The incessant knocking on the Palayta residence made Rayan scream to his sister to get it.

"You're so lazy!" Belén shouted from downstairs and went to go answer the door. She was mighty surprised when she found Barry on the other side.

The man was nervous as hell. Her face was indescribable yet fear worthy.

"For the record, my brother says I should punch you in the face," Belén warned. She leaned her head on the side of the door, refusing to open it completely.

Barry rubbed the side of his neck, accepting his fault. "Yeah, I deserve it. Probably deserve a lot more to be honest."

"Why'd you stand me up? If you didn't want to go out with me anymore you only had to say," she spoke quietly, and fraily. Barry knew that was her voice when she was just despondent.

"I didn't mean to, I swear, I just…" Barry paused to think we'll how he was going to explain. "Can we talk, please?"

Belén nodded. She thought she deserved an explanation and she was going to get one. She stepped out on the front porch and closed the door. "So, what happened?"

Barry had Wally's full consent to divulge his secret. He figured after being helped, Barry deserved to clear things up with Belén. So, that's exactly what Barry did. Belén listened and never spoke until Barry was finished.

"I know it must be hard to believe but—"

"Actually, no," Belén cut him off. She moved to sit down on the front steps of the porch. Barry followed and sat down next to her. "I mean...Iris has given me such ridiculous excuses that...her brother being the Flash is really the only logical explanation for everything."

"Is it?" Barry was a little doubtful that this was going to so easy.

"Yeah," Belén passed a hand down her hair in thought before nodding. "It does. And so...you just...got yourself entangled with it?"

"Well, basically…" Barry left his speed out of the story for the moment. "And I'm so sorry. I just...I was on my way for our date, I swear, and...it just happened."

"So...you didn't stand me up?" Belén asked, just to make sure.

"No, no! Of course not!" Barry quickly shook his head. "I couldn't - who would stand you up?" He gestured to her, making her blush and smile. "I mean, really?"

"It's happened," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "My last date said I wasn't up to his level. He's this brilliant scientist at Mercury Labs. Carlton."

Barry physically cringed at the reminder of her ex. He was sure he would despite that man in any reality. That was the price someone paid if they kidnapped his Belén.

"I mean...you're this top-notch forensics so I just thought…" Belén shrugged again, "...you'd rather be with someone like that. It's totally fine if you do…" she added much to quickly and failed to look nonchalant about it too.

Barry smiled at her. "I know who I want to be with." Belén slowly looked at him, actually a bit nervous to hear the answer. "Bells, it's always been you!"

"Bells?" she repeated, reminding Barry that nickname had never come into play for her in this time line.

"Sorry…"

"I like it," she said after a moment of thinking.

"Okay then, Bells, would you please consider giving me another chance at a date?" he scooted closer to her.

"Mm, one condition."

"Anything."

"No Chinese food. I hate Chinese food."

Barry laughed and remembered that was the first thing she said to him after—

He stopped suddenly when he realized he couldn't remember. He knew there'd been a moment with those words, involving him and her, but…

"Barry?" Belén noticed his frantic face. He snapped out of it and saw her concerned look. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…" he slowly nodded. "Just...happy...that we're okay again." She scrutinized his face for any giveaway so he quickly moved onto the prime topic. "Um, so listen, Iris and Wally...they have this idea, of, um...meeting with Cisco...Ramon...but they said they need an access card or something to get into his building."

Belén smiled only so lightly. "So did you only apologize to get my help?" She truly enjoyed seeing his widened alarm.

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Mhm," she playfully rolled her eyes. "But since I'm such a good person, I'll help."

"Belén, it's not—"

But Belén got up from the porch ground and motioned him to wait. "You don't move, got it?"

"Yes, fine, but can we just clarify that I didn't ap—" Barry was forced into silence when she once again warned him to stay put. She walked back into the house and kept him waiting for all of two minutes. When she returned she held a pass key in her hand. Barry was surprised to see her name written on it. It was very official. "How do you have one of those?"

Belén chuckled. "It's a long story. Well...not long, but...embarrassing. So, ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah…" Though confused, Barry gestured her to walk first. "Bells, you do know that I didn't apologize just to get your help, right?" Belén stopped walking and turned around. She purposely stayed silent to hear what else he would give her. "I don't want to ruin this," Barry stepped closer to her.

"Ruin what?" Belén asked. "Barry, I stapled you! If that didn't ruin things I don't know what would."

Barry smiled at her. "You are one of a kind—"

"And that's a nice way of saying I'm the only woman who's ever stapled you."

"And you are the only woman I'd like to be stapled by."

Belén laughed and gave him a hug. "Mm, we're definitely going on a date."

"I really hope so," Barry kept hold of her for a minute longer. It'd been far too long since he could have just one moment with her.

He really missed her and he wanted nothing more than to get back to where they were...just in this world of course. He brushed some hair from her face and felt her warm skin from a probable blush. Belén watched him come closer to her and didn't do anything to stop it. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't imagined what a kiss would be like between them.

And it was better in real life.

It was a small kiss but a fulfilling one nonetheless. Belén slowly opened her eyes to meet Barry's gaze.

"Please tell me this is just the first of many?" She bit on her bottom lip.

"If I get lucky," Barry blurted and immediately regretted it. "Not that I-I—no! I meant—"

Belén laughed and pulled him down for a second kiss. Barry managed to remember that he loved when they cut each other's sentences off in this way. But for some reason, he was having trouble remembering some of those too.

"I'm sorry," Belén murmured against his lips.

"You? What for?"

Belén looked up at him with a matching apologetic smile. "Because you're not going to like the reason I have a pass key to see Cisco Ramon."

~ 0 ~

As it turned out, Cisco now worked in what used to be STAR Labs. Though once they were at the building, Barry realized Cisco didn't exactly "work" there.

"He owns the place," Barry repeated after listening to Iris' explanation.

He had learned from the very beginning that there was no STAR Labs in the new reality, and that Cisco had made himself rich with tech apps...he just never learned how filthy rich Cisco was.

"Cisco Ramon is the richest man in America," Belén said just as the elevator doors opened up.

"And you've got him wrapped around your finger," Iris nudged her.

The group were met with a fun, careless atmosphere inside the building. People bustled about fufilling duties, creating quite the ruckus with the music in the background. Of course, there was one voice that went above the rest, one that everyone in the group recognized instantly.

"LogicFrame is a relatively small startup," an older man was in the middle of conversing with Cisco himself. "The I.P. is expected to be in the low teens."

Cisco, rather carelessly, motioned the man to quit talking. He seemed much more interested in the tall brunette, dressed sharply, beside him. "Offer them 20 mil."

Barry was quite frankly in awe of what Cisco had created. The man himself was stark different from the Cisco he knew. He was in a blue suit and tie - something the old Cisco usually hated - and his hair was neatly tied back in a low pony tail. There were thick rimmed glasses framing his face...overall, this Cisco was the utter opposite of the old Cisco.

Belén cleared her throat and immediately caught Cisco's attention. She gave a meek wiggle of her fingers as a wave.

A new light crossed Cisco's eyes when he saw her. He waved the brunette woman behind him to go. "I got business to attend to." Before the brunette woman could even respond, he walked off towards Belén. "Your brother's not in today which means you have to be visiting me."

"I hope you're not busy," Belén began, rather embarrassed from his undivided attention.

"Mm, for you, never," Cisco gingerly took her hand and gave it a kiss on the back.

Barry's face went flat. He understood perfectly how it was that Belén got a passkey to the building without actually working there. In this reality, Cisco Ramon still had a crush on Belén like he did in the previous time line. Only in this time line, he never got over it because he and Belén never got to know each other. They never got close enough to get to know each other so Cisco was left with his initial image of Belén: she was a pretty, young woman.

Hell no.

It seemed like Iris was reading his thoughts because the moment his foot stepped forwards she grasped his arm. She shook her head at him.

"We need your help, Cisco," Belén went on with the plan without noticing the green-eyed speedster behind her.

Cisco looked past her and frowned. Things could never go his way, could they?

~ 0 ~

Cisco, very annoyed, led the group into a conference room, practically shouting at them. "I make you a friction-proof suit so your clothes don't explode at mach 2, and you leave me out of your brother/sister war on crime! That was the deal!" He turned, pointed fingers at Belén, and with a new bright expression for her. "Definitely not shouting at you, sweetheart."

Belén was, at this point in her life, very accustomed to his ways so she just smiled. "Cisco, they really need your help. You've seen the Rival and what's he's done so far."

"Yes," Cisco came up to her, hoping she would see his perspective and get a clue. "And it is exactly why you should not be near them, sweetheart. It's too dangerous out there for you."

