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Y/n practically dragged his leg as he limped through the faded streets, his hand clenching his injured leg as he leaned against the wall, His injury was the latest gift from the rejected Power Ranger's visits... A visit to remind him that he was alone and that they weren't coming to save him, something he understood at this point... Something he had come to accept at this point...
LEFT! The voice called out to him as he came to an intersection, a voice that never had a body no matter how much he searched for it however, it always filled his head and echoed inside of his cranium, forcing him to acknowledge it but even then, it always leads him somewhere useful, guiding him so that he could survive another day in this hell hole, it was like some deranged form of an instinct.
Y/n made his way down another cold deserted road until he came to a stop, eyes landing on an open door that swung in the breeze, a breeze that didn't exist as Y/n approached it, a chill running down his spine as he peered into the small house. Y/n finally entered the house, cautiously so that he didn't get trapped in the building.
Y/n walked deeper into the house, hand still clenching his hip as he looked for any source of food, his stomach growling on cue. RIGHT! The voice called out as he passed an empty room, stopping to peer into the room, he noticed a small table in the centre of the room with a single plate of food on it.
This might look like a trap to most but the young Thawne had learned that it was this place... This entity's way of keeping him alive, for now at least. Y/n walked into the room and over to the table, eyes scanning over the plate of steaming rice and stew, not wasting a second before he began eating, not caring if the food was still hot, he hadn't eaten in days and wasn't sure how long he had before he got his next meal so he planned on enjoying this.
Y/n had finished eating and let out a huff before hopping over to the bed and sitting down, he was sure that he could rest for a few minutes but in reality, he had to rest, his body couldn't take any more walking through this place.
In this moment of silence, Y/n heard it, Nora's sweet laugh rang through the room and his body tensed, he didn't feel hope fill his body... At least not anymore but his heart did beat slower and harder against his chest as her laugh filled his ears, He laid down on the bed and closed his eyes, Caitlin's loving smile flashing through his mind before being replaced with Cisco's playful grin and then Ralph's proud smirk, one by one images of team flash went through his mind as his laid there, a single tear escaping the corner of his eye before his body jerked up.
Downstairs... He could feel its presence and he wanted to kick himself for lowering his guard for a moment as he got to his feet, adrenaline rushing through his body as he moved out of the room and quietly made his way through the house once more. He hoped that he was wrong and that it wasn't here but he knew better than to have hope and instead, he felt dread when he walked quietly passed a hall that stretched into complete nothingness, however, there was something that dwelled in the empty void...
Its eyes set Y/n's very being on fire as he abandoned the thought of being quiet and instead rushed to the door, his adrenaline had made his previous injury nothing but a distant memory as he felt the darkness move around him, moving from one wall to the next, it was behind him and then above him, it was next to him and even in front of him but he made it to the door.
Y/n swung the door open and took a step outside with a breath of relief, he could escape it, he could make it... That feeling was short lived as the darkness wasn't ready to let him go... It's cold tendrils wrapped around Y/n, a coldness engulfed him and a gasp rang in his ear... "Let me in!"
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Y/n sat up straight in his bed, sweat covering his entire body as he gasped for air. His entire body was ice cold as he stared at the darkness across from him and for the briefest moment, it looked back at him.
"Dad!" His open door was a portal that allowed teal and purple light to fill his room as a figure dashed in, stopping next to the bed and placing her hand on his shoulder while her light illuminated the room, revealing nothing in it besides the two of them. "Dad?"
"Taylor?" Y/n took multiple deep breaths as he looked at the younger Thawne who stood next to him, worry etched onto her face.
"Is everything okay?" Taylor looked at her father, studying his expression. "You practically had the Chaos Force giving off massive tremors, it was all over the place," Taylor explained as she watched Y/n get out of bed, his baggy clothes were completely drenched in sweat while he rubbed his eyes.
"Yeah, just... A bad dream..." Y/n shook his head as he made his way over to his bathroom, turning the light on before making his way over to the basin, turning the faucet on before staring at the water for a moment.
"Dad... Are you sure everything is alright, you look pretty shaken up?" Taylor asked as she leaned against the doorframe, watching as Y/n splashed some cold water against his face before closing the faucet and grabbing a towel.
"Tay, I'm fine," Y/n muttered as he dried his face off before turning to the younger Speedster. "Just a bad memory so go back to bed, I just need a moment alone," He gave her a reassuring smile.
Taylor seemed to be against it for a moment but finally gave in and with one worry-filled look, she made her way back to her bedroom and left Y/n who had just exited his bathroom and stared into the darkness of his bedroom, his eyes now adjusted to the world around him as he got back into bed and just laid there. "That was just a dream..."
"Orlin Dwyer," Sherloque spoke confidently as he looked at the rest of team Flash as he and Ralph stood in front of them with a picture of Cicada.
