04

Be Careful What You Wish For

Barry leaned back and forth, glancing over his shoulder as the wait staff and other patrons of the Motorcar Diner walked by. He glanced at Jay Garrick's face as the older speedster clasped his hands together in front of him and stared back at Barry. Then Barry looked over at Brady, who was busy with his nose in a menu, not seeming to notice the tension around him.

Or maybe he did notice and Barry was just paranoid? Anyone would be, wouldn't they? To know his father had been murdered, plucked from a booth in that very diner from an evil speedster who then murdered him? Barry could still see the fear in his father's eye the moment Zoom grabbed onto him, could still feel the ice steel his body as everything slowed down around him. Zoom had stared back at him. There was a long, tense moment between the two before Zoom raced off and destroyed the rest of Barry's life.

And now here was his father's doppelganger, staring at him with a sense of calm determination that, rather than making Barry feel calm, made him feel even more anxious than ever before. If anyone recognized him and asked who he was…? It was hard enough knowing there were two Harrison Wells's around that had to keep up the story of their familial line, and hope they were never in the same room when someone they didn't know to explain it all.

And here I am with someone from another Earth, Barry thought.

"I understand that things are hard for you," Jay said gently, his unwavering from Barry. "But if you keep looking around like that, you'll get whiplash. Calm down. Everything's okay. Zoom's gone."

We don't know that for sure, Barry thought. But Jay had to be right. There hadn't been any sign of Zoom, Black Flash or not, anywhere. Not in Flashpoint, not even any of the short amount of time he'd been back on Earth-1. Now if only he could relax completely. But with everything that had changed…there was too much to not know it was his fault. Cisco hated him, the Assassination Bureau had gotten out of the pipeline, and there was Flashpoint. The cause of it all.

Barry curled his fingers into his fist. He should've known he shouldn't have gone back to save his mother. Knew he shouldn't have allowed his emotions to get built up to the point that he felt there was no other solution than to go back and save his parents from their untimely deaths. But he felt he had no choice but to do so. It hurt too much. Too damn much to ignore. There was no one to talk to about it, no one else he knew who had both of his parents murdered by people who absolutely hated him. And only wanted to hurt him emotionally and psychologically just because they hated him.

Hate was such an overpowering emotion.

And it was that pure hatred that had him go back in time an start Flashpoint.

And now he was going to be lectured? He could see it coming. How many times had his own father sat him down and stared at him like that when he was going to get a lecture? How many times had he sat with his head hanging as he listened to his father tell him everything he did wrong and that his actions had consequences?

"Are you going to get something to eat or…?" Jay's voice broke him out of his thoughts. Barry turned from the small napkin holder he had been staring at to sate at Jay. Jay's eyes shifted over Barry's the corner of his lips turning up. A spark of amusement shot through his eyes. "Do you plan on messing up the timeline again?"

At that, Brady looked away from the menu and over to Jay. Then to Barry and back to Jay. But he stayed silent, tapping the menu against the table top that Barry knew to be his nervous habit. Tapping his hands.

"You…" Barry started to say but found the words wouldn't escape him.

"I know about that, yeah." Jay lifted his intertwined hands and rested his chin atop them. Then he tilted hi head to the side. The amused expression in his eyes continued to strengthen as the seconds passed. "After your not-so-subtle reaction when you first met me, Harry told me about Zoom and your mom and your dad. So I thought I'd keep my eye on you."

All the saliva in Barry's mouth evaporated. He felt nothing. His entire body went numb. A buzzing rang in his ears, growing louder as the seconds passed. Someone else knew about what he did. Cisco vibed him, he knew about Flashpoint. And now Jay…who else would know? Would find out about his blunder? Who would hold it over his head considering all of the changes that had been made to their lives? What would they say once they found out? Not just about Flashpoint but of the lives he ripped away from them?

"Barry?" Brady gently kicked him under the table, making Barry jump.

Barry nodded in recognition of Brady's gesture. He brought up his hand and ran it over his mouth, pushing aside all wants to run out of there and get as far away as possible. "Wh…" He cleared his throat. "What else did he say?'

"That I'm your father's doppelganger." The words landed on Barry like a hard weight. He closed his eyes and looked away. It wasn't like he didn't know, but hearing it said out loud, in his father's voice, from the face that looked like his father's but wasn't… "I'm sorry," Jay said honestly. "If it's any consolation, I'm really sad too. I can understand why you'd want to save your parent. I understand completely."

"Mom didn't do it," Brady pointed out, still tapping his menu against the table. He twisted his mouth tot he side. "Papaw wouldn't let her."

Jay nodded in agreement. "Yes, but if she had the ability to travel in time like Barry here, do you think she would?" Brady frowned as he thought about it. Jay turned his attention back to Barry. "Anyone would. But the problem is, there are consequences to time travel."

Barry continued to tightened his fists. He could feel his nails puncturing holes in his skin. "I've heard all of this before."

"Not from me, you haven't. I'm not some doctor with a theory, I'm a speedster like you, whose traveled through time and makes the same mistakes over and over again because he allows his emotions to control his actions."

"Look, I don't need—"

"Humor me," Jay said firmly, almost shouting. He pressed his lips together and looked around, noticing curious glances turning their way. Barry, finally, opened his eyes and looked at Jay. He had no choice. He had to listen to this or else…he wouldn't be able to justify himself. Be able to get out of his own way with the guilt that dragged along behind him like a shadow. "Listen to what I have to say and then we can figure out everything else. If, after this, you want me to leave you alone then I'll do that." Barry nodded. Jay picked up a coffee cup and held it in front of the boys. "You see this?"

Brady nodded.

"Think of it as the space-time continuum. Whenever you go back in time, it breaks." He vibrated his hand and broke off a piece of the cup. "Now, you can reset the timeline, you can try to fix it. But no matter how hard you try, it'll never go back to the way it was."

