We let it happen again. We trusted someone we shouldn't  have. Jay Garrick. Zoom. Just like we trusted Harrison Wells. Or Eobard Thawne. You see what I mean? We made the same mistake twice. We thought they had wanted to teach us how to use our powers, train us to get better, faster, stronger, but they didn't come here to help us. They came to use us, and take everything we love away from us. But no more. We were gonna crack the code. We were gonna train harder, get stronger. And then we were gonna stop Zoom and Phoenix. Jay and Natalia.

No one was taking the betrayal worse than Quinn. But that was because Jay had pretended to love her and used her more than he had used anyone else.

And Natalia...

She was someone from Quinn's past.

Someone that Quinn didn't like to talk about. Or think about.

But now she had to. Because Natalia was Phoenix, and we were gonna figure out what this meant, not just for Quinn, but for all of us.

~

The team, except for Joe, Iris and Harrison, were in the Cortex.

Quinn was writing an algorithm on the board.

Cisco saw Jay's helmet on the table, dropping his books. "Can we please get rid of Jay' s helmet?"

"No," Quinn answered. "Sorry. It keeps me motivated."

"Well, it's giving me day-mares," Cisco told us, picking up his books. "This is everything I could find even remotely related to increasing speed. How are these supposed to help apply the speed equation to you, Barry?"

"The answer's got to be here somewhere," Barry told us.

"I think I found something interesting," Caitlin told us.

"Good interesting or bad interesting?" I asked. "'Cause that word could go either way."

Caitlin looked at Barry. "After running some comparative data, it appears that you, the Reverse-Flash and Zoom are moving your legs at essentially the same speed."

"Then why are they so much faster than him?" I asked.

"Best I can tell, with each stride, their feet spend less time on the ground, thus propelling them forward much faster," Caitlin answered.

"By almost 30%," Barry told us. "Great. All right, well, I gotta make up that difference somehow."

"That's just one variable," Quinn told us. "It could be many other things that contribute to their things. Diet, exercise, how they get more power, more speed." She was still working on the algorithm, becoming more and more frustrated, hitting the eraser against the board, leaning her head against it, sighing. We looked at her in concern, sympathy. Quinn took a deep breath, raising her head. "God."

"Quinn?" Caitlin asked. "Look, after what those monsters did, we want to stop Jay and Natalia just as badly as you do."

Quinn chuckled without humor, sad and bitter. "Right. Yeah, no, I know you do. I'm not saying that you don't."

"We get that this is a lot more personal for you," I told her. "You loved Jay, and he betrayed you. And Natalia..."

"Natalia is my stepsister that I thought was dead," Quinn finished. "The stepsister that I thought died over on Earth 2 when our particle accelerator exploded. Obviously, I was wrong."

"So, Merida has an evil stepsister," Cisco told her. "Are sure you're not in the wrong Disney movie?"

Caitlin gave him a look. "Cisco..."

"I'm kidding," Cisco told us. "Sort of."

Quinn was obviously completely overwhelmed. "I need some air."

"Quinn..." I trailed off in concern.

Quinn turned to face us. "No, I'm fine. You know, I'm okay. I just really need some air."

Quinn walked out, leaving.

Barry looked at us. "She's not okay."

Cisco scoffed. "So not."

Caitlin and I shook our heads.

~

That night, after a dinner with the Wests, Barry came back to the Cortex to talk about his new plan on learning how to get faster, and it involved talking to Wells/Thawne.

"You mean the old Harrison Wells?" Cisco asked. "As in Eobard Thawne? You want him to teach you how to run faster? Oh, that's rich."

"How are you gonna do that?" Quinn asked.

"By running back to a time last year," Barry answered.

"And what about the other you?" I asked. "The one from that other timeline?"

"I'll knock him out with something," Barry told us. "I mean, it's not like he'll see me coming. And then I'll have Wells teach me."

"Barry, that's crazy," Caitlin told him.

"Nothing I've read is pointing me towards a solution, and if there's anybody that's figured out the key to getting faster, without V-9, it's him," Barry told us. He looked at me. "And he said that his sister was a blaze, and that she was stronger than you, but you accidentally took her down in the future. He could know how a blaze can get stronger faster. What do you guys think?"

Cisco scoffed.

Harrison walked in. "Your plan in absinine."

"Did you find Jessie?" Quinn asked.

"Does it look like I found Jessie?" Harrison asked. "How many times have you traveled through time?"

