It's here. A week has passed and it is now time for a new chapter to begin. Hope everybody has been enjoying this so far. Last chapter before Crisis begins next week. It's what we've all been waiting for and what I believe to be my crowning achievement, which just means the rest of the season is going to be subpar. Let me dig myself out of my self-loathing and get back to you.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash.

Barry quickly pulled out the duffel bag he kept hidden in his lab that contained one of his suits. He needed to have a talk with Cisco about better ways to hold his suit. Maybe finally find some way to shrink his suit into a ring. Have a talk with Ray Palmer to discuss his shrinking technology the next time the Legend popped up in their present.

The more cynical part of Barry's mind reminded him 'If there's even any time before Crisis to talk about it. Otherwise it'll just be a waste of time.'

Barry pushed the thought away. This wasn't the time to be getting down on himself.

Barry appeared in the courthouse to see what was happening. Joe and Cecile were hiding under a desk with Allegra standing against another woman. This other woman was slightly taller than her and dressed in all black like an assassin along with a metal mask. Barry moved to check on Joe and Cecile first seeing as the other two seemed to be preoccupied with each other.

Getting the two civilians out of the room to safety, Barry chose to stay back for a moment and observe the situation. Barry tried to listen in, but he couldn't understand them as they were speaking in a different language. Spanish most likely, but he didn't want to assume. So Barry had to revert to observing their body language.

There was hostility between the two. Either one seemed ready to run or fight at a moment's notice. But they way they were arguing. There was a certain level of comfort the two had with each other. They were familiar with each other. That was the only explanation.

With a shout from Allegra "Esperanza!" it all came together.

Barry couldn't decipher the rest of the conversation, but that little exclamation explained everything. This was Allegra's cousin, Esperanza, the one who'd escaped and been injured when Allegra had been apprehended. Though by the looks of things, there was much that wasn't forgiven.

So Esperanza had survived. And somehow obtained medical treatment along with a voice modulator that seemed to enhance her voice. It made her sound robotic, but that probably couldn't be helped. Her vocal cords were probably shot and she needed these enhancements to even be heard and understood.

That just led to questions about who their benefactor was to spend all this money on Esperanza. The reason behind it though was pretty obvious.

If there was anything good that came out of watching the entire Star Wars series with Cisco, multiple times in fact, it was that it gave Barry a pretty good idea as to why someone saved Esperanza's life. Loyalty. Esperanza was indebted to the person who saved her life. She'd do anything, even take out family.

Wait.

Barry ran just in time for Esperanza to release a wave of energy out of her hands and grab Allegra before anyone could be harmed. Barry should have guessed why Esperanza was here. Allegra was a loose end for them now that she was in police custody. Esperanza had been sent to take care of a problem and prove her loyalty.

"Stay here. Stay out of trouble." Barry commanded Allegra where he placed her with Joe and Cecile.

Running back, Esperanza was letting out what Barry could only assume were a stream of profanities in Spanish. Barry loudly cleared his throat to gain her attention. "Excuse me. You know, it takes a special kind of person to be willing to hurt their own family. And I'm not talking about the good kind."

"Stay out of this Flash." Esperanza growled. "This is a family business. It doesn't concern you."

"Well the way I see it, you're a meta who was about to kill someone along with a couple bystanders. So I think this does kinda concern me."

"She did this to me!" Esperanza pointed at her jaw. "She needs to pay!"

"I think we both know that's not the real reason you're doing this. She's family. No matter what, nobody can change that. You're being forced to do this." Barry stated.

The slight flinch in Esperanza's posture gave her away. "Work with me. Tell me who did this to you. I promise to take them down. I will protect you, both you and Allegra." Barry offered.

There was a tiny moment of hesitation, but then a look of something akin to resignation crossed her face before she attacked. Esperanza sent out bursts of energy from her hands that Barry easily dodged. Too easily though. The Garcia cousins were able to manipulate the light spectrum. Their powers should be bordering on the speed of light, a goal that Barry had yet to reach. It should not have been that easy to avoid.

Just as Barry was calmly strolling over to Esperanza at super speed, Barry was immediately launched back by another blast of radiation. The burns Barry was inflicted with hurt, but the surprise he experienced overpowered it. That was more like what he was expecting from this girl. An attack so fast, it left little to no time to comprehend.

Looking up, Barry saw Allegra standing over him with her hands out. The attack had to have come from her.

Allegra turned to her cousin and shouted "Run Esperanza. Leave!"

Esperanza seemed reluctant to do so, but must have realized there was no option of staying without at the very least being apprehended. So Esperanza ran away, literally disappearing from view.

Barry looked back at Allegra. "You know this isn't going to look good for you?"

"I know," she nodded her head. Allegra didn't have time to react before Barry slapped a pair of meta cuffs on her once he felt the burns he suffered from her attack start to heal.

They put the Garcia cousin they had in confinement in the Pipeline. It was just a temporary situation so they could hold her to question before shipping her off to Iron Heights if she continued to be uncooperative.

"What are we going to do about her?" Caitlin questioned, looking at a monitor showing Allegra in her cell.

"We need to convince her that we can help. Enough for her to trust us to tell us more about her cousin so we can find her." Barry said.

"The police can handle that. The police were handling it. Why do we need to get involved?" Cisco asked.

"Because that's what we do? Isn't that the whole point of our operations?" Barry stated.

"Only when the police are out of their depth. But now that she's back in security, the police should be the ones questioning her." Julian said.

"Questioning her for answers about her cousin. Which we're going to be the ones going after. This is just cutting out the middleman." Barry remarked. "20 minutes. I swear, 20 minutes and I can get her to spill everything."

Julian sighed. "Fine. Do you need any help?"

Barry thought for a moment. "Yeah, I could use your help actually. I could use a calm voice of reason when I start questioning her as The Flash."

"Good cop and bad cop? And Julian's good cop?" Cisco widened his eyes.

"No, it makes some sense. As The Flash, he is more intimidating. If he goes soft with her, it'll give her more space to hide. We need to put the pressure on her." Caitlin explained.

The two went down the Pipeline with the rest watching the recording of what was happening.

"Well hello there," Julian greeted her.

Allegra faced the both of them through the glass but remained silent.

"I believe you can already imagine what we're here for?" Julian continued to speak.

"You might as well tell us who you're working for. You've got nothing left," Barry glared at her through his cowl.

Allegra's eyebrow scrunched in confusion. "Don't deny it. Your parents kicked you and your cousin out when it was revealed you were a metahuman. They don't want you. They left you on your own."

"My parents-"

"Aren't your parents!" Barry shouted. "They disowned you. They wiped their hands of you. They don't want anything to do with you."

"I understand how you feel. I'm not on good terms with my parents either. I haven't seen them in years." Julian tried to sympathize. "I know what it feels like to latch on to anything that even slightly resembles kindness. You just need to tell us who helped you."

"Those people, they don't care about you either. They just wanted to use you. You were never anything but a weapon. They made you into what they wanted. Get that in your head." Barry glared.

"You don't need to protect them anymore." Julian said. "We can help you. You just need to give us something."

"Those people abandoned you too. Sending your own cousin to take you out. And she went along with it. You know why?" Barry continued to question her. "Because she's left you as well. Because she sees you for what you truly are. Nothing but a weakling she had to shed herself of."

"Shut up!" Allegra shouted, Barry finally hit a nerve. "You don't know anything! You don't know what I've been through! You don't know what I had to do!"

"Tell it to someone who cares." Barry grumbles. "You're not worth it," Barry turned his back on her with the full intent of walking out of there.

"Joseph Carver," Allegra clearly stated, making Barry pause in his steps. "That's who you're looking for. That's who approached us, wanting to hire us for his hit squad. And I'm assuming who paid for Esperanza's surgery."

Barry was familiar with the name, though he'd never actually met the man. He'd heard how Carver had lost his wife in the particle accelerator explosion and had dedicated his work in her name. It wasn't too much of a stretch to imagine the businessman had gone off the rails after a few years.

Barry kept his image and walked out of there.

"Thank you for your help." Julian thanked her, following after Barry.

"Hey! Don't leave me here!" Allegra pounded on the glass. "Come back!"

"So what are you doing?" Caitlin asked her husband.

"What I promised." Barry said. "Joe will take Allegra back to the courthouse to keep her court date with Cecile. Joe will also receive a copy of the video we got of our interrogation with her. He's just letting her stew in the Pipeline for a little longer." Barry explained. "So now we can focus on digging up everything on Joseph Carver, CEO of McCulloch Tech."

"Why are you bothering with this, Barry?" Cisco asked. "I mean, you do realize what's right around the corner? Shouldn't you be focusing on more important things?"

"If I thought like that, I'd never put on the suit. This could be the last thing I do before I go, and I want to make sure it gets done right. Never leave a job half finished." Barry said.

"You shouldn't have had to do the job in the first place," Joe countered.

"You know me Joe. No matter what happened, I was always going to end up doing this." Barry smiled.

"What? Fighting crime?"

