Clue

Joe's arms and hands were slick with blood, both Barry's and his own. It made it difficult to maintain his grasp on Barry's wrists, but he managed it. Barry let out a scream of pain as yet another scratch appeared on his body.

Just like the others.

Barry's chest and neck were now covered with scratches and claw marks, and Caitlin was scrambling to slow the bleeding as Barry continued to fight and scream until his voice was broken and raw. As much as they tried to calm him, it was impossible. He was being assaulted by something they couldn't see.

"Please," Joe said, closing his eyes and squeezing Barry's hands, "Please, just let this stop. Please."

Barry struggled in his arms, his attempts to break free growing weaker until finally, it stopped. Suddenly, Barry went limp.

"Barry?" Joe sobbed, pulling his bloodied hands away from him.

Barry had gone completely still.

Caitlin swooped in then, a penlight in hand. She placed a finger over one of Barry's eyes and gently pried it open to shine the light in it. Caitlin suddenly gasped and jerked her hand away, but not before Joe got a glimpse of Barry's eye. It was black. Not just the irises. His eyes were completely black, whites and all. Joe sucked in a breath in shock.

"Did you see that?" Caitlin whispered.

Joe nodded and stepped towards the bed, quickly prying open Barry's eye again to get a closer look. It was normal again. Instead of glistening black, Barry's eyes were now his usual hazel color.

"What's happening to him?" Joe choked.

As Joe pulled his hand back from Barry's face then, Barry's eyes suddenly blinked open. Joe's heart leapt.

"Barry?" he said urgently.

Barry blinked multiple times against the light of the room, gulping in large breaths of air.

"Barry, are you okay?" Caitlin asked worriedly, stepping closer to the bed.

He looked back at her, looking back and forth between them with a confused look on his face.

"Where am I?" he croaked, his voice scratchy from screaming.

Iris stared at the open closet door, the pitch-black doorway ominously glaring back at her.

"Cisco?" she asked shakily, "Cisco, are you okay?"

Iris jumped slightly when Cisco slowly stepped out of the closet, a traumatized look on his face. He took a few steps before collapsing on his knees on the floor next to her.

"I'm okay," he said shakily.

He looked at the board on the floor in front of her then.

"Did you say goodbye?" he asked quietly.

Iris nodded, tears streaming down her face. She then noticed the box in Cisco's hands. It was a board game of some kind. Iris's heart clenched when she saw the cover.

Clue—the classic detective game.

"What is…?" she asked in confusion, staring at the familiar box, "What are you doing with that?"

"He gave it to me," Cisco said quietly.

Iris stared at him.

"He?" she asked.

"Barry's…" Cisco choked, "Barry's dad. Henry."

Iris's mouth hung open for a moment or two as she processed his words.

"It was him," Cisco said firmly, "He spoke to me."

"What did he say?" Iris whispered, looking back down at the box.

She hadn't seen it in years. She didn't even know Barry still had it. She looked back up at Cisco when he answered her.

"Save him."

"Barry, what happened?" Caitlin asked softly, as she cleansed the newly opened wounds on his torso.

Barry was staring at the ceiling as she cleaned him up, a blank look on his face.

"Bar, talk to us," Joe begged, still shaking uncontrollably, "What happened to you?"

Barry stirred then, turning his head to look at Joe. He opened and closed his mouth a couple times. Joe and Caitlin waited patiently, tears in their eyes they watch Barry struggled to find words.

"I was in the dark," he whispered after a moment, "I was in the dark for…an eternity. I thought it was never going to end."

"It's okay, Barry," Joe choked, "It's over now. You're going to be okay."

Barry didn't say anything in reply. He just stared straight in front of him again.

"Barry, I'm so sorry I didn't believe you," Joe choked, "I know you'll probably never forgive me, but I need you to know how sorry I am. I should have believed you from the start."

"I forgive you," Barry whispered.

Joe stared at him in shock. Just like that? Barry forgave him? Barry had always been forgiving, but Joe had expected a little more outrage. Barry wasn't showing any emotions right now. He was just in shock.

"Barry," Joe choked, not sure what to say.

Barry just shook his head and looked at him again. Tears formed in his eyes, which both broke Joe's heart and relieved him at the same time. At least Barry was showing some emotion.

"I don't want to stay mad at you," Barry choked, a few tears trailing down his face, "Life is too short to be mad at the ones you love. I just want to move past this. I want to move on."

"Okay, Barry," Joe said in a strained voice, putting a hand on Barry's shoulder.

Barry flinched slightly, and Joe quickly withdrew his hand. Almost immediately, though, Barry reached out and grabbed it, clinging to it tightly. He reveled in the touch, desperately needing it to ground him.

