Hey everyone. Glad to see you all here. Are you all having a good summer? As promised, the first official chapter of season 7. The beginning of the end, some might say. Anyway, hope you all enjoy.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. The Flash is property of DC and the CW.

The sky was dark with clouds. Lightning flashed across the sky of various colors. Thunder was rumbling constantly as though the Earth was shaking. It was chaos on the ground too, with multiple breaches opening and closing, beings with different colors of electricity covering their bodies moving through the tears in the universe as they fought others off.

Bodies were littering the ground before disappearing. Barry was staring up at the sky with tears falling from his eyes as his face was covered in a smear of blood. He was breathing heavily, a sense of hopelessness overcoming him.

"Please! Yes!" He shouted to the sky.

Barry and Cisco were in STAR Labs, working on Cisco's mechanical hand, adding upgrades to it and new features that were an improvement on the original. Such as adding Gideon into it to respond to Cisco's mental commands. They hoped it would allow Cisco to mentally control some of the technology in STAR like a built-in remote control. For now though, they managed to wirelessly link the hand with a single computer that Cisco would be able to use without the need of a keyboard or mouse. It was a mild success in the direction they were heading.

"I think I'm going to call it a night here," Barry says as he notices the time on the clock. "I can go over some of these findings with Caitlin when we talk for dinner. Her knowledge in biology would be beneficial."

"Yeah. Hey, I hear you're going out for dinner? Someplace fancy?" Cisco smirks.

"Yeah, Allegra has Ramona for the night. Finally managed to convince Caitlin to take a night for herself instead of spending so much time with Ramona,"

"Can you blame her? She spent months separated from her baby due to Rosso and Ramona wasn't even a year old yet. She's making up for lost time," Cisco shrugs.

"Yeah, well, I don't want Caitlin to be too obsessed. Based on what I heard about our son, that is only going to lead to a dark path. Not that I'm any different come to think of it." Barry sighed at his hypocrisy when thinking about how much he spoiled his little girl. Anything she even showed a passing interest in, he got her when going shopping. Sometimes even buying two of her toys when he couldn't decide on the color of a plushie.

"Alright, get out of here. Enjoy your date," Cisco waved him off.

"Yeah," Barry nods and heads out of the Cortex but walks back in when Cisco's words sink in. "Date?"

"You are going on a date, aren't you?" Cisco said.

"No, it's just dinner," Barry denies.

"With your wife and mother of your child,"

"Yeah, but it's not like I remember all that happening. This is a marriage of convenience for Ramona and tax reasons. This is just a dinner between two friends. We're not dating." Barry insists. But Barry notices Cisco's sour look. "What's with that face?"

"You hang out all the time." Cisco tells him.

"We live together and have a child. Of course we're spending a lot of time with each other," Barry points out.

"You got her flowers the other day." Cisco reminds him.

"I gave her flowers to spruce up the living room. It was looking really bland." Barry retorts.

"She told me you are giving her feet massages!" Cisco shouts in exasperation.

"Well, yeah. But that's just because after a long day of dealing with the city, the company, our daughter, and me in general, she deserves to unwind. She's amazing and I want her to know she's appreciated. It's what friends do." Barry shrugs.

"You're not giving me foot massages," Cisco pointed out.

"You have a robotic hand. Do you really need me to give you a foot massage?"

Cisco gave him an inquisitive look and so Barry took some consideration into his own words. It felt like there should be something there he should be seeing, but he just wasn't grasping it. "I don't get what the big deal is,"

Cisco's mouth was open in shock. This was Barry Allen. The Flash, hero of Central City. CEO of STAR FACS and multimillionaire. Dedicated father and one of the smartest people in the room. A complete idiot.

"Are you serious? Even Ramona knows you two are dating and she's barely a year old. Why do you think she keeps mashing her Flash and Frost plushies together?"

Barry shrugs it off. "That's just how she plays with her toys. She's a baby Cisco. I don't think she's even grasped the concept that we're related."

