Author's Note: Be ready for a long, beautiful, HEARTBREAKING chapter :O

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Despite what Thawn said, Barry still shut him in the Pipeline. "I don't trust him enough to keep him out and about," he told his Team as he shut the cell doors, Thawn immobilized by the injectable speed-dampener that Caitlin had made months ago.

Since that moment, Caitlin hadn't seen him. Nora was sticking to her side, half acting as her protector, half looking for comfort. Caitlin finally deposited her with Kara so that she could get to know her aunt, and went off to hunt for Barry.

After checking back in the Pipeline and on the roof, Caitlin figured that he must have gone home. The door was unlocked when she got to his apartment and she let herself in. Barry was slumped on his couch with three bottles of beer already finished on the floor in front of him.

"Barry, you still can't get drunk," Caitlin reminded him gently, picking up the bottles from the floor and setting them on the table.

A fourth bottle was loosely clasped in Barry's hand, and even though he knew that Caitlin was right, he took a long swing from it. His head slumped forward and Caitlin sat down next to him.

"Oh, honey," she whispered, easing the bottle from his lax grip and putting it on the table, too. Barry leaned over and set his head in her lap and Caitlin ran her fingers through his hair. "Talk to me," she murmured. "What's going on?"

"All of this is our fault- my fault," he mumbled. "I let Nora stay, I suggested starting something with you... and now the future is getting torn apart, Thawn is so desperate that he came to us for help, and I'm going to have to leave everything I love- you, Nora, the Team- in just a couple of days."

"I know you won't believe me," Caitlin murmured. "But I don't think that any of this is your fault. It's not your fault that Nora came back in the first place, and it's not your fault that you followed your heart. All of this is one big mess, and throwing around blame- even if you're only doing it to yourself- is just going to make everything even worse."

Barry nodded, not speaking, and Caitlin leaned down to press her lips to his temple. "Even if all of this turns out like the article says it does... selfishly enough, I wouldn't change these last few months for anything. Being with you, and Nora, redeveloping our relationship and, well... falling in love with you-" Her voice caught and she took a deep breath. "I'm just as scared as you to lose all of it. But even if we do... I'm glad that we had this."

Barry finally sat up and looked at her. "I love you," he murmured, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her, long and gentle.

Caitlin wound her fingers into his hair, knees resting lightly on his thighs. She gently broke off the kiss and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Everything's gonna be okay," she whispered into his ear, breath ruffling his hair. "We will get through this."

Caitlin left about a half hour later and Barry had a quick dinner of Big Belly Burger leftovers and crashed in bed. He fell asleep in moments, but sometime later was awoken by a presence entering the room.

Unsure if he was awake or dreaming, Barry sat up and looked around. There was no one in the room, but Barry still squinted into the darkness. Then the form of someone slowly appeared.

It was Nora Allen. But not the Nora he was used to.

"Mom?" Barry whispered, voice hoarse. Nora stepped forward, into the light of the street lamps outside, shinning through his uncovered window.

"My beautiful boy," Nora murmured, putting her hand on Barry's cheek. A spark of electricity jolted through his skin, and that was when Barry knew, for sure, what he had feared since he saw the figure of his mother standing in his room.

"Speed Force," he corrected himself, disappointed.

The Speed Force nodded. "Barry Allen."

"What are you doing here?" Barry asked. "Is this about Nora?"

"No," the Speed Force replied. "This is about you."

They stepped back from the bed and extended their hand. After hesitating for a moment, Barry got out of bed and took the outreached fingers in his own.

In seconds, the Speed Force was moving. They whisked Barry into a run, to a breach, and then immediately out. It was like when Barry had run with Savitar a couple years ago, miles and minutes disappearing in mere moments with the sheer speed they were moving at.

Barry stumbled as the Speed Force came to a stop. They were standing in a street, and it was suddenly daytime again. The sky was a brilliant scarlet, even redder than it had been earlier that afternoon when Kara and Oliver had arrived at STAR Labs, and the sun was blocked by hazy, grey-pink clouds.

