02

Who's The Villain?

A/N: Since I've had a few people mention it, Flashpoint and Earth-1 are happening simultaneously. We saw everything that went on with Barry in Flashpoint, but never saw what was going on with the changes that had been made on Earth-1, so here we go.

FLASHPOINT

Barry whistled a merry tune to himself as he approached the abandoned warehouse near the Ferris Air Strip. He knew no one went there. There had never been anyone there when practicing back on their Earth. It was a place that made him smile wistfully every time he went there, the first place he and the others tested out his powers when he came out form his coma. Back when he had that ugly red jogging suit and cameras attached to his head. When he first figured out what happened to Ronnie and Caitlin, where Cisco was working out names for him and was excited to try out his new equipment to deal with a speedster. It was where Dr. Wells, who they hadn't known was Eobard at the time, really stepped up and became a mentor to him.

It was the first place they worked as a team, even when he had a major learning curve to it all. The first place where he felt—what he now knew was—the Speed Force move through his body, propelling him forward. And now it was where he was keeping his worst enemy. The same enemy that glared at him from the cell he was inside. The glass box made of the material that was thick enough to keep a Speedster from getting out.

Who would've thought Zoom would've taught him anything.

Barry's whistle turned to a smug smile when he noticed the glare Eobard was sending his way. Undeterred, Barry swung a bag of Big Belly Burger in front of him. "Dinner."

Eobard lifted an eyebrow as he eyed Barry. Then she sighed and stretched his arms above his head. Almost as if he were waiting for room service in a hotel room. "There better be curly fries in there," he said.

A chuckle escaped Barry's lips. Maybe he was taking a little too much entertainment out of this. But it was good to see Eobard was on the other end of despair this time. Grabbing a paint bucket, Barry dragged it over to the glass case and sat down, dangling the fast food bag between his legs.

"Humans can go three weeks without food," he pointed out. "I'd be a little more grateful if I were you."

Eobard wagged a finger, much like one would do to a dog that had just done something bad. "You wouldn't do that to me. You're the hero." He titled his head to the side and studied Barry curiously. "Or did you forget? Too busy leading your reverse it's a wonderful life. How ironic." His voice went flat and he stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankle. Eobard placed his hands in his lap and leveled his gaze to Barry, who had slowly stopped smiling. "So what should we call this world you made for us? I'm thinking Flashpoint."

Does he ever know when to shut up? Barry rubbed his forehead. Couldn't the people he captured just know they had to be quiet and understand they weren't going to get away. Eobard certainly knew how to push his buttons. Must be true when he said they'd been rivals for centuries. Or else he wouldn't know how to get to Barry so easily. "You don't want this?" Barry asked, gesturing towards the bag of food.

Eobard's lips pulled back into a snarl. He clearly wasn't getting to Barry and wanted to expedite things a little bit. He got to his feet and pressed his palms against the glass. He spoke rapidly and in a harsh whisper. "You may think you've ruined me with this glass cage. With this speed dampener. But I will get out and ruin your life."

Barry shook his head. "Nope," he said simply. "Because you'll never get out and ruin anything again." He tossed the food aside and folded his arms, walking closer to the cage. "I have everything back that you and Zoom took from me." He held out his arms in victory. 'I'm free. I'm home."

"This isn't your home, Barry. It's a mirage that will end us both unless you let me the hell out of this thing."

"Why would I want to get out of here? I'm whole here. There's even the flash so I don't have to be."

"You must not have learned your lesson the last time you traveled through time. Everything you do changes something else. You may not be the Flash here, but what does that mean for The Flash as a whole? Who is this new guy? Do you know? Do you care? While you sit here and hide like a lost lonely boy, our common enemy is coming for us both. Time. It's already screwing with you and everyone you love and soon it's going to take me with you. The sad part is that you don't care. You don't care what's going on with everyone in your life, in our old life. Do you even remember your old life?"

Now Barry felt anger flash through him. Enough so that he walked up to the glass case and pressed his hands against the glass in the same placement as Eobard's, putting his face close to his. "You've got some nerve, I'll give you that. Warning me about messing with other people's lives. I did this because of what you did to my life, to my family. To my mother." He shook his head, pressed his hands into the glass as hard as he could, to focus on the pain than anything else. "If you hadn't had done this, none of this would've happened."

Eobard threw his head bac and laughed loudly. Laughed so hard that he was out of breath even before he finished. "Your sense of selfishness is funny. I have to give it to you. There's always something that I've at least admired about you. How you can continue to go around and act like you're doing everything for other people when you're the most selfish bastard I've ever met." Eobard licked his lips and stood up straight, folding his arms. "But here's the thing, Barry. I did kill your mom. And one day soon you'll be begging me to kill her again."

Barry shook his head and backed away from the case. He couldn't give a good response, didn't want to give him the satisfaction. Instead, he opened the side of the case, the small opening that only he could reach, and slid the food inside. He slapped the case closed once more and backed away.

Eobard picked up the bag and peered inside. "You forgot the curly fries," he said.

Barry merely shrugged and walked away, leaving Eobard and everything he said behind him. No. He wasn't getting out of his jail and he wasn't going to kill his mother again. And to prove it, Barry went to his parent's house. The house he grew up in, the one that had been condemned after he murder back in the past. But she was alive now, he saved her, saved his father, saved his life from countless amounts of grief.

He arrived just as his parents pulled up to the house, climbing out of their station wagon. Barry always asked them to get a better car, but it had run efficiently for years. So much so that while the exterior looked old, the interior had been upgraded with the latest technology. USB ports to charge their phones, Satellite radio, auxiliary cables to use music from their phones and music players, and revere camera when needed. Funny how it was the same for life, things could stay the same on the outside, but on the inside they were different and up to date.

Even his parents, who looked older, with graying hair and glasses, were still the same people he'd always known and loved. His father was the first to notice him. Henry Allen smiled and lifted his chin to nod to his son as he greeted, "Hey Slugger."

Nora Allen smiled next, walking to her son with open arms to envelope him with a hug. "There's my beautiful boy." She wrapped her arms around him and Barry brought up his hands, hugging her tightly. He'd saved her and here she was. As she always had been. And yet, no matter how many times he'd seen her recently, he was excited and always willing to give her a hug. Nora chuckled when she felt Barry held her tightly. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's great," He said honestly.

"Are you sure? Lately, every time you hug me it's like the first time I've seen you in months."

"I'll stop if you want me to." Barry grinned at his mother.

Nora smiled back at him, her eyes shining behind the lenses of her glasses. "Never. I love it."

Barry grinned. As long as they were alive, things were great. Nora smiled and nodded. She dropped her arms from her son and grasped her husband's hand in hers as they walked into the house. Henry reached out with his free hand and patted Barry on the shoulder. The two shared identical smiles before heading inside.

Henry and Barry sat down at the dining room table as Nora flittered back and forth from the kitchen, bringing food to them. Henry flipped open the newspaper—the never ending newspaper—and started to read while Barry watched his mother. When she finally finished, she sat down at the head of the table with her husband and son. "So, I sold a nice house to an older couple a few weeks ago," she said, spreading a napkin across her lap. "Finished the paperwork today. They emailed me this morning to say they wanted to rent out their basement apartment. Very reasonably."

Barry smiled at the good news, focusing on the food in front of him. He still had his high metabolism as a speedster, but nothing was better than this mother's cooking. So he ate as slowly as he could, trying to enjoy it as much as he could. Then he realized the silence that stretched around him and, mid-chew of a bagel, asked, "You want me to move out?"

"We don't want you to," Henry said quickly, lowering the newspaper. "It's just…most people at your age aren't living with their parents anymore. They have their own space and are figuring things out on their own."

"And, sweetie, we were wondering if you've ever put any thought into dating?" Nora added.

Barry gave them both a look. "Have you gotten tired of playing matchmaker for me, already?" He asked. Nora started to protest but Barry cut her off. He placed his hands in his lap, nodding. "Actually, I, uh, I haven't told you. You know, uh, Cade, I, uh, finally worked up the courage to ask her out and I did and she said yes."

Henry and Nora both cheered. Barry was a little taken aback at how excited they were. Yes, it's been a while since he dated—at least dated in this existence—but considering their reaction he may as well have just said he won the lottery. "it's about time," Henry said once he calmed down. "How many times have you been in my office this last week?"

"Right," Barry shot back sarcastically. "All the times you'd subtly tried to get us together really put a notch in my plans."

"We were just looking out for you, honey," Nora said.

"I don't think all but asking her what her wedding plans were was helping."

"Well, she just got the best boy she could have so I don't know what you're talking about."

"Mmm, I think Brady'd beg to differ."

Nora clasped her hands together. "Then that settles it, we'll watch him and you two go and have a good date."

Barry's head jerked back in surprise. Okay, he was definitely living in the twilight zone now. Still, he couldn't help the teasing smile that came to his face. "Is that a threat?"

"It is." Henry nodded slowly, seriously. Then he lifted his hand and pointed directly towards Barry's face. "If you don't have a good time, I'll kill you myself."

Barry laughed and nodded. They changed the subject to talk about Henry's and Nora's work as they finished dinner. Then Barry glanced at his phone, realizing he was going to be late for work. He made it just as Captain Singh demanded, "and where is Joe West?" The moment he stepped in the front doors of the CCPD.

His shoulders hunched. Barry tried not to let anyone see him as he immediately back peddled out the door. The less Captain Singh saw him, the less he had to be asked about Joe's whereabouts. The less he had to try and cover for him. Not that he wasn't going to do it anyway, he couldn't have Joe lose his job. Barry raced to Joe's house and phased through the front door. No need to make it obvious that he'd broke inside.

"Detective West?" He called, realizing the silence in the house. It was unsettling. The West house he knew was always loud, always had something going on. Not to mention, hearing himself refer to Joe as detective. That was one of the hardest truths he had to get used to when being in this new place. He didn't have the same relationship with Joe as he used to and had to keep his distance. How was he supposed to keep his distance of someone who was as much of his family as his own parents were? "Detective?"

