This was it, this would be the day Barry and Mushroom would get the answers to their mothers death. While the other stayed in the cortex, both Allens headed down to the pipeline where Wells aka Eobard Thawne was locked up. Barry opened the pipeline and the cell with Thawne was in front of them. For a man in a cage, Thawne was surprisingly calm. Barry finally asked him the question that had been haunting him for years, why did Thawne kill Barry and Mushroom’s mother?

“Because I hate you.” Thawne answered.

“That’s not an answer. Talk now or you’ll be Ghost next plaything.” Mushroom threatened.

“Not the Barry now. Barry years from now.”

“In the future.” Barry stated.

“In a future. Yes. We’re enemies, rivals, opposites, reverses of one another.” Thawne answered.

“And why is that exactly?” Mushroom asked.

“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t… matter anymore. What matters is that neither of us was strong enough to defeat the other. Until I learned your secret. I learned your name. Barry Allen. And finally, I knew how to defeat you once and for all. Travel back in time, kill you as a child. Wipe you from the face of the earth. Along with your sister. No Flash and no Ghost to stop me. But then you, future you, this is, followed me back and we fought. We both landed some pretty solid shots. And then you, future you, got your younger self and the younger Mushroom out of there. I was so mad.” Thawne explained.

Mushroom’s hand balled into a fist and Barry grabbed it. “But then I thought…what if you  were to suffer a tragedy? What if you were to suffer something so horrible, so traumatic… that your child self could never recover? Then you would not become the Flash. So I stabbed your mother in the heart. And I was free. Finally able to return to a future without the Flash. Only to realize that in traveling back, I lost my way home. Lost my ability to harness the Speed Force. And without it, I was stuck here, stranded in this time unable to return to my home, and the only way back was the Flash. But the Flash was gone, and so I created him.”

“Why train me? Why help me save so many people?” Barry asked as Mushroom squeezed his hand.

“Because I need you to get fast. Fast enough to rupture the space-time barrier and create a stable wormhole through which I could return home.” Thawne answered.

“Why would I ever do that?”

“Because, Barry Allen, if you give me what I want… I’m gonna give you what you want.” Tears formed in Barry’s eyes. “You can go back and save your mother. You can prevent your father from going to prison. You can reunite the Allen family.”

“No.” Barry shook his head. “No, I don’t believe you.” He let go of Mushroom’s hand before punching the cell door. “I wanna kill you right now.”

“Barry, stop!” Mushroom said, grabbing Barry’s hand. “He’s not worth it.”

“You should listen to your sister, Barry.” Thawne spoke.

“Keep your mouth shut, Eobard.” she said, harshly.

“I know you're upset, but I’m giving you a chance. I’m giving you a chance to undo all the evil I’ve done. Don’t you want that chance?”

But Barry didn’t say a word. He and Mushroom just walked away from Thawne.

S.T.A.R labs cortex

Everyone was at the cortex, even Stein and Ronnie. Barry had told him about what Thawne offered him. Barry held Mushroom close to him as tears were going down Mushroom’s cheeks.

“A rare opportunity to go back in time and right a wrong and save your mother’s life. Quite the paradox Harrison has presented you with, Mr. Allen.” Stein said.

“The chance to be with someone you love? Seems pretty cut and dry to me.” Caitlin says.

“At first blush, Dr. Snow, it would appear so, but this gift has unparalleled risk.” Stein walked over to Barry and Mushroom. “Barry, the night your mother died.. The night you saved yourself and your sister from being killed. That event altered the timeline you were already on, and changed the course of history.”

“So, what you’re saying is we’re living in a parallel universe?” Cisco asked.

“Just like when I time-traveled before.” Barry says.

“But he only changed one day that time.” Joe said

“Exactly. Now imagine 15 years of compounded experiences. One different decision, no matter how big or small, impacts everything that follows. Moments upon moments, choices upon choices, new relationships. Nothing would be as it is today and you’d never know the difference because you’d never remember any of it.” Stein explains.

“So if I go back and save our mom, our dad doesn’t go to prison.” Barry starts.

“We never live with Joe and Iris…” Mushroom continues in a broken voice.

“You might never meet me. Or Caitlin or Ronnie or Project 32.” Cisco said sadly.

“Truth is, there’s no real way of knowing what your life will be.” Stein stated.

Barry looked at Joe who wanted him to do it, to change the past. He then walked away but Barry chased after him Mushroom on the other hand was more angry that Joe would even agree to this. She wasn’t going to just forget her time here or her friends. Mushroom let Barry and Joe talk as they looked at the others.

“He shouldn’t do it.” Mushroom said as they sniffled. The others looked at them.

“Why not?” Caitlin asked. “You could have your mom back.”

“And I could lose you guys. Believe it or not but our mom dying made us who we are today. And Barry better see that… Just because you can change something. Doesn’t always mean you should…” They wipe their tears away before leaving the cortex.

Iron Heights visiting area

Mushroom and Barry decided to go talk to their dad, Henry, about if Barry should go back or not. They both sat down on the chairs on their side of the glass as Henry sat on the other side. Barry grabbed the phone and held it so Mushroom and him can both listen and talk. Barry explained what was happening and about time travel.

“I would be going back. To that night, to save her.” Barry said.

“What does Joe think about all this?” Henry asks.

“He thinks I should do it.”

“And I think he shouldn't,” Mushroom says.

“No.” Henry says catching Barry off guard. “You can’t”

“Dad… I can make it so that night will never have happened.” Barry says “We’ll be a family again.”

“We are a family.”

“Not like this, not without mom” Tears formed in Barry’s eyes

“Barry, there’s a natural order to things. Okay, things happen the way they do. We may not know why at the time, but there must always be a reason. Now, I believe that. I’ve had to believe it.”

“Mom’s death made us who we are Barry…” Mushroom says.

“I-I can save mom.” Barry argued.

“At what cost?” Henry asked. Barry opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. “You said time would change. What if it changes you?”

“Well, I don’t care.”

“We do.” Henry and Mushroom say at the same time.

“I am in awe…” Henry starts. “Of the remarkable man that you are becoming. All the things you've achieved and not just as the Flash but you, Barry, your honesty, your heart. You were always a hero.” Barry looks down trying not to cry as Henry continues. “And your mom would be just as proud. And if she had a say in this, if she thought for one second you going back in to save her would mean you losing what makes you so special she would never want that.”

Barry buried his face in Mushroom’s shoulder as tears went down his cheeks. They hug him as Henry continues “Barry, What I hope for you…maybe the greatest thing that a father can hope for his son is that one day you will become a father yourself. And then you will know… how much I truly love you,”

Barry left the visiting area but Mushroom stayed to talk to her dad. She hadn’t seen him in a while with her work and the explosion that fused her with Ghost. She and her father talked for a bit until Ghost decided to pop out. “I take it you are Ghost.” Henry spoke.

“You could say that. We’re fused together but I can see Mushroom’s memories. They miss you.” she spoke before letting Mushroom take control.

“You always liked ghosts. I remember when you were seven, you kept saying that you saw your grandma’s ghost in your room.”

Mushroom chuckled, “Yeah. Mom used to come into my room and see me talking to grandma. She would sit on the bed and ask me what grandma had said to me. Dad, did Barry tell you…?”

“That you’re non-binary and you changed your name. I know. And Joe was the one who told me. You’ll always be my daughter, girl or not.”

Mushroom had tears in their eyes, they put their hand on the glass window then Henry did the same thing with his hand where Mushroom’s hand was.

S.T.A.R labs cortex the next day

Barry had talked to Thawn on how he would travel back in time and he explained how but there was a risk that if Barry didn’t run fast enough he could die. So everyone was in the cortex discussing how they were going to do this.

“According to Wells’ calculations, Barry super-speeds inside the accelerator ring. Once Barry reaches optimum speed we then launch a hydrogen proton into the accelerator. Once the collision happens, a wormhole forms, opening a gateway into time itself.” Stein explains. “At that moment, I plan on shouting something along the lines of: ‘Eureka’ or possibly ‘Excelsior’. I’m uncommitted.”

“You are a weird human.” Project 32 spoke telepathically.

“What do you think?” Barry asked as he walked over to Cisco.

