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Wells woke on the ground to a raw, sore throat. He grimaced, putting a hand to his neck in an attempt to sooth the pain. Swallowing was like being stabbed and the scientist tightened his eyes in response to the feeling as he tried to ease the swelling.
He rolls, moving to all fours as he goes to stand.
"Morning, Dr. Wells." Zoom's voice taunts overhead and Wells stiffens from his place on the ground.
It's impossible to talk, which Wells figures the monster knows.
"Do you need some water?" Zoom's feet come into Wells' view, so the scientist looks up at him defiantly.
There's a glass of water in the monster's hand. His head is turned to the side in fake concern as he looks down at Wells.
Wells isn't about to give him any satisfaction. Even though his throat burns he shakes his head 'no.'
"There's no need to put on a show, Doctor," Zoom remarks, crouching down to get closer, "No one's here to see your bravado."
Wells swallows through another stab of pain, but resolutely shakes his head again.
Zoom growls, pushing him over and onto his back. The monster puts a fist to Wells' chest to pin him down.
"Drink," Zoom orders pouring the water over scientist's face.
Wells tries to get away from the steady stream as some of the water goes down his nose and throat, making him cough. He can only manage to flail his feet and grab Zoom's arm as the monster pushes down firmly on his chest. The coughing aggravates his already ruined throat, making the stabbing pain harsher and more intense.
Eventually the water ends and Zoom pushes off him.
Wells rolls to his side to try and cough out whatever's aggravating his lungs. One hand clenches tightly around his throbbing throat as a counter pain to the one inside, but it doesn't really help at all.
"Next time," Zoom tells him when he finally manages to get his coughing under control, "Take the water."
Then the monster's gone again in a trail of blue lighting.
---
Wells rests against the wall to gather his strength after the coughing fit had passed. He knows Zoom could be back any second, and he can't make it down the steep incline anyway, so he doesn't bother rushing to get up.
He thinks of Jesse. When she was two years old and had birthday cake all over her face... Her smile when he helped rescue a toy from under her bed...
Her message to him about leaving and his inability to find her.
Wells hopes she's safe. His daughter was bright and quick on her feet, but none of that would save her if Zoom found her. A part of him was happy she had run away. At least then she wouldn't have to suffer what he suffered due to their role reversal.
If the scientist couldn't find her, there was a good chance the monster wouldn't.
---
When Zoom returns, he's masquerading as Jay Garrick.
"Hey, Dr. Wells," Garrick smiles like they're friends, "How're you feeling?"
Wells ignores him, turning his gaze to the far wall instead.
"Don't be like that," Garrick chuckles, stepping closer, "I know we've had our fights, even come to blows a few times, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends."
'Friends'? Wells turns a furrowed brow to the other man. He still can't manage talking yet, so he uses his expression to convey how ridiculous that notion sounds.
Garrick nods in understanding, shoving his hands in his pockets with an embarrassed look on his face, "I guess you're right. Maybe 'friends' is taking it a bit too far."
"After all," Zoom's voice says as Garrick's eyes turn black, "You're nothing but my pawn. A piece of nothing I can dispose of at any time."
Wells wants to smirk, wants to taunt back to the monster who hasn't killed him yet, but he resists. He never was the suicidal type. As long as he's alive there's a chance the others might figure out a way to stop Zoom.
As long as he breaths there's still hope he'll get to see Jesse again.
Garrick frowns at the lack of retort and speeds away again.
---
After a while, Wells gets to his feet. He might as well look around while the monster is out doing who knows what. Maybe there's something in this prison that can help him get down the cliff.
"Well, if it isn't the great Dr. Wells himself," a chilling voice calls to him from the cell to his right. Killer Frost steps up to the carbine wall and wiggles her fingers, "Welcome to Hotel Zoom."
"What?" Wells' hand goes to his throat, the single word all he can force out.
"Oh, poor baby, Zoom hurt your talking box?" Frost smiles. Wells frowns at her.
It's uncanny how the villain before him is so similar and yet so different to Dr. Snow back on the other earth.
"You have any bright ideas about how to escape in that big brain of yours?" Frost asks, finger trailing down the carbine slowly.
There's a thumping from behind and Wells turns to look at the Masked Man in the opposite cell. Barry's promise to come back for the man and save him rings in his head as he looks at the poor soul who's trying to talk to him through the eye holes of the mask alone.
"Ugh! If only I could use my powers, I would shut. Him. Up!" Frost shouts as the Masked Man starts beating on the carbine again.
Wells shakes his head and makes a cutting motion with his arm to get him to stop. He doesn't have the strength of mind to try and figure out what the unknown man wants right now.
It seems to do the trick, because the Masked Man stops, sinking back down in the corner of his cell.
Zoom appears suddenly in front of him and backhands him in the chest, putting Wells once again on his back while landing him just outside the little room where he started.
"You do not move from your spot without my permission," Zoom tells him, chest heaving even though he can't be out of breath.
Wells grunts, pushing himself onto his elbows to look at the monster.
Zoom disappears and returns in a blast of blue light. He's Garrick again and holding another glass of water.
"You've got a pretty nasty bruise on your neck," Garrick shakes his head, stepping closer, "This should feel heavenly going down."
Garrick stops at Wells' side, leaning down to offer the scientist the cup.
Wells takes it from him slowly, not wanting a repeat of last time.
"There you go!" Garrick smiles like he just taught a puppy a new trick. It makes Wells want to throw the water in his face. "Don't drink too fast though."
Wells brings the glass to his lips and sips at it. It doesn't taste strange, so Zoom probably didn't drug it. Though there are tasteless drugs available if the monster wanted them.
Garrick rolls his eyes at him, "It's not poisoned."
He's not very convincing, but the water does ease the pain still throbbing and stabbing at his throat, so Wells takes the gamble and finishes the whole thing.
Garrick takes the cup from him with a pleased smile, "Now, was that so hard?"
The monster vanishes in another blink and Wells relaxes, not realizing how tense he was.
Stockholm Syndrome. Zoom was trying to brainwash him for his own twisted amusement. It wasn't going to work. Wells will never think of that man-No, that thing, as more than a monster.
---
Logic and reason tell him to stay put. Don't push your enemy's buttons if you don't have to. But there's no logic behind Zoom's actions and there's no reason for him to stay in that room and rot.
Not if he can make his escape.
"Aren't you afraid of being punished?" Frost asks him as he starts searching the place again, "Zoom was only saying hello when he hit you."
The sore spot on Wells' chest disagrees, but he ignores it in favor of continuing his search.
"You know, I think we can come to some sort of arrangement, Doctor," Frost sings, eyes trailing over his body slowly in a suggestive taunt, "You get me out of here and I'll help you get down the cliff outside."
There's no guarantee Frost will follow through on her end of the deal. Once she's out and can use her powers, there's nothing to stop her from killing the scientist.
Wells scoffs, shaking his head to let the woman know his decision.
"You shake your head no to me now," Frost grins, "But sooner or later you'll change your mind."
---
Wells doesn't find anything that can help him escape and eventually grows too tired to keep on looking. Zoom still hasn't returned, so he decides to stop and return to his 'room' to rest for a bit.
He passes a reflective surface on his way and finally catches a glimpse of his neck. It's a mottled mess of black and purple bruises that make a clear outline of a hand.
As Wells rests against the wall again, he tries to think through his options. He could try to figure out a way to release the Masked Man and Frost, but then the woman would probably kill them both. He could offer her money for their lives, but she might be more interested in petty revenge or some other reason to kill them.
He could just free the Masked Man, but then they'd still be stuck and Zoom would probably hurt them, or kill Wells, and throw the other man in another cell.
Zoom appears again. Wells doesn't even turn his head to acknowledge him.
That's a mistake.
The monster grabs Wells by the hair, tearing a cry of surprise out of the scientist, as he pulls him to his feet. Zoom chuckles as he looks at Wells.
"How's your throat?" the monster almost laughs.
"Why," Wells swallows against the pain, voice nothing but a forced whisper, "am I here?"
"For my amusement," Zoom grips Wells' hair tighter, pulling his head back to elongate his neck, "Looks like I made an impression on you."
Wells chokes out a pained laugh. The monster was making puns?
"Before I kill you," Zoom continues on, "I am going to make you suffer. Suffer until you beg me to let you die."
"Not. Gonna. Happen." Wells manages to bite out each word, chest heaving with his wildly beating heart.
"We," Zoom inches closer to Wells' face. "shall," the scientist's can only see the black of the monster's eyes now, "see."
Then Zoom drops him as he vanishes in another trail of blue lighting. Wells hits the ground after the last of it sparks away.
---
"He's gonna kill you, ya know," Frost's voice reaches Wells where he's pacing the room. The scientists pauses.
"Zoom is gonna tear you apart, piece by piece, until there's nothing left of you," Frost sighs in fake pity, "If only you had someone on your side to help you out. Maybe someone nearby willing to lend a hand?"
The Masked Man starts beating on the carbine furiously, perhaps warning Wells against that decision. There's no need for the man to waste his strength. The scientist has no intention of letting the murderess out. Not yet, at least.
---
Wells dozes off somehow and startles awake when he hears something crash.
Zoom is there, slamming a table and chair into the room before placing a tray down. He looks to the scientist and in another blink, Wells is sitting in the chair. His head spins for a moment as his body adjusts to his new position.
"Eat," Zoom orders, staring at the scientist to make sure he does.
Wells looks down to the tray and grimaces. It's one of those disgusting super protein bars from Health Co. He'd had the misfortune of eating one before during one of his many late nights at his lab.
"Eat," Zoom repeats, pointing to the bar like the scientist can't figure it out.
Wells pushes the tray away, the bar shaking as it skids against the surface, "No."
"You will eat it, or I will force it down your throat."
The monster steps closer and picks the bar up, pushing it into the scientist's face as he stares down at him.
'Pick your battles,' Wells tells himself as he takes the bar from the monster. He doesn't want to choke to death if he has a choice.
The bar's as horrible as he remembers, if not more so. It irritates his throat, but he eats the whole thing, crumpling the wrapper in his hand and tossing it back onto the tray.
"Good." The monster grabs hold of the scientist's arm and throws him back into the room. The chair clangs loudly for the second it takes Zoom make it, and the table, disappear.
Wells' shoulder hits the wall hard and his head follows after, making his vision cloud for a moment. His feet slide, trying to grip the floor to ease his descent to the ground.
"You should be grateful," Zoom is in front of the scientist, watching him clutch at his shoulder, "I could have you starve."
"That might be preferable." Wells hadn't decided to say it, he had only thought it, but it came out and there was no taking it back.
"Perhaps you need a lesson in gratitude," the monster growls, grabbing hold of the scientist's left arm and yanking him to his feet.
"I'll be grateful, when you're dead," Wells grits out through clenched teeth. The throbbing in his shoulder is overpowering the remaining soreness of his throat. He can feel something trickling down the side of his head, so he's probably bleeding.
"Do you think your precious friends will be able to stop me, Wells?" the monster challenges, tightening his grip on the scientist's arms, "I have The Flash's speed. Their only hope for defeating me is gone."
"You might be more powerful," Wells whispers, pulling at his arm in the other's grasp, "But they will always be better than you."
Zoom yells, slamming his other arm onto Well's captured one, breaking it.
Wells cries out against the new pain, right arm immediately moving to cradle the injured left one as the monster releases it. The scientist slides back down to the ground, vision blurred by pained tears as his broken arm demands all of his attention.
"No one is better than me," the monster growls, "I am the fastest man alive!"
Zoom speeds out of the room as the scientist continues to cradle his ruined arm.
---
After the pain lessens to something manageable, Wells gets to his feet to find something to wrap his arm in. He finds two thin pieces of metal piping and the tattered remains of a shirt. He tears the shirt into strips and uses them to secure the pipes against his arm.
It's agony, but the scientist grits his teeth against the pain and manages to finish without blacking out.
"I warned you," Frost's voice coos from her cell.
Wells rests against something he doesn't bother to identify to gather his strength.
Frost laughs, "I've been going about this all wrong, haven't I?"
The scientist turns his eyes to the criminal, curious as to what she has to say.
"I've been trying to persuade you with selfish reasons, when I really should have opened with noble ones," the woman smiles, "You owe me."
"Pardon?" Wells' focus is on his arm. His brain is cloudy with pain and it aggravates him.
"I saved your daughter," Frost says, smile large and unpleasant, "Don't you think you should return the favor by getting me out of here?"
She's right. And what's worse is, she knows it. Regardless of what the Meta will do, Wells owes her for what she did for his daughter. Even if he risks dying sooner than Zoom had planned for him.
Forget that monster. Wells will die by his rules, doing what he thinks is right.
Living his life his way to the bitter end.
"Fine," Wells grounds out. Frost's smile widens.
---
It takes longer than Wells knows it should, but he eventually figures out a way to break the carbine.
"Thanks, Doc," Frost smiles, stepping out of her cell, "Guess that makes us even."
"Do you think you can do one more decent thing, Frost?" Wells growls, arm cradled to his chest as he keeps his distance from the killer.
Frost tilts her head in thought, "What do you want?"
"If I get him out," Wells jerks his head to the Masked Man, "can you help him get down the cliff?"
"Since when did you start playing the hero?" Frost smirks, hands going to her hips.
"Just answer the question," Wells' frustration bleeds into his voice. For someone who wanted to get out of there so badly, Frost was wasting time.
"Maybe I'll just kill you instead," Frost pulls her hands out to her side, they're pouring out smoke as she takes a step closer to the scientist.
"Zoom's already going to kill me!" Wells bites out, hurting his throat and arm at the same time, "You can either waste time doing his job, or you can do something with your life that will tick the monster off at the same time."
Frost pauses, eyes considering the scientist as her hands continue to smoke.
They don't have time for this-! Wells' anger is cut short. Frost has lowered her hands, smoke gone as quickly as it came.
She rolls her eyes, "Fine, free the man."
"Well, isn't this interesting?" Zoom's voice stops Wells in his tracks.
The monster is standing a few feet from the scientist and the woman. Blue lightning zapping around him like usual as he turns his head to spare each person a glance.
"He got me out!" Frost points an accusing finger to Wells, "I was content to stay here but he insisted."
Wells doesn't deny it. He knows the monster won't believe the Meta's obvious lie.
"I thought I made myself clear when I told you to not to move from your spot unless I told you, Wells," Zoom turns his black eyes to the scientist.
"I needed to bandage my arm," Wells tells him, straightening to his full height, "And my legs were getting antsy."
"Maybe I should break them," the monster's voice raises, "Like I broke your arm."
"Then you'd have to carry me around everywhere," Wells counters, "Besides, if you start breaking everything now, what will you have left to do tomorrow?"
The monster chuckles, "I can always work on your mind."
"Now, that," Wells supports his injured arm with his elbow so he can shake a finger at the monster, "That will be impossible."
"Oh?" Zoom moves to the scientist in a flash of blue lightning, "Is that so?"
"It is," Wells grounds out, his heart in his aching throat, "It would take a much stronger monster than you to break my mind."
Frost has disappeared. Wells hopes Zoom won't go after her once he's done beating on him again.
The monster grabs hold of the scientist's shirt slowly, "You are pushing your luck, Doctor Wells."
"There's no science to support luck," Wells keeps his voice firm, even if it's quiet.
"You are mine," the monster shakes the scientist. Wells smirks.
"You said, you weren't alone." Wells breathes, "That you had me."
Zoom tilts his head, confused. Wells continues.
"But people aren't something you can take and keep like pets," the scientist spits out the last word. "You might have me trapped, but you don't have me."
The monster tightens his grip on the fabric. It only encourages the scientist further.
"You do not have me Hunter Zolomon, Jay Garrick, Zoom, or whoever you are. You will never have me."
Wells may have been wrong about being the suicidal type after all.
Zoom stares into Wells' eyes with his black orbs for a long time. Then he chuckles.
The monster releases the scientist with one hand to remove his mask.
"I've always measured my success by counting the number of victims I've had," the monster says in Garrick's voice, eyes back to normal, "But, now I think I'm going to widen my scope. And start counting the number of earths I conquer instead."
Dread pools in the pit of Wells' stomach, but he hides it from his face.
"Maybe after I kill all your friends, everyone you've ever come in contact with, then finally, your daughter. Maybe then, Harrison Wells, maybe then I will have you."
Garrick grabs Wells with both hands again and vanishes with him in crackling blue lighting.
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