The idea for this has been going around in my head for a while. I wanted to finish up a few more stories before I started this one but I just had one of those days where I had to at least start it, you know? Let me know what you think and if I should continue this or not.
Sorry if the title sucks, I couldn't think of a better one.
The Speed Force. Most think of it as an endless void of time and space, but that is incorrect. The Speed Force is a living being, with thoughts of its own. And right now, it was making its disappointment known to one Barry Allen.
Barry was thrown on his back, crying out in pain as he landed, hard, on what looked like the streets of Central City.
"You're not learning your lesson Barry," The Speed Force, who had taken the form of Hunter Zoloman, said as it stared down at him with Hunter's cold eyes.
"What do you want from me?! I stopped Savitar, I changed history! What do you want from me!?" Barry demanded as he got to his feet.
"I want you to learn your lesson. And you haven't learned it," Hunter told him coolly. "Take a walk with me Barry."
Hunter turned and began to walk over to a building. Barry was angry, tired, and beyond fed up, but he still followed after Hunter. If he wanted this to stop, he had to go along with whatever The Speed Force wanted from him.
As they walked inside, Barry looked around, realizing it was a building for support groups. Hunter led him over to a room and Barry peaked inside. His heart dropped as he saw a scene that was very familiar to him.
"I think the thing that haunts me the most is that I never told him I loved him, or admired him," Cisco was saying to the group. "I have memories of Dante all the time, but they don't feel like gifts. They feel like reminders…that I 'll never share another memory with Dante again."
"Why are you showing me this?" Barry demanded as he turned around, unable to face his guilt anymore. "I've already learned my lesson, I know what I did."
"Do you? If you've learned your lesson, why are you making the same mistakes?" Hunter challenged him.
"What are you talking about?!" Barry finally exploded as he whirled on Hunter.
"You weren't there for him," Hunter said as he looked in on Cisco. "You weren't there for your friend. He needed you and you weren't there."
"But what do you care?"
Barry paled at the voice that spoke up behind him. He turned around to face Caitlin, her eyes glowing.
"You got Iris. You got your happy ending, everyone else be damned," she sneered.
"That isn't true!" Barry denied.
"Isn't it?" Thawne challenged as he walked out from behind Caitlin.
"You," Barry said, glaring at Thawne.
"You weren't there for either of them. Not Cisco when his brother died. Not Caitlin when she was suffering from her powers, not when she was going out of her mind with fear that she would disappear. You weren't there, because you were so consumed with Iris that you didn't have time for anything else," Thawne accused.
"Caitlin may have only been trying to hurt you when she said it, but that doesn't mean she was wrong," Caitlin said.
"And deep down, you know she's right," Hunter said.
"Maybe you are happier now Barry, but it has sure made you a worse friend and especially a worse hero," Thawne told him.
"When was the last time you checked in on Joe? Went out for drinks with Caitlin and Cisco? Made sure they were okay after a long day?" Caitlin demanded and Barry was silent for a moment as they waited for his answer.
"I don't remember," Barry admitted.
"You and Iris may be happier, but everyone around you? They're not," Hunter told him.
"And you're saying that's my fault?" Barry demanded.
"You focus too much on your own happiness, not enough on the happiness of those around you," Thawne pointed out.
"Your greatest power was never your speed, it was your heart," Hunter told him.
"Do you know why Caitlin was so willing to trust you in the beginning? Because she could see how much you cared. She was drawn in by you and trusted you because she could see that you cared about people you had never even met. But she hasn't seen that man in a long time," Caitlin told him.
"And neither have we," Thawne told Barry.
"You know what; I don't have to listen to this. You wanna blame me for what happened, fine, but I'm not gonna listen to it," Barry said before he turned and sped off.
"You can't out run us forever Barry. You're in The Speed Force. Eventually you will have to accept the truth. I just hope for your sake it's soon her rather than later," Barry heard Hunter's voice even as he sped away.