it's uhhhhhhhhh it's another chapter

Wally and Joe had long since left, and now the only people left in Star Labs were Iris, Cisco and Caitlin. And Barry, of course. Iris had refused to leave and after a heated argument rose and fell, Caitlin caved and said Iris could stay the night.

"I guess we're all staying tonight." Cisco grumbled in a tone that was way too bitter for him. His eyes shifted over to the security feed of Barry, who had plastered almost all of the walls in his cell with white symbols. His expression softened. "Do we have enough cots for the three of us?" Caitlin nodded mutely, making sure not to make eye contact as she furiously typed into her computer. Many minutes passed, fill with silence. Iris sat on the chair next to Caitlin, watching the other woman type into the computer while Cisco typed into a different computer on the other side of the room.

Iris was no genius and after awhile at failing to understand what her two friends were even doing, she heard a piercing scream. Instinctively cringing at the loud noise, she stood up and covered her ears, back hunched. Cisco and Caitlin both shot up out of their seats as well and all heads turned to the security footage. All that could be seen in Barry's containment cell was a twisting and sparking flash of light which seemed to spin around in a circle in the small space. It was as if he was trying to get free but didn't know how.

The three friends all exchanged looks of shock for a split second.

"What's wrong with him? Why's he freaking out?" Cisco shouted, anxiety shining clear in his voice. Caitlin waved her hands about and stuttered as she answered, "I don't know!"

Iris began to run down the hallway, moving faster and faster as she did so. The panic began to set in and she picked up the pace despite the fact she felt her worry increasing with every step and it made her feel sick. When she reached the pipeline, Barry was still speeding around in circles, his shrieks incoherent and ear-shattering.

"Barry!" she yelled, trying to catch his attention, which was hard considering her fiance was spinning around at the speed of light so consistently she knew he would have a headache later.

Barry stopped, his body still vibrating so fast he was just a blur. His eyes shone a bright red, his expression impossible to guess.

"Barry, what's wrong?" Iris asked softly, and Barry's form sputtered into a solid. He didn't respond, however. He just looked around the cell wildly, eyes wide with what looked like confusion and shock. He spun around in circles, but solid this time. Not blurring, not speeding. It was just Barry, her Barry, stumbling around in circles for what looked like no reason.

"While you guys work on the goggles I will go to the CCPD as him and figure out what information they have about Zoom's previous sightings." Barry reassured to nobody in particular, shakily leaning against the wall for support. The memory left as quickly as it had came and he let out a cry of pain, clutching his head and falling to his knees. As Iris approached the cells quietly the screams only got louder and louder as when they made eye contact, Barry's eyes widened with fear, but it wasn't at Iris. It was as if there was something behind her, Iris turned to look but there was nothing there.

Whatever Barry had seen, it had shook him to his core and he began to speed in circles again, electricity sparking against the glass of his cell. Iris wanted so greatly to hold him in her arms and comfort him, console him, tell him everything was fine.

But she couldn't. And that hurt her more than losing him.

She stood motionlessly as Caitlin and Cisco walked past her, trying to figure out what to do and what was wrong. That was when Iris noticed the cold gun in Caitlin's hands. Her heart sank.

She touched Caitlin's arm and frowned. "You don't need to-"

"I have to." Caitlin responded coldly as Cisco opened the door to the cortex and Caitlin spun on her heel, giving Barry no time to speed out of his cell before she shot him with the cold gun, which let out an icy blast that stopped the fastest man alive in his tracks. Barry, now covered in ice and frost, fell over, unconscious and Cisco barely caught him before he hit the ground.

"Why do you think he had a meltdown?" Caitlin asked Cisco, who was struggling to keep Barry upright.

"I don't know."

Iris walked into the cell and looked at all the walls, and then down at the floor. They were all covered in those nonsense symbols covered almost every square inch of the cell, leaving no room for any more.

She ran her fingers over the symbols, feeling hatred rise in her chest for them. They were a constant reminder of how far gone Barry was. She shook her head a little, trying to shake that thought of her head. No. He's not gone, this is just a relapse, right? He'll go back to being normal... somehow...

"Geez, there's so many symbols in here there's no room left to write." Cisco said, and that's when it dawned on Iris. And must've dawned on Caitlin at the exact same time because they both gasped in realization. Iris looked to the ground, spotting the marker Barry had been using. Or what was left of it anyways, considering it had been broken in half. She gently picked up the pieces, the marker now demolished. Had Barry really been that distraught over not being able to draw those symbols anymore? Why?

"Maybe that's why he freaked out!" Caitlin theorized. "Maybe writing all these symbols on the walls is like a coping mechanism? And when he ran out room to write, he went all... all..."

"Crazy. Well, crazier." Cisco finished, trying to bring Barry into a different cell. He gently set down his friend in the second cell, using his hand to cushion Barry's head as he set him down, as if he was afraid of damaging Barry's mind more than it already had been.

Minutes passed, and then hours and as the sun went down Cisco and Caitlin went back up, quietly telling Iris she could come back up whenever she wanted. But Iris stayed put outside Barry's cell, peering at the man through the glass. It felt like she was watching him be in a coma all over again. This time, she knew he would wake up.

But there was no telling what kind of person he'd be when he woke up.

Before Cisco went to sleep, he walked down to the pipeline one final time to get Iris, only to find his friend asleep, leaning against the glass of Barry's cell. He bit his lip, wondering if he should move Iris upstairs. But she looked so peaceful... also, he wasn't sure if Iris West would want him moving her around while she slept.

He made his way back upstairs, smiling to himself. Yeah, things were messed up. But he vowed to himself that Team Flash would always be there for Barry, no matter what state he was in.