Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As soon as Willow fell through the Singularity, she noticed that the city wasn’t destroyed like it should have been. She tried contacting Emma and Hartley but they didn’t pick up. No one picked up. She went to her apartment, but the key didn’t work, and when she phased the lock and entered, all of her and Emma's things were missing, replaced with someone else’s.

After that happened, and after freaking out for a few minutes, Willow found herself a change of clothes and explored. She got herself a phone and laptop and found out that while there was a Flash here, it certainly wasn’t Barry Allen. She found out that Joe West wasn’t a detective, but Iris was and was also married to Barry. She found out Cisco, Ronnie, Caitlin and Hartley were a meta-human villain and Emma never moved to Central City.

Willow shed a few tears when she found out that her parents were still alive. But she wasn’t a detective. Seems like she was dead. Died when she was 10.

Willow also found out that Nora Allen never died. Dr Wells was never in a car crash that killed Tess Morgan. And that Dr Wells also has a daughter named Jesse. Nodding in determination, Willow pays for a night at a hotel, and the next day, enters Star Labs.

Thank goodness she still has her badge, “Hello, I am Detective Heart. I was hoping to speak to Dr Harrison Wells retaining to a case.” Willow smiles at the receptionist, someone whose served her coffee ever since she moved to Central.

“Yes of course. Give me one moment” Lily, the barista, now Star Labs receptionist smiles and calls Dr Wells. A quick phone call later and Willow is following Lily through the halls into Wells’ office.

“Thank you, Miss Jones. That will be all” Dr Wells smiles at Lily, who nods and leaves, closing the door. “What can I do for you, Detective?” Dr Wells turns to Willow.

“It's more what you can do for me. You see, last night, above this city, a Singularity opened up. It was destroying my city. The Flash and I tried our best to close it, running in the eye of it, which seemed to be containing the singularity. After a few minutes, it began to close, and I got sucked in. Now I am not a scientist, but I believe I am on the wrong Earth.”

“Fascinating” Dr Wells breathes. “What makes you think that?”

“For starters. I did my research. We don’t have a Zoom on our Earth. We do, however, have a Flash. But he is a skinny little thing, not your beefy one. Iris West is not a cop, she is a reporter, Cisco Ramon and Caitlin are scientists who work at Star Labs, not supervillains. And it seems on this earth, I am dead”

“Interesting. Allow me to do a few tests.” Dr Wells hums, “And when you say, you helped the Flash on your Earth to stop the Singularity?”

“I was struck by lightning due to a Particle Accelerator explosion and now have the powers of super-speed. I’m not really known on my Earth like the Flash. I tend to do small crimes, stopping people from getting killed, and allow the Flash to get the meta-humans” Willow explains, “I’m a detective, I never wanted to be a superhero. Only 3 people knew of my powers, now 4” Willow motions to Dr Wells, “And I plan to keep it that way. I just want to get home, and I believe that the Most Smartest Man on Earth can help me” (Willow doesn’t know that Cisco knows about her powers).

Dr Wells doesn’t say anything as he takes Willow to a lab and begins taking blood, tissue samples, DNA, everything. He is even now waving a wand-thing over her.

“Your tests prove that you are dead on this Earth, and also prove that you have the speed-force inside you. I believe you.” Dr Wells states.

“Wonderful. Tell me everything about Zoom and the Flash that you know”

“Zoom is a killer. He has joined all the bad meta’s under his name and uses them to his will. Our Flash I wouldn’t trust with a 10-foot pole. The Particle Accelerator exploded which caused meta-humans. Zoom appeared first, killing anyone who got in his way. His lightning was originally yellow, but after a few months, it turned to blue, making him faster at Mach 4. After Zoom, our Flash appeared. He seems to hate me and is terrible at actually catching any metas. He never ran faster than Mach 2”

Willow hums. “I didn’t even tell my Flash about my powers, I’m not going to be telling anyone on this Earth. I trust you, Dr Wells. Don’t make me regret that trust. You help me get home. I’ll help you take down Zoom.”

“Deal” Dr Wells smiles and they shake hands.

“Oh, by the way. I’m going to call you Harry. The Dr Wells on my Earth was taken over by a speedster from the future, who wanted to kill my Flash. I killed him. So Harry it is” Willow laughs.
__________________________________________________________

Back on Earth-1, when Barry came back from closing the Singularity, he was beating himself up after losing Pink Lightning. He was even more broken when he couldn’t find Willow. Emma and Hartley explained to the group that Willow went to get people inside to safety. She called Emma saying that she was stuck in a car, trying to get a kid and couldn’t get out. It went flying into the Singularity when they lost signal.

Eddie and Joe were upset about losing their partner. Iris and Cisco knew the real way Willow went into the Black Hole but didn’t say anything. Caitlin was upset, and Ronnie hugged her in comfort. Emma is trying to stay strong but breaks down crying when she sees Hartley with tears in his eyes. Cisco hugged Hartley, and Iris hugged Emma. Henry hugged Barry.

That was 4 months ago. Barry pushed everyone away after that. Cisco went to work for the CCPD. Iris wrote an article about ‘Pink Lightning’ and ‘The Flash’ saving Central City, telling people about previous sightings of ‘Pink Lightning’ saving people and stopping robberies. Eddie and Joe started a meta-human Task Force with the help of Cisco. Eddie and Iris have plans to marry next month.

Caitlin, Hartley and Ronnie went to work for Mercury Labs, and Emma went back to work at the hospital. Henry decides to settle down in a cottage away from the city, and Professor Stein and his wife reunite and make sure to merge with Ronnie regularly while writing papers about all the science things he’s learned the past year.

Hartley and Cisco finally got together and have been on a few dates. It's still new, but it's good. Cait and Ronnie are very happy together.
_____________________________________________________________________

It's 5 months after the Singularity, and Willow and Harry are at Star Labs in front of reporters and the public. Willow was standing next to Jessie, whom she had become good friends with, as Harry showed off Star Labs’s latest product. A watch that can tell a person is a meta.

“Good Evening people of Central City. Our city has seen incredible… Impossible things: Meta-humans. Men and women with extraordinary abilities. The ability to soar above buildings, to run faster than the speed of light. Unfortunately, most of these meta-humans have chosen the wrong path with these powers, a dark path. My team and I at S.T.A.R. Labs are committed to keeping up
with these perilous times, and so may I present to you our new line of meta-human awareness apps. I am greatly honoured to introduce to you our latest product. Now, this wasn’t created by me, but by the incredible scientist I have working for me.” Everyone in the crowd claps, “This technology will allow you to instantly detect the presence of a meta-human. You’ll be instantly alerted to an approaching speedster like Zoom or like-” Harry gets interrupted as his watch goes off. The next second, Flash speeds in. Everyone claps. From pictures, Willow could tell that he was wearing a different helmet.

“Welcome Flash” Harry reluctantly says.

“Tell them the truth, Dr Wells.” Willow rolls her eyes. “Everything that has happened to this city the past two years is because of you. You created all of us meta’s, you created Zoom.” Flash forcefully states. The crowd gasps.

“I created Zoom?” Harry asks, emotionless.

“11 hours before the first meta-sighting, an enormous blast of dark matter radiation was silently expelled beneath this lab” Flash states.

“I’m sorry Flash, I believe all this fast running may have scrambled your brain,” Harry says.

“You take no responsibility for the mistakes you’ve caused. Admit it Wells and then maybe you’d truly help me do something about it.”

“Help you? Because I’m the greatest tech entrepreneur of all time? You’re the superhero and we would all be safe if you would just do your job and stop Zoom” Harry states, and Flash glares at him before leaving. Harry’s watch beeps again, “Well, I guess it's safe to say, the speedster senses work” The crowd laughs.

“Are you okay Dad?” Jesse asks Harry.

“I’m fine sweetie” Harry smiles. He turns to the crowd, “Now where was I? Oh, that’s right. The future.” Jessie has a confused and betrayed look on her face, so Willow takes her hand and drags her to Harry’s office.

“Do you think all that stuff Flash said was true? Are the meta’s really Dad’s fault?” Jessie asks.

“It’s hard to say. I don’t know” Willow lies, “But I do know that everyone here in Star Labs, including Harry is trying to make the city a safer place.”

Jessie nods, “You’re right. I just can’t believe he didn’t tell me” Jessie admits, heartbroken.

“He’s properly ashamed, embarrassed.” Willow gently explains. A few minutes later, Harry enters.

“Jesse” Harry starts. “I’m sorry you had to see that”

“Was it true? What Flash said, was it true?” Jessie asks.

Harry sighs in defeat, “Yes.”

Jessie nods, tears in her eyes. “And you didn’t tell me? Didn’t tell the city?”

“Everything I’ve done after was for the city. And I didn’t want you to look at me like you are now”

“You created Zoom!” Jessie yells. Harry says quietly. Jessie walks out in anger.

Willow titles her head. “You said before that Zoom was as fast as Mach 4. And we found out that I was going at just above Mach 3 to be able to enter this world through the Singularity.”

“Correct”

“So you think it's possible that Zoom can enter my Earth?”

Harry sighs, “It's possible”

“And Flash might be able to enter if he tried. We found the Breach under Star Labs, in the Basement. As well as 52 others on this Earth. Now, if I was a crazy killing super-speeding villain, I’ve already taken over one Earth, I might try to take over another.”

Harry snaps his head up, “Or it’d get one of my meta lackeys to take out the Flash on your Earth, and have them do it for me.”

“I might also get someone on the Flash’s team, to try and find his weak spots,” Willow smirks.

“But who?”

Willow sighs, “This is going to sound crazy. But just hear me out. I would do anything for my sister. If she was in trouble, I would help her. If someone hurt her, I would hurt them. If someone kidnapped her and threatened her life, I would do anything they said to get her back. If a super-villain took her and told me to infiltrate, I’ll do everything they tell me, just so I can get my sister again”

“Where are you going with this Heart?” Harry asks.

Willow sighs in frustration, “I don’t know, let’s role play. I am a super evil speedster. I have conquered this Earth and found out that there is another Earth, with another speedster. How do I react?”

“You are angry at the thought of another speedster, happy at the thought of conquering another Earth” Harry responds.

“Good! Why am I angry about another speedster?”

“I don’t know Heart!” Harry yells and throws a mug at the wall.

Willow freezes, “You said that at the beginning, Zoom’s lightning was yellow, but it turned to blue and he’s been faster ever since”

“Yes. It was yellow for a few months”

“Every speedster wants to go faster. They push themselves to save more lives, to reach their limit.”

“But Zoom doesn’t want to save lives, he wants to end them” Harry points out.

“Exactly! But he still wants to be the fastest. So what if he found a way to make him the fastest? Not by running, or training, but by” Willow gets cut off.

“Creating a drug to make him go faster” Harry realises.

“But he’d have to be a genius to pull that off,” Willow argues.

“There is another way, he could get faster by stealing another speedster's speed” Harry realises.

“Is that even possible?” Willow asks in horror.

“It might.” Harry sighs. “But that would mean Zoom already stole another speedster's speed, and we only have Flash and Zoom. And Flash still has his speed”

“Well, we already know the multi-verse is real. He could have taken another Flash from another Earth.” Willow mutters in thought.

“So now he wants your Flash’s speed. But how? It’ll have to take a genius-” Harry stops. “Oh god, me. He’s going to use me”

“But how? And why? You want to stop Zoom, not help him”

“There’s only one thing I care about most” Harry reveals. “You would do anything for your sister. I would do anything for my daughter.”

“Jesse,” They both say, and Willow speeds out of Star Labs and to Jesse’s dorm room, she finds Jesse and quickly takes her back to Harry’s office.

“Wha- How- What?!” Jesse yells, confused over her new surroundings.

“Sorry, Jesse. I just wanted to get to you before something happened” Willow winces.

“You’re a speedster?” Jessie breathes out.

“Yeah, but try not to tell anyone. Trying to keep it on the DL” Willow says.

“Why don’t you help the Flash take down Zoom?” Jessie asks. “Where have you been for the last 2 years?”

“Because we don’t trust the Flash with a 10-foot pole, and I’m from another Earth.”

“No way,” Jessie says, eyes wide in shock.

“Yes way,” Harry says, “Now, Willow and I have realised that you might be in danger, so I’m asking you to stay here, just for a few days until we know that the danger has passed”

Knowing she has no choice, Jessie sighs in defeat “Fine, whatever”

“Sleepover!” Willow announces, “We can watch movies, we need chips, popcorn, ice cream!” Willow squeals and rushes off (at normal speed) to get everything.

“She’s actually from another Earth?” Jessie asks once alone with her father.

“Yes”

“And you trust her?”

“She has proven herself to be trusted,” Harry answers.

The next day, they watch in horror as the news states that the college Jessie goes to was destroyed by Zoom. Harry works harder on stabilising the Breach in the basement.
_______________________________________________________________

5 months after the Singularity, Barry is still mourning the loss of Pink Lightning and Willow, beating himself up about not being fast enough to save them. He now works alone. The meta’s have been quiet ever since the black hole, so he mostly restores local businesses overnight and stops petty crime.

It was a random Tuesday that Barry got an alert on this phone that someone was in Star Labs, in the Time-Vault. Speeding over, Barry stops and finds Hartley in the Time-Vault looking at the newspaper in the future.

“Hartley? What are you doing here?” Barry asks.

“It just accrued to me. With Pink Sh- Lightning gone. What happens to the future?” Hartley asks and points to the unchanged newspaper.

“It’s the same” Barry realises.

“Which made me wonder. Is there another speedster coming with the same name? Or-?” Hartley allows Barry to finish his thought.

“Or Pink Lightning isn’t dead. She’s coming back. Which means Willow might be alive too!” Barry beams.

“Thank god for the future” Hartley smirks.

After that, Barry allowed his friends back into his life. Allowed them to start helping him again. They all stayed at their jobs but also helped Barry when he needed it.

Chapter Text

It's now been 6 months since the Singularity, and Barry goes to the Time Vault every day to make sure the future hasn’t changed. Because if Pink Lightning comes back, then there’s a chance Willow comes back too.

In a few days, the Mayor is holding ‘Flash Day’ wanting to give Flash a key to the city. Emma convinced Barry that he should take it, as Willow would be so proud.

Emma and Harltey are officially a part of Team Flash. Emma was very happy to join when Hartley showed her the newspaper. Emma and Caitlin got along very well, they even published a few papers together.

Cisco and Iris confess to Hartley and Emma that they know Pink Lightning’s identity, and following Willow’s wishes, they promise not to tell the others.
_______________________________________________________________

It's a day before Flash Day when a body drops at the nuclear plant. Barry crouches next to the body to examine it as Joe walks up to him.

“Hey Barr” Joe greets.

“Hey, Joe. How are you doing?” Barry smiles up at his father figure. His dad moved to a small cabin an hour out of the city, they have dinner every Friday. But Joe was here, helping him through everything the last 6 months.

“Good. So, the victim. His name is Al Rothstein. He's a welder here at the nuclear plant. A co-worker found him this morning. So, what do you get?” Joe informs, kneeling down next to the body.

“Petechiae on his face and the whites of his eyes, and this bruising around his neck…” Barry hints and Joe quickly catches up.

“Oh, so he was strangled.”

Barry hums in agreement. “By someone very strong and very large.”

“Or something?” Joe asks, fearful about another encounter with the giant gorilla.

“This wasn't Grodd.” Barry is quick to reassure.

“Oh, thank God,” Joe mutters.

“I'll let you know when I find more,” Barry states, standing up after collecting all the evidence.

“So this Flash Day thing. I'm hoping you're planning on making an appearance.” Joe starts.

Barry awkwardly smiles, “Emma convinced me that Willow and Pink Lightning would want me to attend”

“I knew I liked that girl for a reason” Joe chuckles, “I heard the Mayor's trying to give you the key to the city.”

Barry sighs, “I know. I told Emma that I didn’t deserve it. But she hit me over the head and said that I do. And even if I didn’t, I could at least take it in memory of Pink Lightning. Hold on to it until she comes and I can give it to her.”

“Barr, do you really think Pink Lightning is coming back? Or Willow?” Joe asks carefully.

“I have to” With that, Barry walks away. He didn’t notice a man standing behind a van and taking his picture.
_________________________________________________________

Joe meets with Eddie at the police station after leaving the crime scene. “Barry's still analyzing the evidence, but there was definitely something weird. He said that the man was strangled by someone very large and very strong” Joe informs Eddie.

Last month, Eddie and Iris got married. They just got back from their honeymoon.

“Cisco should be here soon. He said that he is almost finished with his project, he just wanted some advice from Hartley” Eddie states.

Captain Singh then comes up to them. “Joe, Eddie, where are we at with the murder at the nuclear plant?”

“Barry's still analysing the evidence, but there was definitely something weird,” Joe repeats.

“Yeah, which is why I let you have that Meta-Human Task Force. Speaking of which, where's your scientific adviser?”

Cisco appears, pushing around a trolley with bits of equipment. “Ho, ho, ho! Fear the beard!” he grins, and Eddie, from behind Captain Singh motions for Cisco to stop talking. “It's a very distinguished look... Sir.” Cisco quickly says after seeing Eddie’s motions and Captain Singh’s glare.

“What is all this, Mr. Ramon?” Captain Singh asks, pointing to the trolley full of equipment.

“Oh, this right here? This is a little something I'm working on. I'm cooking it up for Joe, Eddie and the task force to take down meta-humans. I think I'm going to call it The Boot. Oh, here are the receipts.” Cisco smiles, handing Captain the papers, Captain begins walking away to his office. “Oh, um, Captain, one more thing.”

“You are not getting a badge, Mr. Ramon.” Captain Singh calls out behind him.

“He's stingy with those badges, isn't he?” Cisco sarcastically says.

Eddie laughs, “You don’t need a badge Cisco.”

“It would still be nice to have one!” Cisco whines.

Joe changes the subject, “You think you can get this to work?” he motions to the trolley.

“Yes, once I finish the Boot, CCPD will totally have what it needs to take down a meta-human.” Cisco grins, “And with help from Hartley and Ronnie working at Mercury Labs, Iron Heights now has a meta-wing.” Cisco proudly states.
_____________________________________________________________

Hartley, Cisco, Eddie and Joe were leaning against Joe’s car watching the Major give a speech to the large crowd. Hartley is wearing upgraded sound-wave gloves. Hartley and Cisco have re-designed Hartley’s gloves so they are sleek and look like normal gloves. Joe has his hand on his gun.

“I'm so sorry. Are we expecting trouble?” Cisco asks.

“Cops always expect trouble. In this city, I expect super evil flying monkeys.” Joe states.

“That's a solid expectation,” Cisco responds.

“If I see a green-skinned witch flying on a broomstick with flying monkeys behind her, you’d be the first to know” Hartley snarks. Joe rolls his eyes and Eddie gives a short laugh. Cisco could see Professor Stein and his wife near the front. Ronnie and Caitlin were behind them. Emma could be seen wearing a pink top and red jeans, standing behind the crowd. Iris is in the middle of the crowd.

“Good morning, Central City!” The Major announces. “A year ago, our world changed. Our city became ground zero for… some pretty weird stuff. We got a new breed of criminal: Men and women who defied not only our laws but physics and reason. But we got something else, too. We got the Flash!” Everyone in the crowd claps and cheers. “Our wounds run deep, and I know many of you are afraid of what threats tomorrow may bring. But the Flash doesn't just protect us, he restores hope where it was lost. That's why I'm honoured to present the Key to the man who saved Central City The Flash!” The Major holds up the Key for the crowd to see, and they start cheering. A few moments go by and the Flash speeds to the stage. The crowd cheers.

“The doors to Central City will forever be open for you, Flash.” The Major proudly states, handing the Flash the Key.

The next second, a woman screams and everyone turns to see a Hot Dog cart has been thrown, heading towards the stage. Flash speeds himself and the Major to safety and the crowd scatters.

Barry turns and finds a man in a hoodie walking towards him, a metal mask on his face.

“The man who saved Central City hates to rain on your parade.” The mysterious man says. Flash speeds up to his but the man punches him away, sending Barry flying into a police car.

All the cops get their guns out, shooting at the meta, but the meta isn’t affected. Hartley pulls his hood up and fires a sound wave at the meta. The meta seems to be taken aback and steps back. Hartley keeps firing sound waves.

“Cisco! - The Boot!” Joe yells at a blank Cisco.

The shout wakes Cisco, who hurries to the trunk and grabs the tool Cisco has been working on for weeks. “Locked and loaded. Go!” Cisco says, handing Joe the Boot while Harltey distracts the meta. The sound waves aren’t taking him down, but it's slowing him down at least.

Joe fires the Boot at the Meta, which attaches itself to the Meta’s ankle. Hartley stops firing as the Boot sends an electric shock through the meta’s body. But instead of taking his down, it seems to energise the meta, who grows bigger, and bigger!

“Cisco, you said this thing would take him down. He's not going down. He went up.” Joe complains. Hartley shoots another sound wave at the meta, but it does not affect him now.

“Run! Run!” Eddie shouts at Hartley and Cisco, who quickly move out of the way and behind Joe’s car.

Barry appears next to them, handing two gas bottles that he hands Eddie and gets himself another two. “What are you doing?” Joe asks.

Barry motions to Eddie, “We’re throwing, you're shooting.” Barry answers and together with Eddie, they throw the heavy gas bottles towards the large meta while Joe shoots creating a small explosion. Barry, Eddie and Joe are thrown back and the meta’s mask recedes and Joe recognises him.

“That's Al Rothstein. The body we found at the nuclear plant, he's alive!”

“No way” Eddie states in wonder and disbelief.
______________________________________________________________

Willow is on her laptop doing what she does best, researching when Jesse and Harry walk in.

“What are you doing Heart?” Harry asks.

“We haven’t seen the Flash in a month. I’m looking up any meta fights or anything that might explain his absence” Willow explains, typing quickly on her laptop.

“Ah, I was wondering why this month has had a spike in meta activity” Harry comments.

“Do you think the Flash went to your Earth? How?” Jesse asks.

“He could have stumbled across a breach. If he was running fast enough.” Willow shrugs

“I thought you said that you have to go at least Mach 3.5 to enter a Breach if it's unstable. Flash can’t go that fast” Jesse counters.

“Every speedster aims to go faster. It's possible.” Harry states, quoting Willow.

Willow smiles. “So if your Flash is on my Earth. Whose protecting this Earth from the meta’s?”

“Are you offering, Pink Lightning?” Jesse smirks.

Willow shrugs, “I’ve been here for 6 months, and I’m almost as fast as Zoom thanks to you guys’ training. Time to do some good before I go back my Earth.”
____________________________________________________________

Back on Earth 1, Eddie, Joe, Cisco and Hartley are at the station, trying to figure out information about the new meta.

Eddie hangs up his phone and sighs, “According to the coroner’s office, Al Rothstein's body was in the morgue all night” He states.

“So we can scratch off ‘zombie attack.’” Cisco jokes.

“Rothstein has a twin brother?” Joe tries.

“Nope. Only child. And get this, the night the accelerator exploded, Rothstein was on his honeymoon, in Hawaii.” Cisco informs the group.

“So we're looking for a guy who's strong, can grow twice his size, looks exactly like the guy he murdered?” Eddie sums up.

“I would think this meta was cool if everything about him didn't just terrify me to my core,” Cisco mutters.

“Is that what happened to you? You looked spooked there for a minute.” Joe asks, noticing Cisco had looked in a trance when the meta attacked.

Cisco is saved from answering when Iris walks into the Cortex, talking on her phone. “I see the guy that I can ask about it right now. Call me back, okay?” Iris hangs up, kisses Eddie and turns to Cisco. “Hey. So, in the hospital next to the Flash Day rally, the X-ray and CT machines all failed at once. Was that because of you?”

“I did not do anything that would cause that.” Cisco denies. “I'm 92% sure.” Hartley, who was standing behind Cisco rolls his eyes and grabs his arm, dragging Cisco out of the station “We’re going to go make that 100.” Hartley calls behind him, grabbing Cisco’s ‘Boot’ and drives them to Mercury Labs.

“So this is what it looks like inside Mercury Labs. Security here is way better than it was at S.T.A.R. Labs, what with people walking in and out of the Cortex all the time.” Cisco comments when he enters Hartley’s lab.

“Yeah, your alarm system was easily hackable it was laughable” Hartley remarks, getting to work on what went wrong with Cisco’s ‘Boot’.

“And you figured that out when?” Cisco asks.

“When Emma and I helped Willow break out Shawna.”

“I forgot that was you,” Cisco mutters. “How is Shawna doing?”

“She’s okay. Texted the burner a few times. Met with her sister, and now has a job as a Bank Manager.”

“She’s a Bank Manager? Didn’t she try to rob an armed car?” Cisco asks in shock.

“Yes, but her meta-human powers have stopped 3 robberies in the last 3 months.”

“Impressive” Cisco mutters. Just then, Ronnie and Caitlin enter Hartley’s lab.

“Hi, Cisco” Ronnie greets with a smile.

“Ronnie! Caitlin!” Cisco beams and hugs his best friends.

“You here about what happened at the rally today?” Caitlin asks.

“Okay, check this out: we found this on a victim at the nuclear power plant, but the badge shows absolutely nothing at all, which is so weird. What's also weird is that at the same time that meta-human grew, all the x-ray machines within a mile radius just went belly-up.” Cisco quickly states, taking out an evidence bag. “I was wondering if you could just… See if the badge was tampered with or something. I mean, if it's broken, or… Whatever. It'll really help.”

“Of course Cisco.” Caitlin smiles and gets to work.
_______________________________________________________________

“Now remember. You may recognise them, but they don’t know you, they aren’t the people you know” Jesse reminds Willow again. Willow is back in her Pink Shadow suit, but Harry and Jesse upgraded it a bit.

Instead of all black, her suit had more pink in it. She still had the electric pink lines around her eye mask and body, highlighting her figure, but now she also had a bright pink lightning bolt on her chest, just like Barry’s. Her mask has the same black and pink lines, but instead of purple lightning bolts, they are electric pink. Willow ties her hair in a ponytail, over the leather strip so it's hidden and secure. Harry and Jesse built comms in the suit and can read her vitals while running. It looked like the suit from the future newspaper.

Willow nods her head, “They aren’t the same. Don’t stop and let them see me. Don’t battle Zoom now. If you see him, run” Willow rolls her eyes, reciting Harry’s rules. “I got this. This isn’t the first time I’ve done this.”

“But this is the first time you’ve battled a meta-human.” Harry fires back. The computer beeps before Willow can respond.

“Killer Frost is causing a havoc on 5th street.” Jesse reads.

Harry is quick to inform, “Killer Frost. Has ice powers. Deathstorm has firepower, is her boyfriend and is always close by when one attacks. Don’t let her hit you.” Harry gives her a pair of meta-cuffs. “Put these on her and she’s power-less”

Willow takes them and speeds off. Running around the city, lightning flowing behind her, makes her feel alive. All too soon, Willow arrives at 5th street where she finds the whole street covered in ice.

Willow spots Killer Frost, who looks so much like Caitlin but with white hair, and cold powers. Pink Lightning speeds around Frost, causing a circle of pink around Frost.

Killer Frost tries to blast Willow with ice but misses. Willow then disappears, takes a lap around the block and races up to Frost when she least expects it. Snapping the cuffs on her, Willow ties her up her legs with some zip ties. Not staying still, she is about to speed out of there when a blast of fire hits her from behind, sending her flying into an iced-over car.

“Ouch,” Willow mutters.

“Looks like we have another speedster on our hands!” Ronnie’s look-a-like calls out.

“Get back up Willow” Jesse orders. “You took down Killer Frost. Deathstorm has the opposite power. But their biggest weakness is each other”

“Got it” Willow mumbles in her comm. Frost is already is handcuffs, so Willow just has to take down Deathstorm, who has fire powers. So, Willow speeds around Deathstorm in a tight circle, containing his blasts of fire and quickly making a vacuum. After a few moments, Deathstorm faints from lack of oxygen and Willow quickly cuffs him as well. And finally, she speeds them in the backseat of the closest police car.

Willow runs back to Star Labs. “You took them down in under 5 minutes! Very impressive” Jesse smirks.

“Two metas on your first try. Impressive indeed.” Harry comments.

“Thanks, guys” Willow blushes lightly at the praise.

“And while you were running, we checked your speed. Keep this up, and we do not even need to stabilise the Breach, you could run us through it.” Harry states.
_________________________________________________________________

Earth 1, Star Labs. Cisco, Barry, Emma, Professor Stein, Joe and Eddie were discussing their meta’s powers.

“So, Caitlin was right?” Cisco asks after explaining to the team Caitlin’s theory.

“Yes, all humans contain small amounts of radiation due to contact with cell phones, microwaves, televisions, etc. Our bodies are natural conductors. I think our meta's been sucking up all the radiation around him and using it to power himself.” Professor Stein explains.

“Which is why the x-ray machines at the hospital failed the day of the rally.” Eddie points out.

“So if we want to find him, we gotta look for places without radiation.” Emma inputs.

Cisco quickly runs a scan over the city. “Got him. There's a three-block dead zone near a hazardous waste reclamation plant. It should be blooming with rads, and right now it's at zero.”

“That's where you'll find your atom smasher. Because he absorbs atomic power, and he, well, smashes.” Professor Stein states proudly.

Cisco hugs him, “That's a great name.”

“Thank you.”

“If he absorbs atomic power from everything and everyone around him, making him larger and stronger, how do we stop him?” Emma asks.

“Could we get him to a place with no radiation?” Joe suggests.

Cisco shakes his head. “Impossible. There’s natural radiation everywhere”

“If you have too much of something…” Ronnie’s voice comes form behind them. They turn around to find Hartley, Caitlin and Ronnie.

“Couldn’t stay away?” Cisco smirks.

“Our place is here” Hartley answers.

“So how are we gonna beat him?” Barry asks, joining the conversation.

“Well, ever since I was shown a drained radiation tag, which I haven't been able to stop thinking about. - Thank you, Cisco.” Cait huffs the last bit.

“You're welcome, Caitlin.” Cisco smirks.

“If this guy likes radiation so much, I say we give it to him.” Caitlin smirks, and they map out a plan.
________________________________________________________

Barry speeds into a hazardous waste reclamation plant: Atom Smasher’s hide out.

“Well, this is a curve ball. I thought I was going to have to come looking for you.” the larger man gruffs out.

“I'm not gonna let you hurt anyone else,” Barry shouts.

“I'm only here to hurt you, buddy.”

“Yeah? Then why'd you kill Albert Rothstein? And why do you look like him?” Barry questions.

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you.” The Albert look-alike smirks.

“Try me.”

“I'm about to.” Atom Smasher walks up to the Flash, but Flash quickly moves out of the way.

“You want me? You're gonna have to catch me.” Barry taunts and speeds out of the building, Atom Smasher close on his tail.

“It's working, dude. Rothstein's following you.” Cisco’s voice comes through the comms.

“I must say, he's quite agile for a man his size.” Professor Stein comments.

Barry arrives at a radiation chamber and doesn’t have to wait long for Atom Smasher to smash his way into the building. Barry backs up into the chamber, and Atom Smasher follows him.

“Didn't think I could catch you, huh?”

“No, I knew you could. Now, Cisco!” Barry calls out and the door to the chamber closes. Barry zips out of there and Atom Smasher is stuck.

“The amount of radiation about to flood that room… Atom Smasher won't be able to absorb it all.” Emma points out sadly. After a few minutes, the radiation is cleared.

“The radiation's been cleared. It's safe for you to go in.” Cisco says to Barry.

Barry enters the chamber and finds Atom Smasher with radiation burns on his face and body. “I'm sorry. I couldn't let you hurt anyone else. Why? Why did you want to kill me?” Barry questions.

“He promised he'd take me home… if I killed you.” The man struggles out.

“Who? Who promised you that?” Barry asks.

“Zoom.” The meta whispers and dies.
___________________________________________________________________

On Earth 2, Willow has been very busy. Improving her meta-catching abilities and staying off Zoom’s radar. They only needed a few more days till both Wells stabilised the breach. Meanwhile, Willow was on her laptop watching Jesse and Harry work on the breach.

“Any idea of the Flash’s identity?” Willow asks randomly.

“Jay Garrick. Some kind of scientist” Harry mutters.

“He really hates you. Any idea why?”

“Maybe because I sent dark matter into the city and made meta-humans?” Harry guesses, annoyed at the questioning.

“He doesn’t even wear a mask! Why doesn’t he wear a mask? Does he want people to know him?” Willow sighs annoyed, and then snaps her head up. “He wants people to know who he is. But why? Fame? Glory? Hope? Hope. The Flash gives people hope. But this Flash is not fast enough, bad at catching metas. False hope? What’s the point in giving people false hope?” Willow mutters to herself.

Jesse overhears her, “Wanting to avoid difficult conversations. Offering encouragement. Lack of clarity or self-awareness. Empathy and compassion. Personal investment.” Jesse lists.

“Difficult conversations don’t make sense. People are aware of meta-humans, there’s no conversation to be had. Same with a lack of clarity or self-awareness. He could be offering encouragement to the city or empathy and compassion. Like my Flash, but Garrick fails every time, my Flash actually wins, which isn’t false hope. Personal investment? What kind of personal investment can he gain? This Earth makes no sense!” Willow screams in frustration. “False hope, while the intent may be to comfort or encourage, providing false hope can actually be counterproductive and set someone up for greater disappointment down the line. Why would a hero want that?”

“Which is why I don’t trust him” Harry points out.

“I’m beginning to understand why” Willow grumbles.
_________________________________________________________

Earth 2, Barry is surrounded by his friends and family as he plays the video that Dr Wells left for him.

“Hello, Barry. If you're watching this, that means something has gone horribly wrong. I'm dead and the last 15 years have been for nothing. Bummer. 15 years. You know, when I realise that in all those years helping raise you, we were never truly enemies, Barry. I'm not the thing you hate. And so, I want to give you the thing that you want most. It won't matter. You'll never be truly happy, Barry Allen, trust me. I know you.” Barry is glaring at the computer everyone is surprised it didn’t combust. “Now… Erase everything I said up to this point. Give the following message to the police. My name is Harrison Wells. Being of sound mind and body, I freely confess to the murder of Nora Allen. In her home, on the night of March 18th, in the year 2000. I attacked Nora Allen in her dining room. I stabbed her in the chest with a large butcher knife. From the drawer to the left of the sink in the kitchen.”

“Omg. He confessed” Caitlin whispers.

“He probably didn’t account for him to get caught.” Hartley and Emma share a smile.

Barry has tears streaming down his eyes. Joe hugs him tight.

“Oh!” Joe exclaims, getting something from his pocket. Its the Key to the City the Major gave the Flash. “Almost forgot this!”

Barry takes it with a watery smile. “It's pretty cool.”

“It's real cool, come on!” Cisco laughs.

“I couldn’t be the Flash without you guys” Barry starts, looking around the room at Caitlin, Cisco, Joe, Eddie, Iris, Hartley, Emma, Ronnie and Professor Stein. “We all saved the city, and we all earned this.”

Emma steps forward, “I’ve never met Pink Lightning, but she will agree. I don’t know when or if we see her or Willow again, but I do know that they would be so proud of this team”

“Well, when they come back, Willow and Pink Lightning both have a place here” Barry smiles.

“Hey, guess what?” Cisco interrupts, “I added a little upgrade to your suit.” The light above the Flash suit lights up, so everyone can see the white centre chest piece with the lightning instead of the red. “It's just like the one from the future newspaper Gideon showed us. I was thinking, you know, the future isn’t something to fear”

“No, and it'll be here faster than we think.” Barry smiles.

“I like it. The lightning definitely pops more against the white.” Professor Stein comments.

“And S.T.A.R. Labs is now safer than ever. Increased security and surveillance. Re-coded, double-firewalled, electronic locksets. Nothing is getting through here without us knowing. So people can't just waltz in and out of here.” Caitlin informs, smiling proudly.

“Exactly.” Cisco agrees, just as someone appears behind them “For real?”

Joe and Eddie immediately have their guns up, trained on the stranger. “Stay where you are. Who are you?”

The stranger turns to Barry. “You don't know me, but I know you... Barry Allen.”

“Who the hell are you?” Barry exclaims.

“My name is Jay Garrick, and your world is in danger.”

Chapter Text

“My name is Jay Garrick. Your world is in danger, Barry Allen. Please, just let me explain. I mean you no harm.” Jay announced.

“How do you know my name?” Barry asks.

“I know all your names. Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon, Detective Joe West…” Jay starts, but Joe stops him.

“Enough. That part about explaining needs to happen right about now.” Joe demands.

“This world is in danger,” Jay repeats.

“What other worlds are there?” Cisco asks slowly, confused.

“When you created the singularity above Central City, You also created a breach between my world and yours.” Jay starts to explain.

“I'm sorry, a breach?” Iris asks.

“Yes, a portal connecting our two earths.”

“And what precisely is your concern?” Professor Stein asks.

“A few days ago, you found a dead man named Al Rothstein, at the nuclear plant. But then a different Al Rothstein tried to kill you.” Jay states.

“Atom smasher.” Cisco cuts in.

“That man was from my world. If he got through the breach, I suspect there'll be more to follow.” Jay, again, gets cut off.

“Okay, so, Jay, how exactly do you know all of this?” Barry asks.

“Where I came from, I was a speedster like you. They called me the Flash.” Jay reveals. “Before I arrived on your earth, I was in a fight with a man named Zoom.”

Barry‘s head snaps up “Zoom? I've heard that name before. Atom smasher, he said Zoom sent him here to kill me. Who is this guy?”

“He's a speedster, like you and me. And fast. Maybe the fastest of all. But evil. He is an unstoppable demon with the face of death. We were engaged in our fiercest battle ever, Racing throughout my city. But I wasn't fast enough to stop him. Zoom has me beaten. He was about to kill me When suddenly there was a blinding light And the sky split open. A breach, between my world and yours. Caused from the singularity. It pulled me in… And I somehow ended up in your world. Powerless. Unable to return home.”

“What do you mean?” Caitlin asks.

“I lost my speed,” Jay explains.

“How?” Emma asks.

“Not entirely sure,” Jay answers.

“So, you've been in Central City for six months. Why haven't you come to see us before? And how did you find out about us?” Eddie asks.

“I'm in a foreign world here, detective. I didn't know who you all were. Took me that long to piece it all together.” Jay states.

“So that's how you know our names. You've been following us.” Iris snaps.

“Look, I know how this sounds. The existence of another earth, You, another Flash, it all came as an unexpected shock to me, too. I wish there was something I could do to convince you.” Jay says.

“There is.” Barry starts, “We're gonna do some tests on you. See if you're telling us the truth. 'cause if you're not, this Zoom, He's not gonna be your only enemy.” He finishes with a threat.

Caitlin and Emma go to do the tests on Jay with Ronnie watching them from a corner.

“If Jay is telling the truth, and he really did come through the Singularity, is it possible that Willow and Pink Lightning could be on his Earth?” Eddie asks.

“We don’t know he’s telling the truth yet” Barry points out not wanting to get his, or his team's hope up.
___________________________________________________________

Caitlin and Emma are in the med-bay, doing tests and examining Jay Garrick while Ronnie is in protective-husband mode and is watching from the corner of the lab.

“So, Mr. Garrick, How long have you been the Flash in your world?” Emma asks, trying to see how good his story is.

“On my world, I've been the Flash for about two years.”

“And how did you get your speed?” Caitlin asks.

“Not really sure. I was at my lab trying to purify heavy water without any residual radiation When there was a blinding light. I fell into a coma. When I woke up, I could run almost as fast as the speed of light.”

“How fast can you run exactly?” Emma asks.

“I never really tested myself. But Zoom was always faster” Jay answers.

“Sorry. Did you say lab? Are you a scientist?” Caitlin questions.

“Yeah. I had a respectable solo operation. Part-time chemist, part-time physicist. Part-time superhero. I can forget that superhero part now, though, huh?” Jay says sadly. Caitlin seems to believe him, but Emma doesn’t.

“And you said you were trying to purify heavy water without residual radiation? You mean, besides, Vacuum distillation, Electrolysis, Chemical exchange and Ion exchange chromatography?”

Jay looks surprised, “I didn’t know you were a scientist to Emma Moon, I thought you were only a doctor,” He says, not answering the question.

“I am a doctor. I also took chemistry in college and my best friend is a physicist.” Emma explains.

Jay nods, “Hartley Rathaway” Caitlin asks him another question and Emma realises that Jay never answered the question.
____________________________________________________________

“Is any of this possible? A breach to another earth? It's not, right?” Iris asks

“The contrary. Just recently, the many-different-worlds theory proposed that interaction with parallel universes was plausible. Now, if what Mr. Garrick's saying is true, that theory's been proven sooner than we all thought.”

“I'm gonna be honest here, I don't understand what the hell any of you are talking about,” Joe grumbles.

Eddie smiles, “Something we can agree on”

Hartley answers, “The parallel worlds theory suggests that there are an infinite amount of universes, but we can’t access them. Some scientists believe that our universe was born within a black hole and that black holes within our cosmos are creating universes of their own. The Black Hole eats its way through all the light and matter that it strays too close to its own irresistible gravitational pull. At its heart is a tiny ball of concentrated matter called a singularity, which gets increasingly compact as it gains mass until it reaches near-infinity density. At this point, standard theory suggests that space and time become so heavily distorted at the singularity that time stops. But one theory says that the singularity ‘bounces back’ and punches a hole in the fabric of the universe. Here, the singularity begins to expand, creating a ‘big bang’ from which a new universe is born, where the laws of physics might be slightly different from those of its parent universe. Back in the parent universe, just as time starts in the new universe, time stops at the singularity. Eventually, the original black hole collapses, severing the connection to the offspring universe. There might be an infinite chain of universes, but only a few in which the laws of physics are condition to life.” Hartley excitedly explains, only to be met with blank stares.

“Yeah, I didn’t get any of that,” Joe says. Hartley pouts and Cisco smiles at Hartley.

“Basically Jay is saying he's from, like, a mirror world. Or a parallel universe that's very, very similar to ours. Multiverse would be a more better description.” Cisco tries, kissing Hartley on his red cheeks.

Eddie shakes his head. “No, not helping.”

Professor Stein goes to the glass board with a yellow marker. “Okay, let's see if this helps.” He draws a circle. “This is our earth. Let's call it earth-1.” he drawers another circle “And this second earth, let's call it earth-2. This is where Jay claims to be from.” He then draws more circles “And these other earths, three, four, five, To infinity, all of them, are nearly identical to ours. And they all exist at the same time, giving us endless alternatives to what we have here. For example, the Joe West on earth-2, your doppelganger, might not be a detective. He could be a Nobel prize-winning physicist. And the Barry Allen here is the Flash, but over there, he could be an electrician.”

“So, I'm assuming that the people on all these other earths work to make money to pay bills and such?” Joe slowly asks.

“I would imagine.” Professor Stein answers.

Joe lights up, “So we got that in common. I'm heading back to the station. Call me when this makes a little bit more sense. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole idea of time travel.” Joe quickly leaves. Eddie stays by Iris’s side.

“There is, uh, one problem that remains. If Mr. Garrick is telling the truth, there is a breach somewhere in Central City that we need to find and close for good.” Professor Stein continues.

“Yeah, but how do we find it? We don't even know what to look for.” Cisco states.

“Well, I suggest we put our heads together and come up with a solution.” Hartley rolls his eyes leaving the cortex to Cisco’s and his shared lab. Professor Stein and Cisco followed him.

Caitlin and Emma enter after examining Jay. “What'd you find?” Eddie asks.

“Well, Jay's heart rate is extraordinarily low. And he does have regenerative capabilities. Other than that, I'm not seeing any evidence of the speed force in his system.” Emma informs.

“We don't even have proof that he's a speedster, Much less from another earth?” Barry asks.

“Not necessarily.” Caitlin is quick to say.

“What does that mean?” Eddie asks.

“Well, Jay doesn't know this, but while I was testing his heart rate, blood pressure, and motor responses, I also measured his autonomic reactions while we were talking,” Caitlin admits.

