"Hello? Joe? Iris? Are any of you here?" Barry called out as he stepped through the open door to his house. But, there was no answer. He checked the rooms looking for any sign of his family but the house was absolutely empty.

He suddenly felt the presence of someone standing in the doorway behind him. "Grodd evacuated the entire town." Eobard told him,

Barry turned around, a little startled to see him standing there in his true form. "Eobard Thawne was it?" Barry asked him.

"In the flesh, Barry Allen." Eobard replied, "Have you made a decision?"

Barry thought again about his answer. In the other world the other Barry was set to get his powers due to the particle accelerator, though in this world he had received them via the radiation from the meteor shower. Though Eobard was giving Barry the chance to go back and save his mother. He might still have his powers, he wasn't sure, but at least his mother would still be alive.

He might not know any of his friends now, but he needed to consider if that was a risk that he was willing to take. "I need a little more time." he replied.

A look of frustration fell across Eobard's face. Nonetheless, he nodded and left to give Barry the time he needed.

Barry picked up the telephone and dialed CCPD. For the first time ever the phone rang out. He tried again but got the same response. He sped through the town, in his suit, searching for stragglers, but found none. Thawne was right, the entire town was gone. Barry stood on the road in the middle of the street, outside of STAR Labs. He was going to go inside and check the security footage.

For a moment, he could have sworn that he had heard the sound of a car coming down the street. He saw two bright headlights coming straight for him. He stepped off the road and watched as the car came to an abrupt stop in front of him. He recognized the occupants immediately. Leonard Snart and Mick Rory.

"Great!" Barry said with sarcasm, as the two of them jumped out of the car, holding their weapons aimed at him. But they didn't shoot. In fact, it looked as if they needed his help.

"Flash… I know we don't generally get along too well… but, I think this time we might need to make an exception!" Leonard told him as he lowered his weapon and asked his companion to do the same.

"The two of you should be in jail." Barry told them.
"Yet, we're not, which means we're good at our jobs!" Mick told him.
The Flash shook his head softly and looked at Leonard. "What do you want?"

"I just want my sister back." Leonard told him, "You see, she was here in Central City a couple of hours ago and when we were meant to meet up in Sterling city, she had just vanished. I thought 'oh it's just Lisa… she likes to keep us guessing… but then…"

"…But then you realized the entire town had gone missing too." Barry finished his sentence, then continued, "…why should I help you?"

"…Because you're the good guy… you help people… and right now…" Snart continued.

"Right now you need help?" Barry gathered. He decided to push aside his hatred for the two criminals. It was true that they would need to work together to get the whole city back. Though somehow he felt that Astrid and Cisco would disagree with him.

The next day, the Flash asked Leonard and Mick Rory to wait down stairs at STAR Labs, while he approached Cisco and Astrid with the idea.

He found Astrid and Cisco in a bizarrely good mood, as they were going through the security footage of the night before. Barry had forgotten to do so last night.

"The two of you are quite cheery this morning, considering the city's current predicament." Barry told his friends.
"Well Cisco had one of his visions. We think that the entire city could be below ground." Astrid told him. She rested both her hands on Cisco's shoulders as he worked on pulling up the security footage.

"Ok… that actually sounds very possible… But I think we're going to need as much help as we can possibly muster up." Barry told them.

"True, but the whole town is under Grodd's manipulation and I'm pretty sure Oliver is dealing with an entirely separate sort of villain right now." Astrid told him, not even looking up.

Barry went to explain just who he was referring to, when his unwelcomed guests walked right in, making Cisco and Astrid jump up, startled.

Cisco had his hands at the ready to blast them and Astrid was prepared to mind blast them at any moment.

"No, guys!" Barry stopped them with his hands out stretched to his friends, "Snart and Rory want to help!"

"No! They kidnapped us don't you remember?" Cisco told him, in absolute disagreement.

"I considered that already," Barry said. He was still wearing his mask and was surprised that his friends hadn't even noticed.

"What Barry is saying is indeed true." Leonard told them.

"Wait! He just called you… did you hear that?" Cisco stammered. Barry had indeed heard Snart call him by his real name.

"The three of you forget that I am good at my job." Leonard told them confidently. "But don't worry, your secret is safe with me… provided we work together in helping my sister… or else I won't be cautious with whom I tell."

"See, you guys… we have no choice." Barry told his friends.

"You forget that I know what Miss Sutherland is also capable of… yet I haven't told a soul!" Leonard said to Astrid.

"That's correct." She said softly, "so you know that I can read your mind and find out if you're being dishonest." She told the two criminals.

"So go ahead, princess!" Mick Rory gruffed.

The word 'princess' made Astrid's hairs stand on end. She stormed up to the man and glared at him angrily as she focused on both he and Leonard's minds. Her face changed as she saw that they were being honest. "I suppose that there's a first time for everything." She told them, despite the fact that she would prefer to stay right away from the two of them at all costs.

She looked at Leonard, "Ok. It seems we have no choice but to align with each other for now. But if you even dare to use us as an accessory for robbery… don't think that for one minute, that you will get away with it!"

Leonard smiled at her, "Oh, but last time was so much fun wrestling with you… Killer!"
She went to slap him, but Barry pulled her away immediately.
"For your information, Captain Cold! Our friend here can cause you to have a brain aneurism, right where you stand. So watch your mouth!" Cisco told him.

"I would like to see her try." He replied.
Astrid took a few deep breathes. As much as they tried, she wasn't going to let these crooks get the better of her.

"Barry, I suppose that you have a plan?" she asked changing the subject.
"We need to find where everybody is first, and then we need to find a permanent place for Grodd. We saw just how well the pipeline worked out." Barry replied.
"Well, that's what happens when you have a speedster who can look like anyone." Cisco said glumly. His friends had told him everything that had happened. "But I might be able to help with the finding a special place for Grodd… Leave that part to me." He told them.

"Cisco, you can't just send Grodd to the pocket dimension." Barry told him.
"No, I have my theories, which I would like to try out. You guys will have to see. But first we need to find the entire city and the great big ape." Cisco told them as he raced towards the computer and began clicking through the security videos. Barry and Astrid were impressed over how he was taking charge.

Within moments their friend had set up an infrared filter over the live map of the city, "Hey you guys… there's energy coming from this section of the map, indicating a large amount of action. I think I found them." He told them.

"So if the nerd has figured out where they are… lets go hunting!" Mick Rory gruffed.
"Hey, we're not killing Grodd." Barry told them. But Snart and Rory were already leaving in a hurry, with their guns at the ready. Barry looked over at Cisco and Astrid for a little help.

"That's what happens when you work with gun-toting criminals, Barry." Astrid said, shaking her head. "Let's go before they cause more trouble."

"Before we go..." Cisco said, as he picked up a few sets of mini anti-telepathic headphones. "...we can't forget these… I even have a few for Captain Cold and Heatwave… They are such cool nicknames!"

"Well, let's go after them, before it's too late!" Barry said with a sigh, as the three of them set off after the the other two.