song: A Hero Comes Home, Idina Menzel

Soon after sending Eobard Thawne back to the future, Rachel had a vision of a metahuman who could turn himself into living tar. The team immediately got down to locating him and trying to catch him and soon after, they realized that Barry started running slower than usual. At first they dismissed it as a glitch in his suit or just a bad day, but then Iris was working on a story and she got hurt because Barry wasn't fast enough to save her. Luckily for her, she would be all right and soon discharged from the hospital, but it still left team Flash baffled about what was happening.

"Your speed is down 2%. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Zoom stole it," Caitlin informed after conducting her tests.

"Only that makes no sense," Rachel argued. "How even? If it happened weeks ago, fine, but now?"

"Harry, maybe you have an idea?" Barry turned to the Wells of Earth 2 addition to the team, but the man quickly dismissed the question that it could be hundreds of different factors causing it. Rachel narrowed her eyes while looking at him though, because he acted very weird. Stranger even than usual.

Just when she was about to ask something, he suddenly confessed that it was his fault, after all.

"I did that. I stole your speed. And I gave it to Zoom."

There was sudden silence in the cortex as everyone was staring at him just standing there, arms already up in a gesture of surrender.

Before they managed to react, Joe, who just happened to walk in, ran straight to Harry and punched him.

"Joe, stop!" Rachel screamed, but he refused to listen. "JOE!" She wanted to go over to the man and stop him herself, but Barry held her back, probably in fear of her getting hurt in the process. She shook him off angrily, but by then Joe was done, lifting Harry to his feet and brutally shoving him out of the cortex and down, straight into the pipeline.

Wells didn't even struggle and that should tell them something, Rachel thought when they all followed the men. He didn't struggle and he confessed all on his own, probably led by remorse.

"Why are you putting him in the pipeline?" Barry asked the perfect question.

"Because if I don't, I'll kill him. Come!"

They were all forced to leave, currently busy with the newest meta, but Rachel stayed behind.

"Just leave me here like everyone else. Why do you even care? I duped you, too, didn't I?" Harry threw her way.

"No, I don't recall anything of the sort," she disagreed when folding her arms across her chest and standing right in front of the glass wall separating her from him. "Whatever happened, happened because of mutual agreement and even if I do admit it was a mistake, it wasn't your fault. I was there, too. I agreed to it. And it's over because we never had any real feelings for each other. Now, with that out of the way, why did you do it? Did Zoom threaten Jesse's life?"

Harry didn't respond right away, but Rachel knew she was onto something.

Eventually, after a long pause, he stood face to face with her and said, "It didn't mean anything because it couldn't. It wouldn't even if I wanted it to. I don't have feelings anymore. At least not those kind of feelings. All that has been inside of me ever since Zoom took my daughter is rage and revenge. I am made of that and nothing else. And ever since my wife, Tess…" he stopped briefly, clearly needing to pull himself back under control, "died, Jesse has been all I could think of. She is all I'm living for. I don't have room for anyone else. I just can't."

It was the first time Rachel ever heard him talk about his dead wife and she truly appreciated the honesty. She also understood.

"Harry…" she started, but then she stopped. "Listen," she eventually began again, "we all lost someone. Every single one of us, every single member of this team lost someone important and it left us hollowed out and hurting as well. But we found each other and we give each other strength and we go on because of that. I think that it's exactly what's happening to you right now. You can't help being sucked into this team, you can't help but care. And it's ok. You did come clean. You didn't take all of Barry's speed. I'm certain it's going to be ok."

"I beg to differ," he disagreed. "Just tell Barry to at least send me home." After that, he turned around, letting her know not so subtly that the conversation was over.

Once Barry dealt with the meta, Rachel tried and made a case on Harry's behalf.

"Why do you even bother defending him?" Barry asked in a tired voice while rubbing his eyes. "What is it with you and Wells, really? It's like… No…" he then said and sighed, looking aside. "Rachel, I don't want to fight you anymore. I don't want us to be on bad terms. It's just…" He felt hopeless, drained and hurt and he couldn't even tell her why. He wasn't even able to make sense of it all himself.

"This isn't about some romantic feelings I may harbour. Because I don't," she assured him. "I had for the other Wells when he was with me and that's it. I am not in love nor will I fall in love with this man. This is me telling you objectively and in the same time with compassion that he was just trying to get his daughter back. He did come clean. He could've gone through with his plan, stolen your entire speed and that would've been it. But he didn't."

Barry sighed, briefly covering his face with his hands again and then turning around, pacing around the room a bit. Eventually, he came to a stop.

"We should just send him back to his earth, close the breaches and be done with it," Joe suggested, but to his astonishment, Barry answered with a resounding, "No."

Every eye in the cortex was on him now.

"We can't do this. We need to help him. Rachel's right… What if that was any one of us? Joe, what if it were Iris? Cisco, you told Snart everything he wanted to know to protect your brother and we all understood. We can't punish Wells for doing the same. Jesse is all he has and she was taken from him and is kept by a monster who's doing god knows what to her. It would drive a normal person crazy, break them with ease. He heard his daughter would be released if he stole my speed and he couldn't really rely on me because the last time I faced Zoom…" his voice trailed off and Rachel flinched at the unwelcomed memory. "We're team Flash. We have to help him."

"What are we going to do, then?" Cisco asked.

"We're going to go to Earth 2 and get Harry his daughter back. Maybe we should've done it a long time ago."

A trip to Earth 2… Harry's home planet, the place where Zoom kept Jesse.

Rachel had trouble wrapping her mind around it and, even more so when she found out that both Barry and Cisco were going. She suggested that maybe her powers would be useful over there as well, but none of the guys wanted to take her along in fear for her safety. They were probably right. She couldn't protect herself. She had no experience in the field, so she would stay behind with Caitlin. Still, it was hard on her. Especially when she might not see the three men that were leaving ever again.

She didn't know what to say to Barry or how to even feel. She was scared for Cisco and Harry as well, but somehow her fear for Barry felt different. She told herself it was because of the vision she'd had.

"Rachel," Wells turned to her just before they were all about to go through the only remaining breach in the Labs' basement.

"Take care of yourself, Harry," she told him when hugging him briefly, glad that it didn't feel awkward. Maybe with enough time passing they could manage to become friends. "I really hope you get to save Jesse. I'm looking forward to meeting her."

"Thanks."

"Come here, girl!" Cisco got to her and hugged her as well. "Take care of this place while we're gone, ok?"

"Take care of yourself and the other two."

"Will do!"

That left only Barry and again, Rachel had no idea what to say, how to react or what to do.

"Barry…"

"Rachel…" they said in the exact same time and they both awkwardly smiled at each other.

"Just be safe, ok? Please, come back in one piece," she told him in a changed voice, already feeling tears prickling her eyes. She always worked so hard to push the vision of him dying in agony from her mind. Not always with success.

"I'll be back in a flash," he joked and then he spread his arms and she walked into them, allowing him to hug her. It felt so much different than when hugging any other member of the team. It felt very close and very warm and…

"Bye," she told him when letting go of him, feeling all shaky.

Next thing she knew, the three men disappeared inside the breach.

Rachel and Caitlin couldn't possibly sit around and wait for the rest of the team to come back, preferably with Jesse; so they decided to go to one of their apartments, order some food and grab wine. They needed it in order to take their minds off the potential danger their friends were facing as well as to have some break from work.

"It's been a while since we did this," Cait said when pouring wine and handing Rachel a glass.

"We always had time for it before you came back to the Labs - just saying," Rachel pointed out while winking at her friend. "I guess that's just where we belong. You as a doctor, helping the team and me as an occasional metahuman detector."

"I actually think you're much more than that. The team wouldn't be the same without you," Caitlin voiced her thoughts and Rachel smiled.

"I'm only a part of the team because I happened to date Har… well, Eobard," she corrected herself.

"At least one thing to be grateful to him for." Caitlin raised her glass to that. "How's your book going, by the way? Do you have a premiere date set already?" she then asked.

"Actually, yes, I do, but…" Rachel started and then bit on her lower lip, not sure how to proceed. "I guess this one is special. It's a bit… different. Sadder."

"Oh, no! Am I going to cry while reading it? Maybe I shouldn't, then. Right now all I need is a happy ending."

"Don't we all?" Rachel asked when looking morosely into the distance.

They sat in a companionable silence for a moment, sipping on the wine and then, Caitlin suddenly blurted out, "I slept with a woman."

"What?!" Rachel immediately followed with in surprise, her eyes opening widely. "Wow! When?! Did you like it?! Do tell!" She got excited, knowing that her friend was still a bit confused about her sexuality, though she suspected Caitlin was simply bi.

"A few nights back. I went into this place… before I knew it, this beautiful woman was asking me if I wanted to go home with her and… and I guess I really wanted to."

"Will you see her again?"

"No. It was a one night stand and I'm ok with that. I needed this experience. And yes, it was pretty amazing and I think once the right person comes along, I will be ready to put myself out there and start dating for real."

"I'm happy for you. I really am," Rachel assured her friend.

"Why did you sleep with Harry?" Caitlin then followed with and Rachel almost choked on her wine. "I'm sorry if I'm being too straightforward, but I kind of did tell you something intimate just now… Rachel, I'm only asking because I'm worried about you. It's just… it's a Wells doppelganger… Are you doing ok? I agree that Barry had no right to scream at you the way he did, but I can't deny that…"

"…that he was kinda right? Yeah, I know." Rachel sighed. She needed to think for a moment before she came up with the right answer, "I guess… I… I guess I just wanted that body again," she confessed, "the familiarity of it, the comfort it used to bring me… You know, before everything went to shit and I found out who Harrison really was… but, it didn't work. The body might've looked exactly the same, but the touch was different. The energy all wrong… and I… then I just think that I have to hate myself for missing the touch of that man after everything he did…"

"Rachel, no, you shouldn't blame yourself," Caitlin assured her in a soft voice. "For you that relationship lasted for over a year and it was real. Of course you're going to be conflicted about it. Of course you're bound to wonder how much of it was an act and how much was actually real. You felt loved. He was your partner and you started to see a future with him. I understand it's never going to be easy to just see him in black and white."

