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Chapter Text

The last thing Barry Allen remembered before the world went dark was a loud hissing sound and a blinding white lighting followed by searing pain that sent him flying backwards through his crime lab at the CCPD into a shelf full of chemicals that rained down on him.

And right after he was struck by the lightning and before the world went dark, Barry saw his entire life flash before eyes. Including the murder of his mother when he was 11 years old in an event that could only be considered impossible, since he remembered seeing a tornado of red and yellow lightning circling his mom before seeing a flash of a man in some kind of yellow suit before he mysteriously ended up on the street.

After her murder, Barry's father had initially been charged for the murder of his mom, but his name was cleared since thanks to the existence of Superman and Wonder Woman, the world was a bit more willing to accept Barry's story about the man in yellow and the cops had found some blood splattered on the wall that hadn't come from any member of the Allen family, which had cleared Henry Allen of murder and allowed him to reclaim custody of his son.

When Barry was around 14, his dad had started dating again and had eventually met a nice woman named Carla Tannhauser, who eventually became Barry's stepmother, which led to Barry getting a stepsister named Caitlin Snow, who insisted on using her father's name and while she'd initially been hesitant, since she'd already been a bad place with her mom after her dad died, but eventually she'd come around welcomed both Barry and Henry into the family and had even made peace with her mother.

Having a sister in the family had definitely helped Barry out, since Caitlin was the one who'd pushed him to ask out his childhood crush and best friend Iris West when they were 16 and he'd asked her out to the homecoming dance, which had worked out great, since they were still together to this day.

Barry also saw just clearly he'd allowed what happened the night his mother had died to control his life, since the whole reason he'd become a CSI in the first place was so that he could try and figure out what had really happened to his mother, investigating the impossible. He'd never realized how much of an obsession it had become, since one thing he and Caitlin had bonded over after their parents had gotten married was their shared love of science but while his obsession with the unknown had led to him becoming distracted and veering towards the life of a CSI, Caitlin had become a renowned biochemist who now worked at Star Labs, one of the most prominent research labs in the country if not the world while Iris, despite her interest in journalism, had decided to first follow in the West family's proud tradition of military service, since her father, her grandfather and her great grandfather were all veterans and Iris had wanted to follow in the family tradition, much to her father's chagrin, though he couldn't stop her without looking like a hypocrite, which was why Iris was currently overseas with the US Marines, though when she came home in a few months, she was going to start pursuing her passion of journalism. But a part of Barry that was still somehow cognizant after the lightning strike couldn't help but wonder if maybe she'd also gone overseas because he'd driven her away by putting too much of his attention into his investigation of the unknown and not enough into his relationship with her and he made a resolve to do better when she got home. But that was the last thought he had before everything finally went black for him, which honestly did not happen as quickly as he thought it would.

Chapter Text

At the same time Barry was getting struck by lightning in Central City, in the Middle East, Lieutenant Iris West was currently leading her Marine squadron the War Dogs on a routine rescue op to recover hostages being held by a local insurgent cell. Their intel came a source who'd recently contacted their commanding officer General Wade Eiling, telling him about how the insurgents had taken innocent women and children hostage and they were being sent in to take out the insurgents and free the hostages, which was why they were currently surveying a compound that appeared to be some kind of factory, since according to their intel, the prisoners were the families of men the insurgents were forcing to fight for them and they were making their families work building weapons for them.

"Alright team, this is a standard rescue op. We infiltrate quietly, get the prisoners out and then we out the facility to prevent any more weapons from being assembled for the enemy. Am I clear?" Iris asked her unit, who all nodded back to her and she grinned, since after the past two years serving together, they were a finely tuned machine and she was their leader.

"Okay then, let's do it." Iris said, right as her second in command and closest friend, not to mention the only other woman on her team, Corporal Gabriella Gomez, put a hand on her arm.

"I don't like this Iris. Something about this mission doesn't feel right to me. It's too easy. I'm not seeing any guards on the perimeter." Gabriella said as she checked their equipment again.

"I know, but that's why you're here in a sniper position to watch our backs. Anything goes wrong, you send word and we get the hell out of there." Iris said and Gabriella smiled.

"Always. I'll always have your back." Gabriella said.

"I know. Now everyone, get in position and let's move out." Iris said to her unit as they fanned out and took positions.

While she'd sent Gabriella to serve as a lookout and sniper for their unit, Iris led the rest of them into the compound, only to find it abandoned.

"I don't like the look of this boss." one of her subordinates said and Iris nodded.

"Stay close and search for any signs of a struggle. Dogs 5 and 6, cover our exit in the event we need to bolt." Iris said and her troops nodded as they got into position, only for the doors to slam shut.

"Shit, it's a trap. Get the doors open now." Iris shouted as she ran towards the doors and her troops followed as she pulled out a knife to try and pry the doors open.

"Lieutenant, we don't have time for that. We need to blow the doors off." Dog 4 said.

"With what explosives? Dog 2, this pack leader, do you read me?" Iris asked over the comms as she continued trying to pry the door open, since she could hear the beeping that clearly indicated some kind of countdown and she just prayed she'd be able to get them out of here before it went off.

"Copy, what's going on, pack leader?" Gabriella asked her.

"You were right, it's a trap, we're sealed in and I hear a timer going off. See if you can find a way to get us out of here from the outside." Iris said.

"Copy that." Gabriella said.

"What should we do?" Dog 3 asked.

"See if you can locate and disarm the explosives." Iris said, since Dog 3 was their resident bomb defuser.

"Yes ma'am." Dog 3 said.

"Dogs 4 and 5, go with him and provide cover. Dogs 6 and 7, stay here and see if you can help me with these doors. Dog 2 is going to try and get it open from the outside." Iris said and all her troops nodded as they moved to split up.

Then the next thing Iris knew, it was too late as she heard a large bang and as the building blew up with her and nearly her whole unit inside.

Gabriella rushed towards the building as fast as she could, only to have to take cover as the building blew up.

"NO!" Gabriella shouted as she watched her entire unit get blown up and not caring about the dangers, she ran straight into the blaze to see if there was any chance that any members of her unit had survived.

But all she saw at first were the bodies of her fellow soldiers, her friends, scattered around the building, all of them being too hot for her touch, but she could tell that they were dead. Or at least that's what she thought when she heard someone groan.

"Iris." Gabriella said as she rushed to her friend's side to find Iris barely conscious, but alive.

"Set up." was all Iris could say before she passed out, but Gabriella got the gist. This whole mission was a setup, but she'd worry about that later. Right now, her priority was to keep Iris alive as she began to administer some basic first aid while calling in a medical evac.

Chapter Text

When Barry came too, he found himself lying in a hospital bed with his stepsister Caitlin fussing over him.

"What's going on?" Barry asked and Caitlin smiled.

"And the zombie lives." Caitlin said to her brother dryly.

"Seriously Caitlin, what happened and why are you my doctor, I thought that was frowned upon?" Barry asked, since technically doctors weren't encouraged to treat their own family members.

"Technically I'm just a volunteer here, since I still work at Star Labs, so it's an exception. As for what's going on, you were struck by lightning." Caitlin said as it all came back to Barry.

"Really, cuz I feel great." Barry said and it was true, he'd never felt better.

"Yeah, especially since it seems like that lightning bolt gave you abs." Caitlin said with a smirk, since Barry did have a 6 pack now that he definitely didn't have before the lightning struck.

"How long have I been out?" Barry asked.

"A few days. Honestly, you woke up a lot faster than most lightning coma patients would. And you're in much better health since when you were first brought in, your entire body was covered in severe burns, but now, you've never looked better. It's incredible." Caitlin said as she went over Barry's charts as the door to Barry's hospital room opened and Caitlin was surprised when her boss entered the room.

"Dr. Wells, what are you doing here?" Caitlin asked him.

"Well Caitlin, you spoke so highly of your brother that I wanted to take the chance to finally meet him. And I think that we should have him transferred to Star Labs so that we can determine how Mr. Allen was able to recover from his lightning strike so quickly. It could lead to potential medical breakthroughs and since it'll technically be scientific research and not just Barry being a patient, you can examine him, Caitlin. I've already had our lawyers confirm that." Wells said.

"I think that's a good idea, since this is the kind of research we should be focused on, despite the fact that the accelerator is still a top priority." Caitlin said.

"Caitlin, the accelerator was Tess's dream project. I have to see it through." Wells said.

"Who's Tess?" Barry asked.

"Tess Morgan was my wife. She died around the same time your mother did, though she died in a car accident. I was lucky to survive it myself. But building Star Labs and the particle accelerator, it was her dream. That's why I created it, so that I could honor her memory." Wells said and Barry nodded.

"I'll get everything set so that once Barry's cleared, the hospital can transfer him to Star Labs, though I don't think we'll need to keep him there." Caitlin said and Wells nodded.

"Agreed. Also Caitlin, I want this kept confidential. The only people in Star Labs who know about this project are us, your brother and Cisco. I don't want to risk people finding out about Barry until we have time to properly understand what's happened to him, since I get the feeling that we've only seen the tip of how much that lightning affected you." Wells said and Barry nodded, right as the door opened and this time, Barry's father and Caitlin's mother came rushing in.

"We came as soon as we got Caitlin's text that you were awake." Henry said, though none of the members of the Allen/Snow family noticed the look on Wells' face as he looked at Henry.

"Dad, Carla, I'm fine." Barry said.

"And that is what concerns me." Henry said, since as a doctor like Caitlin, he was concerned about how quickly Barry was recovering.

"Which is why I'm having Barry transferred to Star Labs so that I can study how the lightning affected Barry." Wells said.

"I want daily updates on my son's condition and I want full access to all data collected. There is no way I am going to let you keep us out of the loop regarding our son's health." Carla said.

"I can agree to that as long as you agree not to share any of our findings with the world at this time, since I don't think that's a wise course of action until we fully understand how Barry was changed." Wells said and Carla nodded.

"Deal." Carla said.

"Have you gotten in touch with Iris yet?" Barry asked.

"Not yet, but that's understandable considering she's on the other side of the world and actively deployed. I left several messages for her to call me as soon as she could, but for now we're going to have to wait." Caitlin said, right as Joe burst into the room, a look of panic on his face.

"Joe, what's going on?" Barry asked.

"Barry, as good as it is to see you up and about, I just got a call from General Wade Eiling." Joe said and Barry's heart sank.

"Iris's commanding officer." Barry said.

"Iris's unit was ambushed, though the General won't tell me what happened exactly, but there were only two survivors, one of whom thankfully is Iris, but according to the general, she's in bad shape, they're keeping her overseas until her condition has stabilized enough for her to be transported stateside." Joe said.

"I know Eiling, Star Labs did some contract work with his unit a few years ago and while our parting wasn't sweet, I'll reach out and see if I can get any more information from him and see if there's anything Star Labs can do to help with Iris's recovery." Wells said and Joe nodded at him thankfully.

"Thank you." Joe said as Wells left them alone, none of them noticing the grin on his face, since things were unfolding exactly the way they were supposed to.

Chapter Text

It had taken nearly a month for Iris's condition to stabilize enough for her to be transferred back to the state, since she'd been badly hurt and she still wasn't out of the woods, but now the doctors at their triage facility had confirmed that she was stable enough to return home, though she was still in a medically induced coma to spare her the pain she'd no doubt be in when she woke up, but it also meant that she'd sleep peacefully throughout the flight home, something that Gabriella honestly envied about her, since while night terrors were one thing every soldier shared, but ever since the ambush things had gotten worse. Every night when Gabriella closed her eyes, since like Iris, she'd been on leave from active duty since the ambush and she was also receiving an honorable discharge, but every night she saw her squadmates, her friends, die in that explosion and considering the fact that the mission had been a set up, she'd been reluctant to talk to any military therapist about it, since she didn't know who she could trust in the ranks right now. One of the reasons she'd decided to resign from active duty. She no longer trusted the military to protect her and she couldn't be a part of something she didn't trust or believe in anymore.

Anyways, Gabriella had refused to return to the states until Iris could, since honestly, she didn't like the idea of Iris being alone around people they weren't sure they could trust, but she had to admit, she couldn't deny that she was relieved to finally be heading home, where hopefully Iris would get the help she needed, though Gabriella knew that Iris would never truly be same again, while her scars would heal, some of her injuries wouldn't. While she'd been luckier than the rest of their unit, since she'd survived, Iris hadn't come out of the incident completely intact. While Gabriella had found Iris in the wreckage after the explosion, her right arm had been pinned and crushed by debris that had been too heavy to remove, especially considering how unstable the remainder of the building us, so the field medics had been forced to resort to amputation to her out and there was still a chance of other damage being done that the base's medical center just wasn't advanced enough to identify.

Anyways, as Gabriella sat on the plane that was taking her and Iris home, she began to pray for Iris, since her father had been a priest, leading to Gabriella relying heavily on her faith, especially while she was overseas. But now she wasn't the one who needed the strength of God on her side, Iris was. Then she heard over the plane's PA that their ETA would be in another 5 minutes and Gabriella was definitely looking forward to returning home and more importantly, eating a nice greasy burger from Big Belly Burger. Along with also finally getting to meet Iris's boyfriend Barry Allen, since she'd heard a lot about the man from Iris and she knew that Barry would be even more concerned for Iris's wellbeing than she was.

The second the plane touched down and they were cleared to exit, a team of doctors rushed on board to transfer Iris onto a gurney and moved her towards a waiting ambulance.

"Where's her family?" Gabriella asked.

"Waiting at the hospital, they thought it would make more sense there than to crowd her here and potentially get in the way." one of the remaining medics said as Gabriella saw her own family approaching.

Joe West was a nervous wreck. Getting the phone he feared most from Eiling had been terrifying, the only thing that could've been more terrifying if the call had been saying that Iris was dead and that was still a possibility. He wished that they would've let him fly overseas to be with Iris while she recovered, but he knew the military strictly forbade civilians or even veterans from setting foot on active military bases in foreign countries for security reasons. Still, at least now Iris was home and she had the best medical specialists in the country working with her, since the Allens or more accurately, Carla Tannhauser was footing the medical bill for anything not covered by insurance that was necessary to save his daughter's life.

They'd already gotten word that Iris had been admitted to the ER, but now he, his wife Cecille, his 16 year old son Wally, along with Iris's boyfriend and Joe hoped, her future husband, his father Henry, his stepmom Carla and his stepsister Caitlin were all sitting in the waiting room, waiting for news, since the Allen family cared about Iris almost as much as the West family did, and after what seemed like forever, finally, a nurse came out.

"I'm looking for the family of Iris West?" the nurse asked.

"That's us. I'm her father and this is her mother." Joe said as he and Cecille jumped up and so did the others.

"How is our daughter?" Cecille demanded, only to be put off by the nurse's face.

"She's alive, but barely. Her arm was amputated while she was overseas to save her life, but a lot more damage was done. The medics overseas managed to stabilize her condition and we repaired the remaining damage as best we could." the nurse said.

"But?" Joe asked.

"The damage done to her spine was too severe for us to repair." the nurse said.

"She's paralyzed?" Cecille asked.

"I'm afraid so. And modern medicine is not advanced enough to cure her. At least not yet not with this level of damage." the nurse said.

"Can we see her?" Cecille asked.

"She's still in recovery, I only came out here to let you know what her status was. I'll come back when she's allowed to have visitors." the nurse said before she walked back into the ER.

Chapter Text

Barry couldn't help but think about how this was not how he'd planned on spending Iris's homecoming and now did not seem like the proper time to ask Joe for anything. Especially since he was just as much in shock over what he'd heard as the others.

"Barry, I know you don't want to hear this, but Dr. Wells just texted for the second time asking where we are, since you were supposed to start testing today regarding the lightning strike." Caitlin said.

"And that can wait until after Iris wakes up, since she's gonna need me by her side." Barry said, since he knew that when Iris learned that not only had she lost her arm and her ability to walk, but also nearly all of her squadron, with only one other survivor besides herself, it would devastate her.

"I know you want to be there for her Barry, but you can't be there for her if putting off worrying about your condition causes you to suffer some kind of issue. I promise, once we're done for today, we'll come right back." Caitlin said.

"Wait, what happened to the guy Iris never shut up about. I'm Gabriella Gomez by the way." Gabriella said, finally introducing herself to Barry.

"Right, Iris has told me a lot about you. Apparently you're the one she trusted to have her back more than any other while you were overseas. I owe you for that." Barry said as he shook Gabriella's hand.

"Not so sure about that, since she's currently in this condition while I walked away with any injuries whatsoever." Gabriella said.

"That's not your fault. You're the one who got to Iris in time to save her life." Barry said.

"Barry, we need to go. The sooner we get this done, the sooner you can come back here." Caitlin said and Barry sighed reluctantly, since while he didn't want to admit, he knew she was right.

"Fine, let's get this over with." Barry said as he followed Caitlin out of the waiting room, only for it to seem like everything around him had suddenly slowed down to near stop.

"What the hell?" Barry asked as he looked around to see his sister almost frozen in place.

"Caitlin, why are you just standing there?" Barry asked as he took a step forward only for him to suddenly move forward at a speed faster than any human should be to move as he ran down the hall and slammed into a wall.

"Ow." Barry groaned as Caitlin rushed up to him.

"How did you do that?" Caitlin asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me, this is more your area of expertise than mine." Barry said.

"All the more the reason to get you to STAR labs and have Dr. Wells look at you, since considering the fact that you just moved at speeds that no human should be able to move at." Caitlin said and now Barry couldn't deny that she was right. Before he could be there for Iris, he needed to understand what had happened to him.

"Wow, this place is amazing." Barry said as he looked around Star Labs, one of the most advanced research facilities in the country.

"Welcome to Star Labs. One of the leaders in the cutting edge technology on the planet and leaders in multiple scientific fields, including artificial intelligence, genetics, transportation, and of course, our crown jewel, the particle accelerator, though I am looking forward to finally getting that finished so that Dr. Wells will start diverting funding to other projects, including my research, which I think will be very helpful in studying your condition." Caitlin said.

"And what condition would that be?" a latino guy around their age with long black hair and wearing a shirt that read Han Shot First on it.

"Barry Allen, meet Cisco Ramon, one of my closest friends and one of Star Labs' brightest engineering minds." Caitlin said, making the introduction of two people she'd been meaning to introduce since Cisco started at Star Labs, since she could tell that these two would become best friends.

"Nice to meet you." Barry said.

"You too. And you look good for a guy who just got struck by lightning." Cisco said and Barry chuckled.

"You don't know half of it." Barry said.

"But he's going too, since Cisco is the only other person here besides myself and Dr. Wells who's going to be involved in studying how the lightning affected you." Caitlin said, not wanting to reveal what Barry could do in a public hallway, since she agreed with Dr. Wells that this needed to be kept secret.

"Yeah, I'm surprised Dr. Wells is being so secretive about this." Cisco said, right as Dr. Wells joined them.

"I don't want to give anyone any ideas until we've fully got a handle on what we're dealing with." Dr. Wells said and Cisco nodded.

"Besides, I can't really pull anyone else away from the accelerator now that we're this close to completion." Dr. Wells said.

"Dr. Wells, there was another reason I came here." Caitlin said.

"If this is about Iris, General Eiling already contacted me." Dr. Wells said.

"Wait, you know Eiling?" Barry asked.

"Why don't we take this somewhere private." Wells said as he led the three of them into an empty room and closed the door.

"Yes, I know General Eiling. He contracted Star Labs for a few government contracts, one of which I'm assuming Caitlin wants to use to help Iris." Dr. Wells said and Caitlin nodded.

"Despite the fact that our parting was less than amicable, Eiling knows that Star Labs has the best chance at getting Iris back on her feet. Particularly Project Nightshade." Wells said as he used the tablet he was holding to show Barry and Cisco.

"Whoa, I didn't know Star Labs was building that?" Cisco asked.

"That's because we aren't anymore. Eiling pulled its funding when Dr. Wells shut down his other project. You know, the one that was inhumane." Caitlin said.

"Right. Project Ape. Still not sure why he thought that was a good idea, since it's like he's never seen a movie before." Cisco said under his breath.

"Anyways, the prototype for Project Nightshade was completed and about to begin testing when the funding was pulled." Caitlin said and Wells nodded.

"Eiling knew this and asked if I'd reactivate it for Iris." Wells said.

"Will it help her?" Barry asked.

"I don't know, like I said, it's untested, so we have no idea what kind of effect this could have and I won't subject Iris to this treatment unless I'm sure she knows what she's signing up for." Wells said and Barry nodded.

"I'll tell her about it when she wakes up, but now, let's focus on why we're here now. Caitlin and I discovered another side effect of the lightning strike." Barry said as he managed to figure out how to run that fast again around the room.

"Okay, I'm going to start making you a superhero costume." Cisco said when Barry came to stop.

"First, why don't we start trying to figure out everything we can about Barry's newfound speed." Caitlin said and Wells nodded.

"Let's get to work." Wells said.

Chapter Text

"I feel ridiculous wearing this thing." Barry said as he walked out onto the abandoned airfield Wells had brought him, Caitlin and Cisco too, wearing a ridiculous red leotard with padding along with a helmet and goggles.

"It's not supposed to look cool, it's supposed to help us to track your vitals while you run." Caitlin said.

"Still, you couldn't come up with something a little less demeaning?" Barry asked and Caitlin just chuckled at her brother's annoyance.

"Be grateful I'm not taking pictures to show Iris when she wakes up, since she'll need a laugh." Caitlin said.

"Shut up." Barry said.

"Enough with the chit chat, it's time for testing." Dr. Wells said as he and Cisco joined them.

"And I'm already working on something I think you'll like a lot better than that." Cisco said and Caitlin chuckled, since she'd always enjoyed Cisco's enthusiasm.

"Anyways, Cisco designed that headset to be able to withstand any sonic booms your speed might create, since we don't know how fast you can go." Dr. Wells said.

"It'll allow us to monitor your vitals and stay in contact with you. Now, run Barry, run." Caitlin said and Barry nodded and, as if on instinct, he tapped into his speed again and sped off.

"Whoa, how fast was that?" Cisco asked as Dr. Wells checked the equipment.

"He's clocking at just over 200 miles per hour." Wells said and Caitlin's jaw dropped as she noticed something else about when Barry ran.

"Barry, come back here for a second." Caitlin said over the comms and as Barry returned, she saw it again, just for a second. A flicker of yellow lightning coming off of him.

"I knew it." Caitlin said.

"Knew what?" Barry asked and despite the fact that he'd run faster than any human should be able to, he was hardly breaking a sweat.

"Check out this security footage, since we were documenting this." Caitlin said as she showed him the footage.

"Okay, so what are we looking at?" Cisco asked, confused.

"Shush, just watch. Trust me Barry, you'll know it when you see it." Caitlin said as Barry saw it.

"The lightning." Barry said as he realized where Caitlin was going with this.

"Just like you said you saw in your house the night your mom was killed. I think that we may have just found a clue about who or what killed her." Caitlin said.

"I can't believe it." Barry said.

"This is intriguing, but for now, we need to get back to testing." Wells said.

"Before we do that, we need to start structuring Barry a new diet, since running that fast is going to burn off a lot more calories than what's healthy for anyone, so he'll need a new diet to compensate. Otherwise this ability could end up causing more harm to him than good." Caitlin said.

"Agreed. We'll use the data we collect here today to help fashion Barry a new diet." Wells said, right as his phone rang.

"Hello. Yes, I'm currently away from the lab, what is going on?" Wells asked, only to appear shocked by why he heard.

"What, that's impossible." Wells said.

"What's going on?" Caitlin asked, seeing the look of concern on her boss's face.

"That was Dr. Stone back at the lab, the accelerator has been activated." Wells said.

"What, that's impossible. We're still in the final phase of its construction, it shouldn't be possible for it to be activated soon." Cisco said.

"Exactly. Barry, I know you literally just got your speed, but you're the fastest way for Cisco and I to get back to Star Labs to try and shut the accelerator down. Caitlin, call Detective West, warn him to order an emergency evacuation of Central City, just to be safe. If we can't stop the accelerator, we need to minimize the damage it could do." Wells said.

"I'm on it." Barry said as he quickly sped back into his regular clothes before grabbing both Cisco and Wells and speeding back towards the city while Caitlin called Joe to get him to issue the evacuation.

After Barry rushed Wells and Cisco back to Star Labs, they found the entire building in chaos.

"Status report." Wells asked one of his top scientists, Dr. Silas Stone as he rushed over to the cortex's main control station.

"Sir, I don't know how it happened, but the accelerator is charging up somehow. The system is overloading and attempts to override it aren't working." Silas said.

"Barry, come with me." Cisco said as he led Barry away towards his workshop.

"Cisco, what's going on?" Barry asked as Cisco showed him a dark red bodysuit with a gas mask.

"Put this on. I designed it as a prototype to replace the turnouts firemen wear, so it's heat and abrasive resistant, so it should be able to hold up to your speed. I figure that you can use this to help get more people out of the city faster in case we can't stop this. I just wish I had more time to customize it." Cisco said.

"Not now Cisco. But I can barely control my speed." Barry said.

"You can control it enough to get people out of the city. Just run until you can't run anymore. Get people out of the city limits. Hopefully it's just us being overcautious, but the more precautions we take, the better." Cisco said and Barry couldn't deny that as he quickly sped into the suit.

"Now run Barry, run." Cisco said and Barry nodded as he sped out of the room as Cisco rushed to the Cortex.

"Any luck?" Cisco asked.

"No. The only option left is to try the manual shut down override valve down in the accelerator, but it's too dangerous." Wells said.

"We have to try, we can't just let this thing blow up. What's the blast radius if it does?" Cisco asked.

"It'll cover all of Central City." Silas said.

"Caitlin is currently safely outside the city's boundaries and she's talked with CCPD to order an evacuation, so if we can't stop the reaction, we need to try to contain it until the city is empty." Wells said, even though all three of them knew that was impossible.

"I'll go see if I can shut it down manually." Cisco said.

"No Cisco, that's a suicide mission. We need to seal off the accelerator now and execute containment protocols." Wells said as he did exactly that.

"Now we just have to hope that will hold." Wells said, even though none of them knew that he'd designed the containment protocols to fail.

"Dr. Wells, it's not working and the reaction can't be contained." Cisco said as he tried to rush towards to the accelerator, right as it blew up, releasing a wave of energy across the entire city.

Chapter Text

The aftermath of the particle accelerator explosion was pure chaos. Emergency services were overwhelmed by calls about people who'd been injured in the blast or by people who were taking advantage of the chaos and causing riots. Every hospital in the city was packed and every available doctor in the city was being called in to help and CCPD was being overwhelmed by the amount of emergency calls coming in, since just like in any crisis, the people seemed to go insane as rioting was breaking out.

Barry was currently trying to run around the city as fast as he could, trying to restore some measure of calm to the city, trying to help as many people as he could. But he was only one guy and he was still getting used to his speed and wasn't sure how fast he could go without losing control.

However, he didn't care about the risk as he just finished saving a whole family from their house collapsing.

In less than a second, he'd rescued a father, a mother and two kids who were around the same age he'd been when he'd lost his own mother and he'd be damned if he'd let any other kids go through that. For either of their parents.

But then he heard them shout about how their dog was still in there, but the house was on fire and it was getting too hot for him to go back in.

"Damn it." Barry said, only to see a quick blue blur that might even be faster than him swoop into the house and then, suddenly Supergirl came out, with a big lab in her arms, the dog licking her face as she landed and set the dog down.

"Rusty." one of the kids said as she rushed up to her dog and hugged the dog.

"Thank you Supergirl." the mom said and Supergirl smiled.

"My pleasure ma'am. Now if you'll excuse me, this city needs as much help as it can get right now." Supergirl said as she flew off, before she noticed a mysterious red blur racing through the streets of Central City.

And when she used her super vision to get a closer look at the blur and was shocked to see it was a man.

"Well, this just got interesting." Supergirl said, since she could tell that at least right now, whoever this man, he was trying to help, which meant that he was a good guy, but before she knew she shouldn't just assume that until after she got to know him better, which was why, since she was faster than him, she landed right in front of him.

Barry was shocked when Supergirl landed in front of him.

"Supergirl." Barry said, trying to contain his awe at meeting the world's newest superhero. At least until him.

"Who are you?" Supergirl asked him and Barry knew he had to come up with a superhero name quickly, since he wasn't telling his real name to a stranger, even the girl of steel.

"Call me the Flash." Barry said before he could think of anything else and he had to admit, he liked that name.

"Catchy. I saw you rescue that family from the house, though you did miss the dog." Supergirl said.

"It was too hot for me to go back in. If I could've gone in to save the dog, I would have, but you handled it." Flash said.

"You seem like you want to help, but how long have you had your powers for?" Supergirl asked.

"A few days. I only revealed myself now because my city needs help and I wasn't gonna let it be destroyed just because I'm still learning to control my speed." the Flash said.

"Which I can respect and it looks like you're trying to work within your limits. Your heart seems to be in the right place, but once things calm down, we need to talk. I need to make sure that you're not a threat. But for now, keep doing what you're doing and take this." Supergirl said as she handed him a watch.

"What's this?" Flash asked.

"It's a signal watch. You're still a rookie and you have a lot to learn and while I'm still relatively new to this myself, I've still been training to use my powers for years. If you feel like you're being overwhelmed, give it a tap and I'll come help." Supergirl said and Flash nodded, honestly grateful that she was giving him a direct line to her as they both returned to trying to help the city.

After spending what felt like hours restoring calm to the city, the Flash and Supergirl met up again on a rooftop outside Central City.

"Nice work for your first time out." Supergirl said and Flash smiled at her.

"Thank you. That means a lot coming from you. Though I did notice your cousin in the city too. Is he coming?" Flash asked.

"I don't know. He and I aren't exactly talking right beyond the job right now and this doesn't concern him." Supergirl said.

"Okay then." Flash said.

"Where did you get that suit, since while I'm surprised to see that it held up against your speed, it doesn't exactly look like it was designed for that." Supergirl asked.

"It's something that was originally meant to be used to replace the turnouts firefighters wear, just repurposed." Flash explained.

"Where did you get it?" Supergirl asked.

"Where did you get your suit?" Flash asked defensively.

"I made it myself, just like how Superman made his. Now, your turn, where did you get your suit from?"  Supergirl asked, though she could guess.

"You already know, don't you?" Flash asked.

"I'm guessing it's a prototype from Star Labs. I'm guessing that you were working with them before the explosion, so they gave you that suit so that you could help clean up their mess." Supergirl said.

"That's one way to put it, but I doubt they'll be able to help me anymore, since I think we both know that they're going under after this mess. Considering how many people were killed or injured either by the initial blast or the rioting that came afterwards." Flash said.

"Probably, but there's always a chance that some help could come if you know where to look." Supergirl said.

"Still, it's a shame, because a lot of good people work or did work at Star Labs and it's not fair that they're reputations will likely be ruined because of their association with the company." Flash said.

"I agree with you on that. And for what it's worth, I think that it's good that you've decided to do what you're doing now, since I have a feeling that Central City is going to need a hero to protect it now more than ever." Supergirl said and Flash nodded, before he yawned, since unlike her, he needed to sleep.

"Go home, I don't think there's anything more that can be done for this city tonight." Supergirl said as she flew off.

"Cool." Flash said as he sped off.

"Cool." Supergirl said as she watched him race away through the streets.

Chapter Text

Ever since she'd woken up, all Iris could remember was pain. Excruciating pain, even with all the drugs she could tell had been pumped into her system. The next thing she realized the mask on her face and the tube down her throat, along with a few other places.

Then everything started coming back to her in flashes. The attack, the ambush, the explosions. And she could remember watching her teammates, her friends, die in the blast while she'd survived, though clearly not unscathed considering the pain she was in.

Speaking of which, she started to groan in pain to get the nurse's attention, even though the hospital was currently on def com one.

"Ms. West, you're awake." a nurse said quickly as she moved to get a doctor to start looking Iris over.

Iris tried to speak, but she couldn't with the mask on her face and more importantly, the tube down her throat. Which was getting more and more uncomfortable with every second that passed.

"Hang on Ms. West. We'll get that tube out in a minute." her doctor promised as she struggled to move and panic.

"Iris, please calm down before you do more damage." the nurse said as she tried to calm Iris down as she continued to struggle as best she could until she realized that only one of her limbs were working in any way right now, in fact, she could only feel her left arm. She couldn't feel her legs or her right arm. That was when she finally realized what was missing. She looked down and saw under the blankets that the only thing left of her right arm was a short stump from her shoulder.

"Ms. West, please calm down. I promise you'll be okay." the doctor said as he carefully removed the mask and tube from her throat.

"What happened to me?" was the first thing Iris asked, her voice rough and raspy after months of misuse.

"You were in an explosion overseas. You're lucky to be alive at all. But you didn't come out unscathed. In order to save your life, the medics overseas had to amputate your right arm to prevent infection and the explosion did severe damage to your spine. You're paralyzed from the waist down." the doctor said as gently as he could.

"But I'm home now right?" was the next thing Iris asked.

"Yes, you're in recovery in Central City. Your family is in the waiting room and I think they'll all be happy to hear that you're awake." the nurse said.

"Are any members of my team out there?" Iris asked, since she was pretty sure that she knew the answer, she needed to hear it out loud.

"Your comrade Gabriella Gomez is out there, but I'm afraid that you were the only other survivor of the attack." the doctor said regretfully.

"Thank you. I want to see her and if he's out there, my boyfriend Barry Allen." Iris said.

"Give us one moment to go get them." the nurse said.

"Thank you." Iris said as she laid back down on her pillow and tried her best to put off the guilt and grief that was hitting her over the loss of her comrades and feeling rage towards the man she was sure was responsible for their deaths. Her former commanding officer, general Wade Eiling.

But she was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the door to her room open and the nurse showed Barry and Gabriella into her room.

"Iris." Barry said as he rushed to her bedside.

"Hey baby. This isn't exactly how I pictured our reunion when I came home." Iris said with a weak chuckle.

"I'm just happy you came home at all and let's agree that you're done with the military." Barry said.

"I couldn't go back overseas even if I wanted to." Iris said, referring to her injuries.

"Star Labs has some tech that might be able to help you recover. At the very least, help you walk again." Barry said.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure she should use it." Gabriella said.

"Why?" Iris asked her best friend.

"Because I did some checking and not only is Star Labs in disgrace right now after their particle accelerator blew up and even if it hadn't, the tech Dr. Wells wanted to use to help you was originally funded under a contract with General Eiling." Gabriella said.

"Yeah no, I'd rather be paralyzed for the rest of my life then let anything that Eiling is connected to be surgically attached to my body. Especially when there's a good chance it could give him control of it." Iris said.

"Are you sure?" Barry asked.

"I'm positive. You'll have to find another way to help me, because I don't want anything to do with anything associated with Eiling, since I'm positive that he's the reason I'm in this condition in the first place, since he sent my unit into a trap. The rest of my unit is dead because of him." Iris insisted and Barry nodded, knowing better than to try and change her mind, especially when she could see her point.

"What was so urgent you needed me to come here now when I should be projecting the image of the injured pariah Harrison Wells?" Eobard Thawne asked Gideon as he stood in the Time Vault, despite the fact that the doctors of this century said that he was paralyzed from the waist down. It never failed to marvel him at how lucky the 21st century was to have survived this long with how inferior their technology was compared to his own time in the 25th century.

"Despite your calculations, I have discovered an unexpected complication to the timeline that could disrupt your plans and maybe even alert the time wraiths to your location." Gideon said, removing Thawne's agitation and giving her his full attention.

"What is it?" Thawne asked.

"It would appear that your arrangement with General Eiling was a smart move in the short-term, it has led to long term consequences for the entire timeline." Gideon said.

"How?" Thawne asked.

"The explosion Iris West was in has severely compromised her ability to reproduce, which in turn threatens the stability of the timeline." Gideon said and Thawne pounded the plinth.

"No, I checked, the historical records always said that Iris West was in that explosion. It shouldn't have affected the timeline." Thawne said.

"True, but General Eiling was never supposed to be involved in putting her back together. Your involvement with him has risked the existence of XS, Impulse and all other future Flash descendants, which compromises the entire timeline and could potentially erase the future you're attempting to return to." Gideon said and Thawne sighed.

"Damn it. Recommendations on how to correct the error before the time wraiths find me or irreparable damage is done to the timeline." Thawne asked her.

"You need to hand off Ms. West's treatment to the people who were supposed to take care of her in the original timeline. Argo Enterprises. And specifically its CEO and Barry Allen's future ally, Kara Danvers, aka, Supergirl." Gideon said.

Chapter Text

Iris was getting sick of being in the hospital, since she was sick of being treated by an invalid, though she knew it was only going to get worse when she was released, since due to the fact that she only had one one arm, she wouldn't even be able to use a wheelchair without assistance. She wasn't sure if that was worse than being confined to a hospital bed or not.

However, she was pulled from her thoughts when the door to her hospital room opened and she smiled when she saw Barry enter the room with Caitlin and her mother in tow, Carla carrying a large case with her.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what's with this visit, since I don't think it's just another well wishes." Iris said, since she'd seen Caitlin numerous times while she'd been in the hospital due to Caitlin trying to distance herself from Star Labs, which was in disgrace following the explosion and Barry rarely left Iris's side, unless he was actually at Star Labs for treatment after being struck by lightning, but that was only because Iris was making him go, since she was as concerned about his health as he was about hers, even though she had to admit that she was jealous that despite being hit by lightning, Barry had never looked better while Iris would never be the same again. Carla however was new, since while she and Henry had dropped by after she'd first woken up to wish her well, she hadn't really been here since.

"You're right. We're here because we have something that might be able to help you." Carla said.

"And that would be?" Iris asked as Carla opened the case and Iris's jaw dropped.

"Is that what I think it is?" Iris asked and Carla nodded.

"Yes, this is a prototype of the new Tannhauser prosthetic arm we developed for this exact situation actually. To help veterans like yourself adjust to life after their service. And as you can see, Caitlin helped me tailor this prototype specifically to you." Carla said, since the arm looked nearly identical to the arm Iris still had, only this one was a right arm and it didn't have a single scratch on it.

"And it really works?" Iris asks skeptically.

"According to all the tests we've run, but like I said, this is a prototype and hasn't been used on an actual person yet." Carla said.

"So I'm your beta tester basically?" Iris asked, not opposed to it, she just wanted to make sure she knew everything she was signing up for before she agreed to anything.

"Essentially. And it would require you to stay in the hospital until you've recovered enough to have the operation performed and then afterwards for rehab to learn how to use your new arm." Caitlin said.

"Though there is another option." Dr. Wells said as he wheeled into the room.

"Harrison, what brings you here? I hope it's not to offer Star Labs' aid?" Carla said, since she didn't trust Harrison with Iris's recovery.

"No, I was going to suggest Argo Enterprises. From what I know of Kara Danvers's work, one of the fields her company works is therapeutic cloning." Dr. Wells said.

"What does that mean?" Iris asked.

"Growing new organs to replace failing ones, but that's organs like hearts and kidneys. Not to mention from what I've heard, their research is still theoretical and growing organs is different from regrowing a human limb." Barry said.

"I'm aware. But I was talking about some of the internal damage that Iris might've suffered from, since while the doctors repaired the internal damage, that doesn't mean it's a permanent fix." Wells said.

"When it becomes an actual possibility, I'll consider it, but that arm is my best chance of not being completely dependent on other people after I get discharged and that arm looks close enough to a regular arm that if I wear sleeves, no one who doesn't already know would tell the difference. But would I be able to feel things with that arm?" Iris asked.

"I'm sorry, but no. This technology is advanced, but not that advanced. At least not yet. But there's always room for upgrades. Not to mention as Cisco would put it, all kinds of bells and whistles that we could add." Caitlin said, since Iris had met Cisco and Barry chuckled at the idea of Cisco's face at the prospect.

"I'll think about that once I know the arm works. Right now I don't need bells and whistles, I need to be able to use two hands so I can take care of myself to some extent. How long would I have to be in the hospital for?" Iris asked.

"Well, given that the stump that used to be your arm has nearly healed according to the tests, maybe another week before we can start prepping for the operation and then physical therapy will really just depend on how long it takes your arm to learn how to communicate with your brain and for you to get used to it." Caitlin said.

"And how dangerous is the procedure?" Barry asked.

"Considering that we'd only be operating on her arm that's not on the side of her body that her heart isn't on, I'd say minimal risk as much as possible. But it will take time for her arm to learn to communicate with her brain and physical therapy to help her get used to it, especially since, with this arm being mechanical, it will be a lot stronger than your old arm was Iris." Carla said.

"Sweet, but will I need to plug myself in every night?" Iris asked and Caitlin chuckled.

"Not exactly. The actual procedure is more us installing a port on your arm stump that you connect the bionic into. Since the arm is a machine, it does require energy and we'll provide you with a charging station for it and I do recommend you plug it in every night like you would your phone." Caitlin said.

"Any chance we can just incorporate my phone into my arm. It would save a lot of time." Iris said, only half joking.

"I'm sure Cisco would love to try." Barry said.

"He would, but I think we should make sure that this arm works properly before we start thinking about those kinds of upgrades. I'm guessing that means you're on board with it?" Caitlin asked and Iris nodded.

"Hell yes, I'll sign whatever I need to if it means I can retain some of my independence." Iris said as Dr. Wells wheeled himself out of the room and found an empty storage closet to sneak into, where he quickly used Gideon to loop security footage to make the cameras think that this room was still empty while he consulted Gideon.

"Gideon, run a calculation to determine how Iris West getting a prosthetic arm made by Tannhauser Industries will impact the timeline?" Thawne asked her.

"Calculations complete, according to the new timeline data, Iris West now always received her prosthetic arm from Tannhauser. As long as the rest of her recovery is made possible by Argo Enterprises, the timeline should remain intact." Gideon said.

"Excellent." Thawne said, thinking that was one crisis averted. Now he could focus his attention on training the Flash to serve his purpose, since while he'd tried to use the particle accelerator explosion to restore his own speed, like he'd suspected, it didn't work, which meant that as of right now, the Flash was still his only option if he ever wanted to go home and he had to ensure that the timeline remained as close to the original as possible if he wanted to make sure he had a home to return to

Chapter Text

"How much longer are we gonna have to put up with these government stiffs lurking around Star Labs?" Cisco asked Dr. Wells as they continued to watch government agents poke all around Star Labs, which they had been doing ever since the accelerator exploded.

"For as long as they deem it necessary, though I will admit that it is a hindrance to our efforts to help Barry, since I'd rather not have the government all around while we help him recover from the lightning strike." Wells said, since this intrusion was definitely a hitch in his plans, since right now, if they attempted to train Barry in using his speed, all that would do is alert the government to his abilities and lead to Argus, particularly Amanda Waller, claiming Barry as government property. And while there would've once been a time where he'd welcome that, now that would be too inconvenient for his plans.

"Yeah I know. But not to mention all the interviews we've had to repeatedly give to the feds. How did Caitlin escape having to go through that?" Cisco asked.

"Because she has her mother's army of lawyers to fight for her, not to mention the fact that her work at the hospital gives her some deniability, along with the fact that she never had anything to do with the overall construction of the accelerator like we did, she was just our in house doctor." Dr. Wells said, though he was worried that if something didn't change soon to get the feds out of here, they would soon discover his time vault, if only by accident and that would ruin his plans completely.

"Well still, these suits are messing up everything in my workshop, even though they won't find anything in there or anywhere else in this building, since the accelerator blowing up with an accident. It wasn't even supposed to be turned on when it did. How did that happen by the way?" Cisco asked.

"If I knew I'd tell you Cisco." Wells said, even though he'd just lied to Cisco's face, since not only did he know what had caused the explosion, he'd been the one to cause it.

However, their conversation was cut short when the government agent who'd been in charge of the investigation walked up to them.

"Well, it's your lucky day. Some other corporate big shot has decided that they want you to be their problem, so we're pulling out." the agent said.

"I wonder what that's about?" Cisco said, though he wasn't complaining.

"It's about the fact that as soon as your boss signs these documents, Star Labs will no longer be its own entity, but will instead be owned by the only tech company in the world willing to come anywhere near it, Argo Enterprises." said a voice that was at least familiar to Wells.

"Jesse." Wells said as he saw Jessica Wells, the daughter of the real Harrison Wells, walk into the cortex with some forms in her hands.

"Hi dad." Jesse said calmly and without any real emotion, both members of the Wells family ignoring the look of shock that his boss had a daughter he never knew about. Not that it should be surprising considering how private Dr. Wells kept his personal life, but still, you think you know a guy.

"What's going on here?" Cisco asked.

"Right, my apologies, introductions. Cisco Ramon, meet my daughter, Jessica Wells." Dr. Wells said.

"Morgan. My name is Jessica Morgan. I took mom's last name after you basically disowned me and dumped me at my grandparents' house and let them raise me instead of doing it yourself after mom died." Jesse said angrily before quickly calming down.

"Look, right now, my boss Kara Danvers has decided that she wants to add Star Labs to her already huge tech empire and see if she can salvage the reputations of the staff and the facility, though one of the conditions of this acquisition is that Harrison Wells has to relinquish control of Star Labs and all it's subsidiaries to Argo Enterprises, since while he'll be allowed to keep working here, he cannot be trusted to remain in charge of anything." Jesse said while barely giving her dad a look.

"So, I sign these papers and while I won't be in charge anymore, this facility and all my staff will be able to hopefully salvage their careers and reputations?" Wells asked, since this honestly did not sound too bad and would honestly make it easier for his plans if he was no longer the one in charge of the company, since then he could focus all his energy on helping Barry.

"Pretty much. Best deal you're gonna get right now." Jesse told him.

"And I'm not foolish enough to think that I have any negotiating power right now, so the deal is accepted, please give me the forms I need to sign." Wells said and Jesse nodded as she handed over the forms to him.

"Wait, you're just gonna sign over control of this building to another company?" Cisco asked.

"Cisco, I've been trying to get into business with Kara Danvers for years, I even tried to get her to agree to making the particle accelerator a joint project, but she refused, so if this is what it takes for her to want to do any kind of business with me, I'll take it, since she is a brilliant woman and this is a way for Star Labs to regain the trust of the people of Central City and it will allow us to remain operational. Especially since with the resources of Argo Enterprises, we'll be able to perform far more advanced research than we ever could before." Wells said as he signed the paperwork.

"Yep and I will be the one running this lab from now on, since we plan on turning Star Labs into one of Argo's more advanced R&D facilities. After we dismantle and destroy whatever's left of that particle accelerator, I don't want anyone getting any ideas about rebuilding it." Jesse said.

"Agreed. It's clearly outserved its purpose and if this city is ever going to regain its trust in us, we don't need a reminder of our greatest failure." Wells said since while that would complicate his plans a little bit, it would be worth it in the long run.

"Good. Now, Ms. Danvers has some personal business to take care of in National City, but she promises to be here for the official announcement in a few weeks. In the meantime, she's given me authority to run this place in the meantime. Which means I need to know about all experiments currently being performed here. Or rather were being performed before you were shut down." Jesse said, trying to act professional.

"It's almost as if you don't trust me." Wells said snarkily.

"It's exactly like I don't trust you. You're lucky you still have a job here Harrison." Jesse said.

"Okay, maybe I should give Jesse a tour of the labs and hopefully diffuse the situation." Cisco intervened.

"I'd appreciate it, Cisco." Jesse said, grateful that he was attempting to calm the situation and allowed him to give her a tour.

