"You can't defeat me," said Eobard Thawne, the reverse flash. He was stood outside S.T.A.R. labs and the team were watching him over the CCTV. Barry stepped away from the desk and Caitlin knew what he was thinking instantly.

"Barry, wait," she protested but he was already nothing but a gust of wind and a flash of yellow lightning.

"He's not going to…" Joe began to ask, but they already knew the answer. Of course he was. Brave yet reckless Barry Allen.

He appeared on their computer screen, panting and furious. "You killed my mother!" he shouted, emotion raw in his voice.

"I know," sighed Eobard, as if he had heard it a thousand times before, which to be fair, he had. "Yet you still can't catch me."

He vanished, leaving a trail of red lightning and Barry let out an anguished cry and gave chase.

Driven by the need for revenge, justice and closure that had dominated nearly 15 years of his life and shaped his every decision, Barry ran. He tried to ignore the number of times that traitor had made him faster. That didn't matter now. He ran for his mother, he ran for his father, but not just them. He ran for Caitlin and Cisco, Joe and Iris, Felicity and Oliver, Diggle and Lyla, Ray, Roy, Eddie, Captain Singh, everybody who had ever mattered to him because he had to protect them. And he could, if he could just stop the man in yellow. Yet he was always one step ahead.

When Barry set off running Iris took her father's hand. All those months Barry had been in a coma she had been worried about losing him, but it was nothing like this. That worry had been parasitic, gnawing away at her. This was sharp, strong and she wasn't sure she could stand. Iris collapsed into the chair Caitlin had just vacated for her.

"Barry's gonna be fine," said Joe, putting a hand on his daughter's shoulder. She spun her chair around and buried her face in her father's chest, letting the tears flow. She didn't know how long they stayed like that, but eventually Cisco spoke up.

"Man…" he breathed. The majority of windows in Central City had been shattered. It was all over the news.

"They did that?" Iris sniffed.

Caitlin nodded, "according to the footage."

A huge gust of wind nearly knocked them all over and sent all manner of things flying. Barry lay on the floor panting. "I didn't…catch him," he wheezed.

Iris ran over to him and placed a hand on his cheek. "It's okay. Just be thankful you're alive," she whispered. Barry nodded and took her free hand in his.

"So you both got your speed from the Accelerator explosion and other people got powers too?" asked Iris. Barry nodded. "But dad, Eddie, Caitlin, Cisco and I didn't get powers?"

"What are you saying?" asked Caitlin.

"If we re-explode the Accelerator to give ourselves powers we might be in with a better chance of defeating Wells," suggested Iris. She knew it was crazy but at the same time she wanted to catch the man who had killed Mrs Allen and completely ruined Barry's life.

Caitlin looked at Joe, the resident authority figure, in disbelief. "After the devastation the first explosion caused you can't honestly think a second one would be a good idea?" she asked in her 'spectacularly angry way'.

"Surely there's a way you can control the explosion if you know it's going to happen?" asked Iris.

Cisco couldn't believe he was saying it, but "there is a way."

Joe looked at Barry who was staring at the ground. "Bar?"

Barry didn't look up, "yeah, it could work." He shrugged and left the pipeline, dragging his feet and hands in his pockets.

After a quick apologetic glance at the others Joe followed him out. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Barry spun round and looked his foster dad in the eye. "If we do this, how many people will die? The entire city could be flattened because of us."

"Don't you trust Cisco? He knows what he's doing."

"No, it's not Cisco. It's the Accelerator. We trusted Dr – Eobard and he betrayed us. This entire building is a lie," Barry shouted, clasping his hands behind his head.

Caitlin knocked quietly on the wall. "Sorry to interrupt but this sounds like it ought to be private and we can all hear you. Also, Iris wants to speak to you, Barry."

He nodded at Caitlin. Joe raised his eyebrows.

"Two days, Joe, to see what they come up with."

"Look, Barry, I'm not an idiot. I know this isn't the best idea in the world but I honestly don't see another way we can actually defeat him!" Iris argued.

"Are you saying I can't defeat him?"

"I'm saying you've tried and look where that got you."

Barry hated to admit it, but she was right. He couldn't stop the man in yellow, he didn't even know who he was when he was right in front of him. He needed a team. Eobard had taught him that much.

"Alright," he said, rubbing his face, "if we are ready in two days, we'll do it."

"Thank you," whispered Iris as they hugged.

The next day, preparations began. Iris, Eddie and Joe went to work, Barry was sent to Starling City to keep Team Arrow in the loop and Caitlin and Cisco began work on the Accelerator.

"How's it going?" asked Caitlin.

"Alright," Cisco replied, frowning at a piece of circuitry. "If I don't short out the super-capacitors we should be ready to go tomorrow."

"Great," she smiled. "I brought you a Slushy." She passed him his and took a sip of her own.

"Thanks."

"Can I do anything to help?"

Cisco thought for a second. "I'm going to double-check the current in a second, so you can go and monitor the cameras in case there's an emergency and we need to call Barry."

As Caitlin left he took one last glance and turned it on. Slowly, it lit up and the numbers increased on the Ammeter. And kept increasing until sparks flew off the components. Not good, he thought. Then they caught fire. "CAITLIN!"

AN - will eventually be a meta-human origin story for Killer Frost, Vibe and a few others. Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions.