Purgatory of Contrition

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash

Author's Note: Chapter themes are "Excess" by Health & Perturbator and "Pumped Up Kicks" by 3Teeth (Cover).

Oppressive fear and hopeless desolation continued to spread across Central City.

Iris paced in front of the TV at her work, upset with her coworkers who attempted to go on working like nothing was happening, like their world wasn't falling apart. She couldn't stand around and do nothing! She already wasted over two months doing nothing! Frustrated with everyone, she grabbed her things and left, mentioning to her boss that she had a family emergency. Iris sped to Star Labs, a crazy idea forming in her mind. When she got there, she made her way directly to the cortex, glancing despondently at the meta-detectors. Much use they were against Zoom.

Cisco and Caitlin looked up in surprise as Iris walked in. "Iris!" Caitlin went over to her, pulling her in to a hug. Iris hugged her back, truly happy to see her, to see all of them. "How are you..?" the brunette asked gently, pressing a hand to her arm, her face sympathetic. They had all mostly been living day by day, every attempt to figure out how to stop Zoom being thrown in their faces. Seeing her was a welcome distraction from failure.

Iris accepted another hug from Cisco then, and sighed. "I'm… as well as I can be," she told them.

"Ms. West, do what do we owe the pleasure?" Harry Wells asked, walking in from the tech lab, having heard the commotion. He smiled, happy to see her. Jesse would be happy too.

Iris rubbed her arm idly, trying to soothe herself. "I just… want to try to help."

"Of course, we'd be glad for your help," Caitlin agreed.

"Are you sure you're okay being here?" Cisco asked, his brows meeting in concern, his eyes flicking to the empty mannequin.

Iris refused to look where his eyes went and nodded. "I have to be. Look I… I couldn't stay behind and let you all try to take on Zoom alone. I know I'm not a genius like you guys, or have powers, but… I have ideas."

"Oh? Care to share?" Harry asked curiously.

"All speedsters seem to be affected by cold, right? So why not build a gun, like Snart's? But… a big one? One that can maybe freeze all of him at once?"

Cisco contemplated this, tapping his finger thoughtfully. "We could modify the trap used to try to capture Reverse Flash..? Then trap the terrible terror once and for all!"

Harry ignored his admittedly entertaining use of alterations. "I can do you one better. Use that same technology and make it mobile. We could lure him to it, launch it like a net, and when he's frozen, cuff him," he added. They all chattered excitedly about their idea. Jesse joined them a moment later, hugging Iris as well. They all felt hope again, after too long without it.

As they worked, they discussed how to trick him into the open in order to use it. So far none of them could settle on an idea. Just then, Joe walked in. "One of you needs to-" he cut himself off, stunned silent to see his daughter there. "Baby, are you okay being here?" he asked in concern, walking over to hug her.

"I am," Iris assured him, doing her best to keep the shake from her voice.

"You were saying, Joe?" Harry asked, stepping around the desk to give him his attention.

"Right," Joe sighed. "We need to figure out how to capture a lot of metas all at once. There's reports that Zoom is breaking them out of Iron Heights," he grimaced. It was only a matter of time before he thought in a bigger scale. They could barely deal with this much as is!

"I might have an idea about that," Harry murmured deep in thought. "But there's something else you should know. We've come up with a plan that may help us capture Zoom."

"No kidding? I hope it's a good one, and soon," Joe lamented.

"It'll have to be," Harry sighed.

"Alright, enough with the sour-faces, we've all seen enough of that lately, right?" Cisco suggested, then went on to explain the plan in further detail to Joe.

"The problem is we can't figure out how to lure him out," Iris mentioned.

Joe nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe… if we can modify the police scanners somehow, I'm assuming you lot can help with that, we can make it sound like we're fighting Zoom, without actually alerting the force. Then when he comes to investigate, we can take him down."

"That's a great idea, dad!" Iris smiled proudly.

"The problem with that is that the frequency you want may not be possible. We can still do it, but if the police hear the call, they may interfere and get hurt. Or worse," Harry mentioned sternly. They were all quiet for a moment, disappointed, not wanting to risk the lives of innocents.