“You gave him a lie detector test?” Iris asks, shocked.

“And he passed it.” Caitlin grins.

“What if he's not a good guy, And he just wants to find our weaknesses? Keep running tests. See what else you can find out.” Barry orders. Caitlin and Emma nod.
____________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, on Earth 2. Willow as Pink Lightning has caused some rumours to go around that another speedster, faster and better than Flash is running around, stopping crime and taking down meta-humans. She’s already taken down Killer Frost, Deathstorm, Snart (who had the powers of water manipulation), Rory (who had the powers of earth bending) Doctor Light and a few other small-time robberies and thieves.

She was doing very well until she ran into Reverb. Doppelganger of Cisco Ramon.

Pink Lightning was responding to a disturbance at a warehouse. Instead of just running in, Harry has been teaching her to take the least expected entrance. So, she went around and climbed the fire escape, entering through a window on the second floor.

She made her way through the whole floor and then quickly moved to the ground floor where she was immediately attacked by a wave of sonic blast. Willow was thrown backwards as Jesse yelled in her ear.

“Heard we had another speedster running around. And well, we wanted to meet you” Reverb smirks, leaning down at her body.

“Next time, make an appointment” Pink Lightning grumbled and sped away from him before he could blink.

Reverb stands up and begins walking around the warehouse. “Come out, come out wherever you are. I know my boss would love to meet you”

“Willow, you have to get out of there. Zoom can arrive any second” Harry says through her comms.

“How?” Willow whispers.

“You have to cause a distraction” Harry answers.

“Like what?” Willow hisses as the two meta grow closer.

“Throw something” Harry suggests. Willow rolls her eyes but quickly finds a crowbar on the ground. Throwing it at the other side of the warehouse, and while distracted, she runs out of there. While she was running, a speedster with blue lightning ran up next to her.

“Omg, Zoom is chasing me” Willow breathes, willing herself to go faster, turning and twisting around cars and streets, trying to get Zoom off her tail. “His mask is terrifying”

“Willow get out of there now!” Harry orders.

“Trying to! I’m either as fast as him, or he is slowing down for me, but he is literally right behind me. What do I do?”

“You can’t outrun him, but you can trick him,” Jesse states. “Get in front of him, turn a corner and then disappear” Jesse suggests.

“Okay, I have a plan” Willow smirks. After 2 rights and a left, Willow is slightly in front of Zoom. So when she turns around a corner, Zoom is just behind her. She enters the building just as Zoom turns the corner, making it seem that she disappeared.

Of course, Zoom isn’t stupid, so Willow, already knowing what building she entered, quickly got changed into clothes that were folded, and hidden in a pocket in her suit. The clothes were just a pair of leggings and a top. She then zoomed in on the receptionist desk which was thankfully on sleep mode. Turning the computer on, she made it look like she’d been there for hours.

In the middle of typing when Zoom speeds into the building, looking for Pink Lightning. Willow jumps as Zoom speeds up to her and holds her against the wall, masked face leaning over her.

Willow whimpers and allows tears to run down her face, as Zoom growls at her. “Where is the speedster?”

Willow whimpers. Harry and Jesse are silent, listening to every word. “Please, please. I don’t know anything”

“A new speedster is running around, thinking themselves a hero. They are nothing but a coward and a fake. She wears pink and black. Have you seen them?” Zoom asks, his voice is gravelly and his mask; is terrifying.

“No, I swear. I didn’t see anyone” Willow cries.

“Why are you here so late?” Zoom asks his clawed-gloved hand at her throat.

“I had some work that I didn’t get to finish. My boss made me stay late until I finished it” Willow whimpers. “Please, I didn’t see any speedster, apart from you”

Zoom, aka, Hunter Zoloman, aka Jay Garrick, has been following team Flash for about 6 months but didn’t fully enter Earth-1 as Jay Garrick until a month ago. That means, he also knows that her friends believe Detective Willow Heart fell through the Singularity 6 months ago. And now he’s found her. Or, her doppleganger.

Zoom speeds out of the building and Willow gasps in breath.

“Willow! Are you okay?” Jesse asks, worried for her friend.

“I’m alive. It’s probably best I walk back. Don’t want to risk that again” Willow explains.

“Stay right there. We’ll pick you up” Harry says.
____________________________________________________________

“I hope you understand why we have to do this,” Barry says as he locks Jay in a pipeline cell.

“I get it, kid. You're doing what you think you have to. But you'll all realise soon enough that this, The tests, is unnecessary. I want to help you, Barry, not harm you.”

“You're not the first person that's said that to me,” Barry states.

“If what you told me about Zoom is true, that he sent Rothstein here to kill you. Instead of locking me up in here, you better start listening. Because if Zoom is involved, you are gonna need a lot more than just me at your side to stay alive” Jay says.

Cisco cuts in over the speakers, “Barry, there's a fire at the waterfront. Fire department's en route.”

“I'm on my way,” Barry says and speeds off. Quickly entering the burning building, Flash spins her arms to put out the fire. “That was a big fire. It's out, Cisco.” He pants.

“Copy that, see you in a bit.”

Barry turns around to find a giant fist of sand in his face. The sand on the ground moves and gathers up into a person.

“I thought it would be harder than this.” The man smirks. Barry runs at him and pushes him into the boat behind the sandman. Only the man crumbles into the sand under his fingers and disappears.
_______________________________________________________________

The next morning, after the fire station cleared the building, CSI and police were all over the crime scene.

“Bar. What are we dealing with here?” Joe greets.

“Well, definitely a meta-human. Had a pretty solid look at him between punches. And he was, like, made of sand. These walls are too porous to pull any prints. I can't even get one off the boat, but check this out. There are gasoline burns everywhere. The water didn't go off. The sprinklers weren't working. This was arson.” Barry declares. “But I found the point of origin.” Barry shows Joe a pipe with its wires cut off. “I don't know a sandblaster on the market that can make a cut that precise. I have a sample, and I got some fingerprints on the back of the pipe. Hopefully, we get a hit”

“Good work Bar” Joe smiles and leaves.
______________________________________________________________

The morning after being pinned to the wall by Zoom, Willow was getting yelled at by Harry, calling her reckless, idiotic, and everything in between. Knowing it was best to wait for Harry to get it out of his system before defending herself, Willow waits as Harry starts throwing things.

“You done?” Willow raises an eyebrow at Harry’s fit.

“No, I’m not done! You could have gotten yourself killed!” Harry yells.

“But I didn’t.” Willow points out and Jesse cuts in.

“Why didn’t you? Zoom kills everyone he meets. Once he killed 11 cops, left one alive to tell the tale and then killed him that night. So you didn’t he kill you?”

“Maybe he knows me?” Willow tries.

“But you haven’t met anyone since you’ve come here and your doppelganger is dead” Harry disagrees.

“I didn’t mean on this Earth” Willow starts. “We’ve already theorised that Zoom is going over to my Earth to maybe kill or steal my Flash’s speed. We also theorised that he might plant a mole in the team to find their weakness. We stopped him from taking Jesse, so maybe he found another mole. This means that the mole is around my friends, the mole might have told Zoom that I entered the Singularity and I’m from a different Earth, or think that I’m the doppelganger of my Earth 1 self”

“But your doppelganger is dead” Jesse points out.

“He doesn’t know that” Willow smirks and speeds to her laptop, speed-typing on the keyboard.

“What are you doing?” Harry asks.

“I’m creating a fake identity for a Willow Heart. Born Feb 6th, 1991. Is now a receptionist, has no siblings, their parents are dead, and has a fake address. So now, if someone looks up my doppelganger, they’ll find this”

“That’s… smart” Harry sighs in defeat.

“Why thank you so much, Harrison Well” Willow grins.

“But we also have a problem. If what you said is true. Then Zoom knows that Pink Lightning and Willow separately entered the Singularity. He found you and knows Pink Lightning is out there. He might realise you are the same person.” Jesse points out.

“Also, your friends know Pink Lightning and Willow separately entered the Singularity, but if you go back to your Earth as Willow, they will assume Pink Lightning is stuck here and vice versa,” Harry states.

“Dammit, I didn’t think of that. And if I entered my Earth, and Pink Lightning disappeared here, Zoom might find out my identity. Crap, what do I do?”

“We have to kill you,” Harry answers.

Willow and Jesse snap their hands at him, “WHAT?!”

“If Pink Lightning dies before Willow leaves with us, then Zoom will continue to think she is two people” Harry explains.

“And how are we going to do that?” Willow crosses her arms.
_______________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, on Earth 1. Caitlin, Ronnie, and Iris were watching Jay’s vitals as he ran. As they are doing that, Emma is currently in a building standing in front of a frosted glass door stating ‘Ralph Ditney Private Detective.’

Knocking on the door, Emma hears a faint “Come in!” and enters the office. It's a little messy and dis-away, and the man sitting behind the desk wears an equally dis-away suit but has a strong jaw-line and high cheekbones.

“Hello, I’m Dr Emma Moon.” Emma smiles and sits down at the desk.

“A pleasure sweet-cheeks” Ralph grins. “What can I do for you? Husband cheating on you? Lost an expensive jewellery? Anything you need, Ralph-y is your man” Emma smiles slightly, he’s funny.

“I need you to follow and investigate someone and tell me what you find. He has recently joined my… team and I don’t trust him” Emma says softly.

“And you can’t ask the police to do a police check because?” Ralph asks.

“Um, he isn’t from around here and doesn’t have any records. His name is Jay Garrick, and this is a photo.” Emma hands Ralph a photo of Jay. “Anything you find would be really helpful.”

“You got it” Ralph winks. “Is there a time frame?”

Emma nods, “Anything you can find by the end of this week will be great. What’s your rate?”

“$1000”

Emma nods again, “I can agree to that. Anything you find would be very helpful. I’ll come in again by the end of the week to see what you have found out” Emma smiles and stands up.

“Why did you come to me? I know my Yelp reviews aren’t very good” Ralph asks.

“You used to be a cop. My best friend is a cop. I trust you to get the job done” Emma simply says and leaves the office.
_______________________________________________________________

Emma finds the others at Star Labs in the cortex, Cisco holding a small glass vial filled with… sand.

“Found it at the crime scene. I mean, it's gotta be from the meta-human that attacked me.” Barry explains.

“What is this stuff? Sand?” Cisco asks.

“It's not sand.” Jay interrupts, entering the room wearing a tight STAR Labs sweatshirt “It's human cells whose myosin ii protein has migrated to the cell's periphery.”

“Jay's a fellow science nerd.” Caitlin quickly explains.

“Those cells can rearrange and harden, giving them the appearance of sand.”

“And how do you know this?” Barry asks, still not trusting Jay.

“They belong to a meta-human I've fought before named Sand Demon.”

Cisco cuts him off, standing up, “I know you're new here, so I'm just gonna break it down for you. The whole "naming the bad guy's thing," That's my jam. But you know what? I'm gonna let you have that one 'cause I kinda like it. I'm not mad at that one.” Hartley rolls his eyes at Cisco with a fond smile. “Is that Barry's sweatshirt?”

“Oh, uh, sorry. It was all we could find, so…” Iris awkwardly says and Eddie silently growls in jealously.

“I was gonna say, 'cause it looks a lot smaller on you, right?” Cisco awkwardly laughs “I gotta do this thing.” He quickly runs off to test the thing in the vial.

“So, who is this Sand Demon?” Eddie asks.

“I don't know his name, But I know how to stop him,” Jay says and Emma inwardly rolls her eyes.

“You know what? I think we'll be fine on our own.” Barry glares at Jay, Emma silently cheers and Eddie inwardly smirks, Barry is too trusting.

“Look, Barry, I don't know what else I can do to prove to you I'm on your side. I've been poked and prodded. Sand demons from my world. Let me teach you how to stop him.” Jay says. Trying to paint himself as a good person.

“Yeah, I don't need you to teach me anything, Jay.” Barry glares.

“Zoom sent Rothstein here to kill you. He must have sent Sand Demon here to do the same thing. Don't you get it? Anyone close to the Flash, all of you, are in a lot of danger.”

“All right. If you're so good, you would have caught him already. Let's get Jay back to his cell” Barry orders and takes Jay back to his cell.

Hartley goes to Cisco’s lab and finds him talking to Professor Stein.

“After some lengthy calculations, I believe I have discovered the key to proving the proposed breach theory. Exotic matter.” Professor Stein smiles.

“Like, Transdimensional energy?” Hartley asks, looking at Stein’s equations.

“Precisely. Exotic matter and transdimensional energy will theoretically leak from one universe into another. Now, if this breach Mr. Garrick's talking about is real, if there is indeed a hole in our universe which leads to his Earth…” Professor Stein begins.

“We can make some adjustments And upload an electrophotography program to the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite and essentially photograph the exotic matter leak.” Cisco continues.

“Thereby giving us the locale of said breach” Hartley finishes with a grin, it felt good to work with fellow scientists again.

“Last time I saw the kit, it was in the fabrication room.” Cisco helpfully informs.

“I shall return!” Professor Stein shouts and runs out of the room.

Cisco laughs and walks over to the microscope. “All right. Let's see what you're made of.” He tips some on a slide “That's too much.” Cisco uses his pinky to move the slide when he goes into a trance.

“Cisco?” Hartley asks, noticing his weird expression. “You okay?” A few moments pass before Cisco seems to come back to himself.

“What's happening to me?” He whispers.

“What was that? You were like in some sort of trance” Hartley states, playing with Cisco’s hair.

“It’s nothing” Cisco tries to move but Hartley gently holds him in place.

“You can tell me Cisco” Hartley whispers.

Cisco deflates and leans into his touch. “It was like when Wells killed me. But this time I saw Flash fighting a meta. He turned into sand.” He quietly mumbles. “I saw the same thing when Atom Smasher hit Flash Day.”

“You touched the sand and then had a vision about Sand Demon?”

“What’s happening to me?” Cisco whispers.

“Whatever it is, we will get through it together” Hartley whispers back.
________________________________________________________________

Eddie and Joe were sitting in Joe’s car, outside the suspect's house, looking over the police file. Eddie was informing Joe what he found out.

“Name’s Eddie Slick. We tracked those prints to his address. He has a history of arson, but mostly using acetone or other acellents that are hard to trace. The only thing is that he was a Blackgate Penitentiary when the Accelerator exploded.” Eddie explains.

“Let’s bring him in” Joe says and they step out of the car.

An hour later, Eddie and Joe have Mr. Slick in the interrogation room.

They have a picture of the burned warehouse on the table. “That look familiar?” Joe asks “What's it look like?”

“A fire.” Slick reluctantly answers.

“It's the fire you started in the third ward last night,” Eddie says.

“Man, I didn't start no fire there last night,” Slick says.

“Let me guess. You don't start fires anymore. You have been rehabilitated.” Joe states.

“Yeah, I've done it before. So what? I didn't do this one. I always start a fire with something hard to trace. You know, like acetone or something.” Slick explains.

“December, 2013. You were at Blackgate Penitentiary, correct?” Eddie asks.

“So?” Slick asks.

“So, where were you last night between 7 and 10?” Eddie asks.

“I went out drinking with some friends. You can check!” Slick answers.

Eddie and Joe exit the room and find Barry. “I’ll check his alibi but I don’t think he’s a meta,” Eddie says.

“Slick is the guy who jumped me.” Barry insists.

“Do you think it's possible that Slick in there has a--” Joe struggles but Barry continues.

“A doppelganger? I don't know.” Barry sighs.
_________________________________________________________

Earth-2.

“I know it’s a smart plan. I just think it's a little mean to start running around the City, protecting them from meta-humans and then dying and leaving!” Willow yells at Harry.

“Zoom is after you! Zoom is after all of us! Pink Lightning dies here and we can go to your Earth, and save your Earth!” Harry yells.

“But what about this Earth?!”

“We don’t have time for you to play hero!” Harry shouts.

“I don’t want to play hero! I want to save people from dying! I want to protect the people of the city! That is my job as a police officer!” Willow screams, tears running down her face.

Harry sighs in annoyance and walks out of the room. Jesse walks over to Willow. “What’s this really about?”

Willow silently cries, “All my life, I’ve tried so hard to make my parents proud. They were police officers who turned into detectives. I never really knew them, they died with I was 5. I spent 2 years in foster care when I got adopted. But I always had that sense of need to help people. I became a cop, in the same department as my parents, and I was always compared to them. I moved to Central City and got these powers. But I was never the superhero type. But I know what it's like to feel lost, scared, abandoned. I don’t want to abandon this Earth to Zoom and the meta’s.”

“I don’t either. This is my home. But it’s not forever. We go to your Earth, team up with Team Flash and defeat Zoom. But right now, we have to make sure that Zoom doesn’t kill any of us before that can happen. Just to get him off your and our trail.” Jesse says.

Willow sighs in defeat. “I guess you’re right. I just feel bad”

Harry walks back into the room. “Oh good, you made her see sense” He ignores Willow’s and Jesse’s glares.

“How are you planning on killing me to make sure Zoom knows I’m dead?” Willow asks.
____________________________________________________________

Earth-1, STAR Labs. “Yo. The sample you gave us? Not sand. Definitely human cells.” Cisco informs Barry as he enters the Cortex.

“Yeah, I know. It's not him, I get it.” Barry sighs.

“I hate to say it, but I think this Earth-2 theory is starting to make sense.” Cisco reluctantly states.

“For real?” Barry asks.

“What, you think Jay is lying about the Sand Demon?”

“Can I just say, I don’t trust him,” Emma speaks up. “I mean, we don’t know anything about him other than what he said. He knows us. He’s been following us for 6 months, he most likely knows everything about us. He knows most of us are scientists. He could be playing on that.”

Hartley smirks, “I thought you were the doctor and Willow was the detective”

“That's my point. We shouldn’t just believe some guy that walks in here and says a few things that sort of check out.” Barry argues.

“Sort of? He was right about Zoom.” Cisco points out.

“I understand what Barry is trying to say. We don't even know anything about Zoom” Emma defeats Barry. “All we know is that there is a meta-human who looks a lot like someone who doesn’t have powers. So why don’t we start with that? Cisco, Hartley and Professor Stein keep trying to find these ‘Breaches’ and Ronnie, keep an eye on Jay. Caitlin and I will run some more tests. Barry all you have to worry about is stopping this meta-human.” Emma takes charge.

“Thank you, Emma. We are scientists. You’re a doctor. Iris is a journalist. We test, we prove, we report. That's what we do. So let’s do that before we accidentally trust the wrong person, again” Barry finishes and everyone nods in agreement.

Iris takes Barry aside to talk with him, while Hartley, Cisco and Professor Stein work on the breaches, Ronnie keeps a very close eye on Jay, not liking how Jay looks at Caitlin. Caitlin and Emma continue running tests when Emma makes a strange discovery. Wanting to look at it further before saying anything, Emma places the DNA and Blood sample in her pocket to look at later.
____________________________________________________________

Later that night, Emma texted Hartley to meet her at her apartment. When he arrives, he looks around the room. “Willow’s things are still here” He comments.

“Yeah, I couldn’t bring myself to pack them away.” Emma shyly admits. “Anyway, I need to know what your opinion is of Jay”

“Emma, the only people I trust are you, Willow and Cisco. The others are catching up. But what Jay is saying will prove a paper I wrote a few years ago. Why?” Hartley asks.

“His DNA and blood samples are weird, I needed someone I could trust to look over them,” Emma answers, opening her computer. “Okay, so let’s start with his blood. I’ve never seen anything like it. You know the normal blood types, O+,O-, A+, A-,B+,B-, AB+ and AB-. This Blood is none of them. It's like he has a whole different type of blood.” Emma explains.

“Interesting”

“Right? Next is the DNA, so the sample on the right is Willow’s taken a few days after she woke up. Her speed force is still new to her system. The sample on the left is Jay’s, see the difference?”

“Willow’s sample is active, filled with the speed-force, her cells seem perfectly healthy. Meanwhile Jay’s look empty, slow, and…?” Hartley pauses, “Is this right?”

“I ran it three times. Jay is dying. It's slow, but if I’m right, that’s how he lost his speed.”

“You think that’s why he’s here? To find himself a cure?” Hartley asks. “Why didn’t Caitlin catch this?”

“I love Cait, but she doesn’t work with dying people every day like I do, I know the signs. But we both know Team Flash, they are too trusting, including Barry. I say we play along until we find more proof”

“You sound like Willow” Hartley comments.

“I’ve lived with her since she was 7. She taught me everything I know. You think we should include Eddie or Joe?” Emma asks.

“Anything we tell Joe, he’ll tell Barry. The same goes with Eddie and Iris. We have to keep it to ourselves until Willow hopefully comes back.”

“But that could be months away!” Emma argues.

“Or it could be tomorrow. We just have to wait. Gather evidence. Willow is good at connecting all the evidence and finding the link.”

Emma sighs in defeat, “You’re right.”

“I’m always right. Speaking of which, you were right about Cisco's”

“He’s having more visions?” Emma asks, after hearing about the alternate timeline from Hartley, Emma suggested that Cisco might have been affected by the Particle Accelerator as well.

“Yep, had one today about the meta Barry fought. As well as when Atom Smasher attacked Flash Day. He’s scared though.”

“Keep an eye on him. I wouldn’t be surprised that he’s visions might be related to this ‘other Earth’. I mean, he did start having them when Barry started another timeline, so it’s possible”

“That’s a good point. I’ll see what I can find.”

“Wonderful. Thank you, Hartley, I knew I could trust you.” Emma smiles.

“After the amazingly detailed notes you made about Willow, there’s no other doctor I trust more” Hartley smirks. “Now, I have a date night with Cisco, see you tomorrow”

“And I have to make my dinner. Enjoy your date”

“I will” Hartley smirks, walking out of the apartment.
__________________________________________________________

Eddie and Joe walk Slick out of the station. “Thank you for your cooperation, Mr Slick.” Eddie tightly smiles.

“Get to walking. I don't want to see your ugly mug around here again.” Joe says with no regard for manners.

“Sayonara. -” Slick waves and disappears, and a few moments later he appears from a different direction.

“Didn't I just tell you I didn't want to see your ugly mug around here again?” Joe asks.

“Well, you're gonna have to, Detective West. So I can get to the Flash.” Slick smirks and his fist turns into a giant hand of sand, knocking Joe out.

Eddie continues to shoot Slick but Slick continues forward until Slick grabs his gun. “You’ll do the trick nicely” Slick smirks and punches Eddie, knocking him out.
_____________________________________________________________

Barry opens Jay’s cell in the Pipeline. “Finally come to your senses?” Jay asks.

“Sand Demon kidnapped a police officer. A friend.” Barry starts.

“And you need my help?” Jay smirks.

“I need you to help us save him. Before something happens.” Barry is quick to correct.

“I guess you're gonna have to trust me now, huh, kid?”

Jay and Barry enter the Cortex and Jay is quick to suggest where Sand Demon may be hiding. “We're looking for any structures that promote humidity. Greenhouses, grow rooms, anything of the sort. His body will literally start to fall apart if he becomes dehydrated.”

“Like dry sand.”

“Exactly. Sand demon always attacks on two fronts. He creates a diversion, then strikes when you're distracted.”

“Okay, then what do we do?” Barry asks.

“We use your speed to get to him before the distraction can happen.”

“Jay, how do I stop somebody who can slip through my fingers?” Barry asks in frustration.

“The way I was never able to. With lightning.” Jay explains, and Emma titles her head.

“Yo, are you about to pull a Zeus right now?” Cisco asks, excitedly.

“You mean you want Barry to hurl lightning from the energy he creates when he runs?” Hartley asks.

Jay nods, “Because lightning plus sand equals”

“Glass.” Barry finishes with a grin.

“Time to learn something new, kid,” Jay says and Barry laughs softly and turns to Iris who is fretting,

“We're gonna find Eddie, all right? Whatever it takes.” Iris nods with tears in her eyes.
___________________________________________________________

“Flash is coming for you, you know?” Eddie snarks at the meta behind him. Eddie woke up about an hour ago tied to a chair.

“Yes, I'm sure he is.” Slick look-a-like says.

“You can't beat him. No matter what powers you have.” Eddie states.

“I wouldn't be too sure about that.” The meta sounds smug.

“Is that why you need to build that concussive bomb?” Eddie asks.

The meta stops and walks in front of Eddie, “This isn't gonna kill the Flash. I am. This is gonna kill you.” Eddie stops himself from rolling his eyes. This is not the first time he’s been kidnapped. Though last time Willow found him, hopefully, Team Flash can find him this time.
_________________________________________________________________

“I've searched all the vacant buildings in the central city and none of them fit the description that we need.” Caitlin starts, as Jay and Barry train to throw lighting, Cisco, Professor Stein and Caitlin are tasked with finding Sand Demon. Hartley was focusing on finding the Breaches, Ronnie was watching Jay and Emma was back at her apartment, studying Jay’s DNA.

“And I've looked at any draw upticks on the electrical grid. Nothing out of the norm, I'm afraid.” Professor Stein sighs.

“We gotta do whatever it takes.” Cisco mutters to himself, “I'll be back.” He announces and runs out of the room, finding himself in his lab with Hartley writing on the board.

“Hey Cisco, any luck with finding Sand Demon?” Hartley asks, hoping to rest his brain for a few moments.

“I have an idea,” Cisco says.

“I hate that sentence” Hartley mutters. “What is your oh-so-great idea?”

“Okay, so you know how the first time I touched the Sand Demon’s sand/cell thing and I saw him fighting with Barry?” Hartley narrows his eyes.

“Yes”

“I was thinking of trying the same thing to see if I can find where he is hiding and find Eddie?” Cisco winces at his plan.

“Little Cisquito. Why are you telling me this?” Hartley asks, moving to stand beside his boyfriend.

“Because I’m scared and I need someone to tell me that this is a good idea” Cisco says, tears gathering in his eyes.

“You’re trying to save your friend's life. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. And you are very brave for wanting to face your fear to save your friend.”

Cisco nods and gently touches the Sand Demon’s sand/cells which were still on the microscope in the lab. Cisco takes a deep breath and falls into a trance.

“Flash is coming for you, you know?” Cisco can hear Eddie say, he looks around to see the meta making a concussion bomb.

“Yes, I'm sure he is.” The meta smirks, Cisco looks around more to find the location.

“You can't beat him. I don't care what powers you have.” Eddie snarks and it ends, and Cisco is back at Star Labs in Hartley’s arms.

“I figured out where Eddie is.” Cisoc states, kisses Hartley and runs out of the lab shouting back, “We gotta tell Barry.” Hartley rolls his eyes and follows his boyfriend.
_________________________________________________________

Ronnie has been watching Jay, watching Barry run around the room and miss his lighting toss for the last hour. “Again.” Jay orders.

“I've been doing this for an hour. It's not working.” Barry pants, sweating.

“It's because you're trying to rush it. This is the one time you need to slow down. Let the energy pass over you, then simply direct it to where you want it to go.” Jay explains.

“All right, Jay… I don't know if I'm gonna get this in time.”

“You'll get it. I believe in you.”

“The last person that helped me like this was a man that I looked up to. Idolized. He taught me how to get faster, how to get stronger, and How to use my powers to save people. That same man murdered my mother.” Barry explains.

“It's a tough break, but I'm not him,” Jay states and Barry sighs.

“But you must understand why we are reluctant to believe you,” Ronnie speaks up.

“I do, but it's unnecessary,” Jay says Ronnie is about to say something when Cisco comes running in, followed by Hartley.

“I know where they are!” Cisco pants, “The abandoned woodrue grow house. That's where slick's keeping Eddie.”

“Dude, great job.” Barry smiles, high-fiving Cisco.

Cisco continues, “And I was thinking, if I were Sand Demon and I were attacking a speedster on two fronts, I would probably want to slow you down, like, by using a concussive bomb or something like that.” Cisco finishes awkwardly.

“That's a good thought. He's actually used one on me before. His body absorbs the blast so it doesn't affect him.” Jay informs. “Well, kid, gonna have to think of something.”

“You know what? What if we give Slick a diversion? He knows you, right? You said you went up against him.” Barry asks, looking at Jay.

“Yeah, but, Barry, I don't have my speed,” Jay states.

“He doesn't know that. You got your suit?” Barry smirks.

“Sure. Well, except my helmet.” Jay answers.

“Helmet? Silver kettle helmet? Gold wings?” Cisco asks, referring to the Helmet that fell out of the Singularity 6 months ago. (Little did Team Flash know, Jay threw his Helmet through the Singularity 6 months ago in preparation to join this Earth).

“Don't tell me you guys found it.” Jay smiles and they all move to the Cortex as Caitlin hands Jay his Helmet. “Never thought I'd see that again. It was my father's, From the War of the Americas.”

“Did you just say War of the Americas?” Cisco cuts in.

“I wish you would have just told us you lost your helmet. Would have saved us all a headache.” Emma and Hartley share a look. Jay has gained Barry’s trust.

“Well, sure you want to do this, Flash?” Barry asks with a smirk.

“Yeah. Let's go see what you're made of...Flash.” Jay smiles and they shake hands.
__________________________________________________________

Eddie, tied to a chair watches as Slick places the bomb beneath his chair. A speedster could be heard entering the building. “Is that you, Flash? Found your way here.” Slick calls out.

Jay, with a red suit and gold helmet with wings, stands on the other side of the warehouse. “I came quite a distance.”

“I thought you were dead.”

“You were wrong. Like usual. Let the cop go.” Jay orders.

“Have at it. But you touch him, he goes boom. And I think even you aren't fast enough to save him.” Slick announces, slowly walking up to Jay. Jay tries to punch Slick, but Slick moves out of the way easily. “Quite a bit slower on this Earth, aren't you, Flash?” Jay lands a punch, and Slick punches Jay a few times. “You don't have your speed, do you?”

Barry then appears from behind Eddie and unties him, just as Eddie is off the chair, the bomb explodes, sending Barry, Eddie and Jay flying while Slick lets the bomb pass over him with his powers absorbing the blow.

“Barry!” Cisco calls out. “Eddie!” Iris shouts through the comms.

“Eddie’s alive,” Barry answers through the comms, after checking on him, much to the Team’s relief.

“Must be my lucky day.” Slick calls out. “Zoom sent me here to kill you. Now I get to kill the Flash from two worlds before I go home.” He uses his powers to create a sand hand and reach it to where Jay is, choking him.

Jay and Barry share a nod, and Barry begins running circles around Jay and Slick. Slick lets go of Jay and watches as Barry’s yellow lightning zooms around him. When Barry felt ready, he slowed down and threw a bolt of lightning right at Slick with perfect aim. Slick is thrown back, his body turning to glass and shatters upon contact with the ground.

“You okay?” Barry asks Jay.

“Yeah. I'm okay. Nice shot, kid.” Barry smiles happily.

Eddie then walks up to them, holding his injured arm, “Great aim. Now let’s get out of here”
__________________________________________________________________

Back at Star Labs, Caitlin is wrapping up Jay, (with Ronnie right next to her) while Emma is tending to Eddie with Iris sitting next to Eddie. “Stay off your feet for a few days. Drink plenty of fluids and you should be okay. Your arm is a little bruised, but should heal within a week or so.”

Eddie smiles brightly, “Thank you, Emma.”

“You’re welcome, Eddie.” Emma leaves Eddie and Iris to talk finds Hartley and watches Caitlin fix up Jay.

“They trust him” Hartley whispers to her.

“Ronnie doesn’t seem to like him” Emma comments, seeing Ronnie watch Jay’s every move as Cait and Jay talk.

“Ronnie is just jealous.” Hartley scoffs.

“For good reason. It looks like Jay likes Caitlin” Emma whispers.

“He doesn’t stand a chance. Caitlin will never cheat on Ronnie” Hartley states.

“You're pretty good at this,” Jay says to Caitlin who chuckles.

“I've had a lot of practice over the last year.” Caitlin answers. “Including with my husband” Caitlin smiles over to Ronnie, missing Jay’s glare, which Emma and Hartley catch.

“We are in agreement that we don’t trust Jay, but he is from another Earth, and we want him to think we do trust him?” Emma whispers to Hartley.

“Yes”

“Good.” Emma smiles and walks up to Jay. “It was really courageous doing what you did today, standing up to the Sand Demon without any powers,” Emma says, smiling prettily at Jay. Caitlin finishes with Jay and moves to Ronnie to kiss and hug her husband.

“Ah, Barry did all the work. I just stood there and took a few punches.” Jay awkwardly says.

Emma eyes his bandaged chest, “From what I can see, it was more than a few.”

“This is a lot harder than I thought. Losing something that was such a big part of who I was for so long.” Jay looks down.

Emma places a hand on his bare bicep. “I lost something that was a part of me, too. I lost my sister. It's hard, but it gets easier every day.” Emma smiles sadly as Jay looks at her with something like pity in his eyes. “Speed or no speed, in my book you were still a hero today. I'm just sorry we didn't all realise it a little bit sooner.” Jay smiles softly.

“Especially me.” Barry enters the room.

“I'll leave you two speedsters alone.” Emma leaves the room, standing next to Hartley hidden from view but still able to hear Jay and Barry.

“What was that about?” Hartley asks.

“Jay seems to like Caitlin. I’m bringing his attention to Caitlin. I flirt with Jay, act nice and it might make it easier to catch him in a lie.” Emma whispers.

“You and Willow are definitely sisters” Hartley rolls his eyes.

“We had this friend a few years ago in our hometown. She flirted with everyone to get what she wanted. All the boys fawned over her. She taught us everything we know. Willow uses it to help with her job as everyone underestimates a girl. While I use it to get free coffee” Emma smirks. “Jake the Barista has had a crush on me for 2 years.”

“You evil little minx” Hartley chuckles and they overhear Jay and Barry talking.

“Hey, look, Jay, um… So, thank you for all your help. And for being so patient with me.” Barry stumbles at first but sounds grateful.

“Nah, anytime, kid You're a quick study. Took me a lot longer to learn how to toss lightning, Believe me.”

Emma whispers to Hartley, “I thought he said that he was never able to toss Lightning?”

“Then I suppose I had the right teacher,” Barry comments.

“It's going to be a lot harder to take down Zoom.”

“Who is this guy?”

“No one knows. He showed up around the same time as when I got my powers. Killed a lot of people in my world. I spent about two years tracking him down. But he was too smart, too quick. He's always one step ahead.” Jay answers.

“You think he's just bringing these guys here to kill me?”

“Zoom is obsessed with destroying me. Now he wants to destroy you. He needs to be the best. And he will do whatever it takes to ensure he's the only speedster. In any world.”

“Is it just me, or did that sound like a threat?” Harltey whispers to Emma as they move away from their hidden stop and to Cisco’s lab, finding Cisco and Professor Stein.

“I’ll keep an eye out,” Emma whispers.

“Any progress with the electrophotography?” Hartley asks.

“The satellite picture of the city's still rendering.” Cisco answers.

“While we wait, care to tell me what's going on with you?” Professor Stein speaks up, looking at Cisco.

“What? Nothing.” Cisco is quick to answer.

“Two hunches in one day. Slick's locale, And that he'd be using a concussive bomb to thwart Barry. Do I need to inform you of the odds of such a prediction?”

“Something's happening to me. I'm starting to perceive things. Horrible things. It started after Wells killed me in the other timeline. It came back when Atom Smasher attacked on Flash day, and then again when Sand Demon showed up. I get a vibe, And then a vision of something that's already happened, and then it's gone. That's how I knew where Slick was.” Cisco confesses.

“Cisco, this is amazing. We--we have to study this, figure out just what to do.” The professor starts but gets cut off.

“No, no, no, we're not doing any of that, and we're certainly not telling anybody, either.”

Hartley steps forward, “Cisco. You have nothing to be scared of. I know you’re seeing things you don’t want to see. But today you helped Barry and you saved Eddie.”

“I'm seeing things I don't want to see. And knowing things I don't want to know. I just want it to stop. I don't want anyone to know about this. Not yet.”

Emma speaks up, “Cisco. This won’t just go away. You might be affected by the dark matter as well, it’s just a delead response. But take your time, and when you are ready, come to either of us, and we will be happy to help”

Cisco's tearful nods when the computer beeps. “Oh, wow.”

Everyone gathers to the Cortex again, “It appears that while we were indeed successful in closing the singularity, there was an unfortunate side effect.” Professor Stein starts.

“Using electrophotography, we were able to search Central City for any signs of energy entering our earth from another dimension. From any "breaches", as Jay described them.” Hartley continues.

“But, of course, there isn't just one breach. There's 52 of them scattered throughout the city.”

“These breaches are pockets of time and space folded into and upon itself. But the most significant breach of all appears to be this one.” Professor Stein informs, pointing to the computer behind him, depicting the city with 52 dots scattered. He points to the biggest dot.

“And where exactly is that located?” Caitlin asks.

“It's here, inside S.T.A.R. Labs. And just beyond that breach is an entirely different universe. And if it leads to Earth 2, Willow and Pink Lightning might still be alive” Hartley grins.

“I’m sorry, whose Willow and Pink Lightning?” Jay asks.

Emma answers. “Willow is my sister. When the Breach opened 6 months ago, she went off to help people get to safety. She somehow got stuck in a car trying to help a kid when the car got pulled up and into the Singularity. Meanwhile, Pink Lightning is an unknown speedster who appeared a few months after Barry. She has pink lightning and has saved us a few times.” We all smile sadly, “She appeared again when the Singularity opened and helped Barry close it. Unfortunately, she got sucked in when it closed” Barry looks away in guilt. “But this gives me hope that they both are still alive” Emma smiles sadly.

“I’m sure they are” Jay says and Emma nods in thanks.

Chapter Text

“The Breach is ready. We just need to kill Pink Lightning” Harry announced.

Willow sighs, “Yeah, I know. Let’s go over the plan again”

“We are going to create a large fire in one of STAR Lab’s empty buildings. You go in to try to out it out. When it explodes, you will phase through the ground and into the sewers below. Get here without using your speed. The news will spread that you died and we will get to Earth 1.” Harry states.

“Let’s do this” Willow smiles. It’s been about 7 months since she landed on this Earth, and she’s looking forward to coming home.

“Are we sure Zoom will buy it?” Jesse asks.

“He has to,” Harry says.

“Do you know Zoom’s identity?” Willow asks, grabbing her laptop.

“Not sure about Zoom,” Harry answers. “He never leaves behind DNA or evidence.”

“But there are other ways to trace a person” Willow smirks, typing on her laptop.

“What are you doing?” Harry asks.

“What I do best, is research” Willow smirks. “You said that the meta’s are because of your Particle Accelerator, which is the same on my Earth. However, the Flash and I were both struck by lightning, giving us powers and were in a coma for a few months. I’m researching anyone who was stuck by lightning that night” Willow states, using her speed to quickly search the internet.

She stops when she finds nothing, “What? One sec” She mutters to herself, looking up everything on Jay Garrick. There wasn’t… anything. “Doc, are you sure Flash’s name is Jay Garrick? Because from what I can tell, the night the Particle Accelerator exploded, no one was stuck by lightning, and up until 2 years, there was no record of a Jay Garrick.”

“That makes no sense.” Dr Wells frowns in thought. “Lightning. Electricity. Try looking up anyone getting stocked or was near electricity that night”

Willow follows his advice and gets a few hits. “Okay, a few people were admitted to the hospital for getting small electric shocks, but that was not helpful.” More typing, “You said Zoom’s a killer right?”

“About 100 people”

“That’s not something that happens overnight. He’s probably killed before before he became a meta.” Willow states, speedily typing away.

“What are you doing now?” Dr Wells asks.

“I’m going into the CCPD’s files for any murders that happened before the Particle Accelerator” Willow answers.

“That’s most likely hundreds of murders!”

“Only 137 over the past 15 years,” Willow mutters, staring at the screen. “110 were solved, not bad. Most were ex-lovers or marriage disputes. Some were manslaughter. But 23 was from the same person. A Hunter Zolomon. Killed 23 people in 5 years, was caught and killed the same night as the Particle Accelerator.”

“What time?” Dr Wells quickly asks.

“9:06 pm,” Willow answers.

“That’s the same time when my Accelerator blew up.”

“We now know who Zoom is. But who is Jay Garrick?” Jesse asks. No one answers.
__________________________________________________________

“Pretty amazing, isn't it? Still can't believe what I'm looking at. 52 breaches in Central City and the biggest one just happens to be in our basement.” Barry comments as Ronnie, Jay, Caitlin, Cisco, Barry, Hartley, Professor Stein and Emma watch the moving blue breach.

“We need a name for it.” Cisco decides.

“It's not a pet, Cisco.” Caitlin laughs.

“No, it's a wormhole.” Professor Stein corrects.

“This isn't just a wormhole. It's my way home. Back to Earth Two.” Jay states.

“Jay, you think that we can use this as some kind of bridge from your world to ours?” Barry asks.

“Zoom uses the breaches. Why can't we?” Jay answers.

“We don't know how.” Cisco pipes in. “Everything I put through just bounces back.”

“If Zoom's using these breaches to transport people from Earth-Two, maybe it takes a speedster,” Barry suggests and Hartley hums in thought as Barry begins moving back.

“He's not gonna…?”

“Yeah, he is.” Emma sighs as Barry runs up to the Breach and gets thrown back with a grunt.

“Maybe I'm not fast enough.” Barry offers.

“I don't believe your speed is the entirety of the issue, Barry,” Hartley says. “It might be the breach's stability or lack thereof.”

“He's right. We need to think of the breach as a door, and on Earth-Two, there's another door. In between, we have a hallway, but the hallway's constantly shifting, twisting, collapsing upon itself. And the doors keep moving with it.” Professor Stein explains.

“So we stabilize the door, we stabilize the hallway.”

“And then I can jump through it.” Barry cuts in.

“Exactly, it would serve as a kind of cannon. A speed cannon.” Jay suggests. Jay, Ronnie and Hartley begin working on stabilising the Breach while Professor Stein has a date with his wife and the others get some coffee at Jitters.

“All right, four Flashes.” Barry places the coffee down on the table. “Be careful apparently, they are super-caffeinated. First I have a day named after me. Now I have a drink.”

“Well, all the things you do, rebuilding this place, protecting people, everyone's appreciative” Iris says with a smile. “I'll drink to that.” Cisco laughs when he bumps into someone. “Oh, I'm so sorry.”

The person turns around and reveals themselves to be Lisa Snart. “Don't apologise. You can bump into me any day, Cisco.”

“Lisa Snart. You here to double-cross us again, or are you and your big bro holding up coffee shops now?” Cisco snarks.

“I need your help.” Lisa pouts.

“In your dreams, Sister Cold. You know I could call The Flash. He'd be here in like two seconds--probably one.” Cisco gets his phone out, which Barry hides behind his coffee cup.

“Call him.” Lisa deadpans.

“Oh, okay. I'm gonna call him. Mm-hmm.” Cisco pauses and narrows his eyes. “You really want me to call The Flash?”

“I need his help too. My brother's been kidnapped.” Lisa reveals and the group moves to Star Labs for a more private conversation, except Iris who went to work. Barry changes in his Flash suit, as Lisa doesn’t know his identity.

“All right, so you really want us to just believe that Captain Cold was kidnapped?” Flash asks.

“I saw it happen. Last night, Lenny, me, and Mick were knocking over the cashier's cage at Central City Racetrack.”

Caitlin cuts in “Does it physically pain your family not to rob people?”

“I never finished the job. After Mick torched through the side entrance, I looked back for Lenny and saw him getting thrown into the back of a van.” Lisa reveals.

“And why didn't you and Mick follow?” Emma asks.

“I would have. Someone hit me from behind and knocked me out. When I came to, Lenny was gone, and Mick already made off with the cash.”

“How do we know this isn't some kind of a trap?” Cait asks.

“If Lenny wanted Flash dead, he would have let Mardon, Simmons, and Bivolo take that honour, remember?” Lisa asks

“Yeah, I remember.” Flash deadpans.

“Good. Then you'll also recall that you owe Lenny a favour for saving your life. Time to make good on that debt, Flash.”

“We should at least hear her out. Right?” Emma asks.

