Barry's POV.
Barry ran to the barn to get Thawn. He tripped when coming to a stop in the barn.
"Having a bad day Bare?" Thawn yelled. "You know. . .I'm the answer man. I am the answer to all your prayers. All you need to do is ask me, Barry."
Barry refused to look at him as he sat on a wooden crate. "We need to go back in time. To that night."
Thawn looked down at Barry. "To do what?"
Barry looked up. He couldn't say it. He couldn't ask him. "You know what I need you to do."
"Yeah. . .but I wanna to hear you say it."
Inhaling deeply, Barry glared at him with all his anger and hatred. "I need you to kill my mother."
Thawn grinned in satisfaction. "With pleasure.
" Barry glared at him. How could a man be so evil. "I hate you."
Without missing a beat Thawn answered him back. "And I hate you. I sometimes wonder which of us is right."
Barry slowly stood and unlocked the cell. Thawn walked out casually. As reached in his pocket and held up Thawns ring, he grabbed it and walked away from the cell.
Barry sighed, walking over to stand next to his sworn enemy. He started to run, but his legs gave way and he tumble to he floor.
Thawn walked over at looked down at him.
"Man, I wish I could kill you, but today. . ." He lifted Barry up, roughly, by his coat. ". . .I get to be the hero."
With that Thawn ran. Sometime during the run, Barry blacked out. . .
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Suddenly memories flood is brain. Like a broken damn flooding a valley.
His parents, Ella and he as kids, she and her family leaving Central , his mom's murder, his dad's arrest, living with the West's, crushing on Iris, college, the CCPD, working with Joe, the Particle Excelorator, getting struck by lightning, his speed, Eddie and Iris, Team Flash, fighting meta's, Ella's return, getting rejected by Iris, falling for Ella again, his visits to her as the Flash, The first time he traveled back in time, Iris finding out about his secret, Ella and he getting together, Wells being the Revers Flash, him going back in time to save his mother, Eddie's death, Thawns death, the singularity, Ronnie's death, Ella leaving after finding out, Flash Day, Team Flash coming back together, his dad's release, Harry, Patty, Jay and Zoom, Earth Two, traveling back in time to get faster, Cait's kidnapping, Zoom taking his speed, his time in Speed Force,
his dad's death, the team locking him up, racing Zoom and winning. All of this came rushing into his head.
Gasping for air, Barry's eyes flew open. Sorting through his mind, he finally felt clear. Then he realized why his mind was so clear. Thawn had succeeded. Looking down a single tear fell down his cheek. He was sad, but didn't feel the heart break and emptiness he had once felt as a child and as an adult. He knew this was how it was supposed to be. Things were back to normal and finally set right.
Soon Thawn came out and ran Barry forward in time. They stopped on the West's porch. Barry stood up straight and looked at the door.
"There we go. Things are back to how they should be. Well, for me anyway. For you? Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and find out."
Barry turned to Thawn and found him smiling. "What? What does that mean?"
Thawn hesitated then began to back away with a smirk. "See you sometime soon, Flash." In mili-seconds he was gone.
Barry blinked still wondering what he had meant.
Shaking his head he entered the house to find Joe and Wally having a beer by the fireplace. He walked as fast as he could over to Wally and hugged him tightly. He was okay. He was unharmed.
"What's this for?"
"Just glad you're here." Barry said, smiling.
Joe and Wally looked at him oddly as he looked around the room. He felt as if he had traveled to the Twilight Zone, which is what had basically happened.
"You okay?" Joe asked.
Barry sat down on the couch, running his hand along the familiar smooth leather.
"I am now, yeah."
His eyes spotted the throw on the back of the couch, causing him to furrow his eyebrows. He'd never seen it before. It was a plain light brown color. He wondered briefly what had happened to the throw Iris had bought for Christmas.
"You just lost your father, Barry. You don't have to be okay."
Barry shook his head. "Actually, I feel closer to my parents then I ever have."
"Well, good son."
Joe handed Barry a beer.
Wally raised his glass. "To your Pops."
"To Henry."
"To my dad."
Clinking of the three bottles rang through the room. Barry took a drink and looked around.
"Where's Ella, Iris, and everyone else?" The two men stared at Barry in offense.
Joe looked especially offended.
"That ain't funny."
He set his bottle down and pointed to Barry. "I'm gonna chalk that up to grief. I'll see you both in the morning."
Barry and Wally were then left alone as Joe went up stairs.
He looked at Wally in alarm. "W-what was that about?"
"Are you kidding me? You know Iris isn't here."
"What?"
"They don't talk, Barry. You know that."
Wally walked up stairs, leaving Barry in shock.
He sat down on the couch realizing that even when he had tried to fix things he had only messed up everyone's lives.
"What did I do?"
After sitting there for a moment Barry decided he had to go see Ella and tell her about everything.
Racing to Ella's apartment he knocked on her door. He heard someone call from inside. A few seconds later the door opened, but it wasn't Ella who answered it.
"Iris?"
"Hey, Barry."
"W-what are you doing here? Where's Ella?" Barry asked in confusion.
Iris looked at him strangely with worry. "Barry, Ella doesn't live here anymore. You know that."
Barry blinked. "Okay? Well do you know where I can find her tonight?" He asked trying to act normal.
"Barry are you okay?" She asked, her voice laced with concern.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. I just want to see Ella." He answered not understanding why she wouldn't tell him where Ella was.
"Well, I'm afraid you're a year and a half late, Bare."
"Wh-what do you mean?"
Iris sighed. "If only you would have felt this way a year ago." She muttered.
"What?"
Sighing again she looked at him. There was sympathy in her eyes.
"Barry I know your dad's death has been hard on you, but if you're only realizing now that you should have gone after her-"
"Gone after her?" He asked in panic.
"Yes, Barry. I always said you should have gone after her when she left, but you being you, you never did. Instead you just let her go all because of your own stubbornness."
"Let her go?. . .She's not in Central." He stated now understanding.
Iris shook her head with a frown on her face.
"No, Barry. No one knows where she is. I'm sorry."
Barry looked down.
"I know Henry's death has been a tole on you, but if you ever need someone to talk to remember you always have me. You gonna be okay?"
He looked up and nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Yeah I'll be fine. Thanks Iris. I-I don't know what's I was thinking." He lied.
Iris have a sad smile. "You're grieving Barry. It's normal. Listen, you should get home and get some sleep. Sadly the Flash doesn't get off days. I'll see you in the morning."
He nodded. "See you."
Once the door closed Barry leaned his back against it and knocked the back of his head on the wood. Not being able to stand the fact that the love of his life was gone, he ran.
The next day Barry woke up to hear that a robbery was in progress. He ran after the jewelry thief, who was on a motorcycle and caught him easily. Afterward he raced to STAR Labs and high-fived Wally.
"What kind of idiot still thinks I can't outrun bullets?" Barry smiled.
"That guy should be the criminal poster boy for what not to do against the Flash." Wally laughed.
"So what're we gonna call him?"
Wally looked up at him from behind the desk. "You mean like a nickname?"
"Yeah. Cisco does it for all of them. He's like the master of it. Can't just call him suspect on a motorcycle. Right? What do ya think?" Barry asked his friend, while taking off his gloves.
Cisco looked up from his phone blankly and shrugged. "I don't know."
His not so Cisco-like answer caught Barry off guard. He hesitated, eyeing Cisco, but soon looked away and forced a smile.
". . .Alright, I'll take this one. . .uh. . .the crook? Lame?" He asked, trying to get Cisco to correct him.
"How about thief? He robs stuff. Just call him thief." Cisco said, disinterested. Barry observed his friend carefully and saw that Cisco seemed upset with him. His theory was correct when Cisco walked right past Barry without saying a word or even looking at him.
"I gotta head to the gym. Excuse me."
"The gym? Is he like working out now or?" Barry smiled forcefully.
Caitlin stood up looking disappointed. "You know Barry sometimes your jokes just aren't very funny." She walked out after Cisco.
"I should get back to the paper." Iris spoke up from her chair.
Barry glanced at her.
"It's okay. I was just leaving." Joe called as he walked towards the exit.
"Hey guys? Hey Joe? Hey look, I'm sorry. I know you guys aren't speaking to each other right now, but I was just thinking maybe we could talk about why that is for a minute." He rambled.
"No. Okay? No." Iris said looking away.
"Look, I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry. I just thought maybe it would be good for you guys to hear it said out loud." He lied.
Iris looked at him upset. "This is because of what he did, Barry. Not me."
"Iris. . ." Joe began.
"What?" She snapped. "What could you possibly have to say?"
Sighing, Joe put his hand on Barry's shoulder. "I'll see you at the station. Nice job with uh. . .thief."
"Give me a lift to CCU?" Wally asked just now standing.
"Sure." His dad answered.
"So you're still taking engineering classes?" Barry asked as they walked out.
Wally turned around and nodded giving Barry a funny look.
"Cool. All right well good luck with that."
He turned around after they left and saw Iris looking at him with her arms crossed.
"What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing." He answered laying his gloves on the desk as she walked behind him.
"Are you trying to make me as mad at you as I am at him?"
Barry shook his head apologetically.
"No. No. I'm sorry. I guess I don't fully understand why you're so upset at him." He told her honestly.
She stared at him for a moment and sighed. "Then maybe you shouldn't bring it up again."
Nodding, he relented. "Yeah."
After a moment Iris stepped forward. "But. . .how about we talk about last night?" She began carefully.
He nodded. "Okay."
"Barry I'm worried about you." She admitted.
He looked down, crossing his arms in front of his chest and leaning back against the desk.
"Yeah. Yeah I know, but you don't need to be worried. I'm fine, really."
"Really? Because it didn't seem like you were fine last night."
"I know. I know, Iris." He sighed. "I just I wasn't thinking clearly . . .With what happened to my dad and everything with Zoom. . . I guess I realized just how much I really miss Ella."
"We all do." Iris stated sadly.
Wanting to know more he looked to the side then back at Iris.
Sighing he spoke, knowing he would sound crazy. "Do you remember. . .why she left exactly?"
Staring at Barry with her mouth ajar she questioned him. "What?"
He hesitated at first , second thinking his choice to ask, but in the end he decided to continue.
"Do you remember why Ella left?"
Shaking her head at him she picked up her purse and started walking out. "You know, I think Caitlin needs to check you out. You're obviously not okay."
"What? Why?"
When she didn't answer, he jogged down the hall after her. "Iris!" He called.
Sighing she stopped and turned around to face him. "Barry, you know Ella left because she found out."
He blinked. "Found out?"
His friends face grew into a look of disbelief. "Yes, found out!"
"Found out what?"
"Found our that you were the Flash, Barry! That you. . .kept that kind of secret from her!" She exclaimed.
Barry stepped back in shock by her outburst and by the news. Looking down he blinked rapidly.
"But. . .but she came back. I-I went and found her. . . I convinced her to come back." He whispered.
Hearing him, Iris looked at her best friend in concern. "Barry you're scaring me. . .that never happened. You never went after her."
Realizing the sad truth, Barry looked down.
He heard Iris sigh. "Look, I understand that after. . .everything you may be regretting some decisions you've made in the past, but if you are, you really need to talk to your fiancé."
At this he looked at Iris in confusion, causing her to continue. "Patty your fiancé?" Silently. . .he looked at her in shock. "Remember? The girl you proposed to the other night?" She went on.
At that Barry realized that instead of asking Ella to marry him he had ended up asking Patty, who had obviously stayed in Central. It also meant that the night she had asked him to tell her the truth, he actually had.
Faking it, he nodding as if he had known. "Look, if you're just now realizing that you're still in love with Ella, then it's probably best that you find out now and not after you're married. At least now you still have time to talk with Patty."
Barry nodded. He would definitely have to talk to Patty.
And more importantly he had to get Ella back.