Caitlin mulled something over in her head as they discussed. She hated this idea, terrifying of Zoom, but she knew it could work. "I… have an idea," she said then, attracting their attention. "You won't like it…" she sighed.

"What is it?" Iris asked curiously.

"I'm sure it can't be any worse than our other ideas?" Cisco chimed in.

Caitlin squirmed a little. "Well… we can use me as a lure…"

"Absolutely not!" Joe fired out immediately.

"No, Caitlin. Not happening," Harry added, receiving a nod from the others as well.

"Listen, I know it sounds crazy. Trust me, this is the very last thing I could possibly want to do. But he's… obsessed with me. He won't hurt me, I don't think. He'll come if I call to him," she explained.

"Caitlin, this is a terrible idea! You don't think? Are we really going to risk that?" Cisco protested.

Caitlin began to pace. "I'm not okay with this either!" she yelled then, stunning them into silence. "Look I… I'm afraid, all the time. He's… I see him, when he's not there. It's getting worse. I have to do something. I don't think I can ever move forward like this!"

"But you will?" Cisco offered kindly.

Caitlin shook her head. "When? Jay took everything from me! My… confidence, my trust, my sanity, I don't think I'll ever be whole again. So… if I can make even a small contribution, make my life matter somehow, make this right, maybe I can heal. I want to try. Let me try," she begged them. Cisco hugged her then, followed by Jesse.

"Your life matters!" Iris frowned, moving over to her as well. Caitlin gave her a miserable look. "Hey, it does. And you will be whole again. If I can… if I can start to heal, so can you," she said with strong belief in her.

"Alright," Harry nodded. "We will take your plan into consideration," he said, receiving a reluctant concede from Joe West. In the end though, it was the only plan that was assured to work, at least the luring Zoom part.

Savitar woke with a strangled gasp from another nightmare, panting, his heart racing, the echo of his tormentor slowly fading. He sat up, ignoring the pain in his back from sleeping on a mattress on the floor and rubbed his face. He had been here a few weeks already and he still felt like he didn't belong in his own mind, like he was all wrong, like this was a warped reality.

Putting his jacket on, he sped to a truck stop to shower and get some supplies, walking in and throwing money down to use the facilities, ignoring the others milling about. Even doing something as simple as paying for things and using a shower in a public setting like this seemed absurd somehow. When he was done scrubbing grime and sweat off, he bought some food to take it back with him.

He threw the bag of supplies on his table and frowned at it. He didn't like having to take odd jobs for cash, his most recent being to shake someone down for someone else. It shouldn't have bothered him to do something like that, but unfortunately that sort of thing was beginning to get under his skin again, irritating him. He should have just stolen the items he needed, but then he'd probably feel bad about that too. Ever since arriving in this timeline, he had been thinking that way, and it was starting to drive him insane.

At least, more insane.

The corrupted Barry Allen kept himself hidden, simply observing how dark things were, how Zoom had begun to crush hope, threatening to do worse if his needs weren't met, his laws obeyed. He sneered to himself, finding all of that familiar, both with what he was attempting to do, as well as his memories of Zoom from his past. He remembered all this happening before his split from the original Barry Allen. He remembered things escalating, he remembered the army of metas, how Zoom destroyed everything and everyone he cared about. Including his father.

A fresh wave of pain surged through him, crashing into his battered heart at the thought of his death. This was a huge reason he wanted to become a god, so that the endless stream of time would smother the pain. Now he was without that option and stuck in a world full of it. Hatred for Zoom swelled with the profound suffering within him, competing with the pain the memories brought.

His thoughts turned to the metas for a moment, wondering when they would come in this time, needing to think about anything before his fragile mind made him rip apart his own project. He remembered how to stop them all, by creating a dimensional tuning fork, using a refracting field, sonic sound tuned to the higher frequency of Earth-2. If he ran fast enough while it was powered on, he could activate a pulse to known them all out. Most would go to Iron Heights, and some to the pipeline, if things remained the same as he remembered.

