Fuel to the Fire

by DarkElements10

SEQUEL TO CROSSFIRE. After the singularity Barry struggles to move on in all areas of his life but may be too late. Cadence has full control of her powers but an unforeseen tragedy fans the flames of her inner turmoil. And while working to stop Zoom Barry and Cadence continue to grow closer bringing new meaning to 'love is friendship set on fire'. -S2- Barry/OC! SEQUEL UP: Friction

37. Earth's Journey

.:37:.

Earth's Journey

---

Brady groaned as his cell phone buzzed again.

He didn't need to look at the screen to know it was the same alert he'd received before. He had gotten it as soon as everything started to go down and, as usual, he was missing everything. The Reverse-Flash had come back and Barry was going after him. What was he supposed to be as a hero if he couldn't help them out when the time came? His name was Shadowhunter, sure, but how much longer was he supposed to shadow his mom and Barry before he could go out on his own?

The last time didn't work out so well, the voice in the back of his head reminded him. But he had managed to take down Metallo without having to do too much work, and as much as he was able to withstand his heavy hits and a short stay in the medical bay. There had to be something he could do to help.

"Again?" Leah asked kindly

Brady nodded. He pulled his backpack further up his back as they stepped off the bus and headed towards their school. "I get that they don't want me to get hurt, but I've helped out a lot. They always think about what I can do to help when we're coming up with plans and I can do it. But I keep getting left out, too."

"That's just because we're kids," Leah pointed out. "And they don't want us to get hurt." She brushed her hair back. "Think of it this way, who would be there to save the city if something happened to them and you weren't there to pick up the slack?"

Brady nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He reached out and gently pushed her shoulder. "What about you? How're your powers going? Have you given any thought to telling your mom and dad yet?"

Leah shrugged and shook her head. "No." She twisted her mouth to the side, lowered her gaze to the ground. "I'm too scared. They keep saying that they want to move, because of all the metas. I can't tell them I'm one too, if they're afraid of me."

"But you're their daughter, they wouldn't, like, kick you out over that."

Leah nodded. "Yeah, they would."

Brady sucked in a deep breath. He hoped things wouldn't turn out that way but…things with metas still weren't going well. His mom tried to keep it from him, he could tell form the way she would change the TV channel or lower her voice when talking to the others, if not sending him from the room entirely. But when getting ready for bed he'd ask her about it and she'd tell him a few things if not outright saying he'll understand when he was older.

How much older did he have to be?

"Well, we just need you to work on your powers more and, maybe, if they saw what you could do, they wouldn't be so scared. Then you could protect them." Brady then mimicked her expression, twisting his mouth to the side. He understood her worries. He wanted nothing more than to protect his mom and Barry and the city but was consistently put off to the wayside so that he 'stayed safe'. He was getting sick of hearing that. There was a lot of things he could do and all he needed to do was truly prove himself. Which he thought he already did. "What if we went to STAR Labs after school today, to get some more work done."

"Yeah, maybe," Leah agreed.

Brady smiled and patted her on the shoulder. Then he turned back towards the school, eyes darting around the new security measures of the school. Not only were there more cameras set up, but now they were starting to put up metal detectors at the front doors as well as code plates on each door into the school. Brady knew it wouldn't make a difference what they put on the school; if they were trying to find kid metas, they would find them. If there was anyone else who wanted to try and take down the school or anyone inside they'd find a way to get through the security.

They really didn't know who they were up against.

"Hey guys."

Brady looked over as Conner wiggled his way between Leah and Brady to walk along with them. "Hey." Brady smiled and reached his hands out to receive a high-five from his best friend. "I thought you weren't coming to school today."

"I didn't want to, but my mom made me," Conner explained. He reached up and grabbed the straps of his backpack with tight fists. "She said I was spending too much time at home and that I couldn't waste my education."

"My mom and dad want me to stay home," Leah said. It was an admission they'd heard many times from their classmates at school. It was whispered in the halls and in the lunchroom as the students talked about The Flash and what his identity was and how they may or may not have seen them. Then there were those who agreed with some of the adults, who thought that metahumans needed to be kicked out of the city.

"Because of the meta attacks?" Conner asked.

He turned and frowned at Brady when she nodded. Brady frowned back. He knew part of it was his fault. The more often he went out as Shadowhunter, the better chance of his identity being known. As far as he could tell, no one did, but it wouldn't be too hard to figure out. How many times could their school be attacked before people started to question it. Especially when it only happened after he had gone back at to school when the Assassination Bureau released him.

Honestly, he didn't know how anyone didn't think to connect him to it. He worried every now and then, no matter how careful he was. It was going to get harder and harder to keep it all a secret if he didn't do his best to keep it separated. Not to mention all the cuts and bruises he managed to receive when fighting.

"What?" Leah asked. She stopped walking and planted her hands on her hips when the boys looked at each other. "What?" They still stayed silent. Finally, she stomped her foot on the ground, pouting. "I'm your friend, too, you can't leave me out like this."

"It's nothing other than…." Brady let out a heaving sigh. He was about to repeat the words that had continuously ben said to him and the irony was not lost on him. "We have to be very careful."

Conner and Leah both nodded. Then Conner pushed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "I wanted to talk to Brady before class started if that's okay," he said to Leah. She smiled and nodded before walking into the school. Conner turned to Brady, licking his lips.

"So?" Brady prompted. "How's it going?"

Pressing his lips together, Conner shook his head. "Not very good," he replied. He brought his hands up to run through his hair. "My mom is going nuts with the idea of Oliver being back around. I don't think she expected him to actually want to be there."

"So, he's been around?" Brady asked. He waited as Conner's eyes shifted back and forth, trying to figure out how he felt. He knew how he felt, excited and confused. Meeting Ryder for the first time, Brady was originally angry at his mother, for having kept it a secret for so long. Then grew to really like having Ryder around and was excited to see him every weekend. Getting to know him every day made it easier to understand his own mannerisms and personality when held against his mother's as well.

"Sort of," Conner said. He kicked at the ground. "Not as much as he could be, he's so busy working on his mayor campaign and everything. And mom doesn't really like that because she thinks it doesn't really show that he's committed to being here because he'd be in the public eye." He rolled his eyes. "She thinks if people find out who I am then it'd be used against him."

"Ohhhh." Brady knew nothing about politics other than what he heard his mom say every now and then and what he saw on the news. As it was, he was too busy paying attention to what Chief Paulson and Mayor Bellows was saying about metahumans. "Well, what do you think? Do you like him?" The warning bell rang and the two walked inside.

