Wow. Last week's chapter wasn't that popular. Not that it was surprising. I didn't even like it that much. It was just a filler chapter. A necessary evil. But we're back. Hopefully this one will be slightly better. My co-authors go by the name of Brightburn1985 and Bartholomew Henry Allen.

Disclaimer: I have no rights to The Flash.

"Flashy the red-nosed speedster had a very shiny suit, and if you ever saw him, you might even want to puke." Jesse gagged when he was finishing the line. "Merry Christmas kiddy-winks, I'm back. Citizens, you know, holidays can be a time for gentle reflection on the year past. Our ups and downs, our triumphs, our heartaches. But don't forget, it can also be a time for disemboweling our enemies. No, my stocking won't be stuffed until it's filled to the brim with bloody Flash parts. What do ya say, speed freak, you wanna roast chestnuts?"

That was James Jesse's announcement after breaking out of Iron Heights along with Leonard Snart. It seemed to be the work of an escaped meta convict, Mark Mardon, who created a snowstorm to hide his tracks.

Snart didn't seem to want to take part in the scheme they seemed to be having, so he walked out on them, only to break into Barry's house to warn him that they were coming for him.

Barry wanted to spend the holidays with Patty, however ever since it was mentioned that Mardon was possibly a part of this case, she didn't seem to have any time for him.

"Hey Patty," Barry called to her. "I was wondering if-"

"Hey Barry. It's nice to see you. Sorry, but I'm a little busy at the moment." Patty had an apologetic look on her face as she placed a kiss on his cheek. "Maybe we can do something later?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure my schedule is clear," Barry smiled at her in an attempt to mask the pain he felt. This was the first Christmas he would be spending where he was in a serious relationship. Especially after what happened last year at Christmas.

Barry made his way back to STAR Labs. There were a few things he could be doing at CCPD, but he could always do them at a later time and he really wanted to step away from Patty at the moment.

Caitlin was there in the Cortex, working on a way to track down Jesse and Mardon. And maybe Snart as well if they were lucky.

Barry took a seat and let out a loud sigh.

"Oh no, I know that sound," Caitlin raised her head to look at Barry. "Troubles in paradise?"

"I don't know what's going on Cait," Barry moaned. "Everything was going fine a few days ago. We were kissing, having fun. Then we got that alert about the breakout and everything seemed to change,"

Caitlin clenched her hands at the mention of kissing. She didn't like the sound of that. Maybe it was because of the casual way he said it. But it wasn't like he had anything to be embarrassed about. Patty was his girlfriend. He could say he kissed her anytime he wanted. So why were Caitlin's hands clenched so tight?

"Maybe she's finally come to her senses and decided to break up with you," Caitlin said.

"Ha ha," Barry laughed with no humour. "This is serious Ms. Frosty. I'm really worried about her,"

"If you're so worried, why are you complaining about it to me and not talking to your girlfriend about it Fleet Feet?"

"She won't let me get a word in. Anytime I try to strike up a conversation she shoots me down, tells me that she's busy and runs off," Barry tells her.

"Maybe she really is that busy," Caitlin pointed out. "Just be patient with her. Let her come to you to talk about this,"

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Barry sighed.

"I'm always right Fleet Feet," Caitlin smirked at him.

"Shut up Ms. Frosty," Barry let out a small smile to grace his lips. "I was really hoping to do something nice this evening. Considering how last Christmas went down, I was hoping for something a little better,"

"Rejected by your crush and then brutally beaten up by your childhood nightmare. I don't think it gets any worse than that," Caitlin said.

"Guess it's really all uphill from there," Barry agreed.

"So, I know this wasn't what you were planning for tonight, but how does taking down a couple criminals sound?" Caitlin suggested. "I might have a lead to their location,"

"That sounds perfect right about now," Barry leaned over to see what she found out.

The lead was a reflection in the eyes of Jesse. It was a doll that had been out of stock for the past few years but there was a factory for the company in the city limits that was still standing.

Barry decided to go there that night to see if they could find anything. There, he was met with someone else as well. Someone very familiar.