Joe slept soundly on the couch, an empty bottle of scotch laying on the floor beside him. "Oh no," Barry whispered, feeling panic rise. It was one thing for Joe to be late, but to be hungover as well? It was too big a threat to lose his job and livelihood all together. Especially when he'd already lost his family… "Joe. Hey Joe, you gotta wake u—" Barry cut himself off, choking when Joe turned and coughed a cloud of alcohol into his face. Barry waved a hand to clear the noxious air in front of him. Sorry about this, Joe, he thought before grasping Joe's arm and raced him into the shower, brushed his teeth, changed him, and raced him all back to the CCPD in a matter of seconds.

Barry stopped in the elevator and casually leaned against the side of the elevator as Joe, eyes growin wide, looked at his now clothed body. "What the hell?" He whispered.

"Afternoon, Detective," Barry said suddenly, making Joe jump.

"Oh." Joe looked at him with disdain before turning his back on Barry. "Hey, Allen. What do you want? What did you do? How did I get here?"

Barry could've answered all of those questions but didn't know how. The Joe here didn't know he was The Flash, didn't know he had powers. Didn't like him. There was no point to rock the boat even further than it already had been. "I was just…helping you out, man. I don't want you to be fired or anything."

Joe snorted. "Am I wearing a sign that said help me?"

"No," Barry said honestly. "But you may as well be." He looked up as the doors dinged open and waved an arm for Joe to leave before him. Joe did so and continued to glare at Barry as they walked towards their offices.

"Look, we are not partners, we do not work together. I work alone. You don't know me or my life or what's going on with me?" That wasn't quite true, but Barry wasn't going to say so. "And what makes you so interested in me Mr. Allen?" He waved a warning finger. "And remember, I have a hangover and a gun."

"Well, it's just that we…uh…I don't want to see anyone lose their job when they're so good at what they do," Barry said. He backed away from Joe, holding up his hands. But couldn't help but add with a bit of snark, "When they're here." With that, he turned on his heel and went to his lab to get to work.

Anything that would take up some of his time before his date. But he couldn't help but think about Joe. This Joe would never know why he wanted to help him so much, that they were like father and son, that he was some of the best family Barry had ever had. It was jarring to see what had changed with that since Barry had gone back to save his mother. He'd expected things to be the same as they had been up until that moment; where his father and Joe were best friends, where he and Iris hung out with each other at school. Where he had the life he was supposed to have.

But was it the life he still wanted?

His parents were alive…he didn't have his friends. Caitlin was a pediatrist who worked at his father's office. She and Cadence talked to each other every now and then but they weren't the same best friends they used to be. Caitlin was married to Ronnie and went home to her husband every night while Cadence had an ex-boyfriend and a toddler to handle. Then Cisco…everyone knew who Cisco was. Ramon Industries had taken over what STAR Labs used to be and was doing so much for Central City. And yet, his fame and fortune had gone to his head and it was obvious from the way he acted.

Cisco threw parties nearly every night, all of the biggest female socialites made sure to get an invite so they could fawn over him. With his press conference, Cisco spoke about his new technology with a smug air, condescension, and displeasure for any questions that were deemed unworthy of him. Barry tried to get in contact with him, to try to be friends again, but found himself unable to get close to the new mogul.

He even didn't see Iris so much anymore. Since she and Joe had their falling out she made herself scarce. Text went unanswered for days and she always seemed to have something to do whenever they tried to hang out. If she wasn't suddenly running away with lame excuses he could think of.

And it all went through Barry's head as he sped through his work. As he thought about it, Barry froze. Something was going on in his head, a hazy fog swirling over everything, making it more difficult for him to remember even what he had just been thinking about. As it rolled in, Barry struggled to figure things out, pressing his fingers into the pencil he held onto. An anchor to focus on so that he could get his mind straight. But with no luck, whatever he had been thinking about was just gone.

"That was weird," Barry murmured, eyes shifting back and forth over the papers in front of him. He leaned back in his seat and ran his hands over his face. He was just tired, that was it. He'd pushed himself too hard when doing patrols that day, when speaking to Eobard. There was so much going on, he needed to sit back and relax. He needed to…Barry glanced at the stacks of paper around him. Get to work.

Finally, he made it to the end of the day and clocked out of work, hurrying down the steps that led to the lobby of the CCPD. Cadence stood at the front desk, looking around at the sprawling golden mural at the front of the CCPD. The same one each officer touched when they came in to work as a sign of good luck.

Barry took a deep breath and walked up to her. "You see it once, you see it all the time," he said, getting her attention.