Chapter Text

"So, is it ironic that my first day back at work for CCPD is doing CSI work at my stepmom's company?" Barry asked Joe as they stood in one of the labs of Tannhauser Industries to investigate a robbery that had happened thankfully while Carla was gone, since she was preparing for Iris's surgery, which would take place in a few days.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that the reason Singh assigned you to this case instead of Julian or Patty is because Carla's a lot more likely to divulge her secrets to you than them, not to mention, this is more up your alley." Joe said and Barry nodded.

"Fair enough. I mean Carla doesn't really keep informed on all of Tannhauser's projects, but I probably know more than anyone else in CCPD." Barry said.

"Anyways, Carla described the item that was stolen as a cryo atomizer." Joe said, referring to the wall mounting that had clearly had something removed from it.

"Yeah, it's what was keeping everything in this room cold by keeping the temperature below zero." Barry said, referring to all the puddles of water on the floor.

"Which explains the water." Joe said and Barry nodded as Carla came in.

"Detective West, Barry." Carla said to her stepson.

"Carla, do you have any idea on who might be behind this theft?" Joe asked Carla.

"No clue. All the security cameras have been wiped clean from the time of the theft and this was a project I shelved years ago. The cryo atomizer was designed to disperse cold air particles to trigger rainfall to help combat wildfires caused by droughts. The project was shelved because it wasn't considered cost effective." Carla said.

"Yeah, not a whole lot of people see the money in saving the planet." Barry said.

"Anyways, after that, I decided that instead of just locking the atomizer up to collect dust, I'd still give it some use by using it to keep our experiments in cold storage. I don't know who would steal it or why, but it was clearly done by a professional." Carla said.

 "She's right about that. I haven't found any evidence. No fingerprints or anything else. Do you mind if I take a look at your files?" Barry asked.

"Well, this was clearly a well executed heist, which means a lot of planning went into it." Joe said.

"We should check security footage from around the building, see if any members of your security team were talking to anyone they shouldn't have been, see if there's any evidence left behind of your servers being hacked. See if we can find some kind of trail that can lead us back to whoever did this." Barry said.

"We'll comply with your investigation as long as you don't request any proprietary information, since while I might give that information to you Barry, I don't feel comfortable giving it to the CCPD." Carla said.

"We appreciate your cooperation." Joe said.

Meanwhile, in a warehouse on the other side of the city, the thief who'd stolen the cryo-atomizer was currently carrying it up to the person who'd hired him to steal it in the first place.

"Okay, I've got what you hired me to get. Between this and also breaking you out of that prison, it's time I get paid or else the cops find out where you're hiding and I smash this thing into the ground." Leonard Snart said to his client with his usual snark.

"You've more than earned your reward, which is why in addition to what I initially promised you, you'll find an extra 20 million wired into your account." his client, Dr. Thomas Snow, or as he was known now, Icicle, said with a smirk and Snart grinned.

"Then I guess it was worth all the time and resources I spent tracking down the location of Belle Reve, then figuring out how to break you out of it and then stealing this gadget, whatever it is. But now I'd like what you actually promised me, since while the money is appreciated, you promised me a game changer." Snart reminded him.

"And I always keep my promises." Icicle said as he slid a case over to Snart, who opened it to reveal a sleek techy gun and goggles.

"I'd recommend always wearing those goggles when you use that gun, since they help with the glare. That gun will slow down any object as soon as you hit it. I guarantee. I appreciate your patience, since it took me a while to acquire the parts I needed to build it, but well worth it." Icicle said.

"I agree. This partnership has definitely been mutually beneficial." Snart said as he took the gun.

"Does that mean that you're open to additional work with me in the future should I have further need of your services?" Icicle asked.

"If you continue paying this well, then yes. But for now, I'm gonna get out of this city before the cops realize I'm the one who stole that gadget, whatever it is." Snart said as he placed the atomizer on a table before taking his leave.

"Fine with Mr. Snart. Thanks to you, I have everything I need now." Icicle said as he picked up the atomizer with one hand and looked at a photo with the other. It was a photo of his daughter, Caitlin Snow, the last time he'd seen her when she was just a kid.

"Soon we'll be together again, Caity. And we'll never be separated again." Icicle promised as he got to work.

Chapter Text

Iris was currently recuperating from her recent surgery of having her bionic arm installed and while it didn't have any nerves in it, at least not yet, Iris could still feel it in a way. And it felt so weird, having this piece of metal or what she was told was actually some kind of space age polymer, not that she really understood any of that, since science was Barry's specialty, not her's, but anyways, it felt weird to have a piece of technology literally grafted onto her body. It would definitely be a while before she got used to that, though thankfully, it seemed like this arm was a quick study in learning to communicate with her brain, since it had been a week since the prosthetic was installed and already Iris had begun to master basic hand-eye coordination. It was by no means perfect, but the fact that her arm was somewhat usable by now was an improvement, since she could now move her bionic fingers and even close her hand into a fist, but she still couldn't move her arm yet, but hopefully she'd be able to soon, since the sooner she gained control over this arm, the sooner she could finally get discharged from the hospital. Which was good because after spending months surviving off military rations and hospital food, she wanted some real food. Preferably from Big Belly Burger.

"I come bearing gifts." Gabriella said with a smile as she entered Iris's hospital room and showed her a bag of Big Belly Burger.

"Oh, you are a true friend." Iris said.

"Well, since Barry is still going through treatment for being struck by lightning, someone has to sneak you junk food behind Caitlin's back. Especially since I feel your pain more than most, since now that I remember what real food tastes like compared to what they served in the mess hall overseas, I'm never going back." Gabriella said.

"Even if I could go back, I'm not, since I think we both know we were sent into a trap." Iris said.

"Yeah, I know. I still can't believe Eiling did that, but until we can prove it, we can't do anything. Though now that you're on the road to recovery, you should know that I got a call from the joint chiefs earlier this week." Gabriella said.

"Why?" Iris asked.

"Because you're being awarded the purple heart and we're both going to be receiving medals of honor for our service, though I'm guessing that Eiling arranged that one to try and keep us from investigating him." Gabriella said.

"Still, I'm not going to complain about those medals, since at least I get something out of what happened." Iris said.

"True. And at least our team is going to receive a hero's burial and their families will be receiving full benefits." Gabriella said.

"God, I don't even want to think about how I'm supposed to face those people. I was their squad leader and I led them into a death trap." Iris said as Gabriella squeezed her good hand.

"Iris, it wasn't your fault. You didn't know it was a trap and they know that. But anyways, you'd better start eating this before Caitlin comes back and starts reading me the riot act for bringing you this crap and you the riot act for eating this crap while you're recovering." Gabriella said and Iris chuckled as Gabriella handed her a burger.

"I can't really complain about that since I sneak that crap too." Caitlin said with a smile as she entered the room.

"It's true. But you never bring me Big Belly Burger." Iris said before taking another bite.

"I'll keep that in mind." Caitlin said.

"Anyways, I've finally found a place to stay here in Central City that's in my price range." Gabriella said.

"Really, that's great." Iris said.

"Yeah, now I just need to go furniture shopping to make the place feel like home." Gabby said.

Chapter Text

Since Iris was still doing her rehab, learning to use her new bionic arm, Barry decided that it was time to do something he hadn't done in a while, even though he probably should have.

Which was why he was currently walking through Central City Cemetery until he reached the grave he was looking for.

"Hi mom." Barry said as he laid flowers at her grave, regretting that he hadn't come here sooner, since despite his father's best efforts, Barry hadn't been back here since his mother's funeral, when they'd laid her to rest. He'd been too angry, too busy trying to figure what happened to his mother to visit her and he regretted it. He'd wasted so much time obsessing over trying to solve this mystery. But now he was here. And he needed to make it count.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to come visit you, but until now I couldn't find the strength to do it. Ever since that night, I feel like I've been running in one way or another, but I've always been running from the same thing. I've been running from having to face my grief about what happened to you. And I'm so sorry that it took me this long to slow down and finally run towards you, instead of away." Barry said as tears came to his eyes as he finally let the grief he'd been running from for about 15 years hit him and before he knew it, he felt someone place their hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see his father standing over him.

"I had a feeling I'd find you here today. Especially when Joe said you'd taken another day from CCPD and you weren't at the hospital with Iris." Henry said to his son.

"I should've come here sooner, dad. I should've spent more time living my life instead of trying to figure out that night." Barry said.

"Barry, you dealt with your grief the way you felt you needed too and for you, that was trying to solve some unsolvable mystery. And I know that you won't stop trying to solve it." Henry said.

"I can't. Not when I think I might be close now." Barry said.

"Barry." Henry said.

"No dad, I mean it. But I've spent my whole life being stuck in that living room from 15 years ago ever since it happened, but I'm done with that." Barry said and Henry smiled.

"Good. Because your mother wouldn't want you to waste your whole life obsessing over what happened to her." Henry said and Barry nodded.

"I know, but that doesn't mean that I don't miss her." Barry said.

"I know slugger. I miss her too, but we have to keep living our lives. It's what she would've wanted for us to do." Henry said.

"I know. And I'm glad that you were able to find love again with Carla, since it gave me a sister from Caitlin." Barry said and Henry smiled.

"And I'm glad you know that Carla was never a replacement for your mother, since Caitlin had a harder time accepting me in place of her father." Henry said.

"I remember. But dad, I just wanted you to be happy." Barry said.

"And that's what I want for you too son. Especially since it sounds like you're finally ready to start living your life again." Henry said.

"I am. Which is why when I get back to CCPD, I'm going to talk to Joe about something I should've talked to him about a long time ago." Barry said and Henry smiled.

"Good. I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever work up the guts to talk to him about it, since we both know that he'd never forgive you if you didn't have that talk first." Henry said and Barry nodded his agreement, since he knew that his father was right.

They talked a little more before Barry said goodbye to his mother before walking away, waiting until he was far enough away that he thought that his father wouldn't see him speed away, but Henry did, causing him to sigh before he turned to look down at his first wife's grave.

"Well Nora, it looks like the day we knew would come is here. Maybe it's time I finally tell him the truth about me." Henry said before he walked away from the grave himself.

Chapter Text

After talking it over with Carla, Henry headed over to the loft his son shared with Iris.

"Hey dad." Barry said when he opened the door to his father.

"Hey slugger, what are you doing?" Henry asked.

"Getting the place ready for Iris to come home, since she's being discharged from the hospital in a few days." Barry said.

"That's right, I remember Caitlin told me that. You certainly seem to have gotten a lot done in a short amount of time." Henry said.

"I've been trying to keep busy to keep my mind off Iris." Barry said, since he'd installed a motorized chair at the base of the stairs to help her get from the main floor to the upper level with their bedroom, since Barry did not want her to feel like she had to sleep on the couch until she recovered and there weren't any bedrooms on the main floor and now seemed like the worst possible time to think about moving somewhere else, since Barry knew that Iris would hate the idea of moving just because of her injuries.

"Well, can you take a break, since there's something we need to talk about." Henry said.

"What's that?" Barry asked.

"I saw the way you left your mother's grave earlier." Henry said.

"What are you talking about?" Barry asked a little too quickly, only for Henry to chuckle.

"It's okay Barry. I've honestly been expecting to see you move like that for years." Henry said.

"What do you mean?" Barry asked as to his surprise, his father suddenly started vibrating his hand at superspeed.

"It runs in the family. Literally." Henry said.

"Wait, you're a speedster too?" Barry asked and Henry nodded.

"There's a lot I need to tell you. But this isn't the place to do it." Henry said.

"Okay, so where is it?" Barry asked and Henry smiled.

"Keep up with me if you can and you'll find out." Henry said with a grin as he sped out of the loft, leaving a trail of golden lightning behind him as he ran and Barry grinned as he followed his father out of the loft, thrilled that he could share this gift with his dad and that he wouldn't have to hide his speed from his dad, but now he was more curious than anything else about where they were going and how his father had gotten his speed in the first place.

Barry barely managed to keep up with his father as they ran throughout Central City, out towards the mountains outside of the city's limits, following him until they arrived at the base of one of the largest ones.

"Huh, I still got it after 20 years." Henry said with a smirk as he looked over to his son, who was bent over, trying to catch his breath.

"Dad, what are we doing out here?" Barry asked.

"I'll show you." Henry said as he moved a rock to reveal a hand scanner, much to Barry's surprise as Henry placed his hand on the scanner, causing it to turn green before a rock wall slid to the side to reveal a secret passage.

"What is this place?" Barry asked as he followed his father inside and not even trying to hide the fact that he was geeking out big time over the fact that his dad apparently had a secret bunker hidden in the mountains as they entered the main room, which was one large circular platform full of digital screens and what looked like hologram projectors (picture the mission room of the Cave from Young Justice, but with red walls and gold lightning accents on it).

"Well, for the first 5 years after I arrived on this world, it was home." Henry said, waiting for those words to take effect and he did not have to wait long.

"Wait, did you just say you arrived on this world? You're an alien?" Barry asked, wondering if that was the cause of his speed, only for his father to shake his head no.

"No, I'm human. Or well metahuman anyways. I'm from this planet, just not this dimension. You know the multiverse theory right?" Henry asked.

"Wait, that theory is true?" Barry asked.

"Yes. I am from a parallel universe." Henry said.

"I have so many questions going through my head right now I'm not even sure where to start asking them." Barry said.

"How about I start from the beginning." Henry said.

"Hang on a second, I'll be right back." Barry said as he sped out of this cave and returned a few minutes later after having dropped Cisco, Caitlin and now Wells.

"What's going on, where are we?" Caitlin asked, since like Barry, Cisco was too busy geeking out over where they are.

"They all know about my speed, so they should know the full story." Barry said and Henry nodded.

"Since Carla already knows this already, it's only right." Henry said.

"Know what?" Caitlin asked, raising an eyebrow at her stepfather.

"Get comfortable, this might take awhile." Henry said as he showed them to a lounge area for all of them to sit down in before he began his tale.

Chapter Text

"So, wait, your father, my stepfather, who is actually a speedster like you, is actually from a parallel universe, since apparently the multiverse is real and he's been proof of it this whole time?" Caitlin asked after Barry had told her, Cisco and Wells the little bit he already knew.

"Basically." Barry said.

"I let Barry bring you here because since you already know about his speed, I figured it was time that you knew the truth about everything." Henry said.

"Does my mom know about this?" Caitlin asked.

"Yes. I have no secrets from her. Just like how Nora knew too." Henry said.

"Wait, mom knew about this too?" Barry asked.

"Yes. You can't keep secrets from the people you love Barry. Which is why, even though Joe will likely kill me for saying this, I think you should tell Iris about your speed after she gets out of the hospital." Henry said.

"I was already planning on it. But anyways, dad, why don't you start from the beginning, tell us everything about what's going on?" Barry asked and Henry nodded.

"It all started on another earth, I think its designation in the multiverse would've been Earth-3 before it was wiped out, but anyways, Henry Allen is not the name I was born with. My birth name is Jay Garrick. I was a scientist and doctor on my earth until one night, I was working on an experiment in my lab when out of nowhere, I was struck by lightning, just like you were and it put me in a coma for a few months and then when I came out of it, I could run faster than sound. As I learned to control my powers, I began to use them to help people in my city. They called me the Flash." Henry said.

"That's what I'm calling myself. I had no idea you'd used that name." Barry said.

"It runs in the family, just like the powers." Henry said as showed them a case that contained what had to be his old suit.

"Wait, is this your old suit?" Cisco asked, taking in the glory of the original Flash suit, the top half of it being a bright red jacket with a gold lightning bolt on the chest and the bottom half was blue pants with red boots and on the mannequin's head was a silver kettle helmet with gold wings on it.

"Yeah, it's made of a special synthetic polymer that's designed to be resistant to both heat and friction created when I ran at superspeed." Henry said.

"What is this place?" Caitlin asked, wondering how this mountain could've suddenly been so well stocked on such short notice.

"This was my base of operations on my earth that I somehow brought with me when I came here. I called it the Cave." Henry said.

"Ugh, are we married to that name? Mount Flash sounds so much cooler." Cisco said and Henry chuckled.

"Fine." Henry said.

"How did you get here?" Wells asked, getting them back on topic and thinking about this could impact his long term plans and also how he'd never known about this, since there was no record of any of this in his own time period and changes to the timeline of this earth shouldn't have affected the timelines of other earths.

"Well, everything needs an opposite, so while I used my speed to become a hero, someone else had to rise to become my enemy. A speedster dressed in black who called himself the Rival. Was obsessed with beating me and proving he was the fastest man alive. He killed a lot of people on my world, no matter how hard I tried to stop him. Then when he found this place, we engaged in our fiercest battle ever. I don't think either of us had any intention of taking prisoners that time and before I realized it, our fight had escalated from just racing around the mountain to running around the entire planet at over Mach 20." Henry said, looking down in shame.

"Running that fast across a surface with a molten core." Caitlin realized and Henry nodded.

"We triggered the end of the world. But by the time I realized that, it was too late to stop it. I desperately began trying to run around this mountain, hoping that maybe I could generate enough speed to go back in time to stop myself from triggering the event." Henry said.

"Wait, I can travel in time?" Barry asked, shocked.

"Eventually, but you're not at that level yet and it's something that should only be done as a worst case scenario, but anyways, I'm not sure exactly what happened, since eventually there was just a huge burst of white light and the next thing I know, but the mountain and myself had somehow traveled here, the mountain taking the place of its counterpart on this earth. I still don't know how that happened, but when I came too, I found myself surrounded by Argus agents, since they'd detected the energy spike caused by my arrival." Henry said.

"What's Argus?" Cisco asked.

"Secret paramilitary organization created to help protect humanity against advanced earthly threats. I think that aliens like Superman are out of their jurisdiction, but this was before its current leader, Amanda Waller was appointed, which is good, since from what I hear, if she'd been in charge back then, I'd likely be in a government lab right now. But the leadership at the time allowed me to share my story and they took pity on me. They set me up with a new identity as Henry Allen on the condition that I didn't try to pick up where I left off on this world and I agreed, since I'd already sworn to myself to never use my speed again after I'd used it to accidentally destroy my own world and I wasn't going to risk doing the same to this one." Henry said.

"Why'd you choose the name Henry Allen?" Barry asked.

"I didn't want to be Jay Garrick anymore and Henry Allen was my mentor and a good friend on my world." Henry said.

"Got it. But Argus just took your word for it that you wouldn't fall back into old habits?" Barry asked.

"No. They assigned me a handler to keep an eye on me. A young Argus agent named Nora Thompson." Henry said.

"Wait, mom was an Argus agent?" Barry asked, since he'd always thought his mother was just a real estate agent.

"She was. Originally I was just her assignment and her friend, but things grew more and more serious between us and eventually she decided to retire from Argus after we got married to give our family a normal life, not to mention that was around the time Amanda Waller took over and she didn't want to risk her finding out about me, since even though the previous director of Argus kept all information about me off the books, she didn't want to take the chance, so she resigned went into deep cover as a real estate agent, severing all ties to Argus to keep us safe." Henry explained.

"Wow. But why didn't you use your speed to save Barry's mother?" Wells asked, since that would've complicated his plans even more.

"I tried, but for some reason that night, I couldn't access my speed. It was like the speed force was intentionally keeping me from saving Nora. I don't know why." Henry said.

"The speed force?" Cisco asked.

"It's what Barry and I tap into to access our powers. It's very hard to explain right now. But after Nora died, I was broken. If it wasn't for Barry, I likely would've tried to kill myself. Then I met your mother Caitlin. Carla helped put me back together again and I told her all this. Though I haven't used my speed since until today." Henry said.

"So this place contains everything that's left of your world" Cisco now asked, looking around at all the new toys.

"Yes, as far as I know. And now I can use this stuff and my own knowledge to train Barry, make him a better Flash than I ever was and make sure that he never makes the same mistakes I did." Henry said and Barry smiled.

"I can't wait. But now, we should probably get back. Caitlin, Cisco, you guys want to help me finish getting the loft ready for Iris's homecoming tomorrow?" Barry asked and they both nodded.

"Let's go then. Dr. Wells, I'll drop you off at home." Barry said.

"Take them first." Wells said and Barry and Henry nodded as they took Caitlin and Cisco and sped out.

"Well, this certainly complicates things a bit." Thawne said, wondering how he'd work this into his plans before a new idea came to mind. One that wouldn't exactly be easy, but one that was necessary to ensure the long term achievement of his goals.

Chapter Text

"You know I can do this myself thanks to Carla right?" Iris asked as Barry pushed her wheelchair down the hall from the elevator to their apartment, despite the fact that Iris now had a prosthetic arm that she'd pretty much mastered using by this point and was constantly talking with Cisco about upgrades to her arm.

"I know, just let me have this one thing before you start regaining your independence." Barry said and Iris rolled her eyes at that.

"Yes, because I'll be so independent, needing you to carry me up and down the stairs every morning and every night and helping me get in and out of this chair." Iris said as Barry kneeled down in front of her.

"Hey, don't think like that. You won't be in this chair forever. Now that Star Labs is owned by Argo Enterprises, it's only a matter of time until they find some kind of tech to help you walk again." Barry told her.

"And how do you feel about dating a girl who's part robot?" Iris asked, since between her arm and whatever technology they end up using to fix her legs, she might as well end up being more machine than human.

"Well, you know that is one of my biggest fantasies." Barry said with a smirk, causing Iris to smack him with her normal arm, though she was smiling.

"I'm serious." Iris said and Barry smiled.

"Iris, there's nothing about you that could change how I feel about you. Besides, when you wear sleeves, you can hardly even notice your arm, since this one even feels real." Barry said as he ran his hand down her bionic arm and the synthetic skin actually felt like real skin and Iris actually shuddered.

"I still forget sometimes that Carla really tricked this arm out for me so that I could actually regain my sense of touch with it. Remind me to thank her again." Iris said and Barry smiled.

"I will. But come on, let's get you home." Barry said, since he knew that Iris would need the pick me up and he also knew that she was just playing along with the idea that she didn't know they were throwing her a welcome home party, since it had been a tradition ever since they were kids that every year he'd try to throw Iris a surprise party for her birthday, but every year, she figured out what he had planned. She always knew there'd be a party, but the surprise was supposed to be how they celebrated. One of the downsides of her aspiring to be a reporter, a dream she planned on following that she'd followed in the family tradition and served in the military. A choice she hoped her little brother Wally would not make, since she now understood why her father was so against her enlisting, but now it was done and over with.

And sure enough, when Barry wheeled her into the apartment, the lights flipped on to reveal a banner that read welcome home Iris on it while her parents, Wally, Henry, Carla, Caitlin, Cisco and Gabriella all jumped up and yelled surprise.

"You guys did not have to do this." Iris said.

"Of course we did sis, but I hope you understand if I will not be following in your footsteps joining the military after high school." Wally said to his big sister with a smile as he hugged her.

"Nice to know at least one of my kids has common sense." Joe said, relieved that he wouldn't have to worry about his son the way he had about his daughter.

"Thanks for that dad, but I can't deny you're wrong about that." Iris said.

"Yeah, I don't have the patience to be stuck in a chair. You know me, it's all go, go, go." Wally said a little tactlessly, only to have Barry smack him upside the head.

"It's okay Barry. I'm glad that at least one of you isn't walking around pins and needles around me, which is not appreciated. Especially since I'm going to have to deal with enough of that with my shrink." Iris said, since she knew that she wasn't only damaged physically. Her injuries were also physical and emotional. But now was not the time to think about that.

"Sorry, force of habit. I'll try to avoid babying you, since I know you hate that." Barry said.

"Thank you. Now, this is a party right. So, let's get things started." Iris said and everyone grinned at that.

The party was in full swing and Iris couldn't help but smile as she watched Gabriella talk to Caitlin and not so subtly flirt with her, since she knew which way Gabriella swung and she'd had her suspicious about Caitlin for years and she thought that they'd make a good couple if they got together and she hoped for nothing but the best for them both.

However, she lost focus when she suddenly felt the temperature drop significantly.

"Uh Barry, did you crank the AC?" Iris asked her boyfriend.

"No." Barry said, right as the windows froze and shattered and to both Caitlin and Carla's shock, though for different reasons, Thomas Snow came into the apartment on some kind of ice slide.

"Dad?" Caitlin asked in shock at seeing her father alive.

"Hello Caity. It's been a long time. And I guess your mother never told you about me." Thomas said.

"Mom?" Caitlin asked her mother.

"Caitlin, I promise I will explain everything, assuming we survive this encounter with Icicle as I believe he calls himself." Carla promised as Barry suddenly vanished, only to reappear a moment later, now dressed in his Flash suit, which still was not as cool as his dad's, but they'd figure that out later.

"No one likes a party crasher Icicle." Flash said.

"Wait, don't." Henry tried to stop his son, since Icicle's powers were the one thing that could actually hurt his son, but Flash didn't listen, only to get ice blasted across the room.

"Physics 101 kid. Speed and cold don't mix. And cold always wins." Icicle said as he prepared to blast Flash again, only to be halted by bullets being fired at him by both Joe and Gabriella, but the bullets froze and shattered the moment they touched him.

"Pathetic." Icicle said as he jumped off his slide and walked straight up to Gabriella, grabbing and freezing her gun, forcing her to drop it before she gripped his neck.

"Now that was just rude." Icicle said as Gabby tried to punch him, but he began to freeze her, only to be stopped by being blasted back by another ice blast as all eyes turned to see Caitlin, her eyes now glowing silver, her lips blue and her hair white and icy mist spewing from her hands.

"Well, this is a surprise. And it does change things. And it allows you all time to live." Icicle said as he released a blast of icy mist that knocked them all back, which he used to cover his exit.

Chapter Text

"Okay, so who wants to explain what first?" Joe asked, since Barry had removed his cowl after Icicle had left and he'd prevented Joe from calling in the cops, since there were too many loose ends to tie up.

"I guess I'll go first. When I got hit by the lightning bolt, it somehow activated a dormant metagene I have, which gave me superspeed." Barry said.

"And based on that suit, I'm guessing that you're the mysterious red blur that's been spotted running around the city helping people?" Wally asked as he helped Iris back into her chair.

"Yeah. And hopefully I'll be able to use this speed to figure out who or what killed my mom that night.' Barry said.

"Were you going to tell me about this?" Iris asked.

"Yes I was. Tonight after everyone else left, since the only people here who already knew were Cisco, Caitlin and my dad, my dad because it turns out I inherited the metagene from and he saw me run after visiting my mom's grave a few days ago and Cisco and Caitlin because they and Dr. Wells were helping me learn to control my speed before the accelerator exploded." Barry said.

"But you were planning on telling me." Iris said.

"Yes, when we were alone, in private, since you don't exactly go around advertising you have a secret identity." Barry said.

"Fair enough." Iris said.

"What about that human popsicle that just attacked us?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah, that I have no idea about." Barry said.

"That was my dad, Thomas Snow, but I thought he died when I was a kid." Caitlin asked, looking at her mother.

"Caitlin, I wanted to tell you the truth, but I was literally forced to keep it a secret by the government." Carla said.

"Well, start talking." Caitlin said.

"You remember how your father had ALS?" Carla asked.

"Yeah, it's what killed him." Caitlin said.

"Except your father became desperate in trying to find a way to cure himself, using experimental cryogenic therapies in an attempt to freeze the progression of the disease and while he succeeded, he also created something worse. He created his own metagene that gave him ice based powers, but it also created a split personality, Icicle, who's a sociopath. I tried to find a cure for Icicle, but that was before I discovered that Icicle didn't want to be the only icy member of our family. He wanted to subject you to the same procedure that created him, so I had no other option but to contact the authorities, who took him into custody and promised to take him someplace where he'd never be able to hurt you and they also said that for national security reasons, I couldn't reveal any of this to you, so they faked your father's death and forced me to go along with it under the threat of going to prison myself if I refused to play along." Carla said and Caitlin could see nothing but truth in her mother's eyes.

"Wait, if Icicle never experimented on Caitlin, then how did she show the same powers as her?" Cisco now asked.

"Well, it's possible that Caitlin was born with a natural metagene and the shock at seeing her father alive combined with the trauma of his attack activated it, but that's only speculation." Carla said.

"But what was his objective and how did he find us? For that matter, how did he even escape from wherever the government had him locked up?" Barry now asked.

"I don't know. But my guess is that he wants to pick up where he left off before I had him locked up. He wants Caitlin to be his partner. Though now that she has ice powers of her own, he'll need a different approach." Carla said.

"I'll put an APB out on him, assuming the government doesn't interfere." Joe said.

"Joe, will you keep all this secret?" Barry asked him.

"Yeah, the less I know about all this, the better. But honestly, I get the feeling that you were given these powers for a reason Barry and I don't think that you getting them right before that explosion is a coincidence. Just be careful and make sure that you don't lose sight of who you are along the way and become as bad as the people you're trying to stop." Joe said.

"I promise." Barry said.

"And Joe, I'm gonna do everything I can to teach Barry how to use his powers, since he inherited them from me." Henry said.

"We'll talk about that later." Joe said.

"Henry might be able to teach Barry how to run, but he needs to know how to fight without his speed and since Iris is still recovering, I'd like to volunteer my services to train Barry in combat, including using his instincts, not just rushing in." Gabriella said.

"Appreciated." Barry said, since while he doubted it would be fun, he knew that it would likely be necessary.

Chapter Text

Jesse couldn't believe that she was doing this, but her father had reached out to her and said that she finally wanted to make peace with her after all this time and she'd decided to go for it. Which was why she was currently standing outside her father's mansion and she couldn't but roll her eyes in disgust, since even Kara Danvers had a certain level of humility to not flash her wealth to this scale. Sure she had a huge penthouse, but at least she didn't try to act like she was better than others. Which was clearly what her father was trying to do, but she pushed down those feelings as she knocked on his door.

"I wasn't sure you'd come." Wells said to Jesse as he showed her into his home.

"Yeah, that makes two of us. But I figured if you were going to the trouble of offering up the invite, I could actually show up." Jesse said as she walked in as her father wheeled next to her.

"How have you adapted to the chair?" Jesse asked as she looked around her father's home, trying to make some kind of small talk with him to try and cut through some of the tension.

"It gets easier everyday and I take solace in knowing that I'm luckier than some of the people in this city, most of them thinking I deserve worse than this because of the accelerator explosion." Wells said as he led his daughter into the dining room, where dinner was already prepared.

"Steak?" Jesse asked.

"Cooked medium rare with that barbecue sauce you liked. It's still your favorite right?" Wells asked her.

"You remember?" Jesse asked.

"Just because I wasn't the best father after your mother died doesn't mean that I don't know you Jesse." Wells told her.

"You have a funny way of showing it." Jesse said.

"We all deal with grief in different ways. Not to mention guilt, since I felt guilty that I survived the accident while your mother didn't. So I pushed you away so you wouldn't have to see me like that. You were just a kid and I didn't want you to see me like that. Or to make you think you needed to fix me. I'm not saying I chose the right way to handle things, but it was the way I chose to deal with things." Wells said.

"Yeah well, I needed my dad. Instead I got a stranger who looked like him." Jesse said coldly, having no idea how true that statement was.

"Jesse, I invited you here because I wanted to make amends with you." Wells said.

"Right, sorry, hard to let go of that anger, but even I can admit that you don't deserve the ridicule this city is giving you, since you couldn't have known there was a possibility that the accelerator would fail and I know it was both yours and mom's life's dream, how could you not bring it to life?" Jesse asked and 'Wells' thought now was the time to make a calculated risk.

"Actually, I was warned of the possibility that the accelerator could fail." Wells admitted.

"What?" Jesse asked her father.

"A former colleague, Hartley Rathaway, my former right hand before he left Star labs prior to the explosion, he warned me that there was a chance that the accelerator could fail, but his data did not show a certainty, only a risk, but I was too prideful to listen. I thought that the potential benefits outweighed that risk." Wells said and Jesse sighed.

"I guess you're not the first scientist to make that mistake. But you do need to set the record straight." Jesse said.

"I know." Wells said, right as the lights flickered before going out completely.

"What the hell?" Jesse asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it's the breaker?" Wells asked, right as out of nowhere, the wine on the table suddenly began to float out of nowhere.

"What the hell?" Jesse asked, right as there was flash of red lightning revealing a vibrating man with glowing red eyes and wearing some kind of yellow suit that concealed his identity and his arrival had actually knocked Jesse backwards into a bookshelves and when she looked up, and she was horrified at seeing this man in yellow holding her father by his throat.

"Harrison Wells, it is time you paid for your sins." the man in yellow said, his voice vibrating as well as he picked up a knife off that table

"No." Jesse screamed as she helplessly watched the man in yellow stab the knife into her father's heart.

"Jesse, I love you." Wells began to say as he died as the man in yellow turned to her.

"You're lucky I don't have time to stick around to kill you too, but I have places to be and a certain amount of time to get there." the man in yellow said, speeding away, leaving a trail of red lightning behind him as the lights came back on and leaving Jesse shocked at what she'd seen before she walked up to her father's lifeless body and gently closed his eyes before calling the police, grateful that her watch had recorded this entire event to prove her innocence, along with her father's security system would prove that as well, before she started to cry.

Meanwhile, several miles away and underground in an abandoned sewer tunnel, the man in yellow came to a stop as he felt his speed starting to give out, but that didn't matter, since at least this time it had lasted as long as he'd needed it too, but once he came to a stop, he pulled off his cowl to reveal the face of Harrison Wells.

"At last, I can finally lose this ridiculous disguise." 'Wells' said as he began to vibrate to himself again until his hair had turned from black to blonde and his face had shifted from the face of Harrison Wells to the face he'd been born with. The face of Eobard Thawne.

"Though I can't deny a part of me will miss it, since it was handsome. But it's time to finally be Eobard Thawne again instead of continuing to pretend to be Harrison Wells. Thankfully I was able to stabilize my connection to the negative speed force long enough to create that time remnant and convince him to play his part." Thawne said, as if he was talking to no one.

"So what do we do now father?" a new voice asked from a dark tunnel and Thawne grinned as he turned to see his only companion.

"Well buddy, now we start getting you ready to play your part in my plan. And I promise, when it's over, you'll get everything I promised you." Thawne said as his companion walked out of the shadows to reveal himself to be a huge black silverback gorilla.

"Grodd is eager to assist you father." the gorilla said, using actual words, since Grodd was much smarter than your average gorilla, thanks to the experiments Eiling had done to him, activated by the particle accelerator explosion.

"Well then, let's get to work." Thawne said with a grin, since now his plans could truly begin, since he knew that his 'death' would lead to Barry pushing himself even harder, especially now that he knew that the man who killed his mother was back.

Chapter Text

"Okay, this is not how I thought I'd be invited to Dr. Wells' home." Barry said as he and Joe, along with the rest of CCPD walked up to Harrison Wells's mansion to find his daughter Jesse in hysterics waiting for them, standing over her father's body.

"I didn't do it and I have proof." was the first thing Jesse said.

"Why don't you tell us what happened?" Barry asked, since this scene looked a little too familiar to him as he saw that Patty and Julian were already at work.

"First, let's see this proof that you're not the killer." Joe said, since while he didn't believe that this young girl was the killer, it was a known fact that she hated her father, she'd been the only visitor Harrison Wells had had tonight. The evidence right now was pretty damning.

"Happy too. This is a recording from my smart watch, not to mention the house's security cameras." Jesse said as she used her watch to project video of a scene that was almost identical to the one Barry had seen the night his mother died, but with only red lightning, no yellow and the man in yellow was clearly seen.

"Can we authenticate this?" Joe asked, since he knew what was going through Barry's head and he was dreading the I told you so Barry was bound to have ready once they were alone.

"I already did Detective. The footage is genuine and it's also on the security cameras." Julian said.

"I knew he was real." Barry said.

"Barry." Joe said.

"Wait, you know this guy?" Jesse asked incredulously.

"The man that killed your father is the same man who killed my mother over a decade ago. Though until now, I never had any proof he was real." Barry said, looking at Joe.

"Can you save the I told you so for later. But why would this man kill Dr. Wells?" Joe asked.

"I mean there are plenty of people in this city who'd want to after the accelerator exploded and the man in yellow did say that my dad needed to pay for his sins. I guess one of them decided to act on it. But how was he able to move that fast?" Jesse asked.

"I don't know." Barry said, genuinely, since he didn't know how the man in yellow could've gotten his speed, since Barry knew that his speed came from his father, but he had no idea where this man could've gotten his powers from.

Joe looked at Jesse and he couldn't help but get flashbacks to Barry back when his mother was murdered, the only difference was that this time Joe believed him about what killed his mother.

"We need to get the body down to the morgue." Eddie now said.

"It's already being taken care of." Jullian assured him.

"Good. God, I came tonight to try and make amends with my father, and instead I have to bury him." Jesse said, tears coming to her eyes.

"Eddie, can you please take Ms. Morgan down to the station to give her official statement." Joe asked Eddie, who nodded.

"Yeah, we'll get her statement and then put out an ABP on this man in yellow." Eddie promised as he showed Jesse out.

"Joe, the guy I haven been searching for is finally back. I need to check my files." Barry said.

"Barry, slow down, no pun intended. First thing's first, I think you need to tell your dad." Joe said.

"Right. Especially since he needs to step up my training if I'm gonna have a chance at beating this guy, whoever the hell he is." Barry said.

"Barry, we need to be smart about this. We don't even know who this guy is or why he killed your mother in the first place or why he's back now." Joe said.

"Joe, this is the guy who killed my mom, nearly sent my dad to prison if it weren't for the fact that Superman exists." Barry said.

"I know. But rushing into this situation blindly and with your judgment clouded, it's a surefire way to add your name to this guy's list of victims. You have to keep your emotions in check or you're gonna make mistakes. Some of them might be small, but some of them will be big and they'll likely end up getting people hurt. Something that your powers will make even worse. Before you suit up and go chasing after the bad guys, you need to make sure you know how to use your speed and you can't just rely on it. Cops don't just rely on their guns. Our greatest weapons are our minds. Our experience. Trust me on this Barr. I know you want to rush in and get this guy like you always have, but for once in your life, slow down and think things through. At least wait until after Gabriella's trained you how to fight without your powers, since you can't rely on them to win every fight." Joe said and while Barry didn't like it, he knew Joe was right.

"Fine. But the second we get a lead on this guy, I'm going after him and no one is going to stop me from finally getting justice for my mother and now Dr. Wells." Barry said as he got back to work.

Chapter Text

A few days after Dr. Wells's funeral, which only Cisco and Caitlin had attended from Team Flash, since they were the only members of Team Flash who could actually justify attending at this time, but anyways, now Cisco was currently exploring Mount Flash as he'd christened their new base, though he had to admit. While this place was easy to get to for speedsters like Barry and his dad and even Caitlin, since she'd already learned to use her new ice powers to create a sort of ice slide that allowed her to get around the city almost as fast Barry could run right now, but for people like him, Iris, Gabriella and Joe, getting here was a bit of pain.

But that was before he found the lab, immediately falling in love with all the cool toys that Henry or Jay or whatever you wanted to call him, had managed to salvage and bring with him from his Earth, before he noticed a large round chamber that seemed to be built right into the mountain, though it looked useless now.

"What is this thing?" Cisco wondered out loud.

"That Cisco, is a Zeta tube." Henry said as he entered the lab.

"Hope you don't mind me looking around." Cisco said.

"Not at all. I've been expecting you to do this and I have a feeling that you'll really enjoy using this lab as your new workshop." Henry said and Cisco grinned.

"Can't wait to get all set up and you're going to need to run me through what some of this stuff does, since I don't think it all exists on this earth and it needs to be put to better use than just collecting dust." Cisco said and Henry nodded.

"I will." Henry said.

"But now can you please explain to me what this Zeta tube is?" Cisco asked eagerly and Henry chuckled.

"It's basically a teleportation device, harnessing zeta energy." Henry said.

"Zeta energy?" Cisco asked, since while he'd heard of it before, it wasn't something he was very familiar with.

"Zeta energy is something that's mostly theoretical on this earth and while it's not something that I'm completely familiar with, I do know that it can be used to teleport people and items to preset destinations." Henry explained.

"Then why don't we use this tech to help those of us without superpowers get here faster?" Cisco asked.

"Well for starters, I was never able to get this thing fully operational back before I lost my earth and this kind of science isn't really my specialty and with the rest of my team gone with my world, I wasn't able to finish and even if I could finish building it, it's useless on this earth." Henry said.

"What do you mean?" Cisco asked.

"The zeta tube can't work with only one tube." Henry said and now Cisco understood.

"In order for a zeta tube to be effective, there needs to be one here and at the destination." Cisco said and Henry nodded.

"And building one of these things takes a lot of resources, more than what I've been able to scrounge up here." Henry said.

"Good thing Star Labs is now owned by one of the largest tech companies on the planet. If you can give me enough information to put a proposal together, I think I can get Jesse to greenlight Star Labs building this thing, since this kind of tech could revolutionize travel all over the world." Cisco said, since he was thinking way beyond application for Team Flash. This could reduce the need for standard travel like cars and even planes. Who knows what the possibilities could include.

"I'll see what I can work up." Henry said, since he agreed with Cisco that if utilized properly, the zeta tube could become a revolutionary piece of technology to this world and considering how advanced Argo enterprises already was in terms of tech, he guessed that they'd be able to recreate the zeta tube tech and maybe even upgrade it.

Chapter Text

Barry was exhausted, since right now, he and Gabriella were in the gym, sparring, though his father had locked a metahuman power dampening cuff that he'd gotten from Argus when he first arrived on this Earth, on his wrist so that he could use his speed and Gabriella was putting him through his paces.

"Damn, I really miss my speed healing." Barry said, since he'd discovered early on that he healed much faster than normal and right now, he could really use that.

"Which is exactly why we're doing this. No pain, no gain. It took Iris and I months of training on a military base to get to where we are and Iris is likely gonna have to start from the beginning again once she gets out of the chair, since we both know that science will find a way to help her." Gabriella said and Barry nodded, though he was panting and sweaty as he downed a bunch of water from his water bottle.

"Wimp." Gabby said, since she'd barely gotten started.

"You're enjoying this a bit too much aren't you?" Barry asked and Gabby smirked.

"Iris might have asked me to beat you up a bit since you're babying her, which she does not appreciate. The only reason she's not here right now cheering me on is that she's at her mandated psychiatrist appointment, since she needs it more than I do, though I am still going to mine." Gabby said.

"Good, but what's going on between you and Caitlin?" Barry asked, since he'd seen the way Gabby and his stepsister looked at each other.

"What, nothing's going on between us." Gabby said a little too quickly as she threw another punch at Barry, but she was so distracted that he actually managed to dodge it with minimal effort.

"Yeah, because that was convincing. What's going on?" Barry asked.

"I am not talking to Caitlin's brother about this." Gabby said.

"Yes you are, since I'm not going to let my sister get hurt because you're messing around with her, sending her mixed signals." Barry said.

"I'm not messing around with anyone. I'm not sure what exactly is going on between Caitlin and I. I mean I like her and I think she likes me too, but I'm the kind of girl who comes from a tough neighborhood. I've had to put up walls around people my entire life, it's how I survived. Meanwhile, Caitlin is a girl who basically grew up in high society with her rich scientist mother and doctor stepfather. We're from two completely different worlds. She can do better." Gabby said.

"Yeah, she's tried going out with some of those so-called high society snobs as you call them. It never ended well, since she always said that both the boys and girls were too soft for her. She wants someone who fights back and has strong opinions." Barry said.

"And she's not seeing anyone now right, since I don't want to find out that she's been stringing me along." Gabby said and Barry shook his head.

"No. Before she came out, the guys were lucky if she even stayed till the end of the first date and then after she came out, she always seemed to find something wrong with the girls she dated. None of them were right for her. She was kind of infamous for it in school." Barry said, not harshly, but to let Gabby know exactly what she was getting herself into.

"Good to know. Any suggestions?" Gabby asked.

"Look, all I can suggest is talking this out with her, since the longer you put this off, the worse things are going to get." Barry said.

"It's not easy. I actually kept my sexuality secret while I was in the marines to keep myself safe from ridicule. At least until Iris figured it out and helped me come out and made me realize I was being ridiculous." Gabby said and Barry smiled.

"I know. Iris told me how she hugged you and told you how strong you were before she began to start asking me to send pictures of myself and Caitlin over to her." Barry said with a chuckle.

"And let me guess, she started sending pictures of me home for Caitlin to see. She's been trying to play matchmaker for Caitlin and I since before Caitlin and I officially met." Gabby said, honestly not at all surprised and a bit amused and grateful that Iris was trying to help her.

"Iris loved playing matchmaker in high school. Her greatest regret was never fixing Caitlin up with a lasting relationship." Barry said.

"Of course she was. But do you have any ideas on how I can make things work with Caitlin, since I don't just want to be another person she goes through before finding a flaw in them." Gabby said.

"Like I said, just talk to her." Barry said.

"I think I'd rather go back to Afghanistan and be in the middle of a firefight." Gabby said and Barry chuckled.

"Take this cuff off and I'll be happy to run you over there." Barry offered.

"Very funny. But seriously." Gabby said.

"Well one thing's for sure, Caitlin won't just be satisfied by the physical aspect. She needs someone who's smart enough to at least hold a conversation with her. While looks are nice, she's more attracted to brains." Barry said.

"Well, my IQ is 150 and while I'm not a science nerd, I can keep up with a basic conversation." Gabby said and Barry smiled.

"Then talk to her and stop making yourself miserable." Barry said.

Chapter Text

Iris smiled as she finished her latest therapy session with Dr. Krell, her counselor to help her with her PTSD. It was thanks to this woman that she was actually sleeping through the night without night terrors again. Something that she didn't think would ever happen again after she'd started seeing the things she had overseas.

Anyways, now she was wheeling herself next door to Jitters like she always did after a session, since now that she was getting the hang of both her chair and her new arm, Iris was eager to try and maintain as much of a normal life as possible, including getting her favorite coffee from Jitters, especially since she usually felt pretty drained emotionally after their sessions, so a coffee was always appreciated. Especially since it was one of the many things she'd missed when she was overseas, since the gunk that passed for coffee around the base was barely drinkable.

But as she sat at her usual table at Jitters, drinking her triple shot mocha latte and with a nice scone with it, since now she needed to start thinking about what she was going to do for work, since while she could honestly get by on Barry's pay and her military leave, not to mention disability, but that wasn't her. She needed to make her own way. Besides, her dream had always been to be a reporter, like her idols, Lois Lane and Cat Grant. But she wasn't sure how she was ever going to become a reporter that renowned while she was stuck in this chair, but she wasn't going to let herself become depressed over that. She'd find a way to overcome her disability, no matter what it took.

But she was pulled from her thoughts when she heard someone get her attention by slamming their hand on her table, making her jump to the extent she could and scowled when she looked up and saw who it was.

"Hey babe." her old grade school acquaintance, Tony Woodward, said with what he clearly thought was some kind of flirty smile, but really, it made him look like even more of a smug jackass than he already was.

"Tony." Iris said, since her memories of this guy were not fond, since she remembered how much crap he'd given Barry after his mother had died and he'd been a jerk to Caitlin too.

"What, I thought you'd be happy to see a familiar face." Tony said smugly.

"Not when it's your smug mug." Iris said.

"Really? I thought you'd be happy to see me." Tony said.

"And why is that?" Iris asked.

"Because given your current situation, it looks like you could use a big strong man to help keep you safe." Tony said smugly and Iris glared at him.

"Even if I did, which I don't, I sure as hell wouldn't ask a sexist bastard like you to do it." Iris said.

