The Line Between Living and Dying

Endings and Hopeful Beginnings

"I'm gonna break out of here!" Mark Mardon shouted. "I'm gonna create a tidal wave that destroys your entire city!"

Barry smirked, turning away from the cell as the pipeline door shut. Dani, however, leaned against the circular frame, staring absentmindedly at the closed door.

"So, I still don't understand. How did you find him?" Cisco questioned.

"I just had a hunch." Barry shrugged, trying not to make a big deal about him finding Mardon.

"That's gotta be some kind of record," Caitlin said.

"Yeah." Cisco laughed. "Well, there goes my excuse for bailing on my brother's birthday." He complained as he left the intake to the pipeline with Caitlin following.

As Cheyanne followed Caitlin and Cisco out, she glanced back to see if Dani was leaving too. Instead, she found her best friend staring intently at the pipeline door.

"Don't trust anything." Astra's voice echoed through Dani's head.

That snapped Dani out of her trance enough for her to finally hear Cheyanne.

"Dani? Hello, Earth to Dani!" Cheyanne called. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Dani put on a fake smile. "I'm great." She walked down the ramp to meet Cheyanne, completely aware of Dr. Wells's curious gaze but pretending not to notice.

After the two women left, Dr. Wells turned to Barry. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?"

"Yeah, I do," Barry answered. "I just saved a lot of lives."

"I warned you not to mess with the timeline." Wells scolded.

"Dr. Wells, if you would just let me tell you what was gonna happen, you'd understand why I did this," Barry explained. 

"Whatever tragedy you think you've just averted, time will find a way to replace it, and trust me, Barry, the next one could be much worse."

* * *

Barry jogged into CCPN, smiling at his girlfriend. "Hey! I am here. So sorry, again." He huffed, plopping down on the small set of stairs that were position right behind Linda's desk.

Linda turned around in her chair to face Barry. "Well, you get a pass considering you're never late." As Barry laughed off the joke, Linda continued talking. "Hey um... what's going on with you lately?"

"Nothing." Barry shook his head, lying terribly.

"Come on," Linda said. "Give me a little credit here."

Barry sighed. "I've just been dealing with a lot of things lately. I like you, Linda. And we really get along."

"Relationships should be more than just getting along. Your heart should ache for me." Linda explained. "Does it?"

Barry didn't answer. Instead, he dropped his gaze to the floor and gave Linda the answer she needed.

"You're not upset with me?" Barry asked after Linda rested her hand on his.

Linda shook her head. "No one did anything wrong."

"I really do feel a lot for you, Linda." Barry stood up. "It's just..."

"Just not as much as you feel for someone else." Linda finished Barry's sentence. She turned her head toward Iris's desk at the sound of laughter. 

Barry followed Linda's gaze, seeing Dani talking and laughing with Iris.

"Go get her." Linda nodded toward Dani, placing a kiss on his cheek before he walked away.

Meanwhile, Dani leaned against Iris's desk, waiting for her friend to finish her article. However, from where she stood, Dani had a perfect view of Linda's desk. Unfortunately, this also meant that Dani saw Linda kiss Barry's cheek. A wave of jealousy washed over Dani as she shifted her gaze down to her feet.

"'The Flash, speeding his way into our lives'." Iris's mentor, Mason Bridge walked up behind the young reporter, causing both Iris and Dani to look over at him. "It's a little bit on the nose, don't you think?"

"Aren't all headlines supposed to be on the nose?" Dani crossed her arms, staring down Mason.

"Depends on who you ask," Mason answered nonchalantly. "I have something to show you." He turned to Iris. "Preferably alone." He side-eyed Dani.

"Guess I'll wait outside then," Dani muttered, turning on her heel and walking out of CCPN's front doors.

"Dani, wait up!" Barry's voice called out.

Dani stopped walking, looking over her shoulder at Barry. "Hey." She greeted as Barry met her in the middle of the sidewalk. "What's up?"

"Nothing, really." Barry shrugged. "Well, Linda and I broke up."

"What?" Dani's eyes widened. "I-I'm so sorry."

"No, no, no, it's okay. We're gonna be friends." Barry assured. "Um, yeah, no, it's gonna be awesome. Uh... anyway, are you... um, are you free tomorrow? Do you want to get some coffee and we can just talk and just tell each other stuff-- I don't know, stuff we got rolling around in there." He gestured to his head. "I don't know."

Dani chuckled at Barry's awkward demeanor, which she always found cute. "Sure. That sounds great." She agreed.

"Ok, great. Great!" Barry smiled widely. "All right, I'll see you." He said as he walked away.

* * *

Later that night, Dani tossed and turned restlessly in her bed. A purple haze took over her dreams, bringing her a vision.

Dani stood in one of Central City's many parks. A tsunami slowly built its height in the bay to her right while Barry stood directly in front of her.

"Barry, you can't." She heard herself stay.

"I have to try." Barry insisted. He moved to run but Dani stopped him.

"Wait." She placed a hand against Barry's chest. She glanced back at the incoming tsunami then looked back into Barry's eyes. "Before you go, I need to say something."

"Dani--"

"I'm sorry." Dani cut Barry off. "At Christmas, when you told me how you felt... I should've said something but I was too scared and I was in denial."

"Dani, what are you talking about?" Barry asked.

"I'm talking about how I've been in love with you since high school. Maybe even before then. I should've said so then but I didn't and I'm sorry. And I can't let you go and risk your life without taking the chance to finally be honest with you and with myself." Dani took a deep breath, cupping Barry's face in her hands. "I love you." She pulled him in for a deep, passionate kiss that she regretted not doing years ago.

Seconds after hers and Barry's lips connected, Dani shot straight up. Her breaths came out ragged and her skin was glistening with sweat.

"Barry?"

A/N: Another chapter written and posted! Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter!