A/N: To Guest: I don't know how I am lowballing Glory. She's already beaten Buffy, as in canon; she caught Barry twice- once even when he was using his supersonic punch, and threw him to one side. Barry attacked her with lightning, which knocked her back but she still got on her feet (same thing happened in canon where Willow fired lightning at her). And yes, that was magical lightning; however, the Speed Force has been shown as some meta-physical realm where Barry draws his power from ; I'd say that gets as close to magic for The Flash as anything. So Barry's lightning would have a similar effect to Glory as Willow's lightning in canon. And then there is Olaf's hammer. Buffy wielded it in canon, saying that the weapon of a god could be the best way to defeat another god. And she beat Glory with the hammer in canon, and she could have still defeated her in the story after more hits with the hammer if Barry hadn't punched the already weakened Glory in high-hypersonic speed.
Sunnydale.
Buffy was about to run off in one direction when Barry called for her. Buffy glanced at Ben's dead body before turning to Barry in his Flash uniform. She knew that the Flash would be able to run at high speed and get her family away from Glory's minions while she was going to head to Glory's penthouse; the very same penthouse where Glory kidnapped Spike nearly a week ago when she mad hellgod thought that the vampire was the Key.
"Where are you going?" asked Barry.
"You saved Dawn and my mom," Buffy replied nodding her head at Barry while trying to think how long it had taken for the round trip from Sunnydale to Miami. She had an idea of how to get to the penthouse without him knowing about it, but she needed him out of the way. The truth was that Buffy knew what she needed to do to protect her family; that while she wished that she had Barry's powers and took care of normal crime... she knew that she couldn't. That it wasn't her calling.
Buffy was very painfully aware that she was the Slayer. She was created to kill the creatures in the darkness that threaten the innocent- and Glory had just sent her minion with an order to kill everyone she knew. There was no way Buffy was going to let that go. She knew what needed to be done and she didn't know if Barry would stop her from doing what she knew she had to do.
"So I know that I can trust you to stay with them in case Glory's other minions come after them, and…" the Slayer continued before being interrupted.
"You'll be doing this alone, and…"
"Even with my friends," interrupted Buffy, "I am alone. This is my job. This is what I've been called for, Flash. And now, I need you to get Giles and my family; Willow, Xander, Dawn, and mom… out of harm's way. I'll be back home soon and…"
"Ummm… two questions," asked Barry, "where do I find this Xander? And where's home?"
"Find Giles," said Buffy pointing down the road, "the alleyway behind the Magic Box leads down there. Find them, and get them home. Ask Giles for the address, and…" Buffy then simply sighed and relaed her shoulders slightly, "just get them home. Watch out for them, Glory's not the only one after Dawn."
"But…" asked Barry, "what do you mean that Glory's not he only one after Dawn?"
"We don't have time," said Buffy straightening her back realizing that she was wasting time, "go!"
Barry nodded his head and took off running while Buffy stared at the yellow lightning running away from her. She then turned and ran as fast as she could the other way. She climbed up to the roof of the nearby building and jumped from one roof to another while Barry grabbed Giles and Anya, and then Tara and Willow and brought them to Buffy's house. While telling Giles and the others to get back into the house, he asked Anya and Giles if they knew where Xander was. Seeing her chance again for a ride, Anya told Barry where Xander would be, and asked him to take her along.
"If Glory's minions are on the way," added Giles just before Barry left with Anya to get Xander, "then we need to get what weapons we could and prepare a defence."
"Glory's dead," said Barry much to Giles' surprise, "it's a long story, but after we get Xander, I need to know where Buffy could have gone to, and I quote, to defend her family."
"Flash," said Willow worriedly, "Buffy's gone alone?"
"Yea," was the reply as Willow turned to an equally worried Tara.
"You don't think she would…" Willow left her sentence unfinished as Tara turned to her. The redhead could tell from her girlfriend's expression that Buffy would actually do what they were all thinking, go up against all of Glory's minions before they dared attack her family.
"She would what?" asked Barry while still remembering Buffy telling him to watch over her family, and that Glory wasn't the only person after the Key.
"Get Xander first," said Giles who turned as Barry ran off with Anya. He then turned to Willow and Tara, telling them to prepare themselves for battle.
