Hi everyone. Here we go with the next chapter. Glad to see people are still interested in this story. It warms my heart to know that. I hope you all enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash.
Once everyone had returned to STAR Labs they all greeted Cisco warmly, happy to see him back and out of rehab. They had even asked for a demonstration of his robotic prosthetic which Cisco happily complied. Cisco held out his hand and concentrated. The fingers eventually curled and uncurled, which was just the precursor of more complicated gestures. Cisco admitted that the movements were slow and took much of his thought process to actively move, but the researchers had assured him that he would adjust and be able to move it more seamlessly the more he did it.
But after the pleasantries were out of the way, they started talking about the elephant in the room.
"This isn't true. It's not possible!" Caitlin exclaimed at seeing the future newspaper, showcasing their impending doom on the monitors in the Cortex.
"It's true," Cisco said dejectedly. "Our latest time travel stunt must have pushed this over the edge. We have less than two months left until the end of the multiverse."
"It's not fair. At least with the previous Crisis, we knew there was a chance of success, but now this is an entirely different Crisis. We don't know if we can get out of this unscathed, if we even get out of this one." Caitlin said.
"Maybe we should poke around a bit. I could pay a visit to the future, get some insight on this." Barry suggested.
"Time traveling is what caused the Crisis to get sped up. You really think more time travel is going to be safe right now?" Joe asked.
Barry sighed but relented. It wasn't worth the risk. Not right now. He only had two months. Barry couldn't and wouldn't risk the time he had left for a chance only to change things again.
Two months to spend with his family. With his wife and newborn. Oh god, he had a kid now. Barry was going to leave his wife a widow again and his child without a father like he did. He couldn't let that happen.
"Maybe we could take a peek? We still have the Philosopher's Stone locked up somewhere. You could use it to show the future again." Julian suggested.
The fact that it was Julian who was suggesting they use the Philosopher's Stone spoke to just how much everyone was so scared of what was happening. Julian hated that thing with every fiber of his being. It stole his life, made him a puppet, manipulated him into ruining other people's lives as well. Even with its creator, Savitar, Barry's brother, dead, Julian never even wanted to entertain the idea of taking it out of lockup.
Nobody spoke up against Julian's suggestion. It was clear they had their reservations about it. They all had bad experiences with the stone, Barry especially. It was a constant reminder of what he'd lost. But nobody objected. It was the safer option of trying to make sense of their situation.
Barry sped off and searched through their basement where they kept all sorts of things they didn't want found. Barry eventually found the box that contained the Philosopher's Stone and kept its power from seeping out. They never did find out what the box was even made of, but Barry suspected that it was somehow made of some other extra dimensional energy that could somehow contain the power of The Speed Force.
Barry returned to the Cortex and held out the mysterious box. The contents of it could be the key to their salvation. Or at least lead them in the right direction.
Barry placed it on a counter and took a deep breath. Taking one last glance at the rest of the team to see if anyone was going to stop him at the last second. Nobody moved.
The box was opened and Barry scooped out the glowing stone. Thinking about what it was that Barry wanted to be shown, he summoned forth lightning in his hands where it was absorbed into the stone and Barry was taken to somewhere else.
Lightning. That's all there was. All there ever was. Indistinct figures. Lightning flashed. Barry saw himself. Running. Moving. His family, helpless.
A red wave. Life itself was being wiped out. Screams, shrieks of horror. All cut off premature as they were gone before they could finish. So many people, just gone. They were there one second and not the next. Nothing was spared.
Fighting. Hope. A chance. Those who stood against what was happening. More screams. Gone. Cut down. Wiped clean. There he was. He was gone too.
There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. No light, no darkness. They were left with nothing.
From nothing, to everything, and finally reduced to nothing once again.
Wait. Was that…? Is there-?
Barry was forcefully ripped away from the vision when he felt the Philosopher's Stone shaking in his hands. Cracks forming around it with light shining through each. Barry realized what was happening a split second before it did. "Get down!" he shouted.