Barry shook his head. "Helping people,"

It was the first of December. Crisis was just a week away. And it seemed there was an early Christmas miracle. Three metahumans, each with the ability to control or manipulate light in some way cornered Barry in his lab at CCPD.

It seemed like such a normal day too. This close to Crisis, Barry didn't want to overexert himself. He figured he needed all the strength he'd get. No training, no crime fighting, just his simple field work. Without speed too.

Barry was distracted with filling out his reports that he almost didn't hear the door slide open. It was just a reflex to turn his head to the direction of the sound only to see three women wearing bodysuits enter and a simple twitch literally dimmed the room. Barry thought one of them was Esperanza. Light seemed to be sucked from the room, the walls became invisible, the women were gone from Barry's vision. The only thing left that Barry could see was his immediate area in a circle.

"What is happening?!" Barry shouted. He stood up but immediately steadied himself against his desk.

The sound of footsteps was in his ears, but Barry couldn't do anything but wait to see who was coming. The image of a man in a business suit entered his field of vision. Once Barry could get a clear sight of the guy, he recognized him. He'd been staring at his mug for the past week. Joseph Carver.

"Carver," Barry greeted him.

"Barry Allen. Or should I say The Flash?" Carver smirked at him.

Barry's eyes widened. Questions filled his mind. How? What? How could he…?

"How do I know, you may ask?" Carver casually strolled around the room. "You may know of my… business associate. Clifford Devoe?"

Somehow, Barry was even more shocked. Carver worked for Devoe? Though it might explain how Carver knew, it brought forth the question of who else could know? It seemed Devoe wasn't exactly keeping a tight lip on his identity with his partners. He probably let it slip when Devoe had Barry under his control, making a show of power over The Flash, but now that Devoe was gone, there was an unknown amount of people out there, each with their own shady dealings if they were associated with Devoe that knew of his civilian persona.

"Don't look so surprised. You knew just because Devoe was gone that his operations were still out there. We were laying low. But then the Garcia girls had to get sloppy," Carver glanced back, probably pointedly looking at Esperanza. "My operations were blown. It was only a matter of time before Allegra talked and Esperanza is basically defective at this point. There's no need for me anymore."

"So what is this? I don't believe you're turning yourself in. Why now?" Barry asked.

Carver raised an eyebrow at him. "Believe it or not, I am. I'm confessing." he chuckled.

"So why go through all the trouble?" Barry gestured around him at the darkness in his vision.

"It got your attention, didn't it?" Carver dared to smirk again. "Because that's all this is. It's one big flashy confession. Pun unintended."

"I don't understand."

Carver shrugged. "I drew the short straw. I confess, I give up a few assets, you're forced to stop looking into us. And I will get out in a month."

"A month?" Barry shouted.

"At most," Carver nodded. "I know. It seems like forever."

Barry didn't get it. With Carver as such a prominent figure, if he were confessing, they'd want to get his trial done soon. A month seemed like around the time it would take to arrange for his trial. The only way he'd be kept captive for just a month is if he was somehow found innocent, which was impossible. They'd compile so much evidence, not to mention his big confession as he said. There was no way Carver would only be held for a month.

Carver must have noticed his look. "That's nothing to concern yourself with. It's in the hands of the justice system now, and if you don't trust the system, then you're against it. But I suppose that's not something to bother you, is it Flash?"

Barry clenched his fists in anger. But he didn't speak.

"Not to worry. I won't say anything. You're a potential asset. One that we'd love to have back. But that's way in the future." Carver walked forward and grabbed a picture frame off Barry's desk. He looked at it for a moment before Carver's eyes went back to Barry's. "Lovely family. It would be a shame if something were to happen to them."

Carver walked back to his side of the room. He snapped his fingers and the world came back into view. There they all stood patiently, waiting for something to happen and it took a moment for Barry to realize they were all waiting for him.

Barry reached into his desk and took four meta cuffs. He didn't know if Carver was a meta as well but he wasn't taking any chances. "Joseph Carver, you and your little group are under arrest for association with human trafficking, kidnapping, and attempted murder. And that's just off the top of my head."

Carver stayed silent and allowed himself to be cuffed along with his girls. He just smiled the whole time.

"This can't be happening!" Barry shouted.

"It happened. Carver walked." Joe confirmed. It had only been 4 days since they apprehended the man. While the girls had been placed in security, Carver's trial had been pushed to be immediate.

"It makes no sense. No defense, no plea. Carver even admitted guilt. How did the jury declare him innocent?" Barry questioned.

"Not enough evidence," Joe shrugged. "His confession wasn't admissible in court. The only thing we got him on is being one of Devoe's associates and that's not enough. We were never able to prove Devoe of any wrongdoing before his death."

"Can't we do something?" Caitlin asked.

"Not legally," Joe shook his head. "Carver has been cleared. We can't touch him."

Barry sighed and sat down with his head in his hands. The legal system had failed them. Barry always had such trust, always thinking that if they had enough, the system would do the right thing. But now it was telling them what they were doing wasn't enough. That they were wrong, or at least not right. It needed more than they could accomplish.

"Barr, listen. I don't want you to worry about this. You shouldn't be focusing on this. According to the future, Crisis is in less than a week. Going up against a man like Carver shouldn't be where you're putting your attention."

"I needed this Joe. I needed one more win. Just one more before…"

"Don't forget Fleet Feet." Caitlin spoke up. "You became The Flash to help stop metahumans. We just got three of them in custody. If we count Allegra, that's four. Although from what I've heard, she's going to be under house arrest. Focus on the victories. Don't doubt yourself."

"I just don't know Mrs. Frosty. I just don't know." Barry walked out of the Cortex.

Everybody in the room looked sadly at his retreating figure, but their thoughts were pulled away when the skies suddenly changed to a fearsome red.

Everywhere in the world, there was a panic. The skies were glowing red day and night without explanation. Barry and the police were running around trying to keep some semblance of peace while the STAR crew were trying to figure out the cause.

"It's just like the newspaper said. 'Red skies.' Ones which will only go away when Barry sacrifices himself for Crisis." Cisco comments.

"This is the beginning. We should have expected the skies to change color sooner." Caitlin fusses over the issue.

"Well actually, the sky is just an illusion of the reflection of when light from the sun hits the surface of the Earth," Julian retorts.

"I don't think people are going to be very concerned about that part right now," Cisco comments.

"I'm sorry. I'm just very nervous and worried that I'm starting to speak anything that comes to mind."

"We're all scared Julian. You can admit it." Caitlin said. "It's two days away from when my husband is supposed to disappear. And I just keep thinking, maybe if I can fix the skies before then, I'll have prevented the future. That Barry won't disappear from my life and Ramona will be able to grow up with her father."

"Barry will have done the right thing. He did before with Ace's Crisis." Cisco pointed out.

"That was a different Crisis from a different timeline. And we never learned whether Barry survived that one either. We don't know if he is going to come back, if he even can at all." Caitlin argued.

Cisco's response wasn't immediate. He needed a moment to think about what he could say without setting her off. "You don't know that. Barry might be gone, but not yet. And that's just the reality we're going to have to face. Not all of us might survive this. But that doesn't mean we just stop. We have to keep going in honor of those who have fallen."

Before Caitlin could respond, Cisco yelped in pain. He clutched his head, squeezing his eyes shut and giving one final shout of pain and then collapsing to the ground.

"Cisco!" Caitlin and Julian shouted in concern to see their friend fall to unconsciousness. When looking at him, they saw blood falling from Cisco's nose and what they didn't see in their franticness was his paleness that let them see through Cisco's body for the briefest of moments.

"What's happening to him?" Julian asked.

"I don't know. This has never happened before. I need to get him to the medical bay!"

"So do we have any ideas about why Cisco suddenly collapsed?" Joe asked.

"I did a full body scan. No problems. But when I did a brain scan, that's where I found something interesting." Caitlin relayed, pulling up an image of Cisco's brain. "There's something that's been disrupting Cisco's brainwaves on a molecular level. Which got me thinking. Cisco had migraines when he was first developing his powers. This could be similar but on a larger scale."

"So I started doing a bit of research," Julian pulled up. "The red skies we've all been worried about. I've found what's been causing it."

"Don't keep us in suspense. What's happening?" Barry asked.

"The multiverse is dying." Julian showed them a tablet. "Look at the results I've found. The multidimensional energy that Cisco takes in and manipulates to create breaches is disappearing. The fabric of the universe is literally being ripped apart. Cisco's powers rely on this energy. After so long, he takes in this energy like an addict, not even realizing it. Without it…"

Everybody looked at the still form of Cisco Ramon and for a moment, they all thought he disappeared before solidifying. "So what's causing all this? Can we stop it? And what's with the red skies? Is it related?" Joe asked.

"Something is causing this, yes. But I don't know if we'll have enough time to locate the source before we're all gone. We've got the whole multiverse to search, and without Cisco to help, that's a tall order. And I'm assuming it's not just Cisco, but all others with his powers. Cisco doesn't have that time," Julian responded. "As for the skies, to put it plainly. The red skies are the multiverse bleeding."

