So, after this chapter, there will be an epilogue of sorts. For now, I hope you enjoy this chapter, as it was pretty difficult to write.
Ellie Bishop: Yep. Yep, finally. Well, you'll see.
Guest 2.0: Oh tell me about it, the Arrowverse writers prove over and over again they do not have the guts to pull off big plot twists or meaningful character development. Case in point, Laurel's death in season four. Well, you'll see. Yep.
Guest: Glad you enjoyed it. Yep. Thank you for pointing that out to me, I have since fixed it.
Star Labs
Late afternoon
Joe, Iris and Julian looked around Star Labs as they stood in the cortex. After Joe's call to Cisco had been disconnected, a man named Stephen Strange had appeared out of a portal, telling Wally that Barry, Cisco and Caitlin needed his help. After the pair had left, the remaining members of Team Flash had entered Star Labs, shocked to find it in a state of complete disarray.
Iris had pulled out her phone and searched the Internet, all three of them had been taken back by the fact that a year had passed. That was when they found out, about everything: Thanos, half of all life being wiped out. Their lives, snapped out of existence. It was a hard pill to swallow.
Hearing footsteps, the three of them turned around as Jay entered the cortex. He paused, as if taking them all in. Understandable, Joe thought grimly. He had survived the snap, they hadn't.
"Jay," Joe greeted him and the speedster nodded.
"Joe, it's good to you. And you as well," Jay said as he looked over at Iris and Julian.
"What happened Jay?" Iris blurted out and Joe shot her a chiding look before turning back to Jay.
"We know about Thanos, how we…how are we back? Where are Cisco and Wally? Is Barry out of the Speed Force?" Joe asked and Jay nodded.
"Barry is out of the Speed Force and he is the reason you three are standing here right now," Jay said, trying to find the words. "It all started a few days ago. Wells and I were at Cisco's apartment…"
Avengers Tower
Same time
In the med-bay, Caitlin was checking over Barry, doing some last minute scans.
"There's no Speed Force energy in Barry's system," Caitlin finally announced, looking over her shoulder at Cisco, Harry, Oliver, Wally and Wanda.
"Told you," Barry said as he pulled himself into a sitting position, throwing his legs over the side of the bed he had been laying on. "It's the price I had to pay for stopping Zod and his army."
"How'd you do that anyway?" Wally asked in confusion.
"Yeah, you said something about mixing Speed Force and Negative Force energy," Cisco remembered as Barry grimaced.
"By going into the Negative Speed Force and draining the energy from Thawne," Barry said and it was silent for a moment.
"You killed him," Harry realized and Barry nodded.
"It was the only way. Every other possible future where we won had too many variables, too many things that could go wrong. This was the only way we could win for certain with the fewest casualties," Barry said and it was silent for a moment.
"Kind of surprised at you, you usually try to find another way," Caitlin noted.
"Someone said once that there are people in this world who deal only in extreme measures," Barry said as he looked over at Oliver.
"It would be naïve to think that anything less than extreme measures would stop them," Oliver completed. "You heard me and Lyla?"
"Yeah. You tried to teach me that when I was starting out but I wouldn't listen. I didn't get where you were coming from then, but I do now. I don't regret what I did, just it had to be done," Barry said and then it was silent for another moment.
"I guess this is it for Team Flash, right? I mean, there can't be a Team Flash without the Flash," Wally said, sounding bummed out by the thought.
Barry only smiled, digging into his pocket before pulling something out.
"Wally," Barry said before tossing it to him.
Wally caught it, looking at the item with interest. It was a golden ring with a lightning bolt.
"What's this?" Wally asked in confused.
"That is the Flash Ring Cisco made for me. It's supposed to hold my suit. I don't have any use for it anymore…but you do," Barry said as Wally caught on.
"Really?" Wally asked in shock and Barry simply smiled.
"Central City will always need a Flash Wally. It just can't be me anymore," Barry said and Wally looked down at the Flash Ring, which now felt a lot heavier in his hand.
"I'll do my best," Wally promised and Barry smiled as he got up.
"You're gonna make mistakes. You'll doubt yourself and you'll wonder if you're doing the right thing. But the good you do will far outweigh the bad," Barry said as he looked over at Oliver, the two sharing a smile before turning back to Wally. "It's up to you now Wally. I know you'll make us all proud."
