Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
"This is everything I could find even remotely related to increasing speed. How are these supposed to help apply the speed equation to you?" Cisco asked as they were going over the books in Cortex.
"The answer's got to be here somewhere." Barry said.
"I think I found something interesting." Caitlin said.
"Good interesting or bad interesting? 'Cause that word could go either way." Cisco said.
"After running some comparative data, it appears that you, Reverse Flash, and Zoom are moving your legs at essentially the same speed." Caitlin said, showing them the simulation on the screen.
"If that's the case, why are they faster than Barry?" Patty asked.
"Best I can tell, with each stride their feet spend less time on the ground, thus propelling them forward much faster." Caitlin said.
"By almost 30%. Great. All right, well, I got to make up that difference somehow." Barry realized as he walked off and they turned to him, worried.
"Barry?" Patty asked. "Look, I know it's got to be hard to let it sink in. Who knows how is this possible. Maybe the Eddie Thawne from Earth-2 is… just like the evil counterparts of Cisco and Caitlin. But remember that it's not the Eddie we know."
"What if the reason you haven't been able to run as fast as him yet is because you just can't?" Caitlin pointed out.
Later, Wests' house
"Earth-2 Eddie is an evil speedster. Kind of ironic." Iris noted as they were eating dinner.
"I know it's hard to swallow." Barry said.
"I keep telling myself that it's not him. That it's just similar to Hannibal Bates, when he framed you last year." Iris turned to Patty. "It could've been Eddie, too. I think about him every day." She looked down, sad. "It just feels wrong."
"I know for a fact that Eddie would want you to find love again." Barry said.
"Yeah, I know, but—" Iris started.
"Look, Iris. You're the only person who's gonna know when you're ready to move on, but until then, don't keep yourself completely closed off, you know? You're gonna miss out on something great." Barry encouraged.
They heard the door open as Wally entered.
"Hey." Barry greeted.
"Hey, sorry I'm late." Wally said.
"No, no, you're just in time." Iris assured as Joe was bringing in the meal, groaning in pain.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Joe moaned.
"Dad! Mittens!" Iris warned as everyone laughed before sitting down.
"So... my advisor loved my engine designs and even asked me to help her out with one of her engineering projects." Wally said.
"OK, big man on campus." Iris noted.
"It's not that big a deal." Wally shrugged.
"It's a great opportunity, and you should take it because life doesn't give those out all the time. Isn't that right, Barry?" Joe said.
"Yeah." Barry folded his arms. "Yeah. What is the project about?"
"It's trying to push the speed limits with smaller propulsion systems." Wally explained.
"Yeah, that's cool." Barry nodded.
"It's interesting. Where would you even begin?" Patty asked.
"Well, I really like to read the journals of the classic engineers, so their engine designs, how they increase horsepower, and learn from the best, I guess." Wally said.
"You read their journals?" Barry asked, an idea forming in his mind.
"Mmm. I mean, it's not like I can just go and talk to Enzo Ferrari or Ferdinand Porsche because they dead, but... You know, doesn't mean they can't still teach me." Wally said as an idea hit Barry.
"I got to go." Barry said, getting up.
"You haven't even touched your food." Joe said.
"Yeah, no, I'm sorry. I just, um... I just realized the key to a case I've been working on, so I'm gonna just... thank you, Wally." Barry said and Wally shrugged, having no idea what just happened. "Whoo! Um, sorry, guys. I'll be... I'll be back later. Patty, could you come with me?"
"Sure." Patty nodded, picking up her coat as she got up. "I guess I'll see you later."
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
"You mean the 'old' Harrison Wells? As in Eobard Thawne? You want him to teach you how to run faster?" Cisco realized as they walked down the corridor. "Oh, that's rich."
"How are you gonna do that?" Caitlin demanded.
"By running back to a time last year." Barry said.
"But what about the other Barry, the other you from that timeline?" Patty pointed out.
"I'll knock him out with something. I mean, he's not like he'll see me coming, and then I'll have Wells teach me." Barry shrugged.
"Barry, that's crazy." Caitlin protested.
"Nothing I've read is pointing me towards a solution, and if there's anybody that's figured out the key to getting faster without V-9, it's him." Barry pointed out as Patty, Caitlin and Cisco sighed. "What do you guys think?"
"Your plan is asinine." Harry said, wearing a cap, a jacket and a bag on his back as he entered the Cortex.
"Did you find Jesse?" Cisco asked.
"Does it look like I found Jesse?" Harry pointed out. "How many times have you traveled through time?"
"A few." Barry said.
"Twice, I think." Patty said.
"Do you have any idea how many things you could screw up?" Harry pointed out.
"All I need is one conversation with Dr. Wells." Barry said.
"He's not Wells." Harry snapped, putting down his jacket.
"Thawne." Barry corrected.
"I'm Wells! This man has been studying you for 15 years... for 15 years... and you don't think he's gonna know who you are?" Harry pointed out.
"Barry's pretty good at impersonating himself. You should've seen him over there on Earth-2. I was like, 'Somebody get this man an Oscar.'" Cisco noted.
"He will know, Allen. He will know." Harry warned.
"All right, then what am I supposed to do? I mean, how am I supposed to stop Zoom? Do you know the answer to this equation?" Barry gestured to the table.
"If Thawne figures out that it's you, the timeline will be altered. People can die. Others could live, and no one will know who or what will be affected, but I promise you, when you come back, things will be different. And only you will know what those differences are." Harry warned.
"Well, if that's what I have to do to stop Zoom, then so be it, because if I don't, and Zoom gets my speed before I learn how to stop him, everybody I care about, everybody in this whole city... their world will never be the same anyway." Barry said and Harry sighed before he put on his bag and left.
"Barry… are you sure about this?" Patty asked.
"Yeah, I am." Barry said. "When I went back last year and I saw my mom die, it didn't affect the timeline."
"Yeah, but you haven't really time traveled on purpose like this before." Cisco pointed out.
"I have to do this, you guys." Barry insisted.
"OK, let's go for it." Caitlin said.
Deciding when to time travel and what to do and using Caitlin's tranq dart, Barry was about to time travel as he entered the Pipeline.
"Be careful, Barry." Patty hugged him.
"I will." Barry said as he sped around the Pipeline, entering the Speed Force but then he saw some ghost, which confused him.
One year ago, 2015, Central City
Barry ended up outside Rathaway Industries, just when the past version of Barry was confronting Hartley, who was on the ground.
"Oh, no. I'm too early." Barry realized.
"You know my name? I know some names too." Hartley said, talking to the past version of Barry.
"This is not a good start." Barry muttered.
"Caitlin Snow. Cisco Ramon. Harrison Wells."
Barry groaned as he heard feedback on the comms, realizing that they were interfering with his past version as the past Flash spotted him.
Barry sped off, hiding in an alley as he observed the confrontation with Hartley, reliving it.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember this. This could still work." Barry said.
"Are they on the other end listening? Will they hear you die?" Hartley gloated as he got up, facing Past Barry.
"No. They're gonna hear you get your ass kicked."
"Get your ass kicked." Barry quoted, smirking.
"OK." Hartley used his gauntlets Past Barry, sending him crashing against the Rathaway Industries sign as Barry grabbed his past self. "Is that all it takes to scare you off? And he chose you over me?"
Barry pinned Past Barry to a wall into the alley.
"My comms? Who are you?" Past Barry demanded, confused as he saw the comms in Barry's hands.
"I don't have time to explain this to you right now." Barry said, about to sedate Past Barry but Past Barry dodged as Barry chased him, knocking him down.
"I don't understand. You're me." Past Barry said, staring in confusion as he was crawling back.
Barry tranqued his past self as he passed out and switched the emblems on the suits. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this. This'll all make sense eventually."
"Where are you, oh, chosen one?" Hartley called out.
Barry sped in, throwing nightsticks and distracting Hartley before disarming him.
"Got ya again. Looks like you're not as smart as everyone says, huh?" Barry sneered, remembering what had happened the first time around as he grabbed Hartley by the collar of his jacket.
"Smart enough to have figured out who Harrison Wells really is. You see, I know his secret." Hartley said. Barry already knew it but he tried to feign shock.
"Barry, are you there?" Cisco called out.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm back. I'm bringing Hartley in." Barry said.
Later, S.T.A.R Labs
As they locked Hartley up in the cell in the Pipeline, Cisco did an X-Ray. "Scanners picking up foreign metallic objects in your ears. Take them out."
"I can't. I suffered head trauma when S.T.A.R. Labs exploded. My hearing was severely damaged. Without these, I am in pain you can only imagine." Hartley said.
Barry remembered Hartley planting explosives in the implants. "Cisco, see if the devices in his ears are generating any low-level electromagnetic pulses."
Cisco looked at Barry, confused. "You want me to scan for e-bombs?"
"I just... I mean, don't you think that could've been what was interfering with the comms?" Barry pointed out.
Cisco scanned the devices and scoffed. "Well, well. Trying to go all 'Mission: Impossible' on us? Use those things to bust out of here?"
Hartley glowered in anger that they outsmarted him before Wells/Thawne on a wheelchair entered. "Your silence speaks volumes." He said in Latin and Barry's blood boiled at seeing his nemesis but tried to keep a straight face. "Pump in some sound stimuli to counteract his tinnitus. Then we'll make some nonexplosive replacements for him. I'll deal with you later."
Wells drove off as Barry glared at him from behind, trying to keep his anger in check.
"Take them out, Hartley. Now." Caitlin ordered as Hartley sighed and gave in.
"Dr. Wells." Barry followed Wells down the corridor.
"That was quite an observation you had about Hartley in there, Mr. Allen." Wells said.
"Yeah, it just seemed too easy taking him down, you know?" Barry said.
Wells nodded. "Mm-hmm, well, the likely reason for that is you're getting faster."
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that." Barry said, following Wells. "It occurred to me that maybe we've been going about improving my speed the wrong way." He wrote some formulas on the table.
"How so?" Wells asked, intrigued.
"Well, I've been learning different techniques involved in running, and I was thinking that there's just as much science involved in speed as anything physical or technical. I just can't figure out how to apply it to me when I run." Barry noted as Wells took a closer look. He had not seen this kind of dedication in Barry before, intriguing him. "Thought if anybody could help me, it'd be you."
Wells examined the table. "This is quite the... speed equation you've concocted here, isn't it, Mr. Al?"
"Yeah, I've been doing a lot of reading in my downtime." Barry shrugged.
"Well, this is new." Patty noted, examining the table. "I'll admit I hadn't thought of beating the Reverse-Flash like that."
"What on Earth inspired you to adopt such a... what should we call this... unorthodox approach?" Wells noted.
Barry could see Thawne already but he tried to keep a straight face in front of Wells and Patty. "I just know that I'm not the fastest man alive, and I need to be faster, a lot faster, if I'm ever gonna be able to take down the Man in Yellow." He gave Wells a pointed look, which Patty didn't notice, examining the formulas. "So what do you think? Can you help me?"
It seemed that Wells would get up from the wheelchair and expose himself before he picked a marker. "Let me see what I can do."
CCPD
From Barry's lab ran out a ghost like from a horror movie as an officer screamed, panicking and running off. The ghost entered the hall as Joe and Eddie stared. "What the hell?"
S.T.A.R. Labs
An alert went off on the screen as Wells turned to it. "CCPD."
"Barry, we need to go." Patty put on her jacket before turning to him, confused as he was focused on the formulas. "Barry!"
Barry sped off as Patty followed him.
CCPD
Barry sped in and saw the ghost disappear and then he saw Eddie among the officers shooting at some ghosts. It felt strange, considering that Zoom wore Eddie's face but Barry tried to shake off the feeling.
Later, they were in Barry's lab, looking at the mess as Patty was covering up the table on which Barry had the evidence on the Reverse-Flash.
"Next time be careful at covering things up." Patty said.
"Oh, right, yeah. Thanks." Barry nodded.
"What the hell was that?" Patty wondered.
"I don't know." Joe said.
Eddie entered Barry's lab. "Joe. No sign of it outside. It just disappeared." He turned to Barry and smiled. "Hey, Bar."
"Hey, Eddie." Barry said, trying to keep a straight face. It felt strange that Zoom had his friend's face.
"Any idea what that thing could be?" Eddie wondered.
"No, I don't know. Not yet. If I figure it out, I'll let you know." Barry said, cleaning up the lab.
"Things just keep getting more and more strange in this city." Eddie said.
"Yeah, they do." Barry said, still processing that Zoom had Eddie's face, trying to remind himself that in front of him was his friend.
