Barry zoomed into Cisco's workshop where he found Harry looking down at a computer, when he suddenly touched his arm. Yellow electricity circled around them once before Harry began to move, but seeing Barry, he looked at the computers then back to the speedster confused. "A-Allen-" he stammered.
"Wells, hey-"
"Uh, why are you touching me?" Harry asked, "Th-"
"Listen-"
"Am I in, am I in-"
"Yes, you're in Fla- You're in Flashtime, yes," Barry said.
"Flashtime? What is Flashtime?" Harry questioned.
"I didn't- Cisco just came up with it," Barry said.
"Wait, you did this with Ramon before you did this with me?" Harry asked.
"Hey, we don't have time!" Barry snapped.
"The alarm-"
"Yes, the alarm that we left for was an ARGUS transport. It had a fission engine in it," Barry explained.
"And it exploded?" Harry asked and Barry nodded, "That's why I'm in this Flashti- Wait...Jessie and Kara," he looked at Barry, "Where are my daughters? Where are Jessie and Kara?"
"She's no...Jessie's fine. She left. She went to-"
"Okay, Allen, that's great, what about Kara? Where is she?" Harry asked.
"She's still here. She's not as fast as us, she doesn't know what's going on," Barry told him.
"Okay, no. If this city's gonna explode, you need to send her and Jessie as far away from here as possible-"
"No, listen- listen, Jessie went to Earth-3 to get Jay Garrick," Barry told him.
"She's coming back?" Harry questioned.
"Yes, we need his help," Barry said.
"Allen, no, no, no, no, no, we cannot let her- You get Kara and send her away, and you keep Jessie from coming-"
"Hey!" Barry snapped, "Right now, I need your help, okay? How do I stop the reaction?"
"You can't stop this," Harry said.
"What do you mean? Then what do I do?" Barry asked.
"You can't- you have to send it away from here," Harry said.
"Well, I can't. We tried-"
"Open- have Ramon open a-"
"Cisco can't- he can't. Cisco can't open a breach. He can't-" Barry stammered.
"Cause there's no time," Harry realized.
"Exactly," Barry said.
"But you can," Harry said.
"What do you mean?" Barry asked.
"Allen, you can," Harry continued.
"No, I can't," Barry said.
"Listen to me-"
"What are you talking about?" Barry asked.
"Allen, listen to me, space-time breaches and the portal to the Speed Force operate under different physics. You open a portal to the Speed Force, you send it there," Harry explained.
"What will it do to the Speed Force?" Barry asked, but Harry blinked a little, stumbling back.
"What is- why am I weak?" Harry asked.
"Wells — I know," Barry said as Harry stumbled back into his chair, "Wells, hey, hey."
"It's the speed- the-"
"Listen to me, Will the explosion-"
"The speed's affecting me," Harry muttered.
"I know. Will an explosion that big affect the Speed Force?" Barry asked.
"I don't...think so," Harry mumbled.
"What? What do you mean you don't think so?" Barry asked.
"I don't know," Harry muttered.
"Wells, hey, look at me-"
"What the heck?" And the two looked back to find The Flash of Earth-3 and Jesse Quick with him, the both of them staring at Barry and Harry oddly. But seeing his daughter was back on Earth-1, Harry began to panic.
Harry grabbed Barry's arm and pulled him closer, "Get her out of here," he said.
"I'm gonna- I'll try-"
"Allen- Allen-"
But Barry let him go, and Harry froze again. Barry then looked back at Jay and Jessie. "How'd you do that?" Jay asked.
"Um, I'm not sure. I've- I've been able to do it ever since I came out of the Speed Force," Barry told him.
"That's a hell of a new trick," Jay said.
"Look, right now-"
"I know. Jessie showed me the nuke. We're in trouble, kid," Jay said.
"Well, I don't know. Wells has an idea that he thinks might work," Barry said and Jessie rolled her eyes.
"Yeah? What is it?" She asked.
"We send the bomb into the Speed Force, let it detonate in there," Barry explained.
"Like hell you will," Jay said.
"What do you mean? Why not?" Barry asked.
"Because, Flash, if you do that, we may lose the Speed Force forever," Jay told him.
"What do you mean we might lose the Speed Force?" Barry asked.
"An explosion that size could destroy it completely. If that were to happen, every speedster across space and time would lose access to their speed instantly," Jay explained and Barry's face dropped.
"Every speedster?" He questioned softly.
"Even if it got rid of Thawne and every other evil speedster in the multiverse, you cannot do this. I won't let you," Jay said.
