Episode 6 - Enter Zoom

It was late at night, Barry was going up against Dr Light. "I'm here to kill you, Flash, so get ready to fry." Dr Light tells him. Barry grunts as he stands up. "Bring it on. Hmm." Barry runs as Dr Light shoots her light beams at him until he could not stand anymore. Barry then collapses to the ground. "Told you. Zoom always wins." She then rips off Barry's emblem on his chest as Barry looks dead.

72 hours earlier, Barry and Atchaco were interrogating Dr Light in the pipeline. "Zoom sent me here to kill you, but I didn't want to." Dr Light admits.

"But you were fine with killing Linda Park." Atchaco replied.

"It was the best bad idea I could come up with. Leave her body for Zoom to find, he'd think I was dead, and I'd be free." Dr Light explains.

"How was he supposed to know where to find her body?" Barry asked.

"Just let me go. Let me disappear." Dr Light continues.

"You would spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, never knowing when Zoom is coming." Atchaco tells her.

"Okay. And what's your great idea?" Dr Light wonders.

"How were you supposed to contact him after you killed me?" Barry questioned.

"I was supposed to get something... something I could only get if you were dead... and then throw it through the breach as proof." Dr Light replies.

"And then what?" Atchaco asked.

"Then he'd come for me. Confirm the kill and bring me home. Why do you both want to know?" Dr Light wondered.

"Because we want to find him." Barry answered.

"You really don't." Dr Light tells them.

"He's gonna keep coming for me. He's gonna keep kidnapping people like you, forcing them to do what he wants. I have to stop him before more people die." Barry reminds her.

"You can't stop Zoom. No of you can." Dr Light said.

"Yes, I can." Barry replies.

"And we will, but we need your help." Atchaco said and Dr Light nodded.

Back in the Cortex Barry and Atchaco tell them what they were told. "Zoom wants Doctor Light to send him your new emblem." Caitlin wonders.

"Yes. We need it for bait." Barry replies.

"If we can get Doctor Light to take my emblem, throw it through the breach, then Zoom will come to collect my body, and we can trap him." Barry told them.

"For the record, I do not like this plan at all." Atchaco admits.

"You know it took a lot of work to make that emblem, right?" Cisco said.

"This is the woman who was willing to kill Linda in order to escape Zoom, but now she's willing to help us catch him?" Caitlin reminds him.

"She knows it's the only way." Barry answered.

"Before I left Earth-2, I worked on a serum to dampen Zoom's speed. All we would need is for Ramon to develop a weapon to deliver it." Harry said and Cisco rolled his eyes.

"Oh, great, that could be this year's cold gun. Maybe another criminal can get it, and then we'd have Sergeant Slow." Caitlin retorts.

"I would never let that happen. Sergeant Slow is a terrible name." Cisco points out.

"Are we forgetting how much more powerful than Barry Zoom seems to be? I mean, if Barry can catch bullets, what's to say Zoom can't catch whatever you shoot at him?" Caitlin suggests.

"Surprise... the element of surprise. All we would do is rig a projectile to fire as Zoom crosses into the breach. He can't stop what he can't see coming." Harry replied.

"That's great." Barry said.

"Thanks." Harry replied.

"Joe, voice of reason here?" Caitlin said, turning to the older man.

"We need a plan. That's as good as any. As long as he can deliver." Joe told her.

"Don't underestimate me, Detective." Harry warns as Barry and Atchaco's phone vibrates and they both look down at their phones.

"Oh, Patty needs us back at the station." Atchaco informed them.

"We'll meet you there, all right?" Barry said as he and Atchaco walked out of the Cortex. As soon as they were gone, Joe motions for Cisco and Caitlin to go into the hallway with him.

"Are you just forgetting everything Jay told us and supporting Wells now?" Caitlin wondered.

"Oh, no, I don't trust Wells at all. I just want to see what he's up to. I figure we give him some rope, he'll hang himself." Joe answered.

"Yeah, I'm totally with you. I think he's hiding something." Cisco agreed.

"Look, my hunch after interrogating suspects all these years, something's not right with this dude. Barry told me about this thing you can do?" Joe said.

"Vibing." Caitlin smiles.

"Oh, God, just relax." Cisco replies.

"Can you do it with Wells?" Joe asked.

"I can try." Cisco told him. Joe nods and then leaves.

Meanwhile, Harry was sitting at a desk. He takes off his glasses and he starts thinking about something, well more like someone. He was on Earth 2 on the phone with an employee. "Incapable? Well, let me tell you something. If you are incapable of aligning the quantum helix and, by the way, the sole purpose of your employment here at S.T.A.R. Labs, could you save me some time and effort? Could you go out there and find someone who can actually do your job for you?" Harry tells the person on the other end as Harry's daughter walks in.

"There it is. Work voice. When I was little and you used to bring me to S.T.A.R. Labs with you, it used to freak me out how differently you talked here than when you were at home." She admits.

"You and your mother both. Shouldn't you be at school?" Harry wonders.

"I graduated high school when I was 15, Dad." She reminds him.

"Right." Harry said.

"Can miss a day of college." Jesse replied.

"Ah, that's my Jess, always so quick." Harry points out.

