DID Y'ALL KNOW JOE WAS IN X-FILES!? Okay, yeah, the actor, but still! I'm about halfway though season six and lo and behold, twenty-something year old Joe is an alien! Not gonna lie, I got a bit more excited than what the situation called for. :p anyways I've been writing this chapter in my head for weeks, it's about time I put it into words. Also, Constantine y'all. Planning a crossover as we speak…

CHAPTER TEN: THE 2ND DEATH OF ELLA PETERSON

The hours of training and control Ella learned just the day before flew from her mind. She cowered against the ground, barely noticing the shots of pain the movement of her shoulder caused.

"It's time, my dear. Everything's ready for you to return to your full glory," Zoom informed her. The words gave her a jolt and loosened her paralyzed body. Favoring her shoulder, she raised her other hand to try to bring down a bolt of lightning on the speedster, but he was too fast in her dazed state. He was inches from her face before Ella was finished raising her arm.

"You will thank me soon enough," He whispered in her ear, before she saw his hand rise, and Ella knew no more.

She didn't know how much time had passed before she could think of more than the black nothingness she had suddenly fell in. Slowly, she heard creaking and moaning of shift floorboards and old pipes. Sometimes off in the distance, Ella heard a car horn or a siren. Her head still felt too heavy and her eyelids felt like they had weights glued to them.

Ella knew she wasn't in a safe place, but she could bring herself to open her eyes. She just knew the dull thud on the side of her head would increase if she did. Though she found out it wasn't her choice when she woke up.

An unexpected sharp pain erupted from her shoulder. Her eyes popped open but the room spun from the pain, and she cried out. Slowly, the world righted itself and revealed Zoom standing beside her, an arm still on her shoulder.

"You hit the ground a bit harder than I intended. Your shoulder's in place now and will heal again correctly in no time," He said, but she didn't respond. She was too busy trying to even out her breaths.

Then she looked down and found her arms and legs in cuffs. Her shoes had also been taken off and her feet floated in a few inches of water. The entire floor was flooded.

"Just a precaution," Zoom rumbled out, pacing around Ella. As a last ditch effort, she tried to use her power to bolt away, but her body felt weirdly quiet. It was normally tingling with electricity, it felt dead... "Those are dampening cuffs, much like those glove of yours, just so much more stronger. This is inevitable, Ella."

"But I'm not your Ella. She's dead, right? I'm from this Earth. I am a complete different person. There is no way to make me her!" The certainty Zoom had that he could change Ella into the one she knew terrified her.

"But she is alive in me. I remember every inch and every second," his breath hitched. The emotion scared Ella more than his normal rage, "of her. And I… made a mistake but I can fix it, I can bring her back."

Ella froze then, her mind connecting the dots of the plan. "So you're going to brain wash me with your memory of her? It doesn't matter who you are, but the way you perceive a person isn't who they are. It is only one part-"

"Oh no, my dear. Not only will you have my best memories of her, but I have a friend who can see in the past, and will give you her best memories, even without me. And I will take away the ones that cause her pain. It won't be perfect, but it will be enough. We will make new memories together, Ella."

"You are out of your mind." It was all Ella could say but she wished she said nothing at all, because her voice shook. She didn't want Zoom to know how scared she was. She didn't even want to believe how scared she was because then she would have to believe this could actually happen. Her wide eyes searched his soulless ones, trying to find the insanity, but all Ella saw was determination.

"I can't wait to erase your pathetic mind away," Zoom responded. Though she couldn't see the malice filled grin, she certainty heard it in his demonic voice. He came closer and reached a hand out towards Ella. Uncontrollably, she flinched away, but he never touched her. Instead, he reached down and pushed a button on the side of her chair, that made the seat go back.

Ella had to admit it now. She was terrified. The second the back of her seat started to move, her fight or flight was triggered, and she started thrashing. Skin began peeling away at her wrists and ankles as she fought against her restraints, but nothing budged. To her humiliation, a whimper escaped her lips.

"Oh, my dear Ella," he chuckled, the words causing her to still. She turned her hand to find him prepping a needle. "Before you know it, it will be all over. You will be the best you've ever been."

Her arm shook when his hand clamped down in it. He kept a firm grip as he shot the needle into her skin and ice darted through her veins.

"As much as I don't care if you suffer, my Ella needs a whole body to wake up in," he told her, as the ice spread throughout her body. She tried to thrash again, but her body was frozen. The only thing Ella found she could move were her eyes, which darted around, taking everything she could.

She heard a ripping noise and she strained her eyes to see what looked like a rip in the air past her legs. A swirling mess of something floated in the opening and suddenly two people came through, their feet landing heavy on the ground. One of the men had a tight grip over the other one, who fumbled to the ground upon impact.