“I mean, one one hand, it does make a kind of sense.” Cisco answers with a sigh. “On the other hand…why? Why would you ever consider doing this?”

“You know why.” Mushroom sighs at Barry's answer.

“So for this to work, how fast would Barry have to go?” Caitlin asks.

“By my estimates, Mach 2 at a minimum.” Stein answers. Mushroom almost choked on their drink.

“You’ve never gone that fast.”

“Wait, what happens if Barry doesn’t reach that speed?” Mushroom asked.

“I’m imagining a bug hitting a windshield. How far off am I?” Joe asked.

“Not very far, I’m afraid.” Stein said.

“Let me worry about how fast I have to go.” Barry stated. “We’re gonna need something else too.”

“Really? And what’s that? Cause I don’t know about you guys but I’m not at all interested in helping you get yourself killed.”

“I need you to build a time machine.” Barry told Cisco.

“That might be a problem.” Project 32 spoke. Since the fight with Thawne she had been more confident with actually speaking, not just telepathically. “Cisco was right about him using the wheel chair to gain more speed. But if Barry opens the wormhole and Thawne uses the time machine to get back into the future, there’s a problem.”

“What kind of problem?” Cisco asked.

Project 32 had Ronnie, Cisco and Barry follow her to where Thawne had all of the parts he needed to build the ship. She picked up one of the parts, “You guys know what these tiles are made of?” she asked.

“Tungsten.” Ronnie answered.

“Exactly. Tungsten has the highest melting point of any other element. Unfortunately the dust it generates is flammable. The pressure exerted from the wormhole…”

“Yeah, yeah. It could cause a hole to be melted into the exterior. I could explode.” Cisco finished.

Cisco decided to consult with Thawne or as he calls him, Dr. Evil. Project 32 had a bad feeling about Thawne so she decided to follow Cisco.

The Pipeline

Project 32 could overhear what Thawne and Cisco were chatting about. Some about the time machine but another part interested her, Cisco being affected from the explosion and being a meta. Thawne basically told Cisco that his new abilities came as a gift of love. Project 32 came out of hiding and told Cisco to just walk away from Thawne and focus on the time machine, she’ll handle Thawne. Cisco left the two alone. “Few days in the real world and you're suddenly a hero?” Thawne asked.

“Cut the crap, Eobard.” she snapped, “I want answers.”

“Answers?”

“I know why you wanted Grodd. Why did you save me from Eiling?”

“You could say that I saw you as a daughter. But I also saw a powerful psychic that could aid me.”

She banged her fist on the door. “Let’s just get one thing straight. You are not my father. You’re just like Eiling, you both only see me as a tool to be used in a war. I’m no one's pet. I belong to no one.” she threatened.

“You’re right. You are nothing more than a halfling. A failed experiment to be tossed away.”

Her eyes suddenly glowed a dark purple. “I am Lea Snow. Adopted sister to Cailtin Snow, sister to Grodd, ally to Captain Cold and Golden Glider, friend to the Flash. I’m not an experiment. I’m a protector.”

Her eyes went back to normal then she shut the main door closed before marching away.

S.T.A.R labs cortex

Stein had told everything that there is a chance that when the wormhole is created it could create a black hole and potentially cause a global disaster. They had Thawne on a monitor so they could talk to him.

“Sure, there’s a bit of a risk.” Thawne said.

“I would hardly refer to possibly causing an extinction-level event as ‘a bit of a risk.’” Stein said.

“Yeah and your accelerator’s been about as reliable as the beater I drove in high school.” Joe said.

“Ha ha. Let me ask you a question. How many metahumans, how many dangers have we faced this year together? Or did you forget that it was me fighting alongside each and every one of you? I have been planning this for almost two decades. It will work.” Thawne said.

“How do we make sure we don’t open a black hole in the middle of Central City?” Cisco asked.

“So once the wormhole stabilizes Barry will have one minute and 52 seconds to alter the past and return to this time. If and when he does that, you can close the wormhole and we can all live happily ever after. Almost two minutes. More than enough time to save Nora.” Thawne answered.

“But not enough time to stop you from going home?” Barry asked. Mushroom looks at him with a small sigh.

“Everything’s a choice.”

“And what if I’m late?”