"I like him fine, I guess," Conner said. His pained expression reflected in the glass of the front door as they went inside and headed to their classroom. "He tried not to push too much. We just played with my action figures and everything. But…when I was trying to ask him about what he did for a job, since he's not the richest guy in Star City anymore, he wouldn't say anything. He's the Green Arrow, isn't he?"

Brady nodded in confirmation. No point in trying to keep it quiet. There were too many things that'd make sense of anyone who paid too close attention. Not to mention, Brady never kept anything about his work as Shadowhunter from him. Especially not when they'd been a target so many times before.

"I knew it," Conner said. His eyebrows rose for a moment. "I guess that's kind of cool," he said. "Except for the whole killing thing. And you got to get some tips from him to help with your sharpshooting." Sadness washed over his face as he lowered his head. "I wish I was a meta," he said. "Maybe then he'd be able to spend more time with me."

"But what about your mom? She'd be in a lot of danger, too."

Conner flipped his hair form his face and pressed his backpack to the hook that sat outside their classroom. "Yeah, I guess you're right." A zipper opened and a bag of cookies fell out on the ground. Face turning red, he quickly picked it up and put them back into his backpack. Brady smiled. "Um, my mom said I could bring some stuff for you guys."

"Okay," Brady replied. But he couldn't keep quiet for too long. "Do you like Leah?"

"Yeah, of course I like her," Conner said. "You do, too, she's our friend."

"No, do you like-like her?"

Conner grimaced. "I guess? I dunno. How could you tell?"

"Because you look at her the same way my mom looks at her boyfriend. Kind of goofy." Brady laughed when Conner reached out and pushed him on the shoulder. He started to say something else then stopped when his phone went off again. Brady looked at the message and chewed his bottom lip, trying to decide what to do. Finally, he turned to Conner and said. "Do you want to go to STAR Labs?"

He quickly agreed then asked, "How are we supposed to get there without getting caught?"

"Did you forget about my powers that fast?"

"Okay, smart guy, how do you plan on using them without…?" He gestured wildly around the hallway where cameras were set up.

Brady smiled and impishly. "They can't have cameras in the bathroom."

---

Henry Allen pressed his lips together as he stood in front of Eobard's pod in the Pipeline. He studied the man for a long moment before looking over at Joe and Barry. "So, this is the man that…?"

"Killed mom?" Barry asked. Like his father, he kept his eyes on Eobard. He didn't dare look away in case he somehow managed to work his way out of his cell and traumatize his life all over again. Eobard continued to look back at them without a care in the world, legs crossed at the ankle. "Yeah, that's him."

"The same man that took over my likeness," Harrison added. He had a peculiar smile on his face, hands shoved into the pockets of his slacks. "I have to say it's so strange to see him here when all I ever knew of him was a disembodied voice in my head."

Joe shook his head as he gazed upon the man as well. Eobard looked up at the group that gawked at him and turned his head to the side, eyes shifting around the cell. As if there was anything to see. The scrutiny of the people who he didn't know from Adam and Eve must've been getting to him. Still, Barry couldn't help but feel nothing but unbridled anger for the man, even if it weren't the same one he had taken down before.

"And we're sure he can't…phase his way out of there?" Joe asked to be sure.

"No, he definitely cannot," Cisco said.

"Funny, I'm sure you've said the same thing about that revolving door you call a security system," Snart drawled from the back of the group. He rested against the back wall of the hallway, mimicking Eobard's stance with his legs crossed at the ankle. "I wouldn't trust it very much."

Caitlin glanced at Snart then placed her hand on Cisco's shoulder. "This is the same cell we used to hold Harrison Wells, er, Dr. Wells, I mean…"

"I thought it looked familiar," Harrison said.

"Barry, you need to get out of here," Harry said.

"No way." Barry shook his head. "No. I need to get some answers from him."

"It might be a good idea," Cadence said. She placed her hand on his shoulder, gently rubbing her thumb against his shoulder. Her hand dropped to her side when he jerked his arm away from her, starting to pace back and forth. "Barry."

"Slugger, I know you're upset but you need to calm down," Henry said. He reached out his hands and grasped his son's face, holding him still. Barry could see the tears that brimmed in his father's eyes and felt some start to spring up in his as well. "There's a lot going on right now, but you need to have a clear head about these things."

"And besides, the more he gets to know you, the worse the timeline will be." Harry reached out and closed Eobard's cell. "Because he's here, because we have him here, the timeline is already weakened. We don't want to damage it any further lest the consequence that'll come from it. He can't know you're The Flash and you need to keep it that way."

"But you already said his mother's going to die," Joe pointed out. His voice took on a desperate tone, looking around everyone in the room. "So, it won't matter what we do or don't do to him. And I have to admit, looking at the face of the man that we thought was dead as well as having hurt his mother…the idea of being permanently gone has its merit."

"Ramifications, anyone can mess with the timeline and anytime it is messed with its impossible to predict what those ramifications are going to be."

"Barry, you caught him," Jay reminded him. "As far as we know, that's a win."

"Him being alive isn't a win," Barry snapped. He backed away from his father, making his hands drop to his sides. "My dad being in jail for something he hasn't done isn't a win. Him having to watch her die right in front of him isn't a win. Nothing more than him being out of my life forever is a win." He clenched his hands into fists. "He deserves to die."

"And what's that going to do to you, Barry?" Cadence asked. He looked at her but didn't respond. "You were completely broken up over what happened to Ronnie and the others we've lost along the way and those weren't your fault. But Eobard, killing him…that's be one hundred percent on you." Her eyebrows came together. "Do you really think you can live with that on your conscience?"

"For him? Yes."

"No," Henry said firmly. Now Barry whipped around to look at him in disbelief. The man that killed his wife was in their grasp and he wasn't feeling the same way to want him dead? It didn't make sense. "Barry, I know what happened to your mother was a tragedy and it never should've happened." Henry sucked in a deep breath. "But what you don't know about the night that happened is the same thing I never would've told you while you were visiting me in jail. But while I was waiting for trial and on trial there was a part of me that wondered if I really had killed her and I made up what I saw to come to terms with it. I sat in my cell wondering whether I had picked up the knife and stabbed her. I tried to rationalize why I did it." He took in a deep breath. "And through that time, I thought about how it felt to be a murderer, to have someone's death on my hands. It was different when it was one of my patients, there was a lot I could do and things ultimately failed. But with your mother, she was stabbed right through the heart with little to no conviction to do it. The thought that I'd done that haunted me for years. All until I heard you were going to do everything to prove that I hadn't killed your mother. But for that short period of time I was miserable with guilt, don't be like that, Barry. You're not like that."

Barry gritted his teeth. "But I'm fast enough now. I can catch him, I caught him. If it wasn't for Velocity 6—"

"Velocity 6?!" Caitlin, Harry, and Jay all repeated at the same time. Caitlin looked over at Jay as he stepped forward and stared hard at Barry.

Mick sat up straight from where he was leaning next to Snart, eyebrows rising. "This just got really interesting."

"Yeah, it might be a hot commodity for us to have," Snart said. He eyed the group up and down then added with a shrug, "And watching this rag-tag group of merry misfits self-implode is bound to bring some entertainment for us."

Mick nodded.

"When did you use Velocity 6?" Jay demanded.

Barry blinked and exchanged a glance with Cadence. "When I was going up against The Turtle. I wasn't going fast enough to get through his wave of kinetic energy and Brady shot me with the needle to get it into my system. I ran faster, I stopped The Turtle, and I stopped the Reverse-Flash. What's the big deal?"

"Exactly," Harry broke in. He pointed to Jay. "What's the big deal? There's nothing that's happened since then."

"We didn't know any of the side-effects that were going to happen," Caitlin broke in. She reached up and ran a hand through her hair. "I've watched my dad die from Multiple Sclerosis, I've seen him go from medication to medication to try and find what would help him. And every medication came with a new side-effect that made him hurt more and more until he finally passed away. We don't know what this is going to do with Barry."

"You were the one who helped manifest the drug in the first place," Harry reminded her. "I didn't do it myself. There's no shame in being equally proud and war of what you've created." His eyes shot over to Jay and he nodded. "Unless it's someone else's voice in your head that's keeping you from realizing your true potential."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jay demanded.

"It means, Jay, that before you got your words into her head, Snow over here, was the one who ultimately helped me figure out what I was doing wrong with the serum. And now that we know it's a success you want to shy away from it, why?"

"Barry, you lied to us," Caitlin said.

Barry gave her a look. "I never lied to you."

"You didn't tell us about using Velocity-6, what if something happened?"

"Nothing happened, Caitlin. And it wasn't even something I planned. I didn't know it was there until Brady shot it into me. And it worked. I'm not going to turn my back on anything that would make it so that we can stop Zoom and everything that's surrounding it. Do you expect me to just sit back and take it?" Barry jabbed himself in the lightning emblem on his chest. "You know as well as I do that we've done nothing but work harder to get faster over the last couple of weeks and nothing's been working."

"But a drug?" Caitlin asked.

"What other choice was there to make, Cait?" Cadence asked diplomatically. "Nothing else we were doing to make him faster was working. I get that you're scared, but we can't have anything hold us back any further about it. Zoom is fast. He needs to get faster. Do you get that? At all? That responsibility, that sense of fear and anxiety is fucking scary, let alone when you have the means to stop it and you don't take it."

Caitlin brought her hands up and pressed them to the side of her face. She took in a deep breath. Clearly they weren't getting this. Maybe Cisco would. She turned to appeal to him then stopped, noticing the strange look on his face. Then her eyes lowered to the drips of blood that flowed out of his nose and around him mouth.

"Cisco?" She asked.

Cisco opened his mouth to respond but a groaning, gurgling came from his mouth. He leaned forward to grab the wall beside him, face immediately turning pale. His hair hung around his face in a sheet. He started to say something else but stopped when his eyes rolled back and his body started to rapidly shake back and forth.

"Cisco!" Joe shouted.

"He's seizing," Henry said. He hurried over to Cisco and started to hold his head still. His body continued to flop around like a fish, blood continuing to gush from his nose. "I need to hold him still, to keep him from injuring himself and then I can get a reading on his vitals." He lifted his gaze to Barry. "Get him to the Medical Bay."

"Right, yeah," Barry agreed. He hurried forward and grasped Cisco, pulling him to his feet before racing him to the medical bay. He laid Cisco down seconds before Cadence teleported beside him. She grabbed onto his wrist to check his pulse, eyes shifting back and forth as she did so. "Well?"

"Heart's beating abnormally high," she relayed. "Could easily be due to the increase of adrenaline, but…it's moving as fast as yours does. And for anyone that's not a speedster, that's not good." She moved aside as Henry, Joe, Harry, Harrison, and Caitlin all hurried into the medical bay with Snart and Mick slowly walking along behind them.

Cisco continued to shake harder and harder, his breaths now coming out in strangled gasps. Caitlin hurried to the computer as Henry leaned over him with a stethoscope and a flashlight. "Iris's aren't responding," Henry reported.

"He's experiencing an uncontrollable amount of electrical energy across his brain promoting a prolonged state of seizing," Caitlin reported, looking at the computer screen that immediately went to the sensor on the bed he was laying in.

"Can you stop it?" Barry demanded.

"I don't know."

"His seizing is increasing," Henry said. He removed his stethoscope and tossed it aside before pressing his hands down against Cisco's shoulders as hard as he could. Still, with an increase in his physiology from his powers, Cisco proved to be too strong. His body practically leapt from the examining bed no matter how hard Henry pressed against his shoulders. Harrison, Harry, Jay, and Joe grabbed his arms and legs, trying to hold him still.

"We need to sedate him," Harry cried.

"Caitlin, I need Benzodiazepine," Henry said. "Right now, as much as you can get."

"Too much will—"Caitlin cut herself off.

She couldn't bear to say the rest. Not when Cisco was the one who was hurt. If it was someone else, a random person who was her patient it was easier. She could have the feelings that a doctor would have to any patient, one of hospitality and a great bedside manner. But when it was people she cared about, that's when it got to be too hard.

"Right now, we need to make sure that we can control the seizures and save his brain function. I need you to listen to your instincts, not to what's making you scared." Henry leveled his kind yet serious gaze towards her. "You need to help Cisco, Caitlin."

Caitlin nodded and prepared a syringe with as much of the medication as she could muster. While doing so, Cadence moved to the top of Cisco's bed and placed her hands on either side of her head. She gasped in pain as electricity crackled around him and up her hands, but continued her hold on him. The machines around him didn't beep with as much intensity, letting her know her healing was starting to take effect, but not enough to help him completely.

Gritting her teeth, Cadence lifted her gaze towards Barry. "I know it's not the same, but I think I'm starting to get how much it hurt when you got struck by lightning, Tholly."

Barry managed the briefest of smiles before turning his attention back to his best friend.

"Caitlin! Now!"

"I got it." Caitlin hurried over to Henry and pushed his hand away, using a spot on Cisco's forearm to shoot the medication into his system. Slowly but surely, Cisco's body stopped jerking around and a relaxed sigh escaped him like that of a deflating balloon. Pressing her fingers to where she stuck him, Caitlin rubbed his skin in small circles, working the medication in. "Hang on, Cisco. You're going to be okay."

The group continued to wait, watching Cisco with baited breath. Finally, the tremors stopped and Cisco's weight pressed into the bed, muscles completely relaxing. His eyelids fluttered and his mouth relaxed. A collective sigh moved around the group. Cadence removed her hands from the sides of Cisco's head and the group jumped backwards, all exclaiming in surprise when Cisco's body seemed to liquify.

"Damn," Snart said.

"You don't see that every day," Mick agreed.

Cisco's eyes shot open and darted back and forth in terror. He looked down at his body and a strangled cry came out. Barry lifted his hand up to cover his mouth, his brain slowly registering what was happening. Cisco wasn't turning invisible, it was like when he was vibing but…his whole body was doing it. He was moving into a different plane of existence. "Oh my God, what the hell's happening to me?" His voice appeared to echo around them.

"What's happening to Cisco?" Brady asked, darting into the room with Conner and Leah at his heels. "Is he okay?"

"Brady, what are you doing here?" Cadence demanded.

"It's the timeline," Harry said, responding to Brady's question.

"What?" Barry and Cadence barked in unison.

"When you…when you captured Reverse-Flash we ruptured the timeline, Cisco is being affected by the changes to the timeline." He frantically waved his hands back and forth, stumbling over his words. "The changes to the past and to the future."

"And because Cisco can vibe between dimensions and use the powers to see things we can't see, his brain is affected, maybe even wired differently from ours so that he can create those interdimensional spaces to travel," Harrison added. "All stemming back to the Particle Accelerator explosion."

Harry nodded. "We need to restore the timeline. Barry, you need to get Reverse-Flash and send him back to the future as quickly possible."

"What?!" Barry's throat burned with the effort of his shoulder. No. Anything but that. They could figure out anything but that. He finally had the man in his grasp and he was still getting away with everything? It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! "I just caught him and you want me to let him go?!"

"Barry, him being here is killing Cisco!" Harry shouted back. With that, Cadence moved back to Cisco's head and pressed her hands to his head. Lightning crackled up her hands once more, making her grit her teeth against it the pain and hold on tighter, her hands glowing as she did so.

"I can heal him as long as I can," she said. She lifted her gaze to Barry. "But if you need to get Thawne back to save him then that's what you need to do."

"Barry, if this is the way do help Cisco, you go to do it," Joe added. "You have to let Thawne go."

Barry shook his head. He took a step back, watching as Cisco's body slowly started to come back from its invisible state. He didn't want anything to happen to Cisco but…this was bigger than that. And yet Cisco was one of his best friends, bigger than anything else. Barry turned and caught his father's eye. Henry reached out and grabbed onto Barry's wrist.

"You have to do this, Barry," he said. "Your mother would want you to. Your mother wouldn't want you to continue to hold onto this hurt that you've harboring for years. We never raised you to be this way." Finally, the tears that had threatened to fall finally spilled over. "Don't let your hate and hurt make your decisions for you."

Barry nodded. Swallowed hard. The pain and anger washed through him in the strongest storm he'd ever had to battle. Everything swirled around him in the most confusion he'd ever experienced. The worst struggle he'd ever had. He had what he'd always wanted right in front of him and now he had to let it go.

"I-I can't run fast enough to get him there," he finally said. "Even with Velocty-6, I was barely able to catch him."

"Yes, you can," Harrison insisted. "Your speed, coupled with Thawne's can get you there. It'll catapult him through the time continuum."

"Not to mention," Harry said slowly. "I've got some of your speed."

"You…you what?" Caitlin demanded.

Jay rounded on him. "What do you mean you have some of his speed?"

"We don't have time to dwell on this," Henry said firmly. "Right now, you need to help Cisco. Barry, you need to send Thawne back."

Barry closed his eyes, pressed his fists to the side of his head. Too much was going on around him at once. Too many questions, not enough answers. "Alright," Barry finally decided. "Let's do it." He cried out as the beeping from Cisco's bed increased. "What's going on? Cade?"

"I'm trying," Cadence called back. "I'm trying to heal him but…" she shook her head, shaking knees threatening to pitch her to the ground. "I don't know, something's wrong."

Snart and Mick exchanged a look and the two stepped forward, elbowing the others out of the way. Snart twisted something on the side of his blaster and shot it towards Cisco. Mick did the same, but pointed his stream into Snart's halfway up.

"What are you doing?" Brady demanded. "You're going to hurt him!"

"Electricity runs off heat," Snart explained. "As much as Fire Bug over there thinks she's helping, I've watched your fights long enough to know that the connection there makes you stronger. Unfortunately, it's doing the same for what's happening to his brain. If the only way to end this all is to cool him down, so be it. The crossing of our streams cancelled out our gun but dialing up the output of the cold gun compared to what the heat gun is expelling will at least keep him from getting frostbite." Snart lifted his gaze over to Caitlin. "And I can't expect her to go and help anyone anyway. It'd go against everything you believe in right, help not hurt?"

Caitlin frowned, squeezing her hands into fists.

Jay licked his lips and nodded to Barry. "You need to get him back now."

Barry nodded.

---

Eobard looked around the Particle Accelerator once he was released from his cell. "It's not as good as the way I remember it on my Earth but…it'll do," he said. "For now. Before the inevitable anyway." He turned back to face Barry, face obscured by the hood of his Flash suit. "Too bad the Time Paradox has to end this so soon. I'd love to see what else we can do. Or what else I could do to you."

"Why do you hate me so much?" Barry asked.

"I didn't always hate you. I wanted to be you. I spent years figuring out how you came to be. Duplicated the reaction…and it worked. I became you. But then this ability to travel through time revealed the truth, my fate was to be your greatest enemy, I was never going to be the Flash. So, I became the reverse of everything you were. The more people you saved, the more people you loved, the more I had to take from you."

"That's why you killed my mother? That's why you ruined my life? Because you couldn't be me?"

"I'M BETTER THAN YOU! I'm the one thing you can't stop. You see, you've all messed with something you don't understand." Eobard's eyebrows shifted upwards. "I win again, Flash."

Barry's upper lip curled and he backed away from Eobard. He sucked in a deep breath to calm himself, to keep from punching Eobard so hard it'd kill him. To keep from strangling him to death, to release everything that had been stuck with him ever since he was a child. Instead, he moved back to Eobard's side. "Time to send you back to where you belong."

"We'll meet again soon, Flash."

"I know…and every time I'll be ready for you."

Barry and Eobard raced around the circular tube that was the pipeline, going faster and faster as the seconds passed. As they continued to run a white, circular globe started to open in front of them. Around and around they went until the spot opened wide enough to send another person through. Then Barry brought back his fist and punched Eobard as hard as he could in the back. Eobard lifted off his feet and shot through the air, falling through the open wormhole. Once his body passed through, Barry turned and raced back to the Cortex.

As soon as he arrived, Cisco's body stopped shaking, Snart and Mick pulled off their guns and Cadence brought her hands back from the side of Cisco's head, immediately crumpling to the floor. Brady hurried over to his mom. He knelt next to her as he studied her face. "I'm okay, bud," she said. "How's Cisco?"

She lifted her head when Cisco groaned. He didn't make any other moves after that. But the groan and the reduction of his seizing meant he was at least conscious. The heart monitor continued to beep steadily. He was still alive and that was all that mattered.

"Well, I'd say my work here is done," Snart said. He sniffed loudly, putting his gun over his shoulder. "You can't say we didn't do anything to help you." He patted Mick on the shoulder and with a toss of his head, he and Mick made their way from the Medical Bay.

Mick stopped, gently nudging Cadence with the toe of his boot as he passed by her. "Hey, Princess," he said. "As soon as things with Fleet Feet over there go in the crapper, give me a call." With that, he and Snart left STAR Labs.

All was quiet once more until Cisco groaned again. This time, he turned his head back and forth before his eyelids twitched. His lips parted and he took in a deep breath. He released it as easily then muttered, "My head feels like it's in a vice." Finally, his eyes blinked open and he looked around at all the worried faces that hovered above him. "What happened?"

"I think you vibed one too many dimensions," Harry said.

"Really?" Cisco asked.

"Really," Caitlin agreed.

Cisco brought his hands up to his hair, ran his fingers along his scalp. He groaned and stretched his arms over his head. "I haven't felt this sore since PE and I got a straight up F."

"C," Barry said.

"D+," Caitlin agreed.

"I got straight As," Cadence said. She looked up, noticing the faces looking back at her. "Come on, it's not that weird." She took Brady's outstretched hand and allowed herself to get pulled to her feet. She stood by the head of Cisco's bed and reached out, gently patting him on the arm. "But it just proves that I need to train you some more if you're in more pain from this than what I've put you through."

Cisco managed a small smile and nodded. "How'd you get it go stop?" He breathed.

"Well, it was a combination of a lot of things," Henry said. "There was the Benzodiazepine that we injected into you to make sure you didn't cause any more stress on your body, Cadence's healing powers, and the cooling effects from Snart and Mick. But in all effects of what it was that kept you from dying…Barry had to send him back to his time."

Cisco's eyebrows came together. He turned and looked towards Barry. "You let him go?" He whispered. "You…you had him right in front of you and you let him go?"

Barry slowly smiled. "I couldn't let him take another person I care about. I'm done…letting him have that control over my life." Cisco smiled and reached out his hand. Barry held his out and clasped it into Cisco's, holding it tightly in his own. Cisco didn't need to say anything. There wasn't enough 'thanks' they could all tell each other for it to make a difference.

They were family and they were always going to help save each other when the time came.

Jay, on the other hand, continued to glare at Harry. "The one thing that I'm still confused about is…what did you mean when you said you had his speed?" Harry's eyes widened for a moment, as if he had forgotten his admission. Then he started to smile, chuckling to himself.

"Don't you dare laugh," Joe added. He pointed a finger directly at Harry. "You've been on my shit list since you've gotten here and I couldn't quite put my finger on why I didn't trust you and you're slowly starting to make it make sense. What did you do?"

"It's just as I said," Harry said. "I took his speed. That's why he couldn't catch Zoom, why he couldn't get fast-enough to get the Reverse-Flash entirely. Velocity-6 did it. When you used it, it took away a part of your speed."

"And you helped him do that?" Jay asked Caitlin.

Her eyes widened. "What? No! I'd never do that, he never told me." She turned back to Harry. "You never told me it'd do that."

"Because when you created it, it couldn't," Harry explained. He kept his chin down, gaze just a hair below everyone's eyes.

"I helped him," Harrison explained.

Stunned silence filled the room. But it wasn't enough to quell the anger that was starting to seep from everyone. Anger from betrayal, anger from the notion that everything they'd done to stop everything that'd come their way had been for nothing. Barry repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists. His knees bobbed p and down, threatening to take him from the Cortex.

"It's ironic," he finally said. "You were the one who was trying to help me so much and now all I can do is ask you why, why you would do this?"

"For my daughter," Harry said. "I would do anything to save my daughter."

"Jesse," Caitlin murmured.

Barry's eyes shifted back and forth. He'd heard that before but where…? Oh, at the Christmas party. He had asked Harry if he wanted to join them and yet he said he wouldn't, preferring to celebrate if his daughter was there. But if Caitlin knew about her, too… "She's your daughter on your Earth," he said slowly.

Harry nodded, then nodded to Cadence. "That's why I couldn't stand to be around her, to look at her without thinking about it. Without thinking about her and what Zoom was doing to her. He's…he's had her captive ever since before I arrived on this Earth. I sent her to death to save Barry and I thought about how I could make it so I had both."

"Jesse is Cade's doppelganger," Caitlin explained.

"That's why you wanted me to get faster," Barry realized. "And then using Velocity-6, or whatever else it was that you created, you'd be able to make me faster, to get to Earth-2, and then take a part of my speed and give it to Zoom…like all of the other metas who were trying to kill me. If he had taken it then he would've thought it was all of my speed because it was stronger."

"Barry, he could've killed you," Joe reminded him.

"Anything out there could've killed me," Barry reminded him. "I'm still learning how to do my powers, anyone could take advantage of that. But the difference is…he had a good reason for it. His daughter was threatened. When it comes to family, when it comes to people we love, we're all vulnerable. He could've gotten away with it but he didn't, he told us. And now his daughter is going to die and we're okay with that? I can't just give up on her, I can't give up on an entire world that's full of people that are facing death because of Zoom. I may not be fast enough to be Zoom yet, but I'm not just going to close the breaches and forget about it. We have to help Harry and we have to get to Earth-2."