Barry held out a hand and, after a moment, Wally took it in a firm handshake.
"Well, I guess I should get started on making you a new suit," Cisco said, sounding excited at the prospect.
"But first, we have some business to take care of," Oliver said before glancing over at Barry. "I ran into Steve on the way here. In about twenty minutes, we're gonna meet in the lab to discuss what to do about the stones. You up for that?"
"I'll be there," Barry promised with a nod.
Oliver nodded, clapping Barry on the shoulder before leaving the room. Harry and Wally also left, leaving the Original Team Flash members and Wanda alone.
"You did it," Wanda said as she walked over, taking Barry's hand.
"No, we all did it," Barry disagreed as he gazed into her eyes, becoming lost in them.
"So…nice to finally meet you," Cisco said awkwardly, breaking the spell.
"Right, sorry," Barry said, blushing as he stepped away from Wanda slightly. "Wanda, this is Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow, my two best friends. Guys, this is Wanda."
"Is nice to meet you Wanda," Caitlin said kindly.
"Nice to meet you to, although I kind of feel like I know you already," Wanda said as she shook Caitlin's hand. "Barry talked about you two all the time."
"All good things I hope," Caitlin said as she raised an eyebrow at Barry.
"Well, he didn't have many bad things to say about either of you," Wanda assured the pair as she dropped Caitlin's hand.
"Well, that's always good to hear," Cisco said as he glanced at Barry, who only smiled, before holding his hand out to Wanda. "I look forward to getting to know the girl that finally made Barry move on from Iris."
Wanda shook Cisco's hand but Barry noticed she was noticeably subdued and her smile strained.
"Cisco, Cait, can I talk to Wanda alone for a minute?" Barry asked suddenly.
The others looked at him, seeing he had a serious look on his face.
"Sure," Caitlin said, having an idea what this was about. "Come on Cisco."
Although confused, Cisco followed Caitlin's lead, leaving the couple alone.
"What's wrong?" Wanda asked as she looked over at Barry in confusion.
Barry simply smiled, walking over and sitting down on the bed, gesturing for Wanda to sit next to him. Although still confused, Wanda sat down next to him, sensing he had something on his mind.
"What is it Barry?" Wanda asked after a moment.
"You and I have been through a lot together," Barry finally as he took her hand, looking at her with a smile. "Falling in love with you has been a journey. I've learned things about myself, about who I am, with you. You make me a better man; you make me want to be better. I said once that me being the Flash was the best version of me, but the truth is that being with you is the best version of me."
"Barry-" Wanda started.
"This is a bit harder than I thought so can I please finish?" Barry asked with a weak smile.
With a laugh, Wanda nodded, gesturing for him to go on.
"You know me better than anyone ever has, my flaws, my strengths, every part of me. And you love me not in spite of them, but because of them. And the last few days have shown me that I don't want to live another day without you. I don't have a ring but…Wanda Maximoff, will you marry me?"
"Yes," Wanda said after a moment, a beaming smile crossing her face. "Yes, I will marry you."
Barry smiled before she grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss.
Elsewhere in the tower, Roy was looking out the window overlooking New York, deep in thought when Thea walked up behind him.
"You okay?" Thea asked, breaking Roy out of his thoughts.
"Honestly, I don't know," Roy said as he looked over at her, still having a hard time believing she was really there. "It's just…a lot to take in."
"What happened Roy?" Thea asked and he knew she was asking what happened to him, not what happened while she was gone.
"I am not the man I was," Roy said after a moment. "When it happened…I called Oliver. He told me what happened, how you…When he told me, I snapped. I went into a bar that night and I ended up beating some guy within an inch of his life. I decided then that if I was going to beat up people, I was gonna take it out on people who actually deserved it. So I put on my suit and went traveling the world, taking down criminals. Then Oliver found me in Russia a few days ago, told me about Barry's plan. "
"You sound a lot like Ollie his first year back," Thea noted and Roy laughed humorlessly.
"No. Oliver had a purpose; he was just trying to help the city. I was taking out my anger on the world," Roy said his voice filled with self-loathing.
"Did you kill anyone?" Thea asked after a moment.
"No. There were a couple times I came close but I could never bring myself to do it. There was always this voice in the back of my head telling me not to, that I was better than this. Your voice," Roy said as he looked over at her.
