Pre-Author's Note: Apologies for not having any updates in a while. I've been busy with other stories lately, as you're all aware. I don't plan on abandoning this story, but I have to admit I'm a bit burnt out on it. I've been working on this on and off for almost seven years now. I want to work on other stuff, as some of you have probably noticed.

But I do plan on finishing this story, and I have this chapter done, at the very least. I'm going on vacation for the next two weeks so I'm not going to be working a lot on fan fiction. I figured I'd give this to all of you since this story has seen a lot of activity lately.

Also, since the Arrowverse essentially finished earlier this year, here's a chapter to commemorate that. Speaking of the end of the Arrowverse, it only figures that I spent all these years building up to Cobalt Blue!Eddie because I figured the Arrowverse was never going to do it, and in the last season of The Flash, they finally did it. They butchered the execution a bit, as expected — they made Eddie into another Negative Speed Force user instead of going for as much comics accuracy as possible like I'm doing.

Despite that, the Eddie stuff was pretty good. It's too bad the rest of that arc kinda sucked. I haven't really kept up with The Flash's later seasons but man the show really went downhill from what I saw. No offense to anyone who still liked the show by that point.

Star City

Kara sighed a breath of relief as Hal slowly directed the hard-light bubble they were all riding in, into the hangar of S.T.A.R. City's A.R.G.U.S. Base. Home. The only home Kal, Aunt Astra and her had now that they had left Argo. After all the trouble they caused during their visit, Kara doubted they would be allowed to come back, no matter how much her mother tried to force them. Perhaps that was for the best.

The moment they landed, they were met by Maseo and J'onn, both of whom looked unnaturally severe. "Report," the former ordered the Justice League members, giving Astra and Hal pointed looks. Kara had a feeling her aunt and friend weren't given permission to leave the planet, which made sense considering they would've been the best defenders against Reign next to J'onn. Seeing how volatile the situation was now, no wonder Maseo was pissed.

They quickly launched into an explanation of everything that had happened during their visit to Argo. Meeting Alura, learning about Yuda Kal, the Children of Juru and the Worldkillers, the attempted assassination — everything. After concluding with the revelation that Selena and her coven had stolen J'onn's cruiser and were heading to Earth, they waited quietly for a response from A.R.G.U.S.'s new director.

"We will put out a BOLO for Selena and her accomplices immediately," Maseo announced, glancing over at J'onn. "J'onn will reproduce their images from your mind so we can issue pictures of them. And we will redouble our efforts to search for Reign — now that her masters are on Earth, she's sure to become more active as they move to fulfill their goals."

"Sounds good," Hal noted, nodding to the other man.

Astra, however, frowned. "Did something happen?" she asked. "While the situation is dangerous, it hasn't quite reached the worst-case scenario yet. Yet you both look very grim."

Maseo and J'onn exchanged looks at her words, and the latter centered his gaze on Kara and Kal. "A lot happened while you were gone," the Martian revealed. "And there are a few things you need to know. All of you."

Central City

Barry swallowed as he waited quietly next to Iris in the hallways of the medical ward, his hands clasped tightly with her tearful best friend's. Iris had been unresponsive ever since arriving in the hospital, sitting in a chair and staring blankly at a wall as the doctors went about treating her fellow officers, including her second partner and her father. After shepherding everyone into the facility, Barry quickly changed out of his Flash costume and entered the hospital to wait with her, only stepping away briefly to make quick calls to his father and to the rest of Iris's family so they could be here for Joe too.

Off to the side, a tearful Rob Singh was being guided into a private room to mourn by a pair of sympathetic doctors. They had just arrived to inform him that his husband David, Iris and Joe's superior and captain of their precinct, had just died in surgery. Not far from him, waiting in another chair, was a nervous Andrea Spivot — Patty's mother. Her daughter was currently being operated on and she was waiting for the news on whether or not she was going to lose her only child.

A chime sounded as the elevator opened to their floor again, and Barry felt the knot in his heart loosen slightly at the sight of his father Henry, followed by Francine and Wally West. All three looked frantic as they made a beeline for the two best friends. "Any news?" Henry asked after exchanging a hug with his son.

The younger Allen shook his head. "None yet," he admitted reluctantly.

Next to them, Iris had begun sobbing the moment she was in her mother and brother's arms. "It was my fault," was the guilty admission. "Eddie was there for me if I had just gone with him—"

"No, Iris, no," Francine told her softly, running a hand through her daughter's hair. "This is not your fault. Eddie chose to try and take you, and your father chose to protect you. You didn't make them do anything."

"Mom's right, sis," Wally added, clasping her sister's hand with a small swallow. "This isn't on you."

Henry glanced at the young woman who had kept his spirits up through the ten years Barry had disappeared with a sad expression. Barry clasped his shoulder and the two headed over to join the rest of the Wests. This wasn't the time for any of them to be alone.

It took Iris several minutes to calm down. In the span of that time, Barry went and got her a box of tissues and a water bottle to help calm her down and rehydrate herself. She accepted both gratefully and gently wiped her tears away as she drank small gulps of water.

Not long after her nerves settled into a dull ache, more doctors arrived again. This time, they called for the family of one Patricia Spivot. Andrea got up to meet them, and after a moment of thought, nodded towards Iris and Barry to join her. "You're her family?" one of the doctors asked.

"I'm her mother," Andrea explained. "Iris is her police partner, and Barry is a close friend."

She nodded and cleared her throat. "The surgery was a success. Your daughter is going to live."

Barry let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding at that news. Iris made another small sob, this time of gratitude, and Andrea closed her eyes and clutched at her chest, muttering a small praise of thanks. But then they all got a good look at the uncomfortable expression on the doctors, and the tension returned. "What's wrong?" Barry asked for all of them.

The doctor sighed. "The damage from the attack did permanent damage to her spinal cord," she revealed. "I'm sorry, ma'ams, sir, but she's permanently lost use of her legs."

Andrea gasped in horror upon hearing her daughter would be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, and Barry quickly reacted when he saw her tilting backward, catching her before she could faint and fall to the ground. With Iris's aid, they guided Andrea to a nearby chair and got her water to help calm her down. The older woman accepted their help gratefully, and when she was back to herself, demanded that she be allowed to see her daughter.

They watched her leave as the doctors guided her to Patty's room, watching sadly. "First Ralph, now Patty," Iris mused glumly.

The speedster winced at her words. Her first partner was murdered, and her second was paralyzed. She was probably starting to think she was cursed. "It's not your fault, Iris," Barry reminded her. "None of it is." If it was anyone's fault, it was his. Eobard had corrupted Eddie just to find him, and if he had just recognized the bastard for who he was all those months ago, none of this would've happened. He had known Wells hadn't been Eobard's real face, and while he hadn't known what the other speedster looked like as himself…

Well. Was there really any way for him to know? Perhaps that future version of Gideon could have shown him, there was a reason Barry actively avoided using her. Knowledge of the future was dangerous business.

They went back to wait with the rest of their family. Several hours passed by and more doctors called for the loved ones of the various cops caught up in Eddie's attack. Each one made Iris wince, a reminder of all the people who had been hurt to protect her. Finally, as night rolled upon them, another doctor arrived. "Family of Joseph West?" he asked.

"That's us," Henry said for them all, the calmest out of all of them. Barry's father led the pack as they made their way to the surgeon. "How is he?"

The other man grimaced, and sounds of pain and sorrow escaped the Wests. Henry closed his eyes, while Barry swallowed, something stinging at his eyes. "Is he…?"

"Not yet," the doctor replied. "We did our best, but the damage was too severe. We don't think he'll make it through the night."

Another wince escaped both Allens as Iris and Francine sobbed louder. Wally was gritting his teeth as he looked to the ground, trying to hold back his tears and failing. "Can we see him?" Henry asked.

"Yes. He's called for all of you." The doctor turned around. "I'll take you to him."

Joe West had always been a lively man. Not exactly jolly, but certainly personable and easy to get along with, filled with a certain vitality that seemed unnatural for someone at his age and in his profession. It was what drew so many people to him in the first place.

Now, laid up in a hospital bed with so many tubes and wires sticking out of him, pale as a sheet, he looked like death had already come to claim him. It was only the shallow rise and fall of his chest and the way his eyes slightly opened at the sound of the door that showed the Grim Reaper hadn't claimed him quite yet. Everyone practically rushed to his side, and Henry had to clear his throat to stop them from crowding him and causing more unnecessary stress. That was the last thing Joe needed in his condition.