Silence moved around the room for a long moment.

"When?" Cisco finally asked.

"Tonight," Barry said.

"Tonight?" Caitlin repeated.

"Tonight," Cadence said firmly.

---

Barry rested his chin in his hand as he stared at the empty plate in front of him. An empty plate that could be his last meal before he traveled to another Earth. There were too many things to think about. Things that would keep him on his Earth and what was propelling him to go to another one. It was what was keeping his life separated, Barry Allen from The Flash.

Barry Allen though to stay on his Earth and to spend more time with his father, so both could understand what would help them move on. They had the man that killed the best part of their life right in their face but he got away. The boogeyman that had essentially haunted their family for years had manifested and disappeared all in one day. And all Henry had said when all was said and done was that Barry made the right decision. Not just for him, but for their family.

How was it the right decision?

He didn't think he'd ever known. He had the responsibility of being the 'man of the family' since his father was in prison. What did that mean now when he was still questioning every move he made? What did that mean if he went to the other Earth and managed to get himself killed? Then there wouldn't be anyone around to keep everyone in Central City safe. No one there to show that metahumans weren't evil and trying to take over the city. No one to be that beacon of hope they all needed.

That was The Flash part of him, the part that worried about everyone else, even an entire other Earth. That part was exhausting, but what equally drove him forward every day.

Finally, a hand waved in front of his face and Barry looked up to see Iris sitting by him, pulling her hand back. "Finally, space cadet. You looked like you were only moments away from completely blasting off into space."

"Space cadet," Barry murmured. "I haven't heard that one in a long time." He leaned back in his seat. "It's funny how much I wanted to go into space one day, to explore all of the galaxies and what was out there and now I'm going to go to another Earth." He chuckled to himself. "If I thought there was such a thing as another Earth, I think my head would've exploded back then."

"More or less than when we thought we saw an alien on the moon?" Iris teased. The two laughed. Iris reached out and grasped Barry's hand in hers. "I'm not sure how traveling between Earths works, but if it's anything like traveling into space, then you need to be careful."

"I'm always careful, Iris," Barry pointed out.

"You're careful in that 'Barry way' you always are," Iris pointed out. "That part I can trust. I mean, I've always known that part of you." She looked over her shoulder to Joe and Henry, who sat in the living room, talking quietly over a beer. Their dishes, stained with the rich red marinara sauce of Joe's lasagna continued to sit untouched amongst them. No one made a move to do it. It wasn't the time to worry about such trivial things. Iris turned back to him, tilting her head to the side. "But the Flash part I haven't known so long. I don't know if you're going to be here or you'll be off to Star City to take down the next threat that comes along. I don't know if you'll come back."

"I'm going to come back, Iris," Barry reassured her. He squeezed her hand in his. "There's so much here for me to come back to."

"How'd your dad take it?" Iris asked.

"The same way that yours did, I'd expect," Barry said. After his split decision to go, Henry had taken Barry aside and demanded to know what he was doing. Demanded to know how he could make a decision like that so lightly, surely he was letting his emotions take him over, despite that being one of his greatest values, that he felt thing so emotionally. "Only, I don't think Joe yelled as much."

"I've never heard Henry yell in my entire life," Iris denied.

"Then you're lucky," Barry said. "Because it's just as scary now as it was when I was younger." He rested his mouth in the palm of his hand. "I know everyone's really upset about this. But I can't just turn my back on everyone there.

"No one's upset about your decision, Barry." Iris leaned forward and looked Barry in the eye, with emotion swimming through hers. "No one could ever be upset with you for it. It's what makes you, you. It's everything that comes with it that's hard. The super speed, the time travelling, other Earths…and now being able to travel there?"

"Yeah, it's really hard to take in," Barry agreed.

"Just as long as you come back to us, Barry, that's all that matters."

"I'll come back, I promise."

And for the next hour Barry hung out with this family, with Joe and Iris and his father, speaking about everything that wasn't his venture across the multiverse. But it was then time to leave and he took them all to STAR Labs, directly down to the basement where the breach would take them directly to Earth-2.

"Is everyone here?" Barry asked. He looked around at all of his friends; Jay, Harry, Harrison, Tess, Joe, Henry, Iris, Caitlin, Cisco, Cadence, Ryder, and Brady all gathered around in the room, looking at the swirling blue vortex that was the gateway to the other world.

"Looks like it," Harry agreed. He slung a bag onto his back and nodded. "It's time to go."

"Now remember, Barry, you're not going to have a contact with us back here," Caitlin explained, taking a step forward. She nodded towards the vortex then looked at him seriously. "As long as you're over there we can only wait for a sign that you're coming back."

"You're going to see things over there that look familiar but they're not," Jay said, coming up on Caitlin's side. "Don't allow yourself to get sucked in emotionally. And good luck over there."

"Thanks." Barry nodded to him. "And if we're not back in 48 hours, that means that Zoom's got us. Then you need to close the breach."

"We're not going to do that, Barry," Caitlin insisted. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders. "I'm sorry about everything, with Velocity-6 and…"

"Don't worry about it." Barry squeezed her back. "I know you meant well."

Caitlin nodded and backed away. Then she turned to Cisco who gave her a big hear hug, rocking the two back and forth. "You better be careful, too. I don't want to have to go in there after you just to tell you 'I told you so'." Cisco laughed, nodded, and hugged her, too.

"Well, we'll just see what happens," he said. He stepped back and looked at her for a long moment, something passing over his face before he cleared his throat. Caitlin looked at him curiously and he took another step back, producing a letter from his pocket. "Um, I…I have this, in case…so you can give it to my family and Dante…"

"I'll make sure they get it, Cisco, I promise."

Barry moved through Joe, Henry, and Iris hugs, too. He slapped Ryder a high-five and gave him a hug then moved to Cadence and Brady. "I promise I'll come back," he said to Cadence. "Don't worry about me."

"I won't," Cadence said. She lifted her chin and looked him in the eye. "Because I'm going with you."

"What? No, I can't let you do that," Barry said.

Cadence crossed her arms. "Well, it doesn't matter what you think because I'm going to do it anyway. If…if it's my doppelganger over there that's in trouble, I think I deserve the right to try and save myself…" Confusion swam through her eyes for a moment then was replaced with a determined fire. "I'm so done being the damsel in distress."

Barry laughed. "You're much more than that."