"Then you're not beyond redemption. You found your way back; you found your way here. Just because someone loses their way doesn't mean they're lost forever. It just means they need a little help to find themselves again," Thea said as she took Roy's hand. "Sometimes we all need a little help."
Roy and Thea looked into each other's eyes, Thea sure Roy was about to kiss her when they heard someone approach. They looked over and saw Oliver, staring at Thea like she was a ghost.
"Hi Ollie," Thea said before he grabbed her in a tight hug.
"I thought you were gone forever," Oliver said emotionally as she returned her brother's hug.
"I was with you the whole time," Thea said and the two shared an emotional laugh. "How's William?"
"He'll be better, now that his mom's back," Oliver said as he pulled back, not moving his gaze from Thea, half convinced she would disappear again if he did.
"Speaking of, what about Quentin and Samantha?" Thea asked worriedly.
"Lyla sent out some operatives in a plane a few hours before hand. They should be getting back to Star City tomorrow morning," Oliver assured her before looking over at Roy. "We're gonna meet in the lab in about ten minutes to talk about what to do with the stones. You can come if you want."
"Well, since I almost died trying to get one, I should be there when this goes down," Roy said dryly.
Oliver smiled amused as the trio started heading towards the lab. Along the way, they met Nyssa, who took Oliver's hand as they journeyed to the lab. Thea raised her eyebrow at this but did not comment. It had been a rough year for her brother. If he had found something with Nyssa during that time, she was happy that Nyssa was able to make it more bearable for him.
Not long after, the original Avengers, Team Flash, Oliver, Wanda, Slade, Nyssa, Roy, Rhodey, Thea, Sam, Bucky, Strange and T'Challa stood in the lab, surrounding a table with the stones all laid out on it.
"So why don't we just destroy them? They seem more dangerous than they're worth," Thea noted.
"She's got a point," Bucky agreed.
"No, that would be a bad idea," Barry said immediately.
"The stones are an extension of the Speed Force. Destroying even one would have dire consequences for the universe," Strange noted.
"Well, there goes that plan," Rhodey muttered.
"So what do we do with them?" Cisco asked.
"What the Speed Force wants," Wanda said and everyone but Barry looked at her in confusion. "We split them up."
"The Stones are too dangerous to leave unprotected again. The Speed Force doesn't want a repeat of Thanos, so its selected a guardian for each of them," Barry explained.
"Still can't believe we're taking orders from a cosmic energy source," Sam muttered.
"That energy source is the only reason you're here," Barry said and Sam shut up as Barry picked up the Space Stone. "Thor, your people protected the Tesseract for centuries. The Speed Force wants you to take up that task again."
"It will be my honor," Thor said humbly as he accepted the stone from Barry.
"The Time Stone has been protected by the Masters of Mystic Arts for Centuries. This is why it will remain with you, Stephen Strange," Wanda said as she held out the green stone to Strange.
Strange nodded, opening the Eye of Agamotto and placing the Time Stone inside before sealing it again.
"The Power Stone is a little trickier," Barry said as he picked up the sphere containing said stone. "It's the most dangerous out of the stones. The Speed Force eventually selected someone who can not only appreciate its power, but knows what lines not to cross. Who learned the hard way that hubris can be your undoing if not kept in check. Someone who would never use the stone for his own gain."
Harry was shocked when Barry turned and offered the sphere to him.
"Don't be so surprised Harry," Barry said with an amused smirk. "You're a good man. And it's probably best that the stone go with you back to Earth-2. The Speed Force knows you'll keep it safe."
"I'll do my best," Harry said humbled as he took the sphere.
"I know. That's why it's yours," Barry said simply.
"The Reality Stone can shift and shape reality per one's desire," Wanda said as she picked up the ruby red stone. "In the wrong hands, it can cause untold chaos and destruction. Which is why the Speed Force decided to make its guardian someone who has what he desires already."
To say Clint was surprised when Wanda walked over to him and offered him the stone was an understatement.
"You can't mean me," Clint said immediately and Wanda only smiled. "Wanda, you know what I've done…you know I've become."
"The Speed Force doesn't judge someone based on their worst mistakes," Wanda said wisely.
"Well maybe it should," Clint said roughly.
"You didn't," Natasha said quietly and Clint looked away.
"Clint," Wanda said and he looked back at it. "The Speed Force knows what you've done, and it chose you in spite of it. It's forgiven you. You need to forgive yourself."
Clint considered her words as he back at the offered stone. After a moment of indecision, he reached out and took it.
"Okay, I'll take it. For you, not for this Speed Force," Clint said and she only smiled.
"Good enough for me," Wanda said, kissing him on the cheek.
"The Soul Stone is the most powerful of the six stones," Barry said as he picked up the orange stone. "It has a certain wisdom to it. Its guardian must be a reflection of the stone's nature: pure of heart but willing to do what must be done, incorruptible."
This time, no one was surprised when Barry offered the stone to Steve. If there was anyone that description applied to, it was Steve Rogers. Steve took the stone without much fuss, although he looked like he disagreed with Barry's choice of words.
"The Mind Stone stays with us," Barry said as he gestured to himself and Wanda. "Per the Speed Force's request."
"We spent a hundred years inside the Speed Force. We'll be immune to the influence of the stone," Wanda added as Barry picked it up.
"Well, looks like its settled then," Wally noted. "What now?"
"Now…we go home," Oliver said with a look at Thea, who smiled. "We go back to our families."
Barton Farm, next day
Morning
As the sound of a Quinjet landing pierced the air, Lila Barton exited her house, smiling as she saw the Quinjet land a few feet from the front lawn. As she saw her father walk down the ramp, she sprinted towards him. He dropped his bags as he embraced her, followed shortly by Cooper and Nate. Seeing his wife approach, Clint released them and walked over as he and Laura shared a kiss.
Star City
Same time
In a similar scene, Oliver stood next to Nyssa, Thea, Sara, William, Rene, Dinah and Diggle in an Argus hanger, a plane landing a few feet from them. Samantha walked off the ramp and William raced towards her.
"Mom!"
"William!" The two cried as they embraced happily.
Oliver smiled, happy that, at the very least, he could give his son his mother back. His smile widened as Quentin Lance descended the ramp, a smile crossing his face as he saw his daughter.
"Dad," Sara said happily as she hugged him.
"Hey baby," Quentin said as he hugged her back.
As Diggle, Rene and Dinah walked over to greet Felicity and Curtis when the pair descended from the ramp, Oliver took it all in. They were back, they were all back. For the first time, it hit him that they had done it.
"You okay?" Thea asked as she saw the look on her brother's face, Nyssa turning to look at him as well.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Oliver promised as he looked at Thea before wrapping an arm around Nyssa, something she was certainly not unpleased about, especially given Felicity's presence. "Everything is fine Speedy."
New York
Same time
Peter walked into his old high school, looking around before he saw Ned. Walking over, the two fist bumped before they shared an emotional hug.
Avengers Tower
Same time
Wally was sitting in the sitting room, deep in thought when Caitlin sat down next to him.
"You okay Wally?" Caitlin asked and Wally was silent for a moment.
"Honestly, I don't know," Wally said as he pulled out the Flash ring. "Barry, he left me some big shoes to fill. I'm just not sure I can do it."
"Barry does, otherwise he wouldn't have given you that ring," Caitlin paused. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure Barry would have been able to do what he did if he didn't know that you were going to be there to take his place."
"Really?" Wally said surprised and Caitlin just smiled.
"Barry has always worried about protecting Central City from the Metas, about what would happen if he left. I think having you here, it helped. Don't try and be Barry. Try and be you," Caitlin said and Wally nodded looking thoughtful.
"You know when Barry's supposed to get back?" Wally asked.
Central City
Same time
In the loft, which was kept in surprisingly good shape, curtesy of Cisco paying the bills and cleaning it up every month, Barry was packing up some of his stuff to take back with him when the door opened. Barry looked over his shoulder and saw Joe enter the loft. From the look on his face, Iris had been to see him.
"I take it Iris told you some version of events that happened between us?" Barry said knowingly as he stood up.
"Did you break up with her? Are you involved with Wanda Maximoff?" Joe asked.
"Yeah, to both," Barry said honestly.
"I don't understand Barry, what happened," Joe said, having such a hard time reconciling this. "You've always loved Iris."
"I was in the Speed Force for a century Joe," Barry said, to Joe's surprise. "Things changed, I changed. I am not the man I was. I love Iris Joe, part of me always will. Just not the way she wants me to, not anymore."
