run_barry | The Great Escapes

"He takes a few days off and we manage to destroy his robot, his laser sword thingy, and one of his suits," Yamato says, just a touch wryly, although he doesn't look at Barry as he says it. "We're kind of wrecking all his stuff."

He jerks his chin towards the rucksack by the chair, pausing in his pacing. "We've got seven left. Help yourself. Take a meal bar while you're at it."

He's stopped moving now, but he's still not looking at Barry, and his entire body is tensed up, with one heel tapping against the floor as though he's barely keeping himself still.

"At least we've taken care of his porg," he replies, then pauses. "Right? GP is still around?"

Walking over to the bag, Barry pulls out a bottle and a bar. Opening the bottle, Barry watches Yamato for a moment before asking, "Everything alright?"

Obviously not, which makes him worried.

"Yeah, he was nosing around at the robot a while ago. He seems pretty content."

He does look at Barry after that next question, just for a moment out of the corner of his eye. "I should be asking you that. You've got a hole in your arm, after all."

Turning back towards the wall, he makes a frustrated noise, scuffing his foot against the floor, and just slightly shifting his weight from foot to foot. He's a bit of a nervous ball of energy right now.

Barry nods, glad for that at least.

Glancing at his arm, the bandage visible just beneath his shirt sleeve, he shrugs his other shoulder.

"It's fine. Still hurts, but with the bullet out now it's started healing."

Tugging his sleeve down, he looks back over at Yamato again.

"Still wondering about you, though," he says. "What's up?"

Yamato's mouth twists into a grimace, but he's at least happy that the wound is healing.

"I'm just frustrated. And angry at myself," he sighs, turning towards Barry a little and arching an eyebrow. "And I figured I'd pissed you off."

Mindful of what Yamato said before, Barry hesitates instead of giving a quick denial.

Considering the situation and his feelings on it, Barry finally shakes his head.

"No. I mean, I'm frustrated and mad, too, but that's not aimed at you. Mostly."

A beat, and he admits, "People have been ragging on me for being a nice guy my whole life, and I let it go. Never let it change who I am. But when a friend throws it in my face like it's a bad thing? I don't appreciate that."

Even in those times when maybe they're right.

In this situation though, Barry is still convinced the things that happened weren't Yamato's fault. Barry just has no idea how to make Yamato see it that way.

"I -- ..." Yamato shuts his eyes for a moment, then turns to face Barry more directly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said it. And I didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't trust you or your judgement. Or, no, I guess I did, but I was just lashing out. I do trust you. Even if, I admit, sometimes I struggle to read you."

He pauses, scraping a hand across the back of his neck.

"Hey, if you want to make yourself feel better by punching me in the jaw, that might even convince me you're not a nice guy. Win-win, right?"

He's joking, mostly.

Barry cants his head a little, squinting at Yamato a bit puzzled.

"I never really thought of myself as that hard to read." But then, maybe there are some things he doesn't say, or holds in, or doesn't act upon.

Surprised at the thought, Barry shakes his head to push it aside for now and refocuses on Yamato.

"But I am a nice guy," he says. "And punching you would definitely not make me feel better. Catching Camera Commander though, would."

"Not just him," Yamato says, scowling a little. "We lost those two escapees, too. We have to get them back."

That they escaped is something of an injury to Yamato's pride, not to mention something he feels compelled to atone for, and both show in his tone.

"They're bound to be with him," Barry says, the ire he feels about having lost them turning into resolve. "If we find him we may even locate some of the stuff they got away with from the heists."

"We're tracking him now, at least," Yamato says. "I don't know if he's figured out that we are, but it's safe to say he knows it's a possibility. But the satellite's got enough of a good look at the signal he gives off and the dark matter signature that goes with it that it can track him even through the ambient radio noise of the city now."

He pauses, rubbing a hand through his hair. "I can look over the place he's in and come up with a plan of attack," he says. "I mean, if you trust me to."

Barry's chin lifts, and he's ready to go again, trying to convince Yamato again that it wasn't his fault and that Barry is glad to have his help.

Rather than run that path again, Barry gives Yamato a serious look and says simply, "Do it."

Yamato grins at that, taking a few steps forward and reaching to grasp Barry's shoulder, and then pausing just before he does, because that's the shoulder attached to Barry's injured arm, and very carefully squeezing his other shoulder instead.

"Well, you're in charge. If you trust me with this, guess I have no choice but to defer to your judgement, right?" He remarks, wryly. "It'll take a while, but I'll figure out a plan. And, er. Thanks."

