"I don't feel safe with him." Caitlin admits. "Not the way I do with you."

Jay takes a step toward her. "I told you, Cait. I warned you."

"I know." Caitlin sighs. "But Jay...I can't live this way anymore. I can't keep pretending to be the person they want me to be. They had me so convinced...I didn't even realize I was pretending."

"Why come back now?" Jay asks skeptically.

"I was so distracted, trying to rest from how hard I was trying to resist you. But I can't anymore." Caitlin steps forward. "Hunter..." She breathes out, looking longingly at him. He flinches back, surprised by her use of his real name. "I don't know what the outcome will be today. But before it's decided, I wanted you to know that I choose you. I need you."

"And Barry?" He asks, stepping toward her.

She takes a deep breath. "Will never be enough."

*********************

Three hours earlier...

"He wants to race you?" Harry asks. Barry nods.

The group has gathered in the cortex the morning after Jay made his offer.

"It makes a kinda sense." Cisco admits. "He just wants to be faster than you."

"He needs to be the best." Caitlin reminds them. "Question is, what will he do if he loses?"

"When." Barry snaps.

"When, sorry." Caitlin corrects quickly, throwing her hands up.

"I don't think it's that simple." Harry cuts in. The rest of them turn to him. "Ramon's...vision."

"Vibe." Cisco corrects.

"Vibe. Whatever." Harry rolls his eyes. "About Earth 2...I didn't think of it much until he said something but, when Mercury Labs collapsed, Dr. McGee said something had been taken before the labs went down."

"What was it?" Caitlin asks.

"A magnetar."

Caitlin and Cisco both swallow and sigh, slumping in their chairs. No one speaks.

"I'm assuming we're not talking about the dinosaur from Rugrats." Iris cuts in, hoping to diffuse the tension.

Harry rolls his eyes, but she can see a small smirk on Cisco's face. Everyone is still silent.

"Someone better tell me what this magnetar is or my mind is gonna run wild." Joe snaps.

"Let it. It can't be worse." Cisco mumbles. "A magnetar is a power amplifier. With enough power..."

"Say from the electricity generated from two speedsters." Harry adds in.

Cisco nods. "It could destroy an entire planet. Entire universe."

"Multiple." Caitlin says quietly. They all turn to her. "He said he was going to start measuring his success by the number of earths he conquered."

"When did he say this?" Harry asks.

"The day he brought me back to this earth. Before he took over CCPD."

"He doesn't want to just take over this earth." Harry sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So, what do we do?" Joe cuts in. "How do we stop him?"

"I race him." Barry finally speaks up.

"Were you listening to anything we just said, Allen?" Harry groans.

"Yeah. I have to race him." Barry adds. "And I have to win."

Barry turns and walks out of the room.

"We can't let him race." Joe sighs, turning to face the rest of the room.

"Why not?" Caitlin asks. "There is no other way this ends. Jay is going to find a way to power that thing. If Barry races him, at least we have some control over it."

"Control?" Joe says. "Barry doesn't have control over anything right now. He's not thinking straight. That man just killed his father. The only thing he is thinking about is beating him."

"Isn't that good?" Cisco hesitantly asks.

"No." Joe and Harry both scold.

"Allen can't race him. Once the magnetar is powered, it won't matter who wins the race. Zoom will have won. Then he'll kill Barry. Followed by all of us."

"And that's gonna happen anyway if we leave Zoom to figure out an alternative on his own." Caitlin argues. "It'll just give us longer to sit here and act like we aren't out of options."

"What if we aren't?" Iris asks. "Surely we have other ideas."

"We had a plan to trick Zoom once." Harry reminds them.

"And it failed miserably." Caitlin reminds him.

"Because he didn't show up." Harry argues.

"What was the plan?" Jessie asks.

"We lure Zoom to a specific spot, at the time it was by faking the Flash's death, while Harry and I hide out with a tranq gun and meta cuff." Joe tells them.

"Why didn't it work?" Eddie asks.

"Zoom didn't show."

"Which in hind-sight is because he already knew the plan." Harry says. "This time he won't."