Barry balled his fists but somehow kept it together.

Belén raised an eyebrow at Cisco and very kindly responded with, "Don't patronize me, Cisco."

"Sorry," Cisco retracted from his statement. He cleared his throat and walked away from them. "But I still stand by my view. You know what happens when you mess with a Speedster?" He made the gesture of a shaking hand that slashed through something. "That. That's what happens. You get a vibrating hand going right through your ribcage. No thanks. My money needs me!"

Barry rubbed his forehead and got it together. He needed to remember this wasn't the Cisco he was accustomed to. "Cisco, please, you need to help us."

"Oh—" Cisco leaned on a hip, "—that reminds me. Who the hell is this?" He directed a finger at Barry. "I don't appreciate you bringing these folks—" he addressed Belén but waved a finger at Iris and Wally, "—to my place already, and then you go ahead and bring this one—" he moved his finger to Barry again, "—too? And suddenly everyone knows who the Flash is? Belén, sweetheart, what's your plan?"

Belén apologetically glanced at Barry. She probably should have explained that before coming to the building but...he did leave her hanging for a date so he owed her a little bit. Still, if they wanted to push through their agenda, he'd need to suck it up and leave the matter alone.

"Cisco—" he made his attempt but was immediately cut off.

"Uh-uh. I don't know you, string bean."

"Stri... Mr. Ramon?" Barry tried again, having to bite his tongue.

"Oh, yes?"

"I do know what kind of person you are. Deep down, you care about helping other people."

Cisco rolled his eyes. "Please, tell me more."

"I heard a story about how, when you were 15, your brother Dante owed a bookie and he couldn't pay back what he owed, so you gave him all the money you earned that summer delivering pizzas to help him…"

Everyone ended up staring oddly at Barry, all wondering how he knew that...but no one more than Cisco.

"How do you know about that?"

"I have a feeling that... we would work really well together as partners," Barry replied honestly. "Taking down meta-humans together. I mean, it's what we're supposed to do. We're a team. We're friends." But the moment he started to think about all those times where they'd worked together to solve a meta case...it came crashing down on him.

"Barry?" Belén grew worried again and rushed over to him. He'd stumbled back against the conference table and ultimately had to take a seat.

"I'm okay. I'm okay, I just... What was I…" Barry came to the realization he'd forgotten what he was talking about, completely. He had no idea what just happened in the last minute. "What was I just saying?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Belén bent down in front of him.

"I'm...I'm not sure…" Barry admitted.

~ 0 ~

Barry stormed into the warehouse demanding answers from the only man who could possibly know. But of course, Thawne loved to play the game. He was sarcastic in the beginning, only fueling Barry's anger. "And here, I was starting to think you'd forgotten all about me."

"But I am forgetting!" Barry continued to shout. "What's happening to me?"

"I was wondering when you'd notice…"

"It's like I'll be thinking of a moment from my past and then it...it vanishes. I can't get it back!"

"Flashpoint. It's a side effect," Thawne got up from the cruddy floor of his prison. "See, I told you before. You don't know what you're doing. This new reality you've created is starting to overwrite the reality that you and I know. So your original life...your friends, your family... Pretty soon, all of that will just fade away."

"Why isn't it happening to you?" Barry spat. Why was it only affecting him?

"Not sure. Unless…" Thawne trailed off, and it annoyed Barry thinking it was another part of his game.

"What? What?"

Thawne began to laugh.

"What the hell's so funny?"

"Your speed! The more you use it, the faster you lose your memories!"

"No, you're lying!" Barry snapped, speaking louder than the laughter Thawne had going on. "You just want me to let you out of here. That's never gonna happen."

Thawne slowly sobered and gave a condescending stare in return. "The you I know from the future, he's not this stupid. Pretty soon, you won't even remember that you're The Flash. And when that happens, this world will become permanent. Time will set like concrete, and nothing will be able to change it back to the way it was."

"That's fine by me," Barry shrugged, giving the fact he didn't care. He wouldn't need to in a couple of days as it seemed. So he would forget about the other world, but in this world he would create a better life. He already had his parents and Belén. He was starting to get to know Iris, Wally and even Cisco. He'd only need to find Caitlin to have the group back.

"You know what you have to do," Thawne taunted. "You have to take me back to that night and let me finish what I started."

"You go to hell!" Barry screamed and stalked off, leaving Thawne to shout after him.

"You're taking both of us there! Now who's the villain, Flash? Now who's the villain!?"

~0~

It was a long thought to decide but ultimately Barry thought it was the only way to do things right this time before he lost his speed. And so, one by one he sped Wally, Iris and Belén into Cisco's main room - used to be the cortex.

"Don't do that! I told you it freaks me out!" Cisco shouted at the first person sped into his premises.

Wally looked around in confusion. "It wasn't me."

Cisco paused when Iris was suddenly in the room with them. The woman seemed just as frazzled as the other two. Finally, they heard Belén's deep gasp from across. In less than a second all eyes were on the red suited figure.

"Who are you?" Belén leaned forwards on a table, actually feeling a little motion sickness.

Barry pulled off the hood of his suit and gave everyone the surprise of their lives. "The man who's gonna help you stop the Rival." It took Barry all but five minutes to explain about the timeline being changed and who he was...that was the easy part. The hard part was getting the rest to actually believe in it. "Okay, so... I can tell from the 'I don't believe you' looks on your faces that you don't believe me. "

"Sure you're not Sherlock under that too?" Belén asked, and it worried Barry that he couldn't tell if she was joking or dead mad.

"We believe you're a speedster, but you're gonna have to explain that part about Flashpoint again," Wally said.

"All right, look. This is as simple as I can put it," Barry grabbed a nearby marker and headed for the nearest wall. "I'm gonna use this glass, Mr. Ramon. Okay?" Cisco barely had time to disagree before Barry began to write on said wall. He drew a straight horizontal line. "Imagine that this line is time, okay? I went back in time—" he drew a second line jumping back to the beginning, "—and stopped the Reverse Flash from killing my mom. In doing so, I created an alternate timeline." He then drew another line going outwards from the original, "A whole new existence where you're Kid Flash."

Wally almost didn't care about the time line explanation when he heard the name again. "The Flash."

"Kid Flash," Belén, Cisco and Iris corrected much to his dismay.

"And Cisco's a billionaire," Barry finished with.

Cisco raised a finger. 'So you're saying there's a time line out there where I'm not rich? Boy, that's a glitch in the universe."

Wally shook his head at it all. "No, not buying it. Um, my life is my life! Didn't just start three months ago, okay? I've always been me."

"But it's like on those TV shows," Belén quietly spoke up. "Um, you know, where they change the timeline and suddenly all of us have something different in our lives but no one knows except…" she slowly directed a gaze on Barry, "...for the one who changed it."

"But this isn't a TV show!" Wally exclaimed.

Iris raised her hands to get the room quiet. "Okay, look. Even if we did believe you, why are you telling us this now?" she asked Barry.

"Because...I've been hiding here for too long. The Rival needs to be stopped. I stop the bad guys. And...we can all take him down together."

Wally frowned. "I can get him myself."

"Then why haven't you?"

"Well, I'm not interested. I don't know how many times I gotta tell you freaks, I already did my bit for queen and country," Cisco for up from his chair but almost immediately Belén moved in front of him.

"No one leaves until we figure this out," she warned.

Cisco smirked at her. "Whatever you say, sweetheart."

"Okay—" Barry made a move towards them but Iris called him back.

"Argument here? We'd like to hear more of it."

Barry rolled his eyes at her. This was probably the part where Caitlin would get them to settle down. Caitlin. He rushed to the nearest computer and began doing some research.

"Hey!" Cisco went after him only to have Belén pull him back. "Don't touch that!"

But Barry finished the job quick and sped out. He returned a mere second later with Caitlin Snow. The slender brunette had a mouth in the shape of an 'o' from the sudden trip.

"What just happened!?"

"Stop bringing strangers into my lab!" Cisco frantically shouted.

"Who is this?" Iris asked, eyeing Caitlin curiously.

"Dr. Snow?" Belén was the one to recognize, much to everyone's surprise.

Caitlin relaxed only a little bit when she saw the familiar face. "Belén?"

"You know each other?" Iris made a face.

"She's Axel's eye doctor," Belén explained then looked at Barry for an explanation. "Did you just kidnap my nephew's doctor?"

Barry was now the one confused. "No, I didn't...well, yeah, I guess, I…" he stopped and tried again. "In my timeline she's a scientist."

"But I'm not a scientist," Caitlin gently reminded. "I'm a pediatric eye doctor."

