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OK a couple of things before he dive on in. First I started another new job a week ago so I am once again trying to find my groove with writing, working and staying as up to date as possible on all Arrowverse (plus a couple of other) Shows. And second, well, I honestly don't have anything for my second point just that if I am good, like really really good I might be able to start cranking out chapters quicker, actually I may just crank out shorter chapters, means I can have more frequent shocking cliffhangers.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter. and I hope everyone also has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

The Flash: Survival of the Fastest

Chapter 25: Déjà vu

February 4 2018

Iron heights Prison

Caitlin's heels echoed on the cold floors as she made her way down the familiar hallway towards her mother's cell. Today was looking to be a really good day. Not only had she decided to finally tell her mother she and Barry were getting married and that they already were expecting a baby Caitlin was in high spirits because she might have discovered a potential cure for her mother's condition.

"Hi mom." Caitlin greeted through the phone as she sat down across from the glass.

"Hi sweetheart. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing good." Caitlin said offering her mother a warm smile. "You see, uh… remember how I told you I have a boyfriend?"

"How could I forget? You talk about him with a smile I haven't seen on your face since your father passed."

"Well," Caitlin held up her hand so he mother could see the ring.

They both wished the glass wasn't there so mother and daughter could embrace. "Caitlin… I am so happy for you."

"Hearing you say that… it means a lot mom." Caitlin could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

"When's the wedding?"

"We're planning for June." Caitlin said, "Mom, there's something else I need to tell you."

Carla looked at her daughter. "You're pregnant." She stated the fact as if it were obvious which shocked Caitlin.

"How'd you know?"

"Caitlin, this Cell only prevents me from using my powers to get out. It doesn't shut them off. Because of that I can see the heat signature coming off of your stomach." Carla smiled. "It's like a tiny sun." Caitlin felt herself smile. "Caitlin… I don't mean to sound inconsiderate or upset but… are you getting married because-"

"What!? No! No, mom." Caitlin read the question early and answered accordingly. "Barry proposed to me months ago, before I got pregnant."

Carla sighed slightly. "Well, I'm just glad you are happy Caitlin."

"Thanks mom, and don't worry if everything goes well you should be able to be there for the wedding."

That intrigued Carla. "Caitlin, you know I won't allow myself to be released. I don't want to hurt anyone."

Caitlin shook her head. "I'm close mom. I'm close to being able to reverse what happened to you. We can start to be a real family again. You, me, Barry, your grandson-"

"Grandson? You already know the gender?"

"No, just something in my gut tells me he'll be a little boy." Caitlin said resting her hand on her stomach.

S.T.A.R. Labs Cortex

Once she was finished visiting her mother Caitlin made her way back to her car and drove towards S.T.A.R. Labs. Cisco had texted everyone this morning calling everyone together for an important gathering. Caitlin informed her friend she was visiting her mother that morning so he'd have to push it back a little, which Cisco allowed. When she finally arrived in the cortex she saw that almost the entirety of Team Flash was present. Only Iris was not there.

She made her way over to Barry and was greeted with a soft kiss on the lips. "Where's Iris?" She asked Eddie.

"I don't know." He replied truthfully. "I haven't heard from her since last night when she told me she was going to be working late. She texted me not too long ago saying she's coming over shortly and to start whatever this is without her."

Cisco cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "OK, since Iris gave the OK for us to start I would like to direct your attention this way." Cisco led the team towards a large white sheet covering what was clearly a box shape.

"Cisco? What is that?" Barry asked as Caitlin stood by her side.

"This… this is a small tribute I've been working on. I know, we are all still grieving Ben's loss." Cisco said looking over to Barry and Caitlin specifically. "But we should still honor a fallen member of Team Flash." Cisco reached up and removed the white cloth revealing a large display case.

Inside the case was Ben's original suit, fully intact set up on the manikin. Caitlin felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of their son's suit.

"I figured since his Godspeed suit is also gone it would be fitting to immortalize his original suit."

Caitlin turned to Cisco with the Bio-engineer embracing her best friend in a tight hug. "Thank you, Cisco."

"My pleasure Caitlin."

Barry just turned to the suit and couldn't help but smile. The crimson colored jacket, navy blue pants with lightning patterns running up the outside of his legs and boots were all pristine with no signs of wear or tear. Around the head of the manikin the red and yellow scarf wrapped around the lower head along with the goggles resting on the forehead were perfect.