Barry was quick to throw it. Not a second later, the mystical device had exploded to dust. Everyone flinched at the sound of the explosion but their faces formed identical expressions of disbelief at seeing the supposedly immortal device be destroyed.
Everyone turned to Barry, hoping for some explanation. Or even what the last prophecy the stone had foretold. The fact the stone had been destroyed meant what it had shown must have been very serious. And they weren't hopeful enough to think that the destruction of the Philosopher's Stone was a good omen.
"Barry? What did you see?" Joe asked tentatively.
"I saw…" Barry trailed off. "Nothing. Everything was gone. I'm not talking about destruction. It wasn't reduced to rubble. I'm saying there was nothing. Not a speck. There wasn't even light or darkness. There was just nothing."
Everyone took a moment to take in Barry's revelation. How was one supposed to take the fact that the apocalypse was nigh? In fact, they had an exact date to know their impending doom.
"So that's it? It's over?" Cisco asked. "How did it happen?"
"I don't know the exact details. A red wave. Probably what caused the red skies," Barry pointed to the mention of the red skies mentioned in the article. "But there was one thing."
"You said there was nothing?" Julian asked, confused by Barry's previous statements.
"And then there was. I don't know what it was. I don't know what it did. I just know it was there."
"So what do we do?" Cisco asked.
"What?" Barry was confused.
"What are we going to do to prevent what you saw? How are you going to stop the end of days?" Cisco clarified.
"You don't understand. I'm not going to change anything. This doesn't change anything. I can't change anything. It doesn't work like that." Barry said adamantly.
Caitlin was taken aghast. "What are you talking about? You have a chance to change things. You saw what was going to happen. You can work to stop it from ever happening. Make everything okay."
"And risk making things worse?" Barry shook his head. "I'm not going to take that chance."
"Worse? How could things be worse? The entire multiverse is gone! The only thing left was something you don't even know what it was or how it got there. That's it." Caitlin shouted. She didn't understand what Barry was thinking. The multiverse was on the line, and the only help they got was learning how out of their depth they were. And all Barry wanted to do was let things happen the way they did.
"That's all it takes. Whatever it was that I saw, that's our last hope. And I can't risk anything happening to change it. There's too much at stake here."
"Exactly! There's too much at stake. You're not a gambler Barry. You're not supposed to take that chance. You don't have hope. Hope at least has a foundation. You have faith. Worse, blind faith. You don't know anything about this thing. And you're not going to do anything but depend on this? To restore the entire multiverse? Are you serious?"
Barry had a hard stare as he looked at his wife. "Yes,"
Caitlin could see that Barry wasn't going to budge on this. She sighed. "Alright. But we're not leaving this all to chance. We're going to train. You're going to be the best you can be in that amount of time to give that thing the best chance to win."
Barry nodded, taking the compromise. When Caitlin continued looking at him significantly, he realized something else. "Oh, you mean now?"
Caitlin rolled her eyes and dragged Barry away to a training room. Cisco went to follow. He wanted to help as well. And he needed more experience with his robot arm.
Barry's training exercises didn't pan out how they thought they would.
Caitlin would usually start aggressively, which was a good thing. It canceled Barry's speed, allowing him to fight on relatively even odds. But that only lasted until one of them managed to land a hit. When that happened, the other would bend over backwards to make sure the other was okay, which led to them breaking out crying at what was about to happen, much sooner than either one was ready for. And then they would comfort each other with a kiss, leading to clothes ripping and the both of them getting a different kind of exercise.
Training with Cisco was more beneficial for Cisco rather than for Barry. Cisco was crippled, only able to channel his power with one hand, not two. But in close combat, Cisco basically had a large hammer as a hand that was able to hit much harder. But it was still a handicap that was akin to being forced to utilize half of his power.
Barry was able to better improve on his own. Practicing new skills and old ones. Barry had to call Wally to train against as well as inform about the new developments they'd discovered about the impending Crisis. The two were able to practice with each other, passing skills they'd learned. Wally had apparently gone even further with lightning manipulation than Barry had. Wally was now able to create sparks that formed a flower pattern.