Cadence smiled, turning to face him. "I don't know, it looks really cool. Must be nice to see every day." It was then Barry realized how much he missed her working at the CCPD. That had been another obstacle to get over, not being able to take lunch breaks with each other to go to the nearby park before going back to work. There was only so much he could do now with Captain Singh breathing down his neck more often than usual. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, yep. Ready, willing, and able," Barry agreed. He clapped his hands together then let out a long breath. His palms were flooded with swat. How funny, he'd been seriously dating her back before he changed things, and now it was like he was a little boy with his first crush all over again. "Um, yeah, so let's go."

Cadence smiled and nodded and the two left the CCPD and started to stroll down the street. They went along in silence for a few moments before Barry finally thought of something to talk about. Thankfully, his father had mentioned it when during their time together earlier that day.

"So what's been going on at work?" Barry asked. "I think my dad mentioned something about a bad patient."

"Ah." Cadence's smile widened as she nodded. "You heard about that?" She ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I know there are some people that can get really strong when being strapped down, but this was ridiculous. Somehow, I managed to keep my cool."

"Well, that really seems a lot like you," Barry said. Then he paused and looked at her curiously. "Is that weird? I mean, I feel like I know all about you." Much more than she could ever know.

"No." Cadence shook her head. "It's not weird. We've been friends for a long time, Barry. I'd hope you feel like you knew me." She reached out and gently pushed him on the arm, her smile illuminating her face. "Just like I know you."

"Right. So, uh, how are your mom and dad?" Barry asked.

"Alive and well. Doting," Cadence explained. "Actually, we're going to see them next weekend. And as in love with each other as ever. Like-"

"—stupid in love?" Barry interrupted.

"Exactly."

"Same as my parents," Barry said. He shook his head as he continued along. "I hope I have what they have someday."

"Just haven't met the right girl yet?"

The irony was not lost on him. "Well, she's out there, waiting." He smiled at her, hoping she understood what his smile meant. How much they meant to each other before and how they could get back there if they tried. "Just have to be lucky enough to find her."

"Maybe you already have," Cadence said.

Barry's smile immediately turned to a frown the moment the words left her mouth. Something was wrong. It was like a faucet in his brain had turned on and everything was spilling away. Everything they'd been through together on their Earth, it was all gone. Their meeting, their friendship with each other, their first kiss, when they said they loved each other…all gone. Just the same as when he was thinking about Joe and his friends earlier that morning. Everything he knew about them was gone. Erased from memory with a big struggle trying to get it back.

"Barry?" Cadence grabbed his arm. "Barry, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I, uh," Barry started to stammer. His feet shifted beneath him, threatening to make him fall on his butt. It was disorienting, his brains shifting like that. It must've been what Eobard was talking about. Things he didn't know where going to change, it'd affect him…"I'm sorry," he said. "I have to…" he backed away, her hand sliding off his arm. Cadence frowned in hurt confusion. "I have to get out of here. I'm really sorry, something's come up that I…I have to take care of." He turned and grabbed her hands. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

Cadence started to say something but stopped when their palms pressed together. A tingling sensation shot through Barry's hands and hers. He looked down to see some lightning sparking between them, enough so that he could see little flickers of flame in them as well. The same it always did when their powers came in contact with each other.

In this world she still had her powers.

"I have to go," Barry repeated. "I'm sorry." He backed away from her and started at a light jog down the street. He waited until he turned the corner before tapping into the Speed Force and using his powers to get away as fast as possible.

He needed to figure out what was going on and fast. And as much as he disliked it, there was only one person who could have some insight to what was going on. The man who Barry hated more than anyone else in the world. He went back to Eobard's makeshift cell and stormed towards him.

Eobard didn't even glance his way as he drawled, "And to think I was wondering you'd forgotten about me." He looked at Barry out of the corner of his eye and asked, "Did you remember to get my curly fries this time?"

Angrily, Barry strode towards him. He ignored the taunting question Eobard threw his way and slammed his fist against the glass. It shook rapidly, but didn't break. Eobard's face, which brightened at the vibrating glass, held steady when he looked at the pure fury that moved over Barry's face. "

"Oh, you're finally starting to realize the problem now aren't you?" Eobard asked. "What's the matter? Did it interrupt some fun times?" His eyes narrowed. "No, you're never that forward. You prefer to sit and dwell in your misery. But that's what they say right? Misery loves company."

Barry clamped his teeth together. His jaw throbbed, a headache formed. Throat burned as he hissed, "I'm forgetting. I'm forgetting everything. I'll be thinking of a moment form my past and it vanishes."

"Flashpoint." Eobard shrugged. He picked an imaginary piece of lint off his shoulder and flicked it away. "It's a side effect. You really don't know what you're doing with this power, Barry. This reality that you have is starting to override everything else. Your original life, your friends and family…" he fluttered his fingers like a butterfly flapping its wings. "Is starting to fade away."

"Why isn't it happening to you?" Barry demanded. They were the same in many ways. They were speedsters and had an equal share of hatred towards each other. Eobard had traveled through time more than enough times that Barry had. He'd been there the night that Barry saved his mother from dying, equally saving his father as well and had been in this place, in Flashpoint, for just as long. So, what was going on? "Why?!"

"Not sure," Eobard said flippantly. He paused, eyes shifted. "Unless…" Then he stared to laugh hysterically. So loud and so long that numerous times he placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath before starting to laugh once more.

Barry clenched his hands into fists, bounced back and forth on his feet. And Eobard continued to laugh at him. His voice swirled through the tiny space and Barry's anger only grew until he turned and knocked over a workbench nearby. Eobard's laughter faded while Barry screamed out a curse before whipping around to face Eobard.

"What the hell is so funny?" He snarled.

"Your speed!" Eobard finally, gleefully shouted. "The more you use it. The faster you lose your memories."

"You're lying. You just want to get out of there out of here."

With a roll of his eyes, Eobard shook his head. He dropped it then lifted it once more to look Barry directly in the eye. "The you I know from the future isn't so stupid," he drawled. "Soon you won't remember you're the Flash. Then this world will be permanent and nothing can change it back."

Barry shrugged. "It's fine by me."

But there was a little bit of doubt wiggling at the back of his head. If he stayed there and he forgot his friends…would they ever become friends again? Would Cisco continue to be an asshole mogul? Would Caitlin only have Ronnie as her social group? Would he and Iris and Joe still be estranged from each other? His parents would be alive but…there'd be now Team Flash. He wasn't the Flash in this world, someone else was. Someone he'd seen fighting against another black suited speedster.

Barry wasn't the kind of man that sat back and waited for things to happen, he went out and fixed things. Could he fix this, too?

"You know you have to let me kill your mother."

Eobard's words cut through Barry's thought and he glared at Eobard once more. He'd never hated anyone more in his life. "Go to hell!"

"You're taking both of us there," Eobard snarled back. He slapped his hands against the glass as Barry walked away. "Now who's the villain, Flash? Now who's the villain?"

EARTH-1

Cadence sucked in a deep breath then blew out, sending a line of fire mixed with ash out towards White Hot. White Hot skidded to a stop, throwing up her arm to keep herself from getting struck by the flame. What she didn't expect was for Cadence to propel herself forward right behind the blast of fire to be punched directly in the face. White Hot's head knocked backwards with a loud clicking sound. She flailed her arms, stumbling backwards, allowing Cadence the opportunity do an illusion; spinning on the ball of her left foot and extending her right leg as high as she could as she bent towards the ground.

The heel of her right foot snapped into White Hot's cheek, sending her spinning to the ground. White Hot glared back at Cadence and shot out her foot, doing a sweep that knocked her feet from beneath her. Cadence landed heavily on her side then rolled up onto her shoulders, getting up in a kip-up before immediately launching herself into a back tuck when White Hot tried to strike her again.

White Hot smirked and pulled a smoke bomb out of her belt and threw it as hard as she could. There was a sudden flash before black smoke encircled around the two. White Hot swung her arm back and punched Cadence hard in the stomach, knocking her in the air. Cadence flipped over her head and landed on her back. A crater erupted beneath her. Cadence felt her arms and legs fall into the asphalt as if it were butter. Standing up, Cadence shook rocks and loose debris from her arms. It was pitch black around her, the cloud of smoke continuing to pull in.

There was a sudden shot of light that erupted from in front of Cadence accompanied by a strong wind that blew the smoke away. Cadence stepped forward then frowned. White Hot was gone. Just as quickly as she came.

"Dammit," Cadence murmured.

The longer White Hot was out, the longer it meant the Assassination Bureau were going to have the means to get to her. To do…whatever it was they were going to do. She hadn't gotten as much information as she wanted so far, that any of STAR Labs could use. That was equally good and bad. Has White Hot managed to get captured so easily, then the rest of the mercenary team would've come after them.

They weren't ready for that yet.

"Are you okay?" Lowering her goggled, Cadence turned to find Brady jogging towards her, pushing his slingshot into the pockets of his jeans with Ryder slowly coming up behind him, swinging himself forward on a pair of crutches, his left foot in a cast dragging behind him.

Cadence grinned and immediately started to bounce on her toes when she spotted her son. He smiled and opened his arms, allowing his mother to collide into him in a tight hug. Three months was certainly too long to be away from her family, especially when that family was her son. She hadn't been gone from him longer than a day since he was born. It surprised her that she could hold back her emotions os well, even when tears came to her eyes.

"You got taller," Cadence finally said, backing away so that she could frame her son's face in her hands.

"So did you," Brady mumbled back, smirking around her grasp. Cadence smiled and gently smacked him on the arm. "I didn't think that was possible."

"Ha ha." Cadence smiled and hugged him again. This time, however, she couldn't help but notice he didn't hug her back. Instead of being offended, she studied him, noticing his eyes flickered back and forth over the docks. "What's the matter?" She asked then figured it out quickly. "Oh. Are you embarrassed?"

Brady nodded.

"Why?"

He shrugged. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." Cadence ruffled his hair then moved to give him a kiss on the cheek. He quickly ducked his head out of the way and Cadence laughed. "What? I can't kiss you now?" But she stepped aside so that Ryder had room to move in to greet them.

