"You want me to do what?!"

Harrison Wells leaned back in his chair at his S.T.A.R. Labs office, his eyes wide with surprise at the blueprint laid out on his desk. Sitting across from him was the UA principal Nezu and the hero Jay Garrick also known as Flash!

"We want you to build this gadget," said Nezu, "this design will be crucial for a job that needs doing."

"I can see that," said Wells, "but this is a massively complex machine, how did you come up with it so quickly?"

Nezu shifted in his chair, "I'm a creature of science much like yourself, I live and breathe quantum physics and cosmic knowhow."

"Well," said Wells, "as good as your knowledge on quantum physics is, you don't seem to have the resources to create it."

"We do," said Nezu, "but we would rather have someone more well versed in this kind of technology, Plus I'm small and can't build it myself."

Wells nodded, "Alright, I'll send it down to the Development team. The device will be ready in a few hours."

Jay nodded, "Thank you."

Wells smiled, "You're very welcome."

Wells watched as Nezu and Jay got up from their seats and walked out of the office, taking a trip down to the now operational Particle Accelerator. Through the reinforced window, Jay observed the rainbow of colors racing around the accelerator's circular hall.

"Beautiful isn't it." said Nezu, "I come here every once and a while just to observe the vast potential of the cosmic energy being harnessed."

"This powers the whole city," said Jay, "and it's completely clean to boot."

"A wonder of the speed force," said Nezu, "It's no wonder Barry's actions resulted in a gift like this."

Jay looked surprised, "Barry did this?"

"Mere days before he reappeared with you," said Nezu, "he's fascinating to study."

"Study?" said Jay.

"In two specific senses," said Nezu, ignoring the fact that Jay interrupted him, "For one, his power set is so similar and yet so different from ours. Everyone in this world was born with their quirk, but Barry gained his power after the fact. Seeing such a fantastical circumstance makes for an excellent observation. In another sense, it's been heartwarming seeing him among the many students grow to become a hero."

Jay nodded, "He's a good kid, always has been."

"But his circumstances, both in the past and in the present, are disturbing." said Nezu, "We must hope that he doesn't do anything rash that puts himself off that heroic path."


"Alright, try now." said the doctor.

Barry grabbed hold of the crutches, taking a deep breath before hoisting himself up from his hospital bed. He could feel pressure on his spine that made his entire back feel flimsy, but he pushed through the feeling, standing up straight.

"Nice!" said the doctor, "The crutches are just to help your spine adjust to being upright, you should be walking by tomorrow."

"Thank you doctor," said Barry, "can I see my friends?"

"Most of them have recovered and have headed home to their parents," said the doctor, "Speaking of which I got a note from your foster father."

"Forrest?!" said Barry, "Let me see it!"

The doctor pulled out a slip of paper from his coat, handing it to Barry, who scanned over it.

Dear Barry,

I'm so sorry I can't go and see you, but after the villain attack, the police force has been working overtime. I haven't been able to take even a moment off to make sure you're ok, but the doctors have kept me well informed. In a few days, I'll be sure to visit. Stay safe.

Love, Forrest.

"It's unfortunate he can't be here." said the doctor.

"No, I understand." said Barry, pocketing the paper, "Back to my classmates, is there anywhere I can speak to who's still here?"

"Yeah, follow me," said the doctor, "They're in the group area."


As the doctor opened the door to the group area, a small group of his friends sat in a sort of comfort area with chairs and a TV. Iida looked the best, sporting leg engines that looked newer than the ones he had before. Kaminari sat closest to the TV, his head completely bandaged. Midoriya, Kirishima, and Todoroki sat at a table near the entrance while Sato napped on one of the couches.

"Barry!" said Kirishima, jumping out of the chair to reveal that both his arms were in casts. He ran over to Barry, nearly hugging him before realizing that it might hurt and simply settling with a nod, "You're up!"

"Yeah, I should be walking by tomorrow actually!" said Barry, "What happened to you?!"

"Some fast guy!" said Kirishima, "Broke both my arms at the same time, but the casts will be off within the hour!"

While Barry put on a smile, he secretly felt a large amount of guilt towards his friend. The fact that he got hurt so badly by Thawne really put Barry in a bad headspace despite Mina's insistence that it wasn't his fault.

"What happened to the others?" asked Barry.

"Midoriya was wounded due to a bunch of different things and you know why I got hurt." said Todoroki, gesturing to both the bandaged up Midoriya and his own shoulder, "Jiro and Toruu were knocked out by the gas, they still haven't woken up. Yaoyorozu also took a blow to the head and just woke up yesterday."

Barry's eyes hardened, "What about the people attacked by the speed villain?"