"Well, I'm sorry, Jay, but if this is the only way to save everyone in the city, I have to," Barry said before he walked off, and just moments later, the other two speedsters walked after him.
———
Jay and Jessie found Barry in the Speed Lab, writing out equations on the clear board, trying to figure this all out. "Barry, listen to me- Harry didn't know anything about the Speed Force, okay? None of us really do. And this isn't just about speed. You're talking about destroying an essential element of the multiverse. Nobody knows what the consequences will be. You were trapped in there longer than I was. If anyone can underst-" Jay tried to explain.
"Then what Jay?!" Barry snapped, turning towards him and Jessie, "What's your idea?!" But when Jay didn't have anything to say, Barry walked back over to the board.
"Uh, okay, look- I mean, did my dad have any other ideas?" Jessie asked, walking up next to Barry.
"No, but we couldn't talk for very long," Barry said before he glanced over at Jay, "Jay, I'm sorry, I just-"
"No, it's alright, kid. I get it," Jay said before he stepped by them as well, all three of them staring at the board, "Alright, back to basics. In nuclear fission, enormous energy is created by a chain reaction of atoms splitting and releasing neurons. It's nearly impossible to reverse this process, but, theoretically you could restore stability."
"How?" Barry asked.
"One way is to offset the loss of mass by nuclear fusion," Jay said and Jessie softly chuckled.
"Great," she said, "You have some sort of machine lying around here that could generate that kind of energy?"
"No, we don't," Barry said.
"But the other way, considering our predicament, seems more promising," Jay said.
"Which is what?" Jessie asked.
"Cooling it down," Jay said before glancing at Barry, who slowly stammered up a smile.
Waid Airfield Hangar
All three speedsters zoomed in, but when Barry came to a stop, he found himself standing next to Joe. He stared at him for a moment before turning away, "We need to hurry."
The three marched up to Killer Frost, and Barry placed his hand on her. Yellow electricity circled around them once before the ice queen began to move. She eyed around her confused because looking at a desperate Barry. "I see all these frozen people around me, Flash, and this time, it's not my fault," Frost said.
"We need your help," Barry said.
"Three of you now, what's going on?" Frost asked.
"The cargo in this container," Barry began.
"It's a nuclear bomb," Jay told her.
"Yeah, and it went kaboom," Jessie added.
Killer Frost stared at them all for a moment before uttering, "Dandy."
"Come here," Barry said before he guided her towards the container.
Inside the container, Killer Frost saw the bomb while the speedsters surrounded her. "Whoo, it's toasty in here," she said.
"We need you to cool it down," Jay said.
"You want me to cool down a nuclear reaction that's already gone critical?" Frost asked while chuckling but when she glanced over at Barry, she saw a serious look on him, "You're serious?"
"Quickly, please, Miss Frost," Jay said and Frost looked back at the bomb.
"Alright, let's give it a whirl," she said before she backed her arms out, then blasted out her ice powers. But just like Vibe's, they didn't reach far enough, "Didn't go quite how I expected-"
Suddenly, the containment holding the bomb cracked up, turning yellow, and they all looked at it terrified. "Tr- Try again," Barry stammered.
Frost did the same as she did before, but when it didn't reach like prior, she lurched forward, breathing heavily. "Oh, no-"
"Huh, so that's what heat feels like," Frost mumbled, looking as if she might pass out.
"You're burning up. Come on," Barry said before he guided her out from the container and back to her spot from before with the others following, "Alright, it's okay. I have to let you go, okay?"
"Barry?" Frost softly asked and Barry looked at her once more, "Don't let Caity die."
Barry nodded before he let her go, and she froze up like everyone else around them. He then looked at Jay and Jessie again. "Now what?"
"Guess we have to find that fusion machine after all," Jessie said before she glanced back at the container, "Wait a second-"
"What?" Barry asked and Jessie looked back at him.
"What if we're the machine?" She asked.
"How so?" Jay asked and Jessie looked at him.
"Well, you said that we could offset the energy of the bomb with the energy from nuclear fusion," she said.
"Theoretically," Jay said.
"Right, and the reaction in the container's giving off, I don't know, three million tons of energy?" Jessie asked.
"Give or take," Jay said.
"So, three megatons of energy, that's three billion joules. Each lightning bolt gives off roughly one billion joules, so-"
"So if we all throw a lightning bolt at the same time-" Barry realized.
"It could be enough," Jessie said.
"That's enough. That'll work. Let's do it," Barry said before the three of them zoomed off.