"I've seen you plan a future with Iris since you were a kid," Joe noted, still having trouble wrapping his mind around all this.
"The guy who loved Iris went into the Speed Force a century ago. Someone different came out. I'll always love you and Iris because you two helped me become the man I am. But I have to move on Joe," Barry said as he grabbed his bag. "You ever need to reach me, just give me a call. Or if you just want to talk, call me. But this part of my life is over. Goodbye Dad."
Barry pulled out an extrapolator from his pocket and opened a Breach. With a wave, Barry walked through it. The Breach closed behind him, leaving Joe alone in the loft.
Star City
Afternoon
"Well, from the sounds of it, you need me back bad," Quentin said after Oliver filled him and Thea in on everything that had happened as they stood in Oliver's office.
"So, Slade's a police captain and you're dating Nyssa? The world really did go to Hell," Thea said dryly.
"Well, more reason to get going," Oliver and she looked at him in confusion. "I saw you with Roy."
"It doesn't mean anything," Thea said.
"Except that you still love him," Oliver said bluntly.
"It's complicated," Thea muttered.
"So s everything in our lives. If Thanos has taught me anything, it's that we have to grab onto happiness while we can," Oliver placed hand on his sister's shoulder. "If you wanna go with him, wherever he goes…go. I'll miss you like crazy, but as long as I know you're happy…I'll be okay Speedy."
"I'd listen to him Thea," Quentin said as she looked over at him. "What you and Roy have, some people are lucky to find that at all. Don't throw it away."
Thea looked thoughtful before they hard a knock on the doorframe.
"Am I interrupting?" Slade asked as he entered the room.
"Can we help you with something?" Quentin asked wearily, still having a hard time accepting that Slade was a captain.
"This'll only take a minute," Slade said as he walked in.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" Oliver said knowingly, having anticipated this.
"You asked for my help because you needed it and I accepted because my son was gone. Neither of those things is true anymore," Slade reached into his jacket and pulled out his police badge. "You have your family back kid. Now I need to go find mine."
"I understand Slade," Oliver said as he took Slade's badge. "No matter what anyone else says, whether they admit or not, we could not have pulled this off without you. Thank you. If you ever need anything-"
"I know kid. That goes both ways," Slade said with a nod.
Avengers Tower
Same time
"So Natasha offered you a job?" Cisco asked as he and Caitlin sat in the longue.
"She offered me a place with the Avenges, yeah," Caitlin nodded.
"You thinking of taking it?" Cisco asked wearily.
"I don't know. I just…I don't think I can go back to Central City, to Star Labs. Everything that happened…I can't go back there," Caitlin said and paused. "Do you hate me?"
"No, course not," Cisco assured her. "I'll miss you like crazy, but I could never hate you. If you wanna stay here with them, they'll be lucky to have you."
"Then what's wrong?" Caitlin asked and Cisco was silent for a moment.
"Wally's the new Flash. You're gonna be an Avenger. Barry's gonna settle down somewhere with Wanda. Harry and Jay are going back to their own earths. I guess I'm just feeling like…I don't know. Like you're all moving forward and I'm being left behind," Cisco admitted.
"Well, looks like I got here just in time," the pair looked up as Barry walking in, having something under his arm.
"Hey, how'd it go with Iris?" Caitlin asked and Barry grimaced.
"About how I expected. She slapped me," Barry said and Cisco winced. "You're feeling a little left out Cisco?"
"I guess," Cisco sighed.
"Well, I think I've got the perfect solution," Barry pulled out what was under his arm, some paperwork, and handed it to Cisco. "Last night, I asked Tony to have his lawyers draw that up."
"You're giving me ownership of Star Labs?" Cisco gasped as he read it.
"No one knows the technical side of Star Labs as much as you do. And after three years of being our brains behind the tech, I have no doubt you can run Star Labs by yourself. After all this, people in Central City will need jobs. You can give them that, give them hope again," Barry said confidently.
"Cait, what do you think?" Cisco asked uncertainly as he looked over at his other best friend.
"I think Barry's right. You can run Star Labs Cisco and you'll be good at it," Caitlin said with a smile.
"You don't need to be Vibe to make a difference in people's lives Cisco. You did that every day for me just by being you. Now do that for the whole city," Barry said with a smile.
"Give me a pen," Cisco said after a moment.
