Alex and Barry arrived at STAR labs with everyone already there and waiting. They stood anxiously around, still not believing that the girl they had befriended was awake and moving. The six months had been hard, and they missed the girl, she had brought in a different kind of light that they didn't know they needed.
She brought a new perspective to the team, although it at times it was a dark one - it was a real one. She knew the world as it was: scary, unforgiving, and in no way close to perfect. Alex feared the world, just as everyone else needed to.
Fate had brought her to the team, something that she never believed in. Over time she knew that she was part of the team for a reason, one that she had no control over. However, this force wasn't a high power; it was a speedster. Alex never believed in fate and she never would.
"Alex!" As soon as she walked into the cortex she was tackled into a hoard of hugs. Cisco had been the first to step up to her, followed by Caitlin and Iris. Last was Joe, who she had taken the extra seconds to give him. In a way, she looked up to Joe like she had looked up to her own father many years ago.
"I can't believe you're finally awake," Iris grinned. Although the two were never close - and there were times that Alex had been jealous of her - she was glad that the team had finally been reconnected.
Before any more communication went on between the group, Caitlin immediately ushered Alex to get tests done to make sure that she was actually okay. Especially after what had happened in the city, they were all a little concerned that she wasn't back to her actual self. Caitlin had taken blood tests, scans, everything that Alex could imagine. Thankfully, every test showed that she was perfectly healthy.
Over the six months, her body had healed perfectly - assumable thanks to Barry's speed healing. The real question was, why did it take so long for her to wake up? Caitlin guessed it was psychosomatic, Alex had nearly died, her mind had to have been terrified to be able to wake again.
After the doctor had declared that she was healthy, they returned back to the cortex where everyone else was. Alex forced her way into Barry's side and reached up to kiss his cheek. Though it didn't feel like the six months had passed for her, she felt the sorrow that he had felt over the time, thereby gaining the same feeling of loneliness.
That was the pro and con of her powers. She was easily caught up on everything that she had missed during her time in the coma, but she had also felt the pain that she caused. Barry had been worried about her for so long and there was nothing that she could do to change that now.
Even though what she had done had saved so many lives, she wished that her fate would have ended differently. Six months of her life were gone and there was nothing that she could do to get them back. Six months that she caused this suffering for her friends because they were worried if she was ever going to wake back up.
They didn't deserve that. After everything that they had done, for her and the city. Her friends didn't deserve to be in any pain or have any worries. It wasn't fair to them, ever. Life continuously targeted them no matter how much good they tried to do.
Alex faced the rest of her friends and began explaining what she knew of in the past six months. There wasn't much to tell, in fact the only thing that there was to say was that she couldn't remember the accident, just from what she got from Barry's memories. She was missing quite a large gap even before the accident.
If the last thing that she remembered was capturing Wells and Barry making the choice to go back in time then she had missed the wormhole that he had created. She didn't remember Ronnie dying or the city nearly being destroyed. She only knew what Barry knew during that time.
"When you woke up you ran around the city spelling a word," Cisco spoke up after she was done telling her story. "Zoom. Mean anything to you?" Alex shook her head, she assumed that it was a name but didn't know anyone that went by it. The only thing that would make sense is a speedster.
Barry perked up at the name, it was the same word that Atom Smasher used just before his death. The name of the person that was trying to kill him. Before he could say anything, an unfamiliar voice had cut him off.
"It means something to me."
Immediately, the team rushed into protective mode. Joe raised his gun at the strange man while the two meta's stepped between the mystery man and the rest of the team. Alex's fists her tight at her side, she stood just barely in front of Barry, a subtle act that she wished to protect him. They had no idea who this man was, or what he wanted.
"Who the hell are you?" Barry snapped. All Alex wanted was a day that she could spend with her friends, trying to catch up on the time that she had missed, however as per usual, things never seemed to go her way. Even if she was missing a few memories, she was sure that she didn't remember this guy.
"You don't know me, but I know you," he paused for a moment, stepping into the light so that they could see his face. The man was handsome, but there was something off about him that made Alex weary - besides the fact that he seemed to know all of them. "Barry Allen."
"Take one more step and it'll be the last one you ever take," Alex nearly growled. She did not like the idea of someone waltzing into their lives. After the betrayal of Wells, none of them were accepting new applicants into their circle. "Who are you?"
"My name is Jay Garrick, and your world is in danger," his hands were raised in the air, though that didn't stop the team from being tense. "Please, just let me explain. I mean you no harm."
"How do you know my name," Barry asked. He slowly stepped in front of Alex, he had just gotten her back he wasn't about to lose her again after all this time. Her hand rested on the lower part of his back, a reminder that she was at his side. Jay noticed the small interaction while Joe noticed him looking. His gun was raised higher than before.
