"We have to wait how long before we can use the metahuman cure?" Barry questions, the team gathered in the cortex as Cisco was standing in the middle of the room.
"Not even that long." Cisco said nervously, rocking back and forth on his heels.
"Cisco." Y/N said skeptically, leaning against the railings. She was wearing some black leggings with high top boots and a red long sleeve blouse.
"It's gonna go by-" Cisco snaps his fingers, "-like that."
"Cisco." Ethan arches a brow, crosses his arms over his chest.
Cisco cleared his throat and pursed his lips, "29 days."
Sherloque chokes on his tea, everyone looking just as surprised about the number.
"A month?" Liam questioned, leaning forward in his seat to stare at Cisco.
"I know, right?" Cisco chuckles nervously, "Just one, teeny, tiny, month until we stop Cicada's purge. You know, historically speaking, this is way faster than we've ever stopped a big bad-"
"We can't wait that long." Barry spoke up, "If he finds another meta or comes after us, we have to speed this up somehow."
"Barry's right-" Y/N nods, looking at Cisco and crossing her arms over her chest, "-there has to be a faster process to use it right now."
"Scientifically speaking, that can't be possible-" Caitlin said, "-we have to wait for the compound to fully synthesize or it won't be able to effectively neutralize the dark matter in a metahuman pituitary gland. Without any way to expedite the exotic evolution."
"Y/N, we're gonna have to wait." Cisco adds and the speedster huffs.
"Unless― you took it into the Speed Force." Sherloque suggest, sipping his tea and looking at the woman.
Everyone looks at him with a questionable expression as Barry chuckles softly, "You're suggesting she goes into the Speed Force for a month, and, what? Come back the minute she left?"
"Oh, no, no, I'm not saying you manipulate time." Sherloque shakes his head, "I'm saying you manipulate dark matter."
"So very simple." Sherloque presents to the team, "It's simple chemistry, right? When you are synthesizing a compound, you use a commodity, uh, substrate, uh-"
"A catalyst?" Caitlin suggest.
"Catalyst, right." Sherloque nods, "And the most efficient catalyst you can use when synthesizing a compound that negates dark matter is superluminal particles."
"Tachyons?" Liam says, standing up from his seat.
"Tachyons." Sherloque looks at him with a nod, "And the place where tachyons are the most dense?"
"The Speed Force." Y/N breathes out, placing her hands behind her neck.
"And voila." Sherloque nods.
"That might actually work." Caitlin nods with a small smile.
"Yeah, it will." Cisco nods, "It'll be like nuking it in pan-dimensional microwave."
"And if we do consider this-" Ethan trails off, glancing at Caitlin beside him, "-how long will this process take?"
Caitlin does a few calculation before smiling, "From 29 days down to 60 minutes."
"An hour." Ethan hums in response, looking over at his sister, "Sounds better than being stuck in the Speed Force again."
Y/N nods as Cisco says, "Yeah, it's gonna be faster."
"And also since Cicada has been quiet since your last encounter, maybe there's no time like the present." Sherloque states.
Y/N exhales deeply and turns around to look at her husband with a small smile, "Speed Force adventure?"
"Speed Force adventure." Barry smiles softly as she smiles brightly. The two look back at the group as he said, "We'll see you in an hour."
The two speedsters quickly change into their suits and speed out the cortex, and down at the pipeline. As they were getting to leave, another speedster speeds inside the pipeline in their suit.
"I'm ready." Liam smiles, the two turning around to look at him with small smiles.
"Liam, you need to stay here." Barry tells him.
"You guys don't want my help?" Liam asked with a small frown, his excitement disappearing slightly.
"Me and you mom got this one." Barry says, "We'll handle it."
"Are you two sure it's okay to even go?" Liam questions them with a quirk brow, "I mean, a― a really big emergency could happen and we won't have enough heroes to help it if you two are gone."
"This city has a good amount of heroes." Y/N tells him softly, "It has Impulse, Artemis, Vibe, Killer Frost and Elongated Man. Five heroes."
"I don't know-" Liam crosses his arms over his chest, looking between the two, "-what if Silver Ghost comes back-"
"Then you'll stop her, again." Y/N smiles at him with a look.
"Mom, are you sure that you're even good to go." Liam says, walking towards her and holding her arm with a sad eyes, "I mean, the thing that happened between you and Cicada― are you sure-"
"You forgot that I heal fast-" She chuckles softly, the boy sighing in defeat as she grabs his face in her hands, "-I'm fine, I promise."
"We have the cure to stop Cicada." Barry said, holding up the cure, "We gotta go."
Liam frowns as Y/N pulls him in for a hug before planting a kiss at the side of his head as he looks down at her. Barry sends him a smile but before the speedsters could leave- Y/N turns back around to look at him.
"And you've been training for a reason, Lee." She started off, "Put that training into the field. Listen, if you ever feel like things are getting too much, do what I've told you― stop and think, take deep breaths and your uncle Ethan is here. Focus, and don't do anything Impulsive."
"Funny-" Liam grins slightly, "-It's like that isn't my code name."
"You know what I mean." She smiles at him and Barry opens the pipeline door, "It's okay to ask for help sometimes. I'll see you."
Y/N puts on her mask as she speeds inside the pipeline, the purple streak following after her. Barry looks at his son, "We trust you, you just gotta trust yourself. You'll be fine. See you in an hour."
He speeds after his wife as Liam watches him leave. He throws his head back and walks out the pipeline, "Don't do anything Impulsive, that's going to be hard."
He was making his way to the cortex, when he ran into Ralph.
"Hey, mini speedster-" Ralph smiles, Liam grins at the two do their secret handshake before Ralph asked, "-Cisco hasn't left for his date yet, has he?"
"I don't think so." Liam replied honestly, shaking his head.
"Great, we get another chance at this." Ralph smiles as he holds up a big book.
"What's that?" Liam asked curiously, his gaze falling on the title; The Book Of Ralph.
"This is the key on having a very successful date." Ralph shows it to him, "Everything you need to have so you'll know what to do."
Liam hums in amusement as the two walk inside the cortex. He made his way over to Ethan, standing by his side.
"You okay?" Ethan asked, wrapping an arm around his shoulder with a small smile.
"Yeah-" Liam nods with a small smile, "-just thinking."
Ethan only nods and then everyone was cut off by their conversations when Ralph dropped his book on Cisco's desk- causing a loud thud.
"Oh, God." Cisco dramatically says, "Not the "Book Of Ralph" again!"
"Yeah, buddy." Ralph slams his hand against the book, You successfully completed my 27 steps to getting over the love of your life. Gypsy is in the past. You have a new siren, so now it's time for- The Art of Love."
"Um, Caitlin?" Cisco tried to ask for help.
"I've gotta finish working on the device to inject the cure." Caitlin excuses herself, leaving the room in a hurry.
"Also― I have to inject the device for the cure." Sherloque mutters, following after Caitlin.
Ethan pulls away from Liam and looks down at Iris, gesturing it's their time to leave. Iris nods and picks up her bag, the two trying to sneak their way out but Cisco looks at his friend.
"Ethan― E― Hey, Ethan? Ethan-" Cisco calls out.
Ethan looks at his friend, laughing nervously, "Oh, I― I wish I could help you, man, but, I well, I have some calls to make. You know? New building? Checking for- for secret doors, regular vigilante stuff."
"And I have an article to get started on." Iris says, Ethan wrapping his arm around her.
"Please, help me!" Cisco's voice cracked, placing his palms together and looking at his friend.
"Let us know when Barry and Y/N come back, okay? Bye!" Ethan rushes out the cortex with Iris.
Liam chuckles as he looks back at Cisco and he mouths, "Help me."
The young speedster speeds out to change out his suit and comes back in normal clothes, making his way over to the two guys. Liam was wearing black jeans with a "Horror Movie" t-shirt, and red converse.
"Chapter one: Initial Planning." Ralph reads off the page.
"Initial planning?" Cisco repeats, "It's a first date, Sun Tzu, not an incursion."
"Trust me, Grasshopper, love is war, but fine, if you wanna skip to chapter six; Know Your Terrain." Ralph continued.
"We're meeting at Jitters." Cisco stares at him in disbelief.
Liam covers his mouth to stop himself from laughing.
"Ah, family territory." Ralph winks, "You are learning."
"If there's one thing a girl likes, it's an honest guy-" Liam quickly spoke up, catching their attention, "As much as you seem to appreciate Ralph's help-"
"Yeah, gratefully appreciate." Cisco quickly agrees as Ralph looks at him proudly.
"I feel like you should just get going, as just you." Liam said, "Like, I think she's already waiting for you."
"Liam is right-" Cisco quickly stood up from his seat, "I should get going."
"Hang on, hand on― one second. This one's really important." Ralph states, turning the page as the two other guys shared a look, "Chapter Thirteen: Intelligence and Reconnaissance."
Liam blinks at him and digs his hands inside his jean pockets. He walks to stand by Ralph's side and looks at the page wide-eye, he gasped, "You stalked her?"
"No, no, no, no, of course not. That's her public profile." Ralph replied and Liam sighed in relief, "But it did happen to have some info on the type of guys that she might be into."
"The types of guys that she's into?" Cisco scoffs with a small smile, taking the pages from him.
"Yeah, and, unfortunately, you are nothing like them, but, hey, if you don't wanna get a second date, be my guest." Ralph starts to walk away, "Just don't come crying to me when everything inevitable goes horribly, horribly wrong and you die alone. Be my guest."
"I think that's a little dramatic, don't you think?" Liam gives Ralph a look, who only shrugs.
"See, now he's in my head." Cisco chuckles nervously, looking at Liam, who pursed his lips. He sets the picture down, "Okay, no thank you."
He starts walking away and Liam takes a peek a the photos as he scoffs but Cisco quickly takes the picture- staring at them for a quick second before looking back at the young boy.
"I didn't take these." Cisco looks at Liam, "You saw nothing."
"I saw nothing." Liam repeats, doing a small salut.
Cisco nods as he runs out the cortex with the pictures and the young boy shakes his head. He then takes a seat on his chair and prompts his legs on the desk as he checks the time. 8:07.
-
Time was going extra slow for the young speedster, so he decided to do something in the meanwhile. He grabs his journal and begins to write on it, he was now seated in front of the computers as he hummed a tune. All of a sudden, his train of thought was cut short when the alarms began to blare, and he finally looked up at the computer.
He sees that it was a distress signal from Iris. Sherloque and Caitlin were quick to run inside as Liam looks at them, "It's Aunt Iris."
In a matter of seconds; Killer Frost and Impulse were making their way to the location. Cicada was on the rooftop with a tied up Iris, he spots Liam's lightning and throws his dagger in the air.
Just then, Liam arrives at the rooftop with Killer Frost and Liam says, "She's not your problem. Let her go."
"No she's not, but I can't seem to find her fake meta-reporter friend-" Cicada spoke, "-but you'll also do just fine."
"Then come and get us." Killer Frost said, stepping forward and creating ice daggers in her hands.
All sudden the dagger comes back and it stabs Killer Frost in the back, a gasp falling out her lips as she fell back to the ground. Killer Frost and Caitlin Snow were now dead.
"No." Liam breathes out, staring at her body with a shocked expression, "No, no, no!"
He runs over to her as Cicada calls back his dagger- Liam turns the meta over and tries to check for a pulse but nothing. He ran his hand through his hair in panic, Iris looking at the boy before looking back at Cicada, who jumps into the air and disappears.
Liam watches him leave, and without thinking- he runs out of the scene. He continues to run as soon enough, without realizing it, he goes back in time.
-
Liam speeds back inside the hallways of Star Labs and took off his mask in a hurry, he looks behind him with a panicked expression.
"Hey, mini speedster-" Ralph's voice caught his attention, Liam quickly turned around to see Ralph standing in front of him as he grabbed his hand and the two did their secret handshake. "Cisco hasn't left for his date yet, has he?"
"No, I don't think so." Liam shakes his head, noticing the Book of Ralph in his hands.
"Great, we get another chance at this." Ralph smiles, making his way inside the cortex.
Liam follows him and stands in the entrance of the cortex to see Caitlin perfectly fine. His eyes grow wide and he glances behind him before looking back inside the place. He grips his hair slightly and mutters, "Oh, God. Okay, just breathe."
The boy exhales deeply and walks inside the place, heading straight to grab his journal and quickly opening it. Ethan furrowed his brows as Sherloque asked, "What's wrong?"
Liam seem to deep in thought that Sherloque glances at Ethan, who shrugged before the man said, "Liam?"
"Huh?" He turns around to face him, grabbing his journal and standing straight to face him with a nervous laugh, "Sorry. I― I just seem to had a bad daydream, nothing. Nothing is wrong."
He turns back around and looks at his reflection on the glass wall, whispering, "Nothing at all."
Ethan was about to question him but a loud thud caught everyone's attention. They see Ralph placing his book down in front of Cisco's desk.
"Not the "Book of Ralph", again-" Cisco said.
"Book of Ralph-" Liam mutters under his breath, opening up a new page and quick to write down as he copies everything the two were conversing about. Sherloque seem to notice his quick writing and the mutters under his breath causing him to look at the boy in concern.
"Um, Caitlin?" Cisco tried to ask for help.
"I've gotta finish working on the device to inject the cure." Caitlin excuses herself, leaving the room in a hurry.
"Also― I have to inject the device for the cure." Sherloque mutters, following after Caitlin.
Ethan and Iris try to sneak their way out but Cisco quickly calls help to his best friend, "Ethan― E― Hey, Ethan? Ethan-"
Ethan looks at his friend, laughing nervously, "Oh, I― I wish I could help you, man, but, I well, I have some calls to make. You know? New building? Checking for- for secret doors, regular vigilante stuff."
"And I have an article to get started on." Iris says, Ethan wrapping his arm around her.
"Please, help me!" Cisco's voice cracked, placing his palms together and looking at his friend.
"Let us know when Barry and Y/N come back, okay? Bye!" Ethan rushes out the cortex with Iris.
Liam quickly turns around to see his aunt and uncle running out the cortex. He grabbed his journal and speeds out to stop them in the hall, the two quick to stop in their tracks and take a step back at his sudden appearance.
"You know what, aunt Iris, you shouldn't go." Liam blurts out.
"Why not?" Iris chuckles softly and Ethan pulls away from his wife as he furrowed his brows at his nephews behavior.
"Because-" Liam trails off, clearing his throat and wearing a small smile, "-because it's already late and you know, things could happen. Besides, I feel like you could get much more inspiration if your sitting in the Lounge. And it's much more safer."
"Liam, are you okay?" Ethan asked with a quirked brow, "Nothing is going to happen, you know? That's why we have a distress signal."
"Yeah, and I'm really behind on publishing this article, so." Iris starts to walk away.
"I just think it's much more cozy, aunt Iris." Liam blurts out, standing in the way of the two, "And we have coffee here too, so it's much better than going out in the middle of writing. Thoughts could disappear sometimes."
"I guess you are right." Iris gives in and smiles softly, "Alright, I guess I could stay here."
"Great, I'll start on those coffees." Liam sighs in relief.
"Okay, well, I should really get started on heading to the building." Ethan says, he pecks Iris on the lips and smiles at Liam, "Call if anything happens."
"Yeah totally, uncle E." Liam nods with a bright smile.
Ethan smiles, patting his back and walks towards the elevator. Iris makes her way to the lounge causing the young boy to breathe out deeply, placing his hands on his hips.
-
"What do you mean he's not available?" Ethan scoffed as he just finished parking his car and was just getting out his vehicle. He was on the phone with someone and was making his way to the building, "What is so much important that Jim Gordon can't take my calls? Oh. Barbra? Really, now what type of trouble has she gotten herself in this time?"
He was about to open the door when he saw the reflection on the glass, he noticed Cicada a few feet away from him. Ethan dismissed the call and turned around to face Cicada, and without the man noticing- he sent a distress signal to the team.
"I'm sorry, can I help you?" Ethan asked, narrowing his eyes on the man.
"Ethan Brekker― or should I call you Artemis?" Cicada says, the archer scoffs as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Do all of you vigilantes like working with metahumans? Or only you, I know your sister is a meta- Y/N Harper-Allen. When I find her, I'm going to kill her."
Ethan clenched his jaw and glared at the man as he reached in his back pocket and threw an Artemis boomerang at him, hitting Cicada's shoulder as he groaned and tumbled back.
"New weapon." Ethan tells him, reaching for his car keys, "Thanks for being my test dummy."
Cicada pulled the weapon out as Ethan already took out his quiver and arrows. He charges at the man and kicks him across the face, sending him back before picking him back up and punching him across the face, repeatedly. Ethan takes the chance to throw the dagger across the empty parking lot in the building.
Just then; Liam speeds at the scene with Ralph and Killer Frost. Ethan turns around to look at them as Cicada calls the dagger and before anyone could do anything, Cicada stabs the dagger through Ethan's chest causing him to gasp.
"No!" Ralph shouts, his expression falling.
"Ethan." Killer Frost breathes out, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Uncle Ethan!" Liam shouts, his voice breaking.
Ethan looks back at Cicada as he pulls out the dagger and Ethan falls to the ground as Liam speeds towards to catch him, but his uncle was already dead. Cicada takes the chance to fly up and disappear from the scene.
"Uncle Ethan." Liam sobs, Ralph and Killer Frost quick to rush by his side, "No, this wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't supposed to happen."
"Liam-" Ralph starts off.
"I'm going to fix this." Liam sniffles, looking at Killer Frost and Ralph, "I promise I'm going to fix this."
And before either of them could question him, Liam speeds out the scene and wipes away his tears. Everything turns white and he knew what he was doing this time, but he wasn't going to stop- he's not going to let his uncle die. Not again.
-
The young speedster was back in the hallway of Star Labs and he lets out a shaky breath. He covers his face and starts making his way to the cortex but bumps into Ralph causing the young boy to look at him.
"Hey, mini speedster, are you okay?" Ralph asked with a worried expression, noticing the young boy's expression.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Liam quickly nods, a fake smile playing on his lips as he exhales softly, "Just bad thought about mom and dad, you know? But they're going to be fine."
"Yeah, they know how to handle their things." Ralph nods and Liam sighs softly, "Anyways, Cisco hasn't left for his date yet, has he?"
"No, he hasn't." Liam replied, taking off his mask and holding tightly in his hand.
"Great, I'm gonna get another chance at this." Ralph smiles, walking inside the cortex.
Liam follows behind him and spots his uncle, he quickly ran over to him and pulled him in for a tight hug. Ethan was caught off guard, he shared a look with Iris, Caitlin and Sherloque- the dark blonde smiles softly as Iris rubs Liam's back. Sherloque narrows his eyes on the young boy.
"You okay, Lee." Ethan said softly, wrapping his arms around the boy.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Liam assures him, pulling away to look at him with a small smile, "I guess I just needed a hug from my favorite uncle. I'm really glad to see you."
Ethan furrowed his brows but couldn't help to smile at him, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving him a small rub. "I'm glad to see you too kid, you need to talk?"
Liam shakes his head as a loud thud caught their attention, again. The speedster quickly walks over to grab his journal and begins to write in it about what just happened.
"I'm going to fix this." Liam mutters quietly, scribbling on a page, "Figure what I'm doing wrong."
"Um, Caitlin?" Cisco tried to ask for help. Liam glances at them and goes back to write down on his journal.
"I've gotta finish working on the device to inject the cure." Caitlin excuses herself, leaving the room in a hurry.
"Also- I have to inject the device for the cure." Sherloque mutters, following after Caitlin.
Ethan and Iris start to walk out but Cisco calls out to them, "Ethan! Iris? Hey― hey, guys?"
Ethan looks at his friend, laughing nervously, "Oh, I― I wish I could help you, man, but, I well, I have some calls to make. You know? New building? Checking for- for secret doors, regular vigilante stuff."
"And I have an article to get started on." Iris says, Ethan wrapping his arm around her.
"Please, help me!" Cisco's voice cracked, placing his palms together and looking at his friend.
"Let us know when Barry and Y/N come back, okay? Bye!" Ethan waves at him and starts making his way out the cortex with Iris.
"No!" Liam said loudly causing the two to stop in their tracks as Ralph and Cisco look at him. Liam notices and he composes himself, clearing his throat and smiling softly at his uncle and aunt as he walks towards them, "I mean. You should stay here― Aunt Iris, you can't be anywhere cozier than the lounge. We have coffee, donuts, and brownies! I heard being somewhere comfortable could encourage you much more to write anything."
"I guess you are right." Iris nods with a small smile, "I'll stay here then."
"Great." Liam smiles.
"Well, I should get going then." Ethan says, planting a kiss on Iris lips, "See you guys later."
"I don't think that's a good idea uncle E-" Liam says, quick to stand in front of him as Ethan quirks a brow, "I just feel like it could wait, you know? Mom and Dad could come back at any moment and― I believe it's best for you to be here for when they have the cure. I think business could be put on hold, I feel like we can use some nice uncle and nephew time. Or take this time to try out new weapons, or things."
"Okay." Ethan said suspiciously, but he breaks into a sweet smile, "I think I could check out some weapons here at the Speed Lab. Thanks, Lee."
"No prob." Liam gives him a thumbs up.
Iris and Ethan share a look as they walk out the cortex but didn't question his behavior.
"All right, Chapter one: Initial Planning." Ralph reads off the page.
"It's a first date, Sun Tzu, not an incursion." Cisco sat up, looking at Ralph.
"Trust me, Grasshopper, love is war-" Ralph starts.
Liam speeds over and Ralph stops as the boy grabs the file, "Love is war, Ralph. And as much as I love your style Cisco, it wouldn't hurt to look at these. Don't want any surprises, do you?"
"Wait, wait, how-" Ralph stutters.
"Don't worry, Ralph― your help is very appreciated by cyber-stalking her." Liam said casually, handing the papers to Cisco.
"You cyber-stalked her?" Cisco questioned, blinking at Ralph, who shrugged innocently.
"And if you feel like something is going horribly wrong, you have my phone number for a reason." Liam smiles and grabs Ralph's arm, "Come on, Ralph. Did I mention there's brownies?"
"Brownies?" Ralph questions excited, letting the boy pull him out the cortex.
"Yup." Liam nods.
The two make their way to the lounge, Ralph takes a seat next to Iris, who was working on her article. Ethan came in to pick up his bottle of water before heading back inside the speed lab to work on some new weapons. Liam made coffee and placed it in front of Iris and Ralph, Ralph was about to reach for another brownie but Iris took it making him frown.
Liam notices and he places another plates of just made brownies in front of him. Ralph smiles brightly and takes another one to eat.
The alarms began to blare causing the boy to slam his fist on the table, "Just one day! One freaking day!"
Ethan runs inside the lounge, "Sherloque is in trouble."
"How is that possible?" Liam asked confused, staring at his uncle, "I thought he's working with Caitlin."
"We should get Frost." Ralph suggest, looking at Ethan, who nods.
"No-" Liam stops them as they all look at him and he exhales deeply, "-I have this handle. I'll call if anything, don't worry."
And just like that, he speeds out the lounge and reaches at the roof to see Sherloque tied up and Cicada standing a few feet away. But the sight that caught his full attention was Cisco on the ground dead. Sherloque staring at the boy with a suspicious expression.
"Cisco!" Liam cries out as he gripped his hair tightly, tugging it, "Come on! No, no, why can't I fix this? I'm going to fix this. I have to!"
He speeds out the scene and tries to go back in time, once again.
-
Liam rips the mask off his face to see he was back at the hallway, he kicks the wall and leans his forehead against it, "Come on, come on. Breath, come on, I can't go any further. It's okay, it's okay."
He breathes heavily and turns around to lean against the wall as he covered his face. He removes his hands and opens his eyes as he sniffles, once composing himself, he starts making his way to the cortex but runs into Ralph.
"Hey, little speedster-" Ralph starts but Liam cuts him off by doing the handshake in speedster time as Ralph blinks rapidly, "-wow, that felt new."
"And Cisco hasn't left yet." Liam tells him, placing his mask inside his jacket with a huff, "Uh, we have another chance at this."
"We do." Ralph smiles, walking inside as Liam quickly walked by his side to make his way inside.
Liam takes off his leather jacket as he passes Sherloque, "Don't ask, I'm perfectly fine, just hot." Sherloque only nods and Ethan furrowed his brows, leaning against the computers, "I'm also sorry in advance."
"What are you talking about?" Ethan asked in a confused tone, "Lee-"
Liam doesn't let him finish as he speeds everyone out the cortex and into the lounge. Liam sighs heavily and Sherloque spoke in french but the rest look at the boy with confused expressions.
"So I was thinking, you should all just sit here." Liam begins to fix the couch and messes up his hair, "It's comfy, there's drinks, food― and if you guys need anything, let me know."
"Uh, what's going on?" Ralph asked.
"I was just thinking, I know all of you here can protect yourself, obviously you guys are heroes or know how to protect yourselves." Liam rambles, not noticing the looks he was receiving, "But since mom and dad are both gone, I'm the only speedster here, and I'm still not fast enough to get to all of you at once. So just sit and stay."
Everyone began to break into rambles but Ethan, who felt like something wasn't right. Liam threw his head back and stomped on the floor.
"Kamilla." Cisco whispers, seeing as he just seen something he shouldn't have.
"Oh, I got some details on― the kind of guys she's into." Ralph spoke up but Cisco dismisses it.
"You cyber-stalked her?" Ethan questioned him, finally breaking his gaze from his nephew.
"No, I'm not stalking her." Ralph shakes his head, "It's her public profile."
"Listen to me!" Liam spoke loudly causing all of them to look back at him, "Just for one hour, one hour is all I'm asking for. Just sit and stay, take this time to reconnect with the team, I don't know. Aunt Iris, you can even finish your story- Cisco, you can rethink everything before going on a date with Kamilla. And Ralph...I― just don't― try to see if you can help Cisco. In the meantime, I'll make drinks. Okay?"
The team looks amongst one another, and they couldn't do anything but agree. Liam huffs and walks over to make some drinks as Ethan follows him.
"Lee-" Ethan starts off catching the boy's attention, "-do you want to talk?"
"Uh, no-" Liam shakes his head, sighing softly and sending him a small smile, "I― I just, I'm okay. I'll go to you when I need to, alright?"
Ethan only nods with a small smile before walking away and to the others. Liam puts his head down to stare at the table as he shakes his head.
The time seem to go by as Liam gave the team the drinks he's made for them, they were playing a game. He breathes heavily as he looks at the time to see that his parents were about to come home. He smiles in relief and takes a sip of his drink but chokes on it when hearing the alarm blare.
His nostrils flare and he abruptly sets his drink down, turning around to see everyone check the alert.
"It's Cecile." Iris says, looking at Liam.
"I'll take care of it, don't leave." Liam orders to the others before speeding out to the lounge and back up to the roof.
He arrives but to his horror, he sees Cecile with the dagger on her back. She was dead.
Liam quickly runs out of there and he was now panicked and overwhelmed. As he runs, he watches everyone he watched died in the past timelines on a loop. A flash of white light following after him.
-
He was now back in the hallway and he gripped his hair as tears began to pool in his eyes. His breathing was heavy and his lip began to tremble, he began to pace back and forth. He continued to watch everyone he failed to save die.
Ralph walks out the medbay to see the young speedsters state, and he quickly approached him, "Liam, are you okay?"
"No, no, I'm not." Liam shakes his head and looks at him with tears, he grabs hold of his arms and cries, "I thought I could do it. But I'm not good enough, I can't save anyone, Ralph."
"Hey-" Ralph says softly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "-let's go find Ethan, you can tell him everything or we can head to the lounge-"
"No-" Liam pulls away from him and he looks at him a hopeful expression, starting to walk back, "I― I know who can, mom and dad. I'll bring them back."
He runs off to the particle accelerator, he begins to run around the place to try and open a wormhole to the Speed Force to catch up his parents. He saw it open and he felt a sigh of relief lifting up his chest but it was gone once the portal closed before he could even get in. Liam runs back into the hall and huffs.
"I can't get into the Speed Force." He mutters quietly, "Come on."
Liam takes deep breaths and he makes his way into the cortex, while taking off his leather jacket. As he made his way inside, everyone in there turn around to look at him as they were gathered by the console.
"You're reversing time." Ethan said softly.
Liam nods as he bites his bottom lip nervously, "I don't know how to fix it, uncle E, I'm so sorry."
Ethan frowns and he motions him over, Liam speeds over to him and quickly wraps his arms around him as Ethan holds him close. He places a hand at the back of his head, rubbing his head Liam buried his head on his shoulder as he cried.
"I've tried everything-" Liam sobs quietly, "-and I still can't get it right. I can't, I don't know what to do anymore."
"Everything's going to be, okay." Ethan assures him, rubbing his back.
"How am I supposed to be a hero if I can't get the saving part right?" Liam says, pulling away to look at him in tears, "I can't do this-"
"You can do this." Ethan states, placing a hand at the side of his face, "But this time, were going to help you, you just need to tell us what's happened."
Liam nods and he sniffles as he looks at the rest of the team and Iris asked, "So all of us die?"