"Look," Barry said. He was tired of this now. How many times was he going to be lectured and had a disappointed finger shaken in his face whenever he made a tough decision. No one else could make the same decisions, he thought. Without the guilt. Without constantly questioning yourself. Why would I want them to live with that? ""I've learned all this stuff that I didn't know before, okay, I'm not going to make the same mistakes."

Even Brady rolled his eyes at that statement. Barry glared at him and Brady shrugged in reply. Jay unlaced his hands and pointed directly at Barry and said, without being able to hide the very slight amount of contempt that came to his tone, "Okay, right there is the paradox of time travel and life—"

Barry broke in. "—But I have these powers, if I can't go back and fix what I broke—"

"—We're not gods, we're men! Men who have been given extraordinary powers. But what you have to ask yourself is, what kind of hero do you want to be? Are you just going to do a do-over every time you make a mistake? Or are you going to live with them and move forward?" Jay pushed back his seat and dropped an 100 dollar bill on the table. "I know things are hard on you, Barry, and that you don't really want to listen to me right now. But I hope that you understand there's nothing that you can do to fix this. No matter what move you make next, it's going to have a ripple effect to the rest of your decisions. And once you make it, it is set in stone. I'm sorry, but not even a speedster can save everyone."

Jay nodded to the money he dropped. "Enjoy yourselves. I've always been of the opinion that you think better on a full stomach." He nodded to the two before leaving the diner. Barry nodded back and stayed silent. Even when the waitress came around to take their order, Barry just pointed to the menu instead of speaking to her.

"We're not gods, we're men. Men who have been given extraordinary powers."

Barry shook his head. What's the point of having these powers when you can't do anything right?

"What was it like?" Brady's voice broke into his thoughts. He looked over at the young boy, who had been surprisingly quiet throughout Jay's and Barry's conversation. When he was sure he had Barry's attention, Brady reiterated with, "Flashpoint. What was it like? You said things were different, things had changed. What changed? What's different?"

"Well…" Barry smiled a little. "Over there, you only two years old." Brady's eyebrows rose in surprise. "But you were just as happy and energetic as you are now. You didn't have your powers yet, or maybe at all. I don't know, I think you were a little too young to figure them out." Brady rested his arms on the table an leaned forward, listening closely. "Your mom still had her powers, she and Ryder were broken up. Caitlin was a pediatric opthamologist—"

"—A what?" Brady interrupted.

"And eye doctor," He quickly explained. "A children's eye doctor who specializes in eye diseases."

"Oh."

"Cisco was a billionare, he owned STAR Labs."

"He owned STAR Labs?"

"Only he named it Ramon Industries. Wally was the Flash and Iris was helping him and Joe…Joe was lost." Barry shook his head. "He didn't like to go to work, was drunk and hungover all the time. He didn't even really like me."

Brady tilted his head to the side. "Well, the Joe on Earth-2 didn't like you either. Because you lead Iris on, right? What'd you do to her in Flashpoint?" Barry glared at him and Brady's eyes widened. "Not that you would've done anything. I just mean—"

"I know what you meant." Barry sighed. He leaned back as their food was brought to them. He looked at his plate of a corned beef sandwich and a side salad. It was his favorite thing to order there. He didn't have an appetite for it. He pushed his plate aside and watched as Brady immediately started in on his pizza. "Over there, Joe didn't like me because I was trying to help him so much. And I was acting like I knew him, but I did know him. I knew the Joe that I knew here but he wasn't that Joe, none of you guys over there were the people I know and love."

"But you stayed."

Barry nodded. "For a few months."

"Then why did you come back?" Now Brady was really confused.

Barry could understand why. Why would anyone want to leave what amounted to being a picture-perfect life with both of his parents being alive well into his adulthood. There were enough people who took that for granted and didn't even know it. Barry shook his head.

"I started to forget," he admitted. "I was starting to forget about everything over here. In my head, it was like someone was emptying a bathtub. The moment the stopper was pulled loose, all of my memories would flush away. And the thought of that, losing everything I went with you was more than I could bare. Because the new people there, they weren't you. And…" Barry rubbed his stinging eyes, emotions starting to overwhelm him. "The Reverse-Flash was there, he was telling me how much destruction I was causing over here. I thought he was lying until my powers started to fade away. With Kid Flash there, I didn't have any powers, I wasn't the Flash. I couldn't help anyone. I couldn't…"

He trailed off. It was too much to go through. Too much to think about. He hated how right the Reverse-Flash turned out t be. Hated how he had to admit that to himself. Hated that he ruined his own life by trying to do something he thought would fix it. It was then he noticed Brady twirling a fork between in his fingers, moving faster and faster as the seconds passed. At first, it looked like he was just spinning a drumstick, but then he noticed the way it moved back and forth. Repeatedly changing direction and speed within the micro-movements of his fingers.

Barry had seen that only one place before and with a bigger weapon that needed bot hands to control it. "Where'd you learn to do that?" He asked.

Brady looked at him as if he were crazy then nodded. Right. Things had changed for him. What was normal to Brady was abnormal to Barry. "Oliver taught me."

That's it, Barry thought. That's where he had seen it before. Oliver trained with his bow staff as much as he did with his hand to hand combat.

"Part of the time I was gone I was at soccer camp, then I was visiting Mamaw, then I was getting some training done with Oliver, then I went on my trip with Ryder," Brady explained.

"Wow, you must've been busy," Barry said.

"Yeah, but it was fun."

"I'm surprised Cade would let you go so long."

Brady's tone then turned sarcastic, bordering on hostile, making Barry blink in shock. "Yeah, my mom can really surprise you sometimes." He looked around for a minute then rounded his shoulders, leaning forward so that no one around them would notice what he was about to do. His face shifted from an expression of annoyance to excitement. "Actually, she taught me how to do this." He held up his hand and Barry watched as a ball of completely black energy hovered above his palm. Barry reached out to touch it, dragging his fingers along the top. A blue shock of static struck his fingertips and he quickly brought his hand back to shake them out. Then he tried again, this time able to press his fingers against the side.