"And...we're done," Wally wrapped a finger in the air.

Belén watch as everyone began a commotion with disagreements. She pulled Barry to the side and asked for a word. The two easily slipped from the room into the hallway.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know that this is hard to believe...and a lot to dump on, but…" Barry stopped when she turned to face him.

"In that other world, you knew me, didn't you?" Her question caught him off guard. Belén looked dead serious, and a little annoyed.

"I, uh, what?"

"That's how you knew about my almost going into journalism, my twin brother, and the fact that I hate eating alone," Belén stepped closer to him. "I don't tell anyone that last one because it—"

"—embarrasses you," Barry finished with her, basically confirming her suspicion.

"Just like the shows," she whispered. "So...in that other world, who am I? I mean, are we friends? Were we friends?"

Barry sighed. He pondered shortly of what to tell her and what not because it really wasn't necessary to put her through that kind of pain.

"Were we…?" she frailly pointed between them. "You know...?"

"Yeah," he ultimately nodded.

"So then...right now, this..." she pointed again, "Is it real? Or is it just a ghost of a relationship I have no memory about?"

"It's real, you know it is," Barry promised her. "Do you think I just crash into a revolving door for a 'ghost relationship'? No, because I love you." Belén's eyes widened. "And that will not change no matter what reality I'm in." Seeing her stunned face was a heavy indicator of his mistake. He shouldn't have dumped in the 'I love you' in there far earlier than needed, but it wasn't a tactic. It was a truth. It was a truth that would follow into whatever world there was. "I am so sorry I'm telling you all this," Barry was fully conscious in the fact he could potentially be scaring her off for good but he was willing to work for the ending they deserved. "I know it's...I would understand if you're scared or something—"

"You would think that…" Belén's eyes darted to the side, "Any normal person would have run out that door—" she pointed at the door behind them, "—and never ever speak to you again. And yet…" A nervous smile crossed her face, "I'm weird as hell."

Barry chuckled. "No, you're not."

"Yeah, I am," she nodded. "I've never been normal. I guess it was only fair that I find the only man who could change timelines. Yeah...I deserve that." Her nervous smile widened. "Actually, it makes me feel all giddy inside."

Barry hugged her tight and set a kiss on her hair. He thanked God she wasn't angry with him.

~0~

After a phenomenal argument between the group regarding kidnapping and timelines, actual work got done and there was a realization that they actually could work together. Caitlin had taken position at a single computer desk and was able to find a way to track the Rival.

"I have always wondered why no one turned the speed cameras in the city to register near sonic velocities," the brunette remarked while she waited for a scan to be done. "Seems like a ready-built early warning system. So I reprogrammed the cameras, and…"

The light alarm going off indicated her scanning was done. Cisco peered to the screen beside her.

"Babadook! There's your rival! The old sawmill out by Williamson."

"All right. Follow my lead?" Barry looked over to Wally, thinking they'd work together but Wally was more than ready to go on his own.

"The Flash doesn't follow anyone."

Iris rolled her eyes at her brother. "Listen to him, Wally. He's the Flash."

Caitlin had been (not so) discreetly staring at Cisco and finally worked up the courage to tell him "You know, you would be an excellent candidate for Lasik."

Cisco settled a rather snarl-like glare on the woman in return. Caitlin then knew never to bring that up again.

~ 0 ~

Both Barry and Wally - each in them respective suits - had arrived at the location where the Rival was meant to be.

From Cisco's building, remained the others without much to do. Belén circled the desk Caitlin had used to search for the Rival in the first place.

"Shouldn't there be some sort of way to communicate with them?" She finally gave her thought up to the others. She shyly smiled at the uncommon group. "I don't know, it just...it feels like we would have one."

"You mean in this other world where we're supposedly all friends?" By Cisco's tone of voice, everyone knew he wasn't planning on becoming friends with any of them.

"It sounds fun," Belén maintained her cheery attitude. "But seriously, do you have a way to see what's going on?"

"You are lucky you are you," Cisco pointed at her then motioned her to step aside from the computer. Belén of course did and backtracked until she was beside Iris.

"When do you think he'll realize you're going on a date with Barry?" the woman whispered fairly low.

"Shhh…" Belén waved the question off. For now, that information didn't need to be known.

Cisco managed to break into one of the cameras on the location where indeed they saw both Barry and Wally and the Rival all together in deep fight mode.

The Rival - who had minutes before he revealed himself as Edward Clariss - was going head strong against Wally first. Just like many of their previous fights, however, he flipped Wally over to the ground. Wally would not give up, and more so when he was sure the others were monitoring him for real. He jumped back on his feet and went straight for the Rival. The latter, however, had a different plan that he set in motion. He passed by Wally and came up behind with a piece of a metal that he struck right through Wally's left side.

Wally crumpled to the ground and moved no more. From the building, Iris cried for her brother but Cisco pointed that the suit entailed Wally was still partially alive.

"That one was never my rival. You could be, though," the Rival now faced Barry, quite smug from his victory.

"You want to find out?" Barry angrily stalked towards him.

The Rival laughed shortly. "Defeat me, and I'll let you take your little friend for help."

"No. You're the one who's gonna need help!" and Barry set loose on a chase that consisted of a roundhouse kick and a series of punches across the face.

The Rival escaped his clutches and started swirling in a circle, creating not one but two hurricanes. Barry stepped back, getting flashes of Mark Mardon and - oh Lord, he was forgetting again. He felt the memories of his early days begin to slip away and even caused a momentary balance problem.

"God. It's like "Twister" in there, the movie, not the game," Cisco stared at the computer with alarmed, widened eyes. "The satellite's picking up two distinct funnel patterns. Tornados measure at F3 on the Fujita scale. This guy's like a Weather Wizard or something."

"Nice name, but terrible moment," Belén remarked quietly.

"Guys!" Barry called in frantically. "I can't stop him!"

"Cisco, move it," Belén now waved him to leave the seat. She gained easy access and plopped down on the chair. "Okay now listen to me, Barry, you brought this entire - admittedly weird - group together because we're a team."

"Did she just call us weird?" Iris mumbled to Caitlin who hummed a 'yes'.

"Which means you've done this before, I'm sure, in that other world," Belén continued. "Just...just think about what we do if this was still your world."

"A little easy to say. In the other world you were here with me - you had meta powers too," Barry said in his frantic thinking.

Belén's face went flat at the prospect of having 'cool' powers too. "I'm gonna kick you for that because I could've worked with Solar...but it's not the point. You're the Flash, Barry, so...what does he do? It's not giving up, right?"

Barry managed to smile a little. "No. I'm the Flash…" He supposed he'd forgotten what that meant in these months he spent basically hiding.

He sucked in a deep breath and stared at the two hurricanes that gained more force with each second. He knew exactly what to do, and so that's what he went on. He charged for the left hurricane and started running counter-clockwise. It took some extra energy that perhaps he could have had easier if he'd spent more time keeping up with training.

"That's impossible!" the Rival practically screeched as he saw both of his hurricanes dissolve into nothing. He barely had time to process Barry coming straight for him before his body had already met a series of construction poles on the ground.

Barry went back to check up on Wally who was barely raising a finger. He still felt a vital, a weak one, but a vital nonetheless.

"You really are the fastest man alive—" the Rival had barely extended forwards a vibrating hand when a gunshot went off.

Barry internally scolded himself for being so careless, but Wally's life was on the line. Still, he relaxed when he saw that it had been Joe who fired at the Rival. Joe wasn't sure of what he'd done, but Barry was hoping that seeing his son in need of help would stir the man back to life.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin had been nice enough to extend her abilities to see that Wally was properly taken care off. Barry had thought about finding Nina Clarke - Belén's close friend from the other reality - but had the good sense of asking her if she knew Nina in this new timeline. He was given a very harsh 'unfortunately'.

Apparently, this world's Belén and Nina did not get along. It didn't matter in the end because, much like Caitlin, Nina turned out to be a school teacher in this world.

"Wally's vitals are low, and he's lost a lot of blood," Caitlin felt sorry to inform both Iris and Joe.

"He should be rapidly healing. It's one of the gifts of being a speedster," Barry kept staring at the unconscious Wally in his bed.

Caitlin shook her head. "He's not. I'm sorry." She coughed, rather awkwardly before asking, "Am I free to go?"

"Dr. Snow, you weren't kept against your will," Belén gently informed, though she could see why Caitlin would think that.

Caitlin smiled only slightly due to the circumstances. "Axel is due in another month."

"I'll tell Maritza," Belén assured and watched the brunette leave.

