Soothsayer ⚡ Barry Allen

Field Trip

Twenty-four. I was barely able to legally drink before I was locked away. Three years of my five year sentence. Three years of my life locked in a concrete hole. The only benefit of this place was Barry. "You seem tense, what's up?" Terra's voice broke into my head, my eyes drifting to her as she sat against the wall.

"I now understand your persistance," I admitted softly. "However, it seems I have more patience."

"Is there a third P I should be aware of?" she asked as she rolled her eyes.

"Perservereance," I chuckled. "Gotta stick to it, whatever 'it' is." Terra rolled her eyes again at my quick response and watched as I stood to look out the window, stretching and feeling my shirt ride up a bit.

"You have more tattoos?" she questioned. I nodded and bent my arms behind my back, lifting my shirt to expose the galaxy tattooed on the right half of my back.

"Eighteen hours in a chair and a lot of speed to get me through it. Adreniline dulled the pain, so I took multiple 'bathroom breaks' during," I explained before dropping my shirt.

"You were a druggie?" she asked, in confusion. I shrugged as I turned to look down at her.

"More or less." I sat down crosslegged on my bed, my eyes drifting over my pictures. "I sampled things here and there, never really settled on one until I found my favorite high. Where I was, I could get my hands on just about anything."

"And now?" I scoffed, a small smirk on my lips as I met her eyes.

"Remind me where we are, Terra," I chuckled dryly.

"Blackgate Prision," she mumbled, realizing the redundancy of her question.

"Blackgate fucking Prison. That's why I'm tense."

"Didn't your mother tell you it's impolite to swear?" Kevin's voice called as he passed by our cell, stopping at the bars to smile at me.

"I hated my mother," I grinned, getting up and leaning against the bars. "What day is it today?"

"I do believe its Tuesday, Andy," he chuckled, my own smile growing a bit.

"Tuesday," I hummed. "Do you mind?" I tacked on, pointing to the door. "I was hoping to catch the book cart and put in a request before they hit this floor." Kevin smiled slightly, the corners of his lips twitching upwards. I took that as a yes and stepped back as he got ready to unlock it. Pausing a moment, I looked over my left shoulder to Terra. "C'mon, before I change my mind."

Her eyes widened a bit and she didn't hesitate to get her feet under herself. "Don't be too long, might catch someone's attention that you're both gone," Kevin advised.

"Will do," I chuckled, giving Terra a hand motion to follow me. "Stay close and do as I say, this is just recon." She nodded and walked beside me, my eyes darting around the lower floors. It took a few minutes, but eventually I saw the book trolley three floors down. Standing on one of the bars of the guard rail, I leaned over the edge of the seven-floor-drop and grinned as my hair fell around my face. "Hey, Will!"

Terra came to stand beside me, her feet still on the floor, as the brunette I needed laid eyes on me. "Well, hey, Andy," he called back. "What can I do for you?"

"Hook me up with To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies," I insisted, the code clear to anyone who could hear me and understand. Caged birds shouldn't sing, professionally it was just the wrong option. They were practically my fish in a barrel.

"Gotcha, babe." I blew him a kiss and fell into a fit of giggles, getting a blood rush -- as well as an adreniline rush -- from hanging over the railing for so long. There was nothing between us, he was just one of the Joker's messengers, but we all know how much I like to play into things. I could feel my toes starting to slip from the bar, my balance drifting as I continued to giggle, and then Terra's hand tightly gripped the back of my shirt as she pulled me upright and off the bars.

"Buzz kill," I giggled under my breath, walking on down the hall.

"Are you trying to fall to your death?" she scolded, her voice hard. "I don't know if you noticed, but that'd put a dent in our plans." Like someone flipped on a switch, I grabbed her by the collar and held her against the wall in a side hall, my expression hard and her eyes wide in shock.

"First off, try to be more subtle," I growled. "We don't need everyone knowing what we're up to." Footsteps of a guard passed by as I remained in her face, my eyes drifting towards them. "To your right, this will be our best exit point," I informed in a low whisper. "At night there's a fourty-five second gap from the search lights. We'll have to run like hell." After taking a moment to examine the landscape beyond the barred window, Terra nodded and looked back to me. "Good girl," I chuckled, kissing her head and giggling as I went back the way we came.

"What the hell?" she growled as she caught up to me, rubbing her forehead.

"Terra, you're only showing me that you still can't get with the program," I hummed in singsong.

"You didn't have to kiss me," she grumbled, eyes narrowed in on me.

"I didn't have to let you out, either," I giggled. "Just be happy I did."

⚡

"Here you are, Andy," Will announced, grabbing two books and leaning against the book cart. I stood and leaned against the bars, taking note of his serious air. "Your little mockingbird is still chirping," he hummed, holding my eye.

"Not for long. I completely severed his spinal cord, his organs won't be able to sustain themselves." He raised an eyebrow and I smirked. "My family owned a farm, its how we killed some livestock. I just know how to drag it out. He'll drown in his own blood." Will's brow raised further and my smirk grew.

"I'll keep an eye out for your little bird, then." He put the books between the bars and waited for me to take them before adding, "Next time, be speedy about it." I nodded and pushed off the door, flipping through the pages for a moment before tossing To Kill a Mockingbird at Terra as she laid on her bed.

"Ow, hey!" she grumbled, glaring at me.

"Read it. It's good, for your mind, for time," I explained. She looked at the book for a moment before she groaned.

"My teacher tried to make me read this, I couldn't get through the first chapter," she whined.

"Well, now you've got a head start. Read it."