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.
Iris was sitting at the table in Jitters, staring before Barry entered. "Hey."
"Hey." Iris smiled as Barry sat across her.
"What's all this?" Barry asked as Iris held in her hand a small box.
"Return labels for Eddie and me." Iris explained. "I ordered 200 to start, but this afternoon, 2,000 arrived. I guess I ordered wrong." She looked down, sad. "I have so many now."
Barry gave her an assuring look. "Iris, we're gonna find Eddie."
"How? You've searched everywhere. More than once. And you haven't found anything." Iris said as Barry looked down, and she realized she made him feel guilty. "I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you. It's just.—"
"You miss him, right?" Barry said.
"Yeah, I do." Iris nodded.
"Look." Barry gently held her arms. "Wells took my mom from me. I won't let him take someone from you too." He promised. Barry's phone went off as he looked at it. "It's Cisco. I gotta go."
"Yeah, go." Iris nodded as Barry left.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
"I kept asking myself, "Why would Wells pretend to need a wheelchair?"" Cisco said as they were in the Cortex, eying Thawne's wheelchair.
"Sympathy, I suppose." Caitlin shrugged.
Cisco shook his head. "That's what I thought at first. He's the Man in Yellow, the Reverse-Flash. He's much smarter than that. Sympathy can't be the only reason."
"He was misdirecting us. Like with everything else." Patty realized.
Joe nodded. "The last person we'd suspect to be the Man in Yellow is someone who lost the use of their legs."
"That's exactly right." Cisco nodded, putting the wheelchair onto its side. "Which is why I started messing around with the wheelchair. And that's when I found this." He opened a compartment to reveal a glowing device.
They looked closer at the device as Patty narrowed her eyes. "Hey, doesn't that look like…"
"…the tech inside Gideon." Barry nodded.
"I measured the output, and this thing is kicking off serious juice. I mean, we're talking enough to power all of Central City." Cisco said.
Joe raised his brows. "Seriously?"
"Oh, yeah." Cisco nodded.
"What do you think Wells was using it for?" Barry wondered.
"I think this thing is some kind of battery." Cisco said.
"Battery?" Patty asked.
"As in Wells was using it to power himself. To gain more speed. And that's why he's so much faster than you." Cisco pointed at Barry before the alert went off on the computer as Cisco looked at it. "The accelerator, it's been reactivated."
"It can't be." Caitlin shook her head.
"How is that possible? It blew up." Joe stared in disbelief.
"It had to have been rebuilt." Cisco said.
"Wells." Barry realized.
"Even if he did rebuild it, how did Dr. Wells turn the particle accelerator on?" Caitlin questioned as it hit Barry and Patty.
"He's here." Barry said.
"This whole time, he's been inside S.T.A.R. Labs, right below us, that's why we couldn't find him." Patty realized as she and Joe pulled out their guns and went down with Barry.
"Stay here." Barry ordered to Caitlin.
Barry, Cisco and Joe carefully approached the door to S.T.A.R. Labs as Joe turned to Cisco. "Cisco, what'd you bring that orange soda down here?"
"Whenever something happens with the Reverse-Flash, liquid floats in the air." Cisco explained. "You know, Barry's fish tank, Wells's champagne, Lance's coffee. Remember that?" Joe nodded. "If this does the same thing, we'll know that Wells is in there."
"Do it." Barry ordered as Cisco opened the door to the particle accelerator.
They entered as Joe looked around. "Man. This is big."
Suddenly, Cisco's soda started to float. "Oh, God. Guys."
Suddenly, a red bolt of lightning went out as Barry followed Thawne.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do we do now?" Cisco panicked.
Suddenly, Shawna's cell opened. "Prisoner release protocol initiated."
"Oh, no, no, no." Cisco panicked as Shawna teleported herself behind Joe and Cisco, disarming Joe of his gun and knocking them both down before she closed the door.
