In STAR Labs, a few hours after Barry had woken up, after he had said that he couldn't feel his legs, he was using a cane to help him walk through the Cortex.

I still couldn't see anything, not after Phoenix had shot fire into my eyes into my brain.

Joe was helping Barry, but I couldn't see them. "All right, I got you."

"Mm-hmm," Barry told him.

"Okay," Joe told him.

Barry groaned in pain. "I can't do it right now, all right?"

"Oh, yes, you can, Barry," Joe told him.

"No, no, no," Barry told us.

"We've been making so much progress," Joe told us.

"Yep, six whole steps," Barry told us. "Someone get me a Bozo button."

"Hey, give yourself some credit," Cisco told him. "You just broke your back."

"Yeah, a normal person would've been paralyzed the rest of his life," Iris told us. "And a normal girl would've been completely blind, if not dead, from someone shooting fire out of their own eyes into theirs. Vera, how are you, by the way?"

"Still can't see anything," I answered. "I'm just going by sound. How long until we're fully healed?"

"The initial MRI I took a few hours ago of Barry's back showed a complete dislocation at the T12-L1 interspace of the thoracolumbar junction," Caitlin told us. "But this is the MRI I took a few minutes ago. And it should take at least until a few days for Vera's eyes to heal completely. It's remarkable, but, you're both almost completely healed."

"I'm still having trouble breathing," Barry told us.

"That's totally normal with a spinal injury," Caitlin told us. "It should clear up soon."

"We're going to get you back in those suits," Joe told us. "Real quick, trust me."

"What are we gonna do about Zoom and Phoenix?" I asked.

"No sign of them since last night," Joe told us.

"And I haven't vibed since then," Cisco told us.

"Maybe they're not coming back," Iris told us.

"I highly doubt that," Harrison told us. "Which is why I'm gonna go do something about it."

"What do you mean, go do something about it?" I asked.

I heard Harrison right in front of me. "I need access to your breach room, and I'm gonna need you."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Because, Vera, I need you to take me home," Harrison answered.

I frowned, the movement hurting the skin around my eyes.

~~

Joe was suspicious of Harrison. "So, you show up on our Earth, you screw everything up, and now you want to go home? Sounds very familiar."

"Again, that wasn't me," Harrison told us. "I need to go take care of Zoom and Phoenix once and for all before anyone else gets killed."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Barry asked.

"I'll think of something," Harrison told us. "Vera, if you will be so kind to escort me through the breach."

"No, no, she's doesn't even have her eyesight back yet," Caitlin told him. "She's in no shape to be flying anywhere, especially not if she's taking someone through a breach to another world. Look, if you can figure out how to stop Phoenix and Zoom on your Earth, you can figure out how to do it here. We need you to stay here until we defeat them, Dr. Wells."

"What I need, Dr. Snow, is to return home," Harrison told her. "And to do that, I'm going to need her assistance, seeing as how she's more healed than Barry is."

"You can wait until I can see again," I told him. "Okay?"

I heard him walk out and leave.

"Look, like it or not, we need his help," Caitlin told us.

"I'm not sure another plan from Wells is what we need," Joe told us.

"Yeah, I mean, the last bright idea he had, it nearly got Barry and Vera both killed," Iris told us.

"I know, but Jay and Quinn are gone, and Dr. Wells knows Phoenix and Zoom better than anyone," Caitlin told us. "So, until Vera and Barry are completely healed, we need to keep Wells around in case they return."

"Caitlin, if he doesn't want to be here, then we're better off without him," Barry told her. "Let him go."

"I can't do that," Caitlin told us. "Not yet."

I heard her walk out and leave.

An alarm on the computer started to beep.

"Oh, snap, metahuman attack," Cisco told us. "Nope, nope, my bad. That is just an alert for me."

"For what?" Iris asked.

"Oh, it's just a reminder," Cisco answered. "I have a date in an hour, so..."

"Oh, with who?" Iris asked.

"With the lovely Kendra Saunders, the barista at Jitters," Cisco answered. "Oh, she makes a mean latte. I think we're gonna go out for dinner and a movie, and then, I don't know, maybe some breakfast."

Joe laughed.

"Wait, breakfast?" Barry asked in amusement. "Why breakfast? I don't..."

I looked toward Cisco's general direction. "Yeah."

"'Cause, you know, you go home..." Cisco trailed off.

"Cisco," Joe told him.

"And..." Cisco trailed off.

"They're messing with you," Joe told him.

Iris chuckled.

"Go," I told him.

Cisco chuckled. "Oh. I'll go only if Vera puts some Aloe Vera around her eyes, 'cause she just got burned. Get it, Vera?"

"How long have you waited to make that into a joke?" I asked.

"Awhile," Cisco answered.

"Get out of here," I told him.

"All right," Cisco told us, walking out, leaving.

Barry chuckled.

~

A man had died last night, a doctor that had stolen a lab serum. The serum was missing.

Joe went to crime scene, him and Patty taking over the case.

Barry was in the training room at STAR Labs, able to walk unsteadily on the treadmill.

Iris and I were behind the glass.

I still couldn't see much, but what little I could see, it was right in front of me, and it was twinged in black.

"Faster, Barry," Iris told him. "There you go. You know, Vera, he's going through a lot right now, and I know you are, too. It's like something's holding him back, and I keep trying to get through to him, but I can't."

"So maybe we should get the person who can," I told her.

"Like who?" Iris asked.

"Like Henry," I answered.

"You wanna get his dad here?" Iris asked.

"You know, I'd call him myself, but right now..." I trailed off, gesturing to my eyes.

"Yeah, no, I get it," Iris told me. "I'll make the call." I nodded. I heard something fall. "Barry!"

Iris led me into the training room.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, you know, I'm not great right now," Barry told us.

"What happened?" I asked.

"It's nothing," Barry told us. "Just forget it."

"Barry," Iris told him. "Talk to us. We can help you."

"No, you can't help me," Barry told us. "Not this time. I'm sorry."

I looked toward Iris' direction.

"I'll give you guys a minute," Iris told us, walking out, leaving.

I looked toward Barry. "I kinda wanna sit down, but I can't..."

Barry barely managed a chuckle, taking my hand, leading me to the treadmill. "Yeah, I got it."

We both sat down.

"I get it, you know," I told him. "They got me good, too. My eyes were on fire, and fire doesn't hurt me, Barry. Not usually. But it was different, when it came from Phoenix. It was... agony. It was like she set my brain on fire."

"She probably did," Barry told me. "Other people would have died."

I nodded. "Yeah."

Barry hesitated. "Zoom destroyed me. He showed everyone in Central City what he could do, and that I'm powerless to stop him. I couldn't stop him, not on my own."

"You wouldn't have been fighting him alone, if it hadn't been for Phoenix," I told him. "I would've been fighting Zoom with you."

"I know you would've," Barry told me. "But they took us down, easily. They gave us a key to the city, Vera. We're supposed to be their heroes. We're supposed to be the ones that can protect them from something as evil as they are, and we failed. And Zoom paraded me around, bleeding and beaten, and nearly dead, in front of all of them."

I looked down. "Someone saw me fighting Phoenix, Barry. Someone even filmed it. And they handed it over to the press like it was the next big thing. Cisco saw it on the news earlier, and he told me about it. So, yeah." I looked toward Barry. "I get it."

I felt Barry's hand around mine, looking down.

~

I was in the Cortex, stepping toward the wall, feeling along it to try to feel my way toward a mirror, looking into it. I couldn't really see it, just an outline of my reflection. I sighed, gently touching the seared skin, wincing in pain, pulling my hand away.

I heard Cisco walk in. "Did Caitlin come through here?"

I turned toward him, barely able to see the outline of his body. "No."

"She just hit me in the face and ran away," Cisco told me.

Joe ran in. "Yo! Grodd!"

"What?" Cisco and I asked at the same time.

"Grodd's back," Joe told us.

"Caitlin," Cisco told us. "That must be why she was acting like that. She was being mind-controlled. They're outside."

Joe and Cisco ran outside to see that they had already disappeared.

~

Everyone but Caitlin was in the Cortex.

"I continue to be amazed by the similarities between our two worlds," Harrison told us.

"You got talking gorillas on your Earth, too?" Joe asked.

"Oh, yeah," Harrison answered.

