A/N: My writing style is going to be a little different from here on out. I'm basically going to be doing multiple character POVs across the chapters. Each chapter will be a character POV.

Earth 14

August 14th, 2015

BARRY

Barry and Logan walked through the streets of a completely wasted and destroyed city. The ground was covered in broken glass, piles and spread-out heaps of debris. Entire buildings were cut in half, destroyed, or toppled over and completely cutting off entire parts of the city. Parts where runners were trapped, unable to break through. During his time on Earth 14, Barry tried to learn as much as he could about the runners, most of his knowledge of them came through Logan but he managed to learn some information for himself. He knew that runners could infect the living by either scratching, biting, or eating them, or worse, doing all three. Any other form of physical contact wasn't harmful or deadly. Those three ways were the only ways through which the virus could spread. While the runners had completely similar abilities as Barry's, they weren't as skilled with them. They couldn't phase at will, only randomly and their running styles were completely uncoordinated or proper. They couldn't properly turn or be agile, only run rashfully and hungrily for prey. While the runners were difficult to handle, there were certain advantages. Barry had hoped to find out more in order for him to survive, he needed to know more about the runners' strengths and weaknesses. At the moment, he and Logan were simply looking for a place that could have had supplies of any kind.

"It's all been laid to waste," Barry muttered, unable to unsee all the damage and how far the destruction spread.

"I'd be surprised if there was anything in the goddamn world that wasn't," Logan muttered back.

Barry replied with a light scoff. "Tell me about it. I came to this Earth unwillingly and I thought there would be some bit of normal. Now, I'm starting to think that things are gonna be like this for a long time."

"A long time?" Logan raised an eyebrow incredulously. "You really think this is gonna end?"

Barry nods his head. "It has to…at some point. Maybe not today, not tomorrow, but one day it will. One day, maybe we'll share a drink, look over a porch, see some kids running and playing. People talking and partying. A world free of these things. Free of pain. Just…the people you care about, the people you know."

Logan eyed Barry. "You know something, kid…you may be going through a lot but you seem to be holding on to hope."

"I've never really known why…I guess it's just me."

"Don't. That's a good thing. You're one of the good ones, kid. I'm just hoping this world doesn't take that from you."

Barry frowned. "Why would it take that from me?"

Logan sighed. "This world, this life…you don't get to live through and be a good man. Besides…something tells me that when this is over, you're gonna be a hell of a lot different than you are now."

Before Barry could even open his mouth to respond, the sounds of Quinjet engines roared in the sky as the pair looked up and saw a Quinjet lowering from the sky to the ground. Logan's eyebrows crunched in confusion as Barry's face lightly fell upon recognizing the Quinjet. The Quinjet extended its landing gear as it set itself on the ground, blowing dust and bits of sand in Barry and Logan's way. Each of them closed their eyes, looking away as they raised one of their arms ahead of them reflexively. The dust and sand blew over as Logan and Barry lowered their arms and eyed the Quinjet, a lowered hangar door at the end of it as a man in red, white, and blue suit with a shield on his back stood at the end of the hangar. On his right, a young woman in her late twenties, seemingly the same age as Barry, with short, chocolate brown hair and a black suit stood beside the man. A couple seconds later, a man in a red and gold suit and a sort of red robot in a green suit with a cape landed beside the two. Logan recognized the man in the red and gold, iron suit as well as the man in the red, white, and blue suit.

"Stark and Cap…" Logan muttered.

Barry maintained eye contact with the four people in front of him as he shifted his head to Logan's direction. "Two of the Avenger dudes you told me about."

Logan quickly glanced at Barry, confirming his words with a nod as he and Barry turned their heads back forward to face the four people.

"What about the robot and the girl?" Barry asked.

"No clue who they are, bub," Logan said dryly.

A few feet away from the pair, Steve, Daisy, Vision, and Tony stood side by side as they narrowed their eyes on the two men in front of them.

Daisy narrowed her eyes on Barry who glanced back at her. "There's our mystery man. How do we handle this, Cap?"

"Take it slow, take it easy," Steve ordered. "Wanna keep this peaceful but stay alert. We don't know who these guys are."

"What're you planning on, Cap?" Tony asked dryly.

Steve sighed. "Negotiations."

Steve walked forward as he stood five feet closer to Barry and Logan, closer but still at a relatively far distance. His shield strapped to his right hand as he spoke.

"My name is Steve Rogers," he began slowly.

Barry nodded. "We know who you are. You and Stark."

"Not so sure 'bout the rest of your team." Logan added as he and Barry eyed the four of them with a mix of emotions, for a brief moment Daisy and Barry had made eye contact as they partially glanced at one another for a few moments before Barry forced himself to look away, shoving a small lump down his throat.

Steve sighed as he continued speaking. "It's come to my understanding that one of you…isn't from this world. Another world. Another dimension, maybe."

Barry's face contorted as he did his best to mask it with a devoid look, an attempt that wasn't as successful as he needed it to be. So much so that Steve had already taken note, instantly knowing who he was looking for.

"W-what do you want?" Barry asked, any trace of composure he had inside him was wearing thin.

Steve knew and he knew for certain. "To give you a chance, kid…" Steve sighed as he flashed a quick look to a destroyed building before turning his head back to face Barry. Barry observed him as Steve put his shield on his back and took off his helmet-like cowl, letting it dangle from the fingers of his left hand. "Look, kid, I don't know who you are. There's a lot of things I don't know about you but I know this: you came here by accident. You're lost and you can't go home."

Barry's flickered as he briefly looked down, his jaw tightening before he looked back up at Steve. Steve noticed the shifting look in Barry's face. Clearly, he had reached a nerve, now it was a matter of whether he could soothe it or if he'd end up hitting it and causing serious issues. Thinking and choosing his words carefully, he let his lips move as his words echoed out of them.

"I know what you're going through," Steve continued. "To feel lost, to be thrown worlds away from the people you love and care about. I once had friends of my own. And they weren't just friends, they were brothers. Family…" Steve's jaw contorted as he thought of Bucky, the image of his best friend falling in the winter, snowy air flashing through his mind, taunting him. "I would've taken a bullet for them and they would've done the same for me. I met a woman…who I loved. Who I wanted to spend my life with. Next thing I know, I wake up from a seventy-year coma in the ice and there she is…just another ninety-year-old woman on her deathbed. My friends? They were long gone. Only thing remnant of them was their graves…

"I was lost. I was in a world of people and things I didn't know or understand. I couldn't trust anyone and I kept to myself…then I found this team. This team became my family. People I trust and care about…"

Steve walked closer to Barry as he stood a mere two feet away from him.

"Let us help you. This world…no one deserves to go through it alone. Now, I don't know what your world is like or who the people you cared about were…" Steve began. "But I know one thing, one thing that no world is exempt from: people can achieve more when they come together than they stand alone. What we do…here or somewhere else in this damned world. It can't just be about surviving. We're all way past that. What we're doing…what we're trying to do…is build the next world. Give a chance for people to live in a world free of these things. And I know…together we can do that. We can save this world, we can rebuild, we can do more than just survive. We can live." Steve extended his hand out to Barry. "Help us build that world…and we can help you live in this one."

Steve held his hand out to Barry as his words echoed in Barry's head, swaying in his mind. For a moment, he couldn't help but think himself and this "Steve Rogers" to be similar. Torn away from the ones they loved, thrown in a world without them where they had to endure. Regardless: Barry's mind and heart couldn't help but beg one ultimate question: could he trust him? Could he trust any of them? Perhaps he could. No. A voice in his head growled. No, you can't. First, it was Thawne. Then, Zoom. How many more people have to stab you in the back until you learn? Barry had to acknowledge both sides and yet, there was no middle ground. No middle line to follow. It was a two-way choice: take Steve's hand and trust him, going on a journey of the unknown to "build the new world". Or: turn him away, continue on his own with Logan as he always had. Either way, Barry had a feeling that whatever choice he made, there would be no going back. And whatever path he took, it would affect and change the course of whatever time Barry would spend on this Earth. What would it be? Trust and believe in this man, hoping that he, along with whatever team of people he was with, could truly be trusted in the hopes that they were different from Thawne and Zoom. Or continue on with Logan…two lost souls sinking into the dark, unforgiving pits of loneliness. In one reality, Barry would've chosen the second option. In this one, he didn't. He raised his hand to Steve's as the two hands clasped each other, giving a firm grip for a couple seconds.

"Steve Rogers," Steve announced, an indication for Barry to return the favor as he looked the man in the eyes.

"Barry Allen,"

Steve glanced at Logan as Barry eyed the two, looking back and forth at the both of them. Logan crossed his arms as he looked at Barry, who nodded with the slightest form of encouragement. Logan and Steve eventually shook hands.

"Cap'n…" Logan said as Barry detected a hint of respect in his tone. "Name's Logan…I'm with the kid."

Barry kept his head relatively down, his backpack hanging on his left shoulder as he made his way to the Quinjet. Vision simply stared at him as Barry tried to avoid him…he never enjoyed the idea of robots in real life. Tony gave him a "welcome to the team, Mr. traveler!". A greeting Barry ignored for the most part…then there was Daisy. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties, not more than a year younger than Barry and half a foot shorter than him. She had short brown chocolate hair and dark brown eyes, her cheeks had a hint of red to them. Her black, leather suit made her stand out in the broad daylight as she and Barry stood by the edge of the hangar door. The two remained silent as they looked each other in the eyes, a brief silence lasting between them for a good two seconds before Daisy quickly broke it.

"Hey, uh…" she tried to speak as she held out her hand. "Welcome to the team. I'm Daisy."

"Barry." he replied, shaking her hand, feeling the soft skin of her hand caressing his.

Daisy gave him a light smile as she jerked her head to the Quinjet. "Come on…we should really get going. Before any runners show up."

Barry's eyebrows crunched in confusion. "Runners?"

Daisy shrugged. "The zombies. It's what we call 'em."

"Right."

Barry and Daisy made their way inside the Quinjet as Logan and Steve followed them. Steve piloted as Tony and Vision flew on their own, Logan stood and remained on his feet the entire flight as he leaned against a corner. Barry and Daisy sat next to each other. The flight was going to take a few hours before they reached base. About two and a half hours into the flight, Barry decided to kill some time with some burning questions he had.

"How'd all this start? The runners?" Barry asked, his head turned to Daisy, his face contorted with confusion and curiosity.

Daisy sighed as she tilted her head to face Barry's direction. "It started with one runner. The first one. It showed up out of nowhere a few months ago, back in May. It infected over ten million people within an hour. And that was just in North America alone. This thing…it was fast. So are the runners. We can't even detect their speed with…anything. It's like they're immeasurable. Twenty-four hours after the first runner showed up, everything became…well, like this."

Barry's questions only burned even more. "You and your team…you never tried to look for a cure?"

"We were…" Daisy explained. "We still are. It's just…we had a biologist: Jemma Simmons. She was close to one but then, during a scout, she got infected. Her best friend, Fitz…he had to put a bullet in her brain…she was my friend too."

Barry's eyes flashed downward as he tried to keep his face as stoic as he could while also portraying some level of sympathy as the words flew from his lips. "I'm sorry."

Daisy shook her head, sniffing, practically shoving the tears back into her eyes. "Not your fault."

Barry sighed as he looked away, thinking of a theory that his mind couldn't forget. He spoke in a voice that no one else could hear as he thought of how the runners grew and grew, taking over and destroying the planet.

"I'm afraid in a way…it might be."

When he realized that no one heard him, he had never been more grateful for something in his entire life.

A/N: I realize I'm posting this after a while. My posting is going to be inconsistent due to being too damn busy with stuff. I'll try to post as much as I can and I definitely feel strong about being able to finish this story…no matter how long it'll take.