It felt cool to the touch.

Barry remembered Cisco and Caitlin saying something about Brady's new abilities; flight and something else they couldn't quite figure out. That must've been it. Within Flashpoint Brady was completely without powers at two years old, but outside of Flashpoint he was much stronger. Our training is going to be very different, Barry thought. Especially with Jesse around, too.

"There's still a lot I have to work on." Brady closed his fist and the ball went away. "But I've been helping a lot." His eyebrows came together. "Barry, if you were in Flashpoint, then who was the Barry I was talking to here? The one who was at the science convention? What happened to him?"

"The same thing that happened to the Barry over there," Barry said slowly. "I took his place in the timeline and back here, a different Barry took mine." He bobbed his head back and forth. "That is, if the time traveling affected things here." He held up a hand. "It's a long, confusing story. I think I'd bore you with the details. All you need to know is that the Barry you saw here, may as well still be the Barry you knew."

"But you're the Barry I knew," Brady said. He reached up and scratched his head. "Yeah, you're right. That's really confusing."

Barry smiled.

Cadence drummed her fingertips on the table top of Jitters while Jesse casually drank her coffee. The coffee of which Cadence insisted she didn't need considering the extra caffeine wouldn't do too much to make her go faster.

"You already run fast enough," Cadence said.

Jesse only smiled in reply and said, "You don't know how fast I can go."

"You're a speedster, I have an idea."

Then as soon as they sat down at Jitters Cadence fell into silence, not able to keep her mind clear. Every few minutes, her mind shifted from the Assassination Bureau to Frankie and back again. How could it not? It was only two of the many roles she had in her life and some of the most important. On one hand she had a teen she knew was in some sort of trouble that she couldn't help, and on the other, she had a metahuman who knew more about her than she knew of them. Either way, she was stuck in a corner and it was starting to eat away at her.

Other cases, she was able to go in and help, to fix things within a few trips to meet with the family. But for this…John was getting away with more than he should and Frankie was continually putting herself in danger the longer she was there. Yet, she knew how it felt. When you were trapped in a situation, it was hard to find a way to get out of it.

"Hey, you said before you were looking for a steady job, right?" Leah Wasserman had asked her, long before Cadence knew to refer to her as Mindboggler. A codename festooned upon her within the first few days of her work with the Assassination Bureau. "I think I might have a job for you. Are you interested?"

And Cadence, who was only seventeen at the time, with a little baby to care on a waitress salary quickly jumped at the chance. "Yeah, I'm still interested." She flashed a charming smile, as if that would push her over the edge to be taken on. "What sort of job is it?"

Leah smiled a smile so peculiar that Cadence only recognized wat it was years later. "Oh, it's a delivery job. And it pays very well."

She'd agreed to it. In hindsight, Cadence knew she was stuck as soon as she verbally agreed to do one delivery she was stuck under Breathtaker's control. No matter how many times she tried to get out of it, knew it was wrong, she rationalized with herself why she needed to stay. For the money to take care of Brady and herself. They didn't have an apartment and lived in shelters as often as they lived on the streets. Then once she had the money to properly care for themselves and could prove she could become emancipated…

Now here she was. Trapped like a rat as much as Frankie was in her abusive situation. The only bright spot was that neither Frankie nor her father were metas. Maybe if she were I could handle this a lot easier, Cadence thought. She understood why Barry preferred to use his powers to get through some many mundane tasks and to aid in his police work. Being a meta didn't always help with her own job through CPS. Though there have been the few moments that an indication of torture came in handy. There's a bright side to what Breathtaker taught me.

"Are you okay?" Jesse asked. Cadence looked at her but didn't response. "You just seem to be really quiet. And, I know I haven't known you very long but you don't seem to be the kind of person that's quiet." She peered at the fire metahuman. "Did I hear people say you were a cheerleader before?"

Cadence grinned. "Seems like that's always going to be my reputation."

"Well, your happiness—"

"—Yeah, I get that a lot."

Jesse smiled. "You know, I wanted to join the cheerleading squad at my school, but dad wouldn't let me." She shook her head. "I don't know if you've noticed, but he can be really overprotective. And I was already younger than a lot of the other girls because I skipped so many grades. I guess he was afraid that too many boys would be into me or something."

"You graduated high school when you were fifteen right?" Cadence asked. When Jesse nodded she said. "That makes sense then, I can understand that fear. You should've seen my dad when I was in high school and dating. Don't get me wrong, he loved Ryder. Loved him as much as he would if he were his own son, but he was always worried about what would happen."

"What'd he say when you told him you were pregnant?" Jesse asked.

Cadence's smile to turned to a sad one. "Nothing," she said. "When I told him, he just looked at me and went to his room. He didn't say anything to me for a few days. And after that it was just that he was…"

"Disappointed?"

"Yeah. But I didn't know until later it wasn't that he was disappointed in me, really, it was more that he was disappointed in the life I could've had." She waved her hand. "He also though time keeping my powers a secret was also protecting me but…hindsight is 20/20 and people only reveal themselves and their true intentions when the time is right."

Cadence frowned then, eyes shifting back and forth as she was suddenly struck with an epiphany. White Hot had been following her around for months now while the rest of the Assassination Bureau had been in hiding. She knew that tactic well. It meant Breathtaker was storing his energy. Making his lackeys do the work for him until he got to the point he felt he was strong enough. Just like when he had tried to take over Central City the first time.

Maybe he was trying to do it again?

Breathtaker took in the city from the rooftop of STAR Labs. Hands tucked tightly underneath his cloak, he watched as the city continued to hustle and bustle beneath him and his co-workers. Standing by his side, waiting for the chance to strike were Harley, Deadshot, and Stratos. Deadshot stood with one foot resting on the edge of the rooftop, smoking a cigarette. Every few seconds he would take the item from his mouth and let out a low breath, watching as the smoke slid through the air, disappearing into the calm atmosphere of the city.

