Pinch Hitter

[run_barry]

Opening the door from Milliways Barry leads Yamato through and into S.T.A.R. Labs.

"And here we are, welcome to Central City and S.T.A.R. Labs."

They step out into a medical lab space, complete with fancy equipment and an exam table. The place looks pretty high-tech, but it's also currently a shambles. Things are knocked over on the countertops, several drawers have been pulled open and rifled through, there's an IV stand laying on the ground, and the red Flash suit is discarded on the floor beside the exam table.

It's the sort of scene that happens when a speedster on his last legs storms through an infirmary trying to help himself and not pass out in the process.

Glancing around, Barry frowns and rubs the back of his neck.

"Sorry about the mess."

Comments

[run_barry]

Barry strongly considers it, even taking a step back and weighing the possibility that he could do it. In the end he has to reluctantly admit, "No. I could give it a shot, but if I didn't make it out... "

Then it would be over for everyone.

Agreeing with Yamato's assessment of the next course, Barry calls out to the three in the room. "I'm gonna get you out, I promise. Just hang in there, I'll be back."

The trio mutter back at him in urgent protest and Barry frowns as he walks away.

"I'm heading towards the basement. Let me know if any of the video comes back." As he says it, Barry glances up while walking beneath the black dome of a camera. "The camera's definitely aren't broken.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato grimaces a little, because he can't imagine that leaving three scared people is easy for Barry, even if saving them right now really isn't a good idea.

"They're not on a local system, either, if I was able to get access to one of them," he replies. "My best guess is that someone's deliberately stopping anyone from viewing the feed. Not necessarily just us -- if there's an offsite security company with access, the point might be to stop them from viewing it, instead."

He glances at the floor plans, cocking his head.

"Looks like the basement is about the same size as the store and back rooms together, so it's not gigantic, but it's filled with storage racks and that makes it practically a maze. There is a way out if you need it, though, a delivery door that leads up and out onto the road behind the store."

[run_barry]

"Guess that means we're not dealing with an amateur, then." Of course the whole situation has been sort of saying that much.

Barry locates the basement door, opening it carefully and peering down.

"Wow, this place isn't creepy at all," he notes as he descends the staircase into the dimly lit space.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"They're pretty good at this, whoever they are," Yamato notes, a little wryly. "Like some sort of Super Tech Person. Techmonger. Dark Cisco."

Beat.

"Needs work. I'll think about it," he admits, turning a little gruff. "Keep an eye out. Remember, you're likely not alone down there, and we should expect these thieves to be armed as well."

[run_barry]

"Cisco is definitely going to fight you on naming rights," Barry informs Yamato, although Yamato probably already knows.

Feeling like the cautions are starting to go overboard, Barry gives just a little bit of a sigh. "I'll be careful."

Stepping down off of the last step, Barry pauses, puzzled by a sound.

"I think I just heard a click." Moving his foot, Barry cants his head, looking down at the weird tile he's just stepped on. From up above he can hear clanging and slamming metal and he realizes what he's done.

"I triggered the security system."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"He'll lose."

He does crack a little bit of a smile, and Barry might hear a slight chuckle, in response to Barry's sigh. He knows he's maybe being a little too pushy with the warnings to be careful.

-- Except then Barry triggers the security, so maybe not.

"It looks like all your exits have been blocked off with steel shutters," he says, tone very calm and even, if also a bit flat and expressionless. "But unlike the cash office, this is one big room, you might still be able to build up some momentum."

His eyes flick over to the radio scan which did, just for a few moments, pick up an unusual radio signal, coinciding with a smattering of faint dark matter readings from across the city.

"There you are," Yamato murmurs. "Barry, you likely have people converging on your location. I can unlock the security system, but I need you to run in a grid formation with enough speed to produce ... ah, let's see," it takes him a few seconds to run through the formula in his head, "twenty million electronvolts, so around thirty million joules, of electromagnetic radiation, and wind speeds of around fifty miles per hour, spread out through the entire basement."

He pauses for a moment, linking his wrist computer up to the console again.

"Don't worry, that level of magnetic radiation is barely equivalent to a low-power MRI. Apart from the wind knocking people off their feet, and a bunch of cell phones getting bricked, it's safe."

[run_barry]

Barry steps away from the staircase, looking around warily and half expecting the basement to turn into a shooting gallery.

"What people? Who's doing this?" Who would set a trap for him?

Not about to stand still, he starts moving along the wall and past the storage shelves, looking for a possible exit and anyone who might be down here with him.

"You want me to what?" Quickly he starts running through calculations in his own head, trying to figure out just how fast he'd have to go to do all that. "I don't know if there's enough room in here."

Of course, he doesn't exactly have a long list of options.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Hostile people. The robbers or -- whoever it is that wants you dead, which by now is probably a long list," Yamato says, levelly.

