Iris West doesn't have a death wish, okay? (tellsyourstory) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-04-19 15:17:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, cisco ramon (vibe), iris west |
Who: Cisco and Iris plus NPC!Hydrabus and a cameo by NPC!Raven
What: FroYo turned kidnapping
When: Evening of April 16th through April 19th
Where: Red Mango to undisclosed warehouse
Warnings: Violence, experimentation
Status: Log | Complete
Cisco wanted Froyo. As simple as that. Why not invite Iris out too and get to know her as well as Barry? It was a little awkward getting her out alone without Barry, but also kind of better. He wouldn’t have to face his internal struggle of the weird crush his brain and heart had formed on their shared bestie. Iris was his friend in the dreams, and he wanted to be her friend in reality too.
The days were getting warmer and the need for ice cream was rising with it. He didn’t know a single soul that would turn down free ice cream. He’d found one of the best spots in the area, the Red Mango. The last time he’d seen Iris was at the Agency med bay, and that wasn’t exactly the best place for a meet and greet.
He waited outside at a small table he’d already claimed for them. Playing some rpg fighting type game on his phone.
----
FroYo was definitely a good thing and so when Cisco had invited Iris out to get some? She obviously had accepted. Because really, there was no reason not to agree. And after dreaming about being held hostage at the police station, Eddie being shot and getting his gun and shooting William Tockman and stopping him so he could be re-arrested? Well. FroYo sounded really good at the moment.
So it was entirely possible that Iris had pushed aside any trauma or dealing with what had happened with the whole poisoning incident. And questions she might otherwise have had in the Dreams had been answered when Barry told her about his powers in the Dreams - which also made sense of Cisco’s weird comment that had left her offended at the notion she wouldn’t be there for Barry. So all in all, things made sense that should, and those that didn’t? Well, Iris pushed them aside.
Arriving at Red Mango, Iris just smirked as she went to the table Cisco was at,
“Well, it’s nice to see you aren’t hungover anymore.”
Teasing meant she was definitely feeling better. It had definitely been something to stop by Barry’s place and see Cisco their all hungover but it simply had been a thing and she’d gone with it. But now it meant she could tease Cisco about it as well.
---
Cisco hadn’t even taken Barry to this place yet. He had wanted to take one of them though, and Iris seemed like good ice cream company-that is until that quip came his way. He quirked an eyebrow at her as he barely lowered his phone to give an exasperated look her way. “Not you too. Just for that I’m stealing the first bite of yours.” He threatened as he stood, pocketing the game without so much as pausing it or whatever. He didn’t figure FroYo was going to take hours.
He waggled a finger at her and then pointed that finger inside aggressively. He wanted a sugar rush mkay. Cisco had basically lived on Barry’s couch like a balled up cat in a cocoon of blankets. Barry made sure he didn’t dehydrate or die, and occasionally got used as a pillow when he did get near- but other than that it was just a thing.
Cisco existed at Barry’s for most of the weekend. After that much drinking he really could only ‘exist’. Not thrive. ‘How’s your arm?” He asked as he opened the door for her.
---
“Is that so?” It felt good to be able to just tease and not have much of a care in the world at the moment. Which was definitely one of the reasons she had agreed to this. Besides, it wasn’t as if she and Barry didn’t steal food from one another all the time. Or usually just Iris poaching Barry’s fries. So she was well versed in the game of saving her FroYo for herself. Or at least the first bite.
“So I’m guessing you don’t remember Barry and me teaming up to tease you, hmm?” Though given Cisco’s basic state of simply existing probably had something to do with that. “Or did you block it from your memory?” Which also valid. Because if one had both Barry and Iris teaming up in the teasing… well, it could be brutal.
As for how she was doing?
“Much better, I feel like myself again.” Dr. Simmons had told her that the tired and weak feeling would probably last a few days and it had, during which time she had just told her dad she had the flu. But no more poison, the cut on her arm was mostly healed and it was back to the daily grind. Or as daily as it got in Orange County apparently.
---
“Yep!” Cisco gave her a grin as he lead her inside the place and went about getting them both sample cups for the yogurt. “I’m like the Spanish Inquisition. You’ll never see it coming.” He gave her a wink as he began browsing various flavors to try. “Ooh brownie.” A sucker for chocolate and sweet stuff he was. It was pretty incredible he wasn’t fat with all the crap he ate. Granted he wasn’t as skinny as say, Barry Allen-but he wasn’t huge as he should have been given how much junk food he lived off of.
“That’s something I’m trying to forget, thanks.” He quipped back with an amused roll of his eyes. What he didn’t notice, was a few eyes watching them -or the strange feeling his little ice cream shop was giving off. It wasn’t the usual crowd of teenagers, but instead mostly grown adults. But, it was also a random Tuesday past 7pm. Maybe the crowd was just different. Who knew. Besides, being Latino in America he was used to a few odd stares. He paid them no mind at all and went about filling up his container with cheesecake and brownie flavored ice creams.
“I’m glad. I was worried.” It was weird to worry about someone he just met. But the dreams made it feel like he’d known her for a long time, and he was more comfortable around her this time around. “Back to work then?” He asked curiously, not sure if she was going back to that particular thread of story or not.
---
“But if you say it’s going to happen, clearly it wouldn’t be like the Spanish Inquisition.” What? Iris was going to be Iris which meant pointing it out. Though her voice was still light since she was just having fun with Cisco. Besides, with the different flavors? There was plenty to get distracted by.
And mint chocolate chip cookie. Well, Iris knew what she was going to get. Her dad always teased her about her love of mint chocolate chip ice cream. But it was his fault to giving it to her all those years ago. He had no one to blame but himself. And with there being an option for that here? Well, Iris may have just found her new favorite FroYo place.
She did laugh at the comment and just patted Cisco’s shoulder reassuringly. Or mockingly. Or a combination of both. And while Iris was a bit more aware of people around her since everything that had happened, she was a black woman in America. It was always going to be a thing and she was used to it.
As Cisco mentioned being worried, she just smiled to him reassuringly, “Well, it takes more than a little poison to keep me down.”
Downplaying what had happened? Of course. It was Iris. Still at the question? “I’m looking for a story I can shop around. I mean, there’s always something going on.” That wasn’t even related to Valar network or the weirdness that came from that. Just a story that needed to be told. But it wasn’t like she was going to continue the path she’d been following.
---
“Don’t you ruin my fun.” He shot a glare at Iris, but it was more amused and playful than anything else as he continued pouring different flavors. He wasn’t offended, he knew by now how Barry and Iris worked. Full of sass the both of them. Barry on his own he might have been able to handle, but two meant double trouble. Unfair.
He gave her a sulky look before going back to pouring a mixture of sprinkles and mochi on his ice cream and shaking his head with a laugh “Mint chocolate chip, is that your favorite?” She seemed to go a little heavy on the mint chocolate, not that he was one to judge. His was mostly candy and only a liiiiitle bit of ice cream. “When I was younger we never had money for this stuff. It’s still kind of amazing to me. Seeing all the choices. We got things from a truck, still good but nothing like this.” He admitted as he headed for the cashier to pay for both of theirs.
“At least one of the good things that never changed.” He stuck out his tongue at her and thumbed outside. “Wanna sit out there? It’s warmer now might be nice. It’s cold in here. “ The place had little chairs and tables set up for people to sit in the sun and eat. It was nearing evening, so the sky was changing colors. The cashier seemed a little tense, almost seemed to fight giving Cisco his card back for a moment. It caused the dark haired engineer to raise an eyebrow. “Uh, I need that back you know.” He grinned, and the girl let it go. It was a little wet from her sweaty palms. Weird, but maybe she was having a fit? He glanced at Iris with a raised eyebrow and shrugged, putting the card back in his pocket.