"Sometimes, but it's never more than one." Liam replied, wiping away his tears, "He always takes one of you, and then that's where the loop begins."
"I thought I was having deja vu." Cisco spoke up, "I keep seeing my date with Kamilla again and again, me failing miserably every time by using these. I'm not having deja vu. I'm vibing the past hour over and over."
"How many times has this happened?" Sherloque questions.
"52." Liam replies quietly.
"52?" Caitlin questioned, everyone being just as shocked.
"This is one of those fixed points the Legends theorized, isn't it?" Ralph asked the others, "There's no way to keep one of us from dying."
"We need to get Barry or Y/N." Iris suggest, "If one of them comes back, the other could stay there until the metacure is complete."
"No, I tried, but-" Liam shakes his head, pacing back and forth, "-but I can't seem to get inside the Speed Force."
"Well, then we'll just wait here until they get back." Caitlin suggest.
"No, even you all stay here, Cecile is going to die, again." Liam muttered, digging his hands inside his jacket.
"So- just reverse time and go back before they left." Ralph adds.
"You don't get it! I tried. Again and again, again!" Liam said exasperated, throwing his hands up in the air, "I can't get it right, I'll just keep coming back here. I'm not getting this right!"
He huffs and breathes heavily before storming out the cortex, everyone watching him leave. Ethan was about to follow him but Cisco decided to take this one- Liam was in the pipeline. He was lied down and had his journal open as he seemed to be staring at a picture with sad eyes, a deep exhale leaving his lips.
"Believe it or not, this ain't the first time I've died in a past timeline." Cisco's voice rang through his ears, the boy sits up and closes his journal to take a seat and look at him. Cisco takes a seat across from him, "Ah, I once got a vibrating hand through the chest, courtesy of― Eobard Thawne."
Liam stares at him as he continued, "Well, more than once. I actually kept vibing that moment until I realized that it actually happened. I guess I should have known the same thing was happening now, huh?"
"I don't know what to do." Liam says honestly, his voice quiet, "Before mom left, she told me to breath if things ever got to much. And I tired that, and then I thought about what I should be doing differently, but it still not enough. I can't save any of you, and what happens if I can't fix my mess, Cisco?"
Cisco looks at him, "Your not alone, you know? You have this team to help you. And do yourself a favor, don't carry the weight of this on your shoulders― your mom does that a lot, even when we try to tell her she shouldn't. Just let it all out, deep breaths."
Liam nods and does exactly that.
"Liam, sometimes we fail because all we worry about is not failing." Cisco tells him as the boy looks back at him, "I'm so worried about my first date since Cynthia that I don't feel free to be myself around Kamilla, and then I'll just end up screwing it up even more. This- this intelligence and reconnaissance mess, I don't need this. All I need is to be myself. Duh-"
"And I sure as hell don't need to dress up like Ozone just to impress Kamilla." Cisco holds the files in front of him before putting it down. Liam breaks into a small smile, "Sorry, that is an outdated reference."
"I may be from the future but I know what your talking about-" Liam smiles at him as he sniffles, "It's from "Breakin'". Yeah I've seen "Electric Boogaloo" too. My― I found it, and after that day I remember each move by heart. I think I broke my DVR by how many times I've watched it."
"Wow, fanboy." Cisco laughs causing the young boy to chuckle softly.
Liam looks down at his journal and realizes something. He looks back at Cisco and holds up his journal, "That's it. Okay, so every time I go back in time, I've been recording it. I know what I failed in and that's what I will do differently next time. We know every move."
"So all you need to do is just tell us everything you've done and how it went wrong." Cisco caught on.
"And figure out once and for all on how to stop this." Liam nods with a smile.
-
"52 kidnappings, 52 combinations leading to 52 deaths." Liam writes on the clear board, everyone gathered in the cortex.
"None of them were Cicada's?" Sherloque questions.
"Yup." Liam nods, handing him the marker.
"Wait, does that mean you want to use Cicada's dagger against him by having Liam reverse time?" Caitlin ask.
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Sherloque confirms with a nod.
"How are we going to do that?" Ethan asked, leaning against the railing, "I mean, Liam can't control when he reverses time."
"He could control his abilities if we help him slow down." Sherloque circles a certain key on the board.
Liam looks at in and breathes out, "Slowing it down."
"If he can do that, we bring the fight to him." Ralph says.
"And we all live through the night." Cisco looks amongst the team, "I like the sound of that."
Sherloque looks back at the board, "Well, we have everything we need."
-
Iris was standing on the roof that Liam kept going to- Cicada appears and she spoke up, "Looking for me? I know you did your research. You know who I am, that I work for the Electric-Flash, Artemis, the Flash and the other heroes. We are going to beat you. All of us."
Iris presses the distress signal to let the others know where she was. Cicada looks to see Liam's lighting and he takes the chance to throw his dagger in the air.
