Time goes by. I'm sorry I'm a little late on this. I was busy watching the new season of Umbrella Academy on Netflix. So good. Anyway, my co-authors always help me out with my story. Brightburn1985 and Bartholomew Henry Allen

Disclaimer: I don't own the Flash.

"So this is where Zoom is?" Barry asked

They are standing in front of a huge cliffside, there is a small opening in the middle where they assume Zoom's lair is.

"The most likely place for Zoom to keep a prisoner. As you can imagine, he doesn't keep many," Caity told them.

"Brilliant. A place where only a speedster can easily access," Harry commented.

"Alright, I'll take Harry and Cisco, you take Bartholomew," Barry said to Caity, who was already creating stairs out of ice for them to climb.

Barry grabbed hold of the two and raced them up the cliffside into the cavern where several empty cages were. Out of the many, only four of them contained a living being.

"Jesse!" Harry exclaimed and rushed at the sight of his missing daughter.

Caity and Bartholomew entered to see Harry trying to tear off Jesse's chains. "A little help?"

Caity rolled her eyes and proceeded to grab hold of the chain. The freezing temperatures weakened the metal enough for it to easily snap. "You didn't think to bring something in case she was chained?"

"As sassy as ever I see," a voice sounded in a nearby cage. "You really haven't changed a bit,"

Everyone turned to one of the other cages that were containing someone. Within two of the cages, side by side were the metas Barry and Caity faced last night.

The two of them stepped forward so everyone could see Reverb and Deathstorm.

"What are you two doing there?" Caity asked, stepping closer to Ron's cell.

"Zoom found out that the breacher escaped, locked us up right after," Ron explained while glaring at Bartholomew. "So you're the husband?"

"Yeah, I am," Bartholomew responded with a nervous demeanour to him. His eyes shifting back and forth, trying not to look directly at the dangerous fire meta.

Ron nodded his head, his glare stuck on Bartholomew. "Take care of her."

"We're getting you out of there," Caity said, destroying the lock.

"Why would you do that? We tried to kill you," Reverb said, shocked.

"We were partners once. Just because I left doesn't mean I stopped caring. You guys were all I had in life at one point." Caity explained. "Don't expect the same treatment again though."

"There won't be a next time," a voice growled behind them.

Everyone turned around to see Zoom had returned. Slowly stalking them, making sure they wouldn't be making a move.

"How convenient. You've brought all the people I want to kill in one place for me to do it," Zoom said.

"Whatever your plan is, I'm going to stop you." Barry said, stepping between Zoom and his friends.

"Your attempts were futile last time we met, what prevents me from snapping your back and killing all of you right now?" Zoom's eyes were staring daggers at all of them.

"Me." Caity said before her hair became platinum blonde and her eyes became ice cold with mist coming off of her hands.

Caity blasted cold mist directly at Zoom, freezing him in place while the others tried to make a break for it.

"It's no good," Ron grabbed Caity's arms and pushed her back. "Just run while you have the chance."

"We'll hold him off," Reverb replied, placing his own goggles back over his eyes. He immediately shot his vibrational blasts at the slightly weakened speedster with Ron soon joining in.

"Thank you," Caity said.

"Now we're even," Ron said, shooting his flames to add in Reverb's attack.

Everyone else was already at the mouth of the cave. "I'll take Harry and Jesse. Get Cisco and Bartholomew down." Barry told Caity.

Barry sped off with the father and daughter and Caity created an ice slide for the others to get down.

Cisco was sliding down with her husband cautiously stepping onto the ice. Chancing a look back, Caity saw Zoom gaining the advantage. A hole was in Reverb's chest, clearly dead. Deathstorm was holding him off as much as possible, but only the heat of his flames seemed to be keeping Zoom at bay. Sooner or later, Zoom would get through and end him.

Caity hated to leave them behind, but she did. She chose to leave this life behind. She never wanted to come back, but she always knew her past would sneak back up to her. But now it was over as she jumped onto the ice to get down the cliff.

"You know, this is gonna be one hell of a bedtime story." Bartholomew said as soon as she got off the ice slide.

"What about the man with the iron mask?" Jesse asked, worried for the other prisoner.