"As far as we can tell, he grew up in the Midwest," Ralph explained as he shifted his gaze from the monitor to the team as everyone listened closely. "Been in and out of jove, pretty much fell off the map and then popped up in Central City a few years ago," He added as Sherloque nodded in agreement.
Y/n's eyes studied the picture of the man as he sipped on his soda. "Part-time employee of Szcrek Chemicals for the past two years," Sherloque spoke as he made circular motions with his hand.
"Foreman says he keeps to himself," Ralph added once again as Y/n's eyes scanned over the room, studying the two who were talking while Cisco and Iris leaned on the counter listening to them, Caitlin seemed just as focused as she stood next to Cisco and Barry was in the front, paying as much attention as a Speedster could. "Pretty much a loner gave a fake address,"
"Did take custody of his niece," Sherloque explained and Y/n's attention was drawn off of Nora who was sitting on one side and reading through her journal at the mention of a niece, his eyes darting to the monitor once again as Ralph pressed the button.
"Grace Gibbons," Both men spoke at the same time.
"Right... After her parents were unfortunately murdered by a meta-human," Sheloqued shrugged his shoulders as he motioned at the image of the young girl on the monitor. "Now..."
"Now we know why Dwyer hates Metas," Ralph finished as the team seemed to all be on the same page. "Once he got the powers, he started targeting them,"
"Powers that he got the night of the enlightenment," Y/n wanted to roll his eyes at Sherloque's amazing ability to deduce when Cicada got his powers but decided to let the Detective finish while he sipped his soda. "As we all know," Sherloque shot Y/n a look that told the Thawne that even he knew Y/n wanted to say some sarcastic which caused Y/n to let out a soft chuckle. "When he was struck by a shard of the Star Labs Satellite explosion,"
"Which was also the same night that Grace went into a coma," Ralph explained and Y/n felt his throat dry out, maybe it was because of who his father was but for some reason he didn't hate the man for what he was doing anymore.
"Where Dwyer visits her, every day and every night for the last three weeks," Sheloque explained as he looked at the monitor one more time.
"So he's there now?" Barry asked as he looked at the two Detectives.
"Oui..."
"Yeah..."
"Then let's go get him..." Barry muttered and Y/n let out the dryest laugh known to mankind, everyone's attention snapping to him as he pushed himself off the wall and walked over to the bin.
"Ha," Sherloque was the next to let out a sarcastic laugh. "Come on everyone, let's go get him," He mocked with a chuckle and for the first time, Y/n agreed with Wells. "Look, as always, I respect your spirit Barry Allen but as long as Cicada has his dagger to dampen your powers, there's no stopping him," Sherloque spoke before turning to look at the Thawne who had thrown his empty bottle away. "Avec tout mon respect," ("With all due respect") He raised his hands to Y/n.
"Finissons-en avec..." ("Just get it over with...") Y/n shrugged as he walked back over to his wall.
"Not even Y/n, with his new speed would stand a chance surviving a fight against Cicade," Sherloque looked back at Barry and once more, Y/n agreed with him, he could hold his own against Cicada but he wasn't sure he would beat the man even if he came pretty close to beating him in the past. "You, Barry Allen, don't stand a chance..."
"So let's destroy his dagger," Barry shrugged as if he had just solved everything.
"How are we going to do that?" Ralph fired back as he looked at the Scarlet Speedster. "Unless we have some kind of Power Dampening Dagger Power Dampener... Hidden away in storage?" Ralph winced as he tried to say that without sounding too confused and truth be told, Y/n found it just as confusing.
"We don't and even if we did, we would come up with a much better way of saying that," Cisco spoke, just as confused as the two of them.
Y/n kinda zoned out when Barry, Ralph, Sherloque and Cisco began going back and forth with name ideas for something they didn't even have yet rather than discuss making one and instead, found himself watching Nora page through her diary like the answer was hidden among the pages.
"Guys..." Nora called out and everyone stopped their bickering and looked at her. "What if we could make one?" She suggested and everyone looked confused for a moment.
"Make one what?" Barry furrowed his brows.
"Are you being intentionally dense right now?" Y/n groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "
"Make a weapon more powerful than his weapon," Nora quickly spoke up, sending a playful glare at Y/n while Caitlin's wasn't as playful. "Cicada can control his dagger, so what we would need is something more powerful than his connection to it," Nora suggested.
"Wait... Like some kind of supercharged Magnet?" Iris asked as she looked at her daughter.
"Exactly," Nora smiled as she looked at her mother before shifting her gaze to the rest of the team again.
"I don't know if we have anything strong enough for that," Cisco spoke up as he looked around the room. "We made Sally out of a Micro Composite Alloy, as far as satellites go... She was heavy-duty," Cisco added, a hint of sadness in his voice as he spoke about Sally.