"Trust me, buddy, you're never too old to kiss your mom," Ryder said, his voice holding a slight warning in tone.

Brady rolled his eyes and stepped forward, pressing a kiss to his mother's cheek before standing back, folding his arms. Cadence shook her head and turned to address her ex-boyfriend. "So you never ran into your parents while you were travelling around?"

Ryder snorted. "They'd be more likely to actually remember my birthday than to want to spend time with me. Them not being there is the best thing that can ever happen."

Cadence gave a small smile. It wasn't a good thing that he hadn't seen his parents in over ten years, but she was the only one who understood his increasing dislike of them as they went on. While her parents realized the error of their ways and wanted to make amends, his parents had gone far enough to legally disown him. No chance of them ever able to make things work.

Instead of pressing the topic even further, Cadence changed the subject, taking stock of the cast that went to his knee. "I knew you broke your leg, but I never thought you'd turn down my offer to heal it for you." She clearly remembered how pissed he'd been when he tore his ACL in high school, but a broken leg? That was a little different.

"I had too many doctors looking at it already," Ryder said, shaking his head. He sucked in a deep breath, hoping to even out his breathing from having had to work hard to catch up to them. "I think it'd look suspicious if I'm three weeks away from getting my cast off and being completely healed."

Cadence nodded. "Fell out of a tree, huh?"

Ryder shrugged. "That's what you get for trying to get some of the best views of the sunset," he explained. "At least it was towards the end of the trip."

"Can only ask for small favors," Cadence agreed. She looked around. "They got you on anything?"

"A couple of painkillers, nothing too big."

"Good." Cadence listened to see if there were any sirens coming closer. "We can talk more, but we should probably get out of here."

"Yeah, you may want to get back to STAR Labs," Ryder agreed. Cadence looked at him funny. How did he know they planned to get some lunch once she was finished dealing with White Hot. It was then Ryder motioned towards the side of her face and Cadence reached up, wincing when her fingers moved over the burn that rested there. White Hot must've gotten her before he'd been able to move from the way.

It'd heal fast, but she knew Caitlin would insist on looking at it, let alone needing to be debriefed on what happened. "Probably not a bad idea." She reached out to take their hands to teleport them back but Brady grabbed Ryder first.

"I can take him," Brady said, still mumbling. Cadence's eyebrows came together. "If the police come you want to see if there's any information they have on White Hot."

She nodded in agreement and went back to where she'd been fighting White Hot. She looked around the area, kneeling to study the soot that stained the ground. It came from gunpowder, not from White Hot's fire power herself. That was something she was always confused about, the extent of her power. Zoom had contacted her and another metahuman named Black Blade when he'd arrived on their earth. But there were still too many things that made it difficult to figure out the point of it; White Hot had quickly left Zoom's side after the Metapocalypse to join the Assassination Bureau.

Was Zoom aligned with them? She doubted it, on Earth-2 they didn't work with each other at all. Burnout had mentioned she continuously fought against what Zoom wanted to what Breathtaker wanted, taking time away from their kills to do it. If that were the case, then White Hot and Black Blade were free agents in a way, working like Captain Cold and Heat Wave in doing whatever they wanted with the power they had.

It was possible they were doppelgangers of those Zoom knew on Earth-2. But Zoom had been someone who talked a lot about his plans once he had the means to do so and he hadn't said anything about them. Then she was telling the truth, Cadence realized. Breathtaker recruited her for something he wanted me to do. She frowned. But what?

Cadence was broken out of her thoughts when a police car screamed to a stop. She looked up, finding Joe barrel out of the car with Captain Singh, both holding out their pistols. Rather than activating her choker—that would disguise her voice—she put up a fire aura around her that made the air shimmer, making it harder for them to see her face.

"White Hot was here," she explained. "Nothing that'd lead her to the Assassination Bureau."

Joe let out a breath, lowering his pistol back to his belt as he looked around. Captain Singh, on the other hand, let out a frustrated sigh but asked, "No other casualties?"

"No." Cadence shook her head. "She was just giving me a message."

"What sort of message?" Joe asked.

"The same kind we always get." She smiled. "That the world is going to end and there's nothing we can do about it." She placed her hands on her hips. "But if you ask me, if Flash and I have already managed to keep the city safe from a speedster that was trying to destroy this world and Earth-2, then this is something we can handle."

"Earth-2?" Captain Singh repeated. He scratched the side of his neck. "Is this something I really want to know about?"

"Probably not," Joe said.

"That's what I thought." Captain Singh let out a long sigh. Then he nodded to Cadence. "Thanks for your help." He nodded towards the man that crouched over the scorch mark beside him, examining it with a magnifying glass. "Albert's going to canvas the crime scene while we look for any witnesses. Thank God no one was hurt."

Not yet, Cadence thought.