“Even if I wanted to help, how are we supposed to find him?” Flash sighs.

“Not a problem.” Cisco walks around to the computers. “See, when I rebuilt the cold gun, I didn't have time to place a tracker on it, so I devised a method of locating it by borrowing some military technology. See, the gun works the same as thermal imaging, only instead of infrared heat signatures, it's looking for ultraviolet cold signatures.” The computer beeps. “Whoa, look at that. The gun's UV thermal reading was last picked up at 5th and Hoyt eight minutes ago.”

“All right. Let's see if you're a liar Snart.” With that, Flash runs off.

“You said you were knocked out? Do you mind if I make sure there is no damage? Just a quick examination” Emma smiles at Lisa.

“If you must” Lisa sighs and Emma leads her to the med-lab.

“Thank you.” Emma begins physically checking Lisa’s head for any bumps. “Tell me if something hurts” A few minutes later, Emma is satisfied that Lisa isn’t permanently injured. “Okay, you’ll be okay. Just a small bump on the head should go away in a few days.”

“Thanks” Lisa mutters. They move back to the Cortex to find Barry yelling through the speaker.

“Cisco! Snart hit me with his cold gun.”

“His vitals are bottoming out!” Caitlin warns.

“I'm bringing the heat right now.” Cisco grins and taps away on his computer.

“What?” Barry sighs in relief, panting. “The suit. What's happening?”

“Therma-threading, baby. It's a little something I added for situations exactly like this one.” Cisco smirks. “Please, please tell me it's working.”

“Yeah, it works, but Snart's gone, and Lisa has a lot of explaining to do.” Barry pant. A few minutes later, Barry arrives. “So your brother was not kidnapped. He was pulling a job with your father.”

Lisa looks shocked. “What? No, Lenny would never do that. Are you sure it was my dad?”

Cisco types on the computer and an older man with a rap sheet appears on the screen. “That's him,” Barry states.

“Lewis Snart. Convicted of larceny, armed robbery, aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon.” Ronnie reads off.

“You have to believe me. Lenny would never work with him. He's a bad guy.”

Emma can see Caitlin is about to say something and quickly cuts her off “Why do you say that Lisa?”

Lisa sighed and moved her shirt down to reveal a scar on her collarbone. “I didn't get this scar being a criminal. I got it being a daughter.” Lisa reveals and walks away, and Cisco follows her.

Barry goes to talk with Snart and Emma decides to see how the boys are doing with the Breach.
___________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, on Earth 2, Willow was dressed in Pink Lightning standing in Star Labs, going over the final plan with Harry and Jesse.

“We just need to run a few tests and the Breach will be ready by tonight, so Pink Lightning has to die tonight,” Jesse informs.

“We have organised for a fire to start at one of the empty Star Labs’ warehouses. You just have to run in, we have cameras in the warehouse which is stored here, so try to take out the fire, but pretend to cough from the smoke. Jesse and I rigged some chemicals to explode. The first explosion will start the fire, the second will collapse some of the roof, and by then you will fall to the ground, injured or something. Make it believable. The final explosion will destroy the building, you need to phase down into the sewer before that happens. Jesse will scan the footage and annoyance send it to the news. Pink Lightning is dead and you come back here to get back to your Earth.” Harry explains.

“You make it sound easy” Willow scoffs. “What time will the fire start?”

“It's set for 9 tonight,” Jesse says.
_____________________________________________________________________

Barry gets called in to do CSI on the crime scene, meeting Eddie and Joe there.

“Something is weird with this one” Eddie greets.

Barry lifts the sheet covering the body which was discovered in the back of a truck. Clearly a dumpsite. “Oh. Decapitation. Yikes.”

“We're still recovering parts of the head, so the ID is taking a little longer than normal” Eddie informs. “Doesn't look like the head was sliced off with any weapon I'm familiar with”

“Yeah, you're right. Perforation around the neck-- it's too jagged. It's almost like the head was blown off.”

“That doesn’t sound like a meta” Eddie frowns, and Barry takes out a tool from his CSI kit.

“Traces of thermite.” He mutters,

“Bomb residue?” Eddie asks.

“But then why wasn't the rest of the body blown apart?”

“I don't know” Barry answers, and Joe walks up to them,

“The victim is David Rutenberg, security systems expert, and guess who's on his list of known associates? Lewis Snart.” Joe reveals.

“So this guy was part of Snart’s crew” Eddie suggests.

“Snart put a bomb in him to keep him in line?” Joe asks.

Barry shakes his head, “No, Snart wouldn't do that, but his father would.”

“So Lewis is killing people, and Snart's still working with him? What happened with the deal you had?” Joe asks.

“Maybe he doesn't have a choice.” Eddie shrugs,

“So you think Lewis put a bomb in his own son to force him to pull off a heist?” Joe asks.

“Snart still wouldn't do it. He'd dig the bomb out of his own head if he had to.” Barry informs.

“So it must be something else that Snart cares about,” Eddie states.

“The only thing Snart cares about is his sister,” Barry answers and calls Cisco.
________________________________________________________________

Emma walks into Star Labs’ basement to find Hartley, Ronnie and Jay hard at work. “Hey, I brought food!” Emma announces, holding up bags of Big Belly Burger. “Thought you might be hungry.” She smiles, handing Hartley, and Ronnie their bags, and moving closer to Jay.

“Ah, good to know whatever Earth you go to, there's always a Big Belly Burger. Thank you very much.” Jay smiles, taking the bag and Emma smiles prettily at him.

“Looks like you're making progress,” Emma states, looking around the messy room.

“Hartley and Ronnie have been very helpful. But I should be able to do this a lot faster.” Jay sighs.

“You miss it, your speed?” Emma asks.

“Yeah. Surprising how much.”

“So what will you do when you go back to your Earth?”

“I don't know. Guess I'll just have to get used to being--” Jay trailed off.

“Normal?” Emma finishes and they chuckle.

“Yeah. Two years ago, I was just a scientist slowly trying to save the world in my lab but after the Particle Accelerator exploded, I didn't need to wait years for my research to save a life, I could save one before breakfast. I could save 50 before going to sleep. There's nothing like that rush. You guys have been fighting so many battles, one after another, I'm not sure Barry's had time to take it in, to appreciate how great it can feel.”

Emma gently places her hand on his shoulder, “Being a superhero isn't always about how fast you can run. It's about helping however you can, wherever you're needed most. I think that Jay Garrick, a physicist, has just as much to contribute as Jay Garrick, a superhero. Maybe more.” She says softly and Jay smiles shyly back.

“Thank you, Emma” Jay is about to say more when Cisco’s voice could be heard over the speakers.

“Hey, Emma? We need you up here, like, right now.”

“Sorry. Good luck” Emma smiles and leaves the Basement.

“What’s wrong?” Emma asks as she finds Cisco, Barry and Caitlin around Lisa and the computer.

“There seems to be a bomb in Lisa’s neck.” Cait states.

Emma pauses. “That’s not good.” Lisa snorts. “Do we know what kind of bomb it is?”

Cisco answers, looking at the computer. “This is a concentrated bomb. It's gonna combust if it's exposed to magnetic friction and an oxidant.”

“So we can’t surgically extract it. It’s too risky for the Flash to extract it.” Emma nods in understanding.

“Exactly. I’m gonna find a way to get it out. I just need a little time.” Cisco states.

“Well, we need to keep track of Lewis until you figure out how to disarm the bomb,” Barry argues.

“I wish we knew what he was gonna steal next and when.” Cait sighs, and Emma gets an idea.

“I know! Flash could go undercover in their group.” Emma smirks.

“That could work, their tech guy is dead, so I'm betting they're gonna need a new one.” Barry smiles.

“You're gonna pretend to be a criminal?” Lisa and Cait ask in disbelief.

“How hard can it be?” Barry smirks and speeds out of the room.

“Lewis is gonna kill him after he’s done his part,” Lisa speaks up.

“He can take care of himself. Now we just have to work on getting that bomb out” Emma smiles kindly at Lisa.
_________________________________________________________________

It's about an hour later when Cisco comes back with a weird-looking gun in hand. “What are you gonna do to me with that thing?” Lisa asked hair clipped back away from her neck.

“Operating pressure on this is over 1,000 PSI. This will easily suck the micro-bomb out of her neck and into the barrel of this with one high-powered shot. There is one slight risk.” Cisco awkwardly finishes.

“Besides shooting a high-powered weapon directly against my neck?” Lisa asks doubtlessly.

“The gun does use compressed air.” Cisco slowly says.

Lisa lays her hand on Cisco’s arm. “I trust you, Cisco.”

“How do you feel?” Cisco asks, nervous.

“Like we should have put down some plastic.”

Cisco laughs but quickly stops himself. “It's not funny.”

“Yeah... but I like it when you smile.” Lisa smiles.

“Okay, ready?” Cisco asks as Cait and Emma watch from the side.

“Shoot me, Cisco.” Lisa deadpans.

It's a few tense seconds where Cisco rests the gun against Lisa’s neck when the computer beeps cutting the tension. Cait runs around to the computer. “It's—d--Flash!” She stumbles.

“Cisco, how's it going with Lisa?” Barry’s voice comes through the speakers on the computer.

“Uh, kind of in the middle of it right now, buddy!” Cisco calls out.

“All right, we need that bomb out. The heist is going down right now.”

Cisco again rests the gun against Lisa’s neck. “Do I wanna bet?” Barry calls out.

“Do not bet! Give me a minute.” Cisco shouts.

“Do it, Cisco,” Lisa mutters and Cisco pulls the trigger. There’s a quick high-pitched suction noise and the bomb gets sucked out on Lisa.

“I got the bomb out!” Cisco calls out.
_____________________________________________________________________

With Lisa gone, Lewis dead and Snart back in Iron Heights, Emma made her way down to the basement to find that Ronnie, Hartley and Jay had finished the Speed Cannon.

“You did it!” Emma smiles brightly.

“Hartley and Ronnie were very helpful” Jay shrugs with a smile.

“Very impressive Mr Garrick” Emma smirks as everyone else tickles in. “Tada! The Speed Cannon.” Ronnie grins.

“Wow! Look at that. Dudes, you actually built the thing.” Cisco says in amazement.

“Have you tested it out yet?” Cisco asks.

“Not yet. You wanna do the honours?” Cisco claps in excitement and grabs a piece of equipment from behind him, throwing it into the stable breach.

“Excelsior! How did you stabilize it?” Professor Stein asks once the breach didn’t bounce the object back out.

“CFL Quark Matter. Negative energy density with positive surface pressure.” Hartley answers.

“That's genius.” Cisco gushed.

“You created CFL Quark Matter?” Barry asks in disbelief.

“It's something we perfected on my Earth. I showed it to Hartley and Ronnie. I’ll show you some time too.” Jay grins.

“You mean, sometime in the next few minutes?” Professor Stein reminds.

“Oh, yeah I guess this is it, huh? Time for me to go back home.” Jay says recently.

Emma and Hartley share a look. Hartley nods.

“Right now? I mean we still need your help with the Breachers.” Emma asks quickly trying to find a reason for Jay to stay so they can find out more about him, like why he is lying.

“My first priority is Zoom. I need to find out what he's up to. How he stole my speed.” Jay argues.

“But you can do that here and, you know, if you go back, then we can't get in touch with you when we need your help or... with Zoom or whatever else.” Emma blushes lightly, and everyone in the room shares knowing looks, except Hartley.

“It would be nice to be able to pick your brain every once in a while, and get some more speedster tips.” Barry cuts in.

Jay laughs. “Okay... once we take care of Zoom, I'm going home.”

Emma smiles, “That's fair.”

“Good, 'cause I could use a shower, a shave, and some sunlight. I'll, uh, see you later.” Jay walks out of the room. Everyone follows soon after, but Emma and Hartley stay behind.

“Jay sounded very recusant in leaving” Hartley starts.

“Almost like he wanted us to tell him to stay,” Emma comments.

“When is that appointment with the PI?”

“Tomorrow mid-day”

“Hopefully he found something” Hartley sighs.

“And hopefully Willow comes back soon” Emma adds.
_______________________________________________________________

9 o’clock hits and the computer beeps with a notification of a fire at a Star Labs warehouse. Harry, Jesse and Willow were all packed, they just had to ‘kill’ Pink Lightning.

When Pink Lightning arrives inside the building, it's already fully alight. Just like planned, Willow spins her hands in circles, trying to put the fire out, but doesn’t do it fast enough, so it doesn’t work. Just then, Zoom appears right next to her.

Willow yelps in shock and runs to hide behind a burning wall, both Harry and Jesse immediately ask what’s wrong. “Zoom’s here” Willow whispers to them.

“Dad, what do we do?” Jesse asks.

“We follow the plan. The next explosion is set to go off in 30 seconds, and the next one, 1 minute after that. Distract him, fight him, talk. Just make sure he sees you in the building.” Harry answers.

“You’re insane” Willow hisses and speeds to the middle of the room, Zoom right in front of her.

“So, you must be Zoom. A pleasure to meet you, I’ve heard many things about you” Willow winces.

“You’ve got to be kidding me” Harry groans from her earpiece.

“You’re a far way from home little speedster” Zoom’s voice crackles.

“Yes, well I thought this place would be more my speed” Willow grins.

“You’re gonna wish you never came here” Zoom threatens.

“I already do. But this place has its perks. Good coffee, nice food. The only thing that needs fixing is the meta-humans running around” Willow glares just as there is a big boom and the walls shake, and some of the ceiling falls around them.

“This place is going to collapse!” Willow shouts over the roaring flames.

“It will be a good grave for you!” Zoom’s crackly voice screams and they start running in the building, Zoom chasing Pink Lightning around the flames. It goes on for just under a minute when Zoom manages to catch her, throwing her through the wall just as the third explosion hits, taking out the building. Zoom speeds out of there, stopping on the street, watching as the warehouse is destroyed with Pink Lightning inside it.

Meanwhile, Willow barely managed to phase down into the sewer below. Once safely inside, Willow speeds to Star Labs through the underground and arrives at the Cortex to find Harry and Jesse.

“Pink Lightning is dead” Willow announced. Jesse jumps and hugs her.

“Thank goodness you’re okay! We thought you died”

“Nope, but I’m very ready to get back home” Willow answers.

“I already sent all the newsagents the footage. Pink Lightning is officially dead on this Earth.” Jesse inputs.

“Great” Willow speeds off, changing into normal clothes and places her suit in her bag. “Let’s go”

“Yes, let’s go to Earth 1 and help Team Flash save the day” Harry rolls his eyes but grabs his bag and gun. Jesse and Willow grab their bags, and they follow Harry down to the basement where the Breach lies, stable.

“You sure it's safe?” Willow asks.

“Yes, now hurry up” Harry demands. Willow rolls her eyes, but grabs the father and daughter and runs into the Breach. Inside is like a light blue tunnel, ahead they could see another Earth. Earth 1. Her home. About halfway they could see something small headed towards them. Harry catches it, and it's a bit of equipment. Strange. They soon reach Earth 1 and appear in the Star Lab’s basement.

Willow then speeds them to her and Emma’s apartment. “Where are we Heart?” Harry says.

“Relax, this is the apartment I share with my sister” Willow rolls her eyes and knocks on the door.

A few moments pass and the door opens, revealing Emma. “Willow?”

Chapter Text

They soon reach Earth 1 and appear in the Star Lab’s basement.

Willow then speeds them to her and Emma’s apartment. “Where are we Heart?” Harry says.

“Relax. This is my apartment, which I share with my sister.” Willow rolls her eyes and knocks on the door.

A few moments pass and the door opens, revealing Emma. “Willow?”

Willow smiles brightly, tears gathering in her eyes. “It's me, Emma”

“Prove it, because there have been doppelgangers left and right lately” Emma sniffs, tears running down her face.

“Your family adopted me when I was 7. You are 2 years older than me. You are my best friend and my sister.” Willow starts,

Emma shakes her head, “Anyone can look that up. Something personal.”

Willow rolls her eyes but smiles nonetheless. “You are a doctor because when we were younger, I was very clumsy. One time, I broke my left leg and right arm. You basically nursed me and vowed to become a doctor so if I ever decide to fall down the stairs again, you can patch me back up and then hit me for being clumsy.” Willow gives a wet laugh.

“It is you!” Emma cries and nearly tackles Willow to the floor, Willow hugs back just as tight. “How did you get back?” Emma asks, pulling away.

“Let me and my friends come in and I’ll explain everything” Willow answers.

Emma turns to the other people and freezes. “Willow, why is Harrison Wells with you and how is he still alive?!”

“I call him Harry. He’s from Earth 2, and this is his daughter, Jesse” Harry glares and Jesse awkwardly smiles. “We need to talk”

“Yes, right” Emma moves and allows the group to 3 entrance into the apartment. Willow drags Emma to the couch, telling her to call Hartley as she starts dinner, despite it being nearly 9:30 at night.

Dinner was being served by the time Hartley entered the apartment, taking in all the occupations before pulling Willow in for a quick hug. “Glad you're not dead Detective” Hartley whispers.

“Missed you too Harltey” They pull away with a smile before things turn serious. “Alright. Guess I’ll start with what happened just after I got pulled into the Singularity. As soon as I fell through the Singularity, I knew something was off. I tried contacting Emma and Hartley but you didn’t pick up. No one picked up. I went to the apartment, but the key didn’t work, and when I got inside, all our things were gone, replaced with someone else’s. I freaked out for a bit and then found myself a change of clothes and a laptop. Earth 2 was so different.” Willow give a dry humourless laugh, “I found my way to Star Labs where I told Harrison Wells that I was from the wrong Earth. After many tests, he finally believed me.”

Emma takes her hand, “I’m glad you weren’t alone. Here has been pretty crazy too. After closing the Singularity, Barry blamed himself for not saving you. Either of you. Willow got stuck in a car and got sent up, by the way. He pushed everyone away, and it wasn’t until Hartiey talked with him that Barry finally let us help him again. Eddie and Iris got married, and Caitlin and Ronnie are happy. The Flash got the Key to the City. When Atom Smasher, a doppelganger attacked about 6 months after the Singularity. Just after we defeated him, Jay Garrick appeared and said that we were from another Earth. That he is the Flash on his Earth, he got sucked into the Singularity 6 months ago and lost his speed.”

“6 Months ago?” Willow cuts in.

“Yeah. Barry ordered Cait and I to do all these tests to make sure he was telling the truth. I discovered that he was dying. He somehow got the team to trust him.”

Willow smirks, “But not you two?”

“A few of the things he said didn’t make sense. And we don’t trust easily” Hartley answers.

“Jay seemed to like Caitlin, so I’ve started flirting with him to get his attention off Caitlin and onto me,” Emma adds. “I also have a PI spying on Jay”

“Good job you two” Willow beams. “I figured out who Zoom is”

Emma and Hartley snap their heads to her, “Who!?”

“A serial killer who killed 23 people. His name is Hunter Zoloman. And apparently, Jay Garrick doesn’t exist. He appeared out of the blue about 2 years ago. He is the Flash though, I met him about a month ago.”

“Wait a sec” Hartley pauses in his eating, “Jay said that he’s been stuck here for 6 months when the Singularity opened. The same Singularity you fell through. So how could you meet him as the Flash last month when he’s been here for 6 months?”

“Exactly” Willow smirks. “He’s clearly lying. We just need to figure out about what”

“Well, tomorrow I have the appointment with that PI. Maybe he learnt something helpful” Emma pipes in.

“Have we figured out what Zoom wants with Barry?” Hartley asks.

Harry finally speaks up, “We believe that he wants to steal the Flash’s speed and conquer this Earth.”

“Not if we can help it. Now, here's the plan. Don’t tell anyone that I’m back. After we hear what the PI has to say, we will make a new plan. Pink Lightning died on Earth 2 in an explosion. No one is to know that I’m a speedster. Especially Jay. We will tell the Team when this is sorted out. Agreed?” Willow asks. Everyone nods, “Great. Harry, Jesse, follow me and I’ll show you the guest room. It has two beds so you’ll be fine for now”
_______________________________________________________________

The next morning, Willow joins Emma at the PI appointment. Knocking on the frosted glass door, they enter when they hear a muffled ‘come in’.

The office was spaceish but about the same unorganised as the last time Emma was there. “Ah, Doctor Moon. Take a seat, I see you brought a friend” Ralph Ditney PI, greets.

“Detective Willow Heart. A pleasure” Willow smiles. “I’ve been out of town for the last few months, I just got back yesterday.”

“What have you found on Jay Garrick?” Emma asks, getting straight to the point.

Ralph grabs a file from his desk, “Well, you neglected to mention that there are two of them. But one of them under the name ‘Hunter Zoloman’.” Both Willow and Emma freeze. “He was easy to find. Your fellow though, no records, no nothing. All I got was a few hotel receipts from about a month ago. Seems like he just appears out of nowhere”

“This Hunter Zoloman. They look alike?” Emma asks.

“Well, Hunter wears glasses, and has a better fashion sense, but they could be clones” Ralph answers.

Willow stands up, “Thank you very much Mr Ditney. You’ve been very helpful, and done a thorough job. I’m very impressed.”

Emma follows. “Here’s payment and a bit extra for your troubles.” Emma hands him $1500. “Thank you and I’ll be sure to write a good Yelp review” Emma winks and they walk out, immediately calling Hartley.
___________________________________________________________

“So Zoom is really Hunter Zoloman. And Jay’s doppleganger is names Hunter Zoloman. So that must mean that Jay Garrick is Zoom” Willow sums up after explaining to the group what the PI said.

“You were right, Zoom did plant a mole in the Team. Himself.” Harry sighs.

“But how can he be in two places at once? Two different Earths?” Emma asks.

“There could be two of him. Not doppelgangers, but a possible effect of his powers. This version is pretending to have lost his speed, while the other version, Zoom, is faster than ever” Hartley explains.

Willow remembers something, “Emma, didn’t you say that Jay is dying?”

Emma stands up and grabs her laptop, “When Jay first arrived, Barry was untrusting. He asked Caitlin and I to do some tests. I started with his blood, which is like nothing I’ve ever seen.” Emma shows the group her screen.

Surprisingly, Jesse and Harry nod, “That’s type CD-. A common blood type on our Earth” Jesse explains.

“Next is the DNA, so the sample on the right is Willow’s taken a few days after she woke up. Her speed force is still new to her system. The sample on the left is Jay’s, see the difference?” Emma asks.

Hartley rolls his eyes, “Get to the point Emma”

Emma glares at him, but continues, “Jay’s cells are dying, slowly. The speed-force in them is non-existent. This means Zoom is dying, but it also doesn’t explain how Zoom still has its speed”

“Blue Lightning” Willow gasps. “Harry said that Zoom all of a sudden got blue lightning and he became faster. We theorise that he could have stolen another’s speed or made a drug that makes him go faster. Jay is a scientist, what if he made a drug to make him go faster but it's killing him instead?”

“Which is why he’s here. He wants to find a cure. It might be possible that he thinks Barry’s pure speed-force could be the cure. He wants to steal Barry’s speed. But why wait?” Emma asks.

Harry shakes his head, “Because every speedster wants to go faster” He says, quoting Willow. “He wants Barry to go faster, so Zoom can take more.”

“But what can we do about it? If there’s two of him, then taking out Jay won’t stop Zoom from coming” Jesse points out.

“Jay already has Team Flash’s trust. He thinks that Emma likes him and that I might be on Earth 2. Zoom has seen me as Willow, but he also knows that Pink Lightning is dead. So here’s the plan. We pretend that we are showing our hands. Harry and I will go to Star Labs, and reveal that Pink Lightning is dead. Jesse stays here, I know Harry wouldn’t want you near Jay.” Harry nods in agreement and Jesse looks annoyed but agrees. “Emma and Hartley are happy that I’m alive.” Willow starts.

“You said I have the face of a person who killed Barry’s mum. They won’t trust me” Harry points out.

“With me, they will,” Willow says forcefully. “We have to act normal. Convince Jay that we don’t suspect him.”

“What about the newspaper?” Hartley pipes in, and Willow groans.

“What newspaper?” Jesse and Harry ask.

“You remember when I told you guys about the Reverse Flash?” Both Harry and Jesse nod. “He was from the future, and he has a newspaper from 2017. Saying that the Flash and Pink Lightning are getting married”

“So you have a future newspaper telling you that you will marry Barry, even though you aren’t even dating yet?” Jesse asks.

“Pretty much,” Hartley answers. “Barry looks at the newspaper every day in hopes that Willow and Pink Lightning come back”

“He did?” Willow whispers with a fond smile. “I’ll deal with Barry and the newspaper. Right now, let's rest and tomorrow, Harry and I will go to Star Labs”

Chapter Text

Willow stands in front of Star Labs, which looks a bit more damaged than the last time she saw it. She’s nervous about so many things: Jay, Zoom, seeing the team again, and seeing Barry. They both left things unresolved.

Willow hears an annoyed sigh next to her, “Hurry up Detective. We don’t have all day”

She rolls her eyes at Harry’s impatience but walks inside the building, with Harry following her. It doesn’t take them long until they reach the Cortex, finding everyone there. “Knock, knock?” Willow smirks as all heads snap to her.

“Willow!” Emma screams, racing toward her to tackle her in a hug. Willow hugs back just as tightly, just like the other night.

“Emma” Willow whispers, tears in her eyes. Emma pulls away and Hartley takes her place for a short hug, to be quickly replaced by Iris, Eddie, Joe, Ronnie, Caitlin, Stein, Cisco and finally Barry.

“Is it really you?” Barry asks, voice thick with tears.

Willow nods her head quickly, “Its really me Barry. I’m back” Barry gives a wet laugh and pulls her into a tight hug.

“I’ve missed you all so much” Willow tearfully confesses as she pulls away. “Its been a hard 6 months.”

“What happened?” Barry asks. “I came back and you were gone.”

Willow shares a quick glace with Emma and Hartley. “When the Singularity opened above the city, I tried to get as many people to safety as possible. There was this kid, a baby boy. His mother was having difficults unbuclking his his baby seat. I went into the car to get a better angle on it and got the baby out. But just as I handed him over, the car got pulled up. I called Emma, told her I got sent up.” Willow lies easily. “When I went through the Singularity, I knew something was wrong. I tried calling, but it didn’t work. Went to my apartment, but the key didn’t work. Did my research” everyone rolls their eyes at this, “And figured out that I was on the wrong Earth, and made my way to Star Labs”

Willow turns her body to the dark body behind her, watching the scene, and rolls her eyes. “Harry stop being creepy and get in here.” Turning to the group, “Everyone, this is Harrison Wells, from Earth 2. He was the one who helped me get back home”

Everyone gasps at Harrison Wells’ doppleganger. “I call him Harry,” Willow smirks at Harry’s glare.

“So let me get this straight.” Cisco starts. “You went to another Earth, found the doppleganger of the man who murdered his mum, the person you shot and killed, and somehow found your way back here?” Cisco asks.

“Yeah, but he's not even the doppelganger of the Dr. Wells that we knew because that Dr. Wells' body had been taken over by the Reverse Flash, who was Eobard Thawne and Eddie's distant relative from the future.” Caitlin finishes.

“But this Dr Wells happens to be the Smartest Man on Earth, well, Earth 2. And he helped me” Willow points out. “Plus, when we went through the Breach, this almost hit us” Willow add, handing Caitlin the piece of equipment.

“Your stabilised Breach downstairs connects directly to the S.T.A.R. Labs on my Earth,” Harry explains.

“I want to run some tests on you both” Caitlin says.

“I'll be genetically indistinguishable from my Earth-1 counterpart. Your tests will reveal nothing,” harry argues.

“Great! Still gonna run 'em.” Caitlin states.

“I understand Cait, any good scientist must have all the facts before coming to an answer. Test away” Willow smiles.

“I have a question. What happened to Pink Lightning?” Barry asks.

Willow sighs and looks away. “I’m sorry Barry. We didn’t really interact. First I heard about her was that she started taking down metas on Earth 2. But… Last night, there was this fire. She ran into the building, an explosion happened, and she never came out. She’s dead. I’m so sorry”

“She’s dead?” Barry whispers in horror as Iris and Cisco frown in confusion. They both know Willow is Pink Lightning, so why is she lying? Cisco shoots Hartley a look, while Iris shoots Emma a look. They both shake their head.

Barry walks out of the room, and Willow follows him, finding him outside the Time-Vault, tears running down his face.

“Barry, come with me. We need to talk” Willow drags Barry into the Time-Vault room. “Barry Allen. I need you to trust me right now. Can you do that for me?”

“Prove to me that your my Willow” Barry whispers.

Willow smiles upon hearing him say ‘my Willow’. “When you found out I was investigating Mason Bridge’s dissappearance. You kissed me, and asked me to stop. That was the best kiss I ever had, and it only lasted a few seconds. I was heartbroken when you didn’t talk to me for 2 weeks after that. We had plans to go on a date, and then Eddie got kidnapped and we both forgot.” Willow laughs weakly. “I really like you Barry, and I want that second date. I promise this one, I won’t yell at you and storm off”

Barry laughs. Taking a step closer, Barry closes the gap between them and moves to kiss her. Willow meets him in the middle and they share slow but passionate kiss. “I trust you” Barry whispers as they pull away for air.

“Good. Then I need to tell you something. I’m keeping a secret from you. It’s a big secret. I can’t tell you what it is yet, but I will soon, I promise. But right now, I can tell you that Pink Lightning isn’t dead”

“But you said…?” Barry trails off.

“Zoom thinks that Pink Lightning is dead. We need to keep it that way. No one can know. No one. She’s on this Earth, but she won’t be Pink Lightning for a while. Promise me that you will tell no one”

“I promise, but why?” Barry asks.

“Zoom is after all speedsters. He wants to be the fastest. With everyone thinking Pink Lightning dead, its the only secret weapon we have against him”

Barry sighs, but nods his head, “After you got my dad out of prison, you have my trust for life. If you believe this is the right course, then I trust you”

Willow smiles and kisses him, “Thank you Barry” She begins leading him towards the Cortex again. “So, speaking of that missed second date. You up for a retry?”

“Yes. Tonight?” Barry asks. Willow nods and they join the others.

“I'm guessing you didn't travel between dimensions just to meet the Flash,” Eddie asks.

“That's exactly what I did. I came here to help you, Barry, to stop your greatest enemy. Zoom” Harry answers, turning to the couple.

“Zoom has been sending meta-humans from your world through the breaches to fight me.”

“Well, they're the symptoms. Zoom's the plague, One that's infected my world, and now he's coming for yours.” Harry states.

“What do you know about Zoom?” Iris asks.

“Everything. I created Zoom. I'm responsible for all the earth-2 meta-humans, a fact I've ignored for far too long, but now I'm doing something about it.”

“Zoom is obsessed with speed. He will never allow there to be another speedster in the multiverse, and he's gonna keep sending these meta’s here, one after the next, all with the same goal: To kill the Flash, unless we stop him together.” Willow says. “I know you all have history the man with his face, but I’ve been working with this guy for 6 months. I trust him. Please, if you don’t trust him, then trust me”

“We trust you Willow” Eddie speaks up, smiling.
_____________________________________________________________

Hartley dragged Cisco down to Jitters. “You do realise that when I said I wanted a drink, I didn't mean a latte, right? I was talking about alcohol. Like, mind-numbing alcohol.” Cisco complains.

“Just give him a chance, okay? He's not a speedster. He's just a regular, normal guy from another universe.”

“I never thought I'd miss time travel,” Cisco grumbles.

“Time travel. Cisco, you’re a genius!” Hartley exclaims, kissing Cisco passionately on the lips.

“While I’m glad that you acknowledge my intelligance, what did I do to deserve that?” Cisco asks, blushing heavily.

“You just reminded me of something” Hartley smiles and texts Emma and Willow. ‘Time-Travel. Explain later’.

“Speaking of reminding. If Willow is Pink Lightning, then how is Pink Lightning is dead, and Willow still alive?” Cisco whispers.

“I promise to explain later, but as of right now. Pink Lightning is dead, okay?” Hartley whispers forcefully.

Cisco glares, “Your lucky your cute” And Hartley smiles. Cisco then starts breathing weird and goes into this weird trance. “We have another breacher”

“You got another vision?” Hartley asks.

“Central city bank. Call Barry” Hartley nods and quickly calls Barry.
_______________________________________________________________

“Her name is Doctor Light.” Harry starts, plugging in a USB in the computer, and up comes all the information about Dr Light from Earth 2. “Small-time thief on my Earth until exposure to the dark matter from the Particle Accelerator and became a meta-human with the ability to derive power from starlight.”

“Oh, very cool.” Cisco grins.

“Stars having a temperature of 5,300 degree kelvin and a blinding luminosity, I would say, not ‘very cool’ at all,” Harry grumbles.

“You know, our Dr. Wells may have been evil, but you're just a Dick,” Cisco states.

“Okay, so obviously, Zoom brought her here from your Earth like the others.” Barry sighs.

“Now that we know that, We can use that to gain advantage,” Harry announces.

“What do you mean?” Barry asks.

“We capture Doctor Light and use her to lure Zoom here,” Harry says just as Jay comes storming in, Caitlin and Emma behind him. Hartley watching from his chair in front of the computers and Willow next to him.

“You are insane! Okay, we are not luring Zoom anywhere!” Jay shouts.

“Apparently, they know each other, and Jay is not a fan.” Cait states.

“Well, well, well. Like everyone else, I assumed Earth-2 Flash was dead. Why am I not surprised to find Jay Garrick here, still alive and in hiding a full universe away from Zoom?” Harry asks.

“I'm not in hiding. Zoom nearly killed me and stole my speed before the Singularity pulled me here.” Harry, Emma, Hartley and Willow share a look.

“Is that right?” Harry asks sarcastically.

“Yeah, that's right.” Jay glares at Harry.

“Well, whatever the case, in your absence, Zoom has only gotten more powerful, faster. Barry, you have to defeat Zoom now while you still can.”

Jay argues, “No, this isn't the time to be reckless. We don't even know why Zoom sent Doctor Light here. She's a thief, not a killer.”

“Zoom can make people do things out of character. Thief or not, she'll kill you.” Harry glares.

Barry has enough with their fighting. “All right, look, hey. We can decide what to do with Light later. First, we have to find her, okay?”

“I think I can get the Star Labs satellite to scan for any irregular solar radiation emissions and we can find doctor light's... lig,t.” Cisco says, siting down next to his boyfriend and types away at his computer.

“Okay, I'm gonna also see Joe, see if CCPD has any leads. Why don't we keep them apart until I get back?” Barry whispers the last part to Caitlin and Emma who nod.

“I’ll come with you! Should probably let Captain Singh know that I’m alive” Willow grins and follows Barry.

“How are you going to explain that your back from another Earth?” Barry asks.

“Emma and Hartley informed me that they told Captain Singh that I got pulled into the Singularity, the Flash saved me, but I’ve been in a coma with a bump to the head. I’ll just tell him that I’m awake” Willow laughs.

“Okay, well I was going to run over there…” Barry trails off.

Nodding in thought, “Well you can just take me with you. It’s every girls fantasy to be carried by a superhero.” Willow smirks. “Will you be my superhero, Flash?”

“I would be honoured” Barry laughs and picks Willow up, speeding them to the station.
_________________________________________________________________

Cisco walks into his workroom to find Harry on the computer, listening to music. “Hey, Harry. Hey, over here. Hey!” Harry looks up and rolls his eyes. “Come inside. Use my workroom. Use my computer! I don't care!” Cisco exclaims in sarcasm.

“Thanks,” Harry answers, not caring.

“You and Wells prime have very different musical tastes. His were better.” Cisco mutters.

“This Harrison Wells and I are very different But similar in some respects. I see he made almost the same mistake I did with the Particle Accelerator.” Harry says, looking at the computer, filled with information on Earth 1 Wells.

“He did a lot of terrible things, And none of them were by mistake.” Cisco mumbles and Harry stands up, moving towards him.

“What did he do to you? I know he caused the Singularity, murdered Barry's mother, blah, blah, blah, blah. What did he do to you?” Harry asks, banging a wench on metal to be Cisco’s attention. “You can barely look me in the eye. Why is that? What did he do to you?”

“He shoved his hand through my chest. He stopped my heart.” Cisco glares.

Harry chuckled with no humour. “Ouch, okay, that would do it, But you survived that.”

“Only because Barry erased that timeline.” Cisco points out.

“I see. Barry traveled in time.” Harry hums in thought. Willow is just as fast as Barry, which means she could time travel too.

“Just the once.”

“Hmm. Here's how it is.” Harry starts. “You don't have to like me. I don't like you, but you have to work with me to stop Zoom and Doctor Light. Can you do that?”

“I guess we'll see, won't we?”

“I guess we will.” Ciaco moves to leave the room, “One more thing...You said you were going to re-task the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite?”

“To scan for solar emissions, yeah, we're up and running.” Cisco answers.

“I'd like to examine your program. I want to see if it works.”

“Don't worry. It'll work.” Cisco then leaves, and Harry closes his flashing watch. Cisco is a meta.
______________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, while Emma was at work at the hospital, Willow went to Central City Picture News. Entering the office space, Iris immediately spots her.

“What can I do for you Detective?” Iris smiles.

“I need to speak to someone here, but since your here…” Willow leans in to whisper, “Since you know who Pink Lightning really is, I need you to promise me that if anyone asks, Pink Lightning died on Earth 2. Understand?”

Iris nods, “I understand, but why?”

“I encountered Zoom a few times on Earth 2. Zoom currently thinks that Pink Lightning is dead. I need it to stay that way so when the time comes, we have a secret weapon against him.” Willow explains.

“I get it. Thanks for telling me” Iris smiles. “What else were you here for?”

“Zoom sent Doctor Light from Earth 2 to kill the Flash. But Doctor Light’s doppleganger is Linda Park. I just want to keep her safe until Light is captured.” Willow explains.

“Where are you thinking on taking her?”

“Well Barry and I are going on a date tonight, so maybe Star Labs? But I don’t know how to get her there”

“You and Barry? That’s so great.” Iris beams, “I’ll call Eddie. I don’t think Linda will come to Star Labs, so I’ll get Eddie to stay with us.”

“Perfect. Thank you. Call me if anything happens.”

“Enjoy your date” Iris smirks and Willow leaves.
________________________________________________________________

Hartley steps into the Cortex to find Caitlin, Cisco, Harry, and Jay surrounding Barry whose on the bed.

“What did I miss?” Hartley smirks.

“Dr Light fried Barry’s eyes,” Cisco explains.

“Ouch.” Hartley laughs, “How long until he heals?”

“He is suffering from solar retinopathy and his retinas are severely damaged. He’s very lucky he isn’t permanently blind.” Cait states and turns to Barry “But with your rapid regeneration abilities, Your sight should return soon.”

“6.25 hours by my estimation.” Jay pipes in.

“All this could have been avoided if you just stopped Light instead of chitchatting with her,” Harry grumbles.

“She caught Barry off guard.” Jay defends.

“Always an excuse with you, right?” Harry responds, “He's the fastest man alive. How could she possibly do that?”

“Because light looks exactly like my ex-girlfriend, Linda park,” Barry confesses.

“That's why Zoom sent her, because he knew you'd hesitate.”

“But how did Zoom know that Linda was Barry’s ex-girlfriend?” Cisco asks.

“Could have been a conicedence.” Hartley offers.

“Which is why Barry has to act now, before Zoom sends another double from Barry's life,” Harry argues.
“All right, right now, I'm more worried about Linda. When I saw who was under the mask, I said her name. What if Light didn't even realise that she had a doppelganger here until I accidentally told her?” Barry asks and Hartley gets a text.

“The first thing that Atom Smasher did when he crossed the breach was to kill his doppelganger.” Cisco points out.

“Yeah, but Light's not like Atom Smasher,” Jay argues. Hartley hums in thought, Jay is really playing strong to the ‘good guy’ act.

“We should keep an eye on your Linda.”

Hartley speaks up, “Already done. It seems Eddie will be staying with Iris and Linda all night. So Barry can go to his date”

Barry groans, “I forgot about that. Willow and I have been going back and forth for so long, I doubt she's gonna give me another shot when I have to cancel on her.”

“Don't cancel.” Hartley shrugs.

“I'm blind, Hartley. A literal blind date. It's not gonna work.” Barry sighs in defeat.

“Willow was so looking forward to it” Hartley sighs. “If only you were in a scientific lab with the most smartest people on the planet” Harltey rolls his eyes. “You can either: cancel, tell Willow that your blind, or use that brain of yours to figure something out, as I’m sure there's gotta be something here that can help you get through the night… or someone” Hatley hints and Barry snaps his head up.

“Cisco, hey!” Barry shouts to Cisco who is right behind him on the computer, walking the wrong way.

“To your left.” Barry changes directions, which is still the wrong way, “He’s right behind you Barry.”

“Cisco!” Barry calls out and Hartley shakes his head.
_________________________________________________________________

Willow is dressed in a simple but beautiful red dress, with matching heels, purse and lipstick. Her brown hair was curled and she just had a hint of makeup on. They decided on dinner, so Willow headed to the restaurant to wait for Barry.

When Barry stumbles into the restaurant, Willow fights to laugh at the sight of Barry wearing sunglasses inside, running into everything.

“Okay. She's two steps in front of you.” Cisco informs from his earpiece. Cisco and Hartley were in Star Labs, watching Barry on his date with Willow while eating takeout.

“Nice glasses,” Willow smirks, watching as Barry walks like a new-born foul, and finally sits down.

“Touchdown.” Cisco cheers.

“I'm so sorry I'm late.” Barry starts.

“Barry Allen, late? Who would have thought?” Willow giggles, “Its fine Barry, you have a reputation for always being late, which is why I said the dinner was at 5, instead of 5:30 and it’s currently 5:35 so you’re only late by 5 minutes”

Barry laughs with a sheepish look on his face, “You got me there. Well done Detective”

“So, Hartley was telling me that Dr Light is in town?” Willow starts, not sure what to talk about other than work.

“Umm, yeah. Did you encounter her on Earth 2?”

“Not me, but I know Pink Lightning fought her. Last I heard, she was doing 5 years in jail.”

“What was Earth 2 like?” Barry asks, Cisco and Hartley sit forward in their chairs, eager to hear.

“Different. People I recognised had no idea who I was. When I was doing my research, I found out that on Earth 2, my parents were alive, but their Willow Heart had died when she was 10. Emma still lived in our home town, working as a dentist. I saw Zoom once.”

Barry sits up, “You saw Zoom? How? When?”

“I had taken a job as a receptionist for a bit, it was around the same time when Pink Lightning was defeating metas, and one night when I was working late, Zoom comes speeding through the door, his hand around my throat and pushes me against the wall. He kept asking if I’ve seen another speedster. I guess she gave him the slip, because he was really angry, I was really scared, but I told him I hadn’t and for some reason he left. Je-Harry said I was lucky to be alive.” Willow looks down, still remembering Zoom’s mask and her fear.

Barry blindly reaches to hold her hand, “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I should have protected you.”

“Barry, it wasn’t your fault.” Willow gentky squezes his hand, “I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself. But the whole time I was there, I was worried for you.”

“For me?” Barry asks, shocked.

“I know you, I know you would have blamed yourself for not saving me or Pink Lightning. I was worried that Zoom might go after you, I was worried that-” Willow gets cut off by Barry cupping her cheek in his hand.

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m okay. And now with you here. With Team Flash, we will defeat Zoom.” Barry gives her a soft smile which Willow returns. “Now, for the rest of tonight, no shop talk. Let’s just get to know each other”

Willow softly laughs, “Okay Barry.”

“Dude, she looks amazing. You have to tell her how amazing she looks.” Cisco cuts in.

“You look amazing, Willow”

“Thank you Barry. I also want to say thank you for not cancelling”

“Why would I cancel?” Barry asks.

“Well considering you are blind right now…” Willow trails off and Barry groans.

“How did you know?”

“Apart from the fact that you ran into basically everything when coming in? Hartley told me” Willow smirks.

“Dude!” Cisco pouts at Hartley who laughs.