"I know all of your names Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon, Detective Joe West..." He trailed off as he looked at Alex. With the lack of name, it was obvious to the team that he wasn't aware of the girl in the room, or what her powers were. Barry cut him off, telling Jay that he needed to explain his presence. "This world is in danger."
Barry glanced back at his girlfriend - at least he assumed that was still the proper title to use, "Check the building, make sure there's no one else here," he instructed. Alex nodded and sped out of the room. She ran through every room in the building, including all around the pipeline - twice. She even ran outside the building and throughout the streets that surrounded the building. There was nothing.
She was gone for no more than five minutes checking every inch of STAR labs to make sure there was no threats in the building. A blast of wind notified the return of the speedster. She gave a single nod towards Barry, there was no one else in the building. Her head spun as she came to a stop. It had been a while since she used her powers - besides the day before.
Alex returned to the group as Jay was explaining why he hadn't shown himself in the six months that he had been on their Earth. He had a reasonable excuse, if any of them had been in his situation, they would try to gain as much knowledge as possible before showing themselves to a group strong like themselves.
"We're going to do some tests to make sure that you're telling the truth. Because if you're not, this Zoom, he's not going to be the only enemy you have," Barry threatened. He left the room with Alex trailing behind. They made it into the elevator when Alex had to stop to take a breath. Her head had been hurting after the run she took, unsure why, she didn't want to worry Barry. "You okay?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Alex nodded. She leaned against the wall of the elevator and took a deep breath. "Just don't think my body is used to high speeds again." They only went a few floors down, just to get some space so that they could talk in private away from Jay and the others. The elevator stopped on a floor that they stored many devices on.
"Are you sure you don't want to go back to the apartment? I can run you back there if you need a rest," Barry offered. She shook her head no, she needed to be there with the team, especially with this new guy showing up out of the blue.
"Speaking of my apartment, have you been living there?" Alex asked. She sat down on one of the empty tables that was in the room. Barry scratched the back of his head, he had been. It had helped with the nightmares that he got - and the fact that he missed her like crazy. "I knew it. That's why my sheets smelled like you when I woke up."
"I can move out if you want me to," Barry offered. He didn't want to force himself into her life in areas that she didn't necessarily want. Neither of them wanted to rush their relationship and regret things later on.
Alex shook her head at him. To be honest, she loved the idea of them living together. To be able to fall asleep next to him every night and wake up to him in the morning. That was all she wanted her whole life and she was going to savor that time for as long as she could.
Alexandra could see them living together - cooking meals together while Barry was being a goofball in hopes to see her beautiful smile, folding laundry but eventually giving up because neither of them cared enough to match their socks. Alex wanted the simple things in life, and she wanted to experience them with him.
"No," Alex grabbed his hand and pulled him so he stood between her legs. She looked up into his mesmerizing green eyes and took a moment to just get lost in them; it was something she would never get tired of. "I want you to stay."
A grin made its way into Barry's cheeks. His hands cupped Alex's face and he pulled her into a passionate kiss. Neither of them wanted that moment to end, because for once in their hectic lives, everything was perfect.
Alex rested her forehead against his chest, a small chuckle escaping her. Barry asked what's so funny. "We have a random person inside out building, I woke up from a six month coma with no memory and no control of my body, and all I can think about is how much I wanna spend my life with you."
"Wow, is the stone cold Alexandra Holt showing feelings for once?" Barry joked. She lightly punched his shoulder. It was true, she never expressed how she felt about Barry out loud. However, after missing half of a year of her life, she decided it was time to change that.
"Shut up," she whined. "I'm being serious, Bartholomew. I don't want to lose you. Not to this Zoom, not to some girl that's better to me, and not in the case that I do turn evil."
Barry's joking laugh cut off. Alex was scared, and it wasn't often that she showed it. She knew that the Reverse Flash was gone but she still was scared of his predicted future in the fact that she would one day switch sides.
It was a threat that they all feared because in reality if Alex turned evil, there was no way that anyone could stop her. She was too strong, and the team held too many emotions to her. No one could do what needed to be done if they lost her.
"You're not gonna lose me," Barry promised. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and rest his hand on the back of her neck. "Me and you are gonna be crime fighting partners until the end of our days. Nothing and no one is going to change our futures except ourselves."
Alexandra simply nodded. She couldn't form a string of words that she wished to say without shedding a tear. The future held so many cards for the both of them and they hoped that neither of them would have to fold them. Living life as a hero was dangerous, they knew that all too well.
Even the small scares that they got when fighting someone - meta or not - they always feared that one of them would get hurt. There were many cases in the past months that Barry had gotten hurt because he no longer had Alex to rely on. He wasn't going to tell her that though.
The two embraced each other, not wanting to let go in fear that they would lose each other. However, they knew that they needed to get back to the lab and try to figure out this whole more than one Earth ordeal that Jay insisted there was.