"So is there anything we can do?" Joe asked.

"There's nothing you can do." Barry spoke up. "But I can. I'm the one who's going to fix all this."

"Barry…" Caitlin reached for him but Barry pulled away.

"No, don't say anything. Cisco is dying. The multiverse is dying. Soon, everything will be dead, unless I do something about it." Barry urged her. "I've got just a little over 24 hours left before I disappear. Part of me hopes that everything just stops right here and another part of me is wishing everything was gone so I wouldn't have to keep worrying. So please, just don't."

Barry ran off before anyone could say anything in response.

Barry was hovering over the crib that held his daughter, who was sleeping soundly. She wasn't at all concerned over the fact that the sky had decided to take on a different hue. Why should she? She wasn't even a year old yet. Still, this might be the last time he would see her. Midnight was in a few hours and his fate would be sealed.

In his hand, Barry held the original symbol he used to wear. The yellow lightning bolt with the red background compared to his current one.

"Hey baby girl. It's daddy. I have something I want to give you. It's just a little reminder. I know I made that recording, but I wanted to give you something that you could actually hold. My first symbol." Barry placed the old symbol on the countertop. "I know you've taken after your mother, with your ice powers, but I want you to keep it regardless. And you might not even want to become a hero. Maybe you won't even want to use your powers, and that's okay. I'll love you all the same. But I have a good feeling that if you make it through this, you're going to become involved one way or another. And I want you to keep that thing to remember that we all start somewhere. We all start small with big inclinations. And if we put in the work, we can all become great. It's just that some people take on lower aspects of greatness."

Barry sighed as he looked down on his daughter. "I'll be honest, the thought of you going out there as a heroine scares me more than this Crisis ever will. But if that's what you want, I will support you. One day, the fate of the world may rest on your shoulders and I wish I could take it from you. And if that time ever comes, remember to trust in your allies. They're the ones who are supporting you, and the ones who will pick you up when you fall. Just do your best. If it seems like it's too much, you have to try."

"That seems like a little much to put on a 6 month old." A female voice spoke up behind him.

"How long have you been standing there?" Barry asked.

"Long enough," Caitlin responded. She walked up to him and pulled him in a hug. "We're going to be okay,"

"Because I'm going to make sure of it. I'm going to do everything possible to make sure you survive," Barry insisted.

"So why am I so worried that you're going to be too busy to look after yourself without me?"

"I'm not afraid of death, Caitlin. If I die, I will. What I'm afraid of is what it's going to mean for the rest of you,"

Caitlin smirked. "Contrary to what you might think, Fleet Feet, but we do have lives outside of you. I think we're going to be okay,"

"I hope so." Barry pursed his lips in a mockery of a smile. "I want you to promise me something, Mrs. Frosty."

"Anything,"

"Don't fall in love with Cisco,"

Caitlin burst out laughing before shuddering at the thought. "That's sick. I'm not going to fall in love with Cisco,"

"Or Oliver?" Barry raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, can't promise that," Caitlin fake winced.

Barry scoffed with a heavy amount of amusement. Caitlin pulled him in for another kiss. "I promise. You're the only one who I could ever feel this way about. This is it. You're the one for me,"

"True," Barry agreed. "I love you. You're the one I've been waiting for all this time. You're part of me. It was always going to be you,"

"Good," Caitlin nodded her head. "Now what's this about putting the fate of the world on my daughter's head?"

"She's our daughter," Barry corrected.

"Same difference,"

As dawn broke, not that it was easy to tell with the red skies, a breach opened in the middle of the Cortex in STAR Labs. Out of it came a vibrating figure in a yellow suit with glowing red eyes. The figure took a look around, assessing their surroundings and their gaze locked onto the mannequin sporting a red suit with a yellow lightning bolt on the chest.

"Speedster," The figure said. "Found you,"

Whoever came into STAR Labs next would be in for a surprise.

Barry's gotten a little worried he's been jinxed for Crisis since his last bout was a bit of a failure. He really threw himself in there and came out of it a little heavier.

The red skies appeared a little earlier, which to me just made sense. One day of red skies in canon as compared to three days of constant red skies. Which I felt was symbolic of the three days Jesus died. Not that I'm religious. Don't hate me. And Cisco collapsing just made sense since his powers work off of multidimensional energy and that energy is disappearing with the apocalypse nigh.

And that thing with Carver was to just get it out of the way so nobody gets any ideas about him showing up in the rest of the season. I'm taking care of that right now.

Who could be this mysterious speedster that's shown up? Tune in next week for the next instalment to find out. Hope to see you all there.