When Barry sped off, Cisco's face was still stuck in that expression. "Does he not know? How does he not know? What is happening right now?"

Barry and Caitlin were walking towards the restaurant they were going to be dining in, all dressed up for the occasion. It wasn't that far from where they lived so they didn't bother using the car or letting Barry whisk them away. The sun was just beginning to set and there was a cool breeze in the air.

"Hey, what's with that look?" Caitlin asked as she could tell Barry's mind wasn't in the present at the moment.

"Something Cisco said to me today," Barry said distractedly. "We're not dating are we?"

Caitlin gave him a weird look. One of her eyebrows was raised. All the while she was cursing out Cisco's name in her head. He had to open his big mouth.

"Yeah, that's about how I was feeling when he said that as well." Barry spoke with mild concern. The idea was crazy. He was still trying to readjust himself back into his old life. It wasn't like the idea of dating Caitlin was repulsive. She was smart, beautiful, kind, caring. She got along great with Ramona, which was awesome. He just wasn't sure if he was ready to start dating yet. And it just felt a little weird to be starting a relationship with his wife. It was still something he was trying to wrap his head around.

"Weird." Caitlin awkwardly agreed. "I don't know what gave him that impression."

"Well, I mean, we have been sleeping together on the couch, but that's just because we both fall asleep there after watching movies a lot of nights. And it seems like you sleep better with company." Barry casually mentioned. It was something that happened many times over the past few months. They never meant to stay up so late, but it was just something they did to unwind after a hard day and they would already be awake if Ramona woke up crying. They were just prepared. He'd never thought it could be construed as anything else until now. They were just spending time together and falling asleep on the other. This happened with friends all the time. "We do go out for dinner a lot to a lot of fancy restaurants as well. We're literally holding hands right now," Barry held up their joined hands, not even realizing when it happened. He didn't let go though.

"It's a little chilly and you're very warm." Caitlin deflected.

"You shouldn't be able to feel cold though, with your powers and everything," Barry shot her a sharp look. "Are we actually dating?"

Caitlin let out a long laugh and kept laughing until she felt sure that the idea was sufficiently mocked. "No. You think I would trick you into 'accidentally' doing activities that are couple-like, which might cross the boundary of friends to try to seduce you and give off the impression that we're in a relationship without you knowing? That's ridiculous. Now come on, we're at the restaurant, let's enjoy ourselves."

"-so then I'm basically dragging Cisco back to the lab with the charred piece of your suit, demanding him to send me into his vibe in order to get you out of The Speed Force."

"I remember this. I was sent to The Speed Force after I gave it up in order to save Wally from Zoom. I didn't know Cisco tried to save me himself the first time. That must have happened when I was still trying to accomplish that task from The Speed Force. I assumed Cisco was the one to get me out of there."

"Nope, that was me. Called Cisco fat and everything to motivate him to get moving." Caitlin shakes her head with a smile on her face.

"I can't believe you actually said that," Barry chuckles.

"He was just sitting there, eating a Big Belly Burger. And he has the audacity to ask for salt. Like there wasn't enough cholesterol on that thing already." Caitlin rolls her eyes as she defends herself.

The two sat together, letting their laughter die down. When they both regained their composure they both looked into each other's eyes and said "I have something I want to talk to you about."

They both paused in shock. Letting a second pass to see if the other was going to speak up. When neither of them said anything they said "I've been meaning to ask."

Giving it another second to let the shock fade away, their eyes widened in surprise. "You go first." they said simultaneously.

Barry couldn't keep the shock off his face. Never had this happened before so many consecutive times. Caitlin couldn't help but let a small smile appear on her face at Barry's dumbfounded look. This happened so often between the two of them before, it was uncanny. It was mildly comforting to know that they were still so in sync.

"I know it hasn't been that long-" Barry started to say.

"I'm not really sure how you feel about it-" Caitlin continued, unimpeded.

"-and this might seem a little sudden-"

"-but lately I've just been getting the feeling that I should ask-"

At that moment, both of their phones went off with the meta alert app. "Oh, thank god." they both mumbled to themselves. "Meta attack. On 57th and Connoley. Let's go,"

Making sure nobody was watching them, they left some bills to pay for their meal and Barry ran them out of there to deal with the situation.

When they arrived, the scene was utterly calm. Nothing seemed out of place. What could have caused a panic of the system to be alerted to a disturbance?

When they arrived, the place looked calm, but the two of them were on high alert when something would inevitably happen.

They didn't have to wait long as the trouble literally fell out of the sky. A large meta had dropped down to the ground leaving a small crater and looking at it, Caitlin had no idea what it was.

The figure was a giant and clearly female but humanoid. Fitted in a sport's outfit that looked to be tailor made. Their muscles were bulging and blue lightning was traveling up and down their figure. Its skin was gray and with the snarling look on its face, it cut an intimidating figure.

Caitlin was entranced by the sight. She wasn't sure why, but it was like she could feel the sheer power emanating from this individual. It was almost like how she felt around Barry, but differently. Like a different type of charge in the air.

The standoff could have lasted forever, if it weren't for two lightning strikes that interrupted their contest, courtesy of Barry himself.

The strike caused the meta to turn their attention to Barry. They didn't seem bothered by that assault, letting the electricity roll off its body. Caitlin got the distinct feeling that despite their proximity to each other, they weren't paying any attention to her.

Barry rushed ahead, leaving her behind in shock, and body tackled the giantess. Between the two of them, it was like a veritable lightning storm had appeared on the street. Each individual had their own lightning flicker across their bodies, and Caitlin noticed that the other woman had their eyes glowing their respective color as well. Caitlin wasn't at all surprised that Barry was responding in kind.

What was a surprise was when the giant let out a roar that pierced the air. But it wasn't so much as a roar, but the sound of a lightning strike colliding with each other on a stormy day. What was even more of a surprise was that Barry let out his own scream that was eerily similar to the other two. A sound that somehow encapsulated a storm within a human scream. Caitlin didn't even know humans could make a sound like that with their mouths.

The electricity was building up and Caitlin had seen this enough times with Barry to know what was going to happen and she got out of there. She ducked behind a building just when two lightning bolts met in the middle with neither side giving an inch.

The bright light was dying down and Caitlin turned the corner to see what was happening. It was a complete slugfest.

Barry was dashing around, landing light punches, but with the stature of his opponent, they might as well be love taps. One good hit from that thing and Caitlin was sure it would take Barry out of the fight. Caitlin shook the little bits of shock out of her and moved to join the fray.

That was when the giant had managed to get a good enough grasp of Barry in its hand. Barry's blurry figure was evidence that he was trying to phase out of the hold, but something seemed to be preventing him from doing so. The giant woman reared back and threw Barry like a baseball into the ground, where Barry skidded to a halt in spite of the fact that he dragged the pavement with him where he went.

"Flash!" Caitlin shouted. She rushed to see if there was anything she could do. She'd already lost him once. She wasn't going to go through that again. Not after everything they'd been through.

As she was nearing Barry, that was when the blue lightning clad woman zeroed in on her. With skill that Caitlin didn't even know was possible, the meta creature sent a sharp kick into the ground at her general direction, enough to leave an impression. The force of which had cracks appearing, almost in a manner as though it were creeping up on her. When the cracks reached her, the ground exploded out from under her, leaving her unbalanced, a little deaf and definitely with a concussion.

After that, everything was a bit foggy. She thought she could make out the sight of Barry literally floating up from the ground. Any injuries he'd taken were healed when the lightning seemed to caress his skin. Broken skin, bruises, joints that popped when they slotted themselves back into place, everything was back to new.

Then there was the image of a tornado forming by her husband running in a circle, cutting off the oxygen supply of the giant, followed by a mini earthquake.