Hesitantly, both speedsters made their way back up to the lab where everyone else was looking over the board that Stein had drawn on. He drew one circle on the board, followed by many more. "This is our Earth, let's call it Earth-1, and this second Earth, let's call it Earth-2. That's where Jay claims he's from.
"And these other Earth's, three, four, five, to infinity, all of them are nearly identical to ours. And they all exist at the same time giving us endless alternatives to what we have here. For Example the Joe West on Earth-2 could be a Nobel Prize winning physicist. And you Barry Allen, the Flash, could be an electrician. Alexandra's doppelganger could be a baker."
"So I'm assuming that the people on all these other's Earths work to make money to pay bills and such," Joe asked. He usually didn't understand a lot of the science stuff that went on in that room, and he wasn't in that case either. "So we got that in common. I'm heading back to the station, call me when this makes a little bit more sense."
Alex herself was trying to wrap her head around the idea of a multiverse. She could understand the concept of multiple Earth's existing at the same time in the same place. It was a theory that had been going on for many years, one that no scientist was able to prove.
There wasn't technology as advanced as they needed to discover the truth. Not yet at least. The only way that the Earth's would be able to occupy the same space would have to be each of them occurring at a different wavelength so to say.
She couldn't help but think about what other versions there were of her out there. Was there a life that Alex got to live a happy life with her family? One where her father didn't pass? Where she had turned into the villain that she was meant to be? Or stay the hero she wished to be.
Was there a life that she never met Barry and the team? Or maybe one where Stein was right and she lived her life as a baker. There was endless possibilities out there and she was curious to see some of them.
For the time being, they still needed to find a way to detect where these breaches were and how they worked. Cisco and Stein would be working on it for the day and she figured she could give them a hand with it.
"Alex," Barry called out. Her head snapped in his direction, she hadn't realized that everyone had left the room and it was just the two of them remaining. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just trying to think of a way that this whole multiverse idea could be plausible," Alex grabbed his hand and the two walked back to meet where Caitlin was finishing her tests with Jay. She told the two that she had tried a lie detector test with him and he had passed it.
Barry still didn't trust the man, Alex couldn't blame him. Not after Wells. Alexandra glanced at Barry before moving towards Jay. He quickly picked up on what she was trying to do and intently watched. She stuck her hand out for him to shake, "We never properly met I suppose, my name is Alex."
Jay hesitated before shaking her hand, "Nice to meet you, Alex." As their arms fell back to their sides, Alex tried to shift into the man. If he was hiding something, they would have quickly discovered it that way. However, as soon as he tried nothing had worked.
Alex subtly shook her head at Barry. His jaw tightened, if her powers didn't work on him then he was definitely hiding something. The meta's decided that the best place to put him was a cell in the pipeline until they could figure out who he really was.
"I hope you understand why we have to do this," Barry apologized as the cell door closed behind Jay. Though he didn't trust the man, he didn't want him to suffer in the small space. Alex knew all to well that being stuck in there was not fun.
"I get it kid," Jay raised his arms in defense. "You're doing what you think you have to, but you'll all soon realize that these tests are unnecessary. I want to help you guys, not harm you."
"You're not the first person that's said that to me," Barry chided. After the betrayal of Wells, he had a hard time being able to trust anyone. Especially those who offered to help him. Alex wished to grab his hand to comfort him, but Jay didn't need to know about their relationship.
Alex couldn't understand why she couldn't use her powers on him. He had no bracelet or any other piece of tech that would provide the same protection. There was something different about him and she assumed that it had to do with the fact that he was from a different Earth.
"If what you told me about Zoom is true, that he sent Rothstein here to kill you, instead of locking me up in here you better start listening. Because if Zoom is involved, you're gonna need a lot more than just me at your side to stay alive."
The two left the cell that he was in. "Your powers didn't work on him," Barry stated. Alex nodded, it was bothering her more than it was bothering him. They needed her powers to be able to tell if he was lying or not. Although everything that they had put him through seemed to show that he was telling the truth, neither of them wanted to believe it.
"They did not," Alex confirmed. She stopped walking down the hall to face him. They had no explanation as to why they didn't work. "What did I say to you when I woke up from my coma?"
"Don't worry about it," Barry shook his head. Alex gave him a hard look, she wasn't going to cave that easily, he should have known that. "We're doomed, Flash."
That's what she feared he would say. As it seemed, they always faced some sort of fate that would destroy the world or themselves. Ronnie had already given his life to the hero life, they didn't want to see another life fall the same way.
Whatever Alex had seen before waking, it obviously didn't end well. "That's comforting, isn't it?"
"Do you expect anything else from us?" Barry grinned, despite the underlying threat that they had. He seemed to not worry about what she had said, though her behavior made Alex worried. She didn't understand why she had done it, but there had to be a reason.
"At this point, a shark could walk into the cortex and I wouldn't be surprised."