Barry has been at Star Labs, doing everything he can to read anything he can find to become the fastest man alive so that when they find a way to Earth-2, they can end Zoom. He's mad because he feels like he's gone through the same thing twice, and it's only made things worse since it was over the past two years.

"Can we please get rid of Jay's helmet? It's giving me daymares." Cisco asks his friend.

"Sorry, it keeps me motivated," Barry tells him.

Cisco carries all the books he could towards Barry. "This is all I could find even remotely related to increasing speed. How are these supposed to help apply the speed equation to you,?"

"The answer to getting faster has to be in here somewhere," Barry answers.

Caitlin then enters the Cortex from her lab. "I think I found something interesting," she tells them.

"Is that a good interesting, or bad interesting?" Cisco asks her.

"After running some comparative data, it appears that you, Reverse Flash, and Zoom are moving your legs at essentially the same speed," Caitlin explains what she was able to put together.

"Then why are they so much faster than him?" Peter asks, just when the web fluid explodes onto his face.

"Best I can tell, with each stride their feet spend less time on the ground, this propelling them forward much faster." Says Caitlin.

"Well, I gotta make up that difference somehow," Barry says and goes to dinner with Joe.

Caitlin and Cisco exchanged a glance, and Caitlin stepped forward cautiously. What she was about to say had to be broken delicately. "Barry?" She went over to his side and rested her hand on his arm. "Look. After what that monster did, I want to stop Jay just as badly as you do."

Barry nodded absently, and Caitlin went on, even more gently. "But... what if the reason you haven't been able to run as fast as him yet is because... you just can't?"


Peter was walking around the halls of Star Labs after doing a bit of experimenting with Miles' invisibility powers when he heard grunts and screams of anger. As he approached where they were coming from, he was met with Angelica sending a fireball flying through the air. He quickly dodged the attack, seeing she was aiming for a mannequin.

"I'm gonna guess that manakin dumped you?" Peter quipped.

Angelica snarled, mad about recently learning who Jay was. "Not funny!"

"Sorry." Peter chuckled sheepishly and approached her. "Jay is Zoom. Gotta say, didn't see that one coming. Yet again, I didn't see myself befriending my enemy's son, so life is full of surprises."

"Jay was a hero," Angelica whispered as she sat down on the ground. "He fought beside us. And now he's Zoom?"

"Well, Norman Osborn was a respective scientist, but was hiding the fact he was Goblin," Peter recalled as he sat down next to her. "That's the hard thing about being a hero. We want to see the best in people so badly, we sometimes open ourselves to being tricked."

"There's no one left," Angelica muttered, earning a confused look from Peter. "There are no more heroes. Me and Miles are going to be the last ones. Zoom has either corrupted or killed the rest of us..."

"I don't think you'll be the only ones." Peter was confident. "Sure, it will take some time, and it won't be easy. But I know there will be others willing to rise and help in your time of need. Because that's what heroes do. We hope and believe in the goodness of others."

Angelica chuckled as she wiped away some tears. "You sound just as sappy and sweet as my Peter."

Peter took that as a compliment. "The Parker charm must be universal."

Angelica chuckled as she leaned against Peter, who then pulled her in for a hug. She only stayed there and allowed a few more tears to fall; Peter only continued to comfort her.


About an hour and a half after Barry left Star Labs for dinner with Joe, Iris, and Wally, Caitlin got a text. Everyone had already left and gone to try and get some rest, considering half of them still needed to get to school in the morning.

I have the answer, meet me at Star in 5.

She let out a sigh, threw on her clothes from earlier, and slipped on a pair of flats instead of her usual heels. She wasn't quite able to make it in five minutes, but she wasn't a speedster, and she obeyed the speed limit; so she got there earlier than Cisco, anyway.

Barry met her at the door and she raised a questioning eyebrow. He bounced on his heels, not letting her know anything before Cisco got there.

When Cisco finally did arrive, he raised his eyebrow in the same way Caitlin had. "Alright, dude. Spill."

Five minutes of hurried explanation later, they were walking hurriedly down Star Labs' hallway. Barry was rubbing the back of his neck, filled with nervous anticipation.

Cisco shook his head. "Harrison Wells. As in Eobard Thawne? Do you want him to teach you how to run faster? Oh, that's rich. How are you gonna do that?"

"By running back to this time, last year," Barry said, rounding the corner of the desk and looking at both of them seriously.

"And what about the other you, the one from that timeline?" Cisco asked in exasperation.

"I'll knock him out with something," said Barry. Shrugging, he didn't seem too concerned about the flaw in his "perfect" plan. "He's not going to see me coming, and then I'll have Wells teach me."

Caitlin had so much she wanted to say, but she settled for: "Barry. That's crazy."

He looked at her earnestly. "Nothing I've read is pointing me toward a solution, and if there's anybody that's figured out the key to getting faster without V-9 it's him."

Caitlin bit her lip, nodding a little in halfhearted admittance at his point.

"What do you guys think?" Barry asked.

Cisco scoffed. Caitlin shrugged.

"Your plan is asinine." They all turned to see Wells standing in the doorway with a baseball cap on his head and a bag over his shoulder.

"You find Jesse?" Cisco asked, eyeing the bag.

Wells glared. "Does it look like I found Jesse?" He then placed his bag down and looked at Barry. "How many times have you traveled through time?"

Barry recalled at least two, maybe three times. "A few."

"Do you have any idea how many things you could screw up?" Wells asks him.

"All I need is one conversation with Wells," Barry explains.

"He's not Wells!" Wells started to get a little annoyed with the idea. "I'm Wells."

"Thawne." Barry corrected himself.

"This man has studying you for fifteen years, and you think that he's not gonna know who you are?" Wells asks.

Barry is pretty good at impersonating himself," Cisco said. "You should have seen him on Earth-2; I was thinking somebody gets this man an Oscar."

"He will know, Allen," Wells promises him.

"Well, what am I supposed to do? How am I gonna stop Zoom? Do you know the answer to this equation?" Barry asks him, getting to the speed equation.

"If Thawne figures out that it's you, the timeline is disrupted, people could die, people will live, and nobody will be able to tell the difference, but I promise you...when you come back, things will be different." Wells promises. "And only you will know what those differences are."

"If that's what it takes to stop Zoom, so be it," Barry stated. "Because if I don't, and Zoom gets my speed before I learn how to stop him, everyone I love, everyone in this city, the world will never be the same," Barry said as Wells gave up and left.

Barry let out a sigh, watching him leave, and turned back to his friends, still waiting for their input. Caitlin tilted her head to the side. "Do you really think you can do this?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I do. When I went back last year and..." He stopped for a moment, looking down. "I saw my mom die, it didn't affect the timeline."

"But you haven't really time-traveled like this before," Cisco protested, still unconvinced.

Barry shook his head. "I have to do this, you guys."

Caitlin was quiet for a moment, but she didn't have to think long. She trusted Barry with her life, and she also knew that he wouldn't be doing something like this if he wasn't positive that it would help.

"Okay." She said. "Let's go for it."


"Okay," Cisco said, speaking through the intercom as Barry stood in front of the pipeline in his suit. "You're going to go back to the time when Wells was distracted by the major jerk Hartley Rathaway. This is the first time we found out Wells knew the accelerator might explode, and we were all angry with him. So anything that might seem odd about your behavior, Wells should attribute it to that. Also, remember, don't underestimate Hartley. He almost killed you."

They had planned it out to the tee, going through the events of their lives and figuring out exactly what they knew when.

Caitlin had stopped Barry just before he went down to the pipeline. "This is a tranquilizer dart; it should knock the other you out for about six hours," she explained, handing him a syringe. "That lines up perfectly for when you'll get back since there wasn't much going on until Hartley attacked the Cleveland Dam that night. So that should give you time to get what you need and return."

"One more thing," said Cisco. "You can't tell us the truth about Wells... no matter what. You have to keep the timeline intact." He took a breath. "It's going to be hard to course correct if anything gets altered, so get what you need and come back... preferably to this moment. To this exact time. Or else you might set off some sort of 12 Monkeys time loop you'll never get out of." He grinned widely. "No pressure."

"Yeah." Barry sighed. "Cool."

"So, yeah." Cisco nodded. "We'll see ya, in like, 2 seconds." He snickered. "Time travel's so weird."

He hugged Barry and then left him to Caitlin, who hugged him, too.

Barry leaned down and gave her a long kiss. "Love you."

"Be careful."

Now he was running through the Pipeline, waiting for the breach that was about to open.

When one did open he ran through it, trying to keep his eyes focused in front of him as images flashed around his head.

He opened his eyes and saw when Morlun had begun tearing through the streets to try and reach Spider-Gwen.

Star Labs broke apart after he ran back in time to try and save his mom.

He heard the monstrous laughter of the Green Goblin fill the air.

He heard Iris scream as her fiancé was shot in the chest. "Eddie!"

Cars tumbling to the side and Hartley holding out his hands, visible air waves reverberating from his gloves.

Then a dark, screaming shape came out of nowhere. It looked like him, but the bottom half of its face was torn up like a zombie. It flew at him with a terrible scream and Barry dove reflexively.

Barry popped out of the breach and stumbled onto the pavement, looking around him with wide eyes.

He had made it.

Wait...no.

When Barry looked, he saw he had made it just in time, as Rathaway Industries was being attacked by Hartley. Then he watched as the younger Barry sped in and pushed him over.

"It's over, Rathaway," Barry tells him.

"You know my name."

"No, no, this is too early," Barry realized as he didn't make it at the right time.

"I know some names too. Caitlin Snow. Cisco Ramon. Harrison Wells." Hartley lists down their names. "I can hear the radio waves emanating from your suits. About 1900 megahertz."

"Wait, no, this could still work." Barry started to think of how this could work.

"Is that them on the other end, listening?" Hartley asks them as he stands back up. "Are they gonna hear you die?"

"No, they're gonna hear you get your ass kicked," Barry 2015 told him, Barry from the future also mimicking his younger self.

"Okay," Hartley said with a scoff before releasing two blasts that caught Barry by surprise and sent him flying into a glass logo.

Before Barry could have enough time to stand back up, that's when his future counterpart came in and grabbed him. Hartley was confused and wondered if he had won, scaring the Flash away. Barry and his past self started fighting in the alley so he could get on with the plan.

"I don't understand, you're me." Says younger Barry, confused since he has yet to time travel.

"I'm sorry, but I have to explain this," Barry said to himself as he tried to inject him.

But his younger self-managed to get away and tried to get away. But future Barry was faster than his younger self and quickly managed to run after him. Barry stabs him in the leg with the tranq. He then takes his emblem then replaces it with his own.

Barry then quickly sped around the cops and snatched up their batons. While they were disoriented, he threw the batons at Hartley. While he was distracting him, Barry also ripped the gauntlets off his hands.

"Got you again," Barry said with a grin. "Not so smart, are you?"

"Smart enough to have figured out who Harrison Wells really is. You see, I know his secret."


Barry had then brought him back to Star Labs and everyone was gathered in the pipeline as Cisco was scanning Hartley.

"Scanners picking up foreign metallic objects in your ears, come on, take them out," Cisco tells Hartley.

"I can't, I suffered head trauma when Star Labs exploded. My hearing was severely damaged. Without these, I am in pain you can only imagine." Hartley tells the team and Barry remembers that he uses them to escape later on.

"Cisco, see if the devices in his ears are generating any low-level electromagnetic pulses," Barry asks him.

Cisco just looks at Barry confused. "You want me to scan for E-bombs?"

"I just...don't you think that's what was interfering with the comms?" Barry asks and he sees that could've been a possibility and does exactly that, and wouldn't you know if he found something?

Cisco asks Hartley. "I got something. Are you trying to go full mission impossible on us?"

"Pump in some sound stimuli to counteract his tinnitus. Then we'll make some non-explosive replacements for him." Wells asks and he does just that.

As Caitlin turned to Hartley, Barry chased after Wells. When he caught up to him, he immediately ran into Peter. He was a little surprised to see his brother, not recalling him being in the building.

"Oh, hey, man," Peter said to him.

"Peter, what...what are you doing here?" Barry wondered.

Well, you know, trying to figure out who the hell this Green Goblin is," Peter explained, gesturing to his head. "The guy gave me too many beatings that I don't owe him a right hook or two."

"Yeah...how-how is Bobby doing with that?" Barry wondered.

"Oh, he's really plaguing my existence," Peter said. "He's saying I won't let this go. He thinks it'll be easier for him to show up and beat him up than anything else." Peter scoffed at his friend's idea. "Well, I gotta go. I asked Joe to meet us here so we can figure out who he could be."

"And who do you have? You have suspects?" Barry stuttered as he used to do that.