"And he'd never expect us to reuse a plan." Cisco says sarcastically.

"What other choice do we have?" Iris asks Cisco and Caitlin, annoyed.

"Let him race." They both say.

"No. He is gonna go out there with one thing on his mind. Winning. Maybe even killing Zoom. He'll never win if he's in that mindset. Barry can't do this. We will lose him." Joe says firmly. "We're getting him ourselves."

"So how do we lure him in this time?" Jessie asks.

They all sit silently, everyone but Cisco and Caitlin, trying to think of a way to lure Zoom.

"Caitlin." Iris speaks up. "Caitlin can lure him."

"What?" Harry, Cisco, and Caitlin all snap.

"He has a soft spot for you. He'd let his guard down long enough for dad and Harry to get him."

"Yeah. And I'll just scurry off real quick when he decides to snap my neck." Caitlin scoffs. "No. No way."

"It won't be you." Iris says. "It'll just look like you."

"Hannibal is dead." Cisco reminds her.

"A hologram." Caitlin says, looking at Iris. "You want to send in a hologram." Iris nods. Caitlin sighs. "Never should've introduced her to holograms." She groans.

"Caitlin lures him in. Harry and I hide to tranq and cuff him. Cisco...can you still open breaches?" Cisco reluctantly nods. "Then we shoot him into a breach back to Earth 2."

"Solid. No holes. Great." Cisco scoffs.

"It'll work." Joe assures him. "And once it does, we never open another breach to Earth 2. No matter what happens." Joe says, eyeing them all. They all nod, Cisco and Caitlin aside.

"He won't allow it." Caitlin reminds them. "Barry won't let us do this without him."

"Well...Barry may be the Flash, but he isn't in charge of this team." Joe argues. "He won't win. Not in the headspace he's in."

"How do you even know what headspace he's in?" Caitlin snaps.

"Because I'm his...I raised that boy." Joe argues. "If you want proof, then fine." Joe storms out of the cortex.

"This will work." Iris assures Caitlin as she follows her dad out of the cortex.

Harry looks at the two of them and leaves the room, neither of them noticing him taking a tranq gun.

"They're in the pipeline." Cisco says, pointing to the camera feed to the pipeline where Joe and Barry are now talking.

They turn on the sound just as Barry finishes shouting something they can't quite make out.

Joe flinches back. "You wanna kill him." Joe says in realization.

"Of course I wanna kill him Joe!" Barry shouts, his voice cracking. "He killed my dad." Barry runs his hands through his hair. "I have to race him. I have to. I have to win."

"No." Joe says. "Not like this, you won't."

Caitlin gasps when she sees Barry drop to his knees, a dart sticking out of his back. Her and Cisco run down to the cortex, Jessie and Eddie following close behind.

"What the hell was that?" Caitlin snaps at Harry as she runs into the cortex to see Joe, Iris and Harry moving Barry into a cell.

"Your proof." Joe says. "Harry, can you and Cisco get everything set up?"

Harry nods. "C'mon Ramon."

Cisco reluctantly follows Harry out. Caitlin's jaw is clenched.

"This is for the best." Joe says, patting Caitlin on the shoulder before walking out.

She is left alone with Barry. She sits next to the cell, looking at Barry lying unconscious.

"I'm sorry, Bar." She whispers.

Caitlin sits there in silence for two hours, waiting for the tranq dart to wear off. Harry and Cisco walk in.

"It's all ready." Harry informs her.

"Great." Caitlin mumbles.

Cisco slumps to sit next to her. "I don't think we should do this."

"I don't either." She says quietly, looking harshly up at Harry.

"Then why are we?"

"Because...can you honestly look at Joe and tell him that we know what's best for Barry?" Caitlin asks. "More than he does?"

Cisco sighs.

Joe, Eddie, Jessie, and Iris all walk in.

"Ready?" Joe asks. Harry nods.

Caitlin and Cisco stand up to walk out of the room.

"What's going on?"

The two turn around to see Barry waking up and standing in the cell, staring at them.