Later, Barry walked up towards the top of the tower, finding Wanda staring out the window, looking out over the city.
"Hey," Barry said, bringing her attention back to him.
"Hey, when did you get back?" Wanda asked.
"Not long ago, I just had to talk some stuff over with Cisco," Barry said as he walked over.
"How'd it go with Iris?" Wanda asked and Barry could see she still had that fear that he decided that he'd made a mistake.
"Well, she slapped me, then threw this at my head," Barry said as he pulled out the ring he had given Iris when he proposed to her. "Not fun."
"Sorry," Wanda said as she glanced down at the ring. "It's a beautiful ring."
"Yeah, it is," Barry said as he looked down at it. "Look, I would never ask you to wear it because it would probably be awkward getting married with it. It can be a family heirloom; I'll get you a different one."
"Barry, it's okay," Wanda said with a smile and he looked back at her. "I don't care what ring I wear, I just want to be your wife. It's what I've wanted for over eighty years."
Wanda held out her hand and, with a smile, Barry placed the ring on her finger.
"It looks good on you," Barry said breathlessly as she looked down at the ring on her finer.
Wanda looked back at him before grabbing him and they kissed, a silent promise to their new life together.
That night, the former members of Team Flash all watched the fireworks in celebration over New York from the tower with the Avengers. Barry had his arm around Wanda as she laid her head on his shoulder. Cisco and Caitlin smiled at the fireworks as Wally looked towards them, knowing he had a long road ahead of him. Sam and Bucky smirked at Steve from where he stood with his hand in Natasha's. Steve gave them an annoyed look as he laid a gentle kiss on Natasha's head, which she seemed to not be displeased by. Rhodey and Bruce seemed oblivious to it all as they watched the fireworks, knowing they had won.
In San Francisco, Scott watched the Fireworks with Hope, his daughter Cassie, his ex-wife Maggie and her husband Jim, who was newly returned to the land of the living on the front porch of Maggie and Jim's house.
In New Asgard, Thor watched the fireworks with Sif, Valkyrie, Korg and Miek, feeling satisfied that he had made up for his failure with Thanos.
In Wakanda, T'Challa happily stood with his mother and sister as they watched their own firework display over the city.
In Star City, Oliver stood with Thea, Quentin and Nyssa in front of city hall as they watched the fireworks, Samantha and William in the crown as they watched.
A few feet away, in the shadows, Roy and Slade watched them.
"So, you're gonna stick around?" Slade asked Roy casually.
"I don't know, I just know I can't lose Thea again," Roy said and Slade nodded.
"You have something kid. Some of us don't ever find that. Don't waste the second chance you've been given," Slade told him.
"Enjoying the fireworks?"
The two of them turned their heads to see a black man standing a few feet from them, watching the fireworks.
"Yeah, yeah we are," Slade said wearily.
"How does it feel Mr. Wilson?" the man asked.
"How does what feel?" Slade asked wearily.
"Being a hero," Slade laughed at the man.
"I am no hero," Slade said and the man smiled.
"There are a lot of people in the world who are alive now who would disagree with that," the man said and Slade eyed him wearily.
"Who are you?" Slade demanded bluntly.
"Alphonso Mackenzie, but everyone calls me Mack. I'm the Director of SHIELD. I'd like to talk to you about your son, Joe. Or as he's known as now, Kane Wolfman," Mack said and Slade gave Mack his full attention.
At the Stark Cabin, in his garage, Tony Stark stood in his garage, his suit in a glass case display in the corner. Tony looked at it before reaching for the light switch.
"No more," Tony said before flipping it. The garage was shrouded in darkness as Tony walked out, closing the door on both the garage and that chapter of his life.
Ironically enough, the idea of the stones getting guardians was an idea I got from a Tony prop fic I heard about.
By now, between all my Flash stories, I've probably written a WestAllen breakup six times and didn't really like doing it again, especially since Iris was such a minor character here. So I decided to do it off screen here.
There's a theory about why we haven't seen Agents of SHIELD reference the events of Infinity War aside from that brief reference to the attack on New York. According to the theory, when Coulson and the team came back from the future, they ended up in another timeline. This would perfectly explain why AOS was not affected by the Decimation, but since I'm using Arrowverse rules of Time travel instead of Endgame's, AOS will play a role in the wrapping up of Slade's storyline.