No time for rest
No pillow for my head
Nowhere to run from this
No way to forget

Around the shadows creep
Like friends, they cover me
Just wanna lay me down and finally
Try to get some sleep
We carry on through the storm
Tired soldiers in this war
Remember what we're fighting for
Meet me on the battlefield
Even on the darkest night
I will be your sword & shield, your camouflage
And you will be mine
Echos of the shots ring out
We may be the first to fall
Everything could stay the same or we could change it all
Meet me on the battlefield
Meet me on the Battlefield, SVRCINA


Becoming the fastest woman alive felt amazing. Rachel could never even imagine how it was to have speed, how it was to be the Flash and now she could. Compared to her old powers, those were so, so much better and they made her feel so deliciously free. Now she could finally understand what Eobard meant when his speed had been taken, she could understand Barry. Now she was a speedster herself and she loved it. It was not a power she would like to be taken away.

Barry was training her and she enjoyed it immensely and then was even more eager to start helping him with small crimes around the city. She couldn't wait for him to allow her participation in the 'big league', but understood when he told her she wasn't ready. He was afraid for her safety and wanted to make sure she could handle everything first, though she made very fast progress. Working as a team this way made her feel even closer to him. Helping him and being able to actually do something to contribute to keeping him safe made a huge difference. She was no longer on the sidelines, just being an observer and maybe getting her inspiration from it later. She was right there, on the front line with him and she had his back as well as he had hers. She even got her own name – Struck, one that had been given to her before by Cisco regarding her old powers, but also one that fitted perfectly now as she had been, indeed, struck by lightning.

This whole time they tried to find the Reverse Flash, but so far there was no sign of him as though he was hiding away from them. They could only hope he hadn't travelled anywhere in time again that could potentially affect their lives.

Few weeks later Rachel decided to just enjoy every day of her life and not constantly live in fear. They finally started planning their wedding with Barry and it was as much fun as it was trouble. Truly, preparation turned out to be horribly exhausting with everything they needed to agree upon – even things they wouldn't think were necessary to consider like the colors of literally everything or the style of their wedding photos. Planning a wedding felt like a final test whether you actually wanted to. But they did. There was also another benefit they discovered while sharing their powers that involved more intimate activities as their bodies literally felt electrified, the lightning cursing through their veins whenever they came together. It was as though she could feel him on a deeper level, feeling his powers through her own, experiencing everything clearer and more intense.

All in all, Rachel was happier than she'd ever been in her entire life.

Their bliss was not as long-lived, again because of the appearance of a new big bad in town, but to be honest, they'd expected a bigger threat much earlier. Still, they suspected it would be Thawne, not a speedster in red armor calling themselves Red Death.

Eventually, they needed to stop looking for the Reverse Flash and put all the Labs' resources to localizing the Red Death that turned out to be very dangerous. Also, something that – in Barry's mind – Rachel was not yet ready for.

"I've been training for weeks! We can deal with it together," she protested when her soon-to-be-husband categorically disagreed that she should come along the moment they spotted the villain in question.

"Exactly! Weeks! I've been training for years before I got to the point in which I am now!"

"Yes, but did that stop you? No! You were running into danger and stopping criminals all along! You weren't waiting for anyone to fully train you! You just took it as you went."

"But this is different… this…"

"Oh no, don't give me the crap talk that it's because I'm a woman!" she suddenly exclaimed, feeling very insulted and wondering whether this was actually turning into a huge fight between them.

"What?!" Barry seemed shocked. "Of course not! I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Well, it's the same for me and that's why I think I can keep you safe in the field and you can do the same for me. It's like we're having each other's back. Or… is there more to the story?"

"It's because you almost died on him. Twice," they suddenly heard Khione's calm voice and they both turned their heads to the door where she now stood. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to impose… I just…"

Khione had actually been working hard on getting to know herself and on developing her own powers. They looked like nothing any one of them had ever seen. She was not a meta – similar to Caitlin – yet somehow was very much in tune with human emotions and nature. She wasn't really an empath like Cecile, though. It was much, much more than that. She herself described it as bringing natural order of things, working with the laws of the cruel and beautiful in the same time nature. She'd saved Rachel because nature apparently thought it wasn't her time to die just yet.

"You can't always keep me on the sidelines because of that," Rachel's voice came back to normal now as she understood the reason all too well. Still, she had a say in it as well. And she wanted to work on her powers. Cisco even made her a suit and she loved it. It was blue and resembled Barry's, adjusted to her being a female and all. "And then one day, Nora will come to this world and you also can't just keep her away from all of it. She will have speed like we both do. She will need guidance and patient teachers. What she won't need is always being kept away from danger. This way she'll only grow reckless."

Barry shook his head, then looked aside while running his hand through his hair.

"Fine. You're right. But you also need to listen to me. I only want to keep you safe. I… I really thought you were finally ok and then…" He shook his head again. "I just can't lose you."

"Well, then there's both of us, because I can't lose you as well." She smiled to him after which she came closer and gave him a kiss.


In the end, they still couldn't predict that the Red Death would randomly grab Barry while on patrol and drag him with.

Rachel of course noticed that due to her powers and did her best to follow while informing the team on the way. Unfortunately for her, her comms were jammed the moment she followed Red Death and therefore she doubted the team managed to get their location once she ran into the building, still tailing. If they did, they would immediately send Vibe or Elongated Man, but this way…

She was pretty sure she made herself as a Batwoman doppelganger from another earth – the person behind the red mask – turned straight in her direction and not a moment after grabbed her and threatened to kill her if Barry didn't power a treadmill for her that would allow her to get back home and reverse time – her speed being artificial, therefore she couldn't do it herself.

Rachel felt like the last idiot, realizing she should've just come back to the Labs, told everyone where Barry was and bring some back up, but now it was too late. She truly failed her lessons, she thought, not even able to look Barry in the eye as he got on the treadmill. That was exactly what he'd been warning her against all this time – to think and develop tactics rather than blindly follow emotions.

She had no idea what to do now, just standing there, being held by the Red Death, knowing if she tried anything, she would probably earn a vibrating hand through her chest or something like that. For the first time when having those powers, she felt absolutely powerless, finally realizing and understanding so much, but it was too late.

Suddenly, barely when Barry started running, there was a yellow flash and he was knocked aside, falling from the treadmill and then Rachel was no longer being held by the Red Death. Now she was moving with incredible speed. The difference was that this time she possessed it herself so before the figure put her down in an empty alley, she could tell that it was the Reverse Flash.

She tried to wiggle out from his strong hold, nearly fighting and that cause both of them to stumble once they reached his destination.

"Don't worry," she immediately heard Eobard's voice. "I won't hurt you. You know I won't. Please. I just want to talk."

He was standing there, his cowl pulled back, revealing his face and hair, his hands reached out in a gesture of surrender.

For a moment she was baffled by his sudden appearance and actions and then she retorted, "Talk?! Then explain to me, please, how you orchestrated everything so I got speed." She folded her arms across her chest, clearly wanting to hear it from him. She knew by now that he wouldn't really hurt her.

"Well, I did try to go back in time and make you marry me. Make you choose me. Didn't work. Then I decided to make you a speedster, give you a meaningful gift, give you my everything."

She was just staring at him. Then she said, "And get rid of Barry. Like always. Your ultimate goal."

"Well… yeah, I hate this guy. Can't help it."

"What kind of a benefit me having speed brings you?" she then asked.

"Like I said. I thought you deserved it. Speed has always been my everything. In my eyes, it's the greatest gift I could ever give someone."

"First of all," she started, "true love should be your everything, so no, Eobard, I do not believe you love me. Second of all, I died. You made Barry kill me with his lightning."

"Yeah, that was pretty cool, wasn't it? You should've seen the look on his face… I mean, I think you even did… did you?"

Rachel's eyes opened widely in shock. Then again, she shouldn't be surprised this would be Thawne's reaction.

"Oh, come on, I knew you were safe. That it wouldn't really hurt you. And I hoped you'd realize how amazing it is to have speed, that you'd be grateful for that."

"For making the man I love think he killed me? No, I could never be grateful for that. And as much as I enjoy my speed now, I would never be grateful to you."

"Rachel," his voice grew serious, deeper and he made a step forward, but she immediately followed with one backwards and away from him. "I do love you. That is not a lie. I love you." His eyes seemed genuine when he said that and it was the one thing that actually terrified her in this moment. "I wish I made different choices. I can… I can reverse time if you want," he then offered. "I don't need to kill Barry's mom at all and be evil. We can actually be together. I see it clearly now. I see my mistakes and unlike other people, I actually have the power to undo them."

She came right back to being shocked.

"You're a psychopath…" she whispered under her nose. Because only a psychopath could laugh about making the man he hated suffer and then tell her that he regretted the evil he'd done and wanted to fix it. "You're not even the real Harrison Wells," she then reminded him in a louder voice, "so in order to have a life with me, you'd still have to kill him."

"I am the exact same man you were with all those years," he argued. "Under a different name, maybe, but it was still me. I did not play anyone when being with you."

"Maybe, but it's too late, Eobard. It's just too late. And I know the answers to all the whys now too. There is no love in me for you. All the love I ever had was for the original Harrison Wells, because all the parts of you that I loved, belonged to him. He made me realize that. He explained everything to me."

"Really?" He still didn't seem to believe her. "Why did you save me, then? Why did you make sure that Barry took my speed away, but not my life?"

"I merely suggested that letting you die while we had a way to save your life was wrong. And I didn't do it for you. I did it for Barry, for his conscience. I knew he would regret letting you die in the end because he is a good man, a hero. He's everything you'll never be."

"I know!" Thawne suddenly screamed, raising his fist and she made another few steps back. "I know that! And that's exactly what broke me! Because I knew I could never be the hero!"

"I've changed since we were together. I am not the same woman you claim to love. I'm not naïve anymore and I was back there. You see, paradoxically you were right when you told me that love isn't like in the books. But the right one can be and maybe it can be even better because it's real."

"Are you really so in love with him or just afraid of your own darkness?" he then asked her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She frowned.

"You just refuse to admit we were happy. That you truly loved me. We can be again, Rachel. I can fix it all."

She nearly gasped in exasperation, but somehow, she didn't feel afraid. He'd done his worst already, yet she and Barry were still here, still together and now stronger than ever. It was then that she realized Eobard Thawne, Harrison Wells in disguise or the Reverse Flash, had no power over her or them anymore. They could and would overcome anything.

"You have taken so much from all of us," she began again, "manipulated the future I was supposed to have, the one I chose as a free person, my future with Barry, the love of my life. And now you have the audacity to ask me this? It's too late, Eobard. You destroyed the trust I had in you a long time ago."

"But when you chose him, you didn't have the possibility of choosing Harrison Wells, did you? What if…?"

"I am done with what ifs!" Rachel raised her voice, beyond exasperated with this conversation. Besides, Barry must've been worried sick about her by now. "And you are not Harrison Wells. You're the reason he's dead. And ironically, the good parts in you, those that make you want to care for me and protect me, they all come from him. They're there because you took his body. Without that, you wouldn't care what happens to me."

"Are you absolutely sure about that? Or is it the very mixture of this body, his romantic part and mine vicious? My animalistic part? Are you absolutely sure that it's not all of this together, all that makes me the me you wanted?"

She shook her head.

"You're delusional and what you think you feel, it's not love. It's just a mirror of emotions you took from the real Harrison Wells. Now… the right thing to do is not going back in time and killing this poor man again. The right thing to do is to lock you up…"

Only the problem was that she might be the fastest woman alive, but he was a speedster much longer, therefore he was still faster.


"I will kill that bastard!" Barry exclaimed when they were both safely back in the Labs, facing the team. "What the hell was he thinking, ambushing you like this?! Does he think he's the hero now because he saved us?!"

"Barry, it's ok. He's not going to do anything. He knows it won't work anyway without my consent. His last attempts at killing you as a child and getting me to marry him didn't work. We still found each other," Rachel reminded him when cupping his face and making him look her in the eye. "That is why he tried asking for my permission. But he still did not understand that the answer was always ever going to be no."

Barry nodded, trying to breathe normally and then he turned to the rest of the team.

"Any eyes on either Red Death or Reverse Flash?"

"You, guys, are so cute," Khione randomly commented on their love. "I really feel genuine feelings here and they are so beautiful."

"Well, you're not gonna believe it, but…" Cisco started when looking at the computers, "but the sky has just turned red. My bet is that Red Death wants to destroy this city now that her plan didn't work out."

"I'm on it," Barry immediately said.

"Me too," Rachel added.

He looked at her and then nodded. "Let's do it together."