"Remind me to never go there," Joe told us.

"Ramon, why would this Grodd abduct Dr. Snow?" Harrison asked.

"I don't know," Cisco told us. "It doesn't make any sense. She was always so nice to him."

"He mind-controlled two lab technicians to steal chemicals that enhance intelligence," Joe told us. "He wants her for something."

"Well, looks like he left his bachelor pad in the sewers," Cisco told us.

"Grodd's a big-ass gorilla," Joe told us. "He can't just waltz through downtown in the middle of the day without anybody noticing."

"Right, and if there's been sightings, then we might be able to approximate his location," Harrison told us.

"I can call CCPD," Joe told us. "They can access the tip hotline, send over files of Grodd's recent attacks."

"Good," Harrison told us.

"We gotta get her back," Cisco told us.

"We will," Harrison told us.

I felt for a chair behind me, sitting down, hearing almost everybody walk out, knowing that Barry was still in here because I didn't hear the wheelchair leave. "Barry?"

"Yeah?" Barry asked. "You okay?"

"It's getting better," I told him. "I can see... outlines. Shapes. Not much else, though."

"I still don't have my speed, and you can't see," Barry told me. "How are we supposed to save Caitlin from Grodd?"

"We might not be able to go out into the field just yet, but we still got our brains," I told him. "We gotta use them. Help them figure this out."

Barry sighed. "Yeah."

"You know, I'm not used to this side of these conversations," I told him. "I'm used to you giving me these talks."

Barry chuckled. "Yeah. Me, too." I saw the outline of him in front of me. Barry gently touched the skin around my left eye, barely enough to hurt. "You know, you brought back my eyesight with a fiery kiss. I would return the favor now if I thought it could return yours."

"Oh, it might not return my eyesight, but it might help me a little bit," I told him.

We chuckled.

I smiled a small smile, and I knew he would be, too.

~

Barry was in the training room.

I was sitting in the Cortex, looking up when I heard someone walking closer, seeing an outline of a girl. "Iris?"

"Good guess," Iris told me. "Well, not really, seeing as Caitlin's the only other girl who comes here, and she's... That's besides the point. I called Henry, Vera. He's here. He's talking to Barry right now." She sat next to me. "And you? How you doing?"

"Getting better by the hour," I answered. "Still not enough to find Caitlin myself, though."

"You can't blame yourself, Vera," Iris told me. "There's nothing you could have done."

I nodded, looking down. "I know that. Doesn't make it any easier."

I heard Cisco walk in, looking up. "Hey, guys. I think we've found them."

"Yeah?" I asked.

Others walked in.

"Grodd has to be in one of these three bell towers," Cisco told us. "The only reason we couldn't find him on any cameras underneath the city before is 'cause he upgraded from a bachelor pad to a penthouse, like a baller."

"Okay, so we know where he is," Barry told us. "We still don't know how to get her."

"We got a plan for you," Cisco told us.

"What's the plan?" Barry asked.

"We use me," Harrison answered.

I heard Barry zooming toward something and something making impact with the wall in the corridor.

"That's Harry!" Cisco told him. "That's the other Wells!"

"Barry," Henry told him.

"Let him go," Cisco told him. "Let him go."

"I'm sorry," Barry told them. "I'm sorry."

I stood. "What's happening?"

Iris led me into the corridor with the others. "Harrison's wearing the Reverse-Flash suit."

"We found it in the time vault," Cisco told us. 

"I thought he was dead," Henry told us.

"He is dead," Cisco told him. "This is--this is Harrison Wells from Earth-2."

"Earth-2?" Henry repeated.

"I'll explain later," Barry told him.

"If we can get Harry to convince Grodd that he's Wells, that he's his father, maybe we can convince him to let Caitlin go," Cisco told us.

I nodded. "We're not gonna be able to help if anything goes wrong."

"That's a chance I'm willing to take," Harrison told us.

I nodded barely.

~

I was in the bathroom, washing my face, careful of the skin around my eyes. It didn't feel so burned anymore. Just really, really sore. I looked up into the mirror in front of me. I was able to make out the features of my face, and a little more than that, looking around the bathroom, seeing everything in a more reddish tint now. I sighed, walking out, into the hallway.

