Everyone was still facing Jay and Quinn cautiously, suspiciously.

"People, just let us explain," Quinn told us in annoyance. "We mean you no harm."

"How do you know who we are?" I asked.

"We know who all of you are," Quinn told us. "Caitlin Snow. Cisco Ramon, Detective Joe West--"

Joe aimed his gun at Jay and Quinn. "Enough. That part about explaining needs to happen right about now."

"This world is in danger," Quinn told us.

"What other worlds are there?" Cisco asked.

"When you created the singularity above Central City, you also created a breach between our world and yours," Jay explained.

"I'm sorry," Iris told them. "A breach?"

"Yes," Jay answered. "A portal connecting our two earths."

"And what precisely is your concern?" Stein asked.

"A few days ago, you found a dead man named Al Rothstein at the nuclear plant," Quinn told us. "But then a different Al Rothstein tried to kill you."

"Atom Smasher," Cisco told us.

"That man was from our world," Quinn told us. "If he got through the breach, we suspect there will be more to follow."

"Okay, so, how exactly do you know all of this?" Barry asked.

"Where we came from, I was a speedster like you, Barry," Jay told him. "And Quinn here was a blaze, like Vera. They called us the Flash and Pyra."

~

Flashback - Earth 2 

Jay was suited up as another version of the Flash, zooming after a man in a black suit with blue lightning.

Quinn was using fire to fly, suited up as another version of Pyra, fighting with another girl with black hair and a more metallic suit. They were using fire to fight.

Quinn: (voice over) "Before we arrived on your Earth, we were in a fight with two people."

~

Now - Earth 1

Quinn was pacing a short distance in front of us, keeping her distance. "One of them was a man named Zoom."

"Zoom?" I repeated. "We've heard that name before." I looked at Barry. "Atom Smasher, he said Zoom and Phoenix sent him here to kill us." Barry nodded. I looked at Jay and Quinn. "Is the girl you were fighting Phoenix?"

"Yeah," Quinn answered.

"Who are these guys?" Barry asked.

"Zoom's a speedster, like Jay and Barry," Quinn answered.  "And fast. Maybe the fastest of all. But evil. He is an unstoppable demon with the face of death. Phoenix is a blaze like me and Vera. They've been working together as villains for about as long as Jay and I have been working together as heroes."

~

Flashback - Earth 2

Zoom was running away from Jay at zooming speed. Jay was following, but Zoom was faster.

Quinn and Phoenix were flying in the sky, using fire to fight. 

Quinn: (voice over) "We were engaged in our fiercest fight ever. Zoom were racing throughout our city. Phoenix and I were fighting in the skies, fighting fire with fire."

Zoom pushed Jay onto a building, phasing his hand into his chest, gripping his heart, making him scream.

Phoenix threw her arms down at her side, bursting into flame, larger and thicker than anything Vera had done. The fire soared around her like an unstoppable current.

Quinn: (voice over) "Zoom has Jay beaten. Phoenix is gaining the upper hand."

Jay's tin hat, the one that had came into the pipeline at the STAR Labs after the fight with Thawne/Wells, fell to the roof of the building they were on.

A singularity opened up in the sky above Phoenix and Quinn.

Jay: (voice over) "There was suddenly a blinding light and the sky split open. A breach, between our world and yours, caused from the singularity."

The force of the breach started to pull Phoenix and Quinn through. They used fire to fly down away as much as they could. 

Jay's hat was pulled into the breach.

Phoenix turned to face Quinn, using fire to push her toward the breach.

Jay: (voice over) "Phoenix pushes Quinn into the breach, so that she would be lost."

Jay used away from the roof, zooming toward another building, up to the roof, jumping toward Quinn, grabbing her arms to try to pull her down.

They had to yell over the force and the wind caused by the breach.

"Jay!" Quinn told him. 

"I got you!" Jay told her.

Jay: (voice over) "I tried to save Quinn, and I was pulled along with her."

The force of the breach pulled both Jay and Quinn through the singularity.

~

Now - Earth 1

Jay looked at the rest of us. "And we somehow ended up in your world. Powerless. Unable to return home."

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked.

Jay looked down. "We lost our powers."

"How?" I asked.

"Not entirely sure," Jay told us.

Barry looked at me.

I shook my head, not knowing.

Joe looked at Quinn and Jay. "So, you've been in Central City for six months. Why haven't you come to see us before?"

"When we arrived to your world, we didn't arrive together, detective," Quinn told him. "The lost of my powers made me lose control and land somewhere far away from Jay. And we had looked for and found each other first before we started to... navigate through this foreign world here. We didn't know who you all were. Trying to piece it all together was what took the remainder of that time."

"So that's how you know our names," Barry told them. "You've been following us."

"Look, I know how this sounds," Quinn told us. "The existence of another earth, you, another Flash, another Pyra. It all came as an unexpected shock to the two of us, too."

"I just wish there was something we could do to convince you," Jay told us.

"There is," I told them. "We're gonna... do some tests on you. See if you're telling us the truth. 'Cause if you're not, this... Zoom, this... Phoenix... they're not gonna be your only enemies."

~

Caitlin had tested Jay and Quinn.

The rest of us were in the Cortex.

"Is any of this even possible?" Iris asked. "A breach to another earth? It's not, right?"

"The contrary," Stein answered. "Just recently, the many different worlds theory proposed interaction with parallel universes was plausible. Now, if what Mr. Garrick and Miss Tate are saying is true, that theory's been proven sooner than we all thought."

"It doesn't add up," I told them.

"I'm gonna be honest here," Joe told us. "I don't understand what the hell any of you are talking about."

"So, Jay and Quinn are saying they're from, like a mirror world," Cisco explained. "Or a parallel universe that's very, very similar to ours."

"Multiverse would be a more apt description," Stein told us.

"No, not helping," Joe told us.

"Bless your heart," Cisco told him.

Stein pulled out a clear dry erase board. "Okay, let's see if this helps. This is our earth." He drew a circle onto the board. "Let's call it Earth-1." He wrote E1 into the circle. "And this second earth, let's call it Earth-2." He drew another circle, writing E2 inside. "This is where Jay and Quinn claim to be from." He drew many other smaller circles around the two big circles. "And these other earths, three, four, five... to infinity, all of them, are nearly identical to ours. And they all exist at the same time, giving us endless alternatives to what we have here. For example, the Joe West on Earth-2, your doppelganger, he might not be a detective. He could be a Nobel Prize-winning physicist." He looked at Barry. "And you, the Barry Allen here is the Flash, but over there, he could be an electrician." He looked at me. "And the Vera Mitchell here is Pyra, but over there, she could be anything."

"Like a singer?" Barry asked. "Not too far off unless she does it in public for a living."

I raised my eyebrows at him in amusement.

Barry smiled a small smile.

"So, I'm assuming that the people on all these other earths work to make money to pay bills and such," Joe told us.

"I would imagine," Stein answered.

"So we got that in common," Joe told us. "I'm heading back to the station. Call me when this makes a little bit more sense." He walked toward the door. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole idea about time travel."

Joe walked out, leaving.

"There is, uh, one problem that remains," Stein told us. "If Quinn and Jay are telling the truth, there is a breach somewhere in Central City that we need to find and close for good."

"Yeah, but how do we find it?" Cisco asked. "We don't even know what to look for."

"Well, I--I suggest we put our heads together and come up with a solution," Stein told us. "Not literally, of course. Those days are over."

Caitlin walked in.

"What'd you find?" Iris asked.

"Well, Jay's heart rate is extraordinarily low," Caitlin told us. "Quinn's temperature is 101, a little low for a blaze, but it's almost like what Ronnie and Stein's were after they had separated for the first time. And they do have regenerative capabilities. Other than that, I'm not seeing any evidence of either of them being a speedster or blaze."

"We don't even have proof that they are who they say they are, much less proof that they're from another world like they say they are?" I asked.

"Not necessarily," Caitlin answered.

"What does that mean?" Barry asked.

"Well, they don't know this, but while I was testing their heart rates, blood pressure and motor responses, I also measured their autonomic reactions while we were talking," Caitlin explained.

"You gave them a lie detector test?" Iris asked.

Caitlin nodded. "And they passed it."

I looked toward the infirmary lab where Jay and Quinn were, looking at the others. "What if they're not good guys, and they just want to find our weaknesses?" I looked at Caitlin. "Keep running tests. See what else you can find out."

