Crashing

[run_barry]

So last night was a mess.

Today Barry sticks to his lab at the precinct, analyzing the rest of what he found at yesterday's crime scene in between eating three boxes of donuts.

When Joe comes in Barry doesn't bother hiding his ire, and Joe doesn't make any effort to apologize or make amends.

"Come to yell at me again?" Barry asks and Joe ignores the question, handing over an evidence bag and telling Barry to get to work on it.

It's from a murder the night before; Simon Stagg's head of security was killed. It's obviously not a coincidence after Stagg's award ceremony was held up, but when Barry offers to go with Joe to investigate, Joe snaps at him.

"Your job is in here, stay in here and do it."

Joe leaves with Barry glaring daggers after him. Iris walks in and Barry turns to focus on his equipment and the evidence bag.

While Barry loads the sample Joe gave him Iris asks, "Why is my dad mad at you?"

"Work stuff," Barry mumbles in reply. He glances back at Iris and her expression and stance make him pause. He takes her in, getting an uneasy feeling that prompts him to ask, "Why are you mad at me?"

"You were supposed to meet me at Jitters to give me scientific background for my article."

"And I didn't show up." His gut clenches as realization hits. Once again he's guilty of disappointing her; the one person he truly hates to let down.

"Iris I-- " he starts to apologize, but she stops him.

"Don't say that you're sorry, okay? I know that you are," she says, the frustration loud in her voice. She demands to know just what the hell is going on with him and it tears him up inside not being able to give her an answer.

All of his life she has been the one person he's been able to talk to. The one person who's always believed him.

All he wants to do is tell her. Everything.

But, he can't.

Iris waits expectantly for an answer and he's caught trying to come up with a good lie. He's saved when the test he started finishes and a machine chirps to let him know results are ready.

Iris promises this isn't the end of the conversation, but what Barry finds out from his analysis halts things with Iris and leaves him dumbfounded with the case he's working.

The coroner pulled what was hoped to be skin samples from the killer off of Simon Stagg's dead bodyguard. What Barry has just discovered is that the recovered cells are naive. Stem cells.

Only, that's impossible.

*****

Iris leaves, unhappy but understanding that Barry has a job to do. Gathering everything he's put together Barry heads downstairs and finds the precinct is in chaos.

Officers hustle about, checking weapons and strapping on vests, excitement filling the air. Barry navigates the urgent bustle and catches Captain Singh striding past.

"Captain, what's going on?" Barry asks.

Singh doesn't slow a step, dismissing Barry while heading out. "Not now, Barry, an armed gunman is shooting up Stagg Industries."

Barry's eyes widen on the words and a jolt runs down his spine.

"Joe's there."

*****

After a quick change of attire Barry races to Stagg Industries, dressed in red and beating the police there. He arrives to the noise of gunfire and finds Joe pinned down trying to take on three armed men.

Running into the fray Barry disarms the men and drops their weapons at Joe's feet, urging him to go.

When Joe refuses Barry takes it upon himself to make Joe leave; grabbing the man and zipping him outside through a fire door which Barry lets close behind him; locking Joe out.

Back to the three men Barry demands that they give up.

They all look alike, sound alike, and in unison they shake their heads and reply, "Sorry, we're not going anywhere until Simon Stagg is dead."

Clearly they don't know who they're dealing with, so Barry decides to show them. He rushes the trio, knocking two aside. When he turns his focus on the third, though, the man vibrates and shakes, and suddenly splits into three.

Two more exact duplicates stand before Barry and he can't help his stunned reaction. They move on him and he snaps out of it, going back to the fight. Two go down, but when he throws a hard blow at one of the men it knocks two more clones out of him and they immediately attack.

It's five on one and Barry is swarmed. He tries to fight back, but they get him to the ground and he's left trying to cover up and shield himself as blows and kicks rain down.

Jerked up roughly and thrown into a shelf Barry lays staggered, breathing hard and bleeding while three of the clones line up with their reclaimed weapons and prepare to shoot him firing squad style.

The guns go off and Barry just manages to speed out under the spray of bullets.

*****

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs Barry gets help with his injuries, and despite her ire the day before, Caitlin tries to be gentle.

"Sorry," she says when Barry hisses as she mops up his wounds with antiseptic. "The abrasions are already rapidly healing."

That doesn't help him much considering it all still hurts like hell.

"Yeah, I got my ass handed to me," he says miserably.

While Caitlin finishes up, Dr. Wells identifies the metahuman who gave Barry the beat down. He's a scientist named Danton Black. His area of research? Therapeutic cloning.

The team bandies about theories as to how Black got to be this way, and why he's after Stagg, but Barry is uninterested.

Instead, he heads for the door.

"Where are you going?" Caitlin asks with concern.

Barry looks at them and shakes his head, ready now to admit defeat. "Joe was right. I'm in way over my head. Yeah, I'm fast, but I am no warrior. Man, I could barely fight one metahuman let alone six."

Dr. Wells speaks up, intoning to Barry, "Barry, I understand. Today was a setback, but any grand enterprise has them, and we can never learn to fly without crashing a few times."

Barry works his throat, the disappointing truth lodged somewhere between his chin and his chest. "This wasn't a grand enterprise, Dr. Wells. This was a mistake."


[dialogue taken from episode 1.2]