In the meantime, Buffy was jumping from one roof to another with the hammer in her hand. She was fixated on her goal as she jumped onto the street below, and then rolled forward before taking off running. The pain on her side and back was gone, but she didn't know if it was just temporary because of the adrenaline pumping through her system, or because she wasn't even thinking about the injuries until now. But it didn't matter to her, not when she was only a few minutes away from her target as she used her Slayer speed to run and jump past obstacles.
As Buffy neared her target, Barry ran to the Summers porch with Xander and Anya; the dark haired young man stumbling back stunned while staring at Barry in the suit.
"There you are," said Giles who opened the door and handed the still stunned Xander an axe, something that Barry looked at with an eyebrow raised before peeking into the house. He saw Giles handing a crossbow to Willow from a wooden chest that looked as if it contained various weapons; the very same chest that Barry, when he came to Buffy's house after the incident with Joyce, asked about and was told that it contained some old family memorabilia.
'That's some strange memorabilia,' Barry thought to himself.
"Ummm…." said Xander as he shook his head and walked past Barry, "where's Dawnie and Mrs S?"
"Miami," said Barry, his voice box vibrating, "they're safe."
"You ran all the way to Miami?" asked Xander while Giles looked on impressed, "you must go on a lot of free trips, huh?"
"I try," shrugged Barry stepping into the foyer before he pointed at the exit, "listen, Buffy asked me to stay here and… I mean she asked me to stay with you, but if she's facing those minions alone…"
"Giles," said Willow interrupting Barry, "Buffy can't do this by herself."
"Where's she going?" asked Barry.
"Glory's penthouse," said Xander with worry, "she's heading there."
"There should be more of those things," Tara added while recalling the small force they faced a few days ago when Spike was kidnapped before adding as she looked up at Barry, "a lot more."
"Where is it?" asked Barry noticing the worry on Tara's face. Once he knew where it was, Barry asked the Scoobies if they were going to be able to watch over themselves.
"Yes," relied Giles as he loaded an arrow onto the crossbow, "I believe that the minion has to notify the others before coming here. So it's very possible that they haven't left the penthouse yet. If you leave now…"
"I'll be right back," said Barry before he ran off. He ran through the streets, and stopped when he saw Buffy running towards a tall building in the distance. Taking off again, Barry grabbed Buffy and then stopped in front of a gathered horde of forty deformed demons.
"What the hell?" asked Buffy as she turned to Barry, her fingers wrapped tightly around the shaft of hammer which was held across her body with both hands, while the minions watched in stunned silence, "I told you to stay with Giles and the others."
"They're going to be alright," said Barry glancing at the minions before thinking to himself they really did look like deformed Hobbits. His eyes shifted back to Buffy and continued while motioning his arms in the directing of the creatures, "and you can't take on all of them."
Buffy frowned at him and then turned towards the creatures while whispering at Barry, "this isn't your fight." Buffy then glanced back at the Flash, "protect Giles and the others."
"Two against forty is better," Barry whispered turning his body towards the creatures, "and I can take them all in a few seconds." Barry then glanced at some of the cuts and bruises on Buffy's face, "and you're injured."
"I'll tell you this once," said Buffy glaring at the creatures while ignoring Barry, "Glory is dead and…"
"Glory is a god," interrupted one of the minions, "you can't…"
"Ben is dead," said Buffy as the minions started to mumble, some saying that it wasn't possible. But everyone stopped talking when Buffy whistled, before continuing to speak, "he said that if he dies, so does Glory. So he's dead, which means your 'god' has gone bye-bye. Now, you will leave my family alone and you will leave my city. If I see…"
"The yellow haired witch is the Key!" exclaimed another minion, "and we will open the gates. We will bring forth the home of the great and shining Glorificus. We will kill the both of you and finish what she started. We will…"
"I tried," mumbled Buffy before she ran at the minions who were charging at them. He saw the minions take out axes, swords, and crossbows. He made a move just as they fired the arrows from the crossbows- Barry ran and caught the arrows mid-flight just before Buffy hit one of the minions with the hammer.
After collecting the arrows, just as Buffy slammed the hammer into the side of the one minion she killed, Barry dropped the arrows to the side before he turned around and continued to run. Buffy stood still as the hammer was swung over her shoulder while she leapt forward towards another minion. Barry ran past her while at the same time grabbing the weapons from the minions.
As he was running, Barry looked at Buffy's eyes and saw the same look that existed on Oliver's face; that of someone who had seen things that no other person should see. Once he grabbed the weapons of the minions, he continued running and then dropped them under a tree before turning around just as Buffy was about to hit another minion. Barry heard the crack from the first person the hammer hit, and he didn't know if the creature was alive or not. As far as he was aware, the deformed minions were now unarmed and harmless… at least he believed they were harmless.
Just before the hammer struck the second minion, Barry ran and then punched the deformed creature. He then went on to punish the other creatures at superspeed. To Buffy though, she saw the second minion she was about to hit be pushed back and lay on the ground unconscious before looking at the lightning trail take out the other minions. The next thing she knew, the Flash was standing by her side wiping his hands together while the minions lay unconscious on the ground.
"I had them," Buffy turned towards Barry with a frown and her arms motioning at the unconscious bodies.
"You were going to kill them," Barry replied nodding at the minions, "and they were unarmed."
"They're demons that tried to open a gateway to hell," Buffy reminded Barry while her fingers were gripped against the shaft of the hammer, "so yeah, I have to kill them so that they don't try opening the gateway. So that they don't try to do something stupid."
"I…."
"You don't know what you're dealing with, Flash," Buffy frowned, "they could get back up and…"
"You said it yourself, Glory's dead," Barry reminded Buffy while keeping his voice disguised, "they're not going to harm your sister."
"They're still a danger," Buffy shook her head, "you…"
"Look, how about I do…." Buffy watched as Barry took off at superspeed. She stared on in surprise as the minions vanished two by two until there was no-one left. It had taken only seven minutes before Barry returned standing in front of Buffy, "what did you…"
"Look, you're worried about your sister and the end of the world, I get that," Barry said nodding his head, "so I took them to somewhere in the South Pacific." He chuckled at the surprise on Buffy;s face before saying, "they have sun, sea, fresh water… it's a vacation for them."
Buffy shook her head trying to hide her smile, "this isn't your fight." She was relieved that the minions wouldn't be able to harm her family, and thinking, 'unless they manage to swim back here,' while as the same time saying, "this is something I have to do. It's my responsibility and… and sometimes I have to kill."
"I can understand that," said Barry as he recalled the dead Glory, 'who somehow changed into that guy'. Shaking his head while reminding himself that he killed someone as well, 'remember Atom Smasher?' he thought to himself while saying, "look, I get there are things out there that are dangerous. But you don't have to do it alone."
"You don't know what's out there," said Buffy shaking her head, "my mom and Dawn may not think I don't, but I read the papers. I've read what you've done in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and a few places here. You handle what I wish I could handle- normal, human based crime. Me? I have to take care of the darkness that's attracted to the Hellmouth under the city."
Buffy stood with the hammer in her hand while she continued, "you should take care of the human crime… let me deal with the supernatural here. But, I hope if things do get really bad.. then…"
'I'll be here," whispered Barry nodding his head, "at least until I find a way home."
"Listen, can you bring mom and Dawn home?" asked Buffy.
"What about you?" asked Barry nodding his head.
"I want to walk home," said Buffy, "I've been so worried about Glory that... that I just need some time to myself now that she's gone."
"I'll get them home," said Barry nodding his head, "see you around?"
"Yeah," said Buffy before Barry zoomed off leaving her alone. Grabbing her injured side, Buffy winched in pain before limping away happy that, finally, Glory was dead and gone.
Earth One, 1400 hours, four days since Barry's disappearance.
It had been nearly four days since Barry mysteriously vanished off the face of the Earth. And the entire time, Cisco had been placing his hand on the uniform that was burnt beyond recognition when Barry tried to regain his powers, recreating the same accident that made him into the Flash, but instead saw him absorbed into the Speed Force. This was that very same uniform that Cisco used to find him back then, it was the same uniform that he touched so that he and Iris could bring Barry back again.
Everyone was working on the problem for the past four days, from STAR Labs to Felicity in Star City, along with Curtis Holt who was helping her. They had even asked ARGUS for help in searching for the speedster, but there was nothing at all.
At least everywhere on Earth-One.
When everything had been exhausted on Earth One, it was only last night that Cisco contacted Earth Two, and told Harry, who was stunned to hear that Barry simply vanished, what was going on. Cisco talked to Jay as well when he returned to the STAR Labs on Earth Two after helping apprehend a few Meta-humans. Jay apologized for not being able to help Earth's One's Central City, especially since the Zoom's supposed death caused a power vacuum in the criminal underground. Various meta-humans were trying to fill that vacuum, and Jay told Cisco that Earth Two needed him more, "at least for right now, Cisco. These people.. the innocent? They need hope again. They need to see the Flash stopping these threats and… and once we've taken care of most of them, I'll come back to Earth One and help out. But…"
"I understand, Jay," said Cisco as his image stood in Harry's office at the STAR Labs in Earth Two. He had his goggles on while the remaining members of team Flash stood around him, with Iris looking worriedly at Cisco, and then at her father and Wally. They watched as Cisco nodded his head, and then slowly took off his goggles before sighing, and then turning around to his friends.
"Anything?" asked Joe.
Cisco relayed what Harry and Jay told him about the situation on Earth Two, and that Jay would only be able to return once the police had a handle on things.
"So what do we do in the meantime?" asked Caitlin as she rubbed the back of her head, "Zoom encouraged the other Meta's in this Central City to come out of the woodwork, and…"
"I'm guessing that they know the Flash is back," said Joe putting his hands up, and then back down again, "we haven't had an attack in four days so… so that's a good thing. So for right now? We need to use this break and find Barry."
"Cisco," said Wally as he took a seat, "we've used everything we have, right?"
"Yeah," replied Cisco leaning forward on the seat while putting his goggles on the console, "at least on this Earth, and looks like there's been nothing on Earth Two.. and before anyone says anything, I've gone through the whole of Earth Two searching for him before going to Harry."
"Can you check other Earths?" asked a hopeful Iris.
"Yea," replied Cisco, "I'll start…"
"Tomorrow," said Caitlin stepping forward. She saw that Iris was about to say something, as was Cisco, but the blonde interrupted the both of them before insisting, "the two of you haven't been sleeping well, and are exhausted… especially Cisco. I want you two to sleep, and then we'll came back tomorrow and start the search for Barry on different Earths."
"I…"
"Cisco," frowned Caitlin while putting her hands on her hips, "you're going to be no use to Barry if you push yourself to the point of exhaustion. Get some sleep, and then we start again in the morning."
"Caitlin's right," said Joe, with Iris turned to him in surprise, "right now, Cisco's the only one who can find Barry. We need him to be alert and fresh. And all of us need some sleep. Iris needs to get back to work, and.."
"I…" Iris wanted to say that she would quit Central City Picture News so that she could help Cisco, but Joe interrupted her by saying that Barry would never want her to stop her life.
"We need to hope," said Joe as he looked at everyone, and then he looked back at the room containing Barry's speed treadmill. And an idea formed in his mind, a way to show the citizens of Central City that the Flash was still patrolling, while at the same time telling the criminals in the city that hey don't have a free reign on the, unknown to them, defenceless city.
Joe turned to Cisco and asked if they could still project holograms of the Flash running through the streets, just like they did when Barry was powerless. Cisco smiled and leaned back before saying that he knew exactly what Joe was thinking, but they needed someone who was athletic enough to continue running for several minutes at one go.
"I'm so out of shape that I know I can't do it," said Cisco, hoping that he wouldn't be called upon; he didn't wasn't to collapse on the treadmill from exhaustion in case he had to run, "but if no one…"
"I'll do it," said Wally nodding his head, "I'll be the hologram Flash."
"Your classes?" asked Joe.
"I can come here after class and help out," replied Wally as he looked at his father, and then at Caitlin and Cisco, "look, Barry did a lot for this city… he did a lot for me; heck, he gave up his powers for me. It's the least I could do."
"He'll be safe here," said Caitlin looking at a worried Joe, and then at Cisco who was nodding his head before standing up and walking towards Wally, "and we'll make sure he doesn't injure himself or…"
"Injure himself?" asked a worried Joe.
"I think they mean getting a pulled muscle, dad," clarified Iris while Joe shook his head before agreeing with his daughter. Iris then sighed, giving in to the fact that she needed to be patient and that Barry would be found soon. She then turned to Caitlin and Cisco before asking if the hologram Flash would be enough to hold back the Meta-humans who would eventually come out into the open, "some of them would think twice, but what about the others?"
"We have me?" said Cisco putting his hand up sheepishly, "I mean I did do that whole vibration burst thing on Black Siren and…"
"Can you do that again?" asked Caitlin as she raised an eye-brow, "Cisco?"
"No," replied Cisco sheepishly before gathering himself and then saying, "I mean I haven't tried after we found Barry was gone and…"
"Cisco," said Iris gently, "we need you to find Barry, just concentrate on that… Wally's already volunteered to run interference as the Flash."
"But there's a limit to what the hologram could do, right?" asked Wally. Cisco sighed before going on to the disadvantages of the hologram Flash, and went on to say that they needed to be very careful in how they used the equipment. At the end of Cisco's explanations, Wally nodded his head before saying that he was still going to do it, and with the Central City Police Department behind them… the 'Flash' would have some back-up.
Earth One, 0800 hours, the next day. Five days since Barry's disappearance.
Backup was what got Cisco thinking as he sat behind the console in the Cortex the next day, the fifth day of Barry being missing. He was holding a warm mug of coffee in his hands while looking at the empty mannequin where Barry usually kept his uniform. They had already tested the hologram device with a couple of robbers last night; Joe was chasing their car while Wally was running on the treadmill. Back on the road, the Flash zipped past Joe's car, and then ran past the vehicle the robber stole. Joe got on the radio to Cisco back at STAR Labs, and asked him to have the hologram do the lightning throw.
"Like that time when Barry didn't have his power?" asked Cisco into the radio while he pressed a few buttons.
"Yes," replied Joe, and a second later the Flash hologram was running in a circle around the car… the trail of lightning preventing the robbers from getting a good view of the road; which led to them crashing into another car.
Back in the present day, Cisco knew they needed to do a lot of work; and that not every meta-human was afraid of the Flash. There would be those who wanted to crawl out of the woodwork and challenge the Scarlet Speedster, and it would be those who the Hologram would not be able to stop. And if anyone found out that the Flash was a hologram, then there would be an even bigger problem. As Cisco swivelled on his chair and looked at the burnt uniform on the equipment that he used to look into the Speed Force, the same equipment he would be using again in a few minutes, he took a sip of coffee while the gears were spinning in his brain. He was so lost in thought, that he hadn't noticed Caitlin walking into the Cortex.
"Hey," said Caitlin sitting next to Cisco, making the young man yelp, before swivelling towards the young woman and telling her not to scare him like that again. Caitlin chuckled before taking a sip of her coffee, and then asked him what was going though that mind of his. Cisco was about to protest when Caitlin interrupted him, "and I know how you look when you get an idea, Mister."
"I was just thinking that I have no idea how long it would take to search the entire multi-verse for one person," whispered Cisco leaning forward as he thought about the scale of what he was trying to do, "which means we don't have anyone looking after Central City."
"Wally's going to be the Flash," Caitlin pointed out by nodding towards the room with the treadmill, "we…"
"I don't doubt Wally," whispered Cisco, "I'm just thinking what do we do when a Meta happens to come out and we don't have a Flash. If one Meta finds out that the Flash is a hologram, then everyone will know. The media will let it out and we'll have a huge problem."
"We just started, Cisco," said Caitlin leaning forward and placing a hand on his shoulder, "I think that…"
"I think we need another hero.. I mean someone with experience," said Cisco as Caitlin shut her mouth tight and just stared at her friend, "Caitlin, Wally will be the Flash. But we need someone else out there 'working' with the Flash in taking down the Meta-humans. Someone who can work alone against big bads, while the police work with the 'Flash' in taking down normal crimes."
"Who do you have in mind?" asked Caitlin.
"Maybe Dig," said Cisco after taking a sip of his coffee, "but we need to talk to Joe, Iris, and Wally first. This has to be a group decision because if we decide on asking Team Arrow, then we need to reveal the secret in the pipeline to Oliver."
"What does the pipe…." Caitlin stopped what she was going to say and stared at Cisco in surprise. She then shook her head saying that they couldn't risk it, that they wouldn't understand the need for keeping this secret away from 'them'.
"They've dealt with weirder stuff this year," countered Cisco, "I mean, come on… Oliver's a Mayor now. Can't get much weirder than that… or the whole magic thing. But, yeah.. we need to talk to Oliver about this. Maybe he could send someone from his team to work with us, I was thinking Dig?"
"Let's run this by the others first," said Caitlin leaning back against her seat back. She knew that Cisco was right, that if they didn't have someone in place… someone real, then they would have a big problem.
Mayor's Office, Star City, 2100 hours.
It was one hectic day for Oliver; he had to give one interview after another, followed by meeting with leaders of industry, as well as the police, and fire department officials. Sighing as he looked out at the city outside his window, he could see cleanup crews still repairing the damage done during the riots a few days ago.
However, not everything was lost. People had started to come back to the city, and businesses were slowly re-opening. Oliver knew it would take time, but the damage that Damien Darhk left behind would be repaired. While he was optimistic about the future of the city, he was still worried about it at the same time. He knew that the city needed a guardian, and as Mayor… it was going to be difficult to go out as the Green Arrow.
So, a few days ago, Oliver started to train a team of replacements. While the training was still on-going thanks to Lyla teaching them the basics in the day, while Oliver would take over at night. He was still coming to terms on how to handle both being Mayor of Star City and the Green Arrow, but Oliver resolved to make it work.
And then there was the fact that his friend was gone.
He had kept in touch with Felicity and STAR Labs, and was worried that no one found any sign of Barry on Earth. Oliver insisted that there was no way that Barry would leave all of his friends just like that, not without telling anyone where he was going. The prevailing thought in his mind was that Barry was being held prisoner somewhere, somehow.
But there was no proof of that either.
'Cisco's already checked the planet with his powers,' thought Oliver shaking his head, 'damn it, Barry. Where the hell are you?'
Reaching into his pocket as his military-grade encrypted phone rang, Oliver activated the line and brought it to his ear.
"Yes?"
"Oliver," said Cisco, "it's me."
"Have you found him," Oliver asked as he turned around and leaned on the window, hope in his voice, "Cisco?"
"Nothing yet," said Cisco much to Oliver's disappointment, "I checked a few Earths earlier today before I got a headache, but other than a few where he's already the Flash… and one where he's already married, older, and a father… we haven't found ours yet. Although I have to say that the first Flash I encountered didn't know me, which was a bit weird and very…"
"Cisco," interrupted Oliver, "please, go on."
"Right," said Cisco shaking his head, "look, Oliver. We need help. Without Barry, Central City is open to any meta-humans. We have a plan to show people we have a Flash still running on the streets, but we need someone here physically. Can you send Diggle to watch over while we search for Barry?"
"Dig rejoined the Army, Cisco," said Oliver as Cisco's face fell, "but I think I know someone who needs a purpose again. But I'll have to talk to her."
"Okay," said Cisco, "and there's one more thing, whoever you send… we need you to come as well. You, Felicity, Sara, and Captain Lance."
"Sarah and Captain Lance?" asked a confused Oliver, "why would they…"
"If whoever you're suggesting is going to be working with us," said Cisco, "then they need to know the truth. We'll be placing Meta-humans in the pipeline and.. well…"
"Cisco?" asked Oliver, "why do you need Sarah and Captain Lance?"
"Just trust me, Oliver," said Cisco, "I've already talked to Joe and the others about this, and we're in agreement that if you can send someone to help, then this something you need to see.. so, please?"
"I'll call you back," said Oliver, his trembling over the anticipation over why Cisco needed Captain Lance and Sara at Central City with them. Disconnecting the call, Oliver called another line. He waited until the other person picked up the phone, and then spoke, "Thea, it's me. I know you said you wanted out of this life. But I need your help… Central City needs your help. Can we meet?"
TBC.