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.
Barry and Patty were examining a dead corpse burned into ashes as Joe and Eddie stared.
"I hope you both skipped your breakfast." Barry said.
"Whoa." Joe gapped.
"What the hell could do that?" Eddie demanded.
"2,400 degrees, give or take." Barry said.
"What's strange is that nothing else burned up, considering that this place is full of combustibles." Patty said as they looked around.
"Yeah." Barry nodded as he climbed on the rafters and pointed on the scorch marks on the ground. "See the soot on the ground where the cement is burnt?"
"Yeah." Joe nodded.
"That's evidence of arc blasts. Happens when high amperage currents travel or arc through the air." Barry said.
"The real question is, how was this guy electrocuted when there are no live wires or utility poles around?" Patty said.
"The first thing we need to do is ID him." Joe said as Barry nodded.
"Yeah." Barry got down and took a picture of the corpse.
"His face is melted off. How is that picture gonna help ID him?" Eddie questioned.
"I've got mad skills." Barry said as Patty chuckled.
"Please, don't ever say that again." Joe said.
"All right." Barry said as he and Patty noticed how on edge Joe was.
"Joe. Is everything OK?" Patty asked.
"I'm fine. Why?" Joe said.
"I don't know. You seem a little off." Barry said.
"No, I'm fine." Joe said, reliving the speedster's "visit".
"Alright." Barry said.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
"Facial reconstructive software. It was designed for archeologists, and it should help us ID your crispy corpse." Cisco said.
"What happened to him exactly?" Patty wondered.
"Is there a metahuman out there that can control electricity?" Barry inquired.
"It'd take a serious electrostatic discharge to cause that tissue damage." Wells noted as the computer beeped.
"Guys, according to the software, there's an 82% chance your victim looked like this." Cisco said.
"82?" Barry asked, raising his brows.
"Hey, it was zero when you walked in here, pal." Cisco quipped.
"See if you can cross-reference him with the DMV database, it might help us ID him." Patty said.
"Absolutely. This software can do just about anything. Now that Felicity reprogrammed it." Cisco said, pulling out a profile. "Casey Donahue. No wife, no kids. Used to work at the Petersburg electrical substation.
"That can't be a coincidence." Caitlin said.
"That's weird. Someone just used his ID to enter the substation." Cisco said.
"The Petersburg grid is experiencing a power drain right now." Caitlin said as an alarm went off.
"Barry, be…" Barry sped off before Wells could finish. "…careful."
"He never listens." Patty said as they all sighed.
Later, Central City
The Flash sped into the power plant and saw a man drain energy from the generator.
"I'm pretty sure this is a restricted area." The Flash said as the metahuman, whose eyes were blackened, turned to him as the Flash looked apprehensive. The Flash dodged, when the metahuman fired a blast of electricity at him. "Easy there, zappy."
"I have to feed." The man said as Barry dodged the blasts again before the metahuman started to drain him of his energy as he was getting slower.
"Whoa, what was that?" Cisco demanded.
"More of that. I need more." The metahuman said.
"Barry, what's happening?" Wells asked as the man blasted some electricity at Barry, draining him of his speed. Barry groaned, falling down.
"Too much. Too much." The man said as he walked away.
"Get out of there." Wells ordered. Barry tried to run but was unable to as he panted out. "Run, Barry."
"I can't. My speed… it's gone." Barry said.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
Barry was running on the treadmill but he was running as normally as he could.
"He runs slow even for a normal person." Cisco noted as Barry stopped and panted out in exhaustion.
"You can't just lose your powers. OK? Your DNA was transformed by the particle accelerator blast. There's no way to un-transform DNA." Caitlin said.
"Yeah? Tell that to the Uber driver who charged me 65 bucks to take me here." Barry snapped. "Had to say I was coming from a cosplay party."
"So we were wrong. This metahuman doesn't electrocute people. He siphons electricity, thereby removing your power." Wells said.
"Is there a way to undo that?" Patty asked. "I mean, Barry didn't lose his speed for good, did he?"
"We have to run tests." Wells said as Barry nodded.
"We've got to warn Joe." Barry said as he got up.
"Barry, we will find a way to restore your speed. I promise you that." Wells said.
Wells entered his secret room and turned on Gideon.
"Gideon, show me the future." Wells ordered.
"Certainly, doctor." Gideon said as Wells saw the news article but there was no headline of the Flash anymore as he sighed.
"Run a complete search. Show any references to the Flash." Wells ordered.
"Zero references to the Flash."
"Look again."
"Zero references."
