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clean-bands-dirty-stories · 1 year

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Pine ~ B.A.

Part 4

A/n: I’ve seen a lot of people want this series to return so I thought it would be a good place to start for my Wednesday fic continuations :) Enjoy!

Word Count: 6100+

MASTERLIST

It was hard to keep mistrusting Jay as Earth 2 Y/n went off at every chance to tell anyone who would listen how amazing he was. In fact, everyone used it as a reason for Y/n to finally stop being so difficult. But Y/n couldn't stop thinking about how Zoom didn't steal his speed, and it rang around in his head.

"Hate to play Devil's advocate-" Eobard began in Y/n's head.

"Untrue but continue," Y/n shot back.

Eobard' s smile was something Y/n felt rather than saw as he continued, "Look I don't trust him either, but he might have not taken your speed because it's different than Barry's. If Zoom works off of Barry's speed, he might work with the normal Speed Force. But you use the Negative Speedforce, so-"

"My powers might cancel his out," Y/n realized. "Okay but how could he know that? How could he know how my powers worked? How YOUR powers worked. He's not from the future, and if there were different speed forces wouldn't that have come up with Harry or Jay at the very least? Or Y/n, since he knows so much about Flash from Earth 2." Y/n ran his hands through his hair. Then he paused. "You know... another question: why did Zoom keep Jesse alive?"

"For bait," Eobard drawled. "I mean we already knew that."

"Yeah but bait for WHAT?" Y/n demanded. "What could Harry do that he can't do on his own? Get close to Barry. Put himself on the line. Obviously. But for what? If Zoom wanted Barry dead, he could have killed him that night he beat Barry up and dragged him around town to rub it in everyone's face. He proved he's faster than Barry, and he's faster than us. So he doesn't want to kill Barry. I mean, hell, if it was about getting his hands dirty why only send ONE Earth 2 meta human to kill Barry? Why not send a whole hoard and go with them to make sure it happened? I mean, all Barry doing is getting better and stronger and faster, pushing himself harder." He froze. "This is like when you pushed Barry to get faster so you could use his speed to go back to the future."

"Thanks for the reminder," Eobard grumbled in Y/n's head, but he sounded tired. Y/n didn't care enough to ask about it.

Y/n began pacing. "I mean it makes no sense for Zoom to want Barry to get better. Unless... I mean he took Jay's speed right? Maybe he wants to do the same to Barry. Which would mean he has to have a reason to do it. I mean it would make sense that if he wanted Barry's speed, like you did, he would want it to be the best possible, just before Barry was good enough to beat him." Y/n let out a long breath. "This is exactly like when you were Reverse Flash. I- I feel like-" Y/n groaned. "I feel like I'm missing something. I mean, if the pattern holds then Jay is Zoom, but that's impossible. He's here and we've seen them in two different places at the same time. Maybe they're working together? I mean, why hasn't Jay visited Y/n 2 since he's been back, if they're as close as they seem? He has excuse after excuse, and even Y/n seems weirded out by it. He expected Jay to be there at his side. It's like-" He went still again. "It's like he's a completely different person."

Eobard chuckled in Y/n's head. "Isn't that what Harrison's old friends said about me?"

Y/n began walking again, but it quickly turned into a run as he sped to where Harry and Jesse were talking. They turned at the sound of rushing air, and whatever pleasant conversation they'd been having stopped as smiles dropped when they saw Y/n's expression. "I'm sorry to bother you, but Harry I have a very urgent question."

Immediately Harry stood. He'd kept to the promise he'd made when Y/n had first woken up, and more than ever it was appreciated in this moment. "Jesse I'll be back in a second okay?" She nodded immediately and the two men went into the hallway, far out of earshot of Jesse.

Y/n turned to Harry. "Did Zoom ever contact you? Ask for you to do something in favor of Jesse being alive?" Harry seemed to hesitate, and Y/n touched his shoulder. "I will never blame a father for protecting his child. Ever. I don't care what you've done."

That seemed to ease Harry enough to say, "He wanted me to take Barry's speed. Bring it to him and slowly but surely give it to Zoom so he'd be faster." He rubbed the back of his neck. "He's obsessed with being the fastest man alive, I'm not surprised that-"

"Why aren't you surprised?" Y/n asked, dead serious.

Harry analyzed Y/n's expression. "What are you thinking?"

Y/n bit his lip, trying to organize his chaotic thoughts into a coherent sentence. "Jay said Zoom stole his speed." Harry nodded. "And Zoom proved that he's more than fast enough to take Barry down, the night he almost killed Barry. He obviously doesn't want Barry dead, because he wants his speed. And if he doesn't want Barry dead, he wants his speed, why send meta humans to kill him?" Harry's eyes began to widen. Y/n didn't stop. "I think Zoom is... training Barry, in a weird way. Making him better, stronger. So when he steals Barry's powers, they'll be as good as possible without being good enough for Barry to beat him. But- but if that's the case, why doesn't he just take them? Why does he need you to do it? I mean, if he took Jay's, why can't he just do it again?"

Harry was silent for a very long time. "We already figured out that in a lot of ways, we're different than you guys. We vibrate at a different frequency, for example. Maybe whatever Zoom did to Jay couldn't work here because of those differences. Maybe he's waiting for that perfect moment. After all, Jay and Zoom fought for two years, right? Something along that timeline." Y/n considered that, then sighed. Harry nodded in understanding. "I know you don't trust him Y/n, and after everything I've heard about Eobard Thawne, I can imagine why - especially with how more similar these situations are getting by the day. But we know Jay isn't Zoom, we've seen it with our own eyes. Not everyone trying to help you is secretly a villain."

Y/n put his hands on his hips. "Then why is Jay being so distant from Y/n 2? I mean the way Y/n talks it, they were like father and son. Jay trained Y/n to be a hero. They worked closely together. They're like Barry and Cisco and Caitlyn. If Barry had been taken, Caitlyn and Cisco would be all over him waiting for him to wake up. Everyone said that Jay almost seems to avoid talking to Y/n, or being anywhere near him. Sometimes he even does things that when I tell Y/n, he makes odd faces, or he'll tell me stories that honestly don't match our Jay. It's like they're two different people. Exactly like when Eobard Thawne became Harrison Wells."

Again, Harry nodded, taking it into serious consideration. "I see what you're thinking, but you have to be serious right now. We're facing a threat, and you're trying to prove someone we all trust is an enemy. It would destroy Caitlyn and his relationship if you pushed this, and I doubt she'd forgive you if you were wrong." Y/n began to get frustrated, and Harry held his hands up defensively. "I'm not saying don't do it, or drop it. You're no scientist, but you're incredibly clever and you see things simply, and for what they are. You have incredible insight and your gut instinct allows you to reveal some truths that Barry and Caitlyn and Cisco and I look past because we're thinking too out of the box. Sometimes things are exactly as they appear, and that goes for all of us. I'm just saying... get some proof before you make a scene out of this, okay? Some real, solid proof. Not just hunches or misaligning information. Not just a feeling, but logical, undeniable proof. Joe and Iris will follow you on a feeling, but you need everyone to believe you, and when dealing with scientists' minds, you need proof so undeniable that you literally cannot deny it."

Y/n nodded. "You're right. Thanks Harry." Harry nodded back and they parted. Y/n left, heading next to look for Jay. He found him outside, seeming to be enjoying the nice day. Y/n had taken the day off of work today, calling in sick. Since he never did that, they allowed the last minute call out as long as he was willing to deal with double the work the next day. This also meant that Barry was at the lab with Joe, and Iris was at work. Everyone else was inside. They were alone.

As Y/n approached, Jay looked over and immediately seem to grow uncomfortable. On guard. Not necessarily in a defensive way, but more in a way that he always did when Y/n came in the room. Y/n had not made his distrust remotely secret, and it had always made Jay a little awkward. Y/n tried to look at it through a logical lens; just because he thought Jay was suspicious, him being guarded around Y/n, who was off putting and often aggressive made sense. It wasn't proof he was shady, even if it felt like it was. "Hey Y/n," Jay greeted, sighing as he spoke. He was ready for a fight. Y/n's expression was probably as readable as ever.

"Hey," Y/n greeted passively. He stopped in front of Jay, and they both grew quiet. Y/n thought back to how Y/n 2 had described their relationship, and how Harry had reacted to Y/n saving Jesse. If they really had been close, even if it was less than a father-son thing and more just like a friend thing, wouldn't Cisco have been endlessly thankful for Y/n saving Caitlyn, or wouldn't Jay at least have been like Barry was when Y/n had saved Eddie? Why did he seem to be almost... regretful? Every time it was brought up, Jay seemed to grow distant and quiet, and he seemed to fight a frown. Like he wasn't happy about it. "Have you been in to see Y/n yet? From your Earth I mean. He's been missing months, I'm sure you're relieved that he's okay. He never stops talking about how close you two are."

Jay actually smiled. "Yeah he's like my little brother." His smile seemed tight though, and Y/n wondered how to draw out of him why. "But I've been busy. He understands. He needs to rest anyway, you know? I'm just gonna let him heal and when it comes time, we can hang out when he's feeling better." He paused, then seemed to remember something. "Thank you for saving him by the way. It means a lot to me, and I owe you a lot." He smiled, patting Y/n on the chest, but he'd said it as an after thought. It felt... forced.

Y/n nodded anyway though. "Of course. I just, listen that's not why I'm really here." He donned an awkward smile. "I just... I hate to ask, because I know I haven't been the best to you, but I think Zoom is going to try and pull a Thawne and attempt to steal Barry's powers. I don't know why yet, but - anyway I was just wondering if you would maybe tell me how Zoom took your speed? I think he'll try something similar with Barry."

Jay seemed to hesitate, but then he nodded. "He stabbed me with his fingers. I think there was something attached to them, but they injected into me and drained me of the Speed Force." Y/n nodded. "You're a smart man. A full blown scientist and stuff. How do you think it works?"

Once again, Jay hesitated, this time longer. He seemed to be looking at Y/n with a look that feigned nervousness but was really just an attempt to read him. To see where he was going with this. He was suspicious, but of what? Y/n had given him a perfectly good reason to ask, and if he had nothing to hide then why be so weird about the questions? "I think he separated the speed force from my cells and extracted it. It's possible, and irreversible."

Again Y/n nodded thoughtfully. "What do you think we could do to prevent that with Barry? I mean he can just vibrate through any armor we give him. Is there nothing to stop Zoom in the end when he gets what he wants? When he's ready to strike?"

That caused Jay to raise an eyebrow. "You don't think he's trying to kill Barry?"

"No," Y/n answered immediately. "I mean if he'd really wanted to kill Barry he would have when he'd dragged Barry around a while ago. Made a whole show of how much he beat Barry, so on and so forth. I think he's fatting him up per say, like a Thanksgiving turkey, or bacon for breakfast. Which confuses me, because when he had me captured, I couldn't train anymore. In fact, I was getting weaker, so if he was going to just steal my powers and then let me die, you think he would have done it pretty quickly. Then I wouldn't have escaped and gotten Jesse and Y/n 2 out. Pretty dumb move on his part."

Jay huffed in amusement. "Bad guys think they know everything, don't they?" He shook his head, smiling. "I would say though, taking your powers would be a risk wouldn't they? Because he might take your shape shifting abilities, and those are useless to him. Or he might take Thawne full go since he's basically just energy at this point anyway."

Y/n raised an eyebrow. "Barry tell you how my powers work?"

"Caitlyn," Jay corrected.

"Makes sense," Y/n conceded. "But... Zoom wouldn't know that. I mean, he doesn't know us personally or anything, and he's only ever seen me with Thawne's speed, so you'd think he'd just assume it was mine. He has no proof otherwise."

Jay nodded at that. "I don't know then. I would say he might have been considering using you as leverage like Jesse, but he didn't have to let you keep your powers for that. Maybe it was just one of those things, right? People make mistakes. Now you're back and a lot more of our friends are safe. His loss."

"Huge loss," Y/n agreed. "Can't wait to rub it in his face next time I see him." He smiled at Jay and then turned and began walking away. "If you need me, I'll be with Y/n 2. We have a lot to talk about now that I think about it. Being on Earth 2 and so close to you and having been with Zoom all that time, he might know something important." He waved then and zoomed back to the room where Y/n 2 was. He smiled at him, and got a smile back. He sat in his usual spot, letting a breath out. "How you feeling?"

"Pretty good actually." Y/n 2 had found a safe haven on the bed, comfy and healing. "You know I was wondering why it was taking me so long to heal, and then I realized... I mean, he was using my blood. To make a sort of healing potion or whatever. He withdrew it every day, and I only realized about a month or two in what he must be doing with it. I don't know how much he has stored up, but... if I'm right we have a problem."

Y/n considered that a second. "Let's not talk about that now. Why don't you tell me more about Jay?" The other Y/n light up, immediately diving into yet another story. Y/n would think the other him was in love with Jay in any other circumstance, but it hadn't seemed like that was the case. When Y/n 2 finished his story, Y/n asked, "What do you think about Caitlyn and Jay?"

Y/n 2 considered that a moment. "I mean, if they're happy together then I'm happy for him. But... isn't he a little old for her?"

Bingo. "What do you mean? He's plenty young."

The other Y/n laughed. "I mean I know they say you're young until you're dead, but I mean he has to be old enough to be her dad, or somewhere around there at least."

"Really?" Y/n hummed. "He doesn't look it."

Y/n 2 seemed confused for a moment, but then recognized the look on Y/n's face. "You think something's up?"

"I know something's up," Y/n corrected. "And you're going to prove it. You think you can stand?"

Y/n helped Y/n 2 get better at walking for the next few days in prep for the perfect moment Y/n could carry out his plan. The moment came when a meeting was called. Everyone would be there - it was perfect.

Y/n was impatient, waiting for everyone to get back. It probably didn't help that Barry was the first one to arrive. The men sat in silence for a while until Y/n offered up, "So why isn't Patty ever here? Last I heard you were planning to tell her."

Barry chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah... then she almost got killed by the Turtle because I tried to save her, and it just reminded me that everyone close to me is constantly in danger, and I began wondering... maybe, you know, she shouldn't know."

Y/n rose an eyebrow. "Yeah, I heard that huge secrets like that really make the strongest of relationships." Barry glared at Y/n. "I'm serious, Barry. You can't think that's going to go well for long. Are you serious about this girl or not? I mean for goodness sakes, she's a cop. She's already in danger. Wouldn't she be safer if she knew what was going on? What to expect? Who to trust? All the people closest to you know your secret for a reason. You suck at keeping one."

Barry sighed. "I guess. I just-"

"Whatever excuse you're about to come up with, save it," Y/n chastised. "The only thing you have to consider, is if all of the hard things and bad days and struggles are worth it. She is always going to be in danger if you love her. As long as she's in Central City at least, whether she knows or not. At least she could have been better prepared facing Turtle, knowing his whole thing about what's dearest to you, if she knew she was that dearest thing."

Barry seemed to genuinely consider it for a moment. Then his shoulders sagged in defeat. "I hate that you're always right." Y/n grinned in victory, and Barry seemed to catch it, mirroring the expression. Y/n was struck by how attractive he was when he smiled. He light up the whole room, his eyes shining like twinkling lights. He was beautiful.

They looked away from each other at the same time.

Mercifully, that was when Cisco, Jay, Caitlyn, Harry and Jesse came in as well. They began discussing business, waiting for Joe and Iris to get back as well. Apparently there was some big plan they wanted to discuss with someone. When they were all together, and the plan to go to Earth 2 was exposed, Y/n was the first one to pipe up. "I have to go."

Cisco seemed surprised by that. "Have to? Hell, why would you even want to? Earth 2 is where Zoom is, in case you forgot. We're going to be on his turf again. You're going to be back to where you almost died."

"Yeah, but-" he paused. "Y/n's girlfriend is probably worried sick. I want her to know he's okay."

Harry scoffed. "What, as him? Don't you think explaining the whole Earth 2 thing will be a bit hard for her to wrap her head around?"

"Knowing her?" Y/n mumbled under his breath. "Not really." A few people heard him though and he smiled to himself like he had a secret. And he did. For some reason, knowing that HE got Patty in this universe sent a little thrill through him. He was happy there. He could only imagine how Patty was worried sick... but then he thought about how it had been around two years that Y/n had been missing. He wondered suddenly if she had moved on. If Y/n 2 had anything to go back to. "Honestly, she might have moved on." This he said normally, seriously. "I mostly want to see if other Y/n has anything to go back to when he's well enough to go home again."

Barry nodded, speaking first. "Fair enough. You're coming with us."

"Awesome. In my stead, I think Y/n 2 needs some space to walk around." He looked at the med room and Y/n 2 took his cue beautifully, limping out right then. He looked around the room, smiling, and Y/n couldn't help but notice the way his eyes glanced over Jay without a second thought. The same way it glanced over all of the others. Without recognition, or excitement at seeing a familiar face, or even excitement at seeing one of the people he was closest to. Y/n helped his other self further into the room and looked over to see Jay frozen and awkward. He felt like he was winning. Now he was sure, beyond belief that he'd been right.

Jay Garrick was not who he said he was.

He just needed more proof, something absolutely undeniable. And he was going to get it.

Y/n leaned against the desk, smiling at everyone again. "I'll try and stay out of your way, I just hate sitting back and doing nothing all day everyday, especially when you're all out there putting your lives on the line for my world. I want to help." Everyone nodded, and it was set. Jay and Y/n met eyes, and his face darkened when he saw Y/n smirk. Y/n was onto him, and only then did the question of whether that was a good idea or not arise.

Guess it was too late to go back now.

Earth 2 was awesome, but impossible to pay attention to with Y/n's tunnel vision. They didn't have long and they had a lot to do. Y/n had separated from the group pretty quickly, racing through the city to try and find Earth 2 Patty.

He found her at the precinct. Y/n wasn't even remotely surprised. In fact, he chided himself for not having looked here first.

Ignoring Barry - mostly because Barry was scrambling, accompanied by Iris, and seeing her look at him like that knowing the two of them were together in this world made him sick to his stomach - Y/n watched Patty. Watched her move, stone cold and zoned out. She looked like Barry had when he had first lost Y/n, before confronting him. Now things were awkward, and there was still pain between them, but it was almost a relief to the hollowness that had echoed in Barry before. Seeing it again in Patty made Y/n's heart ache.

"You're seriously crushing on her?" Thawne snapped.

Y/n sighed. "No. Honestly, at first maybe a little. She was such a reprieve. But now she's Barry's, and they were made for each other." He chuckled a little, shaking his head. "It's just, in this world, I'm so happy. They're so in love and Y/n's only ever been a success. A hero. My mistakes are horror stories compared to his. It's just nice to think about. That in some reality at least, I'm happy." His voice cracked, eyes watering. He rose a hand to wipe his eyes to clear away the watery vision.

His mistake.

When he could see clearly again, his eyes locked with Patty's. She looked like she was about to fall to her knees. Y/n out a finger to his lips, suddenly panicked. How had she seen him? Oh god what was he going to tell her? His reaction - caution, and panic - made her hesitate. He saw the pain she was feeling though, forcing herself to stay put, so he waved her over. She made some excuse and slid away from the precinct and outside, to Y/n's side.