"No!" Joe cried out.
Caitlin rushed to the particle accelerator but paled upon seeing Shawna. "Peekaboo." Caitlin ran but Shawna caught up with her, hitting her in the face and knocking her down. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be stuck in that box?" She kicked Caitlin before pinning her to the wall and aiming the gun at her. "Now you're the one who's gonna go into a box. In the ground."
Suddenly, Patty hit Shawna from behind in the head, knocking her out.
Central City
Barry chased Thawne across the city but was unable to catch up with him.
S.T.A.R. Labs
They had locked Shawna up back in her cell as Cisco turned to Caitlin. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I will be, thanks to Patty." Caitlin turned to her.
"Anytime." Patty smiled.
"How do you think she got out of there?" Iris wondered.
"Wells must have released her." Cisco realized.
"Help!" A scream echoed through the Pipeline.
"Wait a sec. Did you hear that?" Joe said.
"I checked all the containment cells. Everyone's accounted for." Caitlin said.
Joe shook his head. "No, no. Listen."
"Down here! Help."
They climbed down the hatch into the sewers to see Eddie restrained to a chair.
"Eddie?" Joe breathed out, nearing Eddie and freeing him from his restraints. "Oh, partner. Oh, my God. I got you."
"Oh, my God. Eddie." Iris neared him. "You OK?"
"Let's get him out of here." Joe said, getting Eddie out before Iris found a box with an engagement ring close by.
Later, in the Cortex, Caitlin treated Eddie. "Your vitals are normal, but you're just a little dehydrated. The IV should help with that, but drink some fluids and stay off your feet, OK, Eddie?"
"Thanks, Caitlin." Eddie smiled at her before Barry sped into the Cortex.
"Wells got away." Barry panted out. "He was too fast. He's always too fast." Then he noticed Eddie. "Eddie."
"We found him under that hatch in the Pipeline." Cisco said.
Barry neared Eddie with regretful face. "I'm so sorry. I thought I looked everywhere for you."
"Hey, it's not your fault." Eddie assured, glancing towards Patty and Iris. "Sometimes you just can't see the clues, even if they're right in front of you."
"Um, well, you know, all that's important is that we're all safe and back together, right?" Iris placed an assuring hand on Eddie's shoulder.
"Eddie, why'd he take you?" Joe wondered.
Eddie sighed. "I don't know. He said that we're… family. Said his real name is Eobard Thawne."
Joe, Patty, Caitlin and Barry turned to Cisco. "Eobard Thawne. It's just like in my dream."
Barry nodded.
"What else did he say?" Patty asked. "Do you know what is he up to?"
Eddie shook his head. "He didn't say much. Just kept working on some tube."
"A tube? What did it look like?" Cisco asked.
"Metallic and futuristic. He said it was the key to him getting back everything that was taken from him." Eddie explained.
Barry looked confused. "The key? I don't understand. What—"
"I don't know. Look, I just wanna go home. Is that OK?" Eddie sighed, clearly tired.
"Yes. Of course. I'll make sure he gets some rest." Iris said, helping Eddie leave.
"OK." Eddie nodded as they left.
Barry turned to Patty, Cisco, Caitlin and Joe. "What do you think Wells was talking about?" He wondered.
Suddenly, an alarm in the computer went off as Cisco neared it. "Oh, no, no, no."
"What?" Barry asked before Cisco ran out, making Barry feel annoyed. "What now?"
Cisco turned on live camera, showing a metallic glowing tube inside some slot in the particle accelerator as they watched on the monitor. "Um, are you seeing this? That's the tube Eddie was talking about. It's some sort of power source. That's what's charging up the accelerator."
"Can you shut it down?" Barry asked.
Cisco scowled. "Do you see a power button anywhere on this thing? Dude, this thing is from the future. It's beyond me. I press or touch or cut the wrong thing, I could bring the building down."
"OK, how long until it's fully functional?" Barry asked.
