Cold rain hit hard against the umbrellas of the group. It made the grass in the cemetery mushy to walk through, made Henry's coffin just a bit damp too. The group huddled around the coffin and listened to biblical words in hopes of easing their hearts.

"...and comfort us today with the word of your promise as we return our brother to the earth, and leave us with the hope that, one day, we'll meet again."

Barry cleared his throat and forced his gaze to land on his father's coffin. All eyes were on him, waiting to say something right about Henry. "Um...my father's…" But the words failed him. His mind was racing but at the same time there were no clear thoughts, there was nothing he could say. "I can't do this right now."

Belén wrapped her arm around his and assured him it was fine. It was completely understandable. She would know. One year ago she stood in his place, burying her father (who was also murdered by a crazy speedster).

Joe took the lead and said the final words for Barry. "Henry Allen. Henry suffered two great losses in his life. He lost his wife, Nora, and he lost Barry. He suffered guilt, embarrassment, ridicule, shame, and everything that comes with being blamed for a crime he didn't commit. Henry Allen was proof that love can get you through the darkest of days, and that love will keep him alive in all of our hearts."

Barry left the umbrella to Belén as he went around to take a rose. He placed it over his father's coffin and sucked in a shaky breath. "I promise you I'm gonna take from him what he took from you."

The others exchanged worried glances from his words, but for the time being they would let him grieve.

~ 0 ~

Even though there was no desire to eat, Iris made sure to spread around a decent meal on her dining table. She gave Belén a cautious look when the ombre-blonde set down a stack of empty glasses. Belén quietly sighed and followed Iris' gaze to Barry, who had been staring out the window for the last fifteen minutes.

"I can't talk to him…" Belén confided in her friend, shamefully too. She tried countless times to get a word in but each time Barry would shut her down. He wasn't in the mood and though it was understandable it didn't make Belén feel any better knowing she wasn't able to help him.

Iris rubbed Belén's back comfortingly. Belén shook her head and gently pushed Iris' hand from her. "I'm not the one who needs comforting."

"Alright," Barry started coming back to them. "Guys, Zoom's still out there. We need to come up with a plan."

Cisco had a finger against his temple, obviously out of fresh ideas. "The man can crack open breaches to Earth-2. I mean, if he can do that, what else can he do that we don't know about?"

"Well, those breaches he opened have to be limited," Caitlin sat beside him at the table. "I mean, why else have a personal siphoner?"

"What if that was just a ruse for distraction?" Nina offered another suggestion. "Use a familiar face to keep us away from the real plan."

"A damn good distraction if you asked me," Shivhan muttered.

"And what would that real plan be exactly?" Veronica looked between the team for the answer.

"Right after he killed his time remnant, he told me I was 'almost ready'." Barry reviewed the last fight he had with Zoom and felt the burning fury of losing it.

"Almost ready for what?" asked Joe.

"I don't know."

"Yep. Classic psychopath. Why can't they ever just say what they want to do?" Cisco dropped a hand to the table and drummed his fingers against it. "We also have to figure out why I keep vibing Earth-2 being ripped to shreds. Seriously. It's like I'm watching "Transformers" in 4-D, but, like, ten times more realistic and with much better acting."

"Maybe it's your powers developing," Belén suggested with a light smile that lasted very little. "If that's the future then we need to stop Zoom before it actually happens."

Barry had been listening and paying attention as best as possible but ultimately decided it was just too much. "I'm gonna get some air, all right?" He made a hasty leave for the front door.

Belén went after him, telling the others to not interrupt them. She had to get him to talk to her one way or another. She tried doing the same thing last year, keeping everything bottled hadn't been the best of her ideas. She couldn't' let Barry fall into the same path.

Barry was sitting on the front porch when she finally stepped out. She was cautious as she approached him but at least this time she would hear his voice saying something besides "I need to be alone". "When I was in the Speed Force, I felt like I'd finally come to grips with her death, with not saving her when I went back. And then the moment where I'm finally at the place I can move on, my father's taken from me. How am I ever supposed to find peace with that?"

With a sigh, Belén took a seat beside him. "I get how you feel. We had a conversation like this a long time ago, remember?" She scooted closer to him and reached for his hand. "Accepting your parents' death is going to take time. But the key thing you have to do is to try to move on. Not fast, not on a schedule, but just...accepting and moving on."

"I just miss him so much already," Barry leaned his head on her shoulder. He was well aware of his recent distancing from her and now that he felt her warmth he felt like he could stick to her for the rest of the night and yet...there was still a part of him screaming that he needed to put some distance, not for him but for her. She'd been so kind to him these past days and he couldn't put himself together even for her. He was curt and he was distant. That wasn't a relationship and much less something she deserved.

"I'm so sorry, Barry," Belén whispered to him in the midst of his grim thoughts.

In their moment of silence, a blue glow zipped down the street and without any hesitation Barry chased it. Belén could've screamed for him to stop but there would be no point. He was going no matter what.

And in the end of that chase, Barry came to a solitary intersection where Hunter waited.

"Bad time, Flash? Thought I'd give you some time to mourn," he had the audacity to say.

Barry gritted his teeth together and barely kept his feet in place. "This ends now."

"Not yet," Hunter countered, wagging his finger. "There's always more to take, Barry."

"You're gonna stay away from them," Barry warned.

"Well, that's completely up to you."

"What?"

"When we first met, I told you that Zoom needed to be the best. You just didn't realize I was talking about myself."

Barry thought it completely ridiculous what he was hearing. "Is that what this is about?"

"A race, Barry, between you and me... to see who's the fastest. You win: this is over, and you get to be the hero."

"I'm not racing you."

Hunter made a shrug. "Then your father won't be the only person you love that I'll take from you. Think about it, Flash. All I want to know is who's the fastest man alive on either world. I'll be waiting."

He left the choice with Barry and disappeared.

~ 0 ~

"So...Zoom wants to race you?" Cisco wanted to make sure what he heard had been correct.

Barry found it hard to look at his friends without showing all the anger bubbling inside him. "He's obsessed with being the best."

"You know, that actually makes sense in a weird, twisted way," Belén swayed her head. "I mean, he's technically the fastest speedster in his world so naturally he'd want to come over here to our world and challenge the fastest speedster here...you."

"But that can't be everything he wants," Joe said, refusing to believe that it would all come down to this challenge. All the murders and pain that man caused was all to come to...a race?

Harry had already taken initiative and began doing some research. "It isn't. This Magnetar that's being developed by Mercury Labs…" He pulled up a schematic of the device for the others to see. "Turns out, it can act as a pulsar."

"What the hell is a pulsar?" Shivhan stared at the screen in confusion.

"It's a power amplifier with a highly magnetized, dense rotating core that can be easily weaponized."

"Well, that's not dangerous at all," Iris said.

"That's what happens to Earth-2," Cisco realized soon after. "What happens in my vibes is because of this machine."

"No, hold on, that thing is powerful enough to destroy a planet?" Veronica made a gesture for them to slow down. They had gone from talking about a simple race to...the destruction of the entire planet.

"A lot more than just a planet, if it has the right power source," Harry confirmed.

"Like what?"

"Like me," Barry said, still coming to terms with it. "That's why he wants to race. He wants to siphon the energy I create when I run."

"He wants to siphon the energy off both of you," Harry told him.

Caitlin thought for a second and remembered some important words of Hunter's during her awful time with him. "When Jay captured me, he said that he used to measure his success by counting the number of victims he had, but now he was gonna measure it by counting the number of Earths he conquered instead."

"He doesn't want to just destroy Earth-2; he wants to take out every other planet in the multiverse," Belén shuddered a breath at the thought. They'd gone from a race to the destruction of their planet and then the end of the universes.

"And how many of those are there again?" Nina looked scared to even glance at Harry for the answer.

"Infinite."

"Ah."

"If he can create a breach to Earth-2 all on his own...he can get to all of 'em," Joe said.

