Barry was in a continuous burst of speed as he zigzagged throughout the city, disarming bombs
left and right. What made the already difficult job even more strenuous was the fact that multiple
of them were decoys, and every moment he spent with a fake, was another second closer to
innocent people dying.
One thing that nobody, not even the team, knew was that he was constantly holding back. He
was always several notches below what he could really do, or he would risk destroying
everything around him. Car windows would burst as he ran by, and the ground beneath him
would be upheaved as he sped off, his heels creating a crater in the ground, he could burn
people alive or tear off their limbs if he went his top speed. Cause volcanic eruptions, tidal
waves, and so much more. So, he held back.
But today, the entire city was at stake. Two bombs had gone off already, taking dozens of lives,
and so he slipped into Flashtime to find the rest. By the time he found the last bomb - which was
actually a nuke - he was drenched in sweat, his face red and he could barely stand. He had
dealt with him before though, and so he knew exactly what to do. He ran as fast as he possibly
could, creating a massive storm of lightning that was beginning to carve away at his
surroundings, and he leapt forward, using a car to propel himself and launch the lightning
forward, and end it once and for all.
He was having the worst case of deja Vu, and he collapsed on the ground, heaving for air.
Despite wanting to stay here and do nothing for the few weeks, he knew that there was still the
matter of catching the foe behind all this: a criminal with a penchant for theatrics, James Jesse
aka The Trickster. So, he pushed himself up off the ground, realizing a small crowd had formed
around him. His attention was focused solely on one person though, a little girl dressed up in a
Flash costume as she stepped towards him with a piece of paper in her hand. He kneels down
so he is eye to eye with her and takes the paper she outstretched towards him. It's him standing
front and center, the sun shining down, the bad guys defeated in a pile, and the little girl is
dressed in her own superhero suit beside him.
"Can I be just like you when I grow up?" She asks timidly, and Barry rose his head, eyes looking
at her with admiration, a smile gracing his lips. He falters for a moment as all he sees is his own
daughter, but he quickly breaks out of his trance to look at the little girl looking up at him with
wide eyes.
"You can be whatever you want to be, even a hero." He told her, and he received the biggest
smile he had ever seen in return. "Keep riding the lightning." He said, standing up. He clasped
the paper tightly in his hand before speeding off. He dropped the paper off at Star Labs safely
before arriving at the warehouse the team had tracked The Trickster to. He burst through the
door, grabbed Jesse and sped him to Iron Heights in one fell swoop, ending this strenuous day.
He returned to Star Labs, and flopped onto the bed in the medical bay, passing out almost
instantly. He doesn't wake up until hours later, when Caitlin is gently nudging him back into
consciousness. It takes a moment for his vision to fully set in, and the aching in his body
immediately makes itself known. He lets out a groan as she shifts, pushing himself up into a
sitting position. "Cait, what time is it?" He asks.
"Eight." She informs him. "I let you sleep awhile, figured you needed it after the day you had."
"Thank you." He smiled gratefully. "Did anything else happen?"
"No, it was quiet."
He nods, running his hands over his face, feeling the heat from the side he was laying on. "You
should go home, get some rest. I can lock up." He tells her, and she gives him an unsure look.
"Go, I got this." He ushers her, comically waving his hands at her to shoo. She lets out a laugh
and gives a thank you before she grabs her things and leaves.
It takes a few more minutes after she leaves for him to get up off the bed and begin to turn
everything off, but he does. Every monitor, device, and light has to be turned off. As he goes
down the hall to make sure the lounge's lights are off. As Barry turns around, he notices the
date on the electric calendar that Cisco made.
October 14 2019
Exactly 6 months since his divorce from Iris.
7 months since Nora was erased from existence.
Their daughter's "death" wasn't the sole reason for their divorce. More like the straw that broke
the camel's back. There were many reasons for it, their constant fights being one of them. Her
words echoing in his mind.
"You left me!" she yelled in the therapist's office. Ignoring the fact that it was out of Barry's
hands.
"What about the last time I get to see her, Barry?" She says with tears in her eyes after Barry
informs her about him taking their daughter back to the future after the revolution that she was
working with Thawne this whole time. Ignoring how she's the one who raises the girl.
Surprisingly Barry was the one who initiated the divorce. He couldn't take it anymore. He
couldn't take the fact that he put so much more effort into the relationship then she did. He had
latched onto her after his mothers murder as she was the only one who didn't call him crazy
whenever he told the story of what really happened that fateful night. He fawned over her in
secret for almost 15 years. The only time she ever reciprocated was when she found out he was
the flash. Then started to pursue him after he had told her they were married on earth-2. The
truth had hit him like a super sonic punch, Iris never really loved Barry Allen for Barry, only for
the flash side of him.
He had vented these things to his best friend, mentor and older brother figure Oliver Queen. He
had met up with him at his house he shared with Felicity and his newborn daughter Mia. After
greeting Felicity and the baby, the superhero duo sat on the back Porch, sharing a bottle of
Oliver's favorite whiskey.
Barry swirled the amber liquid in his glass, watching the way the dim porch light caught the
reflection. It was warm that evening in Star City, the kind of warmth that should bring comfort,
but all he felt was exhaustion.
Oliver sat beside him, sipping his whiskey in silence, letting Barry speak when he was ready.
That was the thing about Oliver, he didn't push, didn't pry. He just existed in a way that let Barry
know he wasn't alone.
After a long pause, Barry finally spoke. "I filed for divorce." His voice was hoarse, like the words
had been trapped inside him for too long.
Oliver exhaled, setting his drink down on the wooden railing. "Yeah… I heard."
Barry glanced at him, eyebrows raised. "Felicity?"
Oliver smirked slightly. "You know her. She still talks to Iris now and then." He shook his head,
leaning back against his chair. "How are you holding up?"
Barry let out a bitter chuckle. "Honestly? I don't even know. I keep thinking about what she said
in therapy. 'You left me.'" He scoffed, taking a long drink before continuing. "Like I had a choice.
Like I wanted any of this."
Oliver stayed quiet, letting Barry work through it.
"I gave everything to that relationship, Oliver. Everything. I spent my whole life loving her. And I
thought…" He let out a shaky breath. "I thought she loved me too. But now… I think she only
ever really loved the Flash."
Oliver's jaw tightened at that, and Barry could see the flicker of recognition in his eyes.
"I get it," Oliver muttered, staring at the horizon. "More than you know."
Barry turned to him, surprised.
"I spent years thinking Felicity loved me for me. And she does," Oliver clarified, "but there was a
time when I wondered. When I thought maybe she only loved the idea of what I represented, the
hero, not the man." He shook his head. "The truth is, Barry, people like us? We don't get normal.
We don't get fairytale endings. We get whatever's left after the city, the world, has taken
everything from us."
Barry clenched his jaw, staring into his glass. "So what do we do? Just accept that we're never
going to have what everyone else does?"
Oliver took another sip before answering. "No. We fight for what we deserve. And sometimes…
that means walking away from something we thought we wanted."
Barry nodded slowly, letting the words sink in. "I just—I don't know if I'll ever stop missing her."
Oliver sighed. "You won't. Just like you won't stop missing Nora."
Barry's breath hitched at the mention of his daughter.
"But you'll survive it," Oliver continued. "Because that's what we do. We keep moving forward.
No matter how much it hurts."
Barry swallowed hard, his grip tightening around the glass. "Yeah," he murmured with a small
smile. "We keep moving forward."
They sat in silence after that, two men carrying the weight of worlds on their shoulders, drinking
under the quiet hum of the city.
And for the first time in a long time, Barry didn't feel so alone.
Barry swallowed hard, his grip tightening around the glass. "Yeah," he murmured. "We keep
moving forward."
They sat in silence after that, two men carrying the weight of worlds on their shoulders, drinking
under the quiet hum of the city.
After a moment, Oliver smirked and set his glass down. "You know," he said, stretching his legs
out, "whenever I needed to get my mind off something, I trained. Pushed myself until I couldn't
think about anything else."
Barry scoffed, shaking his head. "Yeah, well, not all of us are insane enough to do salmon
ladders at two in the morning."
Oliver chuckled. "No, but you could be." He turned to Barry, his expression shifting to something
more serious. "Come train with me."
Barry blinked. "Train? Like sparring?"
Oliver nodded. "Something like that. You've been running yourself into the ground, Barry, but
running isn't the only way to clear your head. A little combat training, some conditioning—it
might help." He shrugged. "At the very least, it'll keep you from drowning in whiskey."
Barry hesitated, then let out a small, dry laugh. "You just want an excuse to kick my ass, don't
you?"
Oliver smirked. "That's just a bonus."