He tilts his head a little, peering at Barry's position on the console. "Whoever's behind this isn't in the store, they're using some kind of wireless networking. If we disrupt it, there'll be a window of opportunity," he says. "You're right, you don't have a lot of room to work with, this is going to be delicate if you don't want to embed yourself in a wall. But I have faith in you. You can do this."

[run_barry]

"I mean, there's probably some people upset with me, but... " Well, yeah, no, there might be some who'd go as far as wanting him dead. That was one of the hazards of becoming a hero.

Obviously he couldn't give whoever this was a chance to make that happen, and without any open exits he was going to have to make this work.

"Alright, okay." Glancing around for a starting point, Barry chose the top of the stairs. He zipped up to the top of the landing and then held, building himself up.

"Here it goes... " A deep breath and he was off, racing down the staircase and then through the maze of shelves in the grid pattern Yamato had asked for.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato doesn't say anything -- if he talks, there's as much chance of it distracting Barry as anything else, and even a split-second distraction could very easily be fatal here. Instead, he watches Barry's dot on the floor plan, and the rising levels of electromagnetic radiation in the area on the map of Central City.

As it rises, the interference affects their comms as well, enough that he starts to see the dot on the map blinking every now and then. He keeps one eye on it, and one eye on the scan, as that strange radio signal shows up again, stronger this time, then stronger still, with a flicker of dark matter readings across the city.

"That's right, keep pushing back," he mutters, quiet enough and far enough away from his wrist that he's fairly sure Barry won't hear and get distracted by it, as the signal grows stronger and stronger to push through the higher levels of interference.

His eyes flick over to the floor plan again, watching Barry's progress as best he can with the interference. There's not much longer before it'll be enough interference, but until then, all he can do to help Barry is watch.

[run_barry]

This space is insanely small for this type of running, and the faster he goes the smaller it feels until it's almost like he's turning a corner with every heartbeat and footfall to keep from slamming into a wall or colliding with steel shelving.

The wind he's generating is howling now, and Barry's crossing over his own trail again and again, causing the lightning in his wake to build upon itself and up the electricity levels higher and higher.

It's not enough, he knows it's not enough and tries to dig deeper. It's not only the confined space that's making this hard, Barry's energy is starting to flag, he can feel it.

Promising his body more meal bars and a shot of Digi-juice when this is over, Barry pushes harder and manages to pour out more speed.

"Almost... there... "

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato watches the dot on his screen, which isn't so much moving as it is just flickering in different places as a combination of interference and speed makes it impossible for the GPS to keep up.

He can't see what the wind speed is like in there, but he sees the radiation levels hit the target energy, and a few seconds later, he sees the strange radio signal flicker out.

"There," he barks, hoping that their own comm signal is strong enough for Barry to hear him. "Slow down, take cover, take a moment."

With nobody else getting in the way and keeping the security lockdown in place, Yamato works as quick as he can to get everything back up online and connected, working not at the console but at his wrist computer, with its Alternan tech and Koushiro's programs. Barry's vitals and suit readings appear first. Then, one by one, the CCTV feeds in the store start to appear.

"I've got visuals," he says, and gauges the location of the other men in the basement, all of whom are looking extremely disorientated now that the voice in their ear is gone and some gale force winds have battered them around. "Five guys -- three o'clock, six, nine, and two at eleven. They're confused and separated, you're fast, do your thing and then that's every hostile in the store dealt with. I'm disarming the security system now."

He glances at Barry's vitals, furrowing his brow. They're far from ideal, but Barry's in the home stretch now, at least as far as dealing with this trap goes.

[run_barry]

Barry drops out of superspeed the moment Yamato gives the word; coming to a sliding stop back near the staircase and holding a moment with his hands on his knees trying to get his breath back.

"Awesome. Glad it worked."

This time when Yamato gives direction on where the bad guys are Barry knows how to orient himself and follow them. He moves in a blur, counting each guy as they go down until the fifth one is taken care of.

"What about the hostages? Are there anymore besides those three?" he asks, already moving to go back for them.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Yeah, there's two more in a closet at the far end of the basement. They're both unharmed," Yamato says. "And there, security system disabled and put into maintenance mode, so you won't be getting locked in any rooms. Go free the hostages and then get back here. I've got some leads on our Mystery Tech Person we can follow up."

After a moment, he adds, somewhat gruffly: "And great work. You did a pretty awesome job in a bad situation just now."

[run_barry]

"You did a great job quarterbacking and figuring out a solution, so thanks," he replies, then gets to work freeing people and making sure they get out of the building okay.

It's a great relief to see everyone okay, and a pair of cruisers arriving to take care of the bad guys he left inside.

With the situation handled and police on-scene, Barry heads back to S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Man that was intense," he says, sliding to a stop and peeling back the mask. "Iris mentioned one time getting a group together for one of those escape rooms, but if she does I'm totally going to pass."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato's not a hundred percent sure what quarterbacking means, but he can figure it out from the context, more or less.