"Don't tell me you're still wasting your time with that Allen freak? The only thing he's good for is taking a beating." Tony said.

"Wow, how is it that even though you look like a grown man, you still have the maturity of an elementary schooler?" Iris asked.

"Come on baby. I'm just trying to be helpful. After all, I know that you're just stringing Allen along until you can find a real man to make you feel good." Tony said and Iris was honestly glad that her right hand was bionic, since that meant it would hurt him a bit more when she smacked which she was close to doing.

"Barry's more of a real man than you'll ever be. Now get lost before I yell out assault, since I'm assuming that a guy like you hates cops." Iris said angrily, grateful that Cisco had added what he called a panic button to her phone that once activated would send an alert not only to the computer in Mount Flash, which Iris had yet to see by the way, but also to the phones of every member of team Flash, including her father the cop and her boyfriend, the Flash.

"Excuse me, is there an issue here?" Gabby asked as she stepped in, since she was at Jitters to pick Iris up, since while Iris was healing, she hadn't yet learned how to drive with her current disabilities, since it would require more than just modifying a car, it would also require her learning how to use it.

"Mind your own business bitch." Tony said and Iris actually winced, since she knew how Gabby responded to people calling her that and it was never pretty.

"Yeah, I hate it when people use that word you asshole." Gabby said as she tried to slug Tony, only for his skin to ripple and briefly turn to metal and she pulled her hand back and cursed in pain.

"Damn, is your head literally full of rocks?" Gabby asked as Iris knew that this was above their pay grade as she tapped her panic button as Tony's entire body turned to metal before he backhanded Abby, sending her flying back.

"Now, where were we?" Tony asked with a sick grin, right as the Flash sped into Jitters for the world to see that he existed.

"Is there a problem here?" Flash asked.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Tony asked arrogantly.

"I'm the Flash. And you don't know how long I've been waiting for this." Flash said, since he recognized the meta as the bully who'd made both his and his sister's life a living hell while they were in school.

"Really. Cause all I see is another punk who was born to take a beating." Tony said.

"We'll see. But why don't we take this outside. Unless you're too scared?" Flash asked, taunting him and sure enough, Tony took the bait as he charged at Flash, who sped away.

"Coward." Tony said as he followed Flash away from the crowd to a place where not as many people would get hurt by their fight.

Chapter Text

The Flash was currently racing through Central City, honestly playing a bit of a game of Cat and Mouse with Tony, pausing every few hundred yards, keeping Tony in his line of sight, letting him get close and then speeding off again and he had to admit, he was taking a little more pleasure in toying with Tony than he probably should.

"You are taking way too much joy in this." Caitlin said over the comms.

"Like you wouldn't if it was you against Lexi LaRoche now?" Flash asked his sister.

"Point taken." Caitlin conceded.

"But do we have an actual plan on how to stop Tony, since I'm pretty sure that all hitting him at superspeed is going to hurt me more than it'll hurt him." Barry said.

"No Barry, you keep doing what you're doing, playing Cat and Mouse with Tony." Henry said over the comms.

"Okay, but why?" Barry asked, confused

"Because every metahuman has limits, including both you and Tony. Staying in his steel form while trying to keep up with you must be exhausting. He won't be able to maintain it forever. You just need to wait for him to tire himself out. Once he's too exhausted to maintain his metal form, you can take him down." Henry explained.

"Got it." Flash said, since while it wasn't the takedown he'd prefer to serve Tony with, at least it was a takedown that he could finally get on his childhood bully and luckily, after dealing with Tony for years, Barry was an expert at evading him.

"Oh, and from now on, call him Girder." Cisco said over the comms.

"Really Cisco, is now the time for that?" Flash asked, though he couldn't deny it was an appropriate nickname.

"Since I'm the only person in this operation that doesn't have superpowers, please let me have this. Besides, you can't deny that it's a good name." Cisco said and Flash rolled his eyes.

"Fair enough." Flash agreed as Girder once again caught up to him.

"Come on, stay still and fight." Girder demanded as he attempted to punch Flash, who quickly and easily dodged his strikes, since sometimes speed did beat strength.

"I am. You're just too slow to keep up." Flash taunted as he landed a few speed punches into Girder's side and while it did cause his hands to sting while Tony was in his metal form, it still felt so satisfying to finally get a few shots in on him while Tony couldn't touch him anymore. Besides, it was frustrating Tony and that was enough to help tire him out.

"Pathetic weakling. You don't deserve your power." Girder said.

"Funny, I was gonna say the same thing to you." Flash said as he could see Girder getting tired, both physically and mentally. It was getting clear that he couldn't maintain his metal form much longer.

"I will prove that I'm better than you and that I'm the one who deserves Iris, not that weakling Allen she settled for." Girder said as his metal form failed and Flash grinned, since he knew what that meant as he grabbed Tony by his shirt.

"You're never gonna get anywhere near Iris again. I've been waiting a long time for this moment." Flash said as he knocked Tony out with a lightning punch.

"Damn, that looked good." Cisco said, since they'd been monitoring the fight through the CCTV footage.

"It felt good too." Flash said as he heard Tony muttering something, even unconscious.

"She will love me, she will love me." Tony said, proving just how broken he was.

"I'm gonna drop this trash off at CCPD, since I'm not sure where else to put him." Flash said.

"Fortunately, there's already a protocol in place for super powered criminals in every city, dating back to Superman's existence. CCPD should be able to hold him until the government can transport him to Belle Reve." Henry said.

"In the meantime, you should check social media, since you're trending under #CentralCitySavior." Cisco said, since the Flash's fight with Girder had been public and seen by everyone in the city, officially revealing his presence to the world.

In fact, now that the trouble was over, people were approaching him.

"What do we call you?" one of his admirers asked and Flash grinned.

"Call me the Flash." Flash said as he picked Tony up and sped away, leaving the crowd in shock and awe at their new hero.

"And just like that, the Flash is officially born." Thawne said with a smirk as he watched events unfold on his display, ever since he'd 'killed' Harrison Wells and taken refuge down in the sewers, he'd moved his surveillance operation down here and he was keeping tabs of Team Flash. He had to admit that it was nice to finally be Eobard Thawne again instead of having to be Harrison Wells.

"Flash lives, father. Why didn't you allow me to fight him?" Grodd asked his father.

"In time buddy. I promise you'll get your chance. But right now the Flash wouldn't give you any real challenge. When you fight him, I want you to have a fight worth your time. Right now the Flash is too weak to give you that. For now we watch and observe the Flash in action. But I have someone else you can deal with for now. Someone I think even the Flash would agree to let you handle. An old friend of ours." Thawne said with a grin as he tossed a file to the ground and he saw Grodd grin.

"Grodd will enjoy this." Grodd said as he looked down on the file.

Chapter Text

"What exactly are you studying, since somehow I doubt it's your textbooks for school, since you've never really cared about that, despite the fact that you have excellent grades." Joe asked his 15 year old son Wally as he entered his room.

"I thought you were checking in on Iris after the whole Girder situation." Wally said as he tried to cover up.

"Wally, spill it. What's going on with you? Ever since we found out about Barry's speed, you've been acting withdrawn and honestly, it makes me a little nervous. What is going on with you?" Joe asked his son.

"Nothing's going on dad." Wally said.

"Wally, talk to me. What are you doing and why are you trying to keep it hidden from me." Joe said as he saw some kind of formulas and equations written in one of his notebooks.

"Dad, it's nothing." Wally said.

"Wally, spill it or I'll get answers another way that I don't think either one of us wants to go through. So save us both some time." Joe said and Wally sighed.

"Fine. You know how I've always been a bit of a speed junkie?" Wally asked.

"A bit? There's a reason your mother and I have been so hesitant to start teaching you how to drive, even though you have your permit and that reason is that we don't trust you to follow speed limits." Joe said and Wally rolled his eyes.

"Well, ever since I found out about Barry." Wally said.

"Wait, are you jealous of Barry's speed, because you know he didn't ask for that right?" Joe asked.

"I know, but that's not it. Barry can move at speeds faster than any machine can and I want to be able to do that too. I'm trying to see if I can replicate the accident that gave him his powers." Wally said, much to his father's shock and displeasure.

"Wally, you can't be serious. You want to put yourself in the same kind of danger Barry does just for an adrenaline rush?" Joe asked.

"Dad, Barry's doing so much good for this city, why can't I?" Wally asked.

"Wally, Barry's an adult. You're a fifteen year old child. You should be focusing on school, football season and girls. Not trying to give yourself superpowers." Joe said.

"Dad." Wally said.

"No Wally, let it go. I know you're all about the speed, but no amount of speed is worth risking your life for. The accident that gave Barry his speed nearly killed him and I don't want to see that happen to you. Especially so soon after what happened to your sister. I can't go through that again." Joe said and Wally could see how much it meant to his father.

"Fine. I'll let it go. At least until I turn 18." Wally said and Joe nodded.

"I can live with that. For now." Joe said, right as Wally's phone rang and he saw who it was.

"Hey Vic." Wally said to his best friend and teammate on the Central City High School Falcons football team, Victor Stone, when he called.

"Hey Wally, the team's planning on hanging out tonight and I was hoping that you'd be able to join us." Vic said.

"Hang on a sec, let me ask my dad." Wally said.

"Ask your dad what?" Joe asked.

"The team's getting together to hang out tonight. Can I go?" Wally asked.

"Yeah and tell Vic he's expected to be here this Sunday to watch the game with us like usual." Joe said.

"Wouldn't miss it Joe." Victor said over speaker phone, since Vic was on a first name basis with Joe and was welcome at the West Household anytime, since Vic was Wally's best friend and his mother Elinore was one of Cecille's best friends. They'd grown up together, pretty similar to Barry and Iris and Wally knew that due to how bad Vic's relationship was with his own father, he'd come to see Joe as a surrogate father, especially since Victor's parents were divorced and his father lived in Detroit and rarely came to visit.

"Great, I'll see you then. Have fun tonight and do not let Wally behind the wheel." Joe said.

"Will do." Vic said as he hung up

"It's cool how great you are with Vic. I know he appreciates having a father figure around considering what the deal is with his own dad." Wally said.

"Yeah, Silas Stone better hope I never meet him, because I've got some choice words for that man putting his career before his family." Joe said.

"I'm gonna get ready for tonight." Wally said.

"And I'm going to give these notes to Barry and Henry to make sure you don't get any ideas." Joe said as he took his son's notebooks.

"Fine." Wally said, knowing better than to argue about that.

The next day, Barry was working in his lab at CCPD when Joe entered it.

"Barry, we need to talk." Joe said.

"What's going on?" Barry asked.

"Yesterday I caught Wally working on these." Joe said as he handed the notebooks to Barry.

"Chemical formulas?" Barry asked.

"He was trying to figure out how to replicate the accident that gave you your powers." Joe said.

"What? Why would he want to do that?" Barry asked.

"Because that kid has been a speed junkie for as long as I can remember and honestly, I'm worried after seeing these formulas." Joe said.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Barry asked.

"No, that might seem like hypocrisy. I need to know if there's a chance that he could eventually succeed?" Joe asked.

"Even if he figured out the chemicals I fell into that night, there are still two factors that need to be taken into account." Barry said.

"And those are?" Joe asked.

"He'd need to recreate the other circumstances." Barry said.

"The lightning that struck you." Joe said and Barry nodded.

"Wally would have to guarantee that he'd be in the right place at the right time to be struck by lightning and even then, there's no guarantee that it would work." Barry said.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked.

"The reason I have powers is because of my metagene. That's the gene that allows certain people to develop metahuman abilities. No gene, no powers and right now there's no way to test to see if Wally even has the metagene." Barry said.

"Do you think that Caitlin can come up with some kind of test to figure it out?" Joe asked.

"Probably." Barry said.

"Then please ask her too, since I need to know if there's even a chance that he could develop powers, since I can't see him honoring the promise he made me to wait until he turns 18 to resume his research, so I need to know if he'd even be able to develop powers at all." Joe said.

"We'll get on that." Barry promised.

"Thank you." Joe said.

"But if Wally does have the metagene, that also means that we should test the rest of your family too and it also means that his powers could be activated by anything." Barry said.

"I know. I just need to know if Wally even has a chance of developing powers or if he'll end up getting himself killed trying to give himself powers." Joe said.

"And we'll find a way to get you those answers." Barry promised and Joe nodded.

"Thank you." Joe said as he left Barry to get back to work.

Chapter Text

"Okay Cisco, what was so important that we needed to come here this early?" Barry asked Cisco as he and Caitlin entered Cisco's workshop at Mount Flash.

"And did Jesse approve the research into the Zeta tubes, since those would really come in handy." Caitlin said, since she had to admit, it would be easier to get to Mount Flash with the Zeta Tube as opposed to ice bridging.

"While she liked the idea, especially the way I sold it to her, she said that due to the resources a project like this would require, she'd need to get approval from Kara Danvers herself, but it sounds like it will be promising. In the meantime, I have been using the research your dad gave me to at least try to finish repairing this Zeta Tube, but it's slow going, especially when having to balance it with my work at Star Labs." Cisco said.

"Why do we still call it Star Labs when it's owned by Argo Enterprises now?" Barry asked.

"Jesse insisted on honoring her parents' memories, since Star Labs was originally their idea." Caitlin answered.

"Anyways, the reason I asked you both to meet me here today is because of these." Cisco said as he tossed each of them a golden ring. The one Barry caught had a gold lightning bolt on a red background while Cailtin's had a silver snowflake with a light blue background.

"Rings?" Caitlin asked skeptically.

"Put them on and press the emblems." Cisco said and the stepsiblings nodded as they put the rings and pressed the emblems on them, causing nanites to eject from them, though in different styles. For Barry, the nanites seemed to take on a form that resembled his own yellow lightning as they took the form of a bright red suit complete with gold lightning accents, a golden belt at his waist and gold boots. And on his chest was now a bright white circle with a gold lightning bolt on it.

And as opposed to the firemen's turnouts he'd been wearing as the Flash so far, where the cowl had two lightning bolts covering his ears, Barry felt wings like the ones on his father's helmet.

Meanwhile, the nanites from Caitlin's ring were icy blue, nearly white as they took the form of a pitch black suit with a silver snowflake emblem on her chest, along with a sleeveless dark blue coat materializing, along with heeled boots and separate dark blue sleeves that left her shoulders exposed as Caitlin let her eyes turn silver, her skin go pale and her hair turn white to complete the look.

"Now this is nice." Barry said as he and Caitlin looked at their new suits.

"Yeah. Using a combination of Argo Enterprises' nanotech research and tech from your dad's Earth, I created new super suits for both of you, since you can't deny that compared to Superman, Supergirl or even your dad's old suit, the one you were using before was kind of crude and dull and there was no way I was gonna let either of you go out there wearing underwhelming gear." Cisco said.

"And that is much appreciated." Barry said, since he did agree with Cisco and so did Caitlin, since she was liking this new look.

"I'm surprised you didn't make one of these for yourself." Caitlin said.

"I don't have powers, so I'm perfectly fine being your tech support while you two are out there kicking bad guy ass." Cisco said.

"Fair enough." Barry said, right as an alert went off.

"What is that?" Caitlin asked.

"Robbery at the Central City Museum. Ready to take that new suit for a test run?" Cisco asked Barry, who grinned.

"Absolutely. You want in?" Barry asked his sister, who shook her head.

"No, I'll pass. I want my debut as Ice Maiden to be against something a bit more impressive than a bank robbery. Have fun." Caitlin said as Barry wasted no time in speeding out of there.

"We really need to consider bringing Jesse into the fold, since it's only a matter of time until she realizes that the Star Labs satellite is doing more than we've reported and or that we're using her resources for things she didn't authorize, not to mention, I think she'll notice when we start using the Zeta Tube to transport here. Besides, it couldn't hurt to have some extra genius power here." Caitlin said and Cisco nodded.

"Not to mention Jesse probably has just as much interest in taking down the man in yellow as Barry since he killed her dad. But you should probably be the one to run it by him, since you are his sister." Cisco said and Caitlin nodded in agreement.

When Flash arrived at the museum, he found that the police had it surrounded, but what really got his attention was the amount of the ice around the building.

"Caitlin, are you sure you're not already here, since there's a lot of evidence that either you or your dad are here." Flash asked over the comms.

"No, I'm still at Mount Flash and there's no indication of my father's cryo signature anywhere near the city." Caitlin confirmed.

"Then it's someone new." Flash said, right as he barely managed to dodge a bright blue energy blast that seemed to freeze whatever it touched and he turned to see a man wearing a blue parka and some seriously teched out goggles, holding some kind of high tech gun.

"Hello Flash. I was wondering when you'd show up." the guy said.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Flash asked the thief.

"Just a man trying to make a dishonest buck in this world. And with this gun, not even you can stop me>" the thief said.

"And what makes you so sure about that?" Flash asked.

"Barry, he's right. Based on our scans of the gun from the camera Cisco installed your new suit, it's designed to work very similarly to my powers. That gun was created to hit sub zero temperatures, which happen to be one of your weaknesses, since speed and cold are opposites. He can do some serious damage if he manages to hit you." Caitlin said.

"Then I guess I'll just have to hope that I can run faster than he can shoot." Flash said.

"Maybe you can outrun me, but I doubt that the rest of these people can." the thief said.

"Who are you?" Flash asked again.

"Captain Cold." Cisco said before the thief could answer.

"You just couldn't help yourself." Flash said.

"You can't deny that it's a cool name." Cisco said.

"True." Flash acknowledged.

"What's true?" Captain Cold asked.

"How cool your new name is. Captain Cold." Flash said.

"I gotta admit, I do like the sound of that." Captain Cold admitted.

"Now, what do you want?" Flash asked.

"I just wanted to see the hero of Central City up close and personal and it's not like you have a signal light like that lunatic in Gotham. Though I'll let a different iceman handle that guy. You're mine." Captain Cold said as he fired at the Flash, only for the Flash to dodge easily, making sure to keep Cold's attention on him and only him to allow the civilians still inside the museum to get out and also taking care to try not to damage any of the exhibits, since he couldn't afford to buy it if he broke it.

"You can't dodge forever." Captain Cold said as he continued trying to hit the Flash, only for the Flash to direct his beam on the ground to create a sort of runway that he then used to slide down straight into Cold and kick his feet out from under him.

"Remind me to thank Gabby for those combat lessons." Flash said over the comms.

"Will do." Caitlin said.

"Impressive. You're better than I was expecting." Cold said with a smirk as the Flash tried to disarm him of his gun, but the second he touched it, the gun emitted some kind of bright flash that blinded the Flash and when his vision cleared, Cold was gone.

"Damn it, he got away." Flash said.

"But you saved everyone at the museum. I call this a win." Caitlin said.

"It doesn't feel like it though." Flash said, even as people came into the museum and started to thank him for saving them.

Chapter Text

"So, you fought the guy who tried to rob the museum?" Joe asked Barry later on at CCPD.

"Yeah. I saw his face, though I didn't have time to get a real name on him, though Cisco did nickname him Captain Cold." Barry said.

"Of course he did. But did you see his face?" Joe asked and Barry nodded as Joe showed him a binder of mugshots, which Barry went through quickly until he found the mugshot he was looking for.

"Damn." Joe said, still impressed by Barry's powers only to roll his eyes when he saw who the convict was.

"Leonard Snart." Joe said.

"Leonard, that's almost as bad as Bartholomew." Barry said, since he'd always hated his full name and he'd complained to his parents about it to no end when he was a kid, especially when the kids at school had started calling him Barf-thlomew.

"Snart ain't sexy either. Snart's father was a cop. He was a dirty cop, until he went to prison." Joe said.

"Shocker." Barry said, thinking about how close his father had been to going to prison after his mother had died.

"He shows up like every 6 months, then cases the job for weeks before making his move, then he pulls the job and gets away with it." Joe said.

"Until now, thanks to the Flash." Barry said and Joe rolled his eyes, but chuckled.

"Yes, but still, from what I heard, it sounds like he was ready for you." Joe said.

"To a degree. He has a gun that seems to duplicate Caitlin's abilities, but I found a way to use that against him, but I doubt it will work again. The only thing I can't figure out is where he got that gun from, since there's no way that a thug like Snart is smart enough to know how to build that thing, let alone find the parts needed to build it, or even know how to build it. That would take some serious nerdage and Snart does not strike me as that kind of guy." Barry said and Joe nodded.

"Since according to his file, he didn't even finish high school, no, I doubt he is. So he has a supplier. Where could he get that kind of tech?" Joe asked.

"I don't know. Cisco and Caitlin are trying to figure that out now." Barry said, right as his phone rang.

"And that's Cisco." Barry said as he answered it.

"Barry, I think we're onto something." Cisco said.

"Okay hang on, I'll be there in a second." Barry said.

"Go. I'll cover for you. Besides, you can probably do your CSI work better in that cave." Joe said, since Mount Flash's labs were decades beyond anything CCPD had.

"Thanks. I'll keep you posted on what we find." Barry said and Joe nodded as Barry looked around before speeding out of the precinct, leaving a trail of papers floating behind him.

"What do you have?" Barry asked.

"Okay, well after going through the footage from your suit's camera to examine the gun, we ran the image against the Argo Enterprises database, since if any company in this city was going to have tech like that, it would be them, since in addition to their numerous other fields, they do manufacture weapons and they're one of the most advanced tech companies in the country, if not the world, but nothing. And we got Zilch from every other tech company in the city too. Mercury Labs, Stagg Industries, Kord Industries, Tannhauser Labs and Dr. Wells was always very vocal against Star Labs building any kind of weapon. But anyways, when we couldn't find any record of the gun itself being stolen, we decided to pursue a different route." Cisco said.

"And that would be?" Barry asked.

"With a little extra work, we managed to use the tech in this place to create this." Caitlin said as she brought up a 3D holographic projection of Snart's gun.

"Damn, this place never stops finding ways to be impressive." Barry said.

"I know right. But after we created the hologram, we then managed to break the gun down to its separate components." Caitlin said as she showed him.

"And let me guess, you checked to see if the components had been stolen?" Barry asked.

"Give the man a prize, he's right. Components were stolen from Kord, Tannhauser, and even Mercury Labs. I think the only place that wasn't hit was Argo and that's just because they only recently came to Central City. But it doesn't explain who built the gun, since Snart is not smart enough to build it." Cisco said.

"Something tells me that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Pun not intended. Snart is just the beginning of something else." Barry said.

Chapter Text

"Any ideas on why Gabby wanted us to meet her here?" Caitlin asked as she, Barry, Iris and Cisco met up at a bar in Central City called the Shark's Nest, named in honor of Central City's pro football team, the Central City Sharks.

"No clue. But I've learned that with Gabby, sometimes it's better to not ask questions. Besides, this is the first time I've gone out for fun since I got back to Central City." Iris said, since she was determined not to let her handicap stop her from living her life.

"Besides, we could also use some time to rest and just have some fun, ever since Dr. Wells' funeral, it's been all work, no play." Barry said.

"And you're not just saying that because you can now drink all of us under the table?" Cisco asked, since they'd discovered that Barry's hyper metabolism that gave him speed healing meant that he couldn't get drunk on normal alcohol.

"That's just a benefit." Barry said with a grin as Gabby came out to join them.

"Hey, I'm glad you guys could make it. Welcome to the Oasis Bar." Gabby said, giving Caitlin a flirty smile that she seemed to go out of her way to ignore, causing Barry to roll his eyes.

"Come on, let's head in." Barry said, though he was hoping that this would finally be the day that Gabby finally sucked it up and asked Caitlin out. Then all they'd need to do is find Cisco a girlfriend, but right now, his priority was getting his sister a girlfriend, since he was getting tired of watching her and Gabby dance around this.

"Wow, this place is amazing." Cisco said as they entered the bar to find that there were chairs, wooden tables and blue booths that looked like they could double as couches and a big screen tv with a sports game over the bar.

"Yeah, how did you find this place?" Iris asked as she wheeled herself in.

"My brother owns this place." Gabby said, shocking them.

"Wait, am I finally going to get to meet the famous TJ Gomez?" Iris asked, since Gabby had told her all about her big brother, the man who'd been her inspiration to join the military, since Thomas Gomez Jr, or just TJ Gomez, had been a marine too, just like every other member of their family. He'd inspired her to follow in the family legacy as a marine.

"Yeah, I can't wait for you to meet him." Gabby said eagerly.

"You rang?" a man whose skin was similar to Gabby's with dark black hair said as he joined them.

"TJ." Gabby said as she hugged her big brother.

"Hey Gabs, glad you could make it and you must be Iris. Gabby's told me so much about you." TJ said.

"Likewise. She spoke very highly of you. I'd get up to shake your hand, but." Iris said.

"Yeah, Gabby told me about the ambush. I still can't believe Eiling would do that, since I worked with the man a few times while I was enlisted myself and while he was a hardass, he was never a traitor." TJ said.

"One of the reasons I'm pursuing journalism is so that I can investigate him and blow the whistle on him." Iris said.

"I think one of my regulars can help with that. He's a private investigator." TJ said.

"Really, I'd love that." Iris said.

"Yeah, tell him I sent you and he'll give you a discount. Here's his card." TJ said as he handed Iris a business card.

"Ralph Dibny." Iris said as Barry's head perked up at that name.

"Wait, Ralph Dibny?" Barry asked in shock.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" TJ asked.

"Right, sorry, TJ, this is Iris's boyfriend Barry Allen, his stepsister Caitlin Snow and their friend Cisco Ramon." Gabby said and TJ had the same smirk on his face that Barry had had on his earlier, since he knew how his sister felt about Caitlin.

"Nice to meet you, but yes Ralph Dibny." TJ said.

"Babe, what's the problem?" Iris asked.

"I knew Ralph when I first started at CCPD. He used to be a cop before I exposed him as a dirty cop, since he planted evidence at multiple crime scenes, framed innocent people and committed perjury to get convictions. After I exposed him, he was fired and was lucky to avoid prison." Barry said angrily.

"Yes, I heard all about that during one of his first nights here, but he's really turned his life around. I understand you're hesitant to trust him, but everyone deserves a second chance." TJ said.

"Babe, if he can help me expose Eiling." Iris said and Barry nodded.

"I can give Ralph the benefit of the doubt as long as he doesn't hold your relationship with me against you." Barry said.

"That sounds fair, now, I believe we came here to party." Cisco said and the others nodded and grinned.

"And tonight is karaoke night and considering the fact that my sister was on her high school show choir team for three years in a row, she is definitely performing." TJ said.

"Wait, you can sing?" Caitlin asked Gabby.

"Yes and now I'm going to kill my brother for bringing that up." Gabby said, glaring at her brother.

"So then I guess you want to have to pay for your drinks, since I was gonna have them be on the house since my sister and her friends drink for free here, but if I'm dead, that policy dies with me." TJ said.

"Then she forgives you, since she's not the only one with a great voice." Iris said, referring to her boyfriend.

"Yeah, there's no way I'm passing up a chance to sing." Barry said as Gabby began playing with the purple and gold winged cross necklace her mom had given her when she'd returned to the states, since whenever she was around Iris, it suddenly became uncomfortable.

"Great, then follow me and let the drinking begin." TJ said as he led them over to a table that he'd reserved for them.

"Let's get this party started." Barry said as he ordered a round of beers of their whole group.

Chapter Text

After they got settled, Gabby went over to the song guy to find a song, since she'd decided that this was going to be the moment that she finally was going to let Caitlin know how she felt by singing to her, which meant that she needed to pick the right song for this occasion.

In the meantime, Cisco was heading over to the bar to get away from the happy couple and whatever the hell Caitlin and Gabby were, since right now, he was feeling like a fifth wheel.

"Penny for your thoughts stranger?" A female voice said and Cisco looked over to see that he had the attention of a very attractive female bartender.

"It's nothing, I just thought I was going to come here to hang out with friends and yet somehow I've become a fifth wheel. Story of my life." Cisco said.

"Preach to the choir. But come on, it can't be that bad." the bartender said.

"I don't want to bore you with my drama." Cisco said.

"Please, are you forgetting what I do for a living? Hearing other people complain about their lives is the one good thing about this gig." the bartender said and Cisco couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Well, if you're gonna pour a drink for me, might as well pour one for yourself. My name's Cisco." Cisco said as he held out his hand to the bartender, who smiled at him.

"Lisa. Nice to meet you Cisco." Lisa Snart said with a smile, since they could both feel something between them.

"Is it just me, or does it look like Cisco has finally learned how to talk to a girl?" Caitlin asked Barry, who looked over at the bar and found that Caitlin was right, since it looked like Cisco was definitely flirting.

"Good for him. Speaking of girls, maybe Cisco's not the only one who's gonna get lucky tonight." Barry said with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't." Caitlin said.

"Caitlin, you've been dancing around Gabby for weeks and as you once told me, I'm tired of watching you wuss out. It's time to woman up and ask her out." Barry said.

"It was easier for you back then. It took me years to be comfortable enough to come out, let alone start dating and the thing about Gabby is that she's the kind of girl that you could really fall for. I mean she's hot, smart and a total badass." Caitlin said.

"Maybe, but I think that you should risk taking that plunge. I mean, you've seen how happy Barry and I are together and you're making yourself miserable trying to deny how you feel about Gabby, so why don't you try just being honest with her and see what happens." Iris said, but before Caitlin could respond, Gabby took the stage.

"This song goes out to a very special someone. I think you know who you are. Hit it." Gabby said as the music to Selena Gomez's Love You Like a Love Song came blaring through the speakers as Gabby began to sing.

" It's been said and done

Every beautiful thought's been already sung

And I guess right now, here's another one

So your melody will play on and on

With the best of 'em

You are beautiful

Like a dream come alive, incredible

A centerfold, miracle, lyrical

You saved my life again

And I want you to know, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

And I keep hittin' repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat (oh)

I, I love you like a love song, baby (oh)

I, I love you like a love song, baby (oh)

I, I love you like a love song, baby (oh)

And I keep hitting repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat

Constantly

Boy, you play through my mind like a symphony

There's no way to describe what you do to me

You just do to me what you do

And it feels like I've been rescued

I've been set free

I am hypnotized by your destiny

You are magical, lyrical, beautiful

You are

And I want you to know, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

And I keep hittin' repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat (oh)

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby (I love you)

And I keep hittin' repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat

No one compares

You stand alone

To every record I own

Music to my heart

That's what you are

A song that goes on and on

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby (I love you)

I, I love you like a love song, baby (I love you)

And I keep hittin' repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby (I love you)

Like a love song. " Gabby sang, her eyes locking with Caitlin the entire time she sang and it was in that moment that both women knew that they couldn't deny how they felt about each other anymore, since the amount of passion Gabby had put into that song had shown Caitlin that Gabby felt the same way about her that she felt about Gabby.

"Thank you." Gabby said as she got off the stage and walked over to their table nervously.

"Cait, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, but I know that you know I was singing to you and I had to let you know how I felt." Gabby began to ramble, only for Caitlin to silence her by placing a finger to her lips.

"Why don't we discuss this more when we're alone. Preferably out at dinner at a fancy restaurant, on me." Caitlin said, shocking everyone there, since for as long Barry had known Caitlin, she'd always waited for girls to ask her out, she'd never been brave enough to make that first move herself. Until now apparently.

"I'd like that." Gabby said with a smile as she sat down next to Caitlin as Cisco joined them.

"I see I'm not the only one who had some good luck in the romance department tonight, since I got that bartender's phone number and we're going to a movie next week. Her name's Lisa." Cisco said with a grin.

"Nice man. Maybe next time we all go out it can be a triple date." Barry said.

"Sounds good to me." Cisco said.

"Me too." Caitlin said and Gabby nodded in agreement, since this was turning out to be a great night. But this was only just the beginning.

Chapter Text

Later on that night, Barry decided that it was time to do something he should've done a while ago as he took the stage to perform a song.

"Okay, I'd like to dedicate this song to the love of my life, my girlfriend, Iris West." Barry said as the name of the song Runnin home to you, appeared on the screens before Barry took the mic.

" Can't say how the days will unfold,

Can't change what the future may hold

But, I want you in it

Every hour, every minute

… This world can race by far too fast

Hard to see while it's all flying past

But, it's clear now,

When you're standing here now

I am meant to be wherever you are next to me

… All I want to do

Is come running home to you

Come running home to you

And all my life I promise to

Keep running home to you

Keep running home

To you

… And I could see it

Right from the start

Right from the start

That you would be

Be my light in the dark

Light in the dark

Oh, you gave me no other choice

But to love you

… All I want to do

Is come running home to you

Come running home to you

And all my life I promise to

Keep running home to you

Keep running home

Home to you

… Can't say how the days will unfold

Can't change what the future may hold

But, I want you in it

Every hour, every minute ." Barry sang as Iris smiled at every word her boyfriend sang as with every word he sang, he took another step closer to her, like he didn't need to read off the screen to know the words that came from his heart. Words that would always be true, since even before Barry was the Flash, Iris knew that he'd always come running home to her.

But nothing could've prepared her for what Barry did when he reached the table that she, Cisco, Caitlin and Gabby were sitting at, though the closer he got, the less aware Iris became of who else was at that table or at the bar, since it felt like the world was only populated by herself and Barry at that moment and as he approached the end of his song, Iris had to stop herself from gasping as she brought both of her hands to mouth as Barry got down on one knee and pulled out what had to be his mother's engagement ring.

"Iris Anne West, I have loved you since the day we met all those years ago and nothing will ever change that. I was originally going to do this when you came home from overseas, but I think we both know that did not go according to plans, but now I think that this is the perfect opportunity to ask you something I should've asked you a long time ago. Will you marry me?" Barry asked and Iris's throat was so clogged up with tears that she couldn't speak, so she just nodded vigorously until she found her voice.

"Yes. Yes I will marry you Barry Allen." Iris said with and Barry grinned as he slid the ring onto her finger before they kissed as the entire bar began to clap, but no one was clapping harder than Caitlin, since she'd been waiting for this day longer than anyone else here.

"Pay up." Gabby said smugly to Caitlin and Cisco.

"Wait, you guys bet on us?" Barry asked.

"Not exactly. We bet on how long it would take Iris to say yes. I said that she'd say yes before you even finished your song, you know the moment you got down on one knee." Caitlin said.

"I thought that Iris wouldn't say anything until she could respond coherently." Cisco said.

"Whereas I said that Iris would wait for Barry to finish his proposal and she'd nod until she could say yes." Gabby said as she took 20 bucks from both Cisco and Caitlin.

"Still, congratulations to you both." Caitlin said as she got up to hug her brother and future sister-in-law.

"Thank you." Iris said as she hugged Caitlin.

"So, I'm going to be your maid of honor right?" Gabby asked Iris as she got up to hug her.

"Only if I get half that money you won from betting on me." Iris said.

"I'll wear you down." Gabby said with a grin, none of them noticed her cross necklace giving off a small purple glow until Gabby hugged Iris, which caused the necklace to release some kind of energy blast into Iris.

"What the hell was that?" Iris asked, since while that blast didn't hurt, it definitely felt weird.

"I don't know." Gabby said, though Iris honestly felt better than she had since before the ambush.

"Wait, I can actually feel my legs again." Iris said, not wanting to dare to hope.

"What? Barry, get us to the Cave now." Caitlin said, using their nickname for Mount Flash and Barry nodded as he wheeled Iris outside with the others following and once they were clear, Barry began speeding them all to base, starting with Iris and Caitlin and then coming back to get Gabby and Cisco.

After running several tests on Iris, Caitlin couldn't believe what she was seeing, but she needed to be sure.

"Iris, I never thought I'd be saying this to you so soon, but I want you to try to stand up." Caitlin said, since she wanted to see it for herself.

"What, but Caitlin, I'm paralyzed." Iris said in shock.

"You were. But I'm going over the MRIS on your spine and it's showing that all of the damage has been inexplicably healed, but I need to see for myself." Caitlin said.

"Okay." Iris said though she was a bit nervous, since while she could feel her legs, the thought of actually walking again was shocking and a bit scary.

"Lieutenant West, on your feet this instant." Gabby ordered in her best drill sergeant voice, causing Iris to jump from the bed and get to her feet, her spine completely healed.

"I can stand." Iris said in shock, since while her legs were a little wobbly from lack of use, they definitely worked again, but she didn't understand how.

"And walk again. As in you'll be walking down that aisle. I'm gonna call Joe and everyone else to give them the good news." Caitlin said.

"How is this possible and why is Gabby's necklace glowing?" Barry asked, though he was complaining.

"I have no idea. My mom might have some answers though, since it used to belong to her." Gabby said, wondering how her necklace had healed Iris.

"Well, whatever happened, at least you're healed." Barry said.

"Well, almost. I can tell that my arm is still bionic, but I can with that. But while it might take some getting used too, I'm glad to finally get my legs and, to an extension, my life back." Iris said with a grin, right as there was a bright flash of flight and suddenly a man wearing a golden helmet appeared in the middle of the cave, causing Caitlin to go frosty and Gabby to reach for her gun.

"I mean you no harm. I am Doctor Fate, one of the mystic lords of order." Doctor Fate said.

"What is going on? You're a magic user?" Barry asked, since he had no issue believing in magic considering what had happened in the world since Superman had become active.

"Yes and while I can explain what is going on with Ms. Gomez's necklace, but there is no time. A great enemy threatens to throw this world out of balance. Flash, you are needed and when the crisis passes, I will explain everything I know." Doctor Fate said as he held up his hand and glowed gold, placing Barry in his Flash suit, before both of them vanished in a flash of gold light.

Chapter Text

"Well, what do you think?" Carla asked Iris as they walked into the building Carla had bought Iris for her to launch her newspaper, which she'd decided to call the Central City Citizen.

"I don't know what to say. This is too much Carla. You didn't have to do this." Iris said as she hugged her future mother-in-law.

"The world needs more journalists like you Iris. I saw the stories you posted on your blog during the war. That was real journalism, the kind that people normally attribute to Lois Lane or Cat Grant. It was fair and unbiased. Besides, you can consider this a recovery present, since it's so good to see you back on your feet." Carla said, since while Barry had been away fighting in what the media had dubbed the Atlantis Wars, Caitlin and Gabby had been putting Iris through the ringer of physical therapy and now she was walking as well as she did before the bombing. Not to mention she was pretty sure that whatever Gabby's necklace had done to her, it had also healed all the other injuries she'd acquired during her time overseas, aside from her arm, which Iris was fine with, since she wanted to have some kind of reminder of what she'd been through. It was a part of who she was, she didn't want to forget it or deny it. They still didn't know what had caused her to heal, but Iris wasn't complaining, since she'd hated being confined in that chair and it was nice to have her life back.

"Thank you for this Carla." Iris said to her.

"I'm more than happy to do it for you Iris. But you still need to hire a staff, since while I can help you with everything else, I can't find talent, since Gabby is a private investigator." Carla said.

"Yeah, she's looking into the bastard who sent our unit into that ambush to killed them and crippled me until her necklace did whatever it did to me. She's also looking into that. That girl has always been full of questions." Iris said.

"Yes, though I'm glad that she and Caitlin are finally going out, since I've been waiting for Caitlin to find a nice girl for years." Carla said and Iris nodded.

"Who knows, maybe Gabby will also become your daughter-in-law in the future." Iris said, since even though Caitlin and Gabby hadn't even gone out on their first date yet, she could tell there was a special spark between them.

"I'm also glad that Caitlin's gotten better control of her powers. When they first emerged, I was afraid she was going to end up like her father, trapped inside the body of an ice demon." Carla said.

"It probably helps that Caitlin didn't get her powers the same way her dad did, since you stopped him before he could put her through the same procedure he put himself through." Iris said and Carla nodded.

"Caitlin was born with a natural metagene like Barry was and I think that gene is what prevented her from developing ALS like her father did. It's just a coincidence that her powers are ice based too." Carla said and Iris nodded as they continued their discussion.

"So, now the Zeta tube is a top priority for our new boss?" Cisco asked Barry as they and Caitlin walked through Mount Flash as he brought them up to speed on what they'd missed while he was fighting the war.

"Yeah, before we went our separate ways, I told Kara about my dad's Zeta tube and how you were trying to convince Jesse to greenlight the funding and Kara thought that they'd be very valuable, especially to the League and eventually the general public. She told me that she's going to make working on zeta tech Star Labs' top priority and she's naming the project the Ordell Initiative, so it'll become a high priority and I made sure to recommend you to run the project, since it was your pitch." Barry said and Cisco grinned.

"Thanks Barry." Cisco said with a grin.

"On a different topic, remember how you said we should keep an eye on Jesse after her dad's death?" Caitlin asked.

"Yeah?" Barry asked.

"You were right. She's dealing with her dad's death in an even worse way than you did, since I think she's trying to develop a way to give herself speed." Caitlin said.

"Of course she is. What's she working on?" Barry asked, since from what his dad had told him about the speed force, trying to manipulate it could be disastrous, especially if done improperly.

"Not sure. But I do think that maybe we should consider bringing her into the fold so we can keep an eye on her." Caitlin said.

"Not a bad idea. Especially since I'm already on a first name basis with her boss and she could give us access to higher level projects that Argo Enterprises has." Barry agreed, since bringing Jesse into the fold wasn't a bad idea, since while they already had him, Caitlin, Cisco, Henry and Carla on the team, they could never have too many scientific geniuses.

Chapter Text

Barry was currently using his speed to rearrange furniture in Gabby's new office, since she'd finally opened up her own Private Investigator's office, which was located a few blocks away from the Central City Citizen.

"Thanks for doing this Barry. It would've taken me forever to get all this stuff arranged right." Gabby said.

"Hey, I think you're forgetting who did a lot of the heavy lifting." Iris said as she flexed her bionic arm.

"Iris, I love you, but you're just showing off now. Especially since you shouldn't be pushing yourself too hard right now anyways." Gabby said.

"Gabby, whatever voodoo your necklace did to me brought me back to full health, Caitlin's confirmed it. I'm in better health now than I've ever been before. Plus my arm is five times stronger than a normal human arm is. Besides, after spending months stuck in a chair, sue me if I want to show off a bit." Iris said.

"Fair enough, but still, I really wish that Barry's friend Doctor Fate would finally show up to give us some answers on how my necklace healed you." Gabby said.

"Well the Doctor's a bit busy at this moment, so he sent me in his place." a new voice said a British/Welsh accent, causing all three of them to turn to see a man with dirty blonde hair, wearing a white dress shirt, grey pants, a red tie and a ridiculous beige trench coat and smoking a cigarette enter the room.

"And you are?" Barry asked.

"The name's John Constantine mate. Your pal Doctor Fate asked me if I could explain that little charm of yours." Constantine said.

"And we're just supposed to believe that a drunk like you knows a member of the Justice League?" Iris asked, since that wouldn't blow Barry's cover in case this guy wasn't legitimate.

"Seriously, we just met this guy and I already want to shoot him." Gabby said, pulling out her gun as Constantine chuckled.

"You're not the first person to say that. Ignis-sa." Constantine said as suddenly Gabby's gun heated up and she was forced to drop it.

"What the hell?" Gabby asked.

"Kent said that you lot would be skeptical. But perhaps if you're still unsure, Flash here could call up his mate Green Arrow, since he's an old acquaintance of mine." Constantine said.

"You know I'm the Flash?" Barry asked.

"Of course. It's hard to keep secrets from a master of the dark arts such as I." Constantine said.

"And that gibberish you just used to force Gabby to drop her gun is pretty convincing." Iris said.

"Yeah, I still want to shoot you though." Gabby said, glaring at Constantine, who just chuckled.

"Take a number, love. There's a lot of people ahead of you on that list." Constantine said.

"Why am I not surprised? Especially considering the way you're looking at both Iris and Gabby." Barry said, since he did not like the way this guy was looking at the woman in the room. And once Iris noticed it, she actually adjusted her jacket a bit to better cover her chest.

"Sorry, force of habit. But I was passing through Central City anyways, so Kent asked me to deliver the message. Do you want answers or do you want me to leave?" Constantine asked.

"Fine. Just make it quick, since I do not like you." Gabby said, since she'd rather finally get answers rather than keep waiting for Doctor Fate, even if Fate was less of a jackass.

"Not the first woman to ever say that to me. Now, can I have a closer look at that necklace?" Constantine asked and Gabby nodded as she took the necklace off to let Constantine examine it.

"I can't believe it, even when Nabu told me you had it, I didn't believe it." Constantine said.

"What is it?" Gabby asked.

"Tell me something love, are you religious?" Constantine asked her.

"Used to be. But then I was deemed an abomination by the church just because I prefer the company of women instead of men." Gabby said.

"You never told me that." Iris said, since she knew that Gabby had been estranged from her family after she'd come out to them, she didn't know that part.

"I don't like to think about it. But what does my religion have to do with this?" Gabby asked.

"Everything. Tell me, what do you know of the Archangels?" Constantine asked, surprising her.

"That they were God's first creations. His first sons, Michael, Samael, who later became Lucifer, Raphael and Gabriel." Gabby said.

"Correct. But what your bible doesn't tell you is that there was another archangel before them. An older one. The very first of God's creations. Amenadiel, the first of God's creations, his favorite, most loyal and most powerful son. His most trusted lieutenant." Constantine said.

"What happened?" Gabby asked, since she assumed that if all the crap in the Bible was true and considering what Constantine was saying, it was, then there must be a reason there was no mention of Amenadiel in it.

"After Lucifer and his followers were cast out of heaven and into Hell and he launched his war against his father, Amenadiel was the one who led the heavenly host to humanity's defense alongside his fellow archangels. But you see, Michael, the second born archangel, was jealous of Amenadiel's power and standing with their father. He wanted to be the favorite son. So, after Lucifer was banished back to Hell, Michael conspired with his other two brothers to take down Amenadiel and pin it on Lucifer's forces. I'm not saying it was a smart plan, but they lured Amenadiel into a trap and convinced their younger siblings that Amenadiel was a traitor, attempting to make a deal with Lucifer. They overpowered him and nearly killed him." Constantine said.

"Why would they do that? I thought that Angels were supposed to be agents of good. Pure and just." Gabby asked and Constantine chuckled.

"That image is nothing more than propaganda they fed the churches to boost their own egos. In reality, most of them are nothing more than arrogant dicks who care only about themselves. Especially that asshole Gabriel." Constantine said.

"Anyways, continue." Barry said.

"Right, well, after Amenadiel fell, God didn't believe that Lucifer was responsible, since even during the war, the two brothers had some kind of respect for each other, Lucifer was the darkness to Amenaidiel's light. But God was furious with what had happened and while he could not save his son or bring him back, he would not allow the immense power he'd entrusted Amenadiel with to fall into the hands of either side, so instead, he gave it to his new favorites. Humanity." Constantine said.

"Wait what?" Gabby asked.

"He turned Amenadiel's power, his life essence, into this amulet, called the amulet of Amenadiel in honor of his fallen son, and entrusted to a human who'd proven themselves worthy of it." Constantine said.

"Why would he do that?" Barry asked, still trying to wrap his head around the idea that God was real, since while he'd never been very religious himself, he knew that Iris was to an extent and so was Gabby apparently.

"Haven't you heard that the lord works in mysterious ways. After he created the universe, he decided his job was done. He wouldn't get involved beyond that, since how else would his creations grow if he stepped in to solve their every little problem. But he created this amulet to give humanity a champion, someone to protect them from the angels or the demons should they decide to go rogue." Constantine explained.

"Wait, so that little necklace is packing the power of an archangel?" Iris asked.

"Well granted the cross is its camouflage. It conceals itself when in the possession of someone it deems as unworthy of its power. From what I know, the reason this amulet has been so hard to track down is because while it has stayed in your family from the moment God gave it to your ancestor, not all of them proved themselves worthy of the power, so it went dormant. I think the last time it was confirmed was back when slavery was still a thing." Constantine said.

"Yeah, I remember old family stories about how we'd been blessed by God and how, when people like us were shackled in slavery back in the 1800s, my ancestor, Gabriella Gomez, who I'm named after, was given the power to fight back against our oppressors. How she saved a lot of slaves. But I never believed it. I thought it was just a myth." Gabby said.

"No, it's true. And that amulet senses the same spirit in you that your ancestor possessed. The spirit of a just and noble warrior. But now, why don't we see what this amulet really looks like shall we?" Constantine said.

"Five elements of the earth, I respect and invoke thee. From the six directions, converge here. Lift all concealments, reveal thy truth." He spelled as the cross shimmered before its appearance shifted into a silver disk with a jewel in the center.

"There we go. That's more what I'd expect." Constantine said as he handed the amulet back to Gabby.

"It's gonna take some time to get used to this. Though I do wish there was someone who could teach me, since I don't trust you asshole." Gabby said.

"You're wise not to, but I'll reach out to some of my contacts, see if any of my trustworthy ones are interested, since this is very powerful magic that you need to learn to control. But I'll be on my way now." Constantine said and just like that he was gone.

"Well, that was interesting. That explanation left us with more questions than answers." Barry said.

"Good thing as a private investigator, getting answers is my specialty." Gabby said with a grin as she looked at her amulet, wondering what she was going to do with what she'd been told.

Chapter Text

Eobard Thawne was not happy. His plan had completely ruined with the formation of the Justice League this soon, since his entire plan had been built around the Flash being a solo act, even with his sister on his side. Even discovering that Henry Allen was a speedster, something he hadn't been aware of, since that was an event that predated his changes to the timeline and even so, timeline changes wouldn't effect changes to other earths like Henry claimed to be from, but still, those were obstacles he could handle.

But now that the Justice League had been formed years before it should have, the Flash now has a much stronger support system that could easily beat him, especially in his weakened state. Which meant that instead of going with his original plan of using the Flash to get home, he'd need to focus on restoring his connection to the negative speed force so that he could beat the Flash while he was still relatively new and inexperienced and before he became the veteran hero that Thawne knew he'd become in the future. The hero he held nothing but hatred for. And that hatred grew as he realized that the past 15 years he'd spent observing Barry had basically been for nothing.

"Gideon, have you figured out what caused the timeline to change so much? Caitlin Snow becoming Ice Maiden so soon, Henry Allen remarrying and not going to prison for his wife's murder, the formation of the Justice League years ahead of when it was supposed to and not even with the right founding membership." Thawne asked, furious at just how much things had slipped out of his control, since if there was one thing he'd always prided himself on, it was the fact that he was only speedster who knew how to manipulate the timeline to get what he wanted and now he'd lost that.

"My best assumption is that it's an after effect of both yours and the Flash's time jump." Gideon said.

"Explain?" Thawne asked.

"As you're aware, breaking the time barrier to time travel is similar to when you break the sonic barrier." Gideon said.

"Yeah, just like how when you break the sound barrier, there's a sonic boom, when you break the time barrier, it's a time boom. Chronal radiation can affect the events surrounding the time impacted, but my actions alone wouldn't have caused changes of this magnitude. It should've been limited to the more surrounding time periods." Thawne asked.

"Except it wasn't just you. When the Flash followed you back in time, he created his own temporal boom that amplified the impact of your own. I believe that is also part of the reason why your connection to the negative speed force has become unstable. You and the Flash have been releasing large amounts of chronal energy throughout the timeline during your battles across it for years. My new hypothesis is that after you erased the Flash from existence, the universe stepped in to prevent you from doing anymore damage to the timeline without the Flash there to balance it out and to allow the timeline to stabilize." Gideon said.

"So the reason my speed is sporadic is because when I killed Nora Allen, I made the timeline too unstable to be able to reliably time travel." Thawne said.

"In a way, yes. However, now that Barry Allen has received his speed, my assumption is that the speed force began trying to fortify the timeline to keep either of you from wreaking too much damage on it." Gideon said.

"Interesting. But still, if I can't plan on getting home using Barry the way I originally planned, then maybe it's time to look into alternative options. Mainly figuring out a way to restore my speed, since if I'm going to wage war against the Flash, I need to be at my best. Regain my advantage and restore my powers to full before the Flash has time to fully master his. Which means it's time to alter our plans a bit. Grodd." Thawne said as the gorilla approached.

"What does father desire?" Grodd asked.

"We're moving up our plans a bit and I think you're going to like what I'm about to ask you to do." Thawne said.

"What is it?" Grodd asked.

"I just want a reunion with an old friend of ours. I'm sure you remember him." Thawne asked as he showed Grodd a holographic image of General Wade Eiling.

"Eiling." Grodd snarled.

"We need him alive buddy. For now. But that doesn't mean that his usefulness won't run out and when it does, he'll be all yours, since I doubt even the Flash would want to help him after he learns what I know." Thawne said.

"As you wish father." Grodd agreed, though it was slightly reluctantly.

Chapter Text

General Wade Eiling was currently in his office, currently torn between two things. The first one was fuming over the fact that West and Gomez had survived the ambush he'd purposefully sent their unit into in order to thin the herd of unnecessary soldiers and to top it all off, in a few days, he'd be heading to Central City to present them with medals of valor for their actions and to honor the memories of their fallen comrades.

But his trip to Central City brought up the other thing on his mind. Central City was quickly gaining a reputation as a heaven for metahumans, or as Eiling preferred to think of them, living weapons. He'd seen the reports for some of the metahumans who'd already surfaced.

A man who could literally turn his skins to steel with super strength, a woman who could turn any object she touched into a bomb, rumors of teleporters and so much more. Prime weapons that were waiting to serve their country.

It was times like this that Eiling wished that President Marsdin hadn't disbanded the ASA, since that organization would've been perfect for this kind of operation, since that's literally what it was created for. Creating metahuman weapons. And Argus was no longer a viable option since Amanda Waller was currently rotting in military prison and Argus had practically been dismantled to be rebuilt by someone who'd never go along with what Eiling wanted to do.

However, he was pulled from his thoughts when suddenly the door to his office burst open and General Sam Lane and Lieutenant Kristen Kramer came in, with a dozen soldiers in tow.

"What's going on?" Eiling asked.

"General Wade Eiling, you're being relieved of duty and placed under military arrest." Sam said as he gestured for his soldiers to put Eiling in handcuffs.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Eiling demanded.

"Did you really think that we wouldn't investigate the ambush that got one of our best units killed. Especially when that unit contained my niece, Corporal Gabriella Gomez?" Kramer asked him, disgust in her voice as she looked at that man who was a disgrace to the uniform he wore.

"That doesn't concern you, Kramer. Or you Sam. And whatever you think you know." Eiling said.

"We have more than enough proof that you conspired with the enemy to send a squadron of soldiers in an ambush. You're a disgrace to the uniform you wear. And now I see plans to abduct innocent people." Sam said as noticed the files on Eiling's desk.

"Not people. Metahumans. The next stage in the arms race and America will win that race. When the next world war is kicked off, we're gonna have an advantage." Eiling insisted.

"You're a monster." Kramer said in shock at his lunacy.

"No Kramer, people like you are what's wrong with the world." Eiling said.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean? Since I don't think it's a coincidence that one thing every member of my niece's unit had in common is that none of them were white." Kramer said, since she was a native american, her niece was half hispanic, half native american and Iris was black.

Eiling was about to respond, when suddenly his whole body went rigid.

"General?" Sam asked, shocked by this apparent change in attitude, right before Eiling pulled out his gun and started firing, forcing both Sam and Kristin to duck for cover as Eiling then lunged over his desk with agility a man with his size and build shouldn't have been able to been able to move and rushed out.

"How the hell did Eiling do that?" Kramer asked Sam.

"I don't know, but we can't let him leave." Sam said as he got on his radio.

"This is General Lane to all units, lockdown the base, secure all exits and lockdown the garage. No vehicle comes in or out of this base until I give the order. Locate and apprehend Wade Eiling using any means necessary, but he is to be taken in alive. If you have to shoot, shoot to wound or disarm only. Use tranq guns if you have to, but no kill shots." Sam said as the alarms blared.

"I promised Gabby that I'd bring Eiling to justice for what he did to her unit." Kristin said.

"And you will. I promise you there's no way Eiling is getting out of here without a fight." Sam assured her.

"Still, I'm not just standing around to give him the chance." Kramer said as she rushed out of the office.

Eiling continued to run through the base, as if he was in some kind of trance as he made it to the exit of the base, only to find a squad of soldiers waiting for him.

"General Eiling, stand down, this is your only warning. We have orders to bring you in by any means necessary." one of the soldiers said.

"Eiling, not going anywhere with you." Eiling said, like he was possessed.

"Why is he describing himself in the third person?" One of the soldiers asked.

"One of many questions we'll ask him once he's locked up in the brig." the leader said, only for all of them to be knocked to the side by a flash of red lightning that came to a stop to reveal a man in a yellow suit.

"Hello old friend. We've got some catching up to do." Reverse Flash said with a grin, despite the fact that his face was vibrating and no one could see it, before grabbing Eiling and zipping out of there with him in tow.

Chapter Text

"Baby, you need to calm down." Joe said to Iris as they stood in the middle of the West house where Iris had just used her bionic arm to send his couch sliding to the other side of the room.

"Wade Eiling is the reason I spent about a month in a coma, lost some of my closest friends in that ambush and he's the reason I lost my arm! Don't tell me to be calm when I just got the news that he somehow managed to escape being brought to justice." Iris said angrily.

"I understand that, but destroying my living room won't solve anything." Joe said.

"Dad, you know what that bastard did. How are you so calm right now?" Iris asked.

"Iris I am furious right now, but I know that my anger is not going to solve anything right now. I'm sure that the government will track Eiling down, since he's on their most wanted list now." Joe said, trying to keep himself calm, right as Barry and Gabby walked into the house.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I just spoke to a friend at the justice department." Barry said.

"You have a friend at the Justice Department?" Joe asked his future son-in-law.

"Courtesy of the Justice League, but anyways, my contact there sent me footage from the base of Eiling's escape, I think you'll want to see this." Barry said as he pulled out his phone and played the video of Eiling's escape.

"Was that?" Joe asked.

"A flash of red lightning, yes it was and thank god the government already knows that mine is yellow otherwise they'd be investigating me for the escape." Barry said.

"But the red lightning is the calling card for the man in yellow." Iris said.

"Exactly. This was passed on to the Justice League since the military doesn't want to let the public know that metahumans can infiltrate our secure bases. They want to keep it quiet." Barry said.

"Makes sense." Joe said, since he could see the logic behind that plan.

"Anyways, Eiling is working with the man in yellow." Iris said, getting them back on topic.

"Is he though?" Gabby asked.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked.

"If Eiling had the man in yellow on speed dial, he'd be using an asset like that to his full advantage. I can't help but think that what we saw was an abduction, not a rescue." Gabby said.

"Either way, we need to find Eiling, since not only is he a fugitive from justice, but he might have information on the man in yellow." Barry said.

"We really need to figure out who that guy is here and what the hell he wants. And where the hell has he been, since he shows up the night your mom died Barry then he vanishes without a trace for 15 years and then he pops again out of nowhere and now he seems to be in no rush to go anywhere." Joe asked.

"I bet that he's spent the past 15 years studying Barry, since he seems to have a weird fixation with him. Joe, do you mind if I take a look at the case files from Barry's mom's murder. A fresh pair of eyes couldn't hurt." Gabby said.

"Yeah, I'll bring them to your office, we can go through them together." Joe said, since he couldn't deny that a fresh pair of eyes couldn't hurt, since both he and Barry had gone through those boxes dozens of times over the years, but they didn't have any new leads. Maybe Gabby's eyes could find something they'd missed.

"Thanks. If there's one thing I love, it's a good mystery." Gabby said.

"I swear, it almost looks like your nose is wiggling." Iris said.

"Shut up West. At least I'm not throwing a tantrum and throwing my parents' furniture around." Gabby said as Barry quickly used his speed to put the living room back in order.

"Dad, I am sorry about that, but I will admit that letting some of my anger out did help." Iris said.

"You could always punch things at the Cave, since it's reinforced." Barry offered.

"I know, I've been doing that everyday. But it's not enough." Iris said.

"Okay, I think that right now we all need drinks. Barry, call Cisco, I'll call Caitlin, we are all going out." Gabby said.

"Do we have to invite Cisco, I always feel bad with him having to be a fifth wheel." Iris asked.

"But it provides the rest of us with one of our favorite games, let's fix up Cisco." Gabby said and Barry and Iris both chuckled.

"Dad, do you and mom want to join us?" Iris asked.

"No, I think that those days ended for us when you were born." Joe said.

"Okay then. So I'll see you later." Iris said as they headed out, with both Barry and Gabby on the phone calling the rest of the gang.

Chapter Text

"I've lost track of how many times I've searched the city by super speed, there's no trace of the man in yellow or Eiling." Barry said as he sped into the Cortex of the Cave to find Caitlin, Cisco, Iris and Gabby waiting.

"I've been using the Star Labs satellite to run a facial recognition search for Eiling and I'm using a new algorithm I created to track speedsters, but so far, you're the only one who's coming up. The man in yellow must've guessed that I'd try to track him, so he's not using his speed right now. But hopefully, the second he shows up, we can track him with this and then you can get the drop on him." Cisco said.

"Great. Gabby, what about you? Any new leads?" Barry asked.

"No, honestly based on all the evidence Joe's shown me, your dad is lucky he avoided prison. And I spoke to my military contacts, they're keeping Eiling's disappearance on the hush, but my aunt assured me that General Lane has made finding him one of the DOD's top priorities. They're utilizing every possible asset." Gabby said.

"Supergirl's made looking for Eiling a priority for the league too, since he could pose a threat to both metahumans and aliens, especially since the government is already in the business of trying to weaponize alien powers." Barry said, since while the man in yellow was his fight, he had made sure that the league was kept up to date on what was going on.

"Think they'll help us if we need it?" Caitlin asked.

"Most likely yes, but I'm hoping I won't need to call them in. Especially since both Dad and Gabby have upped my training since the man in yellow resurfaced. And we really need to come up with a better name for him, since the man in yellow is lame compared to the names of the villains Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and even Supergirl have fought." Barry said.

"I agree, which is why I've been trying to come up with something better, but it doesn't help that I haven't seen him yet. I can't give him the perfect supervillain name if I don't know anything about him." Cisco said, since he'd made it his job to give every metahuman in the city their own metahuman name.

"Gabby, have you been able to figure out anything about this guy?" Barry asked.

"I'm trying to, but like Cisco said, our info on the guy is limited and that is being generous. The most I can tell is that whoever this guy is, he's strategic, methodical. He seems to be solely focused on his mission and he's basically a chess player at times. He's several moves ahead of all of us." Gabby said.

"Sounds about right." Barry said, since that just about summed up everything they knew about the man in yellow.

"And while I'd love to keep doing this, Gabby and I need to get going, since we need to go get ready for the award ceremony tomorrow. We need to pick up our military uniforms from the cleaners and make sure that everything is ready." Iris said, since with Eiling on the run, Gabby's aunt Kristen Kramer had taken over the ceremony that would be giving her and Gabby their medals.

"Fine. You're all going to be there right?" Gabby asked, looking pointedly at Caitlin, since Barry going there was already established, since as Iris's fiance, it was clear that he was going to be there, and while she and Caitlin had only been together for a few weeks, she still wanted her there.

"Of course. Will any other members of your family be there besides your aunt, who's presenting you and Iris with your medals?" Caitlin asked, since while she knew Gabby's family situation, she was hoping that something like this might bring them back together.

"Just my brother T.J. You know what my relationship with the rest of my family is like. I've been a ghost to them ever since I came out. My aunt and my brother are the only family I have. Well, aside from you guys." Gabby said, since Team Flash had quickly become her new family.

"And this family isn't going anywhere. And we'll all be there tomorrow at the ceremony." Barry said.

"Especially me. I wouldn't miss this for anything, even if we weren't together, since Iris is like a sister to me." Caitlin promised her girlfriend, who smiled at her.

Little did they know that they weren't the only ones making plans for the ceremony.

General Eiling groaned as he came too to find himself in some kind of lab in the sewers and that he was restrained.

"What the hell is going on?" Eiling groaned as he tried to get his bearings.

"Hello General." An unfamiliar voice said as a blonde haired man wearing some kind of yellow suit walked up to him.

"Who are you? And why are you holding me prisoner?" Eiling asked.

"You should consider yourself lucky that I have a use for you, otherwise, I'd be leaving you in the company of our mutual friend. The one responsible for getting you out of that mess you'd gotten yourself into, though that might've been more pleasant than what our friend wants to do to you. Isn't that right buddy." the man said as the ground shook and Eiling's eyes widened as he saw a familiar looking Gorilla walking on two legs towards them.

"Eiling's lucky father wants him alive. Otherwise, Grodd make Eiling pay for hurting Grodd." Grodd said angrily.

"Don't worry buddy, he'll get what he deserves. And then he'll join our little group and serve a valuable purpose. He'll be much more useful than he ever was as a military general. And the best part is, we're going to use one of your own projects to do it." the man in yellow said.

"What are you talking about?" Eiling asked as the man in yellow pulled out a vial of a cyan blue serum.

"I'm surprised you don't recognize this General. After all, wasn't it your idea? Project Blockbuster. A way to give humanity the strength to take on Superman should he ever go rogue. I'll admit, it's a valiant idea, but that was just your justification for it wasn't it. Your real intention was to create super soldiers for the military." the man in yellow said.

"How do you know about that?" Eiling asked, since Project Blockbuster had been an off the books operation.

"I know a lot of things. Like how this project was shelved after it became clear you couldn't control your test subjects and how the government had to put them on ice until they could find a way to undo the monstrous transformations you inflicted on them." the man said.

"Every single soldier volunteered for that project and they were informed of the risks beforehand." Eiling said.

"Were they really though? Not to mention the fact that you kept on working on it, even after it was shelled. Trying to get it right. I'll admit, it was a valiant attempt for an amateur. And I think it's poetic that you'll be the latest test subject." the man said.

"What no. You keep that crap away from me." Eiling said as he struggled against the restraints.

"What's the matter General? Don't you know that a good leader leads by example. If this was safe enough to inject in your own troops, surely you can take it too." the man said.

"Who are you?" Eiling asked.

"For the last few minutes your brain will work properly, you can call me Eobard Thawne." Thawne said as he injected Eiling with the serum before activating the extra strength shielding to contain Eiling as he screamed in pain as the transformation began.

"Tomorrow's ceremony will be one no one will forget." Thawne said with a grin as he left Eiling to his fate.

Chapter Text

Iris couldn't help but sigh as she looked down at the medal that Gabby's aunt, Lieutenant Kristen Kramer had just presented both her and Gabby with during the award ceremony that had just taken place at Fort Davis just outside Central City in front of her family, meaning her parents, Wally, Barry, Henry, Carla, Caitlin and Cisco, along with Gabby's brother TJ, since the rest of Gabby's family had chosen not to attend watching their daughter receive a medal of valor.

Though Iris couldn't help but feel like a fraud as she looked down at this medal, since in her mind, she didn't deserve it. Not when she'd failed one of the primary goals of every soldier and squad leader. To protect her people and make sure they all made it home safe. Her body may have been healed thanks to the arm Carla had built for her and Gabby's magic necklace, but her mind, that would likely never heal. And the guilt of leading her teammates, her friends, that would probably never fade. Those soldiers should've been up on that stage with her and Gabby, but they weren't. All because she'd failed to make sure her team was safe. She'd failed to bring them home.

"I know what you're thinking and don't go there." Kristen said as she walked up to Iris.

"How can I not? I was their squad leader and I got them killed. I led my team into an ambush and for some reason, I was the sole survivor." Iris said.

"Which happened to me five years ago." Kristen said.

"Wait, what?" Iris asked, since that was news to her.

"Have you heard of Operation Griffin?" Kristen asked.

"No. I'm assuming that was an army operation, not a marine one?" Iris asked.

"It was a joint operation, but also likely above your clearance level, which is why you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, since the only reason I'm telling you any of this is so that you know that it wasn't your fault and you'll believe me when I say that." Kramer said.

"Okay, say your piece." Iris said, since she'd heard it from everyone else already. From Gabby, Barry, her parents, Wally, Caitlin, her therapist, everyone told her it wasn't her fault, but she didn't believe it.

"5 years ago, I was leading a joint operation between the army and the marines called operation griffin. The task force was very similar to the Wild Dogs. We handled missions that weren't exactly what you'd call normal. But then a few years ago, we were doing a routine op, nothing we hadn't done before, but suddenly, we were ambushed by about 5 claymore grade mines." Kramer said.

"What? How did you survive that?" Iris asked, since she knew how deadly those kinds of mines were.

"I'm still trying to figure that out myself. But what I do know is that it wasn't an accident, since my unit was led into an ambush by one of our own. A man I called my best friend, more like a brother to me, Adam Creyke, sold us out to the enemy. He's the only other man who survived the ambush, though it's pretty easy to do that when you're the one responsible for it." Kristen said.

"Creyke sold out your unit?" Iris asked.

"And laughed while he watched our brothers and sisters in arms die. It took a long time to convince the top brass that I had nothing to do with the ambush and I still have issues convincing myself that it wasn't my fault. I was their leader, I should've known that something wasn't right. Especially since Adam tried to keep me from going on the mission in the first place. I just thought that he was being overprotective. But instead, I led my men into an ambush and was powerless as I watched get blown up by a traitor." Kristen said.

"Sounds like what happened to you was even worse, since Eiling was just my commanding officer, but it sounds like Adam was more." Iris said.

"I've known him since we were kids, we were two native kids off the reservation, we were both bullied growing up. Which is why it was so important we had each other." Kristen said.

"What happened to him?" Iris asked.

"I don't know. The last time I saw him, he was grinning at watching our unit die before the world went black. When I came too, Adam was long gone and I have no idea where he is now. I've been searching for him ever since and it's part of why I'm so invested in the hunt for Eiling. But anyways, my point is that you're not alone in thinking that you failed. I still have trouble believing that what happened to my team wasn't my fault, but it wasn't. Neither of us knew that we were leading our teams into traps. All we can do is be thankful that we're alive and focus on getting justice for the people we lost." Kristen said and Iris actually smiled.

"Thank you Kristen. Hearing that from someone who actually knows what I'm going through, it helps a lot." Iris said.

"I'm glad to hear that. And remember, you've got a great support system. Use it." Kristen said, but before Iris could respond, the ground began to shake.

"What's going on?" Iris asked, right as they heard a loud roar was heard as suddenly, a huge, dark, grotesque looking monster smashed its way onto the base.

"What the hell is that thing?" Iris asked, grateful that her fiance was still on the base.

"I don't know." Kristen said, since that beast looked familiar to her for some reason she couldn't place it.

Chapter Text

"Looks like I'm up." Barry said to Cisco and Caitlin.

"Are you sure? You've never fought anything that tough before." Caitlin asked.

"I have to try." Barry said, since this guy likely was a bit out of his league right now, that didn't mean that he was going to just call for help. He was the Flash and Central City was his home turf. He wasn't going to let anyone, especially some brute as big and ugly as this guy, push him around.

"Be careful. Iris just got back on her feet, I don't think you want to take her place in that chair." Caitlin said.

"Don't forget, I heal fast." Barry said as he ducked out before Caitlin could respond and he slid his Flash ring onto his hand and pressed the button on the emblem to activate and speed into his super suit before speeding back into being right in front of the beast.

"Alright ugly, what do you want?" Flash asked his new opponent, who just roared in his face and slobbering all over him.

"Okay, you seriously need a mint." Flash said, only be backhanded through the main wall to outside the facility with the creature roaring as it charged out after him.

"Damn, this bruiser packs a real punch." Flash groaned, grateful that his speed healing was already kicking in, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to get up like was now as he tried to figure out a strategy to deal with this guy when suddenly, the creature was hit from behind by what had to be an ice blast as his sister came walking out of the base, wearing her own super suit that Cisco had given her at the cave.

"Hey bro, need a hand?" Caitlin asked, since she hadn't picked a superhero name for herself yet.

"What should I call you?" Flash asked, since he assumed that Cisco had given her a name that she'd just decided to go with.

"Call me Ice Maiden." Ice Maiden said and Flash grinned.

"Catchy. Definitely has a nice to it. But are you sure you want to do this?" Flash asked.

"You're not the only one who looks good wearing one of these suits. Besides, I couldn't let you keep taking on the bad guys alone and I was getting sick of sitting on the sidelines." Ice Maiden said as she blasted the creature again.

"Any ideas on how we can take this bruiser down?" Flash asked her.

"Try and create a vortex around him. He may look tough, but I'm guessing this guy still needs to breathe. I'll keep him frozen in one place, you see if you can take him down that way." Ice Maiden said and Flash nodded, since that was as good an idea as any as he got to his feet as his sister kept trying to freeze this guy as he began to run around the creature in a small circle to keep the vortex contained and prevent it from affecting anyone else.

"Come on Barry, think fast, run fast." Flash said to himself as he kept trying to build up speed as he heard and felt the wind picking up as he ran, creating the desired vortex effect.

"Run, Barry, run." he heard a female voice that sounded familiar to him, since even though it had been years since Flash had heard that voice, he'd never forget it. The voice of his mother. But he didn't have time to think about that. Right now he needed to focus on keeping up this vortex up, especially since he could tell that it was working, since while Ice Maiden had halted her ice blasts to keep from accidentally hitting him and they weren't needed anymore anyways, since he could tell that this berserker was getting more and more exhausted with each attempted strike, since he was using up what little oxygen the vortex gave him and it wasn't long before he collapsed and Flash finally came to a stop and actually panted a bit, since that was the fastest he's gone yet.

And before he could react, Ice Maiden froze the creep solid.

"That was intense." Ice Maiden said as she walked over to her brother's side.

"Welcome to the life." Flash said.

"So, when can I join the Justice League?" Ice Maiden asked, only half joking.

"I'll bring it up at the next meeting." Flash promised, since Supergirl had established a routine of monthly meetings for the current members of the Justice League to keep it running properly, though so far, the topic of expanding their ranks further hadn't come up yet.

Their discussion was halted as the MPs came out, carrying what Flash recognized as an Argo Enterprises issued metahuman power dampening collar, which they quickly locked around the creature's neck.

"You saved the day again Flash." Kramer said as she walked up to him.

"Do you have any idea what this thing is?" Flash asked.

"When it first showed up, no, but now that I get an up close look at it, I think I know what it is. It's the result of one of General Eiling's failed projects to create super soldiers for the military. Project Blockbuster. It was shelved because the test subjects were too uncontrollable and we haven't found a way to reverse it." Kramer said.

"And you subjected this to other humans?" Ice Maiden asked in disgust.

"Eiling did and they were all volunteers who as far as I know were informed of the risks before they volunteered. Though it looks like Eiling tried to continue the project even after it was shut down." Kramer said.

"I think that the Justice League is going to need to take a more hands-on approach to the investigation into Eiling. Starting with either myself or another League member searching his office." Flash said in a tone that made it clear that this was not up for debate.

"Of course." Kramer said, more than willing to comply, since there's no way the government should risk it's standing with the Justice League.

Before Flash could respond, his earpiece went off.

"Excuse me." Flash said as he stepped away.

"Barr, please tell me you've got the creature under control." Joe said.

"He's taken into custody as we speak, why?" Flash asked.

"Because I think that he was a distraction, considering that I just got off the phone with Singh and according to him, while you were dealing with that creep, the man in yellow broke into Mercury Labs. I think you should meet me at the precinct immediately." Joe said.

"I'm on my way." Flash said, making a note to call Supergirl, since this might involve her too, knowing that Mercury Labs and Argo Enterprises had a few joint projects.

"We need to go." Flash said to Ice Maiden.

"What's going on?" Ice Maiden asked.

"I'll fill you in on the way. Brace yourself." Flash said as he wrapped his arm around Ice Maiden and sped both of them out of there.

Chapter Text

When Flash and Ice Maiden arrived at the precinct, they found the cops waiting for them.

"Flash, other hero." Joe said, since he'd left the military base before Ice Maiden had made her debut.

"Call me Ice Maiden." Ice Maiden said.

"Catchy." Joe said.

"What's going on?" Flash asked.

"While you were dealing with that attack on the army base, nice work there by the way, the man in yellow staged a smash and grab at Mercury Labs, killing everyone who tried to get in his way before he breached a high level security vault." Joe said.

"What was taken?" Flash asked, since while Barry Allen couldn't ask those questions, he had a feeling that the Flash would get a better response.

"A one of a kind tachyon prototype that Mercury Labs was developing in a joint project with Argo Enterprises." Tina McGee, the CEO of Mercury Labs, said as she and Captain Singh approached them.

"Has Kara Danvers been contacted?" Flash asked, since while he knew that Supergirl was busy at the moment, since he'd seen the request for assistance for the League that Batman had sent out, but it had been considered relatively low priority for any League members who were currently involved in their own missions, which Flash considered himself on now, since he was pursuing a lead on the man in yellow.

"She has and she's said that her representative in this city, Jessica Chambers, will cooperate fully with the investigation, but since it was my facility that was robbed, I can take point. She truly is a brilliant scientist and I wish that she'd come to work for me full time, though I can't deny that she's done well on her own." Tina said and Flash couldn't dispute that.

"Do you have any idea on why this intruder would steal a tachyon prototype, since it sounds like he's a speedster like me, so why would he need tachyons when he can already move at superhuman speeds." Flash asked, since that was a genuine question and it also gave him the chance to show off his own scientific knowledge and he could tell that Dr. McGee was impressed while everyone besides Ice Maiden gave him blank looks.

"I don't know, but he already disabled the tracking device that all our projects have planted on them for security reasons. We can't find it." Tina said.

"If you give me all the information you have on that tracking program, maybe my team and I can find a way to bring it back online." Flash said and Tina nodded.

"I'll get you that information as soon as I can." Tina said.

"Does the tachyon device give off any kind of trackable energy signature that we could use to hunt for it instead?" Ice Maiden asked, showing off her own scientific genius.

"Only when in use. The housing matrix that contains the tachyonic particles is designed to keep them inert when not in use." Tina said.

"Translation?" Joe asked.

"Until the man in yellow uses the stolen tech, we can't track it." Flash translated.

"Got it. And I'm assuming that there's no way we can figure out where the man in yellow went?" Singh asked.

"Barry's been trying to figure that out for fifteen years." Joe reminded and Singh sighed, knowing that he owed Allen an apology for ever doubting him, since now he had proof that Barry had been right about his mother's killer and it put any remaining doubts he had about Henry Allen's innocence to rest once and for all.

Before any of them could say anything else, Flash's earpiece went off on the secure Justice League only frequency.

"Hang on a second, I need to take this. Flash here." Flash said as he got on comms.

"Hey, I know you're investigating a case regarding the man in yellow, but I need you to return to Fort Kirby immediately." Supergirl said.

"I'm surprised you're not ordering me on that big Cadmus op." Flash said.

"We've already got myself, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Martian Manhunter and a few others on that case. But we did see the report regarding the attack by Blockbuster on the base and how it was one of Eiling's projects. The Justice League needs to know everything we can about what General Eiling was up to, especially considering the number of people that could get hurt by it." Supergirl said.

"Copy that. I'm assuming you'll try and show up later to help with the tachyon theft, since it was technically your property that was stolen." Flash said.

"You're right about that. But we can't do anything about that prototype right now." Supergirl said.

"I'll head back to Fort Kirby now. But there is something I want to discuss at our next League meeting." Flash said.

"I look forward to it. But now I think we both need to go." Supergirl said.

"Copy that." Flash said as he got off the call.

"You have to go don't you?" Joe asked Flash when he returned to them.

"It's a League matter, but Ice Maiden here is perfectly qualified to fill in as the resident superhero." Flash said and Ice Maiden smiled at her brother and nodded as he sped out.

Chapter Text

When Flash returned to Fort Kirby, he found Kramer waiting for him and saw a repair crew already working on fixing the damages caused by his fight with Blockbuster.

"Everything alright?" Kramer asked him.

"Not sure yet, but I have orders from Supergirl to oversee the investigation into General Eiling. We need to know what kind of tricks he was involved with." Flash said and Kramer nodded.

"Then we want the same thing." Kramer said.

"Did they ever figure out who that Blockbuster creature used to be?" Flash asked as they walked into Eiling's office.

"Blockbuster, that's a little on the nose isn't it?" Kramer asked.

"If it works, it works. But do we have an id on him?" Flash asked.

"That's the kicker. I think that the universe was doling out some poetic justice, since when we got an id back on that thing, it turned out to be none other than Eiling himself. Someone used his own experiment on him." Kramer said and Flash couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of that and he knew Iris would likely get a kick out of it too.

"Guess someone decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. Literally. Too bad I'm assuming he never had a cure for the serum created." Flash said.

"That's one of the things we're hoping to find here, since if a cure for the blockbuster serum does have a cure, Eiling would likely keep it hidden somewhere in here." Kramer said.

"And who knows what else." Flash said as he walked over to Eiling's computer, which he hadn't even had time to destroy before trying to make a break for it before the man in yellow had abducted him.

"Please tell me you know Eiling's password?" Flash asked, since while his team had the resources to hack into Eiling's computer, he didn't think that hacking into the computer system of the military would really help the league's image right now.

"Well, I have a guess." Kramer said as she sat down in the chair at the desk and started typing.

"Patriot76." Kramer said and sure enough, that unlocked it.

"Okay, Patriot I get, since in some twisted way, Eiling thought of himself as a patriot, where did you get the 76 from?" Flash asked.

"76, as in 1776, the year America was founded. Eiling built his whole life around being a patriot, or what he thought a patriot should be. It honestly makes the way his life turned out kind of sad." Kramer said as she moved aside so Flash could take over, since he could go through the files a lot faster than she could.

"Damn, looks like Blockbuster wasn't Eiling's only attempt to create a super soldier. It looks like he's been researching every known superhuman individual in recorded history." Flash said, since he was seeing files that dated back to World War 2 with Wonder Woman and the Justice Society of America.

"Including the JSA. It looks like Eiling has spent a lot of resources trying to recreate and improve on the abilities of the JSA. It looks like he tried particularly hard with Hourman and Dr. Midnite." Kramer said as Flash slowed down on scrolling through the files and he actually got up to let her take over while he began search the rest of the office, activating the HUD that Cisco had built into the retractable lenses in his cowl to scan the rest of the room, since he got the feeling that the files on Eiling's computer weren't the only thing being hidden in here.

So he was not surprised when his lenses detected the presence of a hidden panel behind a bookcase.

"Damn, the general really is one for cliches." Flash said as he found the trigger and caused the case to slide away to reveal a hidden passage.

"No kidding. And I also don't know how Eiling kept this area secret and off the plans of the base, since Fort Kirby has existed since long before Eiling was stationed here." Kramer said, shocked as finding a hidden vault in the building.

"Well, let's see what the General had hidden away here." Flash said as he took point, since on the off chance that Eiling had rigged this place with security measures, he wanted to be able to get Kramer out quickly.

"What was Eiling doing here?" Kramer asked as they looked around and saw plenty of files, and also some other interesting artifacts.

"You mean besides stealing artifacts from their rightful owners." Flash said, since he was seeing artifacts from the Justice Society, including Hourman's hourglass and Dr. Midnite's glasses. Though he was surprised to see a regular pink pen in a supermax case.

"I mean, some of that stuff was claimed as government property after the JSA was disbanded, but still." Kramer agreed, since this stuff was meant to be stored in the government archives in DC, though in her opinion, they should've been on display in the smithsonian, but the JSA's activities were supposed to be top secret, though with the emergence of the Justice League, Kramer couldn't help but feel that the JSA would soon be coming back into the light.

"Wait, what's that?" Flash asked as he noticed a highly secured vault that seemed to be about the right size to hold a human being.

"I almost don't want to open that, but we need to." Kristin said, since who knew what Eiling was keeping in a vault that big.

"Now, let's figure out the code." Flash said as he used his speed to try every possible combination of numbers in the keypad until finally, he cracked the code and opened the vault and Kramer almost couldn't stop herself from screaming in horror at what she was seeing and Flash couldn't blame her as he took it in.

"Is that what or who I think it is?" Flash asked and Kramer nodded as they looked at a dismantled, faded red android with a faded t on its chest and the tattered remains of a cape on its back.

"It's Red Tornado. A member of the Justice Society of America. I thought that he'd been decommissioned with the JSA. I didn't know that Eiling had somehow gotten his hands on him and dismantled him." Kramer said, horrified that someone would do this to a war hero. Even if he was an android.

"I'll take him to the hall of justice, see if we can maybe put him back together again. Induct him into the League." Flash said.

"Take him. We can finish this later." Kramer said and Flash nodded as he first got her out of the vault before going back in and taking the remains of Tornado's body and speeding it towards DC, since he was sure that with all the super geniuses on it, they could find a way to bring Red Tornado back from the dead essentially.

Chapter Text

When Barry arrived at the Hall of Justice, he found it deserted, which was not surprising since he knew that most of the League was deployed on a mission, but the hall was the only place he could think of to bring Red Tornado's body. Or rather the pieces of it.

And since Red Tornado wasn't alive right now, he wouldn't trigger any security measures as he sped him into the Hall's science lab.

"Flash, 08, access granted." the computer said as Flash came to a stop.

"Computer, are there any Justice League members that aren't currently on the Cadmus mission aside from myself and Green Arrow?" Flash asked, since the AI of this place had been programmed by Batman and as such, it had about as much personality as the dark knight did. At least when he was in work mode.

"The Justice League members currently involved in the Cadmus mission are Supergirl, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Black Lightning, Martian Manhunter and Vixen. Both Green Lanterns are currently offworld, Green Arrow, Batwoman and Aquaman all have their own objectives to accomplish, leaving the only available Justice League member is Doctor Fate." the computer said.

"That's actually kind of perfect. Send a message to him requesting his presence at the hall immediately." Flash said and before the AI could respond, there was a bright flash of light and suddenly Doctor Fate was standing in front of Flash.

"I sensed that I would be summoned here before the transmission was sent. What's the issue?" Doctor Fate asked.

"I've got an old friend of yours here." Flash said, referencing the table.

"Red Tornado." Doctor Fate said in shock at seeing his old friend teammate there and in pieces.

"I found him while investigating a rogue general who'd been turned into some kind of monster." Flash said as Doctor Fate placed his hand on Tornado's faded and beaten face.

"What have they done to you old friend?" Doctor Fate asked.

"Best guess is that General Eiling had his people disassemble Red Tornado piece by piece to see if they could create an army of him. Though I'm guessing that failed." Flash said and he could see Kent was seething under that helmet.

"Where is this Eiling?" Doctor Fate demanded.

"Right now he's currently being processed at Belle Reve and he's not doing much talking right now." Flash said as Doctor Fate removed his helmet, though keeping his suit on.

"You deserved so much better, old friend. I should've tried to find you after the JSA was disbanded. Kept you safe." Kent said as he slammed the table with his fists.

"You don't have the powers without the helmet on right?" Flash asked, seeing how angry Kent was.

"Why do you think I took it off before I destroyed this entire hall by accident? I should've prevented this from happening. Did Eiling have anything else that belonged to my former teammates?" Kent asked.

"A few items. Like an hourglass, a pair of goggles and a pink pen." Flash said.

"A pink pen?" Kent asked.

"That's what you took away from this?" Flash asked, thinking that a pen was probably the least impressive thing in there.

"That pen is no ordinary pen. It's the Thunderbolt. One of the most powerful mystic weapons on the planet. Thank all the Lords of Order that Eiling was never able to wake it up." Kent said.

"What do you mean, it's the Thunderbolt?" Flash asked, since he'd never heard of that before.

"As in Johnny Thunder and the Thunderbolt. They were later members of the JSA recruited after the war, since while some of us retired afterwards, several JSA members decided to become an organization outside the government, a true precursor to the Justice League. The ones who retired were Black Canary, Wildcat, Vixen, Hourman and Starman. I became a part time member of the JSA due to my responsibilities as a Lord of Order. The ones who stayed, namely Red Tornado and Dr. Midnite continued to serve and they continued to recruit other new heroes as they emerged, including Commander Steel, the second Starman, Obsidian, a different kind of Green Lantern, don't ask and Johnny Thunder and the Thunderbolt. That pen is basically a genie's lamp and when the Thunderbolt inside bonds to someone, they have unlimited wishes. It's very powerful." Kent said.

"Got it." Flash said.

"Was there anything else? Did you see a ring or lantern or a staff?" Kent asked.

"No, why?" Flash asked as Kent sighed in relief.

"Because I was worried that he might have gotten his hands on Green Lantern's ring and battery or worse, Starman's cosmic staff." Kent said.

"How would Eiling have a green lantern power ring or battery? Don't they immediately leave their hosts when they die?" Flash asked.

"This was a different kind of ring. Instead of harnessing willpower like Alex and Hal do, this ring was powered by magic. It's complicated, but it's a different kind of green lantern power. But the lantern and ring, along with the staff, were never accounted for when the JSA was ultimately disbanded." Kent said.

"No, I didn't see any sign of them." Flash said.

"Good. Though it does beg the question of where they are now, since the league really shouldn't leave powerful weapons like those lying around." Flash said.

"I've tried searching for them over the years, but to no avail. But I believe that we've gotten sidetracked." Kent said.

"True, but I will talk to Kara about relocating all JSA memorabilia to here where it can be safely stored and secured." Flash said and Kent nodded.

"Anyways, do you think your magic can fix Red Tornado?" Flash asked.

"No. Believe me, I wish it could, but he's too badly damaged for my magic to fix and I'm uncertain if even our current technological geniuses could repair him in this state, since he is no ordinary machine. His creator, T.O. Morrow built him to essentially be a living machine, an android that could think for itself. I have to admit, Morrow may have been insane, but he was a genius, far ahead of his time. I honestly think that he's the only person who could fix Tornado in this condition." Kent said.

"And I'm guessing it won't be as easy as calling him up?" Flash asked and Kent shook his head.

"Morrow was a madman who originally built Tornado as a means of infiltrating and destroying the JSA before Red evolved beyond that programming. Even if he is still alive, which is unlikely at this point, he's been in hiding for years, trying to evade justice." Kent said.

"Can't you do a locator spell or something to find him?" Flash asked and Kent nodded.

"I can try. I owe Red that much. And even if Morrow is gone, we will find a way to bring Tornado back." Kent said.

"I know. No matter what it takes." Flash said as they looked down at the remains of the once great hero and hoped that he'd become great once again.

Chapter Text

Iris was growing concerned. Over the past few weeks, she'd started to find it harder and harder to stand up and stay standing, since she was starting to lose feeling in her legs again.

Which was why when Barry told her that he was meeting with Doctor Fate, she'd practically ordered him to bring the good doctor home to give her a mystic checkup to find out why she seemed to be losing her ability to walk again.

"Ms. West. I am not your personal physician." Doctor Fate said as he appeared in her apartment with Barry, who was still wearing his Flash suit, but now with his cowl off.

"You're the only trained mystic we have access to since Gabby still has no idea on how to use her necklace's power and since it was magic that gave me back my ability to walk." Iris said.

"Point taken. Give me one moment." Doctor Fate said as he held out his open hand to her and it glowed for a minute.

"I'm afraid it's not good news." Doctor Fate said.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked as Barry sat down next to her and took her hand.

"Something has disrupted the magic that was allowing you to walk. It's fading quickly." Doctor Fate said.

"What, how?" Iris asked.

"I don't know. It's possible that the magic wasn't strong enough to be permanent or possibly some outside force disrupted it, but it can't be restored. Though I wish I could." Doctor Fate said, truly sorry about that.

"So, I'm going back to being stuck in a chair?" Iris asked as she tried to stand up, seriously annoyed as Doctor Fate continued to examine her.

However, as Iris tried to get up, her legs gave out as Barry sped out and returned with her wheelchair and Iris groaned at being stuck back in this thing.

"So magic can't fix me again, what about science. Tannhauser already built me this sweet ass robo arm. I'm sure they could find a way to fix me." Iris said, wanting to get back on her feet as soon as possible.

"Not at the moment and I can check with my contacts in the League, see if any of them have any tech that could help you, but it could take years before any of them get to that point, since from what I remember, the damage done to your spine was pretty extensive. It's a miracle you're not a quadriplegic." Barry said.

"Still, I'd just gotten used to walking again, I do not want to have to go back to being stuck in this thing and I am not wheeling myself down the aisle." Iris said.

"Iris, I promise, I'll find a way to get you back on your feet." Barry said.

"And I believe that there may be one scientist on Earth who is capable of healing Iris, but I will warn you now that he is a criminal and he's the man we're currently looking for now." Fate said, since he truly cared for both Barry and Iris as friends.

"TO Morrow?" Barry asked and Fate nodded.

"He may be a madman, but he's also an expert in this kind of technology, considering the fact that he built Red Tornado to practically be human." Doctor Fate said.

"You really think that his tech can help Iris?" Barry asked Fate, who nodded.

"I do. Which just makes finding him even more important. Though I will admit that we cannot trust him." Fate said.

"We'll worry about that after we find him. Can you do the locator spell to find him?" Barry asked and Fate nodded as he held out his hand and projected a golden construct of the Earth and chanted a spell.

"Show me the location of TO Morrow." Fate said as suddenly, there was a flash of light and suddenly there was an arrow pointing to a location over America.

"He's in a secret bunker near Old Faithful in Wyoming. Shall we go Flash?" Doctor Fate asked and Barry nodded as he put his cowl back on.

"Wait, I'm going with you." Iris said.

"Absolutely not. It's too dangerous." Flash said.

"And do I look like I care? I'm a soldier Barry, this kind of thing is what I'm trained for. Besides, I'd rather just have Morrow work on me in a place where he already has his equipment instead of having to wait for you to transfer it and him to somewhere more secure." Iris said as she grabbed her gun.

"I don't think we'll be able to convince her not to come Flash. She reminds me of my wife Inza in that regard. Once she sets her mind to something, that's that. But I can provide her with some extra protection." Fate said as he raised his hand and covered Iris with protective glyphs.

"Thank you. Now let's go." Iris said and Fate nodded as he opened an ankh portal, which all three of them went through.

Chapter Text

When the trio exited the ankh portal, they found themselves in some kind of secret underground bunker.

"Yeah, this place is definitely a mad scientist lab." Flash said as they looked around, since the bunker had traces of crazy scientist everywhere, including what looked like some kind of dissection table, a robot assembly area and so much other crazy stuff.

"I swear, I'm having flashbacks to some of the labs we raided while I was overseas. Seriously, it's insane how much crazy shit foreign scientists come up with." Iris said as she wheeled herself around the lab and really hoped that this guy could help her, even if he was evil.

"Well, this is a surprise. I don't get many visitors, especially surprise ones." a man's voice said as a platform lowered itself to reveal an eccentric looking man with brown hair and a ridiculous mustache wearing a white lab coat over what looked like a red flight suit of some kind, along with the typical glasses.

"TO Morrow. It has been a long time. You're looking surprisingly well given your age." Doctor Fate said to the old enemy of the Justice Society of America.

"Like you're one to talk Fate." Morrow said condescendingly.

