A/N: I feel silly writing this, but I loved the end sequence and wanted to write more. I plan to write a second chapter that takes place back at Star between the time Zoom leaves until the time Barry's stable if enough people are interested. So please let me know if you want more! Hope you enjoy this...

Joe watched on, frozen in fear as Zoom dangled Barry's lifeless body in front of the Central City PD. Joe had never felt so paralyzed, so helpless.

"The days of the Flash protecting this city are over," Zoom spoke, his voice deadly calm and utterly inhuman.

"Hold your fire!" Joe shouted, an uncharacteristic tremor in his voice.

"Put him down," Patty commanded, feeling the need to say something, anything to help.

Zoom shook the Flash like a ragdoll and lifted him higher, unfazed by the guns aimed at him. Barry had yet to move a muscle and Joe wasn't even sure he was alive. "Now what will you do without your precious hero?" he taunted.

"Shoot that thing now!" Singh yelled, and two-dozen guns seemingly fired at once. But when the barrage of bullets was over, Zoom stood in front of them, unscathed. He opened his gnarled fingers and dropped the bullets over the balcony.

"Nice try," he mocked, speeding away and leaving behind a precinct full of stunned officers.

"We have to do something!" Patty insisted, turning to Joe. "You don't think…the Flash – he looked," she paused, unable to finish her thought.

Joe hadn't heard a word she'd said though, too busy replaying the scene in his head, trying desperately to convince himself that Barry would be okay. He always was. But the doubt crept back in his mind as quickly as it had left. Barry had been so still. Joe jumped when he felt the vibration of his phone in his pocket. He opened it as quickly as he could, not needing to see the caller ID to know who it was.

"Cisco!" he yelled, "is he…?" he trailed off, knowing the scientist didn't need him to finish that thought.

"We have him, Joe. He's alive…for now. Zoom got away."

Joe allowed himself to breathe then, until Cisco's words fully registered. "What do you mean 'for now'?"

"It's bad, Joe. I've never seen Caitlin so worried. His heart stopped beating and there was so much blood…"

"But he's alive," Joe stated, needing to hear confirmation again.

"He's alive. Wells and Caitlin are working on him. But you should get here as soon as you can."

"I'm on my way." He closed the phone and turned, nearly bumping right into Patty.

"Who's alive, Detective?" she asked. Joe mentally cursed himself for not being more aware of his surroundings, but he had been too caught up in the moment and his own fear for his son to think about that. He began to offer a response he knew Patty wouldn't accept. She was too smart and too good of a detective. He could feel his voice break, but it was impossible to get the thought of Barry's mangled body out of his mind.

Patty was taken aback by the obvious emotion in her partner's face. She had been angry, initially, when she'd heard the conversation. Joe could only have been talking about the Flash. She had had suspicions that he was keeping secrets from her, that he knew more about the city's hero than he let on. For her, this was confirmation. But hearing the break in Joe's voice and seeing his face – she could tell that this was personal for him. She would worry about the details later.

"Go," Patty said simply, her face softening.

"What?"

"Singh will have questions for the metahuman task force. I can handle them. You go."

Joe nodded. "Thank you," he said sincerely before racing out the door of the police department.

Patty watched him leave and then pulled out her cell. She quickly dialed the phone number she'd become so familiar with over the last few weeks, her heart falling when it went to voicemail. "Hi, Barry," she started, beginning to feel a little foolish, "can you call me back when you get this? I have this crazy theory and I need you to convince me it's just that…" she trailed off, "I really need you to call me back. I need to know you're okay," she finished. She hung up the phone, immediately having second thoughts about that message. But the look on Joe's face…that was the kind of look a parent had when his child was in danger. Patty stared at her phone, willing it to ring. For once in her life, she wanted so desperately to be wrong.

End note: So should I write more? Please review, I would appreciate it so much. Thank you for reading!