Clearing his head, Barry glanced around. The Speed Force had already locked their eyes on two people, standing facing each other in the middle of the street. The ground trembled, making both of them stumble. A bolt of red-tinted lightning shot from the sky and hit a lightning rod on a tall building a couple yards away, and Barry finally recognized the two figures.

It was him, a future him, and the Reverse Flash.

"This is the moment," he whispered, glancing over at the Speed Force for confirmation. "This is when it happens."

The Reverse Flash was speaking, but a rumbled of thunder blocked out Barry's ability to hear. Future-Barry glanced back, looking like he would see his past self and the Speed Force but staring right through them. Then he took a deep breath and nodded.

Before Barry knew what was happening, Future-Barry had sprinted up off the closest building. At the same moment, a bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky. The two electrical forces met, and there was a blinding flash of light before everything went still again.

Future-Barry was gone.

There was a gut-wrenching scream of, "NO!" from behind them. Barry spun around to see Killer Frost falling to her knees, a sheet of ice exploding out from her. The wave seemed to suck all the cold out of her, and her hair and eyes were suddenly back to brown.

Caitlin began to sob, curling into herself. Barry took a step forward, feeling his heart clench into the size of a golfball, but the Speed Force took hold of his hand again.

Moments later, they were standing in a new place. It was a rundown bar, and Caitlin was slumped at the table with about seven different shot glasses in front of her, all empty. Her face was puffy, eyes red from crying.

"Okay lady," the bartender was saying as Caitlin waved for another drink. "I think you've had about enough."

"You know who's 'ad about enough?" Caitlin slurred, slapping her hand onto the table. "Me. I've 'ad about enough of the peple I love levin' me an' goin' off to save the w'rld."

She pounded her hand on the table so hard it knocked her off balance and she tumbled off her stool. Barry lurched forward, breaking away from the Speed Force, but when he tried to catch her she fell straight through his arms and hit her head on the floor.

Caitlin laid there on the scuffed hardwood, dazed. A tear trickled out from the corner of her eye, traveling unchecked down her face and dripping to the floor. Barry felt his softball sized heart contract to grape sized and he stumbled back. The Speed Force grabbed his shoulder, making sure he didn't fall over.

Another figure walked into the bar. Cisco crouched next to his friend. "Hey, Caitlin," he whispered, deep bags under his eyes and his hair greasy and unattended. "How about we head home?"

Caitlin nodded and Cisco carefully helped her up, ready when she swayed and almost fell back down again. He began to lead her out of the bar, arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him. "C'sco?" she mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"I miss Barry."

"I know," Cisco whispered, his voice breaking. "Me too."

Shell-shocked, Barry barely reacted as the Speed Force grabbed his arm and took him to the next place. He refused to look up as they came to a stop. "Please," he whispered, throat painfully tight. "I just want to go home."

"There's one more thing you need to see," the Speed Force said, gently turning him toward the scene in the room.

Caitlin and Nora were curled up in a medical gurney together. Nora was trembling- but not with sobs, as Barry had originally thought. He saw with a wrench in his heart that her hand was disappearing.

"Mom, I'm scared," Nora whispered, watching her fingers turn smokey.

Caitlin wrapped her arms around her tighter, as if it could protect her from the terrible thing that was about to happen. "It's okay," she murmured, rocking her daughter back and forth. "I've got you, honey, and I'm not going to let go."

Barry felt his stomach tighten and he turned away. "I- I know what's going to happen," he whispered, breath quickening. "Please. I can't- I can't see this, please just take me home."

The Speed Force nodded, and taking Barry's arm again, raced off to his correct place and time.

Now in his room, Barry took a heavy seat on the bed and ducked his head between his arms. The pain in his chest was almost unbearable.

The Speed Force rested their hand on Barry's shoulder. Barry looked up, eyes pleading. "Please," he begged. "I can't let that happen. Tell me what I need to do."

The Speed Force gave him a small smile. "When the time comes, you'll know exactly what you need to do," they murmured, before vanishing in the darkness of Barrys room.

Author's Note: HOW'S THAT FOR A HEARTBREAKING CHAPTER MY GOSH?! I felt like physical unrest writing that; it was tearing me apart D: D: