How long can you wait
To breathe deep?
How long can you stay
Underneath?
It's hard to believe
But I know your heart still beats
Rise on up, baby
Don't need eyes to see
It ain't over love
This I swear
We're coming up for air
It ain't over yet
The light's right here
And we're coming up for air
Coming Up for Air, Signals in Smoke
The news was so unexpected, it hit them hard. Rachel still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Harry, Jesse… her own doppelganger she never met and Barry's as well… that they were all gone.
Was that why she saw a Wells? But then again, he looked nothing like Harry in a way only a doppelganger could. For starters, the glasses were absolutely not Harry's and the white shirt under his black jacket either. Harry wouldn't be caught dead in white. Caught… Rachel's eyes filled with tears again and she made to approach Caitlin, but the woman shook her head while reaching her hand out. "No, please, no," she said, her voice caught in the throat and hoarse. "Or else I fall apart. Now it's not the time…"
"Rachel…" Barry grabbed her hand and turned her gently so she was facing him again. "Rachel, I need to go…"
"No," she denied fiercely, holding on to him and refusing to let go. "No, Barry…" Yes, she might've seen a bizarre version of Wells that told her everything would be alright, but in the same time letting go of Barry… "What if I never see you again?"
"I will never be able to find a way to say goodbye," he then told her when looking her straight in the eye, his own shiny by now, a loving smile on his face as he raised her right hand and touched the engagement ring he'd put there. "But I want to thank you. For being so wonderful, for taking a chance on us even with those horrible odds…"
"Barry…"
"You already gave me so much love and happiness and I will always, always be grateful for every single moment. Words will never be enough to tell you how much I love you. I wish I could marry you and have Nora with you… but… but…"
"Never say never," she told him, cupping his face and locking her equally teary gaze with his. "I love you. I have no regrets even if it all ends today." After that, she kissed him, pressing her lips onto his desperately, her hands locking over his shoulders, wanting to keep him there with her, but they both knew he had to go.
"Ready to kick some ass?" The appearance of Gypsy broke the mood, but also mobilized the heroes to face what was coming and soon enough, The Flash, Vibe, Gypsy and Elongated Man were gone, leaving Rachel and Caitlin.
"Frost?" Rachel asked.
Cait shook her head. "We decided it would be better if I took the wheel. She's not been doing so well recently, facing death and annihilation and all."
It was ironic, really since there was company that should make them feel better, but in fact did not help at all. In the end, both Rachel and Caitlin settled for just sitting in silence, first one nervously playing with her fingers and trying not to go crazy and the second doing her best as not to break just yet in case she was needed in the Crisis.
Something moved in the corner of Rachel's eye and she raised her head, led more by instinct than curiosity since she knew that considering what was happening, following something unknown all on her own could not exactly turn out to be such a good idea.
Somehow though, she could feel it was, therefore she just stood up and walked out of the lounge and straight into the hall, meeting the same Wells she'd had before.
"Who are you?" she asked him again, really wanting to know, this curiosity being the only distraction that could occupy her brain long enough. "Am I the only one you're showing yourself to? Does this have something to do with Harry being gone?"
"That's quite a handful of questions." He seemed amused.
"Well, I would really appreciate you answering since you're already here."
"I'm Harrison Wells."
"This one is kinda obvious, don't you think?" She sighed in exasperation when folding her arms across her chest.
"Just the perfect answer for your question. You should've formed it differently."
"Are you playing games now? How should I know you're even on our side?"
"It's still before my time, therefore I only came to you," he then informed, being even more cryptic with this. "We share a certain… connection, because of what you had with the other Wellses."
"You mean with Eobard Thawne or Harry Wells? Because the first one was a fraud and not really a Wells and a second one was a mistake I made while hurting."
"All you need to know right now," his voice grew colder, his familiar piercing blue eyes holding her gaze steadily, "is that your strength is needed. Barry needs you. Now more than ever. You cannot fall apart and I know you are doing that again because I can feel it. You have nothing to be worried about. You just need to be there, be strong and be hopeful."
"You're saying this like me being at peace and certain Barry survives will help him somehow."
"How do you know it won't?"
"Well, because… because it makes no sense."
"You used to be a meta. You saw bad things that were about to happen."
"Yes and…?"
"What if I told you that your abilities went a lot beyond just that?"
She needed a few seconds to catch up and then she asked, "Do you honestly want to tell me that this whole time I had those powers… I could've… not only see the horrible futures of metas, but… change them as well?" If this was true, this knowledge… it leveled her. She could've done so much good, but instead she'd ended up with no powers because it was either having them or staying alive.
"Yes."
"But… but… how? Just by fighting what I was seeing?"
"No, not by fighting. You cannot build or change anything for the better with force. By sheer imagination. Rachel, you… you are a very talented writer, but the writing itself is just a skill you've kept on working on over the years. The real magic… that is happening inside your head. Your imagination is your true power and by simply changing the vision you're getting inside your mind with all the details and giving birth to a new one… that is the true power."
"So now I can't save Barry because my powers are gone? How do I get them back?" That was not even a question of if. She didn't care what happened to her in the end. She wanted to save Barry. She would sacrifice her own life for this.
"You can save Barry. You can have your powers back."
"How? Please, tell me how!"
"You asked who I am. I can tell you what I am. The full knowledge is to be revealed later and just then you will finally understand, but let me tell you this – I am a correction of the Universe. And I am in a complete alignment with time and space and I can grant you your wish. After that, the rest is up to you."
"Will it kill me eventually? Like it almost did before?"
"No. You'll know how to control it now. You're not going to panic. You will turn this power into something amazing and good. Now you know how."
She nodded, not really sure how she really felt about this, but this was the only way. This was the hope she prayed for. Barry had never seen this possible future as he'd never thought she could have her powers back and even if, he wouldn't even know how that could help since no one did. Just now… the truth was finally revealed.
"Wait… Did Eobard know?" she suddenly asked. "This whole time I thought he made sure I get powers to torture me with the visions of Barry dying, to make sure I stayed away from him."
"That might've been his initial plan, but as many of them… it all turned against him. There will always be a failsafe within the Universe. He manipulated the timeline enough for his own gain and managed to even cheat his own death through it. This is somewhat of a counterbalance."
Rachel nodded.
"Ok. I'm ready."
"Rachel?!" they heard Caitlin calling out to her. "Ra… was that Wells?!" Cait finally reached her, her eyes opening widely in shock. "Does this mean… Harry and Jesse?" For a moment, there was hope in her eyes, a brief thought that maybe, just maybe they'd survived somehow and just now made their way here…"-
"I'm sorry. It's too much to explain now... but I got my powers back," Rachel just said, trying not to think that if she'd had them all along, she might've seen what would happen to Earth Two coming and at least had gotten their friends here…
"Wait… what?!"
From now on, Rachel had a task and she focused on it like her entire life depended on it. And in a way, it did. She did not want to live without Barry and now that she had the power to actually save him, she imagined it happening so hard and in so many details that her spirit was floating, feeling the joy and the relief of him being ok, of him not meeting the dreadful fate prophesized.
Caitlin didn't dare interrupt, still shocked with her friend's explanation, but also hoping with all her might that it would work.
Eventually, a portal opened and Cisco jumped out of it.
"We need Frost," he turned to Caitlin. "It started for real. Kara's earth now is gone too… I think we discovered a place in our world where it all started. We need to get there, but we need more manpower."
"I'm going too," Rachel said and before Cisco managed to protest, Caitlin backed her up, "Trust me on this, we need her." She then closed her eyes and let Frost take over. "We so do," Frost agreed as well. "This one here is our secret weapon to saving everything."
"I wouldn't say… everything," Rachel protested, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. "I just need to see Barry, please."
There was no time to argue and quite frankly, no one in their right mind would, so Cisco opened another breach and they all jumped through, finding themselves in some kind of a cave, but all Rachel could see was her fiancé.
She screamed his name and not a second after she was safely in his arms, feeling his own enveloping her tightly, his face burying in her hair.
"I really needed to see you now," he admitted and there was something so final in his voice that she moved away to be able to look at him.
"You are not dying today."
"Rachel…"
"No, Barry. I'm serious, I…"
"She's right, you know," they suddenly heard another voice and when Rachel looked in that direction…
"Jay?"
"No." Barry shook his head. "It's the Flash of Earth Ninety Two. Another Barry Allen."
As the name was spoken, it all fit perfectly in her mind and for a moment there, she was terrified she sentenced another man to die just because she wanted to save the one she loved. On the other hand, Wells told her she could change the fate she saw through positivity, through positive images, so she focused on the moment of realization that Barry hadn't died, that he would live. Was that really making her guilty?
"Novu said the Flash must die in Crisis, but he never said which one. I lost my love a long time ago and I also lost my world. Let me do this," the other Barry said.
"No… Barry… it's my destiny…"
"It's not," Rachel argued. "He was sure of it… he…"
"Who?!" her Barry asked in confusion. "What are you even talking about?"
"It was… a version of Wells… He explained… Barry, it's too complicated and involves my powers… please, just…"
"Wells?! Powers?! Rachel, what have you done?!" Barry got angry, his eyes opening widely. "Please… please, do not tell me that…"
"Barry!" they heard Frost calling out, pointing at Cisco who was just helping the other Flash.
"No!" their Barry yelled again, torn between finding out more and saving the doppelganger of his father and not able to do both.
In the end, he couldn't do anything because of the force field around the antimatter canon and the treadmill next to it. That was why the other Barry needed Cisco to breach him inside – there was no other way in or out.
"It was his choice. It was a sacrifice from a man who's already lost everything," Cisco approached Barry now, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Respect that."
Rachel ran over to them and clang to her fiancé again, his arm going around her automatically as he was still in a bit of a shock.
"Let's come back to the Waverider."
As soon as they got there – and it was Rachel's first time seeing the Legend's ship and meeting some of the heroes; a blond young woman and Sara informed that Oliver did not want to leave purgatory.
"Wait…"
"Oliver's gone," Barry explained, the pain visible on his face as he said his friend's name.
"Barry, I am so… so sorry," Rachel whispered and went in for a hug again. This time he fully embraced her, taking comfort in her presence, slowly letting it hit him that he was alive. That he wouldn't die. "Can you now, please, explain…"
"There's no time," they suddenly heard a voice that could belong to no one else but a Wells.
"Harry?!" Cisco got excited, but the man only shook his head.
"There's no time for introductions. You stopped the canon, but the Antimonitor just defeated the Monitor and the wave of antimatter… has just reached Earth One. There's nothing left."
"What?! Then why did you even give me hope?!" Rachel screamed, losing her understanding and just struggling with the news. Were they all going to die now? How much time did they have?!
"For a reason," a steady and calm answer came. "Barry needed to live for what comes next."
"And what is this?"
Only in that moment Barry and a few of the other heroes simply disappeared, leaving her, Frost, Cisco, Ralph and the rest to…
nothing
Barry opened his eyes to Rachel sleeping peacefully on the side, her face turned in his direction, the sun slipping in through the window and illuminating her red hair.
For a moment he was a little confused and then, once it all started getting back to him, he realized that, that was it. They'd made it. They'd managed to spark the birth of a new universe, Oliver's death a sacrifice for that. And they were back. Rachel was right there with him and he was alive.
She opened her eyes, spotting him looking at her.
"What is it?" she asked.
He couldn't help it. He smiled at her brilliantly; his mind, body and soul fully embracing the new reality, the second chance he'd been given, the life he could now have, the future he dreamt of.
"Nothing," he just said. "You're beautiful in the morning. And I'm happy."
She smiled right back at him and reached her hand to his face, suddenly stilling at the touch, her mind flooded with memories.
"Barry…"
"I'm here."
"The multiverse…"
"I don't know. All I know is that we restored the universe, that we're back on our earth. We're alive."
"You're alive," she whispered, moving closer till she could actually feel his body warm and alive next to her, her hand finding his heart, feeling it beat. "I'm so glad you're alive!" Her lips finally found his and they kissed.
"Wait… according to… the weird Wells we saw…" he started then, a frown marring his forehead as he remembered this particular thing. "Your powers…"
"It's not what you think," she cut in quickly. "You don't need to worry about it. He assured me I'd be able to control them this time, that they won't hurt me because I understand them more now."
"But… Rachel…"
"He needed me to save your life, so you could help restore the universe. Of course I said yes. How could I not?"
"But… is this what you want in the long haul? Are you even ok with that? We can still take them away…"
"They were given back to me by some kind of a cosmic power I do not fully understand so I could help save the very universe we all live in. I don't think I should just get rid of them like this. I think I can do some good in this world."
"But… how does this work? How did you even…?"
"Please, just let me enjoy this moment," she interrupted, pressing on him till he lay on his back and she could rest her head on his chest and enjoy the cuddling. "Just hold me, Barry. That's all I need right now. I need peace and you and just us. Everything else can wait."
So he did.
It was, indeed, a brave new world.
