Barry and I were standing on a cliff waterfall, wearing our suits, but not our masks.

"Whoo-hoo," Barry told me. "Uh, it didn't look this deep on the map."

"That's because maps are flat," I told him. "This is like 1000 deep. But you wanna get faster. Maybe plummeting to your death is the motivation you need."

Cisco, Caitlin, Quinn and Harrison were in a tent behind us.

"So, to reach escape velocity, you're gonna have to go..." Quinn trailed off, writing a number on a notepad, showing it to Barry. "That fast."

"Well, that fast is impossible," Barry told us. "I can promise you that."

Quinn shook her head. "Uh-uh. 'Nothing in this life is promised except for death'."

"Edgar Allan Poe?" Barry asked.

"Kanye West," Quinn told us.

"If it makes you feel any better, Evel Knievel cleared a line of cars that was twice this long, and he didn't even have super powers," Cisco told us. "Ah, unless you count that sweet ass ride."

"Do you hear yourself?" I asked.

Cisco looked at Barry. "Well, look, you're gonna be fine. I'm 80% sure of it."

"Okay," Barry told him.

"76," Cisco told him. "Like, a strong 72. I can't stop. Caitlin, help."

"If you don't feel ready, you probably shouldn't do it," Caitlin told him.

"Not helpful," Cisco told her.

"Look, Zoom and Phoenix are still out there," I told them. "I have been absorbing a lot of fires lately by going out to burning buildings and siphoning the flames into me instead of putting them out. I'm stronger now. I just got to increase my meals do that I don't pass out again. And once we find a way back to Earth 2, I have to be stronger than Phoenix."

"And I have to be faster than Zoom," Barry told us. "And, I mean, right now, I wasn't even fast enough to save Jay." Quinn looked down. "I have to try."

Barry pulled on his mask, walking toward a steep cliff, kneeling down, exhaling, letting lightning crackle in his eyes, zooming across the way, jumping off the cliff toward the other side.

Caitlin smiled. "He's gonna make it."

Barry almost made it to the other side when he started to fall.

Quinn cringed. "No."

"Oh, damn," Harrison told us.

I used fire to fly closer, catching Barry as he fell, holding him over the waterfall.

Barry was breathing heavily, looking up at me. "Thanks."

I nodded. "You're welcome, everyone."

~

In the Cortex, Jessie was watching TV.

"Time projects include releases of solo albums. Pop music would never be the same after Beyonce left Destiny's Child."

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense," Jessie told me. "Do they mean Senator Knowles?"

I was eating popcorn.

Barry zoomed into his normal clothes.

Cisco walked toward Jessie. "Scooch."

"What?" Jessie asked. She stood. "Oh, how'd it go?"

"Well, he's not a red splat on the side of a mountain," Harrison told her.

"That's our new definition of success?" Quinn asked.

"It's one of them," Harrison answered.

"So you didn't make the canyon jump?" Jessie asked.

"Nuh-uh," Barry answered. "What else can we try?"

"A bigger canyon?" Cisco asked. "Okay, fine, no more canyons."

"I know I can crack this," Barry told us. "I've just been going about it wrong. I need to find my leg up. Have we factored in drag? Wells. Can we rerun the simulation?"

"Let it go for now," Harrison told him.

"They're still out there," Barry told him. "They're terrorizing a whole world of people. Your world. We're not doing this for fun."

"Guys, we've been working on this all week," Caitlin told us. "You're tired. We're tired."

"Yeah, what we need is some downtime," Cisco told us. "Downtime leads to increased productivity, ergo, we have to have fun." He stood. "And the best way to have fun is for us to go out to the club. Am I right? Team Flyra. Let's get turnt." Barry and I chuckled. "No, but, seriously. We need a break."

"You know, I think Cisco's right," Caitlin told us. "And if I'm saying we need a break, then you know it's serious."

"All right, then," I told them. "Let's go out tonight."

Jessie smiled. "Oh, yeah. Can I go?"

"Oh, yeah," Barry answered. "Quinn, you up for it?"

Everyone looked at Quinn.

Quinn hesitated, looking between us. "I don't know."

I looked at her sympathetically. "Come on. You know it's bad when I have to convince someone to go have fun."

"Yeah, it is," Cisco agreed. "Coming from the queen of loner chicks right here."

"Shut up, Cisco," I told him.

Caitlin chuckled, looking at Quinn. "It could help, you know."

Quinn sighed, managing a small smile. "Okay. I'll go."

Cisco made a fist in victory. "Yes! And then Vera can bust out her karaoke skills."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I told them. "I said I'd go. I didn't say I would sing."

