58

My eyes slowly open as my sight was trying to adjust to the sudden light in the living room, from it being the next morning.

A sound of Barry's soft snores were filling the line of the call that was still continued, as we had both fell asleep before any one of us could hang up.

A small yawn leaves my lips, as I sat up on my couch, rubbing my eyes.

"Barry?" I quietly say into the phone, my voice threaded with tiredness, as his snoring comes to a halt, a small grumble following after, "Hm?"

"I'm hanging up now." I simply say, as I hear him yawn.

All I hear is a small mumble before I end the call.

I got up, dressed myself into a pair of joggers and a navy blue sweater, redoing my hair into a messy bun, before sitting on the couch once more after leaving the bathroom, the mint of the toothpaste I used still fresh in my mouth.

I grabbed my laptop, and spent the rest of my day completely different articles I should've written in the time I was at Earth Two, and no able to.

-

[ ]

"Okay. What happened with you on Earth Two? The truth." Joe asks, as I was seated on the stairs, entire house a mess due to King Shark destructing it, in order to find The Flash and kill him. He ran off before I could catch him, and now I was here, in the living room with Joe and Iris, after everything that had went wrong today with Wally, and how he fundamentally called me out for being a coward, when really, I was trying to save everyone lives.

I sigh, "I shouldn't- tell you guys this. But uhm, I pause, "I met your doppelgangers."

Joe's eyes go slight wide, as I pointed to Iris, "You were the cop of the family, a good one too."

A laugh comes from her, as she looks at Joe, "I told you I would've made a good cop."

"Don't get any ideas." Joe says, looking at me, "What about me then?"

"You were a lounge singer." I answer, his eyes widening in amusement, "Yeah, you had this amazing voice, actually, but you didn't like me at all. You actually blamed me for Iris becoming a cop, said that she only became one to help her selfish husband's career."

"Wait," Iris scoffs lightly, "We were married?"

I barely nod.

"And we went to go see Joe perform.And that's when everything went wrong.Um, some metas that worked for Zoom showed up, they were looking for me." I paused.

"They knew I wasn't supposed to be there, and they attacked, and you got caught in the crossfire, and you died." I continue, "I knew that it wasn't you, that none of that was this life, but I mean, watching it happen in front of me, living that, it didn't feel any different, because it was all still real. And Jay warned me not to get emotionally sucked in when I went there, and then that's exactly what happened." By now, my eyes were glossed with tears that were threatening to fall.

"And- that's not the only thing- that's been bothering me. I'm sure- Iris knows this already- but. Zee's doppelganger. has been here- every since Zee got kidnapped. She portrayed herself as our Zee- she made it her entire mission- to come here and stay here as our Zee, up until she can break me- so I would've be able to take on any more metas." I say, "So I would be so hurt. That- I would give up- and my head wouldn't fully be in the game."

Joe stays silent, as Iris looks down.

I continue, "And ever since then- All I've seen- in that women's eyes. Was hurt- and betrayal. I've been so afraid that- Zee would end up like her too. With everything- that happened in her childhood- and how Jay's presence has been affecting her- how I've been treating her because of her shows of neglect towards him- I feel like she's moving deeper and deeper into that- and I'm the one pushing her. This is exactly what Cisco thinks of Caitlin- due to seeing Jay murdered right in front of us." Tears finally fell from my eyes, as they were now slightly red, "I don't want to see the woman that I love turn into something that she's not because of me."

Iris looks up at me, as I could see the sympathy in her eyes.

"Now- My relationship is ruined with Zee, there's so much tension- unease- hesitation. And now Joe West on Earth Two is dead because I showed up." I finish, sniffling quietly.

Joe spoke up, "Barry, that's- that's not your fault."

"Yeah it is my fault. It's all my fault." I spoke, "Zoom, this King Shark, Zee, Jay's death, it's all because of me. And then, I just left an entire world at Zoom's mercy."

Joe stands up straight, his finger pointing at me, "Zee is not that women."

"I-" I try to speak, but he cuts me off.

"I don't care what happened when she was younger, because she got through it. I don't care about how her foster family sucked- because I raised her. I don't care- if she's not my adoptive daughter- like you are my son- but I raised her to be that women she is today. She was a wreck when she hit high school, Barry. I pulled her out of being arrested, I pulled her away from every bad- damn choice she made. I raised her to be the women you're in love with." He spoke, "If I raised Iris without her mother by my side, if I raised you without your parents, and you two turned out just fine, I'm damn sure the work I did on her turned out good also."

Tears free fell, as I nod slowly, taking in his words, sniffling quietly as Iris looks at us, "I have an idea."

-

[ ]

There was a knock at my door, as I stood up slowly, walking over to my front door, as I opened it, revealing Barry and Iris, Barry holding a bag.

"Hell-o?" I say in a confused tone, my hands on the frame of my door.

"Hey." Iris smiles sweetly, as she puts her hands in her coat pockets, "I'm just here to drop Barry off."

"Drop- him off?" I ask, in a questionable tone, still completely confused, up until my eyes land on Barry's face, seeing his slightly red nose, partly red eyes, from probably previously crying.

"Well- I mean, considering, King Shark has destroyed our place, I insisted that Barry should come here." Iris explains, "My dad and I, will figure things out."

"If you two want to stay here too, that's fi-" I start but she cuts me off, "Nope- we are fine. Just Barry." Iris lightly pushes Barry towards me.

I give her a look, knowing exactly what she was doing, as she simply gives me a smile, before leaving the apartment building and heading back to her car.

I slowly let Barry in, before closing the doors, speaking as I locked my front door, "You can put your bag in the guest bedroom-"

He nods, before heading towards the guest bedroom.

-

Barry had defeated King Shark, and Lyla and Diggle were on their way back. We were all stood in the cortex, and by all, I meant Barry, Iris, Joe, Harry and Jesse, as I had finally gotten myself out of my apartment today to drop by starlabs, still dressed in a sweater and joggers, my hair still in a messy bun, my feet now wearing a pair of simple black flats, my hands resting in my pockets.

Cisco and Caitlin walk in, as Cisco speaks, "Hail, Hail, the gang's all here. What's good?"

Barry sighs, standing in front of us, "Uh," he puts his hands in his pockets, "I need to apologize to you all."

We all stay quiet as we listen to what he had to say.

"Um, last year I made a choice to go back in time and save my mother, and that choice had a lot of consequences that will haunt me for the rest of my life, just like I know it haunts all of you too." He speaks, "Zoom, Jay's death, it's all because of me. But I own those choices."

"We're the ones who opened the door to Earth Two, we're the ones who brought Zoom here, but we are also the ones who are going to stop him." Barry explains.

"How?" Harry speaks for all of us, "How are we gonna stop Zoom, Allen?"

"I don't know yet." He shrugs, "But those breaches aren't closed forever, and we're not done with Earth Two."

Barry goes and removes a cloth from a box shaped figure, revealing Jay's helmet in a glass box, "Jay's death was not in vain. We will meet Zoom again, and the next time, I will beat him, whoever that monster is."

We all stare at him, not a word leaving my mouth, not knowing if that went for the others also.

I stay dead silent, as Barry's eyes glanced between us, landing on me.

I stay silent.