"I'm gonna check in with Iris, let her know I'm OK." Eddie said.
"Great." Joe nodded.
"All right, see ya, Bar." Eddie said as he walked off as Barry stared.
"Is everything OK, Barry?" Patty asked.
"Why are you being so weird to Eddie?" Joe asked.
"OK, um, look. I'm sorry. Let me just take care of all this, OK?" Barry said, cleaning the mess up. "I'll talk to you later, I promise."
"OK…" Patty nodded as she walked off with Joe. "I guess I'll write the report on Hartley and what happened here today."
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
Barry entered the Cortex, seeing Wells, Caitlin and Cisco stare at him.
"Oh, you know, just trying to figure out how to find this Dementor that's apparently roaming through Central City right now." Cisco said.
"I assume that was the cause of the CCPD alarm." Wells deduced.
"Yeah, actually, it attacked my lab." Barry said.
"You saw it?" Caitlin demanded, staring in shock.
"No, I didn't see it, no. I di... um... well, I didn't get there in time, but I have seen it before." Barry explained.
Wells turned to Barry with narrowed eyes. "Where?"
"It was earlier today, actually, when I was running to take Hartley down." Barry explained.
Wells nodded, rubbing his chin. "Uh-huh. You're just mentioning this now?
Barry shrugged. "I... I didn't know what it was. I thought it was some sort of illusion. I don't know.
"OK, well, we need to find it before it hurts somebody." Caitlin said.
"Can you track it?" Barry asked.
"What is it with you guys? It's like you think I have ESP or something. I can't just magically sense where things are." Cisco snapped and Barry tried to resist chuckling at the irony.
"What can you do, Cisco?" Wells asked.
"I'm thinking I can reconfigure the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to look for it. Um, it might take some time though." Cisco said.
"Do it. In the meantime, Mr. Allen, come with me. Have a seat." Wells ordered as Barry followed him into the lab.
"Is this about the speed equation?" Barry asked.
"As a matter of fact, it is." Wells nodded.
Barry sighed in relief as he sat down. "Oh, great. OK, good. So you figured it out?"
Unnoticing to him, Wells/Thawne had gotten up from the wheelchair and hit Barry in the head from behind, knocking him out. "Mm-hmm. Yes. I've figured it out."
When Barry came to, he noticed he was in the Time Vault, cuffed to Thawne's wheelchair as Thawne smiled at him, sitting across him. "Now, who are you? I mean, who are you really?"
"Dr. Wells, what are you doing?" Barry asked, trying to ask confused but he could already tell that Thawne had dropped his façade, considering that his voice was lower, just like when Thawne spoke normally.
Thawne leaned forward, rubbing his hands. "None of it adds up. The interference with the comms, the speed equation, the Time Wraith." Barry looked confused. "That's what we call them. Time Wraiths. Scary, aren't they?" He smiled before continuing. "I thought, 'Oh, no, a Time Wraith has found me.' But then I thought, 'No, no, no. You know what you're doing.' Now, the Time Wraith is after someone who's travelled through time..." He gave Barry a pointed look. "…and doesn't know what they're doing."
Barry scoffed. "Dr. Wells, come on. It's me. It's... it's Barry. I don't—"
"Really?" Thawne chuckled, clapping his hands. "You are good. You are good, and I would believe you, except that..." He got up and sped nearer to Barry, who just glared, now seeing his nemesis. "Nothing? I move like this, you barely flinch." He leaned onto the wall, seeing the look in Barry's eyes as he crossed his arms. "You know who I am. Don't you?" Barry vibrated his hand but he could not free himself, since the cuffs were dampening his powers somehow as Thawne clapped his hands and laughed. "Oh! And you're from the future. Do you know how I know that? Because I haven't taught my Barry Allen how to phase through objects... yet."
Barry tried to resist the urge to laugh, since he underestimated Thawne again. "Let me out of here, Thawne."
Thawne smiled as he sat down. "I know. You're upset. But it does me good to hear that name again. Now, onto the bigger question. Why are you here?"
"Because I want to go faster, and you're the only one who can teach me. You're the only one who's figured out the equation. The Speed Force. You've manipulated it. How did you do that?" Barry asked.