"One pulse to destroy them all."

Barry decided there and then. "I guess I don't have a choice. I have to race him. And I have to win."

~ 0 ~

A short time later - after Barry had gotten back in his suit and told the others he would be practicing in the pipeline - Caitlin had called Belén into a sideroom. Even though there was no one left inside the cortex, Caitlin didn't want to take a chance.

"What's up Caitlin?" Belén crossed her arms and watched as Caitlin sat down on the single desk.

Caitlin didn't say anything as she picked up a silver metallic device blinking red. She stared at it for a short minute before holding it out to Belén.

Belén's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What...is it?"

"Cisco helped me create the physical device and I combined my work with Barry's for the actual components. I-I think…" Caitlin took in a small breath, "...I think we finished it."

It took only a minute for Belén to realize what Caitlin held. "That's...the cure for Datura?"

A small smile slipped through Caitlin's lips. "It's not technically a 'cure'—" she made air quotation marks, "—but more like a conduit."

"A what-a-what now?" Belén took the device into her hands. She noticed there were needle-like parts sticking out at the bottom and the top, both encased with protective plastic.

"The way it's meant to work is for both of those—"Caitlin tapped the casing of the needles, "—to extract yours and Datura's DNA and sort of…" Belén was sure Caitlin was having trouble explaining in simple terms and felt for the woman. She always did need things simplified. "It meshes them together, rearranging them into the right sequence needed for Datura's body to become stable again. It'll hopefully get rid of those awful personas in her head."

"That sounded scientifically correct," Belén smiled. "So I inject this into the bitch and then it's over?"

Caitlin wasn't one for cursing so she went on like it never happened. "That's the idea."

"Great, except for one problem: she's surprisingly very good at hide-and-seek," Belén put the device on the desk.

"Well, yes...but we're even better at seeking," Caitlin turned to the computer and typed pretty fast. "Since Datura and Zoom are technically the last Earth-2 metas outside of the pipeline, it's a lot easier to find them."

"Eugh, definitely don't wanna find Zoom that fast," Belén mumbled.

"But if we use Harry's cellular deadzone trick, we can find both of them," Caitlin finished typing and gestured to the screen that had a blinking dot.

Belén leaned forwards and scanned the screen. "Bitch is really me," she mumbled with just a hint of a smile. "She's at the community theater."

"Was she a dancer before like you?" Caitlin truly wondered.

"Who knows," shrugged Belén as she straightened up. "But I guess we're going to find out." She grabbed the device and walked out of the room.

Caitlin came after her but both women were greeted with the grim faces of their friends. "What happened?" Caitlin asked them.

"We, uh...we may have done a thing…" Iris spoke slowly and nervously, her eyes constantly flickering to the others.

"What kind of thing?" Belén raised an eyebrow. She saw her mother standing very straight and confident. It was usually the face she did when she 'made a decision'. "Mom? What did you do?" Veronica opened her mouth several times, apparently finding it harder to speak than she anticipated. "Mom? What did you do?"

"It wasn't her, Belén," Shivhan said quietly, her eyes drifting over to the others but more specifically at Harry. "I'm pretty sure it was a unanimous decision."

"We made the decision," Harry sharply clarified.

"What decision?" Belén insisted, growing frustrated by the second. Silence irritated her the most.

"We put Barry in the pipeline," Harry said, showing not as much conflict as the others.

Both Belén and Caitlin blinked in surprise.

"Hold on...what?" Belén asked again. Caitlin decided to find out on her own and headed for the main desk. "Why would you do that!?" Belén exclaimed.

"Because he's going to get himself killed," Harry continued answering for the others. "We made the decision—"

"We did not make any decision!" Belén snapped. She glanced at Caitlin and saw the security camera showing Barry indeed inside a pipeline pod. "Oh my God," Belén frowned and headed for the pipeline.

"Belén!" Veronica shouted and immediately followed. The others quickly did the same. "Belén!"

Belén ignored the calls of her friends all the way into the pipeline. She smacked away Harry's hand when he tried to pull her hand from the pipeline control.

"You can't open it!" Harry warned her.

"Frikin watch me!" she shouted in his face and indeed opened the pipeline, bringing in Barry's pod.

"Belén, stop!" this time it was Iris who brought Belén back.

"Iris! Why—"

"Just...just let us talk to him, okay?" Iris had a significant expression sitting on her face. "Just listen to him...and then...and then see for yourself."

Belén thought she was crazy, but feeling the outnumbering pressure got to her. She turned around to face Barry who was coming out of the tranquilizer they'd injected into him.

On wobbly feet, Barry got up and planted his palms on the wall of the pod. "What are you doing? Why did you put me in here?"

"Because you're too angry right now," Joe began and Belén did the watching like Iris instructed. "You can't race him like that. Without a plan, you're... You'll lose."

Barry began the anger fuse in a second. "Keeping me in here is gonna get everyone killed. I'm the only one that can stop him; you know that."

"You race Zoom on his terms, you'll lose," Harry said slow and steady for Barry to understand.

Barry slammed a hand against the wall, startling Belén. "This is not your decision to make!"

"It is this time," Joe corrected him. "We all made it together."

Offence scratched at Barry's surface. He took in the guilty faces of his friends. "All of you?" he especially lingered on Belén.

"Barry, I…"

"She and Caitlin weren't there," Veronica beat her daughter to it.

"Bro, I went back and forth. I was, like, a good 60/40 at first…" Cisco wanted to explain but Harry cut him of.

"Ramon!"

"Yeah, yeah, we all made the decision," Cisco mumbled.

"Come on!" Barry exclaimed. He was riled up and slamming the walls of his prison. Belén watched him carefully as promised. "This is ridiculous!"

"Belén," Harry's sharp voice startled the woman in question. He had one hand hovering over the pipeline's control. "What's your call?"

"I…" Belén bit her lip nervously, feeling her heart rapidly beating with the decision resting on her. "I…" she sighed and put herself together, "Close it down."

"Belén!" Barry seemed stunned. "Don't do this!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry…" Belén hated hearing his screams as the pipeline was forced to shut.

He was completely out of it, delirious with anger...and that was a one way ticket to death. It was probably what Zoom was counting on. Barry's grief and endless anger combined together made for the perfect opponent. She couldn't let that happen.

~ 0 ~

"I can't believe I just did that," Belén was the first to speak after they returned to the cortex. It was heart-wrenching to see Barry in that position and much more to hear his screams.

"Believe me, it was for the best," Nina assured her. "I have seen my share fair of patients' families go down a similar road of rage and it never ends well."

"I have never seen him that angry before…" Belén trailed off and a small chuckle escaped through her lips, "Except for when he fought the Reverse Flash. Seems like we're always in these situations."

"Well this was just the easy part, ladies and gentlemen," Harry strode out of the side room with two large briefcases that he set on the table. "Now, using our plan to take down Zoom without Barry, that's gonna be the hard part, but it's gonna be a lot easier once we know where he is, Ramon!"

Cisco felt the sharp jab of that statement from the computers. "Chill, man! I'm working on it!"

"Well work harder!"

Cisco was proud to say he had found the location. "Got it. He's at the industrial park on Leawood. Give me that!" he high-fived with Jesse.

"What the hell is even the plan here?" Belén asked, shooting the group suspicious looks. "Since you were all so kind enough not to tell me and Caitlin beforehand?"

"It would be nice to know," Caitlin agreed quietly.

"The plan is Caitlin will distract Jay so that we—" Harry motioned to himself and Cisco, "—can hit him with the boot."

"You want to use Caitlin?" Belén stopped them right there, exasperated on behalf of Caitlin. "Are you out of your minds!?"

"It's the only logical way—"

"Don't you say that to me when I am standing right here," Belén warned him.

"Belén it's okay," Caitlin suddenly spoke up after dwelling on it for a minute in silence. It gave her a terrible feeling in hwe stomach but there was a fiercer determination to stop Zoom once and for all.

"What? Caitlin—"

"Honest, Belén," Caitlin patted her friend's arm. "Jay may be a monster, but there's a human inside of him somewhere. I've gotten to that part of him before. I know I can do it again. I want to stop him, Harry, for good."

"Alright, thanks," Harry gave her a nod. "So then after Caitlin does her distraction, Cisco's gonna open the breach, and we're gonna put him through it. I'll disarm the Magnetar."

"And what, pray tell, am I gonna do?" Belén wasn't liking this plan since it was basically pushing her aside.

"You are going to be on watch duty," Harry had an answer for her ready to go.

"Because she might be there," Veronica said. "I am not taking any chances again. Shivhan is going to be looking after you like a hawk."

Belén gasped indignantly at the idea and even shot a glare at Shivhan who'd been quiet all this time. "Seriously?"

"Sorry," she shrugged. "But she has a gun." Belén rolled her eyes.

"I'll be fine," Caitlin reassured Belén in the end. "We'll all be okay."

"One more thing," Joe stepped forwards. "We need to agree. We all made this decision together, so if anything goes wrong, we stick with it."

Everyone gave their re-confirming nods.

"Let's load up," Harry moved.

~ 0 ~

Harry, Joe and Cisco each took respective hideouts in the industrial park before 'Caitlin' was meant to call in Zoom. The women, ironically, were set in the STAR Labs van.

"I should be out there," Belén muttered for the fifth time to her mother. "I'm not five years old."

"Then quit whining like one," Veronica swiftly retorted, furthering her daughter's irritation.

"Okay…" Iris cleared her throat. "Are you guys ready?" she called in to the others through the comms.

"We got you," Harry dutifully responded.

"Caitlin?" Nina glanced at the brunette expectantly. She, much like Belén, wasn't exactly on board with the precise details of the plan. Her wound didn't allow her to get back in the meta field yet so she was on "watch duty" just like Belén.

"Yes," Caitlin was more than determined to finish this once and for all.

"Then all hands on board," Shivhan declared.

~ 0 ~

"Jay?" Caitlin called out to the meta. "Jay!"

Her voice drew him in within the second. He sped to stand across her in the open area of the park. "How did you find me?"

"Doctor McGee said the Magnetar was stolen from her labs. I knew that it had to be you, so I tracked you here," Caitlin played the part well. "I tracked you here, Jay. No one else knows." She paused for a second and contemplated her next words. "Datura let me go…"

"I know," Hunter said bitterly. "Woman knows how to hide. But that won't last long."

"But I'm here," Caitlin gestured to herself. "She let me go and I returned. I came back to you." She discreetly took several steps towards him and watched as he did the same. "You were right. There is a dark side of me. I'm...I'm more like Killer Frost than I thought...and I really didn't want to accept that. I tried to lock the darkness inside of me. But you knew that that was already a part of me now. And you're the only one who did. And now, I'm ready to accept who I really am." By this time, she had successfully drew Hunter close to her. "I am so sorry it took me this long to realize," Caitlin finished. "I want to be the one that only you know. Please, Jay. Let me try."

"I knew you would see the light, Caitlin," Hunter sighed. "But it's too late." Without hesitation, he struck a hand through her chest and came to the realization she was only a hologram.

Caitlin had never left the van.

There was a locking noise in the air and the next thing Hunter knew was his restraint to a metal dampener around his neck. Cisco, from above, shot a breech energy close to him and waited for Joe to finish it all. When Harry saw there was no finale, he took matters into his own hands and shot at Hunter with his own gun. It missed only slightly since Hunter was still stumbling with the metal dampener around his neck.

"Tranq him! Tranq him!" Harry shouted at Joe.

"Gun is jammed!" came the response. Joe grabbed the tranquilizers and made a run for Hunter. He jabbed the tranquilizers into both sides of Hunter's shoulder blades and stumbled back.

Harry came into the area again and shot at Hunter. The blow made Hunter fall into the breech, but it also caused for an easy snatch of Joe. Both men were gone within the second.

~ 0 ~

Iris intently watched Cisco vibe for her father's location and half knew the answer when Cisco sighed and pulled off his vibing goggles. Yet, she dared to believe. "Did you see my Dad?"

"No, the vibe keeps changing. It's like my brain is channel surfing or something," Cisco dejectedly found a seat nearby.

"They must be on the move," Caitlin theorized. "That's why the vibe's in flux. Keep trying."

Harry and Jesse came into the cortex wearing almost identical grim faces.

"Did you turn off the Magnetar?" asked Nina, though she knew the answer already.

"No, there's no messing with that thing. Whatever he did to it...we try and touch it, we try and move it…" Harry shook his head.

"This planet's done for," Belén said, extremely struggling to keep herself together.

"Belén, you should cal—"

"Mom, please, for the love of God, don't finish that," Belén warned her. She didn't want to hear how she should 'calm down'. There was absolutely no way to calm down. She had decided to go along with their plans and leave Barry in the pipeline because it was the best thing for him. But now he was still in the pipeline and Joe was gone. "We made the wrong decision and now Joe's out there. What the hell were we thinking?" She rubbed her forehead.

"Iris," Wally came into the room and almost immediately sensed the dense atmosphere. "What's...what's wrong?"

Belén released a loud breath, making no attempt to hide her mood. "We screwed up, that's what."

"Belén," Veronica spoke her daughter's name through gritted teeth.

"Okay, what's going on?" Wally demanded to know.

"We tried to stop Zoom by pushing him through the breach, but... he took Joe with him," Caitlin was the one to explain.

"Well, where's Barry? Did he go after him?" Wally asked but then noticed that the speedster in question wasn't there.

"He's not with us because we decided to put him in a cell," Belén felt terrible as she spoke the words. She was the worst girlfriend in the world, she was sure of it.

Wally wasn't sure if he was hearing right but once he got a better look at everyone's faces in the room, he decided that he actually heard right. "Wait, you... you tried to stop Zoom alone? Well, we have to get him back!"

Iris reached out for her brother's arm before he got going. "Wally, before Zoom took Dad, we all agreed that if we got him off this Earth, we would close the breaches for good, and we would never open them again, under any circumstances."

"Why...why would you do that?" Wally made frantic hand gestures in the air. "No! No way, that's not gonna happen!"

"He made us all agree to it," Iris said, doing her best to withhold her emotions.

"Well guess what? I didn't agree to that!" Wally snapped. "I already lost my mom. If Dad... I…" he trailed off, deeming things to be too much for him, and he stormed off.

"He's not wrong," Belén sighed. "We screwed up, and badly."

"We agreed to it—"

"Iris quit reciting that! We know you want to go and save him just as much as we want to," Belén surprisingly held her voice down for Iris' sake. "We all do!"

"But that's not what we agreed on," Harry meant no argument, just a simple reminder.

"And of it had been Jesse again?" Belén countered with. She saw the immediate glance to Jesse and sighed. "Or what if it had been Caitlin? Iris? Let's all be honest here, the promise we made was always going to be voided if something like this happened. Who were we trying to kid?"

Silence filled the room with mixtures of guilt. The only sound came from a blinking alert from one of the computers. Being closest to it, Jesse checked on it.

"Uh, hey, guys, Barry's not—" she got cut off by Barry himself who had sped in with Wally, "...in his cell anymore…"

Iris' irritation returned with her brother's disobedience. "Wally!"

"What?" the younger sibling turned to her. "I wasn't just gonna stand here and let this happen."

Barry had learned exactly what had happened from Wally and was rightfully angry. "You let him take Joe? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Allen, there was nothing we could do," Harry said with a repeated sigh.

Barry felt like a broken record repeating the solution. "You could've let me race him!"

"You're not racing Zoom!"

"What are you gonna do? Are you gonna tranq me again?"

"Don't tempt me!"