"We can come back for him after we defeat Zoom but for now, we have to return to our own Earth. I need to check if Ms. Frosty kept her promise." Barry said.

"Ms. Frosty?" Caity asked with one of her eyebrows raised.

"He's referring to our Caitlin, it's kinda their nicknames for each other." Cisco briefly explained. "Speaking of Caitlin, can you two do me a favour?" He asked with a huge grin in his face.

"Alright, they should come back any moment now." Caitlin said while she waited with the rest of Team Flash in front of the opened breach.

"There's only five minutes left, I think they're not gonna make it." Jay said, his finger lingering in the lever.

"Will you please shut up?! They're going to make it!" Caitlin snapped at Jay, her eyes are ice cold. She was irritated at how negative Jay is.

"Calm down, Caitlin and take five." Iris said, calming down Caitlin before she blasted the former speedster into a wall.

Caitlin took a deep breath and walked away to calm herself. She immediately returned upon the sound of the breach opening as it spit out Harry with a girl in his arms, presumably his daughter Jesse.

Next came Cisco yelling, "Zoom's right behind us. Get ready to close it!"

"How can I thank you for everything you've done?" Barry asked Caity.

"Just call it my deed to society, especially thanks to my past," Caity said.

"You guys should get out of Central City in the meantime. Get Layla and run," Barry said in concern.

"We've got some friends in Star City that can help us hide. We'll stay there for awhile. We're counting on you to take Zoom down," Bartholomew said to ease his doppelgänger's concerns.

"Before you go, a bit of advice," Caity said. "When Bartholomew and I met, we didn't like each other much, but we eventually learned to love each other. Stop skirting around the issue and tell her,"

Barry shook his head. "There's nothing to tell. We've made it fairly clear to everyone that there will never be anything between us,"

"Things change. Take it from us, we've been there. And if your Caitlin is anything like mine, trust me. There will never be a moment where you won't have something to say to her," Bartholomew assured him.

Barry was about to respond but the sound of a speedster echoing in the hall disturbed them.

"Run!" Barry shouted to the couple as he rushed to the breach. Hoping Zoom wouldn't go after them.

Exiting out on the other end of the breach, Barry shouted to Jay who was poised to close the breach forever.

"Throw it! He's right behind me!" Barry yelled.

Quickly, Jay chucked the bomb into the breach where it began closing in on itself.

Laughing, everyone hugged each other at a successful mission. Everything turned out alright in the end. Jay took a step forward to join the celebration before a hand shot out of the breach and plunged itself through Jay's chest and dragged his body back through the breach before it closed.

Everyone was silent as they watched their fellow comrade be killed right before their eyes. Slowly, their gazes fell on the brunette woman who was staring agape at the empty space where her boyfriend once was.

"Caitlin." Barry whispered softly, walking towards her and hugging her. She tried to struggle under his grip but after a few moments, she gave up and just cried against his chest. "I'm so sorry."

"Why? Why does this always happen to me?" Caitlin asked before she felt someone place a hand over her shoulder and she saw it was Cisco.

"I'm so sorry." Cisco said before wrapping the both of them in a hug.

"You know what's worse? I don't feel as devastated as I should be and the guilt of knowing that, it makes me feel terrible."

"Do you need anything? I can get whatever you want as quick as it takes for you to say it," Barry offered.

"Just please, leave me alone. I just need to be alone at the moment. I'm going to lie down so just please…" Caitlin begged them as she left the room.

"I'm gonna make sure that she will make it home safe." Barry said after a few minutes before leaving as well.

"After two freaking years! We finally have ourselves a lady speedster, tell me is she hot, you know for totally scientific purposes?" Cisco asked as the others rolled their eyes at him.

"I'll be sure to ask her out for you before we race." Barry sarcastically replied.

"That's my boy."

"What does she look like?" Caitlin asked before Barry raised his eyebrows at her. "I meant her appearance. Does she have a suit or just regular clothes?"

"Definitely a suit, it looks like it's made from a lab. It has everything that a speedster needed; friction proof, heat and cold resistant, and it was aerodynamic for much better turns. This girl is a pro." Barry explained as he drew the suit for the team to see.