Thawne stared in consideration before he got up, pacing around. "No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. You'd only come here if something went wrong. If you're still alive, then that means..." He turned to Barry, looking disappointed. "I haven't beaten you. If you're still alive..." His facial features turned into one of anger. "…that means my plan fails. And if my plan fails…" He threw the chair aside. "…I don't get to go home, and if that's the case, well, then—"
Thawne vibrated his hand, about to kill Barry before Barry raised his hands, causing for Thawne to stop. "No, no, no! Hey, hey, hey! It's the opposite! It's the opposite! It... you trick me. You harness my speed. We turn on the accelerator to create a path for you to go home. I go back in time. You go back to yours. You won." Thawne seethed, processing as Barry nodded. "Yeah."
"Then why are you here? Why are you here now?" Thawne demanded.
"Because when I got back, a singularity had formed. And now the only way for me to learn how to get faster and stop the singularity from happening was to come here. Now." Barry revealed.
"Well, that's good to know." Thawne smiled as he turned his back and got the chair back up. "There's just... just one thing that occurs to me." He rubbed his nose as he smirked, turning to Barry. "I don't need you. Do I? Not this you certainly." Barry's face shattered as Thawne chuckled. "Oops. You probably should've thought of that before you came back here. Shame." Thawne neared Barry, about to kill him as he laughed. "You ran all the way back here just to die."
"You kill me... Barry... this Barry, your Barry, he learns it all." Barry said as Thawne stopped. "There's a hidden letter telling him how it ends, how to beat you, everything. Anything happens to me, you never make it back home. Go on. Kill me, Thawne. See how this all ends."
Thawne considered, but ultimately decided that it wasn't worth the risk to call Barry's bluff as he sat down.
"Now, you're gonna help me get faster." Barry said.
Thawne considered before they heard Caitlin scream and Gideon showed them a footage of the Time Wraith cornering Caitlin, Cisco and Hartley into the Pipeline.
"Barry! Dr. Wells!" Caitlin cried out.
"All right. We have to help them." Barry said.
"You let it track you here." Thawne realized.
"Get me out of here! Come on!" Barry pleaded.
"If that thing comes after me and messes with my plans, you're all dead." Thawne said.
"Where are they?" Caitlin panicked.
"OK, let's step back." Cisco said, about to use Hartley's gauntlets.
"You'll shatter the glass." Hartley warned.
"You got a better plan?" Cisco snapped.
"As a matter of fact, give me those." Hartley said, looking at his gauntlets.
"No!" Cisco protested.
"Now, Cisco!" Hartley insisted.
"What are you gonna do?" Caitlin asked as Hartley was readjusting the gauntlets' settings.
"These cells have speakers linked throughout S.T.A.R. Labs." Hartley said.
"Yes, and?" Caitlin asked, not following.
"I rigged these gauntlets to emit a destructive signal if ever they're disarmed. If I can just find the right frequency of whatever the hell that thing is, well, let's just say you'll be glad you're in here with me." Hartley turned on the gauntlets as a high-pitch sound ran off, making Caitlin and Cisco covering their ears.
The Time Wraith covered its ears and flew off, screaming in pain.
Barry and Wells/Thawne had entered the Pipeline, letting Caitlin and Cisco out.
"I'm sorry that we didn't come sooner." Barry said.
"It's all right, Inky's gone. I don't see anything." Cisco said as they returned into the Cortex. "You know, we'd be toast if wasn't for Hartley and those gauntlets."
"Well, self-preservation is a very strong motivator, but he stays in the cell until I say otherwise." Wells snapped.
"OK, I'm just saying." Cisco said.
"So the two places this thing has attacked are here and CCPD." Caitlin said. "The common denominator being..."
"…me. Yeah, I know. I just... I don't know why." Barry said.
"Well, you must have done something to piss him off. Satellite hasn't found anything." Cisco said, checking the satellite imaging of Central City.
"We need to find a more permanent solution to this problem. Start by repairing Hartley's gauntlets. That's about as good a first step as any." Wells ordered.
"I got some parts for it." Cisco said.
"Let's go for it." Caitlin said as they went into Cisco's workshop.
"You don't know how to stop a Time Wraith?" Barry asked, turning to Thawne, once Caitlin and Cisco had left.
"None of us do. That's why we always try and avoid them in our travels." Thawne explained.