Barry exhaled, staring at his glass for a long moment. Maybe Oliver was right. Maybe beating
the hell out of a punching bag—or letting Oliver beat the hell out of him—was exactly what he
needed.
Finally, he nodded. "Alright. I'm in."
Oliver clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Good. We start tomorrow."
Barry groaned. "Can't believe I just agreed to this."
Oliver chuckled as he stood up, finishing his drink. "Too late now."
Barry sighed, shaking his head, before raising his glass. "Guess we keep moving forward."
Oliver nodded before raising his. "Yeah. We do."
The sound of clinking glasses followed.
And for the first time in a long time, Barry felt like maybe, just maybe, he could.
SHHHHHHHHHHHHH
The noise sounded like a Bright light attack from a video game.
He then realises the noise is coming from the time vault.
Zooming in front of the entrance wall, he immediately stops, placing his palm on the pad and
stepping through the doorway as the wall retracts. The only form of light at first comes from the
blue beams of light in the doorway, but as the time vault lights come on, so does the future
article.
Barry had starred in this article so many times before, allowing him to notice the difference
almost instantly.
The by line read.
Iris West
Not Iris West-Allen. This didn't shock Barry, he just hasn't looked at the article since the divorce.
The other change however shocked him
The date was.
December 10th 2019
That was 2 months away.
The revelation hit him.
This is why Nora was erased from existence.
He then remember his arch enemy's words
"A new timeline, that you created when you destroyed the dagger".
But why would destroying the dagger do this.
"Why did this happen?" he asked out loud.
"You're asking the wrong question Barry" a loud almost god-like voice said.
Barry's entire body turned around only to be greeted by a blinding white light, when the light
died down, The Monitor appeared.
Barry is on edge immediately, lightning flickering around his entire being and filling his eyes.
"Barry Allen, you must answer the call of fate." The cosmic being's voice echoes out
boisterously. "In order for billions to survive this coming Crisis, The Flash must die." Barry blinks,
and then the full weight of his words hit him. He has to die? Before he can even question the
Monitor, he sees a bright flash of light and he finds himself inside the DEO.
Barry stands still for a moment, processing everything that just happened before his
surroundings fade back to reality and he realizes Kara is calling his name. "Barry?" She says,
worry tracing her voice as his name falls from her lips. He looks dejected, barely focused on
what's around him, eyes staring off into the distance.
"I'm sorry I- I have to go." Barry says abruptly and leaves in a flash of lightning. Leaving the
woman confused and worried. He runs across National City and towards the canyons and
jumps through the swirling blue mass until he lands back on his Earth, skidding to a stop inside
of Star Labs. He moved throughout the halls until he arrived at the time vault once again. He
moved forward and activated the console in the time vault, but before the article can appear
again, sparks fly out and it bursts into flames. Barry quickly put it out using his speed, and
slumped back against the wall.
Instead of it getting to him and making him reflect on his entire life, he is skeptical. Just last
year, The Monitor was a cosmic douchebag to them in order to test them for this coming 'Crisis'.
He gave an all powerful book to some nutcase, tried to destroy their world if they weren't good
enough, and he was supposed to take his word on this? Hell no. He was going to see with his
own two eyes.
So, he immediately began to run. He went straight to the pipeline, speeding around, letting the
lightning consume him until he saw that familiar blue portal once more and he jumped through.
He continued forward, letting the lightning form around him, and just as he was about to burst
through the time barrier and into the future, he found it blocked by a wall of something he didn't
recognize. He turned as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough as his shin hit the wall of
energy and sent him tumbling to the ground of the pipeline.
He gritted his teeth as the pain reverberated throughout his leg, unrelenting. He forces his eye
open as a bright flash manages to bleed though his eyelids and somehow blind him. The
Monitor stands before him, eyes widened. "What did you do?!" His voice rang out. "You cannot
change the future, it is your destiny to die, just as it was you destiny to be struck by that
lightning bolt."
"I wasn't trying to change the future, I was trying to see it for myself." Barry spat with anger,
pushing himself up and against the wall of the pipeline. "But I couldn't, there was a wall of -
something blocked my path, and did this." Barry gestured to the glowing gash on his shin.
"Anti-matter." The Monitor spoke grimly, almost as affirming his worst fears were coming true.
"We have even less time than I feared, you must go to Earth-38 and prepare for the fight of your
life."