Barry groans in defeat, “I’m sorry Willow. Dr Light blinded me and I didn’t want to cancel on you”

Willow smiles, taking his hand, “It’s okay Barry. I think its sweet that you didn’t”
____________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, while Eddie, Iris and Linda are at CCPN with their editor trying to reach their deadline, Jay and Emma were sitting in a van watching from outside.

“Here you go,” Emma says, handing Jay a cup of coffee.

“Thank you.” Jay smiles, taking the cup.

“Classic stakeout fuel. You have coffee on your Earth, right?” Emma asks.

“I think coffee's the one constant in the multiverse.” Jay jokes and they both laugh.

“So I don't mean to pry, but when Wells keeps referring to you and Zoom, what's he talking about?” Emma asks, fishing for information.

“I fought Zoom many times, each time barely escaping with my life. So yeah, maybe I didn't always confront him when I should have. Truth is, Zoom scared me. He stole the most precious thing from me: My speed. I didn't want Barry to suffer the same fate.” Jay confesses, and Emma barely stops herself from rolling her eyes. Jay is the one trying to take it!

“Well, maybe if you just sat down with Wells, talked to him about it…”

Jay cuts her off, “No, no, no. Do not trust Wells, Emma. The guy was more than happy to make money off the meta-human problem with his tech apps, and now he's obsessed with Zoom. Something has changed and not just because I disappeared.”

Maybe its to protect his daughter, “Well, I don't trust Wells. I trust you.” Emma whispers and Jay laughs softly with Emma’s giggle. “Okay, so what else is different about our worlds? Do you have Tahiti?”

“Never been, but I do love Atlantis.”

“As in the lost city submerged in the ocean somewhere?” Emma asks, shocked.

“Well, it's actually above water on my earth. One of my best friends is from there.” Jay smiles.

“I would love to see it,” Emma confesses.

“It's special. It's the kind of place you never want to leave.” Jay says slowly, and with their eye contact, its a very inimite moment. Jay slowly moves forward, and Emma follows. They inch closer, when their lips meet for the briefist second when they are blasted from Dr Light. The van tips on its side and Emma and Jay was knocked unconscious.

Dr Light enters the building. “Hello, gorgeous.” She smirks, eyes on Linda. Eddie is ready, standing up in front of Linda, gun pointed at Dr Light.”Step away from her” Light orders.

“Not a chance” Eddie glares.

“What do you want from me?” Linda asks from behind Eddie.

“Your life. I've never killed anyone before, but it's not murder if it's your double, right?” Dr Light asks rhetotally, gearing up.

“Why are you doing this?” Linda asks, scared.

“It's the only way that I can stay alive. To become you. I'm sorry, Linda.” Just as Dr Light is about to attack, Eddie shoots her in her leg. Light cries in pain and shock, dropping to the ground.

“Stay where you are” Eddie demands, pointing his gun at her. Light throws out her hands, sending everyone back. Eddie stands up quickly, but Light is already gone, but she left her mask behind.
________________________________________________________________

Willow tightens her hold on Barry’s arm as she leads him to a bench in the park. “Alright, lets sit here for a sec”

Barry clumsly sits down and Willow sits next to him, leaning her hand on his shoulder. “This is my favourite spot in the city. Sometimes when I’m stressed over a case or my personal life, I come here and just breath” Willow softly explains.

“That’s beautiful.” Barry places her hand on her cheek, “You’re beautiful”

Willow laughs softly, “You can’t even see me right now”

“That doesn’t matter, you are always beautiful to me” Willow smiles brightly. Grabbing his hand hand and placing it on her other cheek.

“I think that deserves a kiss, Mr Allen” Willow whispers.

“Well, if the lady insist” Barry jokes, and moves closer, pulling her in for a gentle but magical kiss.

Barry opens his eyes and smiles, “I was right, you do look beautiful”

“Now you can see?” Willow laughs.

“I can.”

“That must have been some kiss.”

“I guess so,” Barry smirks and pulls her in for another. A few minutes later, their phones ring.
________________________________________________________________

“There were after me, why were they after me?” Linda is asking Joe and Eddie when Willow arrives after changing.

“Linda, none of this is your fault. We're gonna figure it all out, I promise.” Eddie assures and Barry walks up to the group.

“How you doing?”

“I'm alive, thanks to Eddie.” Linda smiles,

“I've arranged a security detail around the clock, just to be sure,” Joe announces.

“I can take you to them if you're ready.” Willow offers and Linda nods. Willow takes her outside.

“Thank you Eddie, for being here” Barry smiles.

“Of course” Eddie nods, “You think this mask can help us find her?” Eddie points to Dr Light’s mask in Barry’s hands.

“Any evidence on this is just gonna match Linda. I'll think of something else. Light's not gonna get away”
_____________________________________________________________________

Barry and Willow walk into Stark labs to find Emma doing first-aid on Jay. Ronnie was standing with Caitlin, Cisco and Hartley were at the computers while Harry was pacing.

“Emma, are you guys okay?” Willow asks, shooting Emma a look.

Emma smiles, winking “Yeah, we’re okay. Just a few bumps and bruises”

“Barry, I’m sorry.” Jay starts, “I thought we could reason with her, I never thought she would go after her doppleganger”

“You cannot reason with someone under Zoom's influence, and now Light is gone because of you, Garrick! This whole thing is because of you. He doubts himself because of you, but believe me, Barry can do what you could not. Barry can stop Zoom.” Harry shouts at Jay.

“I spent two years hunting Zoom.”

“Wrong! Zoom hunted you! You spent the last two years of your life running, running, running from Zoom!”

“Zoom would have killed me just like he will kill Barry if you lead him down this path!” Jay argues.

“No, because he is not like you. Barry runs towards danger, not from it, because Barry's not a coward!” Jay punches Harry, who punches back. It seems no one is doing another to stop this, so Willow acts.

Getting out her handcuffs, when Jay goes to punch Harry again, she quickly grabs his arm, twists it behind him and handcuffs him. She quickly does the same to Harry “Enough! Stop fighting like children. I get you both hate each other, but fighting won’t fix anything. But Harry is right in one thing. Barry will defeat Zoom” Willow glares at Jay.

“I've seen what you can do, Barry. I've calculated how fast you can run, and you should be teaching Jay, not the other way around.” Harry begins. “I’m not my doppleganger, so you need to listen to me when I say you can take care of Zoom, and all we have to do is capture Doctor Light.” Willow uncuffs Harry and Jay.

“I thought about testing the mask for Light's DNA, but it would only have Linda's.” Barry sighs.

“The mask, what mask?” Harry asks.

“Light's mask,” Barry answers.

“How did you get this?” Jay asks when Hartley brings it out.

“When Eddie shot Light, she blasted everyone away with her powers, and left her mask. Why? Do you know how to use the mask to find Light?” Barry questions.

“Yes, I do. All we have to do is give it to him.” Harry turns to Cisco.

“Why me?” Cisco asks, nervous.

“Because you have powers,” Harry reveals. Emma and Hartley rolls their eyes, way to be gentle about it.

Cisco laughs nervously, shooting Hartley a scared look. “What are you talking about?”

“I developed this watch to detect meta-humans.” Harry holds his hand infront of Barry and the watch beeps. “You never got an alert on your phone.” Harry then moves to Caitlin, the watch doesn’t beep. He thankfully skips Willow and stands next to Cisco. “You never reprogrammed the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite, and this is why.” Harry holds his hand in front of Cisco and Harry’s watch beeps. “He's a meta-human.”

“Cisco, have you known about this, and you didn't say anything to us?” Barry asks, heartbroken.

“Yeah, I was gonna tell you. Thanks a lot, Harry.” Cisco glares at Harry’s retreating. “I swear I was, but I didn't. I was just--I was afraid” Hartley holds Cisco’s hand.

“Afraid of what?” Ronnie asks.

“It was like when I was seeing myself die in the other timeline. I kept seeing things, things I couldn’t possiblily know. It scared me. I told Hartley, and he’s been helping me trying to understand it, but I didn’t want to tell you guys until I knew what it was, so I didn’t hurt anyone”

“Cisco, I don't think any of us would become evil If we all of sudden got powers” Caitlin states.

“Yeah, maybe you're right. I should have said something. That's my fault. I'm sorry.” Cisco says, tightening his grip on Hartley’s hand.

“Well, you can be sorry later, because right now, we have to use your powers to find Doctor Light,” Harry states.

“Cisco, your abilities, how do they work?” Jay asks.

“Uh, I get these feelings sometimes, these vibes, visions of the breachers, when they come to this earth. I just--I'm not sure what triggers it. Sometimes it just happens. Sometimes it's when I'm touching something of theirs.” Cisco struggles to explain.

“Touch the mask.” Harry orders. “You want to find Doctor Light, do it.”

Cisco breathes deeply, nearing his hand closer to the black and white mask. When it finally meets its target, Cisco pats around, “Hmm. Hmm. I don't think it's working.”

“Try again. Try again!” Harry demands.

“Whoa.” Cisco touches the mask again, but nothing happens. “I'm sorry, it's not--”

Harry cuts him off, “Again!”

“I can't control it,” Cisco argues.

“Because you're afraid,” Harry states, grabbing thr mask off the table.

“I'm telling you I don't know how it works! I can't just make it happen!”

“I'm telling you, yes, you can!” Harry thrusts the mask on Cisco’s chest, who gasps in shock.

“South plaza train station, platform 15,” Cisco mutters once he’s come too.

“What are you waiting for?” Harry asks Barry who runs off.

“Oh, guys, the platform's crowded. Are you sure she's here?” Barry asks through his comms.

“She should be wearing a black trench coat,” Cisco informs.

“Black trench coat. Found her. Everybody, get out of here. Go, go, hurry!” Barry chats with Linda’s doppleganger for a few minutes when he calls out to the group again. “Guys, should have talked about this before I left, but how should I stop her?”

Jay takes over, “Keep trying different angles, Barry. Find her blind spot.”

“I can't get close enough. What should I do?”

Willow remembers who she took out Dr Light on Earth 2. “You need to confuse her. Give her more than one target, so she does not know who to fire at.”

“All right, how do I do that?” Barry asks.

Harry answers, “By running so fast, you create multiple afterimages of yourself, you create a speed mirage.”

“I've never run that fast.”

“Well, from what I've been told, you've travelled through time. You'll be more than fast enough.” Harry says.

“Okay.” A few moments later, we hear Barry grunt in pain. “I can't do it.”

Jay responds, “Yes, you can, Barry. Hey, Dr. Wells is right. You are fast, faster than I ever was and better than I ever will be. Don't let fear and doubt hold you back like it did to me. You're the Flash, Barry. Show Light what that means.” A few moments later, and Barry has defeated Dr Light.
_______________________________________________________________

“Doctor Light is safely locked in the pipeline” Ronnie announces, walking to the Cortex with Caitlin.

“Nicely done.” Cisco greets.

“Couldn’t have done it without my wonderful wife” Ronnie hugs Caitlin, who beams.

“Wells, thank you for helping Barry put away Doctor Light” Iris offers.

“So what now?” Joe asks.

Barry answers, “We do what Dr. Wells said. We use her to lure Zoom here, end this once and for all.”

Jay argues, “You can't be serious.”

“More breachers are gonna come. Innocent people may die. I can't let this happen anymore.”

“You're making a mistake. Okay, Zoom is a nightmare you can't wake up from.”

“I've already had my worst nightmare. His name was Reverse Flash, and I spent a long time being afraid of him. I'm not gonna be afraid anymore.” Willow beams with pride at Barry.

“Okay, Barry. You may be faster than me, but you're not ready to fight Zoom by yourself.” Jay states and Willow stands next to Barry, taking his hand.

“That's just it, Jay. Barry isn’t gonna fight Zoom by himself. He has his family and his friend fighting along side him. Zoom won’t stand a chance” Barry smiles at her.

“I can't in good conscience help you when I know it'll only lead to you losing your speed, Or even worse, Your death.” Jay disagrees.

“Optimism must be an Earth-1 thing,” Cisco mutters to Hartley.

“You don’t even know how you lost your speed, so unless you have any helpful hints in preventing it, you’re not helping” Willow glares at Jay. “Why are so distrustful of Harry, when all he wants to do is help?” Willow snaps.

“Wells isn’t someone you should trust. He has secrets.” Jay states.

“Yeah well, I’ve trusted him for months. And look where that got me. Back home with my friends and family. Everyone has secrets Jay, I wonder what yous are?”

Jay shakes his head and walks out. “Jay, please don't go.” Emma pleads, following her role.

“I'm so sorry, Emma.” With that, Jay walks out.
___________________________________________________________________

“It seems like Jay is very good at manipulation” Jesse comments after Emma recaps the eventful few days.

“He is. He already has Barry believing that Jay is a hero. That Jay knows better than Barry, and he is feeding more mistrust between the team and Harry.” Hartley states. “But Willow yelling at him was certainly fun to watch”

Willow pouts, “I didn’t yell.”

Emma speaks up, “What did you mean, ‘Time-Travel explain later’?”

Hartley perks up, “I know we all agreed it was a bad idea, but I think Willow should learn how to time travel. And some of that speed mirage”

Willow groans, “Great, more expirments”

“You know it!” Emma laughs.

Jesse turns to Hartley. “So, you don’t have powers, but gloves that shoot out sonic blasts?”

Harltey nods, “Yeah, I was thinking on calling myself Piped Piper. Emma, Cisco and I have been doing some good. Taking down some small time thieves.”

“That’s so great Hartley” Willow grins. “We just need to find your Vibe”
____________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, at Jitters, Barry, Caitlin, Ronnie and Cisco are sitting around drinking coffee. “So, how was the date?” Cisco grins.

“You saw most of it!” Barry laughs, “It was nice. We kissed”

“My man!” Cisco cheers.

“How are you and Hartley?” Ronnie asks.

“Still going strong”

“I think, if I would have told you 3 years ago that you would be dating Hartley Rathaway, you would have sent me to a nut house” Ronnie laughs with the others joining in.

“I misjudged him. He can still be a jerk, but he has a soft side” Cisco smiles softly.

“Things are looking up for Cisco Ramon.” Barry jokes.

“Still stuck with these powers, though. Just don't know how to feel about 'em.”

“Hey, look, You don't gotta go through it alone.” Barry smiles.

“And now you need a cool name.” Caitlin points out.

“Oh, snap! You're totally right. I gotta think about this one. Well, you know me. It's gotta be perfect. Something that really sings, You know? Something like…” Cisco trails off.

“Vibe?” Barry suggests.

“Vibe.” Caitlin smiles.

“Vibe.” Ronnie nods.

“Vibe” Cisco agrees with a smile, wondering why it sound so familer.

Chapter Text

“Jay already knows that Barry wants to use Dr Light to help take down Zoom, so anything that the Team comes up with wouldn’t work and Zoom will just make it work for himself.” Willow starts, serving dinner to the others.

“Well if you were an evil speedster, what would you do?” Emma asks, shooting Willow a smirk at her playful glare.

“If I were an evil speedster, I wouldn’t come when they expected me to. I would catch them by surprise. Use it to my advantage.” Willow answers.

“You are about the same speed as Zoom, and you’re little faster than Barry. Barry has the heart, but he needs to get faster” Jesse says. “Remind me why we aren’t telling the Flash about Jay?”

“Because Jay already has their trust, and we don’t have anything on Jay. Its just theory and guess work, Barry will never believe me. Espacally when Zoom is on Earth 2, and Jay is on Earth 1 with no speed and everyone from Earth 2 confirming that Jay is the Flash” Willow sighs sadly. “Plus, we need the advantage.”

“You know Dr Light will never help. She’s terrified of Zoom.” Jesse says.

Hartley nods, “We know. But Barry doesn’t. Make him worry about that, we just need to worry about keeping Barry alive”

“Barry is going to use every trick he can think of to defeat Zoom. Including the tricks Jay taught him.” Emma says.

“If jay taught Barry how to throw lightning, it only gains to reason that Zoom knows how to catch it and throw it back. Any good maniupalter knows that trick” Willow points out.

“Before I left Earth-2, I worked on a serum to dampen Zoom's speed. All we would need is for Ramon to develop a weapon to deliver it.” Harry speaks up.

“I can catch a bullet, what makes you think Zoom can’t catch anything you shoot at him?” Willow asks.

“The element of surprise,” Harry states.

Willow gets an idea, “Or the opposite element of speed.” She stands up and rushes to grab her coat. “I’ll be right back, I just need to grab something” With that, Willow leaves the apartment.

“You know what she meant?” Emma asks Hartley.

“If I know Willow, its something crazy that might save Barry’s life” Hartley answers and continues eating.

Half an hour later, Willow comes back with a briefcase. “What’s that?” Harry asks.

Willow opens it and reveals Captain Cold’s Cold Gun. “Cisco made this last year. It reaches Absolute Zero. Defeated Barry a few times, might be enough to take out Zoom” Willow smirks.
_______________________________________________________________

The next day, after Barry is finishing interrogating Dr Light, Harry watches as Caitlin and Cisco discuss his serum to dampen Zoom’s speed, needing Cisco to make a gun for it.

“Oh, great, that could be this year's cold gun. Maybe another criminal can get it, and then we'd have Sergeant Slow.” Caitlin argues.

“I would never let that happen. Sergeant Slow is a terrible name.” Cisco states.

“Are we forgetting how much more powerful than Barry Zoom seems to be I mean, if Barry can catch bullets, what's to say Zoom can't catch whatever you shoot at him?” Caitlin asks, almost quoting Willow.

“Surprise-- the element of surprise. All we would do is rig a projectile to fire as Zoom crosses into the breach. He can't stop what he can't see coming.” Harry answers.

“That's great,” Barry comments.

“Thanks.”

“Joe, voice of reason here?” Caitlin tries.

“We need a plan. That's as good as any. As long as he can deliver.”

“Don't underestimate me, Detective,” Harry says and walks away to work.
_________________________________________________________________

4 hours outside of Central, Emma, Hartley and Jesse watch as Willow works on her speed mirage. She can successfully make a copy of her self, but Jesse wanted her to make one is her costume and one herself is where she’s struggling.

“Try again” Jesse orders. Willow pants but does so. But it takes too long in changing into her outfit that it ruins the effect. “Okay, stop. This isn’t working. Forget that for a second, I want you to make as many you’s as you can while making them look like a normal person and no flickers.”

After an about half an hour, Willow is successful and lies down on the floor, trying to catch her breath. “25 Pink Lightning’s and even I couldn’t tell which one was the real one, nicely done,” Hartley smirks at Willow’s glare.

“She’s almost as bad as you guys in training” Willow huffs out.

“Then we should get along great” Emma jokes, handing Willow a drink and a bar.

“I regret everything” Willow mutters.

“Next up is Lightning throw. And since we have to believe Zoom can also do this, I’ll get you to catch it back and forth for a bit” Jesse states

“Kinda like playing ball with yourself, but the ball is a bolt of lighting, and you’re going super fast” Emma jokes.

“Right.” Standing up, Willow begins running in circles, and when she feels ready, slowing herself down to grab a bolt of lightning from behind her and aiming it at the dummy. It misses.

“Try again.” Willow groans in pain.
____________________________________________________________________

Eddie meets Joe and Barry at the elevator when they arrive. “Hey guys, I know Dr Light is locked in the pipeline, but I was up all night working on the Doctor Light case. I've been trying to anticipate all the powers she might throw our way, you know, in case she tries to back out on helping us with Zoom. Did you know that light energy can be turned into hard light? And on the other end of the spectrum is invisibility. It's just hypothetical, but she might be able to do it.”

“Dr Light knows that this is the only way. But thanks Eddie” Barry smiles and heads to his lab. On his desk was a note.

‘Heard you blamed yourself for me getting sucked into the Singularity. Also heard you got a key to the city. You deserve it. I’ll see you soon, hopefully. But it’s too risky now, I’ve fought Zoom before, and you have the heart to stop him, you need to think things through and don’t rush things. And remember, I’m supposed to be dead. -Your secret weapon ;)’

Barry grins at the note, knowing it was from Pink Lightning. Though a little worried that Pink Lightning knows his identity, he is glad that she’s okay. Barry burns the note and gets to work.
___________________________________________________________________

It takes another hour for Willow to successfully learn how to throw lightning, and to catch lightning. After making themselves dizzy for 5 minutes watching Willow play ball/lightning with herself, Jesse decided to finish the day with a bang. “Alright, next is Time-Travel. Now going back is too risky, so I want you to go forward by 10 minutes, snap a photo of us, and come back. Okay?” Jesse asks.

“Yep” Willow sighs, finishing her drink and takes off. It only took her two hours to figure it out.

“We should head back, but I want to try one more thing” Hartley says getting out another dummy from the car. “With your speed, it should be easy, but I want you to learn how to do a ‘Super-Sonic Punch’.”

“Isn’t that a bit risky? She needs to be 5.3 miles away. Someone could see her!” Jesse stresses.

“Which is why I want her to try it in 3 miles,” Hartley replies.

“So 5.3 miles going mach 1.1, speed up to 3 miles at 2.6?” Emma asks, trying to keep up with the science talk.

“More like mach 2.8 but yeah” Jesse nods, “But it’ll almost be impossible”

“No harm in trying” Willow sighs, and runs off. After an hour, she was never able to do the ‘Super-Sonic Punch’.

“Okay, time to wrap up, Cisco just texted me, Doctor Light managed to hack into the lights of her cell. The whole building runs on fiber optics that operate on pulses of light, so she turned off the dampeners and used her powers. So now Barry wants to use Linda, his ex, instead.” Hartley informs after reading the text from Cisco.

“Well that’s a terrible idea,” Willow mutters.

“Then we better get back and see what they are thinking” Emma says.

“Central is 4 hours away and I can’t risk using my speed in case Jay or someone sees me. We just have to drive back, should get there around 7.” Willow states. “Better get ready for Zoom.”

“Well he obviously won’t come when they want him too, and he wants to catch them by surprise. My best bet, Zoom will arrive at Star Labs a few hours after they expect him to.” Jesse suggets.

“Which means we have to keep our guard up and get everything into place.” Hartley pipes in, quickly loading the dummies into the car.

“As a speedster, the best place to attack is outside, more room to move and run,” Emma states.

“He might attack at Star Labs, attacking Barry on his own turf and everything” Willow hums in thought. “I could grab the ice gun, find a hiding spot, and wait at the front of Star Labs, surprise Zoom.”

“But he might not attack Star Labs.” Emma points out.

“I’m sure she can get to the place fast enough” Jesse laughs.
______________________________________________________________

After dropping off Jesse and making sure she is safe, the group arrives at the cortex just as Linda, dressed at Dr Light, is ‘fighting’ the Flash.

“Hey guys, heard Linda was playing a villain, wanted to see how that is going” Willow jokes, and just then hears over the speakers.

“I'm here to kill The Flash, and no one can stop me!” Linda yells and then whispers in her earpiece, with the group at Star labs watching from the surrounding cameras. “How's that?”

“Uh, it's a little too much. Uh, stop messing with the earpiece.” Cisoc answers.

“Yeah, you don't want to dislodge it.” Caitlin pipes in.

“Right, you--you told me that. I'm sorry.” Linda states, very nervous.

“Don’t worry Linda. You’re doing much better then the first time Willow had to go undercover” Emma snickers.

“Shut up!” Willow hisses, hitting a laughing Emma.

“I need to hear that story” Cisco jokes.

Iris rolls her eyes and takes over the mic. “No, no, you're doing great, Linda.”

Barry’s voice comes through the speakers, “All right, Doctor Light, here I am. But we're gonna skip the part where you say you're gonna kill me and go right to the part where I don't let you.”

“I'm here to kill you, Flash.” Linda states and pauses, “Wait, what are you doing? We're skipping that?” She whispers.

“Yes,” Barry whispers back.

“Uh, I am loyal to Zoom, so get ready to fry.”

“Next time we're doing this, I'm writing better dialogue,” Cisco mutters.

Everyone in the cortex turns to him, “Next time?”

“Gotcha,” Linda states. “Told you, Zoom always wins.” She then whispers to Barry, “You're okay, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I had to make it look good.”

“Here it is, Zoom, I did what you wanted. Now bring me home.” The group can see Linda rip off Barry’s emblem and throw it into the Breach.

After about an hour Zoom doesn’t appear and Barry gives up. This was what Willow and the group suspected would happen. Willow decides to go back to her apartment and get the cold gun and check on Jesse.

Emma and Hartley watch as Harry storms into the cortex with Eddie, Joe, Barry and Linda following. “So Wells ain't taking this well,” Barry comments.

“How about you?” Joe turns to Barry as Eddie drives Iris and Linda to Linda’s apartment.

“Yeah, it just sucks, you know.” Barry sighs in disappointment and moves away from the group with Joe “You were right a little bit about this not being just about Zoom-- about it being about the Reverse Flash.”

“Okay.”

“But not for the reason that you think, not because I didn't beat him. It's—Wells-- he said something to me on that video before he confessed to my mom's murder. He said that even if he was dead, that he still won because I wasn't happy, that I'd never really be happy.”

“How the hell would he know?” Joe asks.

“He knew me. He knows future me.”

“That's future you. This is the you here and now.”

“I still think that Wells is right. Ever since I decided to not go back and save her, I didn't save my mom, I just--there's just been this void in me. You know, I just feel like that is always gonna be there. For better or worse, Wells-- he knew me.”

“Better than I know you?” Joe points out “He may have stalked you for 15 years, but I raised you. Look, Wells said what he said to you to mess with you-- to get in your head one last time. If you listen to him, you let him win.”

“I know. I don't want that.” Barry sighs, tired.

“You're responsible for your happiness, Barry. Forget about Wells. Think hard about what you want and what makes you happy. Go out and get it. Simple as that. All right?”

“Yeah.” With that in mind, Barry speeds over to Willow’s apartment ans knocks on the door. After a few seconds, she answers.

“Hey Barr-” Willow gets cut off as Barry pulls her in a kisses her passionately. “Wow.” She breaths out, “What did I do to deserve that?”

“I've just been thinking about what makes me happy, and being with you makes me happy.” Barry smiles.

“Being with you make me happy too” Willow smiles brightly, arms around his neck, kissing him again.

In between kisses, Barry talks, “I… have… to… get… back… to… star…. Labs… but… I… want… to… continue… this… later…”

“Well… you… go… to… star… labs… and… later… I’ll… come… over… and… we… can… continue… this… conversation” Willow smirks at Barry.

Barry pulls away an inch, and smirks, “I look forward to that conversation”

“Me too” They smile at each other and with a quick goodbye, Barry rushes off and Willow goes back in her apartment, leaning against the closed door and sees Jesse smirking at her from the couch.

“Have fun with your lover-boy?” Jesse asks.

“Shut up” Willow whines and quickly gets herself together, changing into all back clothes and grabbing Captain Cold’s Gun that she might have stolen from Star Labs’ storage. After getting ready, Willow takes a taxi to Star Labs and finds a perfect hiding spot at the front, a perfect vantage point.
___________________________________________________________________

Back in the cortex, Cisco has just finished placing a new emblem on Barry’s Flash suit. “There you go. It's like you think these things just grow on trees or something.” Cisco states, annoyed that the plan didn’t work and they threw away the emblem for nothing.

Hartley is by Harry, whom, ever since he got back, has gone over the video footage from the docks. “You've been going over this footage dozens of times.” Hartley comments, getting Barry’s attention.

“Everything went exactly according to plan. If it had, Zoom would have shown up. Maybe Light was wrong. Maybe he can't see through the breaches. Or maybe he finally decided to give up.” Just then, Barry’s phone rings. “Hey. Iris, slow down. I can't understand you. Zoom has Linda.”

Cisco is quick to the computer, “He's on the roof.” And Barry speeds off, while Emma sends a quick text to Willow to let her know that she was right. Zoom is here.

From her spot, Willow sees when Barry catches Linda and tells her to run. Zoom meets Flash on the ground, out the front of Star Labs. A stare down between the two speedsters as Barry comes face to face with the evil speedster for the first time as blue lightning flies over Zoom’s body.

Barry moves first, running round and round the building, building himself up for a lightning throw. Hartley is quick to the mic. “Barry, don’t do the lightning throw!” But its too late, as Barry throws a bolt of his lightning to Zoom, who, up till now has stood still, now moves to action and catches the lightning bolt, and spins, throwing it back at Barry. Barry is hit with his own lightning, and is throw back into the display board behind him.

“Did you guys see that?” Barry asks in shock.

“See him catch a bolt of lightning with his demonic claws? Yeah, saw that.” Cisco answers and turns to his boyfriend, “How did you know he would do that?”

Quickly thinking, “Zoom was just standing there. Seemed too easy”

“Barry, think smart about this, Zoom has more experience then you, and he isn’t scared to kill people,” Ronnie says over the mic. “Play by your strengths”

“Copy that” Barry answers and stands up. “I'm gonna see if Wells' speed-dampening serum works,” Barry calls out, grabbing it from inside his boot and Willow rolls her eyes. Great job Barry, you just announced your plan to Zoom. “What do you want from me?” Barry calls out.

“Everything.” Zoom’s gravel voice answers.

“You want to be me? Is that it? You want to be a hero?” Barry asks, trying to get a response from Zoom.

“Heroes die.”

“Only if you can catch them.” Barry speeds off and Zoom is quick to follow, running up on the side of the building and on the roof. Wells runs out with his gun and Willow ready’s her weapon.

“How is Barry gonna match Zoom's speed?” Caitlin asks, watching the footage from outside.

“Genius. He's not gonna match it. He's gonna take it out of the equation altogether.” Cisco smirks.

“What are you talking about?” Emma asks.

“Terminal velocity. The highest velocity attainable by a falling object.” Hartley quickly explains.

“Falling through the air?” Cait asks.

“Yeah, freefall fight. Their drag force equals the downward force of gravity, making the net force zero, making…”

“Equal velocities. That is genius.” Ronnie cuts in with a grin.

Willow then sees Barry and Zoom falling, exchanging hits in the air. Zoom gains the upper hand, and gets Barry under him, just as they land with Zoom on top of Barry. Ouch.

Zoom rips Barry off the ground to his feet, punching him with terrifying strength and speed. Willow has enough of her boyfriend getting beat up, so quickly aims her cold gun at Zoom and fires. Icy flames dance across the distance, speeding towards Zoom.

Having his back turned and not expecting the attack, Zoom is hit with the full force of Captain Cold’s ice gun. Zoom screams in pain and while he is distracted, Wells shoots Zoom with his speed dampener gun, hitting him in the thigh. Stepping out from her hiding spot, Willow moves over to Zoom and Barry, quickly getting Barry’s arm over her shoulders to stabilise him. Willow then encases Zoom’s body in ice.

“Barry are you okay?” Willow asks.

Barry has blood running down his face, and can hardly stand up by himself, but nods. “When, how?” He mutters.

“I’ll tell you later. Lets just get you checked out. We’ll deal with Zoom” Willow whispers. Barry is about to protest, but the group comes rushing out and Emma and Caitlin grab Barry from Willow.

“Damn girl. Remind me to not piss you off” Cisco jokes.

“Cisco, I don’t know how long the ice will last. Any ideas where to store him?” Willow asks.

“He can put him in the pipeline” Ronnie suggests.

Willow worry’s her lip, Jay has already been in the pipeline, he might have figured out a way to escape, but its the best place to put him. “Yeah okay.”

Just then, Zoom vibrates in place, breaking the ice and speeds away. Taking someone with him.

“RONNIE! NOO!” Caitlin screams, dropping Barry’s arm, Emma quickly catching him. Caitlin runs but quickly stops a few feet away, dropping to the floor on her knees.

Willow leans down next to her, “We will find him Cait, I promise”

Cait nods sadly, wiping her tears and stands up again, leading Barry and Emma into Star Labs to get him fixed up.

All that was left was Cisco, Harry, Hartley and Willow. “I’ll be right back” Willow mutters, and speeds off in a flash of pink.

“She does know that she just revealed her identity to Ramon?” Harry asks.

“He already knew” Hartley states.

Cisco turns to Harry. “Who's Jesse?”

Harry, and Hartley snap their head to him, “How do-- Jesse's my daughter. Zoom is after her. You've--you did vibe me.” Harry stumbles over himself.

“Yes.” Cisco answers.

“What did you see?” Hartley asks.

“I saw your daughter and Zoom speeding around the city, searching for her.”

“Does he find her?” Harry asks, worried for his daughter.

“No” Cisco answers and Harry sighs in relive.

A few hours later, Willow is back from running around the city, trying to find Zoom or Ronnie, but they must have gone back to Earth 2.

Hartley, Cisco and Hartley send her a questioning looks but she shakes her head in defeat.

Emma calls out from the med-bay. “Hey, I think he's waking up.”

They all crowd around the bed. “Barry. Barry? Can you hear me?” Cait asks.

“Hey. You scared the crap out of us. You had lots of injuries from that fall” Emma informs.

“How bad is it?” Barry mumbles.

“Bad. You’re lucky you heal so quickly” Cait states.

“Linda--how is she?”

“She's fine. She's staying with some friends out in Coast City.”

“Zoom?” Barry asks.

“Zoom got away, and he took Ronnie. So I say, you heal up, and we go to Earth 2 and get him back” Willow grins at Cailtin’s watery smile.

“Willow, how… you were waiting for him?” Barry asks, sitting up slightly. “Did you doubt our plan?”

“I didn’t doubt it. But…” Willow sighs, “Joe, you remember when I found out what Snart and Rory were going to steal the fire and ice painting?”

Joe nods, “You said that you just thought like a criminal”

“I’m really good at thinking like a criminal, what their next move is going to be. So when I heard about your plan, and how determined you were… I thought to myself, what would an evil speedster do?”

“You knew the plan wouldn’t work” Barry drops his head to the pillow behind him.

“I’m not saying that. It was a very good plan. But…” Willow glances at Harry, “A friend suggested that Zoom might not come when you want him to, but will instead try to catch you by surprise a few hours later. It was just a guess. But on the case that they were right, I didn’t want to risk it. Risk you getting hurt. Of course now, Ronnie is kidnapped” Willow drops her head in disappointment.

“Next time, you have to tell us what you’re thinking. Espacally if it comes to a risk for this team” Barry glares lightly.

“I wish I could promise that that. But I am currently keeping some secrets from this team. For the best of this team. But I can promise, that when the time is right, I will reveal them, I just hope that you don’t hate me by the end of it”

“How bad are the secrets?” Eddie asks.

“About 4 major ones. 2 of which is more hiding the truth than lying. 1 is more of a plan than a secret. Its the last two that I fear you all will hate me when I tell you.” Willow admits.

“Why are you keeping them?” Iris asks.

“Because while I trust this team, I don’t trust Jay” Willow reveals.

“Why don’t you trust Jay?” Barry frowns.

“Cop instint” Willow answers.

“That’s not an answer”

“That’s the only one I can give you at the time. But once the time is right, I will tell you everything, I promise”

“Okay… And thank you for the save”

“Anytime” Willow smiles softly.

Chapter Text

Emma is serving dinner as the group discusses about their next move.

“What are we gonna do about Zoom? There hasn’t been a sign of him since he kidnapped Ronnie.” Hartley starts.

“If Zoom doesn’t come back to this Earth, what if we go to Earth 2? Bring the fight to him?” Jesse suggests.

“Zoom has the meta’s on his side there. It will be nearly impossible to take him down there.” Harry rebuts.

“But we could blend in, get Ronnie back” Hartley says.

“And what’s stopping him from coming after us?” Emma asks.

Willow speaks up, “Harry is there a way to close the breach’s?”

“Not yet” Harry answers.

“See if you can close the breach’s first, then we will figure out a way on taking down Zoom.” Willow orders and everyone nods.

“If Pink Lightning is dead, it’s up to Barry to take down Zoom. He needs to get faster.” Jesse points out.

“He will, he gets faster with every meta he faces,” Willow states.

“What what about Jay? Each time he interacts with the team, they trust him even more” Jesse states.

Willow sighs, “I know, I just don’t like the idea of him manipulating our friends”

“What if we manipulate him?” Harry asks.

“How? He knows everything about us” Emma sighs.

“Not everything. He thinks Emma likes him. Use that and try to get in his head. Jay is playing the hero, and heroes like to save a damsal in distress. Emma becomes that damsal and it might bleed into Zoom too” Harry suggests.

“I don’t know, that’s an awfully big risk. What if it blows up in our face and Emma gets hurt?” Willow asks, worried.

“If Jay wins, then we are all dead. It’s worth a try. Jay has feelings for Emma. Jay is Zoom, so Zoom has feelings for Emma. He won’t kill her if he likes her.” Hartley states.

“Emma just needs to play her part” Harry looks at Emma.

“I have a coffee date with Jay tomorrow” Emma reveals.

“Are you sure about this?” Willow asks her best friend, her sister.

“I’m sure. If it gives us a small advatage against Zoom, then I can do this.” Emma smiles.

“You have always been tougher than me” Willow laughs, “Good luck, and don’t give anything away” Willow stresses.

“I’ll be fine” Emma smiles.
______________________________________________________________

Emma sits down at a table in Jitters while Jay bring over the coffees. “Thank you” Emma smiles prettily as Jay sits down across from her.

“You know, you don’t get too many coffee dates when you only know 10 people” Jay jokes, knocking his knee against Emma’s under the table. Remaining calm, Emma takes a sip of her coffee, letting Jay keep his knee-contact.

“So how are you adjusting? Are you happy you stayed?” Emma starts.

“I’m not sure. I think about my Central City. How it’s fairing while I’m gone. But this world also has a lot that mine doesn’t” Jay looks in her eyes, “A lot of beauty to offer” Emma smiles at the flattery. “So, why did you call? Have some more tests to run on me?”

“No actually, I wanted to tell you that you were right. Barry tried to set a trap for Zoom, and now…” Emma cuts herself off, “We should have listened to you and I’m sorry”

“What happened?” Jay asks, sitting straighter.

“Barry wasn’t fast enough.” Emma sighs sadly. “This whole thing is just so complicated. Last year with Dr Wells and Time Travel. Now this year with Earth-2 and Zoom. At least last year Barry had someone to help him, this year Barry has just himself out there”

“What do you mean?” Jay asks, and Emma hides her smirk.

“A few months after the Flash showed up, there was another speedster. Just rumours, just a flash of pink. She saved Barry and the team a few times. They called her Pink Lightning. She’s the one who helped Flash close the Singularity. She got sucked in. Next thing we heard about her was when Wells and Willow came back, said that she died back on Earth-2.”

“I’m so sorry. I never knew. So she was a speedster like Barry?” Jay asks.

“Yes. Its a shame we never got to met her. I would have liked to thank her for saving us” Emma sighs sadly and smirks inwardly as Jay takes her hand to comfort her.

“Do you know what happened to her?”

“Willow said it was all over the news on Earth-2. She died in a fire” Emma lets some tears roll down her cheeks and Jay wipes them away. “She was alone, in an another earth. Scared. I don’t want to imagine how she felt when she died.”

“She died a hero”

“And now with Ronnie kidnapped. I can’t imagine what Caitlin is going through right now. I’m just so lucky I have people in my life who I care about, who are still here with me. Like Willow, Hartley and…” Emma breaks eye-contact, blushing lightly.

Jay takes his hand her her chin and gently raises her head to met his eyes, “I’m lucky to have you too” He whispers. They get interrupted when of of the barista’s makes the coffee machine scream, causing them to jump and pull away.
________________________________________________________________

Barry walks into Star Labs to find Caitlin having a heart to heart with Wells in the middle of the cortex with Cisco watching.

“It's been difficult, having you here. For all of us.” Caitlin starts.

“You don't have to worry about that anymore because I'm leaving.” Wells rebutts.

“We can help you keep your daughter safe.” Cisco must have told the team about Jesse.

“Look, I made a big mistake coming here. I planned to get the Flash's help and use that help to stop Zoom, and my plan failed. I don't have another plan, except to go back home and face Zoom myself.”

“So let's say you go back to your Earth, and you fight Zoom. He will kill you. And then, how does that help your daughter? How does that help Ronnie? Look, the best way to keep Jesse safe is for you to stay here, and work with us as a team.”

“No. Now, please leave me alone, so I can discover which one of these breaches is gonna get me home.”

“You know, you're lucky Cisco and Professor Stein never figured out how to close all the breaches 'cause then you'd be stuck here.” Caitlin snaps.

“Wait.” Wells gets an idea. “We close the breaches. All of them, except one, so Zoom only has one way to get to this world.” He points below him.

“The breach at S.T.A.R. Labs.”

“Exactly. And then we set a trap.”

“That’s brilliant,” Barry speaks up. “Let’s get started”
____________________________________________________________________

Joe walks under the police tape and servays the scene before him. Police officers, a body under a yellow sheet and Barry and Eddie next to it. “What'd you find?”

Barry speaks first. “Found these weird-looking hairs all over the street. I'm gonna run 'em against the database and see what I can find.”

“Here’s our victim. His name's Dr. Jeffrey Shore. He's a biochemistry engineer here at Vaughan Pharmaceuticals. This is the second dead lab tech in two weeks.” Eddie informs.

“That ain't a coincidence,” Joe remarks.

“Yeah, and like the other tech, he had just stolen a serum from their storage cooler.”

“Really? What kind of serum?”

Barry answers “It's called Cortexin. It's used to treat encephalopathy, a blood disease in the brain.”

“The serum's missing, but his colleagues found him here a couple of minutes later, dead,” Eddie explains.

“He didn't get far” Joe states.

“He died from blunt force trauma to the head and a lot of it. Point of impact is that” Barry points up to the blood on the arch-way about 10 meters high.
______________________________________________________________

A few hours later, Willow finds Barry up in his lab. “Hey Barry.” Willow smiles.

“Willow, hey. What are you doing here?”

“Last time I checked, I work here” Willow smirks. “But I also wanted to check up on you. See how you’re doing.”

“Oh, yeah, you know, I'm not great right now.” Barry sighs in defeat.

“What’s wrong?”

“It's nothing. I'm good, all right? Just forget it.”

“Barry. Talk to me. I can help you.”

“No, you can't help me. Not this time. I'm sorry. You just-- you wouldn't understand.”

“Try me” Willow takes Barry’s hand.

“Zoom destroyed me. If you didn’t cut in, he could’ve killed me and I was powerless to stop him. This city gave me a key to the city. I'm supposed to be their hero. I'm supposed to be the guy that can protect them from something as evil as that and I failed, I needed someone to protect me”

“When this city sees the Flash, they see their Hero. They see a brave man with a heart of gold. You didn’t fail them. Everyone needs someone protecting them from time to time, but next time when you meet Zoom, you will be better prepared, and you will take him down, like the Hero you are”

“But what if I fail again?” Barry whispers. “I’m not fast enough”

“You won’t fail. And you are fast, and you will only get faster. I believe in you. The Team believes in you. This city believes in you. And Zoom comes back, you’ll be more ready than ever. I should have told you my plan, but you were so excited and I hoped I was wrong. But you survived and your better for it, so next time, you will beat Zoom.”

Barry shakes his head, “No, we will beat Zoom” Willow smiles and they share a quick kiss.
____________________________________________________________________

Eddie arrives with Joe at Star Labs, passing Caitlin on the way in. “Hey Caitlin, you okay?” Caitlin ignores them and walks out the door. “Weird”

“She’s probably still upset about Ronnie” Joe suggests.

They find Hartley and Cisco in the Cortex. “Hey guys, turns out our dead scientist cases are linked.”
Eddie greets.

“How so?” Hartley asks.

“Well, the other scientist stole a large quantity of a racetam drug which is typically used to treat patients with vertigo.”

“Okay, so we got two stolen drugs, one for blood disorders of the brain, and the other one for vertigo. What's the connection?” Joe asks.

“Well, they are both nootropic drugs, used to enhance intelligence.” Harry inputs, appearing from nowhere.

“I gonna call Barry” Joe sighs and takes out his phone. “Hey Bar” Joe greets when Barry picks up. “Did you get results from the hairs you found?”

“Yes, I did. Apparently they were all over the other crime scene too. Joe, they're hairs from a gorilla.”

