So, this was supposed to be a chapter that introduced some developments that would lead to the earth altering (no pun intended) battle with Kronos, instead ended up being a chapter focusing on everyone's reactions to the end of last chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Thank you to Aragorn II Elessar for his help with this chapter.

Guest 2.0: Thank you.

Star Labs

Afternoon

"Whoa," Nico muttered as he held Al-Fatih's sword in his hand, looking at it in awe. "My father told me stories about this sword…but I never thought I'd be holding it."

"What did your father tell you about it?" Oliver asked as he, Percy and Team Flash looked at him curiously.

"It was forged from a metal that fell to earth during the first Titan War. It was an offering from Hercules to Hades in order to forge peace between them following Hercules ascension to a god. Hephaestus forged it into this sword and it was blessed by Ares so that whoever wielded it would never fall in battle," Nico explained, giving a whirl.

"Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing!" Cisco cried as the sword got a little too close to one of the monitors.

"Right, sorry," Nico said, getting a hold of himself and putting the sword down.

"Welcome Nico Di Angelo," Mar Novu said as he entered the cortex.

"Mar Novu I presume?" Nico asked and Novu nodded. "I heard you wanted to see me."

"You have a role to play in this Crisis. You are needed," Novu said but didn't elaborate.

"Is he always this vague?" Nico asked after a moment.

"Yes," Oliver and Percy said in sync.

"I see you two were successful in your mission," J'onn said as he, Thalia and Diana entered the cortex, Diana looking around at everyone curiously.

"As were you," Novu said as he silently regarded Diana.

"I am Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira and Zeus, King of the gods," Diana introduced herself.

"The Amazonian demigod daughter of Zeus," Oliver noted.

"The Paragon of Hope," Caitlin said and Diana looked over at her.

"So I've been told," she said humbly.

Suddenly, a Breach opened up in the center of the Room. Diana and Nico, the only ones unfamiliar with them, jumped as three people exited it. Kara, Annabeth and-

"Ray?" Oliver called out confused.

"No, actually. This is Clark Kent from Earth-96," Kara introduced him and Oliver blinked.

"Oh. Sorry. You just look…exactly like a friend of mine," Oliver said lamely.

"So I've heard," Clark said with an amused smile.

"So now we have all seven Paragons, once Barry gets back," Kara noted.

Suddenly, there was a bright, gold flash of light that momentarily blinded everyone. When it faded, there were two more people in the cortex: Patty and a black man in a blue, lightning bolt themed suit none of them recognized.

"Um, whose the new guy?" Cisco asked.

Patty suddenly fell to her knees, looking like she was going to be sick.

"Patty? What's wrong?" Annabeth asked urgently as she rushed to her sister's side.

Patty didn't answer. As he saw the tear trails on her face and noticed who was missing, a pit of dread formed in Oliver's stomach.

"Patty…where's Barry?" Oliver asked lowly, hoping against all hope he was wrong.

This finally gained a reaction. She looked over at him, opened and closed her mouth several times but no words came out. She didn't need to say anything however; the look on her face said it all.

Oliver could see the realization hit the others as well. Ralph shook his head, a look of denial on his face. Caitlin put a hand to her mouth, muffling the sobs that threatened to spill from her lips as tears welled in his eyes. Cisco backed up until he hit the wall, sliding down to the floor as a look of devastation crossed his face. Harry took off his glasses, collapsing into a nearby chair, looking numb. Kara just seemed shocked, not quite processing that Barry was gone yet.

Oliver himself used a nearby wall for support, barely aware of the world around him. He almost didn't hear Novu's words.

"This was not how it was supposed to be. This was not the fate for Barry Allen I foresaw."

Unspecified location

Same time

Barry opened his eyes, confused. The last thing he had been aware of was running around Kronos' machine as it melted down. Had it exploded? Was he dead?

As he sat up, he realized he was on the couch in the lounge at Star Labs. As he processed this, he heard someone enter the room.