“You won’t be. I believe in you Barry. Always have. So I guess the question is, do your friends and family believe in you as much as I do?”

Caitlin turned the monitor off.

“I can’t believe you’re actually thinking about doing this even with these risks. Mom is not worth the lives of this city and the world.” Mushroom says to Barry disappointed.

They walk out of the cortex. Barry sighs and walks into the room with the treadmill to think as Joe follows him. Project 32 went after Mushroom to talk to them. They stopped before reaching the elevator. “If you’re here to convince me to trust Barry and have him erase this timeline. You’re out of luck.” they stated.

“That’s not why I’m here. I came to check on you.” Project 32 stated.

“I’m horrified and confused. On one hand, it would be nice to have mom back. But it would also mean that I would be sacrificing the friends and family I have here.”

“I know it’s hard. But I think Barry is the one that needs to see what he is missing out on. Everything he is, everything that has happened, is because of him.”

Mushroom had a few tears in her eyes. “Did Joe tell you that?”

“No. I learned it. And now, I’m grateful to have friends and family I can trust.”

Outside of S.T. A. R. Labs

Ronnie and Caitlin had decided that they would have the wedding now in case anything happened. Stein was the one who was going to make them official. Everyone stood outside and Iris and Eddie even came.

“Is this actually binding?” Ronnie asked.

“My father made me become a rabbi before he would send me to MIT. This will be legit, as the kids say.” Stein answered

“No kids say that.”

“Let’s not fight on our wedding day.”

“Okay.”

Caitlin walked over with a bouquet of yellow flowers in her hand. She was also in a wedding dress.

“If it’s all right with everyone, I’d like to skip all the Hebrew. I’ve learned a lot about merging one’s life with another this past year. And yet for all the incredible advancements in science we’ve all been party to the mystery that brings two people together through love is still the province of magic. Mr. Ramon, the rings, please.” Stein says.

Cisco walks over as Caitlin hands the bouquet to Iris. Cisco kneels between the two and holds his hands out with the rings in his palm. Caitlin and Ronnie both grab each other's rings before Cisco goes back to his spot. Cailtin puts Ronnie’s ring on his finger and Ronnier does the same to Caitlin with her ring.

“I owe you a real ring.” Ronnie says, referring to how he made Caitlin’s ring.

“I don’t need one. I have everything and everyone that I could ever need right here. And if all the events of the past year have led us to this moment. It was worth it.” Caitlin says. “I love you, Ronnie.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” Stein says.

“Stop telling me what to do.” Ronnie says before kissing Caitlin.

Inside the pipeline

After the wedding, it was time for Barry to run. He hugged each of his friends, then Joe and Iris, and finally, Mushroom. Cisco reminded Barry that there would be three versions of him in that moment. He just needed to wait until the future him rescue the young him so he can save his mom. With that, he stepped into the pipeline as the other closed the door. Stein reminded Barry that if he achieved the proper velocity and opened the wormhole, he would only have a minute and 52 seconds to save his mother and return. With that, Barry ran as fast as he could until he was able to reach the right velocity, he saw fragments of his past, present, and future all at once.

He thought about the moment he and his sister witnessed their mom murdered. Just then, the team injected the hydrogen particle and it worked. Barry was now back into the past. He peeked out from his old bedroom door and saw the moment happening. The tornado of lightning around his mother and everyone screaming. The future Flash saw him but he shook his head not to move. When the future Flash took young Barry and Mushroom away, he could have saved Nora but he just closed the door. He could still hear the sound of a knife piercing her flesh, screaming.

Once Reverse Flash was gone, Barry stepped out to where Nora was laying on the floor whimpering. Barry assured his mother that everyone was safe. She slowly removed the mask to see Barry’s face, she knew that this was her son. He told his mom that he took this chance to tell her that he, Henry, and Mushroom were ok. Barry was crying so hard as his mother touched his face, even she was crying too. With her last bit of breath, she said goodbye, my sweet boy. And she was gone, Barry cried over her death just like he was a kid again. But he knew that he made the right decision.

