Chapter Text
Barry Allen sighed and leaned back in his chair, carding a hand through his hair. He could feel weariness tugging at his subconscious; the late nights he’d been pulling on Flash duty as well as the long hours at his day job were starting to wear him down a little. Not that he’d change anything, mind you. Superspeed definitely helped lighten his caseload by the end of the day.
He glanced up as the door to his lab opened, the stuffy breeze from the precinct below drifting in behind Iris as she used her hip to bump the door shut behind her.
‘Hey!’ She greeted cheerfully, striding over to him and placing a takeaway cup from Jitters in front of him. ‘I’m meeting Dad for lunch, he said you’d probably appreciate this. Something about looking like death warmed over.’
Barry groaned appreciatively, lifting the cup to his lips and inhaling the slightly bitter aroma of his coffee before taking a sip. Iris stood behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders, kneading the knots that were definitely left over from the metahuman he’d tangled with last night.
‘You doing okay?’ She asked quietly.
Barry huffed out a breath. ‘Yeah, I’m fine. Singh has me on a tight timeframe with getting some of these cases finished, and I haven’t been getting much sleep lately.’ Well, it wasn’t a lie, as such.
Iris’ fingers stilled from their ministrations. ‘Nightmares?’
Barry turned his head and smiled gently at his best friend. ‘No, not really. Haven’t had them as much since I woke up from the coma, actually.’ He turned his desk chair around to face her as she stepped back a little, catching her barely-concealed flinch when he mentioned the coma. It was still a raw nerve for Joe and Iris, and Barry had been catching more and more glimpses of the trauma they went through in the past nine months. ‘Just had a lot on my mind lately, and a lot of catching up to do.’
Iris nodded in understanding, flashing him a smile. ‘Well, I’m glad to hear that!’ She frowned slightly. ‘Not about the not-sleeping, but that you haven’t been having nightmares.’ She raked her gaze over his face, taking in the slight bags under his eyes and his pinched features. The crease in his forehead was a little more prominent than it had been prior to the lightening strike.
Barry quirked his lips. ‘Its okay, I got what you mean.’
He glanced over at the centrifuge when it beeped. Standing up, he navigated around Iris and lifted the lid, pulling the latest vial free and setting it down in a holder. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Iris glance at her watch. She sighed lightly. ‘Anyways Bear, I gotta go. Dad’s downstairs waiting, and he doesn’t have very long for lunch. I think Singh’s stressing out about productivity or something, and it’s stressing Dad out in turn.’
Barry gave her an understanding grin. ‘That, I’ll agree with!’ He stepped towards her for a hug. ‘Thanks for the coffee, you’re a total lifesaver.’
Iris gave him a squeeze. ‘You’re very welcome. See you at home later? Eddie’s gone to see his parents in Keystone for a few days so I’m all yours for a few evenings.’
Barry fought the urge to roll his eyes at the mention of Eddie and carefully schooled his expression. ‘Sounds good! Been a while since we had a movie or games night. I think Joe’s home tomorrow evening, all going well, and I’m still keen for a Monopoly rematch.’ He raised an eyebrow at her.
Iris turned on her heel with a sly grin. ‘You’re on, Allen!’ She shot over her shoulder as she sauntered out the door.
Barry remained standing after she’d left, breathing in the faint but lingering scent of her perfume as it drifted after her.
Barry shook his head to clear the fatigue before glancing at the clock.
He sighed heavily when he realised it had only been twenty minutes since his last check, and glared at the minute hands moving tauntingly slowly. The downside to superspeed, he mused. Everything moves so slowly.
He stretched his arms behind his back, face twitching slightly as his spine popped and his muscles stretched. The coffee Iris bought him earlier had been delicious, but the effects of the caffeine had been very short-lived due to his increased metabolism. He should really get Cisco or Caitlin onto coming up with something to fix that, especially if he was going to be pulling these hours on the regular.
His phone vibrated on his desk and he spun to face it. Speak of the devil, he thought as he read Cisco’s latest 911. He glanced at the stack of completed files on his desk. He’d finished a decent amount of work today, despite his tiredness. Any more, and he’d probably make Singh suspicious. He wasn’t expecting anyone to come up to his lab in the next half hour, and figured he could probably zip out, attend the call from STAR Labs and be back before anyone noticed his absence.
He nodded to himself, switching off his computer and shrugging his jacket on in a blink. Stuffing his phone in his pocket, he cracked the door open, made sure the coast was clear and zipped off in the direction of STAR Labs. He felt a little bit of energy trickle back into his senses while he ran and allowed himself a grin; this is what made him feel alive.
He skidded to a stop moments later in the cortex, a handful of papers fluttering to the ground upon his arrival. ‘Hey guys, what have we got?’
Caitlin was all business as she studied the screen in front of her. ‘Reports of a fire in an office building downtown. Sounds like it may be a premeditated attack, unsure if it’s a metahuman though.’ She glanced up at him, worriedly. ‘Barry, there’s a lot of people in there, and the building is pretty old.’
Barry felt his heart rate increase. He quickly looked over Caitlin’s shoulder at the street cam footage on the screen, his stomach dropping slightly as he took in the flames already billowing from some of the blown-out windows in the multi-storey complex.
‘Fire crews and police are on their way, but they’re not going to be fast enough to get everyone out.’ Caitlin was tense, her fingers unconsciously gripping the edge of the desk. This was going to be a big job and she worried about the potential number of casualties if Barry wasn’t fast enough. Their partnership was still new, but she had grown fond of the enthusiastic and determined young man who she’d cared for during eight months of his coma. ‘There’s at least fifty people confirmed to still be in there, likely more.’
Cisco materialised behind them, striding quickly into the room. ‘I’ve upgraded some of the sensors in the suit,’ he informed the both of them. ‘They can monitor your vitals a little better, which gives Caitlin a bit more peice of mind,’ he grinned as Caitlin huffed indignantly. ‘as well as providing a little more heat resistance in areas you’ll likely need it, like your gloves.’ Barry had flashed into his suit while Cisco was speaking.
‘I actually upgraded the heat resistance a few weeks ago after that first apartment fire you went to,’ Cisco admitted. ‘It fried a couple of the sensors, which I hadn’t accounted for.’
Barry nodded, pulling his cowl down over his head. ‘Thanks Cisco.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Right, wish me luck!’
‘Good-‘ Caitlin started. ‘…luck.’
But Barry was already gone, leaving a sheaf of fluttering papers in his wake. Caitlin huffed irritably. ‘We really need some paperweights, if this is going to be a long-term arrangement.’
Barry ground to a halt at the back of the back of the building, gazing up at the towering flames with trepidation. By his calculations (and Cisco’s confirmation), he had two minutes - three max - to get everyone out before the flames spread or the building collapsed on itself, whichever came first.
Anxiety coiled in the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t been totally truthful when Iris had asked about his nightmares. Prior to the particle accelerator explosion, his dreams were filled with red and yellow lightning. Taking his Mom again, his dad, Joe, Iris…lately, however, the stress of his responsibilities had begun haunting his sleep. He saw the theatre attendant he’d been too slow to save from Snart’s cold gun, the metas he’d been unable to save. Faceless strangers he knew would pay the price for any future mistakes. After weeks of integrating the Flash into his personal identity, he was beginning to realise just how heavy the burden was that he was starting to carry.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he focused on the people who needed him right now. Taking a deep breath, he sped through the door on the ground floor and up the stairwell, dodging flaming piles of debris that had collapsed down from the floors above.
The world slowed down for Barry as he focused on grabbing as many people as he could find on each floor, starting from the top. Seconds ticked by as he deposited them one-by-one on the pavement, a safe distance from the inferno. He missed their bewildered glances around as their minds struggled to catch up with the abrupt change in scenery, many coughing simultaneously to clear the smoke from their lungs.
Barry was starting to sweat. The heat was nearly unbearable, but Cisco’s improvements to the suit were holding up so far. He’d managed to evacuate at least thirty people so far, but his window of time was rapidly narrowing. He was down to the sixth floor when he let out a barking cough, his head spinning slightly as he scanned the floor for civilians.
‘Barry?’ Caitlin’s concern was palpable in his ear.
‘I’m good,’ he rasped, hand against his ear to activate his comms. ‘I’m down to the sixth floor, I don’t think there’s many people left in here and I haven’t seen any sign of the person who started it so far.’
‘Your oxygen levels are dropping, and quickly,’ he heard Caitlin say as mustered the energy to speed through the next two floors. He didn’t respond as he deposited another two people on the sidewalk, before racing back into the blaze.
‘Nearly there,’ he muttered to himself, fighting the urge to cough. He knew once he started, it was going to be hard to stop, if the burning in his chest and throat was anything to go by. He had just reached the fourth floor when he heard the deafening crash of splintering and falling debris. Throwing his arms above his head and skittering backwards, he managed to avoid a large section of ceiling that dropped towards him from above. He felt burning chunks of wood rain down around him, singeing the suit and stinging his skin, and grimaced when chunks of concrete followed from above.
He was running out of time.
He ignored the frantic voices in his ear as he shielded his eyes from the dust and smoke, scanning the area for movement, or anything resembling a person. The collapsed ceiling had brought down more flammable material - wood, insulation, and particle board was littered around the room in haphazard piles, and the rush of air from above quickly fuelled the flames.
Barry’s head spun, and he knew he wasn’t getting nearly enough oxygen.
‘…cond and first floors are clear, the fire crews have confirmed,’ he became aware of his team over the comms. Faintly, he registered Dr Wells giving the status report.
His hand shot to his ear, mouth opening to say ‘copy that’ but instead, he choked on the smoke and realised in a panic he couldn’t draw a complete breath.
Caitlin was back in his ear, but she sounded faint and far away over the ringing in his ears and his hacking coughs. ‘…need to get out of there Barry, the whole place is going to collapse!’
Doing his best to ignore is body’s desperate cries for oxygen, he cleared his throat and managed to rasp, ‘one more floor to check’ before mustering up his last reserves of energy to flash down to the third floor, head swivelling wildly as he searched for signs of life. He blocked out Caitlin’s frantic protests over the comms and did his best to focus his vision through the smoke, eyes streaming. After a pregnant pause, he would have sighed with relief if he could have as he realised there was no one left in the building. His vision was beginning to spot and his fingers and hands were tingling from lack of oxygen, he needed to get out of there.
‘Clear,’ he choked out over the comms, flashing towards the stairwell and descending towards the nearest exit. ‘Exiting the building n-‘
He had next to no warning.
The building rumbled as it collapsed inwards, gravity taking over as debris hurtled down. Barry’s exit was blocked by rubble when he was barely two feet from freedom - he had but a second to slam on the brakes and throw his arms protectively over his face as he slammed into the pile of concrete and twisted iron. He was thrown backwards on impact, hitting the ground hard.
This was no ordinary fire. Barry had just enough time to consciously agree with Caitlin’s earlier suspicions before more concrete rained down on him. Something hard made contact with his head, and Barry knew no more.