𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭: ᴢᴇʀᴏᴘᴏɪɴᴛ ² − b. allen ((editing))

∟ 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞.

paradox
part one

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SINCE THE MOMENT that Anna had fixed the timeline and returned back to the life she had been wanting, she hadn't left Barry Allen's side. She was afraid that he would slip through her fingers again and be taken away from her before she could help him. Each night that they spent in each other's beds, Anna stayed awake for hours, keeping a hand resting on her boyfriend's chest to ensure that it kept rising and falling with each soft, peaceful breath that he let out. While her waking moments with Barry were peaceful and easy, the nightmares she had every night about him being killed had returned and left her wide awake most nights, watching the shadows in her bedroom in case Zoom had come back somehow to finish them both off.

          She knew that Zoom was dead; she remembered killing him herself,

          Anna let out a gasp and sat up straight, immediately turning to place a hand on Barry's chest to see if his heart was still beating. She let out a sigh of relief once she felt his steady heartbeat, allowing her to relax the slightest bit after her nightmare. "He's alive," she whispered as she laid down again, turning to face Barry as she watched his chest rise and fall. She placed her hand over his heart and closed her eyes, letting out a breath as her muscles began to relax thanks to the steady beating of Barry's heart. "He's alive."

.: ｡

SITTING ACROSS FROM Barry at the dining table in Anna's apartment made her realize that she had to spill her guts to him and tell him everything that she had done — so she did.

          Anna told Barry about everything that happened before the altered timeline first. She told him everything; from how they turned into speedsters, right up to how Zoom killed Barry and then Anna had killed Zoom. She then moved on to tell him about the altered timeline. Again, she told him everything; from how she first got there and learned everything about her friends and family all over again, up to taking Peter from Iron Heights, and then the Flash killing him, and then how she got here. The hardest part of it all was telling Barry that he was dead in one timeline and then a villain in another one.

          "Wow, that's a lot to take in," Barry said with a sigh and folded his arms over his chest. He looked down at the food on the table, his lips opening and closing in an attempt to speak but no words came out.

          "I told you everything that I know, Barry," Anna said and stood up from her seat to move closer to him, sitting down on another chair next to her boyfriend. "I didn't leave out one detail, I swear."

          "I know, Anna. I believe you," Barry said and rested a hand on her thigh, giving in a light squeeze. He then stood up, pulling his gaze away from her to focus on the wall on the other side of the room. "Who else knows about this?"

          Anna shook her head, knowing that she couldn't tell anyone about her secret — not yet at least. After the issues she had in the previous timeline when her friends and family found out her secret, she was almost convinced that maybe she should keep her mouth shut for good and keep them oblivious to the things she had done.

          "No one except for you, Barr," she replied finally. Anna stood up and rested her hands on either side of Barry's face, tilting his head up so she couldn't meet his green eyes that almost haunted her, almost convincing her that they would flash red and she would wake up in the old timeline. "You're the only person I've told. You're the only one I really want to tell."