"Hello Barry," he looked up to see Caitlin.

"Cait?" Barry said confused.

"Not quite," 'Caitlin' said with a slight smile and it Barry realized where he was.

"This is the Speed Force…you're the Speed Force," Barry realized and she nodded. "Am I dead?"

"You would have been, had I not pulled you in here at the last second," Barry looked over his shoulder to see Luke standing behind him.

"Luke? How-" Barry started.

"Nothing living other than a Speedster can enter this realm. Being dead, I can," Luke explained.

"Patty, Jefferson-"

"Both fine, I sent them to Star Labs," Luke assured him and Barry was silent for a moment, processing all this.

"You could have sent me there to. But you didn't. Why?" Barry asked suspicious.

"You still have a role to play in this Crisis. Let us show you," The Speed Force said.

Star Labs

Later in the afternoon

In Cisco's workshop, Cisco sat down on a stool, staring at a picture of the original Team Flash, including Thawne when he'd still had them all fooled. Caitlin, her eyes red from crying, walked into the room; having a feeling she'd find Cisco there. Walking over, she saw the picture in his hands and her heat clenched. She placed a hand on his shoulder and, after a moment, Cisco's shoulders began to shake as he started to sob. Caitlin wrapped her arms around him even as her own tears began to fall once more as they grieved their best friend.

In the cortex, Harry sat at the computers, staring at nothing, feeling numb to everything. He hadn't felt this devastated since his wife had died. Ralph walked in, holding two glasses and a bottle of liquor.

"You want a drink? I think we both need one," Ralph said as he set them down on the desk, uncorking the bottle.

"If we live though this, I plan on drinking until I can't remember my own name. Sure," Harry grumbled.

Ralph poor the scotch into the two glasses before handing one to Harry. Harry accepted it as Ralph picked up his own.

"To Barry. The best of us," Ralph toasted as he raised his glass.

"To Allen," Harry raised his glass before they took a drink.

In the longue, Oliver stared out the balcony, a blank look on his face as he looked out at Central City. The people there had no idea, no idea that their protector had died to save them all. Oliver envied that ignorance.

Hearing someone walk up beside him, Oliver glanced over, seeing Diana next to him. It was silent for a moment before she spoke.

"My condolences for the loss of your friend," she said kindly.

"Thank you Diana," Oliver said with a sigh.

"He was this earth's Barry Allen?" she inquired and he nodded.

"Yeah. You know the Barry on your earth?" Oliver noted, seeing her face.

"I do," Diana said after a moment. "He's good. Kind-hearted, with a fire inside of him and a passion for justice, but he's young and naïve about how the world works."

"Reminds me a lot of Barry back when I first met him," Oliver noted with a slight smile before frowning. "But he learned, tragedy and life taught him how the world works. He was the best man I ever knew…he should be here right now, not…not gone. I gave it all up for him and now…now it was all for nothing."

"Gave it all up? What do you mean?" Diana asked, looking at him intently.

"It doesn't matter now. It was all for nothing. But he can't die for nothing. I have to make sure Barry's death was worth the price," Oliver said roughly, a storm of determination, grief and anger in his eyes.

In another part of the building, Patty sat on a makeshift bed, staring blankly at the wall. Was this what it felt like to be dead, Patty wondered. To feel like nothing mattered, to feel like your heart had been surgically removed from her chest? Patty certain felt dead.

Dimly, she was aware of someone entering the room and sitting down next to her. It was silent until they spoke.

"Barry's the guy, wasn't he?" Annabeth asked. "The guy you fell in love with while you were looking into that demigod in Central City."

"Yes," Patty said lowly, her voice scratchy from crying.

"I'm sorry. I know how much you loved him," Annabeth said, seeing it on her sister's face.

"The thing about Athena's children is that everyone thinks we prefer logic to love. But the truth is, because we're so logical, we love that much more intensely," Patty said gruffly and Annabeth nodded in agreement. "Be thankful you still have the love of your life Annabeth. Not all of us are that lucky."