"Best I can tell, 36 hours." Cisco said.
"I'm guessing Wells is gonna come back by then." Patty said.
"Why would Wells want the particle accelerator to work again?" Joe wondered.
"I don't know. It's not like it was such a big success the first time." Cisco said.
"It made me the Flash." Barry reminded.
"That's not all it did." Caitlin pointed out.
"What happens if the particle accelerator turns on, and the metahumans are still in their containment cells?" Patty asked as Cisco had returned to the Cortex.
"They're toast." Cisco said.
"We put them there. Now their lives are in danger because of us." Caitlin said.
"Look, I think you all know that Patty and I've never been fans of this arrangement here." Joe said. I thought the whole plan was to rehabilitate them and set them free."
"We've been busy with other metas and Wells." Patty reminded.
"Well, if they stay in there, they die. And if we let them go, they destroy the city." Cisco pointed out.
"We're gonna have to move them." Barry said.
"Move them where? Iron Heights can't handle metahumans." Joe said.
"You're right. But Lian Yu can." Barry said.
"Wait, the island, where Oliver was stranded for five years?" Patty narrowed her eyes.
Barry nodded. "A.R.G.U.S. built a covert military prison on it."
"It's where we sent Captain Boomerang." Cisco said.
"Oliver keeps his worst criminals there. They won't be able to escape. More importantly, they won't be able hurt anybody." Barry explained.
"Great. So, we ship them from one illegal black site to another." Joe grumbled.
"Yeah, I guess so. Yes." Barry said, uncomfortable.
"How are we gonna move them to Oliver's own private Alcatraz?" Patty asked.
"I'll call him. Maybe he can help." Barry said. "And, Cisco, if we do this, nobody can get loose."
"I might have a way of getting them out safely." Cisco said.
"All right, get on it." Barry ordered as Cisco left.
"Barry, there's one big hole in your plan." Patty pointed out. "How are we gonna transport meta-criminals without anyone noticing?"
"Oh, they'll notice." Barry said before turning to Joe. "That's where you'll come in."
Later, CCPD
"D.A. didn't budge?" Patty asked as Joe went out, with Cecile clearly looking angry.
"No." Joe shook his head.
"OK, so A.R.G.U.S. has a transport plane that can take the metahumans to Lian Yu." Barry said.
"All we need to do is to get them to Ferris Airfield." Patty said.
"So, Oliver Queen came through." Joe said.
Barry shook his head. "No, actually. It was not him. Apparently he's in Nanda Parbat. Wherever that is. I don't know." He added, seeing Joe's confused look.
"Barry talked with Lyla Michaels. Diggle's wife. She has contacts in A.R.G.U.S., she agreed to help us." Patty explained and Joe nodded.
"So, what about CCPD giving us an escort?" Barry asked.
Joe shook his head. "Man, it ain't happening. You saw me talking to the D.A. She was very clear." Barry and Patty sighed. "I could lose my badge. I could go to jail. We could go to jail."
"We are protecting people." Barry argued.
"We are, Barry, but Patty, you and I are cops." Joe turned to her. "There's a certain set of rules we need to follow. And this year, I broke all of them. Lying to my boss, ignoring the law. At what point do we become no different than the people we're fighting?"
Patty sighed, knowing Joe had a point.
"We are way different." Barry snapped.
"How?" Joe asked.
"We only break the rules to help people." Barry said, leaving.
Later, Saints & Sinners bar
"Give me another one. Ice cold." Snart told the bartender before turning around, smirking. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the Scarlet Speedster."
"We need to talk." Barry said.
"You want anything? Beer? Food? Pickled eggs here are fantastic." Snart offered as they sat at the pool table.
"No, I'm good. I need your help with a problem." Barry said.
"You must be pretty desperate to come asking for my assistance, but I'll bite. What do you need?" Snart said.
"Help transporting some people out of the city." Barry said.
