The Playground, Earth-66, 2019
Afternoon
"Just the guy we were looking for," Clint said calmly as he regarded Strange. "Who died?"
"No one, yet. But we need to move quickly," Strange said as he walked forward.
"What are you talking about?" Steve demanded.
"Mxyzptlk," Strange said and everyone stared at him stunned. "He took Barry Allen, put him somewhere you can't find him."
"How do you know that?" Cisco asked stunned.
"I keep a watch list of beings from other realms that may be a threat. Beings like Mxyzptlk," Strange explained.
"You know about him?" Wanda asked and Strange nodded.
"I've kept a close eye on him. He's always caused mischief and chaos wherever he went but placing someone in a location that's impossible to determine, that's a new one," Strange noted.
"Maybe he's trying something new," Sam said but Strange shook his head.
"That imp is thousands of years old. Trying something new is beyond him," Strange said.
"You think someone else is pulling the strings," Natasha realized and Strange nodded. "Who?"
"I don't know. But to get Mxyzptlk to obey them, they must be very powerful," Strange said as the others exchanged unsettled looks.
"Will you work with us to find him?" Steve asked and Strange nodded.
"I feel that it's imperative we do," Strange said grimly.
Star Labs, Earth-1, 2017
Morning
Allen made his way into the cortex and found Cisco and Caitlin were there, talking. They stopped as they saw him.
"The lack of Iris around leads me to believe you're Allen," Cisco said and Allen chuckled.
"Yeah, you're right, as usual," Allen said as he made his way into the cortex.
"So I'm as smart in your timeline as this one?" Cisco asked.
"It's a different timeline Cisco, not a different reality," Caitlin said and Allen chuckled.
"Yeah, you are," he said in response to Cisco's question as he looked around the room wistfully. "Man, been a while since I've been here."
"What do you mean? Don't we still work here?" Cisco asked confused as he and Caitlin looked at him.
"You do," Allen said after a moment of deciding how much he should reveal. "A few months before my daughter was born, I signed over Star Labs to you. You've been building it back up since then, so we stopped using it as our headquarters."
"You're saying I'm CEO of Star Labs?" Cisco asked in stunned shock and Allen nodded with a smile.
"Yeah. You've only been it for about a year but Star Labs is already starting to rival Mercury Labs again," Allen said and Cisco looked like a kid on Christmas morning.
"Oh yeah! Come on; give your boy a five!" Allen and Caitlin both laughed as Caitlin gave him a high five. This was the scene that Ralph walked into.
"So what's going on here?" Ralph asked as he made his way over to them.
"I'm a billionaire in the other timeline!" Cisco exclaimed excitedly and Ralph simply stared.
"Oh," he said lamely. "That's cool."
As Cisco yelled at Ralph about how cool it was, Caitlin watched as Allen regarded Ralph. It was unnerving how different Allen was from Barry, yet so familiar. In a lot of ways, he was like Barry had been once upon a time: caring, selfless, and clearly loyal to the people he cared about, as he just demonstrated by telling them a bit about his timeline. But she could also see the differences, the way he was harder than Barry, how he held himself like a cop rather than an assistant. In a lot of was, he reminded her of Oliver Queen more than Barry Allen.
"Ralph Dibny," Allen said, breaking Caitlin out of her thoughts as Ralph turned to Allen, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "Last time I saw you, you were fired from the CCPD for planting evidence."
"Look, what I did-" Ralph started.
"I don't care," Allen said, stunning Ralph. "You did what you did and I'm not here to listen to you justify yourself for the dozenth time. And I'm guessing you're alive because of Flashpoint. What I'd like to know is what you're doing here?"
"That's a long story," Caitlin said awkwardly, realizing Allen trusted Ralph about as much as Barry had at first.
"The Thinker made us get you out of the Speed Force and it gave Ralph and a whole bunch of other people powers," Cisco said in a rush.
"Huh. Guess it's not that long," Caitlin mused.
"Who's The Thinker?" Allen asked confused.
"Clifford Devoe? Haven't you heard of him?" Cisco asked as he and Caitlin exchanged a glance.
"He was a professor at Central City University. He died a few years ago from a strange illness. I remember reading about it in the paper, it stuck with me because I know Iris took his class for a bit," Allen said.
"Huh, must be one of those differences in the timelines you were talking about yesterday," Ralph mused.