"Barry, what happened?" Caitlin asked again, her voice gentle, "What happened when you were…in the dark?"

Barry stared at her with tear-filled eyes.

"I don't want to talk about the dark," he whispered, "I…can't."

"It's okay, Bar," Joe said quickly, "You don't have to. It's okay now. You're safe."

Cisco hung up his phone with a relieved sigh.

"Barry's okay," he told Iris, moving to crouch on the floor next to her, "He's awake now. Caitlin said he was still a little in shock, but he's going to be okay."

Iris sighed in relief.

"Good," she said quietly, looking down at the box on the floor between them.

"What's in the box, Iris?" Cisco asked, staring at it, "It's not a board game, is it?"

Iris shook her head.

"I didn't know Barry still had this," she said quietly, "He told my dad years ago he had gotten rid of it."

Iris sighed and pulled the lid off the box. Cisco looked at it curiously. It was filled with old newspapers. He was confused at first, until he read the headlines. He recognized them immediately.

"His mother's murder," he whispered.

Iris nodded and sighed.

"My dad found this box in Barry's closet when he was in high school," she said, pulling out some of its contents.

Cisco quickly saw that it was more than just newspapers. The box contained pages and pages of notes, scrawled in Barry's handwriting. There were even a few official-looking files in the box.

"My dad was furious when he found it," Iris said quietly, "Barry stole the case files from the CCPD when he was a teenager. He made photo copies of them and studied them. He obsessed over the case. When my dad found this box, he and Barry had one of the biggest fights they've ever had. Barry almost ran away. Things were pretty bad for a while."

Cisco wasn't surprised by this information. He had seen the board in Barry's lab. This appeared to be an earlier version of it, started by Barry in his younger years. After Henry was freed, it was easy to forget that this case had been the focal point of most of Barry's life. His entire adolescence had revolved around getting to the bottom of it. An obsession like that doesn't just go away, even after the case is solved.

"Why would Henry give you this?" Iris whispered, staring at the files in confusion, "How does this help us save Barry? We solved the case. Barry moved on from this."

"Maybe he didn't," Cisco said quietly, "Maybe he never truly moved on from all of this, and it's somehow connected to what's going on with him now."

Iris frowned at him.

"How could it be connected?" she asked.

"I don't know," Cisco said seriously, "But Henry gave this to me for a reason."

"How do you know it was Henry?" Iris asked, looking towards the closet, "What exactly happened in there, Cisco?"

Cisco shook his head.

"I don't know," he said in a strained voice, "It was dark and cold. I was freaking out, and then I suddenly heard Henry's voice. All he said was 'save him,' and then the box was pressed into my hands."

"It must have still been in the closet," Iris said quietly.

She let out a heavy sigh then.

"Barry told me he made peace with his mother's death when he was in the speed force," she said sadly, "But then his dad died, and…"

"And he couldn't accept it," Cisco said quietly.

Iris nodded solemnly.

"I don't know how he ever could," she said, "But if he doesn't, it's going to eat him up inside. It would break my heart to see Barry's light flicker out."

Cisco nodded, frowning at the case files on the floor.

"We should go," he said then, "Caitlin said Barry was okay, but I won't feel better until I see him for myself."

Iris nodded and then returned the files and notes back into Barry's box, recovering it with its lid. To anyone else, it would look like a simple board game, but Iris knew the secrets it contained.

Adolescent Barry's secret obsession.

"I said it's fine," Barry said irritably, tired of Caitlin's pestering.

"Barry, you have to let me clean your cuts," Caitlin said desperately, "They could get infected, and some of them might even need stitches."

"I don't care," Barry said swatting her hand away, "I don't want to be here. I just want to go home."

Joe and Caitlin exchanged worried looks just as Cisco and Iris were walking into the med bay.

"Bar," Joe said, "I know you've been through a traumatic experience tonight, but you really need to let—"

"You don't know anything about what I've been through," Barry gritted, his eyes darkening, "You don't know what it was like there. All that time, in the dark. Time stops there. There is no time. No light. No sound. Nothing. It's like the bottom of the ocean, with no way out."

"You're out now, Barry," Joe said quietly, as Iris silently walked up to the bed to take Barry's hand.

"It's okay, Barry," she said tearfully, "We closed the circle. We blocked the…spirit out. She can't hurt you now."

"I know," he said flatly, "She's gone. I…I can feel it. It's over."

The others all smiled at him in relief. Barry, however, didn't smile. His face was blank.

"Can I go home now?" he asked.

"Barry," Caitlin said gently, "Your wounds."

"Leave them," Barry said, shaking his head, "It's fine. I…I need to feel them. I felt so numb in there…I need to feel real."