She approached him slowly, eyes wide and full of tears. Her hands extended out, arms limp and fingers twitching. Like she wanted to touch him but was terrified to. He couldn't torture her like this. "I'm not your Y/n," he whispered. "But I can take you to him."

She physically stuttered. "I... I have questions."

He nodded. "I know. Feel free to ask them."

So she did. They spent ten whole minutes talking, getting all the details of what happened, where Y/n 2 had gone, and who the person in front of her now was. When she was satisfied, she looked at Y/n very seriously. "Take me to him."

Y/n was impressed. She had taken everything so well. "Of course. Can I ask you one favor?" She nodded immediately. "Whatever you need."

A smile came to Y/n's face. One of victory. "Y/n was very close to Jay. I'm assuming as you two were dating and you know who he is, and you and Jay were close too?" Patty nodded immediately. "If I showed him to you, could you identify him for me?" She nodded again, this time slowly. "Thank you. Someone's impersonating Jay Garrick and I need proof so my friends will believe me."

That was enough explanation. Her loyalty extended to Jay, and it made Y/n gleeful. "No one taints Jay's name. Show me the man."

They were gone.

They appeared on Earth 1 just in time. Barry looked surprised to see Patty in Y/n's arms, especially because she was so obviously from Earth 2, but the pair blew past him and he didn't get any time to question it. They moved instead into the main control room. Y/n 2 seemed to have gotten his feet underneath him and though he moved slowly around the room, he was moving without limping or holding onto anything. An improvement.

Patty ran to Y/n immediately. The clatter of her footsteps made Y/n turn and despite his weakness, he didn't even hesitate to rush to meet her in the middle.

Barry walked in and saw the pair and froze in the doorway. "You're alive," Patty gushed, tears streaming down her face.

Y/n 2 laughed, wiping the tears off of Patty's face even as his own face was covered. "I'm so sorry Pat, I- I'm so sorry-" he was breaking down and everyone watched on with extreme confusion.

And then they kissed.

Barry looked at Y/n, who refused to look at anything or anyone. Watching Y/n 2 be happy was only a reminder that he wasn't, and watching the weird jealousy in Barry's face only made it worse. "Patty." He only called her name when the pair had parted and caught their breaths. She wiped her face, sorting herself out quickly before she turned to Y/n.

"Right. Where is he then?"

"Where is who?" Not-Jay asked, looking between the three people with growing stress.

Y/n stepped forward, smirking. His arms crossed over his chest. "For you."

Caitlin went to approach Y/n, growing angry at what she saw as childishness, but she was stopped short by Patty's voice. "Who the hell are you?"

The room was dead silent for a few beats. "What am I missing?" Y/n 2 asked.

Patty said it for Y/n. "That man is claiming to be Jay Garrick. Our Jay."

Y/n looked at the blonde who definitely was not Jay Garrick. "Excuse me?"

Everyone looked at Y/n with shock. All except Patty and Y/n 2, who were enraged, and Jay, who looked at Y/n with a look so impressed that it was almost awe. "Y/n..." he mused, turning to the one person who had known he was full of shit since day one. "How did you figure it out?" Caitlin stumbled away from him in horror. Cisco caught her, keeping her close so she didn't fall to her knees.

Y/n didn't focus on that. Instead he focused on Jay, his eyes narrowing and his mind racing. "We've had a villain like you. One who wanted to harvest Barry's speed. One who pretended to be our friend. Your just another Eobard Thawne - the only difference is how you disguised yourself. You didn't just have Y/n 2 in there because you're using his blood for healing. You had Y/n in there because he would have identified you immediately. The only reason you didn't take Patty is because she was too busy looking for Y/n to care about Jay Garrick - I guarantee it. Because even two years later, she never lost hope. She never backed down. She never gave up. She was so obsessed with it that there wasn't any hesitation to kiss him - even after two full years. Two years is a long time, and I know Patty - she focuses on something, grips it hard, and doesn't even think of letting go unless she's pried off of it."

The man pretending to be their friend sighed, long and low. "You talk to me like I AM Zoom. But you've seen us together, I can't be."

"You are," Y/n dismissed immediately. "I don't know how to prove that to you, but you're lying about who you are to get close to Barry, and I guarantee it's because you're not only working for Zoom - you are him." The man smiled, nodding to Y/n. "What's your real name?" Y/n demanded.

The man sighed once again. "You know, I think your cleverness deserves a reward." He stepped closer to Y/n and for once, no one stepped in between them or went to intervene. This was Y/n's moment, for now, everyone else was just living in it. "My name is Hunter Zolomon. I'm sure your friend, Harry, can figure it out. Until then-" he cut off, shooting forward. It was too fast for Y/n or Barry to react to. One burst of speed that carried them halfway to the Earth 2 portal, far away from the labs. Hunter was immediately on a knee though, unable to go further. His breaths were labored and he stumbled, letting go of Y/n. Both men rolled, hitting the ground hard after stopping so short from such a high speed.

When they finally stilled, Y/n pushed up to his knees. He coughed, looking over at Hunter. "Why are you doing this? Did you actually lose your powers? What do you want with Barry?"

Hunter only laughed. "You really don't understand, do you?" He stood, slowly. Y/n got to his feet much sooner but stopped short as something was jabbed into his neck. He was terrified of moving, thinking he was dead until he realized that it was a needle and not a real weapon.

Then he felt something hot pushed into his blood stream.

The needle left him and Y/n stumbled, eyes wide as he moved away. Looked toward Hunter, barely on his feet again, and Zoom. Zoom, who pulled his mask off. They... they were both Hunter. The same person. Y/n gasped as he felt his body begin to ache. But he had to get answers. "You're working with your Earth 1 counterpart?"

"No," Zoom scoffed. "I'm working with my time duplicate." He shook his head at the confusion on Y/n's face. "You'll never understand Y/n. You won't have the time." Hunter laughed as Y/n fell to his knees. Y/n looked up, trying to summon his willpower to at least look strong. Hunter seemed only amused by the effort. The Hunter in the Zoom costume approached the one out of costume, ad there seemed to be a silent understanding between them. Zoom's hand vibrated and buried deep in the other Hunter's chest. The man fell, dead, leaving Zoom standing over him with a satisfied smirk on his face. Y/n watched on in horror.

"How could you do that?" Y/n asked, breathless. He forced himself not to sag as his body began to feel heavy.

Hunter looked over, eyes snapping away from his own dead body, as if suddenly remembering that Y/n was there. Like he had gotten so lost in enjoying the sight of himself dead, he had forgotten. "Oh, him? I was going to do that anyway. He agreed of course - it was going to be a good dramatic effect. Or, it was, before you ruined it." He shrugged. "Now it has to happen because he failed me. You were too clever for us. It's really very admirable. I needed him to be better though, and he wasn't so-" He chuckled and Y/n shivered with disgust. This man... he was insane. "So hard to find good help these days," he added, tone nearing a singing sort of mumble.

"Now what?" Y/n groaned. He blinked as his vision grew blurry.

"Now..." Zoom mused. "You wait to be saved. Or you die." Y/n's arm gave out and he full lay on the ground, groaning at the impact on his shoulder. Zoom shook his head, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "Let's hope Mr. Allen will be here soon." And then he was gone, and Y/n was alone.

Seconds turned to minutes ad Y/ realized the weird echoy, hollow sound was his own breathing. It felt like hours were passing but he knew it was just that the world had started spinning. He closed his eyes to shut it all out. Some time after he did that - it felt simultaneously forever and also immediately - a hand rested on his shoulder. He tried to reach up to hit it away or scramble to safety, worried for a split second that it might be Zoom, but couldn't find the strength so he only groaned. "Y/n?"

As if through a tunnel, Y/n registered that Barry was calling his name. He almost smiled and almost cried. In his head Thawne got distant, almost muffled, but was screaming at him to do something... open his eyes maybe? Or perhaps that was Barry. Y/n couldn't tell exactly. "Barry..."

He thought he was only thought it, not managing to get the words out, but Barry reacted immediately. "Y/n, oh my god. What happened?"

"Needle," Y/n managed. "Poison?" He shrugged weakly, not sure what was going on.

That seemed to confuse Barry. "That's not possible. You have a healing ability, it would have.." His voice faded and at first Y/n thought he had blacked out but realized that Barry was just worried when he picked up again, "We'll figure it out later. Let's get you to Y/n 2 so he can heal you." They were moving again, and Y/n only had the strength to realize that Barry had picked up him, holding him bridal style. Then the world flipped and Y/n groaned, feeling queasy, and he realized that they'd come to a stop - the sudden jerk had not agreed with him. "Y/n!" Barry called. It sounded like he was at the end of a tunnel, and if he wasn't holding Y/n, Y/n would have believed he was very far away.

The voices that all began to talk were too hard to follow. He blinked, trying to focus.

Meanwhile, Barry was looking at the man he loved with true terror for the first time since Y/n had first absorbed Thawne and then disappeared for several months. To the speedster's dismay, Y/n was having a very hard time. Where the needle had been injected, Y/n's veins had begun to turn a sickly green color. Barry had laid him on the table as Y/n 2 had tried his best to figure out what was wrong. If he didn't know what the problem was, he couldn't fix it - he had to know what to do with the energy currently surging through Y/n's body.

Y/n 2 shook his head. "I... I don't know..."

Y/n whined, hand limply twitching. "Barry..." he wheezed, wincing as the air pushed through his throat. Barry surged forward, taking his hand. Y/n looked up at the brunette and smiled. Thawne was far away, and for the first time in a year he felt... at peace. "I-" No, he couldn't tell Barry he loved him. That wouldn't be fair. He just laughed, wincing again, his eyes moving away from Barry to focus on the ceiling. The world got more and more blurry, until even the one voice calling to him was just a jumbled mess of tone - no discernable language to it. Someone was trying to get Y/n's attention; Y/n could tell by the way they pulled his face to look back at them. Y/n couldn't tell who it was though, especially as his heavy eyelids began to close.

The world slipped through his fingers, slowly letting him slip into darkness. He allowed the fall. With the darkness came relief from the pain, and quiet and peace. He couldn't deal with anything else right now, he felt too heavy. Too detached, like his consciousness was floating in an abyss. So he joined it.

Male readers: @ravenpuff-oli @sortzz @fadedver

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bruiscdlikeviolets · 3 years

Text

❧ THE MORE YOU KNOW

MASTERLIST | PROMPT LIST

REQUESTS ARE CLOSED!

❧ my names kenzie! feel free to call me kay, kenz, anything! I use the pronouns she/her! I'm very new to writing on tumblr, I’ve tried a few times, but never really got anything out of it. but I'm willing to try again! for right now, I write for dc characters; I might branch off later, I am not sure. But for now, here I am! Please be patient with me, I’m still very scared of sharing my writing, but that doesn’t mean don't constructively criticize me, if I write a character wrong, or they act OOC please let me know so I can better myself for you! below are a few guidelines when requesting! enjoy xo.

❧ 01 — writer’s block comes out of nowhere for me, in the middle of a piece, before I even start writing it, long before I even think about writing. inspiration comes out of nowhere for me just the same. I ask for patience as I am still finding my footing on Tumblr, and as a writer.

❧ 02 — I do not write smut, only because where I am right now as a writer; I feel as though I could not do it justice and not make it cringe-worthy. There’s nothing worse than a cringe-worthy smut piece, trust me we’ve all been there. That doesn’t mean I won’t write suggestive content, I can do that much for you!

❧ 03 — I will write Fem!Reader x Male, Fem!Reader x Female. Most of my pieces are assumed Fem!Reader. I will also write NB reader, please feel free to request. I won’t write Male reader, only because I feel as though I cannot represent the MLM experience properly and it wouldn’t be fair of me to claim that I can, and not be able to correctly portray that experience, I would feel terrible. I will work to be able to correctly portray that experience, but until I feel as though I can do it justice, I won’t be writing.

❧ 04 — I write for the characters below, platonically and romantically. If you would like to request a character that I have not listed below, feel free to send an ask! I write mainly Young Justice portrayals as I am still reading comics, as well as watching the DCAU!

❧ Dick Grayson/Robin ❧ Jason Todd ❧ Tim Drake ❧ Wally West ❧ Kaldur’ahm ❧ Conner Kent ❧ Artemis Crock ❧ Zatanna Zatara ❧Roy Harper ❧ Arrowverse Characters ❧ DCTV Titans

❧ 05 — When requesting, please don’t be vague! Details excite me, and often lead me to gaining inspiration faster! I’m a detail oriented person, give me ALL the details, let me write your dream for you! ❧ 06 — Like I said in my little intro paragraph, I am new to the Tumblr writing, and the idea of character x reader. If I am not as inclusive with my writing, if I don’t portray a character correctly, please KINDLY let me know. I always accept constructive criticism, or little tips, anything to help me progress. There’s nothing worse than getting the same content over and over again.

❧ 07 — If you want to be on my taglist for all posted work, for a specific person; just send me a message! Either on or off anon, just at least have your user name attached so I can add you to my list! Thank you so much for enjoying my work!

HAPPY REQUESTING! <3, I'm excited to write for you all.

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talatomaz · 4 years

Text

familar faces | nic nevin x carter!reader

a/n: this is set during “the snap” but after crisis on infinite earths.

fun fact: nic is played by emily vancamp who was also sharon carter and julian booth is played by jenna dewan who was lucy lane in supergirl. (there are more people from dctv/marvel in this show too)

warnings: mentions of death/blood

word count: 2.2k

masterlist | navigation | request rules

reader is sharon carter’s sister who, after the latter died during the snap, went to earth 1 where she helped kara, sara, barry, oliver and the rest of their teams restart their universe. when the world was rebirthed, reader woke up to find herself in an atlanta hospital with a familiar nurse caring for her

i do not give you permission to repost or translate my fics on any platform - likes/reblogs are okay and are much appreciated

“Thank you, Oliver.”

Those were the last words you heard before you were swept away, along with the other paragons, in a flash of white light. You were in a state of constant movement as you saw moments of your life fly by. You focused on each memory, the important ones having a much more lasting appearance.

FLASH

You looked up at your friends in shock when it was revealed you were a paragon who could help save the universe. This was crazy. You had left an Earth devastated by insurmountable loss to now be faced with the exact same issue, except this seemed to be exacerbated tenfold. You nodded in agreement when Barry asked you to help his wife, Iris, Superman and Lois in their pursuit for the rest of the paragons.

FLASH

You found yourself in a poorly guarded building where you were immediately greeted by a man in a red suit, a woman smartly dressed, another in a white lab coat and another male with long hair, a tablet in hand. You expressed your confusion when, in a flash, cuffs were placed on your wrists. You rolled your eyes in annoyance as you looked down at the chains secured around your wrists.

You had just arrived on this Earth, somehow misplaced after “The Snap” on your Earth and having gone through extensive Shield and CIA training, you unlocked the cuffs with ease and faced the group. You explained who you were and where you were from, and Dr Strange’s theory of multiple universes was confirmed when the latter male expressed his glee at your appearance.

FLASH

You launched into Sharon’s arms and hugged your sister tightly. The both of you clung to each other, distraught over your Great Aunt Peggy’s passing. You hadn’t seen Sharon in months as she had been recruited into JTTF by Ross and you had stayed back home, to look after your Aunt, and to join Maria in working at the New Avengers Facility after Shield was disbanded.

Tears fell from your eyes as you mourned your beloved family member. Sharon rocked you both where you stood and murmured a simple ‘I love you’.

FLASH

God, you felt like you had the world’s biggest hangover.

You touched your head, immediately wincing at the sudden pain and you were shocked to see the remnants of blood on your fingertips. You sat upright before you were gently pushed back down by an Indian man, dressed in a white doctor’s coat.

“Stay down. You had a pretty nasty fall that caused that cut on your head. You’ll need some stitches which I’ll get a nurse to do and I can get you something for the pain. But first, I need your name.”

“Where am I?” You asked, ignoring his protests when you sat up once more.

“You’re in the hospital.” The man replied.

“Where?” You repeated, swinging your legs off the bed.

“Chastain Park Memorial, in Georgia, Atlanta.”

The man was joined by another doctor, who looked fairly young, his wrists riddled with beaded bracelets. They both began a quiet discussion and you could only catch certain words. Head fall...could have amnesia...confusion.

“Doctor?”

“Conrad Hawkins and this is my resident, Dr Devon Pravesh.”

“Look, Doctors, I’m fine. I don’t have amnesia and I’m not confused. Well, maybe a little but not because of this.” You gestured your head, the bleeding having stopped.

“I just need my-my phone.”

You looked around for the device when your voice faltered as your eyes widened at the woman approaching.

It couldn’t be.

When the blonde stopped at the foot of your hospital bed, you looked at her in both shock and confusion.

“Ah, this is Nurse Nic Nevin. Nic, this is...”

“Y/N. Y/N Carter.” You answered but found no semblance of recognition in the female’s eyes.

The trio of medical professionals gave each other quick knowing glances before returning their focus to you.

“Y/N, nice to meet you. I’m going to get you all stitched up, get a CT scan done and then, if everything’s good, you’ll be free to go.”

Your sister-no, the nurse-explained. You must still be on Earth 1. No. It was destroyed. And then saved again.

You jumped off the bed, immediately reaching for your coat when you stilled at the news announcement coming from a TV nearby.

“An entity known as the Anti-Monitor attacked Earth intent on its destruction. Thankfully, we were saved by Earth's greatest heroes.”

The pieces then began to fall into place as you realised the events that had come to pass. After the universe was restarted, you and the other paragons must have ended up in different places. The rebirth must have caused you to faint and hit your head which is how you ended up here. That also explained why there was a doppelgänger of your late sister here. It was the Earth 1 version.

Refocusing on the news segment, you listened as the President expressed her condolences and gratitude for Oliver’s sacrifice. At this, your knees weakened and you expected yourself to hit the ground, ready for the impact on the hard marble floor. It didn’t come though. You were held upright by Sharon-Nic, her arms securely wrapped under your arms.

“That news is quite alarming. It was to me when I first heard it.”

She led you back to the bed, where the two doctors were still stood, and gently sat you down.

“I don’t get it. Why didn’t Ollie save himself?” You murmured to yourself.

“You knew Oliver Queen?” Dr Hawkins asked.

“In a manner of speaking.” You replied, lost in your own thoughts.

You were interrupted when you felt a warm wet cloth on your head. Looking up, you noticed the doctors had left leaving Nurse Nevin and you alone as the former started to clean your wound.

“What do you know about this Crisis?” You asked, trying to gage her response to see how receptive she was to the existence of multiple Earths.

“Not much. Just that Oliver Queen, a vigilante from Star City saved our world alongside some other heroes. Apparently there was a Crisis on Infinite Earths but none of us seem to remember much.” She explained, as she stitched your wound, noticing the lack of pain expressed on your face.

“Oh, this is nothing. I’ve had much worse. Believe me. Though, usually, I do my own stitching.”

“You a cop or something?” She raised her brow in question.

“Or something.” You laughed dryly.

“You’re quite the mystery, y/n Carter.” Your sister’s doppelgänger admired.

“You don’t know the half of it.” You countered.

“Tell me.”

You glanced up to stare into the familiar eyes. “Are you sure? This could be shocking to hear.”

When she reassured you and angled you in getting you to reveal your secret, you finally relented.

“Fine. But if you don’t believe me, don’t say I didn’t tell you so. Look, I told you my name but I didn’t tell you who I was. I helped Oliver and some of my friends to rebirth the universe but I’m originally from a different Earth-a different universe. I’m from a place where my family and closest friends are heroes. Similar to here, I guess.”

You then explained about ‘The Snap’, that you worked for a now-corrupt Government organisation but were currently employed by another secret organisation. You paused when you got onto the subject of your sister but continued anyway.

“I lost my sister to ‘The Snap’ and so many others. The reason why I was so shocked when I saw you was because...”

You faltered once more but at Nic’s persistence, you sighed, “You look exactly like her.”

The former looked at you in sheer disbelief and now probably thought you were certifiable so you quickly reached for your phone that was in your coat. Unlocking the device, you opened your photos app and your heart clenched as you scrolled through the photos.

You stopped at a photo of you and Sharon pictured at the gun range where you had beaten her for the first time; your faces were painted with smiles and a look of admiration and pride filled her eyes.

Showing your phone to the Nurse, you heard her gasp, “Oh My God. It’s true.”

“She was everything to me.” You whispered, tears filling your eyes at the painful memory.

“I’m so sorry, y/n.” She said, her hand rubbing your arm in a tender embrace. She may not be your sister but she knew exactly how to comfort you.

“Thanks.” Wiping your tears, you jumped when your phone came to life in your hand, vibrating furiously, as Kara’s face replaced the photo on your screen.

“Kara?” You immediately answered the call and couldn’t help but smile at the superhero’s voice.

“Thank Rao, you’re okay! We couldn’t find you. Where are you?”

“It’s a long story. I’m at the hospital. I promise I’m okay!” You said, when the blonde shouted down the phone in shock.

“Kara, I may not have super hearing but there’s no need to shout. I’ll explain everything later, I just-”

Your next words caught in your throat as you heard two familiar voices.

“Kara, I have to go. I’ll call you back in a bit.”

Hanging up the phone, you pushed back the curtain and you and Nic ran to the origin of the voices. You stopped at the two figures who were clambering out of the beds they were wheeled in on. You shook your head, thinking your mind was playing tricks on you.

There was no way their doppelgängers were here too, even less plausible was the idea that it was actually them.

“Y/N!”

Your jaw dropped as the brunette called your name, the male doing the same when he saw you. It really was them.

You ran up to the beds that the duo were on and stared in shock, “Maria? Nick? Is it really you?”

“Of course it’s us. Now what the hell is going on?” The former director of Shield questioned. Definitely Fury.

You laughed, hugging Nick and then doing the same to Maria. She pulled you from her arms and placed her hands on your shoulders.

“What happened? Last we knew, we were in Atlanta when we...disappeared and the next moment, we were back again.”

“You’re technically still in Atlanta. Wait, how is this even possible?”

“Agent Carter, what’s going on?” Fury asked Nurse Nevin whose mouth opened but no words came out.

“That-That’s not Sharon. This is Nurse Nic Nevin. Um, is there a private place we could talk, Nic?”

✧── ･｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

Nic led you to a unoccupied conference room where you found yourself joined again by the two male doctors.

You caught everyone up to speed but still remained confused as to how the Shield duo were back.

“Maybe the rebirth of this universe somehow stopped Thanos from doing what he did.” Fury suggested and Maria nodded in agreement.

“Nick’s probably right. And in the midst of it all, we were both somehow transported here.”

“So does that mean everyone’s back?” You asked, standing up to lean on the table.

“More than likely.” Maria answered.

“We have to go home. Sharon. She could be back. I have to see her, Maria.”

“I know. We just need to figure out how to get back home.”

“How the hell do you travel to another Earth?” Conrad questioned.

Instead of answering, you dialled Kara’s number and on the first ring, the former picked up.

“Kara, I need your help. Can you get an extrapolator from Cisco and meet me at Chastain Park Memorial? I’ll explain when you’re here.”

Disconnecting the call, you counted down from 10 and upon reaching 1, the blonde in question appeared at the conference room door.

Everyone’s faces were covered with a look of shock making you laugh as you gestured for the hero to enter. She ran to you and lifted you up in a bone-crushing hug, glad that you were okay. She released you when you said you were having trouble breathing.

“Is everything okay in here?”

All of your heads turned to the door where a woman stood, smartly dressed.

“Lucy?” Kara asked in surprise but she introduced herself as Julian Booth, a device representative for QuoVadis.

“Kara, I think there’s some things you need to know.”

✧── ･｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

You explained the situation to Kara and she told you about what had happened in Star City whilst you were here, including the fact that the Anti-Monitor had been shrunk and would stay like that forever, much to his chagrin. She then wished you luck for your return home and expressed her desire for you to continue visiting. After saying goodbye to you, you did the same to Nic and the two doctors.

“You ready to go, y/n?”

“Yeah. Nic, I know this day has probably been the weirdest one of your life but thank you. You may not have known my sister or even be her but I can tell, deep down, you’re exactly like her.”

She smiled and hugged you whilst Dr Hawkins and Dr Pravesh elected to remain in place, watching the embrace.

You returned her smile and joined Nick and Maria. Pressing the extrapolator, a portal appeared in front of you and you looked at the duo,

“Let’s go find my sister.”

115 notes · View notes

moonlit-imagines · 5 years

Text

DCTV Masterlist

(Updated Immediately)

Gotham

Groups

Preferences

Innocence - male!Gotham Rogues x reader

Edward, Jerome, Oswald are dating reader, who is a bit on the innocent side.

Edward Nygma/Riddler

Gif Imagines

Riddle Training - Edward Nygma x sibling!reader

Eddie, reader’s brother, leaves riddles for their training.

Drabbles + Oneshots

Monster - Edward Nygma x reader

Eddie snaps and drops the “nice guy” routine, showing up in reader’s apartment with a proposal of sorts. (Monster - Imagine Dragons)

Oddball - Edward Nygma x reader

During a hostage situation, the Riddler recognizes his childhood friend, reader, in his crowd. Because of their early friendship, he isn’t so rough on them.

Jerome Valeska/“Joker”

Gif Imagines

Interrupting - Jerome Valeska x reader

While reader and their boyfriend, Jerome, are making out, Barbara Kean enters the room.

Drabbles + Oneshots

Back Again - Jerome Valeska x reader

When Jerome comes back from the dead, he returns to reader, his former s/o, and tries to win them back by any means.

Bad Habit - Jerome Valeska x reader

Jerome and reader served time in Arkham together, meaning very much to each other. When reader left, they tried to leave it all behind, but could they really? (Bad Habit - Ben Platt)

Double Act - Jerome Valeska x reader

Reader and Jerome, a double act for Haly’s Circus, work great together on stage. Only what happens behind the scenes?

Hate Is Such a Strong Word - Jerome Valeska x reader

Jerome visits reader, an old flame he was thrown into Arkham with, asking to return a favor by wreaking a little havoc with him. Reader reluctantly accepts.

Forever - Jerome Valeska x reader

Jerome appreciates reader, his s/o, and tries to make them laugh, just sharing a few sweet moments together. (Forever - The Beach Boys)

Looney Bin - Jerome Valeska x reader

Jerome makes an effort to stop reader from being taken to Arkham.

The Snake Charmer’s Son - Jerome Valeska x reader

Reader, a Haly’s Circus act, has their boyfriend, Jerome in their audience every night. While winding down at night, Jerome’s mother arrives and ruins the mood entirely.

Turn - Jerome Valeska x reader

Reader and Jerome are ready to start their lives together, making a daring escape in the process. (Turn - The Wombats)

Text Messages

Hitch a Ride - Jerome Valeska x reader

Jerome texts reader to let them know he needs a ride away from some trouble.

Selina Kyle/Catwoman

Drabbles + Oneshots

Kat - Selina Kyle x reader

Selina and reader are roommates in an abandoned apartment, supporting each other through everything as best as they can.

You Don’t Own Me - Selina Kyle x reader

Reader is unimpressed by Selina disappearing for as long as she does, but cherishes the time they do get together. (You Don’t Own Me - Leslie Gore)

Titans

Groups

Gif Imagines

Copycat - Titans x reader

Reader shocks the Titans with the fact that they have the same powers at Gar.

Jumpscare - Titans x reader

The Titans have a habit of jumpscaring reader.

Preferences

In Love - Titans x reader

Dawn, Dick, Donna, Jason, Kory realize they’re in love with reader.

Dawn Granger/Dove

Gif Imagines

Jealousy - Dawn Granger x reader

Reader kisses Dawn, their girlfriend, in front of Dick and he gets jealous.

Paris - Dawn Granger x reader

Reader comforts Dawn while she exhaustedly mourns Hank.

Headcanons

Pride Parade - Dawn Granger x lesbian!reader

Reader, a lesbian, and Dawn are dating and go to a Pride parade.

Dick Grayson/Nightwing

Gif Imagines

Couch - Dick Grayson x reader

Dick carries reader to bed after they fall asleep on the couch.

CPR - Dick Grayson x reader

Reader saves Dick by giving him CPR.

Cuddling - Dick Grayson x reader

Dick and reader cuddle on the couch with an unusual serenade.

Dyslexia - Dick Grayson x reader

Reader has dyslexia and Dick notices their struggle reading a passage of a book.

Favorite Show - Dick Grayson x reader

Reader and Dick watch their favorite show together.

Goodbye Jason - Dick Grayson x sibling!reader

Dick arrives in Gotham after the death of Jason and comforts reader, his sibling, while they mourn.

Hank’s Savior - Dick Grayson x reader

Reader, Dick’s s/o, having powers that are able to deactivate Hank’s bomb.

Mother’s Day - Dick Grayson x mentee!reader

Reader gives a “Mother’s Day” gift to Dick, their mentor.

Surprise Party - Dick Grayson x reader

Dick and the Titans throw a surprise party for reader, Dick’s s/o.

Training Mishap - Dick Grayson x reader

Dick feels bad after accidentally hurting reader during training.

Headcanons

Latina Girlfriend - Dick Grayson x latina!reader

Reader, a Latina girl, and Dick are dating.

Drabbles + Oneshots

Back to Haly’s - Dick Grayson x reader

While visiting Haly’s Circus, Dick comes across reader, his childhood best friend and first love.

Coma - Dick Grayson x reader

Dick lays unconscious in the Titans Tower hospital room while reader, his s/o, sits beside him to keep him company in his time of need.

Cut It Out - Dick Grayson x reader

Dick and reader prepare for a vacation together and are sort of insufferably head-over-heels for one another.

Detroit - Dick Grayson x reader

When Dick arrives as his new workplace, Detroit PD, he gets partnered up with reader, who figures him out faster than he’d expect.

Don’t Forget About Me - Dick Grayson x reader

Reader is rendered unconscious during a mission, but when they wake up, Dick, their boyfriend, is mortified to find out that they’ve lost their memories.

Family Bonding - Dick Grayson x reader

Movie night in Titans Tower with the whole family, including Dick and reader, the loving couple that get teased for being a tad affectionate.

“In The End” - Dick Grayson x reader

Dick runs into his childhood best friend and current anti-hero, reader, after they brutally finish another mission and argue over right and wrong.

Love to Love You Again - Dick Grayson x afab!reader (smut)

Reader and Dick, ex-lovers, join up again when he needs their help with the next generation of Titans. One thing leads to another.

Masterminds - Dick Grayson x fem!reader (smut)

Dick and reader aren’t very fond of each other, but Rachel and Gar know better and convince them to go on a mission together, which forces them to confront that sexual tension.

Out of Commission - Dick Grayson x pregnant!reader

Reader, Dick’s pregnant girlfriend, is kidnapped by a dangerous villain and a seriously worried Dick does everything he can to get her back.

Panic Room - Dick Grayson x reader

Dick’s s/o, reader, is kidnapped and forced to confront a deep fear while the villain settles the score with him.

Reckless Reckoning - Dick Grayson x reader

While on a mission, Dick gives up and lets the enemies begin to beat him senseless. Reader can’t handle the sight of it.

Revealing the Unexpected - Dick Grayson x reader

Reader, Green Lantern’s former sidekick, and Dick secretly get together and start their life together after the first Titans team breaks up, breaking the news to their friends when the team starts back up.

When He Sees Me - Dick Grayson x reader

Dick recruits reader, a vigilante he’s never met, to the Titans while assuring them that they’d take to the reader just fine. He was much kinder than expected. (When He Sees Me - Waitress Soundtrack)

Series

Robin and the Stray (1) (2) - Dick Grayson x reader

A journey through how Robin and reader, Catwoman’s protege, fell in love.

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl

Gif Imagines

Front Page (Blurb) - Donna Troy x reader

Reader shows Donna the front page of the newspaper, featuring Wonder Girl.

Love - Donna Troy x reader

Reader tells Donna they love her for the first time.

Meet the Titans - Donna Troy x reader

Donna introduces reader, an Amazon, to the Titans.

Red Kryptonite - Donny Troy x reader

Donna has to fight reader, her Kryptonian s/o, when they are exposed to Red Kryptonite.

Scary Movies - Donna Troy x reader

Donna and reader watch scary movies together.

Headcanons

Best Friends - Donna Troy/Kory Anders x reader

Reader, Donna, and Kory are best friends.

Drabbles + Oneshots

Childhood Best Friends AU - Donna Troy x reader

Reader and Donna have been closer than most since childhood, but grew apart as soon as the Titans split up. When they were called back in for duty, all those old feelings came rushing back.

Danger Zone - Donna Troy x reader

Donna and reader enter an unsettling building for some investigating and are shocked to find what’s inside, desperate to leave.

Gimme Love - Donna Troy x reader

After losing their girlfriend, Donna, reader mourns while looking at an old picture their girlfriend took of them and pondering memories that went along with it. (Gimme Love - Joji)

Titan Slayer - Donna Troy x batkid!reader

Reader is kidnapped by Deathstroke, causing Donna, their girlfriend, and Dick, their brother, do go on a manhunt to save them.

Garfield Logan/Beast Boy

Headcanons

Halloween - Garfield Logan/Rachel Roth x reader

Reader, Garfield, and Rachel celebrate Halloween together.

School Stress - Garfield Logan x reader

Gar comforts reader, his s/o, when he notices how stressed they are with school.

Sick Day - Garfield Logan x reader

Gar takes care of reader when they’re sick.

Drabbles + Oneshots

Dead Meat - Garfield Logan x reader

While reader babysits their niece at the tower, Gar lends a hand and shows them both a joyful afternoon.

Green in the Gills - Garfield Logan x reader

Reader goes on a shopping run to get supplies for Gar while he’s sick.

Mr. Brightside - Garfield Logan x reader (x Jason Todd)

Gar had a crush on reader for some time, but he waited so long to say anything that Jason beat him to it, agitating Gar as he struggled to keep calm in your presence. (Mr. Brightside - The Killers)

One and the Same - Garfield Logan x reader

Gar and reader, his s/o, are weirdly similar and the team begins to notice.

Onesie - Garfield Logan x reader

Reader, Gar’s s/o, does a bit of shopping and comes home with a new onesie that their boyfriend finds very cute.

Right Place, Wrong Time - Garfield Logan x reader

Gar and reader, his s/o, run into some danger while going shopping and Gar gets a little protective.

Jason Todd/Red Hood

Gif Imagines

Apple Orchard - Jason Todd x reader

Reader and Jason go to an apple orchard together.

Halloween Movies - Jason Todd x reader

Jason and reader cuddle and watch Halloween movies until Gar and Rachel interrupt.

Mourning Interruption - Jason Todd x reader

While reader mourns the death of Jason at his grave, he unexpectedly shows up and gives them in an attempt of recruitment.

Pumpkin Patch - Jason Todd x reader

Jason and reader go to a pumpkin patch together.

Relocation - Jason Todd x reader

Jason reveals his identity to reader and brings them to San Diego with him.

Stark/Wayne Feud - Jason Todd x Stark!reader

In this crossover, Tony Stark discovers that reader, his daughter, is dating Jason Todd, his rival’s son.

Headcanons

Fall Night Adventure - Jason Todd x reader

Reader and Jason, their boyfriend, head out on a late night adventure.

Drabbles + Oneshots

Alarm Clock - Jason Todd x reader

Reader attempts to wake a reluctant Jason up on a Saturday morning, but it doesn’t work out so well.

Cold Cold Cold - Jason Todd x reader

When reader gets cold, it’s up to Jason to warm them back up.

Defense - Jason Todd x reader

Reader jumps to the defense of Jason when the team picks on him, comforting him during the aftermath and warming his cold little heart.

Drumroll - Jason Todd x reader

Jason comforts reader during a thunderstorm, which they are deathly afraid of.

Even Titans Get Sick - Jason Todd x reader

Jason takes care of reader when they’re sick.

Shy - Jason Todd x reader

Jason knows reader, his s/o, is a bit socially anxious and makes sure to account for that when they’re out and about.

Slipping Away - Jason Todd x sibling!reader

Reader, Bruce’s child, stresses over the evidence of betrayal of their brother, Jason. They worry about what Jason has become and make a revelation as to how their brother returned from the grave.

Text Messages

Exposed - Jason Todd x reader

Jason texts reader about his Robin training—only, reader didn’t know about his side gig.

Overwatch - Jason Todd x reader

Jason gets worried about his s/o going home alone, so he catches up to them while on patrol.

Jericho Wilson

Gif Imagines

His Friends - Jericho Wilson x deaf!reader

Reader, Jericho’s deaf s/o, gets introduced to his friends, the Titans.

Drabbles + Oneshots

That’s a First - Jericho Wilson x reader

Jericho goes all out for Valentine’s Day after learning that reader has never had a valentine before.

Kory Anders/Starfire

Gif Imagines

Amnesia - Kory Anders x reader

Reader discovers her best friend, Kory, doesn’t remember them.

Headcanons

Best Friends - Kory Anders/Donna Troy x reader

Reader, Kory, Donna are best friends.

Drabbles + Oneshots

Bones - Kory Anders x reader

Something feels a little wrong after reader and Kory have date night away from the Tower. (Bones - Alexandra Savior)

Not Your Business - Kory Anders x reader

Reader, an antihero, crosses paths with Kory quite often and things always get messy from there.

Rachel Roth/Raven

Gif Imagines

Nightmare - Rachel Roth x reader

Reader comforts Rachel, their girlfriend, after she has a nightmare.

Panic Attack - Rachel Roth x reader

Rachel comforts reader during a panic attack.

Pride - Rachel Roth x reader

Reader and their girlfriend, Rachel, go to Pride together.

Headcanons

Halloween - Rachel Roth/Garfield Logan x reader

Reader, Rachel, and Gar celebrate Halloween together.

Drabbles + Oneshots

Angel and Demon - Rachel Roth x reader

Reader, an angel, goes after Rachel in an attempt to protect her.

Necromancy - Rachel Roth x reader

Rachel and reader, a necromancer from an evil family, bond over their bad bloodlines and make a promise to do better.

Normal - Rachel Roth x reader

Rachel runs away after battling with the burden of her demonic ways, but calls reader to come get her. Reader tries to comfort her in her time of need.

#masterlist #dctv

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myriadimagines · 6 years

Note

Hi! Can I have a male Avengers shipple for a girl, prompt #97? I'm very passionate; I can't like something without loving it or dislike without hating. A learner, critical thinker, empathetic. Too big a heart that only wants to spread kindness and love, and I hate myself for it. Lover of animals, esp dogs. Old music, old movies, history, science. Shy. Hides behind humor. Panic attacks. Picky eater. Loves museums, video games, ice cream, forensic shows. Slytherin. And I ship you with the Flash!😊

Characters: Reader x Anthony ‘Tony’ StarkWarnings: Mentions of deathPrompts: “Why are you looking at me like that?” Word Count: 409A/N: kjsdhksfds I love Barry Allen (both in the dceu and dctv even though the only time I’ve seen Barry is in the crossover eps) so thank you!!! I hope you like your drabble!! Sorry if my arguments don’t make any sense, I’m really bad about writing about the Accords in CA:CW

NOT TAKING ANYMORE REQUESTS!

The first time Tony Stark realised he was in love with you was when you stood up for him about the Accords.

The Avengers all sat in silence as Tony told everyone about Charles Spencer, a boy who had been killed in Sokovia during the battle. You could see the guilt painted across everyone’s faces, but it wasn’t enough to convince those who didn’t believe in the Accords.

“Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don’t give up.” Steve said.

“Who said we’re giving up?” Tony asked.

“We are if we’re not taking responsibility for our actions.” Steve responded. “This document just shifts the blame.”

“I don’t agree with that, Steve.” you suddenly spoke up, all heads turning to you. You locked eyes with Tony, taking a deep breath before continuing, “All this time, we’ve been running things without any sort of rules, and think of all the lives it’s cost.”

“And think about all the lives we’ve saved.” Steve responded, leaning forward, but you shook your head.

“That’s not the point.” you sighed, burying your face in your hands. “I know you think this document will limit us, but maybe limitations is just what we need. This team is a loaded gun, and we need someone pointing it in the right direction, or else there’ll always be casualties. Casualties like Charles Spencer.”

The room fell silent as Steve let out a defeated sigh. You could tell he was still unconvinced, yet his phone chimed, and his frowned deepened. Standing abruptly, he excused himself, “I have to go.”

The rest of the Avengers looked at each other helplessly as you left the room too, exhausted. Tony trailed after you, and the two of you stopped in an empty hallway and leaned on the walls opposite each other. Tony studied your face for a moment, and you raised your eyebrow and asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Tony blinked at you, before chuckled slightly. “I... thank you. For what you did back there.”

“I believe in you, Tony.” you simply responded. “And I hope the rest of the team eventually does, too.”

“Always looking out for me, huh?” Tony grinned. It was one of the reason why he had feelings for you, he was realising.

“It’s kind of my job at this point.” you joked, shrugging slightly as Tony laughed again. “Do you think Steve will change his mind?”

“I hope so.” Tony muttered. “I hope so.”

#marvel imagine #avengers imagine #tony stark imagine #marvel drabble #avengers drabble #tony stark #tony stark drabble #imagine #imagines #reader insert #drabble #drabbles #Anonymous

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clean-bands-dirty-stories · 3 years

Text

Pine ~ B.A.

A/n: Hello! So I decided to help myself out with some bad mojo and to vent it in a little fic that is about to be so sad... but with a happy ending because where’s the catharsis without that am I right? Anyway, I messed with the timeline a bit so that Barry didn’t tell Iris that he was in love with her until he went back and redid the day, the first time he time travels? Because I love drama actually haha <3 Enjoy!

Word Count: 7600+

MASTERLIST

"Stop."

"What?"

"I said STOP."

"Whoa, whoa, okay. Are you... are you okay?"

"I- I'm fine. I just- I don't want to hear anymore about Iris okay, Barry?"

"Okay... Did I do something wrong?"

"No. You do everything right so consistently. That's the problem isn't it? Even when you mess up you're absolutely perfect. And then you come around and you smile and hug me and you almost die and I almost lose my mind and you-" Sudden silence. The kind that spoke more volumes than words ever could. "Barry I... Is it selfish that you've been asking me for advice on Iris and all my stupid brain could come up with is that I just don't want you to tell her how you feel? I want you to... to... Nevermind."

"Wait- no, I- Y/n wait!"

It was so weird. Knowing that he was stuck in the middle of a love triangle, when neither of the other people knew it was going on. I mean, Y/n knew that Barry liked Iris, but about Iris liking Barry back? Nope. And Iris was completely unaware of anyone's feelings - even her own. Barry hadn't taken the time to clue Y/n in on how his feelings for Barry had recently been learned of. He definitely didn't know that Barry knew because Y/n had practically said it out loud, because to Y/n... he hadn’t.

He'd tried to ignore it. He and Y/n had been close friends ever since Barry had joined the CCPD. Y/n was three years younger than Barry, but had been working there longer as a sort of archivist. He'd dropped out of high school his sophomore year and had pulled through on a favor for a cop he knew. The cop that would eventually become the precinct's very own David Singh. In return, the now Director Singh had pulled a few favors when Y/n had ended up homeless and without anywhere to go or any skills to speak for. He was a little spacey sometimes when it came to names or faces or where he'd put small things like office appliances and his phone. He'd lost his glasses millions of times, and had even forgot meetings and dates. In the end though, he was absolutely perfect at filing. He seemed to be fixated on the cases he organized - especially cold ones. He spent all his free time during hours reading and even memorizing them. So much so that he doubled as a perfect person to go to advice for when a cop wanted to see if there were similar cases, or some advice on mistakes they should avoid, or even if they weren't totally sure if they'd heard a name before but had a feeling. A quick talk with Y/n and any questions about old cases could be answered in a few minutes. The rare times he didn't know it off the top of his head, he could find the answer quicker than anyone else.

Unfortunately, he was still seen widely as an irresponsible nerd with too much free time. The same as Barry. And in the way that Y/n was forgetful, Barry was always late. People often rolled their eyes at the pair and heavily sighed when yet again one of them had failed to deliver on something important. The boys both came through in the end every time, but the similarities between them and the way people usually treated them had driven them together pretty quickly. Between all the times Barry had almost missed a chance to do his job because he was late, and Y/n had misplaced an important item or forgotten a meeting left them on the same side of the CCPD, known mostly as being useful but inconsistent.

It had grown into more. I mean, Y/n was the only one who had taken Barry's word when he talked about his mom's murder, and Barry always listened when Y/n went off about his secret obsession: super heroes. Lots of names that Barry was familiar with, and some he wasn't. The two talked theories, and when things got hard or boring or Barry just needed a breath of fresh air, he always went to Y/n. In fact, Y/n was the only one that Barry had felt comfortable enough with to actually admit his feelings for Iris out loud.

Sure, things had gotten complicated when the particle accelerator had gone off. Things had gotten rocky and they'd almost stopped being friends for a few months, but then a villain - Creature - had popped out of no where. It hadn't taken long to realize that Creature was doing more good than bad, even if he was a little extreme. Sort of... the Hood style. In fact, exactly like the Hood. Like Oliver Queen.

It hadn't taken much work to dig out that Creature was actually Y/n. That when Barry had become the Flash, Y/n had been effected in his own way. When they'd found out about each others' identities, they'd been stronger and closer than ever. They worked together, and Barry was eventually able to teach Creature a better way to do things. The police still hated Creature, but they'd worked it out perfectly time and time again, and when Joe had gotten involved with Creature as well, he hadn't turned Y/n in.

With all that history and overcoming road bump after twist in the road after dead end, it had seemed so Earth shattering to find out that this entire time, Y/n had been in love with him. It had made him hesitate even more to tell Iris anything. But then right after that, a ginormous tidal wave had almost wiped out Central City and Iris had confessed to Barry about how she loved him and had for years, and... I mean, he'd been dreaming about this nearly his entire life. How could he not chase it? Of course when he went back in time, he'd told Iris only to find out that it had been that situation that had dragged all of it out of her to begin with, and that without it, she didn't know her feelings were there - let alone did she think to act on them.

And now he was here, going slowly insane, because everything was wrong. Caitlyn had come through blowing off his confession as a mix up after affect of the lightning, but Iris kept giving him looks. Like she was... considering it. It was maddening, to know that she loved him back. That those feelings were there and waiting to be seen and realized and acted on, but that she might never know because she was so placated by being his best friend, and so comfortable being in love with Eddie.

At the same time, there was someone who had feelings for him who was aware of it and proud of it. Someone who wanted to fight for Barry... and suddenly Barry realized he might understand Iris far more than he wanted to, because maybe... maybe... But that was too scary to think about. The thought that Iris could be seconds away from seeing how she felt about him, after SO many years of waiting and praying for it to happen, if he moved on now? If he tried with Y/n and it failed the same way it had with Linda. Would he chose Iris? How couldn't he? Loving her like this was apart of him. It was part of his bones. In his DNA.

Wasn't it?

Because sometimes he looked at Y/n, and there was something warm and fuzzy. Something like how he felt about Iris, but a little different too. A little sweeter. A little lighter. Something new and delicious. Something daring him to try and forget it, knowing he would fail. He and Y/n had fought side by side, and Y/n was the one person that Barry had been honest with every single time, no hesitation. The one person he knew he could always fall back on and turn to. Y/n was...

It was too much.

Especially when Y/n tried to be the way they always were, completely unaware that Barry knew what every little thing meant now. Things he'd so willingly ignored before, he couldn't anymore. He couldn't ignore how they made him feel either. How safe Y/n made him feel when he should have been terrified. When he faced danger, Y/n always had his back. When he was confused and stressed, Y/n always lent a listening ear and a helping hand. He was unwaveringly present and ready to do anything and everything he could to help.

Not in the way Barry did for Iris, thinking that eventually something would make her realize some hidden feelings and she would be in love with him and turn to him and be his. No, Y/n did it without expectation. He wasn't bitter when Barry talked about Iris, or hesitant when it came to Linda. He had helped Barry, been his wing man even. There was nothing Y/n expected from him. He had accepted that they'd never be together, and had settled happily in the land of friendship and making sure Barry ended up happy. It was so intoxicating, to have such a pure relationship, and it felt so much better.

Y/n always understood. More than Cisco or Caitlyn or Wells, even. If he was late or missed something, Y/n sincerely forgave him with ease. He covered for him instantly, and he was an amazing liar. Barry was Y/n's first priority, and there was nothing behind it. No need or want, like at the precinct. Nothing like Wells.

Wells.

Okay listen, he KNOWS he shouldn't have done it. He should have done absolutely anything other than depend on Y/n's endless willingness to give in to everything and anything Barry needed, but when they had suspected Wells and things had started to quickly get worse and worse until Eddie went missing... Barry didn't know who else to turn to.

So here we he was, asking something terrible, and he felt incredibly guilty. "You were always better at finding things than I was. Figuring things out. People, I mean. That's your forte. You see people so clearly and easily. Could you figure this out? Find him?"

Y/n looked confused - rightfully so. "We're all looking for Wells, Barry."

"I know, but... I mean, your powers. You've never been allowed to touch Wells, and we realized today that it's because you'd get his powers right? You'd have known he was the Reverse Flash." Y/n nodded, listening carefully as he always did. Barry felt even more terrible continuing, knowing that Y/n was about to agree immediately. "But that night, before he came in to face Cisco and the others... I mean you touched him, didn't you?" Y/n nodded. "So you have his powers."

That one made Y/n hesitate. "Not exactly. I've tried to use his speed before, but... it hurts. It takes a lot out of him, and not just in the way that you get dizzy if you don't eat enough. Like... it aches. My body gets sore and it kind of burns and my legs give out after a very short time. I think he's showing off, trying to be strong. But he's really not. He probably falls back on the wheelchair thing to let his speed recharge for MONTHS before he uses it again, and even then it probably gives out on him sometimes."

Barry's eyes went wide. "Isn't that... how he got here? I mean, he sped into the past. From the future, like when I went back a day."

Another nod. "I figure that's probably why he's going after you. You're the only one with a proper connection with the... Speed Force is what he called it. Whatever it is that allows you guys to time travel. He probably has some plan to steal or duplicate your powers on some level. Sap that energy out of you and use it to rejuvenate his own power so he can go back home."

Barry looked stunned. "You've kept that tucked away in your head this entire time?"

Y/n blinked, a blank look in his eyes. And then he seemed to suddenly realized - "I forgot to tell you." And suddenly there was normal, human Y/n again. A messy archivist just trying to do a good job and making one friend that he pined over for years.

The fondest smile found its way to Barry's face again. He'd missed his scatter brained idiot. His. He very quickly pushed that down and away. "Y/n I have a question for you. Something... Something hard to ask, honestly."

Immediately Y/n perked up, and Barry tried to swallow his rising guilt. Trying not to think about how Y/n had said it painful to use Wells’ powers and memories... "What is it?" And Barry tried not to hate himself at how eager Y/n was to oblige.

There was a train coming. Barry was in the way. A gigantic, telepathic gorilla psychically attacked him so intensely he couldn't stand let alone get out of the way. Cisco screamed for him. Caitlyn begged. Then Iris started talking. And something bizarre happened.

Absolutely nothing.

Barry didn't feel lulled or grounded or pulled in by her. Her voice actually made it worse. Made the fear coil around his brain and pull tighter. It was too confusing, and whatever she was trying to do... I mean she'd done it a million times. He'd had panic attacks before. Bad dreams. He'd been nervous or caught in lights or frozen. Iris' voice had always been just what Barry needed to hear. Some encouraging words or a pep talk, or just her babbling - it was something to focus on. Someone who made him feel safe and wonderful because it was Iris and she was so distracting and wonderful that he could ignore anything in order to listen to her say anything. Just to hear her voice.

Not this time.

He would have died if it hadn't been for Y/n.

Barry hadn't realized what was going on. All he knew was that it was going white and he was shaking and it was hard to breathe and something in front of him was sucking and blowing and wild. He wondered for an odd second if this is what it was like to die. Loud and bright and painful. He was afraid for a second for the chaos to go away - because what if that was when the nothing came? The After?

Then it did come. Sort of.

The bright and the loud was gone and he felt something hard against his back and then a voice. Not directed at him, but one that pierced through everything. "Hey. Hi. It's very nice to meet you.” A pause. "I understand. You're a very intelligent being, and these people... they don't understand that do they? They just see a gorilla." Another pause and Barry struggled to breathe. "Hey, it's okay. I totally get it. You can see in my head. I'm not here to hurt you. It's just... see that man there? I'm kind of in love with him, and I- listen I KNOW you're scared but killing people isn't the solution. Well of course most people suck, and these ones aren't much better, I'm just asking as a favor for Wells. See, Wells needs this boy alive. If it's not enough that I love him... Do it for Wells? Please." A long silence, and then a roar. A soft chuckle when the roar is done. "Thank you. I'll cover for you. Go ahead." Then the voice was closer, and suddenly Barry was being... dragged. "Bar? Please GOD wake up."

Barry groaned. The voice was getting louder and the more it talked, the less the pain was. The more the fear lessened. The softer it all got. He was putting together what had happened. That Grodd was calming down, leaving. Wasn't attacking him so much anymore. But... that wasn't what was calming him down, because even without Grodd's help those feelings and images were swimming in Barry's vision. No, what calmed him down was when Y/n moved to him, crouching next to him, and said his name very softly, over and over again, brushing his hair out of his face to soothe him. When had he lost his mask?

"My... m..." He was struggling to speak.

"It's okay Bar," Y/n soothed, shushing him softly. "It's just you and me. Just breathe okay?" And it was so tender. So full of care and love and pure softness that Barry melted. He reached out for Y/n's hand and when he took it, he felt warm tingles start at his fingers and slowly spread to the rest of his body. That warmth methodically overwhelmed and destroyed every bad feeling and harsh memory. It all faded away and Barry lay on the ground, looking up at Y/n with a tired smile.

"Thank you."

Y/n smiled back. "Anytime, Road Runner. You okay?"

"Always," Barry whispered in a voice that was barely a whisper. "Always, with you."

A look of shock and embarrassment crossed Y/n's face as he slowly but surely began to go a deep shade of red. "Fuck Allen, how close did that train get? Do you have head trauma?" He laughed, brushing off the moment, and Barry didn't quite have the words to explain that he'd meant it so deeply that it made him ache to have Y/n turn away from it. "Let's get you back to STAR Labs. We still have work to do." He scooped Barry up. Y/n’s whole body shivered and suddenly Barry was looking at himself. Y/n put Barry down before the pair sped off, shooting across town and back to the lab.

Then it hit Barry. "But you're back. You- aren't you supposed to be-?" He wasn't supposed to be here. He'd promised. It hadn't been fair, but he had.

Y/n's smile turned a little strained. "We'll talk about it when you're better. And safe." And Y/n kept that promise. He waited until they were all okay and accounted for and then he took a deep breath in. "I've been... gone, for the last week. And I didn't tell anyone where I went or why. I asked Barry not to either. Because- because he asked me to do something and I couldn't have distractions."

"You did what?" Caitlyn snapped, turning on Barry. "What in the holy hell could you have asked him to do that required him to completely disappear? We were worried sick!"

“Not being told the truth," Iris mused. "Being lied to. Kept from knowing what's happening. Frustrating isn't it?" Caitlyn immediately backed down. Iris managed a small smile. "Why do I always feel like anytime there's a lie or a secret going around, you two are always in on it?"

"The important thing is that I'm back," Y/n interrupted, and Barry had never been more grateful. Iris went to call him out, but Y/n beat her to it. "I know where Eddie is." Everyone froze and Y/n chuckled, always enjoying being able to stop an argument dead with good news.

"Where is he?" Iris demanded, stepping forward. "Why did you come back without him? Oh my god is he dead?" Her knees went weak and Cisco and Caitlyn rushed to help her stay standing.

"NO, god," Y/n rushed to reassure. "He's probably. Well..." He swallowed. "I was thinking: where's the only place we haven't looked? We scoured every corner of Central City. Everywhere but ONE place. I mean, where did you always hide when you were a kid and playing hide-and-seek?" He looked for answers, but it was Joe who had it.

"In plain sight." His voice was low and slow, his eyes widening like he was beginning to understand.

"Exactly!" Y/n cheered. "Where would we NEVER think to look, in a million years?" He lifted his foot and then slammed it down, and then did it again and again. "Right under our noses. Just like when Witland Ralph hid the murder weapon INSIDE the police precinct."

Cisco gasped. "Oh my god."

"Oh my god," Caitlyn agreed.

"But where is he?" Iris asked desperately.

Y/n winced. "I don't know exactly. This place is HUGE, and I don't know the creases and crevices. Not like you guys do. I might miss something." He looked at Barry. "Help me?"

Barry nodded immediately. "Of course. Let's go. He offered his bare hand and Y/n took it. His image rippled, and suddenly there were two Barrys again. Y/n power was incredible to see in person. When he mirrored someone, he took things from them. Skin to skin touch allowed him to copy and replicate the person - down to their powers, or small habits. If he had it long enough, sometimes he even got memories. He had learned that he could take multiple powers, but it manifested as copying part of that person. So, if he looked completely like Barry then he had Barry's full powers, but he could also just copy Barry's legs and get the speed. He'd be a little slower, tire a little more easily, but having the rest of his body free, he could copy other powers. Super strength via arms, or a sonic scream via a mouth and lungs, or night vision eyes. The more he had, the weaker the others got, but he hadn't reached a limit of people he could take as long as he was willing to have them dulled.

Y/n borrowed Barry's powers a lot. Everyone was sure it was just an excuse to touch Barry, but to be fair, the powers didn't update just by using them like Barry could. Once Y/n copied, it was like printing a picture. Once it's out, you can't edit it on the computer anymore without printing out a new image. Y/n could better his own power; work on having more powers before they got weaker, or taking more from each person he touched. But Barry's speed would always only ever be the max it was at when Y/n took them from Barry, until he touched him again.

From this power, the joke of Y/n being like a sort of meta-human Frankenstein had started, and it had come on. Hence Y/n's Alias: the Creature. It came in handy most in times like this. Sometimes it was nifty to have Y/n take on a different power - especially if it was the same as the villain they were facing, or an opposite. Today that wasn't the case.

It was Y/n who found Eddie. His coms died after he screamed and then there was a flash of red as the Reverse Flash disappeared and tried to escape the others. Barry tried to go after him but couldn't get himself to move fast enough. When he returned, he was beyond relieved to see that Y/n was okay, Eddie on his back as he moved the blonde cop onto a bed so Caitlyn could attend to his wounds. Eddie clung to Y/n, seeming exhausted and dizzy. Iris hovered nearby, hands not quite touching Eddie, as if she was afraid to break him.

Barry moved in to get everyone other than Eddie, Y/n - who was still being gripped desperately by Eddie - Iris, And Caitlyn out of the way so Caitlyn would have the room she needed to work. Eddie rested his head on Iris' shoulder. "Iris," he whispered, melting in relief. His hand loosened and Y/n stepped back. Barry went to approach him, but Y/n moved past him and directly out of the room. Confused as to why Y/n looked so upset, he followed.

Outside, Barry caught Y/n's wrist. They were suddenly facing each other and Y/n was forcing a smile and Barry hated it. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," Y/n reassured. It was choked though. He had never been a good liar when it came to Barry. Anyone else? Sure. But not Barry. When Barry shot him a look, he added, "I just... you asked me if there was anyway to use the connection to Wells' to see the future of a person. If I could connect to his mind as it is, instead of as it was. And I told you I couldn't, because once I have a person's code, I have to have it again to update it. But... I tried. I spent that week trying so hard to make it happen because-" he cut off at the look of regret on Barry's face. "I swam in his head for a week. Drowned in it. You know, I didn't think I could ever predict a future based off of that connection, but- I mean stay in anyone's head for long and it becomes a part of you. That's how I got anxiety. I've never had anxiety before. Or how I almost developed a stutter. Or how I got absolutely obsessed with layers - especially like sweaters. Or really soft socks. I mean none of these things ever mattered to me. Nothing ever really mattered to me. I've been average and bland my entire life, and now Wells' mind is apart of mine and I'm clever. It makes me think... you know, maybe I wouldn't have been anything without him. Eddie might have died, or- or-" he laughed without humor, his words coming quickly. He seemed on the verge of a mental breakdown. “Maybe I would have been nothing. No one but that one friend you had that one time. If I wasn't Creature. If we hadn't been Flash And Creature, maybe Barry and Y/n wouldn't have been enough you know?"

And in that moment, Barry wanted to scream, because HE had put this realization on Y/n. "Listen to me. We can do some amazing things, and I know... I know exactly how it feels to think that you owe some of the best things you've ever done to Harrison Wells, which sucks because being indebted to a psychopath is not ideal-" Y/n laughed and Barry smiled, putting his hands on Y/n's shoulders. "But I don't care about you because you save my life or because you can copy my speed or because you think like Wells now or because of what you like or wear. I care about you because when I told you that a man in lightning killed my mom you believed me. I had no proof, and it was a new level of insane and impossible, but you saw the way I believed myself and decided that was enough, and now we know I was right and you were the only one who gave me even a second of the time of day. Y/n has given me more than Creature ever could. You matter to me. Who you were, who you are, and who you'll one day become. I love all of those people, okay? You're one of my best friends, right next to Iris who's been in my life almost since day one-" he squeezed Y/n's shoulder. "You're enough. Alright?"

Y/n stayed quiet for a long time. "Barry..." he looked up and the two men's eyes locked. He went speechless, but kept struggling.

Barry shook his head. "Me too."

That seemed to surprise Y/n. "What?" The word came out as a squeak and Barry grinned. He was adorable.

"That day I went back. The day I told you and Wells about." Y/n nodded as Barry stopped talking, encouraging him to continue. "You told me you loved me."

"Oh." Y/n looked away. "Barry, I-"

"No but it's okay," Barry rushed. "Because you know, Iris doesn't love me back. Maybe she does, somewhere. Some part of her. But we're too close. I mean we grew up together. We were raised in the same house, by the same man. People aren't too far off when they say she's almost my sister. It's weird, us. And I've tried to ignore that my entire life because she's not like a sister to me. I've been in love with her since I could be in love, and that always changed how I saw her. But it wasn't like that for her, and she's so happy with Eddie now and..." he shook his head. "I kept thinking if I waited long enough it would happen. I would be rewarded for my patience. But that's... she’s not a reward, and having her as my best friend is enough for me. Now more than ever because I've been thinking this entire time about your feelings for me and slowly realizing that I had some for you too. And they've really only grown. It's not my job to wait for Iris. If she and Eddie don't work out. If we could have worked, it doesn't matter. Because what could be isn't worth losing what is. I just... I’ve only ever loved her. I don't know how I'll handle loving someone else. If you're willing to deal with me trying to learn something new, I’m willing to learn it.”

Y/n looked absolutely stunned. "Barry I..." a smile slowly grew on his face. "Don't go back in time on me okay? If these exact events are needed to have you confess to me or whatever and you undid them I might have to box you."

Barry laughed. "I can make that promise. I ask in exchange a promise from you." He bit his lip for a second before saying, "You have any free nights coming up? I think we deserve a dinner date. Or maybe a movie night. Whatever you wanna do."

Y/n's eyes shone. "Can you cook?" Barry nodded. "I've always found homemade meals to be the best, especially paired with sappy music and a thriller movie of some kind. Maybe a cartoon we've both seen before, because I have a tendency to talk during movies. I get too excited."

"That sounds fantastic." Barry nodded, confirming the idea. Y/n was glowing. "Tomorrow night?"

“I'm free then." Y/n rubbed the back of his neck. "I uh- I'm not good at fast though. Can we take it slow? Everything? I honestly am trying to wrap my head around the fact that you even like me back. I feel like I'm in highschool again about to be pranked."

Barry moves closer, pressing a kiss to Y/n's cheek. "I'm perfectly fine with slow." Y/n touched the skin where Barry's lips had been a second before. "I know I'm known for fast, but I'm also known for being late so I can go either way." He took Y/n's free hand. "And whatever proof you need to drive home that I absolutely have feelings for you, I'm down to provide."

Y/n's face went red. "Okay Romeo. How about we get back to finding Wells? Until tomorrow, and then strong rule on no work talk - day or night job." Barry agreed and they both went back inside. Everyone looked between them but no one said anything. The palpable tension between the two men was bad enough without the way they looked at each other. With all of the bad things going on, it was a bad time to talk about something like this, so neither mentioned it, and everyone let it be, in favor of making plans against Wells and looking after Eddie. Soon they were all busy again - Barry with trying to figure out what Wells' plan had been, and Y/n with Eddie.

Eddie And Y/n had actually very quickly become very good friends, and while Barry had been in a coma, Iris had defaulted to going to Y/n for advice. It had been ironic then when the two had gotten together and Y/n had given Iris the "big brother" talk about hurting Eddie, instead of the other way around as had been expected. They talked theories before Y/n knew Barry was the Flash, and had found out a big part because Eddie withdrew and wouldn't talk to Y/n about it anymore. When things had been rocky with Barry and Iris had been losing the small connection she had Y/n had to begin with, Eddie had been there through all of it. They'd gotten very close, and acted a lot like brothers. It only made sense that now when he needed comfort most, Eddie kept Iris and Y/n at arm's length. Neither minded staying close by anyway. They were united more on their mutual, deep care for Eddie than they'd been on anything else.

Things seemed to... sort of go back to normal. Sure, there was the newspaper that said Iris and Barry were supposed to be married, but when Barry had pulled away from Y/n, there had been a good conversation about it that had really sunk into Barry's skin.

"What's even the point, Y/n? I end up with her."

"Listen to me Barry Allen," Y/n had snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. "That future is already lost to us. In that future, your mom was alive. In that future, Eobard Thawn never came back in time. In that future there was no particle accelerator, and no not-actually Harrison Wells to get you to improve yourself so much so quickly. He's already changed so much. EVERYTHING. He's changed us. He's changed the world we live in. I mean, what if the only reason that newspaper is still solid is because you make it happen? And what if that's not the best outcome for you? I mean yes you've been in love with her your entire life. You haven't known anything else. What if that isn't the full extent of what you deserve? What if that newspaper article is right before you guys get divorced? Or right after, and she just doesn't change her name? It's a name on an article Barry - it means nothing. I had the time of my life on that date with you. Please don't choose her over me, because she chose Eddie over you. And because I deserve better."

After that fight, Eddie had proposed to Iris and shared some words with Barry as well. Eddie had almost given up too, but the two men having a good chat had cleared it up for both of them. Who wanted a predetermined future anyway? Who wanted to be told what would happen? No, what would happen is what they would make of it. And Barry was happier than he'd ever been; why throw that away?

In the end, they'd figured it out. It had lead to Barry and Y/n's first kiss.

After that, it had nearly gone back to how it had been in the beginning. Fighting meta humans, working as a team, being a family. But also better. Now they went on a double date and it wasn't awkward and Barry wasn't the third wheel and he wasn't jealous; they all had a good time and it was amazing. For a few days everything was fine and it made sense and everyone was safe and happy.

And then everything came to a resounding halt. Because Wells came back, but this time with a dilema. Barry could go back and save his mom, but not only would it allow Thawn to escape, it could also destroy the entire world via black hole. Even if it didn't, life was going to be completely different when Barry came back. They didn't know what they'd lose. None of them would even know except Barry.

Barry looked at Y/n. "What should I do?"

Y/n pursed his lips. "I don't know what I would do in this situation. Saving your parents, fixing your entire life... giving yourself the childhood you deserved." He shrugged. "I think it's important to be selfish sometimes. To take care of yourself and your own needs."

"That wasn't an answer," Barry pointed out when Y/n went quiet.

Y/n sighed. "Remember when you told me about Iris, and how hard it was to tell her how you felt because you guys were just too close to each other? The only reason you two didn't date sooner is because you were both stuck in this space of near sibling hood that made everything so complicated. I mean, if you hadn't been like that..."

"I would have told her sooner," Barry finished. His eyes closed.

"I'm just saying, switching us out for you and Iris is the least of your worries. It was just an example. Me, Now. Who I am in this timeline. I'll never see you again, and you'll never see me this way either. What if in this new world you don't have powers? Or I don't? Or Eddie died because we never found him? I just... I've always been against changing the past. We talked about it theoretically a million times when I went off about superheroes. Giving yourself what you think you want or need, in exchange for everything else. You could lose everything you value most and get something even worse. This might not be the timeline that's best for you."

Barry smiles a little. "That's what you said about Iris."

Y/n smiled too. "Maybe I just thought that our life was the best outcome? A lot sucks about it, but that's going to happen in any world, you know?"

In the end, Barry did it. Y/n didn't get mad at him, or judge him. Their goodbye was heart wrenching though, and when Barry went through the portal into the past, Y/n refused to look at anyone, afraid that if he did he'd burst into tears. This wasn't the time for that; they had to focus on corralling Thawne.

With all of that said, it was more than just a small surprise when only moments later, just as they were about to let Thawn go home, Barry burst through the portal again to stop him. Which meant, he hadn't saved his mom. He hadn't changed the timeline. And Thawn wasn't going home.

In the end, rage won out. With Barry going through grief he had to be feeling, and Thawn powered by white hot wrath... Thawn won. And he stood over Barry, face contorted and hand vibrating, lowering toward Barry. All of them were on the ground. Y/n had hit his head; he was dizzy and disoriented and confused. He looked up and saw two things that changed everything. Thawn about to kill Barry, and Eddie about to kill himself.

Eddie and Y/n had actually grown to be very close. They'd liked each other pretty quickly, because Eddie was the only cop who treated Y/n like he was actually apart of the precinct and not just a throw away, nerdy archivist. They had trusted each other, and even when Barry had come back and it had been so crazy and complicated, Eddie had never stopped being Y/n's friend. When Barry and Iris and Joe left him behind and cut him out, Eddie had fought for them to stop excluding Y/n, and had kept his secret when Y/n had told Eddie about Creature. Even from Iris. They were like brothers, and when Eddie and Iris had dated, everyone had been surprised when Y/n had given her the "big brother" talk about Eddie, instead of for her to Eddie. So when they'd found out about Eobard Thawn, of course Eddie had gone to Y/n with a thought path that he couldn't bare keeping to himself. One he knew Y/n would be understanding about, and not get angry at hearing.

"What if Eobard protected me because he knew that he would be erased from existence if I died? I mean, wouldn't that happen? If my line stops with me, he never gets born. Barry's mom never dies. None of this ever happens."

Y/n had shut it down pretty quickly. "But you only did it because he came back, so if he didn't come back you wouldn't have done it. That's what we call a paradox and it's unpredictable and super deadly. I mean, Barry tried that once - he went back just a day and avoided a major catastrophe, and in exchange an equally terrible thing happened. Cisco's brother lost his hands. It's not worth losing you. You're as important to me as anyone else on Team Flash. You're one of the only people who's had my back no matter what. Even Barry has failed sometimes, but you haven't. You have to promise me you won't do this. Do you understand?"

Eddie had agreed at the time.

It seemed like he'd changed his mind now.

Panicking, Y/n screamed. His body shook, filling with the energy he'd taken from Thawn. He felt that terrible thing he always did when he tapped into the Speed Force so unlike Barry's. The opposite of Barry's even. He moved, faster than Barry ever had, full of uncontrolled fear. He knocked the gun out of Eddie's hand and, in the same move, barreled directly into Wells. It should have been fine for the most part. But Y/n was still disoriented and couldn't think correctly, so he wasn't exactly controlling his powers. Y/n felt his skin stretch and attach to Thawn, and then... pull. One second they were rolling around at super speed, trying to one up the other, and the next: Y/n was alone.

"What the hell just happened?"

"It looked like Y/n... absorbed Wells."

"Eddie oh my god are you okay?"

"Y/n can you hear me?"

Disorientation gave way to one thing only: white hot, searing pain.

It was like Y/n's brain was trying to expand. Like his skull was about to split. His skin seemed to crawl, covered in goosebumps and cold sweats. He arched his back, fingers curling to look like claws as he tried to sink his nails into the metal around him. He writhed, eyes blinking - but all he could see was a world swirling with colors and shapes.

"What's wrong now?"

"I- I mean- he usually absorbs people right, and then that translates into the longer you have parts of that person, the more you retain from them-"

"We don't have time for this Caitlyn!"

"Just look at him! He completely absorbed Wells, body and all, but he still looks like himself. That's never happened before. If he... god, if he skipped the part where he copied, and just pasted Wells' genetics straight into his own code..."

"How do we fix it?"

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like this before. I don't even know what's happening. He might explode, he might overload and short circuit. They might be battling for dominance, Wells now simply reduced to nothing but DNA and a consciousness. He might completely take Y/n over and erase him, or Y/n might do the same to him. There are endless possibilities, I'm just theorizing."

"Is there a way to take Wells out of him?"

"It would be like trying to detach his soul. Trying to separate DNA strands and skin cells. I... I don't even know where to begin. We didn't do tests on Y/n like we did with you. We don't understand his powers as well. Science can't make reason of his abilities. It's like magic."

Don't lose yourself.

Don't lose yourself don't lose yourself don't lose-

A hand on Y/n's shoulder. "Hey. I'm right here Y/n. It's me. It's Barry. It's your Barry. I- I came back. We're gonna get through this, okay? It's going to be okay Y/n."

His voice... it made emotions rile up out of the pain filled nothing. Everything else dulled in favor of two emotions, equally strong, battling for a foothold over the other.

Disgust. An emotion that was red and green and purple. Rough and sticky and hard to swallow.

But there was love too. Deep and smooth and warm. Soft. Orange and brown and pink. It tasted good in your mouth and made you smile.

Those tow emotions, so very opposite each other, and Y/n knew that one was Wells and one was him, but he wasn't sure which was which anymore. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to kill Barry... and that terrified him, because more than anything he wanted to keep Barry safe. The two mindsets clashed and contradicted, and yet still existed perfectly.

“Barry-" Y/n croaked.

"I'm here," Barry gushed, moving closer. "I'm right here. Tell me what to do to make it better Y/n. Tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"Leave..." Y/n blinked, but the world was only just starting to clear. Something was calming down, the pain was fading, but Y/n was terrified of that more than the agony of what was happening before, because as the world cleared everything seemed... wrong. He thought about what Caitlyn had said, and realized that what he was experiencing now was some sort of merge of the way Thawn saw the world, and the way Y/n saw it. They were neither person - they were a mashup of both. But Y/n didn't know which parts of who were going to survive, and as he thought this, that hate and disgust and thirst for Barry Allen's head on a pike rose over the love that was slowly turning to fear, and Y/n knew there was only one way to handle it. "I love you," Y/n whispered, his eyes moving to Barry for only a second before he couldn't look anymore. "And you- we could have been so good-"

"No," Barry choked out, clinging to Y/n in desperation. "Don't you dare say goodbye. We still have so much to do-"

"And we could have done it," Y/n whispered, tears falling down his heated skin. "But- but not anymore." And he couldn't have even begun to explain to Barry what was happening now, but it was terrible and Y/n hated it. "I want to kill you, Barry." He closed his eyes in shame. "I want to... I ruined your life." His head swam with memories he couldn't possibly have. Nora Allen's blood on his hands. Barry's unconscious body under his vibrating hand. It would be so easy to kill him now... "I killed your mom."

Barry shook his head. "No, that was Wells-"

"Not anymore." Y/n's eyes flew open and he twisted, away from Barry. "Forget about me. I'm glad we met because now I can save you... but, lose hope. Don't- don't come looking for me-"

Barry's eyes went wide. "Y/n wait-" But Y/n was already gone, getting his feet under him and moving as fast as he could, pushing himself further than he or Thawn ever had. Barry screamed for Y/n to stop, trying to keep up, but... Reverse Flash had always been faster than Flash, so Y/n got away.

And that should have been the end of the story, but Barry Allen had always been terrible at doing what he was told. What was one more time?

