Here we go. Season 4. And can I just say one thing? Season 4... sucked. It sucked. Everything about it sucked. I had a miserable time recounting the events of the show. I took the bare minimum and changed everything that happened. There are going to be some slow parts, but that just couldn't be helped. I hate the season, and I don't even like my own season 4 as I felt I could do better. Regardless, let's see how much I improved on the original. Big thanks to my co-authors, Brightburn1985 and ThomasMarieAmell2.0, for helping me get out of my slump at times from writing this.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash.

The months after the death of Savitar passed by in what seemed to be moments. And so much has changed since then.

Wally is doing his best as The Flash and Cisco is running the company smoothly enough. Julian's still around, but he's been busy covering for Barry's absence at CCPD.

But nobody's seen a trace of Barry or Caitlin since the two left Central.

It was worrying the team as they had no way to check in as the two had decided to go and completely cut connections with STAR Labs until they returned. Leaving no way to contact them to make sure they were okay or where they were.

So the city was left in the capable hands of Kid Flash and Vibe. Which is why they were chasing Shawna Baez, aka Peek-a-Boo, all across Central City.

"Why is this so hard? Barry caught her in his first year," Wally complained, pursuing Baez on foot.

"Her powers were even faster than Barry, but she could only travel within her sightline. So we trapped her when it was dark so she couldn't escape. It's daytime now, so she's got her full range of powers," Cisco explained.

"So we're at the wrong time of day to take her down." Wally exclaimed.

"Our best chance is to isolate her and take her down before she has a chance to look where she's going." Cisco said. "Otherwise we'll lose her."

"Where could she be going?"

"She'll try to escape Central City. We can't pursue her if she gets out of the city borders."

"Why not?"

"Part of the vigilante laws the mayor has in place. To avoid a national dispute, we're only allowed to save people within Central City. Otherwise, we're illegally interfering in police matters."

"That's dumb,"

"It's the best the mayor could do at the moment. Being a hero isn't exactly a job, and being a vigilante is still illegal. Which is what we're doing."

"Okay, less on politics, more on catching the teleporting bank robber."

"On it, we need to lead her somewhere she can't escape from."

A sudden whack sounded as Cisco and Wally arrived at the latest site where Baez had appeared to see a woman with platinum blonde hair and icy blue eyes wielding a giant hammer made of ice. The body of Baez collapsed in a heap at the woman's feet.

"Frost!" Cisco shouted in elation at seeing his friend, but careful to use her hero name in public.

"I'm only gone for a couple months, and the city is reduced to this?" Caitlin gestured to the unconscious body of Shawna Baez.

"We nearly had her," Wally said.

Caitlin looked dubiously behind her at the sign saying 'Now Departing Central City'. "Yes, clearly."

"Let's drop this girl off at CCPD first, and then we'll talk. There's so much we need to discuss," Cisco said, picking up the body of their convict and opening a breach to the police station.

Wally ran off in a blazing trail and Caitlin skated in the direction for someplace she could change in private. Caitlin maintained perfect balance on the ice she created. The ice manifested just inches in front of her and melted almost immediately once she had left the vicinity. Caitlin pulled it off with such ease, it was as if she weren't even thinking about it.

"So tell us Caitlin, where have you been?" Julian asked once the rest of the team had been informed of Caitlin's return and arrived at STAR Labs.

"Here and there. Nowhere really specific. Spent some time with my mom, but I soon moved on. Traveling the countryside. Trained in my powers. I had to be totally independent, so I earned money where I could and trained to use my powers for easy transportation."

"And now you're back to stay?" Cisco asked.

"For now. I may need to take another vacation or get away for some time, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. So yeah, I'm back."

"That's great. You wouldn't happen to know where Barry is, would you?" Joe asked in concern for his son.

"I haven't seen him since we parted ways. He told me he was going to Florida, but that was months ago. Who knows where he is now?" Caitlin shrugged. "He took the whole Savitar thing way harder than I did, so it's understandable that he's not back yet."

"But when? Barry still has responsibilities here in Central. Julian cannot keep covering for him at CCPD, and Cisco isn't exactly qualified to be in control of an entire company."

"You're not the least bit concerned for him?" Cisco asked.

"Oh, I'm petrified that Fleet Feet has wound up in a ditch somewhere, and if that's the case, I will go over there and kill him again, just to be sure." Caitlin said. "But at the same time, I can't exactly put a timer on when to stop grieving for a brother that he killed himself."

"But hey, at least you're back. And since you are, would you mind taking the reins on the whole STAR business?" Cisco tentatively asks. "Seeing as you're Barry's fiance, that means STAR kinda belongs to you as well."

"Not until we're married, but sure. I have been helping Barry manage STAR the most out of all of us. I'll take over STAR Facilities until Barry comes back," Caitlin agreed. "Might as well start now so I know when we actually do get married."

"When did we start calling it STAR Facilities?" Cisco raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"As of right now. Do you like it?" Caitlin asks. "Of course this place remains STAR Labs, but the company as a whole becomes STAR Facilities."

"Isn't that the name Gideon told us in the Time Vault?" Cisco asks.

"Oh shoot. I completely forgot about that. I thought it sounded familiar."

"You've been thinking about this?" Wally asked.

"Since Barry and I got engaged. I knew I'd have to have a more active role as wife to the CEO, else I'd just be thought of as some gold digger, so I thought up some ideas for the company. Maybe I should hold off on anything before Barry returns so I can talk to him about this."

"A name change isn't the worst idea. People thought opening STAR again at all would be terrible, but Barry's been doing pretty well." Joe assured her.

"Well then, it's back to business as usual." Caitlin smiled.

Far off, a man and a woman looked upon a screen with several panels showing various locations around Central City.

"The Flash has yet to return," a female voice commented.

"It appears I've underestimated the amount of pity and self-loathing one can harbour for oneself." the male voice scoffed. "Our plans will have to be put on hold until the Flash is ready to play again."

"Why not move ahead? Without the Flash, it would be even easier to continue our operations," the female pointed out.

"Without him, what's the point? It's not fun anymore if everything just goes exactly as planned. I need a better distraction and the Flash seems to be able to provide the challenge."

"Perhaps a gentle nudge will be required to speed along the Flash's return?" the woman suggested.

The man sighed in his chair. "Might as well. Nothing fun seems to be going on anymore."

With a push of a button an alarm sounded around them. Identical grins flashed across the couple's faces as they turned their attention back to the screens.

Another alarm sounded, but this time in the halls of STAR Labs. Cisco breached into the Cortex and Wally sped in. Caitlin was still getting situated back into the house she had been sharing with Barry. They decided to leave her be.

"What's happening?" Wally asked.

"Meta alert. Someone's destroyed the Flash statue in the park." Cisco reported.

"Since when does Barry have a statue?" Wally asked incredulously.

"Opened it today. Construction started a couple years ago."

Wally raised an eyebrow, silently asking why he'd never heard of this before.

"Barry really doesn't like talking about it." Cisco admitted.

Wally nodded and accepted the explanation. "Let's go already,"

With a look, the two super powered individuals traveled to the park.

When they arrived, several people were already frantically running from the scene. Wally sprung into action and quickly transported any stragglers left behind, remembering Barry's words about the civilians taking priority.

All that was left was a man standing in the rubbled, furiously stomping on the remains of the statue. "Not seen for months, and he's still praised as a hero. Overrated, attention stealing, bastard." the man mumbled.

"I have a feeling Frost would have gotten along pretty well with this guy." Cisco commented after hearing the criminal ramble.

"Hey buddy, how's about stepping away from the rubble? Pretty sure it's harmless now." Wally suggested.

"What's your beef with the Flash?" Cisco demanded.

"Why does anyone have beef with the Flash? He's a hero, meaning he's in my way. But of course, he's not here. He's abandoned this sorry excuse of a city, so I'm taking it as my own. But if the people are still so hopeful that their 'hero' will come to save the day, I decided to tear it to the ground by blowing up the Flash's smug mug. He's not here, so his statue will have to do,"

"Well you want the Flash? You've got one," Wally said, stepping forward to face the villain.

"You? You've barely got your training wheels off Kid. And even now, you still need help. You don't stand a chance." the man said.

"And who exactly are you?" Wally challenged him.

"I'll tell you who I am. Abra Kadabra!" he shouted and thrusted his arms forward in a grand gesture.

In a puff of smoke, neither Wally nor Cisco knew how, but meta cuffs appeared at their wrists and chains snaked around their body, restraining them from moving an inch. They were helpless as the remains of the statue vanished with a wave of the man's hand.

The man smirked. "Later," and with a snap of his fingers teleported away.

There was an awkward silence in the air before Cisco broke it. "Abra Kadabra! I just got that. That's actually a really good name."