Henry spoke to him first, followed by Francine and then Wally. Joe's talk with Wally was the longest, owing to how little time father and son got to spend with each other before being forcibly separated like this. Something that they were both clearly regretting, even if it had been out of their hands.

After they were finally done, he called for Iris next. Iris took Wally's place next to their father's bedside, sitting in the chair that sat there and gently taking the dying man's hand in hers. "Dad…" she said, her eyes beginning to water again.

"Baby, it's okay," Joe told her gently, his voice quiet and solemn.

Iris shook her head, and there was no holding back her weeping. "I'm so sorry, Dad. All the years I wasted being mad at you, if I had just been less stubborn—"

Joe cut her off. "No, Iris. It's okay. I never blamed you for that. You had every right to be angry. I'm just glad that we managed to reconcile and got to spend these last few years together as a family."

That did nothing to soothe Iris. If anything, it caused her to cry harder. "Daddy, daddy, please don't leave me, please…"

She was all but begging, and it was too much to watch. Barry stepped forward and quietly pulled her away, running a pair of comforting hands over her shoulders and arms before guiding her to Wally to hold. Once she safely wrapped up in the embrace of her younger brother, Barry glanced back at Joe, sighing as he lowered himself into the chair and took the older man's hand.

His foster father smiled sadly at him. "Do you have something that can muffle all the noise in the room?" he asked.

What? Barry blinked at the words, but at the expectant expression Joe was giving him, complied with the request. He fished into the pockets of his jacket with his free hand and took out the muffling device he always kept on hand, planting it on the wall and activating it. Dutifully ignoring the curious looks everyone was shooting him, he turned back to Joe. "Joe?"

"I know you're the Flash, Barry."

The words echoed throughout the room, and Barry's mouth fell open as genuine shock overcame him. Joe knew he was the Flash? For how long? Reflexively, he tried to lie and deny it but managed to stop himself before he could say a word. What was the point in denying it anymore? The last thing he wanted to do was lie to Joe when the other man was on his literal deathbed.

"By the looks of it," Joe continued, briefly flickering his eyes to the people standing around the room. "I'm not the only one."

Upon hearing that, Barry briefly turned around to look across the room and saw the sheepish expressions on Wally, Francine, and even his father's faces. Iris was also staring at them, her tears ceasing in the face of her surprise. "You all knew?"

Henry rubbed the back of his head. "You tried your best son, but you had me sent into hiding by a secret government agency during the Zoom Crisis. It wasn't hard to figure out after that."

"You're also not as subtle as you think when you're speeding out of the house," Wally admitted, causing Barry to groan and Joe to laugh.

The laughter faded into a cough, and the tension in the room returned tenfold as a worried Barry turned back to the older man, panic settling in. "Joe…"

"I was worried about you when you figured it out," he said, eyes looking up at the ceiling. "You were so brutal when you first started going out. It wasn't because I was afraid you were going to hurt Iris or me, I knew you well enough to know you would never do that. It was because whatever it was that happened to you on the island that forced you to become like that… that was ultimately my fault."

"It wasn't—"

"It was my fault, Barry," Joe insisted, cutting off his foster son's denial. "I was the one who drove you to go to China in the first place. All the pain you went through during those ten years, none of it would've happened had I not opened my mouth and said those words. And I hated myself for it so much more because of it."

"But as time went on, I realized that you were still you. Even though you were harder and sharper than what you used to be, you were still a good person at heart. And whatever you went through, you came out of it a genuine hero. And I am so, so proud of you, Barry."

He was beginning to cry, and it took Barry a moment to realize he was crying too. He trained himself out of the action years and years ago, and yet here he was, tears running down his face. Not once did he ever think he would hear those words, nor consider whether or not he would ever need to, and yet now that they were here, it brought him an incredible amount of joy to offshore the immense amount of sorrow lining every inch of his body.

"I'm sorry, Joe," Barry suddenly blurted out, guilt creeping up on him. "This is my fault, if I had just been faster or smarter, I could have saved you. If I…" he trailed off and screwed his eyes closed.

"No, Barry," Joe said, his voice weak. "You tried your best. I know you did. You never settle for anything less."

