Within Seconds // Barry Allen

Confessions

"You can see two speedsters, there, Barry. And over there, on the wall, we found blood. We tested the DNA," Joe explained.

Barry locked eyes with Parker. He watched her, and based on her normal reaction, he figured all of what Joe was saying rang true. It all clicked for him: that's where Parker and Cisco had disappeared to yesterday.

"It's yours," Parker said.

Barry's face went from grief to denial very quickly. He took a step back, shaking his head.

"No, that's impossible. I wasn't even downstairs yet."

"Not baby you. Adult you," Parker continued. "There's some science rambling Cisco could get into if you truly want to be sure, but I know--we know-- it's you. Adult Barry was here the night of the murder."

"The one speedster is the Man in Yellow, we've figured that out," Joe said.

"Meaning..." Parker egged on.

"The other one is the Flash.." Barry said. His eyes flickered to Parker's for confirmation. "That's me."

>>>>>

"So, time travel. Is it possible?"

Joe was asking Dr.Wells, but Parker was so excited about being correct about her theory that she jumped in and said an overly-excited, "Yes!"

Dr.Wells sent her a worried look. "Yes, she's correct. But it's problematic. Assuming you could create the conditions necessary to go on that journey, that journey would then be fraught with potential downfalls."

"Like what?" Joe asked.

"There's like three main ones. If you travel back in time to change something, you become the causal factor of that event."

A ramble of explaination had Joe still looking at Parker, confused.

"Terminator," she tried, and then Joe nodded. "There's also the idea of alternate timelines. If you go back and change something, it would create a timeline where it did happen, and a timeline where it didn't. Like Back to the Future."

"Saw that one too," Joe nodded.

"Tremendous picture," Dr.Wells praised.

"So, how does it work?"

Dr.Wells and Parker stared at Joe, their faces blank. Parker turned to Dr.Wells, then back to Joe, giving an unsure look.

"Um.. There's no proven theories on how to travel through time, if that's what you're asking?"

"But maybe there's someone else you can talk to about this," Cisco offered.

>>>>

Hours later, Barry came back to the Cortex quite noisily. He was grunting and gasping with every step.

When he entered through the doors, Parker understood why. Dozens of prickles were stuck in his body.

"Barry!" Parker shouted, taking his other side and helping him to the bed. "What did you do, run into a giant sea urchin?"

"It was Eiling," Barry wheezed.

"I should have known," Caitlin admitted, shaking her head. "When I talked to the grad student about F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M., he said the army took all their evidence. I should have connected those dots."

Parker relocated Barry's hand to her hip, wanting to help pull out some of the needles. She grabbed one on his arm with two of her fingers and pried it out quickly.