"Do you still get Courvoiser in your drink?" Thad asked once they had located their usual table. Although it had been awhile since they all saw each other, there was no awkward tension between the trio, it felt as if Barry had never left Ohio after graduating.

"No, I grew out of that phase" Barry said in a small voice. He didn't know why he felt the need to build walls up around his two best friends but regardless of what he was thinking, he was doing it anyway.

Wes placed a hand onto Barry's knee, sighing as he met Thad's concerned eyes. Something was up with their best friend and they needed to know what it was.

"Glad to see you on your feet after the whole 'struck by lightning' experience" Thad chuckled lightly, smiling at Wes' attempt of cheering up the younger man.

A small smile appeared on Barry's face. It was small and fairly un-noticeable but it didn't go unnoticed by the duo. Sighing, Barry sank into his seat, clearly going into deep thought.

"Barry?" Wes asked, nudging Barry who remained in deep thought.

Thad took in the appearance of their former captain. His hair was messy, something he never liked back in high school, he had slight bags underneath his eyes, like he wasn't getting enough sleep and he looked generally ill. To the older men, it seemed to be a rare sight, seeing Barry so rundown but for Barry's friends and family from Central City, it was a rare sight for them to see a genuine smile on the Scarlet Speedster's face. They all believed that Sebastian Smythe, the rich, spoiled, arrogant teen would have everything he would've wanted but for Barry Allen, it was like the universe was demanding for his unhappiness. As if he was being punished for a crime he hadn't committed much like his father was when he was convicted all those years ago.

Thad kicked Barry in the shin, gaining some of his attention, "what's going on, Bear?"

"Nothin'" Barry mumbled, shrugging his shoulders and locating his gaze towards the floor.

"Barry. You can't bullshit to us, remember" Wes explained, rubbing small circles into Barry's knee, which made Barry look at him, tears brimming his eyes.

"N-not here" he stuttered, sighing and wiping his eyes.

They drank in silence, no-one daring to speak. Whilst Barry was stuck drowning in self-flagellation, the other two were left making up scenarios in their heads, trying to figure out what was dulling the aura around the usually optimistic man.

FLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASH

Joe, Harry, Wally, Cisco, Jesse, Caitlin and Iris were all in the Smythe lounge, whilst Stacey was located in her room. They were making a plan for stopping Zoom, it hadn't dawned on them that they were leaving Central City unprotected but a part of them hoped that Zoom and Reverse Flash would come and attack up here, but this city didn't deserve to be attacked by an unnatural source—not like Central City deserved it either.

"Do you guys think Barry's mentally stable enough to take down Zoom?" Iris asked abruptly, making the room lapse into silence. No-one had really thought about it or Barry's mental state really, they were all too focused on depriving Barry's childhood home of Henry's body and trying to save Jay's life.

"I don't know. Maybe once we find out why he wants to race Allen then we can consider the possibility of him not racing Zoloman" Harry hated what he just said. He wanted Hunter gone just as bad as Barry did but he had to take into account that even if they solidify a plan, Barry's well-being could be the start of the chain reaction to the downfall of their plan. They needed a level-headed man and right now, their hearts were telling them that it wasn't Barry.

"Wait. Aren't Hunter's speedforce signatures always located around the same area?" Cisco asked, his head coming to a conclusion.

"Yes, they are Ramon" Harry had caught onto what Cisco was insinuating. If they could locate where his speed force signatures were being picked up at, they could hack into the security cameras and find out what they wanted from Barry.

"And where are they located?" Wally asked, wrapping an arm around Jesse, who was trying to remain calm at the thought of being near her captor. Caitlin, however, was relatively calm, although she had just been released from Hunter, she didn't seem as nervous as Jesse was.

"Mercury Labs" Cisco and Harry said at the same time, turning their heads to face one another. Then it dawned on Cisco, he remembered the vibe he had, the vibe of something ripping Earth-2 through the poles and then it linked up to the object at Mercury Labs: The Magnatar.

