"Hey, where are you going?" Iris asked later that night when she saw him move to leave the house.

"Into the Speed force." Barry said.

"What, why?" Iris asked.

"Because I owe it an apology for what happened when Bloodwork infected me and I think that it might be affecting my powers." Barry said.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked.

"My speed, it feels off, weaker, less stable than it was before crisis. I need to find out why." Barry said and Iris nodded.

"Come home to me." Iris said.

"I always will." Barry assured her as he kissed her before speeding out of the house.


It took Barry longer than usual to gain enough speed to enter the speed force, but when as soon as he entered the portal, he could immediately tell something was off.

"What's going on here?" Barry asked.

"We're dying Barry Allen." a familiar voice said and Barry turned around to find himself back in his childhood bedroom, with what looked like his mother lying in the bed, but she looked sick.

"What? How is that even possible?" Barry asked as he rushed to her side.

"Because of what you did." the speed force said.

"Wait, because I attacked you. I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry." Barry said, but the speed force shook its head.

"We forgive you for that, but that is not why we're dying." the speed force said.

"Then why?" Barry asked.

"A few days ago, an unknown energy entered the speed force. It was unlike anything we'd ever encountered and it has already begun to destabilize the speed force. We can't contain it much longer and soon it will destroy us." the speed force said.

"The spectre's energy. I didn't know." Barry said as he realized that what he'd made Oliver do was the cause of this.

"It's okay Barry Allen. You did what you had to do to save the world. We don't blame you for this." the speed force said.

"How can I fix this? Just tell me what to do and I will do it. It's only been a few days, there has to be something I can do to get the energy out." Barry said.

"No, it's too late. We don't know how much time is left, but you need to spend it preparing to go on without us." the speed force said.

"What do you mean? Without you, I'm powerless and Thawne will win." Barry said.

"Thawne found a solution to protect himself from this problem." The speed force reminded him.

"He created his own speed force. But there's no way he'd ever tell me how to do that and I can't afford to let him know that I'm onto him." Barry said.

"Fortunately, there is someone else that Thawne did tell about how to do it. And everything you need is in there." the speed force said as she struggled to point to the nightstand, where Barry then saw a familiar looking notebook on it.

"It can't be." Barry said as he picked it up and saw that it was indeed Nora's notebook.

"Before she was erased, she was a part of the speed force, which means that we have access to all her memories. Including everything that was in that journal and allowed us to recreate it. Just as we did your suit the first time you visited us." the speed force said.

"Are you saying that Thawne taught Nora how to create a speed force?" Barry asked.

"He did. And everything you'll need to carry on after we're gone is inside that notebook." the speed force said.

"Could this information be used to save you instead?" Barry asked.

"We don't know and there is not enough time to test it. The only way to ensure your success and your continued existence as the Flash in this new universe is to create a new speed force to counter Thawne's negative one." the speed force said as she coughed.

"Are you sure?" Barry asked.

"Yes. But Barry, it is good to see you again, one last time." the speed force said and Barry couldn't stop tears from rolling down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry I did this to you." Barry said.

"You did not know what would happen, not even we did. All that you can do now is keep running and make sure that you'll never have to stop. Now go, the more time you spend in here, the more speed you use up and you can no longer afford to spare any of it." the speed force said and Barry nodded as he reluctantly got up and looked at her one last time.

"I'll make you proud. You and mom." Barry said and the speed force smiled.

"You already have. Now keep running my beautiful boy. And don't ever stop." the speed force said and Barry nodded as he ran out, holding Nora's journal close to his heart as he did.


"Cisco, Caitlin, what are you doing here? Not that it isn't good to see you." Iris asked when she showed Cisco and Caitlin into the West House.

"Barry called, told us to meet him here. He didn't say why?" Cisco said.

"Well, anyways, it's good to see you both." Iris said with a smile as she hugged Caitlin and then Cisco as Joe joined them.

"Cisco, Caitlin, I didn't think we'd be seeing you guys again this soon." Joe said with a chuckle.

"Barry called them and asked them to meet him here. And now all we're missing is Barry." Iris said, right as Barry entered the room.

"Barry, not that I don't enjoy a spontaneous Team Flash moment, but why are we having it?" Joe asked, only to realize the look on Barry's face.

"Barry, what's wrong?" Iris asked.

"The speed force is dying." Barry said.

"Wait, what? How is that even possible?" Cisco asked.

"During the crisis, I forced Oliver to give me some of his spectre energy, long story, to give me the energy boost I needed to get myself and the other paragons into the speed force. What I didn't realize was that doing so would destabilize the speed force. It's dying." Barry said.

"Well, we can find a way to save it." Iris said.

"There's not enough time. Besides, it gave me the key to creating a new one." Barry said as he pulled out a familiar object.

"Is that?" Iris asked as she took the notebook.

"Nora's notebook. Somehow, the speed force managed to preserve it and since we know that Thawne taught Nora everything he knows. Including how to create a speed force. And all that information is in here. We just need to have Gideon translate it." Barry said and they all nodded.

"We should get to work so that we can restore your full speed before Thawne suspects anything." Caitlin said.

"We'll get to work on it tomorrow. Now, let's just enjoy our time together." Barry said with a smile, which they all shared.