"A few," Barry answered. "Vera was with me most of the time."

"Do you have any idea of the number of things you could screw up?" Harrison asked.

"All I need is one conversation with Dr. Wells," Barry told us.

Harrison slammed down his bag. "He's not Wells. I'm Wells."

"Thawne," I corrected.

"This man has been studying the two of you for 15 years," Harrison told us. "For 15 years. And you don't think he's gonna know who you are?"

"Barry's pretty good at impersonating himself," Cisco told us. He looked at Caitlin and Quinn. "You should've seen him over there on Earth 2. I was like, 'Somebody get this man an Oscar'."

"He will know, Allen," Harrison told him. "He will know."

"All right, then what am I supposed to do?" Barry asked. "I mean, how am I supposed to stop Zoom and Phoenix? Do you know the answer to this equation?"

"If Thawne figures out that it's you, the timeline will be altered, people can die," Harrison told him. "Others could live, and no one will know who or what will be affected, but I promise you, when you come back, things will be different. And only you will know what those differences are."

"Well, if that's what I have to do to stop Zoom and Phoenix, then so it," Barry told us. "Because if I don't, and Phoenix gets Vera's powers and Zoom  my speed before we learn how to stop them, everybody we care about, everybody in this whole city, their world will never be the same anyway."

Harrison didn't know what to say to that, grabbing his bag, walking away.

I sighed, shaking my head. "I..."

"Do you really think you can do this?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, I do," Barry answered. "When we went back last year, and I saw my mom die, when Vera saw her family die, it didn't affect the timeline."

"Yeah, but you haven't really time traveled on purpose like this before," Cisco told us.

"I have to do this, you guys," Barry told us.

"You don't have to do it alone," I told him. Barry looked at me in surprise. "If Thawne figures out that it's you, you're gonna need some help."

Barry nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay," Caitlin told us. "Let's go for it."

"Okay, you're gonna go back to the time when Wells was distracted by the return of the major jackass, Hartley Hathaway," Cisco told us. "This is the first we time we found out Wells knew the accelerator might explode, and we were all angry with him. So anything that might seem odd about your behavior, Wells should attribute to that. Also, remember, do not underestimate Hartley. He almost killed you."

"These are tranq darts that should knock old-yous out for about six hours," Caitlin told us. "Which lined up perfectly for when you're going back, because not much was happening until Hartley attacks the Cleveland Dam that night. So, that should give you time to learn what you need and return."

"One more thing," Quinn told us. "You cannot tell past-Cisco and Caitlin the truth about Thawne. No matter what. You must keep the timeline intact. It's gonna be hard to course-correct if anything gets altered. So, get what you need, and come back, preferably to this moment, this exact time you're leaving, or else you might set off some kind of time loop you'll never get out off."

I nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"No pressure," Cisco told us.

"Yeah, cool," Barry told us.

"So, we'll see you, in like, two seconds," Cisco told us. "Time travel's so weird."

We laughed, hugging.

"Godspeed," Caitlin told us.

"We'll be fine," I told them.

"What could go wrong?" Barry asked.

"Don't make me shoot you with fire," I told him.

Barry and I smiled.

~

We were in the particle accelerator, circles like we had when we had gone back in time last year, suited up.

Barry and I put our masks on, turning away from each other to face the separate rings on either side. Barry zoomed into the direction he was facing. I used fire to fly into the direction I was facing. We were on the outer edges, using the first couple of go arounds to build up speed and keep that speed up, closing in closer and closer to the middle. To go as fast as Barry was going, I was completely engulfed in fire, fire that burned hotter and stronger and bigger than anything I had ever done before. I didn't slow down, seeing Barry coming from the other direction, head on. I turned completely into flame before I could think about it. Barry passed through the flame, pulling me with him into the wormhole that was the color of fire.

We traveled through the barrier together, seeing glimpses of the future and past, focusing on where we wanted to go.

We saw when Eddie had shot himself to kill Thawne, hearing Iris. "Eddie!"

A demonic flying looking thing flew toward us, screeching, knocking us out of the wormhole, into the past. We landed in the street, groaning in pain, standing.

We saw the confrontation between us and Hartley outside the bank.

I sighed. "Oh, no, we're too early."

Past-Me let the fire fade to land on the ground behind Hartley, pushing him to the ground. "It's over, Rathaway."

Hartley smiled. "You know my name. I know some names, too."

I looked at Barry. "This is not a good start."

