He felt the air pulsing against his face as he ran. It was cold. It took him back to that day.

"Look, you should be grateful that we're even protecting you, Snart!" said Joe, matter-of-factly.

"If you call this protection then we're all screwed, not just me!" he retorted.

"Everybody just shut the hell up! You especially, Snart!" interrupted Barry, pushing them away from each other. He looked over at Cisco, Caitlin, and Patty, who all looked afraid. Snart was clutching his cold gun as he backed into Cisco's desk.

"Napier will not stop looking for me until everyone I know is dead, I could care less about you people but that puts Lisa in danger!" they could all hear actual fear in his voice.

"Snart?! Snart are you even there?!" they could all hear Mirror Master's voice coming from Snart's phone, which he had dropped onto the floor. Joe stepped forward and Snart held up his gun, aiming it at Joe. He put his hands in the air.

"We're gonna protect both of you from Napier, you have my word."

"Your word doesn't mean shit to me, West." He said, his fear turning to anger.

"Snart…"

"Get back, Barry!" he threatened, activating the gun. Barry looked over at Joe, seeing the sweat racing down the side of his face.

"Snart!"

"I said get back!" he screamed, turning to face Barry, firing at him. Barry was barely able to dodge it, and the wall next to Caitlin was frozen, resulting in a loud shriek from her. Joe then jumped on Snart, but he threw him off, onto Cisco's desk. He then turned around to find Joe's gun pointed right at him. Snart then quickly froze Barry's leg, causing him to fall to the ground and he then aimed his gun at Cisco and the girls.

"Shoot me and they all die."

"Joe! Don't!" pleaded Barry.

Snart began circling around the desk, keeping his aim, and Joe was doing the same, trying to get to Barry. Once they had made a 180, Joe made an instinctive choice and fired a bullet into Snart's shoulder, so he immediately turned around and froze Joe's entire front half, causing him to fall to the ground.

"JOE!" screamed Barry, loud enough to nearly deafen everyone. Snart was breathing heavily, but not for long as he was shocked from behind, falling to the ground to find Iris holding a taser. She was shaking, and she dropped it.

"Snart? I don't know what the hell you're trying to pull but-" spoke Mirror Master as Iris walked over to Joe.

"Dad…" she dropped to her knees and touched his face, but jerking away from the cold. Barry crawled over and picked up the phone.

"I swear, Scudder. I'm going to find you. And I'm going to put you down." Said Barry, throwing the phone into the wall, looking back at Joe and Iris. Everyone had run over to comfort Iris, and Barry screamed, banging his fist on the ground.

The memory knocked Barry off course, causing him to trip and tumble into the vacant Central City park. Then again, maybe that was because the Reverse-Flash body slammed into him. Barry stopped rolling after hitting a tree and looked up to see Reverse-Flash walking over to him. He stopped vibrating and laughed his cold, sadistic laugh.

"How are you alive?" Barry pleaded.

He pulled off his mask to reveal the face of Eobard Thawne, rather than Harrison Wells.

"That's what you really look like?"

"Not quite what you were expecting?" he taunted.

"You look like Eddie." He said, hurting inside.

"That probably has something to do with the fact that I was related to him."

"Was?"

"That's a story for another time."

Barry launched himself at him, but he kicked him in the stomach, shoving him back into the tree.

"I'm faster than you, Barry, always have been. Always will be."

"I've beaten faster."

"What, Zoom? That poser?" asked Thawne, getting angry. "I've had over a decade of getting faster, using my speed to control every aspect of your life, just like I did when I was alive."

"You're talking like you're not alive."

"Well, technically I don't exist. Dear old Eddie removed me from the timeline when he oh so heroically shot himself, I still think a simple vasectomy would have been an acceptable solution but-"

"How are you still here?!" demanded Barry, now on his feet. Thawne rushed forward, shoving Barry back into the tree, cracking it, and leaning in dangerously close.

"I'm a living paradox." He vibrated his whole body, as if to emphasize. "You can't touch me… Flash."

"I'm not the Flash anymore."

"And Wally was? Oh, please. If anything he was a poser. So easy to take down."

"Down, not out?" asked Barry, a glimmer of hope in his voice. Thawne laughed.

"Are you asking if he's alive?"

"What the hell else would I be asking?"

"So much anger! I'm impressed."

"Answer the question."

"Hm. He might be. Maybe I'll tell you. If you can catch me." He said, faking out another tackle, causing Barry to flinch back into the tree. Thawne laughed and sped away. Barry screamed and launched himself off of the tree, breaking it. Barry refused to lose Thawne this time. Every step they took shattered the ground beneath them and shook everything around them. Thawne led him into S.T.A.R. Labs, where people were still working. He stopped in the Cortex, causing everyone in there to back up in fear. Barry ran in, his entire face vibrating to conceal his identity.

"So many memories in this room. I think I'll let it stay… for now. This is going to be fun." Thawne then grabbed a random piece of equipment and lodged it into Barry's shoulder, racing off. He fell to his knees in pain, screaming as he grasped it and ripped it out of his shoulder. He hung his head, ceasing the vibration because no one could see him. After taking a few heavy breaths, he sped out of there and back home, collapsing on the couch, catching the surprise of everyone there. Firestorm had left, but everyone else was still present. Patty was upstairs checking on Joey and Kenzie, and everyone else ran over to Barry.

"Barry, are you okay?" asked Iris, touching his face to see if he was alright.

"I'm fine, Iris." He said, his voice shaking. "It's definitely Thawne. He said after Eddie shot himself he became a living paradox and that… that he'd been controlling every aspect of my life since then."

"He was lying, Barry." Said Iris.

"He was just trying to get into your head." Assured Cisco.

"Yeah? Well, it worked." He said angrily, getting off the couch and walking into the kitchen. He shoved everything off the counter as he screamed in frustration.

"Barry, calm down." Pleaded Linda as Iris put her arm around her. He looked over at them and let out a few deep breaths. "Look I think we all need some sleep. You can all crash here if you want, but we can reconvene in the morning to figure out what to do next."

There were murmurs of agreement as they all settled in. Cisco let Iris and Linda take the guest room and he would sleep on the couch. Barry made sure they were all comfortable before walking upstairs and checking on his children. They were both sound asleep, which he was thankful for. He then walked into his room to find Patty sitting on the bed silently, with her arms crossed. This was, without a doubt, the worst birthday ever. When she took notice of him, she stood up and, without speaking, walked to him and embraced him. It took him a few seconds to comprehend what was happening, and he hugged her back, tighter than ever. They stood there in silence for a few seconds until Patty started rubbing the back of his head, and Barry broke down in her arms crying in fear.