Too bad that calm was going to be shattered. Lifting his hands high over his head, Breathtaker slowly breathed out and a large, green cloud started to spread out over the city in front of them. And as the four of them watched, those that fell under the cloud slowly stopped and turned towards him, under his trance. Breathtaker took in a deep breath and continued to let out a stream of green haze. It increased in size and stretched as far as he could see. More and more people turned and stared their way; others starting to come out of their shops, stuck under the trance as well.

"Oh look," Harley said with a light giggle. She twisted the massive piece of arsenal in her hands, almost stroking it lovingly. "The Central City Police are here." Resting the .50 caliber M2 machine gun down, she placed her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side as she looked down at the police officers. "Ooh, that one's handsome!" She declared, pointing as Detective Eddie Thawne and Detective Joe West arrived on the scene, holding their arms up over their faces. It appeared to battle well against the fates of those around them. "When we're done here, give me some time with the blondie! I'll show him what the dark side is really like."

The corner of Stratos's lips curled up as he watched the city below. "I thought you and Joker were in on something."

Harley paused for a moment then gasped loudly, bringing her hand up to her mouth. "Oh! You're right! I hope my puddin' doesn't hear about this." Then a crazed smile came to her face and she picked p the machine gun once more, aiming it down on the city. "Oh well! The Black Widow always has to lure in her pray!"

Deadshot grinned over at her before stepping up to the scope on his sniper, angling it below. "That's what I'm talking about," he murmured. He pressed his un-patched eye to the scope and waited for the signal.

"Citizens of Central City!" Breathtaker shouted, his voice echoing over the area below him. "The time has come to show you of our existence. To show you that humans and metahumans alike have been living together in Central City since the explosion of the Particle Accelerator. The explosion that has decimated so many lives of those in STAR Labs and of the surrounding city, of those that died in the surrounding explosion of energy, those that were injured, disfigured, whose lives shall never be the same. And it's all thanks to one Harrison Wells."

He waited for a moment, watching as he entrapped the attention of everyone around him. A low murmur moved through the crowd at his feet. He was sure that his face—or lack thereof—was already being broadcasted amongst the televisions and radio waves through Central City. Everything was going according to plan so far.

"And it is because of Dr. Harrison Wells that your city is doomed. Doomed to fall beneath our rule, beneath the metahumans. So far we've taken down your mayor, and have captured who you so lovingly call The Streak. There is no one to save you and it is all the fault of the man that owns and operates STAR Labs. He's the one that's done this to you and shall be the one to blame when you are all massacred. Because none of you can stop us metahumans, your precious police department is no match to the powers and abilities we all have. But there is one way to stop it, the capture and death of the one that has done this to you. And until you bring him to me, you will all die, one by one.

"I want to make this city a place where the metahumans can live together in harmony; it was the man that foolishly believed us needing to be taken away that has caused all of this to happen!" Breathtaker lifted his hands into the air. "Go! Find him!"

He turned to Stratos, Harley, and Deadshot and nodded firmly, taking a step back from the edge of the roof. He watched as the green mist came back towards him and closed his eyes, tilting his head back. As the haze washed over him, he felt himself growing stronger by the second. Those stupid humans, no matter what they weren't going to stop him and his Assassination Bureau. Not when he was able to steal their energy as they were working for him.

Central City was going to be theirs.

It was time.

That was it. Jesse seemed to notice the expression on Cadence's face because she leaned back in her sat, as if afraid she was about to be struck. "What?" She asked. "What's wrong?" Cadence opened her mouth but no sound came out. "Cadence, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cadence replied. "I just need to get to CCPN. Right now."

Jesse's eyes widened in surprise. She looked around for a moment before gesturing towards the trashcan. "Okay, well, let me just throw this away and then we can drive—"

"No, faster than that." Cadence grabbed Jesse's wrist and left a tip on the table before dragging her outside. She looked around for a moment, being careful no one was watching them and there were no security cameras nearby. Once she was sure they were safe, she teleported them to the CCPN and to Iris's desk.

Jesse smiled when she spotted Iris and Wally talking to each other. "Wally, hey," she greeted him.

The Wests turned and Wally looked confused for a moment before a wide grin came to his face as well. "Jesse! Wow, I can't believe you're here!" He stepped towards her then hesitated, looked over his shoulder. Then he looked back at her and opened his arms to give her a quick hug. Iris smirked as she watched the two, arms folded across her chest. "What are you doing here? What…?" He looked at Cadence then back to Jesse. "is everything okay? What's going on?"

"Not much," Cadence said quickly. "I wanted to talk to you." She looked Iris in the eye, hoping she caught the hint.

Iris caught it quickly and nodded back. "Yeah, no problem. I'm just coming off my lunch break anyway." She looked down when she noticed Cadence's gaze lower to the mud patches on her knees that matched Wally's. "Oh, we were visiting Francine's grave."

"Oh." Jesse frowned. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know…"

"It's alright." Wally waved his hand. "There's been a lot that's been going on." He shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Like, there must've been a lot going on with you, right? Being back on Earth-2 and everything."

Jesse couldn't stop the excited smile that came to her face. "You have no idea," she said. "There's so much I need to tell you." She thought for a minute and looked at Cadence as she suggested, "Maybe we should head back to STAR Labs?"

Cadence smiled.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Wally replied. "I've got some money for an Uber—"

"Oh, there's no need." Jesse held out her hand towards Wally, who hesitated before taking it. Once she had Wally's hand in hers, Jesse turned and streaked out of the CCPN leaving a trail of yellow lightning behind her.

Iris took a step back as a gust of wind blew her hair out of her face. She closed her eyes to keep them from drying out as well. "You'd think with Barry constantly running around we'd be used to that by now."

"Just be glad the paperweights I got you for Christmas are working out so well," Cadence teased.

Iris laughed and placed her hands on her hips. "So Jesse's a speedster?"

