Episode 17 - Flash Fanfiction

Chapter 2

Joe stopped by and checked on Barry immediately. "Has there been any progress, Caitlin?"
"Barry's vitals are all relatively stable so there is no reason why he shouldn't wake up. His body is recovering, It's just much slower than usual. If it were any other patient he would have been killed, but it was Barry so it's going to take a little more time, but he will be on his feet running again soon."

Cisco laughed at Caitlin's attempt at humor.

"I still can't wrap my head around it all. He was hit by a laser that shot forth from a young child's eyes... Man, the things that you kids face... It's just..."

"Sounds impossible?" Astrid asked, "I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't have seen it myself. So what was this about Jonathan Crane? I thought he was one of Gotham City's crooks. Why would he be of any concern to CCPD?"

"An extensive list was carried out with many of the practitioners who were involved in Gotham City's meta-human fight tournaments. His name may have been on that list, and a man matching his description was seen around town, with people acting erratically." Joe explained.

"Are we talking about another Rainbow Raider?" Caitlin asked, curious.

"Rainbow Raider?" Sara asked, raising her eyebrows at the hilarious name.

"I thought Jonathan Crane was in prison..." Astrid said with a horrified look on her face.

"The answer to both your questions is a big 'no'. Turns out he has friends in GCPD who bent the rules and broke him out. And he isn't a meta-human like Roy Bivolo." Joe explained.

"Meta-human or not..." Astrid added, "He isn't someone we want in Central City. Especially during Halloween. That man is scary! He even nicknamed himself the Scarecrow. He invented a poison that makes people experience horrifying hallucinations. When I met with him... it reminded me of that creepy scene from Silence of the Lambs! Where Clarice meets Hannibal in his cell." A shiver crept down her spine as she remembered it.

Cisco crept behind her and whispered in her ear, mimicking Hannibal Lecter's tone "Good morning Astrid!" So she pushed him hard.

"Go away, Cisco! Don't do that again! This isn't a laughing matter!" she warned him. "Joe, I'll find you his files now. I won't feel safe knowing that he could be around town." She left to go through her cabinets.

"He nicknamed himself the Scarecrow and he creeps her out... That gives me some ideas for this year's Halloween movie marathon. Bye-bye clowns!" Cisco said with a laugh.

"Well if you saw the way he dressed you'd understand why he goes by the name of Scarecrow..." Joe replied.

When Astrid returned with a file in her hands, she handed it to Joe, who opened it and looked inside. "Here he is, Cisco." Joe said, showing them a picture of Jonathan Crane in his iconic mask.

"Yeah, I normally don't approve of villains giving themselves nicknames, but Scarecrow fits perfectly!" Cisco replied.

"I can see why this man gives Astrid the creeps." Caitlin added. She too felt frightened by the look of the man.

"Well, if he is around, we'll find him..." Sara replied.

"I'm sorry... who are you?" Joe asked.

"This delightful girl, goes by the name of Sara Lance!" Cisco introduced him, "she's an old school friend of ours!"

"Hey, you and I were never friends!" Sara corrected.

"See? Delightful as always!"

"Thanks for these, Astrid. I'll hand them over to Captain Singh as soon as possible. I think that the old ones were ruined in the meteor shower. I'm just relieved that you saved all the copies." Joe took the file, checked on Barry again and then said 'goodbye' to the group, making his way back to CCPD.

Just as he had left, the next group of doctors arrived on to the floor to check on Barry. Caitlin assisted the doctors as they worked on him. While Cisco, Astrid and Sara stayed back. "Cisco, I don't think Caitlin will be joining us for your movie marathon tonight." Astrid said, noting the look on Caitlin's face. She was owning the room, protecting Barry as if he were Ronnie.

"What do you mean?" Cisco asked.

"She's deflecting her feelings for Ronnie onto Barry. Has she even left his bedside since she has been back?"

"No, I don't think she has." Cisco said, noting how right she was, "well, that's ok. We can move the marathon to your boardroom and we can all take shifts to check on him, that girl needs to relax. Sara... you like to drink... You can supply the booze!"

Sara scoffed at him, "some things never change, do they. I'll be back later." She left abruptly.

"Now look what you've gone and done! I wish that you two of you just get along!" Astrid told him.

They jumped at the sound of the alarms on Barry's monitor's beeping loudly. "That's not good!" Cisco said as they ran over to watch.

"We're losing him!" Caitlin cried out. She climbed on top of Barry's bed and begun delivering CPR.
"Barry come on! Come on!" she said softly

Astrid concentrated her mind link to Barry's consciousness. It would only work if he was reaching out to her. mentally. 'Barry. Can you hear me?' she called.

'Astrid. Are you there. I think I'm lost!' She heard Barry's voice in his mind.

'Whatever you do, don't go to the light. You're in a coma. We can't lose you.'

'I'm in a coma? How did this happen?'

'Long story. I'll tell you when you wake up. What do you see?'

'Nothing? It's just grey... Like whirling energy all around me. I can't explain it.'

'Well, right now we need you to get better. Just focus on that and don't worry about Central City. We're handling it... and Barry, remember! don't walk into the light!' Astrid ended the mind link, and watched as Caitlin climbed back off the bed.

"He's stable!" She called out. Astrid rested her head on Cisco's shoulder. "I spoke to him." She whispered. "You what? My Jedi girl can talk to coma people now? I wish we knew that earlier. So what did he say?"

"He can't explain where he is. There is some sort of grey whirling energy all around him..."

"Well, wherever he is... I hope you told him not to walk into the light."

As the doctors busily worked on Barry, one doctor in particular, subtly injected a small canister into the speedster's IV. The small glass jar contained a particular poison to invoke fears and nightmares.