"And besides, what would you do over there without me?" She reached out and gently shoved him on the arm before straightening the collar of hi jacket. "Probably get yourself killed, I bet." She turned and smiled her thanks to Ryder. "And he said he'd take care of Brady while I'm gone."

"What about Central City?" Barry asked. "Without us around—"

"—We still have enough Velocity-6 to give to Jay if the time comes," Tess said. She clasped her hands together. "As well as having Caitlin have her own powers that she could use if the time comes."

"I can do it." Brady spoke up for the first time since he arrived at STAR Labs that morning with his friends. He received a stern speaking to form Cadence for skipping school despite his explanation of receiving the alerts of what turned out to be the Reverse-Flash and wanted to help. "I can watch the city while you're gone."

Barry shook his head then knelt to Brady's height to look him in the eye. "It's a really big job," he said. "Not that I don't think you can do it, but—"

"I can do it," Brady insisted. He licked his lips. "I know I'm a kid, but I'm not just a kid. I've been shadowing you guys. I've gotten better. I can do this, I promise. You'll see when you get back."

"Okay, okay." Barry reached around and hugged Brady, allowing the young boy to rest his head on his shoulder as Brady hugged him back. "You're going to do a good job." He looked over at Caitlin who nodded then mouthed, 'you're welcome' to Cadence, who had mouthed 'thank you' to her for aiding in watching him.

Barry let go of Brady then let him turn and hug and kiss his mother. Finally, it was time to go. Barry looked around the room once more and noticed Caitlin inching her way over to him. She opened her arms wide and she, Barry, Cisco, and Cadence came together in a tight group hug. "Be careful," she murmured to them. She got nods in response then backed away once more, standing next to Jay as she reached out to take his hand. Jay took it and squeezed it firmly. She started to say something to Harry then stopped nodded.

Harry nodded back and moved towards the breach with Barry, Cadence, and Cisco. Barry reached out to grab the back of Cisco's shirt but stopped and looked at him in confusion when Cisco took a step back from him, one closer to Cadence. "No offense, dude, but after today, I think I'm going to be sticking with her for a bit."

Cadence laughed and looped her arm around Cisco's shoulders, squeezing him. "All you had to say was 'thank you', Cisco." She held out her free hand and Barry wrapped his around hers. Sparks flew between their hand and he smiled at her before looking straight into the breach in front of him. It continued to jump and dance around.

Barry sucked in a deep breath and concentrated on his power. Lightning shot through his eyes and he raced forward in a burst of speed. Blue light, the same shade of the breach, mixed and swirled around Barry as he continued to run forward as fast as his feet could take him. One hand held Cadence and Cisco, the other holding onto Harry.

Finally, there was a bright flash of light and Barry saw a gray, metallic wall appeared in front of him. He immediately skidded to a stop right before crashing into it. Sucking in a deep breath, Barry looked around the metallic surfaces around him. Harry didn't waste any time. As soon as he was let go, he walked out of the small room and up an enclosed flight of stairs.

Barry, Cisco, and Cadence immediately followed after him and all gasped in shock when they stepped out into the brightly lit lobby of Earth-2's STAR Labs. People milled back and forth, bobbing and weaving around each other and the podiums that held different technological advancements.

"Welcome to Earth-2," Harry remarked.

Cadence took a few steps further into the lobby and looked around. Someone opened a door to the lobby of the laboratory and grimaced, holding her hand up to shield her face. "I was skeptical at first, but now I know we're on a different Earth. It's wayy too bright here to be our Earth."

Barry and Cisco both laughed before getting sucked in by everything around them once more. Cisco even went so far as to walk to a wall that held a STAR Labs plaque and held his phone up in front of their faces to take a picture. When it came out, he frowned and looked it over. "All of that sunlight is already starting to mess with my selfie game. Cade, come take our picture."

"Sure, if you want it to be from about your neck down," Barry teased.

Cadence gave him the finger and caught the phone Cadence tossed his way. "You go to a different Eartha and you already got jokes?" She lifted the camera and angled it so that Barry and Cisco were both in frame before taking the picture.

"Ramon!" Harry snapped. "Not a sight-seeing tour."

"Easy for you to say, we want our grandkids to know we did cool stuff," Cisco defended himself.

Barry turned and looked at all of the faces of the people that stopped to shake Harry's hand. Henry Hewitt, the one on this Earth was certainly much more pleasant than the one they had on their Earth. Then there was someone who looked like Kyle Nimbus, and someone who looked like Rainbow Raider. All of them were as happy as ever as Harry took them to his office. He looked around as they went, gazing adoringly at all of the new piece of technology that were only mere ideas on their Earth, things he hadn't even dreamed of yet. And there it was, staring right in front of him.

On another pass around, he noticed Cadence dawdling behind him, the crease back in her forehead as she went. "Hey." Barry got her attention, reaching out to grab her hand. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just…" Cadence took in a deep breath. "I was thinking about this whole doppelganger thing, if Jesse is me…why is my name changed? Does that mean that I truly did stay with Harrison and Tess and not my mom and dad? Does Brady exist over here? I…it's hard to think that my life could be completely different over here and knowing that I'm targeted by Zoom…what if that's why he's been targeting me back on our Earth, too, the thing he said—"

"Whoa, whoa, Cade, you're starting to sound like me," Barry said, breaking into her rambling. He could feel her trembling under his grasp and pulled her to a stop, moving out of the way of STAR Labs employees. "I didn't…I didn't know you were so worried about this."

"Neither did I, not until we got here," Cadence admitted. She lowered her head. "Honestly, I…I sort of doubted that we'd make it here. That it was real. Because if it was, and I had a doppelganger, then everything I knew what changed." She sighed. "Maybe I should've taken Jay's advice to you and not try to get so emotionally attached."

"Listen to me." Using his thumb and forefinger, Barry forced Cadence's chin up to look her in the eye. "No matter what's changed over here, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, er, this you. We're going to save Jesse and stop Zoom, okay?"

"Okay." Cadence nodded then accepted the kiss Barry gave her. "Let's get going before Harry yells at us for that, too."

Barry smiled and the two hurried to catch up to Harry and Cisco in Harry's office. Arriving, they immediately knew something was wrong as the two argued back and forth each other, Cisco's vibe glasses in his hands. Barry dropped Cadence's hand and stepped between the two.

"Whoa, what's going on?" He asked.

"I lost my powers," Cisco declared.

"He didn't lose his powers," Harry snapped seconds after.

"Then explain why these aren't working."

"Maybe it's operator error."

"I designed it, it can't be operator error."

