Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

Also, just for anyone wondering, this is mostly just going to feature Flash characters. I will bring in some characters from the other shows maybe once or twice, but this pretty much gonna be almost exclusively Flash.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 2- The Truth

Barry slowly walks into the cortex. After realizing the changes in this new universe, including the fact that several Earths seemed to have merged into this new Earth, Barry had found out that Oliver had not restored himself. That had been a terrible blow for Barry to know for sure that Oliver was gone.

But that was just the beginning. As Barry was trying to help Sara deal with learning that Oliver wasn't back, shadow demons had returned. They had soon realized that the Anti-Monitor wasn't dead after all. Barry had subsequently helped to lead the Paragons and other heroes against the Anti-Monitor, finally defeating him by hitting him with a bomb that caused him to start shrinking for eternity.

That night, the President had given a speech thanking the heroes, and recognized Oliver as the one who saved Earth. The following morning, Barry had brought Kara, Clark, Kate, Sara, J'onn, and Jefferson to the old STAR Labs hangar, where he had shown them the conference table he'd made, and established them as a sort of team. They had not yet decided on a name for their team, but Barry was excited to work with them.

Now, he's back in Central City. Now that the Anti-Monitor is gone for good, hopefully, he'll able to have some peace for at least a little while. But, more than that, it's time for him to finally get answers. Answers as to why his life is so different here on this new Earth, which some of the others, including Cisco, are calling Earth Prime.

As Barry walks into the cortex, he sees Caitlin working on one of the computers. As Barry walks into the cortex, Caitlin looks up at him. "Barry. What are you doing here? I thought you'd want to be at home by now and be with Patty," she says.

"Well, that's just the thing," Barry says.

Caitlin looks at her friend in confusion. "What are you talking about, Barry?" she asks.

"I need your help, Caitlin, to figure things out. You see, before the Crisis…before everything…I hadn't seen Patty in years. I was married to Iris. I need to know…how did I end up with Patty, and what my life has been like the last few years. Please, tell me everything you can," Barry says.

Caitlin is quiet for a moment before she says, "You might want to sit down. It's a long story."

Barry walks over and sits down in the other rolling chair, hoping he can now finally get some answers.

Caitlin sits there for a moment before she says, "It's kind of hard to tell the difference between my memories of this world and of the world before the crisis. But, I'll tell the story as best as I can."

Caitlin pauses again for a moment, then says, "You remember what happened to your relationship in the original timeline, right?"

"Yeah. Patty figured out I was the Flash, but I didn't want to tell her, because I didn't want her to be at risk from Zoom. I let her leave to go to CSI school in Midway City. And I never saw her again," Barry says, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Well, that's where the history on this Earth differs. When Patty figured out you were the Flash, you tried to keep it from her at first. But, it didn't take long before Joe talked some sense into you, and you confessed the truth to Patty. Patty told you she would stay here with you, but you didn't want her to give up on her dreams. Finally, you convinced Patty to follow her dreams. However, she delayed entering school until that fall."

"When Zoom stole your speed, and you got it back, the recreated particle accelerator explosion zapped Wally, and gave him speed. With Wally now a speedster, your last hesitancy about leaving Central City was gone. You trained Wally to take your place, and that fall you moved to Midway City with Patty. You kept being the Flash, but you mostly operated in Midway City, although occasionally you'd come help us out when we needed it," Caitlin explains.

"What about Savitar?" Barry asks.

"In this reality, there wasn't a Savitar. You never went back in time and created Flashpoint. In fact, Barry…Zoom never killed your dad in this reality," he says.

"What?" Barry shouts, shocked.

"I'm serious. Zoom took your dad to try and kill him. However, by that point, Wally's speed had already manifested, and he followed you two and got your dad away from Zoom before he could kill your dad. After that, Zoom decided to just challenge you to the race. You beat him just like you did on the original Earth, and after that, your dad convinced for good to move to Midway City with Patty, and re-established himself as a doctor here in Central City, and he's been here ever since," Caitlin says.

Barry sits there, stunned to hear that his dad is alive. After long moments of silence, he asks, "What happened after that?"

"Well, like I said, there was never a Savitar in this reality, so Wally had a relatively easy sailing for his first year of being Central City's Flash. Meanwhile, you were working with the Midway City Police Department as CSI while Patty was in school. A little over a year after you two moved to Midway City, you proposed to Patty. I still remember you calling us to let us know you two had gotten engaged. I've never heard you so happy as you were that day," Caitlin says, smiling brightly. As Barry sees the smile on her face, he feels himself smiling too. After a moment, she says, "You two got married near the end of the year, although the Nazis interrupted your wedding. You stayed in Midway City, and Patty graduated in April last year. She started working with the MCPD along with you, and, a few months ago, you two found out she was pregnant with twins."

"So…I really loved Patty?" he says.

"Yes, Barry. With my memories of Earth-1, I promise that your love for her was more wholesome and pure than your love for Iris ever was. And…I hope you don't mind me saying this, she treated you better than Iris ever did," Caitlin says.

Barry narrows his eyes a bit. "What does that mean?" he demands.

