Chapter Thirty-Six: A Trip Down Memory Lane; Nora West-Allen
Dedicated to AgentofDreams989 and JoshuaSmith943 for all of their amazing support of my writing. Thank you guys so much for reading my story!
Unknown,
Unknown,
Nora and Barry quickly rushed back into the Cortex, both jumping behind the main console for cover, hiding from their potential pursuers as they took a few minutes to regain their breath.
The light from the room's walls now glowed an eerie red, as opposed to the soft orange that they had before, casting an eerie presence into what had used to be the safety that had been the Cortex before.
It's glowing red just like Cisco's lab...
" Are you okay?" Nora asked with a light huff, after taking a moment to regain her breath.
" Me!?!" I'm fine, but what about you! You almost got killed!" Barry answered worriedly, running his hand gently along her bruised eye.
Yeah, that one hurt.
" Dad, I'm fine, trust me. We handled worse than those guys." Nora half-smiled, laughing lightly.
Yeah, like he can trust you.
" You almost got killed," he cried, burying his head in his hands.
" Again."
" We run into dangerous situations all the ti..." Nora started, confusedly.
" I know Nora! But you almost got hurt! Again! I almost failed to save you again!"
" You'll never fail me dad. We'll always keep each other safe. That's what family does. And I learned that by watching you. " she smiled, looking admiringly at her father.
" Well maybe I don't want you playing hero anymore Nora! Maybe I don't want you to be like me!" Barry shouted suddenly, as he whipped around to her, pain resonating in his eyes.
Nora took a step backwards, hurt by her dad's words.
That's because I'm not like you dad.
" Nora, I'm sorry..." Barry sighed, reaching out a hand to try and comfort her.
" No, it's okay. You said what you meant." she said sadly, turning away from him.
I'm not a hero. I'm nothing like you.
Suddenly red mist swirled around them again, consuming their vision and blocking out the world around them as everything disappeared into its tainted confines.
No, no, no! Not another one!
The mist soon disappeared from view, leaving behind a new setting. But this one was different; it was one that Nora couldn't quite recognize.
The mismatched walls of Cortex faded away, revealing the dark, barely visible walls of a small cozy home. The place looked almost deserted, nothing on any of the black walls except for a single nail here or there, and several broken floorboards residing in a corner. The front door hung on only one of its hinges, the other eroded from years of desertion. A staircase led to a second floor, which was probably as distraught as the first one was.
The only reason that any of this could be seen however, was because of the full moon outside, casting its gentle white glow through one of the dirty rectangle windows.
" Is this... what I think that it is?" Nora asked, looking around her.
Barry looked pale, a sense of dread falling over him as the scene filled his scared eyes, his heavy breathing and watery eyes telling Nora exactly what was about to play out in front of them.
" My home."
A bright blue blur blasted through the hallway next to them, aligning itself in the middle of the lit room.
A man dressed in a black suit stood holding an older man in front of him, the aggressor's face unmasked as his eyes narrowed and burned with determination, wrapping his arm roughly around his prisoner's neck.
Hunter Zolomon.
And the other, an older gray-haired man whose worn face showed that of one who was a strong, loving person, his eyes holding fear that seemed to resonate throughout his entire form; only it wasn't worry for himself.
Henry Allen, Barry's father, Nora's grandfather.
Grandpa?
Moments later, an orange blur raced into the little house after them, landing opposite to the two, his terrified expression sending chills straight down Nora's spine as she saw the raw panic in his eyes. He wore a dark red suit with hints of orange on it, a gold lightning bolt emblem on his chest.
It was The Flash.
" Is that you?" Nora thought aloud, briefly turning to her father.
Barry stood, quiet and motionless as he watched the people in front of him, his eyes glued to the scene that he had seen so many times in his head, yet never seemed to lose the pain that followed with it.
Zoom and Grandpa... this is...
" Do you remember this place?" Zoom hissed, gesturing around him. " I'm sure that you do, probably have a lot of great memories here."
Memory Barry pulled his mask off, his eyes full of tears and fear.
" Zolomon! This is between us! No one else has to get hurt!"