"And even if we could get our hands on the dagger, we would have to find a way to get the dark matter out of it to negate its power," Caitlin shrugged as she explained another issue with that plan but Y/n had a sense that this wasn't the end of this idea.
"You're right," Sherloque looked at Caitlin before turning his attention to Nora. "What you're suggesting is that we find an alloy... No no no, an indestructible alloy that has super-magnetic properties but also has the ability to negate Dark Matter," He added with a chuckle as he looked at the youngest Speedster in the room. "I mean... Where are we going to find such a thing?" He looked around the room, pausing on Y/n for a longer moment as if waiting for the Thawne to either mock him or make a suggestion that no one else would.
"The past," Nora stood up as she spoke, catching everyone's attention.
"The past?" Barry asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion once more and Y/n felt like changing his name since he wasn't the world's fastest man alive and instead, the world's most confused man alive.
"You've already come across everything that we need, right?" Nora spoke up and Y/n pushed himself off the wall with a sigh as he made his way to the centre of the room with everyone else. "A strong alloy with magnetic properties..."
"Savitar's suit," Cisco muttered.
"Something to remove Dark Matter..."
"The Speed Force Transmitter that Zoom used to steal Barry's speed," Caitlin explained as she looked at the Scarlet Speedster.
"Yeah but that was the Speed Force," Iris muttered as she looked at her daughter.
"Yeah but that was excited particles which is similar to dark energy so we would just need someone to recalibrate it," Nora explained and Y/n caught a twinkle in Sherloque's eyes, a flash of curiosity filling the world's greatest detective.
"Can you do that?" Ralph asked as he looked at Cisco.
"You would have to infuse the Transmitter with the same kind of Dark Matter," Cisco shrugged as he looked at the ground, running calculations through his head as he spoke.
"Like the Devoe kind?" Ralph asked and Y/n felt his stomach fold in on itself as the thought ran through his head.
"More like the Particle Accelerator kind," Cisco smiled, no one noticing the flash of emotions that zoomed through Y/n's eyes at the mention of the Accelerator as he turned and moved away from the group.
"I'm sorry... We need to blow up Star Labs again?" Ralph looked at everyone in confusion as he shook his head.
"No, not again," Nora explained as she looked at the confused man, shifting her gaze towards the young Thawne who seemed to isolate himself from the group as he moved to the corner of the room and pulled out his phone. "We just need to go back to the first time that it happened,"
"We can't mess with the timeline..."
"No, we're not," Nora quickly corrected her father. "Savitar's suit, the Transmitter, these are all just discarded objects so if we steal them, they won't affect the timeline at all," She explained with a grin.
"Even if this does work, we can't just waltz into the hospital with our soon-to-be-named dampening device," Ralph pointed out. "If Dwyer smells us coming then he's gone," He shook his head as he reminded them of Cicada's intelligence.
"Then we do a time hack," Nora countered with her own idea.
"Time Hack?" Ralph asked.
"It's when you plant something in the past so that it's available in the future," Cisco explained as realization dawned on his face. "You go back and you hide the device somewhere near the hospital," Cisco explained as he looked at Barry. "Somewhere where it won't be found for five years, he won't even know it's there," Cisco and Nora smiled at the Scarlet Speedster with the new idea.
"So you and your father go to the past to defeat Cicada in the future," Sherloque gave her a dry laugh. "Quite an off-the-cuff plan you came up with there," He added, his voice was dry and yet very judgemental.
"We can do this," Nora turned her attention to her father, ignoring the Detective who in return decided to move his gaze to the corner of the room where Y/n and he locked eyes and for the first time, Y/n's gaze wasn't threatening or warning but instead, it was blank before looking back down at his phone.
"No..." Barry's cold response caused everyone to stop smiling as he shook his head. "Me and Y/n can do it," He added as he looked over at the Thawne. "Can you guys figure out the best dates to go back to?" He asked Cisco and Caitlin who nodded before moving over to the board.
Y/n just stood there as he watched Barry walk out of the room with Nora following him, his eyes moving over to Sherloque who casually walked over to the desk and stopped for a moment before looking around the room, eyes meeting Y/n's again before he gave the Speedster a smile and made his way out the room as well.
A lot of things were happening and Y/n didn't like it... He didn't like it at all...
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I was able to write this with somewhat ease, it looks like my WritesBlock is finally starting to pass so I might be able to fall back into my writing and push out some chapters of my books over the next few days. My main focus will be this book because we are getting into some good scenes coming up.
With what happened in this chapter, what are some of your thoughts?
How do you think the next few 'Time Travel' chapters will be?
I'll be honest with you, I may or may not have Taylor join them on the adventure, you know, Nora's there to help Barry so maybe Tay will want to be there for her dad but I haven't decided yet so feel free to give your suggestion in the comments.