---
Letting out a sigh as if it was a big request, Iris just nodded, “I guess I can try,” It was definitely an easier conversation than there had been at the Agency given Cisco had been caught off guard, Iris was recovering from being poisoned and the fact she was also worried about Barry because he’d started dreaming and was feeling weird after it.
“Yep. Blame my dad,” And while it might seem she was going crazy on the mint chip, she had just told the cashier that she wanted the mash up, so if that was what it was? Who really was Iris to complain? The comment on all the varieties being still kind of new given his childhood was met with a nod. “It seems like each year there’s some new place that tries to outdo the competition with flavors as well.”
Because Iris couldn’t remember a place like this when she was younger. Baskin Robbins though? That was a good place as well.
And a comment to the dreams she figured. Nice to know that she was similar there as well. Which wasn’t all that surprising given what she had already seen. But as for where to sit?
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
Especially given the nervousness of the cashier. Iris had seen that sort of reaction when she’d been trying to get statements for her story. That was..odd. And given the look Cisco had sent her, it wasn’t like she could brush it off as paranoia. But the question was why? But right. FroYo and sitting outside where it was warmer and to watch the sky change colors.
---
Watching the cashier with his card was a bit odd, but Cisco didn’t really know what to make of it. Maybe it was nothing. He smirked. “ Oh good.” He teased as he made sure the card was securely in his pocket as they headed for the door. He couldn’t help but look back again with a raised eyebrow. The girl still stood there looking tense. She didn’t go back to cleaning or busying herself in anyway she just stood there. Almost rigid.
“It’s a good flavor. I’m partial to mochi and chocolate though. Kinda makes it taste like chocolate mochi.” Cisco had never been to Japan, but if he had the opportunity he would go for sure. He would go and eat all the mochi ever.
The truck ice cream came around every summer. Those were some of the good childhood memories. He paused and toyed idly with the colored ice cream spoon. He still needed to call his mom back. He’d been putting it off. “I’m glad you guys are around.” Cisco had been having nightmares lately. Bad ones involving Barry and Zoom. He didn’t envy them getting to that point but it made him feel better knowing he could see they were okay.
Outside where they sat there was nobody but them. That was also odd for how busy the place was inside. While they sat there minding their own business, a tall man approached. He looked like he could have owned the shop maybe. “Excuse me we’re shutting this location down a bit early tonight.” He informed them. Cisco raised an eyebrow again and looked back at the store where there were still people inside but the cashier was gone now. Nowhere to be seen.
The guy in front of them was large, looked intimidating. And bald. “Oh. Um okay, we’ll go find somewhere else to sit?” He responded looking over at Iris. The man was pointedly watching her reactions to their new situation.
---
“I will definitely have to try it next time then, I just saw this was an option and well...it seemed like destiny.” Iris of course had no idea what was really in store for her in the Dreams. So far it was all pretty par the course besides Barry growing up in her dad’s house and then dating her dad’s partner (seriously, never a good idea) but otherwise? There were the metahumans but apparently that wasn’t so odd where they were.
“Yeah?” It did still slightly strange that someone could know her just because of dreams, but she didn’t put too much thought into it now.
The lack of people outside definitely had Iris on edge and she also looked inside to where the cashier should have been but wasn’t, even while the other customers were still sitting around. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion as she looked between the store window and then the man. It was possible of course that the cashier had simply gone into the back to get something. But if the store was closing, the customers inside should have been coming outside as well.
“Yeah, let’s just do that…”
Something definitely wasn’t adding up though. But that was when she made the connection. Dammit.
“Cisco, run.”
---
With that looming tall guy there it was a little difficult to sit and chat. Uncomfortable to say the least. So he began to get up, when Iris told him to run he raised an eyebrow. Before she had a chance to do so herself there was a guy behind her. The second man didn’t touch her but did smirk. “Iris West” Why did the shop guy know her name? Cisco looked between the two and their new uncomfortable surroundings and frowned.
What the hell was going on there? “I’m not leaving you here.” The first guy was just amused with all the loyalty “The only place you’re going is with us...don’t make a scene.” A van was waiting by the curb, and Cisco looked for a way to run that would free them both-but the people inside were also starting to come out. They were paying abnormally close attention to the scene between the four.
