Alter Egos

Hiraeth

"Barry is a living Speed Force generator," he replied calmly, "he can take it back with him, he can fix it."

"So the way I see it," Eobard continued, his eyes drifting back to Barry, "you can either stay here and try to stop me, or you can go into the Speed Force and save the day like a good little hero. It's time to decide, Barry. Which is more important to you? Getting your revenge on me, or saving the lives of everyone you love?"

Barry leveled his gaze with the other speedster, a silent fire burning within him.

"Tick tock, Flash. Tick tock."

Then, just as suddenly as Barry had latched onto him, he let go, the speedster's head slamming back down onto the pavement with a thud.

Eobard only chuckled quietly, "That's what I thought."

Barry soon rose from where he had been kneeling and drew in a fortifying breath. He then turned back to Caitlin, Ralph and even Oliver, an apologetic look in his eyes.

"Barry, please tell me you're not seriously considering this," Cisco's voice crackled over the coms.

"Cisco, he's telling the truth. If I do this, it should work, and even if it doesn't...I have to try."

After that, a heavy silence settled onto all of them; they all knew what came next. They had made peace with it, and had already said their goodbyes to Barry and even to each other. Now all that was left was to go through the motions.

A crackle of lightning tore through the sky above them, as though urging him on impatiently. Barry steeled himself and pulled his cowl back over his head, squaring off his gaze as a Speed Force portal appeared in front of him. Lightning began to snake and surge around him and Caitlin took that as her cue to act.

She reached out, her fingertips grasping his shoulder just as the world around them ground to a halt. Barry was startled by the action, whirling around to face her. She had to adjust her grip to stay anchored, her hand sliding down the side of his arm and coming to a stop at his wrist.

"Caitlin," he began, his words carrying an edge. "What are you doing?"

"I'm coming with you," she declared softly, lightning steadily encircling them.

"No," Barry breathed out shaking his head. "No, you're—"

"Yes, I am."

"Caitlin."

"Barry."

"Alright, listen to me," Barry quickly shifted tactics, bringing his hands up to rest on the sides of her shoulders. "You saw the articles, this is a one-way trip. Caitlin, there's no coming back from this. For either of us."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Caitlin reasoned, "Everything has changed, nothing is set in stone now. And even if it is—" she added, her brown eyes flickering up to meet his green ones, "—at least you won't be alone."

Barry let out a quiet sigh, scrubbing his hand over his face. "Look, I've spent months making peace with all of this, and thinking about everybody that I'll never see again and what this is gonna do to them. But I don't have a choice here. You do. You don't have to do this. Think about what this might do to the people in your life. Caitlin—"

"I have," she cut in with a calm kind of finality.

She had thought about it, quite a bit, actually. She thought about Cisco and his new (and for the most part ordinary) life. She thought about Ralph, and how much he had grown as a person and as a hero. She thought about her mother and the months of radio silence that had stretched between them. She thought about Wally and his recent (and permanent) return to Central City. And throughout all of it, she thought about how she might fit into it all, and whether or not she even wanted to try without Barry around. So yes, she had thought about it, and all it had really done was strengthen her resolve. They didn't need her, not anymore, not in the way they once had, and not in the way that Barry did right now.