"Pa-Officer Spivot?" Barry spluttered, almost blurting out his girlfriend's name that he had no explanation to how he knew. At least as Officer Spivot, he had the excuse of seeing her on the streets. "What are you doing here?"

"There was a reflection of a doll that my father gave me in the video Jesse sent out. This is the only factory in the city that might have one," Patty explained.

"You shouldn't be here," Barry tried to coax her out.

"I'm a police officer investigating two criminals. What are you doing here?" Patty questioned him.

"I'm trying to do the same," Barry whispered.

Suddenly, several little spinning dreidels came out and surrounded them with a song playing in the background.

"We can't forget about Hanukkah," Jesse said over the tape. "Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel. I made you out of C4,"

Looking for a way out, Barry looked to the ceiling. "Grab onto me," he wrapped Patty's arms around him.

"I'm seeing someone," Patty lightly protested but went along because there was no way she could get out without his help. Still, it was sweet to him that she was remaining so loyal, even with his alter ego.

"Yeah, so am I," Barry mumbled. He left out the part that she was the one he was currently seeing.

With Patty still clinging onto him, he rotated his arms downward to propel them into the air and through the skylight before the spinning bombs detonated.

They made it out of there in time, but the building went up in flames.

"Thank you for saving my life tonight, but I really have to go," Patty walked to her car.

"Wait, explain to me why you were here. Alone, without anyone else coming expecting to meet a dangerous metahuman?" Barry shouted.

"You want to know why?" Patty turned back to him. "Because Mark Mardon shot my father in cold blood."

Patty took a deep breath as she recounted the tale of her father's demise. "My father owned a little shoe store and one day he asked me to go to the bank to apply for a loan, but I bailed on him. I wanted to go out and do stupid teenager stuff with my friends. So he went instead and was gunned down by Mardon and shot in the head for a few hundred dollars,"

Barry sighed in realization. "That's why you're doing this. Why you wanted to be on the metahuman task force,"

"It'll be legal when I kill Mardon and get justice for my father," Patty said to him. "I don't even know why I'm telling you all this,"

"Sometimes it's easier to trust a face you don't know," Barry said. "But listen to me, revenge is never the answer. There's another path to this,"

"Forgive and forget?" Patty scoffed. "That man doesn't deserve forgiveness, and I'll never forget what he did. So what does that leave me with?"

"Acceptance," Barry said. "Your father's dead. I'm sorry but nothing is going to change that, certainly not murdering Mardon. You're a police officer. You're supposed to protect all people,"

"And how many people will I save if I kill Mardon?" Patty retorted. "Listen, thank you for saving me. But it's been a long night and I have a killer to track down."

Patty got into the car and drove off, leaving a disheartened boyfriend behind.

On Christmas day, Team Flash were finally able to pinpoint a location for Mardon. He was on top of a building, just looking down on the people.

When Barry confronted him, he lept off and managed to manipulate the air pressure around him to grant him the ability to fly.

Mardon made his way to the plaza where Jesse was waiting where they revealed their master plan.

All day, Jesse was posing as a Santa and handing out gifts to little kids. Within those presents were actually bombs that would detonate with the press of a button. Unless Barry would allow them to kill him right there.

Cisco and Harry were working on getting rid of those bombs so Barry would have the clear to take them down.

Figuring that they only needed to locate one of the bombs, they went to a house with children within walking distance of the plaza that was practically guaranteed to have one of those boxes, they managed to convince them to give it to them.

With the reveal there was actually a bomb within, they were eager to get rid of it.

By tapping into the frequency of the bomb, they were able to bring all the bombs through a breach where they would explode within the breach and bring no harm to anyone on either side.

With the go that all the bombs were taken care of, Barry sprung into action. Lightning danced in his eyes and tied up Jesse with Christmas lights and punched Mardon several times so he would go down.

Patty walked up to the scene with The Boot ready in her hand.

"Officer Spivot, don't worry. Everything is under control," Barry states.

