Caitlin is sitting in her lab with Jessie who is seated on the bed. She's spent the rest of the night and into the morning running tests, giving her fluids, and some vitamin shots. Cisco ran to get her food and she's been talking to Caitlin about what happened so Caitlin can make sure that, at least physically, she'll be okay.

Jessie sits in bed eating a big breakfast that Cisco got, and a vegetable smoothie that Caitlin demanded to give her some nutrition. Caitlin, her face focused and cold, walks out of her lab to see Harry standing by the door frame. He steps in front of her.

"She's gonna be okay." Caitlin assures him, giving him a weak smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "She needs a shower and some sleep. Other than that, I'll keep an eye on her, but she'll be fine."

Jessie finishes her meal and goes off to the guest quarters to shower and go to bed.

The rest of Team Flash - Joe, Caitlin, Harry, Cisco, and Barry - join in the cortex.

"How did we miss this?" Barry says in a cold whisper. "How did we miss this again?" He says louder, slamming his fist on the desk.

No one answers.

"Are we sure?" Cisco speaks up. "I mean is all we have to go on a name?"

"Jay's story about how he got his powers...it matched Barry's to a T. We knew he was researching us before he got here, we should've suspected something then." Caitlin says. "Him still not having caught Zoom even after two years. Not wanting us to trust Harry."

"We did suspect him." Cisco points out.

"Not enough." Barry spits.

"But he helped us." Cisco says. "Why? He was trying to help us defeat Zoom."

"Was he?" Caitlin asks. "Only thing I really remember him helping us with is trying to make Barry faster."

"To stop Zoom." Cisco cuts in.

"To steal." Harry speaks up. "He wanted Barry to get faster so he could steal his speed."

"You can't steal speed." Cisco scoffs.

"I did." Harry says. "The speed force is a physical thing. It can be harnessed. Given. Taken."

"So he never planned on killing me that night?" Barry asks.

"No." Harry answers. "He just wanted to motivate you to go faster."

"But Jay was helping us when Zoom was here. Jay was stuck here when Zoom was supposedly sending over breachers to kill Barry." Joe points out. "Hell, you said you've seen Zoom and Jay as the Flash fighting."

"Remnant." Harry says. "When has there ever been two Barry's in one place?"

"When I've time traveled." Barry answers.

"Exactly."

"I still don't understand." Joe says.

Harry sighs. "If Zoom brought a copy of himself back from time traveling, he could be in two places at once."

"Why don't we ever do that?" Joe asks.

"Because time remnants cannot stay. They disrupt the timeline too much. At some point, one will have to die. Though I'm sure Zoom has no problem killing his own time remnant." Harry informs him. He sighs. "He had this all planned from the beginning."

The group is silent for a few moments, none making eye contact with each other. Barry stands and storms out. Caitlin turns but doesn't move to stop him. She knows he needs time. Needs to let this out. All of them do.

"We can't leave him over there." Caitlin speaks up.

"Who?" Joe asks.

"Zoom."

"Oh?" Harry says. "And what do you suggest we do?"

"That's your earth, Harry. He will tear it apart if he doesn't already plan to find a way back over here."

"That's their problem." He snaps. "He's gone. No more Zoom. No more breachers."

"We don't run away from problems." Caitlin scolds. "We don't put them on someone else. I know you wanted your daughter back. She's back. So, you're done?"

"Yeah. I am. I almost lost everything to him. I'm not risking it again."

"So, you're just going to let all of those people continue to suffer?" Harry keeps a cold look on her. Caitlin lets out a dark chuckle and shakes her head. She turns to Joe and Cisco. "Iris and Barry on that earth. They helped us. He will go after them. My doppelganger helped you. They are all in danger. Not to mention the rest of the town that now not only is lacking a 'hero' to keep Zoom at bay but also the man who knows more about him and metas than anyone on that earth."

"We need to figure out our move before we do anything else." Joe says. Caitlin nods. "But you're right...we don't hide problems. We face them."

Harry stands up and walks out of the room.

"Breakfast?" Joe asks.

Caitlin and Cisco nod and the three head to his house to cook breakfast. When they get there, they see Barry sitting at the dining table. They all sit and eat without any conversation. After Caitlin and Cisco finish doing the dishes they come back to sit down.

"So, what do we know about this Zolomon?" Joe asks.

"Serial killer." Barry spits.

Caitlin looks at him and looks back at Joe. "His dad had a drinking problem. Abused him and his mom. When he was eleven his dad killed his mom right in front of him. He went to an orphanage, grew up in the foster care system." Joe is nodding, having heard many of the same stories from people who came through his precinct. "Convicted of 23 counts of murder."

"Damn." Joe breathes out.

"That's some real Hannibal Lecter type shit." Cisco says.

"He was given electroshock therapy for years to...'rid him of his homicidal urges'" Caitlin says, sounding bitter. "The night of the accelerator explosion he was scheduled for therapy."

"So, he was strapped to an electric chair when he was affected?" Joe asks. Caitlin nods.

"They never found a body. They assumed that the chair mixed with the explosion killed him." Caitlin tells him.

"So, we're dealing with a serial killer with a dark childhood, years of pent up anger and resentment toward the system." Joe clarifies. "Did I miss anything?"

"History suggests a need to be the best, prove himself. Insecurity resulting from years of abuse leading to a possessive personality and most likely he feels entitled. To his powers. To more speed. To the 'respect' he thinks he's getting from people in the form of fear."

"Fear and respect are completely different." Barry spits.

"Not to someone who had an abusive parent." Caitlin corrects. "We've dealt with criminals before, but not ones with this much psychological baggage."

"I mean James Jesse certainly wasn't working with a full deck." Joe says.

"Different though. He's like James Jesse adjacent. Jesse did it for fun. Take away the fun, take away the crime. Zolomon...he thinks he deserves this. The world owes it to him and if it doesn't give it willingly, he's going to take it."

"I need to be faster." Barry says darkly under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Joe says. "Were you paying any attention to anything Harry said. Zoom wants you to be faster."

"Yeah. Because he thinks we can't beat him. But we can. If I'm faster. And now we know who he is. He's been one step ahead of us this whole time. Knew all about us. Now we know him. We know his weaknesses, his motives. That's enough."

"Barry we've been trying to find a way to make you faster for months." Cisco whines. "Nothing. That serum. Nope. Jet pack. Rejected. Weight training. You refused."

Barry sighs. "I don't have time. We need something quick."

Caitlin looks at everyone at the table, then down at the wood. "There's someone else who wanted Barry to get faster. Someone who was smart enough to do it too."

Barry looks up at her. "Thawne." He breathes out.

"Okay well we didn't ask him while he was here how to do that, so we're a little shit out of luck there." Joe scoffs.

Caitlin and Barry are staring at each other.

Cisco looks at them . "We could summon him. I've got a Ouija board." He offers. His eyes widen. "No."

"What?" Joe says, confused about his change of tone.

"Last year...future Barry, one year in the future, came back. He never told us why, but he spent all day with Wells." Caitlin tells Joe.

"I need to go back." Barry says. Caitlin nods.

"For timeline continuity or..." Cisco asks.

"To ask him for help." Barry answers.

"Thawne?" Joe cuts in. "You're gonna ask Thawne for help?"

"He's the only other person that would know how to make me faster. He knows about me. About the speed force."

"And we don't? Caitlin and Cisco have done almost nothing but study you and your powers for almost two years. Harry is an expert on metas. They know plenty." Joe argues.

"Not as much as him." Caitlin says softly. "Not even close."

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

"This plan is stupid." Harry says dryly.

"How can it be stupid if we've already done it?" Cisco argues.

Harry scoffs. "It was stupid the first time you did it too."

"Wait if it already happened, then would something change if we didn't do it? Cuz the past would change since Barry isn't going back?"

"You're already on one timeline. It might change another one, but yours is already altered from other Barry traveling back."

"So...we're not the originals?" Cisco asks, his eyes wide and slightly offended.

"No, what?" Harry asks, now confused. "There are no originals. You're just...different from another timeline. Same way the Thawne you all saw was different."

Cisco narrows his eyes. "I don't know who I am." He whispers as he goes to sit and spin in his chair.

"That Barry didn't want us to find out. He was upset when we did. But shouldn't our Barry be trying to make things go the same way as they did this time around?" Caitlin asks. "So, at some point, he wants us to find out. The same way we did."

"Barry shouldn't do this at all." Harry says. Caitlin rolls her eyes. "But yes, he should try to make things go the exact same way they did with you guys."

"So, we want the things that went wrong to go wrong again?" Caitlin asks. Harry nods. "So do I purposely make a tranq dart that will only last a couple of hours or do I try to make one that will last the amount of time I wanted the first time and assume it will fail like the other Caitlin's did?"

"And what if that wraith thing doesn't show up this time?" Cisco asks. "Then we wouldn't have a reason to get help from Hartley and let him go."

