Paige : I love how you think, ahah. But, hey, let's agree that losing both Matt and Olivia, after everything, is more cruel to Barry than dying. Dying would've been easy. Thank you for commenting, enjoy the final chapter of this story and trilogy.

It took a couple of extra days for the girl's parents and for Barry to finally be ready enough to agree that it was finally time to let her go. No matter how ready they thought they were when they let their decision known, their agony was apparent in all of their features when the time finally came.

It was in almost complete silence that, ceremonially, Caitlin moved toward the machines as she was getting ready to turn the ventilator off. Her every move was being closely observed by the girl's parents and by Barry who was standing right next to the bed. The mother's sobbing was covering part of beeping sounds of the machine while Barry was desperately trying to hold it together. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to hold off the silent tears that were falling down his cheeks. The rest of the team was standing just outside the room, staying strong for both their friend and for their dying teammate. Feeling drawn to the scene, Iris put a foot forward to try and get closer to the grieving people, desperately needing to comfort everyone inside, but her dad grabbed her arm and stopped her, shaking his head; everyone in the room needed a moment.

Barely containing a sob, Barry went directly next to the bed and gently put a blond strand of hair behind the pale ear, one last time. Once that one action was done, his hand slowly touched the right arm and smoothly brushed it all the way to the hand, whispering.

"I'm with you, 'til the end. You can rest now. We'll be okay."

Caitlin didn't dare to move or disconnect the life support as she listened, with tears filling her eyes, to her friend's final words. Why was life so cruel? Olivia didn't deserve to go like that, so soon, so young… Barry took a second to moister his shaking lips and try to grab a hold on his shivering body before continuing.

"Thank you. You'll always be a sister to me, the best I'll ever have. Thank you for taking me home, I just wish I could've done the same to you," he quietly whispered.

"You did it, you took her home,"' whispered back Olivia's dad as he was unable to detach his eyes from his daughter.

Barry swallowed with difficulty and didn't add anything, unsure if he believed these words or if he would be able to say more without breaking down. So, instead, he just stumbled back a few steps before falling into the closest chair as his legs suddenly turned to jelly. As Elizabeth, Olivia's mother approached the bed and leaned to give one final kiss on her youngest child's forehead, her husband subtly nodded to the doctor, giving her the go ahead. When the ventilator and the rest of the life support got disconnected, the monitor displaying the blonde Metahuman started screeching loudly to indicate that Olivia's beaten body had finally given in to all the devastations inside it. No matter how loud it was, Barry barely heard the alarm as he sobbed and whimpered in grief; one more victim to his mistakes. One more family destroyed because he was unable to protect the people he cared about. One less friend in his own family. And, now, there was no making things better or making up for it like he did when he went to Europe after Matt's dead. This time, it really was over and it was up to him to move on… or not.

The alarm died and the room went quiet again, except for the howls of pain coming from every single person surrounding the bed, or behind this group.

The screeching of a chair's legs being pushed on the ground was the first distinctive sound to be heard on the scene as Barry moved it to get back on his feet and rushed out of the room, struggling to keep the little composure he still had left.

"Barry-" started Cisco who moved into the hero's path before he could run away, "maybe you shouldn't be alone."

"I-" started Barry with a barely controlled voice as he rose his hand up, "I just need to be alone."

"If you need us-" wanted to say Joe, but Barry just shook his head to interrupt.

"I will need you... but not now."

The detective sighed but still moved out of the way. With a subtle gesture with his head, he encouraged the engineer to do the same, which he did in the next moment after a short hesitation. All they could do right now was hope the hero would find his way back on the right track and move on from all of this.

A couple of days later, the speedster made his way out of precinct elevator and took a deep breath. It might have been almost a full year since the last time he walked out of this place, right after his dad died, but it felt like nothing changed. Maybe it was because the decor was pretty much the same and because Barry instantly recognized most of the faces who were waking, too deeply concentrated on their thoughts or too busy talking to their partner to see the young CSI who just came out of the elevator. Not that the CSI was in any hurry to be the centre of attention, he had enough of that at the lab in the last couple of days with everyone wondering if he was ok, physically and mentally.

"Hey, Barry!" Shouted a feminine voice. So much for staying unnoticed. Turning his head to the right, he spotted Emily, his CSI replacement with long dark brown hair tied in a ponytail, "Singh didn't tell me you were passing by today."

"He... actually doesn't know, yet," truthfully answered Barry, uncomfortably glancing around as he noticed that more and more people spotted his presence now that his name had been shouted all around the place.

"Oh okay. Umm, are you sure you're okay? You look a bit tired?" Emily asked.

It was no mystery to anyone close to the speedster that the poor young man hadn't slept much in the last week, but he just couldn't resist going back to his workplace despite the concern of his team and family. He needed something to focus on right now.

"Yeah... I'm good, just had a rough week," he carefully said, barely able to contain the fatigue in his voice.

Emily frowned suspiciously, his lie was too obvious, but she chose to pretend like she didn't know.

"What about you? Heard you did something pretty courageous a couple of weeks ago, saving Vibe and that woman."

Blushing, the newly graduated woman pushed her hair behind her ears, "oh, that was nothing. It wasn't anything the Flash wouldn't have done had he been there. I'm not a hero."

"You're one in my book. Thanks for what you did," said Barry, genuinely grateful someone had been there, looking out after his friend, while he was gone.

Embarrassed, Emily preferred to quickly move on to a different subject than her actions. She just did what she felt was right.

"I'm excited for us to work together, I have a lot to learn from you," she blabbed excitedly.

Barry opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted as a voice boomed from the other side of the precinct, Singh's voice, "Allen! My office. Now."

That didn't sound too happy. But, to be fair, angry seemed to be Singh's default expression. Emily gently patted him on the shoulder and grinned, "see you later, then. That is if you survive."

Barry nodded and joined his boss, hoping he wasn't about to get yelled at for... some reason. Not that he had done anything wrong, it's just that Singh never seemed to like him too much. Surprisingly, as soon as the speedster carefully closed the door behind him and took a seat, his boss expression softened.

"Are you okay, Allen?"

"Yeah, yeah I am," instantly answered Barry, uncomfortably shifting in the chair 'til he found a comfortable position. The hero wasn't really in the mood to talk about his feelings with his boss at the moment. He, instead, opted to switch the subject of their conversation toward the reason he was there in the first place, "just want to get back to work, I'm ready for it."

Singh slumped a bit in his chair, playing with his pencil between his fingers and studying his employee's expression as he was trying to discern the truth for himself instead of trusting Barry's words.

"Are you sure you don't need a few extra days? Or, a few extra weeks, maybe? Looks like you had a really tough week."

Barry stiffened and made another attempt at changing the subject to drift it as far away as possible from his health, "I just want my job back, if it's still there. Last we spoke on the phone you said I could go back to my lab, so, how will this work? Will I get to work side by side with Emily?"

Studying Barry's face closely for one extra moment, Singh straightened himself up and put his pencil on the desk before seriously looking at the young man in front of him, "actually, Allen, I've been thinking about it and Emily's been doing a really great job. I don't think I can put you back as being a junior CSI."

Barry nervously shifted again in his seat as the captain opened up the first drawer of his desk and took out a couple of form's page to complete.

"Captain, with all your respect, I need this job and Joe told me that Emily is barely fresh out of school. There's a lot of things I can teach her," he argued back, needing to save his job.

Singh nodded solemnly as he handed the form over to his employee, putting the papers right in front of Barry who didn't even dared to look at them. Was he getting fired?

Singh nodded again, "I agree."

"Plus, I think that-" Barry stopped in his arguing when the last sentence from his boss arrived at his ears. Wait for what? "I don't get it?"

"I agree, Emily still need supervision and teaching. This department really needs you," calmly said Singh, gently pushing the form closer to his employee before entangling his fingers together.

"What are you saying?" Barry slowly, carefully questioned.

"I'm saying it's about damn time for the CSI department to have a director. Opening a new position does require a bit of paperwork. The job is all yours if you want it."

"I don't... sir, I don't know what to... what t-" stammered Barry, eyes wide in shock.

The captain smiled fondly, "just tell me you'll think about-"

"There's nothing to think about. Of course, I want the job!" Exclaimed the young man, jumping to his feet and extending his arm, offering a hand that his boss shook without hesitation.

"I'm happy you took that decision. You'll be able to teach everything you know to Emily. I just know you two will work great together. Plus, it will give you a more flexible schedule for your extracurricular heroism activities," finished the police captain with a little smile at the corner of his mouth, which caused Barry to freeze and squeeze his boss' hand harder than he intended to do.

"Sir, I don't...it' not w-"

"Calm down, Allen," answered Singh with a reassuring tone while gently priding open the hand that was trapping his own as he spoke, "I wouldn't be a very good detective if I hadn't been able to figure that one out. Plus, I wouldn't have offered you a new job if I was about to get you arrested, wouldn't I?"

Finishing his sentence, the captain managed to free his hand as the hero's grip loosened up. Clearly relieved, Barry visibly swallowed and exhaled loudly, "thank you, Captain."

"Look, Barry," continued Singh as he sat back and gestured to Barry to do the same, "I was there when you got shot. I saw what Miss. Woodward did for you."

The hero swallowed again, but this time it was to fight back the rising tears.

"I'm sorry about your friend, looks like you guys were close," gently added the captain, full of empathy.

"We were," confirmed Barry, nodding and sniffing loudly.

"What she did... it was courageous and selfless, she was as much of a hero as you are. If you need time off to grief-"

"I'm okay, Captain. I really need to work, I had been away for too long, I need to get my mind off of everything,"

"Of course, I understand," nodded Singh, "I want you to know that I'm planning on honouring her with the award of valour in an official ceremony next weekend, for saving our town's hero. That's the least I can do."

It was with a bittersweet smile on his face that Barry wiped his falling tears, the ones he didn't even remember feeling gathering.

"Thank you, sir, it means a lot."

"Please, when we're in private like this, you can call me David. It's an honour to work so closely with Central city's own Scarlet Speedster."

Nodding, Barry was about to add something but stopped himself when they heard officers rushing all around, just outside the office.

"Sir," called out Officer Max as he opened the door of the police captain's office, "there's a hostage situation at the Gold City Bank."

"Thank you, I'm coming in an instant. I think we were done here, right mister Allen? I think there's someplace you need to be," he added, sharing a look of understanding with his young employee whose sadness transformed into sheer determination as electricity flashed in his eyes, literally. It wasn't much but just enough for his boss to see.

"I'm going," he exclaimed, getting up and striding as fast as he could without running to go outside under the glance of a man who looked at him with pride.

The real amount of time it took to cover the distance between the police station and the bank was barely mere seconds, but for the speedster super-mind, it felt way longer. Way, way longer. Feeling the electricity rushing through his veins and the wind on his face, his memory decided to slip back into the last nine months. Barry could remember it all, he could still feel the heat of the fire where Hyde first trapped him and the agony when he first got fed upon. He could remember Matt's soothing voice that convinced him to not kill himself or Olivia's gentle and warm hands healing his wounds. It was just a clear in his mind as the dread when he almost killed Caitlin or the heartache he got the first time he laid his eyes on baby Lindy, that poor baby girl who would never see her dad. That girl was about to live her entire life without her daddy, Matt because Barry failed to protect him as he did with Olivia. Present and past were mixing and memories were switching from one to another. He was going to need to move on from all of that, for Olivia, for Matt, and for everyone who suffered at the hands of Hyde and his organisation. He needed to be strong, if not for him, at least for his family and for Matt's widow, Amanda, who asked him to stick around.

Just like Singh promised, Olivia got honoured as the heroine she was, as the one who saved the Flash's life and the mayor went on to give her parents the key to the city. The Flash returned protecting his city like before, fighting countless enemies like the Thinker, Cicada, Godspeed and so many others. Every time he would falter and fall, his eyes would look at the blue suit hanging on display at the lab for strength and inspiration. The healer who used to wear that suit might be long gone, but Barry was never going to forget her.

***FLASHFLASHFLASH***

18 years later:

Barry rushed down the stairs, two steps at the time, as he hurriedly finished to fix the tie around his neck. Yeah, sure, he could've just superspeed himself to the door to answer it but, during the last decade, he slowly learned to appreciate doing as many things as possible in the normal time. Life was a real paradox; the faster you go, the more stuff you miss out on. Has it really been a full ten years since he bought that two floors, plus the basement, house with Iris? Time sure flies, he could still clearly remember moving boxes and furniture with Joe as Iris was trying to keep an eye on the twins who were just starting to learn how to walk and were in desperate need of going on an exploration trip despite their short and shaky legs. Dawn and Don had grown up so much since then, only a couple of extra more years and they would already be teenagers.

Bringing his mind back to the present as the speedster arrived downstairs, Barry walked into the hallway to join the lobby and opened up his door. On the doorstep, just as he expected, was standing a five-foot-nine tall young woman with long, black as night and curly hair descending all the way 'til the middle of her beige winter coat. Barry smiled warmly at the sight.

"Hey, Lindy, I'm so glad you could make it. I'm sorry I made you come on such short notice," he greeted, "I really gotta go take care of that work emergency and with Iris out of state for the rest of the week, Joe in vacation and the twins at school, I didn't have much of a choice."

Lindy's mouth twitched, "Don't worry about it, you know I can't miss an opportunity to see the little peanut. How is she?"

"She still has the flu, but she's better now," assured Barry, "I just don't want to send her back at school 'til she's completely healed."

"That poor baby, she always seems to be the one getting sick instead of her brother and sister," observed Lindy, causing Barry to chuckle slightly. Oh, she had no idea. These twins were real tornados, in every sense of the way. Their fast metabolism was keeping them really healthy, something his last born didn't seem to have.

"She's strong in her own ways. Now, come here you," said Barry before moving forward and wrapping his arms around the young woman, a gesture that got returned instantly. As the woman moved out of the embrace and pushed her black untie hair behind her ears, Barry just stared blankly and smiled a bit more. The more she was growing up, the more she was a stunning representation of her mom; tall, slim and just beautiful. She really was Amanda's daughter and, in her features and in her eyes and nose, Barry could almost see his old friend Matt in her. No doubt about her parents.

"Why are looking at me like that?" Asked Lindy, smiling at the older man.

"I can't believe how much and how fast you grew up. Already 18 years old... I just wish your dad would see her right now."

The woman blushed slightly, "don't go all soft on me now," she said.

"How's your mum? And your brothers?" Asked Barry, awkwardly changing the subject in the same manner Lindy got used to for as long as she could remember, which made her chuckle.

"Yeah, my mom's great. They all are. My brother Mark actually just got promoted this week to the post of vice-president in the family's company."

As she was speaking, the woman with black hair took a moment to check behind the metahuman, probably looking for the young girl she was about to babysit.

"That's great to hear," said Barry, who walked on the side to let Lindy pass him and took her long coat off. The pale blue sleeveless top she was wearing underneath was clearly showing her muscular arms, which is what happens when you grow up with two older brothers. That and all the sport she had been doing, becoming captain of her school's basketball team and doing some horse riding on the side. She was quite the busy and strong girl.

"How's school?" He added, regaining the young woman's attention as her focus had slightly drifted again toward the end of the hallway.

"My final projects are going to come fast, but I'm ready," she said with confidence, "plus, don't tell anyone just yet, only my mom knows, but I received this morning my acceptance letter to med school!"

Scratching his three days old beard, Barry couldn't help the overjoyed chuckle that escaped his lips, celebrating, "that's amazing! Congrats!"

"Oh, and before I forget, my mom wanted me to thank you for bringing your family to our New Year party. It was really great having you there."

Barry smiled fondly as he hung the woman's coat to the hooks and closed the door as he felt the shivering cold trying to enter his home, "I wouldn't have missed it, you guys are family. So, what about the boyfriend?"

"Still in the picture," replied the young woman, slightly blushing again but still answering without missing a beat.

"Hoping he's still treating you well, cause-"

"Come on Barry, I've known you all my life and you're the closest thing I've ever had to a dad, but you being overprotective isn't as cute as you think," she teased, smirking.

"As long as you're safe and happy, I'm fine with it," teased back Barry. Well, more like half-seriously and half-teasing. He once told Amanda that he wasn't going to be a stranger and he promised himself he would look out after his friend's daughter and he had been keeping both of these promises. He had, in fact, seen Lindy growing up for a full seven years before he became a dad himself. In a way, she almost was like a daughter to him.

Just as Matt's daughter was about to add something, a little voice was heard, shouting in overwhelming joy, as much joy that could possibly irradiate from a six-year-old, "Lily! You're here!"

The little girl that ran down the stairs, Barry and Iris' last born, was tall for her age and had auburn hair attached in one French braid.

"Hey Peanut!" Exclaimed Lindy, picking up the little girl and lifting her off her. In one swift movement, Linda made a complete 360-degree turn on herself, laughing lightly, "you're getting pretty tall and heavy, young lady!"