"The only one I have is..." Peter said this while his eyes drifted down toward his brother's hands. Barry removed his gloves as usual after returning from a run, but he had forgotten about the recent addition. "Is that a ring?"

Barry looked down and couldn't believe that, after all the preparations he had made for the trip, he had forgotten to remove his engagement ring. "Oh, uh... "

"Because last I checked, me and B just set you and Caitlin up, so I wouldn't go proposing and scaring her away, dude." Peter scoffed as Barry decided he could work with that theory. He scoffed and rolled his eyes as he walked away to get Joe. "You don't propose after just a few dates. That is like rule number one for logical people."

Barry knew that would be awkward later, but it was the best he could do, and he needed to talk to Wells. "Dr. Wells, can we have a moment?"


While Barry was dealing with him, Joe was listening to Peter and Bobby about the possible identity of the Green Goblin. Joe looked over all of their work in the lounge and saw how most of the tech the Sinister Six used was either stolen or created at OsCorp.

"So... you think Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin?" Joe asks the two of them.

"Or at least connected in some way," Peter said as he gestured to the work they'd done. "There are too many coincidences leading back to OsCorp in some shape or form. He either knows who the Goblin is or knows who is supplying him with all of these gadgets."

"And... what are you asking of me?" Joe wonders.

"Realistically, you're just here to double-check our work," Bobby admitted.

Joe looked over the board and saw that they did have a lot of good points. "It is a lot of good points, but you would need hard evidence to get the police to check him out."

"But it's enough to be suspicious, right?" Peter asks.

"I'll do a quick look into him when I get to the station." Joe offered all that he could for now. "In the meantime, don't do anything crazy. I know how you Allen's like to run headfirst into danger."

"Fair." Peter agreed as Joe walked off to take a look into Norman Osborn.

But Bobby knew his friend better and looked over at him with an I know what you're thinking about' look. "You're going to go talk to the guy we think is the monster terrorizing the city, aren't you?"

"Hey, you're catching on." Peter was happy to see while he patted his friend's shoulder as he walked towards the window. On his way over, he immediately started to change into his suit. "I'm just gonna go and talk to him. Ask him a few questions about the Goblin and if he could point me in any sort of direction."

"And if he points you with a lightning finger?" Bobby wonders.

"Then we have our guy," Peter confirmed that would be the worst scenario as he sat on the railing before doing a scuba dive off and swinging into the city.

Bobby looked around and just shrugged. "And now I'm alone." He then blew a raspberry as he clapped his hands together. "I need to get some more friends." He then sighed as he kept wandering around the place, wondering what he was supposed to do. "Maybe I can talk Cisco into designing me a better suit or something while I wait."

But then there was an alert on their scanners, seemingly something going down at CCPD.


Barry had had the sneaking suspicion that Wells somehow knew. Granted, he always had the suspicion that Wells knew everything all the time.

Those feelings were confirmed only two or three hours into his trip to the past. Barry got into a conversation with Wells about speed. He laid out the beginning of the speed equation and watched as Wells' face grew more and more intrigued.

There was a long pause after he finished explaining, and he asked for Wells's help. Wells shifted in his seat, staring at Barry intently.

Then he reached over and picked up a pen. "Let me see what I can do."

After they had worked for a little while, Barry went off, still pretending to be himself. It was weird seeing Joe and Singh and the CCPD from the past.

It was even weirder and more painful seeing Eddie.

Eddie Thawne, alive and in love with Iris, greeted Barry with a pat on the back (Barry, unable to help himself, hugged him). Barry realized that the cop probably thought he was acting strangely. Barry was gawking at him as if he had just returned from the dead…which he sort of had.

So Barry took his leave, traveled back to Star Labs, and things sort of went downhill from there. He walked into Star Labs to find his team at work; Caitlin and Cisco were both at their desks and Wells was in his wheelchair in front of them.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Oh, you know, just trying to figure out how to find this dementor that's apparently roaming through Central City right now," Cisco informed him dryly, glancing over his shoulder for a second before going back to his work.

Wells said, "I assume that's what caused the CCPD alarm?" His hands were folded in his lap.

"Yeah, actually," Barry said, moving so he could stand in front of the desk. "It attacked my lab."

Bobby looked up, looking confused. "You saw it?"

"No, I didn't see it; I mean, I didn't get there in time, but I have... seen it... before." Barry stammered, attempting to conceal his error.

Dr. Wells turned slowly around. "Where?"

"When I was running to stop Hartley," Barry tells them.

Wells says, "And you are only bringing this up now?"

"I didn't know what it was. I thought it was some sort of illusion," said Barry. "I don't know."

"Is that a thing?" Bobby wondered. "Seeing random stuff happen around you?"

"Okay, we need to find it before it hurts somebody," Caitlin says and they ask if Cisco can track it.

"Cisco, can you get on that?" Bobby asks him.

"What is it with you guys? It's like you think I have ESP or something. I can't just magically sense where things are." Cisco states.

Oh, if only he knew.

"What can you do, Cisco?" Wells asks him.

"I'm thinking I can reconfigure the Star Labs satellite to look for it. It might take some time though." Cisco sighed.

Wells nodded. "Do it. In the meantime, Mr. Allen, come with me."

Barry watched him with a slight frown, a feeling of unease growing in his stomach.

Wells led Barry into his lab at Star Labs- a room rarely seen and never entered. "Have a seat." He invited.

"Is this about the speed equation?" Barry asked, checking his watch. He didn't have a lot of time before he had to head back home.

"As a matter of fact," Wells said. "It is."

"Oh, great, okay, good," said Barry as he let out a sigh of relief, taking a seat in the offered chair. "So you figured it out?"

There was no response, and Barry was about to turn around and ask again when there was a sudden, sharp pain on the back of his head.

Everything went black.


When Barry came to, his head was aching and one wrist was locked in a cuff attached to the wheelchair behind him. He glanced around, alarmed, before his eyes settled on Thawne-Wells. He was sitting with his chin resting on his hand, and behind him lay the barely escapable wall of the room where Barry had first discovered Gideon.

Wells waved one hand, a friendly, harmless smile on his face. Barry tugged at his arm, desperately trying to break free of the cuff, but it wouldn't budge.

Thawne-Wells said, leaning forward. "Now," he said, "who are you? I mean, who are you really?"

Barry tried to play dumb, hoping that Wells would think that he was mistaken and that he had grabbed the "real" Barry. "Dr. Wells, what are you doing?"

"None of it adds up," Wells said in a soft voice. The interference with the comms… the speed equation… the Time Wraiths. Barry was shocked to hear Thawne had encountered them before. "That's what we call them. Time Wraiths. Scary, aren't they?" He chuckled menacingly. "I thought, oh no. A Time Wraith has found me, but I thought… no. No. You know what you're doing. No, the Time Wraith is after someone who's traveled through time… and doesn't know what they're doing."

His eyes were fixed on Barry; he knew exactly what he was talking about.

Barry let out a laugh, still playing dumb. "Dr. Wells, come on, it's me. It's Barry, I-I don't..." He tugged at his cuff again but fell silent as Thawne-Wells let out another low chuckle.

Thawne-Wells nodded. "You are good," he said, clapping lightly. "You are good. And I would believe you...except for this."

He stood up and suddenly flashed forward. Barry didn't even get phased by the sudden action.

And Thawne-Wells got his proof. "Nothing?" He said with a slight smile. "A move like this... you barely flinched." He stepped back, leaning against the wall. "You know who I am," he said, crossing his arms. "Don't you?"

Barry didn't respond; he vibrated his hands, trying to phase through the cuffs, and Thawne-Wells laughed and clapped appreciatively again. "And you are from the future," he said. "Do you know how I know that? I haven't taught my Barry Allen how to phase through objects yet."

Barry let out a soft, sardonic laugh. His game was up; now, all that mattered was getting out.

"Now, onto the bigger question," Thawne-Wells said, sitting back down and glaring at Barry. "Why are you here?"

"Because I want to go faster," Barry said, glaring at him with the pure hatred he felt - the only emotion left inside of him, at this point. "You're the only one who has figured out the equation. The Speed Force. You've manipulated it. How did you do that?"

"No," Thawne-Wells said, standing up and walking in a slow circle around Barry. "You'd only come here if something went wrong. If you're still alive... then that means..." He turned slowly, facing Barry with something akin to misery on his expression. "I haven't beaten you. If you're still alive, that means my plan fails. And if my plan fails-" He reacted suddenly, kicking his chair. "I don't get to go home. And if that's the case-"

Thawne-Wells suddenly swung his arm down, hand vibrating, aimed at Barry's heart. Barry shot out his hands, yelling. "Whoa! Whoa, hey, hey, hey. It- It's the opposite. It's the opposite." He said wide-eyed. "You tricked me. You harness my speed, we turn on the accelerator to create a path for you to go home. I go back in time. You go back to yours. You win."

Thawne-Wells looked a little calmer, but his hand was still vibrating. "Then why are you here?" His hand dropped, motionless. "Why are you here now?!"

"Because when I got back, a singularity had formed," Barry said. "The only way to get faster and stop the singularity from happening was to come here. Now."

Well, that's good to know," Thawne-Wells said, turning away and smiling in satisfaction. He walked over, picked up his chair, and sat back down. "There's just... just one thing. It occurs to me... I don't need you. Do I?"

Barry's heart dropped.

Thawne-Wells stood up again. "Not this you, certainly," he said, smirking. "Oops. You probably should have thought of that before you came back here. What a shame." He started laughing in a way that sounded painful, slowly approaching. "You came all the way back here just to die."

Scrounging for anything, Barry settled on the first thing that came to mind. "You kill me, then Barry—this Barry, your Barry—he'll learn everything."

Thawne froze. Barry nodded. "There's a hidden letter telling him how it ends; how to beat you. Everything. If anything happens to me... you never make it back home. Go on. Kill me, Thawn. See how this all ends."

It worked, Thawne-Wells took a step back and took a seat in his chair. In control of the situation once more, Barry glared him down. "Now. You're gonna help me get faster."


Bobby was walking around the Labs and was wondering just how well Peter was doing with integrating Norman. As he made it into the Cortex, he noticed that Caitlin was the only one around.

"Hey, Cait," Bobby greeted her as she was working on her computer. "Any updates on the ghost?"

"I hate how we live in a world where that's a sentence." Caitlin sighed. "No, there doesn't seem to be any sign of it. And even when we find it, we still need a way to stop it."

But then her phone began to shake, so she figured that it was just someone calling. However, Caitlin was a little confused when she saw that there was nothing, not even some sort of notification. When she placed the phone down, the Time Wraith came into the labs and started flying toward them. Bobby and Caitlin screamed as it flew towards them, and Bobby shot a blast of energy at it to try to stop it, but it went straight through it.

"Worth a shot," says Bobby as they run into the halls.

"Cisco, he's here!" Caitlin shouts as they run into the pipeline.

Cisco calls out, "Inside the cell, now!" The three of them enter Hartley's cell as the Time Wraith starts banging against the door.

"Isn't this fantastic?" Hartley asks them.

Cisco looks at Hartley and says, "Look, we're gonna be safe in here." He continues, "These cells are reinforced steel; nothing can get through them." The creature suddenly begins to crack the window, startling everyone.

"Impenetrable?" Hartley asks.

Caitlin shouts for Barry and Wells, as they appear to have disappeared. "Barry! Dr. Wells!"

"Anyone got any ideas?" Bobby asks the adults in the room.

"Yeah, I actually do. Give me those." Hartley says, referring to his gauntlets.

Since they see they don't have any other plan, they see what he can do.

"These cells have speakers linked through Star Labs. I rigged these gauntlets to emit a destructive signal if ever they're disarmed," Hartley says as he starts searching for whatever frequency the Time Wraith is on and sends out a killing sound; the Wraith goes flying off while screeching in pain.


"I'm sorry we didn't come sooner." Barry apologizes to the team as he and Wells return to the cortex.

Cisco assured Barry, "Inky's gone. I don't see anything anywhere."

So the two places this thing has attacked are here and CCPD. What's the connection? Caitlin asks, and nobody seems to know.

"Me, actually. I just don't know why." Barry tells them.

Cisco scanned the city quickly and reported back, "Satellites aren't picking up anything."

"We need to find a more permanent solution to this problem," Wells informs them. "Start by repairing Hartley's gauntlets. That's about as good a step as any. Mr. Drake, see if you could contact our Spider friend, we could use his help."

"On it," Bobby said as he, Caitlin, and Cisco left the room.

Barry and Wells waited until they were all out of hearing range. "You don't know how to stop a Time Wraith?"

"No, none of us do," Wells replies to him. "That's why we try everything in our power to avoid them."

Barry asked, "We?" confused.

"Other speedsters. There are other speedsters out there, you know?" Wells tells him.

"This isn't the first time I've time traveled; how come this is the first time I'm seeing one of these things?" Barry asks Wells.

Wells stands up out of his wheelchair and faces Barry. "Because you ran out of luck. And Time Wraiths hate it when speedsters manipulate the timeline, and now that they've done everything they can to end you, they're gonna do everything they can to keep you from doing anything else. So here's the plan. You're gonna go to the CCPD. See what you can find out that can help us stop them, and I'll do the same here."

"What am I supposed to be looking for?" Barry asked, not seeing how he could find anything from a ghost.

Wells says, "You're in forensics. Figure something out." That means they'll have to put the speed equation on hold.


After Wells let him go and told him the secret to the speed equation, all that was left was to deal with the matter of the Time Wraith. Team Flash was hard at work, trying to figure out how to reconfigure Hartley's glove so they could use it to destroy the Wraith. Then came the biggest problem when the other Barry Allen from 2015 appeared in front of his team.

"Where's the other Flash?!" He demanded.

Caitlin, Bobby, and Cisco all gave him strange looks. Harrison rubbed his forehead.

"Right here." 2016 Barry called, stepping into the Cortex.

2015-Barry's mouth dropped open slightly. Bobby walked down from Caitlin's lab, looking a bit surprised. "Okay, not how I expected today to turn out."

Barry sighed. "Yeah."

2015 - Barry backed away, pointing at him. "Okay, so...so...who are you?"

Caitlin came out of her lab, giving 2015 Barry a look. "Who's he? Who are you?"

Bobby raised his hands, aiming at 2015 Barry, getting ready to ice-blast him. "Yeah, speak up."

2015 Barry was confused by that question. "What do you mean? I'm Barry. Your Barry. He's..."

Cisco exhaled. "Your doppelgänger."

2016 Barry saw a sense of irony in that statement. "No, not yet," he said. "I am you, Barry. Just... different."

Cisco, however, had trouble figuring out which one to believe. "Wait a minute, how do we know which one's the real Barry?"

Barry seemed offended. "Dude, okay, I've watched Wrath of Khan with you, Peter, and Bobby like five times."

Cisco then pointed to 2016 Barry. "Imposter! "

Bobby then began aiming to shoot ice at the 2016 Barry.

2016 Barry knew this too. "Yeah, and every time it ends, you turn to us and say, 'I'll always be your friend,' to me, Peter, and Bobby."

Cisco then pointed to 2015 Barry. "You, imposter!" Bobby then changed directions and aimed himself at 2015 Barry. "What is going on here?!"

Bobby was confused as he aimed at both Barrys. "I'm just as confused as you are, dude. I don't know which one to shoot. Him or him." He gestured to 2015 Barry and then to 2016 Barry.

Barry sighed as he saw the mistakes. "Okay, guys. I'm sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen. The tranquilizer dart that Caitlin made was supposed to last a lot longer."

Bobby looked at Caitlin and aimed to shoot ice at her. "You traitor!"

Caitlin raised her hands in defense. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! I did not give him a tranquilizer dart."

Bobby was skeptical about believing her. "Why should we believe you?" he asked. "Tell us something only the real Caitlin Snow would know."

Caitlin had a look of disbelief that quickly turned into a sly smile. "Really, Bobby?" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Okay, if you want to go there. Do you remember your first day of grade school when you accidentally got out of the bathroom without your-?"

Bobby quickly shut her up before she could finish. "Okay, okay, okay! Fine! You're the real Caitlin Snow." He even lowered his hands to show his belief. "And you swore to me that you would never speak of it again!"

Caitlin only smiled and shrugged. "Hey, you asked me to tell you something only the real Caitlin would know. And I did."

Bobby muttered to himself, "I wish you could forget about it."

Barry says in her defense. "Yes, no, this version of you. The version of you, from the time that I'm from. My- yeah."

He had almost said his fiancée (just because at this point he just wanted to keep telling people) but stopped because he didn't want to spoil the surprise. Not to mention he didn't want to do any more damage to the timeline after everything else.

Harrison made a stop-it gesture, rubbing his hand across his throat.

2015-Barry looked so confused it was almost cute. "Time? The time that you're from?"

Harrison interjected, "I think what he is trying to say is he's from the future."

Cisco stared. "The fu-"

"Yes."

2015-Barry stared. "The fu-"

"Yes."

Then it was Bobby's turn. "But the future-"

"Yes."

2015-Barry gasped. "Are we saying I can time travel?"

Barry smiled a little, watching the faces of his teammates transform into amazement. "One day."

"Th-th-th-that explains the white on the symbol," Cisco said, nodding and pointing to Barry's suit. "Wait, so if we change the symbol now, will it be because we got the idea from this? Because then that would mean-"

"Stop talking," Wells commanded. Then he looked at Barry. "And you stop talking," he said. "The more you say, the more the timeline is disrupted. Now, I'm going to assume that your presence is the reason that thing is attacking us?"

"What?" 2015-Barry asked in confusion. "What thing?"

"Have you ever seen The Frighteners?" Cisco asked. "It's sort of like that, but scarier and faster and it's after you...after him," he corrected himself.

"It's been chasing me ever since I got here," Barry confirmed.

"Okay, so how do we stop it?" 2015-Barry asked.

Wells' jaw tightened. "We don't know."

2015-Barry went bug-eyed again. "Then what're we gonna do?!"

"We're going to do the one thing we can," Wells said unhelpfully, then turned and rolled out of the room.

"Peter is gonna be so upset he missed this," Bobby commented.

When the time came, Barry knew he needed to go after. Finally, Wells gave him the answer to the equation. Barry sped off, and the Time Wraith began catching up to him. The past version of Barry sped in and tackled the Time Wraith, giving his future self some extra time to get through the portal.


He was able to get through and return seconds after he left. He stumbled across the floor of the cortex where he saw Caitlin and Cisco working on the computers.

"It's coming!" Barry warns them all.

"Did you even go?" Caitlin asked, wrinkling her nose.

"The Time Wraith." Barry panted.

"That's a good name." Cisco agreed.

"Looks like that's a yes," Caitlin said with a smile.

HOW ARE THEY THIS CALM?! "Did you figure out how to stop it?" Barry demanded.

Just then, the horrible, freaky, decayed scull of the Time Wraith came shrieking into the Cortex. Cisco held up a gun and fired.

A small blast sent the Wraith backward, but it recovered in a second and moved toward them again. Cisco pressed against his desk. "Dang, it! We thought so!"

The Wraith slid around Cisco and Caitlin and dived at Barry, slamming its claws into his chest and grabbing his throat with one hand.

"Barry!" Caitlin yelled as he struggled on the ground, trying to get free.

Barry gasped for air as he began to feel his life force seeping out of his. His skin felt dry and his mind was going fuzzy, the Wraith the only thing clear in his vision.

Just before he was about to pass out, a strange buzzing noise filled the room and the Wraith was pushed off of him.

There stood Hartley Rathaway, his arms outstretched, gloves on his hands. In no time at all, the Wraith had dissolved into nothingness.

Hartley let out a relieved breath. "I suddenly realized." He said. "Low frequency, high intensity."

Both Caitlin and Cisco nodded in understanding. Barry gaped at all three of them. The last time he had seen Hartley, nobody liked him. This must have been one of the small changes to the timeline that he caused when he changed the events of that day. He was both happy and relieved that he didn't accidentally bring back Goblin.

"Oh, hey, Barry," Hartley said, giving him a friendly smile and extending his hand to help Barry up. "How was your trip?"

Barry flopped back on the ground and shut his eyes.

This was too weird.

Luckily, it didn't seem like there were any big changes to the timeline. He managed to get through the ordeal without any major changes or consequences.


Meanwhile, in the Nexus of All Realities, the Watcher was hard at work attempting to modify the Nexus. His world was beginning to shatter, and the barriers between the BRANCHES were starting to corrode. He was working as hard as he could, using all of his power to try and hold the Nexus together.

Evil Spider-Man's echos whispered, "I will find you." He continued to use all of his resources to break through the barriers.

The Watcher sighed in relief when he finally managed to keep the reality from shattering. "That was too close." He sighed in relief as he looked at the main universe. "If he keeps traveling back in time, altering the timeline, he could damage the barriers. And that monster of a Spider-Man would be released from its cage." But he managed to calm himself down. "But as long as the changes are small, I should be able to keep the barriers from shattering."

He felt that he was safe from anything too dangerous or any big changes to the timeline happening. If something like that were to happen, then things could become dangerous for all the BRANCHES. But he didn't need to worry about Barry traveling back in time again.

Right?"