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clean-bands-dirty-stories · 3 years

Text

Pine ~ B.A. (part 3)

A/n: Ah yes, and now we're back to Barry Allen because I'm a simp for one Grant Gustin. I mainly did some filler because I ranted too much and needed to say some nice words to myself to get my good vibes back again, so... yeah. Action and drama will be back next part!

Word Count: 5400+

Warnings: Okay so this covers some of Creature/Reader's backstory. I went a little hard with some emotional and mental abuse in reader's past, and some deep feelings of failure that all get resolved by the end (mostly, because healing doesn't happen over night).

MASTERLIST

After several weeks, Y/n knew Barry wasn't coming. He knew that if he could have, he would have. It was Barry. Even if things between them were complicated, he was a true hero. He'd never have left Y/n behind in a million years. Obviously something was wrong, but Barry and the others would figure it out...

Unfortunately, Y/n couldn't wait for that.

He had spent all the time he had in that container, recharging. Zoom had come plenty of times and tried to get Y/n to scream and yell at him. To break. To tell Zoom anything. But Y/n ignored it easily. Instead of expressing any of that anger, he harnessed it. Because, for once, Thawne and Y/n were united by one cause: survival. Thawne did it for self preservation while Y/n did it for the people here who needed help getting out, but it didn't matter. Thawne taught Y/n all about the negative speed force. How it fed off of hate and rage and sorrow and betrayal. How it fed off of darkness and the parts of us that aches to be felt and looked at. He taught Y/n this with only one requirement: Y/n couldn't tell anyone. Not even Barry. It would mess up the timeline. Y/n especially couldn't ever tell Jay, because they also agreed he couldn't be trusted. That was an easy enough promise to make.

It took too long. Every time Y/n felt ready, Zoom seemed to sense it. He would swoop in and torture Y/n. Never take his speed, which made Y/n confused. He tried to inquire about it. Egg Zoom on even. It was a dangerous game, and one that got him plenty injured, but never one that cost him his powers. Which meant... he couldn't take them. Y/n had tested the waters to the point of nearly getting himself killed. If Zoom could take his powers, he would have.

So how had he taken Jay's?

... That was for another time.

For now, Y/n waited until Zoom left, bragging about how he was going to torment Flash blah blah blah. Y/n knew he would be busy all night, or at least for quite a while. Long enough that he could escape. He stood when Zoom was gone, looking at the wall. Jesse pushes forward, a look of hope in her eyes. There was a look of determination that felt so new and wonderful in the face of the person who had been doing nothing but meditating and learning since he got here. A quick conversation had easily revealed he wasn't especially smart or had even gone through much schooling, but he was creative and Jesse could appreciate that.

"Are you going to get out?" She whispered, as if she spoke loud enough, it would alert Zoom. Maybe it would. Y/n wished she wouldn't talk at all.

Y/n nodded anyway. "I can get myself and another person out of here." He hesitated, looking between the three people in front of him. "You're smart. You well versed in ethics?"

Jesse scoffed. "All I can think right now is how badly I want out of here. But..." she sighed. "The one by the wall. He's going to die soon if you don't get him out of here. If I've been kept alive this long and you're right about my dad, I'm being used as bait so I'm sure I'll be fine." Her knuckles were white on the bars and Y/n knew how hard this must be for her. "Take him first. If you CAN come and get me..." her eyes were pleading.

"Of course," Y/n nodded. He looked away from her, breathing evenly. He closed his eyes and felt every part of his body vibrate. He let the last year of negative emotions roll across him. The raging white hot hate for Thawne. The annoyance of everyone calling him Harrison Wells. The boiling jealousy seeing Barry and Patty together. The agony of running for three months, all alone, trying to control a person who wanted to be part of Y/n as much as Y/n wanted it - in to say neither of them did. The fear and the loneliness of returning and trying to stay away from Barry. The way it hurt to be around him. The day Barry had come into his office and Y/n had to carve his own heart out of his chest. He let all of it wash over him and consume him...

And he stepped through the wall as if it wasn't there.

He did the same thing for the second glass wall, speeding to the limp figure in the back of that cage and ignoring the other masked figure completely. He picked up the dying person and vibrated them as well. He sped to the closest portal to Earth 1 and lay the person in a dark corner, taking a breath to freshen that pain and anger to make himself even stronger in the negative speed force, as Thawne had called it. And then he went back for Jesse.

She looked like she was going to cry when she saw him. He didn't focus on that though. He focused on using his continued phasing to break the lock on the cell door, and then the chains binding Jesse to the floor. He picked her up and zoomed back to the portal. He put one arm around Jesse and slung the unconscious person he'd saved from the cell over his shoulder, concentrating on how a secret part of him didn't want to go back home. Didn't want to see Barry again. But how he had to do it anyway, and how frustrating that was.

Suddenly they were at Earth 1.

Jesse gasped, her body shaking in what Y/n could only guess was relief. "Oh my god you did it." She turned and grabbed Y/n's face, kissing him right on the lips. Y/n blinked in shock and she grinned. "Sorry. That wasn't romantic or anything."

Y/n chuckled. "I- No I got it. You're like a decade younger than me anyway."

She laughed. "Well." Then Jesse cleared her throat. "We need to get to the others. Let my dad know I'm okay, and get that mask off of them and get them taken care of. Do you think...?" She looked back at the portal, and Y/n knew she meant the other person. The one who tapped against the glass constantly.

"No," Y/n whispered, unable to look back. "I'm already so tired... I haven't been eating as much as I should have. I couldn't pull that off again by myself, let alone with another person, not before Zoom can get back. I- I hate to say it but-"

Jesse touched Y/n's shoulder. "We'll go back for him when we can." Y/n nodded and then braced himself before he zoomed them to the labs.

Unfortunately, he barely made it into the main room before he felt his legs shake under him. His vision went dizzy and all he heard was distant, echoing commotion before he blacked out.

When Y/n woke up again, everything hurt. His head flashed with images mixing with Zoom and Reverse Flash. A hand covered in black leather, and one covered in yellow, both trying to wrap around Y/n's throat and kill him.

Needless to say, he woke up screaming.

Ironically, it was Barry who got Y/n to calm down. He held Y/n's face, his touch solid and his eyes so bright, they were like beacons. Barry rested their foreheads together as Y/n devolved into incoherent sobs, holding him as Y/n clung on for dear life. When he finally got something out, it was slurred and he worried Barry didn't understand. "Jesse- the- mask- are they-?"

"They're okay," Barry reassured, his voice soft and warm. Proud, Y/n realized. "They're okay because of you, Y/n. All because of you." Y/n sighed, closing his eyes. He leaned his forehead against Barry's shoulder, taking in Barry's smell and warmth. It felt so good. Safe. He pulled Barry closer and everyone seemed to be a little surprised, but Barry definitely wasn't complaining. It was quiet a while, until Barry finally pulled away. "Are you okay?" His eyebrows were pushed together, his head tilted. He seemed puzzled by something. Y/n's head was swimming, he couldn't put together why in hell Barry would ever ask such a question.

"No." It was full of sass, confusion of his own seeping into his facial expression. It was something he used to do a lot, be harmlessly sassy. Sarcasm had always been Barry's thing.

To see it again actually got Barry to laugh. Some weight seemed to roll off of his shoulders. "Right, stupid question. I just-" he hesitated. "I mean you didn't... push me away. You've spent the last year pushing me away, and now you're pulling me closer. I don't know, took me off guard."

Something in Y/n's head seemed to click. He went still, his eyes glazing over. He looked away, and for a second Barry was scared he'd set Thawne off... but Y/n's expression wasn't pained, and he still held firmly to Barry's shirt. Like it hurt him to be far away. It was such a drastic difference to what had happened during wedding preparations and that first time Barry had reunited with Y/n that now it seemed almost foreign.

After a second, Y/n whispered, "Are you still there?" He had hope on his face... which immediately left after about four seconds as he seemed to get some sort of answer. "Eat shit."

Barry snorted, unable to help himself. It was nice to see normal Y/n back again. When Y/n rested his head on Barry's shoulder again, the two men relaxed. Forgetting there was anyone else in the room.

Until Caitlyn cleared her throat. Barry looked over and saw that everyone was wearing an identical, accusatory expression. And of course it hit Barry then: Patty. He turned to Y/n. "Uh I... when you were gone..." it felt dirty to say, but by the way Y/n's face seemed to immediately change and become distant and guarded, Barry got the impression that he didn't really need to say it. He did anyway. "Patty and I took your advice. We went on that date." He cleared his throat. "And Eddie and Iris refused to get married. Eddie needs his best man. And Caitlyn and Jay are official now. I honestly really like Jay, I think you were wrong about him. And Cisco's powers are getting stronger! It's actually pretty cool." He seemed to add everything after as a follow up, as if he was trying to update Y/n on all he missed and not tell him that he'd been too late.

Unfortunately, Barry's attempts failed. Y/n knew, and so did everyone else. Barry had sensed the moment of intimacy between him and Y/n the same way everyone else had. It had taken him a second; being like that with Y/n felt so natural. It was something he'd craved so long and he'd been so sure he was over it... guess not. But it didn't matter because he was with Patty, and above all, that message was most clear.

Y/n was too late. All his months of pushing Barry away had worked. He'd got what he wanted. He wasn't happy about it... But he'd been expecting that.

Of course all of this was for the best though, so Y/n forced a tired smile and listened and nodded and congratulated everyone. Except Jay. He didn't talk to Jay.

Thawne in his head sighed. "I hate when you waste our time like this. You'd think I would hurt you enough without you making it worse for yourself." He groaned. "You don't even make it fun, Y/n. I just feel bad for you. That's how pathetic you are - the psychopath feels bad for you."

Y/n didn't respond to that, but they both knew he didn't have to.

People cleared out, giving Y/n some time to rest up and readjust to being back. Or so they said. They really just wanted to give him time and space to hurt. Y/n had never been one to break down around other people and they'd long since realized that if they wanted Y/n to open up to them, he'd have to do it in his own time. In that alone time though, there was silence. Eobard didn't bother Y/n like he usually did, and Y/n wondered if it was because their pain was one in the same, or because their exhaustion was. He needed to eat something.

As he slid off of the bed and turned to head out of the lab, he paused. Harry Wells himself stood there, seeming awkward. He looked at Y/n, obviously wanting to say something but not sure how to. Finally he spoke. "I would say thank you, but it's just not enough." Y/n smiled, but stayed silent as he sensed Harry needed to say more, but also needed time to find how to say it. "Listen, Jesse is my life. She always has been, and always will be. You've done something for me that I can never repay. More than saving my life, even. If you need anything... please don't hesitate to reach out."

Weirdly enough, Y/n appreciated that. "I won't say you're welcome, because I don't think that's enough either. I-" he sighed. "I didn't save her for a thank you though. I saved her because I had to see what her life was like in there. I had to live it. I only wish... I mean, there was another person we left behind and I wish more than anything I could have-"

Harry moved to Y/n, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You did everything you could, and you saved three lives in doing it. It was almost two. Hell, it was almost one. You almost died, and so did-" he cut off. "The man in the mask that you saved. He still hasn't woken up, but he would have been dead soon without you."

Y/n hesitated, but then nodded. There was a silence acceptance. For one second he could let himself bask in appreciation instead of hiding from the light and punishing himself more. He could, just for once, acknowledge he'd done something good. It had been hard to do with his start in villainy, and even harder to do after he became fused with Thawne and everything got extremely complicated, but he deserved it. He was a good person, and there was nothing wrong with patting himself on the back just a little.

It was then that Cisco burst into the room. "He's awake." His eyes were on Y/n, intense and worried. It was weird, considering Y/n thought Cisco of all people would be the most excited to meet another person from another Earth. It made him stand, even as he had to grab onto Harry's arm to stabilizing himself as his head began to spin. "Whoa," Harry whispered. Cisco began to protest, but with one look from Y/n he went quiet and helped Harry bring Y/n to the mystery man he had saved.

When Y/n first saw the man and their eyes locked, he thought he was going crazy. Maybe he'd needed to stay sitting after all. But the man's expression was just as stunned, and they looked at each other with matching wide eyes and parted lips. If Y/n was insane, then so was this man. Except... maybe that wasn't such a stretch, because when he looked at the face of the man that had been in that metal mask, curled in the back of Zoom's cell on the brink of death... he saw his own face. "Oh my god," they said at the same time.

Caitlyn moved forward. "Cisco I told you it wasn't a good idea to-"

"It's okay," Y/n interrupted, pulling away from Harry and Cisco. "I just-" he cleared his throat, standing tall and walking to himself, bandaged and on the bed. They were both tired, both bleeding and worn down. The other Y/n, Earth 2 Y/n, was more so, but still they weren't far off from each other. Y/n stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Earth 2 Y/n hesitated before smiling and taking his hand. The handshake was weak, but it still felt good to do it this way. "Nice to meet you too." Earth 2 Y/n's voice was weak and dry, and he coughed after speaking, but his face seemed to set. "I think we have a lot to talk about." He winced but tried to hide it, and Y/n found himself admiring his strength.

"First," Y/n began. He turned to Iris. "None of us have had anything to eat or drink in a while. I'm assuming we're all a little underfed and dehydrated. I hate to ask you to run an errand but-"

Iris shook her head. "The second you woke up Eddie went to get stuff for both of you. Jesse's fine and resting, but she asked us to wake her up when you did. I figured whatever she wants to say to you can wait until after you two talk."

Y/n felt himself relax. He felt safe again. Home. He looked around and saw his closest friends. His family. Joe, Cisco, Caitlyn, Iris... Barry. Jesse and Harry, who were becoming a part of home as well. The only people missing were Eddie and Patty. Patty. Y/n ran his hand through his hair, sighing. "Thank you Iris."

She nodded. "Also, I know you've been through a lot and you came back to... even more-" Her lips pursed and Y/n's hands curled around the fabric of his pants as he silently begged her not to say it. "I just mean, if you need anyone to talk to..."

"Of course," Y/n answered. "Thank you again."

Once again, Iris nodded. "Okay everyone out," she said next, turning to push everyone out of the room. Barry hesitated, but then sighed as Y/n had, knowing that his presence probably wasn't helping anyway. They all left, leaving the two Y/n's alone.

Y/n 2 motioned to a chair and Y/n sat. "So what do you want to know?" Y/n 2 asked.

Y/n thought for a second. "Why did Zoom have you?"

"Right to business, huh?" They both smiled, and Y/n 2 sighed. "How about we start with something else? I don't want to talk about Zoom right when I've woken up."

Nodding in understanding, Y/n tried something else. "On your Earth, things are... way different. Wells has a kid, so Eobard Thawne didn't happen-" Y/n 2 seemed to have questions, but he let Y/n continue anyway. "What else is different?"

That made Y/n 2 laugh. "Uh, well I can't be sure of that, but I can tell you about my life if you tell me about yours?" He agreed, and they began to talk. Apparently Earth 2 had done Y/n well. His parents were actually good people, and had raised him. Helped him through high school and then even onto college. When the particle accelerators had gone off, he’d been in medical school of all places. On to become a doctor. That had been ruined when he'd broken his hand. Or, so everyone thought. Apparently he had a healing factor like Barry. More than, judging from the fact that Y/n 2 seemed to have an energy based ability. He could manipulate it. He could heal people, take wounds. He had miracle cured plenty of things, as well as played support to Flash a few times. The way he talked about Flash seemed so different to the way Jay acted. He spoke of him like it was a father-son relationship. Like they went years back, and Flash had been like a second dad, even though Jay was the same age as Y/n. It didn't line up, like so many things hadn't recently.

Y/n 2 distracted from all of that when he spoke next about meeting Patty when she'd come to Central City for his advice on something specifically. Apparently there'd been a meta who could cause infection and disease, and the only one they could think to combat it was the hero they'd been calling Apollo. Y/n. Patty had played ultra detective and found out who Y/n was in order to test if he really could be trusted, and then had come to him for help personally. He helped her. His identity had been exposed and his parents had been killed before he could take the bad meta down, but he'd pulled it off in the end and with Patty and Jay's help he'd pulled through it.

"I'm so sorry," Y/n whispered, feeling the pain for a person he so wished he'd been.

Y/n 2 shook his head, dismissing it. "Things happen for a reason. Tragedy is... well it's tragedy, and I was broken for years. But without it I wouldn't have met Patty, so-"

At that, Y/n's eyebrows pushed together. "Wait you... You’re not friends with Barry." Y/n 2 shook his head. "Huh. What's Patty like in the other Earth?"

That seemed to make Y/n 2 brighten a lot. "She's amazing. She's so smart, and driven and- well I definitely wouldn't be here without her." He sighed, his smile turning soft and dreamy. "I mean, that's not why I fell in love with her, just what she can bring me. I-"

"I'm sorry you what?" Y/n asked, feeling his chest tighten.

Y/n 2 froze. "You're..." His eyes widened in realization. "You two aren't together here."

Y/n's mouth worked as he tried to wrap his mind around that. "No." Now his voice was the one that sounded strained. "She and Barry-"

"Oh!" Y/n 2 looked slightly pained by that. "Back on my Earth, Detective West and her husband are like renown. It's so weird to hear about Barry with someone else."

Y/n felt his heart construct in his chest. "Barry and Iris... on Earth 2..."

At that exact moment, Y/n 2 seemed to realize exactly what that expression on Y/n's face meant. "You're in love with him."

Unable to face this, Y/n closed his eyes. His jaw worked and he tried to calm his raging heart. When he opened his eyes again, Y/n 2 looked so sorry it was tangible, but Y/n pushed that out of his head. "Our Earths... our lives... they're very different." Y/n 2 got comfortable, settling in to listen to Y/n's story next. So Y/n sighed, and then he told it. "When I was kid, I wanted to be a beetle." They both smiled. "I would stay outside all the time and crawl around in the dirt and come back to my parents with stories of anthills. I actually put my hand on an anthill one time. Red ants, all over my hand. They got in between my fingers and bit down."

"Ouch," Y/n 2 hissed.

Y/n laughed. "Yeah actually. You can't imagine." His smile faltered. "My parents told me that I was an idiot, of course. As I stopped paying attention in school and started to dream of the outdoors and the adventures I wanted to have, I started failing school. My dad, my biological dad, he's a complete loser. Got my mom knocked up super young. She left him because he was... a leech, to say the least. Dragged her down financially and emotionally.

“She eventually married my step dad, who was a successful business man. Of sorts. He's a salesman at least. She went to school and he took care of me. She became a lawyer. When I showed a taste for adventure and fresh air and hated the idea of a desk job or even wearing a shirt, let alone a tux... they saw me heading for failure." He shrugged. "They hated me for it. My mom said I reminded her of my dad. And, with him, the worst years of her life. Her biggest mistake. She'd almost lost everything having me, and she'd said it was worth it because at least she could make something good out of what had happened back then. She could raise a strong, smart person who was going to special and incredible. I was going to be someone amazing... and then I turned out to be a beetle. She never let me forget it. That I was her biggest disappointment. That if she knew what she knew now, she wouldn't have had me at all."

The tone in the room was dark and heavy. Y/n 2 rested a hand on a hand on Y/n's shoulders. "I can't imagine... I'm so sorry Y/n."

