Cortex, S.T.A.R Labs.
"You're extremely lucky that you have speed healing, else you'd be permanently deaf from that," Henry said as he took off the blood-stained gloves and trashed them.
"So how did you know-," Barry asked Dr. McGee, who he brought back 'cause she apparently knew his identity.
"Your identity?" She finished, "we're a scientist, we're paid to be perceptive, and you're always a little too well-informed when things go pear-shaped here."
"I mean, that's hardly a basis to deduce Barry must be the Flash," I said.
"It's not the only thing, but it is the foundation of it," she said, turning to Henry and I, "I don't believe we've met though."
"I doubt so, Dan and I got dragged into this mess not too long ago," Henry said, shaking her hand, "Dr. Henry Allen."
"Alright, now that that mystery is solved," Barry said, "seems like we've got a Black Canary rip-off."
"She must be pretty important if Zoom himself came to pick her up," Cisco said.
"Why Mercury Labs in particular though?" Caitlin added. She looked a lot better, with a change of clothes and probably a shower.
"Zoom had to have wanted something, Mercury Labs is never targeted for shits and giggles," Barry said.
"There may be another possibility," Dr. McGee said as we all turned to her, "I know it sounds crazy, but a couple months ago, I swear I saw Harrison Wells break into my facility."
Barry, Caitlin and Cisco seemed to have a silent conversation as she continued, "It may sound completely bonkers, but is there any possibility that he may have had something to do with this?"
"A few months ago, sure," Dr. Wells said as he appeared in the entrance to the Cortex, "but not today."
"I swear the psycho gets a kick out of people's reactions to this," I whispered to Cisco as Barry stammered, glaring at Dr. Wells as he struggled to explain it.
"Y-yeah, there may be a few more things to catch you up on..."
️ ️ ️ ️ ️
Random Alleyway, Central City
3rd Person Pov
"Hey, my purse!" a girl cried as a dark figure in a coat ran down the alleyway, only to be tripped by a figure hiding around a corner.
"That ain't yours, punk," Wally said as he stepped out of the shadow, the would-be thief standing up.
"You picked a bad time to play hero ki-" the thief is interrupted by a collar wrapping around his neck and electrocuting him, stopping him from using his glowing hands for whatever nefarious purpose he had in mind.
"Wally?" Joe asked as two other cops picked up the thief and took him away, "What the heck are you doing here?"
"The dude was jacking people, I had to do something" Wally said, picking up the purse and returning it to the couple who were waiting.
Lord save me there's two of them...Joe thought.
"You could have been killed!" Joe said as the couple ran away.
" No way I'm letting more people get hurt because of him!"
"These aren't your average guys, they are metahumans," Joe said, " with a lot more experience than you. Leave this to the cops and the Flash!"
"What about Dan, huh?" Wally asked, "I need to show that I'm worthy of these powers, worthy of the Flash saving me!"
That's what this is about? Joe thought, as he stepped back, thinking of what to say next.
"Wally, you are worthy, 'kay?" Joe said.
"Am I?" Wally asked, "'Cause last I checked, I'm the guy who waited till the last moment to visit his dying mother, the guy who stole a fuckton of cars, the guy who caused Iris to get injured from my illegal racing, the guy who caused Jesse and Dan to be hit by the wave and put them in this mess, the guy who caused the Flash to lose his powers and started this whole Metapocalypse! Last I checked, I got a lot of red in my ledger, and I've barely started to wipe it clean."
Joe was left speechless as Wally took off in a burst of yellow lightning.
️ ️ ️ ️ ️
S.T.A.R Labs
Dan's PoV
"What's going on?" Barry asked as he and Henry walked into the Cortex, where a screen was showing the C.C.P.D with flames in the shape of the Flash logo.
"Zoom," Barry said, taking off before Henry could say anything.
I'd follow, but Barry's got this handled, right? He literally scared Zoom off once, I'm sure he can take him down, and I'd just get in the way, right?
I still didn't feel easy, even with me trying to rationalise my inaction.
Cisco quickly turned on the comms system and linked it to the external speakers so we could hear their conversation.
"You know, I never saw the crime photos of my mother's murder, but I guess I didn't need to, right? I got a first-row seat to it,"
"The hell?" I asked Jesse.
"We found his real identity, a serial killer who witnessed his abusive father murder his mom in cold blood and was sent to a shitty orphanage." she explained, and I was struck by 1.) How normal sounding his voice was, and 2.) the similarities between Barry and Zoom.
"...So delicate, you had to be whisked away."
"I know you didn't call me here just to banter." Barry said, "let's finish this. Right here, right now."
"Why can't villains simply do that?" I asked.
"Actually, I did," he said, "I called you here to tell you that you can't keep going from one meta to another, round and round like a dog chasing his tail."
"I'll do whatever it takes to defeat you Zoom," Barry said, but I knew he knew. He had to know Zoom was right. We couldn't keep doing this to the hundreds of metas all over the city, even if all of us were allowed to use our powers to help.
"If only that were good enough Barry" Zoom said, "Here's the thing Barry, I know you, I know what makes you tick, what drives you forward, and what holds you back. We're not so different, you and me..."
"Yeah, you keep saying that" Barry said, "But I don't buy it."
"You'll see. Same tragic backstory, reason for running desire to be the fastest. The only difference, you think your anger is bad. You try to lock up the darkness, to be seen as the hero. But aren't you tired of this charade?"
"I just spotted Black Siren, she's two blocks from the C.C.P.D building," Cisco said as I nodded, suiting up. Crazy emo chicks, now that I can handle.
Taking off, it didn't take me long to find her again, but she had already started to scream, the building beginning to crumble to the ground.
I pushed forward in a burst of speed, carrying people and dropping them a couple blocks away, and it was working. But the building was crumbling too fast, and I couldn't run up the walls yet.
Luckily, a streak of red and orange appeared beside me.
"Stop Black Siren!" Barry said as I nodded, letting Barry save the people as I ran down to face her.
"Ready for Round 2!" I yelled.
"Little birdy thinks he's all grown up after a lucky shot," she said as I rolled my eyes, running around her to pull the same trick once again, but a blur of black and blue bodychecked me into the wall, as Zoom stood before me once more.
"The rookie returns," it growled, with that fucking inhuman voice that sent shivers down my spine, no matter how hard I tried to block it out.
I tried to run off to get some breathing room, but it just caught me again, throwing me into the ground once again.
"You really thought you could try and be a hero?" It said, vibrating his hand, "You are too weak, too slow, too insignificant. Your friends cannot save you. You will die here."
It was happening again, and I couldn't do anything to stop the fear that filled my body, holding me tight like a straitjacket.
"Pathetic!" It spat, as he ran off, leaving me in the alleyway as I remained frozen for a while (I'm not sure how much time passed really).
"...Dan! Dan!"
"Huh!" I said, snaking out of my trance.
"Your heart rate was going so fast we thought you flatlined for a while!" Caitlin said, "What happened?"
"Nothing," I lied, standing up shakily from the wet, dirty floor, "I was just doing some exercises," I quickly changed the subject, "Zoom came for her again and they got away. We sure they aren't dating?"
"You need to get back here for a check-up Dan," Henry said as I nodded, but Barry picked me up before I could move, probably on one of the doc's orders.
"I can run on my own y'know?" I said, but Barry ignored me, racing faster to get us to S.T.A.R Labs.
️ ️ ️ ️ ️
S.T.A.R Labs
"All vitals are normal, you can stop now," Caitlin said as I slowed down on the treadmill.
"I could have told you that myself," I said, "Oh, wait. I did tell you guys I was fine!"
"Your heart doesn't just move that fast for no reason," Barry said as I left the room, putting on a sweatshirt.
"There's nothing to it, it was a small anomaly," I said once again, "anyone up for some Big Belly Burger? I'm famished."
"Dan, this is serious," Henry said with a frown.
"Relax Henry, it was a one-time thing," I said, "Besides, shouldn't we be worrying about Crazy Emo Chick? Zoom seems to have a thing for her."
"Crazy Emo Chick?" Cisco asked, "That's your best?"
"Nah, it's something I like to do for villains where I give 'em dumb names," I explained, "For her, I was thinking something along the lines of Parrot, 'cause she's a cheap knock-off."
"Going for the irony as well," Cisco said with a smile, "Cisco like!"
"Guys, focus!" Iris said.
"Iris is right, we need to stop Zoom before Cr-Pa-Black Siren from destroying another building," Barry said, stammering over her name.
"And how do you propose we do that Allen?" Dr. Wells asked.
"We start with his armour, the metas," Barry said.
"The same minions that we don't even know their numbers for starters?" Caitlin scoffed.
"Or their powers?" Cisco added.
"We could take weeks to track them down," Dad said, but Barry shook his head.
"We don't have weeks, guys," Barry said, "We need to stop them all at once."
"Once again, Allen, how?" Dr. Wells asked, but Barry got an idea.
"Cisco, your goggles, they didn't work on Earth-2, right?"
"Yeah," Cisco said, confused, "but because of the different funda-oh you sly son of a dog!" as he seemed to have figured it out.
"Different what?" I asked.
"And explain it to the non-geniuses please," Joe said.
"All the different Earths overlay each other, vibrating at a different fundamental frequency," Barry explained, but Joe still looked lost.
"Basically, we all exist at the same point, but our atoms move slightly differently, which means we normally can't interact with each other," I tried to explain before turning to Barry, "So you want to take advantage of it?"
"I like it," Harry said as he, Jesse and Cisco took off, Iris heading to the CCPN to ask around, while Joe took Barry to the side to talk to him, probably about his overconfidence.
"Can we talk, Dan?" Caitlin asked as I nodded warily, and she led us to the room where the treadmill was.
"You're afraid of Zoom," Caitlin said as soon as I closed the door.
"What makes you think I'm afraid of the Nightmare Fucker?" I asked, trying my best to hold the shudder back, thanking the Speed Force that her back was turned.
"I can see through your facade, you know?" she said, "I saw the fear in your eyes when we heard Jay speak."
"Stop calling it that," I said, "It humanises him, and that thing is not human."
"It's okay to be afraid, Dan," she said, "fear keeps you alive, and that's what we need now more than ever, with Barry being..."
"A cocky, arrogant but somehow lovable idiot?" I finished as she nodded.
"It's just..." I said, sitting down on the treadmill, "When I got these powers, I was beyond happy. I can't really remember it, but there was something about today that I was supposed to remember."
It was hard to continue, but I pushed through.
"I was even wearing Girder down, but then it came and killed Girder by literally walking through him. I was going to die, if Barry didn't save me. If I can't save myself, what can I do for those who need me? How can I actually help Barry? Do I even deserve this power?"
"You know, Barry was sort of like this when he first met the Reverse Flash?" Caitlin said.
"Seriously?" I asked. Barry wasn't the physically strongest by a long shot, but when he was the Flash, he became this capable, fast as heck guy that nothing fazed.
"Yup. He was in a pretty bad place, and the Reverse Flash didn't even need to lift a finger." she asked, "He broke down Barry's self-esteem, and then helped build it back up, before betraying us all again."
"What did you tell him?" I asked.
"I told him that he needs to get his shit together, or else the Reverse Flash will kick his ass six ways to Sunday," she said bluntly as I blinked, before she burst into laughter.
"Of course not, I actually had nothing to do with it" she said, "But hiding this from your friends definitely doesn't help. The fear may seem overwhelming, but with time, training and friends, you can be able to overcome your fears. It won't happen all at once, and you may not even notice, but your fears slowly fade into the wind like Autumn days."
I pondered on her words and realised that she was right. Bottling it up never really worked, Fate just has a way of bringing it back to me.
"Thanks, Caitlin," I said, "That helped a lot."
"Anytime," she said as I nodded, just as Iris announced through the speakers.
"Parrot spotted on Fifth and Main. Ready for a rematch, Dan?"
A/N: This goes without saying (I feel), but this is not a DanxCaitlin pairing (btw I seem to have been spelling her name wrong for a while). Caitlin and Dan both fear the same person ( an unplanned development), and Caitlin was the best member to have this convo, since other than Barry, no other member of team Flash have this experience, and Barry's on a bit of a power high.
This is officially the end of pre-made chapters as of editing, at least until another side project is over, so sorry about that.