"Yep. But that's not the weirdest thing that's going on." Cadence took in and released a deep breath. "Iris. I need your help."

"Sure." Iris picked up a stack of papers off her desk and started to shuffle through them before setting them aside. She searched through all of the newspaper clippings, scrap pieces of paper, and used post-it notes trying to find a blank pad of paper to write on. "With what?"

"I need you to help me find someone."

Iris turned to her with raised eyebrows. Then her expression relaxed and she folded her arms. "I'm sorry, aren't you the one who can find almost anyone in the world in a half hour?"

Cadence tried to smile modestly and failed. That was a big part of her contribution to Team Flash. Tracking and finding people that needed to be found in a short amount of time. That was her primary role apart from being Barry's partner out in the field. Otherwise she helped Caitlin the medical bay and was generally the one playing devil's advocate when the time came. But her tracking skills, despite it being harbored and developed by the Assassination Bureau, was her biggest asset.

"Yeah, but there's something that's been escaping me and I'm sure you can help," Cadence said. "You were the one who, through Ryder, helped me figure out that the Natalie Ramirez he talked to wasn't the real one. I'm sure you can help me with this."

"Okay, shoot."

"You know the meta White Hot?"

"The one who seems to have a personal vendetta against you?"

"That's her." Cadence nodded. "Barry has a bunch of speedsters as his main villains and I have hot heads. First Mick and now White Hot." She ran a hand through her hair. "Everyone says be careful what you wish for. I now have some more respect from the city but now I'm in everyone's crosshairs."

Iris smiled. "What about her?"

"Facial recognition can never get a pinpoint on her. She uses a heat haze to block her appearance like I do. Kind of like how Barry vibrates his face so no one will recognize him." Iris nodded and Cadence continued. "She's kept up with it to the point that no matter how many images STAR Labs' satellite takes of her, facial recognition can't get an ID."

"So, you want me to help ID her?" Iris realized. She thought for a moment, sucking in a sharp breath through her teeth. "I'm not sure. If I don't have ID to go off of, my investigating skills don't have anything either."

"Well, there's one thing I realized," Cadence said slowly. She started to spin the ring around her pinkie ringer. Over and over again. It was a tall order to ask of, but it needed to be done or else what was left of her sanity would leave her. "The fact that she knows where I am and who I am and follows me all the time…I think it's someone who knows me personally. Someone from before I met you guys."

"So, it could be…"

"Anyone I knew from before I left Metropolis and after I got to Central City."

Iris shook her head. "That doesn't really narrow things down."

"That's why I need your help."

Harry, Cisco, Caitlin, and Wally all watched as Jesse raced around in circles of the Speed Lab. Nothing but bright yellow lightning followed her as she went, fast enough so that they couldn't see her at all. Wally shook his head. "That has to be fast, right?" He asked.

"Faster than Barry, that's for sure," Cisco added with a half-smile as he stood with Caitlin at the computers that tracked her. "At least at this stage of his powers." He smiled, nudged Caitlin in the arm. "I don't think we'll ever see her running backwards off a treadmill."

"Don't start," Caitlin said.

Wally folded his arms ,watching them. "So how fast is she going?"

"Seriously fast," Caitlin said, unable to hide her excited smile. "Her heart rate's up, her metabolic levels are good, blood pressure is excellent. She's good to go."

"No, no, let's not get ahead of ourselves." Harry held a hand above his head, as if waiting to be called on by a teacher. He noticed the confused stares coming his way and lowered his hand atop his head. "We, uh, we need to run some more tests."

"What kind of tests?" Jesse asked. She motioned towards the Speed Lab. "I've been running for—"

"Just tests, okay? We need to be thorough."

Jesse rolled her eyes, making Wally laugh. "Don't worry about it, Jesse, if anyone knows anything about worried parents, it's me." He glanced at the others. "Hey, uh, do you want to get something to eat? We can talk about this whole…meta development and everything."

"Yeah, sounds good," Jesse agreed.

"Don't go too far," Harry insisted. "We need to do more tests."

Now Cisco rolled his eyes and he motioned towards the doorway of the Speed Lab. "There's a lot of snacks; chips, protein bars, trail mix, all in the break room, help yourselves. But try not to eat them all, I already have a massive food bill because of Barry." He stared at Harry while waiting for Jesse and Wally to leave.

The moment they were gone, Caitlin addressed Harry with a smug tone to her voice. "Thorough, huh?" Caitlin asked. "Because it sounds to me like you're stalling."

"I am," Harry readily. "I'm stalling. I am stalling because this isn't good. This is not—Jesse having powers is not good. So what? Why? I guess I have to explain things to you because you're not parents, and thank God you're not, or else you'd probably throw them to a pit of crocodiles if you had the chance." Caitlin and Cisco exchanged offended glances. "She's my daughter, okay? And she spent months watching Barry and Cadence and Brady fighting meta after meta, and taking down the Metapocalypse, and saving Barry for the Speed Force, and stopped Zoom. And now she has powers and wants to be a hero, too. And I think that's a terrible idea."

"But we can help her," Caitlin said softly. "We can train her."

"I don't want you to train her!" Harry snapped. "I want you to talk her out of it. Not talk her into it. You guys need to talk to her, you're metas."

Cisco snorted loudly. "And, that means we should be the last people to talk to about it."

Harry waved an exasperated hand at Cisco then turned to Caitlin, clasping his hands together. He even tried to make his eyes as innocent as possible, though came off more like he was trying to hold in a burp. "Snow?"

"Me?" Caitlin's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yes, Caitlin, you. You're the one who doesn't want her powers, you don't want to use them, want nothing to do with them." Caitlin glared at Cisco as he muttered, 'He has a point' under his breath. Harry, however, ignored the side conversation and continued speaking. "You can talk to her, talk her out of this. Show her it's not a good thing to have these powers."