The second man had a gun, it pressed up against the small of Iris’s back pushing her toward the van. Cisco made an attempt just to look for a way out and was met with the barrel of a gun as well pointed close to his body by the first man.
---
Iris had been ready to deck the guy despite an injured hand from the dreams when she felt the gun against the small of her back and heard her name said. So much for that plan. She had been able to get the surprise on someone like this before but somehow Iris had a feeling they would be prepared for that after what had happened when Natasha had shown up.
Plus with Cisco there, Iris couldn’t risk that. Which meant it was going to the van. Especially as the people supposed customers were coming out of the FroYo place. There probably wouldn’t be a rescue this time around.
Focus. She just had to focus. Panicking wouldn’t do any good. There had to be a way to get out of this, she just needed to keep her wits about her and make sure Cisco did as well.
---
They were very prepared. There was no getting out this time. That entire shop was filled with Hydra, of course nobody would be the wiser should they look in. They were all dressed in casual street wear, some even had ice cream. The cashier didn’t have a mark to suggest anything on her, nothing visible anyway.
“What is this, let her go.” Was this somehow connected to him? They seemed to know Iris, but still. There weren’t many words exchanged by the two Hydra that escorted the both of them to the van. They only looked amused. As they were both manhandled pretty roughly into said van, Cisco had been pushed up against the wall of said van by the first agent who stared down the reporter like a shark. “This could have been avoided, but now you’re loose ends that need cutting, and you’re just in the wrong place kid.” Kid. Everyone called him kid. He was getting sick of it.
Cisco went for punch to get the guys body off him, to stop him from crushing him- but instead was only held tighter. That sudden sharp pain triggered a sudden blur of blinding light to erupt from his hands that not only pushed the guy off but shot a door open. He wasn’t sure what happened but he saw an opportunity to get out. Cisco used that free hand to reach for Iris. “Come on!” He was trying to jump toward that open door when the second gun holding one fired a shot, “Nobodies going anywhere!” He’d grabbed Iris by the shin and pulled them both back in. The van was already peeling away from the Froyo shop and had picked up speed.
---
The anxiety of the original cashier really should have been a tip off. Especially since Iris had seen it when she had tried to interview people for her story but it was too late now. Though given how prepared they were? Even if Iris had suggested they go elsewhere, they still probably would have gotten cornered and surrounded.
This definitely wasn’t because of Cisco though. Iris should have known that it wouldn’t have ended where it had the previous month. Too many people involved, so many buildings and shelters closed down. There was no way it had only been six people. Not in the way Natasha had talked about Hydra. “I dropped the story.”
Of course it wouldn’t matter. She was still a loose end though. And then there was a blinding light from Cisco and there wasn’t any real time to process that. The connection to the Dreams or what had happened to Barry in them. Right now they just needed to get out. But just when it seemed freedom was in sight? A gun and her shin was grabbed. Kicking at the person who had grabbed her, Iris knew that there wasn’t much she could do in the van. So the main trick would be staying alive.
---
The door was flung closed and the hope for freedom along with it. The second man continued to hold his gun. They were lucky nothing worse had happened in the enclosed area, but the bullet that was fired missed them both. The first tall man regained his bearings and stared at the engineer who’d fired..something at him without a weapon in sight. “Kid has...abilities. Keep them alive for now.” A slight disgusted tone when he said abilities set Cisco’s nerves on edge. When they got back to their popup HQ they’d see what to do. They weren’t getting out.
He looked over toward Iris, she was managing to remain calm so Cisco imitated that the best he could. His eyes shifting down towards his hands. How the hell had that happened? What the hell happened? He reached for his phone, but it was taken from him the instant it was seen. The phone was given off to the driver who threw it out the window and Cisco winced as he hear plastic meet ground. “Try it again.’ The first man threatened and Cisco went back to holding his hands up. Finally the van came to a stop after what seemed like an hour.