Wally shot Cisco with a look. "Shouldn't we be focusing on how to get out of these restraints?"

Cisco nodded his head. "Good point. Can you reach into my pocket to pull out my phone and call Joe? He'd at least be able to drop us at STAR where we can get something to cut them off."

It was awkward being stuck in the park, and getting in the car was uncomfortable, but when they arrived at STAR Labs, they were able to cut the chains off.

"Well that was an embarrassment. Who was that guy?" Wally asked.

"Not sure, but facial recognition should give us an answer soon." A ring sounded from the computer in front of Cisco. "And there we go."

Cisco looked over the information provided and frowned. "There isn't much here. The guy's a professional magician, but his real name isn't listed. He just goes by his stage name, 'Citizen Abra'. Disappeared a couple years ago. Hasn't been seen until today."

"So he got his powers from the accelerator?" Wally wanted to know.

"Maybe? But that doesn't explain his three year absence. He still had been seen at shows after the explosion. It wasn't until a couple months later that he officially vanished."

"Lots of people are still missing because of that thing. Is it so strange that now the Flash has taken an apparent leave of absence, they're going to start coming out of the trenches?"

"It's possible…" Cisco relented. There was still something fishy about this guy. Cisco couldn't find an actual name, and there was no record of the guy until five years ago. As if he'd appeared out of nowhere.

"So what do we do about the guy? With a look, he had us powerless. In cuffs, in chains. How do we defeat him?"

"We'll just have to hit him hard and fast. Not give him time to react. If he can't practise his voodoo on us, we'll be able to restrain him and put him in Iron Heights." Cisco said.

"That's assuming we even know where he is." Wally commented. "Are we sure we can't contact Barry in any way? Because we could surely use his help on this."

"Wally, he left us in charge of Central City while he's away. We can do this. Barry has faith in us for as long as he's gone. Don't doubt yourself now." Cisco assured him. "Plus, we have Caitlin helping out as well, so it's not like it's just us anymore."

"But then as soon as Barry's back, what then? You go back to the man behind the screen and I'm just the sidekick?"

"Wally, you're your own person. You are not the sidekick. You and Barry are equals. Partners. Not the same way as him and Caitlin, but still."

"Then why am I called Kid Flash? And why didn't Barry take me with him to take on Savitar? I could have helped him."

"Okay, the name was my fault. Don't go blaming Barry on that. If it made you feel… incompetent, that wasn't my intention. I started calling you that because I thought it would be like training another Flash, and the name just stuck. If you don't like it so much, you're more than welcome to change it. You're not a kid anymore." Cisco tried to placate him. "And the reason Barry didn't take you with him against Savitar is because it was personal. Not that he thought you weren't ready, but Savitar was his brother. It was Barry's responsibility to face Savitar. It's the same reason he didn't call in Supergirl or Arrow. It wasn't their fight.

"As for me, well to be honest, after all these months needing to get out at the drop of a dime to deal with some crisis, I'd personally love to get back behind a computer. Help behind the scenes. I'd still help on the front lines, but being tech support is where I really shine so don't worry about me."

"Okay, I'm going to tell you something, and you have to promise that you're never going to tell anyone else, unless I say so." Wally sighed.

"This sounds serious. What's up?" Cisco narrowed his eyes.

"When Barry left, I'll admit, I was happy. Because with him gone, that meant I would be able to take charge. I was the speedster now. I wouldn't need to answer anybody." Wally began to say. "And when I got my speed, I always thought, I always expected, that I would become the Flash when Barry decided to retire. Carry on the mantle. But after all these months, I've seen how the city looks to Barry. He's their hero and he always will be. I can't measure up to that. I can't replace him, and I have no intention of doing so. And the whole hero gig, I'm still all in, but I don't want to be the Flash anymore."

"What are you saying? Nobody is expecting you to be the Flash. Not anytime soon anyway. And even when Barry leaves this life, we don't expect you to become the Flash. You become your own hero. Everyone will support you the entire way."

Wally shook his head. "Thanks, but you don't have anyone that people are constantly comparing you to. Even the criminals just think I'm a cheap knockoff. When Barry comes back, I'm gonna leave Central to strike out on my own. I think I'm ready."

"Well I can't stop you, so I'll just wish you luck and hope you find everything you're looking for. What brought on this big decision?" Cisco asked.

"Jesse broke up with me. Said she was focusing on protecting her own Central City, which got me thinking that I don't really have my own place to hang up my mask." Wally gestured to the single mannequin. "That's Barry's spot. I'm just keeping it warm for him."

