Welcome to the second part of Flashpoint. I hope you're all enjoying it. Next week will conclude our time travel escapade, but until then, you have this to enjoy. My co-authors deserve some credit, Brightburn1985 and ThomasMarieAmell2.0.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash.

Barry often visited his parents during the days. After not having them for most of his life, he tried to spend as much time with them as possible. It also helped that spending more time with them caused his memories from this new timeline to catch up with him.

But he can't seem to quite recall his other life, the old one, one where he's The Flash. There were only flashes of memories before they were gone, replaced by memories of every birthday party, every first day of school, every time he saw his parents alive. What is happening to him?

There were times when Barry was desperately trying to cling onto the memories of his past life. All the things that made him who he was today. But there were other times when he questioned this decision. He chose to erase that life. Make it so it never happened. His memories were just a remnant that would eventually disappear as well.

Barry was at a crossroads of what to do. Whether to jot down all the things he could remember or to leave it be. This timeline is what is real now. His past was something to be corrected. Maybe this is why the Time Wraiths weren't going after him. Because he was being corrected.

Barry was having lunch at his parent's house, contemplating what to do. Whether to leave his past behind, or try to hold on to it.

"Barry," his father called for him, "are you still with us?"

"Huh? Yeah, yeah I heard you," Barry lied.

"What did I say?" Henry asked.

Barry tried to recall the background noise that was his father's voice, trying to pick out anything discerning. "You wanted to go apartment hunting with me because you think my current apartment's gotten too small,"

"I'm glad you were listening. So, what do you think? Your mother could find a few good places and with your salary, money isn't an issue," Henry suggested.

"I'll definitely think about it," Barry said ambiguously to avoid further discussion on the topic. He honestly didn't see what was the problem with his current apartment. He liked it. It was close to the hospital and to Jitters. There was enough space. Maybe not as much as others, but he was never feeling cramped.

"I'm fine with my current one though, why would I need to buy another one?" Barry asked.

"Well, you're still a growing boy. You need your space. I'm sure you can find another place even better than this one," Nora told him.

"Believe me, I'm fine with my apartment. It's close to the hospital and to Jitters."

"Okay," Nora put her hands up in surrender. "If you don't want to find a new place, that's fine. Just know the option is always open if you decide differently."

"So Slugger, do you have anyone in mind right now?"

"What do you mean?" Barry asked, slightly confused but having a vague idea what he was talking about.

"He means that if you already have a girl that you like. You know, like a girlfriend." Nora said. "Or a boyfriend. If you're gay that's just fine with us,"

"No, I'm not gay. And I will have you know that I met someone the other day at Jitters. I'm thinking about giving her a call sometime." Barry told them.

"Is it that Iris girl that you've been stalking for quite some time?" Nora asked her son.

"I have not been stalking anyone." Barry slightly raised his voice at his parents. He suddenly remembered what he was doing that day. "And no, it's not Iris. It's a woman named Caitlin Snow. She bumped into me and we started talking. Next thing I know, I have her number in my hand,"

"So why haven't you called her? A girl gives you the time of the day and you leave her hanging?" Henry said with his wife nodding along.

Barry grunted in frustration. "To be honest, I'm a little scared. I don't even know this woman. How do I know if she's going to be the right one for me?"

This wasn't entirely true. He knew Caitlin Snow from the previous timeline, and he knew if things were to progress correctly, he would end up getting married to Caitlin in the future. But he didn't want these things to dictate how he would be living his life from now on. He could make his own decisions. Not follow what he thought was what he was supposed to do.

"That's simple, Slugger. You won't know if she is the right one, you just need to take a leap of faith. Love is complicated, if it's simple then we would go on with our lives without wanting it. Just trust that everything will turn out fine."

"I just don't know dad," Barry shook his head. "This girl… there are things about her that I just don't know if I can feel comfortable with." Barry tried to say that he didn't really have a good feeling with this version of Caitlin considering how he left things with Caitlin from his original timeline. He honestly regretted how he left things. After having spent the past few months calming down, and spending time with the parents he'd unfairly lost. He didn't mean any of the things he'd said and the guilt was weighing on him. But what was he to do? That timeline didn't exist anymore. The Caitlin he'd screamed hatred toward no longer existed. He wished he could offer his apologies, but that was just not an option.

He said he hated her. That he hated the very sight of her. It was true at the time, but now after all these months, he could see he was just acting out in anger. But the memory still left a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. And it just intensified when he remembers that he'll never get the chance to apologize for his hurtful words.

"That's the beauty of it my beautiful boy," Nora said to her child, interrupting his train of thought. "If you just give her a chance, then you'll be able to see for yourself if you can see a life with her. And I'll save you time figuring it out right now. She's not perfect. Nobody is. She's gonna have her quirks. Things you don't like about her. But then you're going to grow to love her for those little things because that's what makes her unique. That's the good stuff in a relationship. And those are the things you're gonna remember her most for."

"Yeah…" Barry trailed off, trying hard to remember every single memory of Caitlin; their fights, her face, her smile that lights up the room, the worried looks she gives him every time he goes out in the field when she thinks he isn't looking, the tears in her eyes when he lashed out on her. Every single bit of his memory with Caitlin, he cherished them the most. "Yeah, maybe I'll call her later."

"That's great!" Nora clapped her hands excitedly. "How is it going at the hospital? I heard from the news that CCPD is searching for the streak over there since the Transcendent is often seen around there, have you seen it?"

Barry inwardly cringed. He tried to avoid using his powers too often seeing as he was an illegal Transcendent, but sometimes he fell back into old habits. "Everything is fine. The streak hasn't been doing anything and it usually shows up during my lunch breaks,"

"Well, I don't want you to get caught up in all that. It's dangerous, these Transcendents. If you see one, run and contact the police. Let them handle it. It's their job after all." Henry said to his son.

It was times like this that Barry knew he couldn't tell his parents his secret. They were very much against the idea of having powers, that he didn't know how they would react if he finally did tell them. Which is one of the reasons why he wasn't going to register. That would be an admittance seeing as the list was of public domain. And it wouldn't just be his parents who would know. He just needed to do a better job of hiding his powers. He needed to stop using them, but the Speed Force within him called to be used. He would have to find a way to satiate his need for speed and hide his true nature to those around him.

Barry ended up calling Caitlin the next day to set up a place where they could meet to have their lunch date. They both decided to meet up at Big Belly Burger. It was familiar to both of them and they both loved the menu selection.

Caitlin was already waiting for him outside of the shop when Barry arrived.

"Hey, I'm sorry if I kept you waiting," Barry apologized. He was technically late after all.

"No worries. You're only late by 5 minutes. No big deal. Let's just go in," Caitlin smiled at him.

Once they got their orders, they sat down in a booth and started eating. "I'll be honest, I was pleasantly surprised when you decided to give me a call for a lunch date," Caitlin said.

"Why were you? You're nice, pretty, and have a good sense of humour. Plus I have this feeling like I've known you forever," Barry tells her.

"I had that feeling too. It's why I gave you my number in the first place. Like I said, I don't usually go out on dates, even casual ones like this." Caitlin admits, blushing lightly in embarrassment.

"Me neither. So you can imagine my surprise when I really wanted to see you again," Barry looks down at his burger to hide his red face.

"Let's figure it out together," Caitlin smiles at him and lightly grasps his hand. "So, care to tell me a little about yourself?"

"Well I told you before, I work as a doctor at the Central City Hospital. I went to John Hopkins to get my medical degree. My father is a doctor. I guess I wanted to follow in his footsteps." Barry tells her.

"That's nice. My father was a doctor, along with my mother. He died though. ALS." Caitlin reveals.

"I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine what it must have been like to see your father like that," Barry says, his eyes filled with sorrow.

