And just one mistake Is all it will take is all it will take....

[throwingstuff]

This was not what Harrison had planned. Then again, he'd not realized he was up against an actual supernatural creature until it was too late. He'd thought he'd created a monster with the particle accelerator, but he'd just made an existing monster stronger. Then again, if someone tried to tell him vampires weren't only real, but right in his own back yard before it all happened, he would have mocked them. Mercilessly. The very concept of the undead defied science itself. It just wasn't possible.

Then he discovered just how possible it all was.

He'd made a deal with Zoom to get Jesse back. Trading blood for even the chance at her freedom. He didn't care if he was hurting the people he'd been trying to protect. She took priority above all else. But it was never enough. Not for Zoom. But in the end, it came down to a simple choice: His life for Jesse's. He'd assumed Zoom just intended to kill him. Drain him until there was nothing left. He didn't even hesitate. Anything for Jesse, even if he didn't get to see her again. At least she'd be safe.

But he'd been wrong. He woke up after it was over. Different. Changed. And still, Zoom wouldn't release Jesse. There was one last thing. Always one last thing. It never ended with Zoom. But now, it was the truest end. Bring Barry to Zoom to be turned as well. A command he found incredibly difficult to ignore. It sickened him, but still that drive remained: anything for his Jesse.

Time rolled on, and the team continued like normal. Harrison refused to say why he was more upset than normal. Refused to entertain any suspicions that he was different. No, he wasn't just going out at night, that was just coincidence. They needed to work faster. Find a way to render Zoom not only weaker, but turn him human. Killing him wasn't an option. No, he wasn't stronger, that was just a really weak mug. Stop asking so many questions, Ramon, and get back to work.

With each passing hour, he struggled with one decision. Did he tell Barry the truth, or just take him to Zoom?

Comments

[throwingstuff]

This wasn't right. This was miles from right. He himself didn't understand vampires well enough yet to understand exactly what was happening. He could guess, he had theories. Was it even possible to turn without dying first? Shouldn't Barry's healing factor be more powerful than the blood? Why? WHY?! He was an engineer. A programmer. He handled technology. Gadgets, machines, programs. This was biology and crypto-something or other. This was as far from his area of expertise as was possible to get.

This was Caitlin's area. But she wasn't here. Even if she were, time was slipping away. There wasn't enough time to even get her up to speed on everything, and that was even assuming she got over the "yes, vampires are real" thing quickly.

In a moment of panic, he pulled his hand free of Harry's grasp and slapped him across the cheek. It harder than he'd intended, but he knew the other could handle it. "ALLEN!" He barked, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt. "If you don't stop this, you're going to be like me. Neither of us wants that!"

[scarletstreak]

The pain, the attack brought Barry back to himself, a few fragments of what Harry was saying finally managing to get through. His eyes went wide and then he blurred as he tried to, to filter out the venomous blood from his system, the way he'd gotten rid of the tranquilizer Oliver had shot him with, and the suit grew slick and darker red, but he couldn't chase it all out. It wasn't foreign to his system anymore, he'd already started to change.

"I, I can't," he gasped, finally coming to rest again. "I can't, that's, I can't get any more out."

[throwingstuff]

Pulling his hands back from Barry's body, Harrison stared down at the sheen of red sticking to his fingers. It wasn't enough. It was too late. It had been too late the moment Barry collapsed, perhaps the moment he took that first sip. In a blink, Harrison was on his feet, a fist pressed to his mouth as he tried to think, tried to not just start yelling at Barry for being so stupid. But it was his fault. He'd panicked. He should have just bandaged the speedster and hoped for the best.

"This is bad..." was all he could manage to say, and it sounded more like a threat than anything.

[scarletstreak]

Barry swallowed, and felt the scratch of a dry throat. His stomach felt empty, but he could chalk that up to his speed emptying his reserves, right? He shifted, sat up slowly, everything ached, like a bad flu. His tongue probed at the sharper teeth, not as prominent as Harry's but...but sharper.

"I need to eat," he said, a little stunned, and climbed to his feet slowly, and went looking for Cisco's high-cal protein bars. They'd have to do. They'd be fine. He just needed one of those.

[throwingstuff]

But they were far from the cortex and Cisco's special food stores. He did not have the patience to explain that food like that flat out wouldn't work. In fact, it would be like trying to eat sawdust, in taste, texture, and nutritional value. But he was still stuck on trying to figure out how this could even happen. Zoom had fed him blood more times than he could count. It never did this. It never came close. He'd done it all the same. What had he missed?

"Food's not what you need," he said, almost under his breath. But he knew Barry could now hear him clears as if he'd spoken properly. He scrubbed a hand through his hair, still not turning to face the speedster. He wanted to yell and throw things. Something to get this weight out of his chest.

[scarletstreak]

"Well food's what I'm having, Wells!" The panic was still low-level, but Barry could feel it creeping in around the edges as he thought about Cisco's protein bars and found himself feeling a little sick at the very idea.

