Barry and I rushed into the cortex when the alarm started blaring loudly, catching us both completely off guard.

"It's a system-wide power surge." Barry types on the keyboard, pulling up the system diagnostic, the Time Vault glowing red.

"It's coming from the Time Vault." I stared at the screen, "We just left the Time Vault."

Then, all the lights when out, everything powering down.

"What's going on?" I did a 360, looking around, "Are we under attack?"

"I don't know." Barry grabbed me, "Whatever's going on started the moment we left."

He ran us into the Time Vault, where Nora's video was glitching, "I wasn't perfect. Please remember that I love you both and I always will. And I always will- and I always will, always, always-"

Electricity crackled as the video cut out, the plinth fried and smoking, a gasp leaving my lips, as I took a step closer, "No!-"

Barry grabbed me, pulling me into him, shielding me away from the sparks until they died down.

Barry slowly stood up straight and walked over to where the plinth rested, reaching to pull it out.

"Careful-" I quickly said, as he grabs it, hissing at the burning, pulling it out, as it rested in his palm, "Her message- Nora's message-"

"I know- I know." Barry wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into his side as if he could sense the tears coming, as we both stared at the destroyed plinth.

-

FOUR MONTHS LATER

"This is nice, Dad." Iris smiled, fixing the fedora on her head, "We should do this way more often."

"Agreed." Joe agreed, handing me tongs as I helped him flip the patties on the grill, "Hey, before I forget, congratulations on The Citizen."

We were all having a barbecue in the backyard of the West Household, as I was dressed in a yellow spaghetti strap dress, as it was also tied in the back, my hair in loose curls, ending right at the end of my chest, as my aviator sunglasses on my head.

"Yeah, congratulations." I nudged her lightly, "We're all really proud of you."

"Yeah, well, you know, there's millions of people in Central City and I've only got a couple hundred thousand subscribers." Iris shrugs lightly, "You know, I'm no CCPN."

"Well, not yet, but in about ten years it'll be a Pulitzer Prize-winning empire." Joe smiles at his daughter, as I handed her the tongs I held.

Iris flips a patty, "Baby steps, Dad."

"Mm, damn, this is good." Barry sipped the drink he picked up, walking with Caitlin towards us.

Caitlin looks at him, "You know you can't get drunk."

"I don't even care, that's how good this is." Barry shot back, taking another sip as I walked over to them.

Barry's eyes rake up and down my body, pulling his lips away from the glass, quickly swallowing the liquid in his mouth, "Wow- wow, are you wearing a dress?"

"Oh, God-" I place my hands on my hips, holding back a small smile, "Yes, yes I am-"

Caitlin smiles at us, before leaving us alone, walking over to Iris and Joe.

"I can't believe you're wearing a dress." Barry was acting like this was the first time he had ever seen me in a dress, "Who made you?"

"Neither can I." I gently laughed, then a pout fell onto my lips, "Iris."

"Oh, thank God she made you-" Barry wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me into him, "Because, you look stunning."

"Barry- stop, it's just a dress." I embarrassingly hid my face behind my hands, letting him hold me against him.

"I'm not missing out on any chance of making my beautiful wife feel good about herself." Barry's words still made me blush as I only revealed my eyes to him.

He purposefully holds his drink with his teeth, making me gasp, hands pulling away from my face and positioning themselves under the glass so it wouldn't fall onto the ground.

Then, I realize what meant to do by doing that.

He knew I was reach for the glass and I would no longer be hiding my face from him.

I purse my lips, as he lets go of the drink, as I held it in my hands, handing it back to him, holding back my smile.

"You've been wearing yellow a lot more often lately." Barry puts a strand of my hair behind my ear, "I love it."

I lean up and press my lips into his for a few seconds, sharing a kiss with him.

The second I pull away, I point to his drink, "Is that strong?"

"Not to me, no- but try it." Barry puts the top of the glass to my lips and tilts it back, as I let the alcoholic beverage slip into my mouth, "It tastes great."

I took the sip, pulling my face away so he stops, nodding my head as I swallowed it, "Not strong-"

"Never fear, the party's here!" Cisco walks down the steps, arriving with Kamilla, imitating an air horn, holding hotdogs and bread in his hands.

Kamilla held up the dish she was holding, "We brought my famous ambrosia salad and veggie dogs for Ralph."

Barry looks at them, "Guys, Ralph's still in Peru."

"He's in Peru?" I looked at my husband, "I thought he was in Monaco."

"Or Texas?" Caitlin trials off, none of us knowing where he was at this point.

"All that for a missing person's case?" Iris speaks, looking between us all, "That's dedication."

"Guys, guys, what are we doing?" Cecile joined us, holding a platter that held two dishes on it, "Baby Jenna is napping like a little angel and I have creamed corn, I have candied yams, I have collard greens. Baby, let's eat."

This earned a laugh from all of us, as we all joined around the table, seating in our seats, filling our plates and sharing laughs, conversation and happiness.

It felt good to be with everyone. It felt good to not think about everything that had happened and was going on.

Barry dusts his hands off, "How's the MAC coming?"

Kamilla sits up, "There's mac and cheese too?"

"Oh, I wish." I lean my head against Barry's arm, as this earns a laugh from all of us.

"No, the Mental Augmentation Chamber." Caitlin told her when the laughter died down, "Basically, it allows us to tap into the Speed Force to boost Barry's cognitive abilities. It would allow him to see every possible outcome to a scenario at the same time."

Kamilla slowly nods, "So, speed-thinking."

"Which means we'll be able to catch all the bad guys faster." Barry softly smiles, nodding.

Cecile takes a sip of her drink, "With all the ones that you brought in this summer, Barry, the DA's office can barely keep up with you."

"Hey, since the MAC's done, we should take it for a test run." Barry suggests, but Cisco shook his head.

"Absolutely not." Cisco declines, "You know we're still working out diagnostics."

Barry shrugs lightly, "We could put in a few hours tonight, get a head start."

"Barry." I looked up at him, my cheek pressed against his arm as he looked down at me, my hand rubbing his arm, "It's gonna be a no from Cisco."

"See- that's right- because If there's anything I've learned since leaving Vibe behind, it's that we all have a work-life balance to protect, and right now, mine is tipping towards more beer." Cisco sits up, setting his empty beer bottle down, "Besides, I still gotta tweak the mainframe and I can't do that without-"

There's a sudden whoosh next to me, and suddenly Cisco's tablet was in his hands, making him huff.

"Every time." I shake my head lightly, as everyone chuckled lightly.

"My tablet." Cisco finishes his sentence from before and gets up, "I'm gonna go get that beer."

I tap Barry's arm, my mouth opening as he looks down at me, holding his last two fries in his hands, about to put them in his mouth, but he stops when he sees my mouth open.

He holds one with his teeth, placing the other one in my mouth, as I gave him a satisfied smile, eating the fry in my mouth.

Joe clears his throat, "Hey, so the last time I talked to you guys, you seemed good."

Iris looks between Barry and I, "Are you guys good?"

Then I realized what they meant, and all the pain I forgot about for the last hour came back.

I don't reply, sitting up and looking down at my hands.

"Um- we were devastated at first, but Nora's only gone for right now." Barry speaks for me, "We're gonna have kids someday and then we'll have another Nora."

I gently nod, making it more believable for me, "Yeah, I think knowing that we have a second chance makes all the difference."

Barry's phone then buzzed in his pocket, and he's getting up when he sees his screen, "I gotta go, a break-in at Eastside Industrial."

He kisses my cheek, whooshing off, as my eyes land on his chair that fell back when he ran off.

I sat up, "Joe, um, I meant to ask you, what did you do with those boxes that were in the back of the garage?"

"Oh, he finally threw them away." Cecile smiles proudly, sipping her drink, "Thank you very much."

My heart dropped.

"Okay, I gotta make a call." I stammer, getting up, walking away from everyone.

-

"Well, my log says that your father's stuff should have ended up somewhere around here." The man leads me through the junkyard that night, as I looked around wrapping my leather jacket tighter around myself.

Then, my eyes landed on the familiar container top of a dumpster.

"I got it-" I walked over to it quickly, prying it open to see Nora's jacket resting in it.

I slowly picked it up and hugged it to my chest, my heart racing in pain.

The man watched me, "Must be pretty important."

"You have no idea." I sigh deeply, putting it back in the container, "Thanks."

Then, the ground started to shake intensity, air beginning to rush and pull me backwards, the man literally out a ear piercing scream.

When I turned, a black hole was in the sky, the intentions to suck everything into it.

I grabbed the man as he was reaching for me, pulling him back, "Hold on, okay?-"

Then, I saw the box lift and get sucked into the hole, along with Nora's jacket and it made me heart shatter.

What if I just let go and let the hole take me too?

Maybe the pain of losing her would disappear.

But, I couldn't.

Because if I let go, this man would die.

An innocent man.

I lift my hand up, my forcefield circling around us, the rushing air stopping as I had shielded it from us.

When the black hole disappeared, my forcefield disappeared with it, as I looked at the man, "You okay?"

He breathes heavily, "Yeah- yeah."

-

"I missed you last night- I mean, I walked in on you knocked on the couch this morning." Barry looked down at me as we stood in the junkyard I was at last night, "Are you sure you're okay?"

I was dressed in a thin yellow shirt, one that was tucked into my black jeans, black boots on my feet.

I clear my throat, "Yeah- yeah, I'm good."

"What were you doing out here anyway?" Barry looks around, confused on why I would be at a junkyard out of all places.

"I was following up on a lead." I made up an excuse, "Iris told me that The Citizen got a tip that there were a series of junkyard robberies- so, I kind of just- decided to look up on it."

Barry's eyebrows furrow, "People file police reports for stolen trash?"

"Yeah, well, you know, not everything that's here is garbage." I shrug lightly, putting a strand of my straight hair behind my ear.

Cisco kicked a piece of metal to the side, "Everything here is garbage!"

Cisco looks at us, "I hate garbage."

"What do you got?" Barry walks over to him as I followed, meeting Cisco half way.

Cisco hands Barry the tablet he held, "This site is littered no pun intended with gamma rays and magnetar fields."

"What are you saying?" Barry looked up at him and away from the tablet, "Zee was attacked by a-"

Cisco nods, "Yeah, a frakkin' black hole."

-

"That is a whole lot of information to disseminate." Cisco stares at the screen after we had just gotten back from the junkyard.

Caitlin was intimidated by it as well, "No one's ever extrapolated this much data from a black hole before."

"We can be the first." Barry shrugs and then notices the look on Caitlin and Cisco's faces, "Come on, we're Team Flash!"

Cisco looks at me, "Zee, what did you put in his coffee?"

I throw my hands up in surrender immediately in defense, as Caitlin folds her hands, "Okay, a black hole just showed up and nearly swallowed Zee-"

Barry looks between them, "So let's crunch the numbers, find out where it went."

"I'm sorry, are we looking at the same screen?" Cisco looked at him as if he was out of his mind, "Creating a search algorithm for this is gonna be like deciphering a mystery wrapped up in an enigma."

"Then it's a good thing that "mystery" is my middle name." The familiar voice of our good friend Ralph Dibny filled our ears as he walked into the cortex, dressed in a tux, "The name's Dibny, Ralph Dibny."

I cross my arms, softly laughing, "Well damn, one trip turned dear old Ralphy into James Bond."

Caitlin smiles and hugs him, "Welcome back, Ralph."

"It's good to see you, man." Barry smiles at him as well.

"Nice threads." Cisco points out, "Where'd you get them?"

Ralph looks down at it, "Picked this up in the Opal."

Barry's eyebrows furrow, "A missing person's case sent you all the way to Opal City?"

"And beyond, my friend." Ralph said, "A summer spent undercover rubbing Rolexes with the wealthy elite."

Ralph then stammers, "Did you guys know it's pronounced "yacht" and not "yah-kt"?"

Caitlin nods, popping the p, "Yep."

"God, I missed you." Cisco stares at Ralph, exhaling deeply.

"Anyway, just following any leads that might help explain the disappearance of Sue Dearbon." Ralph slips his hands into his pockets.

I place my hands on my hips, "I don't think I've ever seen you this devoted to a case."

"Me neither, but this one is a real tragedy." Ralph sighs deeply at the thought of it, "Maybe it was the look of desperation in her parents' eyes when they begged me to find their daughter."

Ralph looks between us, "So, uh, what's new in Central City?"

"I almost got eaten by a black hole." I straight up told him, "We are trying to track it."

Ralph sighs and closes his eyes, "Of course you are."

"We were just about to start decoding this data stream." Caitlin began to type on the keyboard, but almost jumps back when the frost in her emerges and freezes the keyboard.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Cisco blurts out, looking at his keyboard, his eyes widening.

"Ugh, I'm sorry, sorry." Caitlin quickly apologized, "
"Been having these random frost-outs lately."

"It's alright, Cisco, move- I got it-" I gently tap his arm as he steps away, my eyes scanning the keyboard.

I use my abilities, lifting my forcefield slip under the ice and protect the keyboard, as I melted the ice into water, closing the forcefield into a bubble, slowly bringing it up and heating it up until it turned into gas, evaporating into the air.

Cisco looks at me, "Did I mention how amazing is it to have you on this team?"

I playfully roll my eyes, folding my hands together.

"Wait- for how long?" Ralph asks Caitlin.

"All summer." Caitlin sighs, "It's happened twice in the last couple of days."

"Cait, you're probably overworked." Ralph said, "Maybe take a time out?"

Caitlin slightly shrugged, "A friend of mine did want to meet for coffee."

Barry looks at her, "Ramsey?"

Caitlin nods as he continues, "It's never easy losing a parent. Maybe you should take him up on it."

She softly nods and leaves us all alone, "I'll give him a call."

-

"How you feeling?" Ralph asked Caitlin as we were on the Lounge, as I handed her a mug filled with coffee to calm her down after the incident at Jitters

Caitlin slowly took the mug, "Like I should be dead."

"That's not gonna happen." Barry was insanely optimistic, "We're Team Flash- we always watch each other's backs, we always keep each other safe."

Cisco sits down on the stool by Caitlin, clearing his throat, "Meanwhile, over here in the real world, our black hole keeps growing up."

"Only next time it pops up, it won't just be Jitters." Cisco sighs deeply, "The whole city could be in danger."

"Why did this thing show up outside Jitters, anyway?" Ralph asks, "What does a coffee shop have in common with a junkyard?"

"Actually, I think I know who can tell us." I walked over to the monitor and grabbed the table, "I followed up with CCPD's list of junkyard robberies Ten of them were persons of interest, nine were career criminals, but this one guy, a scientist, was let go with a warning after being caught stealing old lab equipment."

I pulled up the video I found, "Team Flash, meet Chester P. Runk."

"Hey, what up, party people?" Chester chirps when the video starts, "Welcome to a world where all are welcome and anything, including the scientifically impossible, can and probably will happen. I'm your boy Chugga-Chugga-Chugga-Chugga Chester!"

Ralph stares at the screen, "I really like him."

We all couldn't help but laugh, as we watched the video.

"With knowledge from the bleeding edge of physics and beyond-beyond-beyond." Chester laughs, "I've been working on that echo."

"And- and yes, as usual, I am fueled by some mm, damn fine coffee from everyone's favorite beanery." Chester held the paper cup to the camera, "Poured, of course, to, uh, perfection by a certain special someone."

"Uh, no, WookieLover77, I- I have not asked her out yet, but I got my punch card, okay?" Chester read a comment from the live stream, "Three more Vibe-achinos and I'm making my move, baby- I'm making my move, baby- I'm making my move, baby!"

"Okay, he talks about Natalie for a while after this." This earns a laugh from everyone as I sped up the video then stopped at the part I knew would give us benefit, "Here."

Cisco stares at the screen, her eyes slightly widening, "Is he building what I think he's building?"

"Behold, believers: a gravitational wave emitter powered by a modulated neutrino charger." Chester demonstrates, "In other words, time to call some aliens."

Barry puts a hand on my back, "He built this in his garage?"

"Using nothing but trash- what a legend." Cisco was astonished, "Oh, he's turning it on-"

"Uh- uh, no, no, no, that's not supposed to do that." Chester stammers as his device sparked up, the familiar black whole appearing, except it was a lot smaller, "Oh, crap- uh, hold on."

All of our eyes widen, as Chester reaches to touch the black hole, then screams and pulls his arm back, the video ending.

Ralph looks away from the screen, "Okay, not exactly getting the supervillain vibe from our boy Chester here."

Barry looks at me, "He opened a black hole by accident."

"And what about Chester?" Caitlin questions, "Is he okay?"

"Well, the police reports I looked at showed that EMTs took him to the ER, but then after that the trail goes cold." I softly shrug, holding the tablet to my chest.

Ralph clears his throat, "Just a tiny question here: how do we destroy a black hole?"

-

"Chester P. Runk has been here?" I walked through the halls of the Medical Center with Cecile, coming to a stop at his room, my eyes landing on Chester, is back towards us.

"Ward nurses say he's been catatonic since he arrived." Cecile stared at him, "Just involuntary muscle spasms."

I softly nod and walked over to him, "Chester?"

He doesn't reply or look at me.

I sat in the chair across from him, Cecile standing behind me, "Hi, my name is Zee Allen, I'm a Detective with Central City Police."

He doesn't reply again, his fingers just tapping against the table.

"Chester, can you hear me?" I lean closer, staring at what had become of him.

When there is no reply, I sigh and got up, walking out of the room, and Cecile followed me, "Zee."

I turned to face her, her words feeling like I just got stabbed in the hard, "You lost something of Nora's last night, didn't you?"

"No, no-" I stammer, my voice coming out quiet and mumbling as I used every cell in me to not start crying, my gaze falling to my feet as I rubbed my arm, "I-"

Cecile continued, staring right at me, no matter how much I avoided eye contact, "Something that Joe accidentally threw away, it ended up at that junkyard."

My eyes hesitant connect with her, as they held a red tint and tears were pooled in them, my voice coming out as a whisper, "How do you read me like an open book?"

"Because I love you." Cecile stepped closer and grabbed my hands, squeezing them in comfort for a moment, "And I know you."

"I just miss her so much." I cross my arms, looking away, finally opening up about this, "Every day, every minute- I mean, now I understand what people mean when they say you could never experience any physical pain that is so deep as that of losing a child.  And I know that is selfish because one day I may get to see Nora again- I know I will."

"But, that doesn't change the fact that Barry and I's Nora is gone- our daughter is gone." I let out a small sob, the tears in my eyes falling, "The Nora we'll get to see soon- I mean it won't be our Nora, you know? The one that we knew, the one that we have pictures of, the one that we grew to love, you know. That Nora is gone forever."

"And Barry, he's been so optimistic and pushing the Team all summer- and, I haven't said anything to him about because I mean, he's okay now, you know?" I looked at Cecile, "I mean- I should be fine too, right? He's okay- I'm okay. I just- god, I don't know anymore."

"Zee, honey, you do not get to cheat the grieving process just because you know you're gonna see Nora again someday- or because you think Barry's doing fine." Cecile reaches and wipes my tears, "You have to let it out- you need to feel it."

"I know, you're right." I sniffle, feeling more tears coming, "I just don't know how to tell Barry yet."

Then, I froze when I realized something.

Before Cecile could reply, I ran back into Chester's room.

"Zee?" Cecile follows me, "What is it?"

I stare at Chester's fingers as he repeatedly tapped the table, "It's Chester."

-

"You're looking at the world's first inverse mass angular momentum disruptor, but we can just call it a stellar grenade." Cisco told Barry as they were hunched over his desk, staring at what he had created.

I had just gotten back to Star Labs and I stood in the doorframe of Cisco's workshop, watching them.

While, wiping away my tears and trying my best to make it look like I hadn't been crying.

"Cool." Barry replies, "So- this will destroy the black hole?"

"As long as it doesn't get much bigger, this will reverse the hole's mass-collecting properties, causing it to- implode." Cisco stood up and held it in his hands, "Just toss it in the event horizon; hasta lasagna, don't get any on you."

I take this as my cue, walking in, "We can't- If we destroy it, we're gonna kill Chester too."

"You sure about this?" Barry asked me as we all gathered in the cortex, standing with Cecile and I.

I nodded, "Yeah, the corona's flair matched the exact cadence of Chester's fingers."

"So- the black hole and Chester are connected?" Cecile questions, trying to figure out what to gather from this information.

"Actually, I think Chester is the black hole." Caitlin spoke up, pulling up a brain scan, "Watch this: so normally, stimuli enters the brain through the sensory area, goes up to the temporal lobe, and then back around, but watch what happens in Chester's brain."

Then she pulls up a brain scan of Chester's brain, "It starts in the right area, but halfway through its rotation, it disappears."

"I think I know where it's going." Cisco types from behind the console and pulls something up, "You're looking at a map of the negative ionic energy inside the black hole. Watch what happens when an energy pulse travels along its tendrils. See how it stops halfway?"

"The black hole is the other half of Chester's mind." Cecile stares at the screen when Cisco puts the brain scan and the map together, "It's his consciousness."

"Maybe it's been showing up in places that hold an emotional attachment for him, like the junkyard where he stole stuff for his projects." Cisco gestured toward me.

"He's got a crush on a girl at Jitters." Barry realized, "Okay, so all we have to do is get Chester's mind out of the black hole, reunite it with his body, and once his condition stabilizes, the black hole should just collapse."

I looked at him, "That doesn't sound very easy."

Caitlin trails off, "Uhm, they don't exactly teach that in med school."

"Okay, but we can't just let Chester die." Barry looks between us, "We have to do something."

Cisco speaks up, "Look, I don't like saying it, but I think we need to consider it."

Barry began shaking his head, "Cisco, I know where you're going."

"And you know we already have a way of beating this before it gets any bigger." Cisco shot back, inhaling sharply.

Barry wasn't going to have this conversation, "We're not discussing this-"

"You think I like saying this?" Cisco argued back, "I don't, but if we don't find a solution for this and find one now, we're gonna have to make a choice down the line, and it's either gonna be Chester or it's gonna be everyone in Central City."

Barry unexpectedly shouts, making me jump lightly, "I'm not losing anyone else!"

He wasn't okay either.

All this time I thought he was.

But, he wasn't.

"Honey- hey, hey-" I placed my hands on his arms; trying to calm him down, my voice quiet, "Calm down, please-"

"I'm-" Barry stammers, then pulls away from my comfort and makes what he said clear, leaving us all alone in the cortex, "Let's find another way."

-

I slowly walked over to Barry on the balcony, my hands in my back pockets, his back towards me.

"Barry?" My voice was quiet, as I came closer, putting a hand on his back.

Barry doesn't reply, standing up, unanticipatedly pulled me into his chest, hugging me tightly.

I hugged his middle, rubbing his back, my cheek pressing against his chest.

I held him for a few moments, before pulling away and grabbing his hand, intertwining our fingers, as we both leaned our elbows against the railing, as I held his hand in both of mine.

I stare at our hands, my voice coming out soft, "You know, Barry, I think it's time we faced the truth."

Barry shook his head right away, "I can't give up on Chester."

"Barry, I don't mean Chester, I mean Nora." I tilted my head and looked at him, squeezing his hand lightly, "I know we keep saying that we're fine, but I miss our Nora so much."

"And- the Nora that was. not the Nora that will be, and I have a strong feeling that you do too." My thumb caressed his hand as I felt small tears burn in my eyes, "You've been so optimistic and hard-working, so I thought maybe you were fine, that you accepted it- and I needed to also. But, the way you just reacted- I realized I was wrong. I think that's why you've been working so hard all summer."

Barry stares at our hands, as I gave him my undivided attention, "I thought if I could keep people safe, that it would make up for how much I miss her."

"Think all the work this summer and the long hours, pushing myself, pushing the team, it's so I could avoid what scares me the most." Barry finally met my eyes, and I could see the hurt in them, "That I'll never get over this."

"Neither will I." I bit my bottom lip, a small tear falling, "Barry, I don't think we ever will get over the lost of our Nora."

Barry's eyes held a slight red tint in them as well, as I inhaled sharply, looking down, "I don't think there's a support group for what we're going through."

Barry barely shakes his head, "Unfortunately."

"I lied about why I was at the junkyard." I confessed, looking up at my husband once more, another tear falling, "I lost the purple jacket."

Sadness flashed in Barry's eyes as he listened to me, watching as I was trying to keep myself together in front of him.

"I was obsessed with getting it back because-" My bottom lip began to quiver as my voice broke, "You know, Nora needs it- she needs it to become XS. To become the hero she's always meant to be."

"And when that black hole swallowed it- when I watched it swallow her jacket," My voice felt quieter, as I felt like I couldn't breathe anymore due to how hard I began to cry, "In that moment- I wanted so badly for it to swallow me too-"

Barry doesn't waste any time, as he stood up and pulls me into him, holding me tightly.

His grip didn't loosen, as if he was thanking everything he knew that I didn't get sucked into the black hole.

A few moments later, the alarm started to blare loudly, making me pull away from Barry, and looking around in confusion, Barry doing the same.

I wipe away my tears, Barry and I rushing to the cortex, Cisco turning in his chair and looking at us, "We just ran out of time."

-

"Okay, so how do we get Chester's consciousness out of the black hole?" Barry quickly asks as we surrounded the console, trying to figure out what to do.

"Well, the electrical impulses that make up Chester's mind are just past the black hole's threshold, but since his synaptic energy has a negative charge-" Cisco thought out loud.

"I could use my lightning's positive charge to attract his energy." Barry finishes his sentence in realization.

I looked at him, "Like a magnet?"

Barry nods, "Exactly."

"But, then what?" I asked, "I mean, how are you gonna survive inside of there?"

Ralph speaks up, "Well, your- your Speed Force aura should protect you, right?"

I cut in, "Okay- but, what if it doesn't?"

Caitlin looks at me, "The gravimetric forces will crush you to a subatomic size within seconds."

"That's not gonna happen, okay?" Barry told me, noticing the look on my face, "The Speed Force is a billion times stronger than any gravimetric force."

"Even if you do survive the entry, we don't have a way of keeping Chester's mind intact on the way out." Cisco said, making my heart drop farther, "We'd need superconductive wiring from a quantum computer to do that, and last time I checked, those only exist in the future."

"Nora." Barry looks at me, his eyes wide with thought, "Our Nora, she can still help us."

"Her back-up gauntlet." I realized, looking at Cisco, "Cisco, it's still here."

"That gauntlet's gonna have the filament we need." Cisco got up quickly and ran into the hall, "I'll strip it out and thread it into your suit!"

"Okay, in the meantime, Ralph, can you and Frost help CCPD evacuate downtown?" Barry asked him, Ralph nodding, as him and Caitlin walked to the hall.

"Frost is ready to come out and to use Cisco's present." Caitlin smiles, walking with Ralph.

I turned towards the monitors, Barry running out as Cisco ran in, "Suit's finished."

I nod, "So- when Barry gets Chester's consciousness out of there, what is he supposed to do with that energy?"

Cisco looks at me, "You remember the MAC?"

"Yeah, but it's not working?" I looked at him.

"No, but the structural integrity is strong enough to contain synaptic energy." Cisco told me, then looks away, quickly speaking, "Besides, we already moved Chester into it, so-"

"What?" I blink, "You moved Chester into the MAC?"

"That's right." Cecile's voice came through the comms, making jump lightly, "I may be small, but I can bench my body weight."

Cisco and I monitored from behind the console, the dot that was Barry circling around the black hole, "That's it!"

Then, Cisco presses a key, and Queen's voice sang through the speakers, "Flash!"

Cisco was proud, "I've been saving this for the right moment, since day one."

I looked at him, "Cisco."

Cisco looked at me, staring down at me, speaking in defense, "The guy is running in and out of a black hole."

I stare at him for a moment, before nodding once, looking back at the screen, "I'll allow it."

Cisco looks back at the screen, "Yeah-"

As the music played, Cisco instructs, "That's your window, go!"

Then, the dot that was Barry came in colliding with the black hole and he was in.

I stared at the screen, "Cisco, how long before he comes out?"

"Seconds." Cisco replied immediately, "I think."

I looked at him, "You think?"

Cisco's voice came out high, "I think."

"Barry?" I called out, "Barry, can you hear me?"

I immediately assumed the worst when he didn't reply.

"Barry- honey?" I began tapping my foot nervously, looking at Cisco, not noticing that my eyes began to pool with tears, "Barry- Barry, please, say something."

Cisco and I exchanged the same look.

"Barry!" My voice came out broken, my eyes glued to the screen as a tear fell, but, he didn't reply, as I whispered quietly, "Please, Barry, I can't lose you too."

And right on the beat, Barry's dot appeared on the screen, as he came flying out of the hole, running down the street.

"Oh my God-" I gasped in relief, Cisco pulling me into him, rubbing my arm as I held his middle tightly, as we breathed heavily, relived that he was alive.

"Come on, let's go-" Cisco jerks his head in signal for me to come along, pulling me along with him as we ran into the Speed Lab, Barry running in as well, as we all stared at Chester.

Cisco ran to the monitors as we watched the energy slowly minimize and return into Chester, "The black hole imploded."

"Chester?" Barry stepped closer to him, "Can you hear me? Come back here, to us, to this body, to yourself."

"What up, party people?" Chester suddenly shouts, his eyes snapping open, his eyes glowing with dark energy, making us all jump back, a small shriek leaving my lips accidentally.

Chester gasps, "Hey- hey, you're the Flash."

"With the speeding around and the lightning and all that-" Chester practically fangirls, as we sighed in relief, "Hey, big fan, man, big fan."

Before I could stop myself, I threw my arms around Barry, holding onto him tightly.

Barry doesn't hesitate to hold me back, as Chester speaks up, "Also, where am I?"

-

"Chester is doing so much better." Cecile walked into the cortex where we all stood, "I mean, don't get me wrong, he's still, you know, glowing in the eyes with orange dark energy, but he's in really good spirits."

Barry looks at Cisco, "How long until he gets out?"

"Caitlin said his molecules need to destabilize at the subatomic level." Cisco estimates, "My guess is he'll need to cook in the MAC for another four to six weeks, maybe more, until he's back to normal."

"Well, believe me, he is more than happy to chill here at Star Labs in the meantime." Cecile teases, "And when he does get out, that boy knows exactly what he wants to do."

"How much do you wanna bet he's gonna ask Natalie out?" I joked lightly, Barry wrapping an arm around me.

"Speaking of going out, Kamilla and I are doing shawarma Tuesday, so I'm gonna mosey." Cisco mentions, "Of course, moseying is a lot harder these days post-Vibe. Showing up to a date in a Stars Lab van, not a good look."

Cecile shrugs, "I'll give you a ride."

Cisco shoots her a look, "And risk looking like my mom just dropped me off?"

"Ooh, even better, you can walk." Cecile winks and walks away, leaving the cortex.

"Okay, I'm coming!" Cisco chases after her, leaving Barry and I alone.

I grabbed his hand, walking down the hall with him, swinging our intertwined hands as neither of us said a word.

I decide to break the peaceful silence, "So, what made you believe that you could carry Chester out of that place? Because you scared the hell out of me."

"You made me believe I could do it." Barry squeezes my hand lightly, as we came to a stop in the middle of the hall, "I realized we could be each other's support group, even though it's gonna take some time."

"If we can carry a memory like this together in our hearts, carrying somebody's consciousness out of a black hole?" Barry shrugs lightly, "It's a piece of cake."

"You are unbelievable." I softly laugh, shaking my head, looking away from him.

"I got you to laugh thought, didn't I?" Barry let go of my hand and grabbed my face, a smile lingering on his lips.

"Yeah." I gently smiled, "I guess it did."

Barry presses his lips into mine for a moment before pulling back and backing away to the Time Vault, "Besides, how else could I get this back for you?"

"What?" My eyebrows furrow in confusion until he opens the door, my eyes landing on Nora's jacket.

It was on the headless mannequin where Thawne's suit used to be, but now Nora's jacket rested.

"Barry." My eyes were wide as ever as I slowly walked in, my eyes glued to the jacket, feeling overwhelming warmth and love for the man that stood by me.

"I know it's not as good as Nora's video-" Barry trails off quietly, following me inside.

I jumped into his arms, hugging him so tightly, "I can't even put into words how I feel right now-"

"You don't need to- I know." Barry held me for a few moments, before setting me down, keeping his arms around me, "I know that jacket means a lot to you. Of course I was going to get it back."

I stared up at him, tears filling my eyes for what felt like the hundredth time, as his jaw slightly dropped, his voice soft, "Hey- no, this is a good surprise- a happy surprise-"

"These are happy tears." The tears in my eyes fell, as I sniffled, Barry grabbing my face and wiping away my tears.

"I love you, so much." Barry stares into my eyes, "More than anything in the world."

"I love you so much more." I hugged him, burying my face into his chest, never wanting to let go of my husband, "Now, we have something that we can honor Nora with."

Barry kisses my head as we stared at Nora's jacket, "She was pretty schway."

"Yeah, she was." My voice broke lightly, sniffling quietly, when the electricity thrummed and everything went out, "Barry?"

"I'm right here." Barry held me, as I looked around in the darkness, the electricity powering back up.

Our heads snap to the side, and there he stood.

The Monitor; Mar Novu.

Barry slowly let go of me, "What do you want?"

"For your universe to survive." The Monitor replied right away, staring at Barry.

"The plinth- that was you." I stepped closer, "You destroyed it- you destroyed Nora's message."

"An unfortunate side effect." The Monitor simply said, "But- I needed to discourage you."

Barry wasn't happy he was here at all, "From doing what?"

"Hoping." The Monitor said, "Your determination is boundless, Flash it is one of your greatest qualities but you cannot avoid the coming Crisis."

I shook my head, "Barry has five years before he vanishes."

"No longer." The Monitor's words hurt my heart brutally in millions of ways, "December 10, 2019."

My eyes widen and fear sparked within me, "What?"

"On that day, he will answer the call and make the ultimate sacrifice." The Monitor spoke, "Soon this world will fight for the fate of all the known universes."

Barry shook his head and grabbed my hand, "I'm not gonna leave my family. There has to be a way to stop what's coming."

"I am sorry, but events have been set into motion that you cannot possibly comprehend." The Monitor apologized but Barry couldn't take it.

"I don't need to understand them!" Barry raises his voice, "Just tell me what I can do."

"To survive? You can't." The Monitor told us, "In order for billions to survive this coming Crisis, the Flash must die."

authors note:

oh my god i missed writing this bookkkk

hi, I'm back

I'm updating every week sksksk

omg I'm so excited, but also scared lmaoo

also, they're literally goals ? I missed zee and barry so freaking much omfg

random barry gifs cause I'm probably not gonna be able to find good gifs for each episode for this entire season-

this book also hit 100k? I'm crying? it's now at 109k, like omfg thank you for reading, I'm so shocked

vote and comment loads for the return of my babies