"So?" Jesse said.

"So?" Harry wonders.

"Is it true?" Jesse asked.

"Is what true?" Harry questions.

"What The Flash said about you at the press conference? That your particle accelerator created the metahumans?" Jesse said.

"It is... Jesse…" Harry tries to say.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Jesse asked.

"Jay Garrick, it turns out, is much faster at assigning blame than he is at actual heroics." Harry answered.

"Dad, The Flash is a hero." Jesse reminds him.

"Uh-huh." Harry muttered.

"Okay, I've never understood why you disliked him so much, but now I know it's because he knew what you'd done." Jesse tells him.

"What I've done at S.T.A.R. Labs is change the world, Jesse, unlocking the mysteries of the universe. And when you don't have the key to the lock, sometimes you have to kick in the door. You should get to school." Harry tells her.

"Don't worry. I got my education today." Jesse replied. She then turns and walks out of his door.

"You're my joy, Jesse Quick." Harry said.

Later at the precinct, Joe walks out of the elevator as Patty was waiting for him with a cup of coffee. "Great, you're here." Patty said, handing Joe the coffee.

"Good morning to you too, Patty." Joe returns.

"Yes, I was up all night working on the Doctor Light case. I... I've been trying to anticipate all the powers she might throw our way, you know, on the premise that she can manipulate light energy." Patty points out.

"I appreciate it, but…" Joe tries to say.

"Did you know that light energy can be turned into hard light? I mean, that doesn't even sound like a thing, but it is." Patty told him.

"Seriously, Patty…" Joe starts to say.

"No, and on the other end of the spectrum is invisibility. Look, it... it's just hypothetical, but I think that…" Patty tries to tell him.

"The Doctor Light case is closed." Joe informs her.

"Oh, uh, okay. Can you tell me why?" Patty wondered.

"No." Joe said walking away.

"No? Okay." Patty replies as Atchaco and Barry come walking up to her.

"Hey." Atchaco greets her.

"Hi!" Patty returned.

"Are you good?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Your dad just shut me down in a big way." Patty replied.

"What do you mean?" Atchaco questioned.

"I... I don't know." Patty answered.

"I can talk to him if you want." Barry told her.

"No, no, no, I'll talk to him. You know, he's my partner. We should have trust and communication." Patty reminded them.

"Are you sure?" Atchaco asked.

"Yeah." Patty reassured them. "Hey, I heard about your date, how was it?"

"It was awesome." Barry smiled.

"That is good to hear. Well, I gotta go and get some work done. See ya." Patty said as she walked away.

"Bye." Atchaco returned as Barry turned to face the cyborg.

"Speaking of that date. I can't stop thinking about that kiss. It was a good kiss." Barry admitted.

"Yeah, yeah, although the memory... it's a little foggy." Atchaco smirked.

"Oh, really?" Barry smiled.

"Yeah. I might need, like, a reminder soon." Atchaco chuckled.

"Okay." Barry grinned as he walked after her.

Later at Central City Picture News, Linda walks up to Iris. "Hey." Linda greets her.

"Hey." Iris replies.

"Have you had any word from The Flash about the meta-human that killed Larkin?" Linda asked.

"No, not yet, but I know they're working on it." Iris reassured her.

"You know, maybe I could talk to them." Linda told her.

"Linda, I don't think that's a good idea." Iris admits.

"Look, Larkin is dead, which makes it really hard for me to concentrate on field goals and doping scandals. I don't want to sit around being told not to worry my pretty little head about it." Linda explains.

"I get that. Believe me, I do." Iris replied.

"Then tell them I want to help. Please, I can't let this woman who looks like me hurt anyone else." Linda argues.

"I'll ask again. But trust me, Flash and Thunder have everything under control." Iris reassures her.

Back at STAR Labs, Cisco walks into the pipeline with a bag of food and then he sees that Dr Light's cells empty. "Crap." Cisco gasps. Cisco then walks over to the cell and sees Dr Light's clothes on the floor. Cisco breathes heavily as he opens the cell door. Once the door is open, Cisco gets shoved to the side. Someone had shoved him, someone who was invisible. "Doctor Light's gone invisible. Lock the doors. Shut the doors!" Cisco then runs out of the pipeline.

Up in the Cortex, Caitlin was trying to lock the doors but it wasn't working. "The doors aren't responding. None of the security protocols are responding." Caitlin said as Harry walked over to the computers.

"She's hacked the system." Harry explains.

"Barry, Atchaco, Doctor Light is escaping." Caitlin told them.

Outside STAR Labs, Cisco finds the back door with a hole in it that had just been blasted as Atchaco and Barry show up. "Where is she?" Atchaco asked and Cisco shook his head.

Minutes later, they were back in the Cortex. "Doctor Light managed to hack into the lights of her cell. The whole building runs on fibre optics that operate on pulses of light, so she turned off the dampeners and used her powers." Cisco explained.

"I told you how dangerous she was. You should have listened to me and sedated her." Harry tells them.

"We thought we had convinced her that helping us was the only way she'd free herself from Zoom." Barry admits.

"Well, you thought wrong." Harry said.

"Yeah." Barry sighed.