Caitlin nodded.

~

Down in the pipeline, Barry and I put Jay and Quinn into two separate cells.

"I hope you understand why we have to do this," Barry told them.

"I get it," Quinn told us. "You're doing what you think you have to. But you'll all realize soon enough that this, the tests, it's unnecessary. We want to help you, not harm you."

"You're not the first people that's said that to either of us," I told them.

"If what you told us about Zoom is true, that he sent Rothstein here to kill you, then the Phoenix can't be too far behind," Jay told us. "Instead of locking us in here, you better start listening. Because if both Zoom and Phoenix are involved, you are gonna need a lot more than just us at your side to stay alive."

My phone buzzed. I took it out, looking at the message. "It's from work. Fire at the waterfront. Fire department's en route." I looked at Barry. "I got this. You get to know..." I looked at Jay and Quinn. "Them."

Barry nodded. "Be careful."

I nodded, turning to leave.

~

I used fire to fly to the building fire, inside. I looked from one of my arms to the other, making them turn into fire, holding them toward the flames. I could literally absorb all of the flames into my body all at once like this, the fire flowing into my system through my flaming hands until the building was left in darkness. I let the fiery limbs return to human arms. My body was still glowing with fire, but no longer in flames. It didn't hurt like it did the first time, because I had done this a couple times now. It wasn't as overwhelming or overpowering. I breathed heavily, looking over myself as the fiery glow faded to nothing. "Whoa. That was a big fire." I spoke through the suit. "It's out, Cisco."

"Copy that," Cisco told me. "See you in a bit."

I heard something behind me, turning around. Something that looked like a hurl of sand punched me in the face, making me fall.

I looked around as the sand took form as a human being, a man, standing.

"I thought it would be harder than this," the man told me, making his arm turn into sand, trying to punch me.

I threw fire at his sandy arm, making it burn and the remaining sand fall to the floor. I tried to punch him. The man turned into sand, dispersing, hidden.

I looked around in confusion.

"Vera?" Cisco asked. "Hello? You there?" I used fire to fly out of the building, through the sky. "What was that?"

"I don't know," I told him. "We need to find out."

~

The next day, I was at the building again, this time without the Pyra suit, because I was actually working with the fire department this time, and the cops.

Joe and Barry walked toward me. 

"Vera," Barry told me.

"Hey," I told them.

"What are we dealing with here?" Joe asked.

"Well, definitely a metahuman," I answered. "And I got a pretty solid look at him between punches, and he was, like, made of sand."

"Sand?" Joe repeated.

"Mm-hmm," I answered.

"Okay," Barry told me.  "These walls are too porous to pull any prints,  and I can't even get one off the boat."

"Check this out," I told them, leading them around. "There's gasoline burns everywhere. Water didn't go off. Sprinklers weren't working. This was arson."

A woman officer walked closer, looking at me. "Excuse me. Vera Mitchell?"

I looked at her in confusion, knowing I knew her from somewhere. "Yeah."

"Hi," the officer told me. 

"Two days in a row, officer," Joe told her. "What a coincidence."

"Or kismet, if you believe in destiny or fate," the officer told us.

"I'm sorry, I know I know you," I told her.

The officer smiled. "Yeah, it's been a while since we've seen each other. You know, since your, what, fifth foster home?"

Barry and Joe looked at me, raising their eyebrows.

I looked away from them to the officer in surprise. "Patty?"

Patty smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I was just as surprised to see you when I walked in."

"I was like, eleven the last time I saw you," I told her.

"And I left town for a little while, but now I'm back," Patty told me. "Heard about your choice of, uh... employment, and the second fire. And the coma. You've been a busy girl."

"You have no idea," I told her. Barry and Joe looked amused. "Uh, anyway, I found, uh, something." I led them into the next room. "So, this right here is the point of origin of the fire. And look."

Patty inspected the cut wires. "I don't know a sandblaster on the market that can make a cut that precise, so I think a metahuman may have done this."

I pulled out a vial, handing it to Barry. "I took a sample for you. Uh, there's also some fingerprints on the back of the pipe."

"You sure you shouldn't have gone into CSI work?" Patty asked.

"Uh, I think I know a calling when I see it, or, well, hear it," I told them. "I seem to recall you loving science, Patty."

"True, but out here's where all the action is," Patty told us. She looked at Joe. "Isn't that right, Detective West?"

"Mm, the answer's still no, Officer S..." Joe trailed off.

"Spivot," Patty answered. 

"Spivot," Joe repeated, walking away.

Barry started to follow, stopping to face Patty. "It was nice meeting you."

"You, too, Barry," Patty told him.

Barry looked at me, following Joe, leaving.

I looked at Patty. "What was that about?"

"I'm trying to join the anti-metahuman task force," Patty explained.

I nodded. "Ah."

"But you heard him," Patty told me.

I turned to face her. "So, what made you decide to leave town?"

"Well, after my mom got sick, and we had to send you away to another foster care home, um..." Patty trailed off. "Me and my dad decided it was best to get some space."

"15 years is pretty good space," I told her.

Patty nodded in agreement. "Yeah. While I was away, I decided to go into the law enforcement like my dad before me, so when I came back, it was pretty much already set in stone."

"Where is your dad?" I asked. Patty didn't answer, looking down. I realized. "Oh. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Patty told me. "That's actually why I want to be part of the anti-metahuman task force."

"A metahuman killed your dad?" I asked.

Patty nodded. "Mark Mardon." I sighed, looking away. "You heard about him."

I nodded. "You can say that. What happened?"

"He, uh... he shot him in the face for a few hundred dollars," Patty answered.

I sighed. "I'm really sorry."

"And I'm sorry for not being here, for you, after the fire, during the coma," Patty told me. "You had to go through it alone, didn't you?"

"I met a few friends along the way," I told her. "Believe it or not, I'm doing better than I was before."

Patty nodded. "I'm glad."

We smiled small smiles.

~

Barry and I were back at STAR Labs with Cisco, Caitlin and Iris in the Cortex.

Cisco was looking at the sample.

"Found it at the crime scene," I told them. "It's gotta be from the metahuman that attacked me."

"Huh," Cisco told us. "What is this stuff, sand?"

I shrugged.

Jay and Quinn walked in, in STAR Labs sweats.

"It's not sand," Jay told us. "It's human cells whose Myosin II protein have migrated to the cell's periphery."

"Jay's a science nerd," Quinn told us.

I nodded sarcastically.

"Those cells have the ability to rearrange and harden, giving them the appearance of sand," Jay told us.

"And how do you know this?" Barry asked.

"They belonged to a metahuman we've fought before named Sand Demon," Quinn answered.

Cisco stood. "I know you two are new here, so I'm just gonna break it down for you. The whole 'naming the bad guys thing'? That's my jam." Quinn raised her eyebrows. "But you know what? I'm gonna let you have that one, 'cause I actually kinda like it. I'm not mad at that one. Are those Barry and Vera's sweatshirts?"

"Oh, uh, sorry," Iris told us. "It was all we could find."

"I was going to say, 'cause Barry's looks a lot smaller on Jay, and Quinn fills out Vera's a lot more," Cisco told us. Quinn and I looked at Cisco. "In a good way." I tilted my head. Cisco chuckled nervously, pointing at the vial in his hand. "I gotta do this thing."

Cisco walked out, leaving.

"So, who is this Sand Demon?" Iris asked.

"We don't know his name, but we know how to stop him," Quinn told us. 

Caitlin smiled.

"You know what?" I asked. "I think we'll be fine on our own."

"Look, Vera, I don't know what else we can do to prove to you we're on your side," Quinn told me. "We've been poked, prodded. We even subjected ourselves to a full body scan."

Barry and I looked at Caitlin.

Caitlin shrugged innocently. "I was being thorough."

"Sand Demon's from our world," Quinn told us. "Let us teach you how to stop him."

I shook my head barely. "Yeah, we don't need you to teach us anything, Quinn."

"Zoom or Phoenix, or both, sent Rothstein here to kill both of you," Jay told us. "They must have sent Sand Demon here to do the same thing. Don't you get it? Anyone close to the Flash, to Pyra, all of you, are in a lot of danger."

"All right, if you're so good, you two would have caught him already," I told them. "Let's get Jay and Quinn back to their cells."

I walked away.

~

Our metahuman was named Eddie Slick.

Patty and I were behind the double mirror in the interrogation room, watching Joe, Barry and Eddie now.