However, he would have to deal with that later, if and when the threat presented itself. Right now, the only thing he wanted to do was to make Zoom crawl and beg for mercy. He would taunt him with it… then rip it away. Savitar let out a breath, trying to calm down. Killing him wasn't just the speed force's bidding. It would also bring him great pleasure to defeat him. He could just imagine crushing him in his grip, like he remembered him doing to him. Forcing him to submit to his greater power.

Shaking himself back to reality, he concentrated again on his armor. He could fight Zoom as he was and still be faster, far faster, but he might give in to temptation and rip himself apart with his own speed. He needed the armor to reach his top speed safely. He glanced down at the hulking suit with a spark of pride. He might not be a tech-wizard like Cisco, but he wasn't half bad. Besides, he had experience with his other one.

His thoughts turned back to his observations, the chaos, the pain, the suffering people were in. He knew he did no better than Zoom before, so he couldn't, or at least shouldn't do anything for them. Besides, why should he? When he had been discarded before? But then guilt, self-hatred, and shame flooded him, making him groan in both irritation and pain. Those feelings were constant companions now, ever since that sanctimonious speed entity with a god-complex fucked with his memories. He snorted at the irony in that thought, knowing very well he had plans on becoming a god himself, a last ditch effort to escape the causality loop.

Savitar clenched his jaw. No, unfortunately, he couldn't just sit by now. He knew if he did nothing he would fail everyone, including himself, all over again. And he hated failure. It would hurt people he had refused to think about before, refused to care about, but now his shattered mind wouldn't let him forget about. To his disgust and frustration, Barry Allen's words came back to him then.

"I'm still in there, deep down, buried beneath the scars and the pain, a part that must feel so lonely but it also knows what it's like to have a family, to have friends. You can have all that back…"

Savitar pressed his hand to his head, hissing in anguish, his heart hurting. Back then he had reacted mostly out of deception, trying to fool them… but another part, much smaller at the time, had felt something stir at his words. Regrettably, now those words rang in his head like an earsplitting gong, rattling his mind. He forced the thought away, feeling horribly bitter. He tried his best to focus back on his armor, trying to chase away the memories of his mom and dad that it sparked, of his friends he failed, his love he...

Savitar tore away from his armor and chucked the wrench as hard as he could, sending it hurtling into the abandoned factory. The loud crashing and clanging sound in the distance distracted and soothed him for a moment. He took several minutes to breathe deeply, doing everything he could to calm down. He couldn't let his mind go there, refusing to listen to his heart, refusing to acknowledge those feelings. He knew the distraction wouldn't work for long though, he knew his cruel mind wouldn't give him reprieve. His thoughts unwittingly turned back to her, to Iris West, like it had done since the moment he met her, and far more so now.

In the past, the thought of her soothed him… but now? It was like a jagged stone boulder crushing his chest. During the years he spent trapped in the speed force he remembered the burning desire to see Iris again, to be with her, to hold her, love her, knowing she wasn't really his, would never be his. His heart cried for her, whimpering in pain at the endless torture he was subjugated to, forced to repeat his own hell without stop.

As cruel as ever, his mind took him to the moment he had tricked all of them, tricked Iris. The moment he made them believe he was Barry again. That hand on his cheek, that small caress, the genuine care in her eyes, it had been far more soothing than he had anticipated. For a second, he wanted it to be true, he wanted to actually believed they could help him, but then his inevitable madness took back over and the moment was lost.

It was all for nothing. All of it. He knew deep down that killing her hadn't only been about securing his existence, but it had been about possession as well, not willing to let any other Barry Allen have her if he couldn't. Savitar paced, wanting to break something, to quiet the clamor in his mind, the howling in his soul, as it always did when he thought of her. And ironically, he knew she was in danger here, she could be killed, and god fucking damn it, he couldn't let Zoom win, he couldn't give him a chance to hurt her.

