Disclaimer: The following is a nonprofit Fan based story; The FLASH and all related characters are owned by DC comics, the CW and anyone I may have missed.

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So I'm starting a new Job next week and while that's great for me it means I might not have that much time to write. At least until I figure out how to not be exhausted enough to write and still get enough sleep at night. Because of this I feel like I rushed to get this chapter done so if it seems unfinished or if there are any mistakes could you please let me know where so I can attempt to correct it.

Much appreciated.

The Flash: Survival of the Fastest

Chapter 21: In Memory of Olvida

January 26 2018

Star City, Oliver's Penthouse

Caitlin stared at her reflection in the mirror while she clutched the marble vanity as tightly as she could. Her stomach was doing somersaults like an Olympic gymnast. The bug she had caught from Cisco wasn't going away and what was worse, her declining health seemed to be impacting her speed. Unbeknownst to everyone Caitlin had run a test on herself three days ago and found that her average speed had dropped roughly thirteen percent. She could run at Mach 340 back in December but now She could only hit Mach 294.

"What's happening to me?" She asked her reflection as if expecting an answer. Several Theories were running through her mind, all of them she was able to prove false save for one; Barry was stealing her speed.

Her Hypothesis didn't seem too farfetched the more she thought of it. Barry had been different ever since he woke up last month, coinciding with her deteriorating health and speed. And considering her connection to the Speed Force was forged when Barry's Future Counterpart accidentally wounded her three years ago it made sense that the Speed Force was trying to reunite in its original conduit; Barry.

"Caitlin? Are you in there?" Barry asked as he gently knocked on the bathroom door.

"Just a second!" Caitlin called back as she quickly cleaned up any stray vomit and applied a light coat of makeup to mask her slightly pale skin. Within moments she was opening the door.

"Are you OK Cait?" Barry voice sounded very concerned for his fiancé.

"I'm Fine Barry." Caitlin passed it off with a smile. "Just had some trouble finding my… toothbrush." She said after a brief pause.

"Your toothbrush…" Barry reiterated seemingly unconvinced. "You sure it had nothing to do with the sounds of you flushing the toilet half a dozen times?" Caitlin flinched ever so slightly and unfortunately for her Barry noticed. He gently took her hands in his own. "Cait… if something's bothering you please don't shut me out." His gaze fell to the ring on her finger. "No matter what, this" He gestured to the ring. "This is a sign we are in this together for the long haul."

Caitlin looked up from her ring into Barry's eyes and instantly she felt like she was caving in. She had the urge to just confess everything that was going on with her, surely Barry would understand.

"…Barry…" She felt a lump in her throat and she choked slightly trying to find the correct words. "I… I'm sick…"

Immediately Barry cupped her face completely concerned. "Are you sure? What are your symptoms? How long have you been sick?" Barry was asking about a hundred different versions of those three questions and each one brought a slight smile to Caitlin because of his endearing nature.

"Barry… I'm honestly fine… it's just a small stomach bug… or the flu…" She added under her breath but Barry didn't seem convinced, he had a different thought on his mind.

"Are you absolutely sure?" He asked thinking back to the conversation they had yesterday. "You don't think-" Caitlin followed his gaze to Ben who was speeding around the kitchen preparing a breakfast.

Caitlin sighed. "Barry… For the umpteenth time, I am not pregnant." She paused for a moment. "I'm sure." She didn't sound so sure anymore as if something she hadn't thought about just floated into her head.

"Cait…?" Barry asked worriedly.

"I…I might be late…" It took Barry a moment to realize what she was implying. "With everything that's been happening… I just forgot…"

"Oh… Okay…Look, maybe we should just take a pregnancy test." Barry offered and before Caitlin could argue he continued. "Just to clear the air. What's the worst that could happen?" Caitlin let her eyes wander to the floor. If she was pregnant the timing couldn't be any worse, and if she wasn't it would break her heart just watching the jubilation leave Barry's eyes.

"Okay Barry…"

Central City, CCPD

Esperanza slowly opened her eyes and found herself on a nice soft cot. Vaguely she remembered the events of the previous day about how she used her powers to restore the memories of The Green Arrow and his friends. It had exhausted her, though the funny thing was she couldn't remember any of their faces or names.

"Hey baby girl…" A familiar voice greeted her.

"Mommy?" Gently stroking her face was her mother, somehow, she was back home in Central City.

"Just rest baby." Mrs. De Santo gently said. "I was worried sick, and you had a very trying day yesterday."

"What happened Mommy?" The Little girl asked. "I don't remember anything."

"Shhh… just rest." The little girl nodded and closed her eyes. Mrs. De Santo turned to Detective West who approached her with a steaming cup of coffee. "Thank you, Detective, for bringing my daughter back."

"I can't take all the credit." Joe said. "But I'm glad you got your daughter back."

Star City, Arrow Bunker

"Alright, Esperanza has been returned to her mother." Ben announced as he entered the bunker.

"Nice job." Felicity said before noticing two individuals were missing. "Where are Barry and Caitlin?"

"They said they needed to run a quick errand." Ben answered. "They'll be back shortly."

"Tell them to meet us in Central City." Oliver said as he approached Ben and Felicity.

"Central City? You mean?" Oliver's ex-fiancé asked.

"Yeah, we're going to Central City to help them with this Lightspeed character."

"Is it smart for us to go?" Felicity asked. "I mean, we'd be leaving Star City unprotected."

"Curtis, Dinah and Rene are staying behind to protect the City. You, me, Thea, and Diggle are going with Ben to Central City."

"What about Laurel?" Ben asked looking for the Black Canary's doppelganger from Earth-2.

Oliver paused for a moment and thought about last night.

Last Night

Just after his memories had been restored Oliver immediately began to look for Black Siren. He found her near the back of the bunker wearing her slick leather suit.

"Laurel…" Black Siren turned around to the man with the face of the man she loved. She looked sad to Oliver. "What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving." She said. "I don't belong here Ollie. I'm no hero like you or your friends."

"Laurel…"

"I'm not your Laurel Ollie… and you're not my Oliver. Stop trying to make me someone I'm not!" She spat at him.

"Don't you still remember any of it? Anything from the past few months?" Oliver asked

"None of that was real Oliver." Black Siren fired back. "I don't know who was behind it but when I find them I'll kill them slowly."

"I won't stop you from leaving Laurel, but I'm not going to give up on you." Oliver said. "Nor on us."

"I know." Black Siren she was about to leave but Oliver took her free hand. "Ollie, please let me go before I change my mind."

"Stay Laurel, we need you here. You can't just throw away everything you worked for over the last year."

"Olie, let me go. I need some time." With a heavy sigh Oliver let go of Laurel's hand and returned to the main area of the bunker where the little girl wiped sweat from her brow after letting go of Felicity's head. Oliver took his place next to Robin and Bobby.

"How's she doing?" He asked concerned for the little girl.

"Fine for now." Robin answered. "Felicity and Diggle have had their memories restored and will probably wake up within the hour. Esperanza has never altered this many memories on such a scale before."

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.

"Whoever altered your memories in the first place was extremely thorough. In order to make the illusions more real every person tied to a specific memory had to have their memories altered to fit accordingly. Esperanza has to make sure she fixes every memory otherwise they could suffer a mental breakdown due to the inconsistencies." Bobby explained.

"Didn't you two try to do that to me?" Oliver asked critically.

"Yeah, but we knew you could handle it." Robin argued.

Oliver shook his head. Robin and Bobby were not going to go anywhere anytime soon. "Let her take a break for now." Oliver's tone left no room for argument. He wasn't going to let a little girl work herself to death.

Present Day

"She needs some time to herself." Oliver replied. "Having her memories restored… it was harder for her."

Felicity was never a fan that Oliver had allowed Black Siren to join the team. She was a dangerous person and a threat to them all. She wanted to talk to Oliver about this but she bit her tongue.

"I understand." Ben said. "If I found my memories had been manipulated I'd probably freak out as well. So, how do you propose we all get to Central City?"

"Let us figure that one out." Oliver said. The emerald Archer knew if given the chance and opportunity The Speedster would carry each of them the six hundred miles. "We'll meet you back in Central City."

"Oliver, can I have a quick side bar with you?" Felicity asked.

"Sure Felicity." Oliver was conflicted about his feelings for Felicity. On one hand he still loved her, but on the other, his altered memories (despite not being real) made him remember his feelings for Laurel putting Oliver in the awkward position of not quite knowing who he was truly in love with.

Oliver and Felicity made their way to a more secluded part of the bunker.

"You seem distracted Oliver." The blond woman said. "And please don't lie and say you aren't. I know you're thinking about Black Siren."

"She needs help Felicity. The last few months where we were unburdened from our pasts… it made me realize, more than before, she still has some of our Laurel inside her. I know I can bring it out. Especially with all the good she is trying to accomplish."

"Oliver, you've been trying to force her to take up Laurel's Legacy ever since we learned of her existence last year." Felicity argued. Oliver wanted to say something, anything really, but he couldn't bring himself to talk. Felicity sighed and made her way back to the rest of the group.

A short while later Oliver, Felicity, Diggle, and Thea were all ready to head out with Ben to Central City when Bobby and Robin came forward packed and ready to go."

"Uh, what are you two doing?" Thea asked cocking an eyebrow

"We're coming with you." Robin answered not sparing any glances as she readjusted the bow on her back. "Don't try to talk us out of it." Those last few words seemed to be directed at Ben as much as they were aimed at Oliver.

While the Green Arrow had his reservations about the two newcomers they had been instrumental in protecting his city while they were dealing with the memory fiasco. "Alright." The Emerald archer said which seemed to bring a smile to Robin and maybe Bobby, it was hard to tell with a large scarf wrapped around his mouth.

"You can't be serious Oliver." Diggle said. "We know virtually nothing about them. I don't think this is a good idea."

"I agree with you John." Oliver said quietly so no one could hear him. "And because of that I'd rather have them right next to me than someplace I cannot see them."

Unbeknownst to everyone else in the room Bobby could hear every word being said. He didn't voice an argument because Oliver was right. They didn't know who either of them were, perhaps they should tell the truth. But doing that was against the pact they had made. Bobby would have to bring it up with their friends in Central City once they got there.

Before they could leave the doors to the bunker opened and out walked Laurel of Earth-2 clad in her Black Siren suit. "I'm coming with you guys." She said to which Oliver, Robin and Bobby all smiled.

Central City, S.T.A.R. Labs Cortex

"OK Ben's on his way back with Team Arrow." Cisco announced to Wally and Joe.

"Awesome, when will they get here?" Kid Flash asked

"Not sure, but Ben said Barry and Caitlin already are on their way back here." Cisco replied

"So where are they?" Joe asked.

Almost on cue Cisco and Joe's phones pinged. Cisco had just received a text from Caitlin while Joe received a similar one from Barry. "OK, so Caitlin says something came up she and Barry have to take care of." Cisco said summing up the long text Caitlin had sent him.

"That's pretty much what Barry messaged me." Joe concurred.

"Hey, where's Iris? And Eddie?" Wally asked

Joe cocked an eyebrow at his son. "You don't know?" Wally looked to Cisco who just shrugged. "She and Eddie are meeting with a young mother through the Adoption Agency."

"That's today?" Wally asked. "Damn those two are moving quickly."

"They had the appointment set before they told me I was going to be a grandpa." Joe shook his head lightly. "Made me almost choke on my coffee."

"I'm so proud of them." Cisco said smiling. "In a way they're taking after you Joe. You did take Barry in." Joe just nodded. "And we might not have to worry about the Reverse-Flash ever again."

"Why?" Wally looked a little confused. He had heard about the man known as The Reverse-Flash but he had never met the guy. Everyone around him made this man in yellow sound like a monster on par with Zoom and Savitar.

"Eddie is the Reverse-Flash's ancestor." Cisco explained. "As long as he doesn't have any kids the Reverse-Flash will never exist."

"Kind of like Back to the Future." Joe summed up which cleared up Wally's understanding.

"So do we know anything about the baby they'll be adopting?"

"Well, this is their first meeting so its highly unlikely they will even be approved. And its not like they're adopting from an orphanage, they're adopting a newborn. A lot can happen in the nine months, even the parents refusing to release custody. Ultimately it is the birth mother's call." Joe explained.

"I hope it all works out for them." Wally said. "I cannot wait to be an uncle."

Secluded Part of Keystone City

Olvida sat on the edge of a building scheduled for destruction mulling over her success. She had managed to alter Ben's memories, or rather, unalter them as Godspeed requested. It was just about time for them to take everything away from The Flash; His City, his family, even his legacy.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when there was an intense wind and heat behind her. "Esperanza 'Olvida' De Santo." Olvida turned around to see a man she never thought she'd see again.

"You!? That's not possible! You died!" She argued. "I watched Godspeed leave you as a bloody smear on the streets of Central City! I saw him display your corpse for all those would-be heroes to see."

"I've been getting that a lot lately." The man said. "Look, I'm going to cut to the chase here. You're going to leave this time period right now before you cause any irreversible damage. Actually, I want you to never return to this time, that's better than simply leaving."

Olvida ground her teeth in frustration. Who was this dead man walking to order her around? "I've got no reason to listen to you."

"True, you are free to make your own choices, but before you do I've just got one question; What do you think happened to all your friends who were causing a ruckus in this Earth's Timeline?"

Olvida thought to how every speedster Godspeed had created or recruited had been stripped of their power and mercilessly murdered. That's when realization flashed over her face and she turned to the man standing before her fully afraid. "You… you're the one who killed them all…"

The man's silence spoke volumes. Olvida rushed him and pinned him into a nearby wall. "XLR8, The Tempest Twins, Celeres, not to mention the countless other speedsters you killed in 2044." Olvida placed a hand on his chest and began to vibrate his body violently in order to liquify him from the inside out. "You know, I hear rumors throughout the multiverse about you. Rumors spread like wildfire about a speedster no one could defeat. They say Death itself either ran from him or it just cannot catch him, that's why they were calling him the Graverunner."

"I actually like the sound of The Graverunner." The man chuckled despite the supposed immense pain and discomfort that comes with your insides turning to mush. "It's so much better than the Demon of Central City." His overall demeanor implied he was unaffected by Olvida's actions.