It took a bit longer for him to realize that he shouldn't have been able to hear Harry all the way on the other side of the room. He gritted his teeth and slammed a closed fist into the wall, then stared in horror for several moments before slowly pulling his hand out of the dent in the metal. It hadn't even hurt.

[throwingstuff]

"No. You're not."

Slowly, he turned to face Barry. He'd been trying to remember all he could about his own turning. It had been slower, he knew that much. Not just from the blood. But the effects after, those had blurred into hours of agony and hunger. He'd let himself believe that it was just the turning, stretching on and on, it was easier to think of it that way. But it only ended when he'd...well, there was a reason Jesse ran away after she'd been rescued.

But as much as he didn't want to remember it, there was a reason he needed to. The very reason Zoom had locked them in the same cage. Kept insisting he feed. Zoom had never outright said why, but Harrison had figured it out, even in his half starved haze. It finished the job, sealed it and made it permanent. If he could just get Barry somewhere he couldn't hurt someone. And that he would, if that dent in the wall was any sign.

"I know what you need," he said, his tone level. "Just come with me." He turned and started down the corridor.

[scarletstreak]

Barry trailed after him, scowling, feeling itchy in his own skin in a way that hadn't happened since right after he'd opened his eyes from the coma, before he'd gotten the hang of his speed. This was his fault, he'd only wanted to help Harry, but he'd pushed him too hard, and now this—

No. No, they could fix this. They'd talk to Caitlin and Cisco, he'd admit it was his fault, he'd keep them away from Harry, they'd have to out Harry as a vampire but he was a vampire now too, it wasn't like they could hide it.

"Where are we going?" he asked, irritated, frustrated, angry, distracted.

[throwingstuff]

As they moved down through the building, Harrison was silent. Not only did he not talk, but he made no sound as he moved. Each step fell in such a way that it produced no sound. Only the faint rustle of fabric and fabric marked his movement. A sign of just how careful and calculated he'd been until now. Now that Barry knew, he didn't need to hide it.

"To get you what you need," he said simply. "Because, Allen, it's not hunger you're feeling."

They reached the room that led to the Pipeline, and he turned to Barry. "It's thirst," he said as he hit the control panel to open the door.

[scarletstreak]

Following Harry meant watching him as he moved, and he moved like the world stood still around him, and how could they have missed this? How long had he been like this?

Barry couldn't quite stop running his tongue over his fangs, testing their sharpness, the unfamiliar shape in his mouth, but he paused as Harry opened the Pipeline. "What I need is in the Pipeline?" he asked with a little prickle of wariness. "Why?"

[throwingstuff]

Harrison fixed Barry with a firm glare, still as iron-hard as it ever was. Even in a time that called for sympathy or perhaps a little explanation at the very least, Harrison was hard as ever. He didn't have the time or patience to walk Barry through everything. Couldn't he just accept it and do as he was told? That would make everything easier and Harrison wouldn't have to think over the fact that he was about to make life beyond miserable for the young man.

His only hope was that his speed and healing would accelerate the process.

"Are you going to stand out here all day asking questions, or are you going to get inside before something bad happens?" Said with just as much care and warmth as was in his expression.

[scarletstreak]

You know what, no, he couldn't just accept it, even if it wasn't happening to him he'd still have a million questions, and he still had questions now. He folded his arms and stood where he was, outside the Pipeline cell and not likely to just step into it without an explanation, and while the force of his glare couldn't equal Harry's, he was making an attempt at it.

"Something bad to me or to you?" he countered. "How do I know this isn't exactly what was supposed to happen, Harry?"

[throwingstuff]

If it were possible, Harrison would have glared harder, but the human face is only capable of so much, and he'd already been pushing the outer limits. Of course Barry didn't trust him. Barry had a thousand reasons to not trust him and he knew that. But right now, he wasn't going to give the other a chance. He was going to understand, without question, and without fighting. Because he wasn't in the right mental state to do anything but fight.

"To everyone," was all he said before he moved. Even with giving Barry his blood, feeding gave him more strength than he'd ever had before. He still couldn't match Barry's speed, but now he had a fighting chance. He twisted around, seizing Barry by the collar of his shirt. He could only use the one hand because he had to open the cell with the other. If Barry tried to fight too much, Harrison was prepared to do anything that was necessary. Including knocking him out cold.

[scarletstreak]

Some things never changed, and one of those was the way Barry squawked in surprise when someone darted forward and grabbed him by the back of his collar, like scruffing a kitten, what the hell? He squirmed, scowling, focused too much on getting Harry to let go of him to notice what was going to happen next.

So when Harry heaved him, with superhuman strength (that Barry also shared now), into the pipeline, Barry really had no excuse for not preventing that. And he came close to speeding out of there, but the doors closed just a little too fast, before he had his feet under him, and he slammed into the glass.

"Wells! Hey! Let me outta here, c'mon!"