Patty had been the one to catch him.

Joe put a file of the fire in front of Eddie. "That look familiar?" Eddie didn't answer. Joe pushed his head toward the file. "How about now? What's it look like?"

"A fire," Eddie answered.

Joe let him go. "There you go, genius."

"It's the fire you started in the third ward last night," Barry told him.

"Man, I didn't start no fire there last night," Eddie told them.

"What?" Joe asked. "Were you out of town? Your cat get sick? Well, let me guess. You don't start fires anymore. You been rehabilitated."

"Yeah, I done it before," Eddie told them. "So what? I didn't do this one. I always start a fire with something that's hard to trace. You know, like acetone or something."

"Or maybe you don't need to use accelerants anymore," Barry told him. "Iron Heights can hold people like you now. You know that, right?"

"You think I'm one of those metahuman freaks?" Eddie asked. "If I had powers, you don't think I would have used them to get away from you?"

"December, 2013," Barry told him. "Where were you?"

"Why?" Eddie asked.

"Answer the damn question," Joe told him. "Where were you?"

"Blackgate Penitentiary," Eddie answered. "You don't believe me? Check your records."

Joe made a call. "Jimmy, I need you to confirm something for me."

I looked at Patty. "So, Joe told us what you did. I'm impressed."

Patty chuckled. "No, all I did was, you know, run the other print from the other print from the electrical pipe, then track Slick down from there. That's all." 

We chuckled.

"So, how's it going with Joe?" I asked. "You any closer to cracking his no-code?"

"Are you kidding me?" Patty asked. "He's like the permission Sphinx."

"Or like a magic eight ball with just one answer," I told her. "Or, like, you know, a the Bridgekeeper protecting the Holy Grail. What is your quest?"

Patty played along. "Oh, to join your task force." 

"No," I told her. We chuckled. "Well, maybe I can put in a good word for you. Uh, Joe and I are working together a lot here recently."

"That would mean a lot to me, Vera," Patty told me.

We looked into the interrogation room.

Barry signaled to me.

I looked at Patty. "Uh, that's me."

Patty chuckled. "Yeah."

I walked out into the main room of CCPD to join Barry.

"So, you and Patty seem to get along great," Barry told me. "Never seen you like that with anyone except the team."

"Oh, uh, yeah," I told him. "Patty's family was the fifth foster care home that took me in after I ran away from the first four." Barry chuckled in amusement. "And, uh, Patty was the only one that could get through to me back then."

"And how many foster care homes did you go to?" Barry asked.

I hesitated, hiding a smirk. "Uh, I ran from four within the first year. I stayed with the Spivots for, like, two years. Had five after that. So, ten."

"Ten?" Barry repeated in surprise. "Ten foster homes?" I nodded. "I don't know if I'm impressed or not." I shrugged. "So, if you liked staying with the Spivots so much, why'd you run away from them?"

"I didn't," I answered. "Patty's mom got sick, and they couldn't keep me around, so they... reluctantly... sent me to the next home."

Barry nodded in understanding. "Oh."

Joe walked closer to us, hanging up his phone. "Okay, so Slick wasn't in Central City the night the particle accelerator exploded."

"He's lying," I told them.

"He's a dirt bag, and an arsonist, but he's not lying about this," Joe told us. "He's not a meta."

"Slick is the guy who jumped me," I told them.

"Do you think it's possible that the Slick in there has a..." Joe trailed off.

"A doppelganger?" Barry finished. Joe nodded. Barry sighed. "I don't know."

~

We stood in STAR Labs, watching the news about Oliver Queen and his new vigilante name.

"Yesterday's surprise broadcast from a Star City vigilante who is calling himself the Green Arrow has spawned a massive outcry of both support and dissenters."

"Catchy," Caitlin told us.

"I hate it when they put a color in their name," Cisco told us. He pointed at Barry and me. "Yo."

"Yo?" Barry asked.

"That sample you gave us?" Cisco asked.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Not sand," Cisco answered. "Definitely human cells."

"Yeah, we know," Barry told them. "It's not him. We get it."

"I hate to say it, but I think this Earth 2 theory is starting to make sense," Cisco told us.

"For real?" I asked.

"What, you think Jay and Quinn are lying about the Sand Demon?" Iris asked.

