Heroes vs Banshee, Flash vs Blitzkrieg, and the aftermath of both battles. At least Ruby is still adorable.

Enjoy!

***

With a flick of his wrist, Joe finally managed to use the switchblade hidden on him to cut through the zip ties around his wrist. "How much time do we have left on the injection?" he muttered, passing the knife to Caitlin as he watched Banshee move in front of Borman.

"Not enough," Caitlin whispered.

Banshee screamed in Borman's face, making the green radiation increase. Joe charged Banshee as Caitlin cut her ties and handed the knife to Jax, but Banshee flung him aside easily, though she dropped the cold gun in the process. She sneered at Joe, then bent down to pick up the gun.

She froze in place, though, then narrowed her eyes, looking up and around. She smirked victoriously, then screamed loudly.

The blur that was Kara and Oliver abruptly crashed into the wall, and while Kara made a large hole in the wall when she hit it, Oliver was dumped unceremoniously on the floor. Both groaned when they hit the ground, both favoring the ears that were closest to the scream. "This is for destroying my world!" Banshee declared, screaming as loud as she could at Borman.

Barry zipped in next with Leo, and Wally arrived with Laurel. When the blonde metahuman caught sight of her doppelgänger, she opened her mouth and screamed herself, hitting Banshee and knocking her away. Terrill, Mon-El, and J'onn landed with a thud, Lily between them. "The radiation!" Jax protested, even as he ran for Lily.

"Alex," Lily explained.

"Got it," Jax nodded.

As they clapped hands and merged into Firestorm, Mon-El turned to look at Borman. "How're we looking?" he asked.

"7,000 RADS," Harry warned.

"And climbing," Cisco gulped.

"Guys, you gotta cool him down!"

Leo fired his cold gun, and Caitlin grabbed Banshee's dropped gun, firing at Borman as well. As Kara stood and started using her freeze breath, Banshee climbed to her feet, looking around. When she found her own face looking at her, she roared in fury. "You bitch!"

"Takes one to know one!" Laurel sneered.

Their screams collided in midair, tossing them to opposite sides of the precinct. Barry immediately ran over to Banshee and locked metahuman cuffs around her. "Where's Sara?" he demanded.

Banshee glared at him, then let out a harsh laugh. "I couldn't care less what happened to that pathetic excuse of a canary."

Wally returned from his exploration of the building, his face pale under his mask. "I couldn't find them."

Barry looked back to see Leo, Caitlin, and Kara continue to cool Borman down, then raised a hand to his comms. "Guys, Blitzkrieg isn't here. Sara isn't, either."

"I'm checking with Gideon," Zari immediately responded.

"J'onn, do you think you can find her?" Barry turned desperately to the Martian.

"Perhaps," he nodded.

"We'll take care of these two," Laurel waved to Borman and Banshee; Barry vaguely heard Harry say something in his comms, and Mon-El placed the helmet back on Borman, containing him. "Go find that bastard."

Barry looked at Oliver as he walked over to join them, a grimace still on his face. "Nanite arrows, by chance?" he asked.

"A few," he nodded.

Barry nodded, then looked around as Terrill and Leo joined them. "What about – " he began.

"One's down," Terrill looked at Banshee with a sneer. "We're coming, too."

Barry nodded, then grabbed Oliver and sped off. Wally was right behind them, followed by Terrill with Leo, and J'onn and Firestorm took off after them.

***

"I've found her."

The moment J'onn said the words and took off in another direction, Barry adjusted his course and ran after him. When J'onn stopped in front of the more widely used warehouses in Central City, Barry stopped.

When Wally stopped behind him, a flash of red lightning suddenly whizzed by, and as Oliver drew a nanite arrow and aimed too late, Wally was suddenly hanging unconscious over a ceiling beam, dampening collar around his neck. "What the – ?" Oliver looked around in shock.

"He is fast," Barry's eyes widened as the others landed.

Terrill grimaced, eyes darting back and forth. "He's decorated for a reason."

J'onn narrowed his eyes, looking around, then Firestorm yelped behind them. When they turned around, Jax and Lily had separated and were unconscious on the ground, dampening collars on them, too. The red lightning was nowhere to be seen. "OK, we're here!" Barry yelled into the air, looking around. "What do you want? You're not gonna get anything by not killing us!"

"Excellent job of being reassuring, Barry," Leo glowered.

A crackle made Oliver turn and raise his bow, but he missed the flash of lightning by a long shot. J'onn landed in the shattered remains of wooden crates, dampening collar blinking around his neck. "You're right," the warped voice of the Reich's holographic masks said, sounding like it was coming from all around the warehouse. "I don't get anything by not killing you." The red lightning warped into a lean figure in Barry's suit, except his was all black with the double lightning bolts on his chestpiece. He was also vibrating so fast, they couldn't see him. "But unlike the Banshee, I would rather not waste my time on those who did nothing to me."

Oliver raised his bow again, but he didn't shoot. "At least show us your face," he snarled.

Blitzkrieg tilted his head, then stopped vibrating. He pressed the side of his holographic mask and lowered his cowl; when he raised his head again, they were looking at Barry Allen's face. "Did you know," he grinned, "Sara wanted the exact same thing."

Barry bristled. "Where is she?"

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know," Blitzkrieg's grin widened.

"The Freedom Fighters said you were dead," Oliver looked the doppelgänger of his friend up and down.

"I know they did," Blitzkrieg nodded. "And look at the mess they're in now because of it."

"Shouldn't it be us you have a problem with, then?" Terrill raised an eyebrow.

"Right now? No." They were surprised when Blitzkrieg's lips curled back in a sneer. "Neither of you killed my Führer or general."

"That doesn't include me," Barry raised his hand.

"No, it doesn't," Blitzkrieg agreed, a hungry look in his eyes. "But the fastest man alive on this Earth? I've killed every speedster on Earth-X except for the man in yellow who got away. How could I resist the challenge of facing myself?"

"Then let's do it," Barry narrowed his eyes. "You and me, right now."

"Mmm," Blitzkrieg tilted his head. "Some maintenance first."

Barry frowned in confusion, but in the next second, Oliver's next arrow flew wide, and the archer was cuffed to a nearby post. Leo was the next to vanish, but this time, Barry saw the red lightning and grabbed Terrill to run after him.

When he found the other speedster, they found Leo spread-eagled on chainlink, dampening collar around his neck, keeping his head up because he was unconscious. "Leo!" Terrill's eyes widened.

"Help him," Barry urged. He nodded and ran to check on his fiancé, and Barry took off through the warehouse. Sara had to be here somewhere!

He found himself in the largest room in the warehouse, full of crates and rubble . . . and Sara was on his right in a crucified position. "Barry!" her eyes widened.

"Sara!" Barry immediately ran over, checking her restraints.

"I told you, didn't I, Sara?" Blitzkrieg's oily voice almost sounded fond, and Barry narrowed his eyes as Sara shuddered. "Your Barry doesn't abandon his friends."

"What did he do to you?" Barry asked, making Sara look at him.

"Nothing," Sara shook her head. "But he wants you dead."

"Oh, we already had those pleasantries," Blitzkrieg clicked his tongue as he sauntered up, arms folded. "Haven't we, Barry?"

"You're insane," Barry glared at his doppelgänger.

"Maybe," Blitzkrieg didn't deny it. "But unlike the Banshee, I'm not insane because of love lost." For some reason, Sara flinched at that, but Barry couldn't question it at that moment. "I'm insane because this Earth took the ones who gave me a chance to be something greater than I was. Oh, what the Führer, the High General, and I accomplished together! We had the entire universe on their knees . . . and you worthless heroes ended them."

"They would have conquered this universe," Barry narrowed his eyes. "They would have killed my friends!"

"And they would have deserved it!" Blitzkrieg snapped. "I helped the High General glorify her powers, and she helped me glorify mine. We were gods to our people. With your powers, you could be one, too."

"That's not who I am," Barry shook his head. "I don't hold myself above everyone else. I'm not better than anyone else."

"You should be," Blitzkrieg gestured to him. "You could be."

"Never," Barry declared. "I help others when they aren't able to."

Blitzkrieg stared at him as if he couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth, then he burst out laughing. "Oh, aren't you the hero, Barry?"

"Ever the hero, huh, Barry?"

Barry flinched violently, and Blizkrieg cackled. "Oh, did that strike a nerve?" He walked forward, grinning as he taunted Barry. "You're a hero, Barry, and you couldn't stop that man who confronted you before we arrived? What makes a hero freeze like that?"

"Barry," Sara whispered behind him. "Snap out of it."

Barry gritted his teeth and raced forward, but Blitzkrieg used his speed to side-step easily, and Barry had to skid to a stop before he ran too far away. "Too slow, Flash!" the Nazi cackled. "If you want to try and save your friends, you'll have to be better than that!" Barry was up and running again in a split second, but Blitzkrieg was ready. He dodged Barry's punch easily and zipped around him, punching him in the back. It didn't break his back, like Zoom had before, but it made Barry cry out in pain. "Not fast enough," Blitzkrieg sneered. "And you think you can be a hero?"

Enraged, Barry spun around, but pain in his side made him falter. "Barry!" Sara screamed.

Blitzkrieg smirked as Barry looked down at the knife that had sunk through his suit and into his side. "Maybe you should have let your Canary teach you a few tricks," Blitzkrieg whispered. "Mine taught me not to just rely on my speed." He pulled the knife out and watched Barry wobble. "That's why I'm the best," he walked over to Sara as he spun the knife in his hand, Sara's eyes going from the knife to Barry. "There's no one left to challenge me." He turned around to look at Barry, the tip of his knife just under Sara's chin. "You're not a hero," he shook his head. "I took your companions out from under your nose, and you never caught a thing. You're not a hero when you can't save your friends."

Barry swallowed hard, looking at Sara, who was looking right back up at him. Her eyes blazed with fury, but she gave him a confident look. Even when she was restrained and not able to move, she was going to go down as a hero, someone who had fought to be where she was, and Barry didn't doubt she had fought as best she could before Blitzkrieg had taken her.

Just like Ralph had done before DeVoe had taken him.

Blitzkrieg shook his head and turned back to Sara. "I am very sorry to see this happen to you," he told her, clicking his tongue. "But you're right. You aren't my Sara."

As he turned the knife to draw it across her throat, Barry surged up from the ground and crashed into his doppelgänger, sending them to the ground and making the knife clatter just under Sara's feet. Blitzkrieg roared and sped to his feet, but Barry was the one who was ready now. Each punch Blitzkrieg threw he blocked, and he swerved to avoid the hits he knew he couldn't block. As Blitzkrieg's anger grew, Barry became more confident in his speed. He knew his emotions could make him lose control; Flashpoint was the prime example of that. All he had to do was make Blitzkrieg angry enough, and he could drop him.

And finally, Blitzkrieg made his mistake when Barry's duck almost made him hit Sara. With a primal scream, Blitzkrieg launched forward, vibrating his hand as if to pull a Thawne and stop Barry's heart. It was all Barry needed to do to grab the last pair of metahuman cuffs from inside his boot and slap one end on the fist meant for his heart and connect it to the other wrist. Just like that, Blitzkrieg collapsed like a stone, and one hard punch from Barry left his doppelgänger unconscious.

***

It was so satisfying to see Blitzkrieg fall to the ground and stay there, as disconcerting as it was to see Barry's face be the one unconscious. Sara looked up from the speedster to see Barry gasp for breath, looking down at his doppelgänger so intensely that it seemed as if he would punch the other speedster if he so much as twitched while unconscious. It was then that she realized he was shaking from head to toe. "Barry?" she asked timidly.

His head shot up, and then he was in front of her, scrambling to undo the restraints binding her to the chainlinks. He finally phased her through the restraints, and Sara fell into him as she was released. "Are you hurt?" he asked, checking her wrists and ankles before fiddling with the dampening collar around her throat. "Did he do anything to you? Anything at all?"

"Barry," Sara tried to say.

" – heard it was him, but we had no idea where – "

"Barry – "

" – couldn't let him take anyone else away – "

"Barry!" Sara grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him hard. "Barry, I'm fine!" she insisted.

Barry blinked, then balked. "Your throat!"

Sara frowned and reached up, wincing when she felt blood on her fingers. "It's just a nick, Barry," she told him.

"It could've been worse," Barry shook his head, tears in his eyes. "It must have been when I rammed him."

"Barry, you beat him," Sara reminded him. "That's what matters."