Satisfied with the memorial to his son Barry turned to the rest of the team. "We may have lost Ben, but he would still want us working to keep this City safe from those who wish to bring it harm. We are going to find Speed Demon, and stop him. We owe Ben that much."

Every one shared a smile and were about to get back to what they needed to do when Iris entered into the Cortex

"Um… guys…" She got everyone's attention.

"Hey babe." Eddie went over to greet his wife but something was off when he kissed her. "Iris? What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing Eddie… it's just… well…" Iris looked at the floor before looking up to look Barry in the eyes. "You all need to see this…"

There were two whooshes each accompanied by a flash of purple or indigo colored lightning. Everyone was stunned and n guard immediately as two speedsters appeared right in front of Team Flash.

"Iris!?" Barry questioned "What the hell is this?"

"Hi." The girl said quietly as she stepped forward towards Barry. "My name is Dawn and this" She gestured to her brother. "is my brother, Don."

"That still doesn't explain who you guys are." Cisco spoke up cautiously.

"We're Barry and Iris' children." Don answered shocking everyone present, excluding Iris.

If Barry's jaw could stretch it would have hit the floor in shock. Too many emotions were now running through his head and the one that was starting to show was the one he didn't want to come out; anger.

"What!?" He exploded garnering the twins to jump back in surprise. It wasn't just them who jumped back, Caitlin did as well. Barry's anger dropped a little when he looked at Iris. "Iris…" He made a slight gesture for her to follow him into the hallway away from prying ears.

Hallway

When they were out of earshot Iris finally spoke. "I… I'm sorry Barry…" Iris felt like she was going to cry. All she wanted to do was help and Dawn and Don were offering it. Was she skeptical of them? A little, but they had gotten to know her before springing on this revelation. "They… they told me last night…"

"And you believe them?" Barry asked. Iris silently nodded and Barry sighed, he couldn't stay mad at Iris, she didn't deserve it. He rubbed his hand through his hair in frustration. "I'm sorry… but we've already been through this before…"

"I know Barry… and I know the timing couldn't be worse…"

"Yeah…" Barry looked to the floor.

"Look Barry… I'm not trying to use them to undermine your life with Caitlin or my relationship with Eddie. And I don't think that's their intention."

"Then why are they here?" Barry asked skeptically.

"I don't know." Iris answered truthfully. "Derick and Daph… I mean Don and Dawn… wouldn't tell me why they came here, they said they honestly couldn't tell anyone because it would threaten the Time Line."

"You think we can trust them?"

"I don't think we have much of a choice Barry… they've been trying to stop something for a long while now… They have no reason to lie to us Barry."

Cortex

"You guys have been here for months and not once revealed yourselves?" Cisco asked. "Why not? We could totally help you guys."

"Believe us Uncle Cisco we wanted to tell you guys everything but speedsters who mess with time willy-nilly tend to get hunted by Time Wraiths or something worse." Dawn answered.

Everyone exchanged looks, they all know what the twins were talking about.

"That's right, if you are going to travel through time and eventually return you need to leave as little impact on the time line as possible." Don jumped in. "That's why we assumed alternate identities."

"Yeah but, isn't the future, you know, not set in stone?" Wally asked.

"Time Travel is still a right pain in the ass." Don shook his head as he spoke. "My sister and I are from the most probable future, which means the way things are now, our present will be your future. It's kind of a long story on how we got here."

"Well, we've got time." Cisco pointed out.

"OK… it all starts in about six years, when Savitar escapes from the Speed Force…" Don began.

Cisco, Wally, Joe Eddie and Caitlin listened to the story the Twins told. Apparently in six years Savitar somehow escapes from the Speed Force and murders Iris in front of Barry just as he promised apparently it didn't matter when or where he killed Iris so long as Barry was there to witness it. It devastated Barry leaving him as not only a widower but also a single parent to twins.

Over the next four years Savitar would harass The Team with his cult and his faithful second; Killer Frost. No one could stop him. Until after four long years Barry finally managed to defeated Savitar.

"Savitar said something to our dad before he died… we don't know what but it shook him to the core." Dawn said.

By this time Barry and Iris had returned to the Cortex listening to the whole story, their eyes still fixed on Dawn and Don. Neither one knew what to believe, and Iris certainly didn't try to stop Barry as he made his was to stand beside a clearly agitated Caitlin.

"After that… you were never the same Dad…" Don continued as he watched their Father standing next to Dr. Snow.

"How so?" The Flash asked.