"Look, I know you guys made a pact to keep Zoom on Earth-2, but you did that without me and Wally. All right? You don't get to do that!"

"And you don't get to go die being reckless," snapped Belén and dared him to come back. "You are not okay, Barry—"

"My dad was just killed in front of me!"

"I know! We all do!" Belén upheld her loudness. She hated yelling at him, especially in moments like these but if she kept talking at a normal volume then she would never get through to him. "We've all lost someone to people who didn't deserve to play God. But you going out there, all angry and emotional won't help anyone."

"Look, Barry—" Caitlin took a crack at it, "—I know how cold and angry and distant that can make you. But when this happened to me, you were the one who kept me in check. You told me to stop and take a breath, and that's all we're telling you to do now."

Barry took in some air and spoke much calmer, abet still laced with frustration. "I'm telling you I'm good!"

Harry scoffed. "Really? You're good? Because it seems to me you want to do more than stop Zoom. It seems to me you want revenge. If that's why you're doing this, Allen, you will lose."

"Please, Barry," Belén begged in a whisper.

Barry mildly reconsidered after getting her look. "Look, you guys. I... you may not think I can do this. You may think I'm too angry. But we're running out of time! I have to beat him, and I'm going to, whether I have your help or not. So which one is it?"

Well, there wasn't much to think about after that.

Cisco vibed Barry to Zoom's old cave on Earth 2 to accept his racing challenge. The group at least had some relief to know Zoom would be bringing Joe back with him to their Earth. Now all they had to do is figure out a way to beat him.

Belén and Caitlin, however, were a little more focused on their side mission. Eventually, even Shivhan had drifted to their corner. Belén was already in her suit, holding the curing device tightly in her hands, and was talking to them about their situation when Barry approached them.

"What are you two doing?" he eyed them suspiciously.

Belén turned out and waved the device at him. "Caitlin did it."

Barry's eyes widened at the sight of the device. "Cait, you did it!?"

Caitlin sheepishly nodded. "With all our combined efforts, yes."

"I was thinking I'm going to do this myself," Belén informed and quickly added on when she saw Barry opening his mouth to argue, "It's the only way. Look, it's obvious I can't fight Zoom because of speed differences and you can't fight Datura because of, well, her face. We have to split up for if we really want to win."

Barry wanted to argue that she was wrong...but she really wasn't. It had been his weakness from the very beginning against Datura. He couldn't bring himself to physically hurt her, and it was obvious words weren't going to get through her. "You're right. But... please...be careful."

"She will be because she's not going alone," Shivhan declared just as Caitlin moved to stand beside her.

Belén shot both of them a wide-eyed look. "What?"

"Belén, we want to come with you," said Caitlin.

"Cait…" Belén had severe doubts of this new addition to the plan, but both women were ready to make their cases.

"You came to me for some back up all these months ago," Shivhan reminded her. "And you were right to because if you hadn't, I would still be trying to hide from her. I told you that I would help you wipe that smugness of her face and that's what I'm going to do today."

"It turned into my fight a while ago when Jay took me to Earth 2," Caitlin admitted. "We had conversations when we were back on this Earth. Cisco mentioned it before that maybe it was like an echo of our friendship coming out. Datura made some choices with me that...might be more of her human side. If I can tap into that and help you in any way that I can, Belén, I will."

Belén looked between the two women, searching for any trace of doubt in their eyes. She really didn't want either of them to come with her — she wanted to keep them out of harm's way — but she got the feeling that no matter what argument she made, they would outmatch her. "I am so very lucky to have you guys as friends."

"Yeah you are," Shivhan smirked, making them laugh.

"Dr. Snow, pack a weapon for yourself," Belén started. "I don't want you completely unarmed in case Datura gets any funny ideas."

"On it," Caitlin said and started off for their stash of weaponry.

"I'll...help her pick out something gnarly," Shivhan decided after getting the feeling she would be a third wheel in a couple of moments.

Belén watched them disappear and perhaps would've kept herself in that way if she didn't feel Barry placing a hand on her shoulder. They had yet to talk about the pipeline earlier.

"Bells, you have to be careful," Barry said.

She turned slowly to meet his gaze. "I will if you will," she countered with.

"I will...do my best," Barry promised. For now, that was all either of them could promise to each other.

"Barry, I'm sorry for locking you in the pipeline - well not that I had originally been in on it because Caitlin and I were still here actually. But, you know, I'm sorry for later deciding to lock you in. I was scared for you and us—"

Barry knew that if he let her, she would talk until her face turned blue. Her college nickname 'Motor-mouth-Belén' still made him laugh every now and then when it was brought up. He wished he could go back to those moments instead of what they had now: pure trouble. He cupped her face, stopping her in the middle of a phenomenal apology with a sound kiss on the lips.

Belén would take any opportunity like this whenever she could. Her hands snaked their way up to his face and stayed there because it was the closest she could have him in that moment. "Is that code for forgiveness?" she asked afterwards in a whisper. "Because I'm really sorry."

"I get why you did it," Barry told her, reassuring her that he wasn't upset with her. "I just hate that you needed to do it. It feels like these past few days, you've had to do deal with a lot because of me and I...I can't seem to get myself together, you know? I'm too hurt to do right by you."

"So?" she said, surprising him that she was that aware. "Your father just died, Barry. You can't pull yourself together right now. You have to mourn, you have to let time pass before you can ever claim some normality. I know that and I'm here for all of it — I'll be here for every stage of it."

"But you don't deserve that," Barry let his head hang with guilt. He felt it in the pit of his stomach that it would be a long time before he could ever be someone good for her again. She didn't deserve that at all.

"Stop thinking you know what I deserve," Belén said gently. "I know what I deserve, alright? Let me be here for whatever you need...just like you were there for me when my father died." He ultimately nodded but Belén felt like he still hadn't completely grasped her point. In fact, she felt like she was missing something and it scared her. For that, she wrapped her arms around him for a very tight hug. Suddenly, it wasn't all about the fighitng they would be doing soon...something was telling her to hold onto him before he disappeared. That was scary.

~ 0 ~

Everyone except Belén, Shivhan and Caitlin had returned to Zoom's hideout. Cisco was the first one to spot the magnetar in all its grandness right across them. It was lighting up in glows of white and yellow, giving it a similar appearance to a ferris wheel. But this was no ferris wheel.

"I tell you, Jay might be crazy-pants, but he can pick a venue," Cisco sucked a breath in after finally managing to tear his gaze from the magnetar.

Zoom sped in from behind, with Joe tight by the arm. "Brought the whole crew with you, huh? Can't say I blame you."

"Dad!" Wally nearly ran to his father if Iris hadn't grabbed hold of him.

"It's gonna be one hell of a show," Zoom promised.

Barry moved to stand in front of his friends. "Let him go."

"After we race."

"Cut the crap," Harry had a good aim on Zoom. "We know you plan to power up the Magnetar so you can destroy the multiverse."

"Bravo. You figured it out... almost," Zoom said, pulling off his mask. "I don't want to destroy all of it. This Earth is at the center of the multiverse. It's the access point to every other Earth in existence. One trans-dimensional shockwave, and... poof."

"Leaving just our Earth," Cisco narrowed his eyes. "How generous of you."

Hunter took the compliment. "Need to have some place to hang my cowl. You might want to say your good-byes." He sped off to take his place and leave Joe tied up somewhere to the side.

Barry turned to Iris and Wally, the most affected by far. "Don't worry. I'm gonna save your dad."

"No. You're gonna save our dad," Wally corrected him, encouraging him to go on.

~ 0 ~

Belén slowly crept into the community theater which, as of late, had been closed down for reconstruction after Zoom's metas had given it a good rundown. Shivhan and Caitlin, who held a small meta dampener gun, were right behind Belén. They made it past the hallways with no problem but saw a blinking light coming from the stage room. Belén warned the others to stay behind as they walked in through the back.