"We?" Barry repeated.
"Speedsters. We're not the only two out there, you know?" Thawne shot him a look.
Barry looked confused. "This isn't the first time I've time traveled. How come I've never seen one of these until now?"
Thawne got up from his wheelchair, glaring at Barry as it he was stupid. "Because you ran out of luck. And Time Wraiths hate it when speedsters manipulate the timeline, and now that thing's gonna do everything it can to end you." Barry shook his head. "Here's what we're gonna do. You're gonna go to CCPD. You're gonna see what you can find to help us stop this thing, I'll do the same here."
"Well, what am I supposed to be looking for?" Barry asked.
"You're in forensics. Figure something out." Thawne said.
"Hey, what about the equation? Me getting faster?" Barry reminded.
Thawne whirled on him. "If we don't stop this thing, there's gonna be no point in me teaching you anything."
Later, CCPD
"No trace elements, no prints, no sign that it was ever here except the whole mess." Barry said, going over his lab with Patty.
"What the hell was that, anyway? First here, then S.T.A.R. Labs? What does it even want?" Patty asked.
"Me." Barry said.
"What, why?" Joe asked.
"It doesn't like something that I did." Barry said.
"What do you mean?" Patty asked.
"Joe, Patty, Singh needs you guys in his office." Eddie said as he entered.
Joe and Patty walked off as Barry turned to Eddie, remembering something. "Hey, Eddie, do you have a second?"
"I kind of got to go check out a lead for Joe." Eddie said.
"OK, actually this is for Iris's birthday." Barry explained.
Eddie looked confused. "That's two months from now."
"Yeah, no, I know. You're right. I just... um, I want to make a video montage for her, just everybody in her life and how her being in your life has made it better." Barry said, pulling out his phone.
"That sounds great, yeah. I'll think of something to say." Eddie nodded, about to leave.
"Can we do it now?" Barry insisted.
"Barry, I really got to go do this thing." Eddie said.
"I... I know. I really... it's just I kind of have to get it today." Barry insisted.
Eddie nodded. "Sure."
"All right, great. Just, um... just speak from the heart. Talk as if... talk as if it was the last thing you could ever say to her." Barry said and Eddie nodded as Barry turned on the camera on his phone.
"What does Iris mean to me? Uh, wow."
S.T.A.R. Labs
Wells, Cisco and Caitlin were working on Hartley's gauntlets, Past Barry sped in, confused.
"Where is he? Where's the other Flash?" Past Barry demanded.
"I'm right here." Barry said upon entering as Cisco and Caitlin looked completely confused as Past Barry stared in shock, while Wells rubbed his forehead, cursing Barry's stupidity.
"OK. Not how I expected today to turn out." Cisco stared in disbelief.
"Yeah." Barry sighed.
"OK, so I'm... who are... who are you?" Past Barry looked completely confused.
"Who is he? Who are you?" Caitlin demanded.
Past Barry turned to them. "What do you... I'm Barry. I'm Barry." He turned to Barry. "Your Barry. He's..."
"…your doppelganger." Cisco said, mind blown as he pointed at Barry.
"No, not yet." Barry said. "I am you, Barry. Just... different."
"Wait a second, how do we know which one's the real Barry?" Cisco said.
Past Barry whirled on Cisco. "Dude, OK, I've watched 'Wrath of Khan' with you like five times."
"Imposter!" Cisco pointed at Barry.
"Yeah, and every time at the end, you turn to me and you say, 'I have been and always shall be your friend.'" Barry said and Wells sighed, shaking his head.
"Haha! You, imposter!" Cisco pointed at Past Barry before more confusion took him over as he was looking back and forth between both Barrys as if he was watching a tennis match. "What is going on here?"
Barry sighed. "OK, guys, I'm sorry. This was not supposed to happen. The tranq dart that Caitlin made was supposed to last a lot longer."
Wells gestured for Barry to stop as Caitlin shook her head and raised her hands, protesting. "I did not give him a tranq dart."
"OK, no, yes, not you, the you from the time that I am from." Barry corrected.
"The time that you are from?" Past Barry repeated.
"I think what he's trying to say is he's from the future." Wells said.
"The future?" Past Barry repeated.
"Yeah." Wells nodded.
"The future?"
"Yes."
