Dedicated to NoraXSWest-AllenFam, @damianflashpoint, @CamrynKissel, @bloodypunkkk, @NewYorkDoll, and @olivermanwh0requeen for their amazingly kind support of my Arrowverse stories! Your support truly means the world to me :)

Author’s Notes:

Hello again to all my fellow members of Team Flash/Evil Speedsters! 

Oof, honestly don’t know what that really awkward intro was, guess it was just my inner Barry kicking in ;)

All awful jokes aside, I’m actually really excited to get to share this next recreation with you all!

It’s based on two of the many, many fantastic scenes in the tenth episode of season nine and is chalk full of bittersweet moments, primarily with the Allen family, though I could never truly go an entire recreation without writing at least one sweet part involving either Iris or their kids, could I? 

Honestly, I chose these specific scenes out of the bunch, though because they were not only the sweetest ones in the episode (in my opinion, of course), also, because their overarching message resonated with me the most, too.

Life isn’t about trying your best not to struggle or avoiding the losses which we all eventually have to endure in one way or another, it’s about accepting that some things can’t be changed, no matter how badly they hurt because as hard as it is to say, any tragedy we have to go through helps to shape us into the people we really want to become one day, too.

But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to feel that sadness when we need to because the people who really care about us will never judge us for being human.

Sorry about the kinda wordy explanation, I just think it’s important to remember that no darkness will ever be able to block out the light, unless we let it.

Anyways, hope you are all having an amazing day and that this recreation only brings a bigger smile to your faces :)

Running. 

Was the singular feeling that coursed through Barry’s veins as his long legs harshly pumped his body forward, speeding down various avenues of the nearly desolate peaceful streets of Central City. An act which seemed to truly allow the gentle tapping of the soles of his gray and white sneakers and the small sparks of orange lightning jumping off of him to create the only sounds tethering him to the world around him. Keeping his mind from further getting lost inside the infinite chaos that was his being’s every emotion.

Frustration, happiness, exhaustion, hope, sadness, and love were only a small fraction of the feelings that swirled throughout the speedster’s head, each one holding just as much piercingly powerful pressure as the last. 

Most would say that it was impossible to be so passionately experiencing so many emotions at once and yet, that basic fact seemed completely neglected on the man for stating what could or not be felt far from kept it from being true. It only would’ve delayed some of the immense weight pressing so firmly down on his
shoulders, somehow making him want to scream out at the top of his lungs and stand frozen still without.  emotion all at once until a time when it was convenient to be in pain. But Barry had long since learned that pain didn’t abide by what was fair, but rather, what was felt.

And the emotions Barry felt as he absentmindedly raced down the vaguely familiar streets of his childhood city (they only halfway resembled that of its modern day counterpart of over two decades into the future), was nothing short of everything.

All my life I’ve dreamed of getting to see them one last time, getting to tell them how sorry I am that I couldn’t save them. And that I, that I never forgot how much they sacrificed to give me the amazing life I’m lucky enough to be living now. Or was getting to before, anyway. But how do I tell two of the people closest to my heart that with knowing what today is? What he’ll do to her?

Barry painfully shut his eyes, tears of sadness streaming down his cheeks as his arms and legs continued to force him forward. He didn’t even know exactly where he was going, only that being alone, whether running or standing still, with his thoughts felt even more suffocating than if he were to face what fate lay in front of him. Because if there was one thing his adopted father, Joe, had taught him that was kept closest to the man’s heart, it was that courage wasn’t never allowing yourself to feel hurt, but knowing when it was okay not to be okay. 

And right now, Barry didn’t in the slightest bit feel okay.

I’ll never be able to move on if I keep just focusing on what’s going to happen tonight. On what he does to her. Because I can’t stop him from hurting her, no matter how much I want to without losing the perfect family that Iris and I are making together.

But the one thing I can do, the one thing I can control in my life, no matter what Thawne tries to manipulate me into believing, is the way I decide to remember the miracles that I’m lucky enough to receive while I’m still here. And if it’s a day, a moment, or even just a single second, getting to stand in the same room as my parents? To feel my father’s comforting hand rubbing my back as he tells me everything is going to be okay, not really even because he believes it will be, but because he believes in me. And hearing the sound of my mom reminding me how special I am, even when I don’t feel like I am? Those things will always be worth any amount of pain I’ve had to endure just to get to where I stand now.

And I sure as hell am not going to let Thawne take that love away from me. 

Not then.

Not now.

Not ever.

Because he can hurt me and the people I love for an entire lifetime, but nothing he does will ever change the love I feel for my family. Because love doesn’t die, unless we let it.

“I can’t stop thinking that we should be out there looking for him,” Nora sighed, her emerald green eyes looking longingly out into the distant space which filled the waiting room where she and her husband were currently seated in two of the many comfortable tan leather-covered chairs.

She was dressed in a soft gray batwing sweater paired with a simple loose-fitted white blouse that ended just above her light blue-jeaned waist, her long strands of wavy red hair falling down gracefully against her casual clothing.

“Oh, I know. I feel it, too,” Henry agreed, his worn fingers gently rubbing the top of his wife’s smooth hand before they slowly locked within each other’s warm grips.

He wore a much less comfortable attire in the form of a velvet navy blue tuxedo and somewhat scuffed up old brown dress shoes (ones of which he’d recently uncovered from the deepest hole in the couple’s closet), a black and white tie hanging properly under the collar of his buttoned-up baby blue shirt’s collar. Though, his appearance far from matched that of his wife’s, that didn’t in the slightest subtract any bit of the love which the couple felt for one.

 A love that only two proud parents could feel.

“But we just met the boy, and you can’t give someone help who doesn’t want it,” Henry reasoned, his eyes meeting Nora’s with just the level of understanding, yet sensible tone his daydreaming partner needed to hear her husband speak with.

Nora breathed a tired breath, lightly nodding her head in acknowledgement to his sentiments on the subject, her appreciative attention falling down onto Henry’s reassuring hand rubbing her own.

But even as she silently accepted her husband’s words, Nora still somehow knew deep down in her heart that the man they’d saved earlier that day, Bart, wasn’t quite ready to be out in the world alone. 

Or maybe, she just didn’t want him to.

Barry felt the smallest of smiles form on his face at the sound of his parents’ gentle voices as he leaned his brunette-haired head back absentmindedly against one of the hospital’s many sturdy, white-painted walls. He breathed a slow and calming breath, squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as he possibly could, holding back the tears which were so strongly fighting their way back into his ocean blue eyes.

You don’t have to be scared, Barry. They’re just your parents. There’s nothing you could ever say or do that would make them love you any less. Just like you feel when you’re with Bart or Nora.

But the honest truth as to what he was afraid of didn’t have anything to do with his parents’ love for him, but rather, Barry’s throbbing love for his parents. 

“It’s not that I don’t want your help,” sighed Barry as he slowly leaned up on the medical room’s slate gray door frame, the right sleeve of his maroon red button-up shirt gliding smoothly across its slick surface, though, his hands remained pushed deep inside his navy jeans’ pockets for lack of a better place to put his anxious fingers.

Henry and Nora’s eyes immediately turned towards Barry as they took in every feature of the friend they’d lost track of only hours prior, their expressions of concern quickly turning into ones of relieved shock at the sight of his kind face.

“We’ve been worried about ya,” Henry stated, the palms of his strong, wrinkled hands pressing against the top of his metal chair’s arm rests as both Allens pushed themselves out of their seats in unison.

Barry breathed a long breath, his mind momentarily at a loss for a response, though the tension building in his arms gradually seemed to lessen at the sound of his parents’ voices as he folded them casually in front of his chest. 

“Well, that means the world to me. Especially today,” Barry replied as he took a few steps further into the room, his words finally breaking through the thick barrier of nervousness which had previously dropped down to the base of his throat at the thought of actually coming back to talk to them.

And in that moment, it felt as if his every vein had frozen solid, begging him not to speak another word for even just something as simple as that could bring back the never-ending agony which came with the memories of his deceased parents, yet all that fear seemed to disappear within the matter of only a second at the sight of his loving mother’s reassuring smile.

Only people as great as they are could make a stranger feel like part of their family. Not that I ever really had to see that for myself to know how perfect of people, of parents they always were. But that doesn’t change how nice it is to see again, anyway.

“Ever since they passed, I’ve never stopped wondering what I would give to have them back for just one more day,” Barry admitted, his soft blue eyes looking honestly into both of his parents’, just like they always did when he was a boy.

“And if that happened, what I would say,” he added, his right hand instinctively fiddling with the silver ring placed delicately around his right hand’s index finger, letting the warmth of its metal send a soothing sensation of silent confidence over his entire form.

Just as if his wife’s hand was once again touching his own, wordlessly reassuring him that everything was going to be okay without even the slightest notion of actually saying so.

There’s no way I could ever do something like this without her, but luckily for me, I never have to be because even when we’re not on the same Earth or in the time or any other crazy thing that’s tried to tear us apart, we’ll always have each other.

“You can tell us,” Nora offered, gently as she walked over beside Barry, her hands held comfortably in front of her white-bloused stomach.

Henry nodded lightly in agreement as he gently placed his hand on his partner’s back, both parents’ eyes genuinely listening to the stranger’s every word for even if nothing specifically entailed it, they both somehow felt that they’d want to hear what he was about to say.

“I’d say-” Began Barry, biting down instinctively on his lower lip for a few moments before he felt the supportive clapping of his Dad’s hand against his shoulder.

There’s nothing I could say right now, even if I barely get out any audible words through my nervous rambling, that could change how perfect this moment is. How perfect they are to me.

“Your love made me who I am. And despite the darkness, I still carry your light inside me every single day. So will your granddaughter,” Barry stated, an appreciative smile slipping onto his face as he looked into Nora's nurturing green eyes.

And though his words may have been spoken in a quiet tone, the undeniable passionate admiration that lay behind them far outweighed any outward uncertainty one might have thought they held for the amount of warmth that filled Barry’s heart in that very moment, and every other one, for the two people standing in front of him could never be mistaken for anything but love.

How could I not after everything they gave up to give me the amazing life that I’ve gotten and will get to live with Iris. With our baby. 

The room seemed to fall into complete silence for several seconds as both the two Allens took in the beautiful words which Barry had expressed to them, their caring smiles only growing larger as more time passed them by. Not that the speedster really knew, much less cared, how much did as long as he was with his parents.