"Just because I don't want my powers doesn't mean that Jesse doesn't or that it's not good for her," Caitlin pointed out. Harry frowned. "I'm really the last person she should talk to, so don't ask me. Why doesn't she just talk to Cadence?"

Harry gave her a 'duh' look. "Have you met her? She thinks jumping off a cliff is cool. And, I don't know if you've noticed, but she lets her son out into battle as well even though there's a high chance of his death as well as hers. That's not indicative of a person of a sound mind, is it?"

Cisco thought for a moment. "I always did say she was a little crazy." Caitlin elbowed him hard in the ribs. "Ow! You know I've got a bunch of meat on these bones, but I don't. All my meat is right here." He placed his hands on the small pudge of his stomach and shook it back and forth.

"We clearly came back to this conversation at the wrong time," Wally said as he and Jesse slowed to a stop, both carrying protein bars in their hands. He looked over the faces of those that worked in STAR Labs, noticing the guilty expressions on their faces. "What? What's going on?"

Jesse rolled her eyes. "Dad, don't tell me you're trying to convince them to stop letting me run," she said. Harry pointedly looked away from her. "Oh come on! I was give these powers for a reason, dad. You said so yourself, about Barry. Just because I have them now doesn't mean you can change your mind."

"Actually, it does," Harry said.

Jesse frowned. "You can't—" The two stopped squabbling as soon as their phones simultaneously vibrated and chimed with a warning. Jesse and Wally exchanged confused glances then moved to Harry's side to look at the notification they were receiving from the metahuman app.

"Speedster Spotted at Boardwalk."

"I have to go," Jesse said. "I have to help."

"Over my dead body," Harry shot back.

Cisco shook his head. "Barry and the others can handle this." He turned on his heels and started to run to the Cortex with the others following along behind him. He flung himself into his office chair and scooted up to his computer, bringing on the live-feed of the GPS tracker in Barry's suit. He saw it and the trackers on Cadence's and Brady's moving just as quickly to the boardwalk. "They're all headed there now."

"Do we have any idea of the identity of this Speedster?" Caitlin leaned over her computer and brought up surveillance footage. She squinted, shifting from camera to camera, trying to find the speedster. "Nothing yet." She pressed a finger to her keyboard, opening the lines of communication. "Barry, what do you see?"

A speedster.

He saw a speedster. A speedster he knew well. Barry's eyes took in the red, black, and yellow lightning bolt that sat on the front of Edward Clariss's chest. Took in the shark-fin pieces that came off the sides of his hood. Took in the sinister yet malicious smile Clariss was sending his way.

Finally, Barry parted his lips to ask, "Clariss?" Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Cadence and Brady exchange confused glances. Nevertheless, they stayed silent, crouching in their fighting stances as they waited for the first move to be made. "How are you here?"

"Long time no see, pal," Clariss replied. "Good to see you remember me." Clariss mockingly clapped his hands together in time with the steps he took towards Barry. But here's the thing that matters; I know your secret." Cadence made a humming sound while Barry's heard pounded faster in his rib cage. "You changed the timeline." Barry swallowed hard, knowing everyone was listening. "Because if I recall correctly, the only speedsters in my life were me and that smartass Kid Flash. Until you showed up and stole everything from me."

Barry shook his head. Tried to hold his voice steady as he said, "I never stole anything from you, Clariss. I was just trying to fix things."

"This is how my life was supposed to be!" Clariss roared. "For years, I felt like my life was missing something and now I know why."

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen—"

"—Well, it did and now here I am." Clariss grinned, holding his arms wide. "Your rival, back again. Believe me Flash, this time, you're not going to steal my life so easily." He ducked down into a running stance.

Barry and Clariss raced towards each other before streaking out of the clearing. Cadence followed after them while Brady held still. He ran to a darkened corner of the boardwalk and crouched down, pulling the pocket of his slingshot as far back as it could go. He crouched to one knee and waited.

Barry and Clariss continued to run along the streets of Central City with Cadence following behind them, surfing a wave of fire. The three arched and twisted back and forth across the streets, abruptly changing direction when one would advance on the other. Finally, as they arched back towards the boardwalk, Barry gathered enough speed to race forward and headbutt Clariss in the stomach. With the momentum of their enhanced speed, Clariss flew over the streets; crashed into light poles, bounced off buildings like a pinball, and rolled across the ground. Finally, he careened over the edge of an overpass and fell to the ground.

Barry and Cadence slowed and stopped at the railing of the overpass. Cars honked as they drove by the two heroes who leaned against the railing and peered down over the street. Barry's eyes frantically scanned the area.

"I don't see him," Barry said. "Where'd he go?"

Cadence pressed her lips together as she scanned the area. She shifted her eyes. Her goggles changed, giving her the opportunity to see the structures of the buildings, roads, and boats around the boardwalk. It took a few seconds for her to find the heat signatures coming towards them from the opposite direction, running across the water, arching in a wide circle.

"He's coming around," Cadence relayed. "Trying to catch us off-guard from the back. Brady?"

"I'm on it!" Brady called back from his position.

Clariss streaked around the corner of the closest city block, right before reaching the overpass and changed direction to run along the ground. He started to go in a fast circle, picking up speed as he went. Brady, still undetected from his position in the darkness. Let go of a piece of ammo that immediately sent out a brilliant flash of light and sound as soon as it connected with the ground. Clariss stopped running and screamed as he slapped his palms over his ears.

Brady ran out from his hiding place, slapping the 'y' points of his slingshot together and grabbed the end, extending it into a long, metal bow-staff. With that, they started to attack Clariss with precision swings and strikes to vantage points of his arms, legs, chest, and neck before taking his legs out from beneath him.

Cadence and Barry leapt down from their vantage point to stand in front of him. "There's nowhere to go, Clariss," Barry called.

"You're right," Clariss agreed. "But the good news is, I'm not trying to get away."

"What?" The word barely got out of Cadence's mouth before she, Barry, and Brady were all knocked aside by a sudden blast of energy.