"It is the helmet of Fate that's allowed me to exist until a suitable new host for Nabu's soul is found. But what is your secret? The last time we met, you looked far older." Fate noted.

"My genius knows no bounds. It has even allowed me to find a way around the ravages of time. Though my methods are a little more unorthodox than what most would consider ethical science. But may I ask why two members of the Justice League are troubling me? I've kept quiet for a very long time. Though now that you've disturbed me, I suppose I might as well act the part, Red Torpedo, Red Inferno, we have guests. Give them a proper welcome." Morrow said as suddenly two red androids jumped to the ground to face them.

One looked more like a man with a yellow flame on his chest, yellow boots and gloves and a yellow cape similar to the one Red Tornado had worn and he was generating fire from his hands.

The other android looked more female from her build and she was wearing a silver belt with purple gloves and boots, along with a silver cape and she had a stream of water circling her.

"We are not here to fight." Fate said as he cast a freezing spell that froze both androids in place.

"Really, then what are you doing here?" Morrow asked, since he should've seen that coming, since he had yet to find a scientific defense against Fate's magic.

"We need your help and we have something to offer you in return." Flash said.

"What could you possibly have to offer me?" Morrow asked.

"The chance to work on your first and favorite creation." Fate said.

"What are you saying?" Morrow asked, since he'd given up hope on this long ago.

"We found Red Tornado, though a zealous rogue army general dissected him. You're likely the only person who can put him back together again. We're giving you a chance to work on him again, under heavy supervision of course, not to mention a one time pass from being arrested by the League." Flash said.

"In exchange for what. After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch." Morrow said, knowing that there had to be a catch.

"You use your science to give me back my legs, since if you could do something that could allow you to look so young despite your age." Iris said.

"Interesting. I'd need to see your medical records to know what I'm dealing with first." Morrow said, since he knew that this was the best deal he'd get, especially since the Justice League was offering him a pass, most likely because of how long he'd been inactive for.

"I suspected you'd say that, which is why." Fate said as he raised his hand, which glowed and suddenly Morrow was holding a copy of Iris's medical records in his hand.

"Useful." Morrow said as he looked over the files.

"Well, I think that my technology should be more than capable of solving this. Though I will need some assurance that you'll keep your end of the bargain and won't just vanish after I do my work." Morrow said.

"What do you want?" Flash asked.

"You will bring Red Tornado's remains here now, since this is likely the only facility on Earth that has the equipment necessary to repair him if he's truly in the condition you say he's in." Morrow said and Fate nodded.

"Fair enough. Agreed." Fate said as he opened a portal to the Hall of Justice, where Tornado's remains were still being stored.

"Be right back." Flash said with a grin as he sped through the portal while Morrow walked up to Iris.

"I suppose we'd better get you prepped for surgery." Morrow said and Iris nodded.

"But just in case you get any ideas about doing anything else, well." Iris said as she flexed her bionic arm at Morrow.

"I wouldn't dream of trying to pull anything with two members of the Justice League present. Especially when the deal they're offering me is too good to pass up on. I may be evil, but I'm not stupid." Morrow said and Iris nodded, since that made sense.

"And I actually do have a question for you. You said that you can fix my legs, but can you do more than that?" Iris asked and Morrow grinned, since it sounded like this was going to be more interesting and more fun than he thought it would be.

"Perhaps, what do you have in mind?" Morrow asked her.

Chapter Text

After Flash returned with Red Tornado's remains, he saw the look of horror on Morrow's face at the site of his creation, his son, looking like that.

"What butcher did this to my son?" Morrow asked.

"One who was turned into a monster by an even worse monster and is now rotting in supervillain prison. And you're lucky that your talents are in high enough demand to avoid a trip there yourself. This time." Flash said and Morrow nodded, though he actually looked sad at this.

"We have upheld our end of the bargain so far and everything is in place. Including Ms. West being prepped for the operation. It's time for you to uphold your end of it." Fate said.

"I am a man of my word. And I promise that I will do nothing that was not asked by either you or the patient." Morrow said, turning his attention over to Iris, who was currently lying on a lab table wearing a hospital gown and she had a mask on her face to give her anesthesia to keep her under and she also had a respirator attached to her to help her breathe during the operation.

"I suggest that you stay here, since this is beyond your comprehension." Morrow said as he walked over to the controls for the machinery.

"I swear, if anything happens to her, the deal is off and you're going to prison." Flash said.

"Quiet, I'm trying to concentrate. I suggest that you keep silent to ensure that nothing unfortunate happens." Morrow snapped as he got back to his work and brought several mechanical tubes down from the ceiling and carefully inserted them into Iris's body.

"Beginning nanite infusion now." Morrow said as he monitored Iris's vitals as he put a progress bar on a monitor for Flash and Fate to see.

"How's it looking?" Flash asked.

"So far so good, but we're only at 20% so far. It's a very delicate process. But so far her body is accepting the nanites. However, I can't activate them until the infusion is complete." Morrow said.

"What will power the nanites, since they are machines and while your science is advanced, I'm sure your machines will still require energy." Fate asked.

"That's why we have to wait until the infusion is complete to activate them, since they're basically going to integrate themselves into the host's body so that they'll receive energy the same way her biological systems get energy. Through eating and sleeping. It's extremely experimental technology and as you're aware, I made sure Ms. West was aware of all the risks before I agreed to perform the surgery. She knew what she was getting herself into." Morrow said defensively.

"We weren't accusing you, we were curious." Flash assured him, since while he didn't trust Morrow, he knew Morrow was smart enough not to screw things up and he genuinely was curious about how this whole thing would work.

"Good." Morrow said.

"It's a shame you had to go insane Dr. Morrow. Your technology really could've helped a lot of people." Fate acknowledged, since while he was evil, TO Morrow's technology really was amazing.

"Perhaps. But what's done is done. Now let's get this over with so I can go back to my life." Morrow said as he returned to the matter at hand, especially since the progress bar now read 100% complete.

"Now comes the really painful part. Fate, if you know any mystic mumbo jumbo that can help ensure that Ms. West's body fully accepts the nanites, now would be the time to do it, otherwise, well, if her body rejects them, it's game over." Morrow said, since while he'd told them this before, he felt it necessary to reiterate that point.

"I'll see what I can do. I will not allow her to die." Fate said, since he'd lost his own wife Inza not that long ago, at least to him and he wouldn't allow Flash to feel that pain before he'd even gotten married yet. And with that in mind, he began to perform his magic, causing Iris's body to shimmer with golden light as Morrow activated the nanites as they began to attach themselves to her body, integrating fully with her nervous and skeletal systems.

"Well?" Flash asked nervously as he looked at Iris, refusing to look away as the procedure was completed.

Morrow looked at his scans and smiled at what he saw.

"The procedure was a success and her body has accepted the nanites. They're already beginning to repair the damage done to her spine and it appears that they've also integrated with her bionic arm, fusing it to her body as if it was her actual one." Morrow said.

"That's incredible. We might need to see what use your tech has for medical purposes. How long until she wakes up?" Flash asked.

"I recommend that we keep her under for at least the next 12 hours due to the pain her body is no doubt in right now as it adjusts. However, given another hour, it should be safe to move her somewhere more comfortable. Though I think that now is the time I should tell you that while you were retrieving Red Tornado's body, Iris did ask me to add something extra to the nanites and told me not to tell you until the procedure was complete." Morrow said.

"What did you do?" Flash demanded.

"She wanted me to give her the same powers Red Tornado had and I agreed. That's the other reason I want to keep her unconscious for a while. To allow her body to adjust to the powers. She'll be able to do all the things Red Tornado can do, which is why I need to begin rebuilding him so she'll have a teacher." Morrow said, since he wasn't delusional enough to think that they'd let him keep Tornado after he repaired him, nor would Tornado want to stay.

"Why would you agree to do that?" Flash asked.

"She had this look in her eyes that clearly meant I'm not asking, I'm telling you what's going to happen. She wanted to make sure she could never be hurt like that again, though I don't know why she was so insistent on doing it behind your back." Morrow said and Fate chuckled.

"Because she knows that Flash would never have allowed it, due to how overprotective he can be of her. But Iris is a lot like my Inza. She's a spitfire and a force of nature that should not be challenged. Especially since now Iris can control a force of nature. You should've seen this coming Flash." Fate said and Flash nodded, since he knew that Fate was right and while he'd felt some initial shock at first, after taking some time to think it over, this completely sounded like something Iris would do. He just hoped that she'd truly thought this through, since now that she had these abilities, it would be on her to learn how to use them.

"Well, at least my friend will be happy to be able to give her a name, since Red Tornado is off the table. But you should get started on rebuilding him. And maybe we'll let you keep Inferno and Torpedo for now. At least until you try to use them to attack us." Flash said.

"We'll see what happens." Morrow said, since he agreed that once they were done here, they'd become enemies again, since right now, their goals just aligned. Once that was over, all bets were off.

But for now, he wanted to work on Red Tornado while he was still being given the chance.

Chapter Text

After Morrow had completed the reconstruction of Red Tornado, Flash and Doctor Fate had kept their word and given him a one time pass and even allowed him to keep Red Torpedo and Red Inferno. For now, it was only right to uphold their word, since Morrow hadn't done anything wrong in years, though they had agreed to hold off on reactivating Tornado until they were safely back in the Hall of Justice. Morrow had admitted that he'd considered downloading and copying Red Tornado's memory files, but considering how outdated the information on those files was, there was no point in it anymore, since JSA was obsolete now.

Morrow had even said that it had felt good helping someone other than himself, but he wasn't sure if he truly liked that feeling. Time would tell if he could reform and put his science to good use helping humanity or if he'd return to his former wicked ways.

But now it was time to go. First Doctor Fate dropped Barry and Iris off at their apartment and as soon as they returned, Barry called Caitlin and asked her and Gabby, since Gabby had been with Caitlin at the time, to come and keep an eye on Iris and also check her over to make sure there were no unforeseen side effects of the nanite infusion and he'd also informed her that Ice Maiden would need to hold down the city a little while longer, since he had one last thing to take care of.

After making sure Iris was in capable hands, since Caitlin had brought a portable version of Mount Flash's medical bay with her, Barry still didn't quite understand that, aside from the fact that it was due to some tech his father had brought from his home earth, but anyways, after that, Flash and Doctor Fate finally returned to the Hall of Justice, where the now intact, but still dormant body of Red Tornado was waiting for them.

"We should alert Supergirl to the situation, since she did want to be kept informed of the spoils of your recon mission to General Eiling's office and I think that this qualifies." Doctor Fate said and Flash nodded his agreement.

"Besides, as the leader of the League, she should vet him herself before considering any new member." Barry agreed, since while he wanted to induct Red Tornado into the League himself, it ultimately was not his call, since Kara had set up official bylaws for inducting new members into the Justice League, which stated that while new membership votes could be called at any League meeting, if the need arose to bypass the usual system, only the current leader and chairperson of the Justice League could override the decision. Also, the bylaws stated that while new Leaguers would be called into service immediately, their induction into the League would be made public officially until a ceremony called at the end of each year, to avoid having the ceremony so many times that it became meaningless. But those bylaws meant that the only way Barry could get Red Tornado into the League now was by having Kara approve it, since she was the current leader of the Justice League and while he knew she'd step aside if asked to, he doubted anyone, including himself, would want her too due to how good a job she'd done.

"You'd better summon her then, since I'd like to bring my old friend back online." Doctor Fate said and Barry nodded as he pulled out his new League communicator, which utilized a special frequency and used a variation of Argo Enterprises' technology to work, to send a message to Kara to ask her to come to the hall.

A few minutes later, they heard the computer state "Supergirl, 01, access granted." as Kara walked into the lab, wearing a new Supergirl suit.

"Okay, what is so important that I had to rush here while I was finally spending some quality time with Lena and Krypto?" Kara asked, annoyed, before she noticed the android.

"Is that Red Tornado?" she asked, all annoyance leaving her voice as she now understood why Barry had sent her that message.

"Yeah. He was among the things we found while investigating General Eiling. The other artifacts are in the archives until we can move them to a more secure location." Barry said as he brought her up to speed on everything.

"So you let Morrow go with two more elemental androids?" Kara asked.

"We made a deal with him and honestly, he's been inactive for so long, I'm not sure he's even a threat anymore." Barry said.

"I get that and I respect you keeping your word, but let's keep that quiet. The last thing we need is the world finding out that the Justice League let a dangerous criminal get away. But I am happy to hear about Iris and I expect to get that wedding invite soon. And to meet her at Diana's wedding, since that's coming up soon." Kara said, since Diana's wedding to Steve was fast approaching.

"Yeah, I still can't believe that I'm on the guest list for Wonder Woman's wedding. Or that you're her maid of honor." Barry said.

"She was my mentor when I first became active as Supergirl and she's like another older sister to me. We have a close bond. Just like I have with Clark and Oliver seems to have with Bruce and you seem to have with Doc Fate and this new stray. Also, did you see the report about Firestorm, since he lives in your district?" Kara asked and Barry nodded.

"I'll keep an eye on him, try and train him and I do like the sound of this younger team you're putting together. Who knows, maybe I'll get a protege of my own to add to it soon, since I think my future brother-in-law Wally is still trying to find a way to recreate the accident that gave me my speed behind his dad's back. I'm just glad that I've grown as a hero and a speedster, since Dad's finally started teaching me more advanced moves like phasing and I've learned to throw the lightning I create when I run." Barry said, since he was no longer the inexperienced noob of the League and he'd sent numerous meta criminals to Belle Reve, including Mirror Master, Top, Weather Wizard, Multiplex, Peek-a-Boo, Rainbow Raider, Deathbolt, the Mist, Everyman and even one hell of a bruiser called King Shark.

"I know. You've become a real hero and I think you're beyond being a student now. You're ready to be a teacher. Besides, when your man in yellow shows up again, you'll need all the speedster help you can get. Especially since you're kind of behind the times since nearly every founding member has a protege now. I have Powergirl, Diana has Wondergirl, Clark now has Superboy, J'onn now has Miss Martian, Bruce has Robin, Spoiler and based on what Clark told me, a new protege, Bluebird and even Oliver's taking on a protege, though she doesn't have a codename yet. You and Alex are the only stragglers. Not to mention Black Lightning has Lightning and I'm getting it's only a matter of time until Arthur takes on a protege too." Kara said and Barry nodded.

"Anyways, I called you here because I think that due to Red Tornado's service for the JSA, it warrants bypassing our usual voting process for letting him in." Barry said.

"And I agree. Though, if he's agreeable to it, I would like to upgrade his systems a bit to allow him to be able to shift to a human form." Kara said.

"I think he'll be more than agreeable to that, since one of Red's deepest desires was to become more human. But now, can we turn him on?" Doctor Fate asked.

"Of course." Kara said as she nodded at Fate to do the honors, since he was Red Tornado's oldest living friend.

"Thank you. And now." Fate said as he used the activation code Morrow had given him to turn Red Tornado back online.

"System reboot complete, Red Tornado back online. Hello Kent." Red Tornado spoke as he registered his old friend.

"Hello Tornado. It's been a long time. Welcome back my old friend." Kent said as he removed his helmet.

"I take it there is much to bring me up to speed on." Red Tornado said as he took in his new surroundings.

"Indeed. We have much to discuss." Kent said as Tornado slowly managed to get to his feet.

Chapter Text

If Cisco had known that Barry was working with a robot hero like Red Tornado, he would've ducked out of his work at what Argo Enterprises had dubbed the Ordell Initiative, which was the codename for his Zeta technology project, since not only had Kara approved it and agreed to allow the initial development to take place at the new Central City facility, which was actually the former Star Labs site, which Argo Enterprises had paid to rebuild following the particle accelerator explosion, but she'd also named Cisco the head of Ordell Initiative, though Jesse still ran the Central City branch of Argo Enterprises, which meant that while Cisco was in charge of the project, she was in charge of him, though since Cisco was an ally of the Flash, he was a bit more in the know about this project than Jesse was, including the fact that it's origins had come from another earth.

That information was being kept quiet from anyone who wasn't in the know about the Justice League. All Jesse knew about the League's connection was that once they completed the zeta tube project, it would be going to the Justice League first to help with their missions, though eventually, as the technology evolved as all technology did, it would become available to the public. Jesse didn't know all the details, but she did know that after everything the Justice League, both as a team and as individual members had done for the world, this was a small token of appreciation.

Anyways, right now Jesse was helping Cisco with the final calibrations of the completed Zeta tube, since it was nearly ready to test.

"Okay, that should do it." Cisco said as they finished the last bit of work.

"Yeah, but aren't we getting a bit ahead of ourselves, since while this Zeta Tube is supposedly finished, my understanding of the theory is that we can't use it without connecting it to another tube, which means that we can't test it until the other tube in National City is finished." Jesse said, since due to the nature of the Zeta technology, two tubes needed to be built. One was built here in Central City and the other was being built at a secure Argo Enterprises facility in National City, where that project was being headed by a brilliant scientist who'd done his own research on Zeta energy named Adam Strange, though they had yet to receive confirmation that the National City tube was complete and even if it was, they couldn't test it without a member of the Justice League there to oversee the test, since it was for their use.

"I know, but still, it's impressive how quickly we got this tube built so fast. Aren't you planning on using it to go back to National City for the Argo Enterprises Christmas party?" Cisco asked, since Jesse had been invited to that party.

"No, since I can't tell my date about this secret project, so we have to fly back to California, we're leaving tomorrow." Jesse said.

"When am I going to meet this mystery man who agreed to travel across the country to attend a corporate party with you?" Cisco asked, since while Jesse had been a bit more chipper lately since her father's murder, she was being pretty quiet about who the special man in her life was.

"Not yet. I'm content keeping my private life private for a bit longer. But where the hell did you find these notes on the Zeta Project, since they're remarkably in depth?" Jesse asked, since she'd been curious about where the theory of the Zeta technology had come from.

"I found them in an old Star Labs storage unit when Caitlin and I were cleaning out your father's old units. I found the notes, but there was no name on them. If I knew who originally wrote them, I'd give them credit." Cisco said, though that was a small lie, since while he did know who wrote the papers, that party had asked not to be included.

"Okay, I'll accept that for now." Jesse said, right as alarms blared.

"What's going on?" Cisco asked.

"An intruder is trying to break into one of the special project vaults. Though how the thief even knows about those is beyond me, since only top level staff members of this facility know about the vaults and the projects in them. I'm going to call the police." Jesse said and Cisco nodded, even as he turned away.

"I'm gonna call someone else." Cisco said as he called Barry.

Chapter Text

When Jesse and Cisco arrived at the vaults, they found that the intruder was long gone and the vault in chaos.

"What happened?" Jesse asked their new head of security, Ralph Dibny.

"We were blindsided. Whoever the intruder was, they were a meta." Ralph said.

"But I thought that we kept metahuman power dampeners active on this floor to prevent metas from stealing our stuff. The only ones immune are metas on the Justice League who were given special tech that bypasses the dampeners by Dr. Danvers herself." Jesse said, since in a professional situation, she had to refer to Kara by her professional title.

"We checked that. Power to the dampeners was disabled and whoever did it was smart enough to prevent the failsafes from kicking in and rerouting power from other generators. They knew our security protocols and took out my men like they were nothing." Ralph said.

"Was anything stolen?" Jesse asked.

"Just one thing. Something called a tachyon prototype. I don't know what it is, science isn't my thing, but whatever it is, I'm guessing it's important if it was down here." Ralph said.

"You have no idea. Especially since that prototype was a joint project between Argo Enterprises and Mercury Labs. It's a one of a kind device that's irreplaceable. And now it's gone." Jesse said.

"What was the purpose of that tech?" Cisco asked, since while he'd heard about the project, he didn't know what it was.

"It's an experimental energy source. I can't disclose much beyond that." Jesse answered.

"Anyways, did you manage to get a good look at the guy before he left?" Cisco asked.

"No, he was too fast. Like a blur. Almost like he was the." Ralph began, only to be cut off by the arrival of the Flash.

"Sorry I'm late. What's going on?" Flash asked.

"Not sure who called you, but they were right too, since I think that this robbery was committed by someone with your powers. Another speedster." Ralph said.

"Why, what did you see?" Flash asked.

"I didn't see anything and security footage was wiped clean, but the guards who survived claimed that the attacker was a blur, but the last thing they saw was a flash of red lightning and in it, a man wearing some kind of yellow suit." Ralph said, causing both Flash and Jesse to freeze.

"It's him. The man who murdered my father is back." Jesse said.

"What did he take?" Flash asked.

"A tachyon prototype. But the good news is that due to their energy signature, once they're activated, they can be tracked." Jesse said.

"And if whoever stole them is smart enough to know how to use them, then they're likely smart enough to know that and how to shield it from tracking. But it's still worth a shot." Flash agreed.

"I'm gonna call in the CCPD." Ralph said.

"Go ahead, but I doubt it would do much good, since a speedster is out of their league. My team and I are likely the only ones equipped to deal with him. We'll find a way to get your property back Ms. Chambers." Flash said.

"Wait, if you're going after the guy who killed my dad, I want in." Jesse said.

"Too dangerous. I understand your feelings, believe me, I do, but this is not something for a regular scientist. Leave this to the heroes of the Justice League who are training for this sort of thing." Flash said, not arrogantly, but genuinely, since he understood Jesse's desire for vengeance better than she could imagine, but he wouldn't allow her to put herself in harm's way, since it was more likely that she'd get herself killed.

"Flash, please. I have to do this." Jesse said.

"I'm sorry, but it's out of the question. This guy is too dangerous to leave to chance. But we will catch him. Eventually." Flash promised before sped out.

"I'm not sitting this one out Cisco." Jesse said.

"Jesse, I'm for that, but how are we supposed to stop a metahuman like that? We should leave him to the Flash. Even if we had powers, we couldn't stop him." Cisco said.

"You really think I'm going to let something like that stop me? I'll find a way." Jesse said as she walked away while Ralph went to check on his men, leaving Cisco alone.

"Like I said, we couldn't stop him even if we did have powers." Cisco said quietly as he lifted his right hand and closed it into a fist, right before it began to glow with some kind of blue energy.

Chapter Text

A few hours later found Barry back at Argo Enterprises, now back in the capacity of his job as a CSI as a forensic scientist, though luckily, thanks to his mask and the fact that he'd been vibrating his vocal cords when he'd been here earlier as the Flash, Jesse didn't recognize him as he and Patty worked, since Julian was back in London for the holidays, though he should be returning soon.

While the CSIs worked, Barry noticed that while Joe and Eddie were talking to Jesse as the detectives in charge of this case, he could see the tells of Jesse and Eddie trying to avoid looking at each other for too long and how Eddie was trying not to wrap his arm around Jesse to comfort her. Clear signs that he was Jesse's mystery man, but if they weren't ready to reveal their relationship for whatever reason, he wasn't going to judge them and he could tell that Joe was in the same position. Barry just couldn't figure out why they were hiding their relationship, since if Eddie were dating Iris, then he might understand the desire to keep it hidden, but since it was Jesse, Barry didn't understand the problem. But it wasn't really his business.

"You find anything Allen?" Patty asked, bringing him back to the task at hand.

"You mean besides the obvious signs of a metahuman being behind this?" Barry asked.

"Not just a metahuman. Everything we've heard adds up to one thing. It was a speedster who broke in and if I didn't know better, I'd think the Flash was our lead suspect, but not only is he a recognized hero and member of the Justice League, but he at the time of the robbery, he was fighting a different metahuman criminal. What did they call him again?" Patty asked.

"Mirror Master." Barry said, since last night, before he'd gotten the call from Cisco, he'd been dealing with Sam Scudder, a meta who could access his own pocket dimension inside mirrors and other reflective surfaces and other assorted powers like that. He was still wrapping his head around the science behind those powers.

"Not to mention the survivors who did manage to get a look at the thief said that he looked like the reverse of the Flash. Instead of a red suit with yellow lightning, he had a yellow suit with red lightning." Barry said.

"Huh, so he's kind of like a Reverse Flash." Patty said and Barry had to stop himself from laughing as he thought of the look on Cisco's face when he found out that someone besides himself not only named a meta, but such a big one, since Reverse Flash was pretty much Flash's nemesis.

"I guess so. Cool name. But if we keep looking around I'm sure we'll find something, since due to all the waivers Ms. Chambers made us sign to keep us from revealing their secrets, we should be good to look around." Barry said, since he and Patti were the only cops on this floor who likely understood the science behind any of these devices.

"Yeah. How are things going with Iris? Her recovery seems pretty miraculous. Any chance that might become a regular practice? It could help a lot of people?" Patti asked, trying to make small talk as they walked through the facility.

"Not sure yet. It was a pretty experimental operation and Iris is the only one it worked on." Barry answered, keeping the truth about Iris's recovery secret.

"Well, here's hoping that those success numbers go up." Patty said and Barry nodded, though he knew that was unlikely as Eddie walked up to them.

"You CSIs find anything?" Eddie asked.

"Not much to go on. What about you? Did Ms. Chambers give you anything to go on?" Barry asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew what the answer was.

"No, she was being incredibly tight-lipped about whatever was stolen, though she did give the indication that we weren't the first ones she called." Eddie said.

"You mean the Flash?" Barry asked, well versed on how Eddie felt about the Flash and other vigilantes in general.

"Yeah. She trusts some guy in a mask over the police." Eddie said, clearly annoyed by that.

"He's a hero Eddie. Captain Singh keeps saying he wants a direct line to the Flash, kind of like what Gotham has for Batman." Patti said.

"What, like a Flash signal?" Barry asked with a chuckle, though he couldn't deny that giving CCPD an official direct line to him was a good idea. Especially since from what he heard, Superman gave James Olsen a direct line to him too.

"Something like that. But he's not wrong. The law is still working to catch up with the influx of metas." Patti said.

"Maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that he's a vigilante who breaks the law." Eddie said, since his stance on the Flash wasn't as harsh as it used to be, he still wasn't sure how he felt about the people putting their faith in vigilantes.

"I say that he's just leveling the playing field against the criminals with powers." Patti said.

"But they should still have faith in the officers who've sworn to protect this city with their lives. I don't think that the Flash is trying to undermine the police, he's just trying to help them do their job." Barry said.

"I guess only time will tell." Eddie said.

Chapter Text

"I still can't believe you had Morrow give you the same powers as Red Tornado." Barry said to his fiance as they stood in the training room of Mount Flash with Caitlin and Red Tornado himself so that Iris could begin her training in learning to use her new abilities.

"I wanted to be sure that no one could hurt me like that again and you know I've never been one to sit on the sidelines. Now I can fight alongside you, especially since I actually have combat training from my time with the marines, not to mention experience with military tactics. And since Gabby hasn't used her own power since it temporarily healed me, you need someone with actual military experience on the team and dad doesn't count." Iris said and Barry sighed and nodded.

"Gabby's still trying to figure out how her totem works and her family is no help since they still aren't talking to her due to her sexuality." Caitlin said.

"I'm not surprised. I've met Gabby's mom maybe once and she was a major bitch. Gabby's better looking for a teacher somewhere else." Iris said.

"Which is what I've tried telling her." Caitlin agreed, since while she'd loved for Gabby to reconcile with her family, she wasn't holding her breath about it.

"I do not believe this is why you asked me to come here today." Red Tornado said, getting them back on topic.

"Right, sorry. Since Morrow gave Iris the same powers as you, you're the best person to teach her how to control them. Since without control, she'll likely wind up becoming some kind of uncontrollable human cyclone." Barry said, right as Cisco walked into the room.

"Cyclone, that's it, Iris's official metahuman name." Cisco said immediately before anyone could say anything.

"Huh, Cyclone, I like it. And I'm reminded of why one of your jobs on this team is to deal out metahuman names." Iris said with a grin.

"I'll get started on your suit now." Cisco said, right as Red Tornado's head perked up.

"My sensors have detected the presence of four metahumans in this room right now." Red Tornado said.

"Wait, what? How can that be? The only metas in this room are myself, Caitlin and Iris." Barry said, since with Iris's new abilities, she was technically a meta now, just a different kind of meta than he and Caitlin were. Then his eyes turned to Cisco.

"Cisco, is there something you want to share with the rest of the class?" Barry asked as Caitlin and Iris turned to look at him.

"Thanks for that spoiler C3P0." Cisco said, glaring at the android.

"What are your powers?" Caitlin asked.

"I'm not sure exactly. It's some kind of energy manipulation since I can do this." Cisco said as he made his hands glow with a strange blue energy.

"I've never seen energy like that before." Caitlin said.

"Tornado, you're older than any of us, have you seen anything like this before?" Barry asked the android.

"No. There is no known match to that energy in my database. Perhaps the computer systems in this facility can better register this energy." Tornado said as Henry sped into the room to see Cisco's powers.

"Or you could just ask me, since I think I know what kind of power that is. But we should have the scanners in the medical bay confirm my suspicions." Henry said.

"Why, what is it?" Barry asked his father.

"I don't want to say until I'm sure. Let's go." Henry said as they headed to the medical lab.

"Well, what's the situation?" Cisco asked Henry after the scans were complete.

"It confirms my suspicions. The energy you're manipulating is multi dimensional energy." Henry said.

"Wait, what kind of energy?" Iris asked, since this was lost not just on her, but on the three scientists and even the android too.

"You know that the multiverse is real from my story of how I got here and it looks like Cisco is a viber, someone who can tap into the multidimensional energy that ties the multiverse together." Henry said.

"How do you know about that?" Barry asked his father.

"Because I knew someone on my home earth with the same powers. His name was Josh, but we called him Breacher. He was a bounty hunter/hero in our world. I saw him use his powers to do a lot of amazing things, he saved a lot of lives." Henry said.

"What could this Breacher guy do exactly?" Cisco asked, since so far, all he'd managed to learn how to do was make his fists glow for a few minutes.

"He could manipulate the energy to do some pretty incredible things. He could open portals, or as we called them, breaches to other earths or to different places on our Earth and he could see through the multidimensional barriers, allowing him to have visions of different events in time and space. It helped him find his targets a lot of the time and he could also use that energy as a weapon by creating some pretty powerful vibrational energy blasts from his hands. I think that's the power that's beginning to surface for you Cisco." Henry explained.

"So, I can vibe different timelines and universes?" Cisco asked and Henry nodded.

"That's one way to put it. And I can teach you how to control and develop those powers, since I helped Josh do the same." Henry said.

"Thank you. And my name will be Vibe." Cisco said and Barry grinned.

"Sounds good." Barry said and Caitlin nodded, though they decided to change the topic, since they could see that they were coming up on a painful topic for their father.

Chapter Text

Thawne had just finished the latest tests on his device, which was built from parts he'd managed to scavenge over the years, plus the tachyon prototype he'd recently 'acquired' from Argo Enterprises.

He still held disdain for the fact that as a younger man, he'd idolized the company and what it would eventually become in his time and its founder Kara Danvers, who was considered the mother of the future in his time, considering how much of her technology had shaped his world. But now he felt nothing but rage towards her and all other heroes from this time, but he couldn't deny that the woman knew how to build some very useful toys.

However, he was disappointed by the results he was seeing from his tests.

"Still won't stabilize beyond five percent?" Thawne asked.

"I'm afraid not Professor Thawne. Your negative tachyon infused cells resist the positive tachyons you are attempting to use to jumpstart your speed. They're not compatible and the more you attempt to do so, the higher the probability is that you will alert the positive speed force and her time wraiths to your location." Gideon said and Thawne sighed, since he knew the AI was right. He was already cutting it close with how much he'd changed the timeline since he'd killed Barry's mother. And the worst part was that it was a fixed point, so even if Thawne could recover enough speed to travel backwards in time, he couldn't stop himself from making the mistake that would condemn him to this hell in the past no matter how hard he tried.

"There has to be a way short of reconfiguring the device for negative tachyons, since that requires time and tools, neither of which I have." Thawne said as he continued to check his data.

"Perhaps you could turn your attention to a different speed force expert." Gideon said.

"There's no way in hell Henry Allen would agree to help me and Barry would rather shove his hand through my heart." Thawne said.

"I'm not talking about speedsters. I'm talking about someone who's as obsessed with them as you once were. Someone who wishes to gain speed of his own." Gideon said as she played a series of images to show Wally West secretly studying the accident that had given Barry his speed.

"Impressive. Especially for someone his age in this time period to be trying to figure out how to tap into the speed force. Perhaps we should help Wally speed up his experiments." Thawne said.

"That won't be necessary, since according to the revised timeline, the day Wally West gains his own superspeed will be tomorrow night while working in his school's chemistry lab during the surprise storm." Gideon said.

"Then we have work to do and not a whole lot of time to do it. Time to get to work." Thawne said.

"Right away Professor." Gideon said and Thawne grinned as he got to work.

The next night found Wally West working late in the chemistry lab at Central City High. He told his parents that he was doing late night work on a chemistry project, when in reality, this was where he'd moved his experiments for turning himself into a speedster, since despite the promise he'd made to his father, Wally was obsessed with the idea and he couldn't let it go. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was supposed to be a speedster, regardless of what his father and Barry had told him, though in Barry's case, it had been because he felt he himself was still too green to be able to teach Wally anything, but now, his future brother-in-law was a pretty experienced speedster, since between his dad's tutelage and Barry's own ingenuity, he'd already been quick to master most speedster moves, including what Wally assumed were more advanced abilities like phasing and throwing lightning. Wally was sure that Barry could teach him everything now.

Especially since Barry had already become Wally's mentor in a way, since unlike the rest of his family, who were soldiers and reporters, Wally was a scientist, so when it came to getting help in his advanced science classes, Barry was the go to guy for help.

But anyways, from studying the Flash and his own notes, Wally had finally figured out the exact chemicals Barry had been hit with, the ratios and almost everything necessary. The only thing he was missing was the one thing he couldn't control. The lightning bolt. So when this storm appeared out of nowhere, Wally saw the chance he needed to become what he was meant to be.

"I really hope this works, since once I start the reaction, I can't stop it and if it doesn't work, I'm dead." Wally said to himself as he prepared to set off the chemical reaction, that if his calculations were correct, would create an explosion similar to the one Barry was in the night he got struck by lightning. The only issue he still hadn't worked out was the lightning part, but he'd come too far to turn back now and it was only a matter of time until he got busted, so he had to try.

Little did he know that someone else was helping him from the shadows.

"Gideon, I've planted the device, is it functioning?" Thawne asked as he quickly sped in and out of the lab without being noticed anything more than a gust of wind, grateful that his speed hadn't given out yet.

"Yes. The transference device you planted in Wally West is active and synced up to the device inside you and I've recalibrated the school's electrical systems to attract a lightning bolt to strike him. Once the connection to the speed force has been established, the device will begin to siphon a small portion of that energy and convert it to negative speed force energy before transferring it to the device in you, which will stabilize and restore your full connection to the negative speed force and your full powers." Gideon said.

"And then the real fun can begin. Now let's get this started." Thawne said as he watched Wally set off the explosion that would change his life forever.

And right on schedule, as the chemical reaction exploded, Thawne and Gideon's adjustments drew a lightning bolt in through the window and struck Wally at the same time he was hit by the explosion, knocking him out cold, but triggering the reaction both he and Thawne had wanted and Thawne grinned as he felt the device kick in as his speed suddenly increased and became stronger, more stable, until he felt like he was back to his original level.

"Gideon, cut off the devices now." Thawne said with a grin as he put on his suit and started vibrating with his eyes glowing red as the device shut off, since it had more than done its job and now Wally West was still getting what he wanted. They both had.

Thawne grinned as he got to his feet, feeling more powerful than he had in years.

The Reverse Flash had been truly reborn and now it was time to get back to work.

Chapter Text

"What the hell was Wally thinking?" Joe asked out loud as he, Cecille, Iris and Barry stood in the waiting room at Central City General Hospital, where Wally had been rushed too after someone had found him pretty badly burnt after being struck by lightning last night. The doctors had stabilized him and said that he was healing remarkably fast, but he was still comatose.

"I think that the talk you had with him about trying to avoid becoming a speedster went in one ear and out the other. Right now Patty is processing the evidence at the lab, but I'm gonna see if I can get the League to step in and remove all traces of what Wally was working on, since if that information falls into the wrong hands, I don't want to imagine what'll happen." Barry said and Joe nodded in agreement.

"But you think he'll have speed when he wakes up?" Iris asked her fiance.

"I think it's the only explanation for how he even survived the lightning strike, let alone how he's recovering this quickly. Besides, before I came here, I got a quick look at the chemicals Wally was hit with and they're the same ones that hit me when I was struck by lightning nearly a year ago. I think that if Wally wants to stay on the football team, he'll need to wear a power dampener, at least until he's mastered control over his speed." Barry said.

"Agreed." Joe said as Cecille kept pacing the room.

"What are we gonna do when Wally wakes up?" Cecille asked.

"Well, with your permission, I'll do for him what my dad's done for me. I'll train him." Barry said.

"But aren't you still learning things about your powers?" Iris asked him, only to have Barry shake his head.

"Not exactly. Dad's already taught me everything he knows, things like running on water, phasing, throwing lightning, he even showed me how to time travel, though that's one power I'll never use unless I have no other option, but according to him, what really makes a speedster is all the new ways they can find to use their powers. It's all about imagination now." Barry answered.

"So you're not limited to what you've been taught so far. It really just depends on how creative you can get your powers?" Joe asked.

"Exactly." Barry said, right as he heard someone call out his name, in a sort of hushed whisper barely loud enough for him to hear, but he did and he could tell that it was a woman's voice and it sounded familiar. It sounded like the same voice he'd heard back when he fought Blockbuster.

"Are you alright?" Iris asked her fiance.

"I don't know. I need to go, I'll be back as soon as I can." Barry said.

"What's going on?" Joe asked.

"If I knew, I'd tell you." Barry said as he walked out of the hospital and as soon as he was sure he was clear, he just took off running, though he wasn't really sure where he was going.

Barry just knew one thing. He had to keep running faster and faster, as the world blurred more and more around him until suddenly, he felt himself move through some kind of invisible barrier, like breaking the sound barrier, only this wasn't a sonic boom.

When he finally stopped running, Barry was confused by what he saw, since it almost looked like he was standing in his childhood home from before his mom was murdered.

"Did I run back in time by accident?" Barry asked as he looked around, trying to make sense from what was going on.

"No, you didn't go back in time. You simply answered my call at last. Hello Barry." the voice said again and Barry's breath hitched when he heard that voice as he turned to see his mom standing in front of him.

"Mom? Is that you?" Barry asked in shock at seeing his mother again.

"Yes and no. It's complicated." Nora said.

"What's going on? I thought you were dead?" Barry asked.

"I was. But before I died, the speed force reached out to me and brought me into it. Saying that I had a greater purpose, becoming its avatar." Nora Allen said.

"I don't understand?" Barry asked.

"There's a reason why Eobard Thawne's connection to the negative speed force was weakened so severely after his last battle with you. The strain of your battle on both sides of the speed force was extensive, weakening both forces and making them unstable. In order to stabilize itself, the speed force needed to take on a living host. One who had experience with it, but wasn't a speedster themselves. I was the natural candidate. It told me that it could keep me alive and connected to you and your father if I agreed to become its host and I did. But my new position came with rules. One of them being that I couldn't make contact with you until after you'd gained your speed, which you actually inherited from your father, but another rule was that I had to wait until time dictated that you were to receive your speed, I couldn't interfere. But now that you have your speed, you can visit me, since I can't leave the speed force beyond short intervals. Like for example, I will be attending your wedding to Iris, since I've been watching you from here for a long time and it is very overdue. I called you here because I wanted to see my son again." Nora said as she hugged her boy for the first time in years.

"I'll come visit more and I'll tell dad, since I'm sure that he'll want to come see you too." Barry said and Nora smiled.

"I look forward to it and to officially giving him my blessing to move on with Carla, since I have a feeling that when he finds out about my situation, he'll feel guilty when he shouldn't." Nora said.

"One more thing, Wally, when he wakes up?" Barry asked.

"Yes, he'll have speed too and you'll need to teach him just like your father taught you. Now run Barry, run. Run home to your family. Just come see me again soon." Nora said.

"I will, I promise." Barry said as he hugged his mom one more time before returning home.

Chapter Text

When Wally came too a few days after the explosion, he found his family looking very angry at him.

"What happened?" Wally groaned as he tried to block out the bright lights.

"Well you survived your experiment and the only reason for that is because it had the desired effect. You're a speedster." Barry said, glad that Cisco was looping security footage to keep that quiet.

"Wait, I'm a speedster, but I don't feel any different?" Wally asked.

"Trust me, it's the only way you could've survived that explosion. Speaking of which, what the hell were you thinking? You got lucky Wally. I don't want to think about what would've happened if you hadn't." Barry said.

"You never think about the consequences of your actions. You were so obsessed with getting powers, you didn't even think about the possible risks about what you were doing. I thought that when Iris came home from overseas, I was done having to worry about my kids putting themselves in danger. And the only reason I'm okay with what she did to get powers is because it was an actual medical procedure that was designed to help her walk that she decided to take further and I know that she had help on standby to keep her safe. You were doing this in secret and you didn't stop to think." Joe said angrily.

"Dad." Wally tried to explain, only to be cut off by his mom.

"Wally, I hope it was worth it, since once you get out of here, you'll be grounded for a long time and we'll be locking a power dampening cuff on your wrist to make sure you can't sneak out. The only time the cuff will come off is when Barry is training you, since if you're insistent on having powers, then you need to learn how to use them." Cecille said.

"And when it comes to your powers, I have final say on when you can start joining me in the field, which won't be until after you're done being grounded and if you try to go behind my back, the cuff goes back on for a whole week." Barry said, making it clear that this was not up for debate.

"I wasn't trying to cause problems." Wally said, looking down.

"No, you were trying to give yourself powers. And you did. But you can't keep doing this kind of stuff Wally. Acting without thinking first. You're too smart for that." Joe said.

"I'm sorry." Wally said, looking down as his mother placed her hand under his chin.

"Wally, we're just worried about you. Someday when you're a parent, you'll understand how scary doing things like this can be." Cecille said.

"Hell, they still worry about me and I'm an adult who's served overseas. And I'm pretty sure that dad's only gotten worse since I got hurt." Iris said and now Wally realized another reason why his dad was freaking out so much.

"My job is to protect both of you and I failed. I never should've let you enlist and I should've kept a closer eye on you Wally." Joe said.

"Dad, Iris chose to enlist in the military and I chose to do my experiment and we both went into it knowing the risks." Wally said.

"The difference is that I actually talked it out with mom and dad before I went behind dad's back to enlist with mom's blessing." Iris pointed out.

"And you were 18 at the time, a legal adult, which means that it was your decision. But Wally, you're only 15 and we talked about you putting off this kind of crazy stunt." Joe said.

"I know. But I just couldn't fight the feeling that I was supposed to be a speedster. It's like something was calling me to it." Wally said.

"The speed force wanted you to connect with it, though I don't know why it didn't wait until you were older is beyond me." Barry said.

"I wanted to talk to you guys about it, but I knew you'd just try to talk me out of it, since dad, you'd already made your position clear and I was pretty sure that mom and Iris would follow." Wally said.

"Wally, do you really think I have any right not to tell you not to sneak around, since I got my powers through going behind Barry's back and giving Morrow instructions, knowing how dangerous the process could be. And while I might have been cautious, I wouldn't have stopped you." Iris said.

"And you have to know that while I'm always going to be cautious Wally, I'll always listen to what you have to say and be on your side. But you have to talk to us." Cecille said as she looked at her husband.

"Wally, I'm sorry I made you feel like you couldn't come to me and I know that both you and Iris think that I'm being overprotective of you both and I always have been and I likely always will be, but I can't help it if sometimes I go a little overboard trying to keep my kids safe." Joe said.

"I know dad. And even though you drive me crazy like all the time, I know that you have my best interests at heart. You just need to learn to start letting go a bit. I know I deserve my punishment and I'm not going to fight it, since I get that I scared you, but I'm not going anywhere. And I have Barry watching my back. He'll make sure nothing happens to me." Wally said.

"I'll do my best, but I can't truly promise that, since the hero game is dangerous. But the Justice League has started a program for young heroes Wally's age. Once he's done being grounded, I'll introduce him." Barry said.

"What, like a Young Justice League?" Iris asked and Barry chuckled.

"Something like that. The current members are Power Girl, Wonder Girl, Superboy, Robin, Miss Martian, Spoiler, Lightning and Firestorm. And I think that they'll welcome Kid Flash into their ranks, since Cisco's already dubbed you that, since you are a kid and you're still a Flash." Barry said.

"I'll take it. Can I at least offer design input on my suit?" Wally asked.

"Ask me again in a month when you're done being grounded. But your suit will be considered your graduation present once you finish basic training." Barry said and Wally nodded.

Chapter Text

Thawne grinned as he raced into his sewer lair, no longer needing to worry about whether or not his speed would last.

"Father, you seem different." Grodd noticed as he walked up to his father.

"That's right buddy. I've fixed my little problem." Thawne said.

"Your speed is fixed." Grodd asked, looking surprised.

"That's right. I found a way to fix it." Thawne said.

"So what now father?" Grodd asked, since this would change the plan a bit.

"Now we can begin. With my powers back at full strength, I can now effectively take control of the metahuman criminal underworld in this city." Thawne said, since if he knew one thing from the metahumans in his own time period, they only responded to strength and as long as his speed was unstable, he wouldn't be able to properly motivate the metas to work for him.

"How?" Grodd asked.

"We'll perform a two pronged recruiting operation. One here and one in my own time." Thawne said.

"You're going home?" Grodd asked, surprised.

"I have forces waiting for me back home, forces that I should've brought here with me when I first came to this time period. I plan to go home and bring my most trusted soldiers back here with me, since every general needs lieutenants they can trust and while you're great, I need more trustworthy lieutenants to command the army that you will raise in my absence. And while I'm home, I'll also gather more resources for us to use." Thawne said and Grodd nodded.

"I will begin recruiting metahumans to our ranks. Though it is a pity that I do not possess the means to orchestrate a breakout from Belle Reve Prison." Grodd said and Thawne nodded.

"It truly is a pity, but hopefully I'll have a solution for that by the time I return. And perhaps you should also begin a new exploit to fund our operation." Thawne said.

"What exploit?" Grodd asked.

"Metahuman trafficking. I'm sure that plenty of people out there would pay for metahumans at their command and once we start that, it will grow exponentially, making metas all over the world angry and they will be easier to rally to our side." Thawne said and Grodd nodded, since he agreed with his father that this was an excellent idea.

"I'll begin making preparations at once, since we can also keep the most powerful metas for ourselves, but I'll need a means of controlling them." Grodd pointed out as Thawne tapped the plinth to bring up designs for some kind of computer chip.

"That should be sufficient." Thawne said.

"Grodd will start putting these plans into effect immediately." Grodd promised.

"Good. I expect you to have made significant strides in our plan by the time I return. And I expect you to keep up the fight against the Flash for the time being." Thawne said.

"I will Father." Grodd said and Thawne smirked.

"I'll see you soon. Choose our troops wisely, Grodd. Though I shouldn't need to tell you that." Thawne said and Grodd nodded as Thawne sped off towards the future.

Meanwhile, Team Flash was taking a night off thanks to box seats at Shark Stadium between their home football team, the Central City Sharks against one of their rivals, the National City Lions. Although, technically, it was a triple date for Barry and Iris, Caitlin and Gabby and Cisco and Lisa.