Caitlin thought she remembered seeing Barry leap into the air to kick at the woman. Barry didn't often use his legs for combat. They were better used and required to be used more delicately to maximize his powers.

Caitlin was able to refocus when she saw her husband take a direct punch in the gut, flying through the air. But he was back with a vengeance once he touched the ground, seemingly fine. He must have used those precious moments suspended midair to heal any wounds he suffered and pushed through the pain. Barry was on a direct course collision with a literal bang, enough speed to break the sound barrier. The only time she could remember that he topped that was when he sent a sonic punch at Dibny for hitting on her standing still.

The giantess braced herself for the attack and when it made contact, she was the one who was sent flying on her back. There was movement, like she was trying to get herself back up but when The Flash stepped on her with a fury deep in his glowing eyes, she conceded and slackened. The blue glow left her and her ginormous body shrank to normal proportions and her skin took on a healthy hue.

That was when Caitlin blacked out.

Barry was huffing in effort, an angry expression on his face. The glow in his eyes still had yet to fade and his entire body was vibrating in tension. He let out one last guttural scream in victory to the heavens that boomed and echoed with the sound of thunder.

He calmed down at that and he returned back to a normal state, but immediately closed his eyes in pain, grit his teeth, and clutched his head at the sting he was feeling. What happened to him? Why couldn't he remember what was going on? He remembered arriving at the street, an overwhelming sensation of power, and that was when everything went blank.

Assessing his environment, Barry saw so much destruction. The ground was all but destroyed, he was standing over a body. Was she dead? No, there was chest movement, indicating she was breathing. And over there by an assortment of rubble, there was…

Caitlin! When had she gotten here? Wait. He was the one who brought her here. He remembered that. What else? This was slightly worrying.

Something to think about at another time. For now, he should bring Caitlin and the woman back to STAR Labs. Grabbing the bodies of the two women, he rushed back to STAR in hope of some answers.

"Hey, what the hell happened out there?" Cisco shouted as soon as Barry appeared. "And what happened to Caitlin? Who is that? Did you kidnap this woman?"

"I swear I will answer all of your questions, just check on the two of them. Make sure they're alright." Barry cut off Cisco's frantic questions.

"Well I don't have a medical degree but I should be able to check if they're still breathing. What about that other woman?" Cisco asked.

"She's the meta we were alerted about, can you check for an ID? Something to identify her?"

"I can run a facial scan but I'll have to wait until Caitlin gets up if that doesn't pan out," Cisco shrugs, quickly checking to make sure the two women were okay.

"Thanks, you do that," Barry nodded his head.

Barry started letting his mind wander while he let Cisco work. Somehow he found himself at the entrance of the particle accelerator. Barry didn't know why his feet had taken him here, but it was as good as any to lament. What happened out there? He didn't have any memories after arriving at the scene. Was he experiencing a memory lapse? Was this some kind of side effect from Bloodwork? He didn't know.

Barry just paced around the room until Joe found him there. "Hey, everything alright?"

"Everything is not alright Joe. I'm freaking out here!" Barry blew up.

"Hey, hey. Calm down. Talk to me here. What happened?" Joe said in a calming voice.

"I don't know. That's the entire problem, isn't it? I don't know! 5 years of my life, just gone and replaced with these false memories that I can't shake because I've got nothing else rattling in this brain. And now, on top of that, I just had a blackout! I don't remember anything that happened when I got to the scene. I don't know what I did. I don't know what's happening to me."

"Barry, listen to me. It's going to be okay," Joe placed a hand on Barry's shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Barry shoved him away. "I'm scared Joe. Whatever is going on with me, it means I'm dangerous. I can't control myself. What if this happens again and I hurt one of you? What if I wake up to see that I killed-" Barry couldn't let himself finish that sentence. Tears were running from his eyes and he raised his hand to wipe away some snot coming from his nose.

Joe pulled him in for a hug and let Barry sob into his chest. "What's wrong with me?"

"We're going to get you help, son. Everything is going to be okay. I promise," Joe squeezed Barry tighter, not wanting to let him go.

"This is impossible," Barry stared at the results in front of him.

"Trust me, this has happened plenty of times. We just can't explain it," Caitlin said from her bed now that she had woken up and been checked by Julian once he'd arrived.

"I still can't believe it." Barry said in shock.

"This is where your weirdness limit hits?" Caitlin raised an eyebrow at his proclamation.

"Let's do this again. I just don't believe this," Barry declared.

"Fine, let's do this again, but it's just going to end the same way." Caitlin rolled her eyes but prepared to go again all the same.

"Ready?" Barry developed a serious expression on his face, looking directly into Caitlin's eyes which stared back. Caitlin nodded her head. "Go!"

They both threw out their hands. In the exact same manner.

"Again! How is it the same again?" Barry shouted, mostly to himself.

"It's a glitch in the system." Cisco called out from behind his desk as he was playing some Lady Gaga songs. "You two have been doing that for the past hour. When are you going to stop?"

"When we get a different result!" Barry shouted back.

"Then we're going to be here for a while. I believe our record was 3 hours straight." Caitlin confessed.

"Really? I can't believe it. We actually once went three hours, playing Rock, Paper, Scissors and matched every single time?" Barry asked.

To pass the time, the two had decided to play a little game of rochambo. After the first few times, it was funny. When 10 minutes passed and they still had yet to declare a winner for their first round, Barry was confused. When half an hour passed and they'd been forced to switch hands, Barry grew suspicious. At this point, Barry was pretty convinced that Caitlin had some mind reading ability that she wasn't telling them.

Unfortunately their quiet contemplation of the weirdness of the universe was interrupted when the mysterious woman gasped and shot up from her bed with her eyes wide open. "Where am I? Who are you?" she shouted, obviously confused and disoriented.

"Oh my god, she's awake." Cisco said, but then he developed a weird expression. "This is frighteningly familiar. Does this bring back deja vu for anyone else?" Cisco asked as he took in the situation. It was almost exactly the same as when Barry first woke up here all those years ago. The only difference was there was a different Lady Gaga song in the background.

The woman tried to get off the bed only to notice that her wrists were cuffed to the railing. "What is this? What happened?" The woman narrowed her eyes and seemed to be concentrating intensely before giving up. "What did you do to me?"

"Okay, we have some questions we need to ask you. What's your name?" Caitlin asked.

"Like Force I'm telling that. Tell me what you did to me! What happened to my powers?"

"Those are dampeners on your wrist. They suppress your powers. Handy considering you just went on a rampage in the city," Cisco told her.

"Rampage? Why would I do that? I'm a hero to this city. I wouldn't cause needless destruction."

"First off, the craters in the streets speak otherwise. And second, hero? We've never heard of you before. Who are you?" Cisco asked. The things this woman was saying didn't make sense. But it might be a clue as to who and where she came from considering he didn't get any hits in the system. When this happened, there was usually one answer.

"You really don't know who I am? I'm fairly sure you've all seen me in my Strength form." The woman looked around to see the blank expressions in the trio's faces. "Then I must be…"

"You're from another Earth." Barry said this as a statement, not as a question.

"I guess so. In that case, I suppose it's ok to tell you. My name is Alexa Rivera. Where I come from, they call me The Brawn. I'm a member of The Strength Force."

Dun dun dun. What'd you all think? Obviously, I'm taking a different route with how I'm handling The Forces this season. Here, they already exist. But separate from each other. I'll let the story explain it in the future. And we get to see that despite knowing he's supposed to be in a relationship with Caitlin, Barry's stubbornness is pulling through.

Leave a review, share your thoughts. I live off your feedback. Even if it's to spit vitriol about how much you despise me, I'll take it. Roast the hell out of me. I enjoy a good laugh now and then.

See you all next week! Toodle-oo!