When Barry came to he began hearing a kind of whirring mechanical noise and maybe an alarm of sorts. There were women muttering numbers and calling out medical states. That's when it hit him. Literally. A man smacked his shoulder. He was in an ambulance.

"Come on, wake up," his attacker ordered him with a lack of conviction.

  His eyes refused to stay open, but his ears would add what was going on for him.

  "He's gained consciousness," a female tech said.

  "Sir," another told, "please do not hit our patient. I know you care for him, but we prefer little interference with his level of injuries."

  "Mr. Danvers, can you hear me," the first woman asked to Barry's face.

  Try as he might, he couldn't breathe out more than a squeak to prove he could.

  "Good," she heard his cry. "You are currently in an ambulance headed towards the Hatton Corners Hospital. You appear to have a moderate concussion, bruising on your left eye, a split lip and two broken legs."

  That was a lot to take in, but the brunt of it was where he was going. He couldn't go to the hospital. They would find out he was the Flash and then all hell would break loose.

  Out of sheer desperation he managed to move his lips to mumble out the words, "ST'R l'bs."

  "I tried to tell them," the man who had smacked him earlier whispered into his ear, "but those doctors don't listen to a word we say."

  He knew that voice from somewhere. It belonged to his neighbor, Geoffrey. He was a good guy, and regardless of the fact that the house Barry and Kara owned left four acres between them and anyone else, they considered each other friends.

Geoffrey was a bachelor who lived with his dog and, in spit of having an intellectual disability, the varied and considerable number of "overnight guests." The four residents had enjoyed a few get-togethers and Kara had even watched Oscar (the dog) for him.

  When Geoffrey heard the window shattering and evil cackling, he thought it would be best to go over and see if everything was alright. It was not. The door was unlocked (not a great sign) and he found Barry on the floor, covered in blood.

  After he texted Caitlin, asking what to do, and a lengthy wait for an ambulance, he just had to jump in there to see if Barry would be okay. That's when he remembered Barry's "hit by lightning" story: they seemed to emphasize the point that he only conducted his medical business with STAR labs from then on, because his cells were changed, or something.

  When he told the ambulance techs, they almost laughed at the idea.

  They told him, "Sir he needs to go to a real hospital to properly treat his injuries." And, "Sir, he's not going to wake up through you poking at him."

  But Barry was awake now, so he had proof.

  "Don't you hear the man," he shouted. "He said he needs to get to STAR labs."

  "Sir, please," an exasperated tech rubbed her forehead. "That is a five hour drive and we are five seconds away from HCH."

  "I'm sorry, Barry," Geoffrey patted his shoulder.

  "Hey, it's okay," Barry said, now fully coherent. "There wasn't really much either one of us could do."

  The ambulance doors busted open and before he knew it, they were already rolling him down the ER. He couldn't turn his head because of the neck brace, but he could kind of hear a secretary consolidating Geoffrey.

======

  Caitlin was thrilled when she got a text from Geoffrey. She'd met him a couple of times while visiting everyone's favorite couple, and she only found it fitting to have his number in case of emergencies, or if he just wanted to talk. Unfortunately, this was an emergency.

'G: Barry is passed out on the floor and there's blood!
G: I think someone broke in
C: Call 911 I'll try to get him ASAP. See if you can convince them to take him here. Just stay with him.

She gathered her things in a brisk manner, but she nearly forgot as she was about to leave the building, her car was getting repaired. (Her seat warmer was stuck on.)

She decided to text the only other people who would be best suited for this.

'C: Barry is in trouble and I need a ride to help him
B: I'm on my way'

In the mean time, she went into the kitchen and poured herself a nice cold brew coffee. It was already dark, so she had to keep awake somehow. Either way, she finds the process of making cold brew coffee calming.

She likes to turn on some music and grind up the beans in a hand crank coffee grinder. Then she pours the grounds directly into the water and puts it into the fridge. It takes about a day for it to reach just the right amount of cool and steeped before she can press it.

Luckily for her, she had a fair amount in there at that point, a vacuum sealed aluminum water bottle to put it in. She gave it a whiff and then decided to put a little cream in it.

Oddly enough, drinking coffee was a good way for her to keep her cool while in a crisis. What is usually known as a stimulant, she indulges it as a fine depressant.

Caitlin was able to use her time to assess the situation. It was always best for her to take a step back to do that. That was when the questions started filling her mind. Where was Kara in this emergency? Was she hurt too? Where was Cisco? But, like all serious questions she had no one to help find the answer to, she suppressed them.

Before she knew it she got a text from her ride, saying that they had arrived. Once again she threw her things into her purse, and took the elevator down.

In the parking lot, directly in front of the doors, was a silver car. A 2012 Lexus RX 350 to be exact. The driver's side was facing her and the tinted window began to roll down.

Blaine's face was red with the anticipation to hear Barry's condition. His hands were planted not so firmly at the top of his steering wheel as he let his fingers tap madly. "Where is he," he asked speedily. "Is he okay? Where is he?"