“Barry get here fast” With that, Joe hangs up and turns to the group. “Grodd is back.”

Eddie snaps up “That might be why Caitlin was acing weird before. She was being mind-controlled.” Cisco is quick to check the camera’s outside to find Caitlin leaving the building, followed by Grodd.

Once Barry arrives with Willow, they catch everyone up on Grodd. “I'm continually amazed by the similarity between our two worlds.” Harry comments.

“You got talking gorillas on your Earth, too?” Joe asks.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Remind me never to go there.” Joe jokes.

“Ramon, why would this Grodd abduct Dr. Snow?” Harry asks.

“I don't know. It doesn't make any sense. She was always so nice to him.” Cisco sighs.

“He mind-controlled two lab technicians to steal chemicals that enhance intelligence. He wants her for something.”

“Well, looks like he left his bachelor pad in the sewers,” Cisco says, looking at the cameras he left at the sewers from last time they fought with Grodd.

“Grodd's a gaint gorilla. He can't just waltz through downtown in the middle of the day without anybody noticing.” Joe states.

“Right, and if there's been sightings, then we might be able to approximate his location,” Eddie suggests, getting his phone out. “I can call CCPD. They can access the tip hotline, send over files of Grodd's recent attacks.”

“Good. While you do that, the rest of us will try to figure out how to get Caitlin out safely.” Willow says.

“Why? Barry defeated him last time.” Cisco points out.

“Yes, but it was a near miss, and if Grodd is stealing drugs to do with the brain, he might be getting smarter.” Willow points out.

“That’s might be why he took Caitlin.” Hartley suggests, “Grodd could have stolen the drugs and Caitlin to make himself smarter”

“Great, now we have a giant gorilla, and one that’s getting smarter as well.” Joe sighs in annoyance.

Barry drops his head and sighs, Willow places her hand on his shoulder. “You can't blame yourself for this. There's nothing you could've done.”

“I should have been here. It’s my job to protect this team”

“Things happen that we have no control over. We will get Caitlin back, and we will get Ronnie back too.”

“So how did Grodd become sentient?” Harry asks.

Cisco answers. “A few years ago, S.T.A.R. Labs had this contract with the military to research and awaken latent mind-reading capabilities for interrogation purposes.”

“Grodd was one of the test subjects” Hartley inputs.

“Right, but then Dr. Wells shut down the program, and we all thought it was to save Grodd from all the crazy mind-control experiments, but it was really so that Dr. Wells could use the accelerator explosion to create a 1,500-pound mind-controlling gorilla that he could manipulate.” Cisco finishes sarcastically.

“What kind of algorithm is that?” Willow asks, looking over Cisco’s shoulder at the computer.

“It's an algorithm meant to extrapolate Grodd's location from places we know he's already been.” Cisco quickly explains and the computer beeps. They get 3 hits.

Cisco speaks up to the rest of the team. “Hey, guys. I think we've found them.”

Hartley continues, “Grodd has to be in one of these three bell towers.”

“The only reason we couldn't find him on any cameras underneath the city before is 'cause he upgraded from a bachelor pad to a penthouse, like a baller.” Hartley rolls his eyes at his boyfriend.

“Okay, so we know where he is. We still don't know how to get Caitlin” Barry sighs.

Willow hums and looks at Harry. “I have a bad idea”

“What?”

“Wells was Grodd’s father right? We don’t have Wells, but we have Harry. A perfect copy” Willow suggests.

“So you want to use Harry to get Grodd to release Caitlin? That’s too risky” Barry states.

“I’ll do it” Harry says.

“What? No, you could get killed” Hartley stresses.

“Put him in the Reverse Flash’s costume. Grodd wouldn’t know the difference” Willow continues. “If we can get Harry to convince Grodd that he's Wells, that he's his father, maybe we can convince him to let Caitlin go.”

“Are you sure about this?” Cisco asks Harry.

“Yes.” With that, Harry and Cisco leave to find Grodd, while Barry stays back as back-up.
______________________________________________________________

A few hours later, Harry and Cisco came back with Caitlin. Cait was finishing up with Harry’s injuries, “Thank you.” Harry mutters.

“Thank you for rescuing me.” Cait smiles.

“Well, we're a team, right?” Harry admits shyly.

“I'm impressed. I think we all are.” Barry states.

“Yeah, well, we need to do something about Grodd.” Joe starts.

“Like what?” Iris asks.

“Like get rid of him for good.” Joe continues.

“You want to kill him?” Cait immediately asks.

“Considering how many people he's killed, yeah,” Joe answers.

“This isn't Grodd's fault. He's only like this because Wells made him this way.” Cait argues.

“Yes, but, Cait, he kidnapped you and you could have died,” Barry states.

“You didn't see what I saw. Grodd's getting smarter. He's lonely and sad. He wants more apes like him.”

“What are you saying? He wants kids? 'Cause I'm pretty sure one telepathic Grape Ape is more than enough for this city.” Cisco cuts in.

“I know somewhere we could send him,” Harry speaks up.

“What are you talking about?” Barry asks.

“When the singularity exploded and I discovered the breach in S.T.A.R. Labs, I ran similar tests and discovered the same thing, 51 additional breaches. The difference being the breaches in Central City are scattered throughout the city whereas counterparts in my world most definitely are not.”

“And you know where they lead?”

“Well, I was in the process of figuring all that out when Dr. Snow so gallantly convinced me to stay, but if I am correct, this breach is gonna get Grodd as close to home as he's ever likely to get,” Harry answers, pointing to a Breach underneath a bridged road on the computer.

“Okay, even if you're right, how do we bait Grodd to go through it?” Joe asks.

“I’m sure the Flash can play a game of Tag with a Giant Gorilla,” Willow smirks.

“Sounds fun” Barry jokes and gets ready.

Harry, Cisco and Hartley get started on making the Breach stable while Caitlin and Barry lead Grodd from his tower to the Breach. Willow was at Star Labs with Iris, Eddie and Joe.

“Cisco, almost there. Are you ready?” Barry’s voice comes through the speakers.

“I'm in position,” Cisco calls out.

“Now, once you turn on the speed cannon, the quark matter will stabilize, stretching the breach about so big, so anywhere within this circle will suffice. Right on time.” Harry’s voice states.

“Okay, come on. I don't have eyes on Grodd. Does anyone see him?” Barry asks, coming into view of the camera just as Grodd appears.

“That is a big gorilla,” Harry mutters.

“Where is Caitlin?” Grodd growls, standing on Barry’s chest.

“Oh, my God,” Willow mutters. “Cailtin, distract Grodd” She orders.

“Where is Caitlin, Flash?”

“Right here,” Caitlin calls out, stepping into the circle. “You need to let him go, Grodd.”

“Flash is my enemy. Now you, too.” Grodd grunts.

“No. He was trying to save me from you. We didn't understand what you wanted, but now we do. I can give you what you want. I can give you a home. You just have to trust me.” Grodd steps off Barry, who gasps and coughs.

“All right, here he comes. Ready to flip the switch.” When Grodd gets inside the circle, Cisco flips the switch and the Breach appears, pulling Grodd towards it.

“Now, Barry,” Harry calls out and Barry gets Caitlin to a safe distance. However, Grodd is strong and is fighting the pull. “Full power.” Harry orders.

“It is.” Cisco answers.

“Barry, you can't let Grodd get free. Get a running start and punch Grodd back into the Breach” Willow suggests and Barry does exactly that. Grodd disappears into the Breach.

“Welcome back, Flash.” Cisco grins.

They arrive back at Star Labs and Caitlin asks the important question. “So, Dr. Wells, this place on your Earth that we've sent Grodd, what is it exactly?”

“It's a refuge where gorillas subjected to lab experiments, like Grodd, can roam freely,” Harry answers.

“I know it's for the best, but I still feel like I betrayed him.” Caitlin softly admits to Cisco.

“No, don't say that. You didn't betray him. You gave him a better life.” Cisco corrects.

“I still don't understand, though. Why do the breaches on our Earth lead to different places on yours?” Hartley asks Harry.

“I don't know yet, Rathaway, but I do know we have to close them all, and I don't know how to do that.”

“You don't have to do it alone anymore. Any of it. Together, we defeated Grodd, and if we stay that way, we will figure out how to close the breaches, get Zoom, get Ronnie back and keep your daughter safe.

“Thank you.”

Chapter Text

“Zoom found me today” Harry randomly says in the middle of dinner at Willow’s and Emma’s apartment. Everyone stops talking and gives him their full attention. “He chased me through Star Labs once everyone had gone and held me up by my throat” Harry awkwardly clears his throat, Jesse looking on in worry. “First he said Merry Christmas which was weird”

“Most likely a tactic to make sure you know, he can get to you, even in the happy times,” Hartley suggests.

“He then said that he wants my ‘help’ in stealing the Flash’s speed” Harry reveals.

“Why would he need your help? We know he’s already done it to another speedster, why would he need help with Barry?” Emma asks. (We know that Zoom didn’t steal the real Jay’s speed, but they don’t so just roll with it).

“Different technology maybe?” Jesse voices.

“Either way, Jay isn’t going to stop harassing you until you give in to what he wants” Willow says.

“He can’t steal Barry’s speed!” Hartley argues.

“Zoom is moving up his time frame. He hasn’t sent a meta from Earth 2 in a while. Do you think he believes Barry is fast enough?” Emma asks.

“Compared to Zoom? No. But if you are right, Jay’s cells are dying. Barry’s powers might be the cure.” Willow hums. “Emma based on the blood work you did on Jay when he first arrived, how long would he have?”

“I still don’t know what the cause is, but I would estimate a few months” Emma answers.

“That explains why Zoom is moving up his time frame” Jesse comments. “But what can we do about Dad? How do we keep him safe from Zoom?”

“If only we knew how Jay and Zoom could be in two places at once” Willow sighs. “We keep doing what we are doing. Emma continues flirting, Christmas is a good time for that. And Harry, you might have to agree to work with Zoom but take your time. Zoom shouldn’t bother you if you are with people. So stick close to the team.”

“So you want me to agree to help him steal Barry’s power, but stall and stay close to others so he may not attack me with company? That’s a bad plan.” Harry states with a glare.

“Well, it’s the only one I have at the moment. As soon as we go to Earth 2, and get Ronnie back, Zoom with have no levige and we can tell Team Flash that Zoom is actually Jay.” Willow says.

“They are going to be pissed that we kept it a secret.” Hartley pipes in.

“I know” Willow sighs. “Which is why I’m going to say only I knew.”

“What!? Why?” Emma asks.

“This is a big secret. The identity of the person who wants Barry dead. It’s been months since we figured it out, and if they knew that we kept it from them, they would be rightfully angry. They already barely trust Harry. They don’t know Jesse. Hartley is Cisco’s boyfriend, and Emma looks like a person with a crush. I should be the one to take the blame. It was my idea that we should keep it a secret in the first place.” Willow answers.

“Barry will hate you,” Emma says.

Willow has tears gathering in her eyes. “I know. He has every right too. But if it means that he is alive and okay, then I’m okay with that”

“You love him, don’t you?” Jesse asks. Willow nods.
___________________________________________________________________

The next day, Willow is in Barry’s lab, just watching him work.

“So are you waiting for me to give you some test results or am I just really great to look at?” Barry smirks.

“Well, I can’t deny that you are handsome.” Willow smirks, “But I was just watching you work. You look so cute when you concentrate.”

Barry stands and walks over, “Cute am I?” He grins, pulling her towards him.

“The cutest, and I was just thinking how lucky I am to call you my boyfriend”

“Boyfriend?” Barry smiles brightly, “I like the sound of that” Barry and Willow share a sweet kiss until Iris walks in and clears her throat. They pull apart, blushing and Willow stumbles out a bye and walks back to her desk downstairs.
_________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, Jay was at Star Labs with Caitlin, Cisco, Hartley and Emma, trying to figure out how to close the breaches. “I was thinking that if we could inject an unstable neutrino burst into the individual breaches, it might cause them to seal on their own and stop Zoom from travelling back and forth between our worlds. At least then we wouldn't have to worry about him sending any more meta-humans over for Barry to fight.” Jay finishes.

“It means a lot to us that you're looking after Barry. He's been through a lot the last few weeks.” Emma smiles sadly.

“Barry's not the only person here I want to keep safe,” Jay admits, looking deeply into Emma’s eyes.

Cisco, Hartley and Caitlin walk into the room. “Oh, dear Lord, just kiss already! Oh, the thirst is real.” Cisco cries dramatically.

“Is everything all right?” Emma asks, in an annoyed tone.

“Yeah, I keep checking, but all is quiet on the meta-human front. Hey, you think Zoom decided to take Christmas off?” Cisco asks.

“What's Christmas?” Jay pipes in.

Emma smiles, “Oh, well, it's this holiday we have where spend time with our loved ones, and give presents. Some families celebrate the birth of Jesus, but it’s also a time to spend with family and loved ones” Emma explains.

Jay smirks, “I know what Christmas is.”

Emma laughs, “Oh, right, of course. Um, you know, Joe and Barry and Iris are having people over for Christmas Eve, and they said we could invite whoever we want.”

“Who... who do you want?” Jay asks,

“You... I want to invite you, I mean.” Emma smiles.

Cisco groans, “This is so painful. Have you guys seen Harry?” Cisco stands up and moves to the entrance.

“Uh, no, I have not I told him to rest. He's just as stubborn as all the rest of my male patients in this place.” Emma mutters and Cait nods in agreement.

“I'm gonna leave you two alone, okay? I'm gonna go find Harry.” Cisco turns and almost runs into Harry. “Holy Hannah! - Hi.”

“Hi.” Harry deadpans.

“Everything okay?” Cisco asks.

“Sure. Why wouldn't it be?” Harry asks and goes to the computers where Cait and Hartley are.
________________________________________________________________

The police get a call that there was a breakout in Iron Heights.

“Please tell me this is not happening…” Barry groans, arriving at the scene to find Willow and Joe.

“It's official, Santa hates us.” Joe starts.

“All the guards had a flash of red in their vision, and suddenly were waking up a half an hour later, after experiencing fits of rage. The cameras reveal Snart, Jesse and Ray Bivolo, walking out the front door.” Willow informs.

Eddie appears after talking with the Guards. “Seems like Roy Bivolo aka, Rainbow Raider broke Snart out first, and then let Jesse out. Based on all the drawings in this cell, Jesse really wants Flash dead. You be careful Barry”

“Thanks, Eddie” Barry smiles.
_________________________________________________________________
After Barry finishes processing the scene, they meet up in Star Labs.

“The Rainbow Raider, Captain Cold, and the Trickster. There's three of them and one of you. I do not like those odds.” Joe starts.

“And I'm gonna be no help without my speed, so…” Jay unhelpfully adds.

“Who’s Rainbow Raider? What’s his powers?” Willow asks.

“Um, right. Well, after the Particle Accelerator explosion, Roy gained the power to "whammy" people, which allows him to manipulate the emotions or feelings of an individual, specifically through the optic nerve. Through looking into people's eyes, he can overwhelm the emotion centres of the brain, particularly the parts that control executive function, and instilling uncontrollable anger by effectively nullifying a person's sense of rational restraint.” Caitlin explains.

“He used these powers as a distraction to rob banks. When everyone was going crazy with rage, he would walk in and steal everything.” Cisco adds.

“Last year, I ran into one of these robberies and also got whammied, but it affected me differently. At first, I thought everything was fine, but I started feeling more angry as time passed. I started with being impatient with others' criticism followed by harsh resentment towards them.” Barry looks guilty towards Joe and Eddie. “By the following day, I had no patience for others and easily became confrontational. Ultimately, my anger evolved into paranoia and caused me to go into homicidal rage. I was so out of my mind, I almost killed Eddie and got the Police to target me as a bad guy” Barry says, head down in shame.

Eddie goes up to him and hugs him, “I’m so sorry Barry I made the Police target you. I didn’t know what you were going through.”

“I’m sorry for hurting you” Barry answers back.

“It wasn’t your fault” Eddie smiles and pulls back.

“Oh, oh, light bulb up here. I have an idea. Last time, we took down Bivolo by using light and colour to reverse it, but when we had him in the Pipeline, I used one-way glass as his powers require eye contact. I could add mirrored lenses to the suit so he’s powers won’t affect you.” Cisco cheers.

“That’s brilliant Cisco” Barry grins.
___________________________________________________________________

Willow is at her desk at the station when Barry appears at her side.

“Hello, Detective.” Barry grins.

“Mr Allen. What do I owe the pleasure?” Willow smirks.

“I was just wondering if my wonderful girlfriend would like to join me at a viewing of Princess Bride in the theatres?” Barry bows causing Willow to giggle.

“I would love to” Willow smiles happily, grabbing her coat and Barry’s arm.

A few hours later, Barry and Willow are walking out of the cinema.

“Princess Bride, always a classic” Willow laughs, holding Barry’s hand.

“I still say I could have saved the princess within the first 10 minutes, and without dying” Barry pouts.

“Don’t worry Allen, I’m more than happy for you to save me anytime” Willow jokes.

“Oh really?” Barry smirks, picking her up and speeding to the West house.

“I don’t think that counts as saving” Willow giggles.

“I like to think I’m saving you from catching a cold” Barry grins, opening the door for her.

“My hero” Willow smiles softly and leans in, catching his lips.

“Ho, ho, ho.” A voice in the dark announces itself, causing the couple to pull away, Willow screams and pulls out her gun. The lamp in the living room turns on, revealing Snart holding a mug of cocoa. “Cocoa isn't cocoa without the mini marshmallows. And you're out. I checked.”

Barry rushes at Snart, holding him against the wall, “Are you out of your mind? Breaking into my home?”

“Careful. I made an upgrade to the cold gun. If I release my grip from the handle, the core goes critical. You might make it, she won't.” Snart says, pointedly looking at Willow.

“How did you get the Cold gun back? I put it back in Police evidence after I used it” Willow frowns.

Snart shrugs, “I stole it back.”

“Why are you here, Snart?” Barry growls, letting Snart go and moving over towards Willow.

“I got the Noel spirit and wanted to give you a gift. Bivolo broke Jesse and me out to kill you. Jesse's on board, of course. He's shaking with excitement. Me, I'm gonna pass.”

“Why? You grow a conscience?”

“Bivolo wants revenge. Jesse wants chaos. I'm just not invested like they are.”

“You mean there's no money in it for you?” Barry corrects.

“I was never much for non-profit work.”

“If you're not in with them, then tell me where they are.” Barry tries.

“Nah, consider me more of a secret Santa. Besides, you and your friends love to solve a good mystery.” Snart smirks and Barry scoffs.

“You are full of it, Snart. I think my friends and I saved your sister's life and you can't stand owing me a marker. I hate to break it to you, but that... that right there is called honour.’ Snart moves to the front door, pausing briefly.

“Go on, make your pitch. I can see you're dying too.” Snart offers.

“Help me stop them.” Barry simply says.

“Sorry, I'm not interested in being a hero.”

Barry scoffs, “Well, you're doing a pretty lousy job of being a villain this week.”

Snart almost looks sad, “Merry Christmas, Barry” With that, Snart leaves.

“That was unexpected” Willow comments, “Should we expect a villain every time we finish a date?” She jokes.

Barry sighs, “I’m sorry Willow. I know you don’t deserve this”

Willow smiles and hugs him, “I don’t mind, it keeps things interesting”
__________________________________________________________________

They arrive at Star Labs to inform the team what Snart told them when the TVs reveal the Trickster.

“Merry Christmas, kiddie-winks. I'm back! Citizens, you know, the holidays can be a time for gentle reflection on the year past. Our ups and downs, our triumphs and heartaches, but don't forget, it can also be a time for disembowelling our enemies.” James Jesse grins crazily through the screen.

“We don't have a Trickster on Earth-2.” Jay comments.

“He's one of a kind.” Cait answers.

“My stocking won't be completely stuffed until it's filled to the brim with bloody Flash parts. So what do you say, speed freak? Want to roast chestnuts?” The TV pauses on his crazy face.

“James Jesse is kind of a wild card. Last year there was another guy, called Trickster. He planned to break out James Jesse, but Pink Lightning stopped them. Seems that Jesse through the Flash stopped them instead, and now wants revenge for ruining his plans” Hartley informs the group, mainly for Harry’s and Jay’s benefit.

“Are there any clues as to where he is based on the video?” Barry starts.

“Guys, there's a reflection of something in his cornea, see?” Jay speaks up. Cisco zooms in on Jesse’s eye revealing a toy.

“What is that?” Cait asks.

“That's Mr. Jiggle Wiggle,” Harry answers.

“Come again?” Cisco asks.

“It's a doll. A stuffed children's toy. I gave one to my daughter when she was six.” Harry mutters, Willow can see Jay staring at Harry and moves closer to Harry while Emma stands closer to Jay to distract him.

“Mr. Jiggle Wiggle was manufactured by Okamura Toys… Yahtzee! Okamura once had a shipping facility in Central City that shut down four years ago, it's been abandoned ever since.” Cisco reads off.

“What if it’s a trap? The toy is in plain sight. No way James is that sloppy.” Willow argues.

“We have to risk it” Barry sighs and races off. A few minutes later, Barry’s voice can be heard through the speakers. “It was just a trap. They're still on the loose.”
________________________________________________________________

Star Labs Basement: Zoom appears through the breach. “Have you decided?”

“I need more time,” Harry says, sticking to Willow’s plan of being reluctant and then agreeing to not seem suspicious.

“Don't we all. Decide.” Zoom orders.

“I need more time,” Harry says again.

“Maybe if I go up there and kill a few of your new friends…”

“No!”

“One more day. Or I will kill everyone you love, starting with your daughter” Zoom threatens and then disappears again through the breach.

“Willow, you better be right about this” Harry whispers and goes back up to the Cortex.
_____________________________________________________________________

“Willow” Barry starts, “You said you were good at thinking like a criminal. Where do you think the Tricksters’ and Rainbow Raider’s next move is?”

“Probably a place that will cause more mayhem. I’d want a big crowd to watch as I try and kill the Flash” Willow answers.

“Omg” Caitlin realises, “The tree lighting ceremony. There are thousands of people there.”

Barry races off. Everyone disperses when they see him, most likely expecting a meta attack. Making it easy to find Bivolo and Jesse.

“You didn't really think I'd let you hurt all these people, did you?” Barry asks sarcastically.

“No, of course not,” Bivolo answers, “But bet you're gonna let me hurt you.”

A green-wrapped present skids under Barry’s feet, he looks up and finds Jesse. “Feliz Navidad! Time for a real war on Christmas.”

“What is this?” Barry asks.

“That is a box with a bomb in it. Yup, I've handed out about 100 of them today. It feels so good to give. You see, right now, 100 random children have each taken home a box just like that one and are shoving it under their Christmas tree. There's no way for you to to all of them, even if you knew where to look.” The Trickster informs.

“Oh, no, Please don't do this.” Barry nearly begs.

“What? Me? Kill 100 families? No, that's up to you. I'm happy just to take your life. So this is how it's gonna be. You are gonna stand there and let me end you. Very publicly and very painfully and I'll let everybody live, but if I see even a little flicker of electricity on you… the casket makers in this town are gonna have a very merry Christmas. So, Flash… what's it gonna be? Huh?” Bivolo asks, smirking evilly. Barry nods in defeat. “There you go.” Barry is overwhelmed with a sense of fear and anxiety, falling to the ground as Jesse laughs and takes out a knife, stabbing Barry in the thigh.

“They're gonna kill Barry!” Cait panics, staring at Barry’s heart rate.

“Unless we find those bombs. Cisco?” Jay asks.

“Jay, there's no way.” Cisco breathes out.

“There is a way,” Harry states.

“To find 100 randomly placed bombs?” Emma asks.

“We don't have to find 100. We just have to find one. And then we get rid of them all.” Harry answers.

“How?” Cisco asks.

“A breach. We sent Grodd away. We can do the same to these bombs, all of them. Do you have a drone in your workshop?” Harry asks Cisco, who nods, “Does it fly?”

“Yeah”

“Good. I'm taking it. You're not getting it back.” Harry quickly leaves the room with Jay.

“I'll warm up the van.” Cisco rushes off as Willow, Hartley, Emma and Caitlin sit and watch as Barry gets his ass kicked by Bivolo, who is currently kicking Barry in the stomach.

“Flash, you all right? You don't look so good. I know… I'll give you a jolt.” Bivolo laughs, taking out a taser and tasing Barry, not letting the button go for a few minutes. “I'm done. He's all yours.” Bivolo says to Jesse.

Barry groans in pain as Jesse kneels over him, taking the knife from his thigh and holding it above his chest. Willow is ready to speed over there to help Barry, but Hartley grabs her arm, preventing her.

“To think this city worships you! But, when I kill The Flash, they'll realise I'm the man who saved Central City!” Distant explosions could be heard, and Jesse turned to Bivolo, “Was that you?”

“No! Gut him!”

“All right, I'm gutting already.”

“Barry, the bombs are gone,” Cisco calls and Barry is quick to tie up Jesse and knock out Bivolo.

Eddies drive up to arrest the two, checking to make sure Barry is okay. He nods, in pain and rushes back to Star Labs for Emma and Cait to take care of his wounds. ____________________________________________________________________

About an hour later, everyone is heading over to the West’s house, and only Willow, Harry, Barry and Joe are at Star Labs.

“Barry, hey.” Joe starts, walking over to Barry.

“Hey.”

“Everyone's heading over to our place for Christmas. You okay?” Joe asks, worried about the beating Barry took.

“Yeah, no, nothing a little meta-human regenerative healing capabilities won't cure. How'd it go with Francine?”

“It was good. It was really good. I mean, I spent so long lying about her being dead that I started to believe it myself. But the truth is, those feelings were always there. That anger, that regret, the guilt… I just didn't realise how much I needed to forgive her. And now… there's room for another West.” Joe grins with happiness.

“Did you meet him?” Barry asks, smiling, happy for Joe.

“No. He still doesn't know. That'll come.”

“Wow. You have a son.” Barry laughs.

“I know, right? It's crazy… Speaking of which, take this.” Joe takes off his watch, the same watch his father gave him.

“What? No, no, no, no, I can't take that.”

“I've always said that one day I would give this to my son…” Joe hands Barry the watch, “And now I have. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas. Thank you.”

Joe laughs, “Love you.”

“I love you too.” Barry smiles.

“See you at the house.” With that, Joe walks off and Barry goes to the viewing room for the treadmill, where Harry is fiddling with equipment and Willow is talking to him.

“I know that you're not him… But he's not here and I have to say this for me. In that video message, you said that… I would never really be happy… And I've been trying… I've been trying really hard. “After what Joe said, I realise that you're still in my heart. How much I hate you for what you've done. I don't want to hate you anymore, I can't. Can't hate you anymore. I forgive you.”

Harry and Willow notice Barry watching them and turn on the sound. “You need me for something?”

“No, no, I'm good. You know, you should come over for Christmas tonight. You shouldn't be alone.” Barry offers.

“It's a nice offer. But I have work to do” Harry answers.

“All right. Willow, you coming?” Barry asks.

“I’ll meet you there Barry” Willow smiles, waiting for Barry to leave the room before she turns to Harry. “Jay is at the Christmas party, Zoom will most likely appear soon. You tell him you will help steal the Flash’s speed, and then when he leaves, text me and go home to Jesse. He won’t kill you if you are useful to him” Harry sighs but agrees and Willow leaves to go to the West House.
_________________________________________________________________

“Hey.” Jay walks up to Emma who is embarrassing herself by not getting a step ladder and still trying to put mistletoe on the ceiling, hoping Jay will notice and help the damsel in distress. “What do you have there?”

“Mistletoe,” Emma answers.

“What's mistletoe?” Jay asks, curiously.

“Oh, um, it's a poisonous plant we hang up during Christmas time to bring love, fertility, and good luck to the home for the upcoming year, stemming from ancient folklore and traditions.” Emma an

Jay laughs, “I'm kidding. We have mistletoe on Earth-2.”

Emma blushes, “Right, of course.”

Jay hangs the mistletoe above their heads, “Um, we also have this tradition over there…” Jay trails off.

Emma smiles and they lean in for a kiss. “We have that tradition here too. We also have a tradition that the first couple to kiss under the mistletoe has to kiss twice for good luck” Emma lies, and they kiss again.

“Finally,” Cisco mutters.

There’s a knock at the door and Iris goes to get it, it’s Willow, dressed in a Christmas-red dress.

“Hi, I'm so glad you could make it.” Iris greets.

“Thank you for having me. Merry Christmas. This is for you.” Willow hangs Iris some flowers and a bottle of wine.

“Thank you.” Iris smiles and lets Willow in.

“Of course.” Barry stands up from the couch and greets Willow at the door with a kiss. “Hey.”

“Hi.” Barry smiles.

“You feeling better from the attack?” Willow worries about her bottom lip.

“Much better that I now have you in my arms” Barry snappily answers and hugs her, tugging her towards the couch. “I have presents for everyone in the car”

“Detective Heart” Joe greets.

“Detective West” Willow grins. “Detective Thorne” Eddie appears standing next to Iris just behind her dad. “Merry Christmas!”

“What brings you here?” Joe smiles.

“Barry and I are officially dating, so we decided it was time I finally get that West family dinner” Willow laughs.

“Better late than never” Joe smirks and hands her a cup of eggnog. “Cheers.”

There’s knocking on the door again, “Are we expecting anybody else?” Joe asks.

“Not that I know of,” Iris answers.

“Maybe Harry changed his mind.” Barry shrugs.

Joe answers the door, revealing a young man, “Hi, I'm Wally. I'm Francine's son.”

Joe is so shocked, he’s nearly speechless, “I'm... I'm... I'm Joe. This is Iris.” Iris stands next to her dad.

“Hi.” Iris softky says,

“Hi. Uh, I just wanted to… I don't know. I guess now's a bad time. You've got company, so…”

“No. No, no, no. Come in.” Joe is quick to say, and Wally walks inside the West home.
______________________________________________________________________

Harry is pacing back and forth in an alley where Zoom said to meet him. Zoom appears from a breach, “Time's up, Wells. What's it gonna be?”

“I know what you're doing. I know why you keep sending villain after villain from our Earth to this one. You want Barry to get faster. You want him to get stronger. You want him to become more powerful, more full of… speed force. You're fattening him up like a Christmas goose.” Harry accuses.

“The more power he has, the more I can take and you're going to help me. Now decide. In return, I will stop hunting for your daughter, she can stop hiding in fear…”

“I'll do it. I'll help you steal The Flash's speed.” Harry answers.
________________________________________________________________________

“Zoom visited me again tonight” Harry announced when everyone Willow and Emma got back from the West Christmas Dinner.

“What happened?” Willow asks, immediately switching to Detective mode.

“We were right. He keeps sending meta’s here to get Barry faster, because the more power he has, the more Zoom can take away. Per our plan, I agreed to help. You better have a good plan Heart” Harry growls.

Willow nods, “Did Zoom say when he wants Barry’s speed by?”

“I promised to give him a sample by next week,” Harry reveals.

“We can’t take Barry’s speed. So take some of mine.”

“Willow! You can’t!” Emma gasps out.

“Barry needs his speed, and it’s only a sample. Take a bit of mine, just to give us some more time to stop Zoom. I’ll propose that we go to Earth-2 sooner rather than later, get Ronnie back and deal with Zoom. It will be okay.” Willow smiles.

“I’ll be taking a bit of your speed from you. You’ll be slower than you are now” Harry explains.

“Then I will just have to get faster. You take a bit away and I’ll be the same speed I am now.” Willow reasons.

Emma sighs, “Will it hurt?”

“Not if I do it right,” Harry answers.

Jesse nods sadly, “I’ll help”

“We will defeat Zoom. And Barry is the best person to do it. As long as we help from the shadows.” Willow firmly states.

Chapter Text

A few days later, Willow and Barry had finished their 4th date and were standing outside Willow’s apartment door.

“I had a really good time tonight” Willow smiles.

Barry grins, “Me too! I can’t believe it took us this long, but we are official”

“Hartley told me that you looked at the newspaper every day in hopes that Pink Lightning and I would come back,” Willow smiles sadly.

“I didn’t want to lose hope” Barry confesses.

“Well, I think that is incredibly sweet. And why don’t you speed us to our place and I can show you how sweet I think it is?” Willow smirks.

Barry smirks, “What’s wrong here?” Barry asks, pointing to Willow’s apartment door behind them.

“Emma and I have a ‘no boyfriends staying over unless organised 3 days in advance' policy”, Ssheanswers.

“Well then, I am happy to be your chaperone, m’lady” Barry bows, jokingly and picks her up bridal style. Willow giggles as Barry speeds them through the city, arriving inside Barry’s bedroom.

“Why, aren’t you fast” Willow jokes.

“Only when it counts”
_______________________________________________________________________

Later that night, as they slept, Barry woke up with a gasp, waking Willow.

“Barry? What’s wrong?” Willow quickly asks, sitting up.

“Just a dream” Barry pants out, “Go back to sleep”

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong. In some cases, talking about the dream makes the dream have less power over you.” Willow explains, “Tell me, please”

Barry is silent for a few moments, and just when Willow thinks he’s not going to talk, he speaks.

“It started out fine.” He starts, “I was speeding to our date, and when I got there, the roses I had brought caught on fire. I had to step on it a few times to put the fire out, and you joked that it was the thought that counts.” Barry pauses and Willow grabs hold of his hand, looking into his beautiful eyes. “We were talking, and then suddenly, you disappeared in a flash of blue. I chase after you and find you in Zoom’s grasp, he’s holding you over the side of a building” Barry looks so scared and lost at that moment.

“I’m here, I’m safe” Is all Willow can say.

“He said that he would kill everyone I love, and then dropped you. I couldn’t get to you in time” Tears gather in his eyes, breaking Willow’s heart.

“Oh Barry, it’s okay. I’m okay” Willow whispers, pulling him in for a hug. “Everything will be okay. Zoom won’t hurt me, and I won’t let him hurt you”

“You can’t promise that. I’m the hero, I’m supposed to promise that”

“I know, but I can at least try” Willow smiles softly, hugging Barry until he falls asleep again. “I love you, Barry Allen, I promise, I won’t let anything bad happen to you” She whispers, not knowing Barry is still awake, and hears her profess her love for him. “God, I wish I could tell you my secrets, hiding from you is killing me. I just wish when I finally do tell you, you don’t hate me forever” Willow kisses Barry on the forehead and goes to sleep herself.

Barry opens his eyes, his love-filled eyes trained on Willow. “I love you too, Willow” He whispers.
_______________________________________________________________________

Takes out Turtle on her own. Emma and Cisco work out how to get her faster. Willow has a chat with Iris about keeping secrets from Barry and the team.

Walking into the station the next day, Willow finds Joe and Iris with Wally just leaving. “Any chance I could chat with you for a minute?” Willow asks Iris as she walks up to the two West’s.

“Yeah, what's up, Detective?” Joe asks.

“Oh... I meant Iris.” Willow smiles awkwardly.

“Yeah, you're not needed,” Iris says jokingly to her dad.

“I am needed... somewhere. I'ma... go there.” Joe leaves as Willow giggles.

“What can I do for you?” Iris asks, smiling at Willow.

“I just wanted to talk with you… about Jay” Willow starts.

“Oh, what about Jay?” Iris asks as they move over to Willow’s desk for more privacy.

“I know I missed the part where he gained everyone's trust by helping you stop a meta, but there’s just something about the guy I don’t like. And I’m not telling you this to cause you concern, Jay has been helpful, but some things he says… it’s hard to explain. I was just wondering if you and Eddie could maybe stay away from Jay for a while, as I figure in my terms if Jay is safe to be around?”

“Jay proved himself trustworthy, Willow. He and Emma are dating, what makes you think he isn’t trustworthy?” Iris nearly hisses.

“Hartley informed me that Jay came to this Earth at the same time I got stuck on Earth 2, right?” Iris nods, following along, “Then how come I saw him, as the Flash, 5 months after, on Earth 2?” Iris gets this confused look on her face, “It’s not adding up. You, Eddie and Joe, are all people Barry cares about. And Barry needs you all safe if he is going to defeat Zoom. Barry considers you family, I’m just asking that you stay away from Star Labs and Jay for a bit as I investigate.”

“But what about Barry and the others, they should know if Jay shouldn’t be trusted.” Iris points out.

“I’m going to tell the others soon, but they work at Star Labs, you, Eddie and Joe don’t, so it won’t seem suspicious if we don’t see you all there for a while”

Iris reluctantly nods, “I trust your gut. Eddie and I will stay away, but only for about a week. But Dad won’t leave Barry’s side, especially if he thinks Jay is lying to us.”

“I know, which is why I’m hoping Eddie will distract Joe with police work. I just need someone to convince him” Willow pointedly looks at Iris.

“Fine, I’ll talk to Eddie” She sighs.

“Thank you! I shouldn’t need more than 2 weeks until I figure what what Jay doesn’t want us to find”

“Speaking of which, when are you going to tell Barry that you are Pink Lightning, now that you're dating and all?” Iris asks.

“As soon as the team is back together and Ronnie is safe.”
_________________________________________________________________

Back in Star Labs. Harry and Hartley were writing equations on glass boards. Harry was writing an equation on how to get Barry slower, while Hartley was trying to figure out how to take away some of Willow’s speed. Hartley watches in amusement as Harry gets annoyed and wacks some things off a nearby table, causing Cisco to rush in. “Hey... no! Absolutely Not! You don't get to throw somebody else's stuff when you're pissed off.” Harry purposely walks to another table and pulls off the items off, letting them crash to the floor. “Thank you.” Cisoc then looks at Harry’s board of calculations. “What is this?”

“Wrong answers,” Harry grumbles, starting to wipe the calculations away.

“Maybe you're asking the wrong questions.” Cisco offers.

“What does that mean?”

“I've been thinking about this a lot recently. We keep trying to come up with ways to make Barry faster, but I still think we can figure out a way to make Zoom slower.”

“We tried that already, remember? Those darts didn't slow him down at all.”

“Yeah, I know... I'm not talking about the darts, okay? The darts clearly didn't work. They just pissed him off. I'm talking about something else… a way we can steal Zoom's speed.” Cisco reveals.

Both Harry and Hartley freeze and turn their full attention to Cisco. “How?” They both say.

“The Turtle.”
__________________________________________________________________

They quickly call a team meeting and wait for everyone to arrive. Cisoc stands in front of a TV, everyone’s attention on him. “As some of you may well know, I've been deeply embroiled in a secret, one-sided battle with an invisible enemy.”

“No, not the Turtle again.” Caitlin groans.

“What? What is the… Or who is the Turtle?” Barry asks.

“It's Cisco's white whale,” Cait explains.

“Half whale, half turtle.” Jay nods.

“No. Do you see what you're doing, Caitlin? Everybody's confused now.” Cisco says.

“Get to it.” Harry sighs.

“I stumbled upon a few of these cases when we were looking for the Reverse Flash, robberies that were seemingly committed at high speed… people holding their beloved items one second. Those items were gone the next. Tell me what you see.” Cisco plays the video on the TV. Everyone on the screen seemingly freezes as a man in a hood casually walks past them.

“So he can... what? Stop time?” Cait asks.

“No, no, no. Look at the time code. It's still running.” Willow points out.

“Yeah, okay. So if he's not stopping time, what is he doing?” Barry asks.

“He's slowing down everything around him.” Cisco pauses the video. “And that is why we call him the Turtle.”

“Why have you never mentioned this guy to me before?” Barry asks.

“Oh, I don't know, I think we've just been a little distracted, you know, what with Captain Cold and the Trickster and Gorilla Grodd. Do I need to go on?”

“Okay, so if we can catch him, figure out how he uses his powers…” Jay trails off

“Maybe we can show Zoom what life is like in the slow lane.” Cisco finishes, smirking.

“How would you even know where to find him?” Harry grumbles out.

“Well, the robberies in the videos all correspond with police reports that were dismissed as lost or missing items instead of thefts.” Barry informs, reading off the computer, “The suspect's M.O. being items of immense personal value.” Barry speed-types and then rushes off with his suit.

Caitlin sighs and reads off the computer, “It appears that there's a press conference at CCPD because the Vandervoort diamonds have just been recovered.”
_____________________________________________________________________

A little while later, Barry comes back, informing them what happened. Caitlin insisted on a check-up. “Well, the good news is whatever the Turtle did, it only affected you temporarily.”

“Yo. What was it like being in Turtle Time?” Cisco asks.

“Yeah, no, it was weird. It was like waves of inertness… like all the energy was suddenly sucked out of my body, and then it would return.” Barry informs.

“That's because that's exactly what was happening. He has the ability to transfer all the surrounding kinetic energy into himself.” Harry rambles, writing in his notebook.

“Leaving everyone else in a temporary state of potential energy,” Jay adds.

“So why could I still move?” Barry asks.

“Your speed. Your speed allows you to change positions faster than anyone else.” Harry flips closed his notebook.

“So you can convert your stored potential energy back to kinetic energy,” Jay informs.

“Excuse me, where are you going?” Cisco asks as Harry goes to the next room.

“Trying to figure out how to use this against Zoom. You remember Zoom?”

“’ Cisco, please join me. We'll use your idea and take it to new scientific heights and save the world.’ Yes, I'd love to!” Cisco follows Harry out of the room, Hartley following behind him, laughing.

“Okay. Facial recognition software found us a match from the press conference footage. The Turtle's name is Russell Glosson. He was a small-time thief who stopped thieving after the particle accelerator explosion.” Willow reads off.

“All right, I'm gonna head to work… catch Joe up. Let me know if you find anything else.” Barry says and leaves the room.

Cait notices that Jay is staring at the image of Russel Glosson. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, it's just… It's hard to... look at that and not think about how I can't help people anymore.” Willow stops herself from rolling her eyes, wishing Emma wasn’t at the hospital right now.

“Well, we have lots of technology here. Why don't we figure out how to get your speed back?” Cait offers.

“I'm a scientist too, Caitlin,” Jay says in an almost condescending tone. “When I first got here, all I did was work on how to get my speed back. Believe me, whatever test you could run… I've already done it.”

“How did you lose your speed again? I never heard the story” Willow speaks up.

“We were engaged in our fiercest battle ever, Racing throughout my city. But I wasn't fast enough to stop him. Zoom has me beaten. He was about to kill me when suddenly there was a blinding light and the sky split open. A breach, between my world and yours. Caused from the singularity. It pulled me in… And I somehow ended up in your world. Powerless. Unable to return home.”

“So Zoom didn’t use any sort of equipment on you? He was about to kill you, you were sucked in the breach and had no powers?” Willow confirms.

“What are you trying to say?” Caitlin asks.

“Nothing” Willow quickly says, “But if Zoom used a piece of equipment to steal Jay’s speed, we might be able to use that to take Zoom’s speed”

“I didn’t see any sort of tool” Jay unhelpfully answers.
__________________________________________________________________

The next day, Barry, Cisco, Harry, Hartley, Caitlin, Emma and Jay were at Star Labs while Willow was at the station.

“Hey. You guys got anything?” Barry asks as he walks into the room.

“I think we found the next target for our ‘30-something, meta-human, not-a-Ninja-Turtle’” Cisco answers.

“How long did it take you to come up with that one?” Caitlin jokes.

“It just came out of my mouth… did you see that? That was amazing. Central City Museum is hosting a special black tie event tonight showcasing "The Crystal Ball." Cisco informs.

“It's a famous painting, recently recovered from Markovia. The painting is on loan to the museum from the Silverberg family.” Hartley states.

“Jacob Silverberg himself said, "The painting's safe return means more to us than all the money in the world " It's like they're begging Turtle to rob it.”

“Okay, yes. This is a plan. So the Turtle will make his move, and we can be there waiting to take him down.” Barry smiles.

Emma turns to Jay, “How do you look in a tux?”

“Come on, he's 6'2", he's square-jawed, and he's jacked. I think he looks fine.” Cisco answers.

“I'm 6'4".” Jay corrects.

“Oh, crap!” Barry mutters, remembering that he has a date with Willow tonight.

