A/N: I know I'm already doing another story and that there're already a bunch of stories with Barry going to the MCU stories but I still wanted to do this. Please note, this has nothing to do with my Worlds and Heroes Unite story for those of you who've read it, I have deleted that story. Also, I'm not gonna have Barry leaving Earth One for the MCU in this chapter. I'm gonna wait a few chapters and I actually plan on having Barry go to the MCU intentionally.
This story takes place the night after the events of the Invasion! crossover. Let's just say Cisco didn't yet forgive Barry for Flashpoint in this story. Just letting you know that way, no one's confused about the timeline or anything. This story was also inspired by Stand with Ward and Queen's Torn between two earths, Raptor2216's Worlds Collide, Heroes Clash and CarVie16's Unforgivable. Anyways, one with the story!
"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein.
S.T.A.R. Labs
Night
Barry was at the doorway of the med bay of S.T.A.R. Labs. On the bed, Wally West was laying down unconscious and sleeping. The med bay was quiet save for the sounds of the EKG beeping and Wally's low breathing. Barry continued staring blankly at Wally, wearing a face of guilt while he was at it. This was all his fault and he knew it: Flashpoint, Alchemy, Killer Frost inside Caitlin, Dante (Cisco's brother) dying, Joe's relationship with Iris being more damaged than ever before. It was too long a list for even Barry to comprehend. Why did he do it? Why did he go back in time and screw the timeline over? Why couldn't he have resisted? Barry wanted desperately to undo Flashpoint, to fix everything but he couldn't, if he tried, he would only make things worse. That is, if they weren't already. Cisco, Barry's best friend (or rather, former best friend, now-turned-person-who-hated-him), detested if not completely hated Barry. Caitlin struggled to control Killer Frost, a psychopath meta/alter ago trapped inside her, waiting to crawl out.
At this point, Barry just couldn't think about it anymore as his head fell into his hands. He was exhausted, he had a long day and what he needed was some sleep, not another meta from Alchemy creating chaos in Central City again. Then, Barry overheard footsteps coming from behind him as he turned his head to see Joe standing behind him.
"How is he?" Joe asked, sounding more concerned than ever before.
"He's stable." Barry replied. "He should be up tomorrow morning."
"Are you okay, Barr?" Joe asked, noticing that something was off about Barry.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Barry lied. "Just tired, had a long day, even for a speedster."
"You sure?" Joe asked as Barry had to concede and tell Joe the truth.
"Honestly, I feel like this is my fault." Barry confessed. "All of this, Dante, Killer Frost, now, Wally having powers. Tomorrow, it'll be twisted versions of me from an alternate earth coming here."
"Barr." Joe said, putting a hand on Barry's shoulder. "This isn't your fault, son."
"Well, seeing as all of this was caused by Flashpoint, which I created..." Barry said in self-hate. "...I think it would be accurate to say that this is my fault. Now, Caitlin has dangerous powers. Cisco's brother is dead and he detests me for it."
"Son, Cisco will forgive one day." Joe assured.
"Yeah, he will." Barry sighed.
Joe looked at his adoptive son with sadness, in all his years he spent raising Barry, he never saw him so out of hope, so pessimistic. Barry was always the kind of person to have hope, to have faith, to be optimistic. And now, it was as if the past few months had completely drained Barry of that. It was one thing for Barry to be saddened and guilty, it was another for him to be out of hope.
"Anyways..." Barry said. "...I'm gonna go check on Caitlin."
"Yeah." Joe said, moving out of Barry's way as the young speedster walked out of the med bay.
Barry left the med bay, entering the cortex of S.T.A.R. Labs as he immediately spotted Cisco, sitting in the middle seat. Cisco was blankly staring at a computer, which was running a satellite scan all over Central City, just in case Alchemy had created any more Metahumans from Flashpoint. Barry didn't say anything to Cisco, neither did Cisco to him. Barry knew that his friendship with Cisco was beyond repair, especially after what he had done with Flashpoint. Barry opened his mouth to speak but no words came from it as he turned his back and left the cortex. Cisco heard Barry's footsteps receding, indicating that his old friend was leaving the cortex. In the past, Cisco would've called out to Barry and try to repair his friendship but now, he wasn't so sure.
Barry left the cortex as he walked down the halls of S.T.A.R. Labs, he then stopped at the Speed Lab where he saw Caitlin, standing behind the railing, looking over one of the computers.
"Hey Cait." Barry called out as Caitlin lifted her head to meet Barry's gaze.
"Hi Barry." Caitlin said simply before looking back down at the computer. "Can I help you?"
"I, uh, I was just coming to see how you were doing." Barry said. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Caitlin said, looking away from the computer and at Barry as she stood straight on her feet. "It's a good thing I have these cuffs on me."
"You don't always need them."
"You know that's not true."
"That's not what I mean. What I'm saying is that you could learn to control your powers."
"You mean, like, having Killer Frost out in the open?"
"You don't have to add the 'killer' part. You could use some other name: Frost, Ice, Ms. Freeze, Sub-Zero. Something like that."
"Not happening, Barry." Caitlin said quickly as Barry couldn't help but feel some form of hostility in Caitlin's tone. "I mean, it's too dangerous for Killer Frost to be out in the open. So, can we please talk about literally anything else."
"Okay." Barry said, not wanting to push Caitlin over the edge. "What about Cisco? You think he's gonna forgive me after Flashpoint and Dante?"
"Give it time." Caitlin said encouragingly as Barry lightly smiled. "He'll forgive you."
"On the bright side, you're not giving me the cold shoulder."
"Barry, just because I don't give you an angry glare doesn't mean I'm not angry."
Barry's smile immediately dropped at Caitlin's words. It was clear that their moment of grace was over but Barry hoped that it wasn't.
"Do you even know what it was like?" Caitlin asked, hostility coming from her tone, something Barry wasn't very fond of. "Preying on the powerless and the weak? Being a god? Having all that power? I wanted it. I enjoyed it. I don't even know how or why I restrained myself."
"You don't really seem like the Caitlin Snow I knew." Barry said, his voice devoid of any emotion. It was almost as if he was talking to Thawne rather than Caitlin.
"She died when Killer Frost was born." Caitlin said in the same emotionless tone as Barry's. "Because of Flashpoint... Because of you."
"So you blame me?" Barry wondered.
"Yes." Caitlin confessed. "But with everything going on right now, I am putting my personal feelings aside and helping the team because that's what I have to do."
"Caitlin, I..." Barry tried to speak but he was at a loss of words. "...I never knew that you...that you were angry at me, like Cisco."
Caitlin ignored Barry's words as she walked past him and began to walk out of the Speed Lab. She stopped at the entrance to the Speed Lab as she turned to saw a few last words to Barry.
"You would've known if you even cared in the first place." Caitlin said, her tone was nearly as cold as Killer Frost's.
With that, Caitlin left the Speed Lab, her footsteps echoing through the halls of S.T.A.R. Labs. Back at the Speed Lab, Barry was looking down with guilt, not only had he never knew that Caitlin was angry at him for Flashpoint but now, she was beginning to doubt whether he cared or not. Barry sighed deeply as he wondered to himself: why did everything have to always go wrong?
A/N: I know not a lot happened in this chapter, there will be more action soon. I will have Barry go to MCU in a later chapter. Please leave a review and have a nice day! Bye!