Even though the lights were dim, they could see a figure lying on their back on the stage. Said figure was humming to herself, wagging a finger in the air. Belén wasn't sure what to think.

Shivhan, however, had her thoughts perfectly lined up. "She's officially gone insane."

"Shh," Belén said quickly.

"'Insane' is much more difficult to fight, Belén," Shivhan warned.

"She's not crazy," went Caitlin, earning herself a look from Shivhan. "I'm serious. These personas bombarding Datura aren't making her crazy. She never was. They're overwhelming her to the point where she has to break at moments in order to not go crazy."

"Either way, she can't stay here," Belén took in a deep breath. It was time to go. She started making her way down steps leading to the stage. When Datura stopped humming suddenly, Belén balled a fist and prepared for a fight.

"It's funny what you end up thinking about in your last moments," the doppelganger spoke with ease. She stretched and arm over her head to point back at the silks dropping from the ceiling. "I dabbled in dancing before I went into biology."

"Your mom make you quit too?" Belén inquired, stopping midway down.

Datura snorted. "Mom? No. It was Dad. He said it was a useless talent."

"Been there done that…" Belén mumbled. "So that's why you're here then? Relive past moments?"

Datura supported her upper body with her elbows and gave Belén an "are you serious" stare. "I'm here because I can't get home, dumbass. I can't leave because everywhere I go Zoom will be there."

"So you want to go home?"

Datura licked her lips, clearly struggling to be that honest with her. "Well...when everything is done, when you're about to die...where do you want to go?"

Belén swallowed hard. "Home," she whispered.

"Yeah, except in my case I can't really do that all the way, huh?" Datura cocked her head to the side. Her husband was gone, her family thought her dead, and Poison Ivy was locked up right here on this Earth. Even if she did manage to go home, where would she go? "It's stupid but I'd rather not die by myself. Any chance you'd let Poison Ivy come out?"

Belén raised an eyebrow at her. Somewhere in the back, she was sure that Shivhan was snorting at the audacity of the woman. "Listen Datura, I know what you did for Caitlin, and I'm thankful for it," Belén said, eliciting a small sarcastic laugh in return.

"Spare me the "you're a hero within" speech. I'm dying, no reason to bring her down with me. Right Caity?" Datura purposely called out to Caitlin, knowing she was there in the room. "You can come out of the darkness, it's not like I'll shoot you. Maybe." Shivhan led Caitlin down a couple steps but she kept one arm in front of her in case Datura tried something. "Oooh, Black Orchid is here too," Datura sighed dramatically. "Must we do this?"

"No," Shivhan said. "You can go straight to the pipeline and make our night easier."

"I redid the cure. I'm pretty sure it'll work…" Caitlin started but Datura's eyes flashed red all of a sudden. Belén and Shivhan prepared themselves to block whatever attack Datura would send their way...but instead Datura started laughing.

"Hey, genius, instead of laughing why not be more grateful that someone still cared for your ass?" Belén snapped. Maybe Shivhan wasn't all that wrong about the 'insane' part.

Datura let herself fall back to the floor. Something new had popped into her head and it was delicious. It was brand new hope, a brand new adventure she was more than willing to go into head-first. One of her hands covered her forehead as she continued to giggle. "You don't get it. It doesn't matter anymore…"

"What are you talking about?" Belén asked. She glanced back at Shivhan and Caitlin, hoping that they — like her — had gotten the jist that they had missed something just then. Determinated, Belén jumped onto the stage to get closer to her doppelganger.

"None of it matters, idiot!" Datura snapped and sat up, flashing a smirk. "In the end, Barry's going to screw it up. The none rule breaker will break the ultimate rule."

"I don't know what you're talking about but this ends now!" Belén went to grab Datura but the doppelganger seized her wrist and threw her over. Shivhan rushed down the remainder of the stairs but Datura called her.

"Stay where you are before I forget my fondness for Caity!" the doppelganger slowly stood up and walked over to Belén who was trying to get up. She pushed a heeled boot on Belén's back, forcing her to the ground. "I said I wanted to die in peace and you can't even do that?"

"Who said you got to die in peace?" Belén groaned.

"I don't have anything, not even Poison Ivy anymore. I've accepted the loss, so do me the favor and just go."

"That's the problem. You don't get to just decide you lose. After everything you did?"

"Why bother sticking me with that cure when it's not going to matter in the end?"

Belén swiped am arm across Datura's legs and knocked her over. She jumped over the woman and began to wrestle for the device's injection.

~0~

Barry had come to stand beside Zoom, both in front of the magnetar. "What are the rules?"

"One lap around the inside of this loop will produce about 1 gigawatt of energy, and I need 500-plus to power the Magnetar enough to do the job," Zoom motioned to the spinning design of the magnetar. "Once it's full, I win, because there is no stopping it."

Barey did not consider such possibility. He gave the magnetar another study. "So all I have to do to beat you is stop you before that happens."

"Yep. It's that simple," Zoom agreed but almost laughed at the absurdity of the notion. "But if, at any point, you decide you don't want to race anymore, dear old dad number two is a dead man, as well as your little fan club."

"They're not my fan club. They're the reason that I'm running, why I'm gonna beat you," Barry corrected and got ready to run the race of his life.

Zoom scoffed at the bubble-filled statement. "Let's see what you're made of, Flash."

"Just say when, Zoom."

Zoom pulled his mask on and spoke in a demonic voice. "Run, Barry. Run!"

And the two speedsters raced.

~0~

Caitlin had taken multiple aims with the meta dampener gun but found it impossible to actually shoot since the two doppelgangers kept going back and forth. Shivhan tried intervening but the first two times she had accidentally struck Belén in the middle of their ongoing fight.

"Belén! You need to stay still!"

Belén was currently dodging electric bolts and so found the challenge a bit difficult to manahs. "Can't—" bolt! "—really—" bolt! "—do—" bolt! "—that! Ah!" The last shot had gotten her from the side.

Electricity crackled around Datura's arms as the woman walked towards her doppelganger. "If anything, before everything on this world gets screwed over, I can have the satisfaction that you lost." Her eyes were golden as her electricity.

"Is that what this is to you? Whether you win or lose?" Caitlin called out, turning her attention. "I knew you served Zoom but I didn't think you were actually like him."

The statement elicited a newfound wave of rage. Electricity was exchanged for the familiar frost. "I am not Zoom!" spoke Killer Frost who shot icicles in Caitlin's way.

Shivhan wielded a shield of thick tendrils to cover them. "I guess the truth hurts, huh?" She then threw her shield like a boomerang that took Datura against the back of the stage. "You're just like Zoom. It's no wonder the Green didn't want you in."

Belén heard the distinctive growl of fury as soon as Shivhan mentioned the green. It gave her an idea. Datura jumped back on her feet, sending her own vine tendrils towards Shivhan.

~0~

"He's powering up the Magnetar," Harry had seen the controls of the device glowing with a white sphere at the center.

Cisco felt a rush of insecurity as they witnessed Zoom get a gain on Barry in the race. "Come on, Barry. Catch up."

A bright, white light sprouted from the magnetar and went right into the sky, ripping a hole that would soon create the breeches to the other worlds. But at the same time, the team saw Barry split into two.

Jesse tried following the original but ultimately lost track. "Which one's Barry?"

"Both of them. He made a…" Harry began and Cisco finished with him.

"...time remnant."

~ 0 ~

Shivhan delivered a punch followed by a second one across Datura's face. She pushed her foot against Datura's stomach then lunged on the doppelganger.

Caitlin tried once again to take aim but — just like when Datura fought Belén — Shivhan was in the way. "I can't get a clear shot!"

Datura sent Shivhan toppling over a prop table with a streak of energy. "Oh Caity, be honest, could you really shoot me?" She turned to face the brunette who was now gripping her weapon. "

"I shouldn't need to," Caitlin walked down the theater steps. "Because there's no reason for you to deny our help. It's what you wanted, no? That's why you nearly murdered our friends, why you kidnapped Belén's family?"

