said Parker softly. "You'll burn it off."

"How did you know that?" asked Caitlin.

Parker's face flushed. "It happened in Twilight. See, Jacob was a wolf and--"

In the midst of her explanation, Barry snatched her moving hands. He needed her, and he also needed her to stop rambling.

"Do it," encouraged Dr. Wells.

"Cisco, give me the syringe," ordered Caitlin. "This is going to hurt a lot, Barry."

Cisco looked at it skeptically. "Uh, it's a small needle, you probably won't feel it," he said, aiming to psych Barry out of his fear.

"You're definitely going to feel it," muttered Caitlin.

Unexpectedly, to Barry, Caitlin plunged the syringe into his chest. The crack of Parker's knuckles in his hand hit their ears. Then, with one last inhale, Barry fell limp on the bed.