"You became reclusive… and, I hate to say it… but you kind of stopped being our dad…" Don said sadly. "Uncle Wally, Grandpa and Grandma had to step in to raise us." He noticed Barry's shocked reaction, he also noticed how his father's hands intertwined with the woman's next to him. Seeing his father with another woman was truly upsetting for Don, granted a lot can happen in six years.

Barry couldn't find any words to properly express his emotions. After Iris' death Barry failed to be a father to their kids. This made him think about Caitlin and their unborn child, would that happen to him if something happens to Caitlin? No. he shook his head trying to throw away those thoughts. He promised her nothing bad was going to happen to either of them. He wouldn't allow it.

"We're not trying to say you were a bad parent." Dawn saw her father and mother's expressions and desperately tried to reassure him. "You were still there for us… just not as much as we hoped, and I totally understand why, you had been through hell. My idiot brother just put it too harshly."

"Dawn, what happened after Barry defeated Savitar?" Iris could tell the whole situation was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the minute they had to steer the twins back into their depressing story. Iris couldn't bring herself to even look Eddie's way who knew what her husband was thinking.

"Well, like we said… Dad kind of shut himself away. He even gave up being The Flash."

"What!?" Caitlin found herself practically yelling in shock. How could Barry give up being the Flash? Everyone seemed to turn to her and Caitlin felt herself shrink back a little. Barry gently placed a hand onto her shoulder.

"What happens in your time isn't our concern." Barry said seriously. Don and Dawn wanted to object but their Father's tone drowned their potential arguments. "Tell us why you are here and how we can help."

Don and Dawn exchanged looks and sighed. If they didn't come clean now they were never going to convince Team Flash to help them. "There's no point in hiding it now." Dawn said to her brother.

"We were going to come back to try and prevent our future from happening. A lot of our friends and family have either disappeared or they have been killed." Barry and Iris' daughter said. "To accomplish our goal, we need to find Godspeed." That shocked everyone. What could Don and Dawn possibly want with Godspeed.

"I'm sorry." Cisco was trying to stifle a laugh. "I thought I heard you say you were after Godspeed."

"We did." Don said seriously.

"Why are you after August?" Joe asked still trying to wrap his head around everything.

"You guys know him?" Don asked shocked. "More importantly you guys know who he is under the mask!?"

The entirety of team Flash exchanged more confused looks. Somethings just weren't adding up. and now it was like everyone was starting to see some cracks forming.

"What my brother is trying to say is we've been looking for Godspeed for a long time. He's the one who freed Savitar from his prison so in a way he's the one who killed our mom." Dawn said looking at Iris somberly.

"And he directly killed our dad…" Don added. Everyone slightly shifted their gazes to catch a glimpse of Barry and Iris' reactions. "He follows the same pattern everywhere he goes."

"Like a creature of habit." Eddie answered begrudgingly.

Dawn offered Eddie a smile. "Exactly like a creature of habit. Once Godspeed arrives either in another timeline or on another reality he inserts himself into the life of that world's fastest speedster. We're not sure how but he somehow alters an individual's perception of their own personal time line inserting or removing himself anywhere he pleases."

"But there's no way August can free Savitar from the Speed Force, right? Not without the Philosopher's stone." Iris asked.

Don and Dawn nodded their heads. "As long as the Philosopher's Stone is incomplete Savitar can never escape. Does anyone know where it is?"

"I tossed the final piece of the Philosopher's Stone into a Breach with no specific destination." Cisco said not wanting anyone to know he secretly kept it. "I don't even know where the final piece is. It could have ended up on this Earth for all we know."

"That's good but I'd prefer knowing it was truly gone for good." Don said

"And how do you propose that? We determined The Philosopher's Stone can't be destroyed." Eddie said under his breath

"You're right, it can't be destroyed." Dawn answered. "but it can be turned back into energy."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked confused.

"The stone is made of Calcified Speed Force." Dawn answered while the rest of Team Flash offered her blank expressions.

"Calcified Speed Force? What the Hell is that? It sounds like some made up bullshit." Eddie voiced his annoyance and frustration.

"A better way to describe it is as an ingot of concentrated Speed Force Energy." Don quickly added. "Think of it as a solid version of the Speed Force."

"Still doesn't make any sense." Caitlin muttered.

"Either way, Cisco can you pull it back?" Dawn asked.

Cisco shrugged. "I can certainly try." Vibe knew this was going to be easy for him to retrieve the stone fragment so he was going to have to make it a little convincing.