"I guess I will never really know the answers to my questions… I could've asked them. It's not like I didn't have a chance, but… I guess I wouldn't trust him anyway."

"Eobard was full of conflicts. He killed Cisco in the other timeline and yet, he told him he loved him as a son. He hated the Flash, yet he felt so fond of Barry… it's not that far-fetched that he might've cared about you too, but in the end something else was more important to him."

"That's just the thing, isn't it? He could've decided to stay in our timeline and never go through with his initial plan. He would've had it all. He would've had this team and me and…"

"But in the end, his hatred was bigger than his love."

"Yeah." Rachel bit on her lip, staring into the empty glass she was holding.

"More?" Caitlin offered, filling it up again. "Is that…?" she started and stopped immediately as though not sure whether she should even ask this, but eventually she did anyway. "Is that why you refuse to get closer to Barry?"

"Barry?" Rachel raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What do you mean?" Her heart, however, started beating faster.

"Well…" Caitlin said slowly, clearly treading on thin ice, "you two seem to have this… special… connection."

"I don't want to talk about it," Rachel said so fast that Caitlin was taken aback. "I don't even want to think about it."

"But why? I don't understand. Your relationship with Eobard's in the past. We were all deceived and used by him. I can't imagine Barry would mind."

"It's not that."

"Then what is it, Rachel?" Caitlin prompted, seeing how disturbed her friend was. "Come on, you can tell me anything. I'm your best friend."

She expected everything, but not Rachel actually looking at her with tears in her eyes.

"Did… something happen?"

"No. But it will," the mysterious answer came and then, Cait finally understood.

"Did you have a vision of Barry? Was it a bad one?"

"Cait… you… you can't tell him. You have to promise me you won't say a word to him."

"Ok. You have it. You have my word," Caitlin assured her friend, now even more disturbed.

"I saw this pretty early on and… since then I cannot unsee it. It's not just that I remember this vision. It comes back from time to time, always followed by a splitting headache, so I know it's real. Barry…" Rachel came to a stop since the right words, the truth were so difficult to get out. "I saw him quite literally melting away… disappearing… dispersing… I can't even explain it. He just evaporated and it was painful. I still hear his screams when I even just think about it."

Caitlin was speechless for quite a while after hearing that.

"I… I can't let myself go there," Rachel added in almost a whisper. "I can't get hurt like this. It would kill me. I'm barely strong enough after everything that's already happened to me. So, this is why I haven't even allowed myself for a thought."

"Maybe… maybe future can change. It's the future, right?" Caitlin finally spoke, hope in her voice.

"No. I don't think so. Otherwise I wouldn't have this vision over and over again." Rachel gulped down the whole glass of wine she had and reached for more. "And with that we are done talking about Barry. Ever. Ok?"

Caitlin only nodded, feeling truly helpless watching her friend fighting tears like this.

Rachel wasn't sure how much of relaxation and taking their minds off things they'd actually had with Caitlin, but it didn't matter because the time came when they were expecting the team back.

At first, nothing happened and the breach remained untouched and then eventually, just when they started to get worried, there was some movement and they saw Cisco with a young woman who could only be Jesse.

"Where's the rest?" Caitlin asked as they were still missing two members of the team.

For a moment there, Rachel thought that was it. Right there. That was the day they would lose Barry forever, her vision finally coming true, bringing him death. She didn't know how to even feel about this, her heart closed off, a brick wall raised around it. She couldn't possibly get hurt again. Never again.

Only the breach flashed once more and Barry was back, helping Harry out and that was it. They sealed the last passage, effectively trapping Zoom on the other side.

"Guys, you've made it!" Rachel exclaimed, feeling incredibly relieved that everyone was back safe and sound. Especially Barry. Barry was alive.

She could see something was off, though.

Caitlin hugged Cisco and then reached Jesse and Harry, offering to check up on the man's daughter and make sure she was all right and healthy. Cisco and Barry… they both indeed looked off somehow, like whatever they'd seen on the other side wasn't easy on them.

"Guys, is everything ok?" Rachel asked, making a step towards them, but they just murmured that yes, it was and they just needed some well-deserved break.

Just like that, the team was back and growing bigger by the members and they effectively managed to seal themselves from Zoom. But was it the end? Rachel wondered. It felt a bit anticlimactic. No defeat, no victory, just hiding behind a wall between two worlds. Exactly what she was doing to her heart…