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Argus Prison
Mid afternoon
Barry and Logan looked up from their conversation as Rick entered the room.
"Logan," Rick nodded at Logan.
"Deputy Director," Logan greeted flatly.
"Barry, you're quite the hero today," Rick said as he looked over at Barry.
"Alexei, is he…" Barry trailed off.
"He's still alive, in a cell with guards on him all the time," Alexei said and Barry was relieved. "Why didn't you kill him?"
"After what he did to Clint's family, figured that honor should go to Clint," Barry said and Rick nodded in understanding. "Plus, he said something to me, about how Savitar would be the savior of the multiverse. He knows what Savitar is planning. We just have to get it out of him."
"Smart move," Rick nodded in approval.
"What about Roy?' Barry asked and Ricked sighed.
"That's…complicated," Rick said with a solemn look on his face that had Barry's stomach in knots.
In another part of the prison, Roy was thrashing in unconsciousness, the memories of what he had done while under Savitar's control haunting his dreams. Roy gasped as he opened his eyes, breathing heavily as he realized he was cuffed to the bed he was lying in.
"Roy."
Roy looked over to see Lyla standing by his bed side, concern shinning in her eyes. Seeing the bandage on one side of her arm made him swarm with guilt, as he realized he'd worked with the man responsible for her injuries. Suddenly, every terrible thing that he'd done while being controlled by Savitar came back to him.
"What did I do? What did I do?" Roy whispered, looking green.
"That wasn't your fault Roy, none of this was your fault" Lyla tried to tell him but he didn't hear her.
"I killed all those Argus operatives, and those people at Mercury Labs! God, what did I do?" Roy said horrified.
"That was Savitar Roy, it wasn't you. Savitar was controlling your mind," Lyla tried to tell him.
"I wanted to do those things Lyla, it felt natural. I think-I think I'm a bad person," Roy said brokenly.
"Roy, listen to me, you're not a bad person." Lyla said gently, uncuffing him. "You're not, okay? You're a good person who bad things have happened to. Every light casts a shadow. What matters is the part we choose to act on."
Lyla then pulled Roy into a hug and he accepted the comfort, burying his head in her shoulder as he sobbed in guilt and pain.
Star Labs
Not long after
"Well, I guess it's been a terrible day all around," Joe said once the others had explained what Savitar had done. "I think Savitar wanted you distracted."
"Distracted from what?" Clint inquired.
"Earlier today, there was a robbery at Dayton Optical Systems, around the same time Savitar would have had you all occupied. A group of armed men broke in and killed the guards," Joe explained.
"Must be Savitar's cult," Tony noted and Joe nodded.
"And you'll never believe who led them: Leonard Snart," Joe said and Cisco started.
"Snart?" Cisco asked in shock and Joe nodded solemnly.
"Who's Leonard Snart?" Clint asked confused.
"He's a thief. He stole a failsafe weapon I created while Barry was in a coma in case Barry was dangerous, we call him Captain Cold. He was recruited by Rip Hunter as one of the founding members of The Legends before dying on a mission. So how is he still alive?" Cisco wondered.
"Savitar. He must have traveled back in time to before Snart was killed and recruited him," Tony realized.
"If I know Snart, he wouldn't have wanted to go, so Savitar must be controlling his mind to," Cisco noted.
"What did he steal?" Clint asked Joe.
"Something called a Prism," Joe said and Cisco suddenly groaned.
"Great, as if we didn't have enough problems!" Cisco cried out, really wishing he had a drink right about now.
"What's a Prism?" Clint asked, not sure he wanted to know.
"It's a sub-light generator," Cisco said and Tony paled.
"Okay, that is not good," Tony said.
"Okay, you're gonna have to be a little clearer," Joe said, still a little lost.
"With the right modifications, it can be converted into a nuclear bomb," Tony explained to Clint and Joe's horror.
"What would Savitar want with something like that?" Joe demanded.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Clint noted grimly as Cisco's phone started to ring.
"Hello?" Cisco answered, not recognizing the number.
"Mr. Ramon, this is Rick Flag, we met when I came to get Barry," Rick said.
"Yeah, I remember you. What can I do for you?" Cisco asked.
"Well, there's been a situation at the prison…"
Argus prison
Later in the afternoon
Frank was in his new cell, lying down on his bed when he heard someone approach his cell. He looked up, surprised to see Barry on the outside of the cell. More surprising was the fact that Barry was now dressed in regular clothes.