S.T.A.R labs present day

Eddie, Stein, Caitlin, Ronnie, Project 32 and Iris were all in the cortex looking at the monitor. Joe, Cisco and Mushroom were in the particle accelerator with Eobard Thwane. Ghost was out knowing Mushroom couldn’t be in control right now. As Thawne was commenting on how the time sphere was built, a metal helmet with gold wings came out of the wormhole and slid to Ghost.

“Now what the hell is that?” Joe asked as Ghost picked up the helmet.

“That’s my cue to leave.” Thawne said. He walked over to Cisco. “Thank you, Cisco.”

“Don’t ever come back.” Cisco said.

“Now get!” Ghost yelled.

Thawne sat down in the time sphere and closed it shut. The sphere floated up a bit and turned towards the wormhole. Ghost, Cisco and Joe all backed up. They had 30 seconds left. Flash suddenly came out the wormhole and punched the time sphere. The force breaks it and knocks Cisco, Joe and Ghost back on the ground. Flash groaned as Thawne pushed himself a bit. Cisco and Joe were unconscious as Ghost was struggling to get up.

“You didn’t save her? Why?” Thawne asked in disbelief. He got up as well as Flash. “Why? You could have had the life you wanted. You could have had everything you ever wanted!”

“I already do.” Flash says. Ghost stands up.

Thawne pulled up his mask then both he and Barry broke into a speedster fight. While all that was going on, Ronnie, Cailtin and Lea ran to where the pipeline was and needed to cut the generators or the wormhole would destroy Central City. Thankfully, they managed to cut the generators and the wormhole was disappearing. However, Thawne had Barry pinned up against the wall, punching him repeatedly like a human punching bag. Ghost jumped into the fight and managed to pull Thawne off Barry. But he then set his sights on Ghost and pinned her up against the wall.

He raised his hand that was aimed at her heart. “If I can’t kill the Flash, I’ll kill you first, then your friends, then your father. I always win.” he stated.

Suddenly, a gun shot was heard, Thawne thought he got hit but he didn’t. Barry looked at the direction the shot was fired, there stood Eddie with the gun aimed at his heart, he shot himself. Joe ran to Eddie and he was slowly dying. But something was happening to Eobard as well, he was glitching. “What did he just do?” Ghost asked.

“Eddie’s his ancestor. If Eddie dies, he’ll never be born, and… He’s being erased from existence.” Cisco pointed out as Eobard’s face was being turned back to his true self.

Iris came running into the pipeline, crying and begging Eddie not to leave her. “He was wrong, it turns out.” Eddie slowly said, “I’m a hero after all.”

“You are Eddie. You are my hero.” Iris spoke in a heart brokening tone.

“That’s all I ever wanted to be. Your hero.” And just like that Eddie was gone.

Everyone was silent as Iris was sobbing. Thawn looked over at Barry who was breathing heavily. Thawn was slowly disappearing,

“I’ve controlled your life for so long, Barry. How will you get along without me?” He asked.

Thawn started screaming as he disappeared completely. The wormhole came back but it was sucking everything in this time. It was becoming a black hole. Barry ran over to Iris but she didn’t want to leave Eddie. Joe grabbed Iris and ran out with her and Barry. Ghost was just staring at Eddie’s body still in shock. Cisco grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Everyone ran outside to see the black hole sucking everything in. Ghost let Mushroom take control again.

“So that’s what we didn’t want to happen.” Cisco said.

“What’s it doing?” Caitlin asked.

“Feeding.” Stein answered. “The singularity won’t stop, not even after the earth is gone. I’m afraid the accretion disc has already assembled.”

“What?” Joe asked.

Some tops of buildings were coming apart and cars were getting sucked up.

“Diffused material that’s in orbital motion around the singularity.”

“What does that mean?” Caitlin asks

“We have to disrupt the motion.” Barry answered. “Bassically, it’s just like the tornado, only upside down and bigger…and scarier.”

Mushroom screamed as they got lifted up. Lea grabbed them before they could float into the singularity. Barry was willing to try and close it. He put his mask back on, then he ran, ran up the side of a building and into the singularity. Lea could see and felt the people's fear and panic, some were even getting caught in the force. “We have to help the people.” she said to Ghost. Without thinking the two took off from S. T. A. R. labs and ran to help.