Life with human Barry was…different. Not to be ironic but our lives had slowed down. Barry was coping as well as he could. A guilty feeling gnawed at my stomach though. I felt guilty for Barry losing his speed. He reassured me, almost daily, that he did not blame me though. If anything, he felt guilty that Jay had taken me. He definitely felt guilty that Jay had taken Caitlin. He worked tirelessly on how to get her back, on top of completing his work for CCPD. I could see the change in his energy levels. There were a lot of nights that I would call him, to find out from Joe that he had passed out on the couch before he could even take his shoes off. Barry Allen was no longer the Flash. It was an adjustment everyone had to get used to.

"I really hate this thing," Cisco says as he takes his Vibe glasses off. He stares down at Jay's helmet in disgust, moving to set it on a table. "I just want to put a dent in it."

"Cisco, did you see Caitlin in your Vibe?" I ask him. Him, Barry, Joe, Cisco, and I were in the Cortex.

"Zoom's got her in his lair," Cisco answers with a sigh. "She's scared, but she's okay."

"Thank God," Barry says. "All right, we need to get her back."

"I know," Joe says. "But without your speed, there's no way any of us can get through that breach that Cisco found at the hospital. I just don't think there's anything we can do right now."

Harry walks into the lab, his gun sling over his shoulder. "That's right." He says. "And it's thanks to you, Allen."

"Enough," Joe says, before anyone else can. I hang my head and wished I could sink into a wall. I knew he was referring to Barry choosing me over his speed. "We're all suffering here."

"That's right, that's right, Detective." Harry says. "We're all suffering. We've lost Snow, you've lost your speed, and now?" He lets out a humorless chuckle. "Now, Zoom can come through that breach any time he wants. And that, Allen, that's on you."

"Hey, that's on all of us, okay?" Iris says, defending the choice Barry had made. "We made these decisions as a team."

Harry turns around, picking up his bag, and looking at each of us (me the longest) before looking at Barry. "No, we didn't."

"And where are you going?" Barry asks him. I literally press myself against a wall, willing it to swallow me up.

"I'm gonna go find Jesse before Zoom does." Harry says. "Again."

"Wait, you found her?" Cisco says. "How?"

"Cellular dead zones, Ramon," Harry says, starting to sound annoyed. "People from my Earth vibrate at a different frequency than people from your Earth. They leave cellular dead zones wherever they go."

"That's why I'm always dropping calls around you?" Cisco says.

"Okay, so, wait. How did that help?" Iris asks.

"I tracked the dead zones created by Jesse since she got here and I followed the trail, it's easy." Harry says, slinging his bag onto his back.

"What?" Iris says. I think she was majorly annoyed by Wells now. "So, you think you're gonna need that gun to convince her to leave with you?"

"You're full of questions today, aren't you, West?" Harry says looking at her. "The gun is not for my daughter. She's not the only person from a different Earth hiding out on this one. If I run into them, I'm gonna need this."

"Okay," Cisco says as Harry starts to leave the Cortex. "But you're also going to need some help."

"Really?" Harry says, stopping to face Cisco. I don't miss his eyes cutting to me again. "You know anyone with the speed to help me, Ramon?"

"Great," Cisco says after Wells leaves. "I'll be in my workshop." I watch Cisco walk out as well.

"Don't listen to Wells, Barry," Joe says. I reach up and wipe away a couple tears that had leaked out. "This ain't all on you."

"No, it's not," I say from across the room. I had pressed myself so far into the corner I think they forgot I was there. Joe, Iris, and Barry's eyes all cut to me as I walk towards the middle of the room. "I think I should probably stay away for a while. I don't-"

"No," Barry says, shaking his head. "None of this is on you. At all."

"But why-" I look away from him, shaking my head. This was an almost nightly argument with us. "I wasn't worth losing your speed over. Worth losing-"

"Yes you are." I halfway expected to hear Barry say it, but it was Iris who had stepped forward. "Barry loves you. We love you. You are family Elizabeth. You may think that because you don't know all the science and technology that these guys know that you weren't worth saving, but you are." She grabs my arms with her hands, making sure I was looking her directly in the eye. "I don't ever what to hear you say that again. Okay?" I nod my head a couple of times as a couple more tears fall.