"What are you doing?" He asks, now angry.

"We're not letting you race Zoom." Joe informs him.

"What?" Barry snaps.

"You're not thinking straight, Bar." Joe argues. "You're gonna get yourself killed."

"All of us will be killed if you don't let me race."

"No. We have another way." Iris speaks up.

Barry scoffs.

"We're gonna do this, Bar. Without you." Joe says firmly. "I'm sorry, but this is what we agreed on."

"You all agreed on this?" Barry asks, looking to Caitlin and Cisco who are avoiding eye contact.

"Yes." Joe says before they can say anything. "I'm sorry, Bar, but this is what we're doing."

Everyone walks out, leaving Caitlin and Cisco in the back of the pipeline.

"You guys agreed to this?" Barry asks, sounding hurt.

"No." They both admit.

"Then why are you doing this?" He begs.

"We were outnumbered." Cisco sighs.

"By them?" Barry scoffs. "What does that matter?"

"Barry, they know you better. Joe and Iris at least. We...we may be biased."

"No." Barry snaps. "We're team Flash. Us three. They don't know anything." Barry argues.

Caitlin and Cisco look at each other.

"Don't do this." Barry begs softly. Caitlin turns to him and walks up to the cell.

"I'm sorry." She whispers.

"Cait, please."

"Snow!" Harry calls from the entrance to the pipeline. "You're up."

"Up?" Barry asks quickly. He turns to Caitlin in panic. "Cait, what are you doing?"

"I'll be fine." She assures him with a weak smile.

Cisco closes the door to the pipeline as Barry continues to shout things, but they can't make them out. Caitlin and Cisco follow Harry out.

"Ready?" Iris asks Caitlin when she gets to the cortex. Caitlin doesn't answer. "What are you gonna say?"

"I don't know." Caitlin admits.

"You will." Iris assures her. "Just...tell him what he wants to hear. Keep him distracted."

Caitlin nods, her eyes unfocused.

"And we agree...no matter what...breach stays closed?" Joe asks again.

They all nod. Caitlin doesn't. She stays unfocused and walks into her lab.

"She'll be fine." Joe assures them.

"Wishful thinking won't make it true." Harry says. "I agree that we need to do this, but don't assume we aren't asking a lot of her right now."

Harry walks into Caitlin's lab in time to see her toss a pill bottle into a drawer.

"Snow...you alright?"

"Yeah." She says flatly, walking over to the sink. He can't quite make out what she's doing.

"Everyone would understand if you didn't want to go through with this."

She turns and walks back toward him. "Let's go."

**************************

"You gonna be okay?" Cisco asks Caitlin as he finishes hooking her up for the hologram.

Caitlin nods, giving him an unconvincing smile.

"She's gonna do great." Iris assures them.

Iris and Caitlin are in a van next to the lot where Cisco tracked Zoom. Harry and Joe are hiding with their guns. Cisco is going to go up on a roof and wait for the moment to open a breach. Caitlin takes a deep breath.

"Ready?" Iris asks.

Caitlin nods. "Ready."

Iris flips a switch and Caitlin's hologram appears outside the van. She walks over to the center of the lot. She tries to steady her shaking hand. She looks around, acting like she's looking for him, but standing in the spot they need him to be lured to. When Jay appears in front of her, she straightens her face from fear to relief.

"Jay." She breathes out.

"What are you doing here?" Jay asks harshly.

"I had to find you. Talk to you before you do this."

"Risky move coming out here." Jay says, his voice wavering.

"Not as risky as staying with him." Caitlin admits. Jay's face softens. "I don't feel safe with him." Caitlin admits. "Not the way I do with you."

Jay takes a step toward her. "I told you, Cait. I warned you."

"I know." Caitlin sighs. "But Jay...I can't live this way anymore. I can't keep pretending to be the person they want me to be. They had me so convinced...I didn't even realize I was pretending."

"Why come back now?" Jay asks skeptically.