Iris was waiting. "How you doing now?"

"Well, I can walk without bumping into things, if that's what you mean," I answered. We walked down the corridor. "Shouldn't be long now."

We walked into the Cortex.

"Uh, Cisco and Harrison are already out there, and Barry and Henry are talking in the training room," Iris told me. "Now what?"

"Now we wait," I answered. 

We heard Harrison talking to Grodd through the speakers in the computer. "Hey, buddy. I'm back."

"Father, you died," Grodd told him.

"No, buddy, I didn't die," Harrison told him. "I just went away for a while."

"All right, that's great," I told him. "Keep talking."

"But now that I'm back, we don't need Caitlin anymore, do we, buddy?" Harrison asked. "So you can let her go." Grodd growled. "Come on, buddy. Let me get her out of here. Please."

"Father never ask," Grodd told him. "Father take. Who are you?"

We heard something impact with something.

"Cisco, you gotta get in there, man," I told him.

We heard Caitlin. "Oh, Cisco, thank God."

"Okay, you guys gotta get out of there," Iris told them.

"Harry's trapped," Cisco told us. "We can't leave him here. What do we do?"

I took a second to think. "The drugs. The drugs that Grodd stole. Harrison, an overdose of those drugs will shock his brain. Okay, just hit him with as much as you can."

"You are not him!" Grodd told him. "You are not Father!" 

"I am Father," Harrison told him. "And you hit Father. Grodd. Look at me. Look at me! I would never leave you alone. Grodd, I made you a promise. I have bigger plans for you. Remember? One day, this city will be yours. I promised you. I intend to honor that promise."  Grodd roared in pain, indicating that Harrison had injected the drugs into his system. "Go!"

Caitlin, Cisco and Harrison got out safely.

~

Caitlin was bandaging Harrison up in the infirmary lab. "Thank you. Thank you for rescuing me."

"Well, we're a team, right?" Harrison asked.

"I'm impressed," Barry told him. "I think we all are."

"Yeah, well, we need to do something about Grodd," Joe told us.

"Like what?" Caitlin asked.

"Like get rid of him for good," Joe answered.

"You want to kill him?" Caitlin asked.

"Considering how many people he's killed, yeah," Joe answered.

"This isn't Grodd's fault," Caitlin told us. "He's only like this because Wells made him this way."

"Yeah, but, Caitie, he kidnapped you, and you could have died," I told her.

"You didn't see what I saw," Caitlin told us. "Grodd's getting smarter. He's lonely and sad. He wants more apes like him."

"What are you saying?" Cisco asked. "He wants kids? 'Cause I'm pretty sure one telepathic Grape Ape is more than enough for this city."

"I know somewhere we could send him," Harrison told us.

"What are you talking about?" Iris asked.

Harrison walked past us. "When the singularity exploded, and I discovered the breach in STAR Labs, I ran similar tests and discovered the same thing, 51 additional breaches." We walked into the Cortex. "The difference being the breaches in Central City are scattered all throughout the city whereas counterparts in my world most definitely are not."

"And you know where they lead?" Cisco asked.

"Well, I was in the process of figuring all that out when Dr. Snow so gallantly convinced me to stay," Harrison told us. "But if I am correct, this breach is gonna get Grodd as close to home as he's ever likely to get."

"Okay, even if you're right, how do we bait Grodd to go through it?" Joe asked.

Barry looked at me. "How good is your sight right now?"

"Almost all the way back," I answered. "No weird colors, able to see features and actual colors instead of just one."

"Oh, really?" Cisco asked, holding up his middle finger from across the room. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

I walked closer, twisting his finger back hard enough to cause pain, but not to break it, making him gasp. "None now."

"She can do it, she can do it," Cisco told them.

I let him go, turning to face Barry. "I can do it."

Barry nodded barely, pointing at me. "No flying. I'll bring him to you."

I nodded.

~

I was waiting by the right breach, suited up as Pyra.

Caitlin was luring Grodd out to the street outside the bell tower. "Grodd?"

"Caitlin," Grodd told her.  Barry, suited up as the Flash, would get her away before Grodd could get to her. "Flash."

"You want Caitlin, Grodd, you're gonna have to catch me first," Barry told him.