This isn't one of my memories, it's one of dad's!
" Ahhh, but that's where you're wrong Barry. You still haven't gotten the message yet. You still don't see how we're the same." Zolomon spat, tightening his chokehold around Henry's throat.
" I think that you just need one more push."
" Dad, dad! Look at me! Everything's going to be alright!" Memory Barry reassured him.
Barry's eyes looked haunted, like he remembered this all too well.
" Barry, turn away, don't watch this." Henry stated, looking Barry in the eyes.
It didn't even seem like he was afraid of what was happening. It felt like he was more afraid of what his death would do to his son, then of dying itself.
" You'll be fine dad! I'm getting you out of here!"
" No, he isn't," Zoom hissed in Henry's ear.
" Now, are there any last words that you have for your son?" Zoom asked, pulling his phasing hand backwards.
" You have made me the proudest father that I could ever be, and I'll always love you," Henry said kindly, knowing what came next.
Nora's father shut his eyes tightly, a tear falling from them, already knowing the ending to this story.
" This is going to make you just, like, me!" Zoom roared, as his hand plunged through Henry's heart, Memory Barry being helpless to stop him.
" NNNOOOOO!!!!" Memory Barry cried brutally, rushing to where his father laid on the hard tile, so close to where his mother had died decades ago, having had to watch both of his parents die in his childhood home before his very eyes.
Memory Barry sat on the floor, cradling his father's head in his hands, steady streams of tears pouring down both his cheeks as he held him close to his chest, the insurmountable pain numbing out every other feeling that he'd ever be able to feel.
Zolomon just stood over his victim as he watched his enemy reel in the pain he had just caused, bringing him one step closer to his goal of showing him how they were the same.
" Dad, you're okay. Please get up. Dad please! I can't lose you too..." Barry leaned over his father, hugging him tightly as tears fell from his eyes.
This is the night Grandpa died.
Nora felt the same pain as her sobbing father in front of her, tears welling up in her own eyes as she slowly sat down next to him, trying to give him a comforting hug, only for her arms to go straight through his shoulders, as if he was a ghost. Because he wasn't real.
Although it felt just as real to the son who lost his father as the night the speedster had taken him from him.
He couldn't save him. Dad's father died in his arms.
She looked back at her father, the one who was real, who stood motionless, tears streaking across his face as he watched his dad die again.
He lost him too.
The world around them lurched forward again, red mist concealing everything before dissipating to reveal the new scene playing out in front of them.
They were standing on the Central City Main Plaza, the low steps and lined on both sides by small planter beds of trees seeming to stand out vividly in the center of the stage, despite there being nothing there that should have caused any such attention.
It was a cold, dark night, where Nora and her father's breath could be seen hanging in the air, frost seeming to cover various parts of the cement ground around them.
The space seemed silent, as there were no people there in general, almost as if they could all tell that something big was about to go down at this little plaza in the middle of the city.
What's happening here?
As if almost on cue, the massive, hulking, armored form of Savitar raced to the top of the small steps in front of them, firmly holding a hoststage with one of his large armored hands as he held her out in front of him.
The Flash followed panickedly closely behind, once again being on the opposite side of the villain, just out of reach of the captive.
Nora immediately recognized the person in danger, as she had known her her whole life.
" Mom?" she thought aloud worriedly.
" Dad, what is this?" she asked, her heart beating fast as she felt herself start to panic.
Barry tried to pull himself away from his memory, but was too deep into it to do anything more than speak to her.
" Nora, when I tell you too, look away, okay?" he said quietly, as his eyes remained locked on the memory's exchange.
" Okay," Nora agreed, breathing heavily, looking at the three figures before her with a rising fear.
Mom's going to be okay. I mean, she has to be! I'm here!
" Hello Flash," spat Savitar, glaring down at him from his vantage point.
" Did you lose something?"
" Let her go, Savitar! This is between you and me! I'm the one that you want! " Memory Barry exclaimed, fear carrying every one of his words.
" Punish me, not her! She did nothing wrong!"
The look in his eyes was haunting for Nora, the look that he knew exactly what was about to happen next, as tears built in his eyes.