A jolt of surprise shocked her then, as she recognized one of the people standing beside her. His tan, round face. His dark brown eyes. His hair was in a ponytail, which was unusual, but it was him. It was Cisco.

There was a warning in the back of her mind, something's off with him, nothing looked different, but something was.

Nonetheless, Ella tried to say his name, but found she didn't even have control of her lips, so she then thought it as hard as she could. She thought Cisco and forced it through the air and tried to get it to reach him but she couldn't. He looked at her, but it was clear his eyes didn't know her.

"This is the man that will erase your memories and plant you knew ones," He supersped over to the man she didn't know, and ripped his arm up, forcing his body into a standing position. His entire body shook in the same terror that filled Ella. "And this is the one who holds all the memories," Zoom gestured to Cisco this time. "The days we've spent gathering them since I saw your face… it's time. It's finally time. Then, together, we can destroy the Flash."

Zoom leaned in close to Ella's face, close enough to see her eyes had dilated so much in fear that they have practically lost their color.

"Goodbye, Ella," he whispered harshly into her face.

Cisco pulled the other man to her other side. He shook violently in terror, causing his knees to buckle, and the other man who wear her friend's face had to hold him up.

"Start. Now." Zoom commanded, pulling out of her face and taking a step back.

Ella strained to pull her gaze towards the man who was barely standing next to her and begged him with her eyes not to do this. He didn't want to do this, she could tell, but she knew he probably had to do it, whether he was protecting himself or someone else, Ella didn't fault him, but she begged anyways.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said like a broken record, before Zoom snapped at him to start again.

He raised a shaking hand and brought it down on the top of Ella's head and forehead, forcing her eyes to shut. Nothing happened for a second, but then a splatter of memories began, using her eyelids as a movie backdrop.

It started with memories she didn't even remember, long lost in the recess of her mind. Her mind's eye blinked through images of her parents reaching both arms down to her to pick her up, her toddling around on shaky feet, stinging in her hand when she tried to catch a bee, bear hugs from her dad, and butterfly kisses to her mom- memories that were replaced with fighting and tears as she got older. Was it her, or was it her parents that ruined their relationship? Maybe all of them where to blame.

The memories got newer as they shuffled through the ones where her parents the most important people in her life. A childhood friend came and went, then a favorite school teacher. An ache had started to form over her body, a longing for people Ella was forgetting, and there was nothing she could do about it.

It's a cliché thing, but it is always said before you die your life flashes before your eyes. There was a wiggle of a thought in the back of her mind, telling her how ironic it was.

This was the death of everything that is Ella Grace Peterson.

Barry shook his head, over and over, not wanting to believe what Faye was saying. His mind kept replaying the night Ella died, about Decree and the warlock about Fate as if it was a person. He knew in his bones this was who they were talking about, but he was scared to ask.

"I know all the ways this can go, Barry. All of them in death. I don't think you want that."

"The future isn't set in stone..." Barry echoed words that have been flung around since this whole thing with Ella started.

"Yeah, but I get all the changes in my pretty little head of mine," she replied, a single finger tapping the side of her head.

"You can't… you can't get them all..." he stuttered out, his head still shaking in disbelief. There were infinite possibilities, she can't get them all, he repeated that silently to himself.

Faye shrugged. "Well, you can think that if that's what lets you think at night."

The air was thick with tension, with Barry's speechlessness and Faye's self righteousness at the situation. When the phone in Barry's pocket went off, it actually startled him. A text from Cisco was displayed on the screen: Ella's missing. Phone tracker turned off and not answering phone… Star Labs ASAP.

"It's time for you to go, isn't it? Don't worry, Bear. I know where to get a hold of you. See you around," Faye said with a wave, before walking nonchalantly back up the stairs to the apartment, like she didn't have a care in the world.

Barry wanted to stay and get all the information he could get, but Ella's tracker being turned off was a care added to his massive list, so he let Faye go for the time being and sped away, meeting Cisco at Star Labs.

Barry found his friend hunched over a computer, trying all he could do locate their new friend. There was a phone against his ear, and his head shook as he muttered, "no no no no" to himself.

"So, update," Cisco began as soon as he realized Barry had arrived. He ran a hand through his hair and Barry knew immediately the update wasn't a good one. "Hacked into the security cameras around CCPD and followed Ella leaving. She didn't even make it three blocks before Zoom attacked her, Barry. Zoom's got her."

"Oh, God." That was all Barry could think to mutter for a second. He knew what Zoom was capable of… which was anything. Finally, he remembered, "Ella said she was his girlfriend on Earth 2 and that first night after she woke up, the first night she stayed at my house, he said he was going to make her his Ella somehow."

"But that's not… that's not possible."

"Zoom seems to think so," Barry replied, letting out a stress filled sigh. He should have protected Ella better. Not just her heart… but her as well. "I'm going to that alleyway. I'm going to see if there's any clues."