"Wait, the future?"
"Yes."
Past Barry turned at Barry, staring in shock. "Are we saying I can time-travel?"
Barry nodded. "One day."
"Oh, that explains the white on the symbol. Well, wait a second." Cisco pointed at both Barrys. "Suppose we now change your emblem. Will it be because we got the idea from this? Or, I mean, that would mean—"
"Stop talking." Wells interrupted before turning to Barry. "You stop talking too, alright? The more you say, the more the timeline is disrupted. Now I'm going to assume that your presence here is the reason that thing is attacking us?" He tried to sound frightened.
Past Barry looked confused. "What? What thing?"
"Have you ever seen 'The Frighteners'?" Cisco asked and Past Barry nodded. "It's sort of like that, but scarier and faster and it's after you... after him." He gestured at Barry.
"Yeah, it's been chasing me ever since I got here." Barry confirmed.
"OK, so how do we stop it?" Past Barry asked.
"We don't know." Wells said.
"Then what are we gonna do?" Past Barry demanded.
"The one thing we can." Wells said as Barry followed him.
Barry followed Thawne into the Time Vault. "What? What are we doing here?"
"We're here for the answer to your speed equation, the reason that you traveled back to this time, and the key to running faster." Thawne plugged the memory drive into the pedestal. "Tachyon enhancement."
"This was not the deal." Barry protested.
Thawne pulled out the memory drive and handed it to Barry. "If you think that I'm gonna hold your hand this entire way, you're sadly mistaken. Everything you need is on this drive. You follow its instructions, you will enhance the Speed Force in your system and run faster... than you ever thought possible."
Barry considered before taking the memory drive. "If this doesn't work, I'm coming back."
"Dr. Wells, we need you." Cisco called out.
"Time to go home, Flash." Thawne said.
Cisco showed them the imaging on the computer in the Cortex.
"OK, our satellite has finally found our floating friend and it's coming back." Cisco said.
"You need to go." Past Barry said.
"I need to know how to stop it." Barry said.
"Barry—" Caitlin started.
"Not now. When I get back. You guys have a year to figure it out." Barry said.
"OK. We'll figure something out." Cisco nodded.
"Cisco, come here." Barry dragged Cisco aside. "Hartley knows where Ronnie is."
"OK." Cisco nodded before he looked at Barry in shock. "What?"
"It's coming." Caitlin said.
"You need to leave now." Wells ordered.
The Barrys switched their emblems as Barry nodded. "Thank you."
"Barry, here it comes." Cisco said as Barry sped into the Pipeline, running around but the Time Wraith behind him was slowing him down.
"It's not working. It's slowing him down." Caitlin said.
"Not for long." Past Barry sped off into the Pipeline.
"No! Barry!" Wells called out.
Past Barry sped into the Pipeline and knocked down the Time Wraith as Barry gained enough speed to enter the wormhole.
"Cool." Past Barry stared.
Present, 2016, S.T.A.R. Labs
Barry returned to the present into the Cortex.
"It's coming!" Barry panted out as he fell down.
"Did you even go?" Caitlin wondered.
"The Time Wraith." Barry said.
"That's a good name." Cisco noted.
"Looks like that's a 'yes'." Caitlin said.
"Did you figure out how to stop it?" Barry demanded as the Time Wraith appeared.
Patty pulled out a hi-tech gun that fired some pulse but it didn't affect the Time Wraith. "We thought we did!"
The Time Wraith pinned Barry down, who felt the Time Wraith draining the life out of him as he was aging rapidly, losing strength.
"Barry!" Patty cried out.
Suddenly, Hartley used his gauntlets and the Time Wraith pulled away and exploded into dust. "I suddenly realized. Low frequency, high intensity."
"I knew that." Cisco said, embarrassed.
Barry stared in shock at seeing Hartley helping them as he offered his hand. "Oh, hey, Barry. How was your trip?"
"So aside from the fact that a Time Wraith came over here and nearly killed us, how did it go?" Cisco asked.
"It was interesting." Barry said.
"Good interesting or bad interesting? 'Cause that could go either way." Caitlin asked.
"So far so... good." Barry said, still getting used to the fact that Hartley had reformed and was the Team Flash's ally now.
"The road from Earth to the stars is not easy." Hartley said in Latin.