"Show any references to Barry Allen."
"Zero references to Barry Allen."
"Look again!" Wells snapped.
"I've searched 3,452 times, Dr. Wells. There's nothing." Gideon said as Wells seethed.
Barry was staring at his suit, contemplating.
"You think I'll ever wear it again?" Barry wondered.
"We don't know if you lost your speed for good." Patty said.
"I didn't have my speed for very long." Barry said, sadly. "But now that it's gone, it feels like part of me is gone too."
"With or without your speed, you're still you, Barry." Caitlin assured him.
"But I'm not." Barry shook his head. "I'm not the best version of me. I love being the Flash. I love everything about it. The feeling of running hundreds of miles per hour. Wind and power just rushing past my face. Being able to help people." He stared at his suit. "I'm not sure I can live without it."
"Look, Barry… you can't give up on hope so soon. If there's a way, we're going to find it." Patty said, holding his shoulder as Barry smiled.
"Farooq Gibran." Cisco said upon entering with his tablet.
"Who?" Barry asked.
"The powers vampire who jacked your speed. I hacked into surveillance footage from the substation. Once I got his face, it was easy to find a match." Cisco explained.
"He climbed an electrical tower the night of the accelerator explosion." Barry read.
"That would explain his powers." Patty said.
Suddenly, an alarm went off as they turned to the computer to see Farooq outside S.T.A.R. Labs.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. This is not happening." Cisco groaned.
"Dr. Harrison Wells, I need to see you!" Farooq yelled. "Come on. I know you're inside. Open the door. I just wanna talk, Dr. Wells."
"Wells, let me in!"
Wells narrowed his eyes as he was in his private room, seeing Farooq.
Farooq pulled the cables out of a generator as the power blacked out in S.T.A.R. Labs. They felt tremors as Farooq blasted the door to the shipping area.
"He's inside." Barry realized.
Patty's phone rang as she answered the call. "Yes, Captain, what is it?"
"Patty, where are you?" Singh asked.
"I've been following a lead on the scorched corpse we found this morning with Barry. Is everything OK?" Patty asked.
"We've got a hostage situation at the precinct. William Tockman has at least ten hostages, two officers down. Joe's inside, so is his daughter." Singh said.
"Damn it. I don't think I'm gonna make it back." Patty groaned.
"I'll call you, when I know more." Singh said as he hung up.
"That's not good." Patty said.
"What is it?" Barry asked.
"There's a hostage situation in CCPD, they're holding Joe and Iris there, alongside others." Patty said as he paled.
"I need my powers back now." Barry said.
"I have a theory. It's untested." Wells said.
"I'm willing to roll the dice." Barry said.
"OK." Wells nodded. "You've lost your speed. Yes. But nothing has changed inside you on a subatomic level. In other words, your cells are still primed."
"They just need a jump-start." Cisco said.
"OK, how do we do that? How do we jump-start me?" Barry asked.
"We need to replicate the initial jolt to your system." Wells said.
"How exactly are we going to do that with no power in the building?" Patty pointed out.
"Besides, that would mean a peak current of at least 20,000 kiloamps." Cisco said.
"Are you insane? That's more electricity than they give to people in the electric chair." Caitlin said incredulously.
"Caitlin, with Farooq in the building, we're all looking at a death sentence here." Wells said.
"The spare generator's offline. If we reboot it, we could get a charge that big." Cisco said.
"We need something that can transmit the load from the generator to Barry's body without shorting out." Wells noted.
"The treadmill. My baby could take the charge." Cisco said.
"But Barry might not." Patty pointed out.
"Well, that's up to Mr. Allen." Wells said as Barry was about to leave.
"Where are you going?" Caitlin asked.
"I'm gonna talk to him." Barry said.
"Nope. Nope." Wells shook his head.
"OK, you didn't see him at the substation. He needed to feed." Barry said. "I got super-speed out of the particle accelerator blast. But his best friends died. He woke up with a disease."
"Earlier today, you worked a crime scene, where this metahuman electrocuted an innocent man. He's a murderer. And you are powerless to defend yourself against him." Wells pointed out as Barry sighed.
"He may just need help like I did. I don't need my powers to offer him that. I have to try." Barry said.
"Look, he may be too far gone… but we need to try." Patty said. "I'm not sure a gun is going to stop this guy."
Barry and Patty went down the corridor and stopped upon facing Farooq as they raised their hands.
"Hey, whoa. Whoa, easy. We're not gonna hurt you." Barry said.
"You can't hurt me." Farooq smiled. "Where is Harrison Wells?"