A breach opens, Cisco, Frost, Ralph and Ethan jump out of it. All of them were quick to do their attacks on him. Cisco sends his vibe blast as Killer Frost sends a cold blast-
The dagger was just about to hit Ralph in the head but everything starts to slow down as it begins to reverse. Liam arrives at the top of the roof and speeds through the cold blast- going through the breaches. The dagger begins to fly back the direction it came from as a breach opened behind the four heroes as they go back in.
Liam speeds towards Cicada and punches him forward to cross the path of the flying dagger. He gets down just in time as it stabs the bad guy. A breach opens up again as time goes back to its flow, the heroes arrive just in time.
Impulse grins proudly as he breathes a sigh of relief. Cicada roars in pain but jumps up in the sky as he leaves the scene, all of them watching him leave.
"Atta boy." Ethan chuckles softly, looking at his nephew.
Liam smiles brightly.
-
"No dark matter anywhere." Iris says, sitting in front of the consoles as the heroes were gathered back in the cortex, "Dwyer's gone, again."
"Maybe after the ass kicking her just got, he'll think twice before coming after us again." Ralph says, making his way to Cisco.
"And if he doesn't think twice, now you can make him." Cisco points at Liam.
"Thanks for helping me control it." Liam says to the team, "Now that I know that I can, maybe I'm able to do it next time without a problem."
"Thank you for saving us, all of us." Caitlin said.
"I didn't save everything." Liam shakes his head lightly and looks at Cisco, "But you can."
"No, no, that date is over." Cisco shakes his head, "There's no way Kamilla still at Jitters."
"Well, if she is still there, there might be some stuff in here that can help you smooth things over." Ralph holds up his famous book, but Liam shakes his head with a look. Ralph nods and puts it down with a dramatic sigh, "But, you can handle it. You're Cisco Ramon."
"Come on, you gotta get a move on." Caitlin nudges him.
"Go out there, have some fun, man." Ethan adds on, standing by the console, "See how it goes. You won't ever know if you don't go out there and experience it, yourself."
"Okay." Cisco gives in, standing up from his seat and starting to walk out.
"Giddyap, Ramon." Ethan calls out with a light laugh.
"I'm moving." Cisco rushes out the cortex.
Just then; a purple blur runs inside as a yellow streak was right after her. Y/N and Barry were back from their Speed Force adventure.
"Sherloque was right. One hour, it's cooked." Barry grins, holding up the cure.
Everyone had the same expression on their faces as they only stayed silent and stared at the two.
"Okay, what went wrong?" Y/N asked, placing her hands on her hips as she looked between the team.
Ethan puffed his cheeks and scratched the back of his neck as he glanced at Liam. The young speedster chuckles nervously, "I think a couple drinks is something you two will need if you want to know."
The married couple shared a look at Y/N hums in amusement and Barry asked, "It was that bad?"
-
"52 times?" Barry questioned his son, looking at him as Liam stood at the other side of the island in the lounge. Y/N seated right next to him as they all had drinks placed in front of him and Liam pursed his lips.
"Actually it's 53, including the recent one that I just did, so." Liam replied, shrugging innocently.
"Wow-" Y/N muttered, leaning on her elbows, "-that's, that's not as bad as I imagined. It's still a lot though."
"I mean, I couldn't just let one of them die." Liam defends, he shakes his head with a deep sigh, "Trust me. I can't get the images out of my head. Especially seeing after uncle E― no."
Barry glances at his wife and she drinks her shot before saying, "Tell me about it."
"Liam, there's consequences to time traveling." Barry tells his son, looking back at him.
"I know." Liam nods, serving his parents another drink.
"No, you don't, Lee." Y/N spoke up, shaking her head and looking at him, "Not like we do. Not like me. It's not all about changing things, it's much more complicated than that. Hand me that mug and let me show you something."
Liam glances behind him and walks over to grab a coffee mug. He hands it to his mother and she holds it up, showing it to him and Barry. Y/N leans back in her seat and clears her throat with a smile.
"I can't believe I'm the one doing this now. But just listen carefully-" She grins at the memory, her gaze on her son, "I want you to imagine this cup as the spacetime continuum, now watch this. Picture this as you go back in time."
She vibrates the cup and destroys a small piece of it as Liam stares at it. Y/N picks up the broken piece and puts it back to its place as she continued, "You can try and reset the timeline, fix about anything you believe should change, but no matter how hard you try, it's never going to be the same as how it was."
Y/N places the mug down and motions to the cracks before sighing and leaning back in her seat, "But it looks like this time, things turn out fine. That's not always going to be the case, Lee, and these changes you wouldn't notice at first, but when you do, there's nothing you can do about it."
"You're going to have to live with the lives you change, and the ripples you caused." Barry adds, wrapping his around Y/N, "No one can do that."
"No one?" Liam asked with a raised brow.
"No." Y/N shakes her head with a small smile, "We're not gods, Liam."
"We're just people who were given extraordinary abilities." Barry says.
Liam looks between them and nods as he sighs softly.
―
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AN: Don't forget to vote and comment!
POSTED: JANUARY 15, 2023