Eobard knew it was probably going to be a bad idea before he had even left his apartment. The one year anniversary of the day he had found himself trapped in this timeline was approaching and since his plans to acquire the life of Harrison Wells were going well Eobard had decided to pay the young Barry Allen a visit to see how his life had adjusted since being he was practically orphaned.

Finding him was not hard and he watched the small brunette child as he fumbled about in his backpack. School had just finished and Barry was making his way home, unaware that he was being observed by the curious speedster. He was walking across a small patch of grass and fast approaching a road, his head still half-stuck inside his backpack. Eobard felt a sudden jump of concern as Barry drew nearer to the busy road with no obvious signs of slowing down or stopping. If Barry Allen died then the speed force would not exist, leaving him forever stuck in this timeline. As his small foot reached the end of the path, Eobard was filled with utter panic.

Without even thinking of what he was doing, Eobard sprang into action. Zooming up behind the child as quietly as he could, he pulled the boys bag hard enough to force him back from the edge of the road just as a large truck and its oblivious driver thundered by. "W-what?" Barry jumped in surprise as he was accosted by the unknown man. Realising that he had almost walked onto the busy road, he spoke. "Sorry Mr. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"You stupid boy! Do you not understand how important your life is?!" Eobard snarled. How could he be so foolish? What kind of child just walks out into roads without even a glance.

Barry flinched slightly at the anger in the mans tone. "I'm sorry! I usually look both left and right but I got distracted trying to get my comic out." He pouted and pulled out the small comic in question and showed it to Eobard. "Iris bought it for me."

Feeling his anger deflate a little as Barry stared up at him earnestly, Eobard replied. "You must be careful. How would your parents feel if you were struck by a car and seriously hurt?" At the mention of his parents, a small shadow seemed to cross Barrys' face and he answered quietly.

"Joe would be really mad. He always tells Iris and me to be careful on the roads."

"He sounds like a smart man." Eobard was struck by the utter insanity of the conversation he was having. Discussing road safety with the youthful version of the man he hates more than any other in the world was not something he had foreseen for himself. Feeling suddenly awkward he called the conversation to an end. "Well...goodbye then." He finished lamely and walked away.

"Thank you." A small voice from behind him called. Turning suddenly, Eobard stared at the boy. "For...uhh...saving me and stuff." He stood with his hands tucked inside his pockets as he thanked Eobard.

"Don't mention it." He replied evenly and continued his walk. Stopping once he had reached a considerable distance, he snuck another look at the boy he knew would grow up to be his greatest enemy and sighed a little as the child paused at the road before dashing across as fast as his little legs could take him. Resolving to keep a closer eye on the boy, since he seemed to be a walking disaster, Eobard waited until he was he was out of sight before zooming off into the horizon.

x-x-x-x-x

Picking up his morning paper, Eobard was bored. This time had virtually nothing which was advanced enough to keep him occupied for any length of time. He had taken to attempting to improve Gideons' interface in an effort to give him something to pass his time. Thus far his plans had been accomplished with no obstacles, Harrison Wells and his wife were long gone and Eobard was rather surprised at how easy it was to simply take over the life of another person. Even his private project, his regular observations of Barry, were now beginning to lose his interest as Barry was finally old enough to attend high school and seemed to do little else but study.

Or not, he mused as he pulled the paper close to his face and read the next headline. Apparently due to budget cuts, the high school which Eobard knew that Barry was attending was being forced to close down pretty much its entire arts and science wings. He frowned as he concluded that this could be a serious issue for him. For Barry to become the Flash, he had to be present inside his lab at the police department on the night of the particle accelerator explosion. And Barry achieving that particular job seemed unlikely if he was unable to attend any science classes in his teenage years.

An intervention was needed. Pulling out his phone, Eobard dialed in the number of his personal accountant. "Andrew, it's Harrison Wells. Listen I need you to do something for me please. I want to make a large donation to a local high school. And I would also like to ensure that they are informed of exactly where the money has originated from. No anonymity please." He paused while Andrew made a few small typing noises before ensuring him that it would be complete by the following morning. "Thank you." Hanging up, he continued to read his paper. Barry Allen would continue to succeed in his chosen fields no matter how much it cost him, he would not lose out on his chance to get back to the future just because some fool decided that school children did not need to learn basic science.

"Barbaric." He muttered to himself quietly.

x-x-x-x-x

Sighing as he dropped onto the stiff leather couch, Eobard used one of his hands to blindly feel at the small table next to his head until his fingers grasped the large decanter full of whiskey which he kept there for emergencies. Working at STAR Labs had been particularly tiring today, the particle accelerator had only just been completed and his private work in attempting to secure the future had left him both mentally and physically tired. He had just let his eyes drift shut when a distinctly feminine voice cut into his peace.

"Good evening, Dr Wells."

Groaning a little, Eobard cracked one eye open and glanced at the small figure which was emitting from his watch. "Good evening Gideon. What do you want?"

"I just thought I should inform you that my surveillance cameras are picking up two men who are approaching Mr Allens' house armed with both shotguns and handguns."

"What?" He cried. "How close?"

"They are about fifteen feet from the door. They appear to be organising their plan."

Throwing himself from the couch, Eobard felt an odd fear clutch at his heart and he used the sudden adrenaline to pull together what was left of his speed as he bolted from his home and raced towards Barrys'. As the wind whipped his face, he was again struck by the irony of the fact that this would not be the first time he had saved his nemesis from almost-certain death. As he reached the house he spotting one of the men about to enter the front door and using a final burst of his speed he snatched the mans hand away from the doorknob, using his other hand to crush his heart silently. He tossed the body carelessly behind one of the small bushes which decorated the lawn and targeted the second man, who was standing in utter shock as he watched Eobards' unexpected arrival.

Slamming him against a nearby tree, Eobard hissed in his face. "You will answer my questions before you end up as dead as your friend." The man gave a frightened glance towards his fallen companion who was lying flat on his back with his legs akimbo, which gave him the appearance of a doll which had its strings cut, and nodded. "Good. Now why are you here?"

"We were gonna kill the cop, West." The man spluttered.

That much was clear to Eobard. "Why?"

"He put us away and now we're out we wanted revenge. He was gonna get punished for what he did."

"And what about the children in the house? The girl and boy? Were they to be punished too?" Eobard asked, attempting to keep his temper in check until the man had finished his tale. He could feel his hand pulsing in anticipation.

"Yea-no." The man squealed as Eobard tightened his grip on his throat. That moments hesitation was all Eobard needed to be certain that this man had full intentions of murdering both Barry Allen and Iris West after they had finished with the good Detective West. "We were never gonna hurt the kids. We don't hurt kids." He continued to lie.

"I know that you are being dishonest." Eobard countered quietly, even as a hot rage filled him. "But it does not matter. Barry Allen must be protected at all costs and you will not threaten that protection." Before the man could even open his mouth to reply, Eobard had thrust his fist into his chest and crushed his heart into nothing. He loosened his grip and the body slid from his grasp and hit the ground with a dull thud while the silence of the night rushed in and surrounded him.

He did not regret killing the men but something was bothering him. Pausing to assess his feelings, he was a little stunned to realise that his first instinct when Gideon had warned him of the threat had not been to protect Barry as the Flash but to protect him as Barry Allen, the boy. The boy whom he had spent all these years watching and protecting, the boy who had chosen to make his final science project in school a tribute to the recent achievements which Eobard had made in Harrison Wells' name, the boy whom Eobard had already spent a great deal of his life attempting to kill. Under his watch, Barry Allen had grown from an easily-distracted child into a successful bright young man.

Confronted with the fact that his feelings over Barry may have shifted to something decidedly more paternal, Eobard stood completely still as he tried to mentally deny the accusation which he knew was unfortunately true. If someone had told him that over the course of the last decade or so his absolute hatred for Barry Allen would turn to a legitimate care he would have laughed in their face. Fate it seemed had chosen to make a fool of him.

Placing a hand around one of the ankles on each body, Eobard began to drag them away to a more secluded area so that he could make a start at burying them in secret. After all, he couldn't have Barry waking up and finding two dead bodies on his porch. That would create some unnecessary problems and possibly delay Barry from the very important event which he had to attend that night. Eobard was finally ready to switch on the particle accelerator and, as a result of all his efforts and care, Barry Allen was to finally have his date with destiny.