"Well here, he's the latest supervillain we're dealing with," Cisco explained and Allen blinked. "He's got the biggest brain in the world and he's painted you, well, Barry, as an obsessive stalker."
"Sounds rough. But I need to get home, so do you think you can help me?" Allen asked as Barry and Iris walked in.
"And we'll find a way to get you back, I promise," Barry said kindly.
Allen simply nodded as his thoughts went to Wanda. He hoped she was alright, knowing that this would hit her hard.
The Playground, 2019
Afternoon
"So how do we find this guy?" Sam asked as they all looked to Strange.
"The most likely scenario is that Mxyzptlk returned to the ninth dimension once he had completed his task. Whether he took Barry there or not, I don't know," Strange said.
"So let's just go there and find this guy, make him tell us where Barry is," Cisco said eager to find his best friend.
"It's not that simple. You've fought Mxyzptlk; you know how powerful he is. He's even more powerful in his own dimension," Strange warned and Cisco stared wide eyed. "The best course of action is for a team to go with us and face Mxyzptlk."
"Okay…so, who wants to go to the crazy dimension to face the most powerful wizard ever?" Cisco asked.
Star Labs, 2019
Mid-morning
Allen liked to think of himself as an understanding person with a fair amount of patience. But he was ready to snap at any moment.
For the last hour, they had been trying to brainstorm and put together an idea that could help him get home. But as they tried to come up with some ideas, Iris kept talking over everyone. Judging by the looks on Cisco and Caitlin's faces, this was not an unusual occurrence. After the twelfth time it happened, Allen had had enough.
"Would you shut up?!" he exclaimed in frustration, making everyone stop and stare at him in shock.
"Excuse me?" Iris asked in shock, like she couldn't believe what he had said to her.
"Yeah heard me. You keep talking over everyone, we're trying to find a way to get me home and you keep interrupting," Allen said angrily.
"I'm trying to help," Iris argued.
"Who are you helping?! It's certainly not me! And you, why are you letting her talk over everyone?" Allen demanded as he whirled n Barry.
"She and I are a team, I support her decisions," Barry said defensively and Allen stared at him like he'd just said something stupid.
"Really? Because from what I've seen today, she does whatever she wants and you just stand back and let her," Allen said angrily.
"He's not wrong," Ralph muttered before letting out an 'oof' as Caitlin elbowed him.
"Stay out of this," Caitlin hissed at him.
"I think she's about ready to blow," Cisco said as he saw Iris looking angrier and angrier.
"I am leader of Team Flash, so I can have as much input into this discussion as I want," Iris said angrily.
"And when your help becomes relevant to me getting home, you can have a say. Until that point, stay out of this," Allen snapped, making Iris reel back in shock. "You may be team leader here, but you don't have a damn clue about how to get me home. I asked for Cisco's help, not yours. So butt the hell out!"
For a moment, the room was silent except for Allen's heavy breathing. Then, Caitlin spoke up.
"Why don't we take a breath? Calm down and then we can come back in about ten minutes and try and tackle this with clearer heads?" Caitlin suggested.
Without a word, Allen turned and stalked out of the room. After a moment, Caitlin followed after him. With a scowl, Iris turned and stalked out of the cortex in the opposite direction with Barry following after her like a lost puppy, leaving only Cisco and Ralph in the room.
"Are team meetings usually like this?" Ralph asked as Cisco sighed.
"No, they're usually not that intense," Cisco muttered.
The Playground
Afternoon
As Strange stood at the ready, everyone was saying goodbye as the team prepared to leave.
"Come back safe kid, and bring that husband of yours back to," Clint said as he and Wanda hugged.
"If I don't make it back-" Wanda started.
"You will," Clint said roughly as he pulled back to look at her before his eyes softened. "But, in the one in a million scenario you don't, Laura and I will take care of Freya. But that's not gonna happen, okay?"
"Thank you," Wanda said with a smile.
"Nat, until I get back, you're in charge," Steve told Natasha as he said goodbye to her, Bucky, and Sam.
"Gee, sure you trust me to run things while you go on a trip with your girlfriend?" Natasha said dryly with a pointed look at Caitlin from where she waited with Cisco and Strange.
"You're not just going because Caitlin's going, right?" Sam asked and Steve shook his head.
"Barry's our friend and when we needed help with Thanos, he didn't hesitate to give it. I owe him this, I owe him at least this," Steve said firmly and Sam nodded.
"Bring him back Cap," Sam said and Steve nodded.
"I will," Steve said before he turned to Bucky. "Don't do anything stupid until I get back."
"How can I, you're taking all the stupid with you?" Bucky quipped and the pair chuckled. "Don't get yourself killed over there."
"I won't Buck," Steve promised.
"Hey, let's get a move on! Barry needs us!" Cisco said impatiently as Steve and Wanda joined them.
"Then let's go get him," Wanda said as a steely determination filled her eyes.
Caitlin closes her eyes and her hair turned white blond as her skin turned pale. And when she opened them, they were now an icy blue. Strange turned his back to them before he waved his hand and an orange portal opened up in front of them. Together, he, Cisco, Frost, Wanda and Steve entered it before it closed behind them.
Star Labs, 2017
Mid-Morning
Allen was on the balcony at Star Labs, looking out over the city as Caitlin walked up behind him.
"Hey, you okay?" Caitlin asked gently as he let out a breath.
"I'll be fine. Thank you, good idea to make us take a break. Things would not have ended well if you hadn't intervened," Allen sighed.
"You're so similar to him…but so different at the same time. He would never have called Iris out the way you did," Caitlin noted and Allen winced.
"I'm sorry about that. I lost my temper and let my frustration get the better of me," he apologized.
"Don't, you just said what Cisco and I have been wanting to say for months. I was just surprised," Caitlin said and Allen sighed.
"You're right, I am different. Losing your entire world, at least thinking you lost it, has an effect on you. And even after, the things I've seen, the people I've lost," Allen trailed off as he thought of Pepper, HR, Pietro, Vision, even Nebula and Freya. "It changes you."
"Where you're from…Iris isn't your wife, is she?" Caitlin asked and Allen looked at her startled.
"How'd you know?" he asked after a beat.
"It was a lot of little things. How you never called her by name, how you became uncomfortable whenever Iris called your daughter 'our daughter'. But what just happened pretty much confirmed it. You called her out in a way you could only do if you weren't in love with her. But maybe that's because I know you so well. Even if you're not the Barry I know, you're still so much like him. Just…harder, I guess is the right word," Caitlin said and Allen nodded.
"Heart and head," Allen said and Caitlin was confused. "Just something my Caitlin said to me once."
"How'd you meet? If you don't mind me asking," Caitlin said.
"It's fine. Her name is Wanda; she was a member of the Avengers when I first showed up on Earth-66. As I was dealing with the fact that I was trapped there, she was dealing with her brother being in a coma. Maybe it was because he was a speedster to, but I felt like I needed to look out for her," Allen explained, lost in the memories as Caitlin listened, not interrupting. "As we spent time together, we bonded over losing our homes, our families. She was new to the Avengers to; all the other members had these strong bonds. We felt like outsiders, so we just sort of gravitated towards each other. To be honest, I didn't even realize that I had feelings for her until I was on a mission that went south. I was undercover and I was found out. I was captured and I was tortured."
"God Barry, I'm so sorry," Caitlin said and Allen smiled weakly.
"It's okay. It caused me to have to confront my guilt over Flashpoint and over letting my mom die," Allen paused her and Caitlin was silent, waiting for him to continue. "When I confronted that, I realized I was holding onto the hope that I could find my way back to you guys. In order for my own sanity, I had to let it go, to let you guys go. Once I did, it wasn't hard for me to realize how I lost my breath when she walked into a room, how my heart would race, even by my standards, when I was around her, how her smile lit up my whole day. So I asked her to dinner and the rest is history," Allen finished and it was silent for a minute.
"It sounds romantic," Caitlin said and Allen smiled.
"We've had more than a few obstacles thrown our way but it's made us stronger," Allen said before turning to Caitlin. "Since I told you all that, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Caitlin said, raising an eyebrow.
"What happened between Barry and you and Cisco?" Allen asked and Caitlin was taken back in surprise. "It's just something I've noticed ever since I got here, there's this…wall between you two and him that there isn't between me and my Caitlin and Cisco. What happened?"
"He...you, you changed," Caitlin said after a moment, her eyes filled with unshed tears. "After Flashpoint and you and Iris got together, we noticed you started pulling away from us. It wasn't anything big at first, but you started spending more time with Iris than with us. At first, we put it down to you just being caught up in the honeymoon phase of your relationship. But, then you saw a vision of Savitar killing Iris five months into the future. That didn't happen with you, did it?"
