56
Fire Extinguisher
"Mom!"
"Mo-om!"
"Mooooom!"
"MOM!"
Brady repeatedly screamed, each one punctuated with only a deep shuddering breath to fill his lungs before expelling his anguish once more. Barry leaned back on his heels, lifting his chin as he stared straight across the clearing. Damage done, Savitar had already fled the scene, taking Killer Frost with him. Iris lay crumpled on the ground nearby, breathing heavily as the seconds passed. Tears trickled down Barry's face, pooling in his mask and sticking to his cheeks, hot and itchy. He wanted to reach up and wipe them away, but couldn't bare the thought of losing any grip on her.
There was a bright flash of light as Wally and Jesse appeared in the plaza, spinning their arms in circles to keep themselves upright. Leah, who Barry hadn't noticed before, had her hands clasped over her mouth and nose as she cried, Frankie stood nearby, biting her lower lip as she worked to keep back her own tears.
"Iris!" Wally hurried to his sister's side, gathering her into his arms. "Iris!" He grasped her shoulders, shaking her rapidly.
A swirling vortex opened in the plaza, releasing Cisco who stumbled forward and fell to his knees. Gasping for air, Cisco brought a hand to his chest and looked toward Barry. His eyebrows rose behind his goggles as if to ask, "Well?"
Barry sniffed hard and nodded.
Cisco nodded back. Straightening, he let out a long breath, pressing his hands to his hips. "It worked," he breathed. "It really worked."
"It did," Barry replied.
Brady glared up at Barry, eyes filled with rage-fueled heartbreak. His lips pulled back into the fiercest snarl that was even possible on the young boy's face. Seconds away from blowing his top completely. His eyes darkened and darkened further. Turning an inky black compared to the bright hazel, an even mixture of his parent's eyes. Barry gave him a sad smile then nodded toward Cisco once more. Brady lifted his chin and watched as Cisco turned aside and punched the air, creating another breach.
Within seconds, the breach opened to its maximum size. And within those seconds two figures jumped through the breach, landing on the ground in a crouch. A speedster and a fire metahuman. The real Barry and Cadence dressed in their casual clothes rather than their suits. The suits that were being worn by Earth-2 Barry and Burnout. The breach closed behind them and Cadence hurried toward Brady, who gaped back at her.
He flinched away when she tried to hug him to her side. Looked down at the body that lay in Earth-2 Barry's arms. Then back up to Cadence. "It's not me," Cadence quickly explained. "It's not me." She grabbed Burnout's wrist and pulled up her glove to show a tattoo on her wrist; Mon Rêve, written in fancy script, the same tattoo Cadence had written on her ribcage.
Brady blinked at it, large teardrops rolling down his cheeks. Then he looked back up at his mother. "W-what?"
"We couldn't tell you." Cadence gathered Brady in her arms, hugging him tightly. "I'm so sorry. We couldn't tell you."
Brady accepted the hug, wrapping his arms so tightly around his mother's neck and shoulders that he was in danger of choking her out. Cadence didn't care, didn't mind, instead she soothingly rubbed Brady's back, trying her best to keep her eyes from welling with tears. Eyes still haunted, shell shocked, he looked from Barry to Earth-2 Barry.
"But, how-?"
"Velocity-9," Barry explained. "Or what was left of it." He held out his hand. Earth-2 Barry handed the empty syringe clenched tightly in his palm over to Barry. Barry knelt next to Earth-2 Barry's side. "I'm sorry," he murmured.
Earth-2 Barry gave a small, sad smile in response. He shook his head. "Don't be," he murmured. "It's what she wanted." He looked down at Burnout's blank face, half-lidded eyes staring into space. "It's the only thing that would've worked." He lifted his chin and looked to Cadence, who nodded back. "We had no other choice. We knew that going into it."
She carefully dropped Brady to the ground, who then turned and grabbed onto Barry's arm, almost as if afraid the speedster would take off again. Cadence knelt to Earth-2 Barry's other side and leaned over Burnout. She worked off Burnout's glove then wrapped her hand around her doppelganger's.