Caitlin nodded, not fully understanding what he meant, but trying to. He had been through a terrible ideal tonight. She understood his desire to go home.

Joe and Iris watched Barry worriedly as he walked into the house. He still seemed off, and they learned quickly not to touch him. He jumped at even the slightest touch and startled easily at loud noises. His anxiety was perfectly understandable, though. They knew what he had been through had been horrible, even if he hadn't told them what exactly happened in the Void. Tonight was definitely not the night to press him, though.

"Where have you all been?!" Wally asked hysterically when they came into the disheveled house, "I've been trying to call you for fifteen minutes! I came home to find the house destroyed and you guys gone! I had half a mind to call the police! I thought you all had been abducted or something!"

"Sorry, Wally," Joe said, side-glancing at Barry who slowly moved to sit on the couch, "I forgot you'd be coming home from class by now. We didn't mean to worry you."

"What happened?" Wally asked seriously, now looking at Barry.

Joe looked at Barry, too. He was just sitting on the couch, a blank look in his eye as he stared at nothing. Joe sighed and gently pushed Wally back a few feet so they were standing in the dining room, where Barry wouldn't hear them.

"A lot's happened tonight, Wally," Joe whispered to him, "Barry's been through a lot."

Wally's eyes widened when he took a second look at Barry and saw the bruises and scratches on the side of his face.

"What did he do?" Wally whispered, a fearful look in his eye, "Dad, what did he do?"

"He tried to contact his mother," Joe said quietly, tears in his eyes.

Wally let out a frustrated sigh.

"I told him not to do that," he said angrily, "I told him it would draw all the others in, too."

"Listen, Wal," Joe said seriously, "Barry's been through enough tonight. He doesn't need to be scolded for it. Of course, he was going to try something like this. He thought it was his mother."

Wally's eyebrows furrowed.

"Thought?" he asked, "You mean it…?"

"It wasn't his mother," Joe whispered, "It never was. Whoever she was, she was messing with him. Using his love for his mother against him."

Wally looked sadly at Barry, who was still sitting on the couch, not even listening to them.

"That's sick," he said in disgust, "That's just cruel."

Joe nodded sadly in agreement.

"It attacked him," he said, "When Barry made contact…it attacked him, tried to pull him into the Void."

Wally frowned at him.

"Why?" he asked.

Joe shook his head in confusion.

"What do mean?" he asked.

"Why would a spirit want that?" Wally asked seriously, "Why would it want him to die?"

"Because she wanted Barry," Iris said, walking into the dining room.

The other two looked at her. Neither of them had even realized she had left until she was reentering the room.

"That's what she said," Iris told them, walking over to set something on the dining room table, "The spirit said she wanted Barry. She wanted him to come back to her—to be with her."

Joe and Wally stared at her for a moment and then looked at the box she had set on the table.

"Iris, where'd you get that?" Joe asked quietly, his throat going dry as he looked at the old board game.

"It was in Barry's closet," Iris whispered, "Cisco and I found it."

He stared at it for a moment longer, tears filling his eyes.

"He kept it," Joe whispered, feeling sick to his stomach as he stared at the box.

It had led to so many fights with Barry.

"What is it?" Wally asked.

Joe shook his head and wiped a tear from his eye. He moved towards the table then to lift the lid off the box. His heart clenched when he saw the newspaper clippings. The case files. The endless notes scrawled in Barry's hand. Joe replaced the lid back onto the box, his heart aching.

"I'll explain it in a minute," he said softly to Wally, "We should probably get Barry to bed. He needs to rest and heal."

Wally and Iris nodded, Wally still having a confused look on his face.

"Barry," Joe said gently, crouching down next to Barry near the couch, "Barry, are you okay?"

Barry blinked and looked at Joe.

"I…I'm fine," he said shakily, "I'm just trying to process everything."

"I'm so sorry, Bar," Joe choked, "I know how much you wanted it to be your mother."

Barry nodded sadly.

"I should be happy, though," he said softly, taking them by surprise.

"Happy?" Iris asked.

Barry nodded.

"She wasn't there," he explained softly, "She wasn't in that terrible place. She's not in the dark. She's somewhere else, somewhere with my father. Somewhere better."

The others smiled sadly at him.

"I'm glad you see it that way, Bar," Joe said with a watery smile.

For the first time since getting home, Barry smiled. It was only a small twitch of his lips, but it was a smile.

"I think I'm going to go to bed now," he said then, "I'm exhausted."

Joe nodded.

"Good idea," he said, smiling at him, "Hopefully, you'll get a good night's sleep tonight."

Barry's lips twitched again.

"Hopefully."