When Barry's daughter went back to the ground, giggling like there was no tomorrow, she barely managed to pronounce her next words: "I'm too old to be a peanut anymore."

"Oh yeah? Is that a fact? Are you old enough to fight me?" Barely finishing her sentence, Lindy started tickling intensively the young girl under her armpit, making her laugh even more. Trying to protect herself, the little girl tightly squeezed her arms right against her body and crawled as close as possible to the woman attacking her, hoping Lindy couldn't attack at close range.

Barry smiled fondly at the scene. Had it really been just over 18 years since he first saw Lindy sleeping on the table? It felt like it was yesterday, but it wasn't as he was now closing on his 46th birthday. Matt's daughter reaching maturity was really making him feel old and nostalgic, what happened to all these days where Lindy was the one being six years old?

Kneeling on the ground, Barry put himself on the same level than his daughter who faced him, smiling widely despite her couple of missing teeth.

"Daddy's got to go, but I'll be back in a few hours, alright? You're gonna be a good girl for Lindy?"

The little girl nodded enthusiastically; "course I will. I love you, daddy."

"I love you too. Come on, come give your old man a big hug," added Barry, smiling.

The little legs moved quickly, too quickly, and ended up awkwardly stumbling in her hurry to cover the distance. The six-year-old avoided the fall at the last moment when her dad caught her and put her back on her feet.

"So, Olivia, you think you can keep an eye on Lindy for me while I'm gone?"

"I'll behave, I promised," assured Lindy, chuckling, while Barry was picking up a black briefcase next to the door.

"I left you a little something in the kitchen, call it an extra birthday gift," mysteriously added Barry as he straightened himself up and walked around the ladies.

Lindy blinked a few times, another gift? The once she received a couple of weeks ago from the West-Allen family was sweet enough.

"Really? You shouldn't have, you alread-"

"You'll see," blinked Barry as grabbed the door's handle and turned around one last time to face Lindy and his six-year-old daughter Olivia, "I'll explain everything when I get back."

Explain? Explain what? Intrigued, Lindy tried to ask more, but by the time the question formed on her lips, the man was already gone, closing the door behind him and flashing away. A huge discussion was awaiting him tonight, he had waited so long for it even if he wasn't sure he was ready. Meanwhile, as he raced through the city, he let his mind wander off to his past, grateful for everything that happened to him in the last 18 years, things that wouldn't have happened if Olivia Woodward hadn't brought him back home. She might've been dead for almost two decades, but Barry could still hear and remember the sound of her voice as clearly now as he did then.

"Olie, mind waiting here for me for a second?" asked the Lindy to the little girl who nodded.

Frowning, Matthew's daughter started walking toward the kitchen where she instantly spotted the gift-wrapped box sitting on the dinner table. For some unknown reason, she could feel her heart pick up the pace. She felt like it was important. Unwrapping the bright red papers, she carefully opened the lid and gasped, frozen, at what was hidden inside; the Flash's white emblem. Could it be? Was Barry?

If he was, it meant… her dad really saved the Flash before dying and really knew him. And, she knew him too. Lindy's hands were shaking as she took the emblem between them. It sure was going to be quite a chat she was going to have with the man tonight…

THE END (!)

A/N: It's over. For real. After 2 full years. The first chapter of Wounds of the Soul was posted on July 26th, 2016, but I had been working on that story for months before that. I finished writing the last words weeks ago, but I still can't believe it's over.

This trilogy is 3 stories, 67 chapters, almost 200K words and 387 comments. I don't even know the words to THANK you guys, SO MUCH. Wish I could send you thousands of hugs to each and every one of you who saw this adventure from the very beginning, from Barry first getting captured to meeting Matt, then Olivia. I would never had been to write so many chapters for so long without your support. Thank you. Thank you so much.

here you go, one final chance to leave a comment for this chapter, this story and this whole trilogy. Did you like the ending? Do you have any favorite memory from this adventure? Any character you'll miss reading about? Or just...anything on your mind.

Let's make it to 400 comments (only 13 more needed) everyone! One final achievement for this incredible adventure that I know we can do

One last time: THANK YOU.

Oh, and, one last question; is anyone interested in a companion piece of this story? Thought about maybe adding some quick, small, moments happening during these 18 missing years.