“Problem?” Caitlin asks.

“No. An opportunity, maybe. Hold on.” Barry gets out his phone and calls Willow.

“Hey, Barry. I'm excited to see you tonight.” Willow answers.

“Yeah, me too. Actually, about that... so I know I said we’ll go out for dinner, but I was wondering if you would like to go undercover with me to an event at the Central City Museum tonight. They're showing this really famous painting that we think the Turtle will try to take” Barry ends awkwardly.

“Barry Allen, I thought you’d know me by now,” Willow smirks as Barry starts apologising. “I love going undercover. Count me in.”

Barry laughs in delight, “All right, great. I'll see you at 8:00.”

“7:00!” Emma, Cisco, Hartley, Caitlin and Jay correct him.

“Or 7:00. I'll see you at 7:00.”

“Okay, 7:00 it is. Bye.”

Barry hangs up and turns to the others. Cisco starts, “You know, you're a really great superhero…”

“Thanks.” Barry smiles.

“A really great superhero… But do you think it's a good idea when you're fighting crime to bring a date?” Cisco continues.

“Willow knows the risks and I trust her. Plus, it might be fun” Barry grins. “Plus, Emma and Jay are going, I don’t want Willow to feel left out” He jokes.
______________________________________________________________________

At 7, Jay and Barry enter the gallery together. Both wearing handsome tuxes. “All right. Keep your eyes open for the Turtle. A sentence I never thought I would say. Cisco, are you and Harry in position?”

Outside in the Star Labs van, Cisco and Harry can watch the entrance as Caitlin and Hartley are in Star Labs. “I'm the security feed. I've got the facial recognition software running, so we'll be able to spot Turtle before he makes his move.” Cisco states.

“Turtle. Why do you insist on giving them ridiculous nicknames?” Harry asks.

“Me?” Ciusco answers, “Who's the genius that came up with "Zoom"?”

“Yeah, well… I'll tell you, about two years ago… this is on Earth-2, now. The CCPD there... they got a 911 call about a hostage situation, but when the SWAT team got there, there were no hostages. It was a trap. Zoom set a trap to show the police that they could not stop him. And he killed 14 officers. Men and women. Slaughtered them. Left one alive to tell what happened. That officer described lightning "zooming" all about as his comrades, brothers and sisters in arms, were murdered. That officer… considered himself to be a lucky one, spared to tell the tale. Until Zoom went to his house that night and killed him too. Anyway, that's how he got the nickname "Zoom"

Back inside, Jay found Emma, who was wearing a beautiful white dress. While Barry found Willow, who was wearing a beautiful pink dress. “You look like a dream come true” Barry grins.

“And you look very handsome.” Willow smiles.

“You wanna dance?” Barry asks.

“Aren’t we supposed to keep an eye out for the Turtle?” Willow asks.

Barry smirks, “We can do both” and he pulls her to the dance floor, leading her into a slow dance.

“I wonder how our mutual friend is…” Barry starts.

Knowing Jay and the others can hear, Willow answers, “They’re okay, looking forward to officially meeting you. I have to ask Mr Allen, should I be jealous?” She smirks.

“Compared to you? She doesn’t stand a chance. You’re the only one I see”

Willow blushes, “Aren’t you a charmer”

Barry is about to say something else when he’s eyes land on the Turtle. “We've got eyes on Turtle,” Barry says.

Willow nods with a smile, “Go. I’ll be okay” Barry quickly kisses her lips and rushes off.

Willow watches as the Flash appears and begins running at Turtle, but he uses his powers to slow everything around him. Barry slowly pushes through, moving, but Turtle sends another wave, stopping Barry completely. Willow can still see what’s happening and tries to see if she can move. Knowing Jay was with Emma in the next room, Willow allowed the feel of lightning to flow through her body and moved her arm despite the green waves rolling past her. However, Turtle sees this movement and walks closer to her.

“You can move, how?” Turtle asks as Barry begins using his speed to turn himself around to see who Turtle is talking to.

Willow remains frozen, as Turtle gets in her face. “You’re pretty. You’ll make the perfect collectable” Turtle smirks,

Once the waves of energy disappear, Barry speeds around and finds Turtle and the painting missing.

“Guys, Turtle’s gone.” Emma and Jay run into the room, and Emma finds Willow’s high heel on the ground, abandoned. “So is Willow.”
______________________________________________________________________

“Your pupils are normal. Your heart rate's a little low. But other than that, no concussive symptoms.” Caitlin mutters, looking over Barry.

“I really do feel fine. I’m more worried about Willow. Why would Turtle take her?”

“No sign of them, or the painting.” Cisco sighs,

“Did Turtle say anything to indicate that he might know Willow? Maybe she arrested him before?” Jay offers.

Barry frowns in thought, “Yeah, I thought I heard him say that he saw her-” A beeping on the computer in front of Haetley stops him.

“Sorry, that was just a reminder I set for myself.” Hartley awkwardly laughs. “But I looked up Willow’s arrest history, which is very impressive, and it seems that she and Turtle haven’t crossed paths. But finding Turtle is what's important right now. I’ll see if there are any possible locations that he might hide out in”

“Yeah…” Barry mutters, “Yeah, anyway, He said that he was going to collect her.”

“That doesn’t sound good” Emma worries.

“We’ll find her” Hartley assures her.

“We still have to find out how Turtle drained him of it,” Harry mutters and leaves the room.

“Can I talk to you… for a second?” Jay asks Emma, leading her to Caitlin’s lab. “You never got your champagne. I couldn't find any flutes. Hope that's okay.” Jay smiles, pouring out a glass of champagne into a beaker and handing it to her.

Emma forces herself to smile, “Of course.”

“Let me go see if I can make myself useful.” Jay takes a sip of his champagne and leaves. Emma stops smiling, eyeing Jay’s beaker.
_____________________________________________________________________

Willow huffs in annoyance as she is tied to a chair. “I swear, if you ruined my dress, you owe me $300”

“I didn’t ruin your dress, gosh, do you ever stop talking?” Turtle sighs. Willow hides her smirk, ever since Turtle kidnapped her, she hasn’t stopped talking, hoping to distract him enough to escape. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to stop moving… Forever.” Turtle says calmly, typing on an old typewriter.

“Stop moving? Not kill me?” Willow smirks, “That’s right, killing is too fast. You like things nice and slow. I’m curious though, why take me? I’m no one special”

Turtle stands up and bends down next to her, “You’re the only one to move, apart from the Flash. So I want to figure out how, and then make sure you and no one else can stop me”

“I didn’t move. I don’t know what you’re talking about. You don't have to hurt me to try to prove a point. The Flash is going to save me, He's a hero. He saves people who need saving.” Willow states, wiggling her hands to try and untie her hands.

“That's a waste of time… saving people. They take everything for granted”

“So you take the things that matter most to them.” Willow realises.

Turtle stands up and moves across the room to a curtain. “My wife Rosalyn took me for granted. She wanted to leave me, the thing I valued most.”

“So that's what this is about? You're hurt because your wife left you?”

“I couldn't let that happen. So I made her mine. Forever.” He pulls back the curtain to reveal a display case, with a woman inside. She was in a coma-like state, eyes closed, not moving, but still breathing. Willow gasps in shock. “I do hope I spelled your name right.” Turtle slots in a name card in an empty display case ‘DETECTIVE WILLOW HEART’.

Willow swallows in fear. Phasing through her hands through the robes, she jumps up and goes to run, but Turtle uses his powers and she watches as he moves towards her, smirking.
________________________________________________________________

In Star Labs, Joe, Hartley, Emma, Caitlin, Cisco, Jay, Harry, and Barry are trying to find Willow.

“Bar... we'll find her.” Joe tries to assure Barry, who is pacing the length of the Cortex.

“I'm not getting any leads on this guy. It's like he's totally fallen off the grid.” You know, any of the stuff he's stolen, I can't find it.” Cisco states, annoyed.

“He keeps them. He keeps them the way a serial killer collects trophies.” Harry realises.

“He's stolen a lot of stuff.” Caitlin comments.

“Which means he needs a lot of space to store it, right? That's where we start. See if he rented any storage spaces.” Joe orders and Cisco checks.

“No, no… I'm not getting anything. Wait a minute. His ex-wife used to be an archivist for antiquities at the Naydel Library before it shut down, and it shut down three months after the accelerator exploded.”

“That place is big enough to hold Turtle's stuff,” Joe states.

“Okay, all right.” Barry rushes, getting his suit on.

“Wait, Barry... we haven't even figured out how to neutralize the Turtle's power.” Jay quickly says, like he actually cares.

“Well, I'm gonna have to power through it.” That is all Barry says before he speeds away. “All right, I'm outside the library.”

“Barry, the only way to save Patty is if you grab her in between each of the Turtle's pulses,” Hartley says.

“You'll only have 2/10ths of a second to make your moves.” Cait adds.

“I got it,” Barry answers, rushing in to find Willow punching Turtle in the nose. “Ohh! Nice punch detective” Barry smirks.

“Well, I was tired of waiting for a certain speedster to come and rescue me” Willow laughs. While she is distracted, Turtle uses his powers. Because Barry is there, Willow freezes, not trying to use her powers, while Barry tries his hardest to run towards her.

However, Barry freezes in place as well, allowing Turtle to punch him a few times in the face. Finally, an uppercut and Barryfall once Turtle stops using his powers. Knowing Barry couldn’t defeat Turtle like this, he leaves the building.

“I guess he doesn't care about you as much as I thought.” Turtle mutters, turning back to Willow who glares at him, about to punch him again when Turtle brandishes a knife. He takes a swing at her, and she tries to dodge, but he gets her. This draws some blood. Just before she could do anything, the Flash came running back in. Turtle’s powers slow him down at first, but Barry pushes through it, eventually shoving Turtle back into a wall, knocking him out.

Willow grabs him and hugs him, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you” Pulling back, she smiles, “My hero”
_________________________________________________________________________

After Emma and Caitlin check that Willow is okay, Barry and the team gloat to Turtle. Emma confronts Jay about him being sick.

“Jay?” Emma starts, drawing Jay away from the group, but still in the sight of the team.

“Yeah?”

“I know. Why didn't you tell me that you're sick?” Emma asks, a worried edge to her tone.

“The champagne. You took my DNA off the glass.” Jay says instead.

“How could you let me get close to you knowing that soon I'd lose you?”

“I just… I didn't expect… this. I didn't expect you.” Jay stumbles.

“Then help me find a cure.” Emma tries.

“There is no cure. The only way to save me is to get my speed back. And the only way to do that is to stop Zoom.” Jay explains.

“Then let's stop him.” Emma smiles and takes his hand.

“Yeah.” Jay smiles, thinking he won, but he doesn’t know anything.
________________________________________________________________________

Later that night at Willow’s and Emma’s apartment. “How can Jay think that stopping Zoom will automatically get back his powers? Does he think we’re stupid?” Hartley huffs.

“I bet he wasn’t expecting Emma to figure out that he was dying” Jesse pipes in.

“And now that we have that under-way, Emma, maybe bring Caitlin in on it? See what she can bring to the table. Maybe a bio-chemist can find a way to ‘cure’ Jay.” Harry says, using air quotes.

“And also tell Barry that Jay is dying and that you’re looking for his doppelganger,” Willow adds.

Emma nods along, “Yep, I got it”

“Are we anywhere close to figuring out how Jay can be in two places at once? Or figuring out how to take some of my speed?” Willow asks, changing subjects.

“Still working on that, but I believe if we can create a machine that mimics Turtle’s powers, then we may have a way to stop Zoom, or at least slow him down” Jesse answers.

“Barry already defeated Turtle, and Jay knows how to do it too, it might not work” Willow sighs.

“Well, I have created a new exercise to run to try and make you go faster and think on the spot. It involves Lasers!” Jesse smirks.

“Great” Willow deadpans.

“You’re at Mach 3.2 now. We want you at least Mach 3.5 before we take some of your speed. Hopefully, it won’t be too noticeable.” Harry says.

“How fast is Barry right now?” Emma asks.

“About Mach 2.8 and catching up fast. By my calculations, he should be about as fast as you in a few weeks, since he runs more than you, he is getting more training time in while also saving people.” Hartley shrugs.

“You only had the advantage at the start because your body had more time to adjust to the speed-force inside of you, and you also had the proper runner form. You two are now more on equal ground. Zoom is mach 4. Between you and Barry, Zoom stands no chance” Emma grins.

Chapter Text

Willow laughs in delight as Barry joins her in bed. “Ya know, it's not actually that funny” Barry grins. “Believe it or not, guys don’t love it when you laugh at them after what we just did”

Willow giggles, “No, I’m not laughing at that. That was, amazing. I’m laughing at the fact that you thought creating a chemical fire for your 7th-grade science project would be a good idea”

“I sincerely thought, that if I started a chemical fire, I would win. I got an A and got suspended” Barry adorably pouts.

“Sounds like a win to me” Willow smirks.

“Alright, now your turn. Tell me a story about your childhood” Barry grins.

Willow smiles softly, leaning her head on Barry’s bare chest. “When Emma’s family first adopted me, I was only 7, bounced around the system for about 2 years. It took me ages to warm up to them. Emma’s parents didn’t ask that I call them mum and dad, but Emma immediately called me her sister. I just thought she was just being nice, until one day, in the schoolyard. Emma was about 2 years older than me, but she stuck with me during lunch. One day, she was running late, these two older boys in Emma’s class started bullying me about being adopted, that my parents were dead, and Emma’s family only took me out of pity. I was on the verge of running away in tears when Emma showed up. She was a bit taller than me at the time, but right then, she looked like a superhero.” Willow laughs softly, “She punched the first boy in the nose, breaking it, and the second boy got kicked in the balls. She was suspended for two weeks, but from that day on, I knew she saw me as her sister, not some kid they pitied. After 2 years, I felt like I had a family again”

“That’s beautiful” Barry mutters. “In a way. We have a similar backstory”

“I suppose we do, Mr Allen” Willow smiles. “Thank you, for trusting me. We both know I’m keeping secrets, and I promise, I will tell you them when the time is right. Which is soon, I know it”

Rememebering what Willow said to him when she thought he was sleep a few days ago, “I love you, Willow Heart. If I can trust you with my heart, then I can trust you to keep a few secrets until you deem me ready to know them.”

Willow is in shock for a second, but then pulls Barry down for a sweet kiss, “I love you too Barry Allen.” They settle in a when Willow thinks Barry is sleeping, mutters, “I just hope you don’t hate me when you find out.” Little did she know, Barry heard her.
______________________________________________________________________

“What you got for me, Cisco?” Barry calls out, having stopped running to talk.

“You've been playing Good Samaritan all morning. Take a break. Are you sure you don't want
to get to CCPD, see Willow?” Cisco asks.

“No, Willow told me this morning that her, Emma and Iris are going on a girls day” Barry answers. In reality, Willow was training with Jesse and Emma to get faster, Iris was invited and wanted to tag along and see Willow use her powers.

“'Cause we cannot afford to waste any more time.” Harry snaps from next to Cisco in the Cortex.

“What, 'cause we've just been sipping Mai Tais since you got here?” Cisco asks, annoyed.

“I don't know what you been sipping since I got here, but Barry needs to get better, stronger, faster. We need to train to prepare for Zoom.”

“Oh, I see. You haven't had your coffee this morning.” Cisco mutters picking up his own mug and bring it to his lips.

“I had my coffee this morning. Don't slurp.” Cisco proceeds to slurp his coffee, “Don't. Don't. Don't.” Harry says in a low annoyed voice as Cisco continues to slurp.

They get interrupted by the computer beeping. Runaway chemical transport truck heading south on Kester.” Cisco calls out to Barry.

“On it.” Barry speeds away.
_____________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, with the girls. Willow finds herself in her hero costume standing with Iris, Emma and Jesse in KeyStone City, far away from Zoom’s eyes.

“So you’re Harry’s daughter from Earth 2?” Iris asks.

“Yes, Willow saved me from getting kidnapped from Zoom, so I’ve been hiding out in their apartment until it’s safe” Jesse informs.

“Yes well, Willow has a habit of saving people. For a person who didn’t want to be a super-hero, she sure it a good one” Iris smirks. “But I’m still confused why you invited me to tag along to your training session”

“We figured, you know most of your secrets, you might as well enjoy it.” Emma states, “Like for example, shooting Willow with bullets” She smirks evilly.

“You want me to shoot Willow?!”

“Relax, it’s just training. Plus, bullets were so last year, now we have laser” Jesse laughs and Iris’s horrified face.

“I’ll be fine Iris” Willow smiles, “Plus the aim to to avoid the lasers. I heal fast and Emma has a first-aid kit in the car if you hit me”

“Plus, we’ve made it into a game. First person to hit Willow get $50, you in?” Jesse asks.

“Mind you, last year Hartley and I tried to shoot Willow with a gun, we didn’t even come close to hitting her.” Emma adds.

“Alright, I’m in!” Iris smirks.
__________________________________________________________________________

“That one was a little close.” Barry sighs, running away from the scene after stopping the run-away truck by taking off all the tires.

“Nice! Now can you please, please take a break?” Cisco begs and then turns to Harry. “How's that for training?”

“Great.” Harry deadpans.

“Look, we're gonna catch Zoom. We got Turtle locked up in the pipeline. All we got to do is use him to figure out how to steal Zoom's speed.” Cisco smiles.

Jay and Caitlin walk in, “That might take longer than we thought.” Jay announced.

“Why's that?” Harry asks.

“Because Turtle's dead.” Caitlin reveals.

“Barry, we need you back here stat.” Cisco quickly says to Barry.

“All right. I'm on my way.” Barry speeds to Star Labs.
_____________________________________________________________________

Cisco pulled Hartley away from his calculations and join them in seeing Turtle. Turtle was slumped in his cell, blood coming out his nose.

“He better not be pulling a Juliet.” Cisco suddenly says, everyone looks at him “Yeah, that's right. I see plays.”

“He's dead, Cisco.” Caitlin says, from inside the cell, with Barry at her side. Jay at the door and Harry, Hartley and Cisco further back.

“How'd this happen?” Barry asks.

“Preliminary brain scan shows an acute brain aneurysm.” Caitlin states.

“The night we captured him. How's that for timing?” Jay asks, looking at Harry.

“What does that mean? You think I did this, Garrick? This man is the key to us stopping Zoom, the key to keeping my daughter safe. Why would I want that?” harry asks, pointing to Turtle’s dead body.

“Never understood why you do anything, Harrison.” Jay glares.

“That's fine with me, Garrick.” Harry glares back.

“Guys, look.” Barry interrupts them. “We need to figure out how to stop Zoom. Everything we've tried so far has failed. We need to start thinking outside the box. I mean, we haven't even figured out how to close the breaches yet. Maybe that's where we should start.”

“That's a good idea. I'll get on that.” Harry mutters and walks away.

“I'll help.” Cisco offers and follows with Hartley.

As Cisco sets up his work station, Hartley whispers to Harry. “You think Jay killed Turtle and is trying to put the blame on you to make the team question your motives?”

“It crossed my mind” Harry mutters.

“Try to see about closing the breaches, I’ll continue with my little pet project” Hartley half-hearted smiles and walks to Cisco. “Hey, do you what I discovered today?”

Cisco looks up and smiles at his boyfriend, “What?”

“That we haven’t had a coffee date in a long time. How about you and me, around 2 today?” Hartley smiles.

“Sounds like a plan” Cisco smiles, kissing Hartley’s nose.

“Get back to work Ramon” Harry grumbles.

“Yeah yeah” Cisco grumbles and kisses Hartley quickly on the lips before letting him go back to his work.
_______________________________________________________________________

Eddie walks into Barry’s lab in the station, “Hey, I just wanted to see if you could run this trace for me. Someone messed with an ethanol transport truck this morning. They cut the brake line and tampered with the gear shafts.” Eddie hands Barry the evidence bag.

“Okay, yeah.” barry takes the bag and adds it to his growing pile.

“Wow. Backed up, huh?” Eddie asks.

“I am, yeah.” Barry sighs, collasping in his seat.

“Can I ask you a questions?” Eddie starts.

Barry nods, “Yeah, of course, what’s wrong?”

“Do you think Iris has been acting weirdly lately? Like, a few days ago, she asked me to stay away from Star Labs and to keep Joe busy with police work. Why would she ask me that?”

Barry frowns in confusion, “I don’t know. I didn’t say anything if that’s what your asking. Maybe you have to ask her yourself?”

“I have. She always comes up with an excuse. And when I asked her where she’s going today, she said a girls shopping trip. But a friend of mine saw her driving towards KeyStone city. Be honest, do you think Iris is cheating on me?”

“Cheating? Iris? No she would never, she loves you” Barry rushes out.

“Then I don’t know” Eddie sighs in defeat.

“Do you want me to check it out?” Barry offers.

Eddie sighs, “No. Iris is my wife, I need to trust her. Thanks for the talk, good luck getting through the backlog” Eddie smiles and walks away.

Barry bites his lips for a sec and speeds out, all the way to KeyStone City. Quickly finding Iris, Emma and another girl shooting lasers at a speeding pink blur. Not waiting to think about what’s going on, Barry rushes in and takes the laser gun from Iris’s hand.

“Barry! What the hell!” Iris yelps, causing Emma and Jesse to stop. Noticing the lasers have stopped, Pink Lightning runs up to them but freezes when she finds Barry.

Playing it cool, Pink Lightning asks, “Mr Allen, I didn’t expect to see you here”

“Good to see you alive. What are you going here?” Barry asks.

Jesse answers, “Training exercise, we shoot lasers at her, and she has to evade and not stop moving”

Barry turns to her, “Who are you?”

“Jesse Wells. Mr father wanted me any from Star Labs, and Willow and Emma were kind enough to let me bunk with them. I am also helping Pink Lightning here with some training.”

“Where is Willow? I thought you girls were having a girls day?” Barry asks, looking around for his girlfriend.

“We’ve been here for a while, Willow offered to get us some lunch” Pink Lightning rushes out.

“So Willow, Emma, Iris and Jesse get to work with you, know that your alive, and all I get is a note?” Barry asks, hurt colouring his tone.

“You’re right, you deserve better than that, but Zoom still thinks I’m dead. The less people who know, the better.” Willow says.

“Who knows? So they all know your identity?” Barry asks.

“Yes, but if its any consultation, I was planning on telling you before I just stuck on Earth-2. Once Zoom is defeated. I will tell you. You have my word” Willow vows.

“Does Willow know?” Barry asks.

“Yes” Pink Lightning answers. Barry nods for a second, “I’m glad you’re alive,” And speeds off.

“I hate lying to Barry” Willow sighs.

Iris smiles sadly at her, “He will be super mad when he finds out, but he will understand.”

“That’s fair, I guess. I love him, I just want to do what’s right for him. If making him hate him, keeps him alive, then so be it. Lets get back to training.” Willow orders and they continue firing lasers at Willow.
___________________________________________________________________________

“It's not gonna work.” Cisco speaks up. “Closing the breaches, that's like solving Einstein's riddle.”

“I solved Einstein's riddle when I was ten.” Harry states.

“Yeah, well, maybe Earth-2 Einstein wasn't as clever as ours.” Cisco mutters.

“You realise this Earth is my Earth-2, right?”

“Listen to this. What if we can figure out how to control my powers? We could find Zoom, get the jump on him.” Cisco starts.

“That's a good idea. You should get on that.”

“I need your help, Harry.”

“What you need, Ramon, is to figure out what triggers your vibes.” Harry corrects.

“Exactly, and I don't know what triggers them. It's completely inconsistent. Sometimes it's when I touch something that belongs to a breacher, sometimes it just happens.”

“There's always a cause. Cause, effect. Doesn't take Einstein to figure that out.” Harry spins around, facing away form Cisco and back to his work.

“Okay, so what is the cause? You saw when I tried to vibe Dr. Light, when I tried to vibe you, took a while to work.”

Harry looks up, “Yes. Yes, it did. Meet me in the Time Vault.” With that, Harry gets up and walks away.

“For what?” Cisco calls after him but harry doesn’t respond.
_____________________________________________________________________

“After 2 hours, you’d think we’d have hit her by now” Iris pouts.

“What even is the point of this excuse again?” Willow asks from the floor, trying to catch her breath.

Jesse answers, “To teach you not to say still, always stay on your feet, always moving. Because if you stand still, your a target. But if your running then you’re-” Willow cuts in,

“A moving target?”

“Harder to hit” Jesse finishes. “But you managed to keep moving and avoid every laser beam, I’m impressed.” Jesse smirks.

“Well, I’m glad your impressed, I’m exhauted” Willow grumbles. “Can we stop now?” She nearly begs.

“Nope, we still have a few ideas in mind” Emma smirks

“But first, I have set up a maze in that warehouse, reach the end” Jesse smiles.

“I’m not a mouse!” Willow pouts”
_____________________________________________________________________

A few minutes later, Cisco pokes his head into Time-Vault. “Hello? Hello? Harry?” Walking further in the room, Cisco sighs, “Of course, now he's gonna make me wait in this freaky-ass braille room.”

A shadow appears behind Cisco, “Hi, Cisco.” Cisco screams bloody murder before realising it was Harry in the reverse-Flash outfit.

“Stop! Don't do that!” Cisco yells, holding his heart.

“I figured out your trigger. A rush of adrenaline.” Harry starts walking closer to Cisco, who is frozen in place. “Dopamine floods the brain. And the quickest way to achieve that result...Fear!” Harry grabs Cisco by the neck, not hurting him but scaring him into a vision.

“What did you see?” Harry asks once Cisco has come to.

“The Reverse-Flash. He's here.”
_________________________________________________________________________

“This maze looks like a city map” Iris points out, after seeing Willow race around for a few minutes.

“Very good Iris. It is a perfect repuca of the city, just on a smaller scale. The start is Star Labs, the finish line keeps on changing. Every time Willow finishes, it changes, and she original path is blocked. This is mostly to get her to think outside the most obvious route.” Jesse smiles.

“How did you have the idea to do this?” Emma asks.

“When you were telling me about the time you made Willow run back and forth between your apartment and every warehouse in the city. Speedsters like to speed around the city, getting from one place to the next. I’ve seen Barry’s paths, while he gets there fast, he could get there even faster if he went the most direct path, instead of back-tracking and going around blocks to turn. However, when chasing a speedster, if you can’t catch up with them, the next best thing is to take a short cut” Jesse smirks and calls out to Willow. “Alright, that’s enough, come back.”

Willow arrives, eating some doughnuts. “Done already?”

“That was just to get you familiar with the course. Next up! Droney!” Emma takes out a small drone from a box. “Hartley and Jesse made it. It’s designed to be as fast as Mach 4 and to chase you around. Your goal is to not let it chase you by taking shortcuts and whatever tricks you can come up with”

“Every time you take the same path twice, the maze will block it. Stay light on your feet, if you catch the drone instead, I’ll buy you 5 pizzas” Emma grins.

“Doesn’t this seem a bit much?” Iris asks, watching Willow run away from the speeding Drone.

“Nah, one time I covered the whole apartment with glass cups and made Willow speed around the apartment, following a laser pointer” Emma laughs.

“What did that accomplish?” Iris asks in shock.

“It was to mostly to teach her to be light on her feet. To kept her balance, speed, reflexes, agility and your ability to stop at a moment's notice. It was at the beginning when we first discovered her powers, we were just trying to keep her safe.” Emma sighs. “And also to test her ability to avoid things on the ground that could trip her harm her, like glass, traffic cones, kids, cars, evidence, chemicals”

“I get it, you were trying to help with something you had little knowledge in, you’re a good friend” Iris smiles.

“Willow is more like my sister, I would do anything for her” Emma admits. “Her parents died when she was 5 in a car crash. My familt adopted her when she was 7, so we’ve known each other basically our whole lives.”

Iris smiles, “You’re a good sister, Willow is lucky to have you.” Iris then turns to Jesse, “And she’s lucky to have you too, Jesse. Not a lot of people would help like you are with Willow”

The two girls smile. “I’m glad you know about Willow’s powers, I hate hiding from the rest of the team” Emma says.

“Have you guys found anything on Jay yet?” Iris asks.

“Jay is dying” Emma reveals, “I told Caitlin last night, and she seems to think that finding Jay's doppelganger is the key to finding a cure. But we also think he’s hiding something else, but we want to tell the whole team when we are certain.”

“How certain are you?” Iris asks.

“Just have a few things to figure out” Jesse states, ending the conversation.
__________________________________________________________________________

“You okay, Bar?” Joe asks. Barry arrived back a few minutes ago, revealed that what Cisco saw is true and then went silent.

“I'm good, yeah. It's just a lot.” Barry sighs.

“Willow shot Eobard Thawne. I thought he was dead.” Joe says. “How is he here now?”

“It's possible Eobard was in the Speed Force, protecting him like a bomb shelter, keeping him alive and his timeline intact. It's what's known as a "ttimelineremnant." Harry starts.

“A what now?” Joe asks.

“Here, let me... show you.” Harry goes to the glass board, and Cisco throws him a marker.

“This... is now.” He draws a circle. “Here, today.” He then draws another circle to the right with a line connecting them. “This is the time Thawne comes from.” He draws another circle to the left with a line connecting it to the middle circle, “This is the moment Willow shot him. But since Thawne is from the future,” He draws a line connecting the left circle and right circle, avoiding the middle one. “This is where his time line begins. That's why he's still alive. This Thawne has not yet
traveled back in time to kill Barry's mother. He's here now in this time period for the first time. "Time line remnant."”

“Explains why nothing's changed.” Cisco says, understanding.

“Yeah, it also explains why he didn't know my name or that we have met before.” Barry adds.

“To him, you hadn't. Not until the future.” Harry says.

“If Thawne dies before he can time travel again, will that save Barry's mother?” Joe tries.

“No. That's not how it works. In our time line, Barry's mother is already dead, and her death is a fixed point. Nothing can change that.” Harry answers.

“All right, well, I'm gonna end this, him, in this time once and for all.” Barry says with determination.

“Let's find Dr. McGee, then we'll figure out what to do about Thawne, okay?” Joe says. “I’ll check let Eddie know that Eobard is back in town” With that, Joe leaves.

“Ramon.” Harry calls and Cisco follows him out the room.

“Caitlin, I know you're worried about Dr. McGee, but we're gonna get her back.”

“It's not that. It's Jay.” Cait starts.

“What about Jay?” Barry asks.

“Emma showed me his blood tests last night. He's sick, and it's getting worse. When Zoom stole his speed, it affected him on a cellular level. We need to do something about it.”

“All right, like what?”

“I think we should replace his dying cells with healthy ones indistinguishable from his.”

“How do we do that?”

“We find his Earth-1 doppelganger.”
________________________________________________________________________

Iris checks her phone and finds that Joe has been calling her. “Hey guys, this has been fun but I have to go, Dad’s been trying to call me. This has been fun though” Iris smiles.

“I’ll drive you back” Emma offers.

“Thanks” Turning to Jesse, “it was nice to meet you. Give Willow a run for her money” They both laugh, and then speaking to Willow who hears her through her comms. “Good luck Willow!”

“Thanks Iris for being here, and for trusting us!” Willow calls out, trying to dodge the little drone.
_________________________________________________________________________

After dropping Iris off at the hospital to see her dying mum, Emma finds herself at the station, in Barry’s lab. “Any luck on finding Jay’s doppleganger?” Emma asks, startling Barry. “Cait told me, she told you”

“The facial recognition software at S.T.A.R. Labs didn't find anything, but there's still more databases to check. We'll find his doppelganger.” Barry answers. “How did you think to check if Jay was dying?”

Emma shrugs, “Just a hunch. Thanks, Barry.”

“Yeah. Hey, you know Pink Lightning’s identity right? What’s she like? I don’t think I’ve had more than 3 conversations with her”

“She is… amazing. Kind, pretty, sweet. Doesn’t like to be called a hero, but has the heart of a hero inside of her. You’d love her” Emma smiles and leaves.
______________________________________________________________________

Hartley and Cisco find themselves at Jitters sipping coffee. “So Harry found that fear triggers your powers? That’s interesting”

“Yeah, he’s currently fixing my goggles to make it easier to use my powers” Cisco sighs. “Speaking of which, you haven’t been using your gloves in a while, how come?”

“I figured there wasn’t really a need to for them. I still have them if I need them.” Hartley explains.

“Speaking of which, you need a superhero name!” Cisco gasps, “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before! Oh, it has to be perfect! Let me think…” Cisco trails off.

“Actually, I already came up with one. When I was still stuck on revenge, I was thinking on calling myself Pied Piper. Decided to stick with it” Hartley shrugs.

“Not bad” Cisco grins.

“Have you decided on a name yet?” Hartley asks.

“Oh Snap! I forgot to tell you! We came up with the name, Vibe” Cisco grins, only to frown when Harltey freezes. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just a sense of Da-ja-vu.” Hartley croaks out. “Do you remember the future article in the Time-Vault?”

“The one about Willow and Barry? Yeah”

“There was also a hinting of a Pied Piper and Vibe, flirting”

Cisco’s eyes widen. “Oh”

Hartley, worried he said something wrong, rushes out, “Of course, the future isn’t set in stone, and we don’t have to do or even think about-” Cisco cuts Hartley off with a kiss.

“Relax. Its nice to know that we are still together next year. Holy shit! Barry and Willow are going to be engaged next year! Knowing the future is so dope” Cisco laughs.

“The future isn’t set in stone. However, it does give me hope that Barry won’t hate her for long once she reveals our secrets.”

Cisco pauses, “What secrets?”

“Well, you already know two.” Hartley whispers, “The third one is more of a plan than a lie. And the forth one… Well I just hope that you aren’t too mad at me when you find out. And just remember, that while Willow did it to protect Barry. I did it to protect you”

“You’re lucky yyou'recute” Cisco pouts.

“I’m lucky to have such an amazing boyfriend” Hartley grins, pulling Cisco in for a kiss.
______________________________________________________________________

“So what did you do to my goggles?” Cisco asks. After their coffee date, Hartley and Cisco arrive back to find Harry waiting for them with Cisco’s goggles.

“I added a wavelength trigger stimulate the fear receptors in your brain. Then I took what you already had to induce slow-wave sleep, upgraded it to get you to stage-four sleep. This will give us more control. Now I'll be able to dictate how long you vibe for. Put 'em on.” Harry orders, handing Cisco his goggles.

“What am I gonna see?” Cisco asks, reluctantly taking the goggles.

“I don't know. Never done this before. You'll have to tell me so I can steer you where you need to be.” Cisco still seems reluctant, “Ramon, you want to find Reverse-Flash, put on the goggles.”

“Okay.” Cisco sits down.

“Attaboy,” Harry says.

Cisco looks at Hartley, who nods and smiles in reassuance. “Go ahead.”

Cisco puts in the goggles and the goggles power on, lighting up green. “Oh-ho-ho, yeah, man. I'm in full-on vibe mode right now.”

“What do you see?” Harry asks.

“It's hard to explain. It's different events. Different events in time.” Cisco explains.

“Concentrate on The Reverse-Flash.” Harry orders.

“Okay. I see him.”

“Move toward him.”

“Try to picture him with Christina McGee.” Hartley tries.

A few moments later, Cisco yells out, “No!” And rips off his goggles, panting in fear.

“Well, what is it?” Harry asks, impatient.

“She's dead.”
_____________________________________________________________________

“Dr. McGee is dead?” Caitlin asks in a heartbroken tone.

“Harry and I were trying to hone my powers to find Zoom, and then we ended up using them, finding The Reverse-Flash, and that's when I saw him kill her. And then he left.” Cisco explains.

“He left? What do you mean, he left?” Barry asks, shocked.

“McGee built him some kind of speed machine and he ran into and got flung back to the future.” Cisco states and Barry sighs in defeat.

“You'd need superluminal energy to send someone through time.” Harry quickly says.

“Tachyons. Which means we can track their location once they've been activated.” Hartley adds in, moving to the computer to check.

“Anything?” Barry asks.

“Nothing.” Hartley sighs.

“Cisco, you're sure that's what you saw?” Barry asks.

“I'm positive.”

“What else did you see?” Harry asks.

“There was all sorts of weird tech everywhere. There was a clock.”

“What time did the clock say?”

Cisco thinks back for a second, “9:52, I think. How... how is that relevant?”

“It's 6:00 now,” Harry reveals.

Once hearing this, Cisco stands up, his chair rolling behind him, “Are you telling me I can see the future?”

“That's exactly what I'm telling you.”

“Those goggles are getting named immediately.” Cisco mutters.

“But that means Dr. McGee is alive.” Caitlin smiles.

“Yeah, okay. We have 3 hours, 52 minutes to find her and stop Reverse-Flash. Let's do it.” With that, they all get to work, trying to find Dr McGee. Meanwhile, Hartley goes back to his project on trying to find away to steal Willow’s speed.
_______________________________________________________________________

Mean while, Willow, Emma and Jesse got a text from Harry to stay away from Star Labs, so they decided to run one more training exercise before they headed home. “Alright Willow, I’m impressed. You didn’t let the drone catch you, and you managed to find a few shortcuts to trick it into a trap. Now we have one more exercise to do and then we can go home. Jesse smiles.

“Great, what is it?”

“We all know that speed and cold don’t mix. Well, today, we are going freeze you, and you need to get out of it.” Emma answers.

“And how do I do that?” Willow asks, eyeing the gun Jesse got out the car.

“This is cold gun I made. It’s not as cold as Captain Cold’s gun, but it will do the trick. Its a lot like phazing, you need to vibrate your cells so fast that they start to warm you up. Got it?”

Willow vibrates her hand, thinking in concentration, and grins. “You have to catch me first!” She laughs, speeding away from the girls. Dodging the shots Jesse makes at her with the gun.
________________________________________________________________

“No sign of tachyon activity.” Harry informs the group at 9:50pm.

“We're running out of time. We've got to find them.” Barry sighs.

“It'll take a few minutes for the device to reach full power once it's activated, but when we find it, you're gonna have to get there fast.” Cisco states and Barry nods.

Cait walks up to a pacing Barry. “Hey, Barry.”

“Yeah?”

“Have you found out anything else about Jay's doppelganger?” Cait asks.

“There's no Jay Garrick on this Earth.” Hartley overhears this from his room doing his work.

“That's so weird. Everyone has a doppelganger.” Cait frowns in confusion.

“Maybe just ask Jay. He's a good guy. Just ask him. I'm sure he'll tell you.” Barry answers.

Caitlin smiles, “Okay. Though I’m sure he will open up to Emma more” Cait states.

Suddenly, the computer alarm blares, “Tachyons! 87th and Avenue J.” Barry races off.

“Must be one of Mercury Labs' off-site facilities.” Cisco mutters.

“Hack into their se…” Harry starts btu Cisco cuts him off.

“I've hacked into the security feed.”

“And once that…”

“I'm one step ahead of you.” Cisco cuts him off again, bringing up the footage of the warehouse. They can see Dr McGee and Reverse-Flash.

“Uh-oh. Barry, hurry up!” Cisco shouts.

A few moments of talking and Reverse-Flash is vibrating his hand. “He's gonna kill her.” Just as Cait says this, Barry phazes through the wall and slams into Thawne. Barry incourages Dr McGee to run, before destroying the Tachyon device.

“That was my way home!” RF shouts, standing up and facing Barry.

“You're not going anywhere.” Barry hisses.

“You haven't won here, Flash. I'll find another way back.”

“You're gonna have to get through me first.”

“You really think you're fast enough to stop me?”

“Let's find out.” Barry nearly growls.

Thawne puts his mask back on, his face vibrating and his eyes glowing red. “Catch me if you can.” With that, Thawne speeds out with Barry quickly following him through the city.

“Oh, it's on.” Cisco grins, watching the two move on the computer.

“Get him, Bar.” Joe encouraged. Barry finds a shortcut and corners Thawne in a warehouse across the city from where ttheystarted from.

“Not fast enough, Thawne.” Barry growls, punching Thawne in the face a few times. “I will never lose to you again.” Throwing Thawne again the wall and speed hitting his torso. “This war between us, it ends now!” Thawne screams in pain.

“Bar, you got to stop! Bar, don't kill him! Just bring him in!” Joe tries, not wanting Barry to kill.

“Get the cell ready., Barry grunts out.
__________________________________________________________________________

A few minutes later, Reverse-Flash finds himself in a cell. “Hey, he can't...?” Joe starts but doesn’t finish, luckily Cisco knows what he was trying to say.

“Phase his way out? No, he can't do that.”

Barry begins walking away but Joe notices. “Barry, where you going?”

“I'm going down there,” Barry answers.

“No, you're not.” Harry quickly says. “The more he learns about you, the more you will alter the ttimeline”

“He killed my mum!” Barry yells.

“He's from the future. He hasn't done that yet. He doesn't even know you're The Flash, and you need to keep it that way.” Harry tries to reason.

“You already said that his mother's gonna die no matter what we do.” Joe points out.

“There's ramifications any time anybody messes with the ttimeline and it's impossible to predict what those ramifications are going to be., Harry explains.

“Barry, you caught him and you stopped him from killing Dr. McGee. In my book, that's a win.” Caitlin gently says.

“This doesn't feel like a win.” Barry sighs and walks away. Harry notices that Cisco wipes away some blood dripping out his nose.
____________________________________________________________________

After a long day of training, Willow is happy to fall on the couch and rest for the first time today. “I’m so tired” She grumbles.

Emma rolls her eyes. “Stop being so dramatic.” Jesse laughs, putting away all their equipment.

“You shot lazers at me, then made be go through a human size maze, then made we play tag with a drone and shot ice at me and made me unfreeze myself! I’m allowed to be tired!” Willow pouts.

Hartley, who had walked at the start of her rant with Harry, smirks, “Well, I see you also had an eventful day”

“Shut up Hartley” Willow mumbles.

“You won’t be telling me to shut up once I tell you how I know how Jay and Zoom can be on two Earths at the same time” Hartley’s smirk turns a touch too smug.

Willow pays no mind, shooting up from her half-lying-half-falling position on the couch. “What! How?!”

“Time-Remnant” Harry answers.

Jesse nods, but Emma and Willow look confused. “A what?”

“Time remnants are shielded by the Speed Force” Hartley starts, “They seem to appear whenever an aborted timeline's events have to happen for the current timeline to exist, but would technically never happen, because a speedster's actions led to them being erased from existence. This happened to Eobard Thawne, who came from an older timeline, then "restarted" the timeline in the year 2000 when he murdered Nora Allen and years later caused the particle accelerator explosion, as well as Barry Allen's ascent to the mantle of the Flash in 2013; only for Eobard to die by the hands of Willow, in 2014.”

“However, since Eobard Thawne's existence and the changes to the timeline that he brought - the death of Harrison Wells and Eobard's subsequent masquerade, the explosion of the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator, the creation of the Flash - had to happen for Barry to fight him in 2014 in the first place” Harry continues.

“He had to exist to cause the changes in the first place, the Speed Force turned Thawne into a time remnant who would continue to exist until the fixed point in time when time "catches up to him". They are the remains, or "remnants" of an aborted timeline.” Jesse finishes.

“I’m so confused” Willow mumbles.

Hartley rolls his eyes fondly, “If you were to run back in time 1 minute and meet up with another version of yourself. The two of them choose to exist together and go fight as a team. The timeline from 1 minute ago when there was only 1 speedster gets erased and now 2 sspeedstersexist in the new timeline. If one of the speedsters does not die fighting, you now permanently have 2 versions of the speedster existing in this new timeline.”

“So there are two versions of Zoom? Zoom and Jay.” Willow states.

“Correct. That’s how Zoom and Jay can appear on 2 EEarthsat the same time” Harry confirms.

“Right. Anything else we missed today?” Willow sighs.

“Reverse-Flash is back. Barry beat him up and put him in a cell. Cisco is having nosebleeds, which I believe are related to his powers and the timeline.” Harry rushes out.

“Wait, wait wait. Reverse-Flash is back!? BDid Barry beathim up? And what about the timeline?” Emma pipes in from the kitchen.