While it wasn't exactly what Barry was looking to accomplish, memories of the claws shaped with electricity running through his head, it was a bigger step in that direction than Barry had taken.
Barry suggested that since Wally had such a fine control over this aspect of their powers, sending continuous lightning bolts out of his hands would be simple for him because that was basically what he was doing with that little trick Wally had shown him, just on a larger scale.
Wally agreed and Barry had grabbed a target. The automaton that had served as a practice tool against one of his first metas, Girder. They each took turns practicing. Barry had power on his side, but it was shorter than he would have liked. He thought that if he could rein in some excess power, he would be able to sustain the attack for longer.
Wally had the opposite problem. It seemed he could keep up the attack indefinitely, but the bolts were weaker and didn't do as much damage. He had such a fine grip that he forgot how to let go. And sometimes he couldn't aim properly. The electricity fizzled out before it even reached the target.
Still, that was the point of these exercises. Learning how to improve. If they were to stand the best chance against the Crisis, they couldn't afford any mess ups.
They were both practicing nonstop for two weeks. The only breaks they got were to eat and go to the bathroom. Barry spent maybe an hour a day with Ramona, which was more than he saw Caitlin nowadays. So once again, Joe had to step in to force the two to spend some time away.
The reason he stated was "You're not going to be doing any good if you two burn yourselves up. You need to relax a little. If this is really it, and you two spend the rest of your time holed up in here, you're going to regret it. You have time. Make the most of it. Don't go out with any regrets."
Barry and Wally were reluctant to stop. They feared what would happen if they did. It was what drove them these past few weeks. But Joe wouldn't have any of it. So they were going to spend the next two days doing nothing but spending time with their family. Joe originally wanted a whole week, but Barry and Wally managed to convince him to bring it down.
Wally went back to Coast City to spend some time with Iris and Eddie. All three of them were going to be returning to Central when the time came to spend what may be the final moments together. But they couldn't just up and take off from their lives at the moment.
Barry was sitting on the couch, just watching Ramona mindlessly play with a couple toys. She was gurgling and throwing things around, but Barry had a smile as he watched her.
"Are you okay?" Caitlin came in and handed him a cup of water.
Barry took it graciously and took a little sip. "I'm not okay." Barry admitted. "I'm so scared, Caitlin. I always knew this was coming. It seems like the past few years, there has always been a reminder that this was coming. But this was years away. I thought I'd have more time. And now that it's actually here, I don't know what to think."
Caitlin gently took his hand in hers. "Whatever happens, I want you to know I love you. All these years together, I have never been so happy. If the cost of that was the Crisis, I would do it all over again." Barry raised an eyebrow at her wording. "That may have been the wrong way to say it." Caitlin scrunched her eyebrows together once she realized what she said. "What I mean is, I'm happy. I love the life I lived. I don't regret anything."
"I'm happy too." Barry smiled at her. "Everything seems to be leading up to this. It's all riding on me. I don't know if I can do it."
"You can," Caitlin assured him. "It's like you said, have faith. Faith that we will prevail. Everything will work out."
"But we don't know how. The multiverse is ending. It will end, I saw it. I don't know if we're going to save it or how. And even if we do, at what cost? I don't want to die, Caitlin. I don't," Barry shook his head.
"Barry…"
"Don't say I won't," Barry cut her off. "You can't promise me that. The fact is, I'm so scared. I'm scared of leaving you. I'm scared Ramona is going to grow up without a father, or worse. That she won't get the chance to grow up at all."
"Come here," Caitlin brought him in for a hug. Despite her powers, she was surprisingly warm. Barry started to sob into her shoulder. Caitlin shushed him and rubbed his back for comfort. "It's like we always say, isn't it? You have to try."
"And what if I fail?" Barry asked hopelessly.
"Then you fail. It's okay, because if you do, then that just means there was absolutely nothing you could have done. There was nothing you could do to change it. So there is no reason for you to blame yourself."
"But the multiverse…"
Caitlin shrugged. "It's not like there would be anyone to miss it," Caitlin had a sad smile.
Barry let out a sad chuckle.
Neither parent had noticed that Ramona had started to crawl toward her parents and had started tugging on Barry's pant leg. Feeling the sensation of his pants being pulled, Barry looked down to see his daughter with her little hands wrapped around his jeans. "Come here baby girl." Barry picked her up and held her in his hands.
Holding her over his head, Barry took a good look at his little miracle. "Things are a little uncertain right now. There's so much I don't know." Barry sniffed. "I want to be there for you when you grow up. I want to be there every step of the way. But there's a big chance that I won't. Bigger than everything I've faced before, so I want you to know that I love you so much." Barry turned his head to Caitlin. "I love both my girls more than anything."
Caitlin had a sad smile on her face. She placed a hand on Barry's knee and the three just spent the time together as a family.
Barry was standing in the Time Vault. He was pacing around, contemplating what he was about to do.
"Gideon." Barry called out.
The hologram of a head appeared but didn't speak. Barry had taken to using the version he had created, not the one Eobard Thawne had brought with him from the future. The one he created couldn't speak. It couldn't interact more than a computer could. But it was something he created. Barry had programmed it to be able to detect voice changes in order to identify one's mood as well as facial expressions. Making it easier to provide recommendations tailored to the user in certain situations. It was meant to be user friendly, but he'd made it so it could always recognize his voice and respond to him. And it could be downloaded into any compatible device. But for now, it would serve its purpose.
"Begin recording."
The floating head gave a nod and disappeared, replaced with a mirror image with a blinking red light in the corner.
"Hi. Did you miss me?" Barry started. It sounded stupid in his head the moment the sound exited his lips but it was too late now. "If you're watching this, it means I succeeded. The multiverse is still standing. But for some reason I didn't make it. I guess that's the price you pay for being a hero. I don't want you to worry. I did what I had to, and if it means that you're all safe, I don't regret anything. I wish it hadn't come to this. I wish I was there with all of you right now, but I'm not. I just needed to make this so you all don't lose yourselves. I want you to live on. Keep going through life. I want you all to be happy because if you're not, then it wasn't worth it. Don't be sad. My story might be over, but don't let yours end. You're just in the middle of turning to the next chapter. It's just one that doesn't include me. Don't let me be the reason you stop living when I gave mine so you had the chance to.
"And Ramona, I'm so sorry that I couldn't be there for you, watching you grow up. But I want you to know that everything I did, I did to make the world a better place for you. Everything, it was all for you. Because I love you. And that's never going to change. No matter what happens, to me or to you, I'm always going to love you. I am the luckiest man because I got to know your mother and you. And I want you to love life. Be happy, be adventurous. Never stop, because life is a lifelong mystery. There's always something more out there. And one last thing. If I'm gone, when I'm gone, look after your mother. Because I know her well, and she's not going to take my… death very well. So I want you to make sure she's happy because when she's alone, she tends to forget about herself. And I'm sure neither of us wants that."
Barry took a pause there. He took a heavy breath. He felt a wetness on his face. He didn't even realize when he started to cry. "So that's it. That's everything. From me to you."
Barry signaled for Gideon to stop recording. Once that was done, Barry set for the recording to be sent to his friends and family on December 15, 2019. One week after the date on the new article. The fate of the multiverse should have already been determined by that time. If it ended, everything would be gone. If not and Barry did indeed survive it gave him plenty of time to cancel the order.
When that was set up, Barry sat down on the floor, taking a moment for himself. He didn't know what to do. This recording he made, it made everything feel so much more real. That he was finally acknowledging his expiration date.
Barry appreciated the quiet the Time Vault provided for him, but he loved his wife appearing even more. When she saw him, her face lit up, but there was a trace of concern as well. "I was looking for you. Should've figured you'd come here. You always do when you're feeling a little overwhelmed."