"These seats are amazing. How did you get these tickets again?" Lisa asked with a grin, since she had not expected her science nerd boyfriend to get football tickets.

"My aunt has connections with the owner of the Sharks and pulled some strings." Gabby said.

"And I'm friends with the owner of the Lions." Barry said.

"Really, you know Kara Danvers?" Lisa asked, since she knew the owner of one of the best teams in the NFL.

"Yeah, in fact, she's Cisco and Caitlin's boss after she bought Star Labs." Barry said.

"You know a billionaire?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah and I'm going to be expecting a very expensive wedding present from her." Iris said, since while Kara didn't flash her wealth the way some people did, she still used it at times.

"Not surprised to hear that." Lisa said as the Sharks scored.

"Damn, the sharks are crushing it." Gabby said.

"Yes they are." Caitlin said, right as the kiss cam came up and she and Gabby were thrown up there.

"I guess we have no choice." Gabby said.

"You don't hear me complaining." Caitlin said with a grin as they actually shared their first real kiss on the jumbotron.

"Well, at least now they'll always have evidence of their first kiss." Barry said, since even after the kiss cam had moved onto other people, Caitlin and Gabby continued kissing and even without breaking apart, Caitlin pricked him with a small ice shard, without anyone seeing her do it.

"Quiet, it's sweet. I was wondering what it would take to get them to kiss, since this is long overdue." Iris said as they finally broke apart.

"Don't make me hurt you both." Gabby said as they returned their attention to the game.

Chapter Text

It had been a month since Wally's experiment and his punishment was officially over, which was why he was now standing on the track of Mount Flash.

"Do I really have to wear this thing? It's so humiliating? Why can't I get a cool one like your's?" Wally asked his mentor, since right now, he was wearing a silver leotard with padding and a helmet that Caitlin was using to track his vitals.

"Well for one thing, it's an additional punishment for how stupid you were and trust me, if it weren't for the fact that everything that happens here needs to be kept secret, we'd be posting pics of you in that thing online." Barry told him.

"Thank god for secret identities then." Wally grumbled.

"But more importantly, you don't get a real suit until you earn it, since a suit means that you're ready to enter the field with me and you are not ready for that yet. When you impress me here, that's when you get the chance to start working the field and that's when you get a real costume. But for now, we're here to figure out your limits. See how fast you can run safely and I'll be running with you to make sure you don't do anything stupid." Barry said and Wally sighed, knowing better than to argue, since Barry could always change his mind and put that power dampening cuff back on his wrist.

"So, how are we doing this?" Wally asked.

"It's simple, we run and you try to keep up." Barry said as they both got in starting position.

"On your marks, get set, go." Cisco said as the two speedsters sped off, both of them leaving trails of yellow lightning in their wake

After lapping Wally several times and making sure he wasn't going to do anything stupid, Barry left him alone to continue running on the track of the Mount Justice speed lab while he met up with Caitlin and Cisco.

"How's it looking?" Barry asked.

"Well, Wally's vitals are fine, but I'm concerned about his speed." Caitlin said.

"What about it?" Barry asked.

"This is your top speed from when you first got your speed." Caitlin said as she brought up a chart with points signifying Barry's speed progression.

"Okay, so what?" Barry asked.

"Barry, this is where Wally's speed is now. It's at least half of what yours was when you first got your powers. For some reason his connection to the speed force seems weaker than yours is." Caitlin said.

"Any idea why?" Barry asked.

"No. After all, we don't really know a whole lot about the speed force. But maybe over time, Wally's speed will develop into what yours is now, but it will take longer, since he has more ground to cover." Caitlin said.

"Maybe it has something to do with his age, since he is younger than I was when I got my speed, plus, there's a chance that my powers were already dormant inside me from my dad, so the bolt of lightning might've strengthened an already existing but dormant connection." Barry suggested.

"It's possible." Caitlin agreed, though something about that still didn't seem right.

"At least we've confirmed that Wally has a stable connection to the speed force, even if it is weaker than my own." Barry said.

"When do I get to give Wally his new suit, since I'm pretty proud of it." Cisco said.

"After the stunt he pulled to get powers, he's lucky we even let him wear that training outfit. He's so lucky that the speed force decided to give him what he wanted. There was a higher chance of it killing him, since it wasn't just the lightning and chemicals that gave me my powers. The speed force has its own living consciousness. It could've easily decided not to connect to Wally and let him die." Barry said.

"Actually Barry, it kind of reminds me of you." Caitlin said.

"What?" Barry asked.

"Come on Barry, if your dad had been active when we were kids, we both know that you would've become just as obsessed with recreating the experiment that gave him his powers, since not only did you idolize Superman growing up, but it would've helped you find your mom's killer. This is exactly the kind of thing teenaged you would've done. Which, come to think of it, is probably another reason why Henry never told you. He didn't just want you to have a normal life, he wanted to make sure you didn't try to get yourself killed doing something like what Wally did to get powers. And call me crazy, but I'm glad you didn't get yourself killed, since if you had, I would've lost out on the best brother I could've asked for. And honestly, if it weren't for you, I might still be in the closet." Caitlin said, since Barry had been the first person she'd come out to.

"No Cait, you would've come out by now regardless. But I am honored that I was the first person you felt comfortable enough to come out to. And maybe I am being a bit harsh with Wally. Once he's mastered the basics, I'll let you give him his suit Cisco." Barry said and Caitlin and Cisco both nodded at that.

Chapter Text

Barry was currently working in his lab at CCPD when he heard someone walk in and was surprised to see Gabby.

"Gabby, what's going on?" Barry asked, seeing the look on her face.

"I need your help. And not just as the Flash." Gabby said.

"What's going on?" Barry asked her.

"About a week ago, I was hired by a couple to help track down their missing son. I tracked down his most recent location and only found this in the bricks." Gabby said as she handed Barry a gold brick.

"Seriously?" Barry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What, you can run at the speed of sound and yet you raise an eyebrow at a gold brick. Especially when said brick can likely pay for your wedding, since I tested it and it's real gold." Gabby said.

"Fair enough. And it turns out that you came to the right place, since this does line up with evidence we've collected from crimes associated with a new crew here in Central City, led by a man who calls himself Goldface." Barry said as he walked over to his computer and pulled up all the information CCPD had on Goldface and his crew.

"Says here that they're suspected of running a new blackmarket for stolen, high profile and experimental weapons." Gabby said and Barry nodded.

"And they're currently in a turf war with Amunet Black and her crew, since she and Goldface used to be a thing and have a joint gang, but after they split, so did their crew and they've been fighting over their turf ever since. Luckily it hasn't gotten too violent yet." Barry said.

"But why abduct a kid?" Gabby asked.

"I don't know, but here's the thing. This boy, Sean Douglass, he's the latest disappearance in the past month alone. Kids have been disappearing all over the city, but the thing is, their kids the police don't generally look for since they are homeless or runaways, so they assume that it's just parents making a big deal out of nothing." Barry said.

"Wow, our tax dollars at work." Gabby said.

"Tell me about it. For every cop who gives a damn about these kids, there's about 5 who don't, preferring to focus on quote on quote, real crimes instead tracking down kids who ran away." Barry said.

"Wow, Central City's finest. And the thing is, I saw similar things when I was overseas, but I was hoping things were better here. You don't think these are coincidences do you?" Gabby asked, knowing Barry well enough.

"No. Especially since gold objects like that brick have been found at the last known locations of these kids. I think that Goldface is abducting them. The only question is why, since he trafficks weapons, not people and that's quite an escalation." Barry said.

"I'll reach out to some of my contacts in the criminal underworld, see if I can find out where Goldface's market is. Once we do that, we can begin making plans to save those kids." Gabby said.

"Yeah, and hopefully figure out why Goldface is abducting kids and bringing that kind of heat onto his gang." Barry said and Gabby nodded, since they both felt like there was something they were missing in this equation, but hopefully, this investigation would help shine some light on that particular topic.

"You're sure this will work?" Goldface asked his benefactor/buyer as he looked at the pods that his client had provided, even of them containing teenage kids abducted from the streets of Central City.

"You doubt what I said?" his buyer asked.

"It's just I'm banking a lot on this. So far the CCPD thinks that these kids are just runaways, but if they realize the truth, I'll have an even bigger target on my back, not to mention what'll cost me if this doesn't work." Goldface explained.

"And if the procedure doesn't work, you'll be compensated fairly for your losses. But if you don't have the guts to go through with this, I can always take my plans to Amunet. It's my understanding that she was always more willing to profit off taking big risks than you. I was hoping you could prove her wrong since you seem to be more stable than her. I thought that you'd like to be able to one up her." the buyer said.

"Fair enough, especially since I'm not dumb enough to directly attack you, since even my powers wouldn't do much against you." Goldface said as the buyer stepped out of the shadows.

"Grodd is pleased to know you are smart enough to know that without him having to make you know it." Grodd said.

"And like our deal says, if this works, you get the kids, but in addition to you paying me, I get to keep the tech to put to further use?" Goldface asked, just wanting to confirm that.

"Of course. Especially since I will likely become one of your best customers if that is the case. And you will become very rich as long as you are the only one who knows of this." Grodd said.

"That's what I'm counting on. Begin." Goldface said to his flunkies, who, despite looking nervous at the giant gorilla in their market, nodded as they moved the pods over to the chambers Grodd had provided and locked them in.

"Are the seals secured?" Goldface asked.

"Yes sir. We're ready to begin." his main lieutenant Jordan said.

"Good. Then, let's dunk these kids." Goldface said as he activated the chambers, causing them to fill up with some kind of black substance, right as the kids began to wake up.

"No." they began shouting as they pounded on their pods, trying desperately to escape, but it didn't work as they were completely submerged in the substance.

"How long will this take?" Goldface asked, right as the pods auto drained, to reveal the kids were unconscious.

"Status on their vitals?" Goldface asked as his crew checked.

"They're all alive, just unconscious." Jordan confirmed.

"Then chip them and let's prepare for when they wake up." Goldface said, since Grodd had also supplied them with mind control chips from an old defunct government organization called the ASA that had been disbanded decades ago. In fact, Goldface was pretty sure most of this tech had come from there, just updated for the modern age.

"Now we just have to wait for them to wake up and see what we gave them." Grodd said and Goldface nodded as they waited.

Chapter Text

It had been two months since Wally had gotten his speed and while he couldn't do a lot of the things Barry could now, he'd at least mastered the basics enough for Barry to decide that he was ready to take the next step.

"Okay, why did you call me here, I thought we weren't training today?" Wally asked Barry as he sped into the cortex of Mount Flash to find his mentor, his sister, his parents and the rest of Team Flash waiting and Cisco was holding a box.

"I called you here because I think you're ready for the next level." Barry said.

"What does that mean?" Wally asked.

"A couple of things. But first, it means this." Cisco said as he walked up to Wally and handed him the box.

"Wait, is this what I think it is?" Wally asked eagerly as he opened the box, and sure enough, he found a real super suit inside it, instead of the embarrassing thing he'd been wearing for training until now.

"You earned this. Kid Flash." Barry said.

"Come on, is that really going to be my name?" Wally complained.

"Yes, it is. Once you turn 18, we can discuss a different one." Barry said, making it clear that was non-negotiable.

"Okay, but don't I get a ring like you and Caitlin have?" Wally asked curiously.

"Because that means that you have to keep your suit here when not in use, since we need to make sure that you don't try to go rogue. Besides, all the sidekicks have to keep their suits at their respective bases." Barry said, though that was a little lie, since he knew that Powergirl, Wonder Girl and Aqualad all kept their suits with them at all times, since Aqualad's suit was his usual atlantean attire, and Firestorm's uniform materialized when he used his powers.

"Fine. But is this all?" Wally asked curiously.

"No, but I'll show you the other part of this surprise once you're suited up." Barry said and Wally eagerly sped into his new costume, top half of the suit is completely silver with red gloves and red lines on the shoulder areas, while the bottom of the suit is also completely red. Unlike Barry's cowl, which covered his whole head, Wally's exposed his hair, but still allowed him to conceal his identity, plus, there was a pair of red goggles on his forehead.

"Nice." Wally said with a grin as he looked at his suit.

"Not as impressive as the ones I made for Barry and Caitlin, but still a masterpiece." Cisco agreed.

"Are you sure he's ready for this? I mean, you still haven't taken me for a tour of the Hall of Justice yet and I've been training with Red Tornado even longer than Wally's even had his powers and you still haven't even given me a suit yet." Iris said.

"Take that one up with your father. He's still mad I let Cisco make Wally a suit and even though you're a grown woman, he's even more protective of you than him." Barry said.

"Thanks a lot Barry." Joe said at seeing his daughter's glare.

"Hey, you know I'm more scared of Iris than you. But anyways, Wally and I need to go." Barry said.

"Wait, are we running somewhere?" Wally asked eagerly.

"No, we're zetaing somewhere. Follow me." Barry said as he activated Mount Flash's Zeta tube and set the coordinates.

"Flash, 08, confirmed, Kid Flash, B13, confirmed." The AI spoke as Wally followed his mentor through the tube.

"Where are we?" Wally asked when they exited the tube to find themselves in some kind of lair.

"Mount Justice in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, headquarters of the Justice League's Young Justice program." Barry said.

"Young Justice?" Wally asked.

"Basically it's the League's way of giving us a little freedom by handling problems that aren't big enough to warrant their complete attention." a new voice said as Powergirl flew up to meet them.

"Wally West, meet Karen Danvers, aka Powergirl, protege of Supergirl and field leader of Young Justice." Barry said as Karen held out her hand to Wally, who shook it.

"I was wondering when we'd get a speedster to join our ranks, since we recently got an archer too. All we need now is a lantern and we'll have a protege from every founding member of the League." Karen said.

"Who else is on this team?" Wally asked.

"Well, aside from me, there's also Batman's sidekicks, Robin, Spoiler and Bluebird, Wonder Woman's protege Wonder Girl, Superman's sidekick Superboy, Martian Manhunter's niece and sidekick, Miss Martian, two of Black Lightning's sidekicks, Lightning and Firestorm, Aquaman's protege Aqualad, Batwoman's sidekick Batgirl and our newest member, Green Arrow's new protege, Silver Arrow. Though right now, Robin, Spoiler and Bluebird aren't available, since Robin and Spoiler are both hospitalized Bluebird was put in hiding by Batman until further notice. But the rest of the team is here, like you asked." Karen said, since Flash had summoned the whole team for some kind of mission.

"Good, let's go." Karen said as she led them into the war room where Wonder Girl, Superboy, Miss Martian, Lightning, Firestorm, Batgirl, Aqualad and Silver Arrow were waiting.

"Huh, I thought Supergirl was the one who deployed us on missions?" Lightning asked, since they were used to getting their missions from the leader of the Justice League herself.

"She's busy right now and since this was my case in the first place, she gave me the greenlight to assign it to you. Is that an issue?" Flash asked.

"Of course not, we're always happy to help, though I do wish this could've waited until we were back at full strength." Powergirl said, shooting her teammate a look to stand down.

"Understood, but this can't wait. Also, I'm gonna warn you now that this mission might not seem like something you'd get involved in, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't take it seriously." Flash said.

"How can we help?" Wonder Girl asked as Powergirl took her usual place at her girlfriend's side.

"Over the past month, the League has noticed a substantial increase in child disappearances in Central City, Metropolis, National City, Freeland, Gotham City and Star City. At first these seemed like random events, kids just running away from home, things like that." Flash said.

"But you didn't think so." Batgirl said, since this was a little more personal for her, since before Batwoman had taken her in, she'd been one of those kids.

"No, new evidence found in Central City seems to indicate that these disappearances are actually abductions and it looks like at least in Central City, a metahuman is responsible for it. Your mission is to investigate the disappearances, find out what's happening to these kids, who's taking them and why. This is a strictly stealth and surveillance mission, gathering intel. If you find something, call it into your mentor to further investigate it. We need as much information about this as we can get before we make any moves against them." Flash said.

"Copy that. Do you have any places for us to start?" Powergirl asked before any of her teammates could complain.

"I've already sent everything I have on this case to your system. Keep us informed. And yes, if any more immediate missions come up, they can take priority, but this is a chance for you all to develop your investigation skills, since superheroes can't just rely on powers or weapons or fighting skills. After all, you do know which one of Batman's many nicknames is right." Flash said.

"The world's greatest detective. Green Arrow's taking classes from him so he can teach me." Silver Arrow said.

"Of course he is. This is a good test for all of you to learn that not every case is an open and shut one that can be solved by punching someone. I've already sent the mission details to Batman, so he can loop in Robin, Spoiler and Bluebird so they can join you once they're back in the field." Flash said as he ended the meeting.

Chapter Text

Ever since her father had been killed right in front of her by what the media had dubbed as the Reverse Flash, Jesse Wells had become obsessed with speed. Particularly gaining her own. She wanted to be able to avenge her father herself and she'd been using all the resources she had at Argo Enterprises to find a way to make it happen.

She'd spent months studying the Flash and his powers, trying to find a way to give herself speed. Which wasn't easy, considering a majority of Star Labs' R&D funding was being devoted to some secret project that Kara wouldn't even share with her and Jesse was the head of Star Labs branch of Argo Enterprises. All she knew was that Kara was definitely putting their robotics technology to use for whatever it was.

But she'd managed to secure enough funding for her own personal research, though not as much as she would've liked. Jesse couldn't wait until whatever project Kara was focusing so much money towards was over so she could get better access to their resources again. Then her experiments could pick up the pace.

Anyways, while it had taken her longer than it should've, Jesse had managed to turn her research into an experimental serum that, according to her simulations, would give the user superspeed. The only issue was that according to her tests, it was temporary and her tests were inconclusive about any side effects the serum might have, since she was essentially creating a speed drug. Not something she could advertise to the public. And once she'd completed her experiment successfully, she was gonna destroy all the evidence to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

Little did she know that someone had already stolen a sample of her work.

"Well?" Barry asked Caitlin as she tested the sample of Jesse's work he'd retrieved, since they'd been keeping tabs on her ever since her dad died and now that she seemed to be getting close to finishing her work, they needed to keep tabs on her.

"It's exactly what I was afraid of. Since Jesse doesn't have the same insider info that Wally had when he attempted to give himself speed, she has to use a less effective and more deadly way to gain superspeed." Caitlin said as she continued running her tests.

"The way Wally and I got our powers involved explosions. How is what Jesse's doing less deadly than that?" Barry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because the way you both got speed is a guaranteed connection to the speed force and stable powers. But Jesse's developing a chemical compound to give herself temporary speed. It's essentially speed steroids and it's not exactly stable. According to my tests, if Jesse uses this, unless she's got a secret meta gene or something, it's basically a game of Russian Roulette. If the first injection doesn't kill her instantly, it'll cause a case of cellular degeneration that'll only get worse the more frequently she uses it until either the drug kills her itself or the cellular degeneration kills her. Either way, there's no way it ends well for her." Caitlin explained.

"Got it. Maybe I can try and talk some sense into her." Barry said.

"And how will Barry Allen or the Flash explain how they know about her research? Besides, considering the fact that she's basically doing the same thing you did for about 15 years, I don't think you're the most qualified person to talk her down." Caitlin said.

"Maybe. But if we can't stop her from doing this, then why don't you use our more comprehensive resources to see if you can find a cure for the cellular degeneration." Barry said and Caitlin nodded.

"Since Gabby's out of town on some quest to fully unlock and master the powers of her amulet, I've got time to work on a cure. I just hope I can find one before Jesse does anything that can't be undone." Caitlin said and Barry nodded.

Chapter Text

Iris was at her desk in her new office for her new newspaper, the Central City Citizen, very grateful that not only had she mastered control over her new bionic arm, so she didn't accidentally smash her laptop or desk with the superstrength every time she pounded it in frustration and under Red Tornado's tutelage, she'd mastered her new wind powers enough that she no longer caused tornadoes when she got angry. That had been annoying.

But anyways, right now Iris was working on a piece about the missing kids, since while her fiance and his team had yet to figure out what happened to the kids, the least she could do was begin to alert the public to the threat. And even though her newspaper was still new, it still had a relatively large following due to the fact that she was the only media outlet in town that got accurate stories on the Flash and his exploits. One of the perks of being his fiance.

And since the world loved its superheroes, not to mention the fact that she had backing from both Argo and Wayne Enterprises, along with Tannhauser Industries, she was able to find a nice office that was actually next door to the one that had Gabby's office for her PI business. Though lately that friendship had been reduced to phone calls ever since Gabby had left the city on some kind of quest to unlock her amulet's full powers. The only person Iris knew that was more frustrated than her about this was Gabby's girlfriend Caitlin.

The last anyone had heard from Gabby, she was somewhere in Tibet looking for answers, though she never said much about what was going on over there.

But for now, Iris was working hard on her article, since while she needed the public to remain calm, she doubted her dad or fiance, who was both a superhero and a CSI, would appreciate her whipping the city up in a panic.

She was so focused on her work that she didn't hear the door to her office open and her fiance enter.

"Iris." Barry said, causing Iris to jump.

"Barry, I didn't hear you come in." Iris said.

"I figured. You thinking about Gabby again?" Barry asked.

"She's been by my side since basic training. Not having her with me, it's weird. I know she's doing what she needs to do in order to understand the power of her amulet, but still." Iris said.

"I know. But hopefully she'll be home soon." Barry said.

"Yeah, but that's not the only thing on my mind." Iris said as she turned her computer so Barry could see her article.

"What do you think? It's not enough to put people in a panic right?" Iris asked as Barry speed read his way through the article.

"No. I think that this should be good enough to alert the public to the problem without causing a mass panic, since that will only make things worse." Barry said.

"Any word from Young Justice about the disappearances?" Iris asked, since she was aware that Barry had tasked the Justice League's junior division, including her brother Wally, with looking into this crime.

"Not yet and honestly, I'm getting more and more concerned, since I don't think that these were random kidnappings. There has to be some kind of connection. And Batman agrees, and since he's the world's greatest detective, that likely means there's some kind of connection. We just need to find it. But in the meantime, your article will at least tell parents to be alert for it." Barry said.

"Good." Iris said as Barry took a good look at her.

"Are you okay? You look kind of burnt out." Barry said as Iris took a deep breath.

"Because I am. Between work and training and planning our wedding, I'm kind of spent." Iris said.

"Which is why I took a few days off from CCPD and told Caitlin that unless another speedster shows up like the Reverse Flash, she's Central City's designated superhero while I take you on a mini vacation anywhere you want in the world." Barry said.

"Wait really?" Iris asked.

"We've both been going pretty hard lately and we need a break. Besides, what's the point of having super speed if you can't take advantage of it every once and awhile." Barry said.

"I'm thinking we start with Paris." Iris said with a smirk, since this was the first time they'd used Barry's speed for their own personal reasons, though she doubted it would be the last.

"Sounds great. We leave as soon as we've packed and we don't come home until Sunday. I've already set myself as unavailable on the Justice League system, so unless it's the end of the world, they won't call me in." Barry said.

"Then let's get home and start packing. I'm looking forward to five days of just us being together." Iris said, since today was Wednesday.

"Let's go. And leave your work laptop here, no temptations." Barry said.

"Agreed, but take your ring with you just to be safe. You never know when the world might decide to end again." Iris said.

"Fair enough." Barry said, since he was planning on doing that anyways. The only trip he was planning on leaving his suit behind on was his and Iris's honeymoon.

"Good. Now let's go." Iris said as she shut down her computer and Barry wrapped his arm around her waist and sped them both out of there.

Chapter Text

Now that Wally had gained control over his speed, his dad was finally letting him return to football practice with his friends, though he still had to wear a secret power dampener on his ankle to make sure he didn't slip up.

And it was good timing too, since the big game against their rivals at Star City High was coming up and Wally needed to get back into shape for the game.

"Okay, guys, that was good practice." Vic, who was their team's captain and quarterback, said as practice came to an end.

"He's right, keep playing like that, we'll give those Star City Lizards a real run for their money this year." their coach said as they wrapped up practice.

Wally was checking to make sure the coast was clear before he took off the power dampener so he could run home when he heard Vic walking up to him.

"Hey Wally, you got a second?" Vic asked his best friend.

"Yeah, what's up?" Wally asked.

"Are you sure you're up for this game man? I mean you just got out of the hospital." Vic said, since they'd all heard about the accident that had put Wally in the hospital.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The doctors gave me the all clear and I've never felt better." Wally assured him.

"Good, just wanted to be sure, since we need you if we're gonna win." Vic said.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll be fine." Wally assured him, right as they heard someone call out Victor's name and Vic scowled.

"Hide me." Vic said.

"Vic, what's going on?" Wally asked, right as he saw a man that he immediately recognized as Victor's father, and understood his behavior.

"Victor, please, I came all this way to talk to you." his father, Silas Stone, said as he tried to walk up to his son, who simply turned away.

"You should've stayed in Detroit dad. Especially since you're not supposed to be anywhere near me or mom right now." Victor growled at his father, since his father had no rights to him or to even be around him due to the terms of the divorce.

"Victor, I came here to try and make amends. Maybe put our family back together." Silas insisted.

"You lost your chance at that a long time ago. Especially since you're the one who destroyed our family in the first place." Victor said.

"Victor, I know I made mistakes, but I want to do better. Be better." Silas insisted.

"I've heard that before. Dad, you're incapable of changing and I'm done getting my hopes up, because you're a hopeless dad. You're incapable of putting anything before your work. Not even mom and I." Victor reminded him.

"Victor, I want to do better. Be the father I should've been all along." Silas said.

"No dad, you lost that chance." Victor said.

"I just want us to be a family again." Silas said.

"That implies that you were ever a member of our family to begin with. You were never around, no matter how many times mom or I begged you to leave your damn lab early to have a meal with us or to attend one of your son's birthday parties or come to one of my games. But every single memory I have of those things, you were never there. All those trips you promised mom and I never seemed to happen, you always cancelled at the last minute because of work, you basically deprived me of my childhood because I wasn't as interesting to you as your work." Victor said.

"I know I made mistakes, but you are my son and I want to be a part of your life before it's too late." Silas said.

"It is already too late dad. Just leave." Victor said angrily.

"You heard the man Dr. Stone. Leave now. Or I'll make you." Wally's father Joe said as he walked up to them.

"And you are?" Silas asked.

"Detective Joe West. I'm Wally's father and I've gotten to know your son pretty well since he and his mother moved here. I probably know him better than you do at this point and I believe that you were asked to leave, especially since you shouldn't even be here without permission from Victor's mother, which I know you don't have, since I called her as soon as my son texted me and she said that she had no idea you were even in Central City." Joe said and Victor shot his best friend a thankful look.

"This does not concern you, it's a family matter." Silas insisted, only for Victor to jump in.

"And he's more family to me than you ever were. If anyone here should leave right now, it's you. Silas." Victor said angrily as he turned away from his father.

"Come on. I'll give you both a ride home and Dr. Stone, if you come near him again without permission, I'll have you arrested." Joe said, since he and his wife, the DA of Central City, were aware that one of the terms of the divorce was that Silas could not be near their son without getting her permission first.

"Thanks Joe." Victor said as he and Wally made their way over to Joe's car.

"You're lucky that our sons are here now, since I've got a few choice words about your life choices that I don't want the kids to hear. Though it sounds like based on what Victor said, they're words you've likely heard before. From your ex. And don't get any ideas about approaching them without first getting consent over the phone." Joe said as he walked off, leaving Silas alone to try and think of a way to salvage his relationship with his son.

Chapter Text

Caitlin was honestly grateful that Barry had gone on vacation when he did, since with Gabby out of the country searching for answers regarding her amulet, so Caitlin needed something to keep herself occupied, beyond her job.

So, with the Flash out of town, Ice Maiden was pulling double shifts as the protector of Central City, literally doing everything she could to keep busy between her main job at Argo Enterprises and her other job of being one of Central City's protectors, doing whatever she could to distract herself from how much she missed Gabby. And how angry she was at Gabby for practically ghosting her, since she'd barely heard a peep from Gabby since she'd left.

Anyways, Ice Maiden was currently breaking up some kind of gang meeting. She didn't know what they were up to, beyond the fact that she'd overheard them talking about expanding their enterprise into some kind of new lucrative field.

Obviously she had to put a stop to that, so she jumped in, but she was surprised by the kind of firepower these guys were packing. Apparently they'd also stolen meta weapons from some tech company, likely from McCulloch Technologies, since Caitlin was aware of the competition and she recognized their technology in those weapons.

Anyways, while Ice Maiden did her best, all the time she'd put in over the past few days had taken its toll on her and she wasn't at her best and she was quickly forced on the defensive as she put up an ice shield, but she couldn't hold it for much longer and while she hated to be the first member of the Justice League to ever back down from a fight, but she wouldn't have a choice, since she was burnt out, ironically considering her powers, but still.

However, she needed to retreat, Ice Maiden heard some kind of sci fi noise as suddenly a blue portal opened out of nowhere and Cisco jumped out of it, wearing the suit she knew he'd been making for himself since his powers had surfaced.

"What the?" Ice Maiden asked as Cisco, or Vibe as he was calling himself.

"I'm here to save your ass." Vibe said as he blasted the crooks back, right as sirens blared, indicating CCPD had arrived.

"Let's get out of here. Joe and CCPD can take it from here." Vibe said as he pulled Ice Maiden through the breach.

"Thanks for the save Cisco." Caitlin said as she reverted to her non hero form.

"My pleasure. What better way to get in the Justice League than by saving one of its members." Cisco said smugly.

"You know it has to be a unanimous vote right and the bylaws say nothing about saying no for petty reasons." Caitlin asked with a slight smile.

"Seriously though, Cait, what was up with that. That should've been a piece of cake for you." Cisco said as Caitlin sighed as she collapsed in a chair and that was when Cisco realized just how exhausted Caitlin looked.

"When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?" Cisco asked, already suspecting the answer.

"Probably not since Gabby left for Nepal. I mean, I know why she left and I support her, but I didn't think that she'd completely cut me out of her life. I mean, almost no contact the past few weeks. So, I've been throwing myself into both of my jobs to keep me busy, especially since Barry's out of town and made it clear that he's not to be disturbed." Caitlin said.

"You really love Gabby don't you?" Cisco asked, since that was the only reason Caitlin would be holding onto a girl who'd practically ghosted her.

"She's the first person I could ever see myself going the distance with. Which is why I need to keep busy to keep myself from wallowing." Caitlin said.

"I get it. While I'm not sure Lisa and I are at that stage yet, she was definitely something I wasn't expecting in my life, I mean I never would've thought that a guy like me could score a girl like her, but I did. But Caitlin, what you are doing, it's not healthy. You're clearly burnt out. You need to follow Barry's lead and take some time off to reset." Cisco said.

"Yeah, if I do that, I'll be spending it at a bar trying to drink myself into forgetting about Gabby for a few hours, which isn't very healthy either and risks me ruining both of my reputations. I can't win." Caitlin said.

"Actually, I have a way that you can win." Cisco said and to Caitlin's surprise, he tossed her a bag.

"What's this?" Caitlin asked.

"An overnight bag courtesy of your mom. And this is your ride." Cisco said as he opened another breach.

"And where is this my ride too?" Caitlin asked and Cisco grinned.

"Just trust me, you'll like it. Walk through it and you'll see. And just call me when you're ready to breach home. And I will cover as Central City's designated superhero, since I need to get on the Justice League's radar somehow and protecting the city while both Flash and Ice Maiden are gone looks good on my resume." Cisco said.

"Okay, I'll trust you for now." Caitlin said as she walked through the breach and as soon as she saw what was on the other side, she grinned.

"Hey baby. I hear you've been missing me." Gabby said with a smile as Caitlin took in the romantic environment and her outfit, since Gabby was wearing a Tibetan robe and she'd set up the room to serve as a massage parlour.

"Why do I get the feeling that you haven't just been learning about your amulet while you were here?" Caitlin asked with a smile as she dropped her bag and walked up to her and Gabby placed her arms around her neck.

"I'll tell you about that when we get home tomorrow, since I did accomplish what I came here to do, but I wanted to show you my appreciation for letting me take this trip, knowing that I needed to do it, despite the fact that it would mean that we'd be apart for a while. So, I took some massage classes while I was here and now, I'd like to put them to use removing all the stress I can see on your shoulders." Gabby said as she removed the jacket of Caitlin's suit.

"Are you sure you learned enough to make it up to me?" Caitlin asked with a smile as she wrapped her own arms around Gabby's waist.

"I do. Especially since now I can finally say something to you that I should've said a long time ago." Gabby said.

"And that is?" Caitlin asked.

"I love you Caitlin. I've loved you since the day we met and now I can finally say it." Gabby said and Caitlin smiled.

"And I have been waiting for you to say it first, but I love you, Gabby. You're the only one who's ever been able to thaw my icy heart." Caitlin said.

"Wow, you just couldn't resist, could you?" Gabby said.

"Shut up. We've spent too much time talking already. But don't worry, I'll let you show me what you learned before we go home. Eventually." Caitlin said with a smirk as she and Gabby kissed and they both let things develop further than they ever have before, getting lost in each other.

Chapter Text

Joe and Eddie were currently responding to a bomb threat that had been called in at Central City Plaza in the center of town and the threat was a nuclear one. Joe was very glad that Barry was back from his vacation, since this might be a case where Team Flash would be needed.

"How the hell did the Royal Flush Gang get their hands on a nuclear bomb?" Eddie asked as Joe swerved through the city as they got to the plaza to find Team Flash fighting the Royal Flush gang. Flash was fighting Queen, their telepathic leader and King, the strongman of the group while Vibe was fighting Ten, the group's acrobat while Ice Maiden was dealing with Jack, who had laser vision.

"Damn it, looks like our supers are occupied." Joe said.

"That's fine. They can keep the gang occupied. I was trained to disarm bombs while I was in the military. Cover me, I'll see if I can disarm it." Eddie said and Joe nodded as they rushed towards the bomb, which was in the center of the plaza, which thankfully had already been evacuated.

"Go." Joe said as he hoped that Eddie would be able to disarm the device.

That was the last thing Eddie remembered clearly before the world went dark. Everything after that was a blur. He vaguely remembered other details, him trying to disarm the warhead, but it was too well protected and he didn't have enough time, along with Team Flash trying to prevent the explosion as well.

Then he remembered a bright flash of light and searing heat and pain from the force as if it was practically tearing him apart, and yet somehow, he stayed alive before the world went dark. His first thought was that he was dead, when suddenly, he woke up.

"What the hell happened?" Eddie asked, since he definitely felt different. Especially since he was now wearing some kind of silver suit with red boots and gloves.

"Detective Thawne, you're awake. We weren't sure you would." a voice that Eddie vaguely recognized as Barry's stepsister Caitlin Snow said as she rushed forward, wearing what looked like a replica of Ice Maiden's suit.

"What happened? What am I wearing?" Eddie asked as he tried to remove the suit, only for Caitlin to stop him.

"Don't. That containment suit is the only thing keeping you alive." Caitlin said.

"What?" Eddie asked, trying to remember what happened.

"You helped save a lot of lives, since you managed to slow down the bomb's reaction long enough for the Flash to contain the radiation in a vortex to siphon it into space while Ice Maiden cooled down the reaction to stabilize it. But you were exposed to a huge amount of radiation. It's a miracle you're still alive, since it practically tore you apart, but then you kind of reassembled into some kind of energy form. We managed to get you here in enough time to put your energy form into this containment suit to keep your energy stable and intact." Caitlin said.

"Wait, what?" Eddie asked.

"You're a metahuman Detective Thawne and it's lucky you are, since your meta gene activating is the only thing that saved you." Caitlin said.

"Wait, we? And that suit. You're Ice Maiden." Eddie said, trying to distract himself from what she'd told him.

"Yes, she is Eddie. And I'm the Flash." Barry said as he walked into the medbay, wearing his Flash suit with his cowl down.

"Barry. You're the Flash? Does Iris know?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah she does. And I'm sorry I couldn't stop this from happening to you. I should've stopped the bomb before it had a chance to detonate." Barry said, feeling guilty but Eddie waved it aside.

"It's not your fault. You didn't set the bomb and you still managed to prevent it from turning Central City into a radioactive crater." Eddie said.

"Thanks to you. You're a hero Eddie." Barry said.

"But I'm stuck looking like this forever?" Eddie asked.

"Not necessarily." Caitlin said, since they'd been running tests on Eddie since they'd stabilized him in this suit.

"What do you mean?" Eddie asked.

"I've been running tests on your abilities and you seem to be able to manipulate matter on the atomic level. With enough training, you should be able to manipulate your appearance to look like your old self." Caitlin said.

"Really?" Eddie asked, hopefully.

"Yes, but it will take time and training." Caitlin said.

"And the Flash has already told Singh a cover story that while you survived the explosion, you were badly hurt and he took you to a special facility to recover. You're on indefinite paid leave to recover." Barry said.

"What about Jesse?" Eddie asked, wondering about his girlfriend.

"We know Jesse Wells is your girlfriend and we're actually planning on bringing her here, since we've been keeping tabs on her since her dad was killed by the same guy who killed my mom and we think it's best to bring her into the fold, since she's been getting kind of reckless. Don't ask. But she'll be here soon. And if she really cares about you, then she won't mind this." Barry said.

"Thank you Barry." Eddie said.

"It's the least I can do." Barry said.

"Barry, don't go there. I don't blame you for this, since I was doing my job and it sounds like I might be able to do that in a new way soon." Eddie said.

"Does that mean that you want to join this life?" Barry asked.

"Maybe." Eddie said.

"Well, if you do, we're happy to train you." Barry said.

"Thank you." Eddie said.

"Of course. Now you should rest. After all, you've got a long road ahead of you. I'll let Joe know you're awake, since yes, he knows about this too." Barry said and Eddie nodded as he laid back down on the bed, wondering if he'd be able to salvage his life after this.

Chapter Text

Jesse was currently in her lab, since while she was worried about Eddie, she had no idea where he was being treated, so while she waited, she thought that she'd put her angst to use finally completing her research into giving herself powers like the Flash.

Her father's research had been surprisingly helpful. It turns out he was of more use to her now that he was dead than he'd ever been when he was still alive. It turns out that he'd spent years studying what he'd called the speed force, why Jesse didn't know, but his notes were helpful in helping her crack what she was calling the speed equation. The key to her research and the key to turning herself into a speedster herself.

What happened to Eddie had made her even more obsessed with unlocking the secrets of the speed force, since first her father, and now Eddie, she wasn't going to let anyone she loved die ever again. Not if she had the power to stop it. And soon she would, though she honestly wasn't sure how she still had a job, let alone a lab to work out of considering how much of her work she'd neglected due to her obsession with the speed force, but it would be worth it when she succeeded and once she did, she'd make up all the work she'd been neglecting.

But for right now, she needed to put all her energy on this. Especially when she could tell that she was close. There was just one thing she couldn't figure out in order to crack the code. There was still one link missing in the chain, no matter how hard she tried.

"What am I missing?" Jesse said as she punched a desk in frustration since she'd been at this for nearly 2 days straight with almost no stops, even to eat or sleep, but she was too close to stop until now. Even though her brain felt like it was about to shut down, even though she just got an idea.

Or rather, she had an old memory from her childhood, from before her mom had died in that car crash. It was a memory of another time she'd been pushing herself this hard, not that she could even remember why, but her mom had pulled her away, sat her down and told her that sometimes when a problem seems this hard, she had to slow down, take a deep breath and think clearly. Then she'd told her a story about how she was a lot like her grandparents, her mother's parents, Jonathan Chambers and Libby Mercer, how they'd always rushed into things, wanting to get things done fast, but knowing when to slow down when it mattered the most.

Not that Jesse had ever met them, since her grandparents had passed away before her parents had even met. But her mom had always told her how proud they'd be of her.

And as it turned out, the universe seemed to agree that she needed a distraction, since at that moment, Flash sped into her lab.

"Jesse Wells, I see you've been busy." Flash said as he looked around her lab.

"Needed something to keep me busy." Jesse said, not sure why she felt the need to justify herself to him.

"Fair enough. But I'm sure you heard about your boyfriend saving the city from a nuke." Flash said.

"What do you think I need a distraction from? Eddie all but vanished after the attack. No one knows what happened to him. He's not at any hospital, but they won't confirm he's dead either." Jesse said.

"He's alive and he was badly hurt. The reason he vanished is because I took him to my base of operations, since it's the only place in the city with equipment advanced enough to save him." Flash said.

"He's alive. Thank god." Jesse said in relief, actually putting her hand over her heart as she calmed down.

"And I'm here to take you to him." Flash said.

"Let's go." Jesse said and Flash grinned as he grabbed Jesse's arm, but the second his hand got close to her, it sparked a little lightning from him into her.

"What the hell was that?" Jesse asked, since she suddenly felt different.

"I have no idea. Are you okay?" Flash asked her.

"I don't know. I feel weird." Jesse said, feeling like every molecule in her body was suddenly charged with electricity.

"Do you feel like you're lightning charged?" Flash asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Jesse asked, as Flash sped out and then returned with a glass, which he threw at Jesse, only for the world to slow down for her as she dodged.

"Whoa, what the hell was that?" Jesse asked.

"That was confirmation that you were somehow just connected to the speed force. You somehow got what you wanted without needing to blow yourself up." Flash said, right as Jesse's hand started to vibrate at superspeed, another proof.

"How?" Jesse asked.

"I don't know. We'll run tests on you after we get you to my base, since it's better equipped for that. And you'll need training to learn to control your speed and I'm taking you there, since not only do you not know where my base is, but you don't know how to use your powers. Not yet." Flash said and Jesse nodded as she let Flash speed her out of there.

Chapter Text

"Whoa, this place is amazing." Jesse said as Flash came to a stop inside his base and Jesse looked around in awe.

"Jesse Wells, welcome to Mount Flash. My team's base of operations and I guess you could also consider it the Central City base of the Justice League." Flash said.

"This place is incredible." Jesse said.

"I'll give you a tour after we check in on Eddie." Flash said, since while he was willing to reveal his identity to Eddie, since he was a friend, Jesse was a different story. Even though she was now a speedster.

"Great." Jesse said, since right now, seeing Eddie alive was more important to her than anything else.

"Follow me. But be careful, you could wind up running into a wall at Mach 3 with how raw your speed is and you can't control it yet." Flash warned.

"Noted." Jesse said as Flash led her to the medical bay, where Eddie was being treated by Caitlin.

"Wait, Caitlin, is that you?" Jesse asked in shock at seeing the head of the biotech division of Argo Enterprises.

"Yep. Good to see you out of your lab boss. Though let's face it, Cisco and I have been running more of the company than you have lately." Caitlin said as she continued to treat Eddie.

"Wait, that suit, you're Ice Maiden?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, long story, don't ask. But I'm pretty sure I'm not the one you were brought here to see." Caitlin said, referring to her patient.

"Eddie, what happened to you? What are you wearing?" Jesse asked her boyfriend as she moved to his side.

"The containment is the only thing keeping Eddie alive right now. His body is made of pure energy that's held together by his now activated metagene. The suit is the only thing that can contain it to both keep him alive and keep his energy from turning this mountain and potentially the entire city into a nuclear crater." Caitlin said.

"So, you'll look like that forever?" Jesse asked, since while she wasn't the superficial type, she couldn't deny that Eddie looking like that would make dating kind of challenging.

"No. Once Eddie learns to control his abilities, I think he should be able to manipulate his form to look like his old self." Caitlin said.

"But in the meantime, this should help." Flash said as he presented a device that had recently been delivered via Zeta tube from National City.

"What is that?" Eddie asked.

"That's an image inducer. One of Argo Enterprises's many products for aliens trying to blend in on Earth. Where did you get that?" Jesse asked.

"Let's just say that the League has a very high contact inside Argo Enterprises that does favors for us with the blessing of the CEO." Flash said with a grin.

"When are you going to take your mask off around Jesse? I mean Eddie knows who you are." Caitlin asked.

"I know Eddie, Jesse's still a stranger. Though that's going to change since she's now a speedster." Barry said.

"Wait, what?" Caitlin asked.

"Yeah, it was the weirdest thing. When Flash came to my lab to pick me up, he grabbed my arm, I felt a jolt from him and suddenly I can run almost as fast as him." Jesse said.

"That's another reason I brought her here. I want to run tests to see if we can figure out how she got powers and teach her to control them. Especially since I'm already training Kid Flash, so I can take on another speedster sidekick too." Flash said.

"You did not just call me a sidekick." Jesse said.

"Yep. Until you strike out on your own, you're either a partner or a sidekick and until you've learned all I can teach you, you're a sidekick." Flash said and Ice Maiden chuckled.

"Thankfully I was able to debut shortly enough after you did to be considered your partner and not your sidekick. Especially since I'm also on the Justice League." Caitlin said.

"True. But where's everyone else?" Flash asked, since the mountain was surprisingly empty.

"Kid Flash is out of town for personal reasons and Celestial, Cyclone and Vibe are training in the rec room downstairs." Caitlin said, referring to all of them by their codenames.

"Good, they can all use practice." Flash said.

"Anyways, what's this device?" Eddie asked, referring to the image inducer.

"Right, sorry. It's an image inducer, a device created by Argo Enterprises that allows aliens who don't naturally look human or don't have shapeshifting powers, to look human to protect themselves from prejudice. I thought that until you learn to control your powers enough to be able to shift your form back to normal, this could help you out. I've already programmed it with your old appearance." Barry said.

"Here, I'll show you how to use it." Jesse said, her mind already trying to figure out both who the Flash was and who their connection inside her company was.

"Thanks." Eddie said, right as Flash and Ice Maiden's comms beeped as they picked up chat from the training room with Vibe complaining about how both Celestial and Cyclone could fly while he couldn't.

"You want to handle it or should I?" Flash asked Caitlin.

"Allow me. After all, we both know that somehow I'm this group's den mother, which means that it's my job to go yell at the kids. Especially since I've finished running my tests on Eddie and you're better prepared to run tests on Jesse." Caitlin said and Flash nodded as Caitlin walked away.

Chapter Text

"Okay, this equipment is amazing. It's beyond anything I've ever seen. Even at Argo." Jesse said, since Flash was actually using some kind of medical scanner that was beyond anything she'd ever seen before to run tests on her to determine how she got her powers.

"Let's just say that it's not from around here and that's all I'm going to say for right now. But this technology will help us determine how you got your powers." Flash said, since he was still keeping his identity secret from Jesse for right now.

"Yeah, how did you get your powers?" Jesse asked.

"An explosion caused by getting struck by lightning. You got off easy considering how Kid Flash and I got our powers." Flash said with a chuckle.

"Seriously?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah. Metahumans get their powers in different ways." Flash said.

"I always assumed that Kids Flash was a meta created by the particle accelerator explosion, since you became active before the accelerator blew up." Jesse said.

"True." Flash agreed.

"How about Caitlin, how'd she get her powers?" Jesse asked.

"That's a little more complicated and really a story you should hear directly from her, since it's not exactly a pleasant story." Flash said as the scanner finished running tests.

"Well?" Jesse asked as she moved away from the scanner.

"Okay, everything looks normal, or rather, as normal as they can be for a speedster, though we are going to need to fashion you a diet to account for your heightened metabolism." Flash said, right as the computer beeped.

"What's that?" Jesse asked.

"The machine found something. Wait, it somehow found a match to your specific DNA mutation." Flash said.

"What does that mean?" Jesse asked.

"It's like a genealogy test. And the only explanation for it is that you not only inherited your metahuman gene, but wherever it came from, that person was also a speedster." Flash said, since he was intrigued by this, since as far as he knew, the only other speedster on this earth besides him and Wally was his dad.