" That's just it Barry. You took everything from me!" he roared.
" You left me with nothing! But now, it's time for me to return the favor; to break you! And when I'm done, you'll be just like me, someone with nothing to live for."
Even though she knew that it wasn't him, Nora couldn't help but feel sorrow over hearing such a broken version of her father.
" Barry," Iris stuttered, trying to regain her composure as Savitar tightened his grasp on her shoulder.
" It's ok Barry, everything will be ok."
" No, Iris, don't talk like that, you're going to be okay!" Barry said painfully, taking another few steps towards Savitar.
" No Barry, it's her destiny to die here, die tonight, by my blade." Savitar said coldly.
" For me to complete the cycle. To break you."
" Barry, I love you." Iris said in an accepting and final tone, tears gently falling down her cheek as she spoke.
" Iris, Iris!" Barry begged, as he watched Savitar pull back his extended blade.
" Nora, look away," said Nora's father half-mindly, still watching the scene.
Nora wanted to do as she was asked, to turn away from the horrible scene, but something inside her stopped her.
No, no, no, mom's going to be fine! This is where dad stops the bad guy!
" You lose Barry," spat Savitar.
" No!!!" screamed Memory Barry, once again with a heartbreaking scream as he rushed forward, pushing himself as fast as he could towards his finance', putting every ounce of his speed through his entire body, desperate to save her.
" Nora, now!"
Nora shut her wide eyes tightly, dreading what she already knew would come next.
A loud resounding noise of metal through flesh pierced her ears, accompanied by her father's devastated cries of agony and sorrow.
She listened to his sobs for several tense moments, not hearing any other noise but his sobbing and tears.
Please not that, anything but that. Your strong mom, you're fine; if I were to open my eyes now then you'd still be standing there with your loving smile on your face.
" Goodbye, Flash." she heard Savitar say, before a rush of wind harshly blew across her face.
Don't look Nora, don't look...
She slowly opened her hazel eyes, unable to contain her worries and concern, and immediately wished that she'd never done so.
Memory Barry sat on the ground, cradling a lifeless Iris, who had a hole straight through her chest.
He cried uncontrollably as he put his head on his love's, who he'd been too slow to save, who'd now die in his arms as well.
" No, no, Iris!" he pleaded heartbrokenly, tears staining the pavement around the two as life slowly began to fade from his everything's eyes.
And Nora's father was down next to them, his head buried in his hands as he relieved it all over again.
Nora felt her heart begin to beat fast, struggling to breathe as she looked at the terrible scene, all of her thoughts beginning to spill out of her at once.
" She's fine, she's got to be fine!" she exclaimed frantically as she knelt down next to the two Barrys and her mother.
" I mean, she's okay in the future, so she's got to be okay! She's just faking it to trick him! Yeah, that's it! Mom, it's okay, you can get up now!" Nora cried as she tried to touch her fallen mother, her hands going right through the image.
" Nora," said Barry, getting up and grabbing her gently by the shoulder.
" No, it's okay dad, she's fine!" she shouted desperately again, trying again and again to put her feel her mother's warm touch, being met with no success each time
" Mom's fine! She just needs a little help! If we..." Nora rambled frantically.
" Nora!" Barry shouted, pulling her upright and turning her towards him.
She looked into his bloodshot and wet eyes, knowing that hers probably looked the same.
Yet ones that somehow, through all of that, told her that he was there for her.
She quickly threw her arms around him, squeezing her dad tightly as she buried her head into his chest, sobbing heavily as he comforted her.
" She can't be gone, I can't have lost her too." Nora gasped through tears.
" Nora, it's just a memory, one that's not telling the whole story. It wasn't your mom that died, it was H.R. Wells who sacrificed himself for her to live." Barry explained, putting both arms around his daughter as he comforted her.
" You're right, I mean, you have to be right. And, and I know that isn't her but..."
" I know Nora, I know," Barry said, tightly squeezing his eyes as he rested his head on her shoulders, pulling her closer to his heart.