Cadence made a face and held up her hand, a flame immediately burst around her. "I haven't lost my powers," she pointed out. "Why would you have lost yours?"

Cisco shrugged and looked around the side of his vibe glasses. "Oh, here it is, the wavelength trigger isn't responding. But that happens if the frequency is imbalance and that only happens because your Earth vibrates at a different frequency which means…"

"We're up a creek," Barry interrupted. He turned and dropped into a chair across from Harry's desk. He brought his hands over his face and sat silently. All until he heard his voice speaking. But…he wasn't saying anything. Barry lifted his head and looked at the wall behind Harry's desk that showed a news feed. First his eyes looked at the banner underneath, Zoom Threat Reamins, Mayor Snart Extends Curfew, then he looked at the channel number, 52, and then at his own face, complete with glasses, speaking on the recent attacks by Zoom. "That's me!"

"Aww, and you look so cute, too," Cadence said. "I love the bowtie."

"And to think I thought that look was good in college," Barry said with a grimace. Cisco and Cadence both looked at him funny. "I was trying reinvent myself, I just…" he held up his hands. "The most important thing is that we know that I still work here as part of the CCPD and that gives me an idea." He turned on his heel and raced from the office, combing back seconds later with his doppelganger in tow.

"What just happened?" Earth-2 Barry questioned. He shifted back and forth, trying to determine where he was. "How…how did I get here so fast?" He looked at Barry and his eyes widened in surprise. "How did…how am I…you're me." He then looked at everyone else in the room, his eyes first landing on Harry. "Harrison Wells. Oh my God, you're the Harrison Wells and, uh, if you're Harry, that means I'm in STAR Labs, right?" Harry started to say something then stopped, cut off as Barry kept going. "I've always wanted to meet you. You're my idol. I have a copy of everything you've ever published."

"That's great." Harry gave a tight-lipped smile.

"Always great to meet a fan, right?" Cadence teased. Her eyebrows rose when Earth-2 Barry turned her way. His face immediately turned red and he cleared his throat, wiping his hands on the sides of his slacks. "Uh, hi?"

"You…you remember me?" Earth-2 Barry asked. "I mean, of course you remember me, it's just that the last time we came into contact you weren't so happy to see me. I mean, yeah, I managed to come across you at a very bad time. And I'm very sorry for that, but I did say that we could see each other again, and here you are." He walked forward and stuck out his hand. "I'm Barry. Wait, yeah, you already knew that, Cade, sorry." He brought his hand back as quickly as he brought it forward. "Oops, don't want to be burned again, right?" He let out nervous laughter and tried to cross his legs but tripped over his own feet, only keeping himself up by grabbing the bookshelf next to him.

"Cade?" Cisco repeated. "Now, I understand this whole Earth is screwy and everything, but he just called you Cade."

"I noticed," Cadence replied.

"Have you been sneaking to this Earth without telling us?"

"Cisco!"

Barry turned to Harry. "No, Cisco's right, why would he call her Cade and not Jesse?"

"Jesse?" Earth-2 Barry repeated. He brushed off his clothes with another laugh. "You mean Jesse Wells? No, I don't have a thing with Jesse Wells, that'd be so inappropriate, that'd be—"his words were cut off with a gurgle when Harrys tock a taser into his side, causing him to collapse to the floor. Cadence shrieked and jumped backwards in surprise.

"Wha—hey, what do you think you're doing?" Barry demanded.

"The same thing you were thinking," Harry replied. He nonchalantly turned his taser this way and that before blowing soot off the top. "But a lot faster. You're going to take his place, infiltrate the CCPD, and let us know what you figure out about Zoom and we'll go from there. While you're at it, Ramon, Cadence, and I will figure out what's going on with his vibe glasses."

"Uh-uh." Cisco waved his finger back and forth. "No, we're not going anywhere until you tell us why you decided to turn Barry into a shishkabob, okay?"

"Yeah, and why did he, I mean me, I mean I call her Cadence and not Jesse?" Barry demanded.

"We're from a different Earth, Harry, not stupid," Cadence pointed out.

"I lied!" Harry finally shouted. He lowered his voice, but still refused to look at them. "I lied. I…Jesse isn't Cade's doppelganger. On this Earth…Jesse is Cadence's sister. I haven't seen Cadence…my Cadence since she was born."

---

A/N: So, the Rogues are redeemed and Mick is the same Mick as always. An entire chapter that was about Barry, too, how fun. Next one is about Cadence, as you'd all probably figured as well as the next one bringing in more of Jay and Zoom, I purposefully waited this long before doing it and I hope you guys enjoy what happens with them.

But now Earth-2, I bet you all didn't see that twist with Cade and Jesse coming. The reason it happened this way is because…I had both ideas; one that Cade existed on Earth-1 but not Earth-2 and vice-versa for Jesse because they were dopplegangers, but then I also though what would happen if she did exist on Earth-2, so here's the whole explanation for it.

Please, if you haven't already check out my other one-shots Say What You Need To Say and Never A Dull Moment.

Please remember to review; any feedback helps me become a better writer and motivates me to write more. I respond to every review, even anonymous ones.

For those wondering our stories are updated every week (generally the same day) at the least. So this'll be updated again next Wednesday.

Cheers,

-Riles

Review Replies

Josephguy217: That was always the best part for me, seeing RF knocked out. Though my only issue with the ep was that he was there for a short period, despite knowing it was used to show Barry's humility.

DarkHelm145: Sooo glad they turned out well. Snart and Mick are some of my favorites to write, but now they're done with this story for now. I hope their arc was good enough for them to go to Legends. Nope, RF can't disguise himself as other people, he's the one and only Eobard Thawne. Hope you enjoyed this one as well.

Ethan: Brady's increase in maturity was done on purpose for the fact that his part gets bigger as the story goes on, but in general it's mostly seen at home. Most of the people around him see him as a little kid but it's more than that. Well, Mick's name for her is Princess but all in all for their grievances she's Fire Bug.

yummers: Thanks!

PowerHero432: So that answers your question about Brady and Conner and Leah. He's not too oblivious not to notice, he does meddle in his own mother's love life from time to time. I guess I didn't make it too clear, the real Natalie is done with the CPS report with Cadence and Brady. The fake one is the one that needs to be questioned. Lol. Hope you enjoyed this one as well, as it has the teaser for what's all going to happen with Earth-2.

Spinquin142: I hope all of it was to your liking.

Guest: Hope Earth-2's start was to your liking.

Babyj: I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think it really does show how he's growing up so I'm glad others appreciated it, too. J