Cisco shrieks when Iris turns the lights on. He turns and sees her standing by the switch. "I hate coming down to the morgue." Cisco groans.

"Why do you guys even have a morgue?" Iris asks, accusingly.

"Some of the scientists here used cadavers. I think Caitlin did a few times. And after all this, Wells uh...he did some work down here."

"You never questioned what he was doing?" Iris asks, holding up a long metal probe.

"Didn't have a reason to at the time." Cisco defends.

"So, what are we looking for?" Iris asks.

"Caitlin digitized all the notes on Barry's recovery. There should be a drive around here somewhere. It'll help Henry know what's going on with Jessie."

Iris and Cisco start filtering through boxes. There is a constant knocking sound, but each of them assumes it's the other knocking things over. A loud knock finally gets their attention.

"Would you stop bumping into things." Iris asks. "It's creepy enough down here."

"That wasn't me." Cisco says flatly, still scanning the area in front of him. "Got it!" He says proudly, holding up a drive.

A deafening crack and thud make both of them jump and look to the wall with the containers. A large metal door starts to fall, crashing to the ground.

Tony, also known as Girder, the ex-bully of Barry who can turn into metal, who died after mysteriously escaping during the blackout caused by Farooq Gibran and was later discovered to have been let out by Wells during the attempts to get Barry's speed back to act as a distraction, is, to Cisco and Iris's unpleasant surprise, standing, not dead, in the doorway.

"Zombie Girder." Cisco whispers to himself. "Awesome."

Girder shouts in a way that almost sounds like a growl. He starts stalking forward, his body remaining in its metal state. Each step puts a dent in the thick metal door.

"Not awesome." Cisco squeals before pulling Iris back to run out of the room with him.

They get out of the morgue while Girder follows slowly behind them. When he gets to the hallway, he sees a large windowed wall. He crashes through it, stepping outside.

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

Barry wakes up and stretches, feeling his feet leave the end of his bed. He opens his eyes and sees a room that feels more like a memory. He looks around at his childhood bedroom. His fish tank to the left. His telescope and solar system to the right. He stands, walking past his bookshelf of toys and wall of posters. He examines the tops of his dresser, the book, the dinosaur, the robot. He turns to walk out the door, dodging the basketball hoop attached to it.

He takes a few deep breaths and smiles as he walks down the familiar steps to the living room. He runs his hand along the old wooden bannister. He lets out a sigh of relief at the comfort that washes over him when he reaches the bottom and sees the untouched living room. He steps over and as the adjacent room comes into view, he sees a loose piece of tape blowing. He walks closer and sees the room taped off. Joe, kneeling and taking notes in the middle of it.

"Joe?" Barry asks softly.

Joe turns and smiles widely at him. "Good to see you, Barry." He tilts his head. "But I'm not Joe."

Barry looks at him confused. "None of this...none of this is real?"

Joe shakes his head, keeping a warm smile. "How does it feel? Being back here?"

"I feel awful." Barry mutters out, his eyes watering from the memories of the house.

"We thought this appearance, this house, might make you more comfortable." Joe explains.

"We?"

Joe smiles and nods to the table behind Barry. "Sit." His face is stern.

Barry hesitates but slowly lowers himself to sit on the table.

"What do you know about the speed force?" Joe asks.

Barry shakes his head, admittedly not knowing much. "It's the source of my power. It's the thing that made me a speedster."

"Yes and no." Joe says, nodding. "We were there. When the universe was created. And when it ends, we will be there too."

"I'm talking to the speed force?" Barry asks, not fully believing it. Joe nods. "Isn't that like saying I'm talking to gravity or light?"

Joe chuckles and nods.

Barry takes a deep breath and stands, looking distressed.

"You need a minute?" Joe asks. "It's okay if you do."

"So, I'm talking to...the speed force. The source of my powers. Which just happens to look...like my adoptive dad?" Joe nods. "That's trippy."

Joe laughs.

"Look, I don't know why you brought me here, but you need to send me back." Barry explains, his patience wearing thin now that he knows he's not dead. "My family is in danger."

The lights in the room start to flicker, but when he looks around, he notices that the lights outside appear to be flickering too, as if the sun is threatening to go out. He sees a shadow speed by.

"What was that?" Barry asks.

Joe doesn't answer. Barry turns to him with a nervous and confused expression.

"You can't go back." Joe says firmly. "Until you catch that." He points to the shadow that runs by the window again.

Barry runs out the front door and watches the shadow race down the street. He takes a deep breath and runs off after it.

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

"My friends...you have been held back for too long, but our brothers and sisters on this earth have been scared into hiding." Zoom preaches, from the balcony, to a crowd of Earth 2 metas in the main lobby of CCPD. "Bring them out. The others think they own this earth. Tomorrow night, we show them they're wrong."

Zoom runs into Barry's lab where he's moved Caitlin. She is sitting, knees hugged to her chest, chin rested on her knees, staring off into space. Her wrists are still chained to a nearby desk.

Jay walks up to sit in front of her. "Cait, I want you to know you're on the right side of this. You're safe here with me."

She doesn't move or look at him. The expression on her face stays blank.

"You're gonna see what we can do. When you're ready, you'll understand." He leans forward and kisses her forehead.

Caitlin doesn't move. She doesn't even acknowledge that she realized he was there. When he leaves, a tear breaks from her eye.

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

"A zombie? Really, Ramon?" Harry scoffs.

"Yes." Cisco argues. "A zombie."

Harry sighs and rolls his eyes.

"Tony?" Joe confirms. Iris nods. "Where is he now?" Joe asks. Cisco and Iris look at each other. "You don't know?" They shake their heads.

The alarm blaring alerts all of them. They run into the cortex.

"Break in at Jitters? Wasn't that place crawling with cops and reporters a couple of hours ago?" Cisco says. "Who'd be stupid enough to break in?"

"A zombie." Iris says, turning to him.

"Why would he go to Jitters?" Joe asks.

Henry walks in from Caitlin's lab. "When I was in Iron Heights, I heard a story about this guy who broke out. Got away from Iron Heights. The cops spent hours chasing him around the area." Joe raises his eyebrows at him. "This has a point, I promise. He was caught two days later at his girlfriend's house, just a few minutes away."

"He went somewhere familiar." Joe points out. Henry nods.

"Tony came to Jitter's a lot." Iris points out. "Never missed a chance to creep on me." She says, annoyed.

"He came to see you the last day before he was caught didn't he?" Joe asks. Iris nods. "He's retracing that day. Where did he go next?"

"Our house."

"Then that's where we need to go." Joe says.

"You're gonna let me come?" Iris asks excitedly

Joe nods. "Cisco. You and Harry keep working on getting Barry back. Iris and I will handle Tony.

"And me." Wally says walking in. "I can help."

"Alright, Wests." Joe says, wrapping his arms around his kids. "Let's go."

Joe, Wally, and Iris walk out. Henry takes the drive from Cisco and goes back into the lab to help Jessie. Harry and Cisco go back to the machine to test out Harry's new tool.

"So, what's this gonna do?" Cisco asks as Harry connects a contraption to his head. Cisco is sitting in the same spot Barry was when he disappeared. "It's not gonna melt my brain, right?"

"No, Ramon. It's a simple feedback loop. When you vibe Barry, it'll allow me to pinpoint his dimensional location so that we can open up a breach through you so that you can pull him back. No brain melting."

"Girder probably won't be happy about that." Cisco mumbles.

"Not a zombie!" Harry calls out, keeping his attention on the computer where he's powering up the device. "Ready?"

"Ready." Cisco says. He closes his eyes. "We're coming for ya, Barry."

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

Barry bends over to catch his breath after the shadow disappears in the middle of a cemetery. He sighs and stands up, looking around for it. He stops when he sees someone standing in the distance. He walks toward them.

"Hey!" He calls out.

"Hi, Barry." The man says calmly as he turns around. "We're glad you made it."

Barry sighs. "It's just you again."

Henry walks over to stand in front of him. "We thought you might find this form less upsetting. But you seem upset."

"Because it's not real. My real friends and family, my whole world is in danger. Zoom is destroying everything with the power he stole from me and you're keeping me here." Barry snaps.

Henry sighs. "You were given a rare and precious gift Barry. And you rejected it."

"No. I did not reject it. I gave it up to save someone's life." He argues. "I nearly got myself killed trying to get it back, which brought me here. Wherever the hell here is."

Henry chuckles and looks down. "That's not what we meant." He looks sternly at him.

Barry scoffs. "Okay. If you would rather have given these powers to someone else, then why did you give them to me?"

Henry narrows his eyebrows and tilts his head like that was a stupid question. "Because, Barry. You're the Flash."

"If I'm the Flash then why are you doing this to me? Why are you keeping me here? Please, just let me go back right now to save them and I'll do whatever you want." Barry begs.

Henry turns to look off in the distance again. Barry turns to follow his gaze when he hears his name faintly being called. In front of them, a spinning vertical cloud appears, lightning flashing in it. He can hear Cisco's voice calling for him.

"What is that?" He asks, walking toward it.

"Your friends." He answers, walking up beside him. "They want you to come back."

"Can I?" He asks weakly.

"Of course." Henry answers. Barry turns to him. "But if you go back now, it'll be without your powers."

Barry turns back to the vortex. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, knowing he needs to stay. The vortex starts to fade away. He turns back to Henry.

"How dare you stand there and accuse me of rejecting my powers? Do you know how many people I've saved with the power you gave me? What I've sacrificed?"

"Of course we do." Henry says calmly. His voice comforting. "You've saved countless lives. Lost...countless lives." Henry starts walking away, Barry reluctantly following. "And yet, you've never been here."

Barry looks down where Henry stopped and sees his mother's gravestone. He covers his mouth and kneels down in front of it.

"Why did you bring me here?" Barry asks, his voice weak.

"You acknowledge your mother's death, but have you accepted it?" Henry asks. "Maybe that's why you don't come here. That would make it real."

"I know it's real." Barry defends, ignoring the tear falling from his face. "Every day I know it. I had a chance to save her. You saw what I chose."

"And you're at peace with that decision?"

Barry chuckles. "At peace." He wipes his face. "How could anyone ever be at peace with letting his mother die? With deciding his life was more valuable than hers?" Barry starts shaking trying to keep the thickness in his throat from growing.

"Do you really think your mother would've wanted you to die for her?" Henry asks. "And all the people you've saved. Do their lives have value too?"

Barry looks up when he sees the shadow run through the cemetery. "I don't have to listen to this." He stands up. "I have to get home." He takes off after the shadow.

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

"Where are we?" Caitlin weakly asks. She looks around the empty house. "What are we doing here?"

"Checking progress." Jay says.

Caitlin reluctantly follows Jay into the living room of the unfamiliar house. Her eyes widen and her breathing picks up when she walks in and sees a woman lying dead, torn apart, on the ground.

"That's a shame." Jay says.

"What happened?" Caitlin asks, her voice shaky.

"She made the wrong choice." He says flatly.

Caitlin walks up to the woman. She doesn't recognize her. She looks around the room and sees family pictures. Her husband. Her kids. She recalls the speech Zoom gave just a few hours ago to the group of metas.

"The Earth 2 metas." She breathes out. "They're recruiting."

"Hopefully with more success than this." Jay says, turning to Caitlin. He takes a step toward her and she steps back.

"She didn't ask for this. For powers." Caitlin argues. "Why couldn't you just let her be?"

"She had power. Anyone with power is either with me, or against me." Jay explains. "She chose death."

"No, she didn't!" Caitlin snaps. "She chose to live her own life. It's no life to be under someone's control." She says pointedly.

The sound of footsteps alerts both of them. Caitlin turns to see a young girl peeking through the stair rails, a slightly older boy hovering over her, staring at them. From where they're standing, they can't see their mom.

"No." Caitlin breathes out. Caitlin runs over to the body, trying to clean it up as much as she can. She quickly wipes blood off the woman's face. She tries to shift her clothes to cover the gaping wounds. Jay reaches down to pull her away. "No!" She snaps at him.

A light turns on in the hallway and they can hear a man's voice, followed by the kids. Caitlin stands to grab a blanket off the couch to cover the woman so the kids don't see her in this state, but she is pulled away. Jay grabs her and runs them back to Barry's lab.

"What are you doing!" Caitlin yells at him when they're back. "You were an orphan. You lost your parents. How could you do that to someone else? Those kids are gonna walk downstairs and see their mother mutilated in their home."

Jay walks to Caitlin, putting his hands on her arms. "No!" She shouts. "Get away from me." She pulls away from him as aggressively as she can. "Why did you stop me? Why am I still here?"

"Those kids will be stronger because of what I have done." He says. "So will you."

"You're sick." Caitlin spits.

"Your fingerprints are all over that woman." Jay says. "You've been seen with me."

"No." Caitlin mutters.

"When those kids hear the name of the person suspected of killing their mother, the first name they will hear is yours."

"No." Caitlin backs up into a table and loses her balance, leaning against it for support. He reaches out to catch her. She pushes him off, yelling at him.

"Cait." He scolds. He speeds off and when he returns, she feels a quick, sharp pain in her arm. She turns to see a syringe in her. "You haven't been sleeping. You're not thinking straight."

Jay walks over to a board in the middle of the room and flips the page covering it back, revealing Barry's evidence board of Harrison Wells and his mom's murder. Caitlin falls to her knees, lowering herself onto the ground, feeling the sedative taking over.

"Your name...will be on their board. So will mine." Jay says smiling at her. "They'll look into you. Your past. Your trauma. Your influences. And it'll make sense." Jay points to the large picture of Harrison Wells on the board. Caitlin flinches, her eyes heavy.

He speeds out of the room and comes back, his mask on, his voice back to its growl when he says, "Get some rest. We have more work to do."

Caitlin hugs the pole of the desk she's under, not noticing that she isn't shackled. She stares at the board. The crying, the news of Barry and seeing that woman and her kids, all start to weigh on her. Her eyes get heavy. Her arms are weak. They drop to the ground, and her head leans up against the pole as she drifts off to sleep.

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

"He saw me. But-" Cisco starts to explain.

"But what?" Harry asks.

"It's like he didn't want to come back."

Harry looks skeptically at him. "The speed force may be keeping him there. He may not have a choice."

"No, he didn't look forced." Cisco says. "I don't know how to explain it.

Cisco's phone ringing draws their attention away.

"Hello?"

"Cisco!" Joe yells through the phone. "Iris is leading Tony back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Do you have any idea how to stop him?"

"No, but we'll get to work on something. Just tell her to lead him to my workshop."

Cisco looks to Harry. "They're leading Girder back here. We gotta figure out how to kill a zombie." Cisco runs out to his workshop.

Harry rolls his eyes as he slowly follows. "Not a zombie." He mumbles to himself.

Cisco and Harry get to work on a makeshift "deanimator" as Cisco calls it, admitting it's not his best work. Right as they are finishing up, Iris and Joe run in.

"He's right behind us. You guys ready?" Joe asks.

"Yeah, but if you have any jewelry on you or any metal plates you might wanna get behind this." Cisco says, pointing to the device him and Harry built.

"Huh?" Joe says, skeptically eyeing Cisco as him and Iris come around to the other side of the room.

"These are electromagnets and once Girder gets caught in their field, it should disrupt the waves that made him go all brain-hungry." Cisco explains.

"How'd it go with contacting Barry?" Iris asks.

Cisco looks at Harry.

"We're working on it." Cisco says.

Girder's growling can be heard down the hallway. He walks into the room, huffing quickly. Cisco turns on the electromagnets. Girder grabs at his shirt as the effects of the magnets hit him but appear to have no lasting effect.

"Why does it look like it's not working?" Joe asks.

"Because it's not working." Cisco says. "We should get out of here."

He turns the magnets off and they direct Girder to the opposite side of the room so they can run out. Harry gets to Jessie's bedside and helps Henry move her into the room where him and Cisco were working on contacting Barry. It's the safest room from Girder. The other three run in, Girder close behind them.

"How do we stop him?" Cisco asks.

"Barry could stop him." Henry says. "We need to get him back."

"Can you guys try to contact him again?" Joe asks.

Cisco looks at Harry and nods. They run over and hook Cisco back up to the headset and he starts vibing Barry to help Harry get a lock.

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

Barry stops following the shadow when he sees it run back into his old house. He sighs and walks to the front door, walking in. It's gotten dark out, and he's exhausted from running. He takes a deep breath and walks into the room where he expects to see Joe again.

"Mom." Barry breathes out when he sees Nora sitting at the dining table.

"Hi, Barry." She says, smiling softly at him.

Barry swallows. "You're not my mother." He takes a step toward her. "Why are you doing this to me?" He chokes out.