"Look, we know what happened to you. The night of the accelerator explosion, it changed you. It changed me too." Barry said as Farooq lowered his hands as it hit him.
"You were the one in the red suit." Farooq said. "I fed from you. I have to keep feeding."
"We know this can't be easy and it must scare you to death… but there are scientists here. Nobody has to get hurt." Patty pleaded. "We know you didn't mean to hurt anyone. Please. Let us help you."
"The night of the explosion, when the light hit me, it stopped my heart." Farooq said. "Jake and Darya."
"They were your friends." Barry said.
"I woke up and they were beside me, dead." Farooq said, his voice breaking. "They tried to give me CPR. They were touching me and I electrocuted them."
"That wasn't your fault." Patty said.
"I know." Farooq nodded as he charged his hands. "Wells did this to me."
"Farooq, you need to listen to us—"
Barry was knocked back as Farooq blasted him and Barry slid down the floor.
"Barry!" Patty exclaimed, nearing him as Cisco sealed the corridor as Farooq fired another electric blast.
"Not sure how long that'll hold." Cisco said.
"Done being noble, Mr. Allen?" Wells said dryly. "Caitlin, Detective, get him to the treadmill. Cisco, bring the generator online. Make sure Barry gets the charge."
"What? You're not coming with me? I am not leaving you." Cisco protested as Wells turned to him.
"Listen to me. Of everything I've done in my life, of everything I have invented, my most important creation is the Flash. Barry Allen must have a future. Now, go. Go!" Wells ordered as Cisco ran off.
"Barry, you're lucky he didn't stop your heart." Patty said as she and Caitlin were examining his wounds.
"I'm not healing fast anymore." Barry groaned. "That's unfortunate."
"Don't worry." Caitlin said as she started connecting cables to the treadmill. "When Dr. Wells has a theory, he's usually right."
"What if something happens to Joe and Iris first?" Barry breathed out before they heard cracking of electricity as they paled to see Farooq in the lab before they hid under the window.
Wells opened the door to the Pipeline, where Tony was in his cell.
"Come to check on your pet? Why don't you just kill me, huh? Get it over with." Tony yelled.
"Quid pro quo." Wells smirked. "That's Latin, Mr. Woodward. You've heard of Latin? Quid pro quo means "something for something." And in this case that something is your freedom. I'm prepared to grant it to you."
Tony steeled up and slammed the door. "How do you know I won't kill you?"
"Let's call it a calculated risk. One I'm willing to take." Wells said.
"Really?"
"That's right."
"Why would you do that?
"Because... there is another metahuman loose in this facility." Wells revealed as Tony seemed intrigued. "And I want you to kill him."
Barry, Patty and Caitlin were in the lab, hiding as Farooq opened the door.
"Did you know the human body generates electricity? The average person gives off 342 watts. And I can smell it coming from you." Farooq said.
Patty held Barry's hand as Cisco flipped the switches and fuses and turned on the power in the building as Farooq left.
Barry, Patty and Caitlin went out from their hideout as Barry got up on the treadmill.
"Turn on the treadmill." Barry ordered.
"You're still hurt." Caitlin protested.
"We don't have time!" Barry snapped.
Farooq was scouring the corridors before Tony punched him. Farooq blasted him with electricity but Tony was unfazed.
"Barry, it might kill you." Patty pointed out as she and Caitlin were at the lever.
"We don't have a choice! If you don't, we all could die!" Barry snapped.
"I already lost someone I cared about in this building. I can't do it again." Caitlin sobbed.
Barry took a breath as he turned to them. "Listen. Someone once told me that I was struck by that lightning for a reason. That it chose me. I'm not sure I believe it. Right now, it doesn't matter what I believe." He took a breath, leaning onto the treadmill. "What do you believe?"
They stared before Caitlin was about to pull the lever.
"Wait." Patty said before she neared Barry and pulled him in for a kiss. "Barry… in case you don't survive…"
Barry nodded. "I know." He turned to Caitlin. "Do it."
Caitlin pulled the lever as Barry was electrocuted and knocked back.
"Barry!" Patty cried out.
"Oh, my God. Are you OK? Did you feel anything?" Caitlin asked as Barry tried to vibrate his hands.
"It didn't work." Barry panted out.
"Don't ever do that to me again." Patty said, hugging him tightly.
They went outside and saw that Tony was knocked back. "Tony. Tony, what are you doing?" Barry asked, nearing him.
"Come on. You know me, Allen. I never run from a fight." Tony groaned.