"I don't know," I told them. "That's my point. But I'm not gonna just believe two people that walk in here and says a few things that sort of check out."

"Sort of?" Cisco repeated. "They--they were right about Zoom and Phoenix."

"Okay, I know they're real," I told them. "We got the proof of that when Atom Smasher and Sand Demon tried to kill us." I turned to Stein. "I mean, have you discovered a breech yet?"

"Not yet," Stein answered. "But we know how to now."

I looked at Caitlin. "Have you found one thing to suggest that Jay is a speedster or that Quinn is a blaze?"

"They don't appear to be, no," Caitlin answered.

"See?" I asked. "We are scientists." I looked at Iris. "You are a journalist. We test, we prove, we report. That's what we do. Except right now, nobody here wants to do any of that except me."

Barry sighed, looking at the others. "Can we have the room for a minute?"

Stein, Iris, Cisco and Caitlin walked out, leaving.

I sighed, turning away. "You know, I almost forgot what these talks felt like before getting back into the game with you guys."

"Yeah, well, you might have a chance to get used to them again," Barry told me. "What's happening to you?"

"Are you..." I trailed off. "Me?"

"Yes, you," Barry answered. "The you that woke up from the coma. The you that became Pyra. The you that has spent the last year and a half protecting this city. See, I see someone that resembles her, but isn't quite her."

"Yeah, because a lot's changed, Barry," I told him. "I've changed. Because of what I found out. Because of what I did."

"Because of what you learned what Wells made you do to your family," Barry told me. "Because of what he almost made you do to me, to Cisco and Joe. And because of him, you have learned how to not trust yourself, let alone other people."

"And because of him, Eddie is dead," I told him. "Ronnie is dead. And a whole lot of other people in this city, they are dead, and you, Cisco and Joe could have died at my hands, because we trusted him. I'm not gonna let us make that mistake again."

"Vera, not everyone is Harrison Wells," Barry told me. "Besides, we defeated him because we trusted in people. Because we believed in them. This team that we have you, they will follow your lead. They'll do what you say. But if they think that you don't believe in them, it won't be long before they don't believe in you."

I closed my eyes, looking at them. "I believe in them, Barry. I believe in you. More than anything."

"But because you don't believe in yourself, you're going to lose yourself," Barry told me. "And I don't want to see that happen."

I looked up at him, sighing, knowing he was right, not knowing what to do about it.

~

The metahuman from Earth 2, that Eddie Slick, had kidnapped Patty.

I walked into the pipeline to talk to Jay and Quinn.

"Finally come to your senses?" Quinn asked.

"Sand Demon kidnapped a police officer," I told them. "A woman that I've known for a long time."

"And you need our help?" Jay asked.

I sighed, nodding. "We need you to help us save her. Before something happens."

"I guess you're gonna have to trust us now, huh, Vera?" Quinn asked.

I tilted my head barely.

~

We stood up in the Cortex with the others.

"We're looking for any structures that promote humidity," Jay told us. "Greenhouse, grow rooms, anything of the sort. His body will literally start to fall apart if he become dehydrated."

"Like dry sand," Caitlin told us.

"Exactly," Jay told us.

"Sand Demon always attacks on two front," Quinn told us. "He creates a diversion, then strikes when you're distracted."

"Okay, then what do we do?" Barry asked.

Quinn looked at me. "We use you to dismantle the distraction while Barry stops Sand Demon."

"How do I stop somebody who can slip through my fingers?" Barry asked.

"The way I was never able to," Jay answered. "With lightning."

Cisco smiled, looking at Barry. "Yo, are you about to pull a Zeus right now?"

"What are you talking about?" Iris asked.

"Barry's gonna hurl lightning from the energy he creates when he runs," Jay answered.

"'Cause lightning plus sand equals..." Caitlin trailed off.

"Glass," I finished.

Jay looked at Barry. "Time to learn something new, kid."

Barry looked at me.

I nodded.

Barry smiled. "All right."

Joe walked in, hanging up his phone

"Hey, are you good?" I asked.

"That was Singh," Joe told us. "CCPD still hasn't found anything yet. Irony is, I didn't want Patty to have anything to do with the damn task force in the first place. And she gets taken because of me."

"No, no, no, this isn't your fault, all right?" Barry asked.