She didn't get the chance to say it out loud as Julian Albert beat her to it. He lowered his magnifying glass to replace it in the briefcase beside him, the letters CSI written on the side. "These metahumans are ruthless creatures that have no care for anyone but themselves," he said, his British accent a stark contrast to the others' American ones. They sounded more gruff. He looked over at Cadence as she placed her hands on her hips and lifted an eyebrow. "Though I suppose not all are bad. But they can still hold themselves responsible for the problems they cause."

"You're right," Cadence agreed, trying to keep calm. Julian Albert had a habit to get on her nerves a bit quicker than most, though he did do a good job with his work. If only he could do it without having to put Barry down all the time. "I'm sorry for creating the scorch marks all over when I was trying to save some people. I'll be sure to clean it up the next time I'm here."

Julian rolled his eyes and went back to his examination of the scene.

Cadence nodded her goodbye to Joe and Captain Singh then ran towards the parked police car. She ran up the front of it then leapt off the roof, flipped once and with a cry of, "Whoo!" teleported back to STAR Labs. Disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

She arrived in time to see Caitlin had Ryder up on an examining table, poking and prodding his leg with a pen asking, 'Does this hurt?' every time she did. Cadence pulled off her goggles and handed them to Cisco to look over before folding her arms. "Cait, I know you really like to help people, but it doesn't help if you torture them."

Caitlin shot her an exasperated glance. "At least I'm working on my bedside manner," she replied.

Cadence shrugged. "Bedside manner doesn't really work when the people that expect you to feel bad for them are the ones that are constantly putting their kids in danger."

"How's that going, anyway?" Ryder asked. "Your new job and everything?'

"Very well," Cadence said.

And she wasn't lying. Her new position with Child Protective Services was a lot more rewarding than her last one. It was something she very much enjoyed, no matter how frustrated and angry it could make her. There were some cases of new parents who didn't know what they were doing was neglectful and she'd be called over to teach them about the resources they had to take care of their baby and toddlers. Those were the nicer calls, that she could help those that just didn't know what they were doing.

The harder ones were the cases of terrible abuse and neglect that was hard to prove. Case in point, Frankie Kane and her father, the one she was consistently going to see for one reason or another. Every time she arrived at the rundown apartment, Frankie would feed her lies over how someone else would call and the problems were a misunderstanding. But Cadence had to walk around and talk to her and her father anyway, knowing he was hiding something behind that smug smile and insistence they really did love each other and he 'couldn't understand why anyone could call CPS on me'.

Cadence knew it was a load of crap. She'd met and talked to Frankie at the hospital many times during her residency at the hospital. Had treated her broken bones, scrapes, bruises, and bones, enough times to know there was something going on. But Frankie continued to say with wide eyes filled with fear that things were. And Cadence wasn't going to stop until she knew for sure Frankie was okay.

"And everything with Miss. Ramirez is okay?" Ryder pressed.

"Yep." Cadence popped the 'p' on her word, resting her hands on her hips. "Once we figured out that the one who talked to you was the doppelganger Zoom used to get to us, it at least made things easier. She's my boss, actually."

"Small world," he said. He snapped his fingers. "Speaking of, guess who we ran into when we were out on our trip?" Brady made a loud snorting sound, attracting the attention of his parents, Caitlin, and Cisco. Whoever it was had to be someone they didn't like so much if Brady had a visceral reaction to it.

"Let me guess, another meta who is hell bent on making our lives miserable, right?" Cisco asked sarcastically. He threw his hands in the air. "Who would've thought another one would've popped up so soon?" Caitlin gave him a teasing smile and he turned it with one of his own.

"We ran into Chief Paulson and his daughter," Ryder said. He shook his head. "We got to talking but...even some time away doesn't seem to have changed his mind about metahumans."

Caitlin shook her head, letting out a quiet sigh. That seemd to be the hot topic conversation throughout Central City as of late. What was gong to happen to metahumans now. Even with the MRA being opposed there were still daily protests about metahumans needing to reveal themselves. "The Metahuman Registration Act was completely closed down, Flash and Flare saved the city again? Why would he still be against them? Us?"

"Why would anyone be against them at all?" Cisco shot back. "There's too many cool abilities we can learn from with them. And, besides, we all know our lives would be very boring without them around."

"I don't know about you, but I've already got enough excitement in my life," Cadence said. "I'm not sure if I can take much more of it."

"Don't jinx yourself," Caitlin teased. Then she turned her smile towards Brady who sat quietly in the corner of the medical room. "What about you, Brady? Are you ready to go back to school?"

"Yeah, I bet you're just so excited to start 6th grade," Cisco added.

Brady shrugged.

Ryder sighed and shook his head, noticing the confused expressions on Cisco's and Caitlin's faces. Normally Brady was one of the sweetest and most excited boys they'd met, having more energy than Barry. He'd never been so quiet. "His voice is cracking," Ryder explained. "So he doesn't like to talk so much."

"I don't know, that may work out for me," Cadence teased. Brady glared at her and she laughed. "I'm only kidding, bud." But he still looked away from her. "Anyway, now that Joe and Captain Singh are taking care of White Hot's mess, we going to go out to get some food if you guys wanted to come with."