That was dad (or a version of him) under that suit. The same kind, compassionate, loving man, twisted into some kind of monster. A monster who tried to kill mom, his own wife. Can someone really fall that far when they were so pure their whole life?
The red mist returned as the memory ended, slowly sweeping the plaza, Memory Barry, and the fallen Iris away. A part of Nora didn't want to go, to leave her mother's side. But it was like her dad had said, not only was that not really Iris, but it also wasn't real either.
Just another memory.
It didn't feel any less real to me.
In its place formed the walls of the Pipeline, the same old cell in place where the team could talk to its prisoners, where Nora had spent more time recently than she'd like to admit.
Outside the cell stood a younger Barry, a less worn, more innocent one. On the inside, stood a Harrison Wells, and if the yellow Reverse Flash suit wasn't enough of a hint, then her father's expression towards him certainly was.
Eobard Thawne.
Oh no.
" So, did you come here to just stare at me all day?" Thawne said sarcastically, mocking Barry from behind the glass.
" Or perhaps, did you come here for more? Answers maybe?"
Nora could see the pain, the hurt, the anger in her fathers' eyes, both of them. How Memory Barry was clearly holding himself back from doing something that he'd regret.
" Why did you kill my mom?" he asked, hurt still ringing in his voice from the recent betrayal.
Thawne sighed, shaking his head condescending. " Still too slow I see."
" She never did anything to you." he pressed, Thawne rolling his eyes at his enemy's ignorance.
" Exactly Barry. That's why I wasn't trying to kill her on that night."
The yellow speedster's eyes were lit up with a level of spite and rage that Nora had never seen in person, not even him. although she was positive that it was due to all his lying he'd done to her.
" I was trying to kill you."
Something different began to happen around Nora and Barry, as their surroundings became covered in red mist again, seemingly cutting the scene off half way.
They were back at her father's childhood home, only this time it was much more homely. Pictures of her dad and his parents lined the beautifully colored wallpaper, various small dressers and other pieces of furniture sitting against it, the smooth wooden front door attached on its hinges, as if it hadn't been rotting for decades.
And there stood her father, in his first generation Flash suit, looking just as stunned and emotional right next to her.
Wait, he time traveled to see his parents too?
Memory Barry slowly moved towards the living room, taking careful note of all of the things around him that he hadn't seen in years. He had a mixture of awe, doubt, and fear mixed into him, into the way he looked, the way that he walked through the house.
Why do I feel like I know what's going to happen tonight?
Nora and Barry both followed him, Barry doing the same thing to his surroundings as his memory counterpart.
Nora's father picked up one of the picture frames off of the nearby wall, running his hand along its smooth edge. He stared at it and its three happy faces longingly for a few brief moments, before returning it to its home.
" Dad, are you..." Nora began. But he just walked trance-like after Memory Barry, following him towards the living room area.
Nora took one quick glance at the photo, the same one that Barry had looked at earlier, before running off to catch up with her dad.
When she got to the doorway area, Barry pulled her across to the left side, so that she wasn't standing within eyesight of the person inside. Memory Barry poked his head out from behind the corner, observing his healthy, breathing, living mother, and she could see a look in his eyes that she had felt for as long as she could remember.
The feeling of wanting to be with someone, a parent, that you never really got to be with.
" Dad, what's going on?" she asked, hoping to get a response this time.
" This is the night where it all began," he whispered, looking absentmindedly where Memory Barry was.
" Where The Reverse Flash killed my mom."
As if on cue, everything seemed to slow down around them. The air hung still, almost thick and dense, Nora's brown hair slowly beginning to float through the air around her head as well. Several pictures were slowly swept off of the walls, and the coffee from a mug nearby her grandmother began to float out of its container, the liquid somehow acting as if it had no gravity to it at all.
" I didn't come there to kill your mother Barry," echoed Thawne's voice, the same one from the prior memory.
" I came there to kill you."
An explosion of chaos suddenly erupted inside the house, two lightning fast blurs blasting throughout the entirety of the home.
Slamming each other against the walls, furniture, and anything else that they could get their hands on, creating a storm of red and orange speed force around the person trapped in the thick of their fight, Barry's mother.
Quickly after, Henry Allen raced to the living room, trying to figure out what was threatening his family. He stood in the doorway, trying to find a way to get to the person trapped inside the chaos, who was desperately screaming for her life.
" Help! Help please! Somebody help!" she cried as she got on her knees, ducking to try and shield herself better.
Memory Barry was hidden behind the nearby doorway opposite to the man, unseen by anyone in the madness.
" I came there to kill you," the voice echoed faintly again.
A young ten-or-so Barry Allen came running down the stairs, hearing all of the screams and noise coming from downstairs. He froze next to his father when he saw the terrifying scene in front of him, orange and red lightning clashing together as the two speedsters collided again and again.
" Run, Barry, Run!!!" Henry shouted to his son as loud as he could, straining to be louder than the booming noise in front of them.
" I get in there, kill a young Barry, and poof! No more Flash." came the voice again.
Young Barry still stood frozen next to his father, not wanting to leave his mother behind, and being too scared to move.
" But you had other plans."
One of the two speedsters inside the cyclone broke off from the other, grabbing young Barry and racing him out of the house.
" You rushed in there and saved your younger self, still being too fast for me to stop you."
Memory Barry's muscles went tense, clearly preparing to change the course of time.
" But then I thought; what if I broke you so badly that you never recovered from your trauma? Dealt a blow so bad that you never became The Flash?"
The now singular red light intensified, becoming tighter and tighter around the woman inside.
Memory Barry took one step forward, being just about in sight to the people of the space, before he was cut off by the other speedster, the one who had saved young Barry.
It was a blurred older version of The Flash, blocking his path to his mother.
The Flash said nothing, just sadly shaking his head once as the two met each other's same eyes, before returning to the fight.
Memory Barry took a few stumbled steps backwards, turning back around the doorway and slumping up against the wall, breathing heavily as tears began to form in his eyes.
" That Flash, the future version of myself," Barry said suddenly, startling Nora slightly as she heard her real father's words.
" He saved me from making a big mistake. I just wished that I'd listened to him the second time around."
" Second time?" she asked, confusedly.
" Long story for a different time." he answered, quietly.
The lightning storm picked up in intensity again, the two speedsters battling it out until one loud scream pierced through all of the noise.
Memory Barry clasped his hand over his mouth, straining to make sure that he wasn't heard by anyone as he silently wept.
Moments later, the two blurs blasted out of the house, sending Henry Allen flying against the wall, of which he slumped down, unconscious.
And just like that, the space that had been filled with so much chaos, so much destruction and noise, died out silently, the room becoming dead silent as almost nothing moved.
Slowly, Memory Barry stood up, cautiously turning the corner to see if anyone was still there. Nora followed his lead, leaving the real Barry still standing around the corner, unable to go on any further, as his entire body panged with the same pain he'd relieved his entire life.
Only one person still remained in the once beautiful and happy place, Barry's mother, who had a large stab wound on her side, and was quickly losing life.
Her son immediately rushed over to her side, desperate to see his mother again, to hear her voice again. To give her someone to be with in her last moments.
" No, no, stay away from me," she strained to say, pulling away from him.
" Mom, mom it's okay, it's me!" he said tearfully.
" Barry?"
He nodded his head quickly, removing his mask as he grasped her hand in his, his mother quickly realizing that the man in front of her was the same little boy that she'd put to bed just an hour ago that night.
" But, how?"
" That's kind of a long story." he laughed painfully.
She let out a short laugh too, one that was followed by a spout of heavy coughs.
It was heartbreaking for Nora to watch, as she stood right next to both of them, wishing with all her heart that she could've actually spoken to them, feeling somehow like, despite this having happened decades before she was even before, she was witnessing it firsthand when it happened.
" So, how are you, as in, in the future?"
" Great mom, everything's great, I've got amazing friends, a great job,"
" Anyone special?"
" Yeah," he sighed as he remembered a special someone, his eyes still full of tears.
" She's great."
There was a brief moment of silence, as he put his hand on her face, feeling his mother's warm skin again, never wanting to let it go after he'd lost it all those years ago.
" I don't make it, do I?" she wheezed.
His words caught in his throat, as it squeezed tight with pain.
" No," he croaked, tears now falling down his face.
She nodded knowingly, still holding her wound with one of her hands.
" That's okay." she said, warmly.
Both him and Nora looked surprised by her response, although only his could truly be seen.
" Because I know that my son gets to grow up to live a wonderful life, where he has friends, family, and people that love him. And there's nothing more that I could ever want." she smiled.
He reached down and hugged her tightly, her arms wrapping around him as well.
" I love you mom," he whispered, sobbing even more as his entire body shook, holding tightly onto his mother.
" I love you too, Barry," she gasped, starting to succumb to her wounds.
" But now it's time for you to go, to let go of your past. Go back to your life."
" But I don't want to leave you," he stuttered.
She put her hand on his cheek, as he closed his eyes tightly, another tear gently rolling down the side of his cheek.
" I'll always be with you Barry, just as you'll always be with me."
She slowly lowered her hand from his face, still looking lovingly at him.
Memory Barry nodded sadly, wiping tears from his eyes as he stood up and walked backwards towards where he came from, still looking at his mom as he left.
" Goodbye mom," he whispered sadly, pulling his mask slowly back over his face, before speeding off, probably back to his own time.
Nora stood there in the now static and finished memory, completely overwhelmed by everything that she had seen, just staring down teary-eyed at her grandmother, who just laid static and unmoving.
Barry walked out from around the corner, wiping his tears on his shirt sleeve as he came up next to her.
The red mist slowly returned, swooping away the scene before them as they became consumed by it.
" And, if I do say so myself," Thawne's voice rang through the storm.
" I'd say that I did a pretty good job."
The storm cleared, leaving them both sitting back where they had been earlier, behind the main control console in the Cortex.
Neither of them said a word, both just staring at the wall across from them, as Nora's mind tried to filter all of her thoughts.
First, she had watched her grandfather get killed in front of her dad, Hunter Zolomon plunging his hand through his chest.
Then it had been her mom, as Savitar, another version of her father, heartlessly put his blade through her heart, killing her in one swift blow.
The empty look on Iris' face as she was dying still hung vividly at the front of her mind, as did the thought of who had done it. It didn't matter if it hadn't really been her mother, it felt all the same to her.
And finally, it had been her grandmother, and the heartbreaking final talk that she had had with her dad, as he had to let her go once again.
Nora felt the pain from all of those deaths, deaths that her father had to watch, that she just had to watch, piercing through her heart.
Her grandmother, grandfather, even her own mom, all died in front of them, taking their last breaths in those memories.
Nora felt something else besides the crippling pain quickly start to overtake her too; anger, guilt. Not even at the ones who had killed them, but at herself.
She could feel all of it rising high in her chest, like a massive tidal wave that was about to come crashing down and consume her. She could hear nothing but her own thoughts of blame, self-doubt, pain, all hitting her at once. She felt like her head was about to burst, like everything was spiraling out of control...
" Nora!" Barry whisper-shouted as he shook her again, fear ringing in his voice as he worriedly looked at his daughter.
" Are you okay?"
" Okay?" Nora sniffed.
" Okay? Dad, I am not okay! How can you be okay!?!" Nora exclaimed loudly, her heart beating fast as her hands shook violently.
" Nora, just breathe, take a moment and..."
" I can't! Not after everything that I just saw! Everything that just happened!" she yelled again, tears swelling into her hazel eyes.
After everything that's happened since I made the stupid choice to go to the past!
" Nora, just breathe," Barry pleaded, as he tried to calm her down.
" We need to be quiet or else they could..."
An arrow soared over their heads, striking the ground right next to them, red lights blinking on the side of its metal tip.
" Found you." echoed a rough gravelly voice.
The arrow exploded, sending Nora and Barry flying into a nearby wall, denting it twice in the process as they were thrown to the ground.
" AAwwww," Cicada purred as she and the Green Arrow entered the Cortex, looking down at the two West-Allens.
" Did you guys miss us?"