Chapter 27: What's next

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Wakanda

Morning

Barry was in the dining hall, sitting at the grandest table he had even seen as he ate some sort of meat. Cisco sat next to him, looking around in awe at all the technology in the room. Not that Barry could blame him. As he ate, he couldn't help but remember the very strange encounter that had led to this even stranger situation.

Siberia

Yesterday

Steve and Cisco supported their respective friends as they helped Barry and Bucky walk out of the door. However, Steve, Bucky, and Barry tensed as they saw who was waiting for them.

"Captain," T'Challa greeted calmly, his helmet off.

"I don't wanna fight you Your Highness," Steve said, mentally calculating their odds.

"Neither do I captain, not anymore," T'Challa looked over at Bucky. "You were telling the truth. I am sorry Sergeant Barnes."

"What do you want?" Bucky demanded.

"Everyone is looking for you. I know a place where they will never find you," T'Challa told them.

Now

Barry put his fork down on the now empty plate as he stared into space, lost in thought.

"You okay?" Cisco asked and Barry snapped out of it.

"Yeah, just a lot on my mind," Barry admitted.

"Your friends in The Raft?" Cisco guessed and Barry nodded.

"Among other things," Barry admitted and Cisco frowned.

"You're not coming back with me until you know they're out, are you?" Cisco asked and Barry sighed.

"I don't know what my next move is Cisco," Barry admitted. "A year ago when I realized I couldn't get back home, I was devastated. I spent three days just wallowing in misery before one of my friends told me to get off my ass. A few months into this, I wouldn't have hesitated to go back, but things are different now Cisco. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I moved on. I let go of the possibility of finding a way back to Earth-1. I built a life here Cisco. Even though that life was blown to hell, just going back to Earth-1 isn't as easy a solution as you think."

Cisco looked away, a look of annoyance and anger on his face. Barry sighed, knowing Cisco was still anger with him and rightfully so.

"Cisco," Barry said and the annoyed Meta looked over at him. "I had over a year to think about what I would say if I ever saw you again. And what I wanted to say is…the words I'm sorry can never be enough. Dante is dead because of me. That is what I have to live with. But I didn't know he had died until I followed you to your support group. I should have come clean when I told you about Flashpoint, that's on me to. If I could bring him back without endangering the timeline the way I have, I would. But I'm not a god Cisco I'm just a man. I make mistakes."

"Are we supposed to be good now? Am I just supposed to forget that Dante is dead because of a decision you made?" Cisco asked not angrily, but trying to understand what Barry was looking for.

"No," Barry told him. "I'm not looking for forgiveness. To be honest, I'm not completely sure I deserve your forgiveness. I'm just trying to make you understand. I don't expect you to forgive me. Or even for you to wait around here while I go help my friends. But, if you choose to go back home, could you tell Joe and Caitlin that I love them and Iris that she needs to move on?"

"Yeah, sure," Cisco said, his voice soft as he realized Barry was saying goodbye, allowing Cisco to choose what happened now.

"In case you do decide to go home…I just want you to know, you were the best friend I ever had," Barry told him as he stood up.

Barry walked out, leaving Cisco alone in the mean hall.

Barry found Steve staring out a window overlooking Wakanda. Steve was so deep in thought he didn't appear to register that Barry was there, but Barry knew better.

"Thinking about Tony?" Barry asked and Steve nodded silently. "Did you really know about Tony's parents and Barnes?"

"No," Steve sighed as he turned away from Barry in shame. "I knew that Hydra killed them. When Hydra rose up, Natasha and I were confronted with an AI based on a Swish scientist I fought in World War Two who implied as much. I never looked any deeper into it. I told myself I was sparing Tony but I can see now I was really sparing myself," Steve sighed again. "Maybe if I'd told Tony the truth-"

"It may not have changed anything," Barry interrupted. "You made a mistake; maybe you should have told Tony the truth. But you know what? You didn't make Tony try and murder Barnes. You and I both tried to stop him from killing him, we tried reasoning with him but Tony was still going for Barnes, like killing him was the most important thing in the world. That is on Tony, not on you Steve."

"Well said Allen," a familiar voice spoke up.

Startled, Barry and Steve turned around to see Natasha smirking at them. Behind them stood T'Challa and a dark haired woman holding a baby around a year old. Judging by the blue outfit, it was a boy. Two kids were by the woman's legs, a boy and a girl.

"Nat," Steve said surprised.

"Ms. Romanoff managed to get in contact with me. She and her…guests wished to be put in contact with you," T'Challa said as he looked back and forth between Natasha and Steve.

"Thank you your highness," Steve said and T'Challa nodded as he walked off.

"You here to arrest us?" Barry asked wearily.

"I'd have to arrest myself as well. We're all in the same boat here," Natasha said and she looked over at Steve. "You were right. The Accords weren't the answer."

"Believe me, I wish they were," Steve said as he looked over at the dark haired woman. "Good to see you again, although I wish it were under better circumstances. I'm sorry I dragged Clint into this."

"One thing I've learned Captain is that you can never make Clint do something he doesn't want to do," The woman said with a sad smile and Steve nodded.

"Ms. Barton, this is Barry Allen," Steve gestured to Barry, who started at her name. "Barry, this is Laura, Clint's wife."

"Clint speaks very highly of you Barry," Laura said with a warm smile.

"I think highly of him. It's nice to meet you," Barry said, overcoming his shock as he held his hand out to Laura, who smiled as she shook it.

"Clint always talks about you and Wanda, I feel like I already know the two of you," Laura said as they dropped hands. "This little guy is Nate. And this is Copper and Lila."

"Nice to meet you," Barry smiled at the kids as they waved as Barry turned to Natasha and Steve. "Why did no one tell me Clint was married? Or that he had kids?"

"It was kept a secret," Natasha supplied.

"Only the original Avengers, Fury and Wanda knew. And now you do as well. But why bring them here; they were safe where they were?" Steve asked as he looked over at Natasha.

"No they weren't. Tony outed them," Natasha said and they could only stare at her in shock.

"What?" Steve asked in disbelief.

"On a visit to The Raft, he and Clint got into it. Tony mentioned that Clint had a wife and kids on an open channel," Natasha said, a hint of anger in her voice. "Fury still has some contacts in the government. He got word to me that Laura and the kids were compromised, I got them out of there as fast as I could."

"Well, I wouldn't want to be Tony when Clint gets out. Man, this keeps getting worse and worse," Barry muttered, a running a hand over his face.

"Kid's right. What do we do Steve?" Natasha asked looking lost as she looked at Steve for guidance.

"The first thing we need to do is get our friends out of The Raft. But after that…I just don't know," Steve sighed, feeling lost.

"You can come to Earth-1 with me."

Everyone looked back to see Cisco standing at the edge of the hall.

"Sorry, couldn't help but overhear," Cisco said as he approached them. "Everyone's looking for you, if you're looking for a place to lie low, you could come to my earth."

"I don't know," Steve said skeptically.

"It would give us some time to plan out our next move," Natasha pointed out.

"And we wouldn't have to worry about anyone finding us while we do," Barry added and Steve thought on it for several moments.

"First, we get our friends out of The Raft. Then, we'll talk it over with everyone, see what everyone decides," Steve ordered.

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