~

Hartley looked at Past-Me. "Caitlin Snow. Cisco Ramon. Harrison Wells."

The comms for me, Barry and our past selves started to malfunction and give off a high-pitched squeal.

We could hear Caitlin, Cisco and Thawne/Wells at the STAR Labs.

"Something's interfering with their comms," Cisco told us. "Barry? Vera?"

Past-Barry and Past-Vera saw us.

Barry zoomed me and him away into an alley so we could take out our comms.

We looked toward the confrontation.

Hartley looked at Past-Vera. "I can hear their radio waves emanating from your suit."

"Yeah, yeah, I remember this," Barry told me. "This could still work."

Hartley stood. "About 1900 megahertz. Is that them on the other end, listening? Are they gonna hear you die?"

Past-Vera smirked, shaking her head. "No. They're gonna hear you..."

I smirked, finishing with her. "Get your ass kicked."

Barry smiled.

I chuckled.

"Okay," Hartley told us, using sound waves to throw Past-Vera through a glass sign behind her, making her fall to the ground, turning to see Past-Barry behind him, throwing sound waves toward him.

Past-Barry zoomed out of the way, toward the police cars, grabbing police batons, throwing them toward Hartley, making him groan in pain. 

Barry and I got to our past selves, taking off with them.

Hartley looked around. "Is that all it takes to scare you off? And he chose you over me?"

I pushed Past-Vera against the alley wall, taking her comms.

"My comms?" Past-Vera asked. "Who are you?"

"I don't have time to explain this to you right now," I told her.

Barry injected Past-Barry with the tranq, making him fall unconscious.

I took the tranq dart, trying to inject Past-Vera.

Past-Vera used fire to push me off of her, using fire to fly toward the Barrys. "Barry!"

Past-Vera grabbed Past-Barry from the ground, using fire to fly away.

Barry zoomed after them.

I used fire to fly closer, tackling Past-Vera from the air, making her drop Past-Barry.

Barry caught his past self from falling to the ground, lying him down.

Past-Vera and I were both on the ground, no longer on fire, turning toward each other, standing. Past-Vera used a fist of fire to punch me in the face, making me fall and drop the tranq needle, trying to grab it. I used fire to pull it toward me before she could get to it, using fire to push her to the ground, standing.

"I don't understand," Past-Vera told me. "You're me."

I injected the needle into her leg. "I'm sorry. We have to do this. This will all make sense eventually."

Past-Vera and Past-Barry laid unconscious on the ground.

Barry walked toward me. "Wow."

"No help?" I asked.

"I kinda wanted to enjoy the show," Barry told me. "Seeing you fight yourself? That was amazing. I can't believe I'm the only one who saw this."

I scoffed softly, smirking, shaking my head.

Barry and I looked at the old symbols on our past selves, switching the symbols out.

We went back for Hartley.

Hartley looked around. "Where are you, oh, chosen ones?"

Hartley threw sound waves toward me. I used fire to fly above the sound wave, making it shatter the glass window behind me, landing behind Hartley, turning to face him, restraining him from behind.

Barry zoomed in front of Hartley to take off his gloves, throwing them aside. "Got you, again." I gave Barry a look. "Looks like you're not as smart as everyone says."

"Smart enough to have figured out who Wells really is," Hartley told us. "You see, I know his secret."

We heard Cisco over comms. "Guys, are you there?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Yeah, we're back. We're bringing Hartley in."

~

Barry and I were still in suit when we put Hartley into his own cell in the pipeline. Cisco and Caitlin were with us.

Cisco looked at a screen on the wall. "Scanner's detecting foreign metallic objects in your ears. Take them out."

"I can't," Hartley told us. "I suffered head trauma when STAR Labs exploded. My hearing was severely damaged. Without these, I'm in pain you can't imagine."

Barry and I remembered the ear pieces were how Hartley got out the first time.

"Cisco, are see if the devices in his ears are generating any low level electromagnetic pulses," Barry told him.

I sighed, knowing that Barry was going to do that, giving him a look.

Barry looked sheepish, like he knew that he shouldn't have done that, but couldn't help himself.

"You want me to scan for E-bombs?" Cisco asked.

"I just... I mean, don't you think that could have been what was interfering with the comms?" Barry asked.

Cisco scanned for the E-bombs. "Well, well. Trying to go all Mission Impossible on us? Use those things to bust out of here?"