"How many?" Snart asked.
"Five. Five very bad, very angry people who have powers." Barry said.
"Powers, hmm?" Snart mused. "So you want me to, what, freeze the problem? Protect you from them if anything goes wrong?" Barry nodded as Snart got up. "First rule of business, always protect yourself. I'm not gonna help usher your enemies out of town."
Barry held Snart by his arm. "They're not just my enemies. They're your enemies too."
"I doubt it." Snart sneered.
"They will destroy Central City." Barry countered.
"It's not my problem." Snart shrugged.
"You said you love it here. That this is home." Barry pointed out.
"I do, and it is." Snart said.
"Well, guess what. These people get loose, there won't be a city to love anymore. You won't be able to rob anyone if everybody's dead." Barry said as Snart considered.
"It's a compelling argument. If I'm gonna help you out, I'll need something in return." Snart wrote something on a piece of paper.
"Like what?" Barry asked.
"This." Snart showed him the paper and Barry scoffed, realizing the incredulousness of Snart's counteroffer.
"No. This is impossible. I can't do that." Barry shook his head.
"Then I can't help you." Snart said.
"There has to... Snart, there has to be something you want that I can get." Barry pleaded.
Snart considered. "Let me think about it." He left the bar.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
"Are you out of your mind? What do you mean, you talked to Leonard Snart?" Joe demanded.
"I asked him for help." Barry said.
"Barry, why would you do something like this?" Patty demanded.
"Because we have already tried everyone else. Look, you tried the C.C.P.D. I tried Oliver. I even tried Ronnie and Dr. Stein." Barry said, gesturing to Cisco and Caitlin. "The particle accelerator goes online in..."
"…sixteen hours." Cisco said.
"Sixteen hours." Barry nodded. "I'm not willing to let the metas die, and we can't let them escape either. So like it or not, Snart, with his Cold Gun is the only one that can stop them if Cisco's transportation does not hold."
"Then lucky for you, I figured out what it is you can get me." They turned to see that Snart had entered. "Hello, Detective West. Patty. Nice to see you again. Caitlin, Cisco. I thought about your proposal." He paced down the Cortex. "You want my help, this is what I want. My fingerprints, dental records, DNA, criminal records, family tree. Everything there is in this world concerning Leonard Snart, I want it destroyed. All of it. At CCPD, online, everywhere."
"The brass on this dude. You really think we'd do that for you?" Joe raised his brows.
Patty shook her head. "You are out of your mind if you think we'll ever—"
"I'll do it." Barry said, much to Patty's and Joe's shock. "If it's the only way, fine."
"Barry. A word with you. Now." Patty said as she, Joe and Barry entered the treadmill room. "Barry, are you insane? You can't just erase Snart's criminal records."
"Yeah, I can." Barry snapped. "And I'll do whatever I have to do."
"Bar, there's gotta be a different way to do this." Joe pleaded.
"OK, then what is it?" Barry stretched his arms. "Tell me what it is, and we'll do it. We're running out of time!" He exploded.
"Barry, after everything that Snart's done, how can you trust him?" Patty demanded.
"You working with that killer? This isn't who you are." Joe said.
"Who I am is the guy who's not fast enough to stop Wells." Barry snapped, nearing Joe and Patty. "He hasn't been one step ahead of us, guys. He's been a thousand. I can't catch him. I can't beat him. What I can do is save those people down there. Wells turned them into what they are and I'm pretty sure he does not care if they live or die. I do."
Central City
Barry sped into the CCPD and uploaded a virus into the computer to erase all digital records about Snart before meeting him and Lisa in an alley with boxes of evidence. "I've deleted everything the C.C.P.D., A.R.G.U.S. and the FBI had on you and sent a virus to erase every digital record of you online." He turned to the pile of boxes. "And this is every single piece of physical evidence the police had."
"Good." Snart smirked before Lisa used her gold gun to melt the boxes.