Edited 2019-02-08 05:48 (UTC)

Feeling like he's finally said the right thing, Barry's serious expression breaks slightly for a smile.

"Of course I do," he says about trusting Yamato. "You work on that, I'm gonna cram some calories and then check in and make sure CCPD picked up the guys we left for them."

Barry did sort of leave all the escapees scattered around the place.

"Make sure you get an actual meal," Yamato says, and the grin is completely gone and he's back to gruffness, but it is at least his usual brand of vaguely amicable, somewhat overprotective gruffness. "And if a supervillain turns up and you have to punch them, use the arm that doesn't have a hole in it."

"I will," he promises, bemused by the shift in demeanor but glad that they're back on track again.

"And I won't," he adds about his arm, letting out a chuckle before he makes a speedy exit.

Yamato settles back at the console, starting work bringing up aerial photographs, blueprints, and camera footage of the area the satellite has tracked the Commander to. His head still feels a little bit like it's got a swarm of enraged bees rattling around it, but focusing his attention on work helps ease that some.

When Barry returns awhile later he comes toting a large mug of coffee for Yamato, which gets set on the desk where Yamato is working.

"Joe is doing alright. He's still feeling pretty lousy, but he ate something," Barry says. "Iris was asleep, but Joe said she's doing okay."

"Thank you," Yamato says, giving Barry a quick smile and taking a sip of his coffee. There are a few soft 'ow, ow, hot' noises, followed by him immediately taking a second sip and making the exact same noises.

He turns in his chair, settling back in it a little. "That's good. They might be getting better. Or if they're not, at least they're weathering it okay. How're you feeling? Not coming down with the sniffles or anything?"

"Yeah, it's hot," Barry says, shaking his head as Yamato goes in for another try.

Barry digs himself out another of the juice bottles, leaning back against a desk as he opens it.

"I'm okay. I have felt it, trying to take hold, but my system has fought it back pretty well." More when he gets really run down.

"It's good though. Last time Milliways had an illness going around I did catch it, and it was awful."

Sneezing buckets of glitter was no fun at all.

"What about you? Doing okay?"

Yamato takes another sip at Barry's remark, making the same pained noises, wrinkling his nose a little.

"I'm not showing any symptoms that I've noticed. No fever, no congestion, nothing like that yet. And besides, I promised I wouldn't catch it."

He says that in a tone that suggests less 'told you so, didn't I say I'd be fine' and more 'my immune system better honour that promise or else it'll pay the price.'

Edited 2019-02-09 08:29 (UTC)

Watching Yamato, Barry gives a chuckle while taking a swig of juice.

"If I had known you were jonesing for coffee this bad I would've brought you some sooner. Or gone with an iced coffee."

Glad that Yamato feels alright, Barry gives a nod.

"Good. I hadn't considered until just now that I might be a carrier, but it looks like Cisco is definitely our patient zero."

"You were busy, and I'm grateful you brought me one at all. I should probably pay you back, but, er, my wallet's at the bottom of the Net Ocean."

Also, he's not sure the cash in it will be fit for purpose anymore.

"I'll pay you back somehow, though, even if it's just waiting until I get back to Earth and repaying you then."

At the mention of Cisco being patient zero, he cocks his head a little.

"He and Meicoomon can be the founding members of the I Brought A Disease Between Worlds Club," Yamato adds. "It's very exclusive."

"It's fine," he assures Yamato, "cup of coffee is the least I can do."

And Barry still has it in mind to take Yamato out to Jitters when all of this is done.

"I hope you put all that stuff from my glucose crash onto my tab in Milliways," he says, suddenly thinking of that. It was quite a bit of stuff, and Barry wouldn't want Yamato footing the bill for Barry running himself down.

Frowning a little, Barry shakes his head, "I've thought about the possibility of pathogen transfer between worlds before, but from a scientific standpoint. I never really considered it actually happening."

Yamato opens his mouth to protest, and say that he definitely should pay Barry back for the coffee, then shuts it again, forcing himself to just accept it in the spirit it was given instead of tallying it up as a debt to pay back. "Well, thanks."

After a moment, he gives a slight chuckle, shaking his head. "I put it on my tab. After all, it's not like I asked you if you even wanted all that food," he says. "If you want it all put on yours, I'm sure Bar'll oblige, but don't feel like you have to."

The idea of pathogen transfer between worlds is an interesting one, even if Yamato's never actually heard of it happening before. "Doesn't seem like it happens often. Cisco was just unlucky, I guess."

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