Thawne/Wells rolled inside, speaking in Latin that translated to: "Your silence speaks volumes." We looked at him. Thawne/Wells spoke in English. "Pump in some sound stimuli to counteract his tinnitus. Then we'll make some non-explosive replacements for him. Deal with you later."

"Take them out, Hartley," Caitlin told him. "Now."

Barry and I looked at the man that had killed Barry's mother and made Future-Me kill my own family.

~

Barry and I were walking in the corridor with Thawne/Wells, taking off our masks.

"Dr. Wells," Barry told him.

"So, that was quite an observation you had about Hartley in there, Mr. Allen,"  Thawne/Wells told him.

"Yeah, just seemed too easy, taking him down, you know?" Barry asked.

Thawne/Wells nodded. "Mm-hmm. Well, likely reason for that is you're getting faster,  Barry. And you, Vera, are getting stronger."

Thawne/Wells rolled into the Cortex.

Barry and I followed him.

"Actually, we wanted to talk to you about that," I told him.

We sighed.

~

Barry and I were in normal clothes, writing on the board, speaking to Thawne/Wells.

"It occurred to us that maybe we've been going about improving Barry's speed and getting my fire power stronger the wrong way," I told him.

"How so?" Thawne/Wells asked.

"Well, we've been learning different techniques involved in running and fire, and we were thinking that there's just as much science involved in our powers as anything physical or technical," I told him. "We just can't figure out how to apply it to our powers when we use them. Thought if anybody could help us, it would be you."

"This is quite the equation you've concocted here, isn't it, Miss Mitchell?" Thawne/Wells asked.

"Yeah, I've been doing a lot of reading in my down time," I told him.

"What on Earth inspired you to adopt such a, what shall we call this, unorthodox approach?" Thawne/Wells asked.

"We just know that we're not the strongest people out there," Barry told him. "There's other metahumans out there with powers like ours, with powers that can be greater than ours. We need to be prepared for those threats, and stronger and faster, if we're ever gonna be able to take down the man in yellow." Thawne/Wells took off his glasses. "So, what do you think? Can you help us?"

Thawne/Wells put his glasses on, situating in his chair, grabbing a marker. "Let me see what I can do."

Barry and I exchanged a look.

~

The computers started to beep.

"CCPD," Thawne/Wells told us.

"I'm sure they have it handled, right?" Barry asked.

"No," Thawne/Wells answered.

I looked at Barry. "Go. We'll keep working on this." Barry didn't like the idea of leaving me alone with him. I nodded in understanding, silently telling him I would be okay. "Run, Barry."

Barry zoomed out, leaving.

Thawne/Wells looked at me.

I avoided looking at him, continuing to write on the board.

~

CCPD had been attacked by some strange thing.

Cisco, Caitlin, Thawne/Wells and I were in the Cortex.

Barry walked in. "What's going on?"

"Oh, you know, just trying to figure out how to find this Dementor that's apparently roaming through Central City right now," Cisco answered.

"I assume that was the cause of the CCPD alarm?" Thawne/Wells asked.

"Yeah, actually," Barry answered. "It attacked my lab."

"You saw it?" Caitlin asked.

"No, I didn't see it," Barry told us. "No, I didn't... Um, well, I didn't get there in time, but I have seen it before."

I frowned. "Where?"

"It was earlier today, actually," Barry answered. "When we were on our way back here. To here."

I realized that he was talking about the creature that we had seen in the wormhole.

"Uh-huh," Thawne/Wells/ told us. "And you're just mentioning this now?"

"We didn't know what it was," I told them. "I thought it was some sort of illusion. I don't know."

"Okay, well, we need to find it before it hurts somebody," Caitlin told us.

I nodded, looking at Cisco. "Can you track it?"

"What is it with you guys?" Cisci asked. "It's like you think I have ESP or something. I can't just magically sense where things are."

Barry and I exchanged an amused look at the irony, smirking slightly.

"What can you do, Cisco?" Thawne/Wells asked.

"I'm thinking I can refigure the STAR Labs satellite to look for it," Cisco tome us. "It might take some time, though."

"Do it," Thawne/Wells told him. "In the meantime, Mr. Allen and Miss Mitchell, come with me."

"I actually have to get back to work," Barry told us. He looked at me. "I'm working on a case for Joe and Eddie."

I paused at Eddie's name, because I hadn't thought we would interact with him, but being that he was alive at this time, and not dead, like he was in our time...

It made me sad, but at the same time, it also made things a little easier to know that he was around in one time, even if he wasn't in ours.

I looked at Barry, nodding. "Go ahead."

Barry nodded, zooming out, leaving.

~

Thawne/Wells rolled into the training room, leading me inside. "Have a seat."

"Is this about the equation?" I asked.

"Matter of fact, it is," Thawne/Wells answered.

"Great," I told him, sitting down. "Okay, good. So you've figured it out?"

I felt a pinprick of a needle with a tranq in my neck before I fell unconscious.

~

I woke up in the time vault, cuffed to a chair, sitting on the floor.

Thawne/Wells was sitting in his wheelchair nearby, waving.

I pretended to be confused.

"Now, who are you?" Thawne/Wells asked. "I mean, who are you, really?"

"Dr. Wells, what are you doing?" I asked.

Thawne/Wells leaned forward in his chair. "None of it adds up. The interference with the comms. The equation. The Time Wraith. That's what we call them. Time Wraiths. Scary, aren't they? I thought, 'Oh, no, a Time Wraith has found me'. But then I thought, 'No, no, no. You know what you're doing. No, the Time Wraith is after someone who's traveled through time, and doesn't know what they're doing. Someone or someones.'"

I chuckled. "Dr. Wells, come on. It's me, Vera. I don't--"

"Really?" Thawne/Wells asked. "You are good." He clapped. "You are good, Vera. Every mistake that Barry has made, you have managed to clean up nicely. And I would believe you, except that..." He stood, zooming toward me to stand in front of me threateningly. I didn't react. "Nothing? I move like this, and you don't even flinch." Thawne/Wells backed away, leaning against the wall. "You know who I am. Don't you?" I tried to burn the cuffs off, but my powers weren't working. "Don't bother trying to burn that off. It's from the future, and it can disable a blaze's powers."

"Let me out of here, Thawne," I told him.

Thawne/Wells smirked, sighing. "Oh. I know." He pulled his chair closer, sitting down. "You're upset. But it does me good to hear that name again. Now, onto the bigger question. Why are you here?"

"Because I want my powers to grow stronger, and Barry wants to get faster, and you're the only one who can teach us," I answered. "You're the only one who's figured out the equation. The force. You've manipulated it. How did you do that?"

Thawne/Wells stood, pacing around me. "No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You'd only come here if something went wrong. If you and Barry are still alive, then that means... I haven't beaten you. If you're still alive, that means my plan fails. And if my plan fails..." He kicked over his chair. "I don't get to go home, and if that's the case, well, then..."

Thawne/Wells raised his hand to phase through my heart to kill me.

I raised my arm. "No, no, no! Hey! It's the opposite. You trick us. We turn on the accelerator to create a path for you to go home. Barry and I go back in time. You go back to yours. You won. Yeah."

"Then why are you here?" Thawne/Wells asked. "Why are you here now?"

"Because when we got back, a singularity had formed," I told him. "And now, the only way for us to stop the singularity from happening was to come here, now."

"Well, that's good to know," Thawne/Wells told me. He walked toward his chair, setting it upright. "There's just... just one thing that occurs to me. I don't need you. Do I? Not this you, certainly. Oops. You probably should have thought of that, before you came back here. Shame. You came all the way back here just to die."

Thawne/Wells raised his hand to phase through my heart to kill me.

"You kill me, us?" I asked. "This Barry and Vera, your Barry and Vera? They learn it all. There's a hidden letter telling them how it ends, how to beat you. Everything. Anything happens to us, you never make it back home. Go on. Kill me, Thawne. See how this all ends." Thawne/Wells turned away from me, sitting down. "So, you see, I did think this through. And you thinking that I haven't proves that you always have and always will underestimate me." I smirked. "Oops."

~

A video feed of the Time Wraith trapping Caitlin, Cisco and Hartley in a cell came up on the wall.

I looked at Thawne/Wells. "We have to help them."

"You let it track you here," Thawne/Wells told me.

"Get me out of here," I told him. I pulled at the cuffs angrily. "Come on!"

"If that thing comes after me and messes with my plans, you're all dead," Thawne/Wells told me.

I rolled my eyes.

~

Thawne/Wells and I were in the corridor.

I ran down the way to the pipeline to see that Barry had just gotten back and saved Cisco, Caitlin and Hartley from the Time Wraith.

~

We went to the Cortex.

"Sorry that we didn't come sooner," I told them.

"It's all right," Barry told us. "Inky's gone. I don't see anything."

"I just got a call saying the fire department has been attacked," I told them.

"So, the three places the thing has attacked are here, the fire department and the CCPD," Caitlin told us. "The common denominators are..."

"Vera and me," Barry finished. "Yeah, we know. I just... I don't know why."

"Well, you two must have done something to piss him off," Cisco told us. "Satellite hasn't found anything."

"We need to find a more permanent solution to this problem," Thawne/Wells told us. "Start by repairing Hartley's gauntlets. That's a good first step as any."

"I got some parts for it," Cisco told us.

"Let's go for it," Caitlin told us.

Caitlin and Cisco walked out, leaving.

Barry looked at me. "What happened to you?"

I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest. "Thawne tried to kill me."

Barry sighed, looking at Thawne/Wells angrily.

Thawne/Wells smirked.

Barry looked at me. "And you were worried that I would be the reason we were found out."

"You are the reason," Thawne/Wells told him. "I just put two and two together."

"Right, and now you're gonna help us," I told him. "That's how blackmail works."

Thawne/Wells sighed. "What we're up against here is called a Time Wraith, and it followed the two of you here when you traveled back in time."

"You don't know how to stop this thing?" Barry asked.

"None of us do," Thawne/Wells told us. "That's why we always try to avoid them in our travels."

"We?" Barry repeated.

"Speedsters, blazes," Thawne/Wells answered. "We're not the only ones out there, you know."

"This isn't the first time we've time traveled," Barry told him. "How come we've never seen one of these things until now?"

Thawne/Wells stood. "Because you ran out of luck. And Time Wraiths hate it when speedsters and blazes manipulate the timeline, and now that thing's gonna do everything it can to end the two of you." I scoffed, shaking my head. "Here's what we're gonna do. You're both gonna go to work and see what you can find out from the witnesses that saw the Time Wraith at CCPD and the fire department to help us stop this thing. I'll do the same here."

"What are we supposed to be looking for?" Barry asked.

"Figure something out," Thawne/Wells told us.

"Hey, what about the equation?" Barry asked.

"If we don't stop this thing, there's gonna be no point in me teaching you anything," Thawne/Wells told us, sitting down.

Barry and I exchanged a look, sighing, walking out, leaving.

~

I was at the fire department, talking to the fire chief about what happened here.

"No trace elements, no fingerprints, no sign that it was ever here except the whole mess," the chief told me.

"Any idea what it was looking for?" I asked.

"None at all," the chief told me. "Except that your desk area seems to be the most trashed in the whole place, and that's saying something."

"All right, thanks," I told him. "I'll be in contact."

"Going  talk to your CSI consultant?" the chief asked.

"Yeah, actually," I answered. "Wish me luck."

"Luck," the chief told me.

I nodded, walking out, leaving.

~

Barry and I got back to the Cortex to see that Past-Vera and Past-Barry had gotten back to the team, still suited up.

"Where are they?" Past-Vera asked. "Where's the other Barry and Vera?"

"We're right here," Barry answered.

I sighed, shaking my head.

~

We were all talking.

"Okay, not how I expected today to turn out," Cisco told us.

"Yeah," I told them.

Past-Barry stammered. "Okay, sorry, who--who are you?"

"Who are they?" Caitlin asked. "Who are you?"

"What do you mean?" Past-Barry asked. "I'm Barry. This is Vera. Your Barry and Vera. They're..."

"Your doppelgangers?" Cisco asked.

"No, not yet," I answered. "We are you. Just different."

"Wait a second," Cisco told us. "How do we know which ones are the real Flyra?"

"Dude, okay, I've watched Wrath of Khan with you, like, five times," Past-Barry told him.

Cisco pointed at Barry and me. "Imposters."

"Yeah, and every time, at the end, you turn to me and say, 'I have been, and always shall be, your friend'," Barry told him.

Cisco pointed at Past-Barry and Past-Vera. "Ah-ha, you imposters." He looked between us in confusion. "What is going on here?"

"Okay, guys, I'm sorry," I told them. "This was not supposed to happen."

"The tranq darts that Caitlin made were supposed to last a lot longer," Barry told them.

I tried to signal to Barry to stop talking.

"I did not give them tranq darts," Caitlin told us.

"Okay, no, yes, not you," Barry told her. "The you from the time that we're from."

I made a face in frustration.

"The time that you're from?" Past-Vera repeated.

"I think what they're trying to say is that they're from the future," Thawne/Wells told them.

"The future?" Past-Vera repeated.

"Yeah," I answered.

"The future?" Past-Barry repeated. "With the..."

"Yes, yes," I answered.

"Are we saying that we can time travel?" Past-Barry asked.

I scoffed. "One day."

Cisco pointed at our symbols on Past-Barry and Past-Vera's suits. "Well, that explains the symbols. But wait a second. Suppose we now change your emblems? Will it be because we got the idea from this, or... I mean, that would mean that--"

"Stop talking," I told him. I pointed at Barry. "You stop talking, too. All right? The more you say, the more the timeline is disrupted."

"Now, I'm going to assume that your presence here is the reason that thing is attacking us," Thawne/Wells told us.

"What?" Past-Barry asked.

"What thing?" Past-Vera asked.

"Have you ever seen The Frighteners?" Cisco asked. Past us nodded. "It's sort of like that, but scarier, and faster, and it's after you." Cisco pointed at Barry and me. "After them."

"Yeah, it's been chasing us ever since we got here," Barry told them.

"Okay, so how do we stop it?" Past-Vera asked.

"We don't know," Thawne/Wells told us.

"Then what are we gonna do?" Past-Barry asked.

"The one thing we can," Thawne/Wells answered, rolling away.

We looked at him in confusion.

~

Barry, Thawne/Wells and I were in the time vault, looking at the Reverse Flash suit, with a chest device over his chest.

"What?" I asked. "What are we doing here?"

"We're here for the answer to your equation," Thawne/Wells answered. "The reason that you traveled back to this time. And the key to Barry getting faster and Vera getting stronger." He held up a flash drive, putting it into a port. "Tachyon enhancement."

"This was not the deal," I told him.

Thawne/Wells took the drive out, walking toward us. "If you think that I'm gonna hold your hands this entire way, you're sadly mistaken. Everything you need is on this drive. If you follow its instructions, you will enhance the force in your systems and become faster and stronger than you ever thought possible."

Thawne/Wells held the drive toward us.

I sighed, hesitatingly taking it.

"If this doesn't work, we're coming back," Barry told him.

We heard Cisco on the PA. "Dr. Wells, we need you."

"Time to go home," Thawne/Wells told us.

We didn't answer.

~

The entire team was in the Cortex.

Past-Barry, Past-Vera, Barry and I were suited up, looking at the computer.

"Okay, our satellite had has finally found our floating friend, and it's coming back," Cisco told us.

"You need to go," Past-Vera told us.

"We need to know how to stop it," I told them.

"Guys..." Caitlin trailed off.

"Not now," I told them. "When we get back. You guys have a year to figure it out."

"Okay,  we'll figure something out," Cisco told us.

"Cisco, come here," Barry told him, pulling him to the side. "Hartley knows where Ronnie is."

"Okay," Cisco told him. "What?"

"It's coming," Caitlin told us.

"You need to leave, now," Past-Barry told us.

Past-Barry and Barry switched their emblems.

Past-Vera and I switched our emblems.

"Thank you," I told them.

They nodded.

Barry and I looked at our past selves, Caitlin and Cisco with gratitude, glaring at Thawne/Wells. Barry grabbed me, zooming us into the particle accelerator.

"Guys, here it comes," Cisco told us.

The Time Wraith followed us into the accelerator.

Barry and I put our masks on, turning away from each other to face the separate rings on either side. Barry zoomed into the direction he was facing. I used fire to fly into the direction I was facing. We were on the outer edges, using the first couple of go arounds to build up speed and keep that speed up, closing in closer and closer to the middle.

The Time Wraith followed me around the ring, shrieking, trying to grab me.

I shot fire into the Time Wraith to make him let go, continuing to use fire to fly.

"It's not working," Caitlin told us. "It's slowing her down."

"Not for long," Past-Vera told us.

"No," Thawne/Wells told her.

"Vera?" Past-Barry asked.

To go as fast as Barry was going, I was completely engulfed in fire.

The Time Wraith followed me, trying to grab me through the fire, and though it made it hard for it to get a grip, it didn't seem hurt by the flames.

Past-Vera flew closer, tackling the Time Wraith away from me to the ground.

I didn't slow down, seeing Barry coming from the other direction, head on. I turned completely into flame before I could think about it. Barry passed through the flame, pulling me with him into the wormhole that was the color of fire.

The Time Wraith followed us through the passage of time.

Barry and I got back to the Cortex in present time, landing on the floor.

Caitlin and Cisco were standing at the desk.

"It's coming," Barry told them.

"Did you even go?" Caitlin asked.

"The Time Wraith," I told them.

"That's a good name," Cisco told us.

"Looks like that's a 'yes'," Caitlin told us.

Barry and I stood.

"Did you figure out how to stop it?" Barry asked.

The Time Wraith flew inside.

Cisco aimed a sound wave gun at the Time Wraith, shooting.

It didn't have an effect.

"Damn," Cisco told us. "We thought so."

The Time Wraith flew toward Barry and me.

I shot fire at the Time Wraith repeatedly, in a steady stream to keep it back, though it powered through and pushed me to the floor, clawing into my chest.

Barry zoomed closer. "Vera."

Barry tried to pry the Time Wraith off of me. The Time Wraith struggled out of his grasp, slamming him to the floor, slashing into his chest.

Quinn walked in, wearing gauntlets that glowed orange, raising her hands toward the Time Wraith, using sound waves to shoot it, decimating it with the sound waves. "I suddenly realized. Low frequency, high intensity."

Caitlin and Cisco nodded.

"I knew that," Cisco told us.

Barry and I sat up, breathing heavily, holding our chests in pain.

"Hey, guys," Quinn told us. "How was your trip?"

Barry and I gave Quinn a look, sighing, looking at each other tiredly, exhausted.

~

We were in normal clothes now, talking to the others.

"So, aside from the fact that a Time Wraith came over here and nearly killed us, how did it go?" Cisco asked.

"It was interesting," I told them.

"Good interesting or bad interesting?" Caitlin asked. "'Cause that could go either way."

"So far, so good," Barry told us.

"The road from Earth to the stars is not easy," Quinn told us. "Well, as always, been a pleasure working with you all on this little project. I'll go back to obsessing over how to stop my evil stepsister Natalia and my lying ex-boyfriend Jay, if you don't mind."

"So, you two got me on pins and needles over here," Cisco told us. "What about the equation? Did Wells tell you what you need to do?"

I took out the flash drive to show them. "Well, let's see."

~

We walked into the time vault to plug the drive into the port.

Nothing happened.

"Maybe it's password protected?" Quinn asked.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked. "After everything we went through, this doesn't even work?"

I slammed a hand on the port.

Holographic pictures appeared all over the walls in front of us, shocking us.

Barry sighed in relief. "We got it."

~

I went to talk to Harrison. "Hey."

"Hey," Harrison told me.

"You okay?" I asked.

Harrison nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. Although, it turns out it's easier to find a two ton gorilla on this Earth than a teenage daughter. I don't know what I've done."

"You did what you thought you had to do," I told him. "You risked your life to save her. You brought her here to protect her from Zoom and Phoenix. You acted like a father."

Harrison sighed, pacing. "Like a father. You know, my wife had to... she had to talk me into having kids. Kids, you know, they're small, they're loud, they run around. All I needed was my science, my job, for my joy and happiness. And then... The moment we had her, all that I wanted was her love. Now, I don't know if I'll ever see that again. It seems every decision I've made lately has backfired on me."

"You just have to trust that in the long run, you've made the right ones," I told him.

Harrison seemed surprised by the kindness, nodding in appreciation.

I nodded, turning around, walking away.

~

In the Cortex, I saw Quinn erasing the board with the equation on it. She sighed, putting the eraser down, turning around, looking at Jay's helmet on the table, walking toward it hesitantly, picking it up. She seemed ready to break again, but she didn't, remaining strong, letting only a tear or two fall.

I walked closer. "Are you okay?"

Quinn looked up, wiping her tears away. "Yeah. I'm..."

I looked at her sympathetically, knowingly. "Quinn..."

Quinn sighed. "I'm devastated, Vera. I'm betrayed. Angry. In shock. But I'm not in denial, and I'm not going to break. I'm not gonna give Jay and Natalia that satisfaction."

"And you don't have to," I told her. "We're going to get them. We're going to stop them. We have to."

Quinn nodded, sighing. "I know."

Sometimes, the only way to move forward was to revisit the things in your past that were holding you back. You had to deal with them, head on, no matter how scary they might have been. Because, once you did, you would see you could go further than you ever imagined.

We all had to do that now, to move on, and to stop Zoom and Phoenix. Jay and Natalia.

I didn't know how, and I didn't know when, but we were going to do it.