"Yeah, sorry if I worried you. I just needed to get some things in order."
"What kind of things?" she asked.
"My final will and testament." Barry admitted.
Caitlin's eyes widened. "Fleet Feet-"
"I know." Barry cut her off. "I know, I should stay positive, but that's not going to help. And I'd feel much more comfortable, Mrs. Frosty, if I made sure my affairs were in order and you and Ramona would be okay in the event that I… don't make it."
Caitlin looked at him for a moment before responding. "I understand." The duo sat together in silence, Caitlin resting her head on Barry's shoulder. "So what did you leave me?" she asked suddenly.
Barry smiled, thoroughly amused. "50 percent."
"50? That's all you're leaving to your lovely wife? I already own 50 percent of everything you own." Caitlin exclaimed. "Where is the rest going?"
"The rest goes to Ramona." Barry admitted.
"You're going to give a billion dollars to a 4 month old?" Caitlin raised an eyebrow.
"It's closer to 3 billion to be honest." Barry corrected her. "Of course she won't be able to access it until her eighteenth birthday."
"Stock is up that much?" Caitlin asked.
"And it's projected to be more if I can get Gideon up and running properly before the month is up." Barry nodded his head. "Crazy how so many people are ignorant of the incoming danger that the biggest concern would be making sure my programming is working. Guess that just means we're doing a good job."
Caitlin regarded him for a moment. "You know I love you right? It was never about the money. It's nice, but I love you for reasons not related to our financial situation."
"Of course. I love you too." Barry responded.
"Why?"
Barry shrugged. "Do I need a reason? I just love you,"
Caitlin huffed at his sweet words. "Sap."
"Hey Joe, where are you going?" Barry asked, seeing his foster father rushing around the station.
"Oh, Cecile's gotten a case concerning this metahuman. Allegra Garcia. She's being convicted of having several gang connections. Cecile's hoping to get a deal, lighter sentence in exchange for information but she's proving stubborn." Joe answered. "She's hoping I can get her to crack by waving my badge in the air and interrogating her a little."
"Ah, a little Good Cop Bad Cop. Giving her the maximum penalty, makes Cecile's offer seem like a godsend." Barry nodded in understanding.
"Exactly, so I need to get to the courthouse, ASAP."
Barry nodded again and walked up the stairs to his lab. He'd been feeling very sentimental the past few days and he expected to feel the same until Crisis occurred. He took his time with his work, not speeding through them like he usually would. He wanted to enjoy this as much as possible. Barry had been working here for as long as he could remember. He knew the people he worked with. Barry couldn't imagine not working here.
Getting a cramp in his hand after signing his name so many times, Barry was thinking about what Caitlin was doing. She'd told him she'd be going to lunch with an old college friend. Apparently his mother had recently passed away and she had reached out. A guy named something like Russo, maybe. Not to be arrogant, but it was strange to think of Caitlin having a life outside of him and Team Flash. He knew that Caitlin existed before he came along. They'd only known each other for 5 years at this point. But so much had happened in those years that it felt like it had been an entire lifetime.
It must have been an hour or two of uninterrupted work before his phone started ringing. "Hello?"
"Barry, could you login to the CCPD files?" Cisco suddenly asked.
"Wow, that was sudden. Why can't you do this yourself?" Barry asked. They'd never had this problem before.
"Apparently, there are some new policies. Since I'm not an official member of the CCPD, being just a consultant, it was deemed that I shouldn't be trusted with private files so I don't have the credentials anymore and Joe isn't willing to share his password with me. Since you're already at the station I figured you'd be willing to send them to me?"
"Sure, I can do that. And Cisco, your credentials aren't working because you haven't stepped into the station in over a year. You need to come in to renew it." Barry said, signing into his computer.
"Shoot, you're right. Where has the time gone? I'll make sure to do that. You in?"
"Yeah. What am I looking for?" Barry asked.
