Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The team was standing in the cortex discussing the events that just transpired.

"Barry isn't dead," Cisco said. "That means he must still be alive in the speed force somewhere. I've been trying to vibe him, but I haven't been able to get anything."

"Unless Barry is a time remnant," Caitlin said. "He might not exist anymore and is only here to preserve the timeline."

"But what if he isn't? Shouldn't we try to get Barry back?" Iris asked.

"But we have Barry," Joe said. "Sure, he's twenty years older, but he's still with us locked up down in the pipeline. I'm not saying we should stop looking for Present Barry, but that doesn't mean we should just ignore or hate the Barry we currently have. He's Barry. It doesn't matter what time period he's from."

"Joe's right," Julian said. "I never thought I'd say this, but Allen's my friend. Hell, he's probably the first real friend I've ever had. We should keep trying to find him, of course, but that doesn't mean the one we have has any less value."

"Guys, he killed Present Barry," Wally said. "Are we really going to trust him?"

"I don't trust him right now," Joe confessed. "But that doesn't mean I don't love him. And he really didn't kill Present Barry, and even if he did, that's not murder. It's… suicide. Present Barry ran into the speed force of his own free will. Future Barry didn't make him. They did this together."

"Of course they did," Caitlin said. "That's just like Barry. He'd sacrifice himself for us, for this world, in a heartbeat. If it was the only way, he would die for anyone, even someone he doesn't know."

None of them could deny it.

"But he is a murderer," Wally protested. "He killed the Reverse Flash."

"Yeah, he killed the guy who technically didn't even exist and murdered his mom, stalked him for fifteen years, pretended to be his friend, killed me in an alternate timeline, and was about to kill the love of his life," Cisco said. "I can't really fault him for that."

"Cisco's right," Caitlin said. "We'll have to reinforce the whole no killing concept with him, make sure he understands that he can't kill his enemies, but I can't really fault him for it either. Besides, now's not a time to be neglecting him."

"What do you mean, Caitlin?" H.R. asked.

"The morphine," she said. "Now that the speed force is fixed, he doesn't have to take it anymore. He's not in pain anymore. That means, he can get off it. And when he gets off it, he's going to start going through withdrawal. It's going to be brutal."

"What are the side effects again, Caitlin?" Iris asked.

"Fever, watery eyes, runny nose, vomiting, nausea, chills, sweating, headaches, muscle aches, rapid heartbeat, increased blood pressure, agitation, anxiety, irritation, depression, disorientation, and insomnia," Caitlin listed. "He probably won't experience all of them, but he'll experience quite a few."

"Do you think he'll start experiencing them now?" Cisco asked.

She nodded. "It has been about six hours since he last had a dose of morphine. The withdrawal is going to start setting in anytime now."

Cisco nodded. "I'll go check on him. I can't get a vibe on Present Barry anyway."

The young engineer made his way out of the cortex and down to the pipeline. He reached Barry's cell and opened it so he could see him through the glass. The blue-clade speedster was sitting up against a wall, his hands still cuffed behind his back and his feet cuffed together, both sets dampening his speed. He was shaking and breathing rapidly.

Barry looked up when he heard the metal hiding the cell from view open. "Cisco?"

"Hey, Barry," Cisco said.

"You're mad at me too," he said. It wasn't a question. "I'm sorry." His eyes were wet. Cisco weren't sure if they were tears or the watery eye symptom or both. Either way, the emotional response could be a symptom of the depression Caitlin said he might experience.

"I'm not mad at you," Cisco said, opening the door to the cell and heading in. "I'm worried about you right now."

"You are?"

He nodded. "Both you and your past self. I can't get a vibe on him. We're starting to wonder if you're a time remnant."

"We'll know the answer to that eventually," Barry said.

"What do you mean?" Cisco asked.

"The Black Flash will come after me," he replied.

"The what?"

"Zoom," the speedster replied. "He turned into some kind of speedster Grim Reaper after I sicced the time wraiths on him. He kills speedsters by touching us. He went after Thawne."

"Oh," Cisco said, fear flashing in his eyes as he thought about some monster killing his friend. He'd been so scared when Present Barry leaped into the speed force and Future Barry closed the tear. He thought he was going to lose his best friend. He was so thankful he had been wrong, but now he was afraid of some monster coming and taking his friend away.

The color drained from Barry's face suddenly. "Cisco, I feel sick."

Cisco rubbed his shoulder gently. "Cait said that would be symptom of the withdrawal."

"The withdrawal… I never thought I'd get the chance to go through withdrawal," Barry murmured.

"How sick do you feel?" Cisco asked him. "Are you going to throw up?"

The speedster shook his head. "I don't think so."

"I'll probably get you a bucket just to be safe," he said.

"Don't go," Barry said. "Please?"

"Of course not," Cisco said, continuing to rub his friend's shoulder. "Friends don't abandon each other."

The withdrawal continued for the next few days. They made sure to never leave Barry alone down there. They didn't want to risk him needing help in some way and no one being down there to give it to him.

Iris was currently sitting with him, holding him close as he shook from chills. He had a fever, but even with the cuffs they weren't able to give him much to help bring it down thanks to his metabolism.

Iris wasn't sure how she felt right now. She loved Barry no matter what time period he was from, but at the same time, she didn't know how to react to him convincing his younger self to jump into the speed force, to die.

Of course, it obviously hadn't taken much convincing. The moment Barry found out it was his life versus the world, he made his choice. Still, the whole situation was rather unsettling.

Joe came down to the pipeline and made his way into the cell with the two of them.

"How is he?" he asked.

"Feverish," she said. "I wish we had more to bring it down. He's getting delusional."

"Hallucinations?" he asked, worried.

"I don't think so," Iris said. "But he definitely had a few nasty nightmares. Kept calling out for his mom, his dad… for us. I can't believe he lived for twenty years alone. We still don't know everything that happened to him during that period of time. We still don't know everything he went through.

"And I want to be mad at him, Dad," she said. "I want to be mad at him for killing himself, but I can't do it. Not when I have him here to hold in my arms."

"I know how you feel, Iris," Joe said. "Why don't you go get some rest? You've been sitting down here with him for hours. I can watch him for a while."

Iris nodded and shifted out of Barry's grasp. The speedster let out a whine of protest, but her spot was quickly filled by Joe for Barry to latch onto instead.

Iris smiled sadly at him before exiting the pipeline.

Joe ran a gentle hand through his son's hair. "It's okay, son. Caitlin says this is almost over. Just a couple more days."

Barry whimpered and Joe hushed him, holding his son while he rode this out.

Joe forgave Barry for what he did. If he was in his place, he probably would have done the same thing. All that mattered was he at least had some version of his son here, even if he would do anything to get the other back out of the speed force where he was lost.