"Cisco got a Vibe of Savitar killing Wanda while she was pregnant with our daughter but he mostly kept it to himself," Allen said, looking solemn by what Caitlin was telling him.
"You were just…completely consumed with saving Iris. Which we understood but it consumed your every thought. You just…you didn't seem to care about anything else. Or anyone else. You didn't seem to care that I was slowly losing control to Killer Frost or HR getting killed by Savitar. And even after Savitar was dealt with, it just…it's like we don't exist to you sometimes,"
Caitlin wiped the tears that had slowly started to fall as she talked. Allen was completely silent as he processed what she was saying. Then, he walked forward and, to her shock, pulled her into a hug.
"I'm sorry," he whispered against her hair. "I'm sorry that, in this timeline, I've been such a horrible friend. One benefit of being trapped on another earth for a year is that I got to appreciate the two most important people in my life. I'm sorry that this version of me doesn't realize what he has in you and Cisco."
For a moment, it was silent between them as Caitlin accepted his embrace, allowing herself to feel, even for a moment, that this was Barry, her friend. Then, the moment passed and they pulled back.
"I'm sorry," Caitlin said as she wiped her tears ago.
"I think I'm the one who owes you the apology," Allen said, looking like he'd taken a sucker punch to the gut. "The way you describe him…it almost reminds me of Thawne."
"He's a horrible friend these days, but Barry is no Thawne. Trust me, I got a good reminder of that a few days ago," Caitlin said and Allen looked at her sharply.
"What does that mean? Is Thawne still around?" he asked and she nodded. "Where is he now?"
"It doesn't matter," Caitlin said and Allen narrowed his eyes.
"You still bite your lower lip wen something's bothering you," Allen said and she stopped. "Tell me what you don't want to tell me about Thawne or I'll ask Cisco."
"Okay…but you're not like it," Caitlin said with a sigh before she told him.
"Where are they?" Barry asked as he, Iris, Cisco and Ralph stood in the cortex, waiting for Allen and Caitlin to return.
"Honestly, at this point, I don't care. He's a jerk," Iris muttered, angry about the things Allen had said about her.
Suddenly a blur sped into the room and tackled Barry. As winds whirled around the others, Barry was shocked to see it was Allen, a look of rage in his eyes.
"What are you doing?!" Barry exclaimed in shock as he was slammed against the wall, to everyone's shock.
"You let Thawne go?!" Allen exploded and understanding dawned on Iris and Cisco as Caitlin walked in, looking shocked and guilty. "After everything he's done, you just let him go!?"
"I'm not a killer okay!?" Barry snapped as he pushed Allen back.
"Atom Smasher. Sand Demon. Zoom," Allen sneered and Barry winced. "That's crap and you know it. And even if it wasn't, you have the Pipeline which you never got rid of unlike me. You have Argus. Instead, you just let him go to go around causing more pain and more suffering to everyone we love! What if he goes after Iris? Or Joe? Or anyone in this room?!"
"What do you want me to say?!" Barry snapped.
"I want an explanation about why you put the people you claim to care about in danger just to feel good about yourself!" Allen snapped as he got in Barry's face. "Well, I'm waiting!"
"Back off!" Barry snapped as he pushed Barry back. "You have no idea what I've been through; you do not get to judge me!"
"I have every right to judge you! In case you forgot, I am you! Same earth, same timeline up until a few years ago!" Allen snarled as he got in Barry's face. "I've been here two days and already, I see you from what you are."
"And what is that?" Barry asked angrily.
"A coward. Someone who turns his back on his friends. Someone who thinks feeling like the hero is more important than protecting the people you claim to love. If being trapped on another earth for a year stopped me from turning into you, it was worth every bit of pain and suffering that came with it. I would rather live through it all again a hundred times over if it meant never becoming you," Allen said before he stepped back, turning to Cisco, Ralph, and Caitlin. "I'm sorry. I appreciate that you guys were trying to help me. But I can't work with these two. I'll have to find another way home. Thank you for your help, and thank Joe and Cecile for me."
Before heading out, Allen turned to Barry with a cold look on his face.
"Mom and dad would be ashamed of what you've become," Allen said cruelly.
Barry looked like he'd been shot as Allen sped out, leaving the five of them alone in the cortex.