Barry didn't know what to say to that. His foster father glanced up at the rest of the room. "I love you… All of you… And I'm happy with the life I've lived… It was a pretty good one…"

His eyes began to close, as the grip he had on Barry's hand slowly went slack. Before Barry could say a word, to tell him that he loved him too or to beg him to stay, to not go, it was already too late. Joe was gone.

A few hours later, they all returned to the West home, listless and red-eyed. They had all cried around Joe's body for who knows how long, and lost track of time by the time they were all done. The hospital staff gently guided them away and helped them calm down while taking Joe's body down to the building's morgue, where it would stay until they could make the proper funeral arrangements. Eventually, the hospital became too stifling for all of them, and at Wally's suggestion, they headed back home.

But when they got to the house, nobody could bring themselves to sleep, the grief simply too much to let go. Instead, they just sat around the living room, lost in memories. Everywhere anyone could see, they could see Joe. It was impossible not to when this was his home and had been for decades.

All of that changed when a breach suddenly opened in the center of the room. Barry instinctively reacted and drew out the knife he kept in his sleeve, throwing it at the portal. A quick dodge was the only thing that saved the intruder.

"What the hell, Barry!" Cisco shrieked, the breach closing behind him as he threw himself to the side.

The speedster blinked, pausing to draw out his second knife. "Cisco? What are you doing here?"

"You weren't answering your phone, man. The rest of the JL—I mean…" the other metahuman quickly tried to backtrack once he realized that Henry, Wally, and Francine were all here, along with Barry and Iris.

Barry sighed. "It's alright, Cisco," he told his friend. "They know."

"They do? Then why…" Cisco trailed off, as he began to register everyone's expressions. His mouth shut and he swallowed. "He's gone, isn't he?"

Nobody said anything, simply looking away. Iris sniffed and saddled up next to Barry, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders in comfort. Cisco pursed his lips together. "I'm sorry," he said. "He was a good man."

"He was," Barry agreed, inhaling a deep breath. "And thank you. But that's not why you're here. What's wrong?"

"It's Kara and Kal, man. They're back from Argo, and they've got some big info about Reign. The entire situation is worse than we thought."

"Figures. Alright, I'll go in the morning—"

But Cisco cut him off. "That's not all man. Thea's been kidnapped again, and so has Laurel's sister Sara. And the person responsible is Oliver's best friend, Tommy Merlyn."

Barry's eyes widened in horror as everyone in the room fell into shock. "What? Are you sure?"

"Laurel confirmed it herself," Cisco answered, nodding. "Tommy revealed himself to her before knocking her and her parents out with some sleeping gas in the Foundry and taking Sara. It's definitely him."

Goddammit. As if they didn't have enough on their plate. "Alright," Barry decided. "I'm going with you to the Hall of Justice now. And everyone here is coming with me."

"Are you sure, Barry?" Francine asked, a bit unsettled. They had gone from mourning her ex-husband's death to this, and it was throwing her off. Throwing them all off, to be honest.

"Yes. You're not safe here by yourselves. I'd rather have you all staying in the Hall for now until all of this is over." Eddie's name hung in the air, unspoken but very much present. If he had been willing to go after Iris to force Barry to do his bidding, he wasn't above going after one of them since his first attempt didn't work out.

Iris exchanged looks with the rest of the room and then nodded towards the two superheroes. "Alright. We'll go with you."

Barry gave her a single nod in response before turning back to Cisco. The younger man stepped aside and opened a breach, gesturing them all to go inside. Barry led the way, followed by Iris and her family, with Henry rounding out the rear. Once everyone was through, Cisco followed, and the breach closed, leaving behind an empty home in their wake.

And here we are. Joe's death.

This has been planned for a while. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do a lot of subversions when it came to canon, and this is the biggest one. Instead of Henry dying, Joe dies instead. Much like how I haven't found a story where Eddie turns evil like how he does in mine, I don't find a lot of stories where Joe dies. So I figured this would be the big one, and the fact that Eddie was responsible makes it worse. It just hammers in just how much Eddie's revenge crusade is costing him. Whether the lesson sinks in, however, is yet to be seen.

We'll be going to the Hall of Justice next, where everyone catches up with everyone and the rest of our trio's loved ones learn the truth of their decade in hell. And of course, the plan to counteract our anti-trio. That should be fun.

Until then, please remember to update the TV Tropes page!

Next chapter: the Hall of Justice.