The others were waiting in the Cortex back at the lab.

"So, Barry's gonna lure Grodd out to the breach and Vera?" Henry asked.

"Yep," Cisco answered. "And once Grodd steps out in front of it, Vera's gonna use fire to blast him to Earth-2, without hurting or killing him."

"Well, things have gotten a lot more complicated since I got out of prison," Henry told us.

"Mm-hmm," Iris agreed.

"Man, you have no idea," Joe told him.

"Vera, almost there," Barry told me. "Are you ready?" 

"Yep," I answered. I looked at Harrison, who was standing nearby the breach. "They're almost here."

"The quark matter is stabilizing, and once I get it to, it will stretch the breach about so big, so anything within this circle will suffice," Harrison told me.

I looked at the circle on the ground, nodding. "Got it."

Barry zoomed closer.

"Right on time," Harrison told me.

Barry zoomed to a stop in front of the opening of the breach, but it wasn't open yet. "I don't have eyes on Grodd. Does anyone see him?"

I looked up behind him on the bridge above. "Yep."

Barry turned to follow my gaze to Grodd.

Grodd jumped toward Barry.

Barry zoomed out of the way.

Grodd landed in front of the breach.

"That is a big gorilla," Harrison told us.

"Where is Caitlin?" Grodd asked.

I looked at Harrison. "Now!"

Harrison turned the breach on.

Grodd roared at the blue portal opened up behind him.

I shot fire toward Grodd, using it to push him into the opening of the portal. Grodd was fighting back, hard, trying to push his way forward. I used more force behind the fire to push him through the breach, into Earth-2.

Harrison turned the breach off.

I breathed heavily in relief, turning toward Barry, smiling.

We heard laughter from the others in STAR Labs.

I hugged Barry. "Welcome back, Flash."

We pulled away.

"You, too... Pyra," Barry told me.

We smiled.

~

The next morning in STAR Labs, everyone but Joe and Iris, who weren't here, was looking at the Reverse-Flash's suit.

"I can't believe something good finally came from that suit," Caitlin told us.

"First and the last time," I told them.

"That thing still gives me the creeps," Cisco told us. "We should destroy it."

I nodded, looking at the ring that Wells had used to put the suit into so that he could literally deploy the suit onto him. "Let's do that, but see if you can figure out how to get it back in this ring first." I tossed it to Cisco. "Might be nice to have something like that so that I can have it on in literally one and a half second." I looked at Barry. "Like some people, but you don't need a ring."

"I can help you with that," Harrison told us. We looked at him. "What? I know a thing or two about micro-technology."

"Yeah, you know a thing or two about a lot of things," Cisco told him.

"Well, as long as what he knows keeps my son and these good people safe, the more you know, the better," Henry told him, walking closer, shaking his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Harrison. Again."

"Dr. Allen," Harrison told him.

Henry looked around us. "Good to see all of you again."

"Good to see you, too," I told him. "You know, now that I can actually see you."

We all chuckled.

"Vera, thank you so much for having the idea to reach out to me," Henry told me. "I am so glad you did."

"Me, too," I told him. Henry and I hugged, pulling away. "But Iris' the one that called. I didn't do it alone."

Barry smiled.

Henry chuckled, nodding. "Well, I will thank Iris at her and Joe's house." He looked at Barry. "Let's go"

Henry waved bye.

Henry and Barry walked out, leaving.

"So, Dr. Wells, this place on your Earth that we've sent Grodd, what is it exactly?" Caitlin asked.

"It's a refuge where gorillas subjected to lab experiments, like Grodd, can roam freely," Harrison answered.

"I know it's for the best, but I still feel like I betrayed him," Caitlin told us.

"No, don't say that," I told her. "You didn't betray him. You gave him a better life."

"I still don't understand, though," Cisco told us. "I..." He walked closer to Harrison. "Why do the breaches on our Earth lead to different places on yours?"

"I don't know yet, Ramon," Harrison told him. "But I do know we have to close them all, and I don't know how to do that."

"You don't have to do it alone anymore," Caitlin told him. "Any of it. Together, we defeated Grodd, and if we stay that way, we will figure out how to close the breaches, get Phoenix and Zoom, and get you your daughter back."