"That's what I'm counting on," Patty says and aims The Boot at Barry's leg. The shock that she would do that froze Barry to the spot and allowed The Boot to clamp on him, sending hundreds of volts through his system and neutralizing his powers.

Patty walked up to Mardon with her actual gun pointed at his head. "Do you know who I am?"

"Should I? All you pigs are the same," Mardon sneered at her.

"Several years ago, you gunned down a man at a bank and shot him in cold blood," Patty scowled at him. "That man was my father, and now I'm going to get justice for him,"

"Wait!" Barry shouted at her. "Please, don't do this,"

"He shot my father, all just to make a quick buck. He deserves everything coming to him," Patty said.

"And you will have to live with the fact you killed him," Barry said. "Mardon may deserve to die, but that is not for you to decide."

"But I do. I want him to suffer just like how my father did," Patty continued to glare at the fallen man in front of her.

"Your father wouldn't want this for you. Killing Mardon, that's not moving forward, and if you do, that means you never will. You need to find yourself that doesn't revolve around this before you can truly move on," Barry said.

Patty still looked ready to fire her gun at any moment, but there was a look of conflict in her eyes that was making her hesitate.

"Don't be the person you think your father deserves. Be the person you know your father deserves," Barry pleaded with her one last time.

Grunting to herself, lowering her head, Patty holsters her gun and pulls out a pair of handcuffs. "Mark Mardon, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent,"

Barry sighed in relief as Patty finally decided on doing the right thing.

On the side, James Jesse was silently sobbing. "That was so beautiful, I think I'm gonna puke,"

The Christmas party at the West house was going underway. Everyone was happy and chatting with each other on all the things that have happened in the past year.

The doorbell rang unexpectedly. It confused everyone since they weren't expecting anyone else to arrive.

Joe went to open the door. Maybe it was Christmas carolers.

The door revealed to be a boy, probably in his early twenties. "Is this the West house?" he asked.

"I'm Joe West. This is my daughter Iris," Joe gestured behind him. "Can I help you with something?"

"My name is Wally West. I'm your son," he stated.

After everything that's happened, with all the close calls and near death experiences, Barry was giving it some serious thought.

He wanted to tell Patty that he was The Flash.

Of course, he had to talk to the others first. Joe and Iris deserved an input as well, but it was the core group that he was focused on right now.

"Hey guys, I need to talk to you about something," Barry called out.

"Oh? What could be the matter?" Caitlin rolled her eyes. The indication that she was listening even though her eyes were still glued to the screen.

Currently, they were trying to find a meta that might prove useful in their plan to defeat Zoom. The Turtle, who had the ability to absorb the kinetic energy in an area. If they could figure out how he did it, they could steal Zoom's speed.

"It's about Patty," Barry started.

"Don't tell me you're thinking about breaking up with her already. It's too soon to tell yet," Cisco said.

"No, I'm not…" Barry trailed off. "Already? You were expecting us to break up?"

"Well, not yet, but-" Cisco shrugged his shoulders.

"No, I'm not planning on breaking up with Patty. In fact, the opposite," Barry stated.

"Just tell us what it is," Caitlin said in a bored fashion.

"I'm gonna tell Patty that I'm The Flash," Barry said. "What do we think of that?"

Cisco was shocked. For sure, he knew Patty was a great girl. He supported Barry in his relationship with her. But they were only just starting out, and Barry was already thinking about hitting her with his vigilante side-job. He might as well have asked her to marry him.

Cisco turned to look at Caitlin to see her stone, cold face. She didn't let anything show, but his perceptive eyes managed to see the turmoil beneath her eyes.

In the end, Cisco realized that this was Barry's decision. This was his team. He would make a call, and they would follow him. That's just how it was.

"Well," Cisco said when it became obvious Caitlin wasn't going to say anything. "I think that anyone who can face multiple metahumans without a power is pretty cool, so she's good in my books,"

Barry had a grateful smile on his face and turned to face Caitlin.

Caitlin didn't know what to think. She couldn't even face him. Why was her heart beating so fast? Why were her eyes swelling with tears? Why did it hurt so much to hear that Barry trusted Patty enough to willingly give up his secret identity?

