Never Alone

Chapter 2 - Rescue team

''Barry, it's me, it's Jay.''

The kid was totally out of it, struggling to even keep his eyes open, exhausted and drained by his injuries.

''Dad....sorry...m'fault.''

Alright, he already lost too much time on this and needed to go, find some help. But, he also needed to reassure the younger Flash before going, for some unknown reason. Quickly and carefully kneeling back next to the younger man, Jay put a comforting hand on Flash's shoulder.

''It's ok, son. You're fine now.''

Despite never having children he sure hoped his caring tone was going to get through. The effect was immediate, the corner of the speedster' mouth started twitching as he was trying to smile.

''L've...y...''

''I'm coming back, Barry, just hang in there.''

The short talk seemed to have reassured, calmed, the speedster down, as his body finally relaxed, his arms falling limply on his sides. For one terrifying second, Jay feared the kid was more than just unconscious. Swiftly making sure he wasn't, Flash sighed and got back on his feet, throwing one last quick look at the fallen speedster.

''You'll be fine, I promise.''

Determined to save the kid's life, Jay urgently walked away, ignoring all the pain sent by his body, going straight to the rubble pile next to the broken train. Taking a deep breath, he started to carefully maneuver his broken ankle and painful body around and over the debris, repressing grunts of pain as he was making his way to the top. Making it there was the tough part, almost falling off one time or two, barely catching himself at the last second. Just as he made it to a point where he was finally able to see pass the obstacle and straight into the tunnels mostly spared by Geomancer's earthquake, Jay smiled. While the debris and part of the ceiling were all over the floor, Flash could picture a trail all the way 'til the turn a couple of hundred feet away.

As he started moving again, his bad ankle betrayed him, sending him rolling all the way down and hitting his head on the landing. As dark spots clouded his vision and a bell rang in his ears, the speedster immobilized himself waiting for it to stop, waiting for his senses to come back to him. When they finally did, that's when he heard, or at least thought he did, heard someone calling his name.

''Jay!''

''Are you ok?''

''Flash! Can you hear us?''

Hurry footsteps could be heard closing in on his position and as Earth 3 Flash's vision cleared itself, he observed feet right next to him and felt hands landing on his shoulders. Rising his head, he finally identified the people surrounding him; this Earth's Team Flash. They were almost all there, Cisco and Caitlin were kneeling next to him while Joe was standing behind, his glare piercing through the darkness. If Jay was there, Barry had to be close.

The first thought that came to the Flash's mind was *How much time did I lose again?* Last clear memory was a free tunnel for hundreds of feet. Were all these people just around the corner or he lost consciousness without realizing it? Was it too late to save Barry?

Barry! The last moments he had with the younger speedster came rushing back to his mind, making him push his pain aside and struggle to get up, without taking a second to answer to the people surrounding him.

''Jay, don't move.'' Said Caitlin as she was trying to identify his injuries under the dim light of Cisco's flashlight.

''Where's Barry?'' Asked Joe behind.

''We need to get to him.'' Answered Jay, ignoring Caitlin and slowly pushing himself up, taking support on the train. ''He's hurt, bad. Real bad.''

He didn't need to look at the people surrounding him to imagine the horror striking their features. While it was a possibility they probably all thought about before entering, you can't blame anyone for hoping their friend was just trapped and waiting patiently for the rescue team.

''Where is he?''

''How bad?''

''Bad.'' Repeated Jay as he finally managed to stabilize himself without support, gesturing toward the pile of debris. ''He's right on the other side of this. A piece of metal is impaled in his side.''

''Oh god...'' Whispered Joe, trying hard to keep it together as he approached the obstacle, trying to figure out how to get over it quickly, Cisco by his side, while Caitlin stayed close to the speedster to collect as much information as she could.

''Was he still conscious?''

''He was at first, was in a lot of pain. Pretty sure he's having some really bad internal bleeding.''

''He told you anything?''

Jay unconsciously slightly moved his head to the side, trying to hide his own worry.

''He was.... really confused. Didn't know who I was anymore.''

This caught the attention of both men who were trying to solve their own problem.

''What do you mean? '' Asked Joe.

''He called me dad. He thought I was his dad.''

The speedster didn't missed the looks Team Flash shared with each other, making him frowned and almost comment on him, but stopped himself. This clearly wasn't the time. Unless it was? Cisco speaking urgently interrupted the debate in his head.

''I think I got a bad idea; what if I use my powers to knock the pile off?'' As he was talking, his right hand went straight for his jacket's pocket to take out his Vibe's goggle. ''Good thing I brought these just in case''

''Cisco, wait.'' Worriedly said Joe. ''Aren't you risking the remaining of the ceiling to fall on our heads?''

''Or on Barry's head.'' Added Caitlin.

''Not if I do it correctly...'' Definitely doubt in the engineer's voice. ''You have any better ideas?''

''Whatever we decide, we need to decide it NOW. Barry needed help like yesterday.'' Added Jay.

''Alright. I trust you, Cisco. '' Decided Caitlin. ''Just do it.''

Scanning everyone around, everyone nodding at him, Cisco handed his flashlight to Caitlin as he mentally prepared himself for the surge of power. He needed to push just strong enough to disrupt the obstacle without causing the ceiling to collapse ...or without sending too much debris toward the location of Barry.

''Alright, back away.''

Wishing he took his gauntlets with him to get better control of his powers, Cisco put his hands in front of him, sending waves of energy collide with the metal and wood pieces, sending them fly away and collapsing the pile at the same time. But, it wasn't without shaking the tunnel.

''Caitlin, watch out!'' Screamed Jay, promptly pushing the doctor out of the way before a falling metal piece could hit her head. 'Argg!'' He screamed as his ribs, back and ankle reminded him of his own injuries. Caitlin quickly freed herself out from under the speedster and rushed to his side as she heard him scream.

''Dammit, you ARE hurt.''

''I'll be fine, it's just my ankle.'' Pushing through the pain once more, the speedster used his hand to keep Caitlin away and got back up to look at the results. Despite a couple of new debris and lot more dust in the air, they did it! Barry's location was right ahead.

''Right there!'' He pointed.

''Barry!'' Everyone screamed and hurried there with the stretcher and medical bag they put on the floor right after finding Jay a moment earlier. They didn't need Jay's indications anymore, all of them spotted the falling speedster, unmoving. As soon as they pointed him with the flashlight, the whole team gasped at the same time. Barry was pale and still enough to be dead.