Caitlin is quiet for a moment, wondering if she went too far. Then, feeling she may as well continue, she says, "Barry…from my memories of Earth-1…Iris wasn't always the most considerate to you. She'd sometimes show more concern for her own opinions and wishes than for others, including your own, and sometimes you'd just let her walk over you. But…with Patty, although I haven't seen you two terribly often since you moved to Midway, she's never been like that. She's always treated you completely equally, and sometimes actually seems to value your opinions even more than her own. In any case, your relationship and marriage with Patty has seemed a lot healthier for you and everyone else in your lives than Iris."

Barry is quiet for a while. He wants to spring to Iris' defense, but for some reason, he doesn't. Instead, his thoughts go back to his memories of Earth-1, and thinking about Iris and his relationship. As he thinks really hard about it, he starts to realize that Caitlin's not that far off the truth.

Finally, Barry sighs, then looks back up at Caitlin. "Was it really like that?" he asks, hoping he's maybe reading too much into it.

"Yes, it was, Barry. And…to be honest, both me and Cisco felt you pull away from us the closer you got to Iris, starting in 2017," Caitlin says.

Barry looks at her, stunned. Finally, he says, "OMG. I'm sorry, Caitlin."

"It's okay, Barry. I do understand why it happened. But, at least in this world, things are different," Caitlin says. She pauses, then says, "Maybe that's why this happened in this universe. Maybe Oliver wanted it to happen to you. Maybe he engineered fate so that you would stay with Patty."

"Maybe," Barry says softly.

Caitlin smiles. "Alright, Barry. I think you've been away from Patty for too long. Plus, if you don't remember or didn't know, Patty's gender reveal ultrasound is tomorrow," she says.

Barry smiles a bit. "I almost forgot," he says.

"You've been through a lot. Go take some time and enjoy life with your wife," Caitlin says with a smile.

"Thanks, Caitlin. Thanks for everything," Barry says. He then gives her a quick hug before speeding off out of STAR Labs.

(Midway City)

Barry streaks in through the front door and into the living room. As he runs in, he sees Patty sitting on the couch, watching TV. She looks up at Barry as he runs in and smiles at him.

"Hey. Welcome home, Barry. You were gone for a while," she says.

"Yeah, sorry, Patty. I had to help make sure that the Anti-Monitor was defeated for good, and then I had a few more things to take care of," he says.

"It's okay. This is what comes as part of the superhero life. But, you're home now. Let's just spend some quality time together," Patty says, extending her hand towards him.

Barry hesitates for a second, then slowly walks forward and sits down next to Patty. "Patty…I have something I need to talk to you about. I can't just not tell you. It'll bother me until I do," he says.

Patty smiles at him. "It's okay, Barry. I already know. J'onn paid me a visit while you were gone, and restored my memories from the original Earth before the Crisis," she says.

"So, you know…" Barry starts.

"Yes, Barry. I know that we broke up in the original Earth, and that you married Iris," she says, sadness evident on her face.

Barry feels a huge relief, yet also feels a bit of guilt come over him as he realizes that Patty will now have to deal with both sets of memories.

After a moment, Patty asks, "On the original Earth…why did you let me go?"

Barry is quiet for a moment before he says, "Because I loved you too much, Patty. I was so scared of Zoom…that I didn't want to take any chances that he could hurt you. And I knew it was your dream to be a CSI. I didn't want to feel like I was standing in the way of that. In the moment, I felt like you would have a better life if I let you go."

"So…what now? Are you going to go back to the marriage that you actually remember?" Patty asks nervously. Even though she believes in her husband, she recognizes that technically, only she has memories of their marriage, and the only marriage he remembers is his one to Iris.

Barry smiles softly at Patty. He slowly reaches out and places his hand on her cheek. "Patty, I promise you, no matter what, I will never leave you. Looking back on my memories, I realize now that I never fully got over you. Part of the reason I moved on so quickly with Iris…is because I was hurting so much after we split, and I was looking for a way to deal with it." He pauses for a moment, then says, "I'll admit, when I first saw you in the kitchen after I woke up, I was tempted to just run back to Iris. But, when I saw you were pregnant…when I realized I was going to be a father…I knew this was the life I was meant to live. And I knew you were the one I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with. To raise a family with. To love."

Patty smiles, tears coming to her eyes. Barry smiles back at her before leaning and giving her a kiss. After a second, he whispers against her lips, "I love you, Patty."

"I love you, Barry," Patty responds, and the two keep kissing, both just overjoyed to know they'll be together for the rest of their lives.

And, I'll end the chapter there. Hope you liked it.

I hope you like the changes I made to the timeline of Earth-Prime, and Caitlin's story of Patty and Barry's relationship.

Now, I'm kind of unsure if I want to include the multiverse. Apparently, in canon, the worlds of the new multiverse are separated by something more than what they used to be. I'm kind of confused about that, and am kind of wondering if I should just keep it like the original multiverse, so that way we can still have people like Jay Garrick and Harry. Let me know what you think.

Now, the next chapter or two will be kind of showing Barry getting adjusted to this new life. And then, we're going to get into the conflict of this story. I hope you're excited for it. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, since I have so much homework lately, but I'll try and get it up within a week or so.