Time doesn’t matter when you’re with people you love as much as I love them.

“I know your parents would’ve loved that,” Nora reassured, her eyes glistening with faint tears for even without knowledge that the young man was talking about her, she still somehow felt a deep connection to his words.

“And have no doubt wherever they are, they’re proud of you, son,” Henry finished, his voice holding an equal level of compassion and certainty that only the Allen father could.

Barry gently nodded his head, his hands placed on his hips in deep thought as his mind simultaneously lingered intently on two particular memories that had once been locked away in the farthest part of his mind, both painful moments bringing only joy to their son’s heart at their memory;

“You’re not afraid of the dark, Barry. You’re afraid of being alone in the dark, and that goes away when you realize something. You’re never really alone.”

He remembered every single detail of what had happened on that very night. The way his mom’s gentle green eyes had looked at him and how she’d parted her pretty red hair to the left just to let her loving smile shine all its brightness onto her little boy’s heart as she’d softly kneeled down on the edge of his navy blue-comfortered bed.

I even remember how I tried to ask her for an extra glass of milk so I could stay up later with them because I was scared when Dad walked in already holding it. And he said, “Already got you covered, son,” with the most sly, but hilarious grin that only he could ever fully pull off.

“I am in awe at the remarkable man that you are becoming. All the things you’ve achieved, and not just as The Flash. But you, Barry, your honesty, your heart. You were always a hero…Barry what I hope for you, maybe the greatest thing that a father can hope for his son, is that one day you will become a father yourself. And then you will know how much I truly love you.”

Henry’s words echoed throughout his son’s ears, possibly even more vividly than they had the first time he heard them nearly nine years ago. The very words which had always been practically tattooed onto his father’s chest since the moment he first got to lay eyes on the sweet kid who he was lucky enough to get to call his son. Barry.

I always appreciated what he said that day. I mean, he somehow found a way to believe in me at a time when I was clueless as to what decision to make or even what I wanted to do with my life, really. But he was right about more than just one thing that day. 

I’ve never felt as much love for anyone, even Iris, than the amount I feel for our Baby. Because the moment Nora sped into our lives four years ago, the moment I saw my daughter’s smile, my whole world changed. In the best possible way. Because I was no longer just fighting for my friends, or even Iris, but for a family. For our family. And now that I am, that I’m lucky enough to get to have my own two excessively impulsive kids to call my children, I honestly know why Dad tried so hard to keep me safe back then. Why they both loved me so much. 

And I owe all of that to them. I owe everything to them. Because without their love, I would’ve never had the strength to persevere past all the trauma of my past. But now that I have? Now, that I can look into my mother’s eyes and feel the comfort of my father’s arms without focusing on my past? It feels like I’m finally ready to start my own family. The one they always wanted me to have.

And without another word, Nora wrapped her loving arms around Barry in a warm embrace, her hands gently rubbing his smooth-shirted back. Barry felt his every muscle relax at the feeling of his mother’s body hugging him, his eyes once again tightly shutting closed. 

Only this time, not to subdue any sort of worry, but to let every bit of his mom’s love spread throughout him without the slightest thought of anything but her.

I’ve always dreamed of getting to feel her touch again, but even my wildest dreams weren’t as magical as this. As her.

Henry smiled softly at the two’s exchange for a few seconds before he, too, wrapped his strong arms around Nora and Barry, the latter’s head comfortably resting on his father’s sturdy shoulder. The very place it had so many times before in the distant memories which were their family’s past. Yet somehow, even though it had been so long, the feeling of his parents’ bodies pressing against his still felt just as soothing as it had when Barry was younger. Like he was, even if for just a single moment, a little kid getting snugly tucked into his space-themed comforter, his parents smiling supportively down at their slightly scared son.

It doesn’t matter how much time I have with them as long as I make every second of what I do have count. And honestly, I don’t think there’s any better way to do that than just staying in their arms. At least, there’s no other way I want to do it.

Barry stayed locked in his parents’ embraces for several seconds, squeezing them as tightly as he possibly could without actually giving away the crucial reason as to why he was in the first place before all three Allens slowly pulled away from one another.

Any amount of time I’ve gotten with them is a gift that I’ll always be grateful for. But that doesn’t mean that I still don’t wish it could last forever. But I guess if I did then, I wouldn’t love them as much as I do, would it?

“I think now might be a good time for us to get heading back home,” Henry commented, a jovial smile still covering his face as he placed a soft hand on his wife’s shoulder.

“If that’s alright with you, of course?” Henry confirmed, his kind words making it that much harder for his son not to want to say no.

“Oh, yeah, that’s fine. I mean, you two have already done more for me than I ever could’ve asked for,” Barry dismissed, his voice filled with nothing short of gratitude for the wonderful people who now stood only mere inches away from him.

The very people who he’d always be lucky enough to get to call his parents. Whether they were standing there talking to him or were only in a place much more special to them than even life itself was.

And I know they always said they were the lucky ones because they got to have me, but that’s just not true. Because without them, without their advice, their support, their love, I would’ve never become the man I am, today. 

“Trust me, it was our pleasure, son,” Henry grinned, giving the younger man one last reassuring pat on the shoulder before draping his arm over his wife’s shoulder and guiding her out of the room.

Their simple movements still somehow sent the smallest wave of love shooting throughout Barry’s form as he watched his parents leave the sacred space which was their family’s embrace.

Though, Henry slowly saw Nora’s expression fall as they left, the gentle smile which had previously covered her face fading in favor of her front teeth biting down on her lower lip, thoughtfully.

“You okay?” He asked, his hazel eyes confusedly watching his wife’s distracted steps, the two thin coats which were held casually in her right arm swaying vaguely from side to side in her absentminded actions.

“Yeah, I just feel like maybe we should…I just wanna talk to him,” Nora answered, her gaze lingering yearningly at the man who was still standing in the room behind them.

“Bart,” Nora called, softly as the pair turned back around, the slightest hint of gratitude showing on both of their faces just to get to see their friend again.

Barry raised his shoulders encouragingly, his hands stuffed comfortably into his jeans’ pockets as he listened intently to his mother’s words.

“Take care of that little baby,” Nora smiled, her eyes unintentionally locking with Barry’s for the briefest of seconds. 

As if, only for that singular moment, she could read his every thought.

There is nothing else in this world that could ever stop me from doing just that.

Barry nodded understandingly back at them, the smallest hint of longing hidden behind his gentle blue eyes as the two Allens quietly disappeared through one of the many long white-walled rooms which were the hospital’s hallways, leaving their son once again standing alone in the busy space which was the hospital’s fourth floor reception desk. Only, he didn’t in the slightest feel alone for he didn’t have to be looking at their kind faces or feeling their warm touches to know that they were with him. And they always would be.

Because that’s what parents do for their children. They always protect and care for them out of love, just like mom and dad did for me. And what Iris and I will get to do for Nora.

“Bbaaarrrryy,” growled a monster from deep within the shadows, its low, raspy voice nearly matching that of Zoom’s menacing modulated one.

Barry suddenly felt a powerful wave of cool tension pass through his veins, his eyes cautiously searching the friendly hospital lobby for any signs of danger.

Though, they were met with nothing more than merely the eerie silence the gravelly voice had left behind.

He slowly took a few careful steps in a short circle, his gaze remaining inconspicuously locked on several of the nearby teal-masked nurses and their patients’ faces in a quiet attempt to try and see whether they had heard the mysterious creature’s voice, too.

Though, his question was almost answered immediately by the gentle wind which aimlessly blew through the winding hallway to his right, making the many night-fallen windows’ black curtains brush softly against their sills without even the slightest hint of acknowledge from the wavy, pony-tailed doctor who vaguely passed Barry by on her route to delivering an important clear, manilla clipboard to her nearby boss.

Whether that’s a good thing or not, I guess I’ll have to figure out for myself…

Barry took a deep breath, temporarily calming the mild anxiety that had previously been rising within his chest before warily entering the hallway’s long corridor, the light tapping of his gray and white classic sneakers acting as the only relief from the otherwise deafening silence for not even the building’s other residents’ footsteps seemed to carry any weight past the mysterious pathway’s pale, grim gateway. Two long strands of decorative evergreen branches brushed vaguely against the man’s red button-up’s sleeves as he moved. The small, dual white light wall plug-ins shining their minimal luminescence on the intruder’s shoulders. 

“Bbbaarryyy,” the strange voice repeated, its distant demand echoing off the confined barriers which surrounded the speedster.

Barry hastened his pace to the right, leading him directly in the way of the vibrations, steadily holding his right hand’s fingers at the ready in case there was an immediate necessity for a lightning-powered attack.

I’m starting to get the feeling I’m not going to like where this is heading…

He turned what could’ve been a single corner or hundreds for every room was structured nearly identically to the last, a growingly evident fact that only strengthened the uneasiness slowly crawling up the hero’s spine. He finally stepped into the dark, secluded space where the echo’s source lay, its slick, black jacketed back occasionally reflecting a tiny white blink of the flickering light fixtures which hung brokenly from the gray brick-tiled ceiling above their heads. 

The so-called monster’s dangerous spirit had taken the form of a rather tall and sturdy-looking man whose wrinkled hands were folded casually in front of his police-sanctioned thick bomber jacket.

Though, its intentions were far from what anyone could call casual.

“Barry, it’s okay. It’s me,” the man reassured as he quietly spun around on the heels of his black, heavy-treaded boots, his voice carrying an impassiveness that effortlessly went unnoticed due to the speedster’s sudden comfort at the sight of the man’s gentle face who stood just a few feet away from him.

“Joe,” Barry cried in disbelief, his words seemingly trailing off as quickly as they’d begun for of all the many, many things he’d expected to possibly see in the mysterious reverberation’s chamber, his adoptive father was not among them.

Joe, he’s really here…Wait, who am I kidding? Of course, he’s here! I mean, that’s where he always is whenever anything goes wrong in my life; right by my side, telling me everything’s going to be okay in the way that, that only a Dad as great as he is ever could.

“And I know you’ve been stuck here in the past,” Joe finished, seemingly taking no notice of any type of happiness that lay on his adoptive son’s face.

“Oh, thank God,” Barry breathed, the tension building in his broad shoulders slackening as he and Joe quickly made their way to the center of the long space, the prior’s arms immediately wrapping lovingly around his father’s chest as he hugged him as tightly as he could, momentarily shutting his tired blue eyes in favor of letting Joe’s warmth soothe his aching muscles.

Yeah, let’s just say that getting knocked unconscious on the street by a speedster isn’t exactly the least painful thing in the world. Not that I was really ever in danger with mom and dad there. 

“I have no idea how I got here,” Barry admitted, his voice shaking slightly with worry as his eyes snapped back open, drifting aimlessly around the room’s drab-looking area, his mind desperately trying to make at least somewhat sense of the chaos which was the day he was currently being forced to relive.

But no amount of crowded wooden medical suggestion boards or misplaced coffee stands were going to be of much help to the speedster. Or really, any at all, for that matter.

Who knows how long it’s been in the present time since I disappeared? Since I left Iris and our Baby?

“Relax, son, everything’s fine now,” Joe stated, nodding his head lightly at Barry, though a placid expression still remained firmly plastered onto his otherwise kind-looking face.

“No, it’s not! Look, I can’t make contact with the Speed Force, and Thawne kills my mom today!” Barry exasperatedly explained, his words carried by an equal mix of fear and frustration as his disheartened eyes looked searchingly into Joe’s, hoping beyond belief that he had somehow discovered something that Barry had been too distracted to see before.

“I know,” Joe cooed, his tongue rolling sarcastically against the bottom of his mouth as the smallest of grins formed on his face at the speedster’s words.

Barry’s eyebrows creased confusedly as his eyes skeptically met Joe’s, the tiniest sense of dread dripping back down into his throat at his father’s response.

No, I’m just being paranoid after everything that happened with Thawne and my parents today. Joe would never actually want anything bad to happen to me, to Iris and I’s family. To our family.

“You okay? Look, whatever’s affecting me, it could be affecting you also. Maybe that’s why you’re remembering things,” Barry quickly reasoned, concernedly keeping his full sight held on Joe.

“Barry, I know what happens, today. Because I’ve been waiting for it since the dawn of time,” Joe snarled, his eyes suddenly glowing a vibrant cobalt blue as they bore dangers into the hero’s heart, vanquishing the momentary comfort which had temporarily been able to block out his worries.

Barry slowly took a few steps backwards, his hands moving silently at his jeans’ sides back into their attack positions. Though, his gaze remained locked on the monster that was controlling his father.

“You’re not Joe. Who are you? And what the hell do you want?” Barry questioned, his voice holding steady, despite the increasing threat which lay before him.

There’s no way I’m ever going to let whatever this is hurt him.

“To level the playing field by correcting the imbalance your legacy created,” Joe declared, his hands folded tightly over one another as he stared into the speedster’s eyes.

His words were no longer spoken emotionlessly, but rather, with a feeling much stronger than impartiality; hatred.

“Negative Speed Force? You’re the new avatar,” Barry said, his voice carrying just the level of disbelief he thought at his own words.

“That’s impossible. Joe doesn’t hate me,” he protested, complete certainty coursing through his body as he looked back into his father’s eyes.

Complete certainty of the love he shared with Joe.

The Negative Speed Force can only take hold of an avatar whose full of hatred for someone and Joe has never felt anything but love for me.

“Nooo, I’m not the avatar. You killed him, remember?” Joe remarked, anger seeping into his every syllable as he answered the hero’s question.

Barry said nothing, his every breath slowed so as to fully take in his enemy’s words.

Of course, he remembered what happened to Thawne. How could he not remember every detail of the night his wife died? 

The hopelessness which had flooded his entire body as he’d held iris’ lifeless body in his arms. The anger which had fueled his every action afterwards, the deadly feeling which had been tearing him apart from the inside out. The very feeling that had, for the first time in their entire lives together, actually made his daughter afraid of him. And the screams of agony which, even if not by Barry’s own doing, had erupted from Thawne’s lungs as a vibrant, ruby red diagonal cross had blasted across his metallic black-armored chest, enveloping his once grandstanding body into the cold, still air which had once surrounded both speedsters.

I didn’t kill him that night, but only because I had Iris and Jay there to stop me from making one of the worst decisions of my life. Because Thawne’s goal might always be to kill me, but if I’d let myself stoop down to his level, regardless of how much pain I was in, it would’ve made me no better than he was.

“I’m the real deal. And you’re going to pay for what you’ve done,” Joe announced, his form still completely unfazed by a single thing which was forced to leave his mouth.

“You wanna fight me? Fine, just let Joe go,” Barry demanded, his left foot instinctively sliding back a few inches as small lines of vibrant orange lightning jumped off both of his arms.

“I can’t, he’s part of the plan. They all are,” Joe responded, his words carried by a much more plain tone than the Negative Speed Force actually felt towards the hero’s unredeemable sins.

Barry narrowed his eyes at the Negative Force’s vague statement, his mind seemingly trying to answer the enigmatic question before it could finish.

What does it mean by they?

“Now shut up, and die!” Joe shouted, his right hand immediately shooting outward as blue light flew out of a small, delicate cobalt crystal he was gripping so tightly onto, one of its two sharp, diamond-shaped points mysteriously lodged inside the palm of his appendage.

Though, Barry scarcely got a second’s glance at the dangerous amethyst before a blindingly bright beam blasted into the speedster’s chest, sending his feet flying over his head as he smashed through multiple layers of plaster and drywall. 

Several rectangular glass lighting fixtures shattered onto the slick brown and gray-tiled floor at The Flash’s impact through the support beam, his cry of pain reverberating hauntingly throughout the entirety of the hallway’s space for several more seconds after he had vacated the room.

A noise which only brought a larger grin to Joe’s face as he slowly stepped through the gaping hole which was the wreckage the hero had left behind, small bits of broken insulation squishing beneath his heavy boots.

Constant thumping was the singular sound that pounded throughout Barry’s ears as he painfully pushed himself into an upright position on the hospital’s hard tile flooring, his left jeaned-leg pressed uncomfortably under his right one.

But to really say that, it would have to mean that anything about this is comfortable. Which definitely isn’t the truth…

“Ah,” Barry moaned, biting down slightly on his lower lip as he used the palms of his hands to finish getting his body back onto his scuffed, sneakered feet.

But as he stood up, his eyes caught sight of Joe’s formidable form stepping through the remains  that used to be the hospital's intricately organized storage closet, his black boots stomping down forcibly only a few feet away from where the hero’s hand used to be.

“Do you know what’s gonna happen next?” Interrogated Joe, his fingers clenched comfortably at the sides of his bulky police jacket.

Barry didn’t respond, letting his lungs slowly regain a steady intake of air as he cautiously took a few steps away from Joe.

I don’t think that distance will really do anything much for me considering how powerful the Negative Force is. At least it didn’t the last time we fought. But that doesn’t mean it won’t help give me a little bit of a head start until I can come up with a plan.

“I can tell you. You're going to experience a world of pain,” Joe declared, his words spoken as if they were not a guess, but rather, a given fact that was sure to come true in the very next moments that would come.

“I don’t think so,” Barry scoffed, though his exaggerated breath was both attestment to his determination and the heavy weight that had still yet to ebb its pressing on his chest.

“Ooh, is that a threat?” Joe sneered, his arms held placidly at his sides as he watched the speedster’s slow pacing, his face not in the least bit losing its cold demeanor.

A detail that was still unnerving to the hero who had never in his whole life seen his father figure, regardless of the situation, stare so emotionlessly back at him.

“A promise,” Barry corrected, a strong sense of bravery carrying nearly his every syllable as he fearlessly locked gazes with his enemy.

Wherever you are in there, Joe, just hang on a little longer because I’m going to save you…

“Well, I’m not afraid of you, Boy. I’m a force of nature but this body, it’s human. Which means the real Joe West is still trapped inside,” The Negative Force explained, its voice sinking to the lowest volume it had throughout their entire confrontation, each thing it uttered reaching into the depths of its fiery rage.

The rage it felt towards The Flash.

Barry’s feet suddenly froze in place as the muted realization of The Negative Force’s words washed over him.

How can I defeat it without risking hurting Joe?  Without hurting the man who’s taken care of me through all my highs and my lows, no matter how much I said I didn’t want it. He still stayed by my side because, well, he’s always loved me like a son. Even before I realized just how much I’ll always need him. How much I’ll always need my dad.

“That’s right, kill me, and you kill your own father,” Joe finished, the smallest of smirks twisting onto his face at the hero’s poorly disguised fear as a sense of unadulterated satisfaction flooded its host’s inferior form.

“This is useless. Neither of us can win,” argued Barry, his voice rising in frustration at his enemy’s games. 

One of which he’d been forced to play for far too many years with Thawne.

“Thawne died. So can you,” Joe stated, his head cocking ever so slowly to the side, his action only adding more emphasis to his harsh point.

And without another word, Joe lifted his right hand back up to his chest, his palm instantly glowing a vibrant luminescent blue as a powerful beam of energy erupted from his host’s hand.

Only this time, The Flash was prepared for he swiftly sped out of the room before the blast could hit him, letting the attack instead collide with the wall that used to reside behind him.

A strike which immediately released an intense rumbling throughout the large building’s structure, knocking several medicine bottles and bandage kits off of their various tabletops and shelves, shattering their outer protection across the hard tile ground below.

Barry’s gray sneakered feet skidded to a sudden stop a few rooms above the storage closet, faint orange lightning sparking off of his every muscle as his lungs gasped for air. Though, despite how it might at first appear to an outsider, the running had barely anything to do with the exhaustion which had recently fallen over the hero’s body.

There’s no way I’m going to be able to overpower the Negative Force in general, let alone in a closed-knit space like this one. But if I can catch it off guard, maybe I can at least immobilize it for enough time to be able to free Joe.

“Come on out, son. ‘Cause no matter where you go, or how fast you run, I’ll always find you,” Joe declared, his right hand seemingly gliding across the stairwell’s slick green copper railing, its gentle sound reverberating around the entirety of the dull room where the speedster stood.

Barry felt his heartbeat fasten as he pushed the back of his head closer to the single white-walled pillar, the barrier offering temporary success in hiding the hero’s form.

“What’s it gonna be? You’re gonna come face me here and now in this time. Or you’re gonna run away to save mama and risk losing everything by altering the timeline,” Joe continued, his words sending a newfound wave of tension crawling up Barry’s spine, making his veins turn ice cold.

“Including, Little Nora,” Joe growled, laughing mockingly at the hero’s love for his daughter.

A love which was nothing short of a small obstacle blocking his path, an obstacle which was by all intents and purposes, expendable.

At least, so The Negative Force thought.

I don’t care if you’re an elemental force or not, no one, and I mean, no one, ever gets to threaten my daughter.

And without another thought about anything except the love beating through his heart for his daughter, Barry immediately ducked out from behind his cover and threw a bolt of lightning at Joe, its multiple tentacles of electricity pulsating up his right arm with a ferocity that perfectly matched that of its avatar’s determination.

Joe swiftly leaned to the left, effortlessly avoiding the hero’s attack before returning a blast of equal strength in The Flash’s direction.

Barry quickly dove back behind the wall, the blast nearly hitting him in the head as he did so.

The hero took only a moment’s breath before speedily sliding across the gray tile flooring, the tips of his fingers momentarily touching its cool surface before he regained protection behind a long black metal medical desk. And just in time because only a millisecond later, another beam of glowing blue energy blew apart The Flash’s previous one.

He may be faster than I am, but having a good heart and keeping my head down matters more than having fast reflexes… 

“Urghh!” Joe roared as wave after wave of intense azure energy released from his hands, sparks flying dangerously off of every object the blast touched, breaking its remaining structure into pieces.

A very technique which he so desperately wanted to inflict upon his enemy, too.

Barry felt the floor beneath his feet groan in agony as the Negative Force’s next attack blew a hole straight through its thick surface before he sent another strike of his own lightning at the Negative Force, though the attack came of little more effect than the several ones he’d thrown prior.

Whatever I’m going to do, I need to do it quick before this building loses any more of its structural integrity and someone gets hurt. Especially Joe.

“God,” Barry muttered quietly to himself as he jerked his body to the right, narrowly avoiding his attacker’s next blast of blue lightning.

He breathed a silent breath of the stall air which filled the room around him, his eyes quickly searching his surroundings for any signs of assistance, but unfortunately for the hero, there was no help to be found.

I guess this is just going to have to be one of those times where I make things up as I go…

Barry instinctively tossed a bolt of orange lightning out of his arm as he effortlessly rolled over another nearby work station, letting his own blast work as temporary protection from the immediate fury which was The Negative Force’s growing impatience.

The lights flickered continuously above his speeding body as he dodged behind a wall similar to that of his first hiding location, only this new pillar was much denser for its smooth white edges didn’t even fully conceal the man’s long, muscular arms.

The two so-called “men” continued this game of tag for several more seconds, their blue and orange blasts intertwining within each other to create the perfect amount of complete destruction to every object their fused powers touched. 

Continuous sweat dripped down The Flash’s face, the small water droplets splashing lightly down onto his shirt’s soft exterior. The constant loud rumbling of the building’s structure as it teetered ever so slightly in place mixed with the pounding of pain that was rattling vigorously throughout Barry’s head seemed to prevent his mind from coming up with any sort of reasonable plan except, surviving.

It doesn’t even matter if I live, unless I stop this thing from hurting my family. From hurting Nora.

“Give up and die, Boy. You have no choice,” Joe demanded, his voice’s demented tone echoing harshly within the hollow barriers which were The Flash’s current set of cover.

Barry tiredly rubbed the liquid off his forehead with his sleeve, letting his heart beat inside his chest as anxiously as it needed to for a few brief moments.

We always have a choice to fight. To do the right thing. 

Barry felt power returning to his aching legs as lightning steadily coursed through his veins, the power pushing past any pain or exhaustion he felt as he swiftly sped out into the open and released a massive bolt of lightning into his enemy’s chest, uneven strands of orange electricity momentarily dancing elegantly in the air before the attack landed.

And there will never be a single moment when I’m going to choose anything except protecting the people I love.

The impact sent Joe flying through the air before he plummeted down through a stack of large supply sacks, the back of his unconscious head slamming roughly against the heavy materials.

“No,” spoke Barry, his voice immediately dropping several octaves as he looked over at where Joe laid, the latter’s head slightly propped up by the white and blue bags which were pressing against his back.

How, how could I’ve just hurt him like that?

“No, no, no, please,” Barry quietly pleaded to himself as he kneeled down beside his fallen father, placing the palms of his hands on Joe’s chest.

He was hoping, begging beyond all belief that he was still alright. That he would get to see the knowing grin that always covered his face whenever he mentioned how difficult it was to get his kids’ attention. And hear his soulful laugh echo around the cozy West household nearly every time the family was together, no matter how small or large it was. Most of all, he just needed to know that he was okay.

I’ve already lost two parents, I can’t lose another one. None of the three of us can. So please, Joe, just wake up. Please…

And whether that be by some miracle or just coincidence, the police officer slowly began to push himself back onto his feet. 

“Joe,” Barry smiled, a rush of thankful relief falling over his body as he held his right hand up to his father’s back just to let him know that he was there to help. 

Just like he always has been for me.

Joe nodded slightly in thanks for his son’s gesture, panting fiercely as his own knees now felt the roughness of the cold tile below the two men.

Not that anywhere could really ever feel cold if Joe’s here with me.

Unfortunately, the speedster was too distracted to see Joe cock his head quietly to the side, his eyes momentarily glowing a vibrant cobalt blue as the sly sneer returned to his face.

Though, it took very little time for the hero to acknowledge his enemy’s resurgence for he wasted not a single second before violently grabbing Barry’s shoulders and ripping him forward.

Continuous lines of blue lightning raced across the Flash’s upper chest, gradually eroding his every muscle with its tainted energy of hatred. Barry gritted his teeth in pain as he was forced back onto his feet, his hands desperately trying to pull his aggressor’s hands off with no success.

“You were the chosen one for nine years,” Joe began, his hold around Barry getting increasingly tighter with every movement the latter tried to struggle free with.

“But tonight, a new world begins,” he announced, his glowing blue eyes locking intensely on his enemy as he spoke each word with more vigor than the last.

Barry’s left hand’s fingers instinctively wrapped around Joe’s wrist, desperation seeping into his veins as he tried to thrust his attacker backwards, no matter how futile the attempt was.

No…I can’t let it win…not when the timeline….my wife…my daughter could still get hurt…

But the very thing he was thinking about, the people he loved, was the exact power he needed to will his determination past any amount of pain The Negative Force was causing him.

“Iris still needs me, her husband. And Nora, she needs her father,” Barry thought, his breathing slowing down to a near stop as he let the constant sparking of his enemy’s electricity blasting his body fade into the background of his mind, his heart taking full control of his thoughts.

“And then I realized that the reason why I couldn’t stop thinking about you was because I didn’t want to,” Iris’ sweet voice echoed within the infinite confines of her husband’s head, tears of nervous joy shining beautifully in the chestnut brown eyes which for the first time since they’d met, carried a love of something even more special than their eternal friendship ever had.

The light and delicate kicking of his daughter’s lavender unicorn-pajamaed legs as she playfully rolled from side to side in her white-barred crib, goofily smiling up at her father in a way that no one in the entire multiverse possibly could. 

In a way that only his little girl could.

“The only love story I’ll ever need is you,” was the singular truth that made the speedster’s heart skip several beats in a single second, the feeling of his wife’s soft lips pressing against his as they shut their eyes, letting their love become the only thing that existed in the world. Because whether that world lasted a single day more or a lifetime, their love for one another would last forever.

The last memory which consumed Barry’s mind was of a moment he’d never even gotten to experience yet, similar to his first one with his baby girl, yet still, it somehow brought a stronger love to the man’s heart than anything else. It was almost as if he could feel the weight of his baby in his hands and the comfiness of her pink and green polka-dotted onesie pressing gently against his fingertips. As if he could honestly see his daughter’s adorable brown eyes that were only matched by the beauty of her mother’s. And see the smile, the wonderfully, adorably, indescribably perfect smile of his Sweet Baby Nora. Of the person he loved more than any words could ever explain.

Nothing, not even a Force of Nature, will ever be able to stop me from coming back home to my family. To Iris. To our daughter.

Barry’s once blue eyes suddenly shot open, vibrant orange electricity running across his pupils in a brief, but magnificent race of love for his daughter.

Joe’s face contorted in disbelief as their cobalt and orange energy combined in an enormous explosion of blindingly bright luminescent light, the wave furiously throwing both of the combatants in opposite directions, their bodies painfully denting the tile flooring they’d once stood upon.

The Flash felt his whole body ache with pain as his blue eyes slowly began to open, his left leg stirring lightly in place as he vaguely took in the midnight-layered look of his surroundings. Though, it took little time for his blurry gaze to land on Joe’s motionless body, the man’s hand lying limply next to his own chest. Barry quickly scrambled back onto his worn feet, his sneakers squeaking silently in protest as he resumed his kneel beside his father’s body, only this time his hand first checked for the crystal which had previously been lodged inside the latter’s hand. 

But just as he was about to check, his eyes caught sight of the glowing blue amethyst momentarily lying just a few feet away from them before it vanished into thin air.

There’s nothing it can do, nowhere it can go, that I won’t do everything in my power to stop it.

“CCPD! Who's up there?!” He heard his retired (well, in present time, anyway) boss, David Singh, call from the base of the stairwell, the sound jolting Barry out of his thoughts.

And without letting another second go by, the speedster zipped out of the building with a single shoosh, taking extra care to drop his father off safely inside one of the many black and white police cars parked outside the hospital for no one, including Joe himself, needed to know exactly what had happened that day.

Barry felt the wind whip across his maroon red-shirted chest as he raced forward towards the singular place which had for so long haunted his nightmares, lines of orange electricity following closely behind his every step. His home.

                   He could still hear the cries of his parents ringing throughout his ears;

                            “Run, Barry, run!”

          “Ahhhhh!”

                                                “Barry!”

“Dad!”

Though, the voice that seemed to echo the loudest was that of Harrison Wells’.

Or rather, Thawne’s.

                                      “Now run, Barry, run!” 

Each word pushing the man to race even faster than before, his every movement fueled solely by love.

There’s no way any of us can stop bad things from happening in our lives because experiencing tragedy is just a part of being human. But the way I see it, there’s only two ways to live your life after those things happen; You can spend your every waking moment trying to change something that’s already happened, or you can focus on the good things you still have. And I think I’ve spent enough time wishing for the first one to know how I want to live the rest of my life. And now, it’s time to help someone else learn that lesson, too.