Y/n scoffed, his eyes watering. "I mean she was right. I dropped out of school my sophomore year and went on the run. Ran into someone who was just a beat cop at the time, and tried my best to help him out with a case he needed some intel on. My eyes had been open to the possibilities that I wasted, and I wanted to matter on some level. When he became director of the CCPD, our very own David Singh... well he pulled a few strings. Got me a job as an archivist. But I was still a loser. The only person who treated me like an equal was Barry and David, and Barry only saw me that way because he was treated just like I was. We were two nerds who weren't taken seriously, how could we not find each other? He had this... crazy story from his childhood, and he spoke so highly of his parents and with such sincerity that I saw the difference in his eyes than I had seen in my eyes. I knew his father was a good man the same way I knew mine wasn't. However insane it sounded, I just knew that he had to be telling the truth. I believed him. No one else had done that, so we became very, very close. But... he was in love with Iris."

Y/n 2 seemed to realize then why Y/n had reacted that way to finding out that they had ended up together on Earth 2. "Oh."

Nodding, Y/n continued. "Then I got powers." He told him about the Flash and Creature and being a villain, of sorts. The people he'd killed. All bad people, but still. Y/n was just as tainted as they were, even if he was doing it for the right reasons at the time. "Or that's what Barry says. I started with my parents, but it wasn't enough. I wanted to rid this world of not just them, but people like them too. I saw corruption everywhere, and it almost lead me down some very dark roads. Barry was there to pull me out of it."

"What happened?" Y/n 2 asked, eyebrows pushed together. "How did he end up with Patty if he's in love with Iris and you're right there?" Y/n told him about Eobard Thawne. Y/n 2's eyes filled with pain. "Oh Y/n..."

"Yeah," Y/n sighed. "I don't know, now I'm just trying to make up for it I guess. Trying to make up for being a waste as a normal person, and being a waste as a meta human. Trying to be something worth while. I... I don't know what Barry saw in me, but if I'm honest, sometimes I feel like Eobard is... like I deserve it. I did a lot of bad things, and everything else was just... me being a waste of space in general."

At that, Y/n 2 grabbed Y/n's chin, forcing their eyes to meet. "You are not a waste of space. You have NEVER been a waste of space. You didn't owe your mom for being born, and it's terrible that she ever expected that of you. The sins of the father are not for the child to make up. I may be more successful, and more widely loved, but you are more of a hero than I will ever be. You could have let Eddie die. You would have been happy, and with Barry. You would have finally had everything you deserved, and you would have been able to be heroes together. But you didn't. You gave up everything the day you saved Eddie, and you did it without a second thought. After a life of pain, you gave up your own happiness so someone else could live and that is a sacrifice not many people could make. It sounds like an easy decision, but in a split second moment? Most people would have hesitated, and Eddie would be dead. Now he and Iris are getting married! I mean, that's all because of you Y/n. You saved his life. You saved Barry's life. THAT is what Barry sees in you. He sees someone who grew up in hate and pain and in the end, became a good person anyway because you sought goodness. Even if you were misguided, you sought goodness every second of your life and survived in a world that was trying to destroy you. You can't blame yourself for that. I'm proud of you, and so are all of your friends. You should be proud of yourself too. And if Eobard Thawne has anything nasty to say about it, kindly tell him that he can go and fuck off because he's wrong about you and I think the real reason he's so nasty to you and ruins all you have is because he's jealous of you. Jealous that you got the approval of Barry, and came out strong and good after crawling your way out of darkness. All it took for that ego maniac to break was the disapproval of his hero. You're better than him in every sense of the word, and he can sense it in every part of his being because he's apart of you as much as you're apart of him. As much as you can feel his taint and darkness, he can feel your goodness and light. Don't let anyone tell you other wise, do you understand me?"

Y/n was crying, and they both hugged. It was long and hard, and for once Eobard had nothing to say.

When they leaned away, they were both smiling. Behind them, someone knocked on the door frame and they turned to see Eddie with arm fulls of Big Belly Burger. "Sorry I didn't want to interrupt, but-"

"Now how long have you been there?" Y/n asked, trying to laugh off his wrecked emotional state.

Eddie's eyes softened. "Since other Y/n talked about his parents dying." Y/n covered his face with his hands and Eddie set down the food to move to his best friend and pull his hands away. "He was right," Eddie insisted earnestly. "Do you at least believe it when it comes out of your own mouth?"

Y/n looked between the two other men, and let his guard down. He let himself, for once, believe that he was a good person. That he deserved happiness not just because he was a hero, but because he was a human being who had wrongfully suffered so much pain. Being alive was enough to have worth, and he knew that about other people, so why couldn't he accept it about himself? "Yeah," he finally answered. "Thank you, both of you."

Eddie's hand squeezed Y/n in a small pulse, before he pulled away to go and get the food he'd brought in before. "Thank me after you've eaten and you feel better." The two Y/n's nodded and began eating. For a second, everything was okay and they all let a breath of relief out. They were okay. They'd gotten a HUGE win over Zoom by getting both Y/n 2 and Jesse home again, and they were going to keep winning this. They would defeat Zoom. Today, though, what they had for now could be enough.

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clean-bands-dirty-stories · 3 years

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Pine ~ B.A. (part 2)

A/n: Yes I know I'm doing it again (neglecting other fics for a new fic) but in my defense... yeah I got nothing. Enjoy! Side note: I used this playlist to inspire me with this fic, so feel free to use it as well to read!

Word Count: 7300+

MASTERLIST

Y/n was completely missing for three months. Not publicly, but that wasn’t a comfort. It was somehow even worse actually.

For three months, the head archivist position stayed empty as Y/n was said to have been off with a sick relative. As long as the work got done, Singh didn't push it too hard. Barry was grateful when after those three months he stopped getting asked questions, but... he almost didn't like how everyone seemed to have forgotten Y/n. He didn't want to bring it up in case questions started rolling again, but he hated how everything went back to normal so quickly.

It was when Joe played it off that Barry really had enough.

"Hey can you bring this to the Archivist? I hate to ask, but I have to leave for a-"

"They have a head archivist?" Barry asked, his hands tightening at his sides.

Joe looked at Barry for a long time. "You... don't... okay never mind. I'll just do it."

The idea that they'd replaced Y/n drove Barry insane. He wanted things to go back to normal. Back when he would sneak into the archive on his break, or Y/n would slip into his lab so they could do paperwork together. They’d talk about comics and superheroes, or the most recent case, or memories from the past or plans for the future. Sometimes they'd just sit in silence and enjoy that another person was there. He missed the days that things were simple and he wished more than ever that he'd realized sooner how he'd felt. That he'd had more time... but even if they'd started dating when Barry came to the precinct, it still wouldn't be long enough. Years wasn't a long enough time with Y/n, Barry was realizing that now. He looked around and was swallowed in memories of Y/n, no matter where he was. He felt a tornado of icky emotions that made him think back to when Caitlyn and he had first met. How cold and distant she'd been. How closed off and hard.

He understood her now.

He felt... empty. Numb. Not a lacking of emotions - he had too many of those - but like there was something missing. Like his guts had been scooped out, or his arm had been cut off. Like there was this gaping hole he couldn't fill. One that sucked all the energy out of him. He did his job, and he pulled off Flash stuff. He swam in work, trying to drown himself in an attempt to distract from that aching, dull pain that had become far too big a part of Barry's life. But it didn't work. Of course.

Patty made things a little nicer.

Everyone tried, but they all reminded Barry of times with Y/n. Eddie, who had been like his brother. Iris, who had distracted Barry so long. Cisco and Caitlyn that had patched up and tested and helped Creature the same way they'd helped the Flash. Joe, who had worked with Y/n even before the particle accelerator. But Patty....

Patty Spivott was the new cop on the floor. She had interjected, volunteering to be on Joe's meta human task force. It had taken a ridiculous amount of convincing, but she had more than proved herself. She was warm and kind, leaning toward Barry as the only one in the building who seemed to geek out with her about meta humans like Barry did. They talked, and her friendship was... nice. It was really nice. There was that time she'd asked him on a date, but he'd told her about his boyfriend, and she'd respected him being taken. She had asked about him though and Barry had been all too eager to go off. Her reaction to his rant is what froze Barry solid.

"Oh my god, you and Y/n are dating? Like, the archivist? I totally hadn't been able to tell-" she cut off at the look on Barry's face. "What's wrong?"

"How do you know Y/n?" Barry asked, his heart ramming in his chest violently. Had she seen him? Was he alive? Was he okay? Was he coming back? Had he mentioned Barry?

Patty seemed confused by the question. "He's head archivist. He does the filing and stuff. He was my first friend here. Suggested I come and talk to you actually-"

Barry stood. "I'll be right back." He left Patty confused as he resisted with every part of him to use his super speed to get to the archives faster. He thought about Joe's reaction when he'd asked Barry to take the file to the archives. He must have known... but that was MONTHS ago now. How long had Y/n been back? Why hadn't anyone told him?!

The archives were quiet when Barry finally got to them. He raced to the back, where he knew Y/n's office would be. He froze in the doorway when he saw, sure as everything, Y/n. Sitting at his desk, with a bunch of paperwork in front of him. He was reading an old case - Barry had seen that look enough times to pinpoint it exactly. He looked... different though. Not just exhausted, but drained. His skin was paler, his eyes duller. His nails were bitten past where they should be, and his hair was messier than Barry had ever seen it. There were dark bags under his eyes.

As if sensing Barry's presence more than hearing his approach, Y/n finally looked up. He seemed to tense, moving away from Barry on his little rolley chair. It felt like a slap in the face. "Barry." The word was some sort of greeting, but it was cold and distant. Cut off. Blunt.

"Y/n..." his own voice was so starkly different in comparison. Soft and warm. Full of emotion, all of them some sort of pain. It was a plead more than a word. More than a name. Begging, more powerful than anything Barry had heard in his life.

Y/n looked away and Barry's chest ached. "Do you have a file for me?"

"Please god don't do this." Barry moved closer and Y/n stood, out of his chair, to move further away again. Barry's arms fell to his sides. "Y/n I... I can't lose you. You didn't even tell me you were back. I had to learn from Patty because I told her about my boyfriend and she-"

"I told you," Y/n interrupted. "We're not dating anymore. We're not friends. I don't want to be in your life, and I don't want you in mine. I worked hard to keep our work things as separate as possible. It's over. We dated for a week at best, just let it go."

Barry stood there, feeling lost. "I wasn't just in love with you for a week. And I don't want to give it up now, I didn't get to do any of the things I really wanted to do with you. You can't just... this can't be it. You can't give up because Wells-"

"Thawne isn't just a person in my head, Allen," Y/n snapped, and the expression he made was so very close to ones Barry had seen on an angry Harrison Wells' face that he felt his stomach twist. "He's apart of me. His pain is my pain. His happiness is my happiness. And that's really fucking hard to wrap my head around when I'm in love with you and he hates your very existence. I want to kill you. I want that. ME. I messed up, okay? I didn't do it like I should have that night, and it messed things up really badly. Now I can't be with you. I can't even stand to be around you. Hearing your voice makes me want to puke for completely opposite reasons and when you look at me like that..." he had been avoiding looking at Barry, but now he did and Barry saw agony on Y/n's face. "Opposite parts of me hurt with you, and also thrive off of your misery at the exact same time. I... I'm sorry.” The hardness in his voice broke as he next spoke in a whisper, closing his eyes and tilting his head away as if Barry was a sun whose rays hurt to feel. “Please get out of my office."

Barry stepped back, and then stood there for a moment. "You know when you saw that article you told me that we make our own decisions. We can give in to what we're told we have to do, or we can do the impossible... or we can be clever and come up with a new way to do things. Because being told what to do and listening? Boring. Predictable. But forging a new way and proving everyone wrong? That's the best part of life." Y/n sighed, his shoulders sagging at Barry’s words. "You can shut me out. Tell me it's impossible. And maybe it is. But that doesn't mean I'm going to give up on you. Even if we have to start at the beginning. Worse than the beginning. If we have to be enemies, then fine, but-" he suddenly cut off as Y/n shifted to look like Eobard Thawne.

Not Wells. Thawne. A face that Barry had only ever hated.

Thawne looked up at Barry with disgusted, angry eyes. "Do you still love me if I look like this?" He stepped forward and Barry stepped back. "Knowing that these hands killed your mother?" He reached for Barry and the taller man scrambled away, his heart full of terror. "Do you still want to be with me and hear this voice? Huh, Barry? I love you, Barry." Barry shivered, disturbed deeply by what he was facing. Thawne stopped moving closer to Barry. "This is what I was trying to avoid." He stayed Thawne as his face grew impossibly full of pain. It was an expression that was completely Y/n. "The moment you realize we're the same person now. Thawne And I - we aren't separate. It isn't him and me. It's US."

"But You're still in there," Barry insisted firmly.

This person that was Y/n, or Thawne - that was both. That person looked at Barry. "No I'm not. The person you knew. The one you fell in love with. It's been tainted by this new person. Twisted and mixed. Once you add dirt to water, it's not water or dirt anymore. It's mud."

Barry sighed, his body melting as pain contorted his face. He looked like he was about to throw a fit. "So what, That's it? I move on from Iris FINALLY, and then I lose you immediately? I find love, real love, someone who loves me back, but it doesn't matter because you're what, dead now?"

Y/n was quiet for a long time. They formed back into Y/n, and Barry was so relieved that he wasn't pouring his heart out to Thawne anymore. "Did you know your mother begged me before I killed her?" Barry went stone still, a sickening chill curling through him. "She told me... I can still remember it. She told me about her husband. How he was a good man, and how this would just kill him. About their future and their home and her parents. About her son." The two men locked eyes. "About her little Barry who was bullied at school and needed her to kiss his bruises and cuts better and tell him to stay strong. She said Please fourteen times before I finally stabbed her."

Barry looked away, tears rolling down his cheeks. He wiped them away and took a deep breath. "Do you remember when I first found out Wells was Reverse Flash? When Cisco came to you in tears and you held him for four hours before he could finally form a solid sentence, and you never complained. It didn't even occur you to be annoyed or tired or to push Cisco to hurry up. You stood in the same spot for hours and held him and rubbed his back. You learned how to braid hair so that when we went out drinking you could do Caitlyn and Cisco's hair so if they overdid it and threw up afterward, they wouldn't have to worry about their hair getting in the way. You used to do Cisco's hair all the time because you could tell it bothered him to have it in his face but he hated just tying it back because it bothered him to have it look messy.

"You were the one who was honest with Iris first, telling her about you being Creature and reassuring her Every time I shut her out or was afraid to tell her. Reassuring me. You encouraged me to tell her, and you're the reason I finally did. When Joe got sick you came over and made dinner for them every night because Iris can't cook for the life of her. When I first came here, you vouched for me with the others so they wouldn't be as hard on me. You lied for me, and took blame on yourself all the time so people would give me some slack. You gave me a tour and answered all my questions and when I told you that a man inside lightning killed my mom and that it wasn't my dad, you nodded and said how sorry you were and even before I said anything you sympathized about how hard it must be, because of course no one else believed me like you did. Because you believed me. For fourteen years I dealt with people tearing me down and trying to medicate me even. But you... you believed me."

Y/n rose a hand to rub his closed eyelids. "I'm not that person anymore."

"Yeah but you're still in there. You may not be my Y/n, but you're also no Wells. You're not Thawne. You're someone new, and erasing the good part of yourself because you hate the bad part isn't fair to yourself. You didn't kill my mom Y/n, you just remember it because of Thawne. You didn't lie to me and betray me. And I know that it's weird because you and him are like merged or whatever now. And god it's hard to look at you when you look like him. But you... you killed yourself to save me that day. I'm not turning my back on you now. Even if all we end up being ever again is friends, you don't get to destroy yourself and then shut me out to protect me even more. This new you... you haven't hurt me yet. I'm willing to take that chance."

He turned and began walking away and Y/n didn't know what to say or do because he loved Barry more than ever, and even that nasty side of him was intrigued by this. Confused by it. Even Thawne couldn't comprehend why Barry was being like this. How he was finding so much love and mercy and forgiveness for someone who was one with Eobard Thawne of all people.

If it wasn't Y/n... if it had been anyone else...

But it was Y/n, so here they were. Hurray.

"You should ask him out." Y/n said it casually, with ease. It came out so smoothly for how much the words hurt him inside. Y/n and Thawne both hated the idea of Barry being happy with Patty. For different reasons, but still. Thawne hated Barry being happy at all, and it just killed Y/n to think of Barry with anyone other than him. But he also knew that this was for the best, so he ignored all of it and said it anyway.

Patty cocked an eyebrow. "Are you guys not dating?"

Y/n shook his head. "No. We went on like two dates and kissed, but it didn't work out. He thought... things were different."

"Ouch," Patty mumbled.

A small chuckle came from Y/n. He liked hanging out with Patty. She was more than just a distraction, she was genuinely pleasant to be around. She didn't expect anything from him like the others did. It wasn't hard or complicated with her. He smiled when he was around her. He never did that anymore. "You have no idea." He cleared his throat. "But seriously. The way you talk about him... I see the way you look at him when you're around him. When he isn't paying attention especially. You smile like... like he warms you up inside. Like he's sunshine and you're in the dark." And wouldn't Y/n know everything about how Barry could have that effect on people?

Patty looked at Y/n for a few seconds longer than was comfortable. "You say it like you know it."

Damnit. Y/n was too transparent for his own good. "I know what it's like to find him attractive, and no matter who you are he does make things nicer. He's an amazing guy. You guys would be perfect for each other."

This time Patty laughed. It was shorter than when Y/n had though. She looked at Y/n with that same expression she had on when she was studying a troubling case. Like she was trying to put together a puzzle. Whatever she was thinking, she didn't vocalize it, and it was both a relief while also making Y/n more anxious. What had she seen? "Fine then. I'll ask him out. Heaven knows he won't." She stood, gathering her stuff. She'd snuck into the archives on her break but was heading out now. She'd brought her lunch AND her work with her, so the garbage went in the bin as she made her way out with her other arm full of paperwork. "Same time tomorrow?"

"For sure." Y/n's voice sounded strained and his smile felt heavy. Hard to hold. She didn't react to the obvious change in Y/n, just gave him a little two finger salute tap to her forehead and then headed out the door and down the hall back to the main room of the precinct.

It wasn't long that she was gone that Y/n heard a new voice. "She's very pretty."

Y/n flinched. "Ew."

"I wasn't noticing it myself," Thawne groaned inside Y/n's head. "You're thinking it. And you can try and ignore it, which is what I know you're going to do but I get your unfiltered subconscious so I know everything." He said it with intense disgust.

Y/n couldn't help himself from rolling his eyes. "She is attractive, that's just an observation."

"And you like being around her," Thawne added mercilessly.

Y/n's hand raised so his face could rest in it. "Hey Thawne? Shut up."

It went quiet, but Y/n didn't need him to say anything. He could feel Thawne's emotions. Feel the little devil man internally giggle and smirk and mock Y/n for his stupid little feelings. He could feel the way Thawne wanted to rake him for having feelings for someone else so soon after Barry. How he wanted to tear Y/n apart for developing feelings for two people when he could have neither. But it didn't matter, because having a little crush on Patty because she was nice and pretty and refreshing was nothing compared to the way he felt about Barry, and at the end of the day it would be the way that Thawne never paused to remind Y/n that they could never be together that was the hardest to swallow.