“Just as I said Stone” Harry grumbles out.

“I have to call Barry, sand ee how he’s doing” Willow says and speeds into her room with her phone, locking the door behind her.

Barry answers on the 5th ring. “Hey Willow” He sounds tired.

“Barry, I just heard about Reverse-Flash. Are you okay?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I thought I was finally done with him, and now it feels like I can never get rid of him”

“He represents the worst parts of your life, I understand. But believe it or not, he is now part of your history. He made you the Flash. But now you get to choose what that means. You want revenge. The revenge that you almost got, but then I ruined. If you let him go, this will be the last time you ever see him. All you have to do is decide if you can let him go, and move on, or hold on to him wanting revenge for something that he hasn’t done yet”

Barry gives a short laugh, “You’re starting to sound like Harry”

“Harry is a genius, so thank you. I love you ,Barry, I know you’ll make the right decision. Just know that I’ll be behind you the whole time”

“Thanks, Willow. I love you too”
_________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, Emma meets Jay for coffee. “So, what'd you want to talk to me about?” He asks after they settle down with their drinks.

“When I thought Willow was dead, I was broken. She called when when she was stuck in that car, and there was nothing I could do so save my little sister. So, I can't sit by and watch another person I care about fight for their life and not do something about it. I tried to find your doppelganger. Cait agreed, same DNA, same cellular structure. We could replace your dying cells with his living ones. But... you don't have a doppelganger on this Earth.” Emma explains, finishing in a confused tone.

“Emma, there is a good explanation. Meet me at Hofherr Park tomorrow and I'll show you.” Jay says.

“Why can't you just tell me?” Emma asks, wondering if Jay is actually going to show her his actual ddoppelganger with a different name.

“Because you need to see for yourself., Jay explains, Emma nods.
________________________________________________________________________

Barry stands in the shadows as the door opens, allowing him to see Ebord Thawne with his true face. “Is that you, Flash?”

“Why do you hate me so much?” That is all Barry asks.

“I didn't always. I was obsessed with you. For so long, I wanted to be The Flash. I spent years figuring out how you came to be. Duplicated the reaction… and it worked. I became like you.”

“Right, so what happened?”

“This ability to travel through time revealed a truth. My fate was to become your greatest enemy. I was never going to be The Flash, so I became the reverse of everything that you were. The more people you saved, the more you were loved, the more I had to take from you.” There was so much hate in his voice.

“That's why you ruined my life? Because you couldn't be me?” Barry hisses.

“I became better than you!” Thawne screams, “I am the one thing you cannot stop, Flash!”

“No, no, no. Not anymore. Our race is over. And you lost”

“I've learned what period you're from, Flash. And one day soon, I'll learn your name.”

Before Barry can answer, Caitlin’s voice goes over the speakers, “We need you in the cortex now!” Barry rushes away, closing the door behind him to find Harry, Caitlin, Joe and Hartley surrounding Cisco on a bed in the middle of what looks like a seizure.

“What's happening?” Barry asks, rushing over to Cisco’s side, next to Hartley, and Harry. Caitlin was searching through her cupboards to find a cure.

“He's experiencing an uncontrollable amount of electrical energy in his brain, putting him in a prolonged state of chronic seizing,” Cait explains.

“Can you stop it?” Hartley asks, worried and trying to hold down a shaking Cisco.

“I don't know.” Cait admits. “Hold him down!”

“We're trying!” Barry states.

“Sedate him, Snow, now!” Harry orders.

“Benzodiazepine. This should do it.” Cait mutters, thrusting a needle in Cisco’s arm. Immediatley, the shaking slows to a stop.

“Thank god” Hartley mutters, as they let go. However, just as he says that, Cisco’s body goes transparent, nearly sinking into the bed.

“Oh! What? - What was that?” Barry asks, freaked out.

“What's going on? Where the hell am I?” Cisco’s ghostly form shouts, eyes still closed but move moving.

“Cisco!” Hartley cries, wanting to touch him, hold his hand, but worries it will go right through him, so refrains.

“It's the time line.” Harry mutters.

“What? What are you talking about?” Barry asks.

“When you... when you captured Reverse-Flash, we ruptured the time line. That's what this… All the blood and the seizures and that and all… Cisco is being affected to... to… By the changes to the time line. The changes to the past or the changes to the present… This is what this is. We need to do something. We need to do it fast.” Harry blurts out, talking so fast to try and get his thoughts out that he stumbles through his sentences.

“Like what?” Caitlin asks quickly.

“We need to restore the time line. Barry, you need to get Reverse-Flash and send him back to the future as quickly as possible.” Hartley answers.

Barry looks annoyed and outraged, “What? Are you…!”

“-Barry…”

“I just caught him! You want me to let him go?”

“Keeping him here is killing Cisco!” Harry shouts.

“Barry, if this is the only way we can save him, you have to do it! You have to let go of Thawne!” Hartley almost pleads.

“I can't. Okay, all right, look. I destroyed the tachyon drive in the speed machine. There's no way it'll reach a speed necessary to send him back home.” Barry quickly explains.

“You can.” Harry answers. “Your speed coupled with Thawne's speed that'll be enough to catapult him through the time continuum. You can do it.” Barry looks at Cisco’s ghostly form, Cait’s scared expression and Hartley’s worried, fearful, and nearly pleading look.

“All right. All right. Let's do it. Let's do it.” Harry and Barry leave to collect Thawne while Hartley and Cait wait and watch over Cisco.
______________________________________________________________

“Time to send you home.” Harry announces, opening the door to see Thawne and holding his gun.

“The time paradox.” Thawne states, “Yeah. You've all messed with something you don't understand.”

“Can you do me a favour and just shut up?” Harry rhetoically asks.

Thawne finds this funny and laughs, “And how exactly are you going to send me home?”

“Don't worry about it.”

“You fixed Dr. McGee's tachyon device?”

“No, I came up with a different method.” Harry states, opening Thawne’s cell door.

“Is that so?” Thawne asks. Harry nods, smugly. “Who are you?”

“No one of consequence.”

“No. I doubt that.” Barry, in this Flash suit, speeds into the room. “I win again, Flash.” Barry glares at him and moves over to Harry, who is currently pointing his gun at Thawne.

“All you have to do is provide him with enough momentum to get him past the space-time barrier.” Harry informs.

“All right.” Barry nods.

“Hey, listen to me. Thawne knows about you. Right here, right now. This is where he learns about you, all of you. It's how he knows about S.T.A.R. Labs, how he knows about me… The Harrison Wells from this Earth. And there's nothing I can do about it. There's nothing you can do about it. This is his origin story, and it's going to happen no matter what you do. But right here, right now… you can send him back to his time. You can save your friend. You can save Cisco and then move on with your life.” Harry whispers.

“I could throw him three centuries from now. He'll always be a part of me.” Barry whispers back and turns back to the Reserve-Flash. “Time to send you back where you belong.”

“We'll meet again soon, Flash.”

“I know. And every time, I'll be ready for you.”

Thawne flips on his mask as The Flash and Reserve-Flash stand side by side as the door opens, revealing the Particle Accelerator.

The two speedsters race around the accelerator, gaining speed as a breach slowly opens before them. As the breach was the right size, Barry takes glee in throwing Thawne through the breach. Finally gone. The breach closes and with that, Barry races to med-bay and finds Hartley smiling at a normal-looking Cisco. “He's gonna be okay.”
_____________________________________________________________________

After a long day at work, Willow comes home and hears from Harry what transiped at Star Labs today. So of course, being the good girlfriend that Willow is, she arrives at the West house with a bag full of ice-cream, tissues, chocolate, movies and tea bags.

Barry answers the door. “Hey Barry. Heard you had a bad day abd rushed right over.”

“Whats in the bag?” Barry asks, letting her in with a kiss.

“Ice cream, tissues, chocolate, movies and tea” Willow smiles.

“You know I’m not a girl, right?”

“I know” Willow laughs, “But I figured that you deserved a night off. So lets get you comfortable, put on a movie and we can talk as much or as little as you want. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect” Barry whispers, pulling her in for a kiss.
_______________________________________________________________________

The next morning, Emma finds herself walking with Jay in Hofherr Park “I don't understand what we're doing here.” Emma starts.

“Well, just like you, I thought that if I could find my doppelganger on this Earth, I could replace my damaged cells with some of his healthy ones. And believe me, I was just as shocked as you when I couldn't find a Jay Garrick anywhere on this planet. Took me a while to figure it out… but eventually I found him.” Emma and Jay sit on a bench, and across the way, sitting on another bench, was Hunter Zolomon. Jay’s doppleganger.

“His name is Hunter Zolomon.”

“Hunter Zolomon?” Emma asks, acting confused. “Why doesn't he have the same name as you?”

“From what I could gather, his mother died during childbirth. He bounced around from family to family, but eventually was adopted and raised by the Zolomons.” That matches what Ralph’s file told her.

“But why does that mean he can't help you?” Emma asks.

“My DNA was mutated when I became a speedster. There's only one way to reverse what's happening to me. If we can catch Zoom I can get my speed back.” Jay finishes.

Acting the part, Emma smiles up at him and grasp his hand, “Then let's finally figure out the best way to do that.” Jay smiles down at her, glad she bought his story.
_______________________________________________________________________

Hartley sits up from his slumped form when he hears Cisco groaning as he wakes. He;s been asleep all night after the episode yesterday, and Hartley hadn’t left his side. “My head feels like it's in a vise. What happened?”

“I think you vibed one too many dimensions.” Harry answers.

“Maybe I should stop doing that.” Cisco jokes and Hartley laughs, finally feeling the tension in his shoukders release. “How did you, um… get the vibing to stop?”

“We sent Thawne back to his time.” Cait answers.

Cisco slowly turns to Barry. “You let him go?”

“I couldn't let him take another person I cared about.” Barry answers.

“Thank you.” Cisco says, heart-felt and grateful.

“Of course.”

Tired of the feelings, Harry inturrputes, “Okay, I think I need a Big Belly burger. Anyone?”

“I'm good, thank you.” Barry answers.

“Yeah, no pickles.” Hartley says.

“Two triple triples, please.” Cisco says.

Harry smirks, “You got money?” Cisco groans in dispare.

“Rest up, all right? I'll be out here.” Barry announces, “Hartley you coming?”

Hartley grasps Cisco’s hand, “I”m not going anywhere” Cisco and Hartley smile at each other as Barry leaves the room. “You scared me to death”

“Sorry, I’ll try my best to only scare you a little next time” Cisco smirks.

“Cisquito, scare me like that again, and I will cut your hair” Hartley threats. Cisco gasps and protectly holds his hair.

“You wouldn’t dare”

Hartley narrows his eyes, “Try me.”

“I’m sorry for scaring you. Won’t happen again”

Harltey smiles, “I have a feeling, it will. But I forgive you”

Cisco laughs, kissing Hartley lovingly. “I’ll take what I can get”

Chapter Text

“I-I think I did it!” Hartley exclaims when he enters the apartment.

“Did what?” Emma asks as all heads turn to the smiling boy.

“I figured out how to take Willow’s speed” Hartley explains. That grasps their attention.

“How” Harry asks.

“Thankfully Cait did a scan of Turtle’s brain. I learned from Turtle's brain scan and the Reverse-Flash, had some reserch, that has allowed me to complete a device that when installed inside Willow’s suit, will let me harness her speed, so that the next time she taps into the Speed Force we can begin collecting it.” Hartley explains, holding up a small device that lights up blue.

“That’s great!” Willow smiles.

Hartley sighs, “Only thing is… I don’t know what effect it will have on you or your DNA”

Willow thinks for a minute. “Better me that Barry. Barry needs he’s speed to be the Flash and stop Zoom. I’m not important. Thawne even said that was never supposed to be here. It doesn’t matter if I lose my speed. Plus, this is to also make sure Jesse isn’t hunted down by Zoom.”

Jesse speaks up, “I can’t ask you to potentionally hurt yourself for me”

“Jesse, I’ve known you since I got to Earth-2. I basically consider you my little sister. And in this family, we protect each other.” She turns to Hartley, “Put it in my suit. Deal with the side effects later” Hartley nods.

“Harry, how are we doing with the breaches?” Emma asks.

“It’s slow going. But I plan to go to Star Labs tonight and pull an all-nighter” Harry replies.

“Okay. Let me know if you want any coffee, I’ll run some over” Willow smirks at her joke, while everyone rolls their eyes and Harry leaves. “Oh come on! That was a good one!”
____________________________________________________________________

Harry arrives at Cisco’s lab, now his and finds Barry. “Oh, hey,” Barry says, standing up.

“Hey. You're here late.” Harry notes.

“As are you. Shouldn't you be with your daughter?” Barry asks.

“She’s safe, for now. But if I want to keep for safe, then I figured now would be a good time to tackle the breaches.”

Barry smiles, “I had the same idea”

“Right. I work better alone.” Harry deadpans.

“Oh, no, haven't you heard the expression "two heads are better than one"?”

“No. Must be an Earth-1 thing.” Barry mutters.

“You understand, for me, that my Earth is Earth-1? Your Earth has yet to create CFL quark matter, so it would take you too long to catch up on the science haul. Do it better by myself.” Harry mutters.

“This science?” Barry asks, holding up a book.

“Yes, that science.”

“Watch this.” Barry smirks and starts speed reading all the books.

“That's annoying.”

“Wow. All right, I'm all caught up for the next, like, 30 minutes, give or take.”

Harry sighs, “All right, you can assist, but I'm in charge.”

“Yeah, you're in charge.”
_____________________________________________________________________

The next morning, Willow joins Eddie and Joe as they are called to a crime scene at a car garage.

“Eddie! Feels like I haven’t seen you in ages!” Willow smiles.

“Yes, Iris said something about staying away from Star Labs and keeping Joe busy?” Eddie raises an eyebrow.

“Yes, and I will explain it to you very soon. I promise. Bring Iris over tonight and we’ll catch you up” Willow smiles nervously.

“Fine,” Eddie says just as Barry walks in.

“What do we got?”

“Victim's name is Daniel Burge. Not exactly a Boy Scout, but managed to buy this garage two years ago.” Eddie informs.

“It looks like he was dipped in a volcano,” Joe comments.

Barry lifts the shift covering the body. “Oh, yeah. Actually, the depth and uniformity of the burn pattern is something you would see if the body was covered in something like lava, but with a lower burn temp and an added chemical characteristic.”

“The fire investigator didn't find a secondary accelerant. Though, he probably wouldn't with a meta.” Willow adds.

“All right, I'm gonna take a sample back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Have Cisco run some tests.” Barry states.

“Good, I'm gonna go meet Iris for lunch. She wants to talk to me about Wally.” Joe says.

“Yeah, how's that going, you and him? Great. Well, good. I don't know, baby steps. I'm trying to give him space. I mean, he just lost his mom. Just met me and his sister. He's got a lot on his plate.” As Joe and Barry talk, Eddie and Willow move to the side.

“You think Wally is a good kid?” Willow asks.

“I think he got dealt a tough card, but he’s pulling through,” Eddie admits. “How’s Caitlin going without Ronnie?”

“She’s hiding her feelings, but we’ll bring him back sooner than later” Willow says, determinatingly.
__________________________________________________________________________

Harltey and Cisco are sitting together in the Cortex as Cisco shows Hartley his new phone app.

“Okay, now click here. Bam, that's my app. See, the app just went live. So, you can sink up all social media postings about meta-human activity. Somebody sees something cray in Central City, I get an alert about it.”

“That’s amazing Cisco” Hartley smiles. “How about past postings? Or is it just current?”

“Nah, man! I just recorded it from the Particle Accelerator! If there was a sighting, it's there”

Hartley hums. “Considering there’s been a few speedsters running around. How do you distinguish between the Flash and… Zoom for example?”

“Yeah, still working on that” Cisco admits. “But if someone is recording it, we can have access to their video, so we can see in real-time”

“Very cool, babe” Hartley smirks.
______________________________________________________________________

Barry and Harry are back in the lab. Harry is writing equations on the board when Barry sighs.

“What's the matter?” Harry asks, annoyed.

“Um, not... I can't remember, is the helicity of a particle left-handed if its spin and motion are the same, or opposite?” Harry goes to answer but Barry stops him. “No, hold on, I got it. Hold on, don't answer that.” He then speed-reads a book and looks up smugly. “Opposite. I knew that.”

“You know that's really annoying?”

“Uh, it's, you know, just got to recharge the old short-term every once in a while.” Barry sighs again. “You know, this feels like old times.”

“Okay,” Harry says, not turning around.

“Yeah, I mean, I know, obviously, this is our first time working together, but I am learning a lot from you. The last Wells was a real mentor. He believed that I could do anything. Made me believe it. He opened up whole new worlds to me. Guess he really was like another father almost.” Barry admits sadly.

Harry really wants to throw something at Barry, but knowing Willow would be mad, he refrains. “Look, Barry. You don’t want me as your mentor. Alright? You are projecting your feelings from the old Wells onto me, and I am not him.”

“I know that”

“Good then stop talking about him.”
_______________________________________________________________________

About an hour later, Cisco and Caitlin join them. “Hey, I ran your crime scene samples six ways from Sunday. Two things, very strange. One, definitely meta-human cells in the oil.”

“And two, he didn't die from his burns. It was suffocation.” Caitlin adds.

“Suffocation? That makes sense. The burns indicated that the body was covered in something.” Barry states.

“Cross-referencing O2 levels in the organic matter, I found a direct match to animals trapped and preserved in an asphalt seep. The guy was fossilized.”

“Whoa. So whoever killed him is like a walking Tar-”

Cisco cuts Barry off, “Tar pit. Mmm, too slow. It's okay.”

“So, he's basically drowning them in tar. God, that's a horror show. Why did he target Daniel Burge?” Barry asks.

Just then, Cisco’s phone starts playing suspenseful music. “Oh, that's my meta-human social media app. That's right. There's an attack in progress. 6th and Bell, downtown.” Barry speeds off.
_____________________________________________________________________

Flash arrives at the station with Clay Stanley. Willow stands to greet him.

“Flash, what can I do for you today?” Willow asks, hiding her smirk.

“A meta is after him. Get him to confess why and keep him safe until I can find the meta” Flash says, handing Willow Clay Stanley.

“You got it, Flash” Willow smirks, getting Eddie and taking the man to the interrogation room.
_____________________________________________________________________

About 10 minutes later, Barry gets a message from Willow about what she got from Stanley.
All right, so Tar Pit... Tar Pit, that's what we're calling him?”

“That's right.” Cisco nods.

“Tar Pit was after one Clay Stanley. Stanley, as it turns out, is a suspected hitman that the CCPD has been trying to track for a while, but they haven't been able to make anything stick.” Cisco laughs, “No pun intended.”

“Do we know why he was attacked?” Caitlin asks.

“Willow said that he and Daniel Burge killed Joey, asked Joseph Monteleone by dropping him in a vat of tar the night of the particle accelerator and has been declared missing ever since. She got Eddie to run background checks on everyone involved Tar Pit, they all have records, but they're sealed, so they can't read them.”

“That girl is good” Cisco jokes. “They can’t read them because they’re bound by ethics.” Cisco turns to his computer and starts typing.

“How many felonies are we committing breaking into sealed court records?” Hartley asks, leaning over his boyfriends shoulder.

“Eh, three or four. Nope, five.” Cisco corrects.

“Well, they were sealed because the records are all juvenile offence,” Barry notes.

“They weren't arrested together. But they served in the same juvenile detention facility. Actually, Monteleone and victim one were bunkmates.” Cisco informs.

“Who do we have bunking with Vic two?” Hartley asks.

“Bronwen, Clark.” Cisco answers. “Though, good luck finding him. He has a ton of addresses and I can't seem to find anything current. I'll run his picture through facial recognition.”
____________________________________________________________________________

Willow and Iris step out of the car, parked in front of a beat-up garage. “Thanks for coming with me. Eddie and my Dad would never allow it”

“Better than you coming alone. Plus, I have a few questions for him myself” Willow smirks as they both enter the garage and the small messy office. “Just overtake him, you idiot.” A man’s voice could be heard, shouting at the TV as they walked in.

“Clark Bronwen?” Iris asks.

“Who's asking?” Bronwen asks, looking up at the two girls and turning off the TV. “You're that chick who was hanging around Tail Lights,” he says to Iris.

“I'm a reporter for CCPN. I want you to stop holding the races.”

Bronwen chuckles, “Sweetheart, unless you could find me another way to make five grand a night, it ain't gonna happen.”

Iris hands him a paper. “Here's a preview of the exposé that I am writing. You are the star of the piece. I had a little chat with some of your previous associates and dug up some revealing details about you. Like the gambling rings you run or the thefts you've been involved with. I'm sure the CCPD will be interested in this one.”

“You're forgetting something in here.” Bronwen stands up and moves closer to Iris. “Aggravated assault. Do you think you're the only one that can play this game? I could find out where you live, what you eat, when you sleep, every little detail about your life. Hmm? Publish that trash, and we'll see what happens to you, hmm?” Bronwen gets very close to Iris and Willow decides that enough.

Willow speaks up from behind him. “That sounds like a threat to me. And I don’t like people threatening my friends. Clark Bronwen, you are under arrest.

Bronwen snaps aroudn to face Willow. And then to the iris. “You brought a fucking cop? You bitch!” Bronwen is about to strike Iris when Willow catches his hand and cuffs him.

“Of no, you don’t” Willow whispers. “You okay?” Willow asks Iris. She nods and together they drag Bronwen to the station.
__________________________________________________________________

Eddie is sitting at Iris’s desk, waiting for her to finish work to go to Willow’s. “You got a death wish?” Wally announces himself.

“You are not the first person to accuse me of that, so maybe.” Iris answers, while Eddie hides a snort.

“Going down there, threatening them? These people, Iris, they live in the dark. They're cockroaches, except they don't scatter when someone turns on the lights. They're looking to bite. And you decided to arrest the most dangerous one!”

“If they are so dangerous, Wally, then why are you in so deep with them?” Iris snaps back.

“I'm not. I can stop when I want.”

“So why don't you? You said that you were only street racing to earn money for Francine's medical bills. Well, there are no medical bills anymore, so why are you still doing it? Look, I am not going to pretend that Francine meant to me what she did to you, but in the short time that I got to spend with her, I saw what kind of person she had become. She was smart and kind and loving, so I can't even imagine how much you miss her.”

“You don't know what I'm feeling.”

“Well, let me tell you how I feel. I know that you were trying hard to convince everyone that you were a badass, but I know that you're a good kid, Wally. And you didn't get that way raising yourself. You had a single mother who cared for you, so my dad and I care whether you wrap yourself around a tree or get shot by one of these gangsters. Having someone care about your well-being cannot be a new sensation for you.”

“Show up there again, and I won't be able to protect you.” With that, Wally leaves.

“You okay Iris?” Eddie asks his wife.

“I will be” Iris smiles. “Let's go to Willow’s now. Time to reveal some secrets that have been very hard to keep from you”
______________________________________________________________________

Harry finds Barry looking at the equations he wrote earlier that day, “Just going over some research.”

“Ten-year-old determination,” Harry mutters.

“What?”

“When my daughter was ten she... Science teacher had her do a project, you know, and this project... I spent every waking hour tinkering and perfecting her solar-powered oven. Anyway, ten-year-old determination, you remind me of her.”

“Did you scold her as well?”

“Yes.”

“Look, I know that this has been hard for you, but you're not in it alone.” Barry tries.

“I know the secrets Willow is hiding from you,” Harry reveals. “And until we reveal them, as much as you all want me to be part of your team, it can’t happen. I'm always going to be a father first. I will work with you to take down Zoom, but if Zoom makes me choose between you and my daughter. Every time, unblinkingly, unflinchingly, I would choose my daughter. I will betray you.”

“That's binary thinking. It doesn't have to be either-or.”

“Life is either-or... yes/no, black/white, love/hate... from the dawn of time to this moment right now,” Harry argues.

“I guess I just have more faith in you than you have in yourself, and by the way, I came up with an idea or... a notion rather, on how we could close the breaches for good.” Barry hands Harry a few papers.

Harry flips through it, “This is... This... who wrote this?”

“You did. Yeah, the other you. Evil, not stupid. I think the answer might be in the electromagnetic insulator of the quark matter. Like I said, we are a team.” Barry smiles. “I trust Willow. And I trust you too.”

“I'm gonna take a look at this,” Harry mutters, slowly walking out of the room.

“I'm going to stick around and run some computer sims on the formula.” Barry offers.

Harry pauses, “I'll see you later.”

“Yeah, see you later.”
______________________________________________________________________

“Okay, so let me get this straight. Are you Pink Lightning, previously known as Pink Shadow? Do you think Jay is using a Time-remnent is actually Zoom? Zoom wants Jesse, aka, Harry’s daughter so he can kidnap her and make Harry betray the team and steal Barry’s speed, but instead, you decided to take some of our speed, give it to Zoom to buy you time and take down Zoom, aka Jay?” Eddie sums up.

“That's the gist of it, yeah” Willow nods.

“So Pink Lightning isn’t dead. You lied about getting stuck in the car. You saved all our lives at least once, you know Jay is Zoom but you're not saying anything?”

“At first we didn’t know. But we decided that if Jay knew that we knew he was Zoom, he would kill us all and conquer this Earth” Emma explains.

Eddie turns to Iris. “And you knew all of this?”

“I found out about Willow’s powers when she arrested Wells. She had information that I only told Pink Shadow, whom I met when she accidentally phased through the wall of CCPN. I didn’t know about Jay until 2 weeks ago when I asked you to keep Dad busy. Willow asked for us to stay away from Star Labs while she invigorates Jay.” Iris explains.

“Wait, your lightning is Pink. Barry’s is yellow. How are you planning on fooling Zoom?” Eddie asks.

Jesse answers. “Hartley created a device that transfers some of Willow’s speed into this” Jesse holds up a piece of equipment. “Meanwhile, I have covered the glass in a special paint that I created. Willow’s pink lightning will look like Barry’s from the outside”

“Are there any side effects?” Iris asks.

There’s a pause until Willow speaks up, “We aren’t sure what this will do to my body.”

“Then why are you taking such a risk?” Eddie asks.

“So Barry doesn’t have to do it. It's hopefully just to delay Zoom long enough so we can close the breaches and get to Earth-2, save Ronnie and stop Zoom.” Willow answers.

“How can I help?” Eddie asks.

“We have 2 hours before Zoom arrives at the Breach and Harry has to give him my speed. Stay here, and watch Jesse, Iris and Hartley as Emma and I drive to the abandoned airfield so I can run as the device takes some of my speed.”

“Can this device only take Willow’s speed or can it take Barry’s as well?” Iris asks.

“I have linked it to her DNA. Even if Zoom finds it and tries to use it on Barry. It won’t work. It will only work on Willow” Hartley answers.
______________________________________________________________________

Half an hour later, Willow and Emma find themselves at the abandoned airfield. Emma calls Hartley and Willow hears them through her comms.

“Alright Willow. Start running, we only want a little, so go about 1500 miles. You might feel yourself get slower as the device does its thing” Jesse states.

“Copy that,” Willow says.

“Willow. Are you sure you want to do this?” Emma asks. “We can find another way”

“Zoom won’t wait much longer. This is just until Ronnie is back with Caitlin” Willow answers and takes off running.

Back in the apartment, Hartley taps at the computer, and they all watch as the piece of equipment fills with red lighting.
___________________________________________________________________

Harry arrives home later and takes the bottle of lightning to Zoom, who appears through the Breach.

Harry takes out the tube and places it in the stringe. And throws it to Zoom. “Drink up.”

Zoom injects himself and immediately blue waves of lightning surge through his body.

“Had enough?”

“Not even close.” Zoom growls.

“Stop hunting my daughter and bring back Ronnie Raymand and I'll get you the rest.”

“You're not in the position to negotiate.”

“You won't kill me and you won't kill Raymond because if you do, then you won't get what you want.” Harry tries.

“I don't need to kill him. I can torture him.” Zoom stabs his claws in Harry’s shoulder. “Bring him right up to the edge of death, so I can do it again the next day and the next. Bring me the rest of Flash's speed.” With that, Zoom speeds away, back into the Breach.
__________________________________________________________________________

The next day, after Willow finds out that Bronwen posted bail, Willow arrives at Star Labs with Iris. “We heard you were looking for Clark Bronwen. We know where to find him” Willow starts.

“Dad, you are not gonna like how,” Iris adds.

“Okay, you can tell me about it on the way.” Joe collects his jacket but sees Harry walking in with a weird blue device the size of a football. “What is that?”

“Breach implosion reactor,” Harry answers.

“Sorry, I asked,” Joe says, following the two girls out of the room.
___________________________________________________________________________

Barry and Harry stand outside the Star Labs van, a few meters away from a breach. “If our calculations are correct...” Harry starts.

“And they are.”

“And they are. When this device detonates, it will collapse the event horizon on this side of the breach, thereby shutting off any connection to Earth-2 permanently.”

“Yeah. It's gonna work, Harry.”

“Yep, yep. Okay. You ready?” Harry rambles, nervous.

“Yeah, give it to me.” Barry takes the offered device and uses his powers to throw the football-sized device into the breach. The breach opens, glitches and disappears.

“Come on.” Barry urges, moving to the spot the breach was, finding it gone. “We did it!” Barry laughs, hugging Harry in delight. Harry who is expressionless, takes it “Come on! You just rewrote the laws of physics! Don't smile or anything.” He jokes.

“I guess that was pretty cool.”

“Yeah, I'd say so. One down, 51 to go.” Barry beams.

“Yeah, Allen...”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“It's just the first step in getting Ronnie back and keeping your daughter safe from Zoom. Come on!” Barry moves back to the van to pack up their equipment.
________________________________________________________________________

Willow, Joe, Eddie and Iris exit the car. “Welcome to the wrong side of the wrong side of the tracks,” Iris mutters as they are surrounded my cars, people and loud music.

“So where's Clark?” Joe asks.

Iris points to the man leaning against his red car. “That's him.”

“There's Wally.” Joe points to the young man in the car next to Clark.

“Now, if our fly flag girl can step up, we're ready to begin,” Clark calls out, getting into his car, ready to race Wally.

The crowd cheers, as both cars rev their engines. The flag girl gets between the cars and starts the race, tires screech as both cars take off. A few moments down the road both cars bump up and down dangerously as tar covers the road. Willow takes a few steps back and hurries back to their car, getting her suit on (it was under her clothes) just as Wally loses control of his car, about to crash into the tar wall that the meta made.

Pink Lightning speeds Wally out of the car and into a safe place, but Wally’s car is flipped back into the crowd and Clark. Willow sees Barry speed Clark out of the way, so she focuses on the crowd and the car.

The area is a flurry of pink and yellow and pink lightning as Willow focuses on the people while Baryr focuses on the car parts flying.

She can get everyone out of the way of the car but ends up with a piece of glass in her thigh and a few glass pieces in her arms. With everyone safe and unharmed, she can see Barry staring at her. Thankful it's dark, so Barry can’t see that blood, Willow runs off around the corner but collapses due to the pain in her leg. “Guys, I’m injured. I have some glass in my thigh. I can’t run” Willow speaks into her comms.

“Don’t move Willow. We’re coming. Try to get pressure on it” Emma rushes out.

Willow has tears down her face, “It hurts”

“I know honey. But I’ll patch you up. You’ll be good as new, I promise” Emma says, trying to remain calm.

Willow is about to say something else when a shadow appears at the entrance of the alley. “Hello?” Its Wally.

Taking a chance, Willow answers. “Hey, any chance you can help me? I’m kinda bleeding” She weakly says.

Wally cautiously approaches and freezes when he sees her form and bleeding leg. “You’re the one who saved me from the car”

Willow tries to sit up against the wall. “Yeah, well. Haven’t saved anyone in a while, and my speed isn’t what it used to be. Wasn’t fast enough to evade some glass” Willow says, hissing in pain as her leg moves, allowing through the low light, for Wally to see the shard of glass in Willow’s thigh covered in blood.

He immediately runs over, crouching beside her. “You saved my life, now let me help save yours. Tell me what to do”

“I need to stop the bleeding. Take your belt and tie it just above the glass, then pull as tight as you can” Willow informs. Wally does so, and Willow screams in pain. “Good, good. Emma should be here soon” Willow whispers, slowly falling asleep in exhaustion.

“Hey! Hey! Stay awake! You have to stay awake! Who’s Emma?” Wally asks frantic.

“Emma… my sister” Willow mutters, closing her eyes, despite Wally and Emma yelling at her to stay awake.

“Emma would want you to stay awake? Right? So you have to stay awake!” Wally shouts, trying to wake the hero. Just then a car pulls up next to them, and a girl with blonde hair comes rushing out as well as a man with glasses.

They rush over, leaning next to the fallen hero. “Oh god.” The blonde whispers.

“Who are you?” Wally asks, wanting to protect the girl who saved him.

“I’m Emma. Help me get her in the car. We need to hurry before the skin heals, but we can’t move the glass in her thigh. It's too close to the vein. Let’s go!” Emma orders and Wally is quick to follow, bending down and lifting the hero. One arm under her back, the other under her legs, careful of her wound.

Wally carries the woman into the car, lying her across the chairs as Emma gets next and examines the glass in her leg. “The glass has punchered the vein. I have to get it out but if I don’t have the right equipment, she will bleed out in minutes.”

“It’s a 10 minute drive to the apartment” The man says.

“I can make it 3, tell me where to go” Wally says, getting in the drivers seat. Hartley and Emma share a look, and Emma looks down at Willow’s pale face. Telling Wally the address, he speeds out of the alley, breaking several laws and avoiding the police. Making it to the apartment in 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

“I’d be impressed if I didn’t think I was going to pass out” Hartley mutters, holding his stomach.

“Come on, we need to get Willow upstairs” Emma snaps. Wally carefully carries Willow again, following Hartley and Emma up the elevator and to the apartment. Another man and a girl about his age open the door and guide him through to a med-bay. Wally gently lowers the hero on the bed and Emma is immediately working on the leg.

Kicking everyone out, Wally joins the others in the living room. “You’re quite the driver” A voice pipes up. Wally turns to find the young woman.

Wally smiles, sheepish, “Thanks”

“You probably saved her life. Thank you”

“She saved mine first. It was only fair” Wally admits.

“I’m Jesse.”

“Wally West.”

“Oh, so that’s why she trusted you” Jesse nods.

Wally frowns in confusion, “What do you mean?”

They get inturruted by Emma. “She’s going to be okay.” Everyone breaths a sigh of relief. “She’s awake and has some messages she wanted me to pass on. No.1. Harry, don’t you dare blame yourself, this was not your fault. No.2. Hartley, find out what that device did to my body. And finally, Wally, she wanted to speak to you in person.” Emma smiles at Wally.

Wally gulps and nods, following Emma back to the med-bay. The hero was out of her uniform and her mask was off. Wally pauses, “I know you. You’re Joe’s partner and Barry’s girlfriend.”

Willow nods. “I am. Detective Willow Heart, nice to see you again, Wally West. And thank you, for helping me and saving my life”

“It was really nothing. Plus, you got hurt by my car” Wally mutters, looking down at his feet.

“And I’m alive today because you are a good person and stopped to help me. So Thank you, Wally.” Wally looks up and smiles. “Now, I’m trusting you with my identity. Can I trust you not to tell anyone?”

“You mean your boyfriend doesn’t even know?” Wally asks.

“Only 7 people know. Now 8. I plan to tell Barry soon, but I need to sort some things out first before I can. But in the meantime, if you ever need help, call me, and I’ll be there” Willow smiles warmly.

“I won’t tell, I promise. Thank you for trusting me” Wally smiles back.
_______________________________________________________________________

“Don't worry, we're gonna get him.” Cisco’s voice cuts through Barry’s thoughts.

“I'm sorry, dude. What?”

“Tar Pit. You shouldn't worry. We're gonna get him with these.” Harry carelessly throws one of them at Cisco, who thankfully catches it. “With these nitrous grenades!” He firmly says to Harry who ignores him. “Each of these has ten times the concentration of a hot rod's nitrous tank and is triggered by extreme heat. We're talking 650 degrees. That's the boiling point of asphalt, so one of these puppies makes contact, you got a Tar Pit popsicle for dessert.”

“All right, that's great.” Barry says absentmindly.

Cisco sees this. “Dude, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t tell the others, but I saw Pink Lightning tonight” Barry reveals.

Cisco, knowing that Pink Lightning is Willow, acts dumb, “Isn’t Pink Lightning dead?”

“No. Zoom was getting too close so they faked her death. She’s here on Earth-1, but she was supposed to be lying low. So why did she appear in the drag races? She saved Wally’s life and got the crowd away while I took care of the car. When we were done, I’m sure I saw her leg bleeding.”

“If she needed help, I’m sure she knows that she could have come here.” Cisco says.

“Its also that. I know nothing about her, and yet I’m trusting her with so much. I’m trusting her with my identity. I’m trusting her to help me stop Zoom. Why doesn’t she trust me?” Barry asks in a broken voice.

Harry sighs. “She does trust you. Maybe a little too much. Pink Lightning is fine. She got some glass in her thigh, but its treated and she’ll be back on her feet soon.” Barry and Cisco turn to him.

“And how do you know that?” Cisco asks.

“Where do you think me and my daughter have been staying while on this Earth? She let us crash at her apartment” Harry rolls his eyes.

“You know her identity” Barry realises.

“We met on Earth-2. Made ourselves a deal. I help her get home, she helps me stop Zoom.”
_____________________________________________________________________

Willow wakes up a few hours later and finds Emma, Jesse and Hartley sitting on chairs near her bed, talking. “Give me the bad news first” Willow mumbles out, making them stop talking and look at her.

Hartley starts, “Tests on the components in your blood show the Speed Force at a 100% for the last 60 days until today, it dropped to 98.”

Jesse pulls out a tablet. On it was a DNA sample, parts of it were looking bad. “This is a sample of your cells after we took some of your speed.”

Emma continues, “As you can see, not only is it drained of the Speed Force, but it's also presenting itself as chromosomal damage. Anymore and it could have taken your powers permanently.”

“I’m so sorry Willow.” Hartley says.

Willow smiles and takes his hand, “I’m not. You may call me a self-sacrificing idiot behind my back, but when it comes to family, when it comes to the people that we love, I would do anything to protect them. And if losing a bit of my speed means that Ronnie and Jesse are for a bit longer, and we are one step closer to stopping Zoom, then I don’t mind. I may not be fast enough to beat Zoom now, but with Barry’s help, we can defeat Zoom. I trust you guys with my powers, and even if I have to give up my speed, to save a member of my family, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

“You’re right. You are a self-sacrifing idiot” Emma wetly laughs.

“After a taste of your speed, Zoom would want more, soon. What do we do now?” Jesse asks.

“Now we take the fight to Zoom.” Harry’s voice appears at the doorway. “We're going to Earth-2.

Chapter Text

“We have decided that Barry, Cisco, Harry and Willow are going to Earth-2. Currently, Barry is closing the breaches. Soon, every portal between this earth and mine will no longer exist.” Harry starts as Harry, Hartley, Emma and Willow talk in the other room while Caitlin and Cisco watch as Barry closes the breaches. “The plan is simple. Willow, you will hack into CCPD and find Zoom’s lair.”

Hartley gets a message on his phone and sighs, “Jesse is texting me. She’s saying to ensure we don’t forget that Earth-2 is on a different Vibration, so Cisco’s goggles might need fixing when you get there.”

Harry laughs, “Clever girl”

“Hartley, you have your gloves in case anything goes wrong?” Willow asks.

Hartley nods, “If a meta shows up, we’ll deal with them. Just focus on getting Ronnie back.”

“We will” Willow smiles. “Emma, keep an eye on Jay.”

Emma nods, “Just get back safe”

They all walk into the Cortex where Barry is now back from closing the breaches. “Can't believe it. We closed all the breaches. All except the one. Our last way to Earth-2.” Barry finishes talking.

“Ready?” Harry asks.

“Yeah, I just have a few things to take care of first,” Barry says.

“Just a reminder, Allen... The clock's ticking.”

“It always is.” Barry sighs.

Barry speeds off to have a last dinner with Joe, Eddie and Iris before they leave, while Willow decides to talk with Caitlin.

“Caitlin? Can I talk with you for a second?” Willow asks, grabbing Caitlin’s attention and leading her into the Time Vault for a private chat.

“What’s up Willow?” Caitlin asks.

“I just wanted to say this, before we go, just in case we don’t come back… When Ronnie got taken, I felt like it was my fault. I didn’t tell anyone my plans, and we weren’t prepared to capture Zoom then. So, even if it means that I get stuck on Earth-2, I promise you. I will bring Ronnie back to you. You’ve been so strong the last few months, but Ronnie is coming home.”

Caitlin has tears in her eyes but gives Willow a genuine smile. “Thank you, Willow. But you get back safe too. You hear me?”

“I’ll try my best” Willow smiles.
____________________________________________________________________

About 2 hours later, the team is all gathered in the breach room. “All right, Barry, listen to me. You're about to go through the looking glass. You're gonna see things that look and feel familiar, but they're not. Up is down. Black is white, and do not let yourself get sucked in emotionally, and good luck.” Jay says.

Barry sighs, “Look, i we're not back in 48 hours, that means that Zoom has us. If that happens, you have to close the breach.”

“We're not gonna do that.” Caitlin gently says.

Barry then turns to Joe. “You get yourself back here in one piece, all right? Don't make me come and get you.”

Cait pulls Barry aside and gives him a watch. “I gave Ronnie this on our fourth date. It was then I knew that I wanted to marry him. I don’t know what kind of state he is going to be in, but… tell him I love him no matter what. Tell him that he tries to come back to me. Back to… us” Cait whispers, placing a hand on her stomach.

Barry looks at her in shock. “You… you’re?”

“About 2 months along. I just found out last week. I wanted to tell him first, but something tells me that after 2 months of being locked up with Zoom, he might need a spark to come home”

Barry smiles. “We’ll bring him home, Cait. I promise” He then pulls her in for a hug, “Congrats” Barry whispers in her ear.

While Barry is talking with Caitlin; Cisco is talking with Hartley. “I wrote this for my parents and Dante. If I don't come back, make sure he gets them. And… this letter is for you” Cisco hands Hartley two envelopes. One addresses to parents and brother, the other to Hartley.

“Cisco, you're coming back.” Hartley tries to say.

“Hartley, please.”

“Okay, I will.” Hartley nods, taking the letters.

“Thank you.” Cisco then joins Barry and Hartley goes to where Willow and Emma are currently hugging.

“I can’t believe I’m letting you go back there again” Emma weakly laughs.

“I lived there for 6 months, I know my way around. You just stay safe until I’m back.” Willow wipes Emma’s tears away.

“Willow…” Hartley starts, bribringinge girls attention to him, “Look after Cisco? Bring back Ronnie and bring yourself back too. But if anything goes wrong, give this to my Earth-2 coucounterpartesse told me that my parents never disowned me. If anything goes wrong, go to him, show him this and he will help you get home.” Hartley says, giving Willow a USB.

Willow smiles, hugging Hartley quickly. “I’ll look after your boyfriend, don’t you worry. We’ll be back before you know it”

Willow then joins Barry, Harry and Cisco, standing in front of the stabilised breach.

“Is anybody else feeling panic right now? I chickened out of bungee jumping when I was 18, but this is categorically a lot scarier.” Cisco shakily says.

“Once I turn the speed cannon on, the four of you will be able to pass through unharmed, but Barry, you need to make sure you keep your speed up,” Jay informs. Barry nods.

“I... I got no spit.” Cisco says.

"Jaws," Harry states.

“I'm not just quoting "Jaws." I mean my mouth is really dry right now.” Willow rolls her eyes fondly at Cisco’s words.

“Do not get distracted by anything you see along the way.” Jay continues saying.

“What are we gonna see?” Cisco asks.

“Everything,” Jay answers.