Caitlin rolled her eyes. "How many times do we have to tell you, Hartley? Ever since Evil Wells got erased from existence, no one speaks Latin around here anymore."
"Well, as always, it's been a pleasure working with you all on this little project. If you need anything in the future, call me." Hartley said as he was about to leave. "I'm off to a late dinner."
"Mm, dinner. Anyone special?" Caitlin asked.
"Very. My parents." Hartley said as he left.
"So, Barry, did Thawne help out with the speed equation?" Patty asked.
"Well, let's see." Barry said, pulling out the drive.
Barry plugged the drive into the pedestal in the Time Vault but nothing happened.
"Hmm. Maybe it's password protected?" Cisco said.
Barry sighed in frustration. "Oh... are you kidding me? After everything I just went through... this doesn't even work!"
Barry banged the pedestal angrily before in front of them appeared a hologram showing equations as they stared.
"We got it."
Harry was in his room, packing his things as Barry entered. "Hey."
"Hey."
"You OK?" Barry asked.
"Yeah, I'm OK. Although it turns out it's easier to find a two-ton gorilla on this Earth than a teenage daughter." Harry sighed. "I don't know what I've done."
"You did what you thought you had to do. You risked your life to save her. You brought her here to protect her from Zoom. You acted like a father." Barry assured.
"Like a father." Harry repeated. "You know, my wife had to... she had to talk me into having kids. Kids, you know, they're… They're small, loud, run around. All I needed was my science and my job for my joy and happiness. And then... the moment we had her... all that I wanted was her love." He smiled, remembering. "Now, I don't know if I'll ever see that again. It seems every decision I've made lately has... backfired on me."
"You just have to trust that, in the long run, you made the right ones." Barry assured as Harry considered.
Later, Wests' house
"Hey." Barry said as he and Patty entered.
"Hey. I put your plate from dinner in the fridge." Iris said, looking at the old photo albums.
"Thanks." Barry said as he and Patty sat across Iris.
"Everything OK?" Patty asked, worried.
"It's been almost a year already. Can you believe that?" Iris said sadly.
"That's the thing, Iris. Everything keeps moving forward. Question is, when will you?" Barry said.
Iris looked up at him, closing the album. "I don't know, Barry."
"When I lost my Dad… it was hard. I thought that wound might never heal. Sometimes… letting go, is the hardest thing you'll ever have to do in your life." Patty noted.
"Well, um, I found something that I think might help." Barry pulled out his phone. "I was putting together this little video montage for your birthday last year with everybody, and... everything happened. Um, but, uh, take a look. I think it might help."
Barry pulled out his phone and showed Iris the video. "OK."
"What does Iris mean to me? Wow. You know, a lot of times I have a hard time figuring out what to say to people, but when it comes to you, Iris, I don't." Eddie said passionately as Iris was on verge of tears. "Because with you, everything that used to feel tough just doesn't anymore. It's one of the things I love about you.
You don't need me. You can handle anything on your own because you're fearless and independent, loving, kind. You are without question the best decision I ever made, Iris West. And I've never thanked you for choosing to be with me because each day with you is a gift. So, thank you.
You deserve the world, Iris. You deserve to be happy the rest of your life, and no one wants that more for you than me. Happy birthday, baby. I love you." Eddie said as Iris sniffed as the recording stopped.
"I love you too." Iris whispered.
"It doesn't matter who Zoom is. He's not our Eddie." Patty said.
"I know. And we're gonna find a way to take him down." Barry vowed.
Usually I'm not a fan of Iris but honestly, as much as she could be annoying even in the early seasons, she was still more or less tolerable and in this episode I felt bad for her due to her losing Eddie. Well, one would feel even more bad for her here, considering that Zoom wears Eddie's face, and the next chapter is going to offer an explanation on Zoom's backstory which is a bit modified and inspired by Stand's story The other side of the mirror from AO3.
And reformed Hartley was interesting here but as much as I've been enjoying Season 6, one of the things that annoys me is that Crisis on Infinite Earths undid Hartley's redemption, since in post-Crisis timeline on Earth Prime he is a criminal again, although that might change later.
And this episode alongside with 2x11 makes it a bit difficult to decide whether Tom Cavanagh or Matt Letscher would fit more as Thawne.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.