Cisco passed right by her, this time not even her presence was enough to pull out his playfulness. "This is why I didn't want to get involved. Crime fighting sucks!"

"I thought I could just make things better, but everybody's been paying for my happiness," Barry slowly came after the other two and walked with Belén into the main room. "Will you help me?"

"Anything I can do," Belén immediately said, though she thought he was talking about simple strategies to get things better.

Barry had made his decision - yet again - about the timelines. He needed to stop being selfish and let...life take its course, even if it meant excruciating pain. "I need to make things right," he stated with the heaviest heart possible.

~ 0 ~

Normally, meeting the parents of the guy you liked was nerve wrecking but the situation gave nothing but despondence for Belén. She walked into Barry's home and soon heard the light laughter of his parents.

"Hey, guys," Barry greeted quietly. He'd already begun to take in the last images of his parents.

"Hey, slugger," Henry smiled and stood up from the couch with his wife.

Nora was the first to spy Belén just a little behind. "Who's this?"

"Belén, remember?" Barry took Belén's hand to bring her up to his side. He needed all the support he could get in order to do this.

"Oh, yes. We loved your show," Nora's praise elicited a light pink blush from Belén.

"Thank you," Belén kept her words short and brief. She wanted to give as much time to Barry as possible.

"You okay, Barry?" His father was the first to notice the expression sitting on Barry's face.

"Yeah, I just... wanted to see you both one more time…" Barry decided to go with the simple truth. It wouldn't matter soon enough...

"What does... that mean?"

"Nothing. Nothing. I, uh…" Barry paused, hoping to find the right words, yet they didn't come. He would just have to continue with the truth. "These last three months have been the best. Just getting to spend time with you. I just...wanted you to know how grateful I am, to both of you, to be your son."

"Barry, you're scaring me," Nora's eyes flickered to Belén as if the woman would give some clarification. Belén wanted no part in that explanation.

Barry went up to both of his parents and have them a last goodbye hug. "No, there's...there's nothing to be afraid of. Promise. I just...I love you both."

And though neither understood, Henry and Nora hugged their son back just as tight.

Barry honestly wasn't sure how he managed to walk out of the house after that...but the image of an almost dead Wally was a good pusher. Just as he walked down the front porch steps, he felt another rush of memories leave his system. He nearly fell over if Belén hadn't grabbed onto his arm.

"What exactly is that!?" Belén had made her conclusion that his small episodes were a result of his changing the timeline.

"Memories are disappearing," Barry grunted as he took one last step to the pavement. "It's getting worse. We have to hurry before it's too late."

He used his last bits of energy to bring them to the warehouse where Thawne was already waiting for them. Belén had to help Barry walk now but she hoped it was just a temporary weakness.

"Having a bad day, Barr?" Thawne called out in a tainting voice until he spotted Belén walking beside Barry. "Well...if it isn't the future Mrs. Allen?"

"You even sound annoying," was all Belén had to say to him.

Thawne had a small laugh before he set his eyes on Barry who was reluctant to do the same. They both knew what was going to happen but Thawne was going to exploit it for as much as he could. "All you need to do is ask me, Barry," he spoke calmly, yet the smug look on his face spoke volumes.

Barry still didn't look at him. "We need to go back in time. To that night."

"To do what?" Belén couldn't understand how there could be someone so sinister like him. "You know what I need you to do. But I want to hear you say it," Thawne basically commanded.

Barry gritted his teeth together and glared in the man. "I need you to kill my mother."

The smile on Thawne was automatic. "With pleasure."

Belén watched with utter disgust as the man was let go from his prison. There truly could not be any justice in the world if this was truly about to happen.

"If you can, punch him a bit," she told Barry afterwards. She knew her words weren't valuable at the moment but it was all she had. There were absolutely no comforting words for this type of situation. "I'm so sorry. No one...should have to do things like these."

Barry took her hands and gently squeezed them. "This was...always meant to happen." And yet it sickened him that it actually wasn't. Thawne had already messed with the timeline before and made his mother's death a fixed event in time.

"When you get back to the other me, in that other world, let her comfort you."

Barry managed to smile at that. "I look forwards to that. You're all I look forwards to, actually." It was true. With his parents dead, Belén was all he had. Sure, there were his friends but...he loved Belén, and she was the most important thing to him now.

"And you owe me that date, with other me," Belén added, just to give some humor.

"Promise," Barry said.