“Do it, Jay.” Barry orders and Jay turns on the speed cannon. The breach turns on, lighting up the room. Barry grabs hold of Cisco’s and Harry’s backpacks as Willow clutches onto Cisco’s hand, getting pulled along with Barry’s speed. Once inside the breach, Willow uses her powers to keep up with Barry, just behind him to not let him see her lightning.
___________________________________________________________________

Just after the group of four disappear into the breach, the breach turns off and one of the stabilises surrounding the breach falls and rolls, headed for Caitlin.

“Caitlin, look out!” Emma shouts, tackling them both to the floor, avoiding the hit path of the stabiliser. “You okay?” Emma asks.

“Uh, yeah, I'm fine. What happened?” Caitlin asks.

“With the rest of the breaches closed, the energy surge to this last remaining breach must have destabilized it.” Jay quickly says.

“Well, what does that mean?” Joe asks.

“As long as it's unstable Barry and Cisco will be trapped over there,” Jay says.

“Don’t forget Ronnie, Willow and Harry.” Hartley shoots Jay a glare. “Lucky can fix this before the 48hour timelimit is up”

“Right,” Jay nods.
_______________________________________________________________________

In the breach, it was like a doorway to all the other Earths, all these images flowing past them. But their goal was ahead, so Barry continued, finally reaching the end, appearing on Earth-2.

The basement of Star Labs was more bright than Earth-1s. “Holy 2001. I feel like I just opened my third eye. Oh, my God.” Cisco says, causing Barry and Willow to laugh.

“Come on.” Cisco and Barry are quick to find themselves outside of the building, looking in amazement at the different architecture and environment.

“Welcome to Earth-2.” Willow grins from behind them before leading them back inside towards Harry’s office.

“Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore,” Cisco mutters.

“This is amazing. Half these things are just ideas on our Earth.” Barry says in wonder, looking around at the tools and devices on display.

“Come here.” Cisco grins, tugging Willow and Barry towards the Star Labs sign on the wall. Harry turns and sighs in annoyance at them.

“Ramon.” Harry snaps.

“What?”

“Not a sightseeing tour.” Harry reminds them.

“Speak for yourself. We want our grandkids to know we did cool stuff.” Cisco pouts before a scientist walks up to Harry.

“Dr. Wells.” Henry then turns to Willow. “Miss Heart, a pleasure. Dr Wells, welcome back. We weren't expecting you.”

“Yes, I didn't tell anyone I was coming back,” Harry says.

“I thought you might've left town with all that's been happening,” Henry admits.

“Henry, so good to see you again” Willow smiles. “How’s the wife?”

Henry smiles, “She’s doing good. We just found out that she’s pregnant”

“That’s great news! Congrats!” Willow then turns to Barry and Cisco. “Barry, Cisco, this is Henry Hewitt, lab assistant.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Henry smiles.

“And you” Barry smiles.

“Dr. Wells, will you and your visitors be needing the conference room?”

“Not necessary, Henry. Our visit will be short.”

“Okay,” Henry answers.

“Good to see you.” Harry offers.

“Good to see you, sir.” Henry smiles, beginning to walk away, “Miss Heart, it a lovely to see you again”

“See you soon, Henry” Willow smiles, waving him off and then turns to a suspicious Barry. “Oh stop with that look Barry.”

Barry tries to look innocent, “What look? I don’t have a look”

“I was stuck here for 6 months, Barry. I’m bound to make some friends. Stop being Jealous.” Willow huffs with a smile as they enter Harry’s office, the TV turned on on its own.

“A reminder that a citywide curfew has been issued. No unauthorized person is to be out after 9:00 p.m. A recent increase in Zoom attacks has led Mayor Snart to extend the curfew. The curfew was first issued after a series of terror attacks throughout the city…” The TV continues.

“It's worse. It's worse than when I left. Zoom has turned up his reign of terror.” Harry sighs.

“All right, then let's find Zoom fast. Cisco, give me your goggles, our Earth vibrates at a different frequency than yours. We need to readjust them while Willow hacks into CCPD and foufindsom’s lair.

Willow gets to work on Harry’s computer, “I should also say. Everyone you meet here is… different. Captain Cold is the mayor. Barry is still a CSI, but he doesn’t have powers. Joe is a lounge singer, and Iris is a badass detective. Caitlin, Ronnie and Cisco’s doppelgangers are bad guys. So try not to interrupt their lives.”

“So Caitlin, Ronnie's and my doppelgangers are evil? Those are some dоpе names, though.” Cisco sighs

“Okay, I’m in,” Willow calls out, opening CCPD’s records.

“What can you find, Willow?” Harry asks.

“Seems that CCPD doesn’t have anything on Zoom’s lair either. But it does say that Killer Frost and Deathstorm escaped. Reverb is still on the loose. Oh, looks like Frost and Fire are currently robbing Central City’s Royal Bank. Now Barry, no matter who they look like, they will try to kill you. You can’t talk them down. Don’t stop moving and watch your back, Frost and Storm watch each other's backs. Frosty might be easier to deal with, bring her back here and we’ll slap some cuffs on her.”

“Got it” Barry nods and runs off. A few minutes later, Barry comes back. A little winded and smoky, but okay and with Killer Frost in tow.

Cisco is quick to slap the meta-cuffs on her.
______________________________________________________________________

“How's it going?” Joe asks as he enters the Breach room to find Jay and Hartley working

“Uh, slow, which is not a good adjective when it comes to a speed cannon,” Jay answers.

“Well, we got another problem.” Jay sighs.

“Why do we always have to have another problem?” Cait sighs.

“Jay, stay working on this. We can handle it. We need this ready for the others and youyoue best person to do it” Hartley says, stoking Jay’s ego and making him stay in the basement at the same time. Jay nods as Emma, Caitlin and Hartley follow Joe into the Cortex.

“You've got to see this.” A woman’s face appears and is then turned to a man behind her.

“Somebody call The Flash.” The man shouts, smashing his fist to the ground, sending up de debris people to scream and run away. Hartley is quick to get on the computer and get a clear shot of the man. Despite the goggles, Hartley can scan his face.

“His name is Adam Fells” Hartley reveals.

“Good job Hartley, at least now, we know his name. Might be a little easier to track him down.” Joe says.

“I have my gloves. Should be enough to take him down.” Hartley states.

“And I may have created a serum to give Jay his speed back” Cait grins. “I call it, Velocity-6”

“Cait, no.” Emma rushes out, and Joe and Cait turn to her, so Emma quickly corrects herself, “What if it hurts him?” She finishes lamely.

“I can’t take V-9” Jay’s voice appears behind them “Caitlin, we’ve discussed this already. I can’t” and he then walks away. Emma is quick to follow.

“Jay.”

“Emma, I like the way you look at me with warmth and pride, and I'm not... I'm not worthy of those.” Jay says.

Emma makes her voice soft and caring, “Yes, you are.”

“No, I did a terrible thing, Emma. When my world's particle accelerator went off, I became a speedster. I became the fastest man alive, only... it wasn't enough for me. I wasn't... I wasn't fast enough. So I figured with my scientific background, I could increase my powers, and... I did.”

“So you've taken Velocity-6 before?” Emma asks.

“Yes. But there were some unforeseen side effects.” Jay ended sadly.

“Zoom never stole your speed.” Emma pretends to realise, “This is what's making you sick. Velocity-6 is killing you.”

“That stuff was dangerous.” Jay sighs, “I've made so many mistakes.”

Emma takes a deep breath and holds Jay’s hands. “You have something now that you've never had before. Me. And I'm gonna figure this out.”

‘Just a little longer and you will be defeated… Zoom.’
___________________________________________________________________________

“Hello, Handsome” Frost smirks with her blue lips. “Seems like you’re in the wrong universe”

“Caitlin,” Barry says.

“I haven't heard that name in a long time,” Frost says.

“But that is your name, isn't it? Your real name? Please, look... I know you. Help us” Barry tries.

“If you knew me at all, you would know that I hate the name Caitlin. I'm Killer Frost.” Frost snaps, her eyes flashing in anger. “I say you have about 5 minutes before my love comes to get me. So you better get asking, not that I’ll answer, of course,” Frost smirks.

Willow glares at her as she sits on a chair across from the cuffed and tied by the doppelganger of Caitlin Snow. “You’ll answer mine. Frosty”

“I doubt that” Frost scoffs.

Willow stares into Killer Frost's eyes, “You don’t follow Zoom because you respect him. Not even because you want to. You’re afraid of him. Reverb thinks that he is the best. That he is a god, but we both know that Zoom is the real god, a speed god who kills anyone who gets in his way. What happens if one day, you in the way? What if it was Ronnie who was in the way? What would you do? Betray Zoom for love, or stay with Zoom, despite him killing the love of your life?”

“Don’t disobey Zoom, and he will protect us” Frost says.

“And you follow that rule. But does Reverb? Does Ronnie? Would you sit there, doing nothing while Zoom kills everyone? Right now, our Caitlin on our Earth is missing her Ronnie. Zoom kidnapped him. He could be dead for all we know. But our Caitlin still holds up hope. She wants her Ronnie back. What if it was your Ronnie? Would you help?” Willow asks.

Frost is about to answer when suddenly an alarm blares through Star Labs. “Your time is up” She smirks.
____________________________________________________________________

“I ran Adam Fells through BCI. Not exactly a model citizen before he was a meta-human. Multiple counts of robbery and assault.” Eddie informs Captain Singh and Joe, back on Earth-1.

“Well, if he thinks he's gonna use my city for a steel cage death match with The Flash, he's got another thing coming.” Captain Singh says, turning around to find his son. Wally. “Hey, what are you doing here? Wait, were we supposed to meet up or something?”

“No, I was... I was just nearby.” Wally stumbles out. Just then the whole building rumbles and people cry out in panic. The shaking only happens for a minute before it stops.

“Everybody okay?” Joe calls out.

“Fells has been spotted. Pasko and Fourth. Go.” Captain Singh orders.

“I got to go, so,” Joe says, rushing out the door with Eddie and other police officers.

“Joe…” Wally doesn’t let himself finish as he watches Joe leave.
________________________________________________________________________

“CCPD! It's over, Fells!” Eddie calls out, pointing his gun at Fells with Joe by his side.

“No offence to you boys in blue, but I'm waiting on the man in red,” Fells answers.

“How about a man in green?” A voice calls out before Fells is blasted back with green sonic waves. Eddie and Joe look over to reveal Hartley in his Pied Piper coat and gloves. “Aw, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you” Hartley smirks, keeping his distance from the meta.

“Not the person I expected to show, but I never back down from a fight. What is it they say in boxing? Let's get ready to rumble.” Fells slams his fist to the ground and a large crack appears in the ground, crawling towards Hartley.

Hartley remains calm and simply throws a sonic wave at Fells. Fells, however, dodges and stomps his foot, causing a small earthquake and some glass to fall off a building, headed towards Hartley.
“Watch out” Joe calls out.

Hartley quickly adjusts the volume on his gloves and sends sonic waves at the falling glass, disintegrating them. This, however, causes him to become distracted, allowing Fells to get away.

“You okay?” Eddie asks, walking up to Hartley.

“Yeah. Just need to adjust the frequency of the gloves and power Fells useless.” Hartley answers.

“I like the sound out of that. Get to working” Joe says.

“Yes, Sir” Hartley jokes and leaves back to Star Labs.
_________________________________________________________________________

Harry pulls up a live video of outside Star Labs. Reverb and DeathStorm have arrived.

“Barry, grab Frost. Deathstorm won’t hurt us if Frost might get hurt” Willow orders. Barry nods and unties Frost from the chair, but keeps the cuffs on. Barry and Frost lead Willow and Cisco inside as Willow told Harry to stay inside. Willow holds out her gun and points at Ronnie’s and Cisco’s doppelgangers.

“Drop 'em.” Deathstorm orders, his hands flaming up. Barry and Willow share a look and Willow puts her gun to the ground.

“Ronnie. Is Martin Stein in there?” Cisco calls out.

“Oh, I haven't let him out in years. Doesn't talk much anymore.” Deathstrom answers.

“I knew you were coming, Cisco, even before you entered the breach and set foot on this world. See, we're all connected... Francisco.” Reverb starts.

“My name is Vibe.” Cisco grounds out.

“Reverb.” He introduces himself.

“Actually not the worst name you could've come up with, but not the best.” Cisco bites back.

Reverb chuckles humorlessly, “I've been watching you, Vibe, and I have to say I am extremely disappointed.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling. I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that you're part of Zoom's gang, or that weird samurai situation you got going on on the top of your head there.” Cisco counters, regarding his doppelganger hairstyle as a half-up half-down style.

“Listen to this. What if Zoom wasn't running the show anymore?” Reverb continues.

“What do you mean?” Csico asks.

“You don't even know how powerful you are. All you use your powers for are these cheap parlour tricks when you... you could be a god. We could be gods.” Reverb finishes with an evil smirk.

“Are you Cloud City Vadering me right now?” Cisco asks.

“Are you out of your mind?” Frost interrupts, having gotten out of Barry’s grip and is now stepping towards the two doppelgangers “Let's turn them over to Zoom.”

Reverb rounds at her, “Speak to me like that again, and I will shatter your entire nervous system without breaking a sweat.” Reverb walks towards Frost, who backs up into Ronnie’s arms. Before turning to Cisco again, “So,” Reverb puts his goggles back on “Vibe... Do you want to run Central City? What do you say?”

“I say... Flash, save us!” Cisco shouts as Barry runs up and pushes Reverb away, sending him flying.

“Hey, that didn't hurt you, did it?” Barry asks Cisco.

“No. Why would it?” Cisco rolls his eyes.

“I don't know.” Barry shrugs before paying his attention to the doppelgangers of his friends. Ronnie starts firing his fireballs at them while Cisco and Willow duck for cover. Barry begins fighting with Frost and Deathstorm.

Cisco runs into his doppelganger again while looking for cover. “Look, mirror-mirror, I already told you I'm not going to the dark side with you,” Cisco says.

Meanwhile, Willow has collected her gun back and shoots Reverb in the leg. He cries out in pain before spinning to face her. Throwing his fist at her, Reverb blasts a sonic blast at her, similar to Hartley’s gloves. Willow jumps out of the way, the Reverb catches her with his next blast.

“Are you telling me I can do that?” Cisco asks, shocked.

“I can show you,” Reverb answers, before blasting at Willow again. Willow cries out in pain and Cisco runs to see if she’s okay.

Reverb then pays attention to Flash. With both Reverb throwing sonic blasts, and Deathstorm throwing fire at Barry, is is stuck in a corner, forced to take the shots.

“Stop, both of you! Zoom wanted him alive. You know what Zoom will do if you don't obey him.” Frost tries to get them to stop. Just as she finishes speaking, Zoom appears, thrusting his fist through Deathstorm’s chest. “No!” Frost screams and Ronnie falls to the ground, dead.

“That,” Zoom growls out and turns to Reverb. “What did I say you should do if you encountered a speedster?”

“Leave him unharmed,” Reverb answers.

Zoom turns his head to see an injured and defeated Flash on the ground. “Does this look unharmed to you?” Zoom also vibrates his hand through Reverb’s chest. Cisco grabs his own as Willow watches on in horror, having woken up when Zoom arrives. Reverb falls to the ground as Zoom speeds up to Frost and grabs her by the throat. “I'm happy to see at least one of you knows their place.” Frost gags and grunts, trying to get air. Letting her fall to the ground, alive, Zoom then speeds over to Barry and disappears with him.

“Barry!” Cisco shouts. Willow struggles to get up and speeds after them, but quickly loses them, as she isn’t as fast as she used to be.

Frost is cries over Deathstorms body before running away in fear.

Speeding back to Cisco, Willow and Cisco head back to inform Harry of what happened.
______________________________________________________________________

“I talked Caitlin out of giving Jay V-6,” Emma announces as she finds Hartley in the hallway.

“Good. I’ll handle the meta. We need Jay to focus on re-stabilising the breach. Barry, Cisco, Willow and Harry still have 24 hours to go. So we have one day, or they could be stuck there forever.” Hartley answers. They then go their separate ways. Emma goes to watch over Jay while Hartley adjusts the frequency of his gloves for the next battle with Fells.
______________________________________________________________________

Barry wakes up from an echoing tapping in a dark room with three rock walls and a glass wall, overlooking the rest of Zoom’s lair. He walls up to the and sees another glass cell with a metal helmet on, knocking on the glass in some sort of pattern.

Next to him was Ronnie, chained up in a cell. “Ronnie! Ronnie!” Barry cries out in relief.

“Barry!” Ronnie smiles

“We're gonna get you out of here, all right? I promise.” Zoom suddenly appears in front of Barry’s glass wall, Ronnie flinches back and Barry stares at Zoom head-on, taking in the blue lightning flying across the man’s body.

“It's not wise to make promises you can't keep, Flash. Look around. This is the last place you'll ever see.” Zoom growls out. Barry glares at him as Zoom takes off.

Chapter Text

All over the news, there have been reports of Zoom speeding around the City, causing explosions, calling out Wells. Harry glares at the TV as it reveals a building, the words ‘BRING ME WELLS’ lit up in fire.

“CCPN is reporting that Dr. Harrison Wells, the infamous founder of S.T.A.R. Labs, who uncharacteristically has gone unseen for nearly four months, is now a wanted man. These images and messages went up moments ago throughout Central City by Zoom.” Harry turns off the TV as Henry quickly walks in with a panicked look.

“Have you seen channel 52? You're not safe here, Dr. Wells. Zoom's looking for you.” Henry informs.

“I know what he's doing. Alert security. Evacuate S.T.A.R. Labs. Lock down the facility.” Harry orders.

“What about you?” Henry asks.

“Don't worry about me, Henry. Just get everyone out of here now. Now! Go!” Harry urges, and Henry leaves.

Willow and Cisco enter the office through the back door, only to find Harry pointing his gun at them.

“Harry! Don't shoot!” Cisco yells, holding up his hands in shock.

“Damn it, Ramon.” Harry sighs, pointing her gun down. “Where's Allen?”

“Zoom took him,” Willow whispers.

“What?” Harry asks.

“We met Deathstorm and my doppelganger, Reverb... super evil guy, super evil powers. The three of them almost took down Barry until Zoom showed up, killed Cisco-2, and killed Deathstorm for hurting a speedster. But then he left Killer Frost alive and then took off with Barry. Willow tried to follow, but he was too fast” Cisco rambles.

“How are you still alive?” Harry asks.

“Looks like he cares even less about me than you do, Harry,” Cisco mutters while Willow sits down.

“No, no. Zoom doesn't do anything by accident. Did he follow you here?” Harry asks, moving around to his iPad to check the cameras.

“This was literally outside, Harry. Zoom clearly already knows where we are; he’s just baiting us. Giving us false hope and a false sense of security, Zoom’s specialty is” Willow snaps.

“But check this out. I jacked these from my dead ringer. I think we can tweak these puppies... use them to find Zoom.” Cisco quickly says, taking out Reverb’s goggles.

Harry snatches the goggles, ‘Damn it, Ramon, we don't have time for this. Zoom is hunting us... Zoom is hunting us! We need to make an alternate plan, because if we don't, Zoom...”

Cisco grabs the goggles back, “Stop thinking like that, okay? We're gonna find Ronnie, and we're gonna find Barry. I know we will.” Cisco says softly.

Willow snaps her head up. “Barry.”

Cisco and Harry turn to her. “What?”

“We need Barry’s help”, Willow says, jumping up and walking out of the office.

Cisco and Harry follow her. “I think you're forgetting Willow, Barry just got taken by Zoom!” Cisco stresses.

“But he isn’t the only Barry Allen on this Earth”, Willow smirks. Suddenly, the alarm blares, and there's distant shouting. “He’s here”, Harry mutters, before rushing them down the hall.

Harry places his hand on the wall, and a door opens, “You have a time Vault”, Cisco says.

“Yeah. I'm an enemy of Zoom, and I need a place to hide when something like this happens. Get in!” Harry demands, and they rush into the back of the better-lit room with bits of storage and equipment lining the walls. Backs against the wall, they all freeze when Zoom’s arm phases through the door. Stepping into the room, Zoom looks around briefly before leaving.

They all gasped in air, “Fake wall.” Harry explains, “He's not gonna fall for another fake wall. We need to move. We need to find a different place to hide and make a plan.”

“We need to go to the Station. The Barry Allen here might not be the Flash, but he is a world-renowned CSI. If anyone could track Zoom’s lair, it's him. Let’s go,” Willow orders.
______________________________________________________________________

Barry looks around his cell, trying to find any clues on how to get out.

“You're wasting your time,” Ronnie calls out. “I used to think I could escape, too, when I first got here. There's no way out.”

The other man with the metal helmet starts tapping again.

“Who is that?” Barry asks.

“I don't know. He's been here since Zoom brought me to this place.” Ronnie explains. The man taps again. “Stop, okay? Just... just please stop.”

“Ronnie, I think he might be trying to help us,” Barry says.

Ronnie sighs in defeat. “Nothing is gonna help us.”

“That's not true. We're gonna get out of here. Caitlin is waiting for you to come home. So you need to fight for her”

“I don’t deserve her. All I’ve down is put her through grief and misery,” Ronnie sighs.

“Caitlin loves you, Ronnie. And we will get out of here. I promise,” Barry starts, only to get interrupted by Zoom appearing in front of Ronnie’s cage, scaring them all.

Believe what you want, but the only reason that you're still alive is so I can kill you in front of everyone. The only reason Wells is still alive is to get me your speed.” Zoom growls. “Once he does that, he will die too. Then I will go after everyone you love. Caitlin, Cisco, Willow.”

Barry looks at him, confused. “What do you mean? Are you going to steal my speed, like you took Jay’s?” Barry asks.

“Wells took a bit of your speed and gave it to me. Haven’t you noticed, you’ve gotten slower?” Zoom crackles. “And soon, it will all be mine”

With that, Zoom speeds away, and Ronnie looks at Barry. “I knew we could never trust that man," He grumbles.

Baryr shakes his head. “I think we can. I haven’t gotten slower, I'm getting faster.”

“Then whose speed did Wells give Zoom?” Ronnie asks.

“The speedster who turns up now and then and likes to save our lives”, Barry cracks a small smile.

“She’s giving up her speed for you”, Ronnie realises.

“And I don’t even know her name”, Barry whispers.
_______________________________________________________________________

Iris looks up from her computer as she hears a dominant man's voice from across the room, walking towards her. “I don't know how this is possible, but you somehow made basketball sound more boring than baseball. Fix this.” The voice demands, handing the other man a paper as he hurries away.

The man ends up in front of Iris’s desk. “Scott Evans, your new editor.”

Iris smiles and shakes his hand, “Oh, Iris-”

“West, I know. You wrote the story about the recent Geomancer attack.”

“Yeah, I did.” Iris smiles.

“I'm not running that.”

“What, why?”

“It's a fluff piece to try to make people feel good. What they need to know is the truth; The Flash might not always be there to save them.” He notices Iris’s frown, “You disagree?”

“I think that he's saved a lot of people in this city,” Iris argues.

“But where is he now? I need to run a real story.”

“What about the meta-human that fought Geomancer?” Iris rushes out.

“What, you friends with him too?” Scott asks rhetorically.

“Just give me a little time to get some info on this new hero”

“Fine, but if it's the same as the other crap that you wrote, I'm gonna run something about how The Flash may not be the hero we all dreamed he was.”
_____________________________________________________________________

Willow, Cisco and Harry arrive safely at the station.

“Hi, I’m looking for CSI Barry Allen.” Willow smiles at the front desk person.

“He’s with his wife in his lab," the person informs.

Willow smiles, “Thank you!” Before hurrying the boys up the stairs to Earth-2, Barry’s lab.

Walking into the lab, Willow is momentarily shocked to see Iris West and Barry Allen kissing, but pushes through.

“I’m sorry for the interruption. But Detective Iris West, CSI Barry Allen. We need your help,” Willow announced.

Barry immediately starts fangirling over Harry, with Iris trying to rein him in.

“Zoom’s been looking for you”, Iris states, looking at Harry.

“We know. We need to find him first. We need to find his lair.” Cisco answers.

“Lair?” Harry huffs.

“He's a bad guy; I'm calling it a lie.” Cisco defends.

“Zoom is looking for you. Why are you going after him?” Barry asks.

“Zoom has our friends, and we need to rescue them both,” Willow answers.

“Look, I want to find Zoom just as much as anybody, but no one can track him. The only person who would know where he would be hiding someone would be a meta who's worked with him.” Iris explains.

“A meta like Killer Frost?” Cisco asks.

“Yeah, maybe.” West agrees.

“But Zoom kept her alive yesterday because she always obeys him, Harry argues. “There is no way that she's gonna tell you where he is.”

“I'm not so sure about that. If she loved Deathstorm as much as my Caitlin loves Ronnie, I think she'd be more than upset at Zoom for killing him.” Cisco says.

“Look, finding her is gonna be just as hard as finding Zoom. But if anyone can do it... My husband can.” Iris turns to look at Barry, and Willow fights the will to look away.

“Right, yes. I can, actually. Um, all right.” Barry hurries to his computer, “Okay, well, it looks like Patty Spivot was a CSI tech on most of the Killer Frost cases. She's pretty thorough, so...”

“What's that?” Cisco asks as they all huddle around Barry to see the computer.

“Oh, this is Killer Frost meta-data collected from numerous crime scenes... DNA trace movements, facial recognition, and temperature fluctuations are specific to her. My algorithm compiles all the data and gives us an approximate location. It works on most metas, except for Zoom, of course. He's too fast... never leaves a trace. Okay. Looks like the best bet's the woodlands.” Barry reveals.

“Best CSI in Central City.” West beams with pride.

“You know where that is, right?” Willow asks Harry.

“Yeah. Let's go.” Harry states, rushing to the door.

“Wait, I'm going with you guys. You're gonna need some help.” Iris says, following them.

Willow stops, turns and smiles. “Don’t worry, Detective.” Willow flashes her badge and gun attached to her belt. “I got them covered. But I need you to look after yourself and Barry over there. Love him and never let him go,” Willow says, looking at Barry and back to Iris.

“I will”

Willow nods and is quick to follow Harry and Cisco out of the station.
_______________________________________________________________________

All three prisoners sit down in their cells, tired and nearly giving up hope. The man in the metal helmet continues tapping against the glass. “That's not Morse code. I know he's trying to tell us something. We just have to find the pattern.” Barry states, determined.

The man taps again. “There's no pattern, Barry,” Ronnie says, almost ready to give up hope.

“You know, Caitlin always said that you were brilliant. Able to create things out of nothing. I need you that have that now,” Barry tries.

“I’ve been a terrible husband to her, Barry. 2 months in a cell, and still can’t get out. She’ll be better off without me,” Ronnie says sadly.

“Then how come Caitlin is still wearing her wedding ring?” Barry asks. “Every day she smiles when I know she’s hurting on the inside. Just before we left Earth, she gave me this watch” Barry holds up a plain, silver watch. Ronnie smiles at the sight. “She told me that she got you this watch on your fourth date. It was then that she knew she wanted to marry you. She loves you, Ronnie, no matter what.”

Ronnie laughs softly. “On our fourth date, I took Caitlin to a carnival. I made her get on the Ferris wheel, not knowing that she was scared of heights. When we got to the top, she closed her eyes so tightly, not wanting to look down. I gently took her hand, got her to open her eyes and look at me. I told her that she didn’t have to be afraid. I would protect her,” Ronnie whispers the last part.

“There’s something else, man”, Barry says.

“What?”

Barry smiles brightly. “You’re gonna be a father”

Ronnie sits up in shock. “What?”

“Caitlin told me just as we were leaving. Said you might need a spark to get you moving to come back home to her”

Ronnie has tears in his eyes. “We work together, we can figure this out. We get home”

“Worth a shot”, Barry smiles.

The man tiredly taps against the glass. “Well, he never goes past five.” Ronnie starts.

“What?” Barry asks.

“He never goes past five knocks without pausing. Right? Listen.” Ronnie stands up in his cell as the man continues.

‘Hey, you're right.” Barry slowly stands up too, catching the man’s attention. The man gets excited to be heard and sits up in determination. “I think... I think I know what that is. It's a five-by-five tap code used by POWs.”

“That would only get us to 25 letters, and there are 26 in the alphabet,” Ronnie argues.

“Not if you combine C and K. They sound the same. Let's try it out.” Barry answers.

“Worth a shot.” Ronnie smiles.
______________________________________________________________________

Hartley and Emma walk down the street on Emma’s break, trying to get their minds off Willow and the others back on Earth-2, when they run into Iris. “Hey, Iris.” Emma smiles.

“You okay?” Hartley asks.

“Yeah, I'm just a little worried about the time,” Iris confesses.

“Don't worry. The breach is stabilised and Barry has backup, even if he doesn’t know it. They’ll They'll make it back before we close the breach.” Hartley answers.

“Um, actually, I was here to talk to you about something else,” Iris says, looking at Hartley.

Hartley looks shocked. “Oh. What is it?”

“Well, my new editor wants me to write a scathing article on The Flash not being able to protect Central City from Geomancer. I was hoping to write an article about you instead... something that would calm people until Barry got back.”

“I’m not a hero, Iris”, Hartley states.

“Neither was Willow”, Emma mutters.

“I think that if people knew that there was someone who could protect them, it would... it would help.” Iris passionately says.

“… Fine. Say my name is Pied Piper, and that even if the Flash isn’t there to save the day, other people might step up or whatever. No photos.” Hartley grumbles.

“Yes! Thank you, Hartley!” Iris squeals, happy when a loud alarm blares in the distance. Hartley, Emma and Iris rush over and see the same meta from last night, talking into a camera.

“Don't even think about running. There's a new hero in town. You know, the one with the dark hood and shiny gloves. Not the speedster I was hoping to crack, but let's see just how good this new guy is, Central City.”

Fells then slams his fist down on the ground, and a building nearby, Central City Hospital, starts shaking. Hartley is quick to get his gloves on. “If I get the right setting, I might be able to counteract Fells’ power’s shaking the building, but I need you two to get everyone out.” Hartley orders, slamming his gloves against the shaking building, sending sonic sound waves to counteract Fells’ shaking.

Fells grows angry as the building doesn’t fall to his will, but with the hospital staff, Emma’s and Iris’s help, they were able to get everyone out before Fells slams his hand to the ground again, and Hartley wasn’t able to save the building.

Fells seems angry and leaves; meanwhile, Hartley walks up to Emma and Iris.

“You okay?” Emma asks.

“I'm okay. That just took a lot out of me.” Hartley admits. “But thanks to you two, we were able to get everyone out”, Hartley smiles.

“That was amazing, Hartley.” Iris smiles.

“Thanks. Couldn’t have done it without the two of you. Team effort” The girl beams at him.

“On that note, I think that I have everything that I need for my article,” Iris states.

“Great. Call Eddie and Joe, we’ll need some help to get all these people to another hospital.” Emma says.
_________________________________________________________________________
Back with Ronnie and Barry, the man continues tapping, now with determination, as Barry and Ronnie are trying to figure out what he’s saying.

“Two down, five across.” Barry counts as Ronnie is in his cell, has the five-by-five tap code written in the dirt in front of him.

“It's J,” Ronnie answers.

“J? That's what you're tapping... the letter J?” The man nods. “All right, what's next?” The man taps twice.

“A.” Ronnie quickly answers.

“All right.” The man taps again. “Five down… Four across.” Barry counts.

“Y.”

“J-A-Y? You're spelling “Jay.” The man nods happily. “As in Jay Garrick?” Barry asks, and the man nods again. “He's... he's alive. But he's on my Earth.” The man then bangs his head on the glass.

“I don’t think that’s what he means, Barry. He’s been banging the same thing ever since I got here. Maybe he doesn’t mean Jay. Maybe he’s saying his name?” Ronnie suggests. The man nods.

“Your name is Jay Garrick?” Barry confirms. The man nods, happy. “How? Are you from another Earth?” The man nods again. “From my Earth?” The man shakes his head.

Just then, Zoom appears in front of the man's glass cage. “Don't talk to them again.” Zoom growls. He then speeds up to Barry’s glass cage and phases through the glass before grabbing Barry by the throat and throwing him to the ground.

“I'm gonna get out of here. And I'm gonna destroy you.” Barry vows.

Zoom doesn’t like hearing this, as he picks up Barry by the throat again. “All I need from you is your speed, Flash. And you only need to be barely alive for me to get it.” With that, Zoom begins beating Barry, punching and kicking him when he is down.

“Stop!” Ronnie calls out. But Zoom ignores him, still using his speed to gain power in his punches. “Stop!” Barry slams painfully against the glass wall and slides painfully down to the ground. “Barry... Barry, are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Barry pants in pain, “I'm okay.. Zoom just showed me how to get out of this thing.”
_________________________________________________________________________

“You're sure this is the place?” Cisco asks as they hike through the woods in search of Killer Frost.

“This is definitely the place,” Harry answers as Killer Frost appears from behind a tree. Harry, Cisco and Willow get out their weapons.

“You lost? Or just back for more fun?” Frost sneers.

“We just came here to talk,” Cisco calls out.

“Oh, really? Do you bring your little toys to every conversation you have? Or do you just want to see me burn again?” Frost asks.

“Tell us... where does Zoom keep his prisoners?” Harry asks.

“You really don't know how to use your abilities, do you, breacher?” Frost directs the question to Cisco.

“It's a work in progress, Elsa.” Cisco huffs. “Zoom killed the love of your life. This hurts, even for somebody with a heart as cold as yours.”

“And you think that would make me turn on Zoom?” Frost questions.

“Enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?” Cisco fires back.

“If I tell you, he'll kill me. But if I kill you and take you to him, I bet he'd be pretty pleased with me. Maybe even let me off my leash. So take a wild guess. What do you think I'm gonna choose?” Frost’s hands begin to unleash cold fog from the activation of her powers.

Instead of letting her fire, Willow speeds up in front her her. “Zoom also said not to harm any speedsters. So I know you won’t hurt me. Now let's sit down, because we hold the cards here.”
____________________________________________________________________

Hartley walks into Star Labs to find Fells walking through the front door. Hartley rolls his eyes at how easy the meta walked in, and is quick to put his gloves on and follow Fells until they reach the Cortex.

Caitlin is on the computer and is startled when Fells starts talking behind her. “Do you know what I like the most? I like to watch heroes fall and never get back up.” Fells says as Cailtin jumps up in shock.

“Heroes always get back up”, Caitlin firmly states.

“Hard to do that when the Earth swallows you whole.” Just before Fells can slam his fist on the ground and cause another earthquake, Hartley turns on his gloves and sends a sonic wave in Fells' direction.

“I’m sorry? You were saying something? I can’t hear you, I’m too busy blasting a sound wave so loud that your brain is sending signals to your brain. Loud enough to knock you out in...3...2...1” Fells is out like a light, blood slowly dripping down his ears.

“Hartley!” Caitlin smiles in relief. “Good timing.”

“Yes, well, we should really upgrade security. I literally watched as Fells just walked in” Hartley rolls his eyes. “Call Joe, tell him we need a meta pickup. Bring those meta cuffs Cisco made”

“Three saves in 2 days. You sure you’re not a hero, Rathaway?” Emma laughs after on when she hears the story.
______________________________________________________________________

“Where is Zoom's lair?” Harry demands, cocking his gun. “Where is it?”

“If I tell you, he will kill me.” Frost states.

“He'll kill you anyway, Caitlin, Cisco calls out.

“Stop calling me that. It's not my name.” Frost sneers.

“Yes, it is. You just don't want to hear it because it reminds you of someone you used to be. Trust me, I know that person very well.” Cisco says, standing in front of her.

“You don't know anything about me.” Frost hisses.

“I know the Caitlin Snow on my Earth. I know that when she loves someone, that person is her world. That person is Ronnie Raymond. And right now, Zoom has him. When she thought he was dead last year, it devastated her, and I can see it's doing the same to you. Zoom took that. Our Ronnie, and my friend... he's gonna take them away from us, just like he took Ronnie from you.” Cisco softly says.

Willow bends down next her her, “Caitlin... all you have to do is tell us where he's keeping them. And then you'll never hear from us again, and you can go. Please.” Willow begs.

“Fine. I'll show you where it is. But that's it.” Frost sighs and stands up, beginning to walk.

“Where are we going?” Willow asks as they follow her.

“Ascension Cliffs.” Frost answers.
_______________________________________________________________________

Barry starts vibrating his whole body and then smashes painfully into the glass. “But why? Zoom was able to do it. I don't understand why I can't phase through this.” Barry sighs in annoyance.

“Well, it’s not my field, but by working with Hartley for a bit, I would suggest that maybe you're resonating at a different frequency,” Ronnie suggests.

“Yeah, this Earth vibrates at a different frequency than ours. Same reason Cisco can't vibe.”

“Is there any way to make up the difference?” Ronnie asks.

“Only if I can go faster.” Barry huffs and tries again.
___________________________________________________________________________

“That's where Zoom's lair is.” Frost pauses, pointing to a cave in the side of a cliff. The cave was about 300meters off the ground.

“A place only a speedster could get to,” Harry mutters.

“There are like the Cliffs of Insanity,” Cisco adds in.

“I could get up there, but I can only bring one other person. Frosty, you're with me. Harry and Cisco, start heading to Star Labs.”

“Dude, no! We can’t let you go up there alone with only Killer Elsa as backup!” Cisco shouts.

“Just do it! Make sure everything is ready for us to get home. I’ll get Ronnie and Barry back,” Willow says, before speeding up the cliffside with Killer Frost.

They enter Zoom’s lair, and Willow places Killer Frost down before walking towards the back of the cave/lair.

“Barry? Ronnie?” Willow whispers, finding Barry sitting down in his glass cell first.

“Willow?” Barry says in disbelief. “How did you find this place?”

Willow smiles towards Killer Frost, “Had some help.” Willow then turns and finds Ronnie in a different cell. “Ronnie! Thank god you're okay,” Willow opens Ronnie’s cell first, hugging him quickly and then examines his cuffs, chained to the floor. “Come on, let's get you out of here.” Willow mutters, “Barry, keep a lookout out” Willow instructs. Once Barry has turned away, Willow vibrates her hands against the cuffs until they jump open. Ronnie gasps in shock, but Willow glares at him to shut up.

They then turn to Barry’s glass cell. “Barry? You can’t phase out?”

Barry shakes his head, “I’ve been trying. This Earth vibrates on a different frequency and I can’t each it to phase through the glass,” Barry explains.

“Frost? Any ideas?” Willow calls out.

“Not part of the deal.” Frost sneers.

“Hey. Something tells me you're not as cold as everyone thinks you are.”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Frost mutters, coming closer to use her ice powers on the glass cell, only for it not to work.

“What's going on? Why... why isn't it working?” Ronnie asks.

“I don't know. I've never had this problem before.” Frost mumbles.

Ronnie looks at the glass closely, “Looks like the cell's made out of some form of carbon. You'll never be able to freeze him out of there.”

Willow sighs, “You sure you can't phase out of there?” She asks.

“Just go, all right? Before Zoom comes back.”

“We're not leaving you here!” Ronnie and Willow say.

“I can't get out of this cell. I've tried a lot. I'm not fast enough to phase through this. You got... just leave, all right? Just leave.” Barry drops his head in defeat.

Willow glares and walks up to the glass. “No. I did not come all this way to leave the love of my life behind. Barry Allen. You're The Flash. If you tell yourself you can phase out of there, you'll do it.”

Barry smiles slightly at the encouraging words and concentrates, vibrating his cells and pushes against the glass. A second later, he phases out, and Willow laughs in delight as Barry wraps her in a hug.

“Love of your life?” Barry smiles happily.

“Damn right you are” Willow smirks, “Okay, let's go!” Willow starts walking to the exit when Barry’s voice stops them.

“Wait! We're not leaving him.” Barry calls out, pointing to another man in a glass cell with a metal helmet on his head.

“Can you phase him through the glass?” Willow asks him.

“He's not going anywhere, and neither are any of you.” Zoom’s gravelly voice appears behind them, and they all spin around to find Zoom standing in the way of the exit. Zoom looks at Frost, “Thank you for bringing them to me.”

Willow looks at her, slightly betrayed. “You double-crossed us? He killed Ronnie!”

“Guess my heart is as cold as everyone thought after all,” Frost mutters, turning her back to them.

“Caity?” Ronnie whispers, and Frost and he make eye contact.

“Zoom. Let them go. You can still have me.” Barry tries to bargain.

“You're right. I may not be able to kill you yet, but I can kill them.” Zoom turns to Willow and Ronnie before zooming up to grab Ronnie by the back of his neck. “I told you I'd kill you in front of everyone”

“No! No!” Willow calls out. Zoom starts vibrating his hand, just as Frost gets a determined look on her face and blasts Zoom with ice.

“Get out of here.” She hisses, continuing the stream of ice towards Zoom.

“Caitlin,” Ronnie mutters.

“You were right. He killed my Ronnie.” Frost says, looking at Ronnie and then Willow.

“Thank you.” Willow smiles. Ronnie starts towards the exit, and Willow turns to Barry. “Barry, now or never!”

Zoom’s frozen form quickly cracks under Frost’s attack of ice. “I can't hold him forever. Go!” Frost shouts. Barry tries to vibrate his hand through the glass, but it doesn’t work. Willow finds a rusted pipe lying on the ground.

“Barry, you need to help Ronnie down! I’ll break the glass with this and catch up!” Willow shouts.

“I can’t leave you, too!” Barry cries.

“It’s either you or me. Call me whatever you want, but I will always pick you over me. Now run, Barry, run!” Barry looks reluctant but takes off as Willow tries to smash the glass.

“Why aren’t you leaving?” Frost shouts.

“Barry is the only one to defeat Zoom. I’m just ensuring he makes it out here alive,” Willow mutters as she smashes the pipe against the glass to no avail.

Zoom then breaks free and backhands Frost, knocking her out before grabbing Willow by the throat. “I should have killed you when I had the chance. I won’t make the same mistake,” Zoom growls, tightening his grip around her throat.

“I’m sorry… Emma… for breaking… my… promise” Willow gasps out, her sight going black as she falls to the ground.
____________________________________________________________________________

Barry and Ronnie find themselves at STAR Labs’ basement with Harry and Cisco. “Where’s Willow?” Harry asks.

“There was another prisoner, she offered to stay back to get him out, and told me to bring Ronnie to ground level. I came back, and Zoom had her by the throat. Last I saw, she dropped to the ground,” Barry explains, tears in his eyes.

“No. She can’t be dead,” Cisco whispers.

Suddenly, alarms ring through the labs. “We will be too if we stick around for much longer. Come o,” Harry states, steering them towards the breach.
______________________________________________________________________________

“It's almost time., Iris states as Eddie, Cait, Jay, Joe, Hartley, and Emma watch the breach, waiting for their friends to come home.

“I don't care what time it is, we're not closing until they show up. Y'all hear me?” Joe calls out and the group silently agree.

Just then, Cisco and Ronnie appear, passing through the breach.

“Cisco!” Joe yells.

“Get ready to close the breach for good... Zoom's coming!” Cisco yells, rushing away from the breach. Ronnie smiles happily when he spots Caitlin rushing towards him and hugging him in a hug.

“Forgetting someone, Flash?” Zoom growls, holding Harry up by the throat.

“Let him go,” Barry demands.

“Close the breach.” Harry hisses out, gasping for air. “Tell Jesse I love her.”

“Tell her yourself.” Barry bites back as Harry slams a speed-dampening serum into Zoom’s chest. Zoom drops Harry in shock, and Barry is quick to grab him and race them through the breach.

Barry and Harry arrive on Earth-1. “Close it! Close it now!”

“Wait! Where’s Willow?!” Emma yells just as Jay throws the breach-implosion reactor into the last breach connecting Earth-1 to Earth-2.

“Willow… Zoom caught her. She’s dead. I’m so sorry,” Barry awkwardly explains to Emma, who bursts out in tears and hugs herself to Hartley’s chest.

Jay gets too close to the still-closing breach. Everyone gasps in shock as Zoom’s hand goes through Jay’s chest, effectively killing him, while also dragging him through the breach just as the breach fully closes forever.

“No!” Barry screams.