Cadence was hit so hard she fell through the wall of a bait shed, leaving an imprint of her form. She sat up, ensnared through fishing line that immediately dropped to the floor and smoldered as she set her body aflame. When the flames subsided, she looked out through the hole and saw a hooded figure with a beak-like mask standing just behind Clariss.

He had his hand outstretched, holding onto a stone of some sort that glowed a blue-gray color. The three had only just gotten back to their feet when they were struck by another energy blats, making them fall to the ground in a heap.

"What the hell?" Cadence breathed.

"What was that?" Brady asked.

"Better question is who," Barry said, chest heaving up and down. He'd been hit the hardest by the blast, a direct shot to the chest with Brady and Cadence struck by the resounding shockwave. Pain erupted over his entire body as he struggled to get back to his feet.

"I'm Alchemy," the hooded figure replied. Clariss grinned down at Barry from his vantage point.

"Okay, what do you want?"

"To help people achieve their true potential." He turned and motioned towards Clariss, who waved back at him. "Just like him. I'm preparing him just as I'm preparing this world for what's to come."

Cadence and Brady charged towards Alchemy at the same time Clariss sped from his position to slam Barry into a concrete pole that multiple boats were tethered to. "Do you remember this place, Flash?" Clariss taunted. He painfully dug his fingers into Barry's shoulders, pressing his weight against him to hold him still. "This is where I died!" He tore off Barry's comm-links and shoved the sharpened ends into Barry's stomach, making him scream in pain. "But I'm not going to waste the second chance I've been given. This time, I'm going to show you who the fastest man alive is."

Clariss grabbed Barry and ran him away from the shipyard to the Prescott Mill, throwing him into each and every solid structure he could, bouncing Barry like a ragdoll off each surface. Once Barry was subdued, he started to rapidly punch him time and time again, using his superspeed to get in as many of them as he could before picking up a metal pipe.

Clariss held the pipe high above his head and started to swing it down. Barry closed his eyes and turned his head away. He opened his eyes and turned back when he heard the sound of tortured screaming. The pipe in Clariss's hands started to glow orange from the top down to Clarris's hands as it heated up. Barry turned and saw Cadence standing nearby, using her heat vision to strike the pipe from a distance. The longer she heated up the pipe, the harder Clariss tried to pull his hands away, finding his hands melting to the pipe.

Every time he tried to pull his hands back, long stretches of his skin would come with it. Finally, Clariss ripped his hands away, dotting the ground with blood, and dropped the pipe. Barry flipped to his feet and used his speed to rein down punches onto him. Then he punched Clariss in the back, hard enough to send him off his feet and flipping through the air towards Cadence. She pulled back a flaming fist and punched him hard in the chest, transferring him back to Barry, who did five quick rotations with his superspeed to punch him straight in the face.

Clariss dropped to the ground with a low grunt before his head turned to the side and fell still.

Barry pulled off his cowl at the same time that Cadence pulled off her goggles to look Clariss over. She knelt down and pressed a finger to Clariss's neck. "He's alive," she reported.

"Can only ask for small favors," Barry murmured in response.

"Who is he?"

Barry closed his eyes, tilting his head back. There was only so long he knew he could keep everything to himself. He'd already had to tell Brady just to get it out and so he wouldn't explode while bottling it up. But Clariss had said who he was and then there was this Alchemy guy…there were too many changes before, but now that this guy was around and could take him down so easily…

He had no choice.

He had to say something.

"Okay, I need to tell you guys something."

Barry stood in the living room of Cadence's apartment, looking at the pictures that framed the walls. Looking for anything that was different. Looking for any sort of solace that could be found. He did it. He told his friends and family what had been going on with him. Told them everything he'd told Brady about being in Flashpoint. He couldn't take it anymore. The universe couldn't take it anymore. The appearance of Clariss and this Alchemy guy had proven as much.

Jay was right, Barry thought. I'm not a God.

So he gathered all of Team Flash to the Cortex and told them what he'd been keeping from them. "After Zoom killed my dad, after we stopped Zoom, I wasn't in the right headspace. So I ran back in time and saved my mom."

"You stopped the Reverse-Flash from killing your mom?" Iris asked, blinking rapidly in surprise.

"Yeah."

"She's alive?"

"She was. For a few months. I lived with her and my dad. It was great."

And it had been great. How many times had he wondered, dreamed, and begged for his mother to be back so that he could see her again? Just once? To have her back so that he could hear her praise for him when he got a good grade or did something to help someone else. To have her warm homemade cookies ready for him when he returned from school. To have her willingly read with him before he went to sleep, after helping him with his homework despite how difficult it was getting for her by the time of her passing.

But he had that with both of his parents. His father was alive as well, and they were finally able to be a family again. The family that had been brutally ripped away from him by a deranged speedster he hadn't known for years. A speedster that went back in time specifically do that lasting damage to him. The same speedster he had to set free in Flashpoint so he'd have his life back.

"I don't understand," Joe said.

"You created a whole other existence?" Caitlin asked. "How is that possible?"

And so Barry explained it to them. Explained through a couple of dots on a straight line with other lines branching off it. Explained how he had gone to try and change things against but Jay had stopped him. Caitlin listened and nodded as Barry explained everything then pointed out, "But you decided to leave it?"

Barry turned away from the pictures and closed his eyes. He could still see how hurt Caitlin was at his keeping things a secret. Knew he had broken the golden rule they had all created for themselves. If they were going to be Team Flash, they had to trust each other. I couldn't trust myself to tell them, Barry thought. I was too afraid of what would happen. Of having to make myself be vulnerable again. I couldn't handle doing that again.

Just like he couldn't handle the thought of losing all of his friends from before he went to Flashpoint. He'd already lost so much, how could he lose them all again? The new versions of themselves, they had to learn to be Team Flash, when Team Flash had already existed before he woke up from his coma.