"Hey Eddie!" Y/n immediately brightened as he saw the blonde walk through his door. They'd been talking a lot less. Eddie needed some space after that night, both because Y/n was apart of Eobard now, and also because he'd had to stomach that in order to save him, Y/n had destroyed himself. Barry and Eddie had actually bonded over the guilt they'd both had.

Long story short, it was nice to see him again.

Eddie smiled. "Y/n, hey." He seemed to relax like he used to, instead of tensing. The first time they'd realized that the only power Y/n could have now was Thawne's, it had been a disaster. He had vibrated, his eyes glowing red, and everyone had thought that Thawne had gained control. Eddie had been tense a lot around Y/n ever since, and no one blamed him for it. Well except for Eddie of course, who felt guilty about most things when it came to Y/n. "I know it's been a while. I just... I had a question for you."

"What's up?" Y/n asked. A little bit of his old self came back as he hopped up onto his desk.

Noticing the small action that was so very Y/n and so very not Thawne, Eddie's lips curved a little into a small smile. "Listen I know things have been complicated. I know you're struggling with all of our old friends and stuff. Things are hard now. But... Iris and I still want to get married."

"As you guys should," Y/n encouraged immediately.

Eddie chuckled. Y/n had been the only one enthusiastic about the couple from day one. His support was one of the many reason him and Eddie such good friends. Lord knows no one else was going to get behind the whole thing until Y/n convinced them. That was why Eddie was here now. “I want you to be my best man."

Y/n stopped dead, and for a second Eddie was worried he'd ruined the moment. But then Y/n's face light up and he slid off his desk and tackled Eddie in a hug. The two men laughed before Y/n stood back, beaming. "Are you kidding me, I would LOVE-"

"Me too?" Thawne purred in Y/n's head.

Immediately Y/n's expression darkened. "Are you sure?" His voice had gotten lower. It cracked, like he'd just woken up or hadn't used it in a long time.

The change didn't go past Eddie. He placed his hands on each of Y/n's shoulders. "Like I said, I know it's complicated. But Iris and I talked, and we want you there. Without you, we wouldn't have happened. Not only did you encourage both of us to go for it day after day, you also saved my life." His voice got heavy with emotion. "I almost made a huge mistake that day and you stopped me from doing it. I would rather no one be at my side when I finally get that life I've been reaching toward for a year now." He sniffed, raising a hand to wipe away a tear. "You're my best friend, Y/n. You don't see me just as Joe's partner, or Iris' boyfriend. You never saw me as Barry's competition. You just saw me as Eddie, and I'm thankful for that everyday."

A smile pushed back onto Y/n's face. "I'd be honored, Eddie."

Eddie nodded. "We were thinking of changing things up, because Iris wants Barry to be in her line too. She was going to ask Caitlyn, but we talked about that too and you know.., life is short and fun doesn't last as long as it should. Our wedding will be our wedding and no one else's. We'll do it our way, and her best friend is Barry the same way you're mine. You'll be... walking down the aisle with him. If that's okay."

Y/n thought about that for a few seconds, but then he just pushed the whole thing out of his head. "Of course that's okay. Like you said, it's your guys' wedding. Your day. Barry and I can walk down the aisle together for you guys. It's just a walk."

Smiling, Eddie hugged Y/n. "Thank you." There was a depth in that phrase past just Eddie being excited Y/n was his best man. Y/n pushed that down too though.

Unfortunately, it didn't end there.

Y/n was thinking that iris and Eddie were playing matchmakers. Everything having to do with Barry and Y/n for wedding stuff, always required them to do it together for some reason. Iris and Eddie asked them to come for tux fittings, and Iris had them come to help pick out her dress and to keep her company as it got tailored. There was Eddie's bachelor party, which included Y/n and Barry, along with a bunch of people from work. Patty was there, which was a relief... until Barry and Y/n both tried to talk to her. Y/n ended up drifting toward Eddie, letting the two get along. And they did. And Y/n tried to pretend not to hate it, or notice how Eddie totally knew Y/n absolutely did. Then there was Iris' party too, and that one had Barry and Y/n as well. Thankfully Linda was there, and a few more girls from the paper and from Jitters that Iris had gotten close to, as well as Caitlyn and Cisco.

Y/n would be lying if he said a part of him didn't like spending time with Barry. Neither of them could get drunk, and laughing at everyone else was a party all on its own. There were jokes only they got, with how well they were so apart of each others' lives. Sometimes Iris would miss a funny work moment, or Patty wouldn't understand a joke about Flash stuff. Sometimes Caitlyn wouldn't understand a joke between best friends - things usually said between Y/n and Barry and Cisco. Sometimes Cisco wouldn't understand a family joke - things that Y/n usually wasn't there for, but Barry had spent plenty of time explaining. Things Y/n remembered or knew from having at some point stolen Barry's powers and some time or another accessed his memories and past feelings. No matter what joke Barry made, Y/n always got it, unless it was super nerdy and smart... but then Barry would take time to explain it, and somehow Y/n found it even funnier then, as Barry tripped over his words while laughing.

Those moments were of course always ruined by that small voice in Y/n's head. Comments from Thawne musing how to kill Barry, digging up that anger and hatred that felt so much like Y/n's own emotions. Sometimes he would recount Nora's murder, or reminisce about all the times he'd imagined killing Caitlyn or Joe or Cisco or Henry or Iris. Sometimes he would make snide comments about how cute Barry and Patty were, or how in the future it was still certain that Barry and Iris were to end up together. The future Mrs. West-Allen. How Y/n wasn't even apart of the future. How he didn't even know what happened to Y/n, because he didn't matter. He wasn't even part of the history books. He was forgotten. To everyone, including Barry Allen. One day the Flash would move on and marry Iris and Y/n would be nothing but a bad dream.

Barry could always tell. The moment that Y/n's smile fell or his eyes grew distant and glazed over. When he withdrew and grew quiet, or tears would come to his eyes just for a second. When his hand would tighten around something he was holding, or curled into a fist. When things were brightest, Wells always cut in to darken and dampen them and Y/n would shatter all over again and Barry was slowly but surely learning that Y/n didn't just avoid him for Barry's sake, but also his own. And he felt guilty. He wanted to run from Y/n. Give him space and peace of mind. Not aggravate Thawne, so he would torment Y/n less.

Patty could tell something was up too.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" She prompted Barry once, after Y/n gave some lame excuse during Eddie's bachelor party to go outside for some fresh air. Barry hummed in confirmation, looking away from where Y/n was escaping to distract himself from the smile that had been on Y/n's face just seconds before. "What happened between you and him?"

Barry looked at the table, tracing the lines and curves in the wood with the tip of his finger. "We were in love. Are in love, I guess."

"He said that it was... something, but you mistook it for something more." Patty was pushing a line, but the curiosity was killing her. She may like Barry, but she also cared for Y/n, and watching them both suffer made her unsure if she should chase her feelings or play matchmaker.

A half amused, half hurt scoff rolled from Barry as he shook his head. "We officially dated like, a week or something. Went on two dates. It was short, but it was everything and it built up for months. I grew up being in love with Iris so... I was distracted." He shrugged. He usually hated sharing, especially stuff like this, but it was such a relief to talk about his feelings for Y/n again he didn't even care. "I was blinded by that I guess, but then I saw how happy she was with Eddie, and Y/n just... he's different. Special."

Patty nodded. "So... why are you guys like this? Why does he suddenly look like he's about to blow chunks every time he smiles more than a second around you?"

Barry was quiet for a long time. "Someone from his past got in his head. Dude hates me, and he and Y/n are... close. Y/n hates him too but can't get rid of him."

"That's terrible." Patty's eyes were widened with worry. "Is it family or something?"

"Sort of," Barry eased. "Eddie's family actually. Eddie hates him too. We all do. But Thawne... the dude Y/n is close with I mean, not Eddie. Anyway he's kind of the worst. Poisons Y/n against me."

For a second, Patty seemed to think. "I mean I know it's easier said than done, but... can Y/n get rid of him?"

A humorless chuckle came from Barry then. "No. He can't." Patty shot him a look but Barry shrugged. "It's complicated. He did it for me." His eyes closed and he shook his head. "Now he's stuck with Thawne and it's all for me. And Eddie." When he opened his eyes again Patty looked even more confused. Barry pursed his lips. "I'm sorry I... I really can't talk to you about this. I can't explain anything without revealing some really personal stuff about Y/n."

Immediately Patty backed off. "Of course." She sat back in her chair. "So there's no hope for you two?"

Barry glared at his glass. "Nope."

Patty frowned. "I'm sorry to bring it up."

He sighed. "It's fine. I get it, and I appreciate the effort. I really do. But it's over, and the more time I spend with Y/n the more I realize that I'm only hurting him more by trying to fight for something that only causes him pain. He tried to warn me but-" He shook his head again. "It doesn't matter."

It was quiet for a moment. "This is really weird to ask, but do you want to go do something outside of this?" Barry looked over as Patty spoke, but she cut him off before he could shut her down. "I don't mean like a date. I'm not interested in being a rebound. But I think you could use some fun, light hearted stuff. Something low stress and fun. Thoughts?"

Slowly, Barry smiled. "Yeah. I'd like that a lot actually."

Y/n came back to see the two smiling at each other and that immediately sent Thawne off in his head again. He sat away from them, near Eddie, and focused on literally anything else. It didn't work though. Thawne made sure of it.

Whatever their date had been, Barry and Patty were much closer after it. Wedding plans and forced bonding were washed away, paled in comparison to the brightness that was between the two. Y/n distanced himself from all of it and Iris and Eddie stopped pushing, realizing they were doing even more harm by trying to force it.

Barry was conflicted. Most of his experience with Y/n had been someone who was incredibly kind and selfless and loving. Y/n had sacrificed himself for Barry and Eddie. He had fought for free choice and encouraged Iris and Eddie to find happiness. He knew Barry more than anyone ever could. But... that Y/n was being erased and tainted by this new Y/n. Every good thing was being twisted as it seemed to cause Y/n pain now, and Barry found himself curling away from even the best of memories. They hurt too much when returning to reality meant returning to wounds freshly opened. It was so much easier to drown it out and focus on these new feelings.

Patty made Barry feel wonderful. It wasn't a rebound. He made sure of it. She deserved better than that, and at the end of the day there hadn't been much romance between Y/n and Barry. They'd been friends before anything else, and most of Barry's feelings were unexplored. Underdeveloped. With Patty, there wasn't much friendship. She had at some point fallen into a habit of flirting with Barry, and she'd sworn it was platonic but it was getting less so everyday.

The more time passed, the more that Barry realized that he had wasted most of his life waiting on Iris to do something she didn't have to do. It wouldn't be fair to do the same for Y/n, especially because there was no hope. There was no possibility. And seeing Barry miserable just made Y/n feel worse. So why not move on? Why not at least TRY something new? Why not let himself just be happy for once?

Of course, right when everything seemed to be rearranging into something good again, a new major villain popped out of the wood work to ruin everything. Zoom hadn't been much of a worry for quite a while, but then a new Harrison Wells showed his face and there was a whole other dimension of metas trying to kill Barry. Creature and Flash were working harder than ever, and they were handling things really well. It was so incredibly relieving to have help, as usual. Jay Garrick - another person from this Earth 2 - was help as well, even as Y/n seemed to not trust him. Barry didn't either at first, but eventually even he was won over. Never Y/n though.

"What's up with you and Jay?" Caitlyn asked one day. She had taken more than just a small liking to the Earth 2 Flash who had lost his speed, and was defensive against Y/n's bitterness.

Y/n shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I just don't want his voice in my ear when I'm trying to do things."

Joe shook his head. "Wells got into all of our-"

"Thawne," Y/n corrected.

"Thawne," Joe echoed. "Got into all of our heads last year. Hell, it's been wild readjusting to have this other Wells here again after all of it. But not everyone is a villain in disguise."

Y/n's jaw worked. "Look Joe, I know that my views looks backward to you. I trust Wells, and none of you do, and I don't like Jay when the popular opinion is that he's awesome or whatever. But... he reminds me more of Thawne than E-2 Wells does. The way he encourages Barry. Knows just what to say, how just to describe everything. And I know it makes sense because we KNOW he's a speedster but..." He groaned, his hand pressing against his forehead as his eyes slammed shut.

Everyone exchanged looks. It only made sense that Y/n would be the slowest to trust. After all, he still had Thawne in his head. Eddie moved closer to Y/n. "Listen Y/n, I know Eobard has been making things difficult. Made it hard for you to be happy, with Barry and-"

"This isn't about Thawne," Y/n snapped. His eyes softened when he saw Eddie take a step back. "I'm sorry. I just- listen, he came in here out of nowhere, past guards and security cameras, saying he's got all the information we need magically out of nowhere? I mean, what if he's in it with Zoom? They say that most criminals who do what they do for power, often involve themselves in with the police, or in this case - with the Flash. They want to be as in control of the investigation as possible. Do you know how many cases were solved just because someone knew something they shouldn't? Listen Criminal Minds might be a shit show but they did get one thing right - villains like Zoom, who thrive off of attention and power and putting on a show like he does? They liked to be involved with everything, and Zoom has been... distant. For someone with his flare every time he does show his face, he sure shows it very few times. And what's with this weird obsession with Barry he'll only act on, on a small level? Barry obviously can defeat all these villains with no problem. It takes a few days max, and then Zoom just stays back and watches. Why doesn't he just face Barry himself? If he wants Barry dead, I mean... if he took Jay out so easily, why doesn't he do the same to Barry? He's faster, more experienced. If he took Jay's speed why doesn't he just do it again with Barry? There's so many questions and no one else is asking them?"

He had gotten heated, desperate, and his rambling had tittered off into scrambled mumbling. The others waited for him to get it all out. Y/n only felt better if he was completely done. When he was, Iris stepped forward. "Y/n... not everyone is Eobard Thawne. And you and I know better than anyone. He almost got Eddie killed to defeat him. He almost killed Barry. I was right there with you for all of that psychological warfare. Well-" she winced. "Not always, but I can imagine what you went through."

"He even got me," Joe reminded.

"And my dad is an excellent detective," Iris agreed. "You don't have to be hyper vigilant. That's just Wells getting in-"

Y/n hissed, "Thawne." Iris sighed, going to correct herself, but Y/n didn't wait for that. "I don't trust him. And if all of you guys are going to treat me like I'm insane for that and use Thawne as a weapon to make me doubt myself then-" He shook his head. "Forget it. Maybe I am crazy. Maybe that's just who I am now." He scoffed and then turned and sped away.

Barry called his name, but he was already long gone.

Y/n didn't come around much anymore to the lab, but he always answered the call for help when Creature was needed. Iris and Eddie's wedding was pushed further and further back as things began to very quickly escalate. At work, Y/n didn't take visitors anymore. Zoom became even more of a problem.

Things were spiraling again and Barry was barely holding on.

It had been a while and all hopes of Barry and Y/n working out had been completely destroyed. Barry had willingly turned his attention to Patty. They had agreed to go together to the wedding, and even went on a proper date. They'd been getting closer, and were starting to get more and more cuddly. Even at work they couldn't keep their hands off of each other and with how often Y/n locked himself in the archives, Barry didn't even have to feel guilty. He was tired of being upset - he was allowed a little happiness for once. It had been coming up on a year now - it was time to move on.

At the end of it all, Y/n is the one by his side when he faces Zoom. The plan with Linda had gone completely wrong, and that was even with Y/n staying out of it to make it look even worse. When Zoom did show up much later though, far off from according to plan, it was weird that Y/n didn't show up at all. He had been waiting quite a ways off, ready to jump in if he was needed. Barry knew something was wrong when Y/n didn't answer his comms, or answer his phone after Barry tried that too.

They searched for the next three hours, but there was no trace of Y/n anywhere.

Until Zoom showed up again.

"Lost something?" Zoom purred in that demonic voice of his.

Barry hesitated, trying to control himself as fear slowly turned to anger. "Where is he? What did you do to him?"

"I don't do things on your terms, Flash. I do things on MY terms. I send people to fight you. They kill you or they die. That's it. This trick... this game of tag has insulted my intelligence, honestly. And of course none of that could be forgiven. So I took something from you, the same way I took something from Wells."

A scream ripped from Barry as he tried to go after Zoom, but of course the other speedster was still much faster than our man in red, so he got away. When Barry came back to the labs, Eddie was in front of Barry first. "Where's Y/n?"

Barry was choked up. He blinked, trying to respond. "He-" He coughed, blinking his eye to try and clear his watery vision. His gaze found Wells. "Zoom," he croaked.

Wells' eyes widened. "Well that makes things complicated.”

Y/n woke up in a cave, surrounded on all sides by what seemed to just be glass. He pressed his hand against it. In his head, Thawne showed him how to phase through it. And he tried. He tried so hard, but it hurt so much. He felt too tired, too dizzy.

A finger tapping on glass caught his attention. His eyes moved to see that in a normal cell was who could only be Jesse, Wells' daughter. In another containment made of that same weird glass, were two people. Both of them had metal helmets over their head, covering their faces. One of them leaned against the glass wall, limp and seeming completely hopeless as he tapped a sporadic pattern. Behind him the second figure was curled into a ball, his head on the ground and his back against the far wall. The furthest figure was breathing at least, but they seemed unable to move. Y/n called to them but only the one tapping moved his head in answer.

Jesse sighed. "Don't bother. They can't talk. Or if they can they won't. The one tapping is always silent, and the other one..." She swallowed. "The only time they move is when Zoom picks them up to draw blood from them. I think they're... I think they're dying."

Y/n paled. "Oh my god." He closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against the glass. "So I'm on another Earth, huh?" Jesse didn't respond - maybe because she sensed in some way that the question wasn't for her. Y/n scoffed as Thawne made some comment about how useless he was.

"We're never going to get out of here," Jesse mumbled, as if to steal Y/n's hope even more. Maybe to spare him putting in the effort.

That made Y/n shake his head. "Yes we will. Your dad is coming for you Jessie, and-" his eyebrows knit together. "I'm sure Barry will come for me. They're coming for both of us. I know it." Jesse went to argue but Y/n shot her a look. "I've seen your dad go to insane lengths to get you back. I know he won't stop until he succeeds. Just hold in there okay? We might be able to get out of here even sooner if I can..." He leaned off of the glass, looking around. "I need to charge up. Then I'm getting us out of here." His eyes landed on the two people in the iron masks. "All of us."

Jesse rose an eyebrow as Y/n sat down, crossing his legs to do some sort of meditation. "How can you be so sure?"

Y/n actually smiled. "Because the only thing stronger than fear is hope, so in order to conquer the fear that will keep us here, I have to be confident. I have to have hope that I'll get out of here. I have to reject that I'll fail and do anything I can to succeed. Part of being a hero." His eyes looked at the floor. "The Flash taught me that one."

The man leaning his head against the glass lifted it, the eye slits moving to look at Y/n. Y/n nodded to them, and their shoulders seemed to relax. There was something... but Y/n didn't have time for that now. He had to get out of there. And he would. No matter what.

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