"God," Kurt threw his head back in the passenger seat, "why did I let you drive?"

"Hi, Kurt," Caitlin greeted the other while entering the back seat to answer Blaine's rapid questions. "Barry should be okay for now. He's at Hatton Corners Hospital, getting treated for injuries, but they'll be having to ask alter ego revealing questions before too long. Not to mention, they clearly won't have the appropriate equipment. That tiny, run down hospital hasn't had any repairs or replacements in years." That last sentence was anger-mumbled.

"Wait, how did he get hurt," Blaine asked, merging onto the freeway.

"I have no idea," she shook her head. "His neighbor texted me a few minutes ago. Apparently his house was broken into. Thank heavens you guys were in town to pick me up."

"Woah, whoah, whoah," Kurt turned around in his seat. "Why couldn't The Flash fend 'em off?"

"I really have no idea. Maybe something threw him off. Like if it were someone he trusted."

  They all took a few minutes, silently theorizing, the sudden moonlight and cars traveling in the opposite direction lighting their inquisitive faces.

  Caitlin finally let out a long sigh, "Thanks again, you guys, for driving me up here."

  "Well, we wanted to spend a little time with Barry, and what better way of doing that than pulling an all nighter in our rental car, to pick him up from a hospital and drive him back," Kurt rhetorically answered, rolling his eyes. On the inside he was still worried, but he knew the situation they were in was less than ideal.

Caitlin kindly explained to them her worries and described what had happened just before the incident, with Cisco and Kara, but after it was discussed, the conversation quickly died down.

So, they continued their car ride with little conversation. The only noise to be heard was the radio, playing an assortment of music, due to their lack of signals.

======

Cisco awoke in an unfamiliar place. His first thought was of how thankful he was for the voices in his head to be silent. Next, he guessed he was kidnapped by a "work colleague" of Barry's, but by the looks of the dump he was in, it wasn't anyone they had felt with previously.

His hands were bound together with metal shackles secured to the wall, and his ankles were cuffed with a chain between them as well. He chose to remain as still as possible, in an attempt to not give away his advantage of assessment.

He turned his head to the left of this classic dark, damp dungeon, to find nothing but a wall. It was further away than his chains would allow him to explore, but if he tried hard enough, he might be able to touch it with his feet. At the very top, near the corner where the wall met the ceiling, lived a small window. It was roughly the height of a pen and and twice that in width, barred into the cobblestone. That seemed to be their only form of light.

He moved his head to his left and observed a figure, sitting just next to him. They had long, blonde hair covering the back of their head and a warm presence surrounding them. Seemingly, the only difference between the two was a slight tinge of green in the blonde one's chains. They appeared to be unconscious, but Cisco was willing to give up his benefit to ensure this probable good character was in good health.

He whispered, "hey." No response.

He blew against their scalp. Nothing.

He made his well aged chains jingle, only a little, to no avail.

He was running out of options, when they suddenly moved their head upward. Their once steady breathing became erratic and a little gaping.

"hey," he whispered again.

This time, he got the response of a small gasp and one of the quickest head jolts he'd ever seen. She snapped her face to look at him and revealed herself to be Kara.

"oh, thank god," Cisco looked up, "it's just Kara."

She looked up at the chains secured to her wrists, and inquisitively looked at him. "where are we," She quietly asked, picking up on the whispering thing.

"from what I can tell, it's some kind of prison," he filled her in with the extent of his knowledge.

"well, yeah, but who put us here," she persisted.

"if I had to guess, it would have to be Noah Puckerman," he looked at me, the author. "I mean, we never got a resolution for his story, so this is it, right?"

I violently shook my head, in a solemn regret of having no excuses.

"well," Kara reintroduced the story, allowing Cisco to get back in character. "it has to be someone who knows my secret identity, because these chains are clearly laced with kryptonite."

"well, who do you remember being around last, that knows your secret identity," Cisco rationalized.

"um, Barry," she said off the top of her head, trying to list names off. She searched her mind. "Caitlin, you, Dr. Psycho, Alex- wait, who's doct..."

Her words faded as the memories of that last evening came back to her. She relieved that torture and remembered that short man in the flickering lights.

"I could be shorter," a needlessly loud voice filled her ears.

She shook her head back and forth across the room, looking for him. There was no one there.

"Did you just hear that," she slowly moved her head towards Cisco.

He pinned his eyebrows together, "No." Then, he remembered; that was something he would ask while the voices were tormenting him. "Kara, are you hearing voices?"

"No, well, yeah, but, it's not just voices, I've seen him too," she looked him dead in the eye.

"Oh my god," he tried to grab her shoulder, forgetting of his chains.

"What," she shrugged her shoulders as best as she could.

"Kara, don't you get it? He's our commonality! He's the reason we're both here."

"What does he want with the two of us," she questioned.