"I almost didn't save you," Barry gulped; under her hand, she felt him tremble more. "Oh, God – "

"Barry, listen to me," Sara squeezed his shoulder. "Barry, you saved me, OK?"

"I almost didn't," he choked out. "I couldn't save Ralph, either!"

Sara stilled, then put her other hand on his shoulder. "Barry, come on, talk to me."

"He trusted me, Sara," he sniffed. "I let him down. Ralph . . . I'm the reason he's dead."

Sara closed her eyes, shaking her head. She didn't know exactly how Ralph had died, but she knew Barry. That couldn't be it. "No, Barry."

"No, I failed him, he was my responsibility!" Barry insisted, burying his face in his hands. "Now he's gone!"

As the speedster dissolved into tears, Sara wrapped him in her arms as best as she could and hugged him tightly to her. Barry finally sobbed, curling into her and hugging her so tightly, Sara felt her ribs protest. But when she saw Kara and Mon-El run into view, the other heroes and the freed ones who had been taken down by Blitzkrieg behind them, she gave them a firm look that stopped them in their tracks.

And as Kara shooed everyone away, she rested her chin on Barry's head and let him hug her even tighter, closing her eyes as she, too, shed a few tears for the teammate he had lost.

***

"So we're sure Fallout is secure?" Joe asked.

"Lyla has people who are very interested in helping Borman control his powers," Dig answered from where he was leaning on the desk next to Oliver. "She took him to a different A.R.G.U.S. black-ops site way off the grid."

"How far off the grid?" Oliver asked.

Cisco snorted. "Like, it would take Jack Ryan two Tom Clancy novels to find him."

Kara whistled, impressed. "That's off the grid," Sara admitted.

"I got to say!" a pleased voice from the entrance to the cortex announced, and everyone turned to see Leo do a twirl and pose in a new parka. "On any Earth, Snarts have style. Perfect fit."

Barry smiled fondly, seeing Leo in their Snart's old clothes. "Thought you could do something with it."

"You wear it well," Sara nodded.

"Absolutely," Terrill agreed with a wide grin.

"Thank you," Leo smiled, nodding to Barry and Sara and kissing Terrill on the cheek. "You sure you can't come to the wedding? We could put all of you at a table with Ray's uncle Skip."

"He murders the Macarena," Terrill added.

"Weddings," Mick grumbled distastefully.

"Maybe we shouldn't tempt fate, given what happened the last time a wedding happened on this Earth," Oliver tilted his head side to side.

"Ah, but then you might jinx your own," Leo pointed out.

Oliver paused, reconsidering. "Third time's the charm," Alex sing-songed, making Lena snicker.

"Well, I would be happy to see this wedding," Sara volunteered.

"Me, too," Kara agreed.

"Just let us know," Terrill smiled.

"For us, we still need to handle DeVoe," Barry gestured to his team apologetically. "But otherwise, we would be there."

"Suit yourselves," Terrill nodded.

"But if you're looking for a place to honeymoon, our Earth has some pretty spectacular spots," Cisco volunteered, holding out a device he had given to Kara, then Oliver before.

"What is this?" Leo asked, plucking it out of Cisco's hand and examining it.

"That is an interdimensional extrapolator," Cisco answered. "It makes small-scale breaches. You know, in case Ray's uncle Skip wants to see how the other half lives."

"And maybe a way for two friends to come to another wedding?" Kara asked hopefully.

Terrill laughed. "You come for ours, we'll come for yours?"

"Deal," Oliver nodded.

"Excellent," Leo preened. "Something old, something new, something borrowed . . . " He held the extrapolator up to his parka. "Something navy."

Amaya frowned, turning to Nate. "I thought it was something blue."

"Same color, technically," Nate shrugged.

Sara sighed happily, standing up from her chair and walking over. "It was good seeing both of you again."

"A pleasure to be in your service again, Captain," Leo hugged her. "And if you need any help demon hunting, let us know."

"We technically owe you," Terrill agreed.

"I will keep that in mind," Sara nodded.

"Legends," Leo saluted the other team. "I bid you farewell."

"Mazel tov!" Palmer waved, the other Legends doing the same.

"Mr. Queen and Ms. Danvers, we will see you shortly," Leo nodded to Oliver and Kara. "And your delightful teams are more than welcome to make the jump with you."

"Well, someone has to make sure the cities don't fall apart while they're gone," Dig smirked.

"Touché," Leo nodded, then swiveled on his heel to face Caitlin.

"We're gonna miss you, Leo," the woman smiled sadly.

"Gonna miss you, too, Caitlin," Leo nodded. "You're quite the badass, you know. Enough to make your alter-ego proud."

Caitlin flushed happily. "Thank you."

"Detective West, I know my Earth-1 counterpart gave you a lot of headaches," Leo looked at Joe. "Hopefully I've begun to make up for that."

"Man, you prevented a nuke from leveling the city," Joe chuckled, shaking his hand. "We're good."

"Cisco," Leo turned to the vibing meta next, tilting his head thoughtfully. "I'm really gonna miss that hair."

Laurel cackled, then coughed and tried covering her mouth to stifle the rest of it. "OK," Cisco smiled in a strained way, giving Slade and Malcolm dirty looks when they didn't bother hiding their amused grins.

"Iris West-Allen," Leo pointed to the woman at the desk. "Thank you for helping us take down Nazi scum, again."

"You're welcome," she smiled. "Again."

Terrill shook her hand, then Leo raised an eyebrow at Barry. "And then there was one." He led Barry off a little to speak more privately. "I could see why the other Snart turned over a new leaf and joined the good guys. You treat everyone around you with kindness and respect. Just remember to do the same for yourself every once in a while."

Barry nodded in agreement. "Thanks for helping us out."

"Anytime, Barry," Leo agreed, giving him a hug.

"So are we going to a wedding in another universe?" Ruby asked curiously.

Kara and Alex laughed as Sam blushed. "We're not exactly members of the team, Rubes."

"Nonsense!" Leo waved her statement off. "Any friends of our dear heroes are welcome to come, as long as we know how many we need to fit to a table."

"Please, Mom?" Ruby begged.

Sam struggled to hide a smile. "Maybe."

Oliver chuckled, walking over to shake hands. "I guess we'll see you soon."

"Far too long a wait," Leo smirked.

"Thanks again for all you did," Terrill added.

"All in a day's work," Oliver nodded.

Leo pressed the button in the extrapolator, and a breach swirled into existence. "That is so cool," Ruby grinned widely.

"Don't be strangers!" Barry called.

"Oh, you never know," Leo winked.

Terrill gave everyone one last wave, then he and Leo jumped through to Earth-X. "I still can't believe this is where we are now in our lives," Jax shook his head.

"What, getting invited to weddings on other Earths?" Sara raised an eyebrow. "That's tame compared to a time demon."

"Or Beebo being the god of war," Zari thought out loud.

"Will you stop with Beebo?!"

As Jax and Zari started getting into an argument regarding the blue stuffed animal, Lily looked at Sara with a fond smile. "So are we going?"

"Probably," Sara admitted.

Lily's grin split her face. "Fantastic!"

Barry smiled, watching Sara interact with the newest Legend, then he felt Iris's hand on his shoulder. "How you doing?" she asked when he turned to look at her. "I know last night was pretty rough."

"I'll tell you about it when we see Dr. Finkel," Barry answered.

Iris blinked. "We're seeing Dr. Finkel?"

"Yeah," Barry nodded. "I gave her a call."

***

When most of the heroes had cleared out of the cortex, Iris walked up to Caitlin in her lab, seeing her gazing at one of Killer Frost's Post-Its with a sad look on her face. "How's it going?" she asked.

Caitlin sighed, shaking her head and sitting back. "I don't know."

"Hauling a nuclear meta across the state, getting kidnapped by a screeching psychopath, and helping to save the city?" Iris smiled. "I'd say that's pretty impressive for someone without a meta other half to lean on."

"Thanks," Caitlin smiled sheepishly. "You know, the thing I realized yesterday is even though I can live without Killer Frost, I don't think I want to."

Iris shrugged. "Run some ore tests, find out for sure."

"I already did," Caitlin admitted.

"And?" Iris asked hopefully.

Caitlin blushed. "I've been too afraid to find out."

"Let's find out together?" Iris offered. Caitlin took a deep breath, then clicked a button on her keyboard. Her DNA scan appeared, and even though Iris couldn't understand a word of it, Caitlin's eyes widened. "What does it say?" Iris asked.

"It says the reason dark matter isn't registering in my body is because there is none," Caitlin blinked.

"So she's gone?" Iris asked in horror.

Caitlin tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. "It says there's still another cryogenic anomaly in my DNA," she said in shock.

"Killer Frost is still a part of you!" Iris grinned happily.

Caitlin nodded in agreement. "I just have to figure out how to get her to appear."

***

"You know what's been bothering me the most since you said what's been happening to you?"

Harry closed his eyes when he heard Lena's voice. "That I was stupid enough to do it in the first place?" he asked dryly.

"No," Lena took his hand and made him stop, pulling him out of earshot of where the rest of the Earth-38ers were preparing to head back to National City. "You think your mind is the only part of you that matters."

Harry sighed. "Well, in a room full of powerful metas, that is kind of what matters."

"Is that why Jesse turned out so great?" Cisco's voice suddenly asked. When both Lena and Harry looked at him in surprise, he held up his hands. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. Is your mind the only reason Jesse turned out so great?"

"Yep," Harry nodded, then scowled. "No, I don't know. What's your point?"

"Jesse Quick, superhero, scientist," Cisco began.

"Yeah, I know who she is," Harry interrupted.

"All around wonderful person, she turned out that way because . . . ?"

"I don't know."

Lena gave him a deadpan look. "You know exactly why. I met Jesse once, and raising someone who turns out like that? That takes so much more than intelligence."

"Lena's right," Cisco nodded. "I'm pretty sure if you asked Jesse, she'd tell you learning quadratic equations at age five from her math-obsessed father wasn't nearly as important to her as having a dad who was there for her and who gave a damn."

Lena raised an eyebrow. "Point made?"

"And well taken," Harry conceded, closing his eyes and nodding. Lena gave him a hug, and Harry sighed. "So now what?"

"Now we figure out a way to fix you," Cisco said determinedly. "Just like you did when Barry lost his speed, we find a way to jumpstart your brain."

"And I will be helping as much as I can," Lena added.

"Great," Cisco nodded. "But this is the hard part, 'cause it's gonna take all of us to do it, which means you have to tell the team."

Harry slumped. "I gotta tell the team," he repeated, then looked past Lena to where Kara was hugging Barry and Sara. "Yeah, I know you're right, but maybe not today."

"When you're ready," Cisco agreed, patting Harry's shoulder and preparing to open a breach for the others.

"Ramon?" Harry asked.

"Yeah?" Cisco turned around.

Harry smiled weakly. "Thank you." Cisco smiled back, continuing on to the Earth-38ers. Harry turned to Lena, taking a deep breath. "I don't know what I did to have you in my life – "

"Met someone who knows a Kryptonian on another Earth," Lena offered.

"Yeah, that," Harry chuckled. "But I don't deserve you in the slightest."

Lena reached up and kissed him. "How about you let me be the judge of that?"

Harry nodded, leaning his forehead against hers. "All right."

***

"Technically you came here to help us out, and that ended up with me rescuing you," Barry shook his head as he and Sara followed the Legends back to the Waverider, absently listening to Jax and Lily boast about all the ways they'd come up with how to merge into Firestorm, which Nate and Ray seemed the most interested about. "I guess that means I owe you two."

"No, I think that evens us out," Sara shook her head. "I'll give you the 'I came here to help you out,' but since you had to do the rescuing, you paid me back."

Barry frowned. "I'm not sure that's how that works."

"Well, I say that's how it does," Sara raised an eyebrow. "And do you really want to get in an argument with me about that?"

Barry snorted, shaking his head. "No, I really don't." They stopped at the foot of the Waverider's ramp. "But really, thank you for coming here. That didn't turn out at all like I thought it did, but I was still happy to see all of you."

"It was good to see you, too, Barry," Sara smiled. "Even if I did look at your Nazi doppelgänger for about half of the time."

"God, he creeped me out," Barry shuddered. "Even more than Black Arrow and Overgirl did."

"That's probably the 'my mirror image is preaching the exact opposite of what I believe' feelings talking," Sara pointed out.

"Last year, I faced a time remnant of myself who called himself Savitar," Barry told Sara. "He considered himself a god, too. The god of speed. Just because he was shunned by everyone else, he wanted me to feel his pain. He would have killed Iris if H.R. hadn't taken her place."

Sara frowned sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Barry."

"It's always speedsters," Barry sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't know if I prefer them trying to hurt the people I love, or if I'm grateful DeVoe's bringing something new to the table."

"DeVoe is unlike anything I've seen before," Sara shook her head. "At least speedsters seem to have the same idea about how to beat you."

"That's true," Barry agreed thoughtfully. "What was that he said about love lost?"

"Ah," Sara coughed awkwardly. "Apparently there was another side of my doppelgänger's story the Freedom Fighters knew nothing about."

Barry waited for her to elaborate, but when she raised an eyebrow pointedly, his eyes widened. "Wait, her and Blitzkrieg?"

"Got it in one."

Barry whistled lowly. "That . . . wow."

"That was my thought process," Sara nodded.

Barry shook his head, scratching the back of his neck. "That makes this slightly more awkward."

"Oh, please," Sara waved him off. "You have Iris, remember?"

"Yes, I do," Barry agreed with a fond smile when he thought of his wife. "And you'll find your someone soon. Maybe Ava will work out after all."

"Maybe," Sara agreed. "I just know if I find someone half the person you are, Barry, I'd be a happy woman."

Barry blushed. "Sara!"

"I stand by that," Sara gave him a look, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Blitzkrieg may have fought because he lost love, but you have so much of it, that's what gives you your strength. Iris is a lucky girl."

Barry ducked his head bashfully. "Thank you, Sara."

"Any time," she squeezed his shoulder.

"And I'm sorry for basically crying my heart out on you."

Sara giggled. "If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I guess I know you'll take mine."

Barry blushed redder, making her laugh harder. "Thanks, I guess?"

"You're welcome."

"Sara?" Wally poked his head out of the Waverider. "I think Mick's about to burn the galley down."

"Of course he is," Sara muttered, then sighed. "I'll be right there." Wally nodded, then disappeared back inside the Waverider. "You give a pyromaniac the Fire Totem, and look at what he does."

"Well, if you ever need help with that time demon of yours, let me know," Barry told her.

"Same with DeVoe," Sara nodded.

Barry nodded back, then gave her a hug. "Good luck, Sara."

"You, too, Barry," Sara hugged him back.

Barry stepped back and waved as she headed up the ramp, then watched the Waverider take off. Only when it winked out of existence did he take a deep breath and turn around to head back to S.T.A.R. Labs.

He had an appointment to prepare for.

***

"I knew Ralph since I was a rookie on the force," he shared later as he sat in Dr. Finkel's office with Iris. "And all that time, I thought I knew exactly what kind of person he was."

"Why is that?" Finkel asked.

"We just never saw things the same way, you know?" Barry shrugged. "I was raised to believe that people are good."

"And Ralph?"

"He always saw the worst in people, and he knew how to take advantage of it," Barry answered with a grim smile. "But, um . . . he changed. He did. He changed, and I couldn't see that for a long time." He took a deep breath, feeling tears start to sting in his eyes. "And now that I can . . . I think that's what's so hard is, you know, of course I miss Ralph, but it just took me so long to see what he'd become." He shook his head, swiping at the tears under his eyes and feeling Iris squeeze his hand. "I just, I never had a chance to tell him just how proud I am to be his friend, and I always will be."

"I'm sure he knew that, Barry," Finkel gave him a kind smile, and Barry numbly nodded, not able to say anything in response. "What else would you tell him, if you could, right now?"

Barry closed his eyes. "That I feel responsible," he answered, his voice cracking with the pain he felt. Next to him, Iris's grip increased on his hand as she, too, blinked back tears. "I feel responsible for what happened, and he taught me more than I could have ever taught him. And for that, I'll always be grateful."

Finkel nodded, and as Barry ducked his head, Iris rubbed his back, the psychiatrist allowing the two of them to have their moment to grieve their friend.

***

Well, I'm not entirely happy with how this ended up, but I think I could have also done a whole lot worse. Hopefully Flash vs Blitzkrieg was worth the hype. Also, I apologize in advance - I won't be writing the Earth-X wedding, but I will be mentioning it in the next episode.

Speaking of which, just two Supergirl episodes to go until we hit the finale episodes! Next up, it's back to Argo in "Not Kansas!"