They all ran in circles multiple times until it was enough to perform a lightning bolt, just like Thor is every single movie ever. Barry was the first to throw a bolt, Jessie the second, but when it came down to the last, Jay couldn't do it.
Right before he could throw a lightning bolt, he fell to the ground, causing Barry and Jessie to look at him in worry. "Jay!" Barry yelled before sliding down to the ground, helping Jay to his knees, "Hey- Hey-"
"I'm- I'm not used to going this long," Jay stammered.
"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay," Barry told him.
"Damn legs," Jay muttered.
"It's alright," Barry assured.
"Don't work like they once did," Jay said.
"It's okay," Barry said and Jay looked at him.
"I'm not gonna be able to finish this one, Flash. I'm sorry," Jay said.
"Just rest," Barry told him.
"I'm so...sorry," Jay said.
"It's okay," Barry said before finally, Jay stopped running, and he froze, like everyone else.
Jessie sighed before Barry looked up at her, the two of them in looks of defeat. "Barry, the two of us can't produce enough lightning power to offset the energy from that bomb. I mean, even if we had full speed, which we don't, at least I don't," Jessie said and Barry sighed.
"Our only hope would to be to go get my future daughter from a different Earth," Barry said but he noticed Jessie's confused looks, "It's a long story."
"It doesn't matter, we're gonna run out of energy soon," Jessie told him.
"We have to send it into the Speed Force, then," Barry said.
"You- You heard what Jay said," Jessie stammered.
"And Harry said it'd be fine," Barry said. "No, he said he thinks it would be fine," Jessie corrected, "Barry, my dad never thinks anything, he knows. Jay was right, we can't do it."
"Damnit!" Barry snapped as he stood up, facing away from Jessie. She sighed before turning around to see he was staring at her sister with worried eyes. But she knew that she was his wife's doppelgänger, and all he could think about was making it through to get back to her.
"Okay, what if I don't know, what if we run back in time and stop this bomb from ever going off?" She asked and he quickly faced her.
"No, Jessie, we can't do that," he said.
"Yeah, well, it's kind of our only option," she said.
"It's not an option," he sternly said.
"Even if it saves the city and everyone in it?" She asked.
"It's not saving them, okay? The second you alter the timeline, everything changes, especially the people you love. Trust me. I learned that the hard way," he explained, but he just hoped she would take his advice instead of learning it how he did.
"Yeah, well, maybe a new version of my dad isn't the worst thing in the world," Jessie said.
"Look, Jessie, whatever problems you two have, they're not gonna get solved by forcing him to do something he doesn't want to do. He has to make that decision," Barry told her before he looked past her shoulder and his face dropped, "Oh, God."
Jessie turned around and found what he saw. The bomb's energy now turned purple, and was spreading out of the container. "The reaction's combustion's reached its final phase," Jessie muttered.
"I think we're slowing down," Barry said as the two stepped towards it but not too close.
"So everything else is speeding up," Jessie added before sighing, "Barry, I don't have any more ideas."
"Me either," Barry said as Jessie began to feel weaker and weaker.
"I don't know know how much longer I can run," she said and Barry looked back at her.
"Alright, you have to get out of here. Use the speed you have left, take your sister and get back to Earth-2. Your dad wanted you girls to leave," Barry told her.
"Yeah, I heard," Jessie said, rolling her eyes.
"So you'd be safe, Jessie," Barry said before he placed his hands on her shoulders, "He loves you both, more than anything. Go."
"No, I can't just-"
"Go," Barry told her and she nodded.
She walked over to Supergirl-2, and grabbed her. Yellow electricity circled them before the alien began to move. She gasped a little, confused to see that her sister was now in front of her. "What is- Jessie?" She questioned before seeing the nuclear explosion, "Oh my, what is going on?"
"Come on, we have to go," Jessie said.
"Barry?" Supergirl-2 questioned.
"We don't have time, let's go," Jessie said before she zoomed them off, leaving Barry alone.
Barry walked around the facility, looking at his friends, then over to Joe, was still frozen in place. "I'm sorry," he muttered before zooming off.
STAR Labs
Jessie zoomed into Cisco's workshop with Supergirl-2, but placed her sister by her frozen father, letting go of her as well. She tried to grab her father, to wake him up, but she'd ran out of energy. "Oh, God," she muttered, breathing heavily, "I wish I could tell you this while you could still hear me, but...I know how happy Mom made you and how sad you are now that she's gone. But I just- I don't know why you won't talk about it. I know maybe I don't need to, but I just want you to be happy again. That's all I've ever wanted," she then sat on the other side of him, taking a seat, and that was it. She froze up just like everyone else.