"Where could she have gotten something like this?" Cisco asked.

"Definitely not here. The only other place I can think of is Mercury Labs off the top of my head." Caitlin responded.

"Can you think of anyone? You used to work there after all," Barry asked Caitlin.

"I didn't know everyone there. There are lots of departments that I never interacted with. There are a few people I can call to keep a lookout," Caitlin said, pulling out her phone to check her contacts.

"In the meantime, let's try to figure out where she came from. Is she another meta from Earth-2 we missed?" Barry suggested.

"No, if Zoom had another speedster in his midst, he'd kill them as soon as possible." Harry shot down the idea.

"Well then that means she must have come from our particle accelerator," Barry said.

"But it's been years. If she's had these powers all along, why only reveal them now? See, it doesn't make sense," Cisco pointed out.

"I'm not saying it makes sense. I'm saying that's the only possibility of where a speedster can come from on our Earth." Barry said.

"Unless there's something we're missing," Cisco said.

"Guys, bad news," Caitlin came back with a worried expression on her face. "I just got off the phone with Dr. McGee. You're not going to believe what they've been creating there."

"Speedster suits? They're trying to steal my thing," Cisco accused them.

"Not just that. Speed drugs," Caitlin revealed. "Once administered, a regular human gains impossible speeds. They're still in the experimental stage, but Dr. McGee says a few vials have gone missing."

"So our female speedster is… a fake?" Cisco asked.

"If her speed came from a drug, it's possible her powers are unstable. They don't know how complex the Speed Force actually is. It can't be replicated." Harry claimed.

"Just means we need to catch her before something happens. We don't know what will happen to her," Barry said.

The team managed to procure a few samples of the speed drug, Velocity 9, or V9 for short, to examine it.

"It seems we were right," Harry said. "One dose of this, and the user's genetic structure seems to be degenerating. I can only imagine what's happening within that girl,"

"You know, now that I'm looking at it, this seems familiar to me for some reason," Caitlin said, examining the cells they applied the V9 to.

"Where could you have seen this before?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. It just seems familiar," Caitlin shrugged her shoulders.

The drug seemed to mimic the conditions of Barry's cells with their increased metabolism and heavy consumption of oxygen in order to maintain the desired speed. But the drug seemed to be pushing the limit one's body could handle, which was why the V9 continued eating away at the user's health.

"So, have you guys found anything yet?" Barry asked, walking into the Cortex.

"We've found out a lot about the drug. If used enough, it could make the user surpass even Zoom. It pushes the body beyond the limit, but has everlasting consequences. Whoever this female speedster is, I'm pretty sure she's dying." Caitlin informed him.

"Have you taken care of those reports I gave you when you returned?" Caitlin asked, having given him many files that seemed very important that arrived during his time on the alternate Earth.

"Just a couple projects I needed to sign approval for. As well as the decision to release one of our new projects. It has the potential to make a lot of money." Barry said. "Oh, that reminds me, I need to go on a business conference to Coast City soon, think you can cover for me here?"

"Shouldn't be a problem," Caitlin said with a strained smile.

"If you want, I can just ask Cisco to cover for me. He's getting really good with his powers so I think having a few days of field experience could be good for him," Barry offered instead.

"I said I can handle it. Honestly, you don't need to treat me like a china doll. Jay died. There, I said it and nothing is going to change that. I'm sad, but I'm not as sad as I thought I would be," Caitlin said. "If I'm honest, I don't think we were going to work out."

"Okay, just checking," Barry said as he walked away.

Harry's face remained neutral as he stared at the lone vial on the counter. Dr. McGee has supplied them with three and they were experimenting with one.

"Why did you take it?" Harry accused Barry before he could go any farther once they were alone in the breach room.

"I didn't take it," Barry denied.

"Oh? You didn't?" Harry said in a disbelieving tone.

"No." Barry insisted. "I took it, but I haven't taken it,"

"Good, keep it at that," Harry said.

"If the board is already rigged, why can't I even the playing field?" Barry asked.

"You want to know why? It's because that's a sign of weakness. It means you weren't able to cut it. If you do this, you will regret it for the rest of your life," Harry explained.

"I need to get faster, but there never seems to be any time. This is my answer," Barry held out the vial of red liquid.

"If you want to do it, fine. Just know that if you do, all the work you've put in will be wasted. There's a right way, and a wrong way. Which do you think this is?" Harry said as he walked back to the Cortex.

Barry contemplated his words as he stared at the small vial in his hands. Just one drop, and he'd be faster than he's ever gone before. Just one drop, and nothing will ever be able to stand in his way again.

Carefully, he unscrewed the top, gave it another one over, and let it slip between his fingers and spill all over the floor.

Once everyone had returned to the Cortex, everything turned into a blur, even to Barry.

At once, in a blur of yellow lightning, Barry found himself locked in the Pipeline without his powers.

"Time to have some fun!" The woman said in a singing tone.

She returned to the Cortex with a gun in her hand aimed straight at Jesse. "Where the V9?"

"The what?" Cisco feigned ignorance.

"Don't play dumb," she snarled. "I know Dr. McGee gave you some, where is it? Or I swear I will shoot,"

"Here, just take it," Harry handed her the vial.

"Just one? How pathetic," she prepared to run.

"Who are you?" Cisco asked.

"My name is Trajectory," she said with a savage smile as she sped off.

"Why do the crazy ones always name themselves?" Cisco asked rhetorically now that Trajectory was gone.

"Cisco, get Barry out of his cell. We've got to catch her fast," Caitlin said.

They tracked her to a bridge that she was trying to collapse by running back and forth on it. It seemed the V9 had done more than give her speed and an incurable illness. It seemed to tamper with her mind since there was absolutely no point besides just causing damage.

"I've got to get out there," Barry said.

"Wait, take me with you. I can help," Caitlin said.

Barry just shook her head. "She's not thinking straight. She'll be easy to catch, I just need to be able to talk her down afterwards."

Arriving at the scene, Barry went to work. Staying hidden, he watched her movement to wait for the right moment to catch her. Once he saw it, he sprung into action and dragged her elsewhere away from the bridge before it collapsed.

Barry slammed her into a wall. Trajectory slumped down to the ground, trying to catch her breath. The V9 must be wearing off and the strain her body must be under without her powers must be excruciating.

"Just stop. It's over Trajectory. Look at you, you're not well," Barry said to her.

"But I will be," Trajectory said, pulling out the last vial she had, hovering over her leg.

"Wait! Don't do this. I know what it's like to want everything to just slow down, like there's no time to do it the right way. But it's a cop out, and this is killing you! You need help," Barry begged her to listen to reason.

Barry could see the hesitation in her eyes, but she closed them and stabbed herself with the needle, injecting the last of the speed drug in her system. "That is all the help I need. How does it feel to know that I'm faster than you'll ever be? Catch you later," she waved goodbye before speeding off.

Barry looked at her and was about to pursue her, but a sight made him pause. "The lightning. It's turning blue," he mumbled to himself.

Racing up to her, Barry only managed to catch the end as it appeared that Trajectory had dissolved before his very eyes. Her suit and mask left behind with the last remnants of her blue lightning flickering on her suit.

"What happened out there? She just vanished from our readings." Cisco said when Barry finally entered the Cortex.

"I dunno, she just...vanished, leaving her suit behind." Barry pulled out Trajectory's suit.

"What do you-" Cisco was cut off by Caitlin entering the Cortex.

"Guys, I pulled out the medical records we have for the last month and I finally recognize what happened to our lady speedster. She has the same condition as Jay, their cells are dying rapidly."

"Jay took speed steroids?" Cisco asked incredulously. "That doesn't sound like him. I mean he was a hero. He wouldn't stoop so low as to take something like this,"

"I need to tell you guys something," Barry said. "Right before Trajectory vanished, her lightning, it turned blue."

"Like Zoom?" Caitlin asked.

"Exactly." Barry nodded at her. "So what if Velocity 9 causes that? Turns a speedster's lightning blue?"

"Well if that's true, then that means-" Cisco said but was interrupted by Harry.

"He's dying. He's dying and he needs your speed for a cure,"

"Same as Jay," Barry mumbled just loud enough for the whole room to hear him as he looked at Caitlin.