"It's hard not to think that," Joe told us.

"Well, look, we're gonna find Patty, all right?" I asked. "Whatever it takes."

~

Barry was in the basement, learning how to throw lightning with Jay.

Caitlin, Cisco and Stein were looking for Patty and Eddie.

I was walking through the corridors of STAR Labs, waiting for something solid for us to go on.

Quinn walked closer. "So, this place is yours, huh?"

I leaned against the wall. "Yeah. I guess."

"It's nice," Quinn told me.

"It was left to me by the last person I looked up to," I told her. "He taught me how to get stronger, how to use my powers to save people instead of hurting them. That same man manipulated me into killing my family with fire, and nearly manipulated me into killing Barry, Cisco and Joe the same way."

"I'm sorry," Quinn told me. "But I'm not him. And Jay's not, either."

I nodded, looking away. "Yeah."

We heard Cisco's voice over PA. "I know where they are."

Quinn and I exchanged a look, walking into the Cortex to join the others.

"The abandoned Woodrue grow house," Cisco told us. "That's where Slick's keeping Patty."

"Dude, great job," Barry told him.

"And I was thinking, if I were Sand Demon, and I were attacking a speedster and a blaze, I would probably want to slow you down, like, by using a bomb, or something like that."

"That's a good thought," Quinn told us. "He's actually used one on me before. My body absorbs the blast, so it doesn't affect me, like it won't affect Vera, but..."

"But it will affect Barry and Patty," I finished. 

"Well, kids, gonna have to think of something," Jay told us.

"You know what?" Barry asked. "What if we give Slick a diversion?" He looked at Jay and Quinn. "He knows you guys, right? You said you two went up against him."

"Yeah, but, Barry, we don't have our powers," Jay told him.

"He doesn't know that," Barry told us. "You got your suits?"

"Sure," Jay answered. "Well, except my helmet."

"Helmet?" Iris repeated.

"Silver kettle helmet?" Caitlin asked. "Gold wings?"

"Don't tell me you guys found it," Jay told us. Caitlin smiled, walking into the next room to grab Jay's helmet, walking closer, handing it to Jay. "Never thought I'd see that again. It was my father's, from the War of the Americas."

"Did you just say War of the Americas?" Cisco asked.

Jay put the helmet on.

Quinn smiled.

"I wish you would have just told us you lost your helmet," I told him. "Would have saved us all a headache. Well, sure you want to do this, Flyra?"

"Yeah," Quinn answered. "Let's go see what you're made of... Flyra."

We smirked.

~

We found the place.

Patty was tied to a chair on the bomb.

"I'm in the security feed," Cisco told us. "Go, Barry."

Barry zoomed to put Jay and Quinn, both suited up, in the place behind Eddie.

"Is that you?" Eddie asked. "Found your way here?" 

Eddie turned to face Jay and Quinn.

"Came quite a distance," Jay told him.

"I thought you two were dead," Eddie told them.

"You were wrong," Jay told him. "Like usual."

Eddie walked toward them.

"Let the girl go," Quinn told him.

"Have at it, Pyra," Eddie told her. "You're the only one who could save her from a blast like that. But you're gonna have to go through me." Quinn tried to punch him repeatedly. Eddie ducked and dodged each one. Quinn grabbed him, pushing him toward Jay, backing away toward Patty. Jay tried to punch Eddie. Eddie ducked, punching Jay repeatedly. "Quite a bit slower on this Earth, aren't you, Flash? You two don't have your powers, do you?"

"Slick's distracted," Cisco told us. "Vera, Barry, go."

I used fire to fly out into view, behind the chair Patty was restrained to, expertly dismantling the bomb.

Eddie turned toward us. "There's the Pyra from this Earth. The one I've been waiting for." Eddie turned his arm into sand, trying to punch me. I ducked to the side, behind the chair for cover as I continued to dismantle the bomb. Barry zoomed toward Eddie. Eddie turned into sand, making him zoom through him, returning to human form. "Must be my lucky day. Zoom and Phoenix sent me to kill this Earth's Flash and Pyra. Now I get to kill Flyra from two worlds before I go home."

I was almost done with the bomb.

Eddie turned his arm to sand, reaching out to choke me.

"He's choking Vera," Caitlin told them.

