We're back! Season Two people! I hope the wait wasn't too long, but promise granted, it's May 22nd. The beginning of season two. This season is going to be much longer with more hints to the Snowbarry relationship that I have promised, but we're not going to get there quite yet. All the same, I promise at least one of them will have realized their feelings by the end of the season.

As always I love the support I have for my readers and I couldn't have done any this without you. My co-authors have been a big help. Brightburn1985 and Bartholomew Henry Allen.

Disclaimer: I have no rights to The Arrowverse.

Barry was running around the inside of the singularity. Jumping from debris to keep his momentum going. He may be extremely fast, but he couldn't fly.

"Barry, keep doing what you're doing, it's working," Cisco yelled into his earpiece.

"I can't run forever," Barry mumbled, hoping they could hear him. He had to save as much energy as he could to keep up this level of running. Sooner or later, he would make a mistake. His body would fatigue and he wouldn't be able to make that one jump, or he would run out of things to propel himself.

Barry didn't know how long he'd been running or how much longer he could continue, all he knew was if they didn't come up with something to close the giant hole soon, he'd be falling out of the sky. He was already running on fumes.

Soon Barry felt an immense heat, and it wasn't the burn he was feeling from his body.

Taking a look around, he saw Firestorm flying into the eye of the hole, just above him. "Ronnie, Professor," he said under his breath. He had no idea what they were doing.

The fire meta had a look of forlorn as they slowly reached for the splicer on their chest. Barry immediately knew what they were planning. They were hoping the energy from their separation would be enough to disrupt the singularity to finally close it, but then they wouldn't be able to escape the resulting explosion. "No!" he shouted.

Wasting no time, Firestorm ripped the splicer off their chest, forcing a separation between the two. The reaction was immediate. The energy caused the singularity to collapse in on itself before the heroes were ejected and fell out of the sky.

Barry let himself free fall for a few moments, trying to locate the two heroes who saved Central City. He caught sight of a man with white hair falling a few feet away, and directed himself accordingly to catch him.

Once Barry had Stein in his arms he pulled on his last reserves of energy to run down the side of a building.

When they reached the ground, Barry propped Stein against another building before turning around to try to find Ronnie as well. He hoped he wasn't too late yet and could possibly save him.

That hope was crushed when he looked up to see the rubble that was pulled up fall down like rain and another explosion to signal the singularity disappearing.

Frantic, Barry looked everywhere with his speedster brain, trying to find anything that could look like the body of the other half of Firestorm, but alas, no such luck.

The rest of Team Flash ran up to them. When they saw Stein on the ground, Joe and Cisco immediately went to help him up.

Caitlin stayed behind to take a look around, hoping she was just missing something. "Where's Ronnie?" she asked with sadness and a little bit of anger in her tone.

"Caitlin…" Barry honestly felt sorry for her. They had only gotten married that day, and already the groom was dead.

Caitlin shoved him back, panting loudly in despair. "Don't give me that, where is he Barry?"

"Caitlin…" Barry tried to say. He didn't know how to break it to her that he couldn't save him. He didn't want to explain how he let Ronnie die for a second time.

Caitlin just slapped him across the face before he could continue. She was having none of it. "Where is he?!" she demanded to know.

Her anger and despair fuelling her powers as her fingers left a healthy coating of frost and ice on him that continued to spread.

Her transformation was beginning as her eyes began to glow an eerie white. Her skin was turning even more pale than usual.

Barry scraped off the ice before it could become dangerous. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

He moved to offer her a hug, he felt this situation was one of the few rare ones that deserved one of the two reaching out to offer help.

Caitlin just let out a sharp breath which consisted of her powers. The mist washed over his feet, leaving them encased in ice and stuck where he was.

"Leave me alone Barry," Caitlin glared at him. "You didn't save him."

"I tried to! If I could have, I would have saved him," Barry protested.

"But you didn't!" Caitlin yelled. "You make us think we can trust you to do something and you just let us down when it matters,"

"I didn't ask for him to sacrifice himself. That was his decision to make to save the city," Barry defended himself.

"From the mistake you made! If you just never agreed to anything Thawne said, none of this would happen. Ronnie and Eddie wouldn't have had to sacrifice themselves because you decided to let The Reverse Flash go. If you decided to change the timeline when you already left, none of this would ever exist," Caitlin pointed out.

"We all agreed to do this. You said you would support my decision no matter what I decided," Barry reminded her.

"Well your decision was to change the timeline. Excuse me if you didn't notify us of a change of plans when you decided to let your mother die," Caitlin shouted out.

"You think that was an easy decision to make?!" Barry cried out. "I have to live with the fact I decided to let my mother die. It was my decision not to save her,"

"Then I guess we all lost something today," Caitlin continued to glare at him. "Do me a favour. Stay away from me. Don't even think of coming anywhere near me. Just stay the hell away from me," she demanded before she walked away from everyone.

Nobody was sure when they would see her again, but they all knew to leave her to her space. She would reach out to them when she was ready.

Barry was at Jitters, trying to rebuild what's left from the black hole that wrecked the city. That was when Cisco suddenly came up to him while he was rebuilding.

"You know, I heard a rumour that The Flash is rebuilding the city at night, you think he can fix the leakage in my apartment?" Cisco jokingly asked but Barry was having none of it.

"What do you want, Cisco?"

Cisco pulled out a sheet of paper from his back pocket and showed it to him. "Did you see this?" he gestured to the paper, which was revealed to be a poster for tomorrow's new holiday. Flash Appreciation Day.

"Yeah," Barry confirmed he knew about the celebration before turning around to continue fixing the broken coffee shop.

"Is The Flash going to make an appearance?" Cisco asked him.

"Why should I, Cisco? There's no reason for me to be there," Barry shook his head.

"The people of Central City just want a chance to thank the hero that saved them," Cisco tried to convince him.

"Well they can't do that because that's not me. I'm the one that endangered them in the first place and let other people pay for my mistake," Barry said.

"That's not you Barry. Sure you made a mistake, but you're human. You're allowed to make mistakes, and you did everything in your power to fix your mistakes. You saved a lot of people," Cisco called out to him.

"But not the people that matter. I couldn't save them Cisco," Barry referred to their fallen friends.

"You can't save everyone Barry. That's just part of being a hero. Sometimes one needs to be sacrificed for the good of others," Cisco tried to comfort him.

"Well that one should have been me," Barry shook his head.

"Why do you have to be such a hero about this?" Cisco mumbled. "Look, if you won't go for yourself, go for all the people you've saved this past year. They deserve to thank their hero,"

"I got things I need to sort out. I've been working on something," Barry dismissed him.

"You haven't done anything to my suit have you?" Cisco demanded.

"I thought we established that it is our suit, and no, I haven't changed it or anything. I'm talking about a personal project," Barry eased his concerns.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait until after you've received the key to the city from the mayor." Cisco said.

"I'll see you around Cisco," Barry bid his goodbye.

"You heard from Caitlin recently?" Cisco called out to him, bringing his attention back to the conversation.

"Not since that day. Have you?" Barry asked with interest in his eyes and genuine concern about their former teammate.

"I got a text a few weeks ago when they announced they were doing this whole 'Flash Day' celebration. Something along the lines of 'As if the arrogant jerk needs anything else to fuel his massive ego.'"

Barry silently laughed and his lips turned upward, showing his amusement at the ice meta. "Well I guess people just appreciate me more thanks to everything I've done,"

"No, stop that. I am not going to be your messenger for your arguments. If you want to talk to her, find her yourself," Cisco lightly scolded him.

"So have you heard about…?" Barry trailed off, hoping Cisco understood what he was talking about.

"Yeah, I have. And it looks like her, but could just be someone else. Could be something to talk about when you find her," Cisco said.

Barry shook his head. "I don't know man,"

Cisco put his hand on Barry's shoulder, offering his comfort. "Just take it one day at a time. See where it goes from there,"

With that, Cisco finally left Barry to his peace to decide what he would do.

