It was Barry's first official training session with The Avengers and he was beyond nervous. He had been informed that he was training with Steve and that when the man was unavailable that he'd have to train with Nat. Whilst Tony and Banner were busy figuring out the whole multiverse theory, he was warming up in the training room alone. Steve walked in moments later, smiling widely at the Scarlet Speedster. Barry reciprocated the smile.
"Good job getting here before I did," Steve noted, "You get brownie points for that"
Barry chuckled and the pair began stretching together. It was silent for a few minutes before Steve spoke up.
"You seem content with being away from your family and friends," Steve said softly, turning his head and making eye contact with Barry, "Don't you miss them?"
Tears brimmed in Barry's eyes as he remembered what he had done. He had let Thawne win. Although he had never completed his mission, he had still won. Barry's mother still died, Eddie shot himself in the chest and Professor Stein and Ronnie might be dead after they stopped the Singularity. He couldn't bare to see the heartbroken expressions on both Caitlin's and Iris' faces. He just couldn't see the hurt on their faces.
Steve stopped stretching when a lone tear fell down Barry's face. He pulled Barry into his arms and just let the man cry, let him cry out everything he was feeling. Barry never actually went into full detail about how he ended up here, nor about the events that led up to it, but Steve had never pressured him like Couslon did. Steve continued to hold Barry until Barry's body was no longer shaking with sobs but instead he was trembling ever so slightly. Barry pulled away moments later, wiping his own tears away as he looked down at the ground, his cheeks flashing red from embarrassment. He hadn't even been here a full month and he had already cried.
"Let's get back to training" Barry sniffed.
Barry was laying down on his bed in his room when someone knocked on the door. He looked up ever so slightly as the door was swung open, revealing someone Barry hadn't met before.
"Tony sent me to meet you," The man said, observing Barry as he lethargically stood up and met him half-way in the room, "I'm James Rhodes"
"I'm Barry Allen," Barry said to James, shaking the Commander's hand.
"So, Barry," James began, "what do you do?"
"I am a speedster," He told the Commander, "I run really fast"
"So you're the real life version of Sonic the Hedgehog then?" James questioned the Scarlet Speedster, "The only difference being you aren't a hedgehog"
"I also don't wear a blue suit," Barry informed the Commander.
"Well, the team is going out for dinner," James told Barry, "Tony's paying so I thought I'd tag along. Will we be seeing you there?"
Barry shook his head, surprising the Commander, "It was my first official training session today," he told James, "My body needs time to adjust"
James nodded and chuckled softly at the Scarlet Speedster. He smiled and waved goodbye to the man, leaving the room.
Barry flopped back onto his bed and let his eyes drift close, his mind wandering back home, where his family was.
Meanwhile, back home, the entirety of C.C.P.D was looking for the Scarlet Speedster. After the Singularity had been closed, Team Flash had watched in horror as F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M had struggled to manoeuvre through the debris that was falling. That was the last time any of them had seen F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M and it had been a few hours since then.
Iris, Caitlin and Cisco were all in the Cortex when Joe walked in, utterly exhausted. They all knew that the search had been for a lost cause and that made any hope they all had simmer away.