Catching Up || Barry Allen [2]

46| Can't Go Back*

***

We all knew that there was no way out of the situation that Zoom had put us in. That we had to follow his orders to make sure that he didn't hurt Wally. And not long after Cisco was able to communicate with Zoom that we agreed to his terms, we all found ourselves waiting at the center of the Cortex for Hunter to make his appearance.

I knew that we had no other choice, yet that didn't stop the unsettling feeling that I had. Having worked around some horrible people, I knew that there was always some sort of hidden agenda.  That things never turn out exactly how we plan them, because there is no dealing with people like Zoom. I could only hope that I was wrong and Zoom would keep up his end of the deal and bring Wally back to us. He was only a kid and he shouldn't have been put in this situation to begin with, but there is always some caught in the crossfire. Someone who ends up getting hurt.

A couple seconds later Zoom was standing in front of us with his hand wrapped tightly around Wally's neck. Blue electricity radiated off Zoom as he held Wally up like a prize. 

"Dad?" Wally asked frantically once his eyes landed on Joe.

"Wally, hold on." Joe assured his son, while still holding up his weapon and pointing it at Zoom. The weapons themselves we knew were practically useless against Zoom. That they wouldn't be able to stop him. The guns most of us were carrying were only there to assure ourselves that we wouldn't be completely defenseless against the monster standing right in front of us. Even if they wouldn't do much in taking him down. And now that Barry was going to give up his speed the possibilities and the hope of taking down Zoom were practically nonexistent.

"Let him go. We had a deal." Barry stated as he took a step towards Zoom. Wally looked around at all of us with wide eyes. Whether he was in shock because he was in the hands of Zoom, or because he realized that almost everyone that he had met in Central City was working with The Flash I didn't know. But I did know that once this was over he was going to have a lot of questions. "My speed for Wally's life. Hand him over, and it's yours."

The second that Zoom let go, Wally rushed over to Joe and Iris who gave him a tight embracing knowing that he was now safe. "You okay?" Joe asked as he looked over Wally checking for any visible injuries. "You need to get out of here now." Joe ordered Wally who still seemed extremely disoriented and stunned by everything that was going on. "Cisco!"

Cisco immediately jumped into action as he grabbed Wally's arm pulling him away from the center of the Cortex. And I couldn't be more grateful that he took Jade along with them. Jade sent me a look of disapproval, but she knew better than to protest because there were bigger issues that we had to deal with, so she left willingly.

Zoom removed his mask, and his eyes immediately went to Caitlin who was standing beside me. I heard her gasp, and the fact that she was also hurt was only fueling my anger.

"Let's get this over with." Barry stated firmly as we walked into the next room where Harrison had already begun to set up what he needed to transfer Barry's speed to Zoom.

"This thing is how I stole The Flash's speed the first time." Harrison explained as he held out a small vial putting it in place to the device that was connected to the treadmill in the other room. "Now all he needs to do is run, and his Speed Force will transfer into this vial. But only as long as I calibrate it."

"Get to work." Hunter ordered, the smirk that he's had since removing his mask still present.

"One day I'm gonna knock that smug expression clean off your face." Harrison stated through gritted teeth. And although I felt exactly the same way I decided to stay quiet. I needed  to get my emotions in check, because I knew that one of my greatest weakness was that I tended to become impulsive. My instinct to kill whatever was in my way is something that I struggle to control. Something that I hide, knowing exactly what I could become under the right circumstances.