"Some of us got off lucky, only coming away with nasty bruises" said Kirishima, "Sero, Monoma, and Kota all got out of the hospital pretty early and Mineta and Mina just got released yesterday with minor head injuries."

Kirishima glanced over to the rest of the room, "The rest of us weren't so lucky. Ojiro's entire tale was broken, but he got released this morning. Iida's engines were torn out, but apparently they grow back more powerful than ever. Still, I doubt it was pleasant having them yanked out."

Barry frowned, imagining the pain Iida went through.

"Sato's throat got screwed up real bad, so he's not speaking to let his vocal cords heal. Kaminari's brain got completely fried, but he's slated to make a full recovery in a week or two." said Kirishima, "All in all, we won't be down for long."

It would have been best if you guys didn't go down in the first place. I shouldn't have let that happen.

"I..." said Barry, contemplating an apology, "I'm sorry for what happened."

"Sorry? It's not like you were the one who got us all injured!" said Kirishima.

The words cut at Barry's heart, even if Kirishima's intentions were for the opposite to happen, "What about Bakugou?"

The entire table went silent, at which point Barry knew that Bakugou was for sure captured.

"I never expected someone like Bakugou to be captured." said Barry, "What did they want with him?"

"I don't know," said Midoriya, "but from the media's point of view, the villains are looking to turn him to their side."

Barry chuckled, "That's a load of hot BS. Bakugou might be a little...aggressive, but he's set on being a hero, there's no way he's gonna get turned."

"At which point they'll probably kill him." said Todoroki.

"Todoroki!" said Midoriya, "Don't say stuff like that out loud."

"I don't like it any more than you do, but it's the truth." said Todoroki, "So we have a plan."

"A plan?" said Barry, "What are you talking about."

Midoriya leaned closer, whispering to Barry, "We're going to rescue Bakugou."

Barry's eyes widened, "What? How?!"

Kirishima leaned in close, "During the camp attack, Yaoyorozu planted a tracking beacon on an attacking nomu. She's making a tracker for the heroes in order for them to lead a raid on the villain's headquarters."

"That's great!" said Barry, secretly horrified by what Thawne might do when the heroes strike, "But why are we going too?"

Midoriya's look hardened, "I had a chance to save Bakugo before he was taken, so did Todoroki. We both need to make up for our failures."

"Plus You and Bakugou are my best friends!" said Kirishima, "I can't let the league of villains keep him!"

Barry glanced away, hiding his face. He also failed to save Bakugou, having failed to stop Thawne in time or at all.

"So the plan is to ask Yaoyorozu for another tracker and use that to find Bakugou?" asked Barry.

Todoroki nodded, "Yes, exactly."

"Say no more," said Barry, "I'm in."

Kirishima's face lit up, "I knew you would help!"

Kirishima jumped out his chair to hug Barry again, but realized his casts were on and was once again forced to sit down, "Oh, and don't tell anyone else about this."

"Why?" asked Barry.

"They weren't exactly...supportive of the plan." said Todoroki.

"Just don't worry anyone unnecessarily." said Midoriya.

Barry struggled to a standing position with his crutches, "Where do we meet?"

"Just outside the hospital." said Kirishima, "Be as quiet as possible."

Barry nodded, "Alright, I'm gonna rest until then."

"Ok, just be ready." said Todoroki.

Barry turned around and left the group area, pushing open the doors with his crutches. As he began to walk down the hallway, he heard the doors to the group area swing open before closing again. Turning around, Barry came face to face with Iida.

"Iida," said Barry, "Looking good."

"As are you," said Iida, "I overheard that you'll be off the crutches by tomorrow."

"You heard right." said Barry.

Barry looked closely at Iida's face, noticing the lines on his forehead. Something was upsetting Iida.

"Is something wro-"

"I hope you haven't decided to go along with that ridiculous plan!" said Iida.

Barry was taken aback, "Wait, you know about that?"

"Kirishima pitched it to the whole class!" said Iida, "And as expected of us, we both declined and demanded that our fools for classmates not go ahead with this suicidal idea!"

Barry's eyebrows furrowed, "It's not like that! We have to help save Bakugou!"

"It's not our place!" said Iida, "We have to let the heroes handle it!"

"What if they can't?!" said Barry, "You went up against someone so fast they hurt everyone at the lodge in seconds, imagine what he'll do to the heroes!"

Iida stood firm, "It's not our place."

"You can't be serious!" said Barry.

"You know, Tsuyu said something on this matter." said Iida, "She said that no matter how just your feelings, if you're saying you'll break the law to rescue Bakugou you're acting in the same way a villain would!"

Barry gritted his teeth in anger, "If I had to choose between breaking the rules and letting a friend die I'd definitely pick breaking the rules as any good friend would!"

"But that's not all there is to this is there?!" said Iida.

Barry's anger was swept away in an instant, replaced by complete and utter confusion.

"I believe you when you say you truly want to rescue Bakugou, I don't doubt that." said Iida, "But I heard you talking to Mina back in your hospital room."

Barry's eyes widened, "What did you hear?"

"I heard enough." said Iida, "This speed villain, this Thawne, he's obviously done grievous harm to you in more ways than one. I saw your face when Mina was hugging you, you were comforted, but clearly still angry with what happened."

"Of course I would be angry!" said Barry, fury in his voice, "He hurt my friends! He hurt you! And this isn't even mentioning the other horrible things he's done!"

"You must leave him to the heroes Barry," said Iida, "and you must leave behind any ideas of revenge."

That set off a fuse in Barry's head, "Are you kidding me?! You're asking me to just let it all go?!"

"No!" said Iida, "I'm asking you to let the heroes do their jobs!"

"This is personal between me and Thawne!" said Barry, "I have to bring him down!"

"Assuming you're even strong enough to do that, what will you do when you actually catch him?!" demanded Iida.

Barry was about to screech out an answer, but after hearing himself in his head, he stopped at the last moment. But as his mouth hung open, Iida knew what answer he was about to provide.

"Even if you do defeat him," said Iida, "I cannot let you potentially make a mistake that will haunt you forever!"

Barry's look hardened, "I'm done with this. Let me go to my room."

As Barry turn around to walk back to his room, Iida jumped in front of him.

"Iida," said Barry, "get out of the way."

"Not until I convince you to avoid this course of action!" said Iida.

"I said get out of my way!" shouted Barry, lifting his crutch and jabbing Iida hard in the foot.

"ACK!" yelped Iida, angrily shoving Barry with both hands on a reaction. Barry gasped, falling onto his back as his crutches flew out of his hands. He felt a painful feeling spike in his spine as he hit the ground, eliciting a grunt.

Iida's eyes widened in horror, "Barry!"

Iida grabbed the crutched before helping Barry up by the arm, "Barry I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

Barry growled, pushing Iida to the side with one hand as he placed his crutches where they were supposed to be.

"Just...don't get in our way." said Barry, walking down the hall and away from a somber Iida.


Barry made it to his room, sitting down on his hospital bed and laying the crutches to the side. Lying down, Barry began to think about what had just transpired.

I'm doing the right thing, aren't I?

While it was clear that Barry wanted to save Bakugou, Iida's words unearthed a dark truth. Maybe, deep down, Barry wasn't teaming up to save Bakugou. Maybe he was teaming up as a way to use his friends to get to Thawne. Not only that, but if and when Barry caught Thawne, would he have the willpower to not succumb to his own hatred and murder him on the spot?

Barry wanted to have answers to these questions, but no matter how hard he thought about it, he could not arrive at a single conclusion.

Barry suddenly felt a presence in the room, watching over him like a shadow. Barry frowned, assuming it was Iida again trying to apologize.

"Go away Iida," said Barry, turning around, "you've already said your piec-"

Barry's eyes popped out of their sockets when he laid eyes on who was really watching him.

A golden angel.

She floated above Barry, her hair seemingly filling the entire room. She was clothed in a white and golden dress and had a yellow line painted across her eyes. She levitated to easily, her mere sight mesmerizing

"W-Who are you?!" said Barry.

"You know who I am Flash." whispered the angel.

Barry's mind raced.

How does she know my hero name?! Why does she look so familiar?!

As Barry continued to gaze at the angel, everything suddenly clicked.

"It's you!" said Barry, "You're Lisa Snart, The Golden Glider!"


A new chapter just one day after the other story gets updated! Oh yeah!

In all seriousness, I've officially entered quarantine. It's not complete chaos yet where I live but better safe than sorry.

On the positive side, you'll probably see more updates faster!

Reviews:

404: Thank you very much for the kind words! I'm planning to feature Deku more in upcoming chapters too!

Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

Aztec 13: Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

DCDGojira: Guess who's back?!

Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

DeadCool14: It's a slight AU on both ends, but nothing too drastic. Thawne can share his memories with anyone, but he rarely does it. Thawn's in his late 30's but looks like he's in his early 20's due to the Negative Speed Force. I'm aware that Thawne doesn't need the Cosmic Treadmill, but Thawne had just discovered his Negative abilites at that point and wouldn't exactly be aware of that fact (Plus I really wanted to recreate the iconography of the Red Death origin for that chapter!). I didn't know the facts about the JSA, so thanks for bringing those up!

Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

Jose Ramiro: Thanks for the feedback as always! :)

Guest: I plan on having a tech based solution to the fight with Thawne. I hope it satisfies!

Thanks for the feedback as always!

Next Chapter: Prepare for a rescue!