2044

Central City, Abandoned Building

Speed Demon looked down at the tiny stone fragment sitting in his left hand. It took quite a bit of effort but he had managed to retrieve the stone fragment from Dr. Maru. There wasn't much left for Speed Demon to do with the small stone. Things needed to happen a certain way and this tiny stone seemed to be the crux of some major events.

June 2019

Hidden Laboratory

After taking the stone from Dr. Maru, Speed Demon used it to travel to a specific location in 2019, a laboratory hidden somewhere in Central City. It was a place Speed Demon knew little of only that he and Godspeed shared a connection to this place. The events which were about to unfold needed to happen this way.

The world around him slowed to a stop, Speed Demon began to run until he began to open a way into the Speed Force, he had to release its prisoner.

With all his might he jumped into the wormhole and a moment later he came out dragging a massive clunk of metal in the vague shape of a man. Within moments Speed Demon and Savitar were surrounded by soldiers wearing black combat suits armed with futuristic guns. But neither seemed to care.

"I am Free!" The God of Speed declared as he returned to his feet. He looked at all the men surrounding him. "Bow before your god." The men only aimed their guns and a moment later they were all dead due to high speed impact or impalement. Savitar turned to the black clad Speedster still in his presence. "Who are you?"

Speed Demon didn't reply. Merely he moved towards a nearby room, which was actually more like a cell. He motioned for Savitar to follow as he opened the cell door revealing the person inside. Immediately Savitar dropped to one knee and allowed his suit to open as his true image of a fallen Barry Allen emerged.

As Savitar walked past him Speed Demon allowed his black suit to fall away and his flames to die unveiling his true form.

"Who? Who are you? And why do I feel like I know you?" Barry's evil Time Remnant stopped in his tracks and asked.

"It doesn't matter who I am." Speed Demon said "What matters is that you now owe me a favor."

Savitar chuckled as if Speed Demon had just told him a joke. "The God of Speed owes no favors to anyone."

"Well you know what they say Savitar, a deal's a deal, especially one with the devil." Speed Demon said.

The god of speed couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Very well, I'll humor you. What do I owe you?"

"It's simple really, take her" Speed Demon gestured to the woman in the cell. "And leave."

"Leave?"

"Go anywhere, any when." Speed Demon took a few steps towards Savitar. "You now have what you have long sought; freedom."

"Freedom to do as I please." Savitar glanced back at the woman in the cell.

"For the most part." Speed Demon said "but know this God of Speed, if you break our deal, you going to wish you were back in that Hell within the Speed Force." With those words Speed Demon morphed back into his suit and vanished in a flurry of black lightning.

2044

Initially Savitar had kept to their bargain. After Speed Demon left Savitar freed the woman in the cell and proceeded to lay waste to what remained of the lab. Despite knowing exactly what Savitar would do, Speed Demon made no move to prevent it and it weighed heavily on him though not as much as it used to.

It's naïve to think you can save everyone. People Die.

It was one of the many philosophies he lived by per say. And even though he knew where Savitar's path was going he did nothing to stop it because of his other philosophy;

Karma is a bitch.

Savitar got what was coming to him.

"Thinking of Savitar again?" The voice in his head spoke.

Speed Demon rolled his eyes. "I get it. You think we should have killed him instead of freeing him from the Speed Force." A black spectral figure formed in front of Speed Demon with a scowl plastered on his decaying face.

"You should have killed him."

"I gave him the chance to forge his own path like we give every other Speedster."

"Your insistence that we give everyone a chance cost us both dearly. How many more injustices must you allow to happen?"

Present Day

S.T.A.R. Labs Speed Lab

The Team plus Dawn and Don were gathered in the Speed Lab while Cisco attempted to open a breach to 'retrieve' the Philosopher's Stone fragment. It was rather odd, At first Cisco opened a few 'wrong' portals to try and be convincing eventually Cisco opened a breach into his drawer and took the stone.

"Got it!" triumphantly Cisco held up the stone. Quickly he handed it to Barry who, after a moment of hesitation handed it to Dawn.

Barry and Iris' daughter held the stone fragment tightly bringing it close to her chest. Her eyes suddenly snapped into focus and she looked up at team Flash

"This isn't the stone."

"What?" Cisco had to voice his disbelieve while everyone else silently voiced their shock. "That's impossible. The Philosopher's stone is one of a kind right?"

"The stone is made of solid Speed Force." Don explained. "If this were the real thing We could feel the power radiating off of it." he gestured to himself, his sister and Barry when he said we.

