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

∟ 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧.

magenta
part one

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AFTER HOURS OF debating, Anna finally decided that it was time to tell her friends the truth, no matter how badly it ended. They deserved to know what she had done and, even though she was terrified of how they would react, Anna knew it was the right thing to do.

          Once her team had assembled in the Cortex, Anna found herself standing at the front of the group with Barry by her side, his hand resting on her back between her shoulder blades as an act of comfort. "There's something that I need to tell you guys. It's pretty heavy and, no doubt, you'll all hate me for a while, maybe a really long time, who knows? But, before I tell you everything that I've done, just remember that I'm just a girl who makes mistakes. I'm just a girl with superhuman speed who regrets everything that I did," she explained, doing everything in her power to keep her confident tone from wavering even the slightest bit. She shifted her gaze to Barry, watching him give her a small nod. "A few weeks ago, maybe months ago, I don't know, something bad happened to me," she began and turned her attention back to the team. "Except, that bad thing isn't something that you guys remember. It happened in a previous timeline, a timeline that is now gone because I couldn't bare to live in it anymore."

          "You erased a timeline? Holy Hannah, how did you do that? How did you not erase yourself? What do you remember?"

          "Cisco, please stop with the questions," Barry said softly and gave the long-haired boy a small smile. "Let her explain."

          Anna swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and began picking at her nails as her heart began to race. "A little while ago, I fought against the speedster named Zoom who you all know, right?" The team nodded. "Well, in my old timeline, Zoom took my speed and killed Barry and my mother. Except, it wasn't my real mother, she was from another Earth, like Harry and Jesse," she said and looked at her uncle. "Anyway, after I fought Zoom and killed him, I ran back in time and kept Peter Kane from murdering my mother when I was a kid. After that, I was throwing into a timeline where the Flash was a villain, Wally was a speedster, my parents were still together, Cody was my real brother and... it was a mess. I started losing my memories from my old, old timeline, the one I erased in the beginning. I couldn't remember who I was, who I loved. I could barely remember Barry's face anymore, so I got the hell out of there as fast as I could.

          "And then, I ended up here, with all of you. Except, things are not the same as they used to be. Joe and Iris, you got along perfectly and I had never seen a father-daughter duo as strong as you two. Shannon, you didn't have a sister. You were an only child. We had a best friend named Emily who no longer exists, and believe me, I checked a hundred times," Anna continued and cleared her throat, shaking her head slowly as she exhaled a small sob. "Cisco, Shannon, you had a baby on the way. You were only a few weeks in, Shan, but you were so excited. You—"

          "You took a baby from us?" Cisco asked and Anna watched all the light leave his body. He opened his mouth countless times but no words fell out. His eyes darkened and he met Anna's gaze. "You took away my baby?"

          "Cisco, I—"

          "How could you erase a life from a timeline? A life that didn't even get a chance," Shannon cut in, her voice breaking. She furrowed her brows and folded her arms over her chest. "I was just starting to forgive you for Alyssa, and now you throw this at me? You took away my chance to have a family with the love of my life and expect me to remember that you're "just a girl who makes mistakes"? What the hell is wrong with you?"