"Okay, look, Doctor Light is gone, so instead of assigning blame, let's try to figure out what we're gonna do next." Joe replies.

"Do you think she's gonna try and take Linda again?" Caitlin asked.

"We had Iris bring Linda to the house, just in case, to keep an eye on her." Atchaco answered.

"How are we doing with the speed-dampener?" Barry questions.

"I think we isolated the composite." Caitlin said.

"And we're modifying the dart The Arrow used to take down Wells." Cisco told them.

"He's not Wells. I'm Wells." Harry corrects him.

"Whatever, Harry." Cisco replied.

"But we don't even really know if this thing works." Joe reminds them.

"Until we try it, no. This will be a field test, so can we end this scintillating staff meeting and get back to work?" Harry wonders.

"Or how about I say what everybody's thinking? Maybe it's a good thing that Doctor Light is gone. Maybe it's the universe stopping us from doing something really stupid." Joe told them.

"No. No. Keep going. I'm gonna figure out another way to get Zoom." Barry informs them, he then walks out of the Cortex and Joe follows him.

"Hey, slow your roll. I want to talk to you." Joe said.

"Joe, look, I know what I'm doing." Barry replied.

"Okay, I don't, so why don't you clue me in?" Joe told him.

"I'm trying to stop Zoom. I thought you were on board with that." Barry replied.

"I'm keeping my options open." Joe explains.

"I don't understand why you think we have a choice." Barry admits. "Zoom wants me dead. Afterwards he will go after Atchaco. The metahumans that he's sending from Earth-2, they don't care how many innocent people get in the way. Look at what happened to Iris and Linda's boss. He was just collateral damage in Zoom's war. The next time, that could be you or Iris."

"I'm just wondering if going after him now is premature. I mean, we barely know anything about his abilities." Joe reminds him.

"Wells does." Barry replies.

"You're putting a whole lot of faith in the man wearing the face of your mother's killer. I think we should find Jay, get him to help us on this." Joe tells him.

"Yeah, Jay made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to help get me killed, and we can't just sit around and wait for Zoom to make his next move anymore. We can't. Aren't you the one who told me life isn't about playing defence, sometimes the only way to succeed is by working the offence?" Barry replies.

"I think at the time we were talking about your high school football tryouts because Atchaco was on the cheerleading squad." Joe replied.

"You said you'd never bring that up again." Barry said as he walked away.

Later, Cisco walks into his work room where Harry was working, trying to get a vibe off him. "Hey. I just wanted to say using the, uh, tungsten composite to dampen vibrations, that was, uh... that was pretty brilliant." Cisco said, touching Harry's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Harry questioned, quickly standing up and facing Cisco.

"I'm congratulating you." Cisco lied.

"Don't touch me." Harry ordered as he pushed Cisco's hand away.

"Wow, try to give a guy a compliment." Cisco said.

"You're not trying to give me a compliment. You're trying to meddle into things that are none of your business. What did you vibe about me?" Harry questioned.

"Nothing." Cisco told him.

"What did you vibe about me?" Harry asked.

"Nothing. God, why? What's there to vibe on?" Cisco replied.

"Don't touch me. If you have questions, ask them. Otherwise stay away from me." Harry informs him as Caitlin appears at the door and Cisco walks up to her.

"So?" Caitlin questioned.

"God, you'd think the serial killer version would've been the bigger jerk." Cisco admits.

"What happened when you touched him? What did you see?" Caitlin asked.

"Oh, I didn't see anything." Cisco told her.

"Go touch him again." Caitlin said.

"No, he's onto me now." Cisco replied.

"Well, you have to keep trying. I mean, I think Joe's right. Something must have happened between Wells and Zoom, made this personal." Caitlin told him. Cisco sighs and they both walk away, leaving Harry to his thoughts.

Harry remembered when he was working in his lab back on Earth twp. "The Arrow of Starling City formerly known as The Hood, has been unmasked as billionaire Robert Queen." The newscaster announced. "Robert was marooned on an island when his boat went down in the Pacific, an accident that ended with the tragic death of his son, Oliver. Robert Queen was thought dead when... Excuse me, I'm receiving word. There has been an attack at Central City College. The science building was the focus of another metahuman attack. We are just receiving video. Please be advised, I'm being told that the footage you're about to see…"

Harry quickly takes out his phone as that's where Jesse goes to school and he quickly dials her number. "Hey, Jesse, it's Dad. Can you... I just... I saw on the news... Just call me, all right? Let me know that you're okay. That you weren't…" Harry stops talking and freezes in fear when he sees Jesse's phone being shown on the news.

"Witnesses report that The Flash arrived on the scene but not before the hostile metahuman escaped with a hostage, a female student. We have not yet ID'd her, and there is no indication as to why she has been specifically targeted." The newscaster told them. Harry then realises that it was Jesse who had been taken.

"No." Harry gasps.

Later at the precinct, Joe was at his desk when Patty walked up to him. "Joe... Detective... can we talk for a minute?" Patty wondered.

"If this is about Doctor Light…" Joe started to say.

"No, yeah... No. Uh, maybe, but okay, look. I think I figured out why you've been a bit shut down the last couple of days." Patty told him.

"Really?" Joe chuckles.

