Barry had offered to go with Kara to Gotham and while she had wanted him to come, she felt that there would still be too much tension between him and Batman. Given that they had just decided to take their relationship to the next level and actually started using the terms boyfriend and girlfriend, she promised she would call him and keep him updated on Clark’s status. While sitting in the Bat-cave by Clark’s side, she couldn’t help but be impressed by what Batman had managed to create with the yellow sun lamps. With nothing else to do, she first set Barry’s ringtone as Accidentally in Love since it was the song they sang together. She then spent the rest of the time talking to Clark. Though he was unconscious, she still hoped he could hear her.

When Barry got back to Central City, his first stop was naturally Star Labs. As she had promised, Felicity had sent everything she could find on Cadmus to Cisco and Caitlin. She had also sent along a note from Oliver letting Barry know that if he needed any help, he just had to call. On his third day back Barry, Cisco and Harry are going over the information when they receive a meta-human alert.

“Allen, we’ve got a new meta-human tearing up down-town.”

“Do we have a read on powers?”

“Working on it Barry…, whoa, she just threw three police cars into the river. Has to be some form of magnetism.”

“I’m on my way.”

Barry took off to confront the new meta-human girl, hoping that her appearance would have some sort of tie to their ongoing case and Cadmus. Caitlin had joined Cisco and Harry as they immediately began searching databases for her identity.

“Guys…what are we looking at?”

“Her powers are definitely magnetic Barry…”

“Then how do I stop her? I can’t keep dodging cars forever!”

Barry could see the girl through the magnetic field she had surrounding her. She appeared to be no older than fifteen or sixteen. She was screaming at the police before using her powers to direct their bullets back at them. While this was a new danger, it had taken her focus away from him so he could create a cyclone to stop the bullets. While doing that, Caitlin came back with an answer.

“Barry, her name is Frances Kane, sometimes goes by Frankie. Her powers didn’t come entirely from the particle accelerator. Says here that she’s been moved from foster home to foster home for the past ten years…”

“Then I can relate to her on that…”

“Hang on Barry, not all of the homes she lived in were good…the last one she was in she suffered a lot of verbal abuse…nurses say she developed a split personality.”

Barry knew then this situation just went from bad to worse. He could potentially empathize with the girl on the foster home, but he had to get close enough to talk to her which meant he had to start dodging cars again. This was also dependent on Frankie being in charge and not another identity. When he found an opening he made his move.

“Frankie!”

Barry’s scream caught her attention, but her eyes were filled with anger when she turned to face him. She could see the red suit, the lightning bolt and instantly knew who he was. His presence there caused her to scream out in rage again.

“Frankie’s not here, Flash! Only Magenta!”

With her scream, her powers only intensified. Barry was once again dodging everything she was throwing at him, still trying to think of a way to shut her powers down without hurting her.

“Barry…Magenta’s throwing off a major negative magnetic field. If you…”

“…create a positive magnetic field it will disrupt her powers as the polar opposites will repel each other. I know just how to do that.”

Looking around, Barry sees electrical wires that had been torn free. With only one shot at this, he wraps them around himself effectively becoming a human electromagnet, which disrupts her magnetic field, knocking her back across the pavement. When his own powers absorb the electricity, he moves to where the girl is just beginning to stir. Slowly kneeling down, he gently places a hand on her shoulder as she looks up.

Gone is the rage in her eyes and her powers have now dissipated. Given time to recover, she looks around and sees the damage she has caused. Remorse is prevalent on her face as she sees the police standing behind the Flash, guns drawn.

“Oh my God…what did I do? How did…Flash…don’t let them hurt me!”

Barry can hear the terror in the girl’s voice as he waves the police off. They lower their guns, allowing him the chance to reason with her, but they don’t back away.

“I won’t let them hurt you. I promise…but you’ve got to tell me who I’m talking to right now. Are you Frankie Kane, or Magenta?”

“I’m Frankie…please Flash…”

“It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. Tell me what happened…”

“I-I don’t know…I was just sitting in my foster home enduring another bout of verbal abuse…”

“No child should ever have to deal with that from the people who are supposed to care for her.”

“…then I must have blacked out. Next thing I know, you’re standing over me. Please tell me I didn’t hurt anyone.”

“You caused some damage, but no one was hurt. Not here anyway. Frankie…you know you’re developing a black eye?”

Frankie reached up to her right eye and felt the tenderness there. She hadn’t felt the pain at first, but she surmised that was from Magenta being in control at the time. Now that her other personality had been stopped, she was feeling the effects, and tears started to form.

“That must have been what set Magenta off. She…I…”

Frankie paused as one of the officers that was standing behind Barry cleared his throat. Both knew that she was going to have to make amends for her actions, but Flash wasn’t going to turn her over just yet. He needed to know how she got her powers and also wanted to help her.

“Flash…you know we have to take her in. She’s caused massive property damage and could have seriously hurt or killed someone.”

“I don’t disagree on that point Officer. But she needs to be somewhere we can keep an eye on her.”

“You mean where you can keep an eye on her.”

“Putting her in a prison right now is dangerous. I can take her to Star Labs where they can test her powers and help her with her split personality. Locking her up is not the answer.”

Minutes passed as the police were hesitant to withdraw and let Flash take her. They had enormous respect for him as he had saved their lives countless times. Eventually they had to agree, with a promise from Barry that he would make sure she would no longer be a threat. While he was taking her back to Star, Caitlin put through an anonymous tip to Joe about Frankie’s foster father and he was arrested for the physical abuse he had committed.

While Caitlin was examining Frankie, Barry was with Cisco and Harry, when his phone began ringing. He had set Kara’s ringtone as Shut up and Dance with me from the karaoke bar, so he stepped out to take the call.

“Hey Kara…”

“Barry…I miss you. I saw the news. You were incredible helping Frankie like you did.”

“Yeah…I miss you too. Did what I had to, just like you said, we help as many people as we can. She’s not really at fault for her actions. She’s getting better, and Caitlin has a friend who came to help with Frankie’s split personality. She’s even promised to make amends for what Magenta did. Joe’s working on finding her a new foster home.”

“I’m glad for that. Considering we both know what being fostered is like. What about her powers? Any ties to…”

“Not that we’re aware of. Early tests suggest she was born with them, and the accelerator unlocked them. Caitlin’s sure because there were only minute traces of dark matter in her system. No signs of significant alterations to her genome.”

“Good, anyway that’s not the only reason I called…”

“I figured that. You probably really just needed to hear my voice again.”

“Dork…and yes. But I wanted to let you know that I’ll be in Gotham a little while longer.”

“Is everything okay? Clark didn’t…”

“No…no he’s getting there, woke up this morning. But the red sunlight was far more concentrated than we originally thought. You remember how I told you that Krypton had a red sun…”

“Yeah…it’s why our yellow sun gives you powers. Krypton had a different level of gravity so on Earth your bone density is different.”

“Right…well we found out the red sunlight used on Clark was more enhanced than the one I grew up under. Even with exposure to both Batman’s sun lamps and direct exposure to the natural yellow sun, Clark’s powers are not coming back like they should be.”

“I see…”

“I know we’ve got date night coming up, and I feel bad for having to postpone it…”

“Kara, it’s okay. Clark needs you right now. I’ll just have to make do with beating up bad guys until you get back.”

Kara laughed because she knew Barry was joking but also because she can imagine that he has been doing just that even though it’s only been three days since they last saw each other. After all she had to do the same in Metropolis a few times with Superman out of commission.

“No rest for the weary superheroes, huh?”

“None at all. I…”

“Sorry, have to cut this short. Clark wants me to help him with sparring. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye Barry.”

“Bye Kara.”

As soon as she hung up the phone, Kara’s phone was ringing for the fourth time that day. Alex had been calling repeatedly since she and J’onn had heard about Superman two days ago. Kara hadn’t answered, believing they wanted her to come back immediately. She had to have Clark go ahead for their sparring session because she couldn’t put the call off any longer.

“Alex, you know I can’t come back to National right now. Clark is not ready to resume his duties as Superman and Metropolis…”

“Not why I called. It took me a lot, but I convinced J’onn that helping Superman is where you really need to be. So you owe me for that one. How’s he doing?”

“Getting there. Look, I’ll call you again as soon as he’s back in top shape. Then I can come back to National.”

While Kara and Alex were wrapping up their conversation, Barry was back to working on the investigation with Cisco and Harry. Another two days passed and his constant ideas were overwhelming the two of them. They all wanted to figure out if Cadmus was involved in the situation with the unknown meta-humans, but Cisco and Caitlin knew that Barry’s over-bearing input also had to do with Kara. Finally, Caitlin took steps to get him out of Star.

“Barry, you need to do something more constructive.”

“I am doing something constructive Caitlin. I’m trying to help figure this case out.”

“Yes, and you know we appreciate it. But Barry, you’re driving us crazy.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just that…”

“Kara had to cancel date night, and after you’ve now been together for a month. Ronnie and I had a lot of nights like this, you remember…”

“Of course I do.”

“Then do what he did Barry…Kara can’t come to date night with you, take date night to her. I promise you, she’ll love it.”

“You sure, I mean doesn’t that kind of seem desperate and needy? She’s helping Superman with…”

“Trust me Barry, it would be romantic. Go to Gotham, find a restaurant that’s really…I don’t know, just a really nice place, doesn’t have to be over the top fancy and then call her. Make sure you wear a nice suit and bring flowers. I’m sure Kara could use some time with her boyfriend to take her mind off how her cousin is doing.”

“Yeah but…”

“NO! No buts, Barry I swear if you protest one more time, I’ll have Cisco vibe you there, and let Harry change all the codes to Star while you’re gone!”

Caitlin pointed a finger towards the exit, effectively silencing and kicking Barry out. He knew she was doing this for his own good, and decided to follow her advice. With a quick change to his Flash uniform, he sped off to his apartment to pack up his best suit and strapped it across his back. As he made the run, an intense lightning storm exploded in the skies above him, opening a portal that he had no chance to avoid.

Barry didn’t know how long he was out for, but he struggled to his feet as consciousness returned. When he looked around it was difficult to get his bearings, he wasn’t in Central City or Gotham City. He was somewhere in between. Looking up at the sky, he couldn’t see stars as a violent storm shook the ground beneath his feet. Soon he heard the sounds of battle and rushed to provide assistance. What he saw when he got there was nothing he was prepared for.

He saw his friends, Ollie, Jay, Cisco, Thea, and Laurel, they were fighting alongside Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin, Nightwing and Batgirl against superior numbers of what appeared to meta-humans and at the epicenter of the battle were Superman, Kara, himself, two cyborgs, and a meta-human he immediately recognized as the Turtle. Barry instantly knew that the Speed Force was not only trying to tell him something, but it had brought him to the future.

He could only watch, unable to move as he was witness to the battle playing out in slow motion. Clark and Kara were getting the worst of the attack as the two cyborgs were unleashing a relentless barrage of green and gold energy blasts. He knew the green was Kryptonite just by the effects it was having on the two Kryptonians. The gold was something he couldn’t identify, but he knew it was hurting them by the screams he could hear, and they couldn’t fight back. His future self was doing everything he could to get to them, but the Turtle’s powers kept him from utilizing his speed.

Barry was terrified as this main battle was drawing to a close. He saw the final blast of green energy burn Kara as she fell to the ground. Clark fell a few moments after as the Turtle withdrew. Finally able to move, the future Barry was by Kara’s side in seconds, holding her. He quickly ripped his mask off as tears fell from his eyes. Tears were falling from her eyes as well, and while he couldn’t hear her, Barry knew what she was saying to his future self. He could only watch as Kara’s left hand slipped from his face with a ring on her finger, her last act had been to wipe his tears away as she said her final words, professing her love for him.

In that next moment, lightning split the sky, and the voices of both versions of Barry Allen screamed only one word in rage as their friends gathered around the fallen heroes.

“KARA!”