Her skin was still warm, though steadily growing cooler as the seconds passed. There was no indication it'd work like everything else of their plan had, but it was their last chance to ensure they could defeat Savitar and Breathtaker.
Cadence kept her hand clasped around Burnout's for a long moment, waiting in silence. Nothing. Burnout didn't move. She continued to lay lifeless in Earth-2 Barry's tight grasp. Cadence started to bring her hand away. Then stopped.
She sucked in a sharp gasp.
What felt like an electrical current shot through her head, running through every nook and cranny of her brain. Winced in pain as the feeling of every experienced moment from life and death was shoved into her brain, filling every empty space that could be crammed with a new memory. Blood started to trickle from her nose, dripping off her chin and splashing against the ground the longer she held on.
A long, low moan of pain escaped her lips.
Finally, she wrenched her hand back, cradling it to her chest as if it burned her. The blood stopped trickling from her nose, healing in seconds. Though a dull, pounding headache repeatedly pulsed at her temples.
"I'm okay," she said after seconds of silence. Though she completely ignored the tingling at her fingertips.
"That's all amazing," Cisco said. "I hate to break up this love fest, but I don't think we thought to add that into our plans." He swept his arm behind him, where, over the top of the plaza, they could see the growing energy surrounding STAR Labs in one direction, and the crumbling buildings shooting fragments of metal into the other in the other. "We can't stay here, we have to get somewhere safe before Savitar realizes what we've done."
"There isn't anywhere safe," Frankie declared. She shook her head, watching the destruction that played out in front of them. "Even I can't stop that. I don't think any of us can. Not without a plan."
Barry nodded. He turned on his heel and disappeared with a flash of yellow lightning. He re-appeared seconds later, stopping long enough to grab Earth-2 Barry's arm and flash him away. One by one, he grabbed his companions and flashed them to safety; an abandoned CC Jitters.
When he came to a stop, Earth-2 Barry looked around Jitters, frowning. The last time he'd been there, everyone was busy going about their day. Without a care in the world. Not knowing there was anything coming to throw their lives in danger. Central City was growing more and more dangerous, even with the presence of Flash and Flare, and yet they continued their normal lives as if nothing would happen to them.
They had something to believe in.
Earth-2 Barry had that at the very beginning.
Since Barry and his Earth-1 counterparts had stopped Zoom, everything got better. The Flash there—Jesse Quick—had done a good job in making sure that any of the new metas that popped up were easily and quickly taken care of. Because of his doppelganger's presence, Earth-2 Barry became much braver in comparison; often speaking up on any injustices within his job and life. He wasn't the meek, bespectacled wall flower that sat back waiting for things to happen and letting the chips fall where they lay within certain circumstances.
Barry followed the others and ran out of the caverns all the way back to STAR Labs. He arrived just as Harry raced back and forth through the laboratories, grabbing things left and right as they went. Barry turned to Earth-2 Barry, who was righting his fumbled glasses along his face and said, "You need to get out of Central City. Somewhere as far as you can go so that Zoom would never think of finding you. Do…you know…"
"I have an idea of where to go, yes," Earth-2 Barry said shortly. He sniffed and turned away, working hard to quench the emotions he'd shared with Barry from their mind-meld.
Barry reached out and grabbed his arm. "You may not have been struck by lightning, but today you risked your life to save someone you didn't know and someone you loved…" Earth-2 Barry closed his eyes. "That's a hero to me. And everyone would agree. But please…you need to go."
"I just need to see my dad first," Earth-2 Barry said. "And Joe. And figure some things out, then I'll be gone."
Barry nodded. He turned back towards Harry as he continued to move around at top speed. "Harry, you need to get somewhere safe."
"I know, I'm getting our stuff together," Harry explained.
Jesse's eyebrows lowered in concern. "What? Y-you just want us to leave? You want us to leave everything we have here?" Realization dawned in her, her voice growing frantic. "But my friends are here! My family, my life-"
"We don't have a life here anymore, Jesse," Harry snapped. Jesse's mouth slowly closed. "Do you get that? Do you? Zoom has our life here. He's going to hunt us down until we're dead. We have to go!"
Jesse shook her head. "Dad, I…I just found out I have a sister here," she explained. "I just saw her, I saw…" Jesse's mouth opened and closed in disbelief. In grief over what she was slowly growing to understand she'd leave behind. Cadence moved and grabbed her hands.
"You have a sister on Earth-1, if you want one, Jesse," she said hastily. Jesse's eyes searched Cadence's for any insincere words. "Me. But you need to get back to that Earth where you'll be safe, okay?" Jesse nodded. Then Cadence turned back to Barry. "You need to open a breach, like, yesterday."
Barry nodded and started to run around in circles, going as fast as he could. Finally, a swirling blue vortex opened just as an alarm started to blare. Harry looked over his alarm system and shook his head. "Zoom's coming," he said frantically, we have to go now."
Barry and Earth-2 Barry nodded at each other before Barry raced him out of the Vortex.
And while his work life had grown better, his social life had come to a standstill. He'd long left Central City, only traveling back when he'd absolutely needed to, and didn't stay too long. There wasn't anything for him there. He'd convinced his parents to move away under duress of Zoom coming after them, and they'd willing retreated to a cabin in the mountains they'd owned since Earth-2 Barry's youth. Nevertheless, there was no one around he'd wanted to spend any added time with.
Sure, there had been women here and there who'd asked him out or expressed interested in him, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. It was too dangerous for him to do so. Mostly due to his job and those that threatened his life when going to court to testify against criminals and metas put in jail. He isolated himself enough that no one knew what he did when he didn't make his daily and brief appearances in Central City.
That's why it surprised him when he returned to his quiet, rundown apartment and found Burnout waiting for him. He'd been more than surprised—scared to death really-when she slapped one hand over his mouth to keep him from screaming, and the other to knock his hand from the light switch he moved to turn on.
The scream bubbled up in his mouth, muffled by her warm hand before she conjured her own sense of light—something Earth-2 Barry was still trying to figure out how she did—and whipped him around to face her, eyes glowing fiercely.
"What the hell?" His voice continued to stay muffled behind her hand. Burnout removed her hand from his mouth and stared hard at him. Panic washed through him, firstly due to being found when he was sure no one had any idea where he was, secondly due to the most important point that, she was supposed to be in prison. "What are you—what—I don't—how did you get out?" He pressed his glasses up his nose before sticking it in her face. "How did you know where I was?"
Burnout stared at him, jutting out her chin. A 'duh' expression came to her face. "I was trained to find people, Barry. And, trust me, you're not hard to find. Humans are creatures of habit and you're definitely one of the biggest."
Earth-2 Barry pursed his lips, trying to figure out whether he was offended. Then, finally, he shook his head and stepped toward her, pressing his hands to her shoulders. "How'd you get here?" He asked.
He watched as she moved around the apartment, poking her head around corners and examining the darkened shadows to ensure they were, in fact, alone. "That doesn't matter," she replied. "I can't go back. I've already got a breacher on my tail."
"A breacher?" Earth-2 Barry's nose wrinkled as he thought. "Like, our doppelgangers?"
"Yeah, only they haven't escaped from prison the last time I checked," Burnout agreed. "And this one, a collector, wants me dead or alive." She peered at him closely, eyeing him up and down. "You don't look that surprised to see me," she said.
Earth-2 Barry rubbed at his neck. "I didn't expect to see you so soon," he admitted. "I thought it would've taken some more time…I haven't prepared anything."
"Well, I don't know about you, but the thought of being held in prison while I awaited a trial wasn't one I was very fond of." She turned away, running a hand through her hair. A long sigh escaped her lips, a wistful look in her eye.
Earth-2 Barry started to move through the apartment, gathering his things together, hastily writing a note as he did so. "Did you go see him?" He asked. Burnout nodded. "Did you talk to him?"
"Sort of."
"What do you mean?"
"I left a note."
Earth-2 Barry stopped in his own note and looked up at her, creased eyebrows that shaded his concerned gaze. Burnout look at him then looked away again. He wanted to say something to reassure her, wanted to comfort her about her decision. If it were him, he would've taken that time to explain everything, to give an idea of what'd been going on.
But he wasn't Burnout and Burnout wasn't him. As it was, he was being a bit of a hypocrite anyway, leaving a note for his parents instead of going to tell them in person that he may not be coming back. Nevertheless, Earth-2 Barry packed his back and slung it over his shoulder, ready to go.
Burnout shook her head. "You're not going to need all that. It'll just slow you down."
"Trust me," he replied simply. She looked skeptical. Earth-2 Barry moved closer and grabbed her hand, threading his fingers between hers. "You've trusted me so far. Trust me, now. I mean, I'm no Commander Carl and quite obviously, I'm no Flash—I certainly don't have the body mass and I can't even begin to fathom the immense amount of calories he has to take in every day—" he cut himself off, noticing the way Burnout was looking at him. "But I can at least promise this; we're going to get you out of here."
Burnout look at him with an expression he couldn't quite place. Almost as if she were blaming him for everything she was going through. Well, Earth-2 Barry thought. You were the one who convinced her how to get out. About everything.
Seeming to read his mind, Burnout squeezed his hand. "It was my decision to do it, you didn't make me decide on anything else. Hate to break it to you, but you can't make me do anything."
"Zoom can." Earth-2 Barry leveled his eyes at her. "And Breathtaker." His voice then turned bitter. "Apparently, Savitar can, too."
Burnout pressed her lips together.
Earth-2 Barry stood back, dropping his hand from hers. In the moment he turned away from her, the apathetic expression on her face—a direct different from her doppelganger's—changed to one of hurt. Then it was engulfed in apathy in seconds, a flame doused by water.
He'd grow used to that.
Earth-2 Barry finished his note then went to his phone. He looked over the numbers he could call; Bruce, Clark, Diana, Hal…he dialed his parents, breathing heavily as the seconds passed, waiting for the dial tone to stop. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he got their answering machine. It'd be much easier for them to read what he wrote, instead of having to explain it face to face.
If he saw them…he wouldn't be able to go through with it. The guilt and overwhelming sadness would be too much.
Burnout waited patiently as he left his message, then reached her hand out to him. Earth-2 Barry grabbed it, quickly squeezing it three times. She didn't respond to it, the message he silently gave her, instead lifting her other hand to open a fire portal.
Escaping Earth-2 was the easy part. They bounced around from one Earth to another, biding their time when they got word a collector was following them. It was hard to catch a teleporter, no matter how the collector tried. They'd come across her once, surprised by a vibrational blast that left the two diving for cover as she bellowed their crime of "Earth jumping" across the Parisian-esque Star City they found themselves in. And the collector certainly tried to find them once news spread of what Burnout's escape from prison made headlines.
Finally, they'd made it to Earth-1, where they'd laid low, often escaping to another Earth—mostly Earth-3—in case the collector got word of where they were. They watched the goings on of the city from afar, stepped in to help their doppelgangers when the time was needed. Earth-2 Barry still remembered the way Oliver looked at him suspiciously when Earth-2 Barry explained what was going on with the sentient gorillas. And it'd been painful to watch Flash's and Flare's reputations take a hit once that missile blew.
Nevertheless, he and Burnout found themselves—or at least he found himself enjoying the quiet time they had together on other Earths, when they could be whomever they wanted to be. Where they didn't have to have bounties on their heads and could enjoy normal life as much as they wanted.
A smile played at Earth-2 Barry's lips, looking over the scattered remains of coffee cups and napkins that held cronuts and other patisserie s the chain served. Just like the last one they'd shared as they came up with their plan.
Earth-2 Barry turned his face away as a young couple walked through the doors of Jitters, directly to his left. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he brought his hand away from his face. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Across from him, Burnout lifted an eyebrow as she brought her cup of coffee to her mouth. The steam fogged her face, making her scrunch her nose in irritation, before she lowered it and said, "No one's looking at us, Barry. You don't have to worry." She glared when Earth-2 Barry shushed her. "Did you just shush me?"
"I'm sorry," Earth-2 Barry whispered, meaning it. His eyes shifted over the faces around them, taking them in, in case he needed to know it later. "But we can't risk anything here."
"Oh really? I hadn't noticed."