"New uniform Allen?" Frank asked as he got to his feet.
"I'm getting out of here today. I need to stop the guy Alexei was working for and I can't do that from in here. I just wanted to say thank you for your help today," Barry said.
"Whatever Allen," Frank said and Barry noticed Frank seemed displeased to see him.
"Have I…offended you in some way?" Barry inquired.
"Do I have to spell it out for you Allen?" Frank demanded.
"Yeah, I think you do," Barry said, a little annoyed with Frank's attitude.
"I told you no told measures kid. So why is Alexei still alive?!" Frank demanded.
"Because I need him, because he's useful to me. The moment he's not, I'm gonna let the guy he wronged the most do whatever he wants with him. I don't go around playing god that way," Barry said.
"Like me?" Frank demanded.
"I didn't say that," Barry denied.
"But that's what you're thinking. You know what I think Flash? I think you're a coward. I think you're a guy who can't finish the job. You go around Central City, locking up drug dealers, robbers, criminals, and you feel pretty good about yourself. But then a week, a month later, they're back out on the street! You knock 'em down, they get back up! I knock 'em down, they stay down!" Frank ranted.
"I'm not like you Frank," Barry said calmly.
"You know what I think Allen? I think you're one bad day away from being me," Frank said and Barry let out a humorless laugh.
"You think I don't know that? I've seen it Frank," Barry said as he thought of Savitar. "But I've also seen that there is good in people. I believe in redemption Frank, and maybe that makes me an idiot, but I believe that there is good in everyone, even you! The fact that you helped me and Logan proves that there is good in even someone like you. That maybe even someone like you is capable of redemption," Barry told him.
Barry turned and walked off, leaving Frank to his thought.
"Do you wanna talk about it? I'm a therapist," Harley Quinn said from the cell next to his and he grimaced, disliking that he was in the cell next to her.
"Castle."
Frank looked up to see another guard outside his cell. Frank vaguely recognized him as one of the guards he, Logan, and Barry had saved from the group of prisoners that had been torturing the guards. Frank was expecting some verbal abuse, as seemed to be the case with some guards, so he was surprised by what actually came out of the guard's mouth.
"Thanks," the guard said and Frank stared at him for a moment.
"For what?" Frank asked.
"Without you, Allen, and Logan…we'd probably all be dead," the guard said gratefully.
The guard then walked off and Frank said back down on his bed, thinking over his encounter with the guard and Barry's words.
Barry made his way down the hall where Lyla was waiting for him. But she wasn't the only one, as Natasha and Clint were there as well.
"You look like the backside of Ultron," Clint said as he reached them, greeting Barry with his usual rand of smartass.
"It's been a crappy day. And from the looks of you two, it hasn't gone much better for you guys," Barry said and they exchanged a glance.
"We'll tell you about it after we leave," Natasha said, the two of them having decided to tell him about Caitlin once he was back at Star Labs.
Barr looked suspicious, but nodded.
"How's Roy?" Barry asked as he looked over at Lyla.
"Not good. Everything he did under Savitar's control, it's messing with him, he thinks he's a bad person," Lyla said before she looked over at Clint. "I hear you have experience in what Roy is going through. I was wondering-"
"If I'd talk to him?" Clint supplied and Lyla nodded. "Sure, but first, we have other concerns, don't we?"
Lyla nodded and led the three of them over to an elevator. The four of them got in and Lyla pressed the bottom button. After a long ride, the elevator opened up to revealed a long dark corridor with steel doors. There were cries of anger and madness from behind the doors that made Barry's skin crawl. He attempted to ignore it as they walked down the hall.
This was the hidden wing of the prison, where Lyla kept the most dangerous prisoners Argus could pick up.
Lyla led the three of them down the corridor to a door at the end. She pressed her thumb on a scanner and, after a moment, they heard the door unlock. Lyla opened the door and they all walked inside. Inside the cell, with a bandage on the place where Barry had stabbed him and his lip busted from their fight, chains around his hands, Alexei looked up at them as they entered the room.
"Hey Alexei, how you been? We need to talk," Clint said with a predatory gleam in his eyes.
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If you enjoy please support me on my patreon Future 80+ chapters at patreon.com/Darkphoenix11
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