———
Meanwhile, in the halls of the facility, was Barry. He was stumbling around, leaning himself against walls, barely able to stand. "I've got to think of something," he muttered, "Come on!"
He stumbled into the cortex, where he found a frozen Kara. Her back was to the computers, facing the entrance while Iris was still at the computers. He was breathing heavily, sweat covering his face, tears spilling from his eyes, while there was Kara, perfectly perfect. Beautiful as ever, unknowing of what was about to happen.
He reached out to touch her, to break her from being frozen, like he was breaking her from a curse, but he stopped himself. He gathered himself, knowing she was going to freak out, just like her doppelgänger did. But possibly worse. He then reached out, and cupped her soft cheek.
Yellow electricity circled around them before Kara began to move. She gasped, looking around her confused, then up at Barry to know something was wrong. "Barry-"
"Kara-"
"What- I'm-"
"You're moving as fast as I am," Barry told her, now cupping both of her cheeks.
"What?" She asked.
"Like in the courtroom," Barry continued.
"What? Why? Didn't you-"
"I can't-"
"Oh, my God," she muttered, trying to wipe some of the sweat off of him, trying to understand what happened.
"I can't," he said.
"What?" Kara asked before she looked back at the monitors to find what was happening at the hangar.
She then looked back at Barry horrified while tears poured down his face. "I can't save us this time," he said, and she glanced back at the monitor then back to Barry.
"What do you mean you can't save us?" She asked.
"There's a bomb," Barry said.
"What?!" Kara softly snapped.
"A nuke, it's already gone off. I can't stop it," Barry told her.
"Wait- but- there has to be a way. There's gotta be something that you can do, Barry," Kara said, searching his eyes for something, but there's nothing.
"No, I tried. We tried everything. We tried lightning, we tried cooling it down, breaching into a dead earth, but there's nothing that will work. I don't know what to do," Barry explained.
"Okay," Kara muttered, looking away for a moment, trying to think.
"Look at me," Barry said and she did, connecting her blue with his green, and he felt alright again, "As soon as I stop, it's gonna-"
"I know, I know," Kara said before Barry dropped his head onto her shoulder, sobbing and she just held him tightly, tears forming into her own eyes, "Hey, it's okay."
"I don't know how much longer I can hold out. I'm so tired," Barry mumbled into her shoulder.
"It's okay, Barry," Kara muttered before she placed her hand on his neck, "Rao, you're burning up."
"I've been at this for a while, for me," Barry cried.
"Hey, hey, look at me," Kara said, pulling him up off from her shoulder to met his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"No, don't be sorry," Kara said as their foreheads clashed together, "Just he here with me," she then placed her hands on his cheeks while their eyes collided.
"I'm sorry," he muttered once more.
"It's okay," she whispered as tears dripped down from her eyes, "I love you, Barry Allen."
"I'm so sorry," he choked, feeling as though he failed her, but she shook her head, letting him know once more that she wasn't mad, nor disappointed.
"This isn't the quality time I had imagined but it's enough for me," Kara whispered on his lips and he smiled, "Every moment with you has been enough for me, has always been perfect, ever since I tapped you on the shoulder on that sidewalk."
And just from that, Barry held her tighter, not wanting to let go. "Every moment," he whispered and she nodded, "You're my lightning rod, Kara."
And from this, Kara backed away from a little while a tear rolled her face. He looked at her confused while she realized something. "What? What?"
"You said you tried to use lightning," she said and he nodded, "How?"
"We tried. It- It didn't work. If it was powerful enough, it could've fused the split atoms, it could've negated the effects of the bomb, but I can't do it alone. I can't generate that kind of energy," Barry explained.
"No, you can't but the Speed Force can," Kara said and he crinkled his eyebrows.
"What?" He asked.
"When you went into the Speed Force, the- the lightning from the storm-" Kara stammered.
"One of those bolts would more than enough," Barry realized and Kara nodded her head, "But I- I can't. How- how could I draw that out? I can't-"
"Barry, when we freed you, Cisco and Caitlin, they used a Quark Sphere programmed with your genetic marker to trick the Speed Force into thinking that you were still in there," Kara explained.
"I just need to get that sphere, and then the storm will chase me," Barry added on.
"Just like you said, a lightning rod to bring out the lightning," Kara said and Barry smiled down at her.
He placed a desperate and hard kiss on her lips, which took her breathe away. When they parted, they were searching each other's eyes again, scared to let go, but they had to. "Come back to me," she whispered.
"As fast as I can," Barry said before he zoomed off, letting Kara go in the process, and she was frozen again.