"Thank you. It's never been the same since he died. My mother was just lost without him. And I don't think she ever came back." Caitlin said. "Don't get me wrong, I love my mother. She took care of me all by herself and that couldn't have been easy, but she's just been distant ever since my father passed away. She kept herself busy with her work. And after some time, I think she forgot about me. That I still needed her too."

"Well it's her loss. She missed out on watching you grow up into the woman you've become," Barry consoled her.

"You don't even know me," Caitlin shook her head in dismay.

"But I'd like to. If you give me a chance, I'd like to know every bit about you," Barry said with a smile. "Every little quirk, every wish, every dream you make. I want to know it all."

"You sure are a charmer Dr. Allen. God, here I am on a date with a great guy, and all I seem to be able to talk about is my dead father," Caitlin moaned to herself.

"I think it's great we've gotten all the heavy stuff out of the way. That just leaves us with getting to know all the best things about ourselves." Barry said.

"But you haven't said anything. I don't know your worst quality." Caitlin said. "Tell me, you already know mine. I have daddy issues and a distant mother. It's a wonder my life turned out as well as it did,"

"Alright, well if you insist." Barry leaned forward. "I'm an illegal transcendent that's hiding from the government." Barry whispered in a conspiratorial tone.

"Stop joking. Come on, I'm serious," Caitlin laughed, taking his confession as a joke.

"If we're being serious, then I'll say that this isn't the life I pictured me having." Barry said.

"What do you mean? It seems like you got your life planned out. You're a successful doctor, two loving parents. You grew up a normal life. How is this not the life you want for yourself?" Caitlin asked, utterly confused.

"I just mean, I don't know what I'm doing with my life. I do everything I'm supposed to, and I do it well. I'm proud of my work. I detected the early signs of cancer in a woman I met today and probably saved her life. I'm proud of that. I just think I'm not living up to my potential. Like I'm meant for greater things than just sitting behind a door, waiting for the next person to see if they need their prescription changed." Barry admitted. To be honest, Barry wasn't sure where these feelings were coming from. This was the life he'd always pictured for himself. Two normal parents, a good job. Why was he feeling like this wasn't enough?

"Everybody feels doubts." Caitlin shrugged. "It's okay to ponder how things could have turned out if you'd taken a different path. You're no different to the thousands of people who are making indecisions everyday of their lives. If you want my advice, stick to being a doctor. You're good at it, and if you want to pursue other options, you'll always have this to fall back on. It's a safety net,"

"Do you ever feel that way?" Barry asks.

"All the time. Sometimes I think I could have gone in a different direction with my education. How I could have reached out to my mother more. But that's all in the past. And I still see my mother every couple months. Things aren't perfect, but I like where I am right now,"

"I like the way you think Caitlin Snow. You want to get out of here?" Barry asks as he finishes his fries.

"I guess I'll just finish this at home," Caitlin packs up the rest of her food in a bag and throws out everything that she'd already eaten.

"This is really nice." Caitlin commented as they strolled around the park.

"Yeah, it kinda is." Barry nodded his head thoughtfully.

"So was there something you had in mind for us to do?" Caitlin asked.

"Just taking in the moment with you. It feels good to sometimes slow down and take a look around. It always feels like everything is in such a rush. Like there's not enough time in the world to decide what kind of paint you want for your kitchen." Barry chuckles at that. "I'm trying to say that there's beauty in the mundane and people are too busy to see what's right in front of them."

"Secret of life isn't it," Caitlin nodded along, "keeping things simple. People just make things so much more complicated than it needs to be."

"Yeah, I-" Barry was cut off by black vans skidding to a stop in front of them. It looked like a van that was driving around the hospital for a few days now.

Several people in black suits came rushing out of the vehicles. Each carrying a gun aimed at him. "Hands in the air! Put your hands in the air!" they all shouted.

Barry immediately put his hands above his head and Caitlin hastened to follow his lead. Other people around them also put their hands up.

"Bartholomew Allen?" one of them called his name.