"Yeah, I feel like you're not being completely transparent with me, but I think that it's my fault." Patty admits. "Look, you're a great... excellent... wonderful detective, and I think you can sense I'm not being completely transparent with you. And that is not true. Look, we're partners. We need to be completely honest with each other. No secrets... We're partners... totally transparent with each other."

"Uh... nope." Joe lied.

"Cool." Patty nodded.

Later at the West house, Barry walks in to see Iris and Atchaco in front of the dining room with food. "Hey." Barry greeted them.

"Hey." Iris returned.

"Are you guys having a dinner party?" Barry asked.

"Ha. You would think so?" Atchaco said.

"I know, I know. It's just, sometimes cooking helps me to relax." Linda admits as she walks in with a plate of food.

"Oh." Barry said.

"Have you heard anything about Doctor Light? Am I still in danger?" Linda questions.

"We're not really sure." Barry answered.

"Come on. I'm going crazy here, Barry." Linda replied.

"Yeah, she is." Iris agreed as the timer dings from the kitchen. "That is the cake. Hope you're hungry." Linda then walks into the kitchen.

"She's not kidding. There's enough food in there to feed an army." Atchaco said.

"She must be terrified." Barry points out.

"Uh, more like furious." Iris corrects them. "Larkin died trying to protect her, and it only makes it worse that the person who did it looks just like her. I mean, trust me. If Linda had Doctor Light's powers right now…"

"What?" Atchaco asked, noticing the look on Barry's face.

"I just, uh, Linda and Light... They're identical. So identical that Light even thought she could fool Zoom. Now we have Light's suit. You both don't even have to say anything, I know. It's a terrible idea." Barry admits.

"No, no, no, it's not. We make Zoom think that Linda is Doctor Light and use her to draw him out." Atchaco realises.

"It's too dangerous, right?" Barry wonders.

"Let Linda decide. I mean, she's desperate to catch the person who's responsible for Larkin's death, and she deserves the chance to help us." Iris reminds them.

Later, Iris and Linda walk out of the elevators as they walk into STAR Labs. "I still don't understand why we're here. I thought your dad said not to leave the house." Linda said.

"Some people want to talk to you." Iris replies.

"Who?" Linda asks when suddenly Barry and Atchaco appear in front of them in their Flash and Thunder suits.

"Ms. Park, we need your help." Macanese admits.

"Whoa." Linda gasped in awe.

Later in the training room, Cisco had set up cardboard cutouts of everyone all around them. "How long you been sitting on this?" Joe questioned as he pointed to a cardboard cutout of himself.

"It's important to have hobbies." Cisco answered and Joe laughed.

Linda then comes walking in dressed Dr Light's clothes. "This is ridiculous." Linda admits.

"No, it's not. You look just like Doctor Light." Barry informs her.

"And with these gloves that Cisco rigged up, you'll be able to do what she does." Caitlin explains as she hands the gloves to Linda.

"Don't worry, they are totally safe." Iris reassures her.

"Ish." Harry said.

"Ish?" Macanese wonders, facing Harry.

"Well, come on, it's gotta be believable, so they really do fire and explode things." Cisco informs them as he turns and faces Barry. "And you are going to have to let her hit you with those blasts when she gets the hang of it." Barry nods.

"Who exactly came up with this terrible idea?" Joe asked.

"Okay, it's not a terrible idea. The suit can absorb the blasts." Cisco reassures them.

"For real or ish?" Iris questions.

"What does a terrible idea look like to you, Cisco?" Joe asked.

"Okay, you know what? I like to think I can see the bright side of things, okay? Positivity, people." Cisco answered.

A few minutes later, Linda gets ready to start practising. "All right, all right. So just hit the ones of me. Okay?" Barry told her.

"Got it." Linda said.

"Great." Macanese smiled.

"Doctor Light." She said, she then exhales deeply and starts shooting. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" Linda's gloves then go out of control.

"Uh, you know what? I'm just gonna adjust those a little. Screwdriver." Cisco told them as he ran over to Linda. "Coming. Coming." He chuckles softly as he fixes the gloves. "Just…"

"Okay, so, um, do the opposite of that, and we'll have it." Barry informed her.

A few minutes later, the training begins. Linda exhales as the first cutout pops out. Then when a cutout of the flash pops up she goes to shoot but her glove catches fire. "It's on fire." She said.

Macanese quickly shoots a fire extinguisher at Linda's hand. "Ooh, sorry." Macanese apologises and Linda exhales.

"My bad." Cisco said, raising her hand.

As the training continues, this time when a cut out of the flash pops up she hits it perfectly. "Whoo-hoo-hoo! I did it! Did you see that?" Linda cheered.

"Yeah!" Barry told her. She goes to high five Barry when she accidentally shoots a light.

"You all good?" Barry asked.

"You okay?" Macanese questions.

"Sorry." Linda apologised.

Later in the Cortex everyone was talking about what had just happened after Iris took Linda home. "Okay, no offence to Linda, but there is no way she can pull this off." Caitlin told them.

"Well, maybe if she didn't scream every time she fired." Harry replied.

"Yup, Linda had a rocky start, but she can pull this off. I know she can." Barry said.