"How is that possible?" Jesse asked.

"I don't know. But I think I know where we can get answers." Flash said.

"Where?" Jesse asked.

"The speed force." Flash said.

"The what?" Jesse asked.

"The speed force. It's an extradimensional energy source that gives speedsters their powers, but that's really all I know about it for sure. It's kind of like the Force from Star Wars. Every time you think you understand it, it throws some kind of curveball at you that ends in you realizing you essentially know nothing about it." Flash said.

"Got it. What else do you know about it?" Jesse asked.

"Not much. But I do think that it's our best bet at getting answers about this." Flash said.

"And I'm going with you." Henry said as he entered the med lab.

"What are you doing here?" Flash asked his father.

"Caitlin called me and told me we had a fresh speedster here and thought I could help, since I am the one who taught you everything you know. Barry." Henry said.

"Seriously, I was trying to keep my identity a secret from her for now." Flash complained.

"And your sister vouches for this girl, which means she's trustworthy, so take the damn cowl off." Henry said and Jesse couldn't help but chuckle at watching the Flash getting scolded like a child before removing his cowl.

"Wait, Barry Allen, that's CSI from CCPD?" Jesse asked, recognizing his face.

"And Caitlin's stepbrother after my dad married her mom. Nice to officially meet you Jesse and sorry for the secrecy. I think I just let Batman and Green Arrow get in my head about this stuff." Barry said.

"No problem, I get it. And this must be your dad." Jesse said.

"Henry Allen." Henry said, holding out his hand to Jesse, who shook it.

"Jesse Morgan." Jesse said.

"Nice to meet you." Henry said.

"Likewise. But anyways, what do you mean you're coming with us into the speed force? It sounds like only speedsters can get in." Jesse said.

"Not exactly true. Speedsters can bring other people into the speed force when needed, but that won't be necessary, since I'm also a speedster." Henry said.

"What?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, there's a lot to fill you in on, but the short version is that my dad's a speedster too and I inherited my metagene from him." Barry said.

"And after getting a closer look at you, I'm starting to think it's the same thing." Henry said.

"What do you mean?" Jesse asked and Barry also looked curious.

"I don't want to say more until I'm sure. The speed force will have answers and I've been putting off a trip into the speed force for a while." Henry said.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Barry asked, knowing why his dad had been putting this off.

"It's time." Henry said and Barry nodded.

"Then let's go. Jesse, since you haven't even started training yet, I'm gonna take you in with me." Barry said.

"Since I have no idea what you're talking about, I agree." Jesse said.

"Then let's go." Barry said as he grabbed Jesse and sped towards the speed lab with his father right behind him.

Chapter Text

Jesse could barely keep track of what was going on as Barry sped her and himself faster and faster with his father not far behind them until they crossed through some kind of portal and came to a stop inside some kind of huge lightning storm.

"Where are we?" Jesse asked in awe as she looked around at this place.

"Welcome to the Speed Force Jessica Wells. And Barry, it's been too long." a female voice said and Jesse turned to see a woman with red hair standing in front of them.

"Who are you?" Jesse asked.

"Jesse Wells, meet my mother, Nora Allen, the avatar of the speed force. Long story." Barry said as he moved to hug his mother as Henry joined them.

"Nora." Henry said in shock at seeing his dead first wife for the first time in years.

"Hello my love. I see the years have been good to you. I've been keeping tabs on you since I became the avatar of the speed force." Nora said.

"You have?" Henry asked and Nora nodded.

"And I am so proud of you for raising our son to be such a kind and compassionate man and I hope that you and Carla will be very happy together." Nora said.

"Really, you're okay with the fact that your husband remarried when you're still alive. Are you even legally married then?" Jesse asked.

"My mortal life ended the day Eobard Thawne killed me. But because of that, I ascended to a higher calling as the avatar and anchor of the speed force." Nora said.

"I'm sorry, who Thawne?" Barry asked, since he finally had a name for his mother's killer.

"Eobard Thawne." Nora said.

"Any relation to Eddie Thawne?" Jesse asked, since if so, she really needed to think some things through.

"Yes. Eobard is Eddie Thawne's distant descendant." Nora said.

"Wait, if this Eobard guy is Eddie's descendant and he's a speedster. Does that mean that?" Jesse asked.

"The future is constantly changing Jesse. Even I can only see so much of it and since Eobard is from the 25th century, it's hard to tell. Especially since he is shielded from me by my opposite, the negative speed force." Nora said.

"There's a negative speed force?" Barry asked.

"Of course, the universe requires balance, which means that every light must have a darkness to oppose it. A negative to my positive. If balance is lost, well, it's really not good for anyone. But that's why both sides of the speed force choose a champion among other speedsters. The speed force chose you and the negative speed force chose Thawne and the war between you two helps maintain the universe's balance." Nora said.

"As interesting as this is and it really is, that's not why we're here. We're here for answers about me." Jesse said.

"You want to know where your speed really comes from, since the tests Barry ran on you showed that your speed is inherited?" Nora said.

"Yeah, that." Jesse said.

"Your speed comes from your mother's side of the family. From your maternal grandparents, Libby Lawrence and Johnny Chambers." Nora said.

"I knew the Libby Lawrence and Jonathan Chambers of my Earth. They were speedsters before me. They called themselves Liberty Belle and Johnny Quick." Henry said.

"And like you, they escaped from your world to this one when you foolishly triggered the end of your world." Nora said.

"Wait, Jonathan and Libby were here?" Henry asked.

"They passed away before I was born." Jesse said, shocked that her grandparents were from a different universe.

"And they didn't know you survived Henry, just like you didn't know they did. And while I prevented them from passing on their power to their daughter, I did ensure that it would be passed down to Jesse." Nora said.

"I'm not even going to ask about all that. My head is reeling from the fact that apparently my grandparents were superheroes on another Earth. And I will be following that tradition on ours. And taking my grandmother's name, Liberty Belle you said." Jesse said and Henry nodded.

"I'll give Cisco details of her costume so he can make one like it for you in her honor." Henry said.

"Thank you Henry. But now I need to go check on my boyfriend to make sure he hasn't gone nuclear yet." Jesse said.

"Yeah, we should be getting back." Barry agreed as he grabbed Jesse and they sped out of the speed force.

"Be careful Barry. I wish I could warn you of what's coming, but some rules even I cannot break." Nora said as she faded into the storm that was the speed force.

Chapter Text

"This is way more intense than we signed up for. We're pinned down." Cisco said to Barry, their backs up against a wall as they desperately looked around in the dark, trying to find a way to escape, but not having any luck.

"This was supposed to be a relaxing night off. Where's Caitlin, we're not leaving her behind." Barry said.

"I don't know, I lost her in the action." Cisco said right as they heard steps behind them.

"Game over losers." a new voice said they heard shots fired right before the vests they were wearing buzzed as Iris stood over them with a smirk, wearing another vest and holding a laser tag gun in her hand.

"Too slow. Flash. And with that, you two and Caitlin are buying dinner." Iris said with a smirk, since right now they were on a triple date made up of Barry, Iris, Caitlin, Gabby, Cisco and Lisa.

"You win." Barry said, knowing when he was beat, especially since time was up.

"Good game. You didn't get as many shots at us as I thought you would." Cisco said.

"Really, I thought you'd be pouting that you lost." Iris said with a smile as she shook Cisco's hand.

"And if you were 12 years old, I would be, but you're a highly trained marine who lives and breathes tactical operations and has another marine and a former thief on your side. You were always going to win, I just thought it was gonna be by more points. Especially since we couldn't use powers." Cisco said.

"Glad you can be a good sport. Now let's go. I'm hungry now and I'm hungry, Barry must be starving." Iris said.

"Yeah, let's go meet up with the others, find out where Caitlin was hiding, since we lost track of her." Barry said and Iris nodded as they headed to remove their gear.

After meeting up with the rest of their group and Caitlin agreed to concede defeat to their better halves, the triple date group went out to a nearby restaurant for dinner and like promised, the losing team paid.

"You know, when I agreed to this triple date, I was not expecting to play laser tag." Lisa said to Iris and Gabby as they waited for their significant others to return with food.

"Yeah well, that's what we get for falling for nerds. We have to let them embrace it every once and awhile." Gabby said and Iris rolled her eyes.

"Please, don't act like you didn't have just as much fun as the rest of us. You loved going back into sniper mode." Iris said.

"I didn't say I didn't like it. Especially since I just reminded Caitlin of who's in charge in this relationship, since it's not as clear cut for us as it is for you two." Gabby said.

"Fair enough. But seriously, ever since you got back from Nepal, you and Caitlin have definitely been going strong." Iris said.

"Yeah, I admit our relationship was a bit stressed by our time apart, but now we're definitely going strong." Gabby agreed.

"Why did you go to Nepal?" Lisa asked, since she'd slowly grown closer to Iris and Gabby since she'd started dating Cisco.

"Family stuff. Long story." Gabby said, since unlike her and Iris, Cisco had not brought Lisa into their world yet, though she knew from Caitlin that she and Barry were trying to talk him into changing his decision about that, since otherwise, the secret would eventually destroy their relationship, like when Cisco would have to bail on dates to be Vibe.

"Okay, here we go, a meal fit for royalty." Barry said as he, Cisco and Caitlin returned with trays full of food.

"Before we eat, Cisco, can I talk to you in private for a second." Iris said as the food was put down on the table.

"Yeah sure." Cisco said, wondering what this was about as Iris pulled him aside.

"You need to come clean to Lisa." Iris said.

"What?" Cisco asked.

"Cisco, if Lisa is going to keep being a part of our lives, she needs to know the truth. Especially since she's started asking questions. Questions that we can't answer without lying to her. Not to mention you're going to lose her if you have to start bailing on dates to be Vibe. You can't be a part of this world and date someone if you're not gonna bring them in. Besides, Lisa's already kind of involved in this world anyways, since her brother is one of Barry's most recurring rogues. He's already had to fight Captain Cold twice. You have to choose. Either you bring Lisa into the fold, or you have to accept that there's a clock on your relationship." Iris said.

"Iris, my relationship with Lisa is probably the only normal thing I have in my life right now and I like having something normal." Cisco said.

"Cisco, your life stopped being normal the minute the particle accelerator blew up. Just like how my life stopped being normal the minute Eiling sold my unit out of the enemy." Iris said and Cisco sighed, since he knew Iris was right, even if he didn't want to admit it.

He'd never truly be able to go all in on his relationship with Lisa as long as he kept her in the dark about his double life and the thing is, he wanted to go all in with her. He wanted what Barry had with Iris and Caitlin had with Gabby. And the only way that would happen is if he told her the truth.

"You're right. Especially since it's only a matter of time until Snart tries to loop his sister back into the life of crime she worked so hard to put behind her." Cisco said.

"I'm glad you see things my way, because it's the way they need to be. Now come on, let's go eat before Barry eats it all." Iris said.

"Yeah, it'll be nice to finally have an explanation for that." Cisco said as they returned to the table to find Caitlin and Gabby grinning.

"Okay, what's got you two so happy?" Cisco asked as he and Iris took back their seats.

"Caitlin and I are moving in together." Gabby said with a grin.

"Congratulations." Barry said as they moved to congratulate them.

Chapter Text

"So, when do I get to see the Watchtower?" was the first thing Cisco asked Barry and Caitlin when they returned to Mount Flash after the Fort Rozz mission.

"When you join the Justice League. Supergirl's orders, unless it's an emergency, only Justice League members are allowed access to the Watchtower. Even members of Young Justice and the Titans aren't allowed access yet." Barry said.

"I know what the Titans are, but what's Young Justice?" Jesse asked, reminding them all that she and Eddie were newcomers to Team Flash and this life, since Jesse was at the base for training and Eddie was still quarantined here until they were sure he was fully stable.

"It's the Justice League's training program for younger teenaged heroes. Heroes that some people likely call sidekicks." Barry said.

"Like who?" Jesse asked.

"Heroes like Powergirl, Robin, Wonder Girl, and even my own protege Kid Flash." Barry said.

"When do I get to find out their real names?" Jesse asked.

"When they decide to tell you. It's not our place to tell you their secrets." Caitlin said.

"I still think it's unfair that you two are the only ones who get full access to all Justice League perks." Cisco complained.

"Hey, Barry has more special privileges than I do, since he's a founding member." Caitlin pointed out.

"Really?" Jesse asked and Barry nodded.

"The only person who has more privileges than I do is Supergirl and that's just because she's the leader of the Justice League." Barry said.

"How does that whole thing work anyways? Is there a term limit or what?" Iris asked as she and Gabby joined them.

"Off the record of course." Caitlin said, since they couldn't have Iris revealing inside information about the Justice League in her paper.

"Of course. A good reporter knows that some stories shouldn't be told. And the inner workings of the Justice League fall in that category." Iris said.

"And the same thing goes for private investigators." Gabby said.

"Anyways, Supergirl is the Justice League's leader until she decides to step down or unless she's voted out by a majority of the League. And a new member will be elected democratically." Barry said.

"So, anyways, what did you guys do while we were on our mission?" Caitlin asked.

"Well, I was helping Young Justice on their own mission, running leads on these missing kids, since you'd be surprised how many parents are hiring me to look for them." Gabby said.

"I was covering for you guys as Central City's resident superhero, since when the Justice Leaguers are away, the rest of us have to step up." Cisco said.

"Don't be bitter Cisco. It doesn't look good on you. You'll get into the Justice League eventually." Caitlin said.

"I hope so, because I want to see all the cool stuff you guys do." Cisco said.

"We all do." Iris pointed out.

"Eventually. If joining the Justice League is what you really want." Barry said.

"Fair enough, but anyways, I've been investigating Simon Stagg." Iris said.

"The CEO of Stagg Industries?" Jesse asked, since Stagg was one of Argo's competitors in Central City.

"Yeah, but he's not the benevolent businessman most people think he is." Iris said.

"From what I can tell, the only CEO who actually is that is Kara Danvers. Though Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen have their moments." Jesse said, causing everyone who knew the truth to chuckle.

"You hacked our computers didn't you?" Barry asked.

"I was curious about what else I didn't know. I'm a bit of a snoop, but it's served me well over the years. Also, Cisco needs to change his password to something less dorky. I mean seriously, Han$hot1st?" Jesse asked, causing all of them to laugh.

"Good thing Cisco doesn't have access to the Justice League system, only Mount Flash's. But anyways, what have you found on Simon Stagg?" Barry asked.

"Well, besides a lot of complaints about him stealing people's work, I've been digging into something he calls Project Metamorpho. He's sunk a fortune into it, whatever it is." Iris said.

"Cool name." Cisco said.

"I've heard of that." Jesse said.

"You have?" Iris asked her.

"Yeah, a few months ago, back when Argo Enterprises first set up shop in Central City, Stagg approached me, wanting to form a partnership between the companies, wanting Argo Enterprises to help fund something that he called Project Metamorpho. A way to create a better worker. And considering how secretive he was when I asked for more details, I got the feeling it was the kind of thing that Kara does not want our company associated with, so I rejected it on principle." Jesse said.

"Sounds like the missing person's case has to go on hold. This takes priority, since whatever Stagg is doing, it doesn't sound like it's anything good." Gabby said.

"What kind of plan are we talking about here?" Caitlin asked.

"I'll let you when I have one. But for now, why don't we go home so you can tell me if you like what I've done to our apartment." Gabby said, since she'd finished moving in while Caitlin was on her mission.

Chapter Text

In the 25th century, Eobard Thawne was feeling very proud of himself. After regaining his speed, Thawne traveled back to his home time period, since before he could resume his war on the Flash, he needed to tie up loose ends, since he'd all but conquered his own time period due to being the most powerful metahuman on the planet, but he'd left his empire unsecured when he'd run off to kill the Flash as a child.

After returning home, Thawne had quickly demolished the rebel movement that had formed in his absence, though luckily, his generals had managed to keep order for the most part and Thawne had finished it off when he returned, crushing them like gnats.

Now he was standing at the top of Zoom Tower, making arrangements for his return to the 21st century, since this time he would not be going alone. He just needed to figure out which troops to leave behind, since while the rebellion had been crushed for the most part, there were still a few loose ends who managed to escape and he couldn't leave his empire unsecured.

Especially since it appeared that he'd traded fighting one speedster for another. An irritating pest from the Anvil, the area where the lower class of citizens lived in his city of Thawne-opolis, who called herself Silver Bolt. Thawne had no idea who she was, but the only saving grace was that she was no Flash. She was very inexperienced with her powers and clearly had no idea what she was doing. Yet. Clearly this girl, whoever she was, was trying to be a hero. And while right now she wasn't a threat herself, what she represented did. Because what she represented was hope. For a future without him leading it. Hope in another Flash. And that made her dangerous.

But that didn't matter right now. As much of a pain as she's been to his men, she was still smart enough to know that she couldn't challenge him directly. And in fact, she made life interesting for his troops. Helping people, pulling pets out of trees, scaring his patrols, all that did was give them a challenge, keep them sharp. But she wasn't a real threat to him. Not yet. And she never would be.

"Eobard, what are you doing?" Thawne heard a female voice say from behind him and Thawne smiled as he turned to see one of the few people he cared about, the only woman he'd ever loved, his wife, Meena Dhawan-Thawne, walked up to him, looking as beautiful as ever.

"Just making sure everything is in order for my next trip." Eobard said as he took his wife in his arms.

"You're leaving again so soon? You just got back and I know it was 15 years for you, but it was still a long 5 years for me and our sons." Meena said, since Thawne hadn't been able to return to the exact time he'd left. He'd come home 5 years later than he'd planned too.

"I know. But as long as Flash is alive, he's a threat to everything we've built here." Eobard said.

"He's never come to this time period before. Stay and enjoy what we've built here. Together." Meena said, since her scientific mind had helped Thawne conquer this time period and she'd been the one ruling in his stead while he was gone.

"You know I can't. He hates me as much as I hate him. But this time I'm not going after him alone. And when I'm done, we can expand our eminence to every inch of the timeline. He's the only one who can undo everything we've built and I will not allow that to happen." Eobard said.

"Who are you? Because I'm not sure if you're still the man I fell in love with. The man I betrayed every principle I have on the basis that we were going to change the world for the better. That everything we've done has been for the betterment of mankind." Meena said.

"And it has. Don't you remember what the world was like before we took charge? The crime, the poverty, the hunger, this world was on the brink of yet another extinction level event. And yet now, it's utopia. Everything we have done has been a blessing." Thawne reminded her.

"I know. But that doesn't make it any easier when you vanish to attempt to kill your nemesis and don't come back for god knows how long. And you don't seem to care about what your absences do to me." Meena said tearfully as Thawne saw just how badly Meena was hurting.

"Meena, there is nothing more important to me than you and our boys. But as long as the Flash is out there, he is a threat to everything. And I don't want to risk him destroying this peace. But I will stick around for a while, let my generals play with him for a while before I go back." Thawne said and Meena smiled at that.

"That's all I can ask for right now. To hear that you're just as committed to everything we've built as you were the day we met." Meena said, right as Thawne got a call from one of his patrollers.

"What is it?" Thawne asked.

"Sir, we've honed in on Silver Bolt." the patroller said and Thawne grinned.

"Take care of it. Remove the last trace of that pathetic rebellion. By any means necessary." Thawne said.

"Yes sir." the patroller said.

Silver Bolt was racing through the city, desperate to escape the Thawne patrollers hunting her, quickly speeding into her base, but knowing that she didn't have much time until the defenses were breached.

"About time Nova." a male voice said and Silver Bolt turned to see her one ally, Erickson Thawne, the oldest son of their despot leader Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash or as some called him now, Professor Zoom.

"Erikson, you scared me." Silver Bolt said as she removed her mask to reveal the face of Nova Beretta. The speedster hero of the 25th century. Or at least she was trying to be. But she was no Flash.

"You need to go. My dad finally has you cornered and as far as he knows, there's no escape. You have to get out of here." Erikson said.

"And go where. There's nowhere on Earth I can run that your dad can't find me. It's a miracle I've made it this far. I was deluding myself into thinking that I could be the next Flash." Nova said.

"Which is why you're not going anywhere in this time period. There's only one place you'll be safe is in the past." Erikson said as he revealed the time sphere he'd built, since while he was no speedster, he had inherited his father's genius.

"Go back in time?" Nova asked.

"It's your only option and not just for you. I got a look at some of my dad's plans. He wants to take his army and use it to conquer the Flash's time period. You have to go back in time and not only warn him, but learn from him. He can be the teacher you need and you can help him stop my dad once and for all. Now go. We both need to get gone before the wall is breached. Now go. I've already set the coordinates. Early 21st century, Central City. You should arrive at a time that won't trigger suspicion. Now go." Erikson said.

"Come with me. You're a target if your father finds out." Nova said.

"How do you think I was planning on escaping? I'm done pretending like I love what my father is doing. We have to now." Erikson agreed as Nova got in, but before he could get in, the walls were breached.

"Change of plans, you're going alone. I'll buy you time. Find the Flash and end this." Erikson said as he activated the sphere before Nova could protest and ran out, right as the Reverse Flash sped in and grabbed his son, but that was the last thing Nova saw before the sphere entered the timestream and vanished.

Chapter Text

Barry was currently doing work in his crime lab at CCPD when he got a call from Caitlin.

"I'm in the middle of work, what's going on?" Barry asked.

"Sorry, but this is too important. Cisco's instruments are picking massive amounts of chronal energy in Central City. It's clearly some kind of time traveler." Caitlin said.

"Wait, time traveler?" Barry asked, his first thought being the Reverse Flash, since he knew that speedsters could time travel, but then again, if it gave off track energy signatures, they would've been able to track Thawne when he first left, since they'd long suspected that the reason Thawne hadn't shown himself in months was that he'd returned to his own time period. The only reason Barry hadn't gone after him was because he'd rather fight Thawne here in his time period on his turf than fight Thawne in his time. Besides, his father had warned him about messing with the timeline, both past and future. Especially since it was dangerous to know too much about your future.

"Yeah. We can't tell who it is, but you need to get there now. I've already sent the coordinates of the projected arrival location to your suit's HUD." Caitlin said, since Barry's suit did have a heads up display in his golden lenses.

"Any chance you can meet me there?" Barry asked as he slid on his flash ring.

"Cisco is gearing up to breach us there now. I'm grabbing Gabby too, since her magic could help. Should I loop in Iris?" Caitlin asked.

"Check with Tornado, see how she's doing with her training, since he's the only one besides you who can clear her for combat, since he's her mentor." Barry said, since in addition to his responsibilities working with Young Justice, Red Tornado was also Iris's trainor, since the nanites Morrow had implanted in her gave her the same powers as Red Tornado, so he was the best choice to train her in controlling them.

"Got it. What about Wally, Jesse and Eddie?" Caitlin asked, referring to their newest members.

"No, Eddie's still in quarantine and Jesse and Wally aren't ready for this. Besides, isn't Jesse busy meeting with the Argo board of directors now that she's returned to covering all her roles at the head of the Central City branch of the company?" Barry asked.

"Fair point. I'll reach out to Red Tornado and then meet you there." Caitlin said.

"Got it." Barry said as he hung up before releasing his suit from the ring and speeding out of his lab, honestly amazed that he still had his job with how often he had to leave to be the Flash.

When Flash arrived at the coordinates Caitlin had uploaded to his HUD, it wasn't hard for him to find the source of the energy signature Cisco's instruments had detected as what had to be a time portal opened up in front of him.

"What the hell is that?" Vibe asked as he, Ice Maiden, Celestial and Cyclone, all of them suited up, Cyclone wearing the green and purple suit Cisco had made her.

"It looks like a time portal." Flash said, right as some kind of sphere exited it.

"Whoa, that was crazy." a young girl said as she got out of it.

"Who are you?" Ice Maiden asked as the girl put her hands.

"Call me Silver Bolt. I'm a speedster from the 25th century. The same era as Eobard Thawne the Reverse Flash." Silver Bolt said.

"Do you work for him?" Flash asked.

"God no, I'm the only hero left in my time who's trying to stand up to him." Silver Bolt said.

"Maybe we should take this conversation somewhere more private." Ice Maiden said and Flash nodded at Vibe to open a breach back to Mount Flash.

"Let's go before I change my mind. Vibe, send her ride to the starchives to keep it secured and out of people's hands." Flash said.

"No need. It's fried. Completely useless now, since science isn't really my thing." Silver Bolt said.

"Still, we should get this thing out of here. I'd love to study it." Vibe said.

"Well be careful, it might be built to withstand time travel, but in its current state, I'm pretty sure if you drop it through a breach, it'll shatter." Silver Bolt warned.

"Noted. Once you guys go through this breach, which I'd really like you to go through soon, I'll breach this to the Starchives and secure it." Vibe said and Flash nodded as he gripped Silver Bolt's arm and he and the rest of the team headed through the breach to the Cortex of Mount Flash.

Chapter Text

After they returned to Mount Flash, Flash, Ice Maiden, Vibe, Celestial and Cyclone were standing in front of their new guest, all of them keeping their masks on, since none of them trusted her enough to let her know who they really were. Assuming she didn't already know, considering she claimed to be from the future. Just like Thawne.

"Damn, this place is so crash in a totally retro way. It's nice to see it while it's still intact." Silver Bolt said as she looked around.

"What do you mean intact?" Vibe asked.

"In my time, this place is nothing more than a crater in the ground. One of Eobard Thawne's policies to remove all remnants and reminders of his greatest enemy, The Flash." Silver Bolt said.

"I'm sorry, you're gonna need to back up. Starting with who you really are and why you're here." Flash said.

"Right, sorry." Silver Bolt said as she tapped her watch and her suit retracted into it, revealing some kind of jumpsuit that had Thawne's insignia on the shoulders.

"Is that Thawne's symbol?" Cyclone asked.

"Yeah, but I don't wear it by choice. Thawne makes everyone in my class wear these things. I hate it. My name's Nova by the way. Nova Beretta." Nova said.

"Well, that definitely sounds like a name from the future." Vibe said.

"Yeah, but what's this about Thawne taking over in your time?" Flash asked.

"Thawne's the most powerful metahuman in my time and he used his speed to enslave the entire planet." Nova said.

"How'd he pull that off? Aren't there other metahumans, plus aliens and things like that?" Vibe asked.

"He equipped his troopers with technology designed with reactive adaptation technology." Nova said.

"Reactive adaptation?" Cyclone asked as Nova brought up a hologram of the armor Thawne's troops wore.

"The lenses in the helmet scan the opponent to determine their powers and reprogram the technology in the suit to replicate those abilities. Allowing the troops to use the metas and aliens' own powers against them. The only reason I haven't been caught is because the only kind of powers it can't react to is speedsters and Thawne did that specifically to prevent anyone from being able to use his own tech against him. Fortunately, that glitch also means that their reactive adaptation technology doesn't work against me either. But they've still got more numbers and all the other powers they've scanned." Nova said as Vibe took a look at the plans.

"Damn. This tech is beyond anything I've ever seen." Vibe said.

"And it makes sense that Thawne would make sure that he's the only one it can't be used against, but I'm guessing that when he designed the tech, you didn't have your powers yet? Otherwise he likely would've made the restriction a little more exclusive." Flash said.

"Yeah. But anyways, I'm here because even though I have the powers of the Flash, I don't really know how to use them. Or that's one of the reasons." Nova said.

"What are the other reasons?" Ice Maiden asked.

"Thawne's planning on returning to this time and not alone. He's planning to bring his army here so that he can rewrite history and erase the Flash from it forever." Nova said.

"And we'll be ready for it." Barry said.

"Should we take the fight to Thawne in his time when he's not expecting it, since you can time travel too?" Celestial asked Flash.

"Face Thawne and his whole army on his turf where he has home field advantage and an empire behind him? No way. Smarter to let him come to us with more limited numbers. Besides, we can't leave our time unprotected." Flash said.

"Plus, there are speedster sensors in place all over Thawne's capital city. The only reason I was able to get around them was because I had a friend in Thawne's inner circle who sabotaged them to not be able to detect my speed force signature." Nova said.

"Who?" Flash asked.

"I'll show you." Nova said as she tapped a few things on her arm gauntlet and it projected a message of her friend, Erikson Thawne.

"Nova, if you're playing this message, then that means that I wasn't able to make the trip back to the past with you, but it does mean that you've made it yourself, which is more important, since you're the one who has the real target on your back." Erikson said.

"Who's this guy?" Ice Maiden asked.

"Meet my best friend and only ally, Erikson Thawne, first born son of Eobard Thawne, but Erikson is nothing like his father. He's the brains of my operation." Nova said.

"Flash, if you're watching this, then that means that my father is planning to bring his army back to your time. I sent Nova back in time not only to warn you to be ready, but also so you can train her. The time sphere I sent her back in was only good for one trip. She won't be able to come home until she learns to time travel without it and you're the only one who can teach her. Inside the sphere is what your time calls a flash drive and it contains all the information needed to help Nova blend in without drawing suspicion. Please, stop my father before any more innocent people have to die. You're the only hope we have at changing the future to one where my father doesn't terrorize the world." Erikson said as the message cut out.

"What happened to him?" Vibe asked.

"His father's shock troopers stormed into our base right as we were getting ready to leave. He sacrificed himself to allow me to escape. If I had to guess, he'll be sent to the cobalt mines." Nova said.

"Cobalt mines?" Celestial asked.

"It's the place Thawne sends the worst prisoners. To mine cobalt, the element he uses to power his weapons. It's basically a death sentence." Nova said.

"Sounds like the spice mines of Kessel to me." Vibe said.

"Is now really the time?" Ice Maiden asked.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand that reference." Nova said, confused and Vibe looked horrified.

"Are you telling me that Star Wars doesn't exist in the future? Okay, as soon as you're settled in, I'm giving you an education on Star Wars and every other pop culture thing that Thawne most likely outlawed when he took over the world." Vibe said.

"Thank you." Nova said as Flash decided that he could trust her and removed his cowl.

"You can call me Barry. Barry Allen and after we get you settled in and Cisco here has finished your pop culture education, we'll start training and I'll teach you the ways of the speed force." Barry said as he held out his hand to Nova, who shook it.

"Welcome to Team Flash Silver Bolt." Barry said.

"Thank you. It's an honor and a dream come true to serve alongside one of history's greatest heroes." Nova said and Barry nodded.

Chapter Text

"I still can't believe I let you talk me into this." Lisa said to her boyfriend as they walked into the Los Angeles Convention Center for the annual Star Wars convention, since her boyfriend had never missed a convention before in his life and somehow he'd talked into going with him this year. And she was reluctantly attending with him and even dressing up with him because he'd promised that they'd stay in LA together for the whole week afterwards for a much more proper vacation. She definitely hadn't agreed to come with him because she was secretly almost as big Star Wars geek as he was, since growing up, the sci fi movie franchise had been one of the few happy memories she had outside of her family, since it was the one thing she and her brother saw eye to eye on, and that she'd been wanting to attend this convention for years, but could never afford it on her bartending salary and she didn't want anyone to give her crap about it. No, she was a badass who was simply tolerating her boyfriend's obsession. That was her story and she was sticking to it.

Just like how she was sticking to the story that Cisco had begged her to wear the Princess Leia Costume from a New Hope to the convention and that she hadn't been more than willing to wear it.

"Please, you were way too willing to do this, since if you really didn't want to do it, I would've had to beg a lot harder." Cisco said with a smirk, looking even more in character, since he was dressed as Han Solo. Complete a laser blaster he'd built for the convention.

"You know my secret?" Lisa asked and Cisco smirked.

"Do you really think I would've dragged you along to this convention if I didn't think you'd enjoy it? Why do you think I gave you a blaster too?" Cisco asked with a grin.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Lisa asked, honestly relieved that she wouldn't have to pretend that she hated being here.

"Seriously though, I'm surprised that you're so into this stuff." Cisco said and Lisa smiled.

"Well, actually, Star Wars is connected to the few happy memories I have from my childhood." Lisa said, since she'd told Cisco a little bit about her family tree.

"Yeah, sounds like you had a hell of a childhood." Cisco said.

"You don't know the half of it. My brother was my lifeline for a longtime and even then, I wanted to kill him half the time. But the one thing we always agreed on was Star Wars. I don't know what it was, but it was the thing that brought us together. Well, until Lennie decided to follow in dad's footsteps and become an even bigger criminal than he ever was, just to one up the bastard that we both hated, while I wanted to try to make something decent out of my life." Lisa said.

"And I think that you've done a good job at that." Cisco said.

"Yeah bartending. Not really the life I saw for myself, but when you're the daughter and sister of two known felons, your options are limited, especially considering the fact that there wasn't any money for me to go to college and the government wasn't exactly willing to give me a loan due to my family's criminal history and the fact that I did have a few offenses as a minor, which was a red flag to any colleges that I wanted to get into." Lisa said.

"You did what you had to do to survive in your house, but I'm surprised that you didn't just run away for something." Cisco said.

"I thought about that, but in the end, I didn't have anywhere to go and unfortunately, I was still afraid of my father to report him to the cops. And I was too loyal to my brother to rat him out, even though I should have. Especially after mom left. But I also thought that maybe if I stuck around, maybe I could keep Lenny from going down the same path as our father. But he did and he tried to ruin my life too and in a way, he did." Lisa said.

"At least you're not living on the run like he is. You're trying to make an honest living, even if it isn't exactly what you had in mind. And what would you do?" Cisco asked.

"Honestly, I kind of want to join the police, just because I know it'll piss my dad and my brother off." Lisa said.

"So, why don't you do that?" Cisco asked.

"Please, you really think that the CCPD would hire someone with the last name Snart?" Lisa asked.

"Okay, why don't we table this conversation until later, and for right now, just enjoy the convention." Cisco said, already making a note to make a call or two later.

"Agreed. Shall we Captain Solo?" Lisa asked, getting in character.

"We shall Princess Organa." Cisco said with a grin as they let themselves fully enjoy the convention.

Chapter Text

"I still can't believe that you and Barry are the only ones who get to attend Oliver's wedding." Cisco said to Caitlin, who was acting leader of Team Flash while Barry was in Star City for his tux fitting for Oliver's wedding.

"Join the Justice League, you get on the invite list for these kinds of things. Or dump Lisa and start dating one of the single female members of the League." Caitlin said.

"Are there any single female members of the League?" Cisco asked and Caitlin paused for a second to think about it.

"Now that I think about it, no, there aren't. Most of the single people in the League are guys and you're not their type." Caitlin said.

"Not to mention I am not dumping Lisa." Cisco said.

"Seriously Cisco, when are you going to tell Lisa your secret?" Caitlin asked.

"I will eventually. But it's not just my secret I'd have to tell her. It's all of ours." Cisco said.

"And that is just an excuse. You like having something normal in your life and you don't want to give it up." Caitlin said.

"So what if I don't?" Cisco asked.

"So, I think that it's only a matter of time until her big brother comes rolling back into town on another job and it's gonna get ugly if she gets caught in the crossfire. And she's not an idiot. Eventually, she'll put it together herself. One of the reasons Barry and I are in such good places in our relationships is that we don't keep secrets in our relationships. Well, aside from Justice League secrets." Caitlin said.

"Why do you have to keep reminding me that you're in the Justice League but I'm not." Cisco said.

"Seriously, this fight again?" Iris asked as she and Gabby came in from their fitting for their dresses for Oliver's wedding, since they were attending as Barry and Caitlin's plus ones.

"Cisco, Iris and I aren't in the Justice League either and we aren't bitching about it. It'll happen when we prove to the entire league that we're ready and not using our relationships with active members to try and get votes." Gabby rolled her eyes.

"And I wasn't even rubbing it in. At least not intentionally. I was trying to convince Cisco to come clean to Lisa about Vibe and I was telling him that aside from Justice League secrets, Barry and I don't keep secrets regarding our relationships from you two." Caitlin said.

"And that is true. And honestly, I don't want to know all those secrets yet, since I'm still at the state of my reporting career where I'd have to resist the urge to print them. It's only my military training that keeps me from printing Flash's secret identity. I still don't know how Lois Lane resists the urge to tell the world Superman's real name." Iris said.

"Because doing so would place a target on her whole family's backs." Gabby said.

"Right." Iris said, right as Caitlin's phone rang.

"Wally, what's going on?" Caitlin asked Team Flash's youngest member.

"I think Firestorm and I finally have a lead on Goldface. One of Black Lightning's contacts in Freeland, he gave us a location of a lowlife named Earl Cox. After some persuasion, he gave us a location and passphrase to say to get in." Wally said and Caitlin grinned, since now the League had a chance to take down Goldface's operation and rescue the kids he'd kidnapped.

"Okay great Wally. Tell Young Justice their part of the mission is complete. Give me the passphrase and Team Flash and the League will take it from here." Caitlin said.

"Wait, why can't we do it?" Wally asked.

"Because you're still kids and in no way ready for this kind of thing. Now stand down. That's an order." Caitlin said as Wally reluctantly gave her the location and passphrase.

"Do you really expect my brother to listen to you?" Iris asked.

"No. That's why we got your parents to let Cisco install a metahuman dampening field in their house after he got his powers, so we can put him on lockdown until the mission is done." Cailtin said.

"And dad just thought he'd be using it to keep Wally at home when he's grounded." Iris said.

"That's its secondary purpose. But since Wally doesn't have the same respect for the rules that the other members of Young Justice have, we keep him on a tighter leash." Caitlin said.

"A bunch of teenagers respect rules?" Iris asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Robin and Spoiler are scared of Batman, Superboy has the same morals as Superman, Powergirl has to set an example as the leader of Young Justice, Wonder Girl idolizes her sister, Aqualad is loyal to his king, Lightning's father built a kill switch for her powers into her suit and Silver Arrow and Wildcat are both extremely loyal to Green Arrow." Caitlin said.

"Leaving Wally as the loose cannon." Iris said and Caitlin nodded.

"I know Barry was hoping that Young Justice would help mellow Wally out, but he's too rash and reckless. I know the speed force saved his life, but it also made him an even bigger pain in the ass." Caitlin said, since she'd grown up with Wally since her mom had married Barry's dad.

"Tell me about it." Iris agreed.

"Anyways, who's gonna take on this mission to find Goldface?" Cisco asked.

"Well, it was my case originally, so I'm in, especially since I think that Flash and Ice Maiden are a little too recognizable. And I think that Lisa should join me, since she has experience with these kinds of places due to her asshole brother dragging her along to them." Gabby said.

"No way, I do not want Lisa involved in this." Cisco said.

"Then you shouldn't have started dating her, since she's getting involved and this will lay the foundation for when you tell her the truth, since you're going to have to tell her eventually." Gabby said.

Chapter Text

"I still can't believe I let you talk me into this." Lisa said to Gabby as they walked down an alley on the seedier side of Central City.

"Hey, you were more than willing. I think someone's getting bored being a bartender." Gabby said.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with. You got the pass phrase." Lisa asked.

"Yeah. You ready to jump into the belly of the beast?" Gabby asked.

"Think you can avoid acting like a military brat? Since I can blend in as the sister of Leonard Snart and the daughter of Lewis Snart, I still have the stench of the criminal scum on me, no matter how hard I've worked to wash it off. You on the other hand, you reek of a badge. Maybe not a cop, but those crooks will tell you're a stiff." Lisa said, since sometimes her unfortunately ties to the criminal world came in handy. Whether she wanted to have them or not.

"Easy Snart. I may not be as bad as you were, but I can hold my own." Gabby said.

"I hope so. For both our sakes. Now remember the cover we were given by CCPD?" Lisa asked, since the cover for this was an official CCPD mission that Joe West had offered them, since Lisa was the only person he knew who had a chance at infiltrating Goldface's market.

"Yeah, you're thinking about joining the family business, looking for some top market gear to help you distinguish yourself from your family and I am your trusted bodyguard." Gabby said.

"Yeah, I still don't think that's a good idea for your cover, since I might be rusty, but no one in the criminal underworld will ever believe that a Snart needs a bodyguard. Now, can we do this?" Lisa asked.

"Right, the streets are paved with gold." Gabby called out and suddenly the ground dropped out from beneath them and they were swallowed by it.

"Okay, not the most graceful way I've ever entered one of these places." Lisa groaned as she and Gabby came too.

"At least we got welcome gifts." Gabby said, referring to their new bracelets, or rather new cuffs.

"I really thought I was done wearing cuffs." Lisa groaned as they got to their feet.

"Not just any cuffs. Those are meta dampening cuffs, in case either of you are metas and fitted with an explosive charge. Now tell us who sent you." one of the guards said.

"Calm down fellas, Big Raf sent us. In fact, I'd think that you'd show me some respect considering that my brother is a lot scarier than your boss could ever dream to be. Or do you not know who I am?" Lisa said, hating every minute of this, but knowing that she had to tap into the Snart dark side to pull this off.

"Should we?" the other guard asked.

"Here's a hint. My brother's name is Leonard." Lisa said.

"Wait, you're Leonard Snart, Captain Cold's, sister?" one of the thugs said.

"Yes and I am and I'm here because I'm looking to one up that dick. So please, back off or risk getting turned into an ice cube. Your call." Lisa said.

"Enjoy yourself Ms. Snart. You and your associate." the first thug said as he left them to look around.

"Damn girl. You really do come in hand around here." Gabby said.

"Being a Snart has its perks in these kinds of places. Now remind me what exactly we're looking for?" Lisa asked as they walked through the black market.

"Any sign of the kids Goldface has been abducting or anything that might indicate why he's abducting them in the first place, since last time I checked, he stole tech and weapons, not kids." Gabby said as they looked around.

"And I think I might have something." Lisa said, nodding over to pod-like chambers that seemed to be on prime display.

"What are these?" Gabby asked.

"Ah, I see you're admiring my newest venture. Powers for sale." Goldface himself said with a grin as he walked up to them.

"Goldface. Wasn't expecting a face to face with the man in charge." Lisa said.

"Well, when a Snart comes calling, you answer." Goldface admitted.

"So, can you explain what you meant by powers for sale?" Gabby asked.

"Of course. As you're no doubt aware, humanity has finally started to level the playing field against the alien freaks with metahumans. Human beings with extraordinary powers. And these pods, well, for people with the meta gene, they allow the user to achieve their potential. All voluntary of course, but not cheap. Especially if they want to remain free afterwards." Goldface said proudly.

"While I don't think either of us want to test our luck on that, these metahumans you're making, are they for sale?" Lisa asked.

"Unfortunately, I'm fresh out of stock at the moment. I just filled a big order. But don't worry, my people are working on increasing supply to meet demand." Goldface promised.

"Can't wait." Lisa said as they continued their 'shopping'.

"I think we just found out why kids are disappearing." Gabby said and Lisa nodded.

"We need to buy something to avoid drawing suspicion and then go from there." Lisa said.

"Good thing we have money to spend. Now let's do this." Gabby said as they resumed looking around.

Chapter Text

Eddie was getting frustrated. It had been nearly month his life had been changed forever and he was still quarantined inside Mount Flash, since he still looked like he was wrapped in a sheet of tin foil and he wasn't sure he could control his powers enough to prevent some kind of nuclear disaster in Central City, since according to the tests Caitlin had run on him, his energy was still unstable, though it was gradually starting stabilize bit by bit.

"You look like you could use some company." Jesse said to her boyfriend as she entered the lab he was calling his room.

"Yeah, I'm sick of being stuck in quarantine." Eddie said.

"Well, everyday you get closer to getting your freedom." Jesse said, trying to find a bright side.

"Yeah, but how much longer?" Eddie asked, right as there was a streak of silver lightning in the room as Flash's new protege, Silver Bolt, sped in.

"Actually, today's your lucky day Eddie." Nova said with a grin.

"What are you talking about and why would you want to help me, since from what you told us, isn't it my descendant that's terrorizing your time period." Eddie said, since Nova had told them all about Eobard Thawne.

"Speaking of which, I know you said that the Reverse Flash is Eddie's grandson, but you never mentioned if he was also mine." Jesse asked and Nova sighed.

"Jesse, I don't know. I only know that Eddie is Thawne's ancestor because of the last name. Thawne did his best to bury his family history after he went bad." Nova said.

"Got it." Jesse said, not sure if she really believed that, but choosing to let it go for now.

"Anyways, I stopped by because I brought something from the future that can help Eddie." Nova said.

"What do you mean?" Eddie asked as Nova pulled out a small blue orb.

"What is that?" Eddie asked.

"Future tech, a friend of mine who's much smarter than me and who helped me plan this little trip back in time created. He said that it was called an atomic stabilizer. I don't understand the physics of it myself, since it's way beyond me, but it should solve your problem." Nova said.

"What do you mean?" Eddie asked.

"Just watch." Nova said as she tossed the orb at Eddie and the second it made contact with his body, Eddie began to glow with blue light as his skin began regenerating and before they knew it, Eddie looked human again, including clothes, thankfully.

"Whoa, I'm back." Eddie said as he looked down at his body.

"Yeah. Your powers have been stabilized and integrated your containment into your biology. You should be able to shift between your human form and what I guess you could call your super form at will. Once you learn how to." Nova said, since she didn't really understand the science behind it, she just knew how to use the tech to help Eddie.

"Cool." Eddie said, still marvelling at future science and how it had given him his body back.

"You'll still need to learn to control your powers, but you don't have to worry about going nuclear anymore." Nova said and Eddie grinned.

"I can live with that. Especially since now I can leave this room." Eddie said.

"Don't worry, Joe and I have been paying your bills, so you still have your apartment." Jesse said.

"Thank you." Eddie said.

"Now, I have to go. Glad I could help." Nova said as she sped away.

"So, what else do you think she's keeping from us?" Jesse asked her boyfriend, the detective.

"Well, I think she was lying when she said that she didn't know if you were the Reverse Flash's great something grandmother, since I find it a bit too coincidental that we're going out, he's my descendant who's a speedster and you're a speedster too." Eddie said and Jesse nodded.

"Maybe she's trying to preserve the timeline, but I have to admit, even if one of our descendants is a homicidal maniac, it is encouraging." Jesse said.

"It is, but I still think that we need to let things run their natural course. I don't want us to be together just because of what we might know about the future or to break up trying to change it." Eddie said and Jesse smiled.

"I agree. We don't need to rush things anymore and yes, I know it's ironic to hear that coming from a speedster, but it's true. But there is something I need to talk to you about." Jesse said.

"And that is?" Eddie asked, wondering if she'd waited until he was in a good mood to break up with him.

"I got a call from Kara this morning, she offered me a promotion. To run the new Argo Enterprises facility in Coast City, overseeing our new aerospace division." Jesse said.

"Wow, Jesse, that's amazing." Eddie said before he realized what that meant.

"You're moving to Coast City?" Jesse said.

"I haven't given Kara an answer yet, I wanted to talk it over with you first, since we are getting pretty serious." Jesse said.

"Jesse, this sounds like an amazing opportunity and I'd never forgive myself if I was the reason you passed it up." Eddie assured her.

"And I guess with my speed, doing the long distance thing wouldn't be impossible. Especially since I'm still training with Barry." Jesse said.

"Or, once Caitlin gives me the all clear, I can look into transferring to Coast City PD. I wouldn't mind a change from the crazy of Central City. Dealing with normal crimes again." Eddie admitted.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that. After all, Coast City is Green Lantern's turf when he's not in space. Which is another reason Kara's reassigning me there. Since Green Lantern spends a lot of his time offworld, his city is unprotected. Kara wants there to be someone to protect the city when he's gone and I seemed like the best choice." Jesse said.