Barry patted him. "All right. Well, stay with me, OK? You're good."
Tony panted out. "Run." He breathed out before closing his eyes as he laid down.
"What?" Barry demanded, not believing that his childhood bully had just died.
Patty and Caitlin gasped as Farooq showed up.
"Barry." Caitlin said.
"Run!" Patty ordered as they ran off to avoid another blast from Farooq.
"I can't believe he's dead." Barry panted out as they hid in the room with the fuses, while Caitlin was bandaging his wounds.
"Dr. Wells?" Cisco asked, worried.
"No. No. Tony Woodward." Barry said.
"He escaped the Pipeline." Caitlin said.
"He must have gotten out, when the blackout hit S.T.A.R. Labs." Patty noted.
"Not possible. The Pipeline was designed to withstand power outage." Cisco protested. "Someone had to have let him go."
Patty narrowed her eyes. "Well, it wasn't either of us, so that means…"
"I did it. I released him." Wells said upon entering as they all shot him incredulous looks.
"Why?" Barry demanded.
"To divert our intruder's attention while we worked to restore your speed." Wells said.
"So, what, he was a distraction?" Patty demanded.
"An unnecessary one as it turns out, it seems the plan has failed." Wells said as Barry looked at his hands, while Cisco and Caitlin lowered their heads and Patty glared at Wells.
"I have his blood on me. How could you do that?" Barry demanded.
"You're showing sentiment for a man who tormented you as a child." Wells said coldly.
"Tony might've been a bully then and now, but he didn't deserve to die." Barry snapped.
"Does Caitlin, or Cisco, or Detective Spivot, or me, or you?" Wells countered. "I had a choice to make, him or us. I chose us without a second thought." He said coldly.
"Well, all your talk about miracle cures and scientific breakthroughs but you don't care about people at all." Barry snapped.
"Maybe you care too much, Barry. I know being a hero is important to you. I respect your ideals. I just don't have the luxury of sharing them." Wells said.
"I forgot. Your game's chess. We're all just pawns to you. Right? So, what's your move, doctor? Which one of us gets sacrificed next?" Barry demanded.
"Look, we can discuss this later, right now we need to find a way out of here." Patty said.
"We just left him on D-level." Barry said.
"We'll never make the main entrance from here." Caitlin said.
"What about the garage? The mobile lab van?" Cisco suggested.
"It's my move, Mr. Allen. And I say we make a run for it." Wells said.
"Oh, my God. Barry, look." Caitlin said, examining Barry's blood on the computer. "Your cells are rapidly regenerating."
Barry tried vibrating his hand. "I still don't have my speed."
"It must be mental." Wells said. "Not physical."
"So, what, he's got self-doubt or something?" Patty questioned.
"The yips." Cisco said. "Like when a second baseman all of a sudden can't throw to first or a golfer tries to putt, and they get all embarrassed and upset. That makes the yips worse, and it's a hot mess. They feel like even more of a failure."
"That's not helping." Barry snapped.
Patty held his hand. "Whoever told you that he believes that the lightning chose you… I believe he was right. You can be a hero, Barry. I know that. You need to believe in yourself."
They felt tremors and heard electricity crackling.
"Let's move." Wells ordered.
They went into the garage as Cisco pointed at the van.
"Second van. Keys are inside." Cisco said.
"Come on." Barry started the van. "Get in! Come on!" Suddenly, the van engine stopped, just as Wells' wheelchair as lights flickered.
"Oh, no." Patty paled.
"He's here." Wells said.
Farooq showed up and Barry dodged as Farooq blasted at him.
"Oh, my God, are you OK?" Caitlin demanded as she, Cisco and Patty helped him get up. "Did he hit you?"
"Yeah. I'm OK." Barry said.
"Guys." Patty got up, stepping in front of Barry, Caitlin and Cisco and pulled out her gun, aiming at Farooq, who neared them. "Not another step! Or I will shoot you!" Patty yelled as Caitlin, Barry and Cisco backed off.
Farooq charged his hand, about to kill Patty.
"Hey!" Wells shouted as Farooq turned around. "You're here for me."
"Finally, you show your face." Farooq said.
"Well, I wasn't exactly eager to be killed." Wells said.
"Neither were my friends." Farooq sneered.
"I know." Wells nodded, remorseful. "I hurt a lot of people that night."
"People?" Farooq spat. "You don't even know their names."
"Jake Davenport. Darya Kim. Ralph Dibny. Al Rothstein. Grant Emerson. Will Everett. Bea De Costa. Ronnie Raymond." Wells listed as he turned to Caitlin, while mentioning Ronnie's name. "I know the names of every person, who died that night. They mattered. And the fact that the world is now deprived of their potential is something that I have to live with every day, but these people..." He turned to Barry, Cisco, Caitlin and Patty. "These people have done nothing wrong. You wanna punish me? Fine. Let's do that. But let these people live."
Farooq stared and considered. "You died that night too." He fired a blast of electricity, knocking Wells down from his chair.
"No!" Barry exclaimed, staring in horror at his mentor being killed.
"You just didn't know it until today." Farooq continued, about to finish Wells off.
Barry's eyes were glowing with electricity as he suddenly grabbed Wells in superspeed before Farooq's blast would hit him and neared him to Caitlin, Cisco and Patty. Barry put on his Flash suit and faced Farooq before he dodged the blasts. Farooq again started to drain Barry's energy but he groaned as it became too much to bear as he fell on his knees and then collapsed to the ground as Barry knelt down, panting out in exhaustion.
"Iris." Barry breathed out as he sped off into CCPD and saw Tockman in cuffs and Eddie on a gurney with bandaged arm as he sighed in relief.
"We could've called him Blackout." Cisco said as Caitlin put Farooq's body into the cell in the Pipeline.
"He had a name, Cisco." Wells said.
"I'm still not sure what happened. Why didn't he just siphon all my powers like before?" Barry wondered.
"Because you finally stopped thinking about your powers and just connected to them." Caitlin said as she showed him the tablet with the sample of Barry's blood. "Look. This is a sample of your blood from just after you were struck by lightning. Now your cells are generating more energy than ever before."
"So, he what, overloaded?" Patty asked as Caitlin nodded.
"It was more energy than the meta could safely handle." Caitlin explained. "It's almost like he choked on you."
"What does that mean?" Cisco asked.
"I think it means you kicked it up a notch." Wells said. They were about to leave, when Barry and Patty turned to him.
"Look, Dr. Wells… I think that Barry and I owe you an apology." Patty said.
"What we said about how you don't care about people..."
Wells raised his hand, stopping them. "Mm. No. Look. There is a reason that my biography describes me as arrogant, prickly, brusque."
"At times, contemptuous." Barry quoted. "I read it twice."
"You were right. I don't care much for people. I find them misinformed. Shortsighted." Wells said.
"Then what's the point of all this?" Patty asked, pointing around the S.T.A.R. Labs.
"Because I believe in a better future. One that I very much want to see. One that you are a part of. I might not much care for people, Barry, but I care about you." Wells said.
Later, Central City General
Barry and Patty entered with flowers as Eddie was on stretcher, with Joe and Iris at his side.
"Hey, Allen. Spivot." Eddie said, clearly on meds.
"Hey, Eddie." Barry said.
"Flowers? That's so nice." Eddie chuckled.
"Where were you all night?" Iris asked.
"We were working a lead for a dead guy and got stuck in the traffic because of the blackout." Patty said as they hugged Iris.
"Traffic jam." Eddie laughed. "Classic."
"He is on pain meds. Lots of them, but he's gonna be OK." Iris sighed. "It's been some night. I am gonna get some coffee. I'll be back."
"Do it." Eddie said.
Iris left as Joe dropped the vase with flowers before Barry quickly grabbed it.
"Awesome. I guess you're feeling better." Joe whispered.
"Oh, yeah." Barry nodded.
"Did you guys see that?" Eddie asked, confused.
"I think that's just the meds." Patty said as Eddie chuckled.
"Right. I forgot." Eddie laughed.
S.T.A.R. Labs
Wells entered the Time Vault and was relieved to see that the news article about The Flash vanishing in the Crisis, was back on the hologram but narrowed his eyes upon seeing that the byline was changing from "Iris West-Allen" into "Julie Greer" and then "Evan Gibson". He then narrowed his eyes even more as Gideon showed him Patty.
Fun fact, in episode 1x07, Wellsobard Thawne said to Farooq that Ralph Dibny was among the dead victims of the particle accelerator explosion, yet in Season 4, Joe and Barry remembered Ralph as a dirty CCPD cop who got fired. It's a surprise Barry remembered him as a cop who got fired and not as a victim of the explosion. Retcon. Plus, it wasn't until later, when the news article about The Flash vanishing that Thawne had in Time Vault, had Iris's name on it and the first half of Season 1, the article was written by Evan Gibson.
The CCPD subplot with Clock King and the hostage situation would remain the same.
I'm skipping the crossover part since it would have no impact on this story.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.