"I've got nothing anymore!" Datura frantically snapped. "My kind have been eradicated and the metas who survived - like Poison Ivy - is in your stupid maximum security prison right now! And excuse me if it sounds cliche but I don't like being alone."

Caitlin stopped and lowered her gun without realizing. "Just like Belén…"

~ 0 ~

Zoom had pinned Barry to the ground, never noticing that the other time remnant had switched to running around the magnetar's monitor control. "A remnant? Stole my trick, Flash. But you're too late. Bye-bye, multiverse!"

Barry didn't take his taunt and kicked Zoom backwards. As the man stumbled, Barry took his chance and gave in some hard (well deserved in his mind) punches.

"What's the time remnant doing?" Iris had to speak louder for the others to hear.

"He's creating his own pulse…" Harry replied, the idea still coming to him.

"Why would he do that?" Cisco focused explicitly on the time remnant.

But Harry had finally figured it out. "Because... if that's out of phase—" he pointed to the magnetar's monitor, "—it'll counteract that one!" He directed his finger to the magnetar itself.

"Wait, his body can't handle that!" Cisco soon realized.

Jesse raised an eyebrow. "Then what's gonna happen?"

"He'll die," Harry replied in a grim tone. The others behind him quickly turned their attention to the time remnant, who in all but five seconds, disintegrated into nothing.

Zoom saw his magnetar device shutting down. "NO!"

Barry lunged on him and delivered several punches before Zoom got an upperhand from coursing rage. The two speedsters went up the walls, going back and forth striking for blood. Barry pushed through and struck Zoom down against a street water metal object. Without giving a chance for breath, Barry flipped Zoom over then ripped a part of Zoom's mask off. The anger was still raw enough to push him without giving his brain time to catch up.

Zoom chortled darkly as Barry held off a vibrating hand in the air. "You're a hero, Barry. You couldn't kill me before. You won't kill me now."

Barry held his breath when he heard a familiar screeching in the air. A time portal had opened up to release two Time Wraiths. "I don't have to," Barry smirked and stepped off Zoom.

The Time Wraiths came straight for Zoom and the moment their clawed hands touched him, he began to scream. His skin morphed into a mummified figure. He was picked up like a ragdoll and carried right into the speed force, leaving a terrified group behind.

But Barry would watch on with a form of satisfaction that, at the same time, wasn't as fulfilling as he thought it would be.

~ 0 ~

Datura had gone after Shivhan, giving Caitlin only a brief moment to catch her breath. It was, though, the brief moment Datura should've kept guard over Caitlin and Belén.

"It's over Caitlin," Datura spat as she hopped down the stage towards Caitlin. Before she took two steps, Belén started throwing matter of chloroplasts at her. The first one smacked Datura's back and threw the woman into the first row of seats. Belén threw two more to Datura's wrists.

Datura's wrists crackled with electricity as she broke through the makeshift binds. As she was turning around, Belén fired a series of thorns her way. Rose thorns. Datura managed to conjure up a vine shield but not after getting a series of stabs on her arms first.

"How could a metahuman who comes from Mother Nature be this toxic against her own sisters?" A female voice had spoken through Belén's lips and if Datura had been part of the Green, she would've known that it was Rose Red.

Datura's face was scrunched up in utter confusion, as was Caitlin's from her spot. "What?" Datura only lowered her shield for a second before Belén struck the thickest tendril of vine she ever had — and Caitlin would know considering she and the others monitored Belén's abilities. Datura's body was swept up in it and the more she writhed against it, the more she could feel bark splintering through her suit.

"That's Swamp Thing," she (and Caitlin) heard Shivhan say from her spot. She was only now pulling herself up from the pieces of the prop table she landed on. She seemed to be almost laughing. "Belén pulled out the big guns — Datura, meet your brothers and sisters. Belén's channeling them because none of them like you. None of them want you terrorizing people with our botanical powers, powers meant to be used for peace."

"Bring...it...on!" Datura's eyes flashed a wicked brown. The ground underneath them rumbled as if an earthquake was striking but instead of that, chunks of the ground began rising. She was controlling the pieces and managed to throw one directly behind Belén. As soon as the cement struck her, Belén was forced to let go of her doppelganger as she landed hard on the ground. "I don't care how many of you there are, I don't need you. Poison Ivy told me that. I have never needed the Green—" she spat the name with disdain, "—to help me."

"Such a shame that Poison Ivy did to you what she does best. She poisoned you," Belén had looked up at her, her voice her own this time. "Because I talked to the Green, you know? You actually had a chance but you let yourself get poisoned. You let somebody tell you who you were supposed to be and that's not even Poison Ivy's fault. It's yours. Because you're weak and you always have been. That's why you let yourself get carried into the darkness." A new type of fury crossed Datura's face as Belén went on. "It was always there. You left your husband because you were scared of who you were becoming and that was your first mistake. You were too weak to admit that you needed help. I'm not the runt of our doppelgangers, you are. I'm sure that my doppelgangers have had the courage to speak up when they needed help. Me? I rise up to the challenge. You? You run away."

Datura's body actually shook with anger. "You're going to regret that — even when this all goes to hell, I'm still going to take satisfaction knowing that I killed you." She struck a hand forwards and shot a streak of acid that burned Belén's right arm. With her scream, Datura took her chance to strike again with a fire of red energy bolts. Shivhan rushed forwards when Belén fell against the stage. "Back off Orchid!" Datura punched a fist into the air and with it rose another part of the stage ground to force Shivhan back. She then grabbed a piece of the broken stage ground and twirled it between her fingers. She didn't hesitate to plunge it into Belén's chest, just above her heart actually. Belén screamed against and struggled to yank the piece out.

"There we go," Datura bent down in front of Belén. "The start of the end."

Belén stopped struggling with the embedded piece and focused on ending that smug face once and for all. "You're...actually right." Belén revealed Caitlin's device and stabbed one end on her palm then smacked it over Datura's shoulder to embed the other end.

The device whirred to life instantaneously. A golden stream of colors was extracted from Datura while a green glow came from Belén. The two doppelgangers felt the immediate pain followed through. Datura, however, seemed to be taken a worse hit. Her eyes began to flash from gold to scarlet red to frosty blue and so on. Electricity began to spark from her body and into the device. Belén felt the wasps of electricity and hissed louder and louder until it became a true scream, coupled with the pain she already had from her wound.

Caitlin rushed towards them but there was an explosion that made her fall back. A bit of smoke emerged from the doppelgangers as far as Caitlin could see. She waved her hand in the air and coughed as the smoke drifted towards her.

"Belén? Belén! Are you okay?" she called out and used the chairs beside her to get up. Without thinking, she shot the meta dampener neckbrace at Datura who was out cold.

Datura was outcold but Belén was coughing from her spot. "Someone...get this off me." She waved her burned palm over the wooden piece in her chest.

~ 0 ~

When all was said and done, the cortex became a much lighter, happier way. Even though Belén sported a wicked wound, she felt much better knowing that Datura resided in the pipeline along with the rest of her Earth 2 meta-comrades. Now she just had to understand exactly what Barry had done to defeat Zoom.

"Okay, so you ran back in time and made a copy of yourself?"

"Well, uh, basically…" Barry gave a small nod. He already had to explain that to Wally but since Belén was coming off some meds, he didn't mind explaining it all over again. "It's not something that I can do every day, but I needed a way to draw the Time Wraiths out of the Speed Force, hoping they'd be more upset at what Zoom had done than they'd be with me.

Wally was still comically staring at him.

Joe motioned Iris to come over to his side. He was struggling not to laugh. "Is that what I look like when they start talking about science?"

"Pretty much," she confirmed.

Joe laughed. "Don't worry, Wally. It'll get easier to understand."

"Don't lie to the boy, Joe," Belén shook her head from her chair. "I've been dating that—"she jerked a thumb at Barry, "—for almost two years now and half the time I still don't get what he's talking about."