They were both taken by gunpoint into a warehouse. It was temporary, but yet occupied. There were tables that looked medical in nature, rooms to put them in sealed off by glass until they decided what was to be done. It looked like something out of a comic book villain’s lair, and Cisco was not impressed. “No spinning tops of doom or anything? Boring.” He was grabbed by the back of his neck like a disobedient cat. Combined with hair and flesh it hurt. “This way.” Cisco looked helplessly back at Iris. He tried to get away a second time, stomping on the foot of his captor who only took the anger out on him again. “You’re going to do some tricks for us.” Iris was led along. “This is what happens when you stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong. Your friends suffer for it and you get to watch. But don’t feel too badly, you’ll get to join him soon.”
--
There wasn’t time to panic. That would probably happen later once this was all over with. Because they were going to get through this. Ironically enough in the whole hostage situation dream she’d just dealt with? No one had come to save them and she had been her own hero. No waiting for someone to notice, no hoping. It was just going to be her and Cisco figuring a way out of this.
In theory. Because while the warehouse wasn’t completely full of soldiers being as it seemed to not be something permanent, there were still more of Hydra than there were of her and Cisco. Even with Cisco’s abilities. Iris also knew how these things went. It was clear in the comment thrown her way. That she would watch someone she cared about be hurt because of her story. They were going to be used to make the other cooperate.
Iris met Cisco’s gaze and could only hope that it would convey some sort of steadiness so that he also remained calm, but then she felt pain as her injured hand was grabbed and she was dragged along with Cisco.
This was her fault, she had to find a way to get them out.
“Think she has abilities as well?”
“We’ll find out one way or the other.”
---
Cisco was terrified. Internally he was panicking, but the fact that Iris remained calm seemed to help him. He tried to keep his attention on her even when they were being dragged away. These were the people he’d heard about from Kitty, the merciless ones. He tried to remember all the things Ruby had shown him, but the way he was being held onto was painful and obstructing clear thought process.
Once they got to their designated lab space, Cisco was strapped to something cold. “So going to tell us what we want to know?” He glared upward at them. Hell no. He wasn’t telling them shit but he was starting to panic when he couldn’t see Iris anymore. She was out of his line of vision now, all he could look at was the ceiling or the two assholes above him. One of them glanced over at the reporter. “Don’t try anything stupid.” And motioned to the other one for a syringe of mystery liquid
That syringe was filled with what was supposed to act as a power enhancing drug. They wanted to see what he could do if he couldn’t or wouldn’t make it happen on command. The needle was slid into his neck, and the substance drained into his bloodstream. Cisco’s hand gripped at that table. A white knuckled grip as the world around him became painfully bright, and that second agent near his hands -unfortunate. A blast of pure searing hot unfiltered energy cut straight through his face. Cisco wasn’t the one in control, they were.
That guy dropped to the ground, and the first agent looked unphased and mildly entertained. “Interesting.” Was all he said, sweat began to build on Cisco’s skin. His heart was racing, his powers weren’t meant to work like that. That drug in his system was causing complications. He felt like he was falling out of reality itself as he lie there.
---
Iris was not a fan. Which was an understatement but she wasn’t about to buckle under pressure. Even though she felt panic at when Cisco was strapped to a table. There was no way this was going to end well and she all but managed to keep from crying out in pain as her injured hand was grabbed and she was forced into a chair, hands tied behind her back as well as her legs tie to the chair.
“No fighting for you.”
Well they clearly knew that she could fight back. So now it was trying to undo the knots without her captors being aware of it. If she could do that, she could catch them off guard and get to the Cisco. That at least was the plan. Iris felt herself get pricked with a needle and something injected into her.
There were questions. Lots of questions. What did she know about Cisco? Nothing. How much did she know about their work. Like she’d answer that. Everything was fuzzy and it was taking a lot of willpower to keep from talking. Even if she knew what they wanted her to know. The one time she was distracted was the light from where Cisco was and her head snapped over to that only for her to be hit with jolts of electricity for doing so and the chair knocked over. That did get a pained cry from her as she was roughly pulled back up.
“Let’s try this again.”
“I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Apparently that wasn’t the answer they wanted and she felt pain as she was hit with something. There were murmurs about whatever she’d been injected with, how it should make her more compliant but Iris wasn’t sure if she was hearing correctly or not. She just knew she couldn’t answer what they wanted but also to keep them busy to buy Cisco time as she struggled to get the knots undone without drawing attention to it. A lot hard when she had these jerks trying to get her to talk so they were right there.
---
That drug caused Cisco to go quiet. Whatever was in it was not reacting well with his system and his meta DNA. They got a reaction, but not the reaction they were hoping for. His hand was curled into a fist and the entire foundation of the building began to rumble. Beads of sweat were starting to build on his forehead, and the walls around them seemed like they were disappearing. Like pixels being deleted into the void. The air in that building was getting thin, and a single tear into a dark almost space like fissure appeared across one of the walls. A hairline fissure, but all the same it was like space itself was staring in on them.
One of the remaining agents walked toward it to investigate and raised an eyebrow. “There are planets outside?!” He called back to the other agent who had administered the drug. Cisco didn’t have control of where he was locking onto, or how he was doing it-it was the enhancement of it that caused it.
A noise over the earpiece rang out in alarm. “Sir, I don’t know what you’re doing up there but this place is going to collapse in on itself if you don’t stop!” Like the universe itself was folding in on them. Blood was beginning to spill from Cisco’s nose again and his body was going into shock under the weight of his abilities.
The agent with him looked down in disgust and reached for a knife. An incision was made, and something Iris could see was slipped inside his forearm. In an instant, all the rumbling and structural threats ceased, and Cisco lost consciousness.
--
Whatever it was they had injected Iris with, time didn’t really make all that much sense. She didn’t know how long they’d been there or anything. It was all a sense of trying to not reveal anything. There did seem to be some belief that perhaps she had abilities herself in order to have known all she had figured out but any attempts to get Iris to reveal said abilities failed as she didn’t have abilities.
The initial rumble and shaking wasn’t really noticed by those involved. There had been relatively small earthquakes happening for days now. Some word of fires as well. But it was the fissure that got some reaction. True, Hydra was used to Orange County strangeness, had their own experimentation and damage that they took part of. But there was still something about seeing planets outside from within that was unexpected.
“Cisco!”
Iris might be doing her best to stay calm, seeing what was happening, especially as he was injected with something from her vantage point had her panic. Which only led to her getting slapped and the chair falling to the ground again before she was pulled up. But Iris was keeping a worried look on Cisco, though she did notice what appeared to be a shadow in the fissure that was either a girl in a cloak or a raven that seemed to close the fissure up at the same time as Cisco falling unconscious and the rumbling seeming to stop.
She had to get them out of there. She didn’t know how but there had to be, despite the fact it seemed whenever she made progress on her binds they somehow got redone in the interim of the drug induced haze. No matter. Iris wasn’t going to give up, even if she was pretty sure she heard something about fire and a dragon. Well whatever it was? It pulled her interrogators away and Iris was able to use that time to finally get out of her binds and stumble over to Cisco, checking to make sure he was okay.
“C’mon, c’mon, wake up…” No matter, Iris was going to get him out of here and find a way to fight her way out if she had to. The important thing at least was that they were both still alive. She’d hold onto that for now.
---
Unfortunately Cisco was out for the count. Her voice fell on deaf ears. Blood dripped from his forearm where they’d only sloppily sealed in whatever it was that they’d sliced and put in. His breathing had become a little more shallow -but he was alive, That was all he was. That Hydra guy hadn’t been so lucky, beneath the table near Iris’s feet he was dead an a little bit crispy. Cisco had no idea.
They were in for a long haul. However long it took for someone to notice. He wasn’t going to be any good to them in the state he was in. He didn’t stir when she came near, he was unaware of everything around them.
---