"You sing?" Jessie asked.

I shook my head, while Barry, Cisco and Caitlin nodded.

~

We went to the club, sitting at the bar.

Cisco was watching a couple make out next to us.

I reached past Jessie to get a shot.

Jessie's metahuman watch beeped.

"Oh, God, sorry," Jessie told me. "It keeps doing that. My dad made me wear it."

"Don't worry about it," I told her. "It's all good."

Caitlin looked at Jessie and Quinn. "I'm really glad you came. Even though this place is less than ideal."

The bartender set out more shots.

"Hey," Barry told us. "Toast?"

"To Jay," Cisco told us.

Quinn raised her shot glass. "I wonder what Jay would say if he was here right now."

"'What's a kamikaze'?" Cisco asked. "And then Caitlin would spend ten minutes explaining it to him."

Caitlin smiled. "And he'd say, 'Just kidding. We have those on Earth 2'."

"Yeah, well, we don't have those, so..." Quinn trailed off.

Jessie prepared to take her shot.

Barry took it from her. "Ah, ah, ah. I'm sorry, Miss Underage. None of us plan on getting murdered by your father tonight."

"Oh, whatever," Jessie told us. "He's all talk."

I chuckled. "Mm-hmm."

We took our shots.

Iris and Wally walked in.

"Yo, guys, what's up?" Iris asked.

"Hey," I told them.

Barry hugged Iris. "Glad you could make it." They pulled away. "What's up, Wally?"

"Interesting choice of venue," Wally told us. "The tic tac toe theme is cool."

"Cisco picked it," Barry told them the same time Cisco said, "Barry picked it."

"For real?" Cisco asked.

"Yeah, I picked it," Barry told them. "Jessie just got here, Vera and Quinn don't go out much, so we decided it was time to show them a good time. And this place had four stars on Yelp, so..."

"Okay, fair enough," Wally told us.

"So, who's this?" Jessie asked.

"This is Wally," Barry answered. "He's my... Foster... Step, adopted. He's my new friend. This is Jessie."

"Oh, hi," Jessie told him.

"Hey," Wally told her. "So, Jessie, are you new in town?"

"Uh, yeah," Jessie answered. "You could say that."

"Yeah, me too," Wally told her. "Are you from far away?"

"She's actually from my hometown," Quinn told him.

Jessie's watch kept beeping around me, Cisco and Barry.

"Ah, you know what?" I asked. "Would you excuse me for a moment? Pretty much everyone dared me to do something tonight."

Iris smiled. "Oh, my God. You're gonna sing, aren't you?"

"You sing?" Wally asked.

"Apparently," Jessie answered.

I took my shot and another, surprising them. "To liquid courage."

"Go get it, Vera," Barry told me.

I walked toward the karaoke stage.

Cisco cheered. "Go, Vera! Burn it."

I stepped up to the stage, giving them a halfhearted look, smirking, speaking through the mic. "Hey." The crowd repeated back, whistled or waved. "All right, I'm Vera, and I'm basically doing this on a dare, but the real reason is because my friend Quinn, whose going through a difficult time. This is for you, girl."

My friends looked at Quinn, smiling.

Quinn smiled a small smile.

I started the song, "Just Like Fire" by Pink, because both me and Quinn were Pyra on Earth 1 and Earth 2.

Cisco, Barry, Caitlin and Iris recognizes the song by the starting chords, smiling at the irony and the message behind it.

I started to sing. "I know that I'm running out of time / I want it all / Mm, mm / And I'm wishing they'd stop trying to turn me off / I want it on / Mm, mm / And I'm walking on a wire, trying to go higher / Feels like I'm surrounded by clowns and liars / Even when I give it all away / I want it all / Mm, mm." Cisco and Barry were cheering. Caitlin, Iris and Quinn were smiling. Wally and Jessie were surprised and impressed. "We came here to run it / Run it / Run it / We came here to run it / Run it / Run it / Just like fire, burning up the way / If I can light the world up for just one day / Watch this madness / Colorful charade / No one can be just like me any way / Just like magic, I'll be flying free / I'mma disappear when they come for me / I kick that ceiling / What you gonna say? / No one can be just like me any way / Just like fire." Barry smiled. Cisco took Caitlin and Quinn out to the dance floor to dance with them. Jessie walked into the bathroom. "And people like to laugh at you, 'cause they are all the same / Mm, mm / See, I would rather we just go a different way than play the game /  Mm, mm." I looked toward where Quinn was dancing, smiling. "And no matter the weather, we can do it better." I looked toward Barry. "You and me together, forever and ever." Barry smiled. "We don't have to worry about a thing / About a thing." Cisco was dancing crazily on the dance floor. I couldn't help but laugh, continuing to sing. "We came here to run it / Run it / Run it / We came here to run it / Run it / Run it / Just like fire, burning up the way / If I can light the world up for just one day / Watch this madness / Colorful charade / No one can be just like me any way / Just like magic, I'll be flying free / I'mma disappear when they come for me / I kick that ceiling / What you gonna say? / No one can be just like me any way / Just like fire, fire, fire / Run it, run it, run it / We came here to run it, run it, run it." I reached the part of the song that was more like wrapping than singing. "So look I came here to run it / Just 'cause nobody's done it / Y'all don't think I can run it / But look, I've been here, I've done it." Cisco was dancing like a rapper. Caitlin and Iris laughed. Barry and Quinn smiled. Wally chuckled. "Impossible? Please / Watch, I do it with ease / You just gotta believe / Come on, come on with me." I saw a yellow lightning flickering across the club, confused, but continued to sing. " Oh, what's a girl to do? / (What, what?) / Hey, what's a girl to do? / (What, what?) / Oh, what's a girl to do? / (What, what?) / Oh, what's a girl to do?" I sang sweeter, almost like a lullaby. "Just like fire, burning up the way / If I can light the world up for just one day / Watch this madness / Colorful charade." I rode my voice to sing higher and more passionate. "No one can be just like me any way." Cisco cheered.  "Just like fire, burning up the way / If I can light the world up for just one day / Watch this madness / Colorful charade / No one can be just like me any way / Just like magic, I'll be flying free / I'mma disappear when they come for me / I kick that ceiling / What you gonna say? / No one can be just like me any way / Just like fire, fire / Run it, run it, run it / Just like fire / Run it, run it, run it."

The crowd cheered.

The yellow streak appeared, slamming into everyone, stealing money and leaving.

"Who was that?" a man asked.

"It was the Flash," a woman told us.

"My wallet's gone," a man told us.

"Someone took my purse," Caitlin told us.

Barry went to chase after the yellow streak.

I watched them go in confusion.

~

The next day, rumors were spreading about how the Flash went rogue.

Barry and I were walking down the corridor toward the Cortex.

"Where did this speedster even come from?" Barry asked.

"I don't know," I told him. "All I know is that people are blaming the Flash for this."

We walked into the Cortex.

"Maybe it's another one of Zoenix's henchmen somehow," Cisco told us.

"The breaches are closed," I told them.

"The only other way to become a speedster is from a particle accelerator explosion," Barry told us.

"Okay, but then why only make yourself known now?" I asked. "We would've had to see them in action before."

"I'm not saying it makes sense," Barry told us. "I'm just saying, that's the only other way to become a speedster."

"Actually, there's another way," Quinn told us.

Caitlin showed us a rack with a single vial. "It's called Velocity Nine."

"Ooh, sexy ass name," Cisco told us. "What is it?"

"It's a speed drug," Caitlin answered.

"Jay took it when you were on Earth 2 to save the city from a metahuman," Quinn told us.

"What?" Cisco asked.

"How could you not tell us about this?" I asked.

"Because we promised Jay we wouldn't," Caitlin answered.

"Jay?" Barry asked. "What do you... Why?"

Harrison walked in. "Because Jay knew how dangerous this drug is. I should know, Barry. Snow and I worked on it together."

"Guys, I've been busting my butt out there, pushing myself to the limit, trying to get better, trying to get faster," Barry told them. "And you're telling me that there's been something this whole time that could've helped me? This could've helped me take down Zoom. It could've helped me save Earth 2 Joe. Save Jay."

"Jay was sick," Quinn told us. "The drug he took to regain his speed was also causing cellular degeneration. It was killing him."

"I tried to help," Caitlin told us. "I tried to find a cure. But in all my experiments, the effects were just temporary. The V-Nine is deadly."

"Why not tell me this?" Barry asked. "Why keep me in the dark?"

Quinn turned away, sad.

Cisco put his hand on her shoulder. "Quinn..."

Cisco gasped.

"Are you okay?" Caitlin asked.

"Did you just vibe me?" Quinn asked.

"Uh..." Cisco trailed off. The computer started to beep. "Metahuman. Yeah. Social media app for the win. Bad Flash is back." Barry zoomed out. "Bad Flash. Ugh, what? No. Losing my touch over here."

I rolled my eyes, getting my suit, using fire to fly out, seeing the lightning streak. "He's coming up on Fifth and Everett. You can use the alley to cut him off."

Barry caught up to the streak, but was slammed onto a car.

I landed on the ground nearby, using fire to push the streak to the ground, walking closer.

The streak was actually a female speedster in a red suit, looking at us, zooming away.

I used fire to fly to search for her, but she knew how to hide.

~

Barry and I were back in the Cortex.

Cisco smiled. "A lady speedster. It only took us two years, but we finally got one. A lady speedster. Hey, here's a question for you. Purely scientific. Was she good looking?"

Joe chuckled.

"Yeah, I was a little busy getting my ass handed to me, so I didn't really notice," Barry told us.

"Right, right, right," Cisco told him. "Vera?"

"She wore a mask," I told him. "Next time I put her on her ass, I'll be sure to tell her about you."

"There you go," Cisco told me.

"But the question remains, who is she?" Joe asked.

Barry sighed. "I have no idea."

"What was her suit like?" Cisco asked.

"Hey," Caitlin told him.

"Hey, it's a valid question," Cisco told us.

"It is, actually," Harrison told us. "How was her suit constructed?"

"I, uh..." Barry trailed off. "It was good. Very good. It was like mine. It was made by somebody who understands the needs of a speedster."

"So, that would be someone with access to tech and a lab," Quinn told us.

"Oh, no. I'm having a very bad thought," Caitlin told us.

We looked at her in confusion

~

Caitlin was sitting at the desk, bringing up a woman's information. "When I designed V-9, I was having trouble reformating the extracellular matrix. So, I called a colleague of mine at Mercury Labs for some assistance. Eliza Harmon."

"She knows how to make this speed drug?" I asked.

"No," Caitlin answered. "I followed the protocols of information conpartmentalization. I only gave her three of the eight components necessary for V-9's structure."

"Okay, so she didn't have the full recipe?" Barry asked.

"Unless she reverse engineered her own V-9," Harrison told us.

"Eliza's a genius," Caitlin told us. "But that's way out of character for her."

"Well, it's worth taking a look," Joe told us.

"I'll go see her," Caitlin told us.

"I'm gonna go, too," Quinn told us.

They walked out.

"Great," Barry told us. "I'm gonna go train."

~

The team was talking in the Cortex.

Barry and I were in our suits but not masks.

"Hey, any luck locating our speedster, since Eliza checked out?" I asked.

"Um, I'm still working on it, but..." Cisco trailed off.

Electricity started to spark around the room.

Barry and I pulled on our masks.

The lady speedster zoomed past us, grabbing Barry and me, taking us to the pipeline, locking us in a cell.

I hit against the glass. "Hey!"

The lady speedster laughed. "Time to have some fun."

The lady speedster zoomed out.

Barry and I looked at each other.

~

Barry was yelling into the cameras for help. "Hey, Cisco! Joe! She's got us in the pipeline!"

We couldn't get out because the cells were built not to let any metahuman out, including speedsters and blazes.

~

Eventually, Cisco released us. We got to the Cortex.

"Good job on the cell, Cisco," I told him.

Jessie was on the floor, shaking, seizing.

Quinn knelt next to her. "Jessie."

Harrison knelt next to them.

"What happened?" Barry asked.

"Turn her on her side," Caitlin told us.

"Eliza shot her up with V-9," Harrison told us.

"She's going into shock," Quinn told us. "It's too pure."

"Stay with me, Jessie," Harrison told her. Stay with me."

"What do we do?" Cisco asked.

"We got to get the V-9 out of her system," I told them.

"She needs a blood transfusion," Caitlin told us. "The new blood will flush the drug out of her system."

"What blood type is she?" Barry asked.

"P-Z negative," Harrison answered.

"Yeah, that's not a thing in this Earth, man," Cisco told him.

"I'm a match," Harrison told us. "Jessie."

~

Harrison had blood transfused Jessie. They were in the infirmary.

The rest of us were in the Cortex, cleaning up the mess Eliza had made.

"Hey, Caitlin, I know she was your friend and all, but, uh, home girl has gone cuckoo bird," Cisco told her.

"And now she's out there with more V-9," I told them.

"What she doesn't know is I put a micro-tracker in the drug," Caitlin told us.

"Mm, that's a brilliant idea," Quinn told her.

Cisco sat at the computers. "You can run, but you can't hide."

"I'm the one to blame for all of this, so I need to help fix it," Caitlin told us.

Harrison walked in. "There's plenty of blame to go around, Snow. What's her location?"

"Central City bridge," Cisco answered.

"Why is she running back and forth?" I asked.

"Villains gonna vill," Cisco told us.

"She's creating friction," Barry told us.

"At that vibration and speed..." Quinn trailed off.

"What?" Joe asked.

"Complete chaos," Quinn answered. "She could destroy that whole bridge."

I sighed. "And everyone on it."

~

Barry and I arrived to the bridge.

"Guys, this bridge is coming down," Barry told us.

"There's about 200 people on that bridge right now," Cisco told us.

"Get them out of here, Barry," I told him.

Barry nodded, zooming to get everyone off the bridge.

Eliza zoomed toward me, punching me in the face. "You're ruining all my fun."

I grabbed Eliza, throwing her to the ground.

Eliza stood, zooming across the bridge, making it fall apart toward the water below.

The ground below me fell away.

I used fire to fly above the falling bridge. I flew across the water toward Eliza, tackling her to the ground. We rolled over the concrete, standing, spinning to face each other.

Eliza was in pain, falling to her knees.

"It's over, Eliza," I told her.

"It is never over," Eliza told me, picking up the last vial of V-9.

"Wait, hey," I told her. "Stop doing this to yourself. You don't actually want to hurt anyone."

"You don't know anything about me," Eliza told me.

"No, I know you're not a bad person," I told her. "This is the V-9 in your system. I also know what it feels like to want to be the best. Makes you feel like there's not enough time to accomplish things the right way, but it's a cop out. And this is killing you. Look at yourself, Eliza. You're not well." Eliza gasped in pain. Lights bursted nearby. "Let us help you, please."

Eliza was crying, injecting herself with V-9. She stood, more powerful, flickering with yellow lightning. "That is all the help I need." Barry zoomed closer. "How does it feel to know that I am faster than you will ever be? See you around."

Her lightning started to turn blue. She zoomed away.

Barry stopped next to me in confusion. "Her lightning... It's turning blue."

Eliza's lightning was now completely blue. It literally burned her out of existence.

Barry zoomed us down there to see that only her suit and mask remained, which were still flickering with blue lightning.

~

The next morning, the team was in the Cortex.

"So, Eliza just evaporated?" Iris asked. "From running too fast?"

"It looks like cellular degeneration," Caitlin told us. "The same as Jay's."

"Jay warned us that V-9 was dangerous," Joe told us. "At least now we know why."

Harrison walked in.

"You find Jessie?" Cisco asked.

"She went out," Harrison told us.

I was gazing off.

"Vera, what is it?" Quinn asked.

"Just, right before Eliza disappeared, her lighting, it turned blue," I answered.

"Right," Barry told us. "But what if it's a side effect of the V-9?"

"Yeah, but Jay took the V-9, and his lightning didn't turn blue," Quinn told us.

"But how fast was he running?" I asked.

"Not as fast as Eliza," Iris answered.

"All right, so what if V-9 is what turns your lightning blue?" Barry asked. "I mean, that would explain why Zoom is so much faster than me."

"If that's true, that means he's sick, right?" Cisco asked.

"He's dying," Harrison told us. He looked at Barry. "That's why he wants your speed. He's dying, and he needs a cure."

"Same as Jay," I told them.

Quinn realized what we were getting at, shaking her head in denial. "No. Jay? No. He died right in front of us. Zoom killed him right in front of us."

"Yeah, Quinn, we've seen a speedster be in two places at once," Barry told her.

"I guess there's one way to find out," Harrison told us.

"I guess now would be a good time to tell you all, I've been vibing Zoom and Phoenix," Cisco told us

"What?" Quinn asked. "For how long?"

"It started when we closed the last breach," Cisco told us. He looked at Jay's helmet. "And every time it's happened, I've been near that thing." He looked at Quinn. "And then yesterday..."

"You did vibe me, didn't you?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah," Cisco answered. "And I see you talking to Phoenix. Like she kidnapped you or something. She really hates you."

Quinn walked toward the glass case, opening it, taking put Jay's helmet, turning to face Cisco. "See what you vibe from both of us."

Cisco grabbed the other side of Jay's helmet, vibing. "No. No, no."

"Cisco?" Caitlin asked. "What did you see?"

"I saw Jay," Cisco answered. "He's Zoom." He looked at Quinn. "Who's Natalia?"

Quinn froze. "What?"

"I saw Jay with Phoenix," Cisco told her. "He called her Natalia."

Quinn was in shock, dropping the helmet to the floor, backing away.

I looked at her in concern. "Quinn?" Quinn backed out of the room into the corridor. The others started to follow. I held out a hand to stop them, walking out into the corridor. "Quinn?"

Quinn yelled out in pain, devastated and angry, holding her arms around her like she was going to fall apart, starting to cry, falling to her knees.

I knelt next to her worriedly in concern, actually pained to see her reaction like this.

The others walked out of the Cortex to see what happened.

I wrapped my arms around Quinn, looking at the others while she cried.