Chapter 14

As Anna had watched the speech live on television Barry was giving, her heart was being broken into pieces, each statement breaking those small pieces into smaller ones. She couldn't stand seeing him there, but at the same time, she didn't want to stop.

And when he started to individually address her, she started crying. She couldn't believe that he had gone so far as to speak directly to her, without having to be anywhere near her. And Hans? He was alive? She didn't know whether Barry was trying to make her feel guilty, or if he really was still alive.

Once the speech had ended, Elsa said she was going on a walk, but Anna didn't really care. She was going to keep crying.

Hans had just arrived at the dome that protected Arendelle, but he encountered a problem. The shield did a good job, and he couldn't get through by punching it. So he asked the scarab to help him out, which it did. On one of his arms, it formed a laser that would burn through, long enough for Hans to grab the energy barrier, and hold it for him to pass through. Thankfully, the scarab provided him a lot of strength. He quickly passed through, and he made it to the other side. He was in.

The first thing he did was tell the scarab to use its sensors to detect any crying in the kingdom. It did, but unfortunately for Hans, no one was crying. Well, he might consider it good. Hopefully it meant that Anna was already over the Flash.

The second thing he did was to ask the scarab to look for someone named Anna in the near vicinity, but it couldn't do that. It could, however, recreate a picture from his memories, and use that to search. As Hans flew around, he got a hit, and he descended from the sky to the front of the house.

It was modest, to say the least. Two floors, a colorful front yard, and a nice, white picket fence surrounding it all. He ordered the scarab to take off all the armor from his body, minus his back, and he went up to the door. His heart was racing, and he knocked three times. To his relief, it was Anna who opened.

She looked as beautiful as the day he had left her, but her beauty was stained by her red eyes, and messy hair. It was clear she had not taken her departure from the Flash well, and he would make it his mission to make her forget about him.

"Hans?" she said in surprise. "You're here?"

"For you," he said, giving her a warm smile. "Just for you."

"I'm sorry I left you," she sobbed, as she threw herself at him, and he embraced her. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he shushed. "I'm here now, and that's all that matters."

"Where have you been?" she had asked him, once she had calmed down, and they had both sat at the dining table.

"Anna," he began, choosing his words carefully. "I've been looking for you since we separated."

"How?"

"Well," he thought. "The day we were taken here, to the future, I had been looking for you. Even the night before. When you left, and your horse returned."

"Really?" she said, amazed.

"Yes," he said, and continued. "Even when the Flash brought us here, I never stopped looking for you. Even if I knew you were with him. I've always loved you, and I finally found you."

"Where have you been since we came here?" she asked, a little surprised, because she had always been in Arendelle, and she assumed Hans must have as well.

"I went to Central City, to be able to be closer to you," he responded, shaking his head. "Or so I thought."

"Why would you think that?" she questioned.

"Well, I found out Flash operates out of that city, so I assumed he must have brought you over," he explained. He was racking up quite a few lies.

"So you were there during the invasion?"

"Unfortunately," he answered. "But even an invasion couldn't stop me from finding you."

"But, Barry told me that you were trying to marry into the throne of Arendelle," Anna remembered, and Hans closed his eyes.

"Of course not," he told her, making a mental note to remember the Flash's name was Barry. "I would never overthrow Arendelle, especially when you had left me in charge. Everyone there was counting on me."

Which wasn't a lie, because he had wanted to help, and he had loved Anna. The problems had come after.

As he finished, Elsa appeared in the living room, and when she went to the dining room, she found herself face to face with Hans.

"Hans?" she said in disbelief. "You actually have the nerve to show up? Now?"

"She needs me," he said, referring to Anna. "And I'll never leave her."

"Hey, Elsa, weren't you on a walk?" Anna asked, confused, going to see out the window. "Did you teleport here?"

As she looked out, she could have sworn she saw Barry walking in his suit, completely clad in red. She closed her eyes and wiped them, and when she looked again, there was no one there.

"Did you hear me, Anna?" Elsa asked, and when she shook her head Elsa responded. "I heard a sound come from the dome, and I rushed home with the teleporter."

"It was me," Hans informed. "I was testing out the strength of the dome."

"Interesting," Elsa said, raising an eyebrow.

"In any case, if you both don't want me to stay, then I can return to Central-"

"No!" Anna said, as she tugged his arm. "I want you to stay."

He smiled, and he nodded, knowing he could now probably find the man behind the scarlet speedster. "Of course."

As soon as the scarab told him everyone was asleep in the house, Hans creeped out through a window, and began his flight back to Central City. He needed to find the Flash again, this time to blackmail him. As he flew back, he had ordered the scarab to analyze the Flash's height, teeth, and nose from footage, in order to match it to people from Central City, or at least residing there. It took a few minutes, but when the list was complete, he had found only 16 candidates, and only one of them was named Barry. Barry Allen, CSI officer of 21 years of age, and, oh, the scarab gave him an address too. How convenient. The journey back would still take some time, but he was finding ways already to blackmail the Flash, so Hans would always be safe.

When he finally arrived, he landed on the roof of the apartment building, and made his way down through the stairs. It was still early morning there, so he assumed the man should be awake, given his alter ego. So when he opened the door with a key made by the scarab, he made sure to make a lot of noise.

"Hello, Barry," he taunted, and suddenly, the door behind him closed, he felt a gush of wind, and there he was, the fastest man alive, standing in front of him. Without the suit. "How the tables have turned."

"How do you know who I am?" Barry said in a low voice.

"You fool," Hans chuckled. "You left me with the biggest fool of them all."

"Don't you insult her!" he yelled, losing his temper, and Hans shook one of his fingers.

"Ah ah ah!" he cackled. "You had my name, now I have yours. In exchange for our names, I propose we never rat each other out. That way, you stay safe, and I stay safe."

"You're taking advantage of her!" Barry accused. "Don't you love her?"

"Of course I love her," Hans said, rolling his eyes, "But I have goals. And one of them includes staying alive."

"How is she?" Barry suddenly asked.

"Clinging on to your memory," Hans scoffed. "It's going to take a while for her to forget you."

"So is that all you're going to want?" Barry asked, going back to the subject at hand. "To blackmail me?"

"Yes," he hissed. "I need to ensure my safety."

"And have you told her? About the bug?"

"No," Hans briskly replied, and Barry shook his head.

"Tell her now, or she's going to be a lot madder when she finds out," he said seriously. "Do it, and you'll save yourself a lot of trouble."

"I'm not going to tell her," Hans dismissed. "Are you crazy? She's going to kick me out for kidnapping that woman who kissed you. Heh. By the way, I bet it felt real sweet, huh? The scarab on my back can be a pain sometimes, but boy, can it cook up some incredible things."

Barry put two and two together, and realized it had been the scarab who had put something on Iris' lips, which had left him hypnotized.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Barry exploded. "You made it so I couldn't move!"

"Nothing you can do about it now," Hans grinned, as he left the apartment.

Barry had been beating himself up, because he had felt horrible he didn't separate from Iris the moment she kissed him. He had super speed, he should have disengaged the moment he felt it. But he hadn't. And since then, he had believed that it was his mind that hadn't let him. He had thought it was his fault, which was one of the reasons he had given up. And though the reporter started it, Barry had believed he had wanted to continue the kiss.

Now, he was left humiliated, and furious, for not even investigating everything behind it. He should have known it was a setup, and now that he thought about it, it was probably Hans who had told Iris to kiss him.

All he wanted to do now was forget. Forget all about Anna.

How he wished he could forget.

The next day, the first thing he did was go back to Arendelle and edit the letter he had left Elsa. Luckily for him, the house was empty, and he found the letter very easily. It was a perk of having super speed; nothing stayed hidden from him for very much. He took the letter out, and added on how the kiss had been fabricated by Hans, and how he could not have done anything to stop it from happening. He read it over, but the letter looked strange, and he decided to rewrite it and trash the other one, and that was where he left it. After placing it back in the spot Elsa had left it, he went back home.

Barry had gone back to being a hero. Or at least tried. Every time he helped someone out in the city, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was there. And every time he looked around, he saw her in someone. Maybe a woman talking to her husband, or a lady with red hair with her back to him. He couldn't stop seeing her, which was making his heart throb, too much.

Then, at some point during the afternoon, he heard the news of Metallo terrorizing downtown Metropolis. He figured it was a good opportunity to search for Luthor as well, so he went to tackle the cyborg.

He found him exiting a bank, and like always, he gave a warning, almost a plead.

"This is as far as you'll go, Metallo," Flash cautioned, putting his hand out. "Turn yourself in before you hurt anyone else."

"A little speedster never hurt anyone," Metallo taunted. "Besides, I've fought the Man of Steel, and he's faster."

Flash internally thought to himself, this can't end well for him, and as he ran up to the big cyborg, he gave him one punch, and he went flying. Flash made sure to chase after him, to make sure he landed on the ground softly, without hurting anyone. However, as he ran a distance back, to give him some space to recover, he saw her, again.

There she was, with a neutral face, just staring at him, and he stared back. He was captivated in that moment, and since he had left Flashtime, Metallo took the opportunity to strike him. Just before he did, Flash blinked to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but sure enough, when he reopened his eyes, the woman was gone, and he was flying through the air, thanks to Metallo's blow. His mind hadn't even registered the pain from the hit, but it had registered the fact that something was wrong with him. He was seeing her everywhere, and now, it had cost him a battle. He had been distracted, and by the time he landed and ran back, Metallo was long gone. He was still in disbelief, but quickly shook it off momentarily, long enough to chase and bring Metallo back to where the fight had occurred, as the police were arriving.

"It won't take long for all the villains to rise and create a coalition, Flash," Metallo said, in his robotic voice. "It's closer than you think."

Now, Barry had his mind back in the game, and he responded with, "It doesn't matter. I'll stop whatever comes."

"We'll see about that," Metallo told him, in a prophetic manner, as the police officers finally apprehended him.

At this point, he knew. He went back to Arendelle as fast as he could, and this time, as he entered the house invisibly, he saw Anna, alone. Elsa must have been out on something, but he still went through with it. He found the letter, and rewrote it again, putting in a vital piece of information that he needed to know would reach Anna. Once he was done, he put the letter back, walked to the first floor of the house, and took one last look at his beloved. The last time he would love. And left.

Barry understood he had a serious problem. It was time to find help, and he went to the only person who would help him.

"Barry, are you sure you couldn't come to me?" Zatanna asked, dubiously. "I mean, you are the fastest man alive."

"I need to make sure this will work," he answered confidently, as he toured his own house. "This place is a sure way to know."

"Your empty house?" she said sarcastically, and Barry nodded.

"It was the house I bought for Anna and me," he replied, sadly, and Zatanna said no more. "I need to forget. And I need to make sure."

"Alright, but it's going to cost you," she warned, and he nodded once more.

"What do I need?" he asked.

"You're going to forget everything that happened with her," she said, solemnly. "The events you lived, the people you met, everything."

"That's fine," he nodded. "Is it fine if I write down the main events surrounding the past? Ones that I need to be trivial in my investigations?"

"Yeah, that should be fine," Zatanna told him. "But you won't remember it."

"And there's no way for me to remember?" Barry said, but this time, Zatanna nodded.

"There is a way to recover your memories, but it's only with a true love's kiss," she said, rolling her eyes. "It's a pretty old spell."

"So, if I found a new woman, and we shared a kiss..." Barry trailed off.

"Yes, it would theoretically break it," Zatanna thought. "But would you really trust yourself with another woman?"

He quickly wrote himself a note explaining important things he might forget, and then placed it inside his jacket.

"No. I'll do it," he said, as he thought back. In his mind, this was the only way he would not be distracted during times when he needed to be focused. What if the Rogues attacked, and he was still seeing Anna everywhere? What if the League failed, and Thanos invaded? He would never be up to the task with her on his mind. He needed it, and this would be the fastest way to let go of the past. He regretted everything that happened, but he was finally ready to move on.

I'm sorry, Anna, he thought. This is for the greater good.

Zatanna took out her magical wand.

"Tel mih ,tegrof gnihtyreve tuoba reh. Os eh nac eb ta ecaep, won dna reverof," she chanted at him, and as the magic essence from the wand flew to Barry, he was lifted off his feet, being surrounded in yellow light. He fell back down, but Zatanna caught him, and placed him on his feet. He rubbed his head, and he asked her, "Zee? What are you doing here? What am I doing here?"

She shook her head, almost in sad way, and responded, "You needed a friend, so I dropped by."

"That's fine," he said looking around. What Zatanna hadn't mentioned was that all of the items he had that would remind him of Anna were gone. Her pictures, any piece of clothing she may have left behind, gone. Especially the things at his apartment. "I think I want to be left alone for now."

She nodded, and with a quick incantation, she left him to himself.

He could have sworn he was looking for something prior to her appearance, but even after searching the near empty house, he couldn't find anything. So he went back home.

"Where have you been?" Iris asked, as Hans had finally showed up to work. "You haven't been with that girl Flash was talking about, right?"

"Of course not," he lied. "I found something."

"What?"

"His identity," he whispered, and Iris almost screamed.

"No you didn't," she whispered back, making sure no one was looking at them, but he nodded.

"That girl Flash was talking about? She gave it to me," he boasted.

"You didn't hurt her, right?" Iris asked, now troubled, but Hans eased her.

"Of course not," he chuckled. "She's the biggest fool I've ever met."

"Oh, I get it," she smiled, and then frowned. "Please tell me you're seriously not going to reveal his identity?"

"No, I already met the guy," he explained. "And he's agreed to not tell anyone my identity, in exchange for his to be kept secret."

"Hans!" she exclaimed. "That's dirty!"

"I know," he admitted. "But it's the only way I can stay safe."

"I still can't believe you made me do that to him," she said. "But as long as you don't kill him-"

"Don't worry," he reassured. "As long as I'm in control of the scarab, everything will be fine."

But the truth was far from that. In reality, he was already thinking of ways to end his foe. To bring him to his knees, and see the face of a man defeated. The man who ruined everything for him. Playing it nice was his way of ensuring more time for himself, and for his plan. But he knew he couldn't do it alone. His battle with him had shown him that. So he would need to recruit, or be recruited. And he knew just who to ask.

Once out of work, Hans had asked the scarab to see if it could locate the location of the Rogues, the team of criminals that faced the Flash on a (usually) daily basis. They had been gone for a while, which Hans had noticed since his arrival, and he knew they were probably planning something.

Sure enough, the scarab led him to a mirror store, in plain sight of downtown Central City, which was closed. He opened it, without the need for a key, and he looked around. There were hundreds of mirrors, but the scarab led him to one that was hidden on the ceiling. Clever.

He reached up to touch it, when a hand reached out of it, and pulled him into the mirror.

The scarab automatically went into defense mode, but as soon as Hans could focus, he told it to stand down.

"I told you!" Heat Wave shouted at Mirror Master, who closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Well well," Golden Glider said, intrigued. "It looks like you found us."

"Yeah, and I want to join," he said directly.

"We could use bait," the Glider thought. "And you did just do something the Flash hasn't been able to do."

"What?"

"Find us," she said, cheekily.

"He hasn't found you?" he repeated, and the rest of the Rogues nodded.

"The old bloke's missing a nail in his head," Captain Boomerang laughed, and the others joined him. He had recently been busted out of prison himself by the rest of the Rogues. It had been rather easy, since no one took him too seriously.

"I need him dead," Blue Beetle said upfront, and Heat Wave quietly said, "I like his style."

"Alright, but first, we need to get Lenny out," Glider said, and Beetle looked at her, confused.

"The Captain?" she said trivially, and Hans pretended to understand by nodding his head. "He's in Iron Heights, locked away, thanks to good old red."

"We have a plan, which probably won't work," Mirror Master explained, "But if we have you as bait, we've got a chance."

"We've seen how you took the blows from the Flash," Golden Glider told him. "If anyone of us can blast in, it's you."

"So we're getting him out to lead the team, right?" Hans said, as the scarab had shown him that Captain Cold was the leader of the Rogues.

"No, we want him to look pretty for the newsreel at nine- Of course we want him to lead!" Glider said, sarcastically, to which Hans backed down.

"Then, am I an official member of the Rogues?" he asked, and Glider offered him her hand to shake.

"Welcome to the team."

Barry knew the Rogues and Luthor was still out there, but that was all he knew. He hadn't been able to locate them for a very long time. How he wished Batman was still on Earth.

He had been at the police station picking up some documents, when he saw several officers rushing out, responding to a bank robbery, being committed by none other than Weather Wizard. He knew it was most likely a trap, but this could lead him to the Rogues' hideout. Quickly running in the opposite direction as everyone, he opened the compartment in his Flash ring to let out the red and gold, which he put on in a flash. Once dressed, he began to make his way to the location of the bank robbery. Maybe now his luck would change.

However, he would never arrive to the scene, because a noise was heard throughout the city. As Barry slowed down while running, he could see that everyone else could hear it too, but when he entered Flashtime again, it sounded different. Eventually, he could hear a voice complaining to another one.

"Mercy, I'm not going to wait around-" the voice said, faintly.

"He's on, sir." A different voice had responded, and sounded even further away.

"Well then, Flash." Now the voice was much clearer, and Barry knew it was none other than the voice of Lex Luthor.

"How are you speaking to me?" Flash asked, incredulously. It wasn't every day a villain got to him directly like that.

"Don't worry about it," Luthor waved off. "What's important is my proposal to you."

"Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested," Flash said, as he tried to hurry the conversation along. If he kept it up, then Mirror Master would get away indefinitely.

"Even if it's the way I got rid of Thawne's speed?" he said, and that got Barry's attention.

"How?" he demanded.

"Well I need to hear your part of the offer," Luthor laughed, and Barry frowned.

"What is it you want?"

"I only ask for you to not defend the Earth when Thanos arrives," he said, in a matter of fact way.

"You know about Thanos?"

"Boy, I know much more than you do," Luthor chuckled.

"How do you know he'll come here?"

"Are you going to take the deal, or am I wasting my time?" Luthor asked, impatiently.

Barry knew this was a trap. It had to be. But he needed to capture the Rogues so they wouldn't be a distraction if the invasion came, because he knew the League would fight to the death for it to stop from ever happening. The problem was, Luthor could be working with Thanos, and he would never know. The man never even appeared anymore publicly.

The Rogues took precedent.

"Alright," Flash said. "How will you know I'm not-?"

"Oh don't worry about that," Luthor said. "I know I can trust you. Just know that if my trust fails, and you go against your word, there will be consequences."

He didn't ask how or what they were, but rather, "And how will you tell me?"

"I'll send you the recipe through the mail," he said casually, which made Barry panic for a moment. "Not yours, the CCPD's. Make sure to pick it up."

And then the connection went dead, leaving Flash standing in the midst of people who walked past him on the sidewalk. He knew by now, the Mirror Master was gone for sure, and when he arrived to make sure, it was confirmed. He sighed as he went up to one of the officers.

"First time you're ever late, Flash?" the officer asked him.

"No, I've been late a good number of times," he said truthfully. "What happened?"

"Mirror Master happened," the cop informed. "I keep telling the accountants, 'tell your bosses to get mirror proof vaults', but they never listen. It's a shame you couldn't catch him this time. Where were you, anyway?"

"I was talking to a bigger bad," he said, looking closer at the crime scene for any clues. Unfortunately for him, Mirror Master never left any behind. Part of his MO. "Hopefully, I find a way to put the Rogues in prison forever."

"Gonna use some of that speed magic you got, eh?" the officer laughed.

"Something else," he murmured, before thanking the officer for his time, and racing off.

"So you're part of the team now, huh?" Captain Cold congratulated. "Welcome aboard."

"Well, we all share common goals," he smiled, and everyone cheered. They had returned from Iron Heights, successfully, thanks in no small part to Hans. Though they didn't know who he really was, they didn't really care at the moment.

"What bothers me is that Flash let me get away," the Weather Wizard complained, but no one really listened.

"Ah, who cares Mardon?" the Captain laughed. "I'm back!"

"This means we can enter the next phase?" Hans asked hopefully.

"Yes, we've entered the next phase," Cold said thoughtfully. "How much longer until you're done with the mirror contraption?"

For some dumb reason, Mirror Master had taken the device with him on the heist for Captain Cold, thinking he could show it off to him, and he had lost it during the fight with the security and police. It was a setback in his plans, and they would have to wait more time, but the good news was he still had the blueprints for his invention.

"It should be done in a day. Two at maximum," he replied, nervously. He knew what the Captain was capable of.

"Hmm," Cold grunted. "In the meantime, we have to prepare. Go over everything again. We can't let what happened last time happen again."

"We have an advantage this time," Hans piped up. "He's still disoriented from his 'loss'."

"Yes," Cold remembered, as he had seen the speech inside the prison. "And once again, welcome aboard."

The Blue Beetle's scarab sent a message to Iris West's phone, saying, 'look up', as he flew in from the sky to the roof of the skyscraper. It was his preferred method of entry, going down from the top. Falling from grace, some might say.

As soon as the door opened, Iris rushed to him, and it was evident he needed help, as he was limping. The armor was gone, and it was just Hans who was being helped.

"Are you crazy?" she said, angry. "Did you join the Rogues?"

"I couldn't stop it," Hans said, as he lay on the couch. "The scarab forced me."

"Hans, this is going too far," she said in a low voice. "Do you know how much trouble you would be in if the police got ahold of you?"

"I think I'm going to try and get help," he said to her, which calmed her down.

"I'll call the hospital or-" she started.

"No!" he said, shooting down the idea. "No, I'd rather try and find another way. They'll grill me alive."

"If you don't find a cure in a week," she told him. "I'm going to do it."

"Fine," he said, and he lay there, dreaming of home.