She smiled at him as best as she could. She didn't want to say that she didn't want to see him go. It would just make things harder for him. She brought her hands up to his face and pressed a kiss to his lips. She wished it could've lasted longer but Thawne decided to cut things short. "STOP!" Belén screamed when Thawne gave Barry an unnecessary throw to the ground. "If there's any justice in the world you'll die too!"

Thawne picked Barry up like a ragdoll and chuckled. "The Missus always had a way with words, huh?"

"Don't." The last thing Barry wanted to hear from that man were his thoughts on Belén.

"God, I wish I could kill you. But today, I get to be the hero," Thawne actually laughed before speeding off.

They entered the cursed night in the past, and Barry willed himself to let the event run as it once had. His mother was dead, yet again, and with it the chain of reactions were set off.

Thawne dropped Barry just in front of the West residence, although there was a knowing smile on his face that Barry wasn't liking. "There we go. Things are back to how they should be. Well, for me, anyway. For you…" he chuckled, "Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and find out."

Barry frowned. "What? What does that mean?" His demand went unnoticed.

"See you sometime soon, Flash," Thawne saluted and sped off.

Barry wasn't going to stand there and wonder what the hell Thawne meant. For all he knew it was just another trick. When he entered the place he was surprised to find only Wally and Joe inside. He wondered if the celebratory party had already finished. He went straight in and hugged both Wally amd Joe. At least they were back in order.

"Are you okay?" Joe thought it was a redundant question but nonetheless an important one.

"Yeah…"

"You just lost your father, Barry. You don't have to be okay."

Barry sat down on the couch and accepted a beer from Wally. "Actually, I feel closer to my parents than I ever have."

'Well, good, son. To your pops," Joe clinked the beer with his and Wally's.

"To Henry," Wally agreed and took a sip.

"To my Dad," Barry said with a bitter-sweetness. He looked around the house and saw it was exceptionally clean for a place that had meant to be having a party. "How did Iris get this place cleaned up so soon?"

Joe's face went flat in an instant. "That ain't funny. I'm gonna chalk that up to grief." He put down his beer and decided to call it a night. "I'll see you both in the morning."

Barry was left in a state of confusion. He turned to Wally with the intention of asking what was wrong but instead met with an incredulous Wally.

"Are you kidding me? You know Iris isn't here!"

"Wait—"

"They don't talk, Barry. You know that," Wally shook his head at Barry. "Don't pull that again unless you feel like sleeping on the streets."

"Why would I...sleep on the street…?" Barry was dreading the answer. The timeline wasn't setting in correctly was it?

"Grief can be bad, I know it," Wally went about it in another way. "And maybe that's why you and Belén had that argument—"

Yup, there it was.

"Wally, what!?"

Wally still chalked it up to the aftermath of their battles but Barry was in a real despair. He wasn't understanding anything!

"Just...get some rest," Wally patted his shoulder. "And tomorrow you'll probably have a better idea of what to say to Belén." He left Barry alone in the living room.

Barry fell back onto the couch with a horrified face. Iris no longer talked to Joe? She didn't live with Joe? He argued with Belén? That meant they weren't on speaking terms either, but why? "Oh, God. What did I do?"

~ 0 ~

Belén went back and forth in the cortex while Caitlin continued their search on the computers. It was already a long night but Caitlin doubted that Belén would ever give up so easily. And truth be told, she wanted the search to come up successful too. She needed it.

"Anything?" Belén asked once again. Every fifteen minutes or so she would do the same thing.

Caitlin shook her head. "No. She's not coming up on the scanners."

Belén groaned. "She's an Earth 2 metahuman! It shouldn't be this hard finding her, dammit! Where the hell could have Datura escaped to!?"

Author's Note:

Gasp, Barry really screwed things up...maybe Datura was right. And speaking of, she's escaped!? But how? Barry will find that out soon!

Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, as well as the last chapter from the previous 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!

And to answer acekiller157's response to this, I am actually creating my own Arrowverse with my own OCs. It's why my first thought went to "Azaleaverse" in honor of Belén being the first (and prime) Arrowverse OC I created. I have published a SECOND OC and she's for Legends of Tomorrow! Her name's Graciela and her story's published as Redemption on my profile if anyone's interested. She's OC #2 out of 3 because yes, I'm getting ready to publish my Supergirl OC soon too!

Soo...doe the Azalaverse work or should I just stick to giving each OC their own fic series name?

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"