"Oh, hey," I say, walking into the Cortex. Jesse was off in the lab, where Caitlin usually worked. "You're back."

"Yeah," she says, turning to face me. "My dad-"

"Barry told me," I say. "I'm sorry. They'll get him back though."

Jesse nods her head as she turns back to look through the microscope. "And I'm sorry also." I ask her what she means. "For Zoom taking you…and for how my dad has apparently been treating you."

I nod my head. "Can't say I blame him though." I say, sitting down on a stool. Jesse looks at me again, raising an eyebrow at me. "I mean…we're all in more danger now since Barry doesn't have his speed. And I just…" I shake my head. "I'm just not used to someone caring for me the way Barry does. I mean, my own parents didn't even want me. They left me in a Pagliai's Pizza bathroom when I was eight months old. I grew up with nuns that constantly called me ungrateful. And now…"

"You have a family," Jesse finishes for me. I nod my head. "You are an amazing person Elizabeth. Barry is crazy about you. You're smart and funny. And my dad knows that. Before we went out a couple weeks ago he told me I'd be wise to follow your lead. He's just…"

"Because I was chosen over Barry's speed, his daughter is in danger now." I say. "I know. It's just hard to hear because it is exactly what I've been telling myself since Zoom showed up in Joe's house." Jesse doesn't say anything else, just gives me a sad look before returning to the microscope. A while later, Barry, Cisco, Joe, and Iris come back; Barry limping slightly and clutching at his side. "What happened?" I ask as I follow Barry and Iris into the med-bay.

"He-man threw a barrel at ya' boy," Cisco calls out from the computer desk.

"A what?" I say, spinning around to face Barry who was now sitting on the bed. "He threw a-"

"I'm fine, Elizabeth," Barry says. "Just- eh, I'll be fine."

I purse my lips as Iris wraps an ace bandage around Barry's chest. "So, his genes have actually mutated," Jesse says as Iris finishes up. She had told me she was trying to figure out this new meta's powers. Iris and I follow Barry out of the med-bay as he walks back into the Cortex. "I ran the DNA from the blood sample Barry found and the functional myostatin in his cells is essentially gone. I mean, giving him super-strength."

"Guys, there's something else." Barry says. "Um, I saw him age. Right in front of me."

"Yeah, he's suffering from oxidative stress." Jesse says. I give her a confused look that she catches. "It means the protein and the DNA in his body are being ravaged by oxidants."

"So what?" Joe says. "He needs to up his blueberry intake?"

"No," Jesse says with a chuckle. "It means, the more he exerts himself, the faster he ages."

"So, if we can get him to exert too much energy, then—" Barry says.

"Then he'll become old and weak," Iris finishes the thought.

"And how do you think we're going to do that?" I ask. "You can't be a human punching bag until he turns into Grampa Simpson." I watch Barry as he walks towards his suit.

"I think we can fix that," Cisco says. I turn around quickly to face him. He points a finger at Jesse, starting to move towards his lab. "Jesse, I'm gonna need some of that quick thinking of yours."

Joe's arm nudges me slightly before he points at Barry who was still staring at his suit. "I gotta get back to the station." Joe says before he leaves. Iris goes to leave with him, saying she needed to get back to CCPN and see what they had on this meta.

Once they're gone, I walk over and stand beside Barry. "You okay?" I ask him.

Barry looks at me before letting out a sigh and looking back at his suit. "No. Not really." He says. "You know, Iris was the first person I saved after I got my powers. We were out on a walk and we were talking about Eddie, her boyfriend at the time, and she was with him and I was thinking to myself how I'd missed a lot while I was in that coma. And then, all of a sudden, these cars came at us, and it was like the world froze. Like she and I were the only two people in the world. I didn't even know what I could do yet. But I knew that I could save her. And I did." Barry lets out another sigh as he grabs onto his ribcage. "I don't regret for a second giving up my speed for you. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I just…I just don't even know who I am anymore, or who I'm supposed to be."

"You're supposed to be the same guy that you've always been." I say. I turn to face him, seeing him shaking his head as he hangs it. "Suit or no suit, you are a hero. Being a hero isn't from powers, it's from here." I lift my hand and place it over his heart. He turns towards me, placing his hand over mine. "You're still a hero Barry Allen. You're my hero."