Once Barry's back, Yamato throws him a sidelong look, cracking a quick grin. "To be fair to Iris, I don't think most escape rooms have hostages or people with guns. Those are probably stuff you have to pay extra for."

He plucks up one of the bottles of digi-juice, tossing it towards Barry, although he does at least make sure Barry can see it coming this time.

"Drink. Your vitals had me worried for a while there," he says, rather gruffly. "It looks like Dark Cisco -- the Amazing Eyeballer? Camera Commander? Actually, that one's pretty good -- has pulled back for now, so you've got some time to rest."

[run_barry]

Barry laughs, catching the bottle against his chest and opening it.

"Another busy day. But hey, I felt great for most of it," he says, taking a drink. Brushing his mouth with the side of his hand hold the bottle, Barry throws a nod towards Yamato.

"So what've you got on this... Camera Commander?" Trying it out, the name doesn't sound too terrible.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"You did well, especially when you were starting without a full tank of energy anyway," Yamato says. "But now, you at least need to drink that, take a half hour nap, and get some proper food in you. No excuses."

He turns back towards the console, bringing up the wave pattern of the strange radio signal. "This was mostly getting lost in the general radio noise of the city, but when they thought they were losing control, they overextended themselves to try to make up for it, and we were able to get a clear reading," he says. "There isn't any kind of mechanical source that I know of that produces a signal like this, which means this signal is unique to Camera Commander. We can calibrate the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to track it the next time it shows up."

He pauses for a moment. "Not gonna lie, it'll take me a while to get all the calibrations done, a lot longer than it'd take Cisco, but if we know one thing about Camera Commander, it's that they're a coward. They'll be licking their wounds for a while," he says. "So we have time for me to do that, and you to take a rest, eat some food, and work on the cure."

Which is something Yamato definitely can't help with, is the unspoken implication. Engineering, physics, and computers he can handle just fine, biology and medicine are a ways outside his realm of expertise.

[run_barry]

"Hey, as long as we have a minute of quiet I can do all that," Barry replies, posing no argument to Yamato's orders.

Taking another drink of the juice, Barry steps in to take a look at the wave pattern Yamato found.

"Nice job finding that. Without anyone back here on the equipment I would never have seen it." How any hero does this stuff solo Barry really can't fathom.

"So if the signal is that unique we're dealing with what, some kind of stylized hacker or something?"

For a moment he wonders if they shouldn't give Felicity Smoak a call, see what she makes of all of this.

Tabling that thought for now, Barry shakes his head. "That's fine. I'll grab a bite and catch some rest and stuff. If you need a break or help though, let me know."

Because they didn't want Yamato running himself down, either.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"We were getting some scattered dark matter readings at the same time. I don't think it's a hacker, I think it might actually be a meta," Yamato says, rubbing the back of his neck. "Some kind of meta with, I guess, hacking powers. It'd explain why we were able to get a signal back quicker than them, too -- working with actual equipment is probably easier than reaching into computers through sheer force of will."

He cracks a quick grin. "Truth be told, when you were down in the basement, I kind of hated that I couldn't go out in the field and help directly." He'd be a liability right now, after all, having none of his powers and, thus, being in every respect a normal (and highly vulnerable to bullets) human, but that doesn't mean it doesn't suck. "But I'm glad I can help a little, even if it is just reading off a console."

He gives a quick nod at that last, tossing a meal bar over to Barry. "I'll be fine, Gramps. I won't need to take a break, I'm not the one who's been running around an entire city, after all."

[run_barry]

"What? A meta hacker? Cool," Barry enthuses before amending a beat later, "I mean awful."

This person did try and kill him and all.

"Dude you helped a lot," he assures Yamato. "And now I can rest easy for awhile knowing that you've got the city and my friends covered."

And after a week of exhaustion and uncertainty that meant a lot to Barry.

Meal bar in hand after a bobbled catch, Barry salutes Yamato with it while heading towards the door. "I'm gonna go eat this and get changed and all. Call me if anything comes up."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"It is cool," Yamato agrees, very somberly. "I mean, they happen to be on the opposing side to us, but that doesn't mean they're not really cool."

His cheeks go a little pink at that second part, and he turns towards the console, slipping very easily back into being gruff again.

"I will. And you better nap for at least thirty minutes. There'll be a quiz," he growls.

Which stage of the sleep cycle did you achieve, show your working, will be the first question.

[run_barry]

"Yes sir, Sergeant Hen," Barry says, popping off a grinning salute before leaving in a whoosh.

A few seconds later the whoosh returns for a moment then leaves again and the mannequin on the far wall of the Cortex is now displaying the suit.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato's about to fire off an old man joke, but then Barry's gone, and then he's back, and then he's gone.

"Jeez," Yamato mutters, grinning a little as he settles into a chair and starts work on re-calibrating the satellite.