Always Running

Taken

The chair bounces off the ground harshly. Papers fly off the desk.

"Dammit!" Harry yells, bending over to rest his hands on the desk in Wells' office. "Dammit, Snow." He says more softly.

Caitlin was taken. Barry lost his speed. Caitlin was taken. Barry lost his speed. She's on Earth 2 with Jay. With Zoom. She has no gun. No darts. Zoom is faster. Barry has no speed.

Harry shouts in frustration and kicks the chair that is already knocked over on the floor. He throws the keys in his pocket against the wall and sees a chip in the paint where they hit. He walks toward the wall where he sees a diagram of the particle accelerator framed on the wall.

He laughs darkly. "15 years for you to make the Flash." He says as if talking to Thawne. "Gone in a minute." He keeps staring at the diagram. "15 years to get hundreds of meta humans. But what if I just want the Flash?" Harry turns and looks around the room. "How do I just get the speed?"

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Cisco walks into the training room, kneeling down to pick up the tranq dart Caitlin tried to use on Jay. He turns and looks at the treadmill. The one he made. The one just used to take away Barry's speed. The only thing they could use right now to save his best friend. He sits on the platform and looks at the dart. She didn't have powers, but she still tried to save him. Barry doesn't have powers anymore, and he was gonna do anything to save her. But Cisco does have powers.

Cisco walks into his workshop and starts reading every note Caitlin made about the lucid dreaming goggles when they made them. Every note Harry made when turning them into vibe goggles. He was going to weaponize them. Barry may not have powers, but he does. He can still vibe. Maybe he can save Caitlin.

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Out in the hall, Barry is sitting against the wall, Joe knelt next to him.

"How am I gonna get her back?" Barry chokes out.

"We're gonna find a way, Bar." Joe assures him. "We always do."

"With her help." Barry reminds him. "I need her here." He breathes out to himself.

Joe shifts to be in front of him. "We are going to save her, Barry. And until we figure out how to do that without losing anyone else, she is going to be okay. She is strong and resilient. He didn't take her to taunt us, so we have time. Time to do this right." Joe says, trying to sound encouraging, but noticing Barry's mood dropping with each word.

Barry looks up at him and starts getting to his feet. "I need to find Cisco." He says and walks away.

Joe takes a deep breath and walks into the cortex. Iris and Eddie storm in moments later.

"What happened?" Iris asks, sounding angry. "You called and checked on us but didn't tell us anything. It didn't work?"

Joe shakes his head, but Iris can tell from his expression that there's more.

"Dad, what happened?" She asks, her tone softer.

"Zoom took Wally." Joe says, causing Iris to gasp and Eddie's eyes to go wide. Joe shakes his head and raises his hand. "We got him back. But...Barry had to trade his speed for him." Iris sighs in relief, but then both her and Eddie's faces drop.

"What else happened?" Eddie asks, knowing the lack of people in the cortex and Joe's demeanor say more than just Barry's speed was taken.

Joe takes a deep breath and swallows. "Zoom took Caitlin."

Iris gasps, covering her mouth. Eddie clenches his jaw and puts his arm around Iris who buries her face in his chest. He looks intensely at Joe.

"Where?"