Caitlin was angry. Angry at Barry, angry at Cisco, angry at Patty. What on earth did Patty do that made Barry trust her so much? They've only known each other for a few months, and Barry was just handing his heart to her on a silver platter.

If he told her, that would be it. It would prove without a shadow of doubt, that Barry was dedicated to Patty no matter what. He would stick to her for the rest of his life. They would get married, have a couple of kids. Get a house in the suburbs. Why didn't she want that for them?

Caitlin reluctantly tore her gaze away from the screen in front of her and put on her best fake smile, hoping nobody would notice. "I think you should do what makes you happy. If Patty makes you happy, then don't let anything stop you,"

Caitlin clenched her jaw. That was so difficult to say. It was like drinking poison. And this burning feeling in her chest just wouldn't go away.

"Thank you Cait," Barry offered her a large smile and Caitlin immediately felt guilty. "It means so much to me that you're okay with this,"

"I'm gonna tell her. I'm really gonna tell her." Barry mumbled excitedly to himself as he left the Cortex.

As soon as Barry was out of hearing range, Cisco shot a look to Caitlin. "You gonna tell me what that was all about?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Caitlin dismissed him and turned back to her computer.

"Oh no, you're not getting away that easily," Cisco smiled to himself. "You couldn't look Barry in the eye. Your hands were fidgeting this entire time,"

Caitlin looked down at her hands to see that her keyboard had specks of ice on it. Hopefully that wouldn't ruin it, but if it did, they could just order a new one. It wasn't like they were low on cash these days.

Cisco smirked. "I never thought I'd see the day,"

"What?" Caitlin asked, irritated at his vague speech.

"You're jealous," Cisco accused.

"Excuse me?" Caitlin was taken aback. "What do I have to be jealous about?"

"The fact that Barry's going to tell Patty about everything to prove how serious he is about their relationship, and you're jealous because of it," Cisco said.

Caitlin took a deep breath and thought about it. It did make sense, but she would never admit it. It just made no sense to her. There was nothing about Barry's relationship with Patty that she should be jealous over. She had her own relationship with Jay that was going splendidly. Was there something she was lacking in that department?

Caitlin soon came to a realization. "Oh my god, you're right. I am jealous,"

"Hold on, what now?!" Cisco shouted. "You actually- you know, I knew you were, but I didn't think you did,"

"No, you're right Cisco. I am jealous of Barry's relationship with Patty," Caitlin admitted.

"Hallelujah! She admits it! She finally admits it!" Cisco shouted out loud in celebration. "I never thought I'd live to see the day. Okay so I want to be the best man at the wedding. And your first child should be named after me," Cisco listed his demands.

"That's a long ways down the road Cisco. Besides, Jay and I don't have the security in our relationship like Barry and Patty do," Caitlin said.

"We'll get to that and- Did you just say you and Jay?" Cisco asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Caitlin nodded her head. "I'm jealous of the fact that Barry is so confident in his relationship while I'm still not too sure about mine,"

"That's what you're jealous about?" Cisco questioned with his mouth agape.

"Exactly. I'm so glad you made me realize this Cisco," Caitlin smiled at him in gratitude. "I'm going to find Jay and we're going to have a serious talk about where we are in this relationship,"

Caitlin waved goodbye and went off in search of her boyfriend.

Cisco just plastered a smile on his face as he watched her leave.

"So close," Cisco moaned to himself once he knew Caitlin would not be able to hear him.

They managed to track down The Turtle in an abandoned art museum that was once owned by the guy's wife. The only problem would be getting close to him since he'd make everything around him motionless.

"How am I supposed to do this?" Barry asked outside the museum.

"You just need to keep running. The stored potential energy within should convert back to kinetic energy, which will allow you to keep moving, albeit, at a much slower pace." Jay said.

"You'll have a window of opportunity. Turtle's powers operate in waves. You'll have an eighth of a second in between to get closer," Harry added in.