Now that he wasn't weighed down with that horrifying loop, maybe… maybe he could… maybe she didn't have to die. Maybe he could find a way this time? Savitar let out a bitter laugh in that empty factory, his voice echoing like the demon in his head. So long he was tormented with the inescapable notion that she had to die for him to escape the hell he had been in, and now… now he was going to save Iris West. He was going to prevent her from dying. How fucking poetically tragic was that?

Savitar bit his lip to keep from howling in fury, in disbelief, in utter madness. After a moment, the feeling mercifully subsided, leaving him breathing a little hard, but relieved that it wasn't overpowering his sanity this time. He waited for the blinding anger to follow, but it didn't. Not this time.

He let out another breath and shook himself, knowing he was running out of time, having seen Team Flash and their useless attempts to stop Zoom before. He knew it would only be a matter of time before they tried something else. He pushed thoughts of Iris and his endless suffering away, going back to his new armor. Paying closer attention to it, he lamented that it wasn't as good as his other one. One week hadn't been nearly enough time to make it as high tech, but it would have to do for now.

The speed entity said his stronger ties with the speed force had been cut, but for whatever reason, it was allowing him to synchronize the armor to the speed force. He knew it wouldn't allow him the immense power he had before, but at least now he wouldn't burn up.

As Team Flash made their preparations, intense anxiety moved in unison among them. This was so stupid, but they had to do something. Together they put their plan into motion. "Are we ready for this? Because for the record, I'm not," Cisco muttered fearfully, anxiety pressing on his vision as he shakily got the device he needed ready.

"Now's about as good a day to die as ever I suppose," Harry chimed in sarcastically.

"Please don't say that, dad," Jesse begged her father as she helped them load the van with crates. Harry hugged her, kissing her hair reassuringly.

"I'm coming too," Iris insisted, loading a bag of her own onto the van.

Joe turned to see her with surprise and shook his head. "Iris, no," he insisted firmly, snapping his magazine into his pistol after checking it.

"You taught me to never run from a problem, right? You taught me to be strong and consider my battles."

"That's not what I-"

"-You also taught me how to fire a gun with a steady hand. You're all going to need the most help you can get. Besides, if… if Zoom is going to kill us all one day, I… I'd rather die trying to do something, by your side, with you and all my friends," Iris insisted as bravely as possible.

Joe struggled not to cry, not able to stand the idea of losing another child. "Baby, please…"

"Dad. I have to do this. I have to. I… I owe it to… to Barry to try," she murmured, doing her best to not crumble at the memory of him again.

"Now why'd you have to bring him into this," Joe looked away, his heart unable to take it. If he lost her too, he didn't know if he could continue to live.

"I'll be safe by your side," Iris insisted.

In the end, nothing anyone could do or say could persuade Iris not to go.

They packed up and headed out, the drive completely silent, no one able to look at one another, trapped in their own minds, their fear holding them prisoner. When they got to the site, they worked quickly to set up the trap, moving around the park, setting pylons around their cold net. They tried to hide them, hoping it would work. Zoom had to stand in the exact perfect spot, and Caitlin as well, for this to work. If she was too close to him when it activated, she would get hit too and it could kill her.

Caitlin stood in the clearing very nervously, glancing toward where the rest of them hid, using every bit of cover they could think of. She knew if Zoom learned where they were, this would fail. Taking a couple breaths to calm her nerves, she set the plan to action. "Jay!" she called out. "Jay! I'm here!"

They waited, nerves tight, weapons clenched tightly, not that firearms could do much to someone who could run faster than just about any projectile. Just in case Cisco had created another cold gun, giving it to Harry to use. They were all both terrified and relieved when Zoom actually showed up, his head tilted curiously. "Caitlin… such a nice surprise! Have you changed your mind?" he asked, walking slowly over to her. "Have you come to your senses? Your place is by my side..."

"I… I have, come to my senses, yes," she said, trying to not attract too much attention to the hidden place a few feet in front of her, some ways from Zoom. He needed to get closer. "I want to go with you…" she murmured. "I'm… I'm tired of being afraid…" she admitted.