"Sounds like you could use some help, especially since I'm a meta now too. Once I learn to use my powers." Eddie said.

"I think that we'll make a great team. But you're sure about this?" Jesse asked.

"Completely." Eddie confirmed.

"Then let's do it. I'll call Kara and tell her that if the job's still available, I'll take it." Jesse said happily and Eddie nodded.

Chapter Text

"What's going on?" Barry asked as he sped into Mount Flash after he returned home from Star City, since while he'd offered to help Oliver with his mission, Oliver had told him this was his mission and that he was likely needed at home.

And like usual, Oliver was right.

"I think we have a lead on the missing kids case." Gabby said.

"Talk to me." Barry said as the rest of the team gathered around.

"Lisa and I were able to infiltrate Goldface's black market and we found out what happened to those kids." Gabby said.

"So, fill me in." Barry said.

"Based on what we saw, it looks like Goldface is trying to break into a new and lucrative market. Metahuman trafficking." Gabby said.

"I'm sorry what?" Iris asked, thinking she'd misheard.

"You heard me Iris. He's abducting kids and teens, testing them for the metagene and if they test positive, they're put in some kind of chamber that creates a traumatic experience for them that triggers the metahuman gene, creating new metahumans and after that happens, he sells them off to be used as weapons." Gabby said.

"That's horrible." Caitlin said.

"And I don't even know why I'm surprised, since it's exactly in human nature to do something like that. Especially since this is something we have to be careful about, not just in rescuing the kids, but also in how we go from here." Barry said.

"What do you mean?" Cisco asked.

"Right now, as far as we know, Goldface is the only one in this game. But if we issue any kind of warning, then other lowlifes will learn about this and we'll basically be opening Pandora's box. It'll be open season." Barry said.

"He's right. But what I'm curious about is where Goldface would get the tech to do this in the first place, since as far as I know, no company would knowingly do this." Caitlin said.

"I reached out to my aunt Kristen too, but she had no idea this was happening. She's also concerned that the government might start up its own metahuman program." Gabby said.

"We can't control that, since the last thing the Justice League needs is to be seen interfering with governments. Especially our own. As long as the government doesn't start doing anything criminal." Barry said.

"Makes sense. But anyways, what are we going to do about Goldface?" Cisco asked.

"Do you know the location of Goldface's market?" Barry asked, since he knew from CCPD that Goldface took serious precautions to keep outsiders from finding his market.

"Feast your eyes on Goldface central." Cisco said as he handed Barry a tablet with a set of coordinates marked.

"That's it?" Barry asked.

"Unless they found the tracer I planted already and relocated because of it, yeah it is." Gabby said.

"Then we better suit up and get there before they have a chance to move." Barry said.

"Can I come? I'm so bored just sitting around." Nova asked and Barry smiled.

"Yeah, but you have to promise to follow my lead. You're still learning how to use your powers and while this is a good training experience, still, be careful. Who knows what kind of tech they have." Barry said.

"If I can dodge the Reverse Flash's 23rd century teched out soldiers, I'll be fine." Nova said.

"Don't get cocky Nova. You're still a rookie. Now let's suit up and get there." Barry said with a grin as he slipped his ring on and sped out of the base, with Nova, who'd quickly suited as Silver Bolt followed as the rest of the team geared up to follow via a breach.

Chapter Text

Goldface was currently standing in front of a truck that he was using to load up the cargo for his benefactor. The cargo being the latest round of meta activated kids and teenagers. About 20 total and they were just the latest batch out of hundreds of kids he'd sold to this guy, along with the kids that he'd sold to other interested parties.

The kids were all safely contained inside pods that kept them sedated for safety reasons until they were delivered to their new owner.

"So, are they all loaded up?" Goldface asked his second in command, Jordan.

"Yep boss, but the driver knows the rules. He doesn't get to leave until you get paid." Jordan said, since the driver worked for the client, not Goldface.

"Good. And speaking of which." Goldface said as he pulled out his phone and saw the latest wire transfer come through.

"And all $20 million, as promised." He said happily as Jordan signalled the driver to move out, but right as the truck started to move, stopped abruptly when an icicle punctured one of the wheels.

"What the hell?" Goldface asked, right as the Flash sped in.

"Hello Goldface. Was wondering if you'd ever stop hiding." Flash said with a smirk.

"Flash, how did you find me?" Goldface asked as Silver Bolt sped in next to him.

"I see you've got a new lackey." Goldface said as Ice Maiden ice bridged in, while while Celestial landed from flying with magical angel wings, Cyclone landed on the ground with a green swirl of wind covering the lower half of her body and Vibe jumped in via breach.

"Name's Silver Bolt." Silver Bolt said.

"I don't care what your name is or how you found us. You won't stop me from making money off this venture." Goldface said he used his gold chain to actually encase himself in solid gold armor encasing his whole body.

"Did any of us know he could do that?" Celestial asked, since she'd assumed that Goldface was just a nickname because he wore gold.

"That he's a gold controlling metahuman, no. But there is one good thing about that." Flash said.

"What?" Silver Bolt asked.

"This." Flash said with a grin, grateful that he'd learned to throw lightning without needing to run first as he zapped Goldface with his speed force lightning, sending him flying back.

"Right, basic science, gold is one of the most effective conductors of electricity there is." Vibe said with a grin as Goldface managed to get up, though his armor had been reduced to a puddle of melted gold.

"You have to teach me how to do that." Silver Bolt said with a grin and Flash chuckled.

"Someday. But you still have a lot to learn before you get to that level." Flash said as Jordan helped his boss to his feet and several of his henchmen came rushing in, including several known criminal metahumans, like Adam Fells, aka Geomancer, Joseph Montelone, Tar Pit, Kimiyo Hoshi, aka Doctor Light, and William Lang, Gridlock.

"Did you really think that I'd do business in this town without being prepared for the day you tracked me down?" Goldface asked.

"You really think that these rejects can beat us?" Flash asked.

"I'll show you." Geomancer said as he slammed his foot into the ground, causing a mini earthquake, only to get knocked back by an air blast from Cyclone.

"I got this guy." Cyclone said as she took the air and lunged at Geomancer, launching another air blast at him while he dodged and slammed his foot into the ground to lift a chunk of it up and hurl it at her.

"I'll cool down Tar Pit." Ice Maiden as she ice blasted the tar meta.

"I got Doctor Light." Celestial said as she and Doctor Light charged at each other.

"I got Gridlock." Vibe said as he blasted Gridlock, since his vibe blasts had no kinetic energy for Gridlock to absorb.

"Silver Bolt, you handle the human guns, I'll deal with Goldface." Flash said, making it clear this was not up for debate as he sped off to fight Goldface.

"Fine." Silver Bolt said, since at least those were thugs she could handle as she got to work.

Chapter Text

Flash was feeling pretty proud of himself, since he and his team had successfully taken down Goldface and his crew, they were now watching as CCPD walked Goldface and his cronies out of the warehouse, all of them wearing metahuman power dampening cuffs.

"This city is a lot safer now." Joe said as he walked up to the Flash.

"Yeah. We might've saved this group of kids, but who knows how many Goldface was able to sell off before we caught on." Flash said.

"Hopefully the people at Belle Reve will make him talk." Joe said.

"If not, we can have Manhunter get the information from him, since no one can lie to the Martian Manhunter." Flash said and Joe nodded.

"I bet. It must be useful, having a mind reader on your team." Joe said.

"Too bad he doesn't know how to let loose and have fun, since according to Supergirl, he's kind of a stiff, since she works with him more than any of us." Flash said.

"Probably a good thing." Joe said with a chuckle.

"Maybe, but still." Flash said as they watched Goldface attempt to break free, but the cuffs on his wrists neutralizing his powers made it much harder to escape.

But before they could continue their conversation, Silver Bolt walked up to her mentor.

"Well, that was fun." Silver Bolt said and Flash chuckled.

"It was, even if you did go off book." Flash said.

"You saw that?" Silver Bolt asked, since she did go a bit rogue in the mission, since while she'd done her job, she'd also decided to help Ice Maiden deal with Tar Pit.

"Of course I did. You're still a rookie and you deviated from the plan." Flash said.

"I'm sorry, but I got bored. I couldn't just sit back." Silver Bolt said.

"I get it. And you got lucky. And I'm not mad, but I am disappointed. I know that you're used to being a solo act, but the whole reason you came here is because of how much you still have to learn. But I can't teach you if you don't take the time to learn. So you'll continue to work with my team to train, I think that there's someplace else you can train to learn the discipline you need to be the hero you want to become. Follow me." Flash said as he sped out, with Silver Bolt right behind him, wondering where he was taking her.

"Why are we in Bludhaven?" Silver Bolt asked as they came to a stop in front of some kind of tower.

"Because, there's someone here who can help you just as much as I can. I can help you with the powers part, but you still have to learn about the responsibilities that come with being a hero. The guy who runs this place is the best person to do it." Flash said as he entered an access code to open the door and led her inside, where Nightwing was waiting.

"This my new recruit?" Nightwing asked, since Flash had called him on the way.

"Nightwing, meet your newest Titan, Nova Beretta, aka Silver Bolt. She has a lot to learn, beyond what I can teach her and from what I hear, the Titans could use a speedster and another adult on the team." Flash said.

"You're right on both counts. Is she gonna be living in Central City with you or is she moving into the Tower? Either one's fine, I just need to know what to expect." Nightwing asked.

"She has the same deal as Arsenal. Part time Titan, part time member of my team. But she needs both to realize her potential. But she will be staying with you for a few days while we finish establishing her identity in Central City, since she's from the future." Barry said.

"Nice. Was wondering when we'd get to deal with some time travel shit." Nightwing said.

"She'll fill you in on everything and when she's done, I'm sure you'll understand why she needs to learn all she can." Flash said and Nightwing nodded.

"Can't wait to have her join the team. Come with me." Nightwing said as he led Silver Bolt further into the tower.

"See ya soon. I'll let you know when we're ready for you to come back to Central City." Flash said and Silver Bolt nodded as he sped back home.

Chapter Text

Ralph Dibny was currently on his way out from work, since he was currently working as a security guard for Stagg Industries, since after he was fired from the CCPD for evidence tampering, framing an innocent man for murder. Ralph had been a good cop, a good detective until he'd somehow gotten involved in a case that was over his head. He'd been desperate to get it wrapped up and everything had pointed to the husband, so he'd planted a knife and the case had been closed.

Until Barry Allen had proven what he'd done. Ralph had been dropped from the force faster than the Flash ran. He'd lost his benefits, his pension, everything.

So he'd been forced to take a crappy job as part of the security for Stagg Industries, since he'd tried applying to Argo, but they didn't want anything to do with him, so he'd been forced to go with Stagg.

Though there was one silver lining of his job. He'd met his boss, Simon Stagg's daughter, Sapphire Stagg. He'd definitely been hit by a case of love at first sight when he met her, but knowing a socialite like her would never give a lowlife like him the time of day.

Boy how he'd been wrong. He still wasn't sure how he'd gotten lucky, but since Sapphire had actually been struck by love at first sight for him too, since he was the only person in the company who didn't give her special treatment, since he'd still been bitter about losing everything, so he hadn't sucked up to her like everyone else did and she surprisingly found that interesting, which had led to them starting to see each other in secret, since Sapphire knew that her father would approve and she was afraid of what he'd do to Ralph if he found out that a lowly security guard was dating his precious little girl. Ralph personally thought she was being ridiculous, but he decided not to push his luck, since he was dating one of the hottest girls in the city and she was way out of his league, so he wasn't going to push his luck, but he knew that that one day, Stagg would get wise to what they were doing.

"Excuse me, Mr. Dibny." the voice of Simon Stagg said from behind him as Ralph paused and groaned before plastering a fake smile on his face as he turned to face his boss.

"Mr. Stagg. What can I do for you?" Ralph asked.

"I've been keeping a close eye on you since you came to work here and I think it's time you start working for me in a different capacity." Stagg said.

"What do you mean?" Ralph asked.

"Follow me. I insist." Stagg said as his personal security guard and flunkie, Jawa, approached him.

"Okay." Ralph said, having a bad feeling about this, but also not seeing a way out of it.

"Let's go." Stagg said as Jawa pushed Ralph back towards the elevators.

"What is this place?" Ralph asked Stagg to lead him into a lab on one of the sublevels.

"Welcome to the project Metamorpho lab. It's the culmination of everything Stagg Industries has been working towards. The ultimate worker, able to adapt to any situation necessary." Simon said.

"I don't understand what that has to do with me?" Ralph asked.

"It's simple. I need a test subject and you've been volunteered." Stagg said.

"What?" Ralph asked, right as Jawa shoved him into a chamber in the center of the room and sealed it behind him.

"This is what happens when you cross me, Dibny. You should've minded your own business and kept your nose out of mine." Stagg said.

"What?" Ralph asked.

"I've seen you talk to Sapphire. You're using my daughter to help the feds take me down." Stagg said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I never talked to the Feds. But since it seems like I'm gonna die, I might as well tell you now that I've been dating your daughter behind your back." Ralph said, since if he was going to now, might as well go out getting that one last burn in on Stagg.

"If you didn't deserve this before, you do now. Hit it Jawa." Stagg snarled at his henchman, who nodded as he hit the switch and suddenly Ralph was doused with some kind of mutagen and he screamed in pain as he attempted to break the glass, to no avail as he collapsed on the ground.

"Well, either we have a success or he's dead. I'm fine with either, since he needs to disappear, since there's no way I'll ever allow him to see Sapphire again." Stagg said.

"Got it boss." Jawa said.

Chapter Text

A few days later found Barry doing some work in his CSI lab, since he'd spent so much time focusing on his Justice League work, he was amazed he still had his job as a CSI. But somehow Captain Singh didn't have the good sense to fire him, but Barry wasn't going to complain, since he enjoyed being able to fight crime both in a mask and out of one.

Anyways, he was finishing up a case in his lab when he heard the door slide open and turned to see Captain Singh standing in the door.

"Allen, I need you downstairs. We've got a new case and it's one that I think you might be interested in. You and Joe." Singh said.

"Yeah, I'll be right down." Barry said as he moved as he put his experiment on hold, since he knew if Singh was requesting him immediately, it must be urgent.

When Barry entered Singh's office, he found Joe already there, along with Singh and a blonde woman that he instantly recognized as Sapphire Stagg, since Team Flash was investigating her father Simon Stagg and his company.

"Allen, please take a seat." Singh said and Barry nodded as he did that.

"What's going on?" Barry asked.

"Ms. Stagg is here to file a missing persons report and considering who it is, I thought it would be best to loop you two in." Singh said.

"Who is it?" Joe asked.

"An old acquaintance." Singh said as he handed them the report.

"Ralph Dibny." Barry said as he picked up the file.

"You know him?" Sapphire asked.

"Yeah, we knew him. He was a cop and a dirty one at that. He was fired for fabricating evidence." Joe said.

"I know all about what he did. But he's changed. He actually works security for my father's company now." Sapphire said.

"So what's the problem?" Barry asked.

"He went missing three days ago. I checked his apartment and it's untouched, he isn't answering his phone and no one has seen him at work. I'm getting worried." Sapphire said.

"Do you have any reason to suspect foul play?" Joe asked.

"I think that my dad did something to him, since I've actually been working with the feds to expose him for the corrupt businessman he is and he may have thought that Ralph was the one informing on him, not to mention Ralph and I have been seeing each other behind his back, since dad would never approve of dating anyone, especially a lowly security guard. I'm scared that dad got wind of one of those or both and did something to Ralph in retaliation." Sapphire said and the only reason Barry even considered this was because he and his team were digging into Stagg too for something exactly like this.

"We'll look into it. Have you tried confronting your father about this?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, he just says he sent Ralph on a little vacation, but aside from that being one of the most cliched cover up lines on Earth, Ralph would've told me so we could meet up without dad knowing." Sapphire said.

"Yeah, definitely sounds like there's something fishy going on there." Joe agreed.

"We'll look into it." Barry promised.

"Thank you." Sapphire said as she left the office.

"Well, get to work. And I know you both have your issues with Dibny, but I suggest that you learn to keep them to yourselves and put your jobs first. Dismissed." Singh said as Barry and Joe took that as their cue to leave.

"Why would a girl like Sapphire Stagg show any interest in Ralph Dibny?" Barry asked Joe, who shrugged.

"Maybe he really has changed, since it has been awhile since we've seen him. Besides, you've been looking into Stagg ever since you got back from Queen's wedding. This is the first real lead we have to expose him. We can't pass it up. Especially if Ralph does need your help." Joe said.

"I know. But still, he must've caught one lucky break to land a girl like that." Barry said.

"Yeah, so did you when you scored Iris." Joe said and Barry chuckled, since he couldn't argue with that, since he was smart enough to know that a girl like Iris was way out of his league, and yet, with some help from Caitlin, his stepsister, he'd managed to land her.

"I still owe Caitlin for that. I really hope that she and Gabby will join Iris and I in the engaged group soon." Barry said and Joe smiled.

"You and me both. But now, let's get to work. Sapphire gave us Ralph's address, so I suggest we have Gabby meet us there and you put the rest of your team up to look into what Stagg's doing and what connection he might have to Ralph's disappearance." Joe said and Barry nodded in agreement.

Chapter Text

"So, we're looking into this guy even though you hate him?" Gabby asked Barry as they, along with Joe, walked towards Ralph's apartment.

"Please, don't try to profile me." Barry said.

"I don't have to Barry. I'm dating your sister and I'm best friends with your fiance. I know you well enough to know that you don't like this guy." Gabby said.

"I don't want to talk about it." Barry said.

"Ralph used to be a cop and he was an arrogant one, because he had such a high success rate. And he was an asshole about it. Especially to Barry and the other CSIs, since he constantly got in the way of them doing their jobs." Joe said.

"And it turns out that the reason for that is because the reason he had such a high success rate is because he planted evidence to get convictions." Barry said.

"Wow. I looked into his file and I didn't get that vibe from him." Gabby said.

"He wasn't a good cop, he was a lazy cop, who didn't have the patience to do his work properly and a lot of criminals had to be released due to their cases being reopened and we're still working on putting them back behind bars." Barry said.

"Sounds like he was a good cop though before he started looking for shortcuts." Gabby said as they came up to Ralph's apartment, to find the door wide open.

"Looks like we're not the first ones to arrive. Maybe it would be better if Barry Allen and Gabby Gomez weren't the ones to go inside there." Joe said and Barry and Gabby both nodded.

"I just hope I'm not rusty, since it's been awhile since I've been Celestial." Gabby admitted as she pulled out her necklace, the amulet of Amenadiel, from under her shirt while Barry slid on his Flash ring as he released the suit before performing a super speed spin to suit while Gabby was consumed in a bright cross shaped flash of purple light before she was suited up as Celestial.

"Man, I have missed this." Celestial said, feeling good to be back in her suit.

"Come on, let's go see what's going on." Flash said and Celestial nodded as they led the charge into Dibny's ransacked apartment.

"Looks like we missed a party." Joe said as they looked around.

"Clearly." Flash agreed.

"Can you please save us the trouble and just do a super speed search?" Celestial asked.

"Gladly." Flash said as he sped around the apartment.

"Nothing. But if I had to guess, based on what Sapphire told us, it sounds like her dad thought that Ralph was the one selling him out to the feds, so he probably sent his thugs here to try and find and destroy whatever evidence they had against him. Though I'm guessing it didn't work." Flash said.

"But I found this." Gabby said as she picked up an old pocket watch.

"That belonged to Ralph's grandmother. He always kept it at his desk when he was on the force, it was one of his most cherished possessions." Joe said, recognizing the item.

"Which Cisco can hopefully use to vibe Ralph's location, since there isn't much someone can do to hide from him. He likes to refer to himself as Sauron, the giant eye in the sky." Flash said, rolling his eyes at that.

"Seriously, that's the reference he chose to go with?" Gabby asked, since thinking Cisco could do so much better.

"We've been trying to get him to change it." Flash said.

"I'm just glad Cisco didn't grow up in my neighborhood, since he would've gotten his ass kicked daily." Celestial said.

"He was a nerd in high school, trust me, that happened anyway." Flash said, since while he and Caitlin had managed to escape a lot of the typical nerd treatment at school due to their association with Iris, who was popular in high school, they still had a few of them to deal with. For Barry it was Tony Woodworth, one of the first metahumans he'd fought after he got his powers, and for Caitlin, it had been Lexi LaRoche and Caitlin was still keeping tabs on her to make sure she didn't become a villain too.

"True." Celestial agreed, right as they heard a ticking.

"Is that what I think it is?" Joe asked.

"Grab on." Flash shouted as he grabbed Joe and Celestial and sped out of the apartment, right as it blew up.

"Well, if there was any doubt that Ralph was in trouble before, it's gone now." Joe said when they came to a stop about a mile away, near one of the zeta tube locations in Central City, since after the network had been perfected, the League had installed tubes all over their respective cities to allow for easier transport to their individual bases and the Watchtower, though only leaguers had access to the full the Zeta tube network. Others could only access certain places, like how Joe could only use the tubes to travel to Mount Flash and other civilian location tubes in other cities, but no other League bases, but Gabby could access other league bases since she was an active field agent of Team Flash. But Barry and Caitlin were the only members of Team Flash with access to the entire network.

"Let's get to the base, see what Cisco can do." Barry said, grateful that they'd saved the watch before activating the tube.

"Flash, 08, access granted, Celestial, F-03 access granted, Joe West, F-04, access granted." the AI said as they walked through the tubes.

Chapter Text

"Well, thanks to Barry's speed, all three of you got out of there without a scratch." Caitlin said after she'd finished checking all three of them over.

"And luckily we managed to pull this out of the apartment before it was blown up." Barry said as he pulled out a watch.

"A watch?" Cisco asked.

"A personal item of Dibny's you can use to vibe his location." Barry said as he handed the watch to Cisco.

"Let's see what I can do." Cisco said as he took a deep breath and triggered his vibes.

"What do you see?" Gabby asked.

"I see some kind of holding cell. With a guy, I think, lying on the ground. I don't see any windows or doors." Cisco said.

"Can you show us?" Iris asked, since Cisco had learned to bring other people into his vibes.

"Grab my hand." Cisco said as Barry and Iris grabbed his hand so they could see it.

"This looks like some kind of military bunker and I'd know, considering the fact that Gabby and I stormed several of them when we were overseas to liberate hostages or take out insurgents." Iris said as she looked around.

"And there's Ralph. Dear god, what happened to him?" Barry asked as he saw the man lying down in the cell, though he didn't even look remotely human anymore. His head was bald and completely white now and deformed and the rest of his body was different colors.

"I'm guessing it's a result of whatever Stagg did to him." Cisco said.

"Do we know where this is?" Iris asked.

"No. We can't see outside this room." Cisco said, since his vibes were still limited and it ended.

"Hack into Stagg's system and see if he has any private bunkers that he could be holding Ralph in." Barry said.

"You suddenly seem much more interested in helping him than you did before." Joe said.

"Ralph may have lost his way, but he didn't deserve what Stagg did to him. But remind me to call Kara and have her send us an image inducer for Ralph, since we may not be able to undo whatever the hell Stagg did to him, but we can at least help him look normal." Barry said and Cisco nodded.

"I'll reach out to my aunt Kristen, see if she knows anything, since Stagg Industries does have a few military contracts." Gabby said.

"And I'll head to CCPD to see what I can find. Especially since I need to be there for the initiation of our newest officer. I never thought I'd see the day I saw a Snart in law enforcement." Joe said, since Cisco had convinced him to vouch for Lisa and give her a chance to join the CCPD and she'd recently completed training.

"Thanks again for doing that Joe. It really means a lot to me and Lisa." Cisco said.

"Honestly, I was happy to do that. It's not fair that Lisa was judged because of who her family is and she's proven to be a good choice." Joe said.

"Anyways, we're still no closer to figuring out where Stagg is holding Ralph." Caitlin said and Barry smirked.

"True, but I think I know someone who does." Barry said as he activated his cowl and sped out of there.

At the same time as this, Sapphire Stagg decided she was done waiting, so she stormed into her father's office.

"Baby girl, what brings you here?" Simon asked, surprised to see her.

"Where is he?" Sapphire asked.

"Where is who?" Simon asked.

"Don't play dumb. What did you do to Ralph? I know you did something to him." Sapphire said.

"I had to deal with him before he put me away. I know his type. The disgraced cop looking for a shot at redemption. He thought that if he exposed me, he could get his job with CCPD back." Simon said, not bothering to deny it.

"Ralph wasn't turning on you, I was. I was tired of having to turn a blind eye to all your illegal dealings and having to hide my relationship with Ralph. The only way I could be free of you was to expose you." Sapphire said.

"What? You betrayed me?" Stagg asked.

"Yes." Sapphire said.

"You do realize that nothing will hold up. I have enough cops in CCPD in my pocket that buying my freedom should be child's play." Stagg said, only to be shocked when the Flash sped into his office.

"But you can't bribe me." Flash said.

"Flash." Sapphire said, surprised to see their city's hero there.

"Where is Ralph Dibny Simon? Your money isn't gonna get you out of this." Flash said.

"Especially since I doubt you have the feds in your pocket too." Sapphire said as she pulled a microphone out from her pocket as the FBI came surging in.

"Simon Stagg, you're under arrest for abduction, fraud and theft of intellectual property, among other things." one of the agents said as he proceeded to read Stagg his rights and handcuff him.

"Before you take him away, I need to know where he stashed Ralph Dibny." Flash said, since while he could go through Stagg's files at super speed, this was easier.

"I suggest you answer him Mr. Stagg, since cooperating not only with the feds, but also a member of the Justice League is your best chance at a lighter sentence." the agent said and Stagg sighed in defeat, knowing the jig was up and complied.

Chapter Text

After Team Flash rescued Ralph from the bunker Stagg was holding him in, he was recovering in the medical bay while Team Flash discussed what to do with him.

"Should we bring Ralph into the fold?" Iris asked.

"Not yet. For one thing, we don't even know if that's something Ralph wants and for another, I won't be convinced that Ralph's really changed until I see it for myself. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt, especially since he's not leaving quarantine until we know exactly what Stagg did to him." Barry said.

"I'm going over the research you took from Stagg Industries and it looks like whatever Stagg did to him is permanent. Especially since it looks part of the reason the process worked in the first place is that it triggered Ralph's dormant metagene. Though how Stagg was able to control the outcome, I don't know. But it looks like Ralph can now alter his molecular structure to mimic any element on the periodic table. Honestly, there's no telling what he can do now." Caitlin said.

"Which is why he's going to be training with the Flash until I know he can control his powers and he won't cause trouble with them." Barry said.

"Good call. Especially since with the settlement he's going to be getting from Stagg, plus Sapphire's inheritance of whatever money Stagg has left after all the lawsuits against him and his company are settled, he'll never have to work again." Joe said, since in addition to prosecuting Stagg for his criminal charges, Cecille was also going to be the lawyer representing the class action lawsuit against Stagg for everyone he'd stolen from over the years.

"Yeah, I hear there's already news of Stagg going bankrupt from this." Cisco said.

"And knowing Kara, the second she finds out about it, she'll pounce on the opportunity to expand her empire." Barry said, since a long running joke in the Justice League was that Kara was trying to take over the world through Argo Enterprises.

"Wouldn't surprise me. After all, I'm pretty sure Dr. McGee is just going to sell Mercury Labs to her former protege when she retires, she already owns Star Labs and Kord Industries here in Central City, not to mention she also bought LexCorp in Metropolis, along with Kord Industries HQ in Palermo City, basically the only tech companies that are still anywhere close to competing with her are Wayne Enterprises and Queen Consolidated and if the gossip is true, those companies are going to be merging at some point in the future." Caitlin said.

"What gossip?" Cisco asked, once again hating when Caitlin showed off knowing things he didn't know about the superhero world.

"It's not exactly a secret that Oliver Queen's sister is dating Bruce Wayne's daughter. The rumor is that if they get married, Oliver and Bruce are just going to merge their companies." Barry said.

"Oh, that's what you're talking about, I read that in Catco's gossip column." Iris said and Barry nodded.

"Anyways, we should probably get going, since I'm already likely gonna get read the riot act for missing an omega level League alert because of this case, I'm not gonna get in more trouble because I missed Supergirl's birthday party." Barry said, since all founding members of the League were invited.

"I still can't believe you and Jesse were invited and I wasn't." Caitlin said, since she was a Justice Leaguer, just like Barry.

"We can't leave the city and the world unprotected. I think the only time we'll run the risk of that happening is at Kara and Lena's wedding, since there's no way they'll be able to get out of inviting the entire league to its leader's wedding. Besides, Kara and I founded the League together and Jesse is one of Kara's most trusted friends at Argo Enterprises. Who knows, maybe Cisco will get invited soon, since I hear he's slated to be the new head of the Central City division of Argo Enterprises since Jesse's transferred." Barry said.

"Not to mention you said you'd put me up for a vote at the next meeting." Cisco said and Barry nodded.

"Can't guarantee you'll get in though. Caitlin's in charge until we get back" Barry said, since Caitlin was second in command of Team Flash, since not only was she a fellow member of the Justice League, but she was also Barry's sister and a field agent, before he and Iris moved to leave, only for Barry to be pulled to the side by Gabby.

"Go on ahead, I'll catch up." Barry said and Iris nodded.

"What's going on?" Barry asked.

"I just needed to talk to you about something personal. Or I guess ask you something personal." Gabby said.

"What's going on?" Barry asked.

"I wanted to ask your opinion on something." Gabby said.

"And that would be?" Barry asked.

"If I have your blessing to ask Caitlin to marry me after the bouquet toss at your wedding." Gabby said, since she'd already talked to Iris, who was already planning on aiming for Gabby when she threw her bouquet.

Barry smiled, since he'd honestly been expecting this.

"Yes, you have my blessing, not that you need it." Barry said.

"You're the most important person in Caitlin's life besides me and your parents and I wanted to get your approval before I got it from your parents." Gabby said.

"You have it, even though you did just cost five bucks." Barry said.

"You and Iris had a bet on which of us would propose first?" Gabby asked, not at all surprised.

"Pretty much. Caitlin's my sister and I want her to be happy and you're basically Iris's sister after what you two went through while you were deployed. You're already family, this will just make it official." Barry said and Gabby smiled.

"Thanks Barry. Even though most of my biological family won't be at the wedding, at least I'll be marrying into one that loves me. Assuming Caitlin says yes." Gabby said.

"She will. But now I need to go." Barry said as he left.

Chapter Text

Barry and Iris were surprised when Iris's parents asked them to come over the day after they returned from Kara's birthday party, since they had a big announcement to make.

"You think your mom's pregnant again?" Barry asked.

"No, mom and dad would be a lot more freaked out if that were the case." Iris said as they entered the West house, since Iris still had a key to her childhood home.

"Barry, Iris, thanks for coming." Joe said as he hugged his daughter and then his future son-in-law.

"Of course. But what's going on dad?" Iris asked as they sat down on the couch next to Wally.

"Well, over the past few years, the feds have started to adapt to the changing metahuman world, including having agencies like the FBI and the CIA adopting new policies to help them handle metahumans." Joe said.

"So, what does that have to do with why we're here?" Wally asked bored, only to be shut up by a look from his mom.

"Well, the CIA offered me a new job in Langley to help train their agents and coordinate ops for dealing with metahuman targets." Joe said.

"Wait what?" Iris asked, since she was shocked.

"Dad, are you really considering this? I mean, I thought you liked being a cop and being in the field?" Wally asked.

"I do, but at the same time, as your mother pointed out, I'm not as young as I used to be and this is a way for me to continue to do a job I love, just in a different way and help save even more lives, not only of innocent people, but also training CIA agents to be able to handle the kind of things I've seen since that particle accelerator went off." Joe said.

"Do you really want to do this?" Barry asked him.

"I do. And Cecille and I talked about it and agreed that it really is a great opportunity." Joe said.

"So we're moving?" Wally asked, not exactly thrilled about having to leave his life behind.

"Well, that all depends on how this conversation goes, since we don't want to uproot your life either Wally, since I know how important things are for you, between your training with Barry, the football team and your friends. That's part of why we wanted all three of you here before we broke the news." Cecille said.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked, though she had a feeling she knew what they meant.

"Well, there are three choices. The first one is that we put Wally first and pass up on this opportunity so he can keep living his life here. The second choice is that he moves to Langley with us and either runs or Zeta tubes back here for training when needed and otherwise starts over here. Or the final option is that you and Barry move in here and become Wally's guardians." Joe said.

Barry and Iris took one look at each other before knowing they were thinking the same thing.

"And I think option three makes the most sense for everyone." Barry said.

"Are you sure? I mean, I admit we were hoping you'd say that, but." Cecille said.

"Mom, Barry and I both agree that this is the best thing for everyone. I know how important this offer must be to dad for him to even consider it and it does make more sense if Barry and I take custody of Wally." Iris said.

"Especially since he's still training with me." Barry agreed.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Joe asked.

"We're sure. But Wally, is it okay with you?" Iris asked her little brother.

"Are you kidding, dad gets to take his new job, but I still get to stay here with my friends and keep training." Wally said.

"Though it does mean that doesn't mean that you get a free pass. Especially since now one of your guardians is even faster than you and the other one can fly." Barry reminded him, since not only was Barry faster than Wally, but Iris had mastered her Cyclone powers to the point that she could now fly the same way Red Tornado could.

"I know. But still." Wally said.

"We'll be back for your wedding though." Joe said.

"You'd better be, since you're walking me down the aisle." Iris said, since the wedding was only a few weeks away.

"How are things going at the Citizen?" Cecille asked for her daughter's newspaper.

"Well, since the Central City Citizen is to the Flash what the Daily Planet is to Superman, we're putting Central City Picture News in the ground, since I've already recruited a decent sized staff with our new office, thanks to my future mother-in-law providing us with a great office, I'm all staffed up and we are on track to keep expanding." Iris said.

"And your number two Kamila is set to cover the Citizen while we're on our honeymoon." Barry said.

"Yep." Iris said.

"And I might have a potential intern for you before I go." Joe said as he handed Iris a file.

"What's this?" Iris asked.

"A file on a kid who recently passed through the precinct. Allegra Garcia and she's also as far as I know, the youngest meta in the city. She has some kind of light power and while I admit, she has a bit of a record, it's only because she's an orphan who's been bounced around the system for years the only known relative she has is her older cousin Esperanza who's a real criminal." Joe said.

"I've been keeping tabs on Allegra for years and while I managed to get her latest sentence reduced to community service, if something doesn't change to set her on the right path, I'm worried about what she might do." Cecille said and Barry smiled.

"You don't just want her to work at the Citizen do you?" Barry asked.

"You told me how both Green Arrow and Batman took in kids like her and helped them become heroes and proteges, maybe you can do that for Allegra." Joe said.

"She has to want that though." Barry said.

"I can at least let her do her community service hours as an intern at the Citizen and go from there." Iris said, since she honestly did not mind the idea of getting her own little protege, since Barry had Wally.

"Thank you. I'll tell the judge you approved it." Joe said.

Chapter Text

"Man, I love living with speedsters." Iris said as she watched her fiance and brother race around the house, moving their furniture in after her parents had moved out, since she and Barry were officially Wally's guardians and he wouldn't be the only one they'd be watching. Which was why Iris wanted them to finish getting the house ready as they finished getting unpacked and moved in.

"You know, you have your own superpowers to help." Barry called out from wherever he was in the house.

"Yeah, I'm really good at dusting." Iris said sarcastically, since her powers were more likely to wreck the house with her cyclones than help put it back together.

"True. But between your bionic arm and your nanite implants, you're also as strong as Red Tornado, so you can do some of the heavy lifting, since Wally and I have super speed, not super strength." Barry said.

"And remember as a highly trained marine I also know at least six ways to knock you both on your asses that will hurt, even with speed healing." Iris said as Barry and Wally came to a stop.

"We're done anyways, so no need for that." Barry said.

"What exactly are the rules for powers around our houseguests? Because mom and dad let me go to Coast City for pizza night every week and I can't do that if we're not telling her the secret." Wally said.

"Actually, we are." Iris said, since she and Barry had already discussed this.

"Really?" Wally asked, surprised, right as there was a knock on the door.

"That must be her." Barry said as he went to get the door to find a cop, a social worker and a latina teenager around Wally's age standing there.

"CSI Allen, here's your new ward." Officer Jones said carelessly, since he could care less about this, since he didn't understand why Barry was taking a metahuman child in.

"She's not a ward, she's our new foster daughter." Barry said, glaring at Jones, since he didn't get what Jonesie's problem with metahumans was.

"Whatever. She's your problem now." Jones said as he walked away.

"Sorry about him. Allegra Garcia, meet your new foster parents, Barry Allen and Iris West." her social worker said.

"Thanks, I guess." Allegra said, since while she wanted to make this family work, she'd been burned too many times by families and it always ended with her back in a group home or in juvie. Especially since she got her meta powers.

"Welcome to your new home Allegra." Iris said as she showed Allegra inside.

"Wow, this place is nice." Allegra said as she looked around, since it was definitely nicer than any of the other foster homes she'd lived in over the years.

"We'll give you a full tour of the house once we get the last of the paperwork taken care of. In the meantime, my brother Wally will take your bags upstairs." Iris said to her brother.

"Just a bag, as in one. Never really had much reason to own more stuff than I could keep in one duffle bag." Allegra said.

"Then we'll have to change that." Iris said, though she knew that Allegra wouldn't truly lighten up until after her caseworker was gone and they were free to show her their own meta powers.

"Yeah right." Allegra said as Wally took her bag and took it upstairs while Barry and Iris filled out the rest of the paperwork.

Once all the paperwork was taken care of and the social worker left, Barry decided that it was time to drop the secrets.

"Allegra, are you hungry? We got pizza." Barry said.

"Where, I don't smell anything." Allegra said, since she'd taken a look in the kitchen and there was no pizza.

"Give me one sec." Barry and then to Allegra's surprise, Barry sped out of the house and returned within minutes with several boxes of pizza from Coast City.

"Wait, you're the Flash?" Allegra asked.

"I am. And I'm not the only hero in this room." Barry said.

"What?" Allegra asked as Iris summoned a small cyclone to her hand.

"I'm Cyclone." Iris said, since Central City did know of her.

"And I'm." Wally said as he sped around the house.

"Kid Flash. Got it. So I guess I don't have to worry about you guys being afraid of my meta powers, since you have your own." Allegra said, since that was a relief.

"Yeah. Allegra, we're trusting you with our family's biggest secret because we want you to trust us. But you can't tell anyone. This secret keeps our whole family safe." Barry said.

"I won't tell anyone." Allegra promised, especially since for the first time in years, she hoped that maybe she'd found a place she could truly call home and people she could actually call family.

"Good. Especially since if you're living here, you're getting your life together. We've already arranged for you to do your community service hours working as an intern at the Central City Citizen and since your caseworker informed us that you have kept up with school in some way over the years, you should be on track to start school with Wally at Central City High next week. And since I'm busy training Wally to use his own speed, Iris is going to help you learn to control your light powers. Especially since we have the perfect place for that." Barry said.

"Ooh, is it the Watchtower?" Allegra asked and both Iris and Wally laughed.

"Yeah right. Watchtower's off limits to anyone who isn't in the Justice League. He's talking about our base here in Central City. We call it Mount Flash." Wally said.

"Still cool." Allegra said and Barry grinned.

"Brace yourself Allegra. You have no idea just what kind of world you've entered into. But I think that you're gonna like it." Barry said.

"Can't wait." Allegra said, eager to learn more.

Chapter Text

Eobard Thawne couldn't even describe how disappointed he was right now. His own son, the heir to his empire, a traitor. He'd sided against his family, rejected the legacy he could've inherited and sided with that rat Silver Bolt, helped her not only escape Thawne's justice, but also travel back in time to warn the Flash of his pending invasion. Which meant that when Eobard returned to the 21st century, Flash would be waiting.

"Why Erikson? Why betray your family? I've created a utopia here." Thawne asked his son.

"Because it's only a utopia for you and those you let live in the upper levels. The people you force to slum it in the Anvil actually kill themselves to escape the cruelty of the working conditions there. You built an empire on the backs of poor people." Erikson said.

"The only reason I haven't sentenced you to the Cobalt mines is because your mother begged me not to. She seems to think that you're just lost and misguided. But I don't think so. I think that you're just like Silver Bolt. You clearly went soft while I was gone." Thawne said.

"And you wouldn't have been gone if you hadn't let your obsession with a speedster who lived centuries ago and the only thing he ever did to you was steal your thunder. This whole tyrant thing is just a big baby throwing a temper tantrum." Erikson said and Thawne glared at his son as he lifted his hand and began vibrating it.

"Do it. You know mom would never forgive you." Erikson said as Eobard stopped vibrating his hand.

"True. I can only hope that the more time you spend here, the sooner you'll forget Silver Bolt's influence on you. Or your mother will see that you can't be saved." Thawne said.

"As long as Silver Bolt's in the past, you'll never win. Especially since we both know that the Flash is no doubt preparing for your return as we speak. And it doesn't matter what you do to me. You may rule this time, for now, but we both know that the second you return to the 21st century, the Flash will knock you on your ass and you will lose everything you've worked for." Erikson spat in his father's face.

"We'll see. I hope you find your accommodations comfortable. Your mother did convince me to allow you a few luxuries in this cell. But set one toe out of line, and they disappear and you'll be sent to the Cobalt mines." Thawne said as he left his son alone in his prison cell.

"Any luck?" Meena asked her husband when he returned from the prison.

"No. I'm afraid our son is too far gone. I'll let him live out of respect for you, but if he escapes, all bets are off. Anyone else I would've sentenced to the Cobalt Mines, which as we both know is a fate worse than death." Thawne said.

"Only because he doesn't remember the way the world was before you fixed it. He's defiant for the same reason I've helped you. He wants to save the world. He just doesn't understand that you already saved the world. And yes, it's not perfect, but it's better than what it was." Meena said.

"I know my love. But he is right about one thing. Every day I allow Silver Bolt to stay in the past is another day that the Flash can prepare for our invasion." Thawne said.

"What are you thinking?" Meena asked.

"That you and Thaddeus need to pack whatever you want to take with you before we head to the past now to make sure that the arrival site will be ready on schedule and so that we can keep Flash distracted in time for the army to assemble." Thawne said as his other son, Thaddeus, who was a splitting image of his father and much to Thawne's pleasure, had also inherited Thawne's connection to the negative speed force, walked up to them.

"The Time Sphere is ready father." Thaddeus said, since unlike his big brother, Thaddeus was a loyal follower of his father and now that Erikson was disgraced, Thaddeus saw his opportunity to become the heir, especially since he was already the favored son due to his speed.

"Excellent. Once we arrive, we'll check in on the arrival site, since an operation like this requires a set location for the fleet to arrive at." Thawne said.

"And then do I get to fight the Flash?" Thaddeus asked.

"No one in this family fights the Flash but me. You're not ready to fight him yet anyways. But you can have all the fun you want with Silver Bolt." Thawne said and Thaddeus nodded.

"I'll make sure that everything is ready for when the fleet arrives." Meena said, since while her husband and son fought Team Flash, she'd put her scientific genius to work building the anchorpoint. Or finishing building it, since before he'd left, Thawne had assigned Grodd the task of building it.

"Should we take Erikson back with us? So he can watch our victory?" Thaddeus asked his parents.

"That's not a bad idea. Though he would likely prove to be more of a nuisance than a help. At least for now. Maybe he'll be ready to reclaim his place in the family by the time the invasion fleet is ready to launch." Thawne said, since he and Thaddeus had already decided what to do with Erikson, but they were keeping it quiet from Meena until it was too late for her to stop it.

"Maybe. But for now, let's get going. We have a timeline to rewrite." Meena said, eager to finally be done with the Flash so that she'd finally have her husband's full attention again.

"Let's go." Thawne agreed.

Chapter Text

Barry and Iris were out for dinner a few nights after they moved into Iris's parents house and took in Allegra when suddenly, a flash of red lightning passed them. A flash that Barry instantly recognized.

"Barry." Iris said, instantly knowing the look on her fiance's face.

"He's back." Barry said.

"Barry, don't do this. Not alone." Iris said.

"Call the team, try to figure out where he's going. But now that I know that son of a bitch is back, I'm not letting him get away." Barry said and before Iris could stop him, he had his Flash ring on and sped after the Reverse Flash.

"Barry no." Iris shouted as she pulled out her phone to call in the rest of the team to let them know that the Reverse Flash was back.

The citizens of Central City were knocked back by the random winds that seemed to be kicked up in the air, right as two blurs of lightning passed by them. One of which was the golden yellow they'd come to recognize as belonging to their hometown hero Flash while the other was an angry dark blood red.

The two speedsters ran all around the city until finally coming to a stop in the very center of town, where the city had recently unveiled a new statue of Flash as a monument to him.

"Well, this is a change from when I left." Reverse Flash said as he vibrated his face and voice as he spoke.

"I know who you are, Thawne. Eobard Thawne." Flash said.

"Yes, I imagine that pest Silver Bolt told you plenty of things for however long she's been here." Reverse Flash said.

"She told me how you enslaved your own time and how you want to do the same thing here. And I'm just going to tell you right now that there's no way in hell that I'll ever allow that to happen." Flash said.

"You really think that you're fast enough to stop me?" Reverse Flash asked.

"You're one to talk." Flash said.

"True. In fact, the whole reason I came to this time period in the first place was to kill you." Reverse Flash said.

"What?" Flash asked.

"Oh, you still haven't figured that out? I guess you're not as clever as I thought. Yes, from my perspective, we've been fighting this war for what feels like an eternity. Neither one of us strong enough to defeat the other. Until I learned your greatest secret. I learned your name and came back here to kill you as a child to ensure that you'd never become the Flash, never become the man who'd steal my glory. But unfortunately your future self discovered my plan and followed me back and we slugged it out in one of our fiercest fights yet." Reverse Flash said.

"The red and yellow lightning I saw the night my mom died." Flash said and Reverse Flash nodded.

"That was us, fighting it out. Then you got your younger self out of there and while at first, I was furious, a new thought occurred to me. If I couldn't kill you, I could still break you. Force you to endure a tragedy so traumatic that your younger self would never recover and you would never become the Flash, so I stabbed your mother in the heart. And I was so certain that would do it. That I'd finally succeeded in erasing you from the face of history before you even got a chance to become the Flash. But things didn't go according to plan, since it turns out that in traveling back this time, I lost my way home. My connection to my negative speed force had become unstable, preventing me from accessing enough of it to be able to return home. Stranding me here, away from my own time, away from my family, with no way back. Well, no way but one. The Flash." Reverse Flash said.

"So you came back to kill me and instead you had to create me." Flash said.

"And yet it was unnecessary. I built the Star Labs particle accelerator specifically so that it would explode and turn you into the Flash, but the speed force took matters into its own hands and turned you into the Flash ahead of schedule. But the accelerator explosion could still serve a purpose. Create new metahumans for you to fight, to help you get faster and maybe even allow me to restore my own speed, which I did. And now that I'm back to full strength, I'm ready to pick up where I left off. Our race can finally resume, since you're no longer the rookie I thought I'd have to train. You're the man I traveled back in time to erase. You have no idea just how much I've done to get this far. I've been waiting for this for a very long time and I'm just getting started." Reverse Flash said.

"Then let's do this." Flash said as yellow lightning crackled in his eyes while red lightning crackled in Reverse Flash's before their respective lightnings surged off their bodies as they charged towards each other, their everlasting race resuming after a long break.