"I hear we're all going to be working together." Lisa said.
"That's right, sis. Partners." Snart smirked. Deep down, Barry had hoped he was not going to regret it.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
"Please tell me this is a joke." Caitlin snapped, glaring at Snart and Lisa.
"Oh. She's quite uptight." Lisa quipped.
"I am not uptight." Caitlin snapped as the Flash shot her a look. "You can't call me uptight."
"Look, guys, we need their help if we're gonna pull this off." The Flash said.
"Why do you have your mask on? Snart already knows who you are." Patty said.
"And I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. That includes my sister." Snart said.
"Jerk." Lisa glared at him.
"Train wreck." Snart smirked at her as Joe and Patty shot him surprised looks. "Don't look so surprised, detectives. I am a man of my word."
"Yeah, you better be, or I'll make sure you're on that damn plane too." Joe said as they all left before Lisa neared Cisco with a smirk on her face.
"Hey, Cisco." She teased.
"Oh, hey, Captain Cold's evil sister." Cisco said, uncomfortable.
Lisa smirked. "Oh. You're not still mad at me, are you? I really did enjoy kissing you."
"Wait, what?!" Patty exclaimed as she and Caitlin whirled on Cisco, staring in disbelief.
"You kissed her?!" Caitlin demanded.
"Under duress. Calm down." Cisco said.
"You know, I've thought a lot about you." Lisa said with a seductive tone.
"Have you really?" Cisco narrowed his eyes as she gave him puppy eyes. "Well, stop. Because this right here... it ain't gonna happen."
"A girl can hope." Lisa teased, leaving, while Caitlin and Patty glared.
"What is it with you and femme fatales, Cisco?" Patty shook her head. "First your crush on Bette, now her…"
"Really not enjoying being one of the good guys this week. Really not." Cisco muttered.
"Hey, dude. Have you figured out a way to get the metahumans to the airport?" Barry asked, nearing Cisco.
"I have, actually. And it's pretty dope." Cisco said.
Later, Central City
The truck with the contained metahumans, with the Flash, Caitlin, Cisco, Joe, Patty, Snart and Lisa, who were riding on bikes drove towards Ferris Air hangar as Snart looked around. "Ferris Air? I thought this place got shut down."
"It did. One of their test pilots disappeared." Barry said.
"Where's the plane? I want this over with." Joe said.
"It should be here any minute." Barry said before turning to Joe. "Look, Joe, I know you don't agree with this—"
"Save it, Bar. I just wanna get it done." Joe waved him off, leaving.
"Your A.R.G.U.S. friends aren't very prompt. Maybe that's why they've never been able to catch me." Snart said.
"Oh. There it is." Joe said.
Snart frowned to see that the plane had landed with no problems.
"Something wrong, Leonard?" Patty quipped as Snart tried to keep a straight face before Cisco pumped into the truck's cargo area sleeping gas, while the A.R.G.U.S. agents apprehended the metahumans and loaded them onto the plane before taking off.
"What's the matter? You thought the metahumans were going to escape?" Barry quipped as Snart seethed.
"Did you really think we'd trust you completely? I checked before we left S.T.A.R. Labs and I know you sabotaged the truck." Cisco said.
"Give us one good reason why we shouldn't arrest you right now." Joe said, pulling out his gun before suddenly, they looked into the sky to see that the plane had exploded.
"Because you've got bigger concerns than me." Snart said.
"You gave me your word." Barry sneered.
Snart chuckled. "It's true, I did. But here's the thing: I'm a criminal and a liar. And I hurt people and I rob them. What did you expect me to do? Not be what I am? I saw an opportunity to turn things to my advantage and I did. Who you're really mad at is yourself. Them escaping is on you."
"Then why don't you just kill us?" Barry sneered.
"Well, I guess you owe me one now." Snart shrugged as he sat on his bike with Lisa. "Good luck with all of this. I'm actually really excited to see how it all turns out."
"You really think we're just gonna let you walk away after how you tried to double-cross us?" Patty glared.
"I think you've got bigger worries than us right now." Snart pointed at the city before driving away.
"Bye, Cisco." Lisa blew him a kiss as they glared at the Snarts.
Later, S.T.A.R. Labs
Barry stared at the Pipeline before Patty entered. "Hey."
"Thanks for not saying 'I told you so.'" Barry said.
"At least it didn't turn out worse." Patty said. "We'll find them."
"I just... Man, I've seen the way that Oliver does things... and he's not afraid to just do whatever it takes... to get what he needs, and I thought that I could do that too." Barry sighed. "I thought I could just use Snart, but instead he almost used me."
"You're not the Arrow, Barry." Patty said. "You're the kind of person, who's trying to move towards the light and not use his darkness to save people. The kind that cares about whether or not those criminals lived or died. Mardon, Shawna, Bivolo and Nimbus may be criminals but they're stull humans. And you knew that letting Wells use them as pawns was wrong. You know what is right or wrong and you were not going to walk in between these sides. That's what makes you different from Oliver." She sat next to him. "No more walks on the dark side, OK?"
"Yeah." Barry nodded before an alarm went off.
"What's going on?" Patty demanded.
"Guys? The particle accelerator is fully charged and online. Whatever Wells needs it for, it's ready." Cisco called out on P.A.
Barry watched the footage to see Thawne outside S.T.A.R. Labs. "Barry, don't even think about it." Joe said.
"Barry, you can't beat him." Patty pleaded.
"You can't go out there by yourself." Caitlin added.
"Yeah, I can." Barry said before he sped out, facing Thawne.
"Well, I heard your prison transfer didn't go so well. I'm so sorry." Thawne smirked.
"All a part of your plan, I assume?" Barry asked.
"Actually, that didn't factor into my plan at all. But I'm impressed, you went to such great lengths to keep those people from harm. Ever the hero, huh, Barry?" Thawne smirked.
"You've hurt enough people." Barry said.
"I know. You see me as the villain, but, Barry, if you were to look back, look back carefully at everything I've done, every wheel I have set in motion, you would realize I have only done what I had to do." Thawne countered. "Nothing more. Nothing less."
"And the particle accelerator? How does that fit into your grand plan?" Barry demanded.
"Well, why don't you go inside? Let me show you." Thawne offered.
"You know, I just learned the hard way not to trust the bad guy." Barry said bitterly.
"And yet, I've shown you, time and time again, you can't beat me, Barry." Thawne said Suddenly, from above descended Firestorm as Thawne laughed. "Wow. You brought yourself a friend." Next to Barry descended Oliver, now wearing a uniform of the League of Assassins. "Welcome, Mr. Queen." Thawne greeted.
"Hope we're not too late." Oliver said.
"You're just in time." Barry smirked. "I don't care how fast you are, you can't fight all three of us at the same time."
"Oh, I can't?" Thawne said smugly. "Trust me. This… this is gonna be fun." Thawne pulled out his ring, putting on his Reverse-Flash suit as Barry put on his mask, Oliver notched an arrow and Ronnie lighted up his flames.
Frankly, I had to facepalm at the fact that Barry trusted Snart at the drop of the hat, not once thinking about that Snart would somehow double-cross him, like sabotaging the truck, causing for the Metas to escape. Plus, who's to say they wouldn't escape later on the plane anyway somehow? Let's just say that they managed to overpower the A.R.G.U.S. agents in the plane and escape, hence I wrote the plane exploding.
Plus, while I get why it was done the way it was done, I wish that the fight Barry, Ronnie, Stein and Oliver had with Thawne was included in the Season 1 finale with Barry and Thawne later facing off at the particle accelerator instead of in the penultimate episode, hence that's why I'm going to wrap it all up in the next chapter.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.