"I'm not doing anything." Barry retaliated, pushing himself up off the ground despite the pain it
put in him, eyeing the Monitor with a furious gaze. The Monitor reached out and simply placed
his finger on Barry's forehead and pushed him back. Barry no longer saw himself inside Star
Labs, instead he was floating in infinite nothingness, unable to see anything, even his own
hand.
"In the beginning there was only one. A single black infinitude. So cold and dark for so very long
that even the burning light was imperceptible. But, the light grew and infinitude shuddered and
the darkness finally screamed, as much in pain as in relief for in that instant, a multiverse was
born. A Multiverse of world's vibrating at different frequencies causing them to be invisible to
each other. A Multiverse that should have been one, became many." The Monitor's voice
echoed in his mind.
Barry's eyes watched as the multiverse was born before him, and he was speechless, looking at
the incomprehensible vastness of the multiverse made him realize how insignificant he was in
the grand scheme of things. He blinks, and he finds himself standing in the streets of a planet
consumed by red skies. It is utter chaos, people running in any and every direction, frantically
searching for a way to survive the end of everything in a blink of an eye.
More of the alternative Earth disappears within seconds, consumed by Anti-Matter. He hates
seeing this, the people running because they see their world fraying, fading away before their
petrified eyes. The people are screaming and crying as ten thousand years of civilization is
stolen without explanations or alternatives. "Barry, they will run because they fear prayer is not
enough to save them." He hears Mar Novu speak.
Barry sees another world, one he is familiar with. Earth-2. He sees Harry, Jessie, Barry-2, and
Iris-2 running away from the Anti-Matter wave. His eyes widened seeing his dear friend and
former protege being killed by the wave. Before he can even process what he saw, he's seeing
another world, this one being Earth-3, and instead of Harry and Jessie it's Jay Garrick and his
wife, both being his father's and mother's doppelgangers respectively, running away before
being killed by the wave. Tears started pouring from his eyes as the Earth he was seeing
changed. This time being Earth-38. He watches as Clark and Lois, Brainy, J'onn are killed by
the wave. Finally, seeing Kara staring at the incoming wave with tears in her eyes before the
wave kills her.
Seeing this Barry started screaming, as he watched the destruction continue, the future
unfolding before his very eyes. He cannot run away from this, he is forced to observe the
death-rattle of the multiverse. Then, everything shits to another earth, slowly being swallowed
by the dark. He recognizes it as his own Earth and screams in helplessness again as he
watches Cisco, Ralph, Cecile, Joe, Caitlin, Wally, Oliver, and all his family and friends, other
heroes die screaming. He clasps his eyes shut, wanting the pain to end.
Suddenly he's back in the pipeline, drenched in sweat. His breath seems to be a figment of
imagination, and there is almost a ringing in his ears as he stumbles into the wall, slumping to
the ground, confronting the truth. "I have to die" He spoke with a low voice, tears flowing down
his cheeks, becoming inseparable from the sweat that drenched his face. The Monitor's head
hung low, almost as if in mourning.
"The multiverse needs you, Barry Allen." Mar Novu spoke, and with another flash of light, he
was once again transported to Earth-38.
Barry slumped against the wall in the DEO, sliding down it until he sat flat on the floor. There
was a ringing in his ears, an arching in his bones, all he could see was the death of the
multiverse every time he closed his eyes. His surroundings were distant, but a voice broke
through the heavy beating of his heart, one that offered some solace.
"Barry?!" Kara voiced as she saw the scarlet speedster sitting against a wall in the DEO, head
hung low. She crouched down, falling silent as she saw the tears staining his cheeks, her super
hearing picking up the sound of his beating heart, to her sounding like the pounding of a church
bell.
"It's coming." He finally croaked out, barely above a whisper, so faint that only Kara could
comprehend the incomprehensible words.
"What is?"
"Crisis." Barry said, raising his gaze to meet her eyes, taking in her features, her new suit, her
new haircut, and for a moment all he sees is this amazing woman in front of him. Just for a
moment. "I saw billions die, the Monitor was right. I have to die."
Kara stared in shock, the words replaying in her mind again and again. Die? No, Barry Allen
was not going to die, he couldn't. "Barry, what are you talking about?" She spoke softly, a
thousand tons of confusion and worry outlining her tone.
"I saw the future Kara, the Monitor showed it to me." Barry wiped away his tears furiously, trying
to speak without the hitch in his throat, but it was to no avail. "I have to die for the Multiverse to
survive."