Olvida spat in his face before she punched him cutting open his cheek. "You're no better than us, in fact you're the worst of the worst." Olvida argued. "There's nothing that gives a serial killer like you the right to decide who lives and who dies! You're not a god!"

"You're right, I'm no god." The man said as his eyes began to glow a fiery red. "I'm the devil."

Terror washed over Olvida as she put the pieces together. Slowly the man before her stood up with his body vibrating at such great speed he was igniting both his flesh and the air around him. It was never Speed Force energy people say billowed off of the black Speedster, he was burning the air through pure friction. As The flames quickly ate away leaving nothing but a skull, black lighting coursed around him forming a suit of black armor around his burning body.

Olvida unconsciously stepped backward as Speed Demon stood up to a towering height casting a shadow over her. Even though she had seen him transform and knew he was human Olvida could not help but feel Speed Demon was made of pure terror and malice. Her feet felt like lead as he approached her with a black hand outstretched. She wanted to run but found she couldn't as she was frozen in fear. Speed Demon's mighty hand wrapped around Olvida's neck and suddenly the female speedster felt weightless as she was lifted off of the ground.

Olvida then felt a shock unlike anything she had felt before. If there was one event to compare it to it was when Godspeed gifted her with speed. Gravity suddenly took a hold of her and she found Speed Demon release his grip.

Immediately she was on her feet running away from the monster. She let the Speed Force flow through her make her run faster and faster with each step, but something was wrong her body was heating up. Smoke began to flow off of her clothes and skin as she kept running away from Speed Demon. Her mind was realizing something was wrong, but her body was in an extraordinarily heightened state of flight or fight and she was flying.

She couldn't stop running, not even when the friction from running ignited the air around her as well as her clothes and flesh. The scent of burning skin filled her nose, she knew it was her own but she couldn't stop she kept running. Olvida was screaming in pain as her body was engulfed in flame her altered perception of time made the torturous ordeal last forever and an instant at the same time. She burned like dried kindling until she was nothing but a charred skeleton which quickly was blown away when Speed Demon came to a sudden stop in front of her remains.

His black lightning and flames died down until he returned to his human form. He held out a hand and caught some of Olvida's ashes and closed his eyes.

"We did not kill her." The voice said to him in a reassuring tone.

"We basically did, by removing her Aura there was nothing to protect her from the intense friction." The Man replied.

"She got what she deserved. She used her powers to alter how people remembered their personal timelines. Changing relationships and experiences. She was far too loyal to Godspeed for us to convince her to abandon her crusade."

The man took a deep breath. "We still need to stop Godspeed before he does the one thing that could rupture our timeline."

Godspeed's Lair

Godspeed sat on the edge of his bed when he felt it. Olvida's death that is. He stood up and made his way over to his prisoner. Before he could say anything to her or condemn her for her 'false prophesies' There was a brilliant flash of yellow light behind him, signaling the arrival of his remaining lieutenant Lightspeed.

"My lord… Olvida… she is dead."

"I know." Godspeed replied. "She had it coming the moment she created a tiny paradox." He pulled his cowl back over his face to conceal it form Lucien. "We must be cautious to avoid creating Paradoxes of our own, they inform Speed Demon of our location."

Lucien nodded in approval he had never liked Olvida but she was one of Godspeed's most loyal followers. "Perhaps her sacrifice will allow us to obtain our goal."

"My goal perhaps." Godspeed turned to face Lucien. "Yours is much more difficult. You seek to restore your world after all."

"It is my penance to return my world to its glory after I purged all heretics from it. They are resilient to The Word"

"Which is why I built this for you, come." Godspeed gestured for Lucien to follow him. He led the luminescent speedster to a large object covered by a white shroud.

"What… what is this?"

Godspeed smirked beneath his mask and pulled away the cloth showing the contents to Lucien. "Consider it a gift for your years of faithful service. And may it let you spread your light to all worlds."

Lucien turned to Godspeed and dropped to one knee in gratitude. "My Lord… I will serve you even when I am no longer a part of this world. With this I shall wipe your enemies from the annals of history."

Central City, Barry and Caitlin's Apartment

Barry and Caitlin sat in anticipation on the couch. Barry's feet were unconsciously bouncing at incredible speeds and every attempt to stop it only made them come back worse. Caitlin meanwhile was going over every possible was she could have taken the test wrong she was dreading the results.

"Remember Caitlin, no matter what the test says we're in this together." Barry said as he gently kissed her crown.

"I know Barry… I'm just… nervous…and worried…"

"Everything is going to be OK Cait." As Barry spoke the alarm on Caitlin's phone went off and the two speedsters rushed to the vanity to see what the future held in store for them.

This is the end of the chapter

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