— 𝐵 —

"𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐎𝐔𝐓 of your mind?" Joe questioned Barry incredulously. "What do you mean you talked to Leonard Snart?"

Barry glanced over at Sophia, Cisco, and Caitlin, though they were busied by something else in the middle of the Cortex. He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he told Joe:

"I asked him for help."

"Barry, why would you do something so stupid?"

"Because, Joe, we have already tried everyone else," Barry reasoned quietly. "Look, you tried the CCPD. I tried Oliver. I even tried Ronnie and Dr. Stein. And the particle accelerator goes online in—" He turned to Sophia for help, and she glanced over her shoulder as she answered:

"Sixteen hours."

"Sixteen hours, Joe," Barry implored, turning back to him. "I'm not willing to let the metas die, and we can't let them escape, either. So, like it or not, Snart, with his cold gun, is the only one that can stop them if Cisco's transportation does not hold."

"Then lucky for you I figured out what it is you can get me."

The unmistakable voice of Snart came from the entrance of the Cortex, and Barry turned while Joe pulled out his gun (and Cisco, less helpfully, held up a screwdriver for his weapon).

"Hello, Detective. Nice to see you again. Sophia, Caitlin, Cisco. I thought about your proposal," he mused as he slowly walked around the desk, peering around the room. "You want my help, this is what I want. My fingerprints, dental records, DNA, criminal records, family tree, everything there is in this world concerning Leonard Snart . . ." He stopped in front of Barry's suit as he finished, "I want it destroyed. All of it—at CCPD, online, everywhere."

"The brass on this dude." Joe scoffed. "You really think we'd do that for you?"

Barry, on the other hand, was thinking a little differently. If that's what it took to protect the metas and the city . . .

"I'll do it," he agreed. "If it's the only way, fine."

Someone tapped his arm, and he turned to see Sophia. "You and I need to talk right now."

Barry silently groaned—the last thing he needed was a scolding from his girlfriend.

He followed her into the training room, and as soon as he had shut the door, she exclaimed:

"What the hell is wrong with you? You can't just erase Snart's criminal record!"

"Yeah, I can." Barry ran his hands through his hair as he stepped onto the treadmill. "And I'll do whatever I have to do."

"Barry, there's gotta be a different way to do this."

"Okay, well, what is it, Sophia? Tell me what it is, and we'll do it—you're the genius, aren't you?" His voice turned into a shout, "Figure it out, because we're running out of time!"

Though he felt the sudden shame of raising his voice, he turned and leaned forward on the monitors. He took a breath, though that didn't calm his agitated body.

Sophia didn't speak for a few moments, and Barry was worried that he had gone too far. But then, her soft voice questioned:

"What is going on with you? You're going to work with that killer? This isn't who you are."

Barry turned around and walked towards her. "Who I am is the guy who's not fast enough to stop Wells!" he exclaimed, stopping just in front of her. "He . . . he hasn't been one step ahead of us, Sophia—he's been a thousand. I can't catch him. I can't beat him. What I can do is save those people down there. Wells turned them into what they are, and I'm pretty sure he does not care if they live or die. I do."

— 𝒮—

Staring at not only Snart but also his sister, Sophia couldn't help but agree with Caitlin as she sighed. "Please tell me this is a joke."

"Oh, you were right, Lenny," Snart's sister remarked. "She is very uptight."

"I am not uptight."

Sophia scrunched her nose. "Cait, you are a bit . . ."

"You can't call me uptight," Caitlin corrected, with just as much fierceness.

"Look, guys," the suited Barry, who was standing between their two enemies, cut in, "we need their help if we're gonna pull this off."

"Why are you wearing your mask?" Caitlin pointed out. "Snart already knows who you are."

"And I promised I wouldn't tell anyone," Snart interjected. "That includes my sister."

"Jerk," his sister muttered.

"Trainwreck," he returned before looking at Joe. "Don't look so surprised, Detective. I am a man of my word."

"Yeah, you better be," Joe replied. "Or I'm gonna make sure you're on that damn plane, too."

That seeming to be the concluding statement of the discussion, everyone separated into different parts of the Cortex. Sophia joined Barry at the side of the main desk, though she couldn't help but listen in to the conversation between Cisco and Snart's sister (she was nosy when it came to her best friend).

"Hey, Cisco."

"Oh, hey . . . Captain Cold's evil sister."

"Aww. You're not still mad at me, are you?" she cooed. "I really did enjoy kissing you."

That took both Sophia and Caitlin by surprise, and yet again, Caitlin practically read Sophia's mind as she exclaimed, "You kissed her?"

Cisco held a hand out. "Under duress. Calm down."

"I've . . . I've thought a lot about you," Snart's sister continued softly.

Cisco squinted his eyes. "Have you really? Well, stop. Because this right here, it ain't gonna happen."

"A girl can hope."

As she walked away, her heels clicking against the floor, Cisco groaned.

"Really not enjoying being one of the good guys this week. Really not."

"Hey, Soph," called Barry, drawing her attention away from the fun. "Have you guys figured out a way to get the meta-humans to the airport?"

"We have, actually," she assured him, gesturing Cisco over.

"And it's pretty dope," Cisco, snapped out of his trance, added.

Once they were in the garage, Cisco led them to a large truck—which really was their secret weapon.

"This is cool," Joe commented. "Where'd you get this?"

"My uncle owns it. His company hauls frozen food cross country," Cisco said proudly. "Okay, so Soph and I retrofitted the cooling system with the wheelchair's power source to create an energy damper."

"Which means what, exactly?" questioned Joe.

"Basically," answered Sophia, "the back of this rig is being flooded with so much power that it's effectively creating a transient pulse strong enough to disrupt the meta-humans' powers."

"Exactly," added Cisco, "so we can get them to the airport and get them on a plane without them getting fresh on us."

"Technically," continued Sophia with a sigh, "we need somebody with a Class A commercial driver's license to drive this, though."

"I can drive it," Snart's sister, who was leaning against the back of the truck, said lightly. And when everyone gave her looks of disbelief, she shrugged. "What? I have a Class A CDL."

"You do?" Caitlin asked in surprise.

She smirked. "We can't all be doctors."

"All right, well, let's do this." Barry sighed. "Plane's gonna be here in two hours."

— 𝒮—

"Dampeners are fully functional," Cisco confirmed once the meta-humans were loaded into the truck.

"All right." Barry sighed. "I'll make sure the roads are clear. Do not stop for anything."

"Let's move out," Snart, who was on a motorcycle, announced.

Buckled in the car with Caitlin and Joe, Sophia kept quiet during the drive. Every sentence over the comms her stomach greeted with anxiety, though it was just mostly Joe declaring traffic and Barry handling it with construction signs and barriers.

Luckily, the ride there had gone smoothly. As they entered Ferris Air, Sophia could only pray that the rest of the night went accordingly.

"Ferris Air?" Snart questioned once he was off his motorcycle. "I thought this place got shut down."

"It did," Barry confirmed, watching the air for the plane. "One of their test pilots disappeared."

"Where's the plane?" asked Joe as they walked towards Barry and Snart. "I want to get this over with."

"It should be here any minute." Barry sighed as they reached his side. He gave an awkward glance to Sophia. "Look, Soph, I know you don't agree with this—"

"Save it," she muttered. "I just want to get it done."

"Your ARGUS friends aren't very prompt," Snart commented, folding his arms. "Maybe that's why they've never been able to catch me."

The light hum of an airplane suddenly sounded, and it soon got louder.

"Look," Caitlin called, pointing towards the oncoming plane, "there it is."

Sophia felt relieved. Ten minutes more, and they would be done—everyone safe and sound.

That relief was short-lived.

"Guys, guys," called Cisco in a panic, rushing towards them with his tablet in hand, "we have a problem. The damper's fluctuating. The rig's losing power. I . . . don't know why."

"Wait, can you do something?" Barry asked hurriedly.

"I'm trying!" Cisco exclaimed as he worked on the tablet, though the amount of beeping wasn't music to their ears.

"Oh, God," Sophia muttered, looking up to the sky as lightning flashed and thunder boomed.

"Mardon," Joe said.

Lightning struck one of the plane's engines, and it immediately caught on fire. All hope was lost as they watched the plane soar across their heads and crash far away, and the fire that erupted wasn't all too reassuring.

The back of the truck burst open, and everyone whipped around to face it.

"Trip's cancelled!" declared Mardon, the other meta-humans behind him.

"Take your last breath!" exclaimed Kyle Nimbus—the Mist.

He jumped, but before he landed on the ground, he evaporated into the poisonous mist that Sophia thought they were done with.

The burst of lightning from Barry's speed momentarily blinded Sophia as she ducked for cover behind a car with Cisco and Caitlin. Joe passed by them, shooting at the back of the truck, though most of the bullets just ended in sparks.

Jake Simmons—DeathBolt, as Ray had named him—shot lasers through his eyes at Joe, causing him to duck down with them.

While Joe reloaded his gun, Caitlin peeked up.

"Caitlin," Sophia hissed, "get down!"

Unfortunately, it seemed that Caitlin's brief glimpse had been met by Roy Bivolo—Rainbow Raider.

"You locked Ronnie in the Pipeline. and you killed Ronnie!" she shouted, pushing Cisco down and beginning to punch him.

"Caitlin, Caitlin, stop!" Joe yelled, grabbing her arms and holding her back.

"He killed Ronnie!" Caitlin screamed, thrashing. "He killed Ronnie!"

While Caitlin continued to fight against Joe's grip, Sophia managed to get a look at what was going on.

Barry was on the ground, just outside the building. And while Sophia was for a second anxious about the approaching Simmons, that was soon calmed as Snart used his cold gun to freeze Simmons' face.

Simmons, gasping for air as his skin blackened, fell to the ground.

"How about we call tonight a tie?" Snart questioned, approaching Mardon and Bivolo with his gun pointed towards them.

Bivolo's eyes glowed red, though a gun was soon pressed against the side of his head.

"I'd power down if you don't want me to melt your face," suggested Snart's sister.

Snart lowered his gun. "Let's all go our separate ways. My name is Leonard Snart."

"I know who you are," Mardon interjected.

"Always pleased to meet a fan," Snart humoured. "Just remember who it was made sure you didn't get thrown on that plane bound for nowhere."

"You're just letting us go?" Mardon questioned, a smile of disbelief on his face. He glanced down at the cold gun. "Why'd you shoot that guy?"

"He owed me money."

"Mmm." Mardon paused for a moment before raising his eyebrows at Snart's expectant face. "What? You want a 'thank you?'"

Snart shrugged, a grin on his face. "Who doesn't like a 'thank you?'"

"Thank you," Bivolo said after a brief moment.

Snart smirked. "You are so very welcome."

While the two meta-humans walked away, Snart's sister eyeing them warily, Snart walked over to Barry.

"You sabotaged the truck, didn't you?" Barry groaned, and his heavy panting worried Sophia. "Why did you let them escape?"

Snart crouched down. "Because now they all owe me. And something tells me they'll be a lot more use to me as part of my rogues than rotting away in the North China sea."

"You gave me your word."

"It's true, I did," Snart chuckled. "But here's the thing. I'm a criminal and a liar, and I hurt people, and I rob them. What did you expect me to do? Not be what I am? I saw an opportunity to turn things to my advantage, and I did. Who you're really mad at is yourself. This is on you, Barry."

"Then why don't you just kill me?" Barry groaned.

Snart stood up, and he shrugged. "Well, I guess you owe me one now, too. Good luck with . . . all of this," he said as he got onto his motorcycle. "I'm actually really excited to see how it all turns out."

— 𝒮 —

Sophia peeked into the Pipeline, and sure enough, Barry was sitting there. He was still in his suit, though his mask was off.

"Hey," she said softly, sitting beside him. "Cisco told me you were in here."

"How's Caitlin doing?"

"He used that light on her. She's fine," she reassured him. "Mostly embarrassed."

"Yeah." Barry sighed, and he turned his head to the side. "Thanks for not saying, 'I told you so.'"

"But I did tell you so." She scrunched her nose. "Repeatedly."

"I just . . ." He pressed his lips together for a moment before shaking his head. "Man, I've seen the way that Oliver does things, and . . . he's not afraid to just do whatever it takes to get what he needs, and I thought that I could do that, too. I thought I could just use Snart, but instead he used me."

"You're not the Arrow, Barry," Sophia said softly, watching as his eyes stuck to the ground. "That's not the kind of hero you are."

He scoffed. "What kind am I?"

"The kind that cares about whether or not those criminals lived or died. I mean, whatever Mardon and Nimbus and Shawna did, they're human beings. And you knew letting Wells use them as pawns was wrong. You know the difference between right and wrong. And you weren't willing to blur the lines between the two. That's the kind of man you are. And that's what makes you different than the Arrow." She gave him a small smile, and rested her hand on his arm. "So, please . . . no more walks on the dark side." She gently turned his face to meet hers, and she kissed the tip of his nose. "Agreed?"

Barry chuckled quietly. "Yeah."

The sudden blare of an alarm caused them both to spring to their feet.

"Guys . . ." Cisco said over the comms. "The particle accelerator is fully charged and online. Whatever Wells needs it for, it's ready."

— 𝐵 —

Barry stared at the live security feed. Wells, a small smirk on his face, unlatched the gates and stepped through.

"Barry, don't even think about it," Joe muttered. "Barr, no."

"You can't go out there by yourself," Sophia added hurriedly while Wells spread out his arms in welcome.

Barry stood straight. He had to do something right today. "Yeah, I can."

He allowed for no protest as he sped outside to meet Wells, who didn't look surprised in the least at his arrival.

"Well, I heard your prison transfer didn't go so well," Wells greeted. "I'm so sorry."

"All a part of your plan, I assume?" Barry questioned.

"Actually," he replied, slowly stepping towards him, "that didn't factor into my plan at all, but I'm impressed you went to such great lengths to keep those people from harm. Ever the hero, huh, Barry?"

"You've hurt enough people."

"I know. You see me as the villain, but, Barry . . . if you were to look back—look back carefully at everything I've done, every wheel I have set in motion, you would realize I have only done what I had to do. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"And the particle accelerator?" Barry questioned. "How does that fit into your grand plan?"

Wells smiled. "Well, why don't you go on inside? Let me show you."

"You know," Barry responded, "I just learned the hard way not to trust the bad guy."

"And yet . . . I've shown you time and time again you can't beat me, Barry."

A sudden boom caused them both to look left, where their eyes met a bright yellow.

Firestorm, fully geared up, landed on the ground, and his fire quickly disappeared.

"Wow," Wells exclaimed as Firestorm came to Barry's side. "You brought yourself a friend."

A moment later, and Oliver was on Barry's right.

Wells chuckled, not at all fazed. "Welcome, Mr. Queen."

"Hope we're not too late" Oliver greeted.

"You're just in time," Barry reassured him, and then his attention turned back to Wells. "I don't care how fast you are. You can't fight all three of us at the same time."

"Oh, I can't?" Wells challenged, taking a step forward. "Trust me. This? This is gonna be fun."

Wells pushed his fist out, the ring on his middle finger glowing. And as he got into his suit, the three prepared themselves.

Barry instantly ran towards him. The two nearly collided, and the chase turned into a game of Cat and Mouse as they ran in a circle. The wind whistling in Barry's ears, he could barely hear Oliver gruffly shouting at him to move out of the way.

Suddenly, a hand wrapped around Barry's neck, and his back crashed against the cold metal of the fence. Only a second later was he flying through the air, and he crashed against the STAR Labs sign. Glass shattered onto him, and he groaned as he fell onto his knees.

He picked his head up just in time to see Oliver shoot an arrow into Wells' leg. Firestorm landed just in front of him with a burst of flame, causing him to stumble back.

Firestorm lifted himself with his fire into the air, yelling, "Come on!"

Wells reached his arm out and created a small cyclone as he spun it. Instantly, Firestorm flew back out of sight.

Quickly, Barry got to his feet and ran. He spotted the fire soaring through the air and followed it, dodging cars and people as he sped down the road.

Seeing that Firestorm was finally about to crash into a building, Barry swiftly caught him, and the two ended up on the cold pavement. Recovering fast, Barry slapped Firestorm's chest and sped back to the fight.

He got back just in time, it seemed. When Wells was about to insert his vibrating hand into Oliver's chest, Barry pushed him out of the way. Wells rolled on the ground until he hit a dumpster, and Barry stopped just in front of him.

"That's the spirit," growled Wells as he got to his feet. "You can't stop me, Flash. And you never will."

Barry watched with widened eyes as the streak of red sped up the side of STAR Labs, and he quickly followed. The game of Cat and Mouse resumed as Barry chased him around the roof. When he managed to catch up to him, he landed a punch to his stomach and gained advantage in the race.

Barry sped down the side of the building, knowing that Wells was right on his tail. He ran up the side of the building just in front of him, and once he reached the roof, he shouted, "Now!"

As soon as Wells had made it to the roof, Firestorm appeared. He used his fire to blast Wells off the side of the building, and Barry could hear him fall onto a car in the distance.

He sped down the building just in time to see Wells fall face-first onto the ground, one of Oliver's arrows stuck right in the middle of his back.

Firestorm soon joined them, and the three of them stared at the limp body.

Barry turned to the other two, panting. "Thanks, fellas."

Firestorm nodded. "No problem."

Barry nodded towards Oliver, who now had a buzzcut and was clad in black. "Nice haircut. And I see we've abandoned our traditional green."

"Trying something different." Oliver sighed. "Look . . . I might need a favour from you."

"Wherever, whenever." Barry grinned.

While the other two left, Barry stepped towards the body. It almost felt unreal, standing before the man who had made his life a complete hell.

He smiled triumphantly. "I got you."