"There isn't going to be, Barry," Cisco said gently. Of there wasn't going to be, but Barry had to do something!

"This isn't your fault." Was Barry's self hatred written on his face?

"You couldn't have known, you couldn't have prevented this..." Cisco tried to tell him, but Barry shook his head.

"There are so many other things I could have though, Cisco. Maybe this little thing isn't directly my fault, but it's because of my fault," Barry answered, before walking away to pass a moment.

They had to do something. They had to think of something. Zoom could be doing anything to her…

"Barry!" Cisco cut through his dark thoughts. "Barry, I can try to vibe her. I could see where she's at!"

In any other situation, there might be some jokes made about the way Barry grabbed Cisco before speeding off without another word, even just to break the tension. But neither of them had it in them.

Only a few seconds passed since Cisco had that great idea and they were standing in Ella's room in the West household.

Ella's tabby cat was curled in a cardboard box of clothes and knickknacks from her parents house and Cisco quickly shooed Leo out, the cat replying with an indignant meow.

Barry anxiously paced as Cisco grabbed things from the box and tried to vibe, but there was something wrong with the items and he couldn't vibe. Barry looked into the box, wondering why none of it worked.

"Maybe they're just too old. She's not connected to them," Cisco suggested, something Barry could believe. Ella probably forgot about all the stuff in this box till recently and still has had minimal interaction with them.

"Try something out of the box. Like… the sweatshirt on the bed. She was wearing that this morning, wasn't she?" Barry hoped against hope that the sweatshirt would work. It was a Star Labs one, it was definitely one she'd wore recently, definitely one she was connected to…

Barry knew the moment Cisco's breath caught that he'd vibed. He began to describe the room she was in as Barry began to pace again.

"It's like… a warehouse. Not too far from the city, I can hear night life. She's… she's strapped down, on her back. There are three men- holy crap, that's me, I'm one of the men! No way… but there's Zoom and… another man. Oh, God, Barry, he's doing something to Ella. His hand is on her head and her eyelids are flickering like she's possessed or something, man. Mad freaky, mad..." Cisco trailed off, and with bated breath, Barry watched him. He took a couple steps from where he was standing, but Barry knew he couldn't move far.

Suddenly a gasping breath brought Cisco back to this moment, in Ella's room.

"I know where she is! That damn mill. He's at the mill with her," Cisco exclaimed

"Okay, I'm going. Alert the team..." Barry paused, trying form a half assed plan in his head before running. "Oliver hasn't left yet, has he?"

Cisco shook his head. "No, he came by after you and El left. He's visiting his kid today."

"Oh, he's going to hate me," Barry sighed, knowing the mother doesn't want anything to do with Oliver's personal life and the freaking Flash is going to ruin whatever they had planned today.

"But you need him," Cisco said firmly.

Barry nodded. "I'll call him. You get back to the lab."

Ten minutes later, the Flash and Arrow sneaking in the saw mill. Zoom couldn't know they were here till Ella was in sight. To enter, they found a back door that was chained shut. The sound of it being broke caused Barry to flinch.

Silent. They couldn't make any noise. Zoom couldn't know they were here. They used hand movements instead of speaking. The only sound was Cisco alerting them, through hacking a satellite and seeing which room had heat signatures, where to go.

If Zoom hadn't been so into making sure the brainwashing of Ella was perfect, he would have long realized they were there, and it was the only upside to this whole situation.

They bursted into the room, causing the four occupants to freeze like if stuck in a picture. The plan was to grab Ella and run, and if Barry could get her to safety fast enough, return to help Oliver. But he didn't think he would. He thought another fight would be had tonight. And Barry didn't care how bad he got hurt if it meant Ella was safe. He would have Zoom break his back five times over than have her back in his clutches doing… whatever he was allowing this man to do her.

In the split second it took Barry to reach Ella, he noticed Cisco standing next to the bedside, but he didn't let it faze him. He couldn't. He saw the frozen expressions of surprise before looking at Ella, who's, like his? Cisco said, eyes were twitching under the hand over the other man.

Barry only got to Ella because Zoom was so distracted. This wasn't lost on either of them. Barry realized in this moment that Ella had become a weakness and he didn't know how Zoom would react to him knowing.

Barry knew he wasn't fast enough yet. He knew he didn't have long till Zoom caught up to him.

But Zoom had other plans.

"You've broken her, Barry! You took her before the process was done. The way his hand was ripped off of her- you damaged her. There is no getting either of our Ella's back but I'll give you the broken pieces. I'll watch you try to put her back together and I'll laugh! She can't be fixed!" He shouted at Barry, before disappearing from behind him.

Barry ran around for a minute longer, to make sure Zoom was truly gone, before going back to Star Labs. He wanted to keep running though, he didn't want to face what Zoom had just threatened him with.

He didn't want to find out what he just did to Ella.