Barry turned to them and nodded his head. "Yeah. What is this about?"

"Bartholomew Henry Allen, you are under arrest under the suspicion of being in violation of the Transcendence Act by being an unregistered transcendent being. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you." They said as they placed handcuffs on him and dragged him into one of the cars.

"You can't do this. I haven't done anything wrong!" Barry shouted.

"This is you, isn't it?" an officer placed a photo of a lightning bolt in front of him.

Barry glanced at it before looking away. He just had to keep quiet. They didn't have anything on him. They were holding him without any evidence, he'd be out within a few hours. He knew the process back when he was working at CCPD. They couldn't hold him with what they had.

"We know it's you. An anomaly appeared on our sensors a few months ago. We tracked it down to the street your parents live on. Officers report that you were in their house the night it appeared. Every incident we've had since has appeared within the vicinity of the hospital you work at. During your lunch breaks. That's too many coincidences for this to be a mistake,"

"Circumstantial evidence at best," Barry retorted. "You don't have anything on me."

"We've got plenty on you. See these boxes? All of them are filled with your files. We got enough to pin on you for a lifetime." The officer bluffed.

"Oh really? Show it to me. There isn't one piece of solid evidence you have in that box. If you did, I wouldn't be sitting in an interrogation room. I would already be locked up in a cell." Barry called them out on their bluff.

The officers left the room with the boxes in hand. They needed to come up with a new strategy to get Barry to confess. They could only hold him for a couple hours before they would be forced to release him. They needed a confession or else Barry would walk.

They tried several interrogation tactics on him. Turning down the temperature to make him feel nervous. Appealing to his want to help people. Offering him deals about protection along with his family. All of which had no effect on Barry.

"Well Barry, I'm surprised you lasted this long. Can I offer you a glass of water or something? You must be tired after us gruelling you for the better part of the day." An officer suggested.

"Yeah, thanks actually," Barry appreciated the gesture. He was getting very hungry seeing as he hadn't eaten anything since lunch. He was actually surprised he wasn't feeling more hungry. His appetite wasn't as large, but Barry could chalk that up to the fact he wasn't using his speed as much anymore, therefore he wasn't burning as many calories.

Barry drank the water eagerly. The hours seemed to be catching up to him as he felt the fatigue that the night brought.

When the cup was empty, the officer took it and placed it on a table behind him. "So let's keep talking."

"You're the one talking. I don't need to say anything to you people," Barry glared at him. "I was in the middle of a lunch date when you dragged me here for absolutely no reason."

"Well you have to see things from our perspective. We have a dangerous transcendent literally running around without a care for the world. Every time it shows up, you seem to be there all the time. Unless you have an explanation for that."

"What makes you think they're dangerous? They haven't done anything to endanger anyone," Barry pointed out.

"Yet. They haven't done anything yet. You don't know they won't which is why we like to keep track of these people. People like this can be capable of anything, so you can see why we like to have a report on these people before an occurrence happens."

"But they shouldn't have to. Transcendents shouldn't have to live their lives constantly being looked at with suspicion. With distrust from people who have no idea what they've been through,"

"You seem very passionate about this. Especially since you claim not to be one."

"Is it wrong to have an opinion on the matter? To think there's some injustice in the system?"

"No, it's not wrong. But that type of thinking can get you in trouble. In fact, most people feel safer since this act has been in place. But so far, the only people who argue are transcendents or those in close relations to transcendents. So which one are you?"

Barry chose not to answer that. Instead he fixed his gaze past the man in front of him. There was the one way glass which showed his reflection as well as the coffee table. But there was something wrong with it. Barry couldn't seem to place it. Everything seemed to be in place. All the cups were on a tray, upside down waiting to be filled. A couple packets of sweeteners. And a water dispenser.

But that was when Barry realized the problem. Everything was in place. Where the cup he had just drank from?

Barry tried to remember. Did the door open and another person come in while he was talking to this person in front of him? He vaguely recalled hearing the sound of the door clicking. They must have taken his cup. The cup with his saliva on it.

That wasn't good. That meant they could test it to see if his DNA was mutated in any way, indicating that he at least had the potential to have powers.

And he couldn't argue against it. He couldn't even protest against the stolen DNA since it could be seen that he'd willingly gave it by handing the cup to the officer in front of him.

That fear of being found out kept him paralyzed for the rest of his time here. By now, they would realize that he was an unregistered transcendent. They would be demanding him to report his powers and do some time for withholding the information from them for so long. Who knew what else they could pin on him?

A woman burst through the door with a folder in hand. This was it. Barry had been found out.

"He's not the guy. DNA tests show no sign of any irregularities. No way he could be a transcendent."

What? How was that possible? The Speed Force was within every fibre of his DNA. It should have shown up on the tests.

"Let me see those," the man held his hand out for the folder that the woman handed to him.

The officer looked at the tests to see if there could be any indicator that they made a mistake, but he was forced to relent. He placed the folder on the table where Barry could get a quick look at. It was upside down, but Barry was able to quickly discern what was on it.

What he saw troubled him. Because what he saw was completely normal. There was no trace of his mutation. That shouldn't be possible.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience Dr. Allen. And that we've taken your DNA without your knowledge. You're free to go," the officer sighed in frustration and resignation as Barry stood up to leave the room. A confused expression etched on his face.

Barry's return to society was a haze. His parents had picked him up and brought him back to their place. All the time, his thoughts were occupied with the fact that his DNA was no longer mutated. Or at least, it didn't appear that way.

But that didn't make any sense. Barry still had his powers. His DNA was still mutated. But he saw the tests in the folder, even if it was only for a little while. Everything was normal. His DNA aligned with his previous records, which were taken before Barry arrived in this timeline. And Barry had gone over those records meticulously. This Barry was not a meta, or transcendent as they called them. And Barry entirely lacked the foreknowledge to replace his previous records with his mutated DNA so no one would be the wiser if they were to test him.

There was a chance that they would recognize the part of his DNA that showed he had the potential to bear powers, but people are always willing to believe what they're shown. As long as his DNA matched, Barry stood to believe no one would look deeper.

But still, his DNA did match. For some reason, his saliva lacked any of his mutant DNA. That didn't make sense though. Mutations don't work that way.

When Barry was alone, he decided to test himself. He raised his hand and tried to vibrate it.

The results shocked him.

His speed was cutting in and out. Turning on and off like a machine on the fritz. He was losing his powers. What could be the cause?

The answer came to him as soon as he asked. The timeline. This new timeline was finally catching up with him. This Barry didn't have powers, yet somehow he did. Time was trying to correct this by getting rid of Barry's powers similar to how his memories were slowly being erased and replaced with new ones.

This was why Eobard could remain under the cover for over a decade. His powers worked similarly to this. He couldn't access it as easily. He said so himself. And now it was happening to Barry. His speed would disappear.

Barry wasn't sure how he felt about that. His speed had become a part of his for so long now, it felt wrong for him to no longer have it, but then he remembered that he wasn't supposed to have speed. And if he was correct, he would eventually lose all memories of having speed in the first place.

It was a decision between holding onto the past, or moving forward with his life. This new life where he had everything he could ever want. Barry decided to go to the one person who might have answers.

So the timeline is catching up to Barry, not just with his memories, but with his biology as well. I never understood why Barry managed to hold on to his speed in the show so seamlessly since he would never have gotten his powers at all in Flashpoint, so I based it a little on Eobard, how he claimed he only sometimes had his speed, since without The Flash, he would never gain his speed in the first place as well.

Not only that, but Barry is slowly reverting to Flashpoint Barry if you caught that conversation he had with Caitlin. And speaking of that, I'm sorry their date got cut short. I honestly don't know why that was done, but I think I made it work.

I'll see you all next week for the finale of Flashpoint, and we'll be back to our regular timeline.