Barry took a deep breath and readied himself to push forward in order to take down Turtle.

Barry took a running start to get as much momentum as possible before charging forward. As soon as The Turtle sensed someone here, he activated his powers to freeze Barry in his tracks, but Barry was able to keep moving slightly.

One wave ended and Barry continued forward but was stopped by another wave. In such an enclosed space, Turtle didn't have anywhere to go. His only chance would be that Barry would tire and give up and then he would make his escape.

Barry did not stop. The second wave ended and Barry charged forward. He was almost there. Stopped by another wave, but just one more and Barry would be upon him.

The final wave was over and Barry sucker punched Turtle into unconsciousness. "That was a lot of running," Barry gasped despite not traveling very far.

They locked The Turtle in the Pipeline where they could now study his powers and possibly replicate them in order to take away Zoom's speed when they would confront him again.

"You want to know something funny? Before you would steal the treasure of everyone else," Barry taunted him. "Now you're our greatest treasure,"

Barry, now reaffirmed that telling Patty he was The Flash was the greatest choice he could make, he headed to her apartment.

"Patty, I have something I really need to tell you," Barry said when he stepped through the door.

"I have something I need to tell you as well," Patty claimed.

"Oh, well ladies first," Barry gestured for her to say what she needed.

"Now that Mardon is behind bars, I've accomplished the reason why I became a police officer," Patty started. "And someone told me that I needed to find myself that wasn't part of taking down Mardon so I applied to a university for their forensics program,"

"Oh?"

"I got accepted," Patty cheered.

"Oh! That's great! I'm so happy for you," Barry exclaimed.

"It's in Midway City," Patty told him.

It took Barry a moment to process what she just told him. He couldn't believe it. "So, you're moving away?"

"It's time to get away from Central City. Start anew," Patty said.

"Even me?" Barry asked in disbelief.

"When I first came to the force, I never expected that I would get to know you, and care about you so much, but this is something I've wanted to do since before Mardon," Patty told him.

Barry sighed. "I understand. This is your dream, and you're finally starting to move on. I'm happy for you,"

"Thank you Barry," Patty said her thanks. "And it doesn't mean we can't still be friends. We can keep in contact. Maybe even try a long-distance relationship,"

"No, don't worry about me. I'll be fine," Barry smiled sadly at her as he backed up to the door.

"Uh, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Patty asked, remembering there was something he wanted to tell her as well.

"Don't worry about it," Barry dismissed it. "It doesn't matter anymore. Your father would be proud of the person you've become. You truly are the person you know your father deserves,"

Patty looked at him in confusion. Barry wondered what it was he said that made her look that way. He mentally repeated their conversation before realizing what just happened.

"What did you just say?" Patty asked. "You said I'm the person I know my father deserves?"

"Uh, well," Barry stammered.

"The Flash said that to me," Patty looked at him suspiciously.

"Oh, well what a coincidence," Barry lightly laughed, trying to throw her off the path.

"Barry, are you-" Patty began to accuse him.

"I've got to go! I'll see you around maybe," Barry was starting to sweat bullets as he walked out the door.

Barry was out the door, and Patty hurried to her window just in time to see a flash of lightning exit her apartment complex. "-The Flash," Patty mumbled to herself.

Patty is now aware of Barry being The Flash. Things will probably turn out the same as in canon for them, but it's still sad to see her go. Patty was the best relationship Barry had on the show, in my opinion, but alas this is a Snowbarry story. She had to go sooner or later. Patty will be taking her exit next week, but there will be some mentions to her throughout the story. I hate how she was just cut completely out of the show.

And Wally has entered the story. Not much to tell for there. He's just going to be around. I don't pay too much attention to the West family, mostly because there isn't anything that interesting for me to add besides brief mentions. I'm not even sure if I should make him Kid Flash. Tell me if you guys think I should, even if it's just to make it easier on me so I don't have to come up with something completely new off the top of my head. Or so I don't cut out entire episodes that involve him.

Anyway, I'll see you guys next week. Hope you guys are all safe and enjoying your summer as best as you can.