distance ? barry allen [1]

09. absolute zero

"None of which will work for me."

"Bad stomach ache. Really bad Diarrhea." She went on.

"Yeah I'm not comfortable with that excuse."

"Just go!"

He did as he was told and zoomed off.

~

"What's happening? What did I miss?" Spencer asked as she jogged into the Cortex. "Any news on that dangerous weapon that was stolen?"

Cisco and Caitlin were sitting around the monitors along with Dr. Wells. "Yeah, we think we know who has it and Barry's with him right now." Cisco told her.

Spencer's eyes widened as she slid into a seat next to her friends. She scanned the monitors, watching the dot that represented Barry. "Who is it?"

"Leonard Snart." Wells answered, eyes never leaving the screen.

They all watched the screens for a few more minutes until they heard Barry let out a shout. "No!"

The four scientists shared looks of concern.

After a few moments of silence and Barry's labored breathing, Spencer spoke up. "Barry, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Barry answered softly. His voice broke as he went on, "I can't say the same for everyone else."

Spencer sighed, and she saw everyone around her do the same. The Flash couldn't save everyone this time. And while it wasn't directly Barry's fault, she knew he blamed himself. Barry quickly told them he'd be back at STAR Labs shortly.

He zoomed in not long after, back in regular clothes. Spencer and Caitlin immediately began running tests on him as he had been struck with the cold gun. Eventually, Felicity joined them in the lab and offered her assistance.

"It's still numb," Barry commented, as they examined his side.

"It's presenting itself as third degree frostbite." Caitlin explained.

"I thought he had hyper healing?" Felicity asked.

"It's been slowed." Spencer told her. She turned to Barry, "If your cells weren't regenerating at the rate they are, you're blood vessels would have frozen solid and the nerve damage would have been permanent. You're lucky to be alive."

Barry noticed the sadness in which she spoke those last few words and gave her a sorry look. She just averted his gaze.

"Snart wasn't another metahuman." He told the group. "He has some kind of gun. It froze things. It slowed me down. Enough that I wasn't in time to save someone."

Spencer, Cisco and Caitlin shared a look that Barry and Felicity didn't seem to notice.

"According to his records, Snart didn't even bother to finish high school. So how did he build a handheld, high-tech snow machine?" Felicity questioned.

"STAR Labs built the cold gun." Dr. Wells stated.

"Dr. Wells, Caitlin and Spencer had nothing to do with this," Cisco jumped in. "I built the gun."

Barry look at Cisco in a mix between confusion and shock. "You did? Why?"

"Because speed and cold are opposites." Cisco explained. "Temperature is measured by how quickly the atoms of something are oscillating. The faster they are, the hotter it is. When things are cold, they're slower on the atomic level. When there's not movement at all, it's called-"

"Absolute zero." Barry finished.

"Yeah." Cisco whispered. "I designed a compact cryo-engine to achieve absolute zero." He paused. "I built it to stop you. I didn't know who you were then, Barry. I mean, what if you turned out to be some psycho, like Martin or Nimbus?"