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

[makes_the_toys]

"Oh, I'm definitely dying," Cisco says, huddling down into his blanket. "Caitlin and Barry won't tell me, but I know I'm done for."

At least he feels done for. The only reason he's upright right now is the desperate need for juice and trying to catch Barry before he sped off again.

"But what about you?" he asks, then pauses to cough long and hard into his blanket. It's bound to sound as gross as it feels, and when he's finally able to stop, Cisco looks ten times more miserable.

"Pretty sure I just hacked up a piece of lung," he grumbles, then continues with Yamato. "What's with the straight-back attitude? You join the military or something while I've been down?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I might be a little nervous. Maybe more than I thought I'd be," Yamato admits.

He peers at Cisco for a few seconds before dragging over a swivel-chair, because if Cisco's here he may as well sit down and try to rest a little.

"Besides, I've always been like that. I'm just not usually like that with you."

[makes_the_toys]

"Isn't like, hopping back and forth between worlds your everyday?" he asks, collapsing into the chair Yamato brings over. "Or is it because you're here, working with the S.T.A.R. Labs elite?"

Shuffling around inside his blanket again, he finds his tissue and blows his nose loudly, making a face at what comes out and then tossing it into a nearby wastebasket.

"It's good you haven't done it with me. I'd have suspected brainwashing or robot right from the start. In fact, I'm not entirely convinced right now that you aren't. You should let me stick you in our MRI scanner."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"'S.T.A.R. Labs elite'? Good to know your ego's still intact," Yamato says, just a touch wryly. "Just -- nervous. Caitlin and Wells are friends of yours and Barry's, after all, and I'm basically an interloper in your secret hideout."

Those two things are not an un-nervous-y combination.

"If you're shoving people in MRI scanners, you're not resting," he adds, mildly. "So I'll pass on that, thanks."

[makes_the_toys]

"It's not a big deal, dude," Cisco assures him. "I mean, we've had an evil clone up in here and you aren't nearly as creepy as that."

Not to mention their last meta guest who dropped by just to murder them all.

"Besides, you're a friend, too. With how much we've hung out and how much you already know, you're practically a member of Team Flash already."

Burrowing further into his blanket, Cisco sighs. He's getting tired again, so he won't put up too much argument on the MRI thing.

"Fine. We'll save it for when I'm better. Or dead. I'd take either one right now."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato flushes a little red at that (being practically part of a team is a big thing!). "I could so be an evil clone if I wanted to be. You'd never know I wasn't the original Yamato," he mutters. "Thanks, though. I guess it goes both ways, too: At this point, you and Barry are basically members of the Chosen."

Beat.

"GP is your partner."

Yamato can't wait for GP to evolve into MetalGPmon.

He gives Cisco a slightly concerned look at that second part, and moves to ruffle his hair, before thinking better at it and just sort of ruffling the air a few inches above his hair, because Cisco's virus may as well be an impenetrable forcefield as far as he's concerned.

"You're going to be fine, kiddo, just make sure you don't push yourself too hard. If I get a chance, I'll make you a pot of shoga-yu or something, see if we can't clear your throat up a little."

[makes_the_toys]

"Which is why an MRI is vital," Cisco returns.

He smiles at being declared basically one of the Chosen, then has a realization.

"Hey, I guess I can finally tell Caitlin what GP really is and where he came from."

Speaking of Caitlin, her and Barry walk back in together.

"Have a seat, I'll be right back," Caitlin says to Barry, heading back into the closed off lab.

[run_barry]

"How we doing?" Barry asks, flashing a smile that's several shades of awkward as he comes over to join Cisco and Yamato; rolling up his shirt sleeve.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"We're doing fine, apart from Cisco hacking up a few organs. How'd things go with Caitlin?"

Beat.

"Excepting the fact that she's clearly about to jab you with a needle."