In the morning, practically the whole city was gathered in the park to celebrate The Flash Day Festival where hopefully their scarlet speedster would make an appearance. Regardless of whether he would show or not, people were enjoying their time there, sharing stories of their personal experiences with the resident superhero.

Cisco had been wandering around, looking at a few familiar faces. He saw Stein and his wife, along with Joe and Iris. But what really caught him by surprise was the face of his best friend. The one he hadn't heard from for months. There was Caitlin Snow, standing at the edge of the crowd, isolating herself.

Cisco didn't have any time to react to it as the mayor was making his way to the podium set up.

The mayor was making a speech about the fact that for the past few months, they'd all been witnesses to the impossible. People who somehow managed to defy the laws of physics. But through all the bad that happened, they got something even better. The Flash.

"We would like to present this, the key to the city, for The Flash. We were hoping that he would make an appearance." he said.

Everyone took a moment to look around. Maybe the hero was hiding among them right now. Or perhaps they could catch a glimpse of his lightning trail or hear the sound of the winding blowing past them as he ran.

It only lasted for a few seconds before a streak of lightning weaved through the crowd and stopped on the podium.

Everyone cheered when they saw him. They had so much to thank him for after the past year. For everything they heard and all the things they had no idea about during his times with the mask off.

Mayor Bellows approached the red clad speedster and presented him with the key. "Thank you Flash,"

Barry simply nodded his head before grasping the metal object in his hand. The mayor gestured for The Flash to head to the microphone, where he could say a few words. He was sure everyone would appreciate it.

Barry tried to reject, but soon everyone was clamouring for him to take the stand. Barry could have gotten out of there without anyone knowing until it was too late, something compelled him to speak.

Adjusting the microphone, Barry made sure he kept his vocal cords vibrating so nobody would recognize him just in case.

"When I first learned of my powers, I didn't know what to do. I just knew I had been given a gift and I couldn't let it be a waste," Barry began his speech.

"I started my crusade upon the discovery of others just like me. People who could achieve the impossible. But not all of them were willing to use their new abilities for the benefit of others. I knew what I had to do. I had to stop them."

"I am not a hero," Barry stated. "That's not what I set out to become. That is who you have made me out to be. I didn't do this for fame or glory, but I hope I can become the hero you all deserve. Being a hero is about doing what's right just because it's right. By putting other people before yourself no matter what. It's about making a difference. That's what I strive to be,"

Suddenly a panic broke out. A man in the crowd had suddenly grown to a large size. He was making his way towards the podium, trying to get to The Flash. He wasn't taking into account the many smaller people in front of him and most of them ended up being injured.

Barry was quick to grab as many of them as he could and bring them out of harm's way.

As soon as he was able, he focused all his attention on the giant meta. He had no idea what their problem was, but they caused many people to be injured for no reason.

When the meta was making its way towards Joe and Cisco, Barry immediately body slammed him, knocking him down and bringing the giant man's attention back to him.

Barry tried to assess what he could do. This would be the same as Grodd. He had no particular advantage over this guy. He would have to use his surroundings to his advantage then.

Taking a look around, he noticed a few canisters of gasoline. Gaining an idea, he grabbed one in each hand. With all his strength, he launched them at the giant. At the last second, he vibrates his hand to charge up the electricity. Once he stored enough, he threw it, aiming for the canisters.

The electricity ignited the gasoline within and resulted in a massive explosion that sent everyone to the ground.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed that the giant was gone. He must have reverted back to his regular form and escaped in the crowd.

Barry had no idea how he was going to try to track him down, but he supposed a giant man would be very easy to spot if he were to attack once again.

Barry was currently alone in STAR Labs. After the entire singularity incident and announcing that Harrison Wells was dead, Barry had inherited all of Wells' assets. That included his home, his bank accounts, but most importantly STAR Labs. Barry was now the owner of a multimillion dollar company.

It reminded Barry of what they had learned in the Time Vault, where Gideon revealed that he and Caitlin would be running STAR Facilities. In the meantime, there was a lot he had to do before that would ever happen.

Barry was trying to come up with a plan on how to take down this man. He had to have a weak point, but he'd replayed the entire battle in his head several times and he couldn't find any opening he could have exploited.

Barry was so preoccupied with his thoughts, he didn't hear the notice of the silent alarm he programmed that someone had entered STAR Labs without clearance.

It was lucky he'd heard the footsteps coming through the hall, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to hide everything that could indicate he was The Flash.

The person coming up behind him was a lawyer and apparently he was here on behalf of Wells' will. He informed Barry that he was indeed set to inherit everything just as he had been informed. But it had come with a condition. He was to watch a video Wells had created by the end of the week, otherwise the firm he represented would enclose everything.

The man handed Barry a USB drive with the video and would notify them that he had watched the video once he did.

Barry just held the drive in his hand as the man walked away, his business concluded. Now it was all in the hands of Barry. Whether he chose to take it or not was his decision.

Barry knew he would have to watch the video. There was no question about it, but he couldn't bring himself to do it just yet. Even after several months, and being erased from existence, Wells was still manipulating him. He just couldn't get away from him.

Deciding he had plenty of time, Barry pocketed the drive and headed out. There was something he needed to do.

Walking into Mercury Labs was fairly easy. Barry and Dr. McGee was on good terms and she allowed him access to the labs that weren't restricted to only employees.

There was someone here he needed to see and that was his former teammate.

Barry soon found Caitlin hunched over a lab bench studying something. He had no idea what it was, but that didn't concern him right now.

Barry cleared his voice, making it clear to Caitlin that someone was behind her. She turned around and was met face to face with Barry.

For a moment, they didn't do anything, simply taking each other in. They hadn't seen each other for months. There was an air of familiarity, but it was overpowered by the awkwardness of their time apart.

Finally, it was Caitlin who broke the ice. "I thought I told you not to come anywhere near me?"

"Well, I saw you at the Flash Day Parade and figured that meant you were finally ready to start talking again," Barry voiced his reasons.

"I went to make a point, one that doesn't concern you," Caitlin argued.

"Well if it's at my parade, I think that gives me cause to be concerned," Barry said.

"Just drop it Barry. What are you doing here?" Caitlin demanded to know.

"So I heard about some rumblings of a new vigilante in town. Apparently they've been making some quick work in the underground world. The crime scene is always left as a winter wonderland." Barry said to her. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

"So I've been moonlighting as a hero. There's your answer. Don't let the door hit you on the way out," Caitlin pointed to the door Barry entered.

"I think it's great that you decided to use your powers to help other people," Barry voiced his opinion.

"Well if I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it. I'm not trying to be a hero with the entire world looking at me. That's why I've stayed in the shadows," Caitlin said.

"You know, between you and me, I wish I had my secrecy back, before people knew about The Flash," Barry pointed out.

"Oh boo hoo. The poor superhero doesn't want fame and glory and people screaming their name everywhere they go," Caitlin said sarcastically.

"Well, it is nice to be appreciated, but apparently I'm just an arrogant jerk whose ego is being fuelled by having their own holiday." Barry referenced what she said to Cisco.

"Cisco talked to you? I should have known he would open his mouth and talk," Caitlin grumbled.

Barry sighed, getting down to the real reason he came to find her. "The reason I came here was to say I'm sorry. I don't deserve any of this stuff people are doing. We both know who the real heroes that day were,"

"I heard your little speech at the parade. You really don't deserve all these things people are doing. A whole day dedicated to you, a parade, the key to the city. I think it's blowing this stuff way out of proportion," Caitlin said.

"Thank you for summing that up," Barry replied.

"You know, I heard they're making a drink at Jitters with your name on it," Caitlin mentioned.

"Really?" Barry said in surprise. It shocked Barry how much people were doing in his name.

"Look Barry, I don't care what you think of yourself. You could hate yourself and… that would actually be pretty gratifying," Caitlin cut herself off.

Barry just scoffed and sent her a look to just get to the point already.

"What matters is what other people think of you. And to the people of Central City, you are their hero. So just be their hero." Caitlin said.

"I thought you would have been furious. You were so angry that day, you slapped me, froze me on the spot, and left without a word for months," Barry said. "Why aren't you blowing up at me right now?"