Barry looked toward me, nodding, zooming around Eddie numerous times, making him let me go, slowing down just enough to let the energy wave over him, directing a bolt of lightning toward Eddie, making it strike him down and turn into glass.

Eddie's glass form fell to the floor, shattering.

I untied Patty, helping her stand, making my voice sound different. "You okay?"

Patty turned to face me, sighing in relief. "You really know your way around a bomb?"

I tilted my head slightly, still making my voice different so she wouldn't know. "It's sort of my job."

I stepped toward Barry, Quinn and Jay, standing next to them as we looked at the shattered remains of Sand Demon.

~

Back at STAR Labs and out of suits, Jay and Quinn were talking in the infirmary.

"You know, even though we went out there, standing up to the Sand Demon without any powers, Barry and Vera did all the work," Quinn told him. "We just stood there and took a few punches."

"It was more than a few," Jay told her. "This is a lot harder than I thought. Losing something that was such a big part of who I was for so long. I can't imagine how it must be for you. Because it's not just something that was a part of you. It's something that you were."

Quinn nodded, looking down. "Yeah. It's hard, but it gets easier every day. You just have to find a new way to live. Just because it's a different life, it doesn't mean it's a worse one."

Barry and I walked closer.

"So, I see Flyra inspirational talks is a thing for Earth 2, too," I told them.

Jay and Quinn chuckled, nodding.

"Oh, yeah," Quinn told us.

"Well, powers or no powers, in my book, you were both still heroes today," Barry told them. "I'm just sorry we didn't all realize it a little bit sooner."

I raised my hand sheepishly, guiltily. "Especially me."

Jay smiled a small smile. "So, I hear they call you two 'The Scarlet Speedster' and 'Edgy Ember'."

I nodded. "Yeah." I chuckled. "What about you guys?"

"'The Crimson Comet'," Jay answered.

Quinn chuckled. "'Flying Flame'."

"What is it with alliteration and nicknames?" Jay asked.

We chuckled.

"Hey, look, guys, um, so thank you for all your help," Barry told them. "And for being so patient."

"Nah, anytime," Quinn told us.

Jay pointed at Barry. "You're a quick study. Took me a lot longer to learn how to toss lightning, believe me."

"Then I suppose I had the right teacher," Barry told him.

"It's going to be a lot harder to take down Zoom and Phoenix," Quinn told us.

"Who are these guys?" I asked.

"No one knows," Quinn told us. "They showed up around the same time as when we got our powers. Killed a lot of people in our world. We spent about two years tracking them down. But Zoom was too quick, and Phoenix was too powerful, and they were both too smart. Always one step ahead."

"You really think they're just bringing these guys here to kill us?" Barry asked.

"They're obsessed with destroying us," Jay told us. "Now they want to destroy you. They need to be the best. And they will do whatever it takes to ensure they are the only speedster and the only blaze in any world."

"If they're obsessed with being the best... then why don't they turn against each other?" I asked.

"I think they're a lot like me and Jay, and you and Barry," Quinn answered. "They may work together forever. They may take down certain jobs on their own. But if they're working together, and they're here..."

Quinn didn't finish, shaking her head.

We all knew it was bad.

For all of us.

~

The team, Jay and Quinn were gathered in the Cortex of STAR Labs the next morning.

The screen showed many flashing lights.

Stein was explaining. "It appears that while we were indeed successful in closing the singularity, there was an unfortunate side effect."

"What are you talking about?" Barry asked.

"Using electrophotography, Cisco and I were able to search Central City for any signs of energy entering our Earth from another dimension," Stein explained. "From any 'breeches', as Mr. Garrick and Miss Tate described them."

"But, of course, there isn't just one breech," Cisco told us. "There's 52 of them scattered throughout the city."

Caitlin hung her head. 

"These breaches are pockets of time and space folded into and upon itself," Stein explained. "But the most significant breach of all appears to be this one."

Cisco hit the button to show us the biggest breach on the computer screen.

"And where exactly is that located?" Caitlin asked.

"It's here, inside STAR Labs," Stein answered. I sighed. "And just beyond that breach is an entirely diff--different--"

Stein fell unconscious.

We all ran to his side worriedly.

"Professor?" I asked. "Professor?"

Stein didn't wake.