"I've never felt anything from the stone." Barry said. "And neither has Caitlin nor Eddie." He looked to them and they both shook their heads to agree with him. Both Dawn and Don looked at the other two speedsters seemingly confused why Barry was addressing Eddie and Caitlin.

"Either way, this is not the stone." Dawn let the stone fall from her hands and to the floor. When it hit it broke into multiple pieces.

Silence filled the room until Iris found her voice. "If that wasn't the real stone, where is it?"

"Worst case scenario already on it's way back to Savitar, mom." Don said

Dawn shot an annoyed look at her brother. "What he means to say is, If Cisco cannot locate it with his powers it has been taken to a different time."

"This is crazy." Cisco shook his head in disbelief.

"We have to find that stone Dawn."

"We don't even know where to start looking. Besides it is too late."

"So what are you two planning to do now?" Barry asked

"Honestly, we have no clue." Dawn began but Don cut her off. "We were planning to come back to the past, grab the stone and get back to our time with minimal interactions with any of you."

"Then why the charade?" Iris asked this time. "Why spend months as Derrick and Daphne North?"

The twins exchanged looks. "Normally with time travel it is imperative you don't alter anything too drastically, and the best way to do that is to create a faux identity. plus we found out we were not the only ones to come to the past. Someone else followed us." Dawn spoke. "In fact it is very lickely he's the one who stole the stone.

"Who?" Barry asked

"A speedster known as Godspeed." Don spoke. "Also known as the Heir of Savitar."

"August!?" Eddie questioned aloud. "You guys claim August Heart is not only from the future but also the 'heir' to that maniac Savitar?"

"August?! You guys know who he really is?" Don asked surprised.

"You don't?" Iris replied.

"No, and if any of you knew who he really was you never mentioned it to us." Dawn looked at Barry, Iris, Joe and Cisco.

"What has you so convinced Godspeed is a bad guy?" Joe asked speaking up for the first time in a long while.

"He's a nut job."

"Like we said he's known as the Heir of Savitar. Everything he did was in service to the God of Speed. It wouldn't surprise me if he got his filthy hands on the philosopher's stone and returned it to that monster." Dawn grumbled. "He's killed a lot of people. He and his master ruined our entire family."

"I don't believe you." Caitlin said. The twins turned towards her anger flaring in their eyes but Caitlin met them with a much more ferocious fire in her eyes. "August is our friend. He helped us protect this city when Barry was seriously injured. Ben even vouched for him." Caitlin argued. "And when he left for Coast City he gave Ben his suit and name when he left."

"OK, everyone keeps mentioning a Ben. Who the hell is Ben?" Don asked. he had heard the name Ben dropped multiple times today. Robin and Bobby had mentioned it as well when they all met up a week ago.

"Our son." Caitlin fired back slightly angry as she stepped a little closer to Barry. She felt her fiancé place a calming hand on her shoulder. It wasn't working as Caitlin's anger seemed to keep climbing. "That suit on display in the Cortex, that's his."

Don and Dawn shared even more confused looks before looking to the familiar members of Team Flash for further clarification eventually getting it from Iris.

"Ben was another speedster from the future, not unlike you two. He was Caitlin and Barry's son."

"That's impossible." Don shook his head in disbelief.

"I don't know where you got his suit but, it's nice that you guys are honoring Charlie, though he never wore those goggles or that scarf." Dawn smiled civily though it garnered confused looks from everyone.

"Charlie? Who the hell is Charlie?" Cisco asked

"A friend of ours." Don answered. "After dad lost…" He trailed off almost revealing certain events. "I'm sorry… uh, basically Charlie was dad's last protégé, and like a big brother to us."

Dawn picked up where her brother left off. "Charlie was… different to say the least… but a good person through and through"

"You're talking about him like he's dead." Barry noted

"Because he is…" Dawn added sadly. Her tone sounded familiar to Caitlin, it reminded her of how she was after Ronnie 'died' in the Particle Accelerator Explosion. Dawn was close to this Charlie.

Caitlin could feel herself swelling with sympathy. Thanks to the baby in her stomach her hormones and emotions were not balanced at all. "We don't know who this Charlie is, but that's not his suit. That suit belongs to mine and Barry's son, Ben."

"She's right." Barry said taking Caitlin's hand in his to emphasize who was Ben's mother. "His name is Benjamin Joseph Allen!"

"What?" Don asked. "Dad, there is no Benjamin Joseph Allen! There never has and never will be!"

This is the end of the chapter

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