Earth-2 Barry shot her an exasperated look, turning to his own cup of coffee. He brought it to his mouth then jerked it back when a cloud of steam hit him in the face. He glared over the rim at Burnout, who smirked back at him, eyes shining with mirth, and replaced it. He took off his glasses to wipe them on the bottom of his dress shirt. Earth-2 Barry replaced his glasses, nearly dropping them to the table top. "I can't be the only one who's worried," he said. Lowering his voice, he leaned toward her, studying her face. "We're on a different Earth, where things are literally falling apart. There's not much for us here."
"There's plenty for you here." Burnout pulled her hair behind her ears, looking at him just as seriously as he was her. Her voice dropped to a soft tone of acceptance. "There's not much for me anywhere."
"Burnout…" Earth-2 Barry lifted his gaze to the ceiling when Burnout gave him a pointed look. Oh, right. She didn't want him to call her that. Didn't want him to call her 'Cadence' either. "Catherine." It sounded weird on his lips, nice, but weird. If only they had the time where he could use the identity more, so that it became real. "There's plenty for you to have on any Earth you want to go to."
Burnout shook her head. She gathered her hair behind her, brought it back into her ponytail and fastened it. Earth-2 Barry watched as she did so, suddenly feeling a mix of emotions. She looked so normal with her hair pulled back and a pair of glasses on her face. A paper-thin disguise, but it seemed to work as people barely looked at him when he walked the streets of Earth-1. (Despite his worries of going to CC Jitters, where his doppelganger frequented on almost a daily basis).
Made her look so normal that if it were any other life, any other time, any other dimension, they would've bene mistaken to be on a date. And maybe they were, he rationalized. Maybe it wasn't wishful thinking. Maybe it wasn't their last chance.
"You know that's not true," she said, leveling her gaze at him. Burnout laced her fingers together, resting her chin atop of her hands. "It was never going to be true."
"You just need to—"
"—have faith? Believe?"
"Trust me." Earth-2 Barry said. He said it so simply that Burnout's eyebrows furrowed. Her eye shot back and forth, darting over his face as if trying to find a crack in his armor. But Earth-2 Barry continued to look back at her, his eyes wide with earnest behind his glasses. "You just need to trust me."
Burnout slowly smiled. A genuine one. Prompting Earth-2 Barry to smile in response. "I thought I already did, considering you convinced me to come here." She pursed her lips, then tapped her cheek with her fingertip. A smug smile came to her face. "And when you said you'd get me out of prison."
Earth-2 Barry's smile faded. Just slightly. "Well, you're not the only one who can't go back home anytime soon."
"If I didn't know any better, Mr. Allen, I'd think you were trying to get me alone."
Earth-2 blushed at the implication that arose in Burnout's voice. He pulled at the collar of his shit and started to respond. "Well, I, uh, that's not, it's not exactly what I was trying t-to do." Liar. He cleared his throat, shifting in his seat. "I-I mean, it's, I was j-just trying to help." He blushed harder, his voice cracking at the end of his sentence.
Letting out a quiet, 'whew' Earth-2 Barry picked up the water he ordered with his coffee—claiming he was too nervous for solely caffeinated drinks—and took a long sip, while Burnout continued to giggle quietly.
"I haven't seen you laugh like that in a while," he remarked.
Burnout shrugged, though the smile stayed on her face. "Not much to laugh at lately."
Reaching out, Earth-2 Barry grasped Burnout's hand. He focused on the warmth that radiated from it and how she didn't pull back from the sign of affection, something she worked to shrug off nearly every other time he tried. "I promise, things are going to be better," he said. "Things are going to work out." Burnout didn't look convinced. Earth-2 Barry brought back his hand and licked his lips. "'Look, I know thing with that Julian guy didn't go over so well—"
"—Yeah, he really seemed to hate you."
"—He hates this Barry, anyway. I can't control that. But I think things are going to work out." He sat back in his seat. "So, instead of sitting back and moping, waiting for whatever's going to happen, I think we should check out the waterfront. Blend in with the crowd."
Burnout nodded slowly. "Stand out by blending in," she mused. "Sounds like a plan. The whole 'what would you do with your last day' sort of thing." She used air quotes around the words. "There's worst ways I could spend my last day."
"It's not your last day," Earth-2 Barry reminded her. Not if they didn't want it to be.
This time when Burnout lifted an eyebrow, a quick jerk of the muscle that shot it upwards, her cup of coffee immediately started to bellow with steam. Of which she didn't pay much attention to despite Earth-2 Barry's gaze continuously drawn to it, wanting to flap a napkin around it.
"Can you promise me that, Barry?" She asked.
Earth-2 Barry didn't hesitate. "Promise, Catherine."
Burnout smiled, the tiniest of smiles, almost as if she'd forgotten how to do it. Then she stood up, dropping some money on the table. Earth-2 Barry stood up as well, making sure his glasses were set firmly on his face and followed her out of the restaurant.
The two headed down the street before blending in with the crowd of citizens. Those that may be the exact doppelgangers of those they knew on their Earth. Those that didn't look their way, that didn't shout a warning, but made them feel as if they were at peace.
Probably for the last time.
Earth-2 Barry's hand twitched at his side as they went along. He stretched it out for a second, paused, then brought his hand back to his side, clenching his hand into a fist. Burnout reached out and grasped his hand, pulling him forward as she did so. She wedged her fingers between his and leaned into his side, resting her head on his shoulder.
Earth-2 Barry smiled, leaning back into her embrace. Whether it was to keep up appearances, to appear that they truly were Barry and Cadence, Earth-2 Barry didn't care. To everyone else, they were pretending to be other people.
To them, it was real.
And it was one of the best days he'd had in a long time. Truly, all they did was take the time they had to see the sites, see Central City as it could be. Watch as the day moved at a leisurely pace. And the entire time, Burnout didn't let go of him once. She really smiled, really laughed, really enjoyed his company in the way that was truly her. And not the version of her so weighed down by her actions when she was a teenager, when she'd grown to become so unencumbered by the Assassination Bureau.
A literal weight lifted off her shoulders.
But, as everything else, it came to an end. They saw it, in their mind's eye, from the mental connection with their doppelgangers, they didn't have much time left. Earth-2 Barry felt it in the pit of his very being as they found themselves in front of the CCPD. Which looked, to him, a bit duller in comparison. But while Earth-1's Central City was duller in color, compared to the vibrant golden hue that covered their Earth, it was certainly much livelier in the faith of having another day.
Earth-2 Barry opened his mouth to say something, then stopped, dropping his head. Burnout turned ot him, placing a hand on his shoulder. She moved her hand to his chin, tilting it up so he was forced to look at her, and surprised him by pressing a long, needy kiss to his lips. A kiss that ended long before he was ready. He felt, what he thought, were warm tears trickling down his face from her eyes, but saw her face was dry when the kiss ended.
She leaned back and looked at him, eyes searching his. His searched hers in response. Searched for what she was trying to say. It hit him quickly, like a supersonic punch to the side of his head. The breath knocked out him. He briefly shook his head.
No.
It wasn't part of the plan.
But Burnout had already turned and ducked her head as she went into the precinct. Earth-2 Barry had no choice but to follow, pushing his glasses further up his nose, forcing himself to blink rapidly and contort his face. A paper-thin disguise against those who may spot him for more than a second. But a good enough disguise that made them able to get to their targets.
Barry gaped at them in surprise when Burnout strode into his lab with Earth-2 Barry following behind. At first, he appeared happy, then noticed it wasn't actually his fiancé in front of him. His happiness turned to confusion as he stood form his desk.
"What are you doing here?" He breathed. "Did something happen on your Earth?"
"Yeah, Zoom rose from the dead and decided to have some haunted fun with us," Burnout said sarcastically. A quick change from the tender moment before. "What do you think?"
Stung, Barry turned to his doppelganger, who raised a hand, as if giving himself permission to speak. Honestly, he was surprised the words came to him with how choked up he felt. Knowing what was coming. He struggled to speak around the lump forming in this throat. "You can't beat Breathtaker and Savitar on your own," he said, voice hoarse and scratchy.
Barry lifted his hands in a pleading gesture before putting them to his sides once more. "We can't let them win. We have to eat least try."
"No one said anything about not trying," Earth-2 Barry said. "You're going to beat them. Just not on your own." Burnout nodded. "We saw…through our mind-meld what's been going on, tried to help out as we've tried to stay out of the way—"
"—Why would you need to stay out of the way?" Barry demanded. His voice took on a pleading, desperate tone that Earth-2 Barry could hardly bear to hear. "Why wouldn't you come and help us sooner if you knew—"
"—Because this is the only way," Burnout interrupted.
Earth-2 Barry took in a deep breath and looked his spitting image in the eye, hoped his meaning would be clear enough as he said, "We're going to take your place."
Earth-2 walked to the empty table closest to him and draped Burnout across it. He smoothed her hair back from her forehead, pulling her doppelganger's goggles down around her neck. Burnout's head lolled to the side. The front of her suit splashed with blood, a gaping hole from where she'd been stabbed in the heart. A feat that hadn't taken much to ring true, a subtle twist of her body and Killer Frost's icicle went clean through.
Just as a subtle twist of her flame sword kept Killer Frost from taking the fatal blow as well.
Earth-2 Barry looked over as the others were brought into Jitters. Barry looked at Burnout's prone form and ran a hand through his hair. He looked to Cadence and asked gently, "I guess there's no way to heal her from this?"
Cadence shook her head. "I can heal a lot of things, but the heart…"
"The heart can't be mended after it's been broken," Earth-2 Barry croaked. He looked meaningfully at Barry, who looked away, remembering similar circumstances from the year before with his father. Then Earth-2 Barry looked at Brady, who stared at Burnout's form. "But things can be forgiven. I had to keep this to as little people as possible. Understand?"
Brady nodded mutely.
Earth-2 Barry nodded back. Brady understood, knew there were going to be difficult things to go through as a meta, as a superhero. But it wouldn't be something he could get through without anger at some points, without really talking about it. Seeing a loved one dead like that, it messed people up. Released a sort of darkness that could never be contained.
Even if they were struck down to protect others.
Even if it was the only way to stop Savitar and Breathtaker.
"And when Iris wakes up," Earth-2 Barry continued, nodding to the prone form in Wally's arms. "You'll need her just as much as the others." Earth-2 Barry took in a deep breath. He leaned over Burnout's body, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, and stepped back. He nodded to Barry. "Okay," he said. "What do we do now?"
A/N: This entire chapter was originally completely different. But my Microsoft Word crashed and no matter all the tricks I know to get it back, it was gone. Two weeks' worth of work, over 8k words down the drain. I had to completely re-do the chapter as I'd forgotten everything I'd done before. Honestly, though, I think it's better now compared to what I had before.
So, what did you guys think of the reveal in this? I'm surprised no one guessed before I got to it. I've been hinting toward Earth-2 Barry and Burnout switching places with Barry and Cadence from the very beginning of the story as well as in the chapter where they were first taken by Savitar, and subsequent moments since then.
One instance, for example, is the way things played out with Savitar killing Iris and Killer Frost/"Cadence" killing each other was subtly different compared to when Barry had seen the future.
Well, I'll see you at the next one where things really pick back up.
Cheers,
-Riley
Review Replies
DarkHelm145: Well, I get a lot of inspiration from superhero movies as well as some of my favorite anime. I've never seen My Hero Academia though I've been suggested to watch, so maybe one day soon. Thank you for pointing out the issue with the KF/Cadence fight, I'll be sure to fix it. And, that's what the flashbacks were for, so Ii'm glad it worked. But did you see this twist coming?
Ethan: Clive Yorking is a meta from the show, the one who nearly killed Iris if Caitlin didn't freeze her arm. My number one love for writing this story is definitely the relationship between Cadence and Brady so to show how close they are in any of these moments is fun (and traumatizing) at times. But something big is going to happen because of what Brady saw.
Guest: Well, I said from the beginning I'd do it, just not in the way you were probably expecting.
EunLi: Thank you for the review! I hope what happened doesn't turn you off from the story completely!