The Great Escapes

[run_barry]

Since Yamato offered to come to Central City and help with the epidemic crisis, things have been crazy, but handling them has been a whole lot easier now that Barry isn't operating alone.

He even got some rest in, on Yamato's orders, and they've got a bit of down time as far as emergencies in the city go so they're using it to work on other problems.

While Yamato recalibrates the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to track the new meta they suspect is behind a whole bunch of the crime, and a death-trap or two set for Barry, Barry is getting his science nerd-amateur virologist on, trying to find a cure to the bug that has so much of the City down; including his team.

Sitting at a desk in the Cortex, Barry works away with a microscope taking notes on a tablet. Beside him are several boxes of chicken nuggets which he's working through, with a few empty ones already in the waste bin nearby.

In the middle of the space on the floor GP the porg is munching on shrimp treats while bopping around an inflatable S.T.A.R. Labs beach ball.

Comments

[run_barry]

"Digi-Dude wasn't bad," Barry says in his defense. "And don't pretend like you totally hated Sailor Yams."

[makes_the_toys]

"Barry... " Caitlin warns, tightening her hold on Yamato's chin just a little to make sure he doesn't jump up again.

Turning off the light, she nods.

"You definitely need stitches. You've also got at least a mild concussion, I'd like to get a scan to make sure it's not any worse than that. You'll need some ice for that bump, and I'll need to clean out the other abrasions. There's no telling where this bad guy you were fighting has been."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato glowers at Barry. Or glowers at Barry as much as he can without moving his head, at least. "I definitely hated both of those, Sailor Speedy."

He frowns a little more at the idea of getting stitches, and a little more than that when he hears he has a concussion.

"Guess I owe Cisco five-hundred yen," he mutters to himself. To Caitlin: "I -- guess that's fine. Worse things than a scan. How long will I need to recover?"

[run_barry]

Hearing Caitlin go over everything, Barry frowns.

"Man, I'm sorry," he says.

[makes_the_toys]

Letting Yamato go, Caitlin gives his shoulder a soft pat.

"The good news is, pain killers will work on you so I'll give you some of those and make sure the area around the wound is numb so the stitches won't hurt at all," she promises.

"Recovery is going to depend on what we find with the scan. If it is only mild then... about a week? The stitches should come out in about that time, as well."

Sipping on a bottle of water, Cisco winces.

"Ouch, dude. Caitlin, want me to get the machine ready?"

"If you could," she says with a nod.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato peers at Barry for a moment. "Hey, Gramps. If you start blaming yourself for this, I actually will fight you on it. And I'll win, because you won't hit a man with a concussion," he says. "You were busy with your own stuff, and five or six steel doors away from me, there's nothing you could've done. Besides, the fight was pretty fun."

He's sure the man would agree! Probably! Maybe!

He gives Cisco a slightly wry look, then adds: "My wallet's at the bottom of the ocean, so you're going to have to wait on that wager until I get back to Earth. Sorry about that."

[makes_the_toys]

"Fun he says," Cisco says, shaking his head. "Also, the wallet? A totally likely excuse."

Giving Yamato an 'I'm watching you' gesture, Cisco heads out to go get the scanner warming up.

"Barry, have you eaten?" Caitlin asks, much more gently than anything else said so far.

[run_barry]

"No, I know," Barry replies to Yamato, the words coming out not really helping the guilty feelings much. "Couldn't be helped. But hey, you handled that guy."

That last part said still comes with pride. Barry knew Yamato was a fighter, but now he's really impressed.

Running a hand down the back of his head, Barry nods, then shakes his head, then nods again before finally saying to Caitlin, "Not yet. I will. I loaded up before we headed out so... "

To quote Yamato, 'he's fine.'

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato sticks his tongue out at Cisco in response, watching him go. He does catch that note of pride in Barry's voice, though, and ducks his head a little, throwing Barry a smile.

"I'll be back up to a hundred percent in a week, that's no time at all," he says. "Besides, we caught CC. I'd say it was worth it."

The injury to his pride from CC and those two henchmen escaping was way worse than an actual physical injury.

"Here, we still have meal bars," he says, scooting over to where he left his backpack. A meal bar gets tossed at Barry's head, followed by a bottle of digi-juice. "You must've spent a lot of energy back there."

[run_barry]

Barry bobbles the meal bar, but does better at catching the bottle.

"Yeah. And all the prisoners," Barry acknowledges, brightening on that.

Caitlin looks between the two of them.

"Who's CC? And prisoners? What on Earth went on today?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Oh, er. Meta with tech controlling powers, or some kind of super-hacking skill," he says. "He's been causing trouble all day."

Beat.

"Actually, Barry, you should probably fill Caitlin -- and Cisco, when he's back here -- on everything that's happened."

Or put another way: It's a long story and Yamato doesn't want to say that many words in one go.

[run_barry]

"Yeah, it's a really long story," Barry says, nodding. "I'll definitely catch you guys up on all of it."

Caitlin eyes them both, trying to rate whether this is a dodge or not, and finally decides to let it pass for now.

"Alright well, we'll go over it later then. Yamato? Let's go get you checked out and fixed up."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato has a moment of uncertainty at being eyed like that, half wondering if he should be telling Caitlin what happened, instead of foisting it off onto Barry.

"-- All the details'll probably have to wait, but I can give you the cliffnotes, if you want," he says. "And, er -- yeah, getting checked out. Lead the way."

[run_barry]

"Right this way, then," Caitlin says, gesturing towards the hallway; intending to lead Yamato, but also keep him in sight along the way.

She won't be having any runaway patients today.

"Good luck, man. I'll hang around until you get back," Barry promises.

And then he'll be off to make his rounds again to Joe's place and CCPD, and then maybe finally another nap.