Falling Slowly [Barry Allen]

Chapter 26

As soon as we entered STAR Labs, Barry and I were caught up in a frenzy consisting of Caitlin whisking Barry away and Cisco attempting to explain what exactly is was that was going on.

"Barry's got a rigorous training schedule ahead of him today," Cisco informed me while Caitlin began attaching wires to Barry's skin, checking his vitals.

"Like what?" I asked, a little suspiciously. I trust the STAR Labs team explicitly, but I can't help but feel a little bit nervous for what they might be putting Barry through.

"Just some easy stuff..." Caitlin said in a soft voice.

"At first!" Cisco shouted. "There's no way I'm taking it easy on you today, man!"

Barry smirked from across the room. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Cisco," he replied.

"We're gonna start with the easy stuff," Cisco continued speaking to me. "Treadmill, fighting dummies... Stuff we can do here in the lab."

"So there are things you guys do to train outside of the lab?" I inquired.

"Well yeah! That's where all the fun stuff goes down!" Cisco began to bounce up and down where he was standing.

"I think your definition of fun might be different than mine," I said playfully.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt your little boy toy... much," he said, nudging me and walking to the window between the main lab and the treadmill room.

I wasn't worried about this. I'd seen Barry run the treadmill before. It was the way Cisco said the word "much" that had me slightly on edge. What could they possibly do to him though? Obviously nothing too serious.

I watched from the lab as Barry stepped up onto the machine and started it up. He began at a slow jog, like any normal person would. He quickly got bored and cranked the speed up to a couple hundred miles per hour. His legs began to blur, then his arms. His body was leaned forward in order to balance his center of gravity from the backward motion of the treadmill.

It was mesmerizing to watch him. He was running so fast that we shouldn't be able to see him, but the machine was keeping him in place so we could observe what was happening.

Every so often, Cisco would increase the speed with a remote from the lab, until he reached a little over 800 miles per hour. Another quick glance at the monitor showed that Barry's heart rate remained stable. But as Cisco cranked the speed up another 50 units, Barry's heart began to quicken, and his blood sugar level dropped slightly. He was beginning to reach his limit.

"Guys," I heard Barry say, slightly out of breath. "I'm about done."

Cisco nodded and moved his hand toward the remote to turn the treadmill off, but Dr. Wells stopped him.

"Give him another minute," he said calmly, not taking his eyes off of Barry. "He needs to be pushed beyond his limitations."

Cisco eyed him wearily, but obeyed. My eyes shifted between Barry and the monitor, watching as his vitals began to climb higher and higher.

"Cisco! Caitlin! I need... to slow... down," Barry panted, obviously tired and out of breath now.

"Barry, you need to push yourself," Wells commanded. "Keep running. Just a bit longer."

That was when Caitlin leaned over to me. "He's going to pass out from low blood sugar soon. He can't keep this up much longer."

I glanced into the room and looked at Barry. His form wasn't as tight as usual, and his chest was heaving up and down dramatically. Caitlin was right.