Down in the pipeline, Kara was leaning her back against the wall as she sat with her knees drawn up against her chest, tear trails on her face. Clark walked over, looking uncertain before he spoke.

"I'm sorry about your friend," Clark said and she smiled tightly.

"Me to," Kara said before wiping her eyes. "I lost my sister, my friends, my family, and my entire world. But somehow, it's the death of my friend that breaks me."

"You've endured some pretty big losses over the last few days. After what happened at the Planet…it took days for me to allow myself to grieve. It's perfectly normal that you would feel it all now," Clark assured her and it was silent for a moment.

"We can't-we can't let it be for nothing. Barry, my earth, all the earths Kronos has wiped out…we have to make it matter," Kara said emotionally.

"We will," Clark said firmly as he placed an arm around her shoulders. "Their deaths will not be in vain."

In another part of Star Labs, Jefferson was sitting down, lost in thought when a voice called out to him.

"Jefferson," he looked up to see J'onn approach him. "I…won't pretend to know what you're going through, but we appreciate your assistance in helping Barry against Kronos. We know what you've lost."

"My world…I lost the love of my life, my two daughters. Nothing will ever be okay again," Jefferson said brokenly.

"I've felt that before. Thankfully, I was wrong," J'onn said and Jefferson looked over at him. "I may not look it right now, but my name is J'onn J'onzz. I am the last son of Mars."

"You're one of those…little green men?" Jefferson asked blankly and J'onn gave a dry smile.

"I guess you could say that. I had a wife, two daughters. But there are two kinds of Martians on Mars: Green and White. There was a war. The white Martians slaughtered the Greens. My wife…my daughters," J'onn closed his eyes, remembering the pain as Jefferson looked at him with sympathy and understanding.

"I'm sorry. The White Martians, they killed your entire race?" Jefferson asked horrified at the thought.

"Not exactly. My father, M'yrnn J'onzz, was captured and kept prisoner by the Whites. They tortured him for…a long time, trying to gain information. But he never broke. In times like these, I try to follow his example," J'onn explained.

"My father, Alvin… he was a good man to," Jefferson said after a moment. "Reporter. Spent his life giving a voice to the voiceless. He was murdered when I was twelve. But I still carry the lessons he taught me to this day, tried to pass them along to my girls…my girls."

Jefferson took a deep breath, trying to gain control of himself.

"Anyway, I get it. But I don't think M'yrnn or Alvin raised any quitters. So, we should honor their memory…and rage…against the dying of the light," Jefferson said, his voice growing with strength as he spoke.

"It sounds like a plan to me," J'onn said in agreement.

J'onn held out a hand to Jefferson and, after a moment, Jefferson took it in a firm handshake.

A little later, everyone had assembled in the cortex, facing Novu as he addressed them.

"We have lost a great hero," Novu began.

"The wrong hero," Oliver said icily, angry that Novu's promise hadn't been kept.

"I do not disagree. We have suffered a great loss. This was not Barry Allen's destiny but we cannot afford to waste more time. Over the last month, I have had Oliver, Percy and Annabeth scouring Earth-1 for items needed to stop Kronos. Now it is time to use them," Novu explained.

"How?" Oliver asked eager to know what he had been doing all this for.

"In order to stop Kronos…first, you must die Oliver," Novu said ominously.

Hope I did okay on the scenes of everyone grieving.

Let's be honest, did any of you actually believe Barry was dead?

For why The Speed Force looked like Caitlin instead of Nora, well, my headcanon is that the Speed Force takes the form of the person Barry trusts most. But the whole Aphrodite thing destroyed a bit of that trust and since he's realized iris is bad for him, the person he would trust most after his mother would be, IMO, Caitlin or Cisco.

Considering that Jefferson's situation in Crisis was a direct parallel to J'onn's origin story, it's a shame they didn't share any interactions in Crisis.