"After these past few months I've calmed down a bit. The fact is, Ronnie only returned for such a short time, the fact he was back was still setting in. And then he was gone again. I guess I ran out of tears to cry," Caitlin said.

"You deserve to be happy, Cait. I wouldn't wish my worst enemy having to part with the love of their life twice," Barry said.

"The thing is, there's only one person I blame for what happened to Ronnie that day, and it isn't you." Caitlin said. "I blame myself. When Ronnie came back the first time, he offered to take us away from everything but I refused. I said no because I didn't want to leave all this behind,"

Caitlin started to tear up. Barry noticed this and brought out a handkerchief in his pocket that also contained the USB.

"Oh, you carry a hanky now? What are you, 50?" Caitlin lightly teased him, but accepted it all the same.

"Well at least I'm not a senile old woman with nothing but my work to keep me occupied Ms. Frosty," Barry retorted.

"Says the guy with a hero complex who waits for trouble in order to save the day Fleet Feet," Caitlin shot back.

"Hey, I'm rich now. You can't talk to me like that," Barry lightly scolded her and reminded her he had complete control over everything STAR related.

In their argument, Barry dropped the USB to the ground where it made a loud sound. It brought both of their attention to it, where Barry soon picked it up.

"What is that?" Caitlin asked.

"Wells apparently had a living will. In order for me to get everything he left me, I need to watch this video he created for me," Barry informed her.

"So you're not rich," Caitlin stated.

"Not yet. I'm going to watch it eventually, I just haven't picked up the courage to," Barry said, rolling his eyes.

"What if we watch it together?" Caitlin suggested.

Barry nodded in thanks. Caitlin wouldn't be his first option to share this moment with, but the two of them still cared deeply for each other, even if they won't admit it. This was a moment meant to be shared with those closest to you.

They plugged in the USB into a computer and the video began to play. On it, Wells' face appeared. He began to talk. Explaining about all the things he's done for the past 15 years, about how after all this time he's learned to care for him. But despite all that, he said that Barry was never happy, and he would never be happy.

Barry didn't know how much longer he could stand to continue watching Wells' smug expression. He just wanted to punch something, but he knew he had to let this all play out.

Near the end of the recording, Wells told him to erase everything he said up to this point. "Give the following video to the police," he said.

What he said afterward shocked Barry to his core. He was confessing. The murder of his mother, he explained everything he'd done that night to the letter. This was it. This was what was going to get his father out of jail. He didn't like the thought of being indebted to The Reverse Flash, but if he could get his father out of jail, it would all be worth it.

Barry turned to face Caitlin and grinned. He was truly happy at that moment.

Barry had done what was needed to make sure the video was legible before submitting it to the police station. He made sure to take away anything that could have indicated he was The Flash.

The DA was still deciding what to do, but it was looking very likely his father would be able to get out of prison by tomorrow morning at the earliest.

While that was going on, the team had reformed to try to take down the new metahuman, Atom Smasher, dubbed by Prof. Stein.

They had a plan on how to stop him. Barry had his reserves about it though. "We are going to kill him?" Barry voiced his concerns.

"We don't have any other way to stop him. Our technology just isn't advanced enough that we can safely restrain him. And even if we do, we don't have anywhere to put him. He'd break out of any place we'd put him." Cisco said.

"Yeah, but killing him? That's a little extreme," Caitlin said, as this was one of the few topics the speedster and ice witch were in agreement with.

"The fact is, we don't have many options. We can't just wait to catch him, and we can't wait for technology to advance further. We need to stop him now, and we don't have any other way to do it," Cisco argued.

The two metahumans were reluctant, but in the end, they were forced to go along with the plan. They just didn't have any options when faced with someone like this.

The team discovered the meta feeds on radiation. The more he absorbed, the more power he wielded, and with radiation everywhere these days with the constant use of technology, the meta had a ready supply at his fingertips.

The plan was to test the limits of how much he could absorb by locking him in a room where they would release dangerous levels of radiation. The end result would lead to his death.

The plan worked like a charm. They managed to draw Atom Smasher out of hiding and allowed him to chase Barry to a facility where they implemented their plan.