Zoom smiled behind his mask, stepping closer, thrilled at the words he so longed to hear from her. "You won't have to be afraid anymore. I will keep you safe," he promised, reaching out a hand to her. He paused then when he noticed a glint, several reflections, in a triangle around him. He stopped, his smile dropping, anger making his lightning sizzle around his body.

Caitlin saw the change. "Jay…"

"You're lying," Zoom growled, feeling betrayed.

"Do it now, he's close enough! Now!" Harry insisted urgently to Cisco.

"But… but Caitlin..?"

"She's far enough away! Activate it now!"

Cisco tensed, but pressed the button on his handheld device.

Zoom felt the electricity pop from the technology badly hidden around the park. Using his speed, he moved through the perimeter, breaking the towers and grabbing the just as poorly hidden fools. He threw them all beside Caitlin, glaring at them. Harry lifted his gun as quickly as possible, managing to shoot his arms before he could dodge it. He scowled, watching them regroup and scatter. He used his own vibrations to warm his arms up, melting the ice.

Zoom stood there then, his electricity crackling. "You shouldn't have tried to trick me."

Savitar finished the last modifications to his armor, satisfied that everything was in place. "Here goes... something, hopefully," he murmured out loud, opening the armor up and activating it. It hummed to life, relieving him. It took maybe a bit too long to figure out how to build this across time and space. It was a lot easier when he had most of the parts relatively close by. Maybe it couldn't draw energy from the speed force like his previous one could, but he could power it with his own. In a way, it was a lot like a car battery, only he was the wheels charging the armor now.

Stepping into it, he checked the heads up display, testing the controls, making sure the servomechanisms all clicked correctly, no hang-ups. He checked to make sure the display showed him everything accurately; no use piloting a machine that couldn't tell him which direction he was heading. There was no navigation system either, or any of his previous features, but he didn't need them. He knew the city well. Making sure it worked correctly, he sped around his lair, going at top speed. He stopped and checked, seeing that it still reported all green. Good. It was now or never.

Savitar took off then, intent on finding and removing Zoom permanently.

When he found him, surprised by how easy it had been, he sighed with disbelieving irritation. He stood on a building overlooking a park, an oddly familiar park. He saw the stupid attempt to capture Zoom, setting up some sort of cold trap. It obviously didn't work. He frowned, watching Zoom threaten them.

Savitar growled, feeling a weirdly sharp and sudden impulse to head off and beat him down, but hesitated helping, again wondering if he even had the right to do so. He stood and watched from his vantage point, frowning at how terribly their plan was going, wondering why he cared. Unfortunately, a part of him he thought was dead, was getting annoyingly more nagging, screaming at him to go, to save them. He squeezed his eyes shut, knowing he was no better than him. He had attempted almost exactly the same once upon a time.

Zoom shook his head in mock disappointment. "You will all suffer now… and it will be Caitlin's fault," he announced, then began going after them, intent on making her watch him beat them. He forced the memories of his childhood from his head, convincing himself that this was the only way she would learn. He smiled jeeringly at them as they tried to fire on him. Their efforts were hilarious.

Savitar fought with himself, his body tense. He heard them trying to coordinate attacks, heard them cry out in pain when Zoom slammed his fists into them rapidly. To his increasing anxiety, he saw Joe try to shoot him after Zoom broke the cold gun and went to beat Harry with it. Zoom sped to Joe, gripping his neck, then grabbed Iris when she tried to make the same mistake. "You will be reunited with your precious Barry now. You should be grateful to me," Zoom announced almost gleefully.

"P-Please…" Iris cried weakly, struggling in his hold, gripping his arm powerlessly.

"Oh, look at this! You're struggling just like Barry had before I killed him! Now isn't this the sweetest?" Zoom mocked cruelly.

Savitar felt fury roar in his veins. He remembered his, Barry Allen's, desperation to stop Zoom before, how horribly merciless he was, how he had sacrificed everything for his friends and family. All the pain and hopelessness. Savitar knew that at least here, all of that had been for absolutely nothing. Zoom had killed him and won. Now he was going to kill Iris and Joe and… he simply couldn't allow that. He had enough, his frustration at their recklessness and his rage at Zoom overtook him. Without thinking of the irony at his own thoughts, he took off.

There was a deafening sound of a crack in the air, like cannon fire exploding all around them.

In nearly an instant Iris and Joe were flying in the air. They fell with a gasp, cringing from the impact, trying to figure out just happened. What was that sound? Where was Zoom? They looked up then and their hearts nearly stopped. Before them stood a massive, armored figure. He towered above them, where Zoom had been, his fist extended. Joe looked around and saw a building all but falling apart, a human-sized hole in the center. He couldn't believe what he was looking at when he realized what happened. This stranger had come in out of nowhere and hit Zoom so hard he sent him flying into that building!

Everyone stared at their savior in disbelief. The sight of him was frightful, seeing the electricity crackle all around the tall, terrifying armored force. To their relief, as he straightened, he didn't seem to be paying them any attention, his eyes trained on where Zoom had crashed. They didn't know what to make of him, standing there like a towering sentry. Who was he? Why did he save them?

"Oh, oh that's just great! As if fighting one speed monster wasn't bad enough! Now there's two!" Cisco whined softly, helping Harry to his feet and checking to make sure Caitlin was okay. She gave him a timid nod, her eyes flitting between the armored stranger and the building.

Joe helped Iris up, then turned to the stranger. "Are… you here to help..?" he asked cautiously, but the stranger didn't speak, didn't move, and still didn't look at any of them, his eyes still scanning the rubble.

Savitar felt smug, smiling behind his helmet. The leather-faced freak hadn't even noticed him approach. He wondered if his punch had killed him, but he suspected it hadn't. Zoom was a lot tougher than a normal human, the excessive speed force from both his and from The Flash's powers having given him an edge in the healing department.

Iris was petrified, staring at the imposing sight in front of her, feeling weirdly transfixed. How had he been fast enough to hit Zoom without him being aware in the slightest? She was surprised then, as Zoom began to climb out of the broken building, the stranger moved. Suddenly they were all sped to a safer distance. The stranger stood in the clearing again, watching Zoom dust himself off and turn toward him. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, sizing each other up.

Zoom glowered, both intrigued, and horribly furious. "And who might you be?" he asked, stepping back out into the clearing to face him. So what if he stood nearly twice his height and had the intimidation of a battle tank. All that armor would surely slow him down. He had just been caught off guard. He watched the armored stranger open his arms, and then he spoke.

"I am Savitar," he said, his mechanical voice somehow even more menacing than Zoom's. "The god of speed," he added with a mock bow.

Zoom laughed, throwing his head back. "I have all the speed here, stranger! You are no god! You are just a fool who chose to fight the wrong man," he taunted, but if he was expecting a reaction, he was sorely disappointed. The stranger stood there silently, arms back at his side, jolts of electricity popping around him every now and then. Zoom scowled, pissed that he was not being taken seriously. He would show him the error of his ways. Gathering his own strength, Zoom took off, using all his speed to press the attack.

To Zoom's shock, he couldn't manage to land a single hit on him. He had expected the armor to slow him down, but it wasn't! The stranger almost appeared like he wasn't moving, but Zoom could tell he dodge each blow, taking what seemed like a nanosecond to do so. How was he doing this? And then, faster than he could process what was happening, he took out wicked looking blades and sliced into him nearly a hundred times all across his torso, tearing into his suit.

Zoom cried out in pain, noticing him pull his bladed arms back, no doubt intending on running him through. He sped back in panic, extending his arm and quickly jumping away, escaping to the safety of his lair. He landed, crawling back and scrambling to his feet. He tensed, expecting another portal to open, for the threat to follow him. He relaxed when that didn't happen. He stood there feeling shocked, confused, and very angry. He looked down at himself and saw that his suit was torn to pieces, as was his chest. Before he did anything, he had to heal. This could take some time.