"All right, did you find someplace near breach where we don't have to worry about civilians getting in the way?" Atchaco asked.

"Yeah, there's a place by the docks that's usually deserted at night." Cisco informs them.

"Awesome. How are we doing with the speed-dampener?" Barry questions.

"My tests indicate that it should work." Caitlin tells them.

"It will work. I'll tune up Ramon's gloves, makes sure they work better." Harry said, walking away.

"Okay, great." Barry smiled.

"Hey, we're actually gonna go through with this?" Cisco asked.

"Yeah, we're doing this. I'm gonna have Iris get Linda ready." Barry answered, walking out the Cortex and Cisco and Caitlin looked over at Joe.

"Joe." Atchaco said.

"Yeah, I'll go talk to him." Joe replies, walking away.

In the hallway, Barry had reached the elevator. He was going in when Joe runs inside. "Barry, hold up." Joe calls.

"Hey, what's up?" Barry wonders.

"You saw what happened in there. Linda's not ready." Joe tells him.

"She is. She's ready enough." Barry said.

"Why are you pushing this?" Joe asked.

"What... why do you think? I want to get him." Barry replied.

"Get who, exactly?" Joe questioned.

"Is that a real question?" Barry wondered.

"You tell me. I'm... I'm not sure this is even about Zoom. I'm starting to feel like you're still chasing the Reverse Flash." Joe admits.

"Reverse Flash is dead." Barry reminds him.

"Yeah, but after all he did to you, you weren't the one that stopped him." Joe tells him.

"We all worked together." Barry said.

"Yeah, and Eddie got him in the end." Joe replies. "I mean, did that make you feel cheated, like you didn't get your revenge, and stopping Zoom is the next best thing? Look, all I'm saying is, if you're gonna ask people like Linda to risk their lives, you better be sure of exactly why they're doing it." Barry nods as he walks out the elevator.

Later at night, Barry and Atchaco were outside the west house in their suits. "You ready to do this?" Macanese asked.

"Yeah." Barry answered. In seconds they ran inside the house where Linda was sitting in the living room.

Linda turns around and sees them. "Look, I'm sorry I'm a terrible supervillain." LInda apologises. "I don't need you two to come here and make me feel worse."

"That's not why we're here." Macanese tells her.

"Doesn't matter, I... I can't do this. I just don't have it in me." Linda replies.

"That's not true. You're one of the strongest women I've ever met." Barry reassures her.

"You can do anything." Macanese smiles.

"And you know that about me based on what exactly?" Linda questions.

"Linda." Barry sighs as he sits down. "You are trusting us. So we need to trust you fully. We know that you can do this…" Barry and Macanese take off their masks.

"Because we know you." Macanese informs her.

Linda's face widens. "Barry. Atchaco." Linda gasps. "Holy crap. I've flirted with The Flash. I have flirted with Thunder's boyfriend."

Later at STAR Labs, Cisco and Harry were working in the workstation and Cisco walked over to Harry. "Listen, I just want to bury the hatchet and say thank you for all your work." Cisco sticks his hand out to shake.

"You're welcome." Harry said as he continued working.

"Okay." Cisco pulls his hand back. Harry then sighs as he is struggling to get the device to work. Cisco grabs a bottle of oil. "I think maybe the trigger mechanisms are just sticking."

"It's not the trigger mechanisms." Harry replied.

"I think…" Cisco tries to say as he starts pouring the oil.

"It's not the... don't, no…" Harry said.

"It's just a little bit of oil." Cisco replied and then the oil spills on the table and Cisco sighs. "Ugh, I'm just gonna clean this up really quick."

He starts to clean and Harry moves away from them. "Do not touch me." Harry orders.

"I'm just trying to help." Cisco reminds him. Harry then makes Cisco spill the rest of the bottle of oil, Cisco starts to clean it and so does Harry which causes Cisco to touch his hand and Cisco starts to have a vibe.

In his vision he was on Earth two in an abandoned place. He hears sobbing and Cisco looks forward and sees a girl chained up in a cage. Then he sees Zoom walk up to the cage. "I know Wells went to the other Earth. Why?" Zoom ordered.

"I don't know, I swear." Jesse sobs.

"Your loyalty is admirable, Jesse." Zoom said and Jesse screams.

Cisco comes out of his vision as Harry was still cleaning oil off his hands. "I'm sorry." Cisco apologised as he walked away.

Later the next day at the precinct, Joe was about to leave when Patty ran up to him. "Joe, Doctor Light." Patty gasped.

"I thought we settled that." Joe told her.

"No, we didn't." Patty tells him. "She's still out there on the loose... a metahuman who just murdered a man. Why aren't we doing something about it? Look, none of this makes any sense, and you're not talking to me."

"All right, all right, all right, look. It's a bit complicated, but we're not going after Doctor Light right now. I need you to trust me, Patty, for a few days or so." Joe replies.

"Are you somehow involved in this?" Patty asked.

"If you're asking if I'm dirty, no, but I need some time to take care of some things." Joe answers.

"I trust you, I do. I wouldn't be your partner if I didn't. This is about you not trusting me." Patty replies.

"Patty, I trust you." Joe argues.

"Not enough." Patty informs him.