Once it was safe to enter, Barry kneeled down next to the dying meta. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "But I couldn't let you terrorize anymore people,"

"It's fine. I'm dead either way," the man mumbled. "He won't stop,"

"Who?" Barry asked.

The man managed to take off his helmet to look into Barry's eyes as he said his final words. "Zoom," he said, and with that, his body fell limp.

Barry had no idea what or who he was talking about, but he just knew he had to be careful. If a man of his calibre felt his life was threatened by this 'Zoom', he knew he would have to be cautious if he ever met this thing.

The next day, Barry was waiting outside the prison where his father would be released and he would be taking him home where a party was arranged to celebrate Henry's freedom.

After the party, Henry revealed to Barry that he didn't want to stay in Central City. After being in lockup for the past 15 years, he needed to get out and truly experience his freedom with the knowledge that he could go anywhere he pleases. And he didn't want to hold Barry back by being here and constantly serving as nothing but a distraction.

After dropping his father at the train station where Henry could now decide on his own path, Barry made his way back to STAR Labs, which had now officially become his.

"In celebration of change I've added a little something to the suit," Cisco said when he returned. Lighting up the closet revealed the Flash suit, but with a little difference. Before, the background of the lightning bolt on the symbol was red, just like the rest of the suit. But now it has changed into something familiar. The background was white just like they saw in the newspaper and when Barry saw his future self.

"It's just like the one in the future newspaper. I figured, we don't need to fear the future," Cisco explained.

"That's really nice Cisco. In fact I had the same thoughts which is why-" Barry started to say.

"You're finally asking Cait out on a date?" Cisco interrupted him, remembering Gideon saying the duo were married in the future.

"You are?" Iris asked with an elated expression. At long last, her brother would have someone who could actually keep up with him and Iris thought Caitlin would be a decent girlfriend.

"You better not be," Caitlin warned him away from even thinking about it.

"No!" Barry shouted. "Nothing like that. I'm talking about opening STAR up to the public,"

"You're doing what now?" Joe asked.

"I'm making STAR an operational company again," Barry announced.

"But, what's going to happen to this place?" Cisco asked nervously.

"STAR Labs will be closed forever. I inherited everything from Wells, including STAR Labs, but there are just too many government regulations on this place that it just isn't worth it to try to open to the public again." Barry explained.

"The STAR brand however is going to continue on. STAR had other facilities placed around the country as well. When the accelerator exploded and Wells' name was dragged through the mud, he was forced to shut them down. But now since STAR is under new management I've been allowed to start them back up again. I've already rehired a few employees and managers to keep these other facilities in check, but I get final decision in all matters, as well as profits that come in from them," Barry explained.

"STAR Labs will remain to serve as our base of operations for The Flash as well as being my office and personal lab for everything STAR related." he concluded.

A notification on the computer stole everyone's attention as it alerted them that the silent alarm had been tripped. Using the new security system they installed, they were able to locate the intruder in no time.

Barry donned his new suit and grabbed the person before putting him in a cell in the Pipeline.

"Well, you sure know how to make an introduction," the man casually said, as if being whisked away by a speedster was a common occurrence for him.

"Who are you?" Barry demanded.

The man raised his hands in a placating sense. "My name is Jay Garrick. And I was The Flash,"

So a lot of changes from season two. We've seen the beginnings of Barry becoming CEO of STAR. That's not going to impact much of the storyline, but it's just something I'm gonna add a few times to help the main storyline along.

Caitlin has now become a vigilante. She's going to help with some of the metas but only those that I feel would have been much easier if she tagged along. The bantering between Caitlin and Barry are going to remain consistent throughout the story. I mean, that's one of the main reasons this story is as popular as it is. But they will have lessened. As well as the main topic for their arguments. Last season, it was all about them not liking each other. Anyone care to guess what these new arguments are going to be about?

So I hope everyone is excited and likes where I'm taking this story so far and will continue to see to it. I'm not sure where I'm going to finally finish this story. Just until I've finally run out of ideas I suppose.

Tell me what you thought and any questions you may have for me. I'll see you all next week.