"What? No, he's dead. We saw Zoom kill him." Cisco denied. "There's no way he could be Zoom."

"Cisco, we've all seen a speedster be in two places at once." Barry reminded him that it wasn't out of the realm of possibility for something like this to happen.

"But he's been here the entire time. There's no way he could be at Earth-2 and here at the same time." Iris said.

"Look, I am just stating facts here. We've never encountered Zoom with Jay beside us. We need to consider the possibility," Barry said.

"I thought we got over your little trust issues Fleet Feet. Now that there's even a little bit of doubt, you think Jay's Zoom?" Caitlin accused him.

"I don't want this to be true, but the facts line up Ms. Frosty. If Jay is Zoom then we are all in danger." Barry shouted.

"Jay died for you! And now you're actually thinking that this man has been deceiving us the entire time?" Caitlin yelled. "Jay helped us. He told us things about his Earth and the metas that came over. He stabilized the breach for us,"

"All that means nothing if he is who I think he is!" Barry glared at her. "People lie Caitlin! That's what they do. Zoom is dying and he needs a cure from my speed. And he is going to do everything in his power to make that happen."

"It can't be true. Jay is a good man. I know he is. You need to get over yourself and stop accusing your friends of things without proof." Caitlin said. "You think everybody is out to get you, but some people actually mean what they say."

"Oh? Then I guess I just imagined what happened last year with The Reverse Flash. The man who murdered my mother woke me from my coma. The man who stole my childhood taught me how to be The Flash. Who manipulated me into being his lap dog. I'm never letting that happen again Ms. Frosty and if there is even a chance that Jay is not who he said he was, I'm gonna look into it," Barry was seething as he grit his teeth.

"Well, how are you going to look into it, Fleet Feet? Jay is dead. Murdered by Zoom and his body was dragged through the breach. There is nothing to look into," Caitlin was glaring daggers at Barry. Barry would have been dead several times over if looks could kill.

"Cisco can use his powers to see him. See if what I think is true. That Jay is Zoom." Barry said.

"How am I supposed to do that? It's not like my powers have an on and off switch. They just appear randomly." Cisco said.

"You've been practising your powers. You can do this. You just need to focus on what's important here," Barry said. "That's why we built those goggles for you, so you can control them better,"

"Alright, I'll give it a try," Cisco relented as he pulled out his goggles. Turning them on and placing them on his face.

It took a second, but everyone could see Cisco's face turn as white as Caitlin when her powers were activated. Rushing, he pulled his goggles off, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"What did you see?" Barry asked.

"I saw Zoom." Cisco said solemnly at Caitlin. With an apologetic look he continued. "He's Jay,"

Everybody took a second to process this, that they allowed someone else to enter their lives and ruin them from the inside. Everyone looked at Caitlin to see the turmoil beneath her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I never wanted to be right." Barry whispered to her.

"Well you were," Caitlin scowled at him. "Barry Allen is always right, no matter what. It's always about him. Everything is always about him."

"Caitlin…" Barry reached out a hand to place on her shoulder, but Caitlin immediately swatted it away.

"Don't touch me. Don't you dare touch me," Caitlin's voice was cracking as tears were formed in her eyes. "I loved him. So don't say everything will be okay because it's not. Nothing is okay,"

Caitlin walked out of the Cortex for some alone time. Nobody had the heart to follow her.

Jay's identity has come to light. In the same chapter that had him die. Should I feel bad for that? I don't. A big blow up between Barry and Caitlin. I told you guys that sensitive matters like this would create intense arguments. Caitlin clinging on to the man she once loved. And Barry who never really liked the guy finding out he's a mass murderer. Yikes.

Tell me what you thought. If there is anything I need to make more clear, ask me anytime. I'll be sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Maybe even your thoughts on how I'm going to end the season, before taking another break before I post season 3. I'm definitely going to need to take a break. Give the creative juice some rest before putting it back to work. Especially since this season is over twice as long as the first. Plus I have some great plans for season 3. It's the season that everyone has been waiting for. Caitlin and Barry will finally get together.

Anyway, I'll see you all next week. Farewell.