"We need to bring Allen here, now" Harry informed, sensing the urgency of the situation.

Joe pulled his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and hovering over Barry's contact before pressing the call button, bringing the phone towards his ear.

"Joe, what the heck is going on?"

FLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASHFLASH

Barry remained quiet as the trio walked through Mickinley High, he allowed for Thad and Wes to guide him through the school, trusting them with his life.

They entered the auditorium, alerting several dozens of people, making Barry's heart jump. He was face-to-face with his past when he was currently trying to gain control on his present.

"SEB!" Santana called, running into his arms, gripping him tight.

Barry wrapped his arms around Santana's smaller frame, smiling slightly at the thought of not everyone completely hating him.

"Why on earth is this Meerkat here? I thought I was finally rid of him!" Kurt groaned, protectively standing closer to Blaine.

"Nice to see you too, Kurt" Barry sighed, placing his chin on top of Santana's head, knowing full-well he wouldn't be released from a Santana death grip for a long time.

"Wow no insult. Stacey really does have a reason to be worried" Nick muttered, making Barry's eyes go wide after realising that the Warblers were all there to.

"You never called Stacey like you said you would" Finn said, glaring at Barry and then finally settling on a softer gaze after seeing the bags underneath his eyes.

"Man, you look like shit. Who knew that the infamous Warbler Captain, let alone it would be Mr. Sebastian Smythe could look worse for wear" Jeff joked, having a concerned yet happy look on his face.

"Bartholomew Henry Sebastian Smythe-Allen. You were going to tell myself and Thad why you are upset but you didn't want to do it in Lima Bean so here we are. We're not in Lima Bean and we want to know what's up with our resident, manipulative flirt" Wes explained, wrapping an arm loosely around Barry's shoulders.

As he opened his mouth to defend himself, his phone rang, causing everyone to get slightly annoyed. He glared at his phone— it was Joe.

"Hey Joe, what's up?" He asked, trying not to sound too scared and vulnerable over the phone.

"Get back to the Smythe Residence. We have an idea as to why Zoom wants to race you" Barry's eyes went wide. They had a theory!

The call ended and Barry tried to pry Santana off of him but it didn't work, she just gripped him tighter until he couldn't breathe.

"I have to go.. my foster dad needs me" he explained once he could bring oxygen into his body again.

Santana immediately wrapped her arms around him, insisting to go with him. She almost lost him once, now that he was back she couldn't bare to lose him a second time.

"You're not getting rid of us this easily, okay? We're all going with you" Trent said, smiling softly at Barry.

He hated this. He didn't want them to meet Joe and then for his and Joe's relationship to be damaged because of his issues from the past. He already lost one father, he couldn't lose another. However, he knew it would be a lost cause trying to counter their argument of going with him, they'd just go there when he was on his way anyway. There was no way around it; his past was meeting his present, whether he wanted them to or not. Their intentions were good though, the majority of them were just concerned for him and wanted some reassurance that he was okay but he couldn't give them that, it would mean having to explain everything and he couldn't endanger them more the he already has.

Barry's mind was contemplating a lot of things. Could he let them in? Could he trust them with his secret? Could he save them from Hunter and Eobard?

"Barry, c'mon. You've gotta let us in! The sooner you open up to us, the sooner we will leave you alone!" Artie exclamimed, startling Kurt.

Kurt was the only person who didn't believe in the whole Barry-Sebastian act, he didn't believe that people could change. Especially if that person just so happened to be the person who attempted to blind his fiancé.

"Blaine, you can go but I'm not. I don't trust Sebastian and I sure as hell don't believe that his name is Barry" Kurt exclaimed, making Barry look at him, his eyes filling with hurt.

"Whatever, Kurt" Barry sighed, rolling his eyes and letting them follow him. As much as he didn't want them to, he was outnumbered, there was no way around this. Everything was about to be revealed and he wasn't sure how much he wanted it to.