"A few days." Joe repeats as he turns and walks away.

Late at night at the docks, Linda was dressed as Dr Light as she stood in front of the beach. "I'm here to kill The Flash, and no one can stop me!" Linda said. "How's that?" She whispers into her earpiece.

"Uh, it's a little too much. Uh, stop messing with the earpiece." Cisco replies.

"Yeah, you don't want to dislodge it." Caitlin tells her.

"Right, you... you told me that. I'm sorry." Linda apologised.

"No, no, you're doing great, Linda." Iris reassures her.

"Yeah, just be relaxed. You are going to be fine." Atchaco tells her.

Barry then arrives at the docks. "All right, Doctor Light, here I am. But we're gonna skip the part where you say you're gonna kill me and go right to the part where I don't let you." Barry said.

"I'm here to kill you, Flash. Wait, what are you doing? We're skipping that?" Linda realised.

"Yes." Barry whispers.

"Uh, I am loyal to Zoom, so get ready to fry." Linda tells him.

"Next time we're doing this, I'm writing better dialogue." Cisco admits.

"Next time?" Iris, Caitlin and Atchaco wonder.

Meanwhile, Linda shoots a beam of light at Barry but misses. Barry looks behind him and then back at Linda. "Uh…" He says. He then quickly drops to the ground and fake groans. "Oh!"

"Gotcha." Linda smirks.

"Yeah, you did." Barry agrees as he sits up.

"Real good." Linda replied.

"All right. Ugh." Barry groans as he stands up.

"Bring it on. Hmm." Linda orders. Barry then super speeds as Linda shoots at him. Barry then fakes that he is hurt and falls to the ground. "Told you, Zoom always wins." She walks over to him and takes his emblem, keeling down. "You're okay, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I had to make it look good." Barry whispers.

"Here it is, Zoom, I did what you wanted. Now bring me home." Linda shouts. She then throws Barry's emblem into the breach. Joe and Harry were a few feet away getting ready for Zoom to arrive but he wasn't showing up and it had already been an hour.

"Come on. Come on. Come on." Harry mumbled. Everyone had nothing else to do but wait. "This is everything he wants, right? Come on, Zoom."

"Hey, stop fidgeting." Linda hissed.

"Sorry, it's been an hour. I landed in a ridiculous position, and my foot fell asleep." Barry admitted.

"He's probably just waiting to see if you're really dead. Any minute now, he's gonna strike." Cisco replies.

"No." Barry sighs as he starts to get up and Joe and Harry put their guns away.

"Sorry, I probably screwed up somehow." Linda apologised.

"No, Linda, you did great." Atchaco reassures her.

"Ugh." Barry groans as he stands up.

Harry starts knocking things down as he walks to the van. "So Wells ain't taking this well." Joe notices.

"Mm-hmm." Barry hums.

"How about you?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, it just sucks, you know. You were right a little bit about this not being just about Zoom... about it being about the Reverse Flash." Barry admits.

"Okay." Joe said.

"But not for the reason that you think, not because I didn't beat him. It's... Wells... he said something to me on that video before he confessed to my mom's murder. He said that even if he was dead, that he still won because I wasn't happy, that I'd never really be happy." Barry tells him.

"How the hell would he know?" Joe questions.

"He knew me. He knows future me." Barry reminds him.

"That's future you. This is the you here and now." Joe replies.

"I still think that Wells is right." Barry admits. "Ever since I went back to that night and I didn't save her... I didn't save my mom, I just... there's just been this void in me. You know, I just feel like that is always gonna be there. For better or worse, Wells... He knew me."

"Better than I know you? He may have stalked you for 15 years, but I raised you. Look, Wells said what he said to you to mess with you... to get in your head one last time. If you listen to him, you let him win." Joe said.

"I know. I don't want that." Barry replies.

"You're responsible for your own happiness, Barry. Forget about Wells. Think hard about what you want and what makes you happy. Go out and get it. Simple as that. All right?" Joe tells him.

"Yeah." Barry nods.

Later at the precinct in Barry and Atchaco's lab. Atchaco was leaning against a table as she was watching funny videos via a hologram she had created. She was laughing when Barry walked in. "Have you seen this video of a cat acting like a human? It is really cute." She looks up and notices him looking at her. "Are you…" She gets cut off as Barry kisses her passionately. After a few minutes, they slowly pull away. "Wow. What did I do to deserve that?"

"I've just been thinking about what makes me happy, and getting to know you makes me happy." Barry smiles.

"We should do more of that then." Atchaco chuckles. They both smile at each other and start kissing again.

Later at Central City Picture News, Iris walks up to Linda's desk with two beers. Linda laughs softly when she sees Iris. "Hey." Iris greeted Linda as she handed her a beer.

"I wish I could have kept the gloves at least." Linda admits.

"What would you have done with them?" Iris asked.

"Raves, duh. " Linda answers.

"That is not what you were thinking about." Iris notices.

"I was thinking about a lot of things. Like how everything that's happened to me the past few days is the best story I can never write." Linda told her.

"Ooh, tell me about it." Iris smiles.

"Do you ever get used to it?" Linda questions.

"Keeping a secret that big? No." Iris replies.

