She was breathing heavily, standing in the middle of the room as she looked around to see everyone else stuck in time. Tears in her eyes as droplets of sweat were dripping down her face, she ran her hands over her face to stop it but it only continued. She sniffles and her gaze falls on someone, she makes her way towards him and places her hands on his shoulders causing him to move at her rate.
"Barry―" Y/N sighs as she looks at him.
Barry looks at her worriedly and holds her face in his hands, "What are― Y/N―"
"It's okay, all right?" She tells him as he looks around to see everyone else frozen in time. He looks back at her and she inhales deeply, "You're moving with me, just like you did in the courtroom."
"No, you can't do that―" Barry tells her, shaking his head as he used his thumb to wipe away her droplets of sweat, "―you need the energy."
"I can't― I can't―" Y/N pants, her eyes glazing as she sniffles.
"I know, it's going to be fine." Barry assures her.
"No, it's not." She cries softly, putting her head down as he picks her head up so they were looking at one another again. Y/N shakes her head, "I can't save anyone, I'm sorry."
Barry looks at her confused as she turns around to look inside the container. He follows her gaze and realizes, he quickly looks back at the speedster.
-
[8 MINUTES; 46 SECONDS EARLIER]
It's been hours since Y/N was running around the speed lab and practicing to get through Cisco's breaches as training for DeVoe. She continues to run around until Barry gives her the signal, she speeds down to get inside the breach but once again, she fails.
"No!" She groans, throwing her head back before looking back at Cisco, "One more time."
"Barry?" Cisco says, sending him a look.
"Okay, I get it―" Barry sighs, walking over and adding, "―how about we take a break? Get something to eat, or go for a coffee run?"
"We will-" Y/N starts off as the two sigh in relief but it was replaced with a small whine as she adds, "-once I'm able to get it right."
"Listen, Miyagi-"
"Excuse me?"
"I've been here all day, opening breaches, all right-" Cisco states, placing a hand on his shoulder, "So unless you wanna rub your hands together and do some magic shoulder popping-"
"No, thank you." Y/N said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"That's what I thought-" Cisco said, her face falling, "I'm taking five."
He starts walking away and she quickly says, "I'll do it, but after one more try."
Barry shakes his head and Cisco calls out, "I'm taking five!"
He runs out of there before she could say anything else. She sighs and walks over to the board of the plan to get inside the breach with some calculations.
"What am I doing wrong?" She asked, staring at the board.
"Maybe your not doing anything wrong-" Barry says, walking to stand next to her, "-your probably just tired, so if we can go home and get some rest..."
"I hear you, okay?" Y/N said, glancing at him and he looks at her, "Just, I can't get this out of my head. I know how long it takes for it to close, but I still can't make it in time."
"Look, we went through this over and over, you've tried and I even tried-" Barry says, "-besides we don't even know if DeVoe's closes in less time. And if it does, then we have to start thinking of a different plan that doesn't involve getting it over your head."
Y/N gives him a look as she walks over to take a seat before laying back on the ground. Barry makes his way over and takes a seat next to her, she pulls the head of the shirt and covers her face as the shirt lifts up slightly.
"I just want to get him over with, and I feel like a sitting duck-" She starts off as she puts her shirt down to look at Barry, he tilts his head to side to get a look at her, "We don't have anything. Not the bus metas, no actual plan how to stop him that will work. And I hate that with everything he's done lately, makes him feel smarter than all of us combined."
"Sounds like your in way over your head, and you might need something else to keep your head occupied-" Barry tells her as she sits up, "-a small, just tiny breather for this."
She chuckles and asked, "And what will that small, just tiny breather be?"
Barry grins and wraps his arms around her, pulling her close as he placed his head on her shoulder and says, "I was thinking, a very nice, very romantic dinner tonight at a fancy restaurant. And then after we could go get some dessert, anything you want."
"Anything, I want?" Y/N asked with a smile.
"Mm-hmm." Barry nods.
"That sounds like a perfect day with my husband." She said with a nod.
Barry smiles as he plants a kiss on her cheek and she sighs as she rubs his arm, "You know, I kind of missed those old criminals. The one that I could easily just lock up, I used to be fun."
"Fun?" Barry joked.
Y/N sends him a look as he laughs and hides his face in her neck, planting small kisses, "You know what does sound fun-"
She hums in response as she turns to look at him as he leans in to kiss her as she happily responds back. She wrapped her arms around his neck but the moment was cut short when someone's voice rang through the speakers.
"Mr and Mrs. Allen, cortex now!" Harry calls out.
The two slowly break away as Y/N leans back in to peck his lips, "I'm totally looking forward to dinner tonight."
Barry hums in response as the two get up from there spot and he passes her, her red sweater. She puts it on and the two make their way inside the cortex to see the rest of the team there.
Y/N caught sight of a map on the computers and asked, "What's that?"
"This is a signature field, mapping every signature DeVoe's gone in and out of his lair in the pocket dimension." Harry explains.
Y/N perks up and she looks back down at the map, the blinking red lights grabbing her attention. Barry glances at Harry and asks, "All of these?"