Yamato may be absently tugging the sleeves of his shirt a little further down his arms, because while he's ninety-nine percent sure Barry's the only one getting a needle stuck in him today, he doesn't want to be caught unawares by a surprise attack.

[run_barry]

"Well we're good for now on the end of the universe and you visiting to help out thing," Barry replies, hooking an empty chair with his foot and pulling it over to sit in.

"She's more upset about my... episodes." Hence the needle jabbing.

[makes_the_toys]

"I should keep them in a jar," Cisco mutters. "Maybe I could clone myself from them."

Inside his blanket cocoon Cisco folds his arms, like Yamato wary of any stray needles that aren't aimed at Barry.

"What episodes? You're not catching this bug now, too, are you?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Good for now is good," Yamato says, with a quick, slightly tense nod. "I mean. For now, I guess."

Although he is visibly starting to tense up again as he says that.

"He hasn't caught the bug," he says to Cisco. "He's just, er ..."

He lifts a shoulder slightly, electing to let Barry explain. After all, he doesn't want to end up accidentally sell Barry out.

[run_barry]

Seeing Yamato's reaction, Barry flashes him a reassuring smile.

"Yamato relax, it's gonna be fine."

Although Barry is still a touch reluctant to admit to his metabolism crash. Not just because of the ire it'll draw, but because he doesn't want to upset Cisco or have him worrying in his current condition.

"I'm fine, it was just a thing," he says, giving the same shrug as Yamato's.

[makes_the_toys]

"Just a thing?" Cisco repeats, then gives a sneeze.

"I'll tell you about it later," Caitlin declares to Cisco, returning with blood collection supplies on a metal tray.

She's ditched her blanket and comes back in a lab coat, now wearing a face mask and a scarf. Professionalism is important, but she is also sick.

"You get back in bed before I poke you with one of these, too," she threatens Cisco.

Cisco's mouth drops open to argue, then he thinks the better of it and closes it, getting up from the chair.

"I'll see you around, Yamato," Cisco grumbles, shambling off with his blanket back into the lab.

"Barry, don't forget to feed GP," he calls out before sliding the door closed as he breaks into another coughing fit.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"See you soon, kid," Yamato returns, brow furrowing a little at the coughing fit. At least Cisco's resting now.

His gaze flicks over to Caitlin for a moment, then Barry, before he sidles back over to the console, busying himself with checking the recent local news, making sure there isn't anything he needs to know before they get started.

He's watching Barry and Caitlin out of the corner of his eye, just keeping them in his periphery.

[run_barry]

Barry sits for Caitlin, offering up his arm and she settles in to prep for the blood draw.

"So, Yamato, was it?" Caitlin says, conversationally friendly even through the congestion she's struggling with and while she ties tubing around Barry's bicep and lets it go with a snap.

"Ow," Barry says.

"Barry says you're here to help him with the disaster situation out there in Central City," Caitlin goes on, swabbing Barry's arm with alcohol. "Which, we didn't know was an issue."

"Scrubbing kind of hard there, Caitlin... " Barry notes, wincing a little.

"So thank you for that," she says to Yamato, ignoring Barry. "And for not letting the only one who can get the city through this crisis throw himself into a coma or die from a full-on metabolic crash."

She jabs Barry on the 'die' and he yelps. She silences him with a look, then sets about filling vacutainers with blood samples.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"It's no problem," Yamato says, awkwardly, because Caitlin is maybe a tiny bit terrifying.

Then, because he feels like he should at least sort of help Barry, even if he doesn't disagree with Caitlin here: "And Barry did most of the not-dying himself anyway, I just helped him over to a couch. He was, um, very conscientious about ... glucose levels ..."

Beat.

"He was setting up an IV and everything, he's very sensible."

[run_barry]

Behind Caitlin, who's looking over at Yamato, Barry throws a quick head shake at Yamato.

Caitlin frowns and turns on Barry, freezing him in place. "Now see, the point where you thought 'maybe I need an IV' should've been the point where you realized you were in trouble and needed somebody!"

"I'm sorry," Barry apologizes.

Caitlin sighs, for a moment letting her exhaustion show. Switching out tubes, she asks Yamato, "So how much do you know about our situation here, Yamato? Do you need a crash course in how we help Barry, or how to maintain a speedster and keep him alive?"

Since Barry doesn't seem to have that last part covered on his own.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Once Caitlin turns around, Yamato gives Barry a look that's about twenty percent apology and eighty percent 'did I not say this exact thing to you, Barry.'

"Barry's filled me in on most of it, and I have some experience being mission control for people," he says. "And I don't want to put more work on any of you unless it's absolutely necessary. I'll be fine, and I'll make sure he doesn't run himself down like that again."

[run_barry]

Barry bites his tongue to keep from issuing a retort to either one of them, and instead focuses on the part of getting Yamato set up.

"S.T.A.R. Labs has our own satellite and it's pretty easy to get into that and pull up data when you need it. Cisco also has the system tapped into CCPD's dispatch and monitoring so that info comes through, too."

Caitlin finishes up, much more gentle when she removes the needle and sets a cotton ball on the spot to catch any bleeding before Barry heals up.

"Alright. But if you're not fine-- " Standing up with her tray, Caitlin falters, stumbling a step and teetering through a dizzy spell.

Barry is on his feet to catch and steady her in an eye blink.

"Are you alright?" Barry asks, to which Caitlin gives a small nod, her eyes closed for a moment. "Maybe you should go lay back down, too... "

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato starts forward to help, stopping when Barry catches Caitlin. He turns back towards the console, watching the two of them out of the corner of his eye.

"We've got things under control here," he says, trying to be reassuring and mostly ending up somewhere in the region of gruff. "And if you and Cisco need anything, just give me a shout. I'm here to help all of you, not just Barry, after all."

All of which is to say that Yamato agrees with Barry on the whole lying back down thing.

[run_barry]

Holding onto Barry's forearm, Caitlin starts to shake her head.

"I need to work. We still need a cure, or at least a treatment for this virus. And I need to take a look at these to make sure your system has recovered. And we should probably do a scan... "

"Caitlin I'm fine," Barry assures her. "If you want I'll run the samples myself. And I'm working on the virus stuff, too. Once I have data on both I'll bring it to you to look at, I promise."

Caitlin starts to argue, but Barry gives her a pointed look that asks 'what was that about taking care of yourself?' which Caitlin seems to pick up on and she relents.

"Alright, I'm going to go lay down. Let me know once you have something." She passes over the tray to Barry, then bundles her scarf tighter about her neck and heads back to the lab.

"Thank you, for your help," she says to Yamato as she passes by him, flashing him a smile that might be covered by the mask, but does crinkle the corner of her eyes a little to prove its there.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"It's no problem," Yamato replies. He doesn't smile back, if only because he's well aware that he can't pull off a reassuring or friendly smile to save his life, but he inclines his head a little.

Once Caitlin's gone, he reaches around to rub his arm slightly, as his posture eases up a little into something a little less tense.

After a moment's pause, he pulls a meal bar out of the rucksack he brought and tosses it at Barry's head. "Chew on that while you work. I'll monitor the city and let you know if anything happens."

[run_barry]

Barry watches Caitlin exit and the door slide closed behind her. Without even a 'heads up' warning Barry is pegged in the temple with the bar.

"Hey!" Rubbing the spot, more to pout about being roughed up by his friends than because it hurt, he picks up the bar and starts heading for the doorway.

"Fine. I'm going to get this blood sample going and then I've gotta run to Joe's place to check on him and Iris. I'll bring back Cisco's juice while I'm at it."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I'll be here," Yamato says, without looking up. "If you get some green tea, whole ginger, and honey while you're out, I can make a pot of something to help with everyone's coughing and congestion. It's not going to get them any closer to being actually better, but it might give them a little bit of relief."