"And we still need to figure out a way to stop the wraith. It'll come back with him, won't it?" Caitlin points out.

"Oh, this is confusing." Cisco groans. "We got a one-year extension on stopping a monster and I still waited until the day before to figure it out. This is just like college all over again."

"We need to call Hartley." Caitlin suggests. Cisco groans louder and buries his head in his arms on the desk.

"This isn't gonna work." Barry announces as he walks in. They all turn to look at him. "When I was gonna go back in time to save my mom, Thawne told me that I would see my younger self and my older self that traveled back. So, if I go back to the day we met future Barry-"

"He's still gonna be there." Caitlin sighs. "There'll be three Barry's."

"But we don't know what that Barry found out. We need that." Cisco argues. "What if you go back toward the end of the day? Ask that Barry what he found out before he goes back."

"Or kill him." All three of them turn to look at Harry who said that with a straight face. "He'll be a time remnant. Neither past you nor future you. He's a left over." All of them are staring wide-eyed at him. "Just offering suggestions."

"I prefer Cisco's plan." Barry says, staring disapprovingly at Harry before turning to Cisco and Caitlin. "Were there any points when I was alone with Wells or by myself?" Barry asks.

"You went to CCPD by yourself when you got back from fighting Hartley. Then you and Wells went and worked on something. Never specified what. But you were gone for a couple of hours when you did that. It was right before that wraith attacked us."

"Then again after that." Cisco adds in. "After you woke up from the tranq dart and ran in, future Barry and Wells went off by themselves again before he ran home."

"That's when I should go." Barry cuts in. "That gives other future me less time to change anything and he's most likely to have gotten the information by then."

"Do we still need to be ready for the wraith?" Cisco asks. "I mean if it's following that other Barry back, won't it leave you alone?"

"Definitely not." Harry cuts in. "Think going back once pissed them off? Going back to the same time again is really gonna piss them off. There'll be another one. "

Caitlin turns and looks at Cisco. He groans and stands up. "I'll go talk to Hartley."

Cisco returns an hour later with Hartley's gauntlets and the frequency Hartley thinks will destroy the wraith. Caitlin and Harry figured out the time and place Barry needs to go back to. Barry is set up down in the accelerator. Caitlin and Cisco have the gauntlets ready to go. Barry takes off.

In just a few seconds he disappears into a time portal and one minute later he appears in the cortex, out of breath.

"It's right behind me." He says in a panic. Cisco lifts the gauntlets and as the wraith appears in the cortex, he shoots a sound wave at it that should stop it. It doesn't.

Cisco starts whacking the gauntlets on the table and tries again, failing again. The wraith has tackled Barry to the ground. Harry grabs the gauntlets from Cisco's hands and fiddles with the frequency, aiming them at the wraith. The wraith is pushed back off Barry and with one more wave from Harry, it appears to poof out of existence. Barry gets to his feet, breathing heavy and brushing himself off.

"Did you get it?" Cisco asks.

A smirk appears on Barry's face. He holds up a flash drive. "Got it."

A/N: (long one, sorry)

Nothing about the show made sense when they went to Earth 2 to me. Barry completely losing his focus when he meets Earth 2 Iris and blowing off saving someone's daughter from being tortured just to have a fancy dinner. No. That was dumb. Just seemed like a reason for Iris to pull some 'destiny' crap later. And why wasn't Zoom ever at his lair while Cisco and Harry were trying to rescue them. He had no reason to be in town really. So, I tried to give a reason for him not being around. The rescue just seemed too easy in the show. Barry and Iris seemed unnecessary during the rescue, so I gave them something else to do, and I'm trying to slowly work Iris into the Team Flash loop.

Started writing this chapter as if it would just be pretty much a copy of that day in the first book, but then I remembered him going back to his mom dying and there being like four Barry's at one point so it would've been different right?

What are y'all's opinions on Jessie? I liked her, but I'm not sure how much she was relevant during this season. The like tiny Wally-Jessie romance seemed forced and opportunistic to me, but I like a friendship between them. Do you want to see her involved a lot in the planning and day-to-day stuff? Should her and Harry have their big fights? I kinda thought she was a brat during this season, not so much later, but I might make her a little less 'how dare you take me away from my home to save my life from the man who kidnapped and tortured me for months'. She'll definitely be in the next books as she gets more...relevant? Anyway, opinions on her and how much of her you want to see in this book?

Peace and Love! -Ali