"Any idea on where you're going?"

"I was thinking of Coast City. Iris is there. It would be nice to see my sister anytime I want." Wally mentioned.

"That sounds nice. Joe is going to be crushed though," Cisco states.

"Why do you think I chose Coast City? With Iris there, he'll have both of us checking on each other and making sure we're keeping out of trouble." Wally pointed out.

Cisco nodded his head. "That's a good plan. Let's focus on catching Abra Kadabra right now though. You're staying until Barry returns, so I think you've got some time."

Abra Kadabra was proving to be well versed in the art of vanishment. They were having no luck in finding him on the satellite with facial recognition. It seemed like the magician had crawled back into the hole he'd managed to dig himself out of for the past three years.

With no further leads after several days, the team was forced to put the investigation on the back burner until Abra Kadabra made another reappearance. Just another file in the long list of metas that mysteriously disappeared.

But soon they were given several other meta cases to handle. Assaults, robbery, murder. It was a vicious cycle. For some cases, they left it to CCPD to handle. It wasn't like they were ill-equipped.

A standard strength meta wasn't exactly at the forefront of their brains. Strength did not equal invulnerability. They were just as susceptible to a bullet in the head as anyone else. Slap some dampening cuffs and they were powerless.

Aside from the weekly meta, everyone was waiting for the moment Barry would return. Not just so they could continue with some plan, but also because they were extremely worried about him. Months without seeing him, and after he'd just killed someone. And that someone being his own brother. It was reasonable that they might be slightly frantic to see that he was okay. Or at least on the road to recovery.

But at the same time, they understood why he needed his space for those exact reasons.

Cisco tried to reconfigure the satellite to pick up any speed trails outside of Central City to try to track where Barry might be heading, but there was nothing on that front. If Barry was using his speed to get around, he'd somehow masked it from their satellite. There were no purchases under the name of Barry Allen. His credit card had been lying in Joe's house all these months.

The team had no idea how Barry was keeping under the radar so well, which only brought worry because there might be another reason why it seemed Barry had vanished from the face of the Earth…

An alarm sounded, notifying the team of an intruder in the building.

Sensors showed the intruder was in… their storage facility? Cameras activated giving the image of the magician, who seemed to be looking for something.

Wally ran in, but remained out of sight so they wouldn't tip off Abra Kadabra that he was there.

"Where is it? Where is it?" Kadabra mumbled to himself, pushing boxes out of the way and removing tarps to see what was underneath.

"What is he looking for?" Wally mumbled into his comm.

"No idea. Take him out whilst he's distracted. Hurry!" Cisco said.

Wally developed a determined expression and ran forward, punching the back of the man's head.

Surprisingly, Abra Kadabra managed to rise to his feet. Or more like, he'd levitated to his feet. "Why am I not surprised to find you here? I don't have time for this."

"What are you looking for?" Wally demanded to know.

"If you must know, I know there's a device hidden here that will be able to get me home. I need it. I have to get out of here! And I'm not letting you get in my way."

"Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. You're breaking and entering. Add that with destruction of property. You're not going home for a long time."

"You don't understand. I don't belong here, but if I stay here there'll be no escape from him! There's no way out!"

"Okay, relax dude. No need to get so worked up. Let's talk about this," Wally suggested.

"Talk? I don't have time to talk!" Abra whipped his hand forward and a gust of wind came out of nowhere, slamming into Wally.

The wind caused a lot of light objects in the room to be displaced and a tarp covering a spherical contraption was unveiled.

Abra Kadabra's eyes lit up when he saw it. "Yes! I found it." He almost seemed as if he were about to cry.

Wally took a look at the invention and raised an eyebrow. He'd known about this device before from stories shared with him from the rest of the team.

This was the time machine Cisco had created for the Reverse Flash in their first year of operating. Barry had destroyed it, but Cisco had fixed it up and placed it in storage. Why would this man need a time machine?

When Wally voiced his concerns, he was met with a scoff. "Haven't figured it out yet? I can see why Kid Flash wasn't one to be remembered," Abra Kadabra said as he rushed to the machine and pushed some buttons to activate it.

"You're from the future?" Wally asked in shock.

"Give the man a prize. As for me, I've gotten my ticket home." Abra Kadabra said as the device flew up into the air. A small rip in the fabric of the universe appeared and the machine seemed to be floating towards it.

Wally honestly wasn't sure how to go about this. Whether he should let the man go or not. In the end, the decision was taken from him.

"Wally, high speed object heading your way. Brace for impact." Cisco's voice sounded excited in his ear. Wally wasn't sure why though.

The reason became apparent when another streak of lightning, faster than anything Wally had seen before in his life appeared. With its momentum, it leaped into the air and smashed itself into the time machine.

Glass fell and Wally was busy getting out of the way of the falling debris, as well as the bulk of the machine crashing down to the ground.

The streak of lightning fell to the ground with the magician in its grip.

When it finally came to a stop, Wally was looking at a familiar red-clad speedster. One that Wally would recognize anywhere.

"Been a while," Wally commented.

"Well, I figured it was time for me to come home. Missed you guys too much." Barry looked much better than the last time Wally had seen him. Before, Barry looked broken, completely shattered. But now, there was still a hint of the darkness inside, but there was life in his eyes.

"You just wanted to see Frosty," Wally said with a smirk, careful not to use real names with Abra Kadabra in Barry's arms.

"I will neither confirm nor deny that." Barry said with his mouth slightly upturned. "It was good seeing you though. You've improved, I'm impressed."

"I could still use some work," Wally said.

"You'll get there. It's just a matter of time." Barry assured him before speeding off to drop Abra Kadabra to CCPD in handcuffs.

The team congregated in the Cortex where everybody was professing their happiness that Barry had returned. None more so than Caitlin.

"I'm so happy you're back," Caitlin hugged him, but then immediately slapped him. "You made me worried sick. Couldn't hurt to just let us know you were okay."

"I'm sorry, but I needed to be alone, which meant all of you. I hope you understand that." Barry apologized.

"Of course we understand Barr. And if you ever need to get away again, that's fine too." Joe said. "We were just worried about you."

"And I thank you for your concern. But this was something I needed to deal with myself." Barry said.

"And what about us? Do you still feel the same way about me?" Caitlin asked tentatively.

Barry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "Does this answer your question?" Barry got down on his knees and opened the box to reveal a gold ring with a diamond encrusted on the top.

"I know you didn't have a ring before because we decided we were going to worry about that after we dealt with Savitar. But when we did, we left almost immediately so now I need to ask. Caitlin Snow, will you still marry me?" Barry asked with a small smile.

"It's not going to be easy. We both live a difficult life." Caitlin commented.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't live without you Ms. Frosty."

"It's Mrs. Frosty from now on Fleet Feet." Caitlin corrected him.

"Does that mean…?" Barry asked with a hopeful face.

"Yes you silly man. Of course it's yes. I was the one to ask you in the first place." Caitlin smiled but couldn't help rolling her eyes.

"As I remember it, you didn't exactly get to finish. I was the one who had to take over because you couldn't stop yourself getting choked up." Barry teased her.

"Well… that's… just shut up and kiss me." Caitlin demanded.

Barry just smiled and pulled his fiancee in for a kiss after being apart for so long.

"We're going to have to make this engagement quick." Caitlin said once they parted. "Who knows when the next big bad will appear. I want to get married as soon as possible."

"And then we get to spend the rest of our lives together,"

"But we've still got a few months that we need to catch up on together," Caitlin said in a low voice.

"I guess we do need to get reacquainted with each other," Barry commented.

"Want to get out of here?" Caitlin suggested.

"Let's." Barry picked her up and they sped away in the blink of an eye. Presumably to somewhere private.

The rest of the team looked flustered at the blatant flirting and suggestive tones of the couple.

"I need to find myself a girlfriend. Or at least a date to their wedding." Cisco said dejectedly.

"You'll find somebody," Joe reassured him.

"And dad? Now that Barry's back, there's something I need to talk to you about," Wally said. "Alone?"

"Sure?" Joe looked at his son with a questioning gaze but led them down the hall to find somewhere private for their discussion.

And there we go. I brought in Abra Kadabra instead of Samuroid because I have a different Devoe. And androids just didn't fit into it. If it were to be a person, then who was it going to be? I figured Abra Kadabra since I skipped over him last season.

As for Wally, that was always going to happen. Originally Wally was going to be trapped in The Speed Force prison last season and he just wasn't getting out. But that was before I completely got rid of The Speed Force prison, so I resolved to send him off with his sister here. Do I have a problem? It seems like I either kill the characters I don't need or send them off. It really became apparent to me as I was writing this season.

So that's it for today. I'll see you all next week.