"I don't wanna get out of bed." I mutter, Barry's arms wrapped around me tight, his face nuzzled into my neck, his eyes closed, exhaustion threaded in both our tones due to just waking up.

He huffs quietly, "Neither do I."

"But we have a whole day ahead of us." I turn in his hold, looking at him.

"Well, if we don't wanna get out of bed just yet- let's not." Barry rolls on top of me, pinning me against the bed.

"Barry, