Dedicated to NoraXSWest-AllenFam, CamrynKissel, damianflashpoint, @luciferandchloe2021, and @bloodypunkkk for the all their support on my Flash projects! Love you all and hope you enjoy :)

And a special thanks to @ThatSpiderKnight for their recent support! I am so glad we get to share The Flash fandom with each other because your stories are amazing!!!

Darkness.

An infinite swirl of pitch black darkness. 

Was the only thing that filled Barry’s dazed vision as his mind groggily forced his aching body to awaken, his fingers stirring weakly at his sides with each slow blink his gentle ocean blue eyes attempted to perform. Well, other than the feeling of intense soreness which was currently pressing roughly against his back, but the speedster had already mostly concluded that was more of an expected fact rather than an actual realization.

Getting bodied by a super-villain can sometimes do that to someone, though. At least, I think that’s what most people say, right? Or maybe I’m just the exception, I guess…

After several difficult seconds of painful pushing, Barry finally willed his exhausted eyes open, an action which he would momentarily come to regret due to the blindingly bright yellow ceiling light instantly shining down directly into his disorientated pupils. He moaned inaudibly under his breath as his head wobbled from side to side on his neck, though it could move very little from its initial position because of the heavily foamed brace Barry’s throbbing head was slowly beginning to realize was the only thing keeping it upright against the pillow barrier behind him.

Yeah, that type of thing isn’t really a good sign as to how bad I lost, especially considering it still hurts enough to need one, too…also, ow…

Though his ears were constantly ringing with a loud buzzing sound, he still heard the distinct sound of his two best friends’ nervous voices breaking through the enigmatically strong barrier which was trying so desperately to contain his mind to the suffocatingly senseless fuzziness of unconsciousness. A feeling which felt strangely more nature than actual consciousness for the speedster at the moment.

“Barry? Barry, can you hear me?” Asked Caitlin, her simple words repeated a few times (not that her patient was even slightly in the mindset to be counting how many at the moment) before her gentle whisper completely penetrated the wall blocking any and all noise that surrounded the man’s formerly resting body.

“Hey,” Barry replied, his singular weakly spoken word acting as the only indicator his friends needed to know he was alright.

Which was especially helpful because he doubted that he really had the energy to say anything more than that anyway.

Not that I couldn’t if I tried to… this way is just easier for all of us…

“You scared the crap out of us, man,” commented Cisco, half-jokingly, relief carrying the entirety of his voice as he and Caitlin smiled down appreciatively at their incoherent friend’s slowly blinking eyes.

He couldn’t quite make out the exact shapes of their familiar faces, only the vague colors of their casually-clothed navy blue and black outfits, respectively. Oh, and of course, the light-hearted smiles clearly showing on their teary-eyed faces, too. 

It’s honestly pretty nice to get to see them again…wait, can I miss something I didn’t even really know I’d lost in the first place? Nope, nevermind,  it doesn’t even matter as long as they’re here with me now…or I’m here with them again? Ugh…

It was good to know that even in his most disorientated of states, Barry still somehow managed to find a way to ramble almost all of his words. A feat which no one except thee Felicity Smoak herself could accomplish.

Hey, so I finally found something I’m better at than Oliver! Is it too late to, you know, let him win at this, too? Because that would be pretty nice…

“You were gone for a long time,” continued Cisco, neither of the young scientists’ eyes leaving the hero’s form for a single moment because, despite how insane it may have sounded on paper, they seemed to mutually agree that as long as they kept watching him, his condition could never deteriorate from the already fragile one he’d previously been reduced to.

Barry lightly nodded his head, a small, but reassuring smile forming on his face at his friends’ words. 

I really hope I didn’t freak them too much while I was out. I mean, after everything they probably had to go through to save me and all, the last thing I wanna do is give them that as their thank you gift. Which is exactly why I need to find Joe as soon as possible.

“How bad is it?” Barry asked, his words coming out as much more of a mumble than a question, though it was still an improvement from the unsettling silence which had haunted the medical bay only a few minutes prior to him regaining consciousness.

“Bad. If you didn’t heal so quickly, I’d be very worried,” Caitlin explained, her lungs taking in a deep breath of gratitude as she spoke.

A sentiment which had been held strongly by both of the scientists since the moment the prior had managed to finally stabilize the speedster’s condition.

“Linda, how is she?” Barry added, his eyes darting anxiously between his two friends’ faces, his voice slowly finding its regular octave as he asked.

It’s one thing if I got hurt because of my own stupid plan to try and stop Zoom, but Linda? She would’ve never even been put in his crossfires if it wasn’t for me…

“She’s fine. Just staying with some friends out in Coast City,” Cisco said, his answer swiftly vanquishing the slowly forming thoughts of desperation and guilt from the hero’s chest.

At least, temporarily, that is.

“Zoom?” Barry breathed, his ears’ finally accumulating to the rather loud beeping sounds of all the various machines which were meticulously monitoring his system’s every function.

An oddly uncomfortable silence fell across the brightly-lit room at the mention of the demonic monster’s name, sending a muted shiver up all three of the young scientists’ spines at just the thought of facing their newly acquainted foe again.

“Let’s worry about Zoom when you’re up and about, okay?” Suggested Cisco as he gently patted his best friend’s left leg in reassurance that even though he was faster than the speed of sound, that didn’t mean he couldn’t take some time to rest, too.

Though, the sensation of his supportive gesture didn’t exactly bring the warm feeling of comfort to Barry’s mind he’d intended it to for he instantly tried to force himself into a sitting position.

“Oh no, you’re staying put,” Caitlin stated, firmly as she placed both her hands on Barry’s left shoulder, steadily pushing his upper body back down against the fluffy pillows stacked comfortably behind his head.

Barry felt the air inside his lungs start to tighten with tension, his heart beat quickly fastening as his fingers slowly rubbed the thick gray blanket covering his legs in a failed attempt to try and remove what he now realized was its suffocating fabric, his left hand’s pulse oximeter’s cord brushing quietly against the smooth surface of Caitlin’s arm as he did so.

“Yeah, seriously, you got your ass kicked,” Cisco joked, his hand aimlessly sliding off of his appendage and onto the metal railing surrounding the medical bed’s surface.

“No, guys, I can’t feel my legs,” Barry suddenly blurted out as he carefully leaned forward, his fingertips forcibly pressing against the sides of his immobile limbs. 

His heart felt as if it was about to explode out of his bare-skinned chest, vibrant desperation washing over his entire form as his otherwise exhausted senses immediately became alert.

Alert with fear.

No, no, no, no, this can’t be happening! Caitlin has to have just put me under too many painkillers or better yet, they’re just numb from me lying around for so long! Yeah, that has to be what’s happening! I mean, Cisco even said that I was out for a long time and my body must just have to be accustomed to walking again! So all I need to do now is just get my stupid body up and moving and then, everything will be okay again! Now, c’mon, legs, just help me run again, please…

But no amount of hope, of begging was going to do the hero any favors for no matter how hard he desperately tried to lift up his unresponsive appendages, how much of the little energy he had left was exerted solely into moving the very two instruments his friends, his family, his own life, depended on every day even just a single inch, he still felt nothing.

“I can’t feel my legs,” Barry repeated, his head shaking quietly as a massive wave of tremors spread throughout his entire body, his eyes looking fearfully up at his two best friends.

Though, he was provided little to no comfort for their once smiling faces seemed to fall back to ones of worry after only a few seconds of processing the man’s sudden declaration.

Not that he was really acknowledging any of his surroundings in the first place for his every muscle seemed to completely freeze in ice at his own voice’s words, slowing his usually rapidly beating heart to a near-stop as terror spread violently across his whole body.

Forcing his minimally functioning senses to fade back into the infinite abyss which was his own 

Fear.

I can’t not be able to walk, can I? I mean, that’s crazy because everything was fine just yesterday and Caitlin said nothing was wrong with any of the tests which means that there shouldn’t be anything wrong right now, either! Otherwise, I’d never be able to walk, to run, to save everyone, to save her, again. And Zoom…he’d be unstoppable…because of, because of me.