"We're not doing anything to you, sweetheart." She assures him. "You're just so tired. Sit, Barry. Sit." She motions to the chair in front of her.

He sits, looking down at the table. "You were right all along, I haven't accepted it. Not for a second." He sniffs. "I don't think I ever will.

"My beautiful boy." Nora says, reaching out for Barry's hand. "You have to find a way."

"How?" He whispers.

"I don't know. But I know this. What you've become. It's wonderful. A miracle even. But it won't make bad things stop happening to you. Even the Flash can't outrun tragedy. You have to accept that. And then...you can truly run free."

Barry swallows again. "I know." He says, running out of breath. "I just miss her." Barry struggles to breathe through the thickness in his throat. He looks up at his mom, his eyes watering, his face twisted in pain. "I miss you...so much."

"What if I told you that she's proud of you?" She says, smiling at him. "And of the man that you've become." Her voice cracks.

"Who's telling me that?" Barry asks. "The speed force or my mother."

She gets on her knees in front of him, reaching up to hold his head in her hand. "Both." She whispers.

Barry drops his head into her hand. She leans up to kiss his forehead, allowing him to lean into her. He reaches up and grabs hold of her arm. She leads him over to the couch where she picks up his favorite book as a child, The Runaway Dinosaur. She reads it to him as he watches her lovingly. He finishes the last few pages off memory, smiling at her as she gazes at him.

"You have a mother that is just right for you." He recites the last page. "And who will always love you."

Nora smiles at him. "You're ready."

Barry turns to see the vortex opening back up in front of him. He hears Cisco's voice calling for him. He stands from the couch. The front door opens, and the shadow runs in. Barry closes his eyes and catches it out in front of him. He opens his eyes and looks down to see he's wearing his suit. He walks toward the vortex.

"Barry!" Cisco yells.

Barry walks in, seeing Cisco among the storm.

"Barry!" Cisco calls again.

Barry smiles at him and walks toward him, reaching his arm out. Cisco smiles and reaches out for him, their hands connecting and the storm disappearing. Cisco pulls Barry in, hugging him when he realizes they're both back in S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Oh, don't do that to me again." Cisco scolds.

Barry chuckles and hugs him back.

"Welcome back Flash." Harry says, smirking at them.

Barry lets go of Cisco and is quickly greeted by his dad. Joe and Iris walk up and put a hand on him, pulling him for a group hug once he lets go of his dad.

"I don't mean to break up the welcome party, but we have a fairly pressing issue." Harry states.

Barry turns to him but is quickly informed of the issue when Girder walks in the room.

"What?" Barry sighs out, wide-eyed.

"The accelerator explosion turned Girder all Walking Dead and we tried to reset him with electromagnets, but the power crapped out and now he's here to smush us all into chunky salsa and maybe eat our brains. Jury's still out on that one."

Harry sighs and rolls his eyes.

"I'll lure him to your workshop. Long way around. You guys figure out how to get the power back on." Barry says.

Barry taunts Girder until he follows him out into the hallway. Cisco and Harry run around to the workshop and work on the magnets. Barry runs in, Girder close behind. The magnets still aren't powered. Barry leads Girder to the spot between them and starts running around the room.

"He's charging them." Cisco says.

The two watch as the magnets charge and Girder gets weaker. His breathing slows and he falls to the ground. Barry stops running.

"Man, what took you so long?" Cisco asks, walking up to Barry.

"Sorry." He says, out of breath. "I got lost."

They get Girder back to the morgue and take Barry to Caitlin's lab where Jessie is now with Henry, Iris, and Joe. Barry walks up to her.

"You should rest, Allen." Harry says as he sits down next to Jessie. "You don't need to be here."

Barry looks Jessie over and walks around to the other side of the bed. "That's just it, I think I do."

Barry reaches out and touches Jessie's hand. Lightning sparks can be seen in between their hands and Jessie shifts in bed. She shifts again and her eyes flutter open. She looks at Barry.

"Jessie." Harry says, reaching out for her hand. She leans up and hugs him.

"How did you do that?" Henry asks from the doorway.

"Are you like, magic now?" Cisco asks. "Did you know that was gonna happen?"

Barry shakes his head. "Maybe. It's hard to explain. It's-"

Harry looks over. "It's the speed force."