"Life spun out of control," Barry explained. "This guy named Edward Clarris was a speedster there. He caused a lot of problems. So I decided to run back in time again and let things happen the way there were supposed to, to let the timeline reset itself. But….when I came back, things weren't the same."

"You mean people," Cadence understood. "Like us."

"Yeah. I created another timeline. This is the one we're living in now. It's not as different as the last one, not in large ways, but in smaller and meaningful ways for all of you or anyone who is close to me and I can't ever, really put it back together."

He was stuck in this life now and had to make the best of it. He couldn't go back and fix things again, it would just make another crack form. Another split decision that had to be made, one Barry hoped he'd never have to make again. Time traveling…it was too dangerous. How was he supposed to move on when living a life that he wanted, with both of his parents alive, was as bad as the life he had with them gone?

The irony wasn't lost on him.

Be careful what you wish for.

Cadence walked up behind Barry and gently rubbed his back, making him turn to face her. "Are you okay, Tholly?" She asked.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I don't know if I'll ever be okay. Or if everyone will be okay with what I did."

"Even if they're upset now," Cadence said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "They'll come around. No one can fault you for the decision you made. If they all had the chance to fix things that happened in their lives, they'd probably do it, too. I mean, if I was able to see my dad over there, I don't know what I would've done."

Barry smiled. "If it helps, your parents were still alive over there."

"Brady told me. Apparently he was only two in Flashpoint? Honestly, I don't know if I'd like that, if he were two now. I don't know if I'd have the energy to take care of him with everything else going on." Cadence laughed to herself. "Not many people would say they would've preferred to be pregnant at sixteen but, I can see the bright side now." Barry tried to laugh but found he couldn't bring himself to do it. Cadence noticed and looked at him seriously. "I can understand why you decided to keep it a secret."

"Look, Cade, I didn't mean to lie to you…"

Cadence folded her arms and shrugged. "You know...I can meet someone and figure out their tells within the first five minutes of conversation. Because of that, I have to be the one that determines whether or not they get away with a lie. Why make a fuss over something I'm not supposed to know? Or push someone to talk when they're not ready for it?" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "With everything you told us today, Tholly…I can't help but think about the heavy burden you have to bear. And, I wish I could help. I wasn't there with you, as your partner…but I can be that here. So, I was thinking; instead of going out tonight, why don't we just stay in and watch a baseball game or something? We don't even have to watch TV; we can just enjoy each other's company because it looks like you could use a night of doing absolutely nothing."

Barry's smile widened. "That'd be nice, actually." Cadence smiled back and stood on her tip-toes to press a peck to his cheek. Barry grasped her chin and turned her towards him so he could kiss her, like he'd wanted to do on Flashpoint. She gently tugged at his shirt when the kiss ended. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine," he said.

"Barry?" Brady's voice came from the doorway behind him. He turned and lifted his chin to acknowledge the young boy. "I know you wanted your mom and dad back, but I'm glad to have you back here." Barry smiled his thanks. "Mom, can you sign off on my homework?"

"Sure thing, bud. I'll be back in a minute, Barry."

"Take your time."

Barry waited until the two were out of site before racing back to his house and straight to his room. He made sure Joe was preoccupied watching the football game in the living room and Wally was in his room doing his work before closing the door behind him. Barry ambled to his closet and pulled out a small tin box from behind a stack of sweaters on the top shelf. He placed it on his desk and opened it, pushing aside a few baseball cards, movie tickets, and photographs to get to a gray box at the bottom.

He cradled the box in his hand. One of the few things he'd managed to receive of the personal effects from his parents' deaths. Of which hadn't been released to him until his father's death as it was otherwise noted as 'evidence'. Barry'd been angry when his father had been released from jail and they still weren't allowed to receive them as they 'hadn't been processed yet' but was quick to be released once…. Barry sighed. There were still people out there that blamed his father for his mother's death and he'd have to deal with that.

Barry opened the box and studied the dazzling rings tucked inside the velvet cushion. Carefully, he picked them out and held them them before sliding them into his jeans pocket.

He had to move forward.

A/N: Now Barry's told everyone, but he still needs to be caught up to speed about what he's missed on Earth-1. And it can't be good with the Assassination Bureau and White Hot potentially being someone Cadence knows. So many things revealed at once. I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Please remember to review; any feedback helps me become a better writer and motivates me to write more. I respond to every review, even anonymous ones.

Also, I'm thinking from now on that review replies will only be for anonymous reviews. But I'll let you know.

Cheers,

-Riley

Review Replies

DarkHelm145: Yeah, Barry's pretty emotional with everything that's been going on. Certainly can't be easy.

Josephguy217: For what I have planned, Cisco vibing Flashpoint makes more sense to his hostility towards Barry.

Ethan: Well, that was the point of Wally's moodiness in season 2, that she had died and he was working how to get through it, with one example being subtly trying to ask Joe to move in. Yes, Cisco was flirting with Caitlin. Conner not playing soccer will be revealed as the story goes on, but sooner rather than later as I'm trying to keep up with the pacing I've set.

Noblecrescent: There's plenty with the two (if you count them as separate characters) coming! I hope you enjoy it.

spinquin142: More of White Hot will be introduced and I still have another meta to work on as well.

Guest: My issues within the last few stories was that I wasn't sure what to do with Iris and Wally, but having had their familiar reveal work out different last time to now, I've got things in store for them.

yummers: No, Barry's terrible at keeping secrets.

PowerHero432: I do have some pictures I need to post of his faceclaim to tumblr to show how much he's aged/matured from the start of the series to now. It's fun to go back and see how he has changed in the writing to make him older as what he's exposed to and his actual age increase. There's going to be plenty with Cadence, Jesse, as well as Harrison, Harry, Tess and Brady as they try to figure out their new 'family'.

babyj: I'm glad you liked all of those parts. And yes, I'm a bit concerned about keeping up with the pacing at a consistent pace, if you have any suggestions I'll be glad to take them.