"I was so distracted, trying to rest from how hard I was trying to resist you. But I can't anymore." Caitlin steps forward. "Hunter..." She breathes out, looking longingly at him. He flinches back, surprised by her use of his real name. "I don't know what the outcome will be today. But before it's decided, I wanted you to know that I choose you. I need you."

"And Barry?" He asks, stepping toward her.

She takes a deep breath. "Will never be enough."

He smiles, stepping to stand just in front of her. "I've wanted to hear you say that from the day I met you."

Caitlin smiles softly at him. "I'm sorry it took me so long."

"Me too." Jay says. "Because now it's too late." He thrusts his hand through her chest.

Back in the van, Caitlin gasps and steps back, holding her hand over her chest. Iris jumps out of her seat to help her. Caitlin is gasping for breath.

"You're okay." Iris assures her.

Caitlin holds onto Iris's arms and they walk over to the screens to see what's happening. Caitlin's hologram has flickered out and Jay is cuffed, a breach open behind him. Joe should be shooting him with a tranq dark to knock him into the breach any second now. Any second now.

"Where is he?" Iris asks.

The two run out of the van to see Joe running toward Jay, tackling him into the breach.

"Dad, no!" Iris yells, running after him.

Caitlin grabs her and pulls her back. The breach closes. Harry and Cisco walk out.

"What do we do?" Cisco asks.

There is no answer.

"Nothing." Iris says, her eyes pained, but staring at the spot where the breach was. "We promised. It stays closed."

Harry, Caitlin, Cisco, and Iris drive back to S.T.A.R. Labs and see Wally pacing the room.

"What happened?" He asks in a panic. They all look at each other. "You all went after Zoom without telling me? What the hell happened?"

Caitlin slumps in a chair, the urge to shout 'I told you so' almost unbearable, if it wasn't for the fact that the person she wants to say it to was currently stuck on Earth 2 with Zoom.

"Dad went into the breach with Zoom." Iris finally answers.

"What?" Wally shouts. "We have to get him back. Where's Barry?"

"He's in the pipeline. He wasn't ready to do this, Wally." Iris defends. "And we all agreed that once Zoom was on the other side of that breach, we wouldn't open it again."

"We didn't all agree." Wally argues. "I didn't agree."

"Wal." Iris sighs.

"You're just gonna let him sit over there...with that...that...demon?" Wally asks harshly. "You have no idea what it's like over there."

Iris doesn't say anything. Wally scoffs and storms out of the cortex. Caitlin follows him out.

"Not now, Snow." Wally snaps.

"Wally." Caitlin snaps back. He sighs and turns to face her.

"You're fine with leaving him there?" Wally snaps. "You agreed to this?"

"Wally, I'm not gonna say I didn't agree to this because whether I did or not, I let it happen." She says. He scoffs. "I'm also not gonna say that Barry didn't agree. I'm not gonna say that the only way to get Joe back would be to let Barry out. I'm not gonna tell you that the big red button under the control panel case will open the door, and the green one will open the cell."

Wally catches on and smirks. "Thanks, Snow." He runs off down the hall.

Caitlin walks into the cortex, sitting back down in her chair. Harry looks at her. She avoids eye contact and crosses her arms. Harry doesn't have much time to question her. By the time he gets over to her, Barry runs into the room.

"What did you do?" Harry asks her quietly. She doesn't answer.

"You let him take Joe?" Barry shouts when he runs in.

"Barry, we all agreed to leave the breach closed." Iris says.

"I didn't agree!" He reminds her. "We're not leaving him over there." Barry argues. "I'm racing Zoom. We're getting him back."

"Allen." Harry sighs.

"No." Barry snaps. "We tried this your way."

Cisco and Caitlin smile at each other.

"Cisco." Barry turns to them. "Can you vibe Zoom?"

Cisco walks over to Barry. "You sure about this?" Barry nods. "Okay." Cisco puts his hand on Barry's shoulder and closes his eyes.

Their surroundings become dark and hazy. Sparks of blue lightning surround them. They see Zoom standing in his lair, Joe in the same cell Wally and Jessie were in. Zoom turns to look at them.

"I'll do it." Barry says. "I'll race you."