Within Seconds: Flashpoint Edition

#BringParkerBack2017

Considering on the last two Christmas', Barry snagged himself a girlfriend, then a fiance, the current Christmas he was living through was not living up to the typical memorable one. Sure, it was his baby's very first Christmas. He was excited to help her open her presents, or take silly pictures of her with her Santa hat, but it felt empty. There was no time in his life where he missed his wife more than when their daughter did something for the first time. Christmas was no different. It was almost worse.

The Christmas cheer that Parker and Cisco usually exerted was missing from the Cortex, for the first time since Team Flash came together. Cisco made a clear effort to perform his traditional hype, though it was difficult for him, too. It was always Parker who brought out his holiday cheer. Seeing a Christmas tree or a bottle of alcohol for the entire month of December made a little ping in his heart. Spending a Christmas without Dante and Parker was proving to be harder than he anticipated. 

Distractions helped to alleviate the grief in their hearts. It came in the form of the Philosopher's Stone, an artifact that Julian Alpert scavenged for before he immigrated to America. It appeared to Team Flash in a very "Indiana Jones" looking box. Through the stone, it look over Julian's brain and turned him into Dr. Alchemy involuntarily. 

They also discovered that Savitar, the Speed God, could tug on a person's grief in figments and hallucinations through the box. It was learned the hard way, through Cisco. He had seen Parker and Dante. According to him, they begged him to open the box so they could, 'all be together again.' He had opened it, releasing Savitar, who ran instantly to harm Barry, just like the last time he was released. 

Barry and Wally successfully survived the attack, thanks to Caitlin coaxing Cisco into closing the box. No one was upset by him opening the box. Admittance wasn't shared, but everyone knew they would have fallen for the same trick. A chance to see Parker again? Passing would be something close to a sin. 

Julian and Jay Garrick joined the Team for a little while, as they were both affected by Savitar, Dr. Alchemy, or the Philosopher's Stone. Collectively, they decided to connect Julian's brain to the Stone and let Savitar speak through him. 

"One will betray you. One will fall. One will suffer a fate far worse than death," Savitar had told them; the sentence that stuck out among the other threatening words.

A recurring theme in Barry's life returned: future him creating issues for present him. Through Savitar, they learned Future-Barry is going to trap Savitar; that was why he was out to kill Barry. He was never going to stop trying to change his future.

So, because destroying the box was not an option, Jay and Barry decided on a different course of action: throw it into the Speed Force. The Speed Force is eternity itself. To throw a small box into it limits the chances of anyone finding it, considering it's similar to shooting a penny into space.

In the Accelerator Ring, Barry siphoned extra energy from Jay to open a breach into the deepest spot in the Speed Force he could achieve. He launched the box that held the Stone into the Speed Force. He watched the box explode, then watched, waiting for the breach to close. It didn't. The breach into the Speed Force zipped to him and swallowed him whole. 

He was spit out in an alley. Confused, Barry stood and carefully padded his way from the alley, searching for something familiar to tell him where he was. He exited to a sidewalk. Briefly, he heard a newscaster saying an update on someone named Plunder. He didn't pay much attention. He especially didn't continue to listen when he heard a voice, his own, shout, "Don't!"

Future versions of Iris, Barry, and Savitar were across the street. Savitar held Iris in the air, a blade waving close to the tip of her back. Future-Barry was pleading to an ear that didn't want to hear. He watched Savitar stick the blade straight through Iris, and, again, he wasn't fast enough. He managed to catch her body and cradle her until she took her last breath. 

Barry didn't process any of what he saw. He started to stumble back, breathless, when a hand grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him roughly from the future. He saw a blink of the Speed Force as he was forced backwards, then he fell to the wooden floor of an apartment. 

Whipping his head around, he stopped when he noticed something familiar: a hat. A hat, of the Indiana Jones type, that formerly belonged to his wife. 

"So..." she said softly.

Barry's whole body froze. He didn't bother standing, or even turning his head. He closed his eyes. In his head, he tried to tell himself that she was still gone. Nothing was going to bring her back. A line of communication between the dead didn't exist. She was dead. 

"You just had to do Flashpoint, didn't ya, baby?"