"It's pretty heavy. I need a good night's sleep." Linda said as she puts on her coat and Iris chuckled. "I'm gonna head out." She then walks away from her desk.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Iris returns. Linda then grabs her purse and starts walking towards the door. "Oh, hey, if we're gonna be The Flash and Thunder's sidekicks, we should probably join CrossFit or something, you know?"

"Oh, yeah, girl." Linda agreed.

"Yeah." Iris nodded.

"Bye." Linda chuckles.

As soon as Linda is out of the door, she comes face to face with Zoom and she gasps. Zoom growls as he gets closer to her and then takes her away. Iris sees this happen and runs out of the door. "Linda!" Iris yells.

Later at STAR Labs, Cisco was putting the new emblem on Barry's suit. "There you go. It's like you think these things just grow on trees or something." Cisco said.

"And we threw away the last one for nothing." Barry replied as Harry was looking at the footage from the docks.

"You've been going over this footage dozens of times. Everything went exactly according to plan." Caitlin reminds him.

"If it had, Zoom would have shown up." Harry pointed out.

"Maybe Light was wrong. Maybe he can't see through the breaches." Atchaco said.

"Or maybe he finally decided to give up." Barry told them when suddenly his phone vibrates and he sees that it is Iris and answers it. "Hey. Iris, slow down. I can't understand you." Suddenly, Harry's watch starts beeping and so do the alarms. "Zoom has Linda."

"He's on the roof." Cisco informs them.

Barry and Atchaco quickly change into their suits and then super speed up onto the roof and Zoom chuckles. "Put her down." Barry ordered.

"You like to fish with bait? But let's make it a little more difficult." Zoom said. Zoom was too quick as he grabbed Macanese in a choke hold.

"Atchaco!" Barry yelled.

"So. Who are you going to save first Flash. Your friend or your girlfriend?" Zoom wonders.

"Save Linda." Macanese chokes as she tries to get out his hold. "I will be okay." Then at the same time, Zoom drops both Macanese and Linda off the building. Barry runs down the building and makes a whirl wind with his arms and catches Linda. Macanese uses her extra limbs so that her feet can get in contact with the building and then she runs down it and lands safely. Zoom's plan to use her as bait had failed. "Told you. I'm fine."

"That is the last time I doubt you." Barry said as he put Linda down. "You need to get out of here, okay?"

"No, you both can't fight that thing. It's a monster." Linda argues.

"Just go." Macanese tells her.

Meanwhile, everyone else was watching from inside the Cortex. "Zoom cannot be human." Caitlin points out.

"He is... Or was." Harry said.

"Even with Atchaco's help. How the hell is Barry supposed to defeat that?| Cisco questioned. Then they see that Barry and Macanese run away.

"Why are they running away?" Harry asked.

Cisco sees that Barry and Macanese were running around STAR Labs. "They're not. They're not scared. Ooh, they're gonna thunderbolt him!" Cisco notices.

"What?" Harry questions.

"Jay taught them how to throw lightning." Caitlin informed them.

Barry and Macanese then each throw a lightning bolt that turns into one big one. It heads towards Zoom but he catches it and throws it back to them. It hits both of them. Barry goes flying back and hits the sign, he was fine. Macanese went through one of the glass windows of the building. She groans as she stands up and her cybernetics flicker from the huge electricity surge the lightning bolt caused, but she was fine. "Did you guys see that?" Macanese wondered.

"See him catch a bolt of lightning with his demonic claws? Yeah, saw that." Cisco answered.

"Jay was right. He cannot do this alone." Caitlin said.

Harry walks out with the gun. "He's not alone. He has me and Macanese." He then turns and walks out of the Cortex.

"Run, Barry." Caitlin shouted.

Meanwhile, Barry takes the syringe from his boot. "No. I'm gonna see if Wells' speed-dampening serum works. What do you want from me?" Barry said.

"Everything." Zoom answered.

"You want to be me? Is that it? You want to be a hero?" Barry wonders.

"Heroes die." Zoom chuckles.

"Only if you can catch them." Macanese smirks. She and Barry then super speed away with Zoom right behind them. They run around STAR Labs as Harry walks out with his gun.

Inside the Cortex, Caitlin and Cisco were watching what was happening. "How are Barry and Macanese gonna match Zoom's speed?" Caitlin questions.

"Genius. They're not gonna match it. They are gonna take it out of the equation altogether." Cisco replies.

"What are you talking about?" Caitlin asked.

"Terminal velocity. The highest velocity attainable by a falling object." Cisco explains.

"Falling through the air?" Caitlin questions.

"Yeah, freefall fight. Their drag force equals the downward force of gravity, making the net force zero, making…" Cisco starts to say.

"Equal velocities. That is genius." Caitlin finished.

Barry, Macanese and Zoom start to fall as they continue to fight, but Barry has lost the syringe he was going to use on him. Zoom then uses Macanese as a shield as he holds Barry by the neck as they land on the floor. They all land on the floor and Barry and Zoom continue to fight. Macanese groans as she tries to get up and attack him but her body shakes as she stands up. She turns to Harry and sees that he is trying to shoot Zoom but that he couldn't get a clear shot. Zoom was beating Barry up pretty bad and then he broke his back as Macanese ran behind Zoom and weakly held his arms. Harry then takes his shot but Zoom catches the dart and hurls Macanese over him, landing on her back with a crunch.

"Never forget, I am the fastest man alive." Zoom growls as he stabs the dart and syringe into Barry's chest and he groans in pain.

"He's killing them." Caitlin worried.

"Barry. Atchaco." Cisco whispers, worry evident in his voice.

Zoom turns to Harry. "You're next." He growls. Zoom then grabs Barry and Macanese by the collar and super speeds away. He takes them both all the way to Central City Picture News and slams them onto a desk.

"Barry." Iris whispers. Everyone stood in shock. One guy pulls out a camera and starts recording everything as another starts taking pictures.

"Look at your heroes." Zoom snarls as he holds them both up by their collars. "This man is no god and this woman pretends. They are nothing!" He then runs out and takes Barry and Macanese with him.

Zoom then takes them to the precinct and holds up their bodies in front of everyone. "The days of The Flash and Thunder protecting this city are over." Zoom growls and all the police officers point their guns towards Zoom.

"No, hold your fire." Joe told them.

"Put them down." Patty ordered.

"Now what will you do without your precious heroes?" Zoom wonders.

"Shoot that thing, now." Singh orders. They all start shooting at Zoom but he catches all their bullets in a second and drops them onto the floor.

"Nice try." Zoom said.

Back at STAR Labs, Harry runs into the Cortex. "Anything?" Harry asked.

"No." Caitlin sighed.

"Do you have them?" Harry questioned.

"No." Cisco answered.

Zoom was dragging Macanese and Barry all over town until he appeared in the Cortex with them. "Barry!" They all scream.

"Harrison Wells, you thought you could defeat me with this?" Zoom holds up Barry and Macanese as he takes their masks off.

"I made a mistake." Harry admits.

"Yes, a costly one." Zoom growls. He drops Macanese on the ground with a thud and then stabs Barry in the stomach with one of his demonic fingers. "Goodbye, Flash." He then rips one of Macanese's legs off and stabs it in her body. "Goodbye, Thunder. You, too, weren't fast enough." Just as Zoom was about to kill Barry he gets shot in the back with a dart by Cisco. He growls as he drops Barry next to Macanese. He then drops to his knees but he quickly gets up and super speeds out of there.

"No. No!" Harry runs to the door.

Barry and Macanese were unconscious. "Stay with me. Stay with me, Barry… Atchaco. Stay with me. Please, Barry, Atchaco, please." Caitlin begged.

Later, Barry was laying on a bed in a neck brace for he had fractured his spine. On the other bed, Atchaco was laying on the bed, passed out with a leg missing. "This is all you! If Barry and Atchaco die, you die." Joe said angrily.

"Joe, Barry's vitals have stabilised and so have Atchaco's. She will heal, they both will. Let's let him go." Caitlin reassured him.

"No, Caitlin." Joe replied.

"Why? What good does that do for Barry and Atchaco?" Caitlin asked.

"It's gonna help me." Joe argued. Harry then tries to move out of the way and Joe shoves him.

"Joe, stop. Who's Jesse?" Cisco questioned.

"How do…" Harry's face widens. "Jesse's my daughter. Zoom has her. You've... you did vibe me."

"Yes." Cisco said.

"What did you see?" Harry asked.

"I saw your daughter. She was with Zoom." Cisco recalls.

"But she's alive?" Harry questions.

"Yeah." Cisco told him and Harry sighs.

"Zoom sent you here like the others? You kill The Flash, and you get your daughter back?" Joe said angrily.

"The only way I get my daughter back is, I capture Zoom." Harry admits. "Do you understand? You love Barry and Atchaco. I love my daughter. And none of these children are safe as long as Zoom is here. I tried on my Earth to capture him. I failed. I thought I could bring him down here with Barry and Atchaco's help. I was wrong."

The next morning at STAR Labs, Barry starts to wake up. "Hey, I think he's waking up." Cisco noticed.

"Barry. Barry? Can you hear me?" Caitlin wondered.

"Hey." Barry said as he opened his eyes and they chuckled.

"You scared the crap out of us. You were gone for a long time." Cisco said.

"Atchaco?" Barry asks.

"Zoom ripped one of her legs off and damaged her back but her cybernetics have been replacing everything that he damaged." Cisco reassures him.

Barry turns his head a little and sees Atchaco, he tries to sit up but Caitlin stops him. "She is going to be fine. She will heal." Caitlin tells him.

"How bad is it?" Barry sighs.

"Bad. If you didn't heal so quickly, I'd be very worried." Caitlin admits.

"Linda... how is she?" Barry questions.

"She's fine. She's staying with some friends out in Coast City." Cisco answers.

"Zoom?" Barry asks.

"Let's... Let's worry about Zoom when you're up and about, okay?" Cisco said, placing a hand on Barry's leg and Barry tries to sit up again.

'Oh, no, you're staying put." Caitlin told him.

"Yeah, seriously, you got your ass kicked." Cisco said.

"No, guys, I can't feel my legs." Barry paniks and Cisco and Caitlin's faces widen in shock. Barry looks up at them. "I can't feel my legs."