Meanwhile, Savitar tried to follow, but felt like he hit a wall, making him skid back as the portal shut. He vibrated with rage, his urge to hunt him down and make him pay overwhelming him. The slippery bastard escaped to Earth-2! He grunted in irritation, knowing he couldn't do anything now until he returned. He turned then, back to the team. He hated how his fresh memories made him actually give a damn about them again. Cursing himself, and the fucking entity, he made his way over to them.

Savitar ignored them as they raised their guns at him, unsure of his motives. He wasn't even sure why he was going over to them. Or rather, why he couldn't stop himself from seeking her out. Joe tried to block him, seeing where he was headed. He lifted his gun, but Savitar took it instantly, and then pressed it to his chest, pushing him gently aside, resisting the urge to shove him out of the way. He frowned, not liking the niggling feeling of familial love that sparked when he met his eyes for a second. Damn it. He shook it away and returned his attention to the girl he once vowed to move the universe for. "Please don't hurt her…" was Joe's weak plea.

Savitar felt a pang of ache shoot through him at his words. Hurt? He had once been about to do a lot worse, not too long ago. He knew damn well he shouldn't be there, but he couldn't stop himself. He had to… make sure Zoom didn't do something to give him another reason to tear him limb from limb. Again, he hated how strongly he was caring again. He ignored them, noticing her eyes were steady on him, not showing any fear. Foolish girl. She should fear him. Even so, he pressed an armored finger under her chin and tilted her head gently aside, checking the gash over her eye. He scanned and was satisfied that it seemed superficial.

Iris knew she should be afraid of this powerful, imposing figure… but she wasn't. He had done nothing to make them be afraid. He was gentle with her, and had saved them. For a moment, her thoughts went to Barry, to the Flash, who always showed the same level of care for any little bump or bruise she got. She felt an ache in her heart all over again, so much so, stirring her so strongly, that she didn't realize she was crying, shaking in front of the impossible stranger, wishing she was stronger.

Savitar stared at her, seeing her tears. He knew they were not from fear, they were from grief. He knew she was crying for him, maybe wishing it had been him instead. Why was he torturing himself like this? Why did he save her? Why did he have to care? The problem was that since arriving here he did. He remembered how he felt before he was tortured in the Speed Force, he remembered how deeply he... felt about her. Still felt for her.

As though punched straight in the gut with his own armor at his top speed, Savitar recoiled, stepping away. Without saying a single word, he turned then and all but disappeared, needing to leave, needing to get away, the existential horror of his realization that he still loved her screaming in his mind, rattling him to his core. The only thing that indicated he had been there was a crackle of static in the air and the wind having whipped by them aggressively.

"What… what was that..?" Caitlin asked when no one else said anything, all of them still shell-shocked.

"No idea…" Cisco muttered, willing his heart to slow down.

The team was left there, reeling. Who was he? How had he managed to scare Zoom so much he fled? When they got back to Star Labs, they all settled in the Cortex, not speaking for a moment more. They had just had their asses handed to them by Zoom, and then a stranger in a huge armored suit came in and saved them!

The team tried their best to figure out who he was, how he was so powerful, far more than Zoom. Faster, stronger, way more menacing, but oddly enough not with them. They researched but could only find reference to ancient Hindu texts referring to Savitr, the son of the goddess of all gods, the goddess of infinity itself.

"So… so, what? He's an actual god?" Cisco asks incredulously.

Harry rolled his eyes in irritation. "No, of course not," he scoffed.

"Then… what is he..?" Joe asked cautiously.

Harry sighed and pulled his glasses off to clean them, giving him a moment to think. "I'm not sure what he is. Definitely a meta, definitely a speedster, but what kind?" he asked, adding the last part mostly to himself.

"For all we know he could be a trick by Zoom, another remnant, like Jay, to get us to feel safe around this Savitar, before Zoom shows his true hand. He could have been faking being hurt by him…" Cisco mentioned, rubbing his hands nervously. "I wish I had something of his, maybe I could vibe the answer?" he muttered thoughtfully.

Whoever this Savitar was, they were just glad he had arrived when he had.