"Allegra Garcia's files. Joe's been grilling her, but she isn't responding. He thinks she's hiding something and he wants to figure it out."
"Didn't he bring the file with him? I know I saw him with some papers in his hand." Barry questioned.
"Just her police record. He wants her complete file." Cisco informed him.
"Okay, Allegra Garcia. She's 20 years old. Runaway. Poor kid, she ran away from home several times as a kid. Joined a long list of gangs, especially in the past 3 years when she and her cousin developed electromagnetic radiation manipulation. She releases UV rays as energy." Barry responded. The age of the girl gave him a bit of pause. She was so young. She still had so much left in life to do. It reminded him of Grace Gibbons, a girl of similar age who they forced into a mental care facility. Grace was misguided and just needed a little bit of help. Her powers just exacerbated the problem, but it wasn't her fault. Maybe Garcia was put in similar situations.
"Cousin? That isn't included in the report." Cisco claimed.
"Yeah, I imagine it doesn't. Esperanza Garcia. They grew up together, practically like sisters. According to this, she's still on the run. Managed to get away the night they apprehended Allegra. But it looks like one of the cops managed to get a shot at her. Shot in the jaw, but escaped." Barry read further into the report. "And it looks like she's the one with a murder charge on her record."
"That makes a lot of sense." Barry could hear Cisco nodding through the call. "I'll relay to Joe. Thanks for this. It'll really help."
"I'd imagine it would. Have you heard from Caitlin yet?"
"Think she's still on her lunch date with her friend Ramsey Rosso." Barry didn't like the use of the word date. The silence must have given him away. "I meant a date like a get together. I don't mean that they're… you know. I'm just gonna stop talking now." With that, Cisco ended the call.
Barry tried to get back into his work, but the current case kept invading his mind. It seemed obvious as to the situation they were dealing with. Allegra wasn't talking to protect her cousin. Anything she said might be used to arrest Esperanza, and obviously she wouldn't want that. Plus there was the whole 'snitches get stitches'. Criminals took that very seriously. Loyalty was everything. And you couldn't find more loyalty when family was concerned.
But Esperanza was injured. That shot to the jaw would have seriously injured her. Without proper medical care, she would possibly never be able to talk again if she even survived.
But assuming that she did, Esperanza would need to get stitched up somehow. That type of injury wasn't going to be easy to fix up on the streets.
So Barry did a quick search through hospital records of any report on patients needing extensive surgery on or around their mouth. Nothing popped up at him. Which could mean a few things.
The injury could have been not that serious, but judging by the amount of blood found on the scene, that was unlikely. So she needed medical care, and seeing as how both cousins didn't have so much as a high school diploma, they couldn't patch themselves up to that extent. There weren't that many people on the streets with the knowledge and capability to fix an injury of that degree. Not well at least. And definitely with second-grade equipment. That was a risk in and of itself.
So if Esperanza was looking for medical care, she'd have to have gotten it off the books. So someone was helping her. Someone with the skill or at least connections to that type of person to perform that surgery. And that procedure couldn't be cheap. So someone with money as well. Which begged the question of how Esperanza was going to pay for such a thing.
Of course, this was all assuming Esperanza was even still alive. Allegra obviously thought so though, seeing how vehement she was about keeping her silence.
So now Barry just needed to determine who exactly was their benefactor.
That was going to have to be put on hold though since Barry's phone was ringing a panic alarm. Coming from Joe at the courthouse. What could have happened?
Everybody is getting a little depressed and desperate. They broke out the Philosopher's Stone to try to get some help and ended up shattering it. What do you all think about what I let slip about it? What do you think Barry saw? You'll just have to see.
And then of course the regular crowd shuffles in, Allegra is going to be introduced. She'll have a very minor role, especially since I booted Iris off to Coast City, the magical land where I put all of the characters I don't need until I'm ready to bring them out of the toy box.
Next week is going to be the final chapter before Crisis gets started. I just cannot wait until you see what I've concocted.