Barry playfully rolled his eyes at her. "It's actually not that complicated, Bells. I just ran back in time moments before I left. It's the only way I can be in two places at once."

"Yeah after about an hour of scientific explanations," Belén took her shot and crossed her arms, only to feel the fresh jab of her chest wound. She quickly dropped her arms to her sides.

"Okay, so the time remnant, it's still you?" Wally once again made a question.

"Yeah," Barry nodded.

"But...he died," Nina didn't want to remember in what way the time remnant had died. "He...he willingly died."

"Uh...he was willing to sacrifice himself for all of us."

"Respect," Shivhan said nodded.

"Brave," Belén reached for one of Barry's hands. "But I am so glad that in the end you're okay, that we're all okay."

"Some of us better though." Barry absolutely hated what Datura had nearly done to Belén. He already had the argument that he should've been there but Belén easily shut him down. It just didn't mean that he had gotten over it yet.

Harry's and Cisco's argument from the sideroom started carrying over. The two were trying to get the metal mask off Zoom's third prisoner but were having a challenging time.

"Are you ready?" Harry asked once the group heard a locking noise from said mask.

"One, two…" Cisco counted.

They lifted the mask off the prisoner and were stunned to find the results.

"Ugh. I don't know what's more annoying, being in that thing or listening to you two arguing about it," the prisoner retorted with a raspy, unused voice. Neither Harry nor Cisco responded and so the prisoner got up from the chair to meet the others.

Harry's and Cisco's faces matched theirs too. Even Belén had risen from her chair in shock.

No one took it worse than Barry. "Um... you're…"

"I'm Jay Garrick, the real Jay Garrick," the prisoner introduced himself. Underneath the dirty, bearded exterior, the doppelganger of Henry Allen was quite distinctive. "What?"

Barry's mouth opened several times before he could say a few words. "I'm sorry. I... I'm sorry." He rushed out of there without looking back once. There was a dense feeling left in the room, and in an attempt to lighten it Belén suggested they help Jay get cleaned up.

"I'm just gonna...go get my medicine," she promptly excused herself to go find her missing boyfriend. It didn't take that much searching to find him in the corridor.

"He looks just like him. He looks just like my dad!" Barry was practically bawling. "I can't believe this. My dad told me. He told me this. He said his mom's maiden name was Garrick. I just never thought that that meant…"

"You couldn't have known," Belén grabbed him by the shoulders, ignoring the jab of her wound again.

"I never thought it meant…"

"Barry, he doesn't know that. He doesn't know that he's your dad's doppelganger, okay? If you want me to tell him that you had to leave I'll do it," Belén promised. "The others will back me up on it."

Barry shook his head, deciding he had to face him. "I just...I just need a minute." That was a lie, he needed much more time.

Belén cleared some of his tears from his face. "It's okay. We're here for you," she reminded and hugged him.

Her wound needed to shut up because she was not letting go of him anytime soon.

~ 0 ~

It turned out Zoom had taken Jay's real suit to fit the persona he was modeling. Jay had been cleaned and shaved, now looking identical to his Earth 1 doppelganger.

Cisco stopped beside him to show him the mechanics of Zoom's metal mask. "So the reason you didn't have your powers is because there was a dampener in the mask. You see?"

Jay took the mask and eyed it with disdain. "I don't want to see this thing ever again."

Cisco's eyes widened as Jay destroyed the mask with a vibrating hand. "So your powers are back."

"So Hunter stole your color scheme too, huh?" Nina questioned. "Was he at all original?"

Jay shrugged. "He took a lot of things that were mine, except for that," he nodded to the familiar helmet with wings. "That's, um...that's all him."

"He said it was his father's from the war," Caitlin explained, her words laced with bitterness.

"Ironically, on my... on our Earth...this helmet stood for hope," Harry shook his head.

Jay took the helmet into his hands and turned it over. "Yeah? Yeah. Well, maybe I can continue that sentiment, take something from him for a change, make it my own."

"It suits you," Iris smiled lightly at him.

"Thank you, all of you, for saving me from Zoom, especially you, Flash."

Hearing his name, Barry stiffened. He gave a firm nod and even managed to say something in one go. "You're welcome, Flash."

Jay out the helmet on and gave it a sturdy turn. "Now all I have to do is find my way home."

"And where's that, exactly?" Veronica asked.

"I think you would call it Earth-3."

Cisco made a playful, serious face. "Uh-huh. Well, I can get you to Earth-2?" He would need a lot of practice before he could go to any other Eart.

Harry shook his head at Cisco's antics. "My daughter and I can help you with the rest."

Jesse perked up at her father. She had been so sure he would decide to stay on Earth 1. "We can?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, we can. We're going home."

~ 0 ~

Cisco had gotten ready to breach the travelers in the breech room. Now all they were waiting for were the actual travelers.

Harry was the first to show. He had a backpack strapped and his cap that he had when he first arrived. "Okay. Snow?" he stopped by the brunette. "You're a tremendous scientist, but... you're an even better person."

It wad impossible for Caitlin not to get emotional. She gave him a big hug. "Don't make me cry, Harry. I've done enough of that already."

"Belén?" he moved onto the next. "You are nothing like your doppelganger. You never could be."

Belén gently patted her hand over her chest - the non-wounded side - and smiled. "That is the best compliment you have ever given me, Harry." She ended up smiling, borderlining a laugh, as she hugged him.

Harry took it then moved to Joe. "Detective Joe West…you have great kids. You take care of them."

Joe shook hands with him and even hugged too. "Same to you. You take care of that beautiful girl."

"Yes, sir," Harry saluted and switched to Veronica.

"Sorry I shot you," the woman easily said.

"Forgiven," Harry assured and the two shared a smile.

"If you find my doppelganger can you make sure she doesn't turn out evil?" Nina asked. "I feel like I'm the only one with a chance."

"Yeah, because I'm already dead in that world," went Shivhan.

"If it helps, you were one of the good metahumans," Harry said. Shivhan smiled lightly. It kind of did. "Hey," Harry finally stopped with Barry. "I'm a better man than I was when I got here, and that's 'cause of you."

Barry genuinely smiled. This Wells had been nothing like the first he'd met. It was definitely life changing. "I'm not the same either."

Cisco moved over when they finished hugging. He spoke in a dead serious voice, though they weren't exactly what he'd been meaning to say. "Hey, don't be surprised if I project myself over to Earth-2 every once in a while, you know, just to throw your stuff across the office."

Harry still understood the translation. "I'll miss you too, Cisco."

Wally discreetly moved closer to Jesse with Iris at his side for cover. "So I guess I can't text you from another Earth, huh?"

Jesse meekly shrugged. "I guess not."

"That's too bad…"

"Thank you guys, seriously, for saving our home," Jesse told the group as a whole.

Jay had the two come closer so that he could hold onto them when it came time to run into the breech. "Ready?" he asked them.

"Yeah," answered both father and daughter.

Cisco took that as his cue and opened up the breech connected to Earth 2's STAR Labs.

In a second the trio were gone.

~ 0 ~

With their winnings collected, a proper celebration was a must. The West residence turned into the host for such celebration. Iris came with a bottle of wine and some glasses. She passed down the glasses to Nina and Shivhan who then handed them to Belén and Caitlin.

"I say some toasting is in order," Iris began pouring wine into each glasses with hers being the last.

"You should see the way your Dad is looking at you right now," Nina barely hid her laugh as Iris sent her father a clean smile. Joe shook his head, smiling nonetheless, and returned to his conversation with Veronica.

"Celebration," Iris argued with her own laugh.

"You have no idea how good it feels not to have your doppelganger breathing over your shoulder," Belén pretended to shiver. "I really am Damon Salvatore in that I never want to hear the word 'doppelganger' ever again."

"Seriously," Shivhan said. She cleared her throat suddenly, her face losing the playfulness of the conversation. "Um, before we get deeper into the night and possibly drunk, I need to tell you something..." She had spoken loud enough to attract the attention of the others and it was exactly what she was intending on.

"What is it?" asked Belén who glanced at the others in case they already knew what Shivhan was going to say. It didn't appear that way.

"Belén when you first found me I wasn't doing so great. I was a bartender moonlighting as a vigilante but I wasn't a good one."

"Don't say that. You were trying to protect people..."

"Yeah but I wasn't good," Shivhan clarified. "Cisco knows this..." Even though the man in question didn't know exactly where Shivhan was going with her announcement, he stepped forwards in support. "I dropped out of college because of my powers. I had a life before all this started. I was an art major and I was top of my class. I left everything because I needed to work on controlling my powers and when I finally did...I was too scared to go back." She gripped her glass like her life depended on it. "After everything that's happened, I think it's time to face my own past. If I faced Datura and God knows the other metas we've come across...this should be a lot easier."

"Where are you going to go?" asked Belén.

"For starters I'm moving back in with my parents. I really miss them," she admitted with shiny eyes. "Seeing you guys with your own families made me realize that I've been missing out on a lot with my own parents."

"Shivhan, you know you're part of this family," Cisco said and earned a small, soft smile in return.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "And I want to be. I'm going to go back to school and finish what I started there. Maybe even call Melody."

"Shivhan you do what you need to do," Belén said. "And if you want to come back, you know where to find us." Shivhan nodded. "Thank you so much for helping me. Without you, I would have never been able to defeat Datura."

"I think you would have," Shivhan said. "You are the best of us. The Green knows it and so do we." She move over to hug Belén tightly. Promises were made to keep in touch and visit every so often.

By the time Shivhan went around giving the rest of her goodbyes, Belén had realized there was one more person still left on that list. But, he had left the living room without being noticed.

When Belén walked out to the front porch, Barry was already in deep thought, leaning against the porch pillar.

"I can't stop thinking about my dad's doppelganger," he admitted. "Seeing him, knowing that he's out there, that should've made it easier. It doesn't. It just made me miss him even more."

"Doppelgangers don't make anything easy," she said apologetically.

He turned around to her, revealing a very distressed expression. He was frustrated. "We just won. We just beat Zoom. Why does it feel like I just lost?"

"Because you had a major loss along the way," Belén didn't feel like he needed a reminder but...perhaps to put things in perspective for him. "And it's okay if you feel like that. Please don't think you're in the wrong and that you should be completely happy right now." She wrapped her arms around him and chuckled when he swayed her a bit, turning so that her back was against the porch pillar. She leaned up and kissed him for a minute. "You know, my Mom mentioned that it's time for Axel to come home from Italy. Why don't we go pick him up?" Barry blinked at the suggestion. "My family in Italy would love you. I know my Nonno would for sure. It could give you some time away from this place. I'm sure Cisco and Nina can hold the fort here."

Barry truly considered that idea, for her, but he ultimately decided that he couldn't do that to her. She offered him a chance of distraction, but something inside him told him that he couldn't lie to himself. He had been thinking that he wasn't someone good for her and he wasn't going to lie and say that he hadn't thought of a possible solution. He knew what he wanted to do. "Bells...I can't. I...I feel so hollowed out inside right now. I feel more broken than I've ever felt in my life. If I'm ever gonna be worth anything to you, I need to fix what's wrong with me. I need to find some...some peace."

Belén saw clear guilt in his eyes, like he was doing something wrong. She cupped his face and made him listen. "You have helped me in so many ways that I don't think I could ever repay you in this lifetime. If you need space - on your own - then take it. I am not going anywhere."

She kissed him again but he took it with a different meaning, an unknown meaning to her. He kissed her hard and held her as tight as he could without hurting her chest wound. The next time he saw her, things would be different...if he saw her again.

"Bells, do you remember when you asked me if I believed we would find each other in whatever world we were in?"

Belén didn't find the relevancy in the question but nonetheless answered. "Yes." He had asked her that when he had the opportunity to change the time lines and because he was afraid of losing her, he had asked her that same question. "Of course I do."

Barry held onto her hands tightly, his gaze somewhat shifty. "Do you still believe that?"

Belén nodded again. "We've seen it," she smiled. "Our Earth, Earth 2, Earth 31. I get the feeling that we would find each other in any world. You and me, and throw in an adoptive alien daughter in some of those worlds too."

Barry matched her smile and moved one hand to stroke her face. "Thank you. I love you, Belén."

"I love you too," she said. She took his hand from her face and kissed it. "You know where to find me," she smiled and kissed his cheek before heading back inside. Though as she walked away from him, she got the feeling that she missed something. Her mind drifted back to the moment where she had felt the same thing earlier. The scary feeling came back to her and even more so when she thought of Datura's words.


"None of it matters, idiot!" Datura snapped and sat up, flashing a smirk. "In the end, Barry's going to screw it up. The none rule breaker will break the ultimate rule."


"Why bother sticking me with that cure when it's not going to matter in the end?"


She had no psychic powers like Datura did but she did have a gut feeling. What if Datura hadn't been saying nonsense?

Belén came to a stop in front of the door and looked over her shoulder. She could feel Barry looking at her and for some reason she couldn't bring herself to face him. "Datura knew something about you," she whispered. "Something that you were going to do."

Barry's heart ached. "Yeah?"

Belén nodded. "She said it didn't matter what I did because you were going to do something that would screw it up. What are you going to do, Barry?"

Barry swallowed hard. "I just want the pain to end."

"That space...exactly how far is it?"

Barry's courage to tell her the truth was fleeting. He would never have the courage to tell her face to face. "I hope it's the best for both of us."

Belén felt the gust of his wind trail and when she turned around, she only saw a glimpse of his lightning streak at the end of the street. He was going too fast. Barry pushed away any guilt, telling himself it was worth it. Everything would be fine. It would be. It would be. It had to be.

Time was about to be rewritten.


Author's Note:

To be continued in...Make You Stay.

And that, ladies and gents, concludes season 2! What's this, Datura knew what Barry would do? And possibly how it's going to end? Uh-oh ._.

This was by far one of my favorite stories to write and I have to say that the next story is right next to this one in terms of favoritism. I am going to warn that I did steer from the ultimate plot but still kind of stayed true to it (you'll understand if you continue reading the next story).

**So I'm trying to come up with a name for this series and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas? I don't know if I'm clever enough for the task xD. SO far I've thought of like "Azaleaverse" instead of 'Arrowverse'? I'm asking because I'll eventually post another Barry/OC story and I want them to be separated from each other. So, any suggestions are well appreciated!

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

For the review:

acekiller157: Thank you soo much! I admit I was always nervous with the ending I had planned for Datura in this story because it's not really an "ending, ending" but it still wraps up her story here (hope this makes sense and if not, it'll become more apparent in the next story). I always cry when I remember Henry's scene (zoom can suck a truck for that one .) Hope you liked the chapter and move onto the next story (book 3!) with me!

Some fun facts for this story:

1. In the dream world from chapter 12, Belén gives a list of girl names (Ruth, Alya, Ximena, Valerie, Aileen, and Everly) for her and Barry's unborn daughter and one of those names is actually the real name I have given their future daughter. Bet you guys can't guess which one it is ;)

2. Shivhan was originally meant to be a one-off character but I liked her so much that I made her a recurring character. Maybe we'll see her around for story #3, who knows!

3. Before re-editing the story, the Green never made an appearance. I literally learned about it as I was editing, along with Black Orchid and Red Rose (though she is from Marvel but shhhh)

4. I originally considered leaving Belén and Barry broken up to then add the Barry/Patty arc and, you know, angst but I decided not to go down that road. I thought they both suffered enough in season 1.

5. I want to say I added about 4 extra original chapters after re-editing which is why it took me a longer time to update this story.