"If it's alright with you, I'm just going to head back to my place," Ryder said. "We were headed there when we heard what was going on with White Hot. I'm wiped."

"Yeah, Caitlin and I can meet you there," Cisco said quickly. "Reserve a table and start ordering and all that." He noticed Cadence's knowing smile and looked away before his blush could give him away. "I mean, once we get the gymnastics room and everything cleaned up."

"No problem, we'll just meet you there." Cadence teleported out of her suit and into her street clothes, giving Cisco her suit to clean then left to take Ryder to his townhouse. Then she drove herself and Brady back to their apartment where he sat sullenly in the passenger seat, barely responding to Cadence's questions. "You sure you're ready to go back to school?" She asked.

Brady made a face. "No," he said. "Who likes school?" His voice cracked on the last word and he let out a sigh of frustration. Clearly, it had been going on long enough for it to be an issue. "I mean, at least I didn't miss a lot."

"Yeah, the repairs that needed to be done are so convenient," Cadence replied with a hint of sarcasm. "Don't forget the citywide curfew we have now."

"That's so stupid. Zoom and the Metapocalypse aren't threats anymore."

"You and I know that, but Chief Paulson and Mayor Bellows don't. They're just trying to keep the city as safe as they can." She shook her head. "Which, honestly, I think is starting to go a little overboard. But there's not much we can do about it."

"I thought Tess and Harrison were trying to give metas more rights," Brady said, his face scrunching up.

"They are. But it's not going to happen in a day."

"They're already moving slow."

"You're telling me." Cadence smiled at him. Brady smiled back then sat up straight, his eyebrows coming together as she scratched at his leg, which was lined with a bunch of bruises. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Dad and I were playing some lacrosse while we were on our trip," Brady explained. "Conner and I were thinking of playing it this year instead of just soccer. But I don't think we're going to do that anymore." Cadence noticed the low, almost sad note that came to his tone.

"Why not?"

Brady just shrugged.

Cadence pressed her lips together. She was starting to hate how he was doing that so much, shrugging. On one hand she knew he was getting into his teen years and that he was going to pull away a little bit. But on the other, they had always been open with each other. It also didn't help that she always knew when people were lying and he wasn't being so forthcoming.

She started to ask him about it then stopped, letting out a quiet gasp. Everything around her turned back, pressing in on all sides, just lie it had been when she was fighting White Hot. But this was different. She immediately recognized it as the work of Mindboggler.

Screams filled her ears and the smell of smoke entered her nose at the same time, choking her. For a few terrifying seconds it was all she could sense. When it finally faded away, she realized Brady was calling for her attention over and over again and that she had, somehow, made it to park in front of the apartment building without having the memory of doing so.

But the part that scared her the most was that she quickly recognized Mindboggler's projection as not just any projection, but a project of what it would be like when the world ended. And It truly was going to be her fault. The worst part of all was that she knew if Mindboggler could get to her now she either had gotten stronger, or Breathtaker knew were to find her.

The thought alone filled her with so much rage it terrified her, especially when she looked at the rear view mirror and saw her eyes change to become lizardlike in appearance. "Nothing that wasn't already destined to you." Her powers were changing and she wasn't sure there was anything she could do to stop it.

A/N: Well, we're really getting right back into the swing of things. This chapter, or at least the second half, was more to give you background info on what's changed in Flashpoint as well as to Earth-1. Still, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed bringing in Julian already. Yes, Barry and Cadence will be reunited soon, I had planned on doing it at the end of this chapter but found a better way to do it.

Let me know what you think. I respond to every review, even anonymous ones, and will take constructive criticism.

Also, if you want to read a really fun Flash story, go check out DarkHelm145's story Voices of the Past. It's a crossover with the anime Kuroko no Basuke. You don't need to know a lot of it to understand, all you need to know is the Arrowverse characters play high school basketball with their meta powers. It's really cool and you may see some familiar faces in them. ;)

Cheers,

-Riles

Review Replies

DarkHelm145: Yes, it's happening at the same time. I'm sorry that wasn't so clear.

Ethan: Yes, it as Brady that was gone. He was on a trip with Ryder. It'll be explained further in the next chapter. Glad you liked the first chapter and hope this one was just as enjoyable.

yummers: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!

spinquin142: I really like to start with a bang and I hope that flowed well with the second chapter in both parts. Of course, the difference here being that this time Caitlin and Cisco know about the Assassination Bureau so let's see how Cadence handles things with them once and for all.

PowerHero432: Well, I think it make sense if Barry is still trying to figure things out form being in two different places. It just remains to be seen how things work out around him with it because no one else will know that he was gone. Or maybe not. :) Yes, Lex Luthor is the Smallville character I was talking about. But I do have a plan to bring in someone ele. Thank goodness for entertainment for readers that they're out, maybe not so much for Cadence.

josephguy217: Thank you! That's quite a complement. I try my hardest to make each story better than the last so I'm glad the start has been holding up.

babyj: Glad you liked the start, hope you like this one as well.