"All of them." Caitlin nods.
"How did you do it?" Y/N asked.
"I didn't do it, actually. Ramon did." Harry tells her.
"But all I did was just come up with a really complex and eloquent algorithm to track the warping signatures." Cisco explains as he rubbed his shoulder.
Harry rolls his eyes and looks at Cisco saying, "Don't do that, all right? Don't do that. Don't be modest, all right? It's unbecoming."
"You're unbecoming." Cisco fires back.
"You wish I was unbecoming, all right?" Harry states.
"Do you know that these are DeVoe?" Barry asked, breaking the bickering from Cisco and Harry.
"These are DeVoe, alright? This is when Marlize grabbed him from Izzy at Lawrence Hills." Harry points out, before pointing at another location, "This is when he showed up at Iron Heights prison."
"This is DeVoe's house." Caitlin adds, pointing at the red dot.
"And this is the alleyway in the city center, where he abducted Y/N and Ethan." Iris said, pointing at it.
"How long has this been going on?" Barry asked.
Ethan clicks his tongue and said, "That's the funny part."
"Yup, wait for it." Harry nods.
"The past three years." Cisco confirms.
The speedsters quickly face Cisco with shocked expression and Y/N said, "Three years?"
"DeVoe orchestrated everything to get the people he wanted on the bus. He's been planning this for a long time." Caitlin says.
"We got a planner, just like Thawne." Cisco muttered.
"Just like Thawne." Harry nods.
"So, how is this going to work?" Y/N asked.
"All we can do right now is just wait for the next marker to appear, try to get a jump on him-" Cisco said, "That and keep an eye on Ralph, using the old buddy system."
"Has anyone seen Ralph today?" Barry asked.
"He's downstairs, moving his thing inside-" Ethan tells him, "-he's very nervous about it."
"I don't know why." Harry says.
"I don't know why either. He's a superhero. People with superpowers are ready for anything." Cisco said as he turns around to walk out but gasp, jumping back, "Ah! Son of a breach!"
Everyone looks over to see Jesse standing by the entrance of the cortex with a box in her hands. She tells Cisco, "Sorry."
"I though people with superpowers are ready for anything." Ethan chuckles as Y/N laughs lightly.
Cisco turns to look at him, "That's not cool, don't use my own words against me."
"I just came from the breach room." Jesse says.
"Hey, Jesse, welcome back." Caitlin said, "What are you― what are you doing here?"
Jesse doesn't reply but holds up the box, everyone looks over at Harry. The two only stare at each other and Barry blurts out, "Wally's not here."
Y/N smacks him on the shoulder and he quickly stopped himself from saying anything else.
Jesse and Harry both walk out the cortex to talk, leaving the rest of the team alone. After a while the computers start going off, as the alarms sound. Y/N quickly takes a seat in front of the computers as Iris rushes in and asked, "Where is that?"
"One of the hangers out at Waid Airfield." Cisco said, taking a seat next to the speedster.
"My dad said CCPD was escorting A.R.G.U.S there this morning for something." Iris says worriedly, "He's there, Ethan."
"Don't worry, we'll get to him." Ethan assures her as he kissed the side of her head.
"We'll meet you guys there." Caitlin tells the speedsters.
"Yeah." Y/N nods. With that Y/N and Barry speed away to put on their suits.
"Cool, I'll come too. Could use the distraction." Jesse says.
The rest of the team walks out to get their suits on.
-
"Guys, seven officers and A.R.G.U.S agents down. They just blew up open the A.R.G.U.S transport container. West side of the hanger. One armed assailant inside." Iris spoke through the heroes coms.
"We're on it." Y/N said.
Inside the facility the main head was able to activate the bomb inside the container. Just then, team Electric-Flash and Artemis arrive at the scene, and took all the men down. The women inside the container walks out to see Killer Frost, Cisco, Ethan and Jesse, officers closing up on her men. At the moment, the two speedsters come from behind her, Barry says, "Just you and us now. It's over."
"Nice work, everyone." Iris said.
"Over, for all of Central City." The women says as she turns around to look at them.
She holds up the remote and activates the trigger before either speedster could stop her, but everything stops. Y/N speeds over to see that the bomb was now activated. She turns around to look at the container, Y/N rushes inside as she takes off her mask.
"Oh, God." She muttered, looking at the nuclear bomb inside.
"Y/N?"
The speedster turns around to see Barry and Jesse looking at her, she shakes her head, "We're too late."
Barry takes off his mask and made his way to stand next to her as he saw the bomb inside. Jesse walks over to stand at the other side of the speedster.
"Oh, that's a nuclear bomb." Jesse says.
"Yeah." Y/N nods.
"And it's core has already gone critical." Jesse points out.
"I know." Barry says.
"The second we slow down, it's over." Jesse adds on.
Y/N and Barry both look at her direction and said, "That's not helping."
"How long do you think we have left?" Jesse asked them.
Y/N sighs deeply and starts walking out the container, "Well, right now we're okay. So all we have to do is keep moving, meanwhile think on ways to stop it."
"Oka- okay, we could run it to the Badlands." Jesse suggest.
"No, if we run that long, it'll speed up the reaction." Barry says, "We won't make it outside the city before it explodes."
"Well, we can't outrun everyone outside the city." Jesse states.
"We know." Barry tells her.
"We're talking about hundreds of thousands of people-" Jesse goes on, "I mean, if there were more than just the three of us, there's not enough time."
Y/N realizes something and turns back around to look at her, "Jay Garrick."
"What about him?" Jesse asked.
"He could help us out-" She tells him, "Go to Earth-3, tell him what's going on, and bring him back fast, okay?"
"Okay." Jesse nods, and with that she speeds out of there.
"What do we do?" Barry asked her.
"I don't know." She mutters.
The two walk out of the container and look at everyone inside the room, Barry walks around as Y/N looks around the place. Soon enough her gaze falls on Cisco, she walks over to him and said, "Come on."
Barry makes his way over as she places a hand on Cisco shoulder so he can move at the same pace they were.
"Hey." Barry said.
"Whoa, what is going on?" Cisco asked, looking around the place.
"You're moving with us at super-speed." Barry tells him.
"What? Is this what it looks like when you guys run?" Cisco asked with a small chuckle.
"More or less." Y/N says.
"I have to say, it's a little uneventful." Cisco said.
"Cisco, we need your help." Y/N tells him as he looks at her, "Let us show you."
They all walk back inside the container, the speedster making sure not to lose her grip on Cisco's arm. He looks at the bomb and says, "I'm guessing this is our Ark of covenant."
"Mm-hmm." Y/N hums in response.
"Woah, yeah, that will definitely melt your face-" Cisco says, looking closely at the bomb as he points inside, "That- that looks like an experimental fission engine, deuterium isotopes. That would make this an inertial confinement cage to stop the radiation. But without enough pressure, the isotopes inside, they split, they produce heads, they produce light. It starts out blue, turns yellow, turns purple, and then it's game over."
"Just please tell us there's a way we can undo it." Barry says hopefully.
"I think we're way past that point." Cisco tells him.
Barry sighs and Y/N said, "There has to be something we can do."
"I― what if I breach it to a dead earth, like I did with Fallout." Cisco suggested.
"That could work." Y/N nods.
They all take step backs and Cisco starts making a breach to send it off but it wasn't working. The speedsters glance at him, he puts his hand down and Barry asked, "What's wrong?"
"I think I might be all breached out." Cisco sighs, Y/N realizes something as she stares at the bomb. Cisco continues, "I don't know, I think I breached too many times today."
"No, your fine." Y/N says, "A breach is basically a folding in space-time, so when we're moving this fast-"
"When we're moving in Flashtime, then we don't have the time necessary for a breach to form." Cisco states, knowing where the speedster was going. Y/N nods and Cisco continues as he starts to catch his breath, "Then that means I can't- that means I can't-"
Cisco suddenly starts losing his balance but Barry was able to hold him steady. Cisco starts gasping for air and Barry asked, "Hey― hey, what's wrong?"
"I don't know." Cisco shakes his head as he pants.
"He's not a speedster-" Y/N says and Barry looks back at Cisco, "-your body isn't able to handle moving this fast for a long time. I gotta let go, okay?"
She was able to speed him back to where he was standing with the others. Cisco quickly said, "Wait― ask Harry. He'll know."
"All right." Barry said.
Y/N let's him go and Cisco freezes back in time, Barry mutters, "I hope so."
"Let's go." She says.
And with that the two speed over back to Star Labs. They walk into the workshop and Y/N touches Harry to get him moving the same speed as them.
"Barry, Y/N-" Harry said, pointing at the computer screen.
"Wells, hey-" Barry says.
"Uh, why are you touching me? The-" Harry questions, the speedsters try to talk to him but he was able to catch on quick. He looks around the workshop and asked, "Am I in- am I-"
"Yeah, you're in Flashtime." Y/N tells him.
"Flashtime? What's Flashtime?" Harry asked.
"It wasn't really-" Y/N trails off, "-that doesn't matter. Cisco named this."
"Wait, you did this with Ramon before you did this with me?" Harry said offended.
"We're sorry, but we're having a crisis!" Y/N exclaims.
"Yeah, the alarm-"
"Yes, the alarm that we left for was an A.R.G.U.S transport. It had a fission engine in it." Barry tells him.
"And it exploded? That's why I'm in this Flasht-" Harry stops in mid sentence and quickly asked, "Wait Jesse. Where's Jesse?"
"No, she's fine. She left-" Barry tells him, "And went to-"
"Okay, Allen, that's great because if this city's gonna explode, you need to send her far away from here as possible." Harry cuts Barry off, "And, Y/N-"
"Harry, she's coming back-" She tells him, "She's bringing Jay Garrick from Earth-3."
"She's coming back?" Harry asked.
"Yes-"
"Allen, no, no, no, no, we cannot let her-"
"Listen, if this gets worse we'll send her far away as possible, okay?" Y/N spoke up, "But right now we need your help, Harry."
"How do we stop the reaction?" Barry asked.
"You can't stop this." Harry shakes his head.
"What do you mean?" Barry asked with a confused expression, "What do we do?"
"You can't- you have to send it away from here." Harry says.
"We can't." Y/N said, "Cisco tried."
"'Cause there's no time." Harry points out.
"Exactly." Barry confirms.
"But you two can." Harry states.
"What do you mean?" Barry asked.
"Y/N, you can-" Harry tells her.
"No, no, I can't-"
"Listen to me-" Harry starts off, "Y/N, 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."
"What will it do to the Speed Force?" Y/N asked.
"What is- why am I so weak?" Harry asked, stumbling back slightly.
At this the speedsters quickly hold him steady.
"Harry-"
"The speed is affecting me." Harry says.
"We know." Barry tells him, "But, will an explosion that big affect the Speed Force?"
"I don't think so." Harry replies.
"What? What do you mean 'you don't think so'?" Barry asked.
Y/N helps Harry sit down and he says, "I don't know."
"Hey, hey, you're fine." Y/N tells him, "You're gonna be alright."
"What the hell?"
They all turned around to see Jesse and Jay Garrick standing by the doorway, Y/N was about to explain what was going on but Harry caught her attention. She looks back at the man and he tells her, "Get her out of here."
"I promise." She says.
Y/N lets him go and he goes back to being frozen in time. The two speedsters look over at the others and Jay asks her, "How'd you do that?"
"I- I don't know-" She admits, glancing over at Harry, "It's something that I'm able to do now."
"Well, you gotta teach me that one." Jay said.
"I'll try, after we can stop-"
"I know." Jay sighs, looking between the speedsters, "Jesse showed me the nuke. We're in trouble, kid."
"Well, Wells gave us an idea and we think it could work." Barry tells them.
"Yeah? What is it?" Jesse asked in a bored tone.
"We send the bomb to the Speed Force, let it donate in there." Barry says.
"Like hell you will." Jay said, giving him a look.
"What's the problem?" Y/N asked.
"If you guys do that, we may lose the Speed Force forever." Jay said.
"What do you mean we might lose the Speed Force?" Barry asked with a confused expression.
"An explosion that size could destroy it completely-" Jay states, "If that were to happen, every speedster across space and time would lose access to their speed instantly."
"Every one of them?" Y/N asked.
Barry and Jay both look at her as the man notices the look on her face. He pointed a finger at her like a scolding father and said, "I know what you're thinking, and yeah it could get rid of him but we're also at risk of losing heroes as well. You're not doing this."
"I have to do this-" She tells him, "-unless you can come up with another idea, this is the best one we have came up with."
-
"Y/N, 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-" Jay starts off, as the speedster was in front of the board working on the formulas. The man was standing beside her as Jesse and Barry were to the side listening to what he was telling her, "You're about to destroy an essential element of the multiverse. No one knows what the consequences will be if it's gone, you were trapped there longer than I was. If anyone could understand-"
"Then what's your great idea, Jay?" Y/N cuts him off, setting the marker down and narrowing her eyes on him, "Because last time I checked you didn't have one."
Jay looks at her, Jesse and Barry share a look before Jesse clears her throat and speaks up, "Uh, okay, look I mean, did my dad have any other ideas?"
Y/N looked away from Jay and sighs, running a hand down her face and said, "No, no― he, um- we couldn't talk for long." She then looks back at the man and adds, "I'm sorry, it's just- the bomb and-"
"No, I get it, kid-" Jay says, "Let's check this out."
All the speedsters were now standing in front of the board with the equations on. Jay looks over it and tells them, "In nuclear infusion, 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 states.
Jesse chuckles softly and looks at the speedsters, "Great. You have some sort of machine lying around here that could generate that kind of energy?"
"No, we don't." Barry shakes his head.
"But, another way, considering our predicament, seems more promising." Jay tells them.
"Which is?" Y/N asked, glancing at the man.
"Cooling it down." Jay said.
-
The group of four return back to the hanger and they approach Killer Frost. Y/N touches the women and it speeds her up at all their pace.
"Hi." She says.
"I see all these frozen people around me, trix, and this time, it's not my fault." Killer Frost tells the speedster as she looks around the hanger before glancing back at Y/N.
"We need your help, Frost." Y/N says.
"Four of you now-" Killer Frost mentions before asking, "What's going on?"
"The cargo in this container." Barry said.
"It's a nuclear bomb." Jay adds.
"Yeah, and it went kaboom." Jesse goes on.
Killer Frost looks back at Y/N, "Dandy."
"Come here." Y/N says.
The group all walk to the hanger and Killer Frost says, "Whoo, it's toasty in here."
"We need you to cool it down." Jay said.
"You want me to cool down a nuclear reaction that's already gone critical?" Killer Frost laughs and notices no one is joining alone. She glances over Y/N and sees that she was giving her a look, "You're serious?"
"Very-" Jay spoke up, "Please, Ms. Frost."
"All right, let's give it a whirl." Killer Frost said. She uses her powers but just like Cisco, her powers didn't work. She sighs, "Didn't go quite how I expected."
All the sudden the case cracks and the bomb color turns yellow. Everyone stares at it in worry and Barry tells her, "Try― try again."
Killer Frost tries again but she starts losing her breath, not being able to handle the speed time. Y/N holds her steady and looks at her in worry, "Don't worry, I'll put you back."
"Huh, so that's what heat feels like." Killer Frost mutters.
"Your burning up-" Barry said, "-come on."
The group walks her back to her spot and Y/N tells her, "You're going to be, okay, all right? Now, I'm going to let you go."
"Y/N?" Killer Frost says and the speedster looks at her, "Don't let Caity die."
"I won't." Y/N assures her with a nod.
With that, she lets her go.
"Now what?" Barry asked.
"Guess we have to find that fusion machine after all-" Jesse starts off, "Wait a second-"
"What?" Barry said.
"What if we're the machine?" Jesse says.
"How so?" Jay asked.
"Well, you said that we could offset the energy of the bombs with the energy from nuclear fusion." Jesse trails off.
"Theoretically." Jay nods.
"Right, and the reaction in that container's giving off, I don't know, 3 million tons of energy?" Jesse contines.
"Give or take." Jay says.
"So, 3 megatons of energy, that's 3 billion joules-" Jesse goes on, this time looking over at Barry and Y/N, "-each lighting bolt gives off roughly about 1 billion joules, so-"
"So if we all throw a lighting bolt at the same time-" Barry says, "-it could be enough to take it down. Let's do it."
All four speedsters run around the hanger as Y/N was the first one to throw her lighting bolt, followed by Jesse and then Barry and just as Jay was about to do it, he only gives a small spark but collapses down on his knees. Y/N rushes to his side and says, "Jay! What― are you, okay?"
"Guess, I'm getting old-" Jay chuckles as he breathes heavily, wiping the sweat on his forehead, "I'm― I'm not used to running this long."
"Don't worry about it-" She tells him.
He tries to get back up on his feet, and in doing so he felt himself start getting pulled in normal time. He exhales deeply and says, "I'm sorry, kid."
"Don't worry about it." Y/N assures him.
"I couldn't be much of a help-" Jay says, "-you're going to have to finish this on your own, Electric-Flash."
"Just rest." Y/N said.
He places his hands on her shoulder and adds, "I'm really sorry, Y/N."
"It's okay." She says.
Jay lets her go and freezes at normal time.
"Y/N, the three of us can't produce enough lighting power to offset the energy from that bomb-" Jesse spoke up, "I mean, even if we had full speed, which we don't, at least I don't."
Jesse starts to wipe the sweat off her forehead and Barry starts feeling tired, but doesn't say anything. Y/N runs her hands over her face and turns around to face the bomb, "Then― then, we have to send it to the Speed Force."
"But you heard what Jay said." Jesse says.
"And Harry said it'd be fine." Barry tells her, Y/N glances at them and nods in agreement.
"No, he said he thinks it would be fine-" Jesse says, "Barry, my dad never thinks anything, he knows. Jay was right, we can't do it."
Y/N groans and walks over as her eyes land on Ethan, she inhales deeply and makes her way towards him. Y/N takes a deep breath, "I need my big brother, right now."
And with that she places her hands on his shoulder to bring him to Flashtime. Ethan exhales deeply and looks around to see everyone frozen in place.
"Ethan." Y/N says.
The archer takes his hood off and looks at her and says, "You're doing that thing again."
"I know." She says.
Ethan looks over at the two other speedsters as his gaze then falls on Jay, "What's going on?"
"The bomb went off." Barry tells him, "And we tried to stop it, but, we can't anymore."
"Let me take a look." Ethan says.
They all take it him so he can look inside the containment, he notices the color of the bomb and sighs. Ethan looks over at Y/N, "You tried to vibe it away, or freeze it?"
"Yeah, but since we're going at speedster pace-" She trails off.
"It doesn't make it through." Ethan states with a nod, "Got it."
"What if you try to, I don't know-" Barry starts off, "-try to deactivate it, with one of your arrows."
"No-" Ethan shakes his head, "I have the aim but, I could trigger something and create less time for you guys, for the whole city. Also the fact my arrow won't move at this speed."
"Okay, what if I don't know― what if we run back in time and stop this bomb from ever going off?" Jesse suggested.
They all look at her direction and Barry wipes the sweat off his forehead saying, "No, Jesse, we can't do that."
"Yeah, well, it's kind of our only option." Jesse says.
"Traveling back in time is never a good option, even if you could save lives, no-" Ethan tells her, "-consequences, Jesse."
"But, we don't have anything else." Jesse argues.
"Jesse, we will alter the timeline, don't you get that?" Y/N tells her, "Even if it's the smallest thing, everything could change- people can, the ones you love. And trust me, that's not something you'll want."
"Yeah, well, maybe a new version of my dad isn't the worst thing in the world." Jesse muttered.
"Look, Jesse, whatever problems you two have, they're not gonna get solved by forcing him to do something he doesn't want to." Barry tells her, "He has to make that decision."
Ethan looks at her and says, "Harry might be complicated, but he does love you, Jesse. Even when he doesn't show it, all he wants its the best for you."
Barry then glances back inside the containment to see that the color changed, "Oh, God."
All three follow his gaze and their expression changed into shock, the explosion was starting to get worse. The color was now purple.
"I used to love purple-" Y/N starts off, Ethan glancing at her, "-now, I'm debating."
"The reaction is that combustion reached its final phase." Jesse mentions.
"I think we're slowing down." Barry says.
"And everything else is speeding up." Ethan sighs, "You guys are running out of time, any of you have anything."
"No." They all reply.
Jesse exhales deeply, "I don't know how much longer I can run."
"Then you need to get out of here-" Y/N tells her, "-go back to Earth-2. Harry will want that."
"Yeah, I heard." Jesse says.
"He wants you to be safe, Jesse-" Y/N said, "-he cares about you, so go."
"No, I can't just-"
"Go." Barry tells her.
And with that, Jesse leaves the rest of the heroes alone. Ethan starts to get pulled back at regular pace, he says, "Wow― okay, I forgot how this felt."
The speedsters look at him and Y/N says, "All right, come on, I have to put you back and then I'll let go."
He nods and they walk him back to his spot, he breathes heavily and says, "If anything, make sure Iris is okay, please?"
"We will." Barry assures him, "Promise."
"Thank you." Ethan said, and he looks over at Y/N, "You're going to come up with a plan, don't doubt yourself, all right?"
"Okay." She says.
And just like that she lets him go and he goes back to normal time. Y/N starts feeling a wave of tiredness hit her and she looks around at everyone else in the room frozen in time.
"We need to head back to Star Labs-" Y/N says, "-we have to― to think of something."
"Let's go." Barry said.
The two were about to speed out but Barry started losing his balance, but Y/N quickly held him steady. He breathes heavily, wiping the sweat from his forehead and tells her, "I'm sorry, I can't― I can't-"
"It's okay." She tells him, "Just- stay here. And if you can't run anymore, let go, all right?"
Barry looks at her and gives a small nod, "Okay."
She looks at him one more time before speeding out the place. Barry starts feeling like he was getting pulled in normal time, so he tries to fight the urge to get pulled in.
-
Y/N returns back to the lab and tries to find ways to get rid of the nuclear bomb but no idea seem to work or she didn't believe like she had any left. The speedster starts faltering from restraint but doesn't give in, a frustrated groan leaves her lips as she walks out of the speed lab. As she walks down the halls of Star Labs, the wave of tiredness starts hitting her harder than before. And she starts staggering from her steps, she passes the cortex and catches sight of Iris.
She sighs deeply and puts her weight against the wall, once catching her breath she speeds back to the hanger.
She was breathing heavily, standing in the middle of the room as she looked around to see everyone else stuck in time. Tears in her eyes as droplets of sweat were dripping down her face, she ran her hands over her face to stop it but it only continued. She sniffles and her gaze falls on someone, she makes her way towards him and places her hands on his shoulders causing him to move at her rate, again.
"Barry-" Y/N sighs as she looks at him.
Barry looks at her worriedly and holds her face in his hands, "What are― Y/N-"
"It's okay, all right?" She tells him as he looks around to see everyone else frozen in time. He looks back at her and she inhales deeply, "You're moving with me, just like you did in the courtroom."
"No, you can't do that-" Barry tells her, shaking his head as he uses his thumb to wipe away her droplets of sweat, "-you need the energy."
"I can't― I can't-" Y/N pants, sniffling as her eyes were glazed.
"I know, it's going to be fine." Barry assures her.
"No, it's not." She cries softly, putting her head down as he picks her head up so they were looking at one another again. Y/N shakes her head, "I can't save anyone, I'm sorry."
Barry looks at her confused as she turns around to look inside the container. He follows her gaze and realizes, he quickly looks back at the speedster.
"I tired- I can't come up with anything-" She tells him, "-nothing has worked, but, but― I'm sorry."
"Hey, no, this isn't your fault." Barry says, his eyes watering at her state. He places one of his hands on the back of her neck and softly says, "God, you're burning up."
"I'm so, so, sorry." She repeats, placing her head against his chest and cries softly, "Barry-"
Barry holds her face in his hands, causing her to look back at him and he says, "It's okay, all right? No one is blaming you, you're alright, you'll be okay."
"Barry, if― if I let go-"
"I know-" Barry sighs deeply as he had tears falling but he pulls her in for a hug as she quickly wrapped her arms around him. Her eyes closing as she starts breathing slowly, he places kisses on the top of her head.
"I'm so tired, Barr-" Y/N mutters, sniffing as tears started to fall, "I can't hold on anymore."
"Yeah, me too." Barry says, he then pulls away and holds her face as the two look at one another, "I'm going to be right here with you, just- just focus on that. Focus on me and you."
Y/N wraps her arms around his neck and softly cries, "I know- I know that, even after being away for so long, I still don't try to make time for us, and I'm so sorry." Barry only shakes his head and leans his forehead against her as she continues, "And it's been like that for a while, even before Savitar, DeVoe, Zoom, but- but then I think about just the little moments with you. And just- just thinking about those makes me realize how much I love you, Barry. No matter how small or short, or cut off the moment, I cherish those ones so much."
"Me too, and I love you so much, Y/N." Barry whispers to her, "You're my lighting rod, Y/N."
She laughs softly, "You're mine too."
At that moment he gets an idea and pulls away from her but doesn't let her go. Y/N notices the expression on his face she asked, "Barry? What?"
"We already tried using lighting, and it didn't work because it wasn't powerful enough to diffuse it-" Barry trails off and she nods for him to continues, "-the night you went into the Speed Force, the lighting from it was powerful enough to destroy everything it struck. That could be more than enough."
"But― but, how will I be able to draw that out?" Y/N asked, "It's not possible."
"Yes, it is." Barry nods, "The day you came out of there, Cisco and Caitlin used a Quark sphere programmed with your genetic mark to have the Speed Force believe you were still in there."
Y/N starts understanding where he was going with it and says, "So, I go inside and grab it, the lighting storm will chase me."
"A lighting rod to bring out the lighting." Barry finishes.
She nods and Barry quickly leans in and kisses her as she quickly responds. They poured everything in that short kiss before pulling away from one another.
Barry wipes the sweat from her face and he sends her a tired and small smile, "Now, go save the day. And come back home."
"I promise." She says.
Y/N speeds out of the hanger and Barry gets pulled in at normal time. The speedster uses all her energy to run as fast as she could, creating an entrance to the Speed Force. She puts her mask back on and runs inside the portal, she speeds inside and catches sight of the sphere in the middle of a lightning storm.
She takes hold of it and starts running out as the lightning follows right behind her, she runs out of the Speed Force and makes the portal inside the hanger. Once coming out of it, she noticed that everything was slowly starting to come back at the normal speed. The speedster builds enough strength she had left and launches the sphere inside the container.
At this the lighting followed after it as it was able to cancel the explosion just in time. Everyone inside falls back to the ground, as things were now back at normal speed. Cisco, Ethan, Killer Frost, Barry and Jay all sat up and looked around confused.
Although Barry and Ethan catch sight of an unconscious speedster on the ground, they quickly rush over to her side.
"Y/N?" Barry whispers, holding her body in his arms, "Hey, Y/N?"
"Come on, wake up." Ethan mutters as he holds her hand.
Joe rushes over towards them and kneels next to Barry and said, "Come on, kid."
She groans and looks between them, "Please tell me, we're not dead."
They all look at her and Joe said, "We're not."
"I had a feeling-" She mutters, glancing over at Ethan, "-your here."
Ethan rolls his eyes and lets her hand go, chuckling softly, "Yeah, 100% not dead."
She laughs softly and closes her eyes again, "Nope."
-
"Today, I showed you how easily a city can fall. Mark my words, nuclear power will bring only destruction to the world. You'll see it again, and when you do, you'll remember the name; Veronica Dale, and fully understand my actions. Eden Corps! Eden Corps! Eden-"
Cisco pauses the video that was playing on the computer screen inside the medbay and says, "I feel like she's saying, 'Eden Corps'."
"As in blasting everybody back to the days the Garden of Eden-" Joe starts off, "-this was to air after the city fell. Found her manifesto at her apartment. Environmental activist turned into animal liberator turned domestic terrorist."
"Turned cray-cray." Cisco adds.
"How did she find out about the A.R.G.U.S drop anyway?" Iris asked.
"Someone probably tipped her off." Ethan says with a small shrug.
"DeVoe." Caitlin states walking over to Y/N, who was on the bed in a Star Labs tracksuit getting the rest she needed. The women starting to check on her.
"But why would he, or she― whoever-" Cisco said, "-why blow up the whole city? Why nearly kill nearly everyone?"
"Maybe there is no method to madness." Joe muttered.
"Well this was fun-" Jay spoke up, walking inside the room, "As usual, but it's time for the this handsome speedster to head home."
Everyone laughs softly and Y/N says, "Thanks for your help, Jay."
"Yeah, with helping us in every way you could, thank you." Barry tells him.
"Same to you, Barry." Jay said, "Credit where credits due."
"Yup." Y/N smiles, looking over at Barry as she holds his hand, "This one was definitely a helper."
Barry smiles at her and kisses her hand.
Caitlin hands Jay a power bar and said, "So, when you get home, you need to rest. Your glucose levels are pretty low."
"Thanks-" Jay says, taking it from her, "-and now that you mention it, I guess some very well, very needed rest is what's good for me. For a very long time."
Everyone looks at him with confused looks and Cisco asked, "Meaning?"
"I've looked at it, thought about it and-" Jay chuckles softly, "I think it's time for this old man to take a break at this hero game. Let someone else take a shot at it."
"Anyone in mind?" Ethan asked with a small grin.
"Yeah, she's a very good student, soon will be out in the field." Jay tells them.
"Her?" Iris smiles, everyone in the room looking over at Y/N.
The speedster smiles brightly and asked, "You think, the Speed Force hates us yet?"
"Not sure, but we'll find out soon enough, won't we?" Jay said, he sticks his hand out, "Always a pleasure, Electric-Flash."
"Always." She nods, shaking his hand.
The man lets her hand go and shakes Ethan's, "See you soon, Artemis."
"Anything, just let me know." Ethan tells him, letting his hand go.
"Always will." Jay said.
He then walks out the meadbay.
Caitlin then looks back at the speedster in bed and says, "So, you need to rest well, Missy. No running, no Electric-Flashing. You're very taxed."
"Don't want to get yelled at by my doctor, you got it, Dr. Snow." Y/N saluts her.
Caitlin smiles at her and looks over at Barry, "Same for you, all right?"
"All right." Barry nods.
"Anything comes up, we got it." Cisco assures them, he then glances at Ethan, "You too, mr. archer."
"Wow." Ethan says, crossing his arms over his chest, "Me?"
"Yes." Caitlin tells him.
"Come on, let's head home." Iris tells him.
He smiles at her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they walked out the medbay and he calls out, "Goodnight!"
"Night!"
Joe then looks at Barry, gesturing to Y/N, "Make sure, lighting mcqueen over there gets the rest."
Y/N gasp dramatically, "Hey."
Barry laughs and says, "That won't be a problem."
The rest of the team walks out the medbay leaving the couple alone in the room. Y/N sighs deeply, "Who knew that today's threat was going to last 10 minutes, too long."
Barry chuckles softly and runs a hand through her hair, "This must be a record."
"Mm-hmm." She hums in response as she looks over at him, "I think a breather is the right thing, you were right."
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Barry jokes, "I was, what?"
"You're deaf." She tells him, sending him a look.
Barry smiles and strokes the side of her face, "I realized something today, too." She raises a brow for him to continue, "Every small moment with you, being grounded with you, everything becomes more clear.
"Come here." Y/N says, moving aside to give him space.
He then lies down with her and he wraps his arms around her waist, holding her close as she wraps her arms around his torso. The speedster placed her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat which always calmed her down.
"I'm sorry that date night didn't end up with your favorite dessert." Barry tells her, looking down at her.
"Don't worry about it." Y/N says, looking at him and placing a hand at the side of his face, "Power bars always seem to make up for that."
Barry chuckles softly and he leans down to plant a small kiss on her lips and she kisses him right back. The two slowly pull away, pecking each other's lips in the process, Y/N places her head back down and he plants kisses at the top of her head.
"I love you, Y/N."
"And, I love you, Barry."
Barry and Y/N were taking this small moment and making the best to their capability. And this time they weren't going to rush into anything, because all they need is the love for one another. Now and forever, that's what makes the two love for one another so amazing.
-
Later that night; Harry and Caitlin go out to get themselves a cup of coffee at Jitters. They were sitting down and talking about what happened between Harry and Jesse, and also about Killer Frost. A foot away, someone was looking at the two with small smiles, he looked over at the people working and saw that one of them was done with their shifts. The mysterious person pretends to look at the menu as the worker walks past them, once they are out of sight he quickly walks behind the counter and takes their uniform.
"What do you remember?" Harry asked.
"Y/N taking her into Flashtime, trying to freeze the bomb-" Caitlin says, Harry humming in response, "And Killer Frost being worried."
"Worried about what? About dying?" Harry asked.
"About me." Caitlin admits.
"Interesting." Harry muttered.
Just then a random guy comes in the Jitters uniform and sets to muffins in front of them.
"Oh, we didn't order this." Caitlin tells him.
"I know-" He smiles at the two, "It's just a nice gratitude that we do with customers now in days. It's new, so, your well, the first two people that- get free muffins."
Harry looks at him as the young boy smiles at him and Harry says, "Oh, uh, thank you?"
"No problem, well, have a nice rest of your night." He tells them, starting to walk away, "Uh, yeah."
"Are you, okay?" Caitlin asked.
The boy hums in response and rearranges the purple beanie on his head and says, "Yeah, just, I'm kind of excited to meet someone, today. They're going to come just as my shift ends, so."
"Well, that's nice." Harry said, "You seem very energetic for someone that's going to be meeting someone for the first time."
"Yeah, well, I've heard a lot of great things about them-" He states, "-they're like, heroes, in their way, which also makes me somewhat nervous. I don't want them to think that well, I'm too talkative either."
"I'm sure you'll be fine." Caitlin says with a small smile, "You seem like a very nice person."
The young boy smiled brightly and said, "Thank you, well, let me not take any more of your time. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Harry and Caitlin say.
The young boy quickly walks away from them as he glances at them one last time to see that they weren't looking. He takes the chance to take off the uniform, grabbing his bag and leaving the coffee shop by the back door. He leans against the wall and takes out a small book from his bag and says, "Well, that went better than expected."
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POSTED: DEC 19, 2022