"Thank you," Harrison told us, walking out.

Cisco, Caitlin and I looked at each other, sighing.

~

I sat at home in the loft, after dark, playing Counting Stars by OneRepublic on my guitar. "Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep / Dreaming about the things that we could be / But baby, I've been, I've been praying hard / Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars / Yeah, we'll be counting stars / I see this life like a swinging vine / Swing my heart across the line / And my face is flashing signs / Seek it out, and you shall find / Old, but I'm not that old / Young, but I'm not that bold / I don't think the world is sold / I'm just doing what we're told / I feel something so right / Doing the wrong thing / I feel something so wrong / Doing the right thing / I could lie, couldn't I / I could lie / Everything that kills me makes me feel alive / Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep / Dreaming about the things that we could be / But baby, I've been, I've been praying hard / Said no more counting dollars / We'll be counting stars / Yeah, we'll be counting stars / I feel the love / And I feel it burn down this river every time / Hope is our four-letter word / Make that money, watch it burn / Old, but I'm not that old / Young, but I'm not that bold / And I don't think the world is sold / I'm just doing what we're told / And I feel something so wrong / Don't the right thing / I could lie, couldn't I? / I could lie / Everything that drowns me makes me wanna fly."

I was about to sing the chorus again when I heard something behind me, turning to see Barry.

Barry shook his head. "No, no, don't stop. I just got here."

I smiled a small smile, turning to face him completely in my seat, putting the guitar down. "You'd think that you'd heard me sing enough by now."

Barry shook his head. "Nope. There'll never be enough of that." I stood. Barry walked closer, using my words from earlier. "How's it feel to see, now that you can actually see?" I smiled, looking down. "No, I just... I wanted to thank you."

"For what?" I asked.

"You know for what," Barry told me. "Getting my dad here? That was one hell of an idea."

"You may not have a mom, Barry, but you have two amazing dads," I told him. "It seemed to me like you needed both of them."

Barry nodded thoughtfully. "So, she's hot, literally and figuratively, she has hot powers, literally, and she gets hot ideas. Is that it?"

I smiled. "You cannot always be a smartass."

Barry nodded sarcastically. "Sure I can." He took my hands, pulling me closer, both of us smiling, kissing for a long moment, pulling away, staying close. "Come on. Play me another song." I raised my eyebrows in amusement. "Please."

"Okay," I told him, sitting in my chair, picking up the guitar. "But I'm picking up where I left off. I'm not playing another song."

Barry sat across from me, smiling teasingly. "Ooh."

"And you proved to have quite the voice yourself," I told him. "Sing with me."

Barry smiled, nodding. "Okay."

I smiled, shaking my head, starting to play Counting Stars again, from where I left off. "Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep / Dreaming about the things that we could be / But, baby, I've been, I've been praying hard / Said no more counting dollars / We'll be counting stars / Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep / Dreaming about the things that we could be / But, baby, I've been, I've been praying hard / Said no more counting dollars / We'll be, we'll be counting stars."

Barry smiled, starting to sing. "Oh, take that money, watch it burn / Sing in the river, the lessons I learned / Take that money, watch it burn / Sing in the river, the lessons I learned / Take that money, watch it burn / Sing in the river, the lessons I learned / Take that money, watch it burn / Sing in the river, the lessons I learned."

I stopped playing, looking at Barry, singing accapella. "Everything that kills me makes me feel alive." 

Barry smiled a small smile. I started to play again. We both started to sing together. "Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep / Dreaming about the things that we could be / But, baby, I've been, I've been praying hard / Said no more counting dollars / We'll be counting stars / Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep / Dreaming about the things that we could be / But, baby, I've been, I've been praying hard / Said no more counting dollars / We'll be, we'll be counting stars." We looked at each other, smiling as we sang together. "Take that money, watch it burn / Sing in the river, the lessons I learned / Take that money, watch it burn / Sing in the river, the lessons I learned / Take that money, watch it burn / Sing in the river, the lessons I learned / Take that money, watch it burn / Sing in the river, the lessons I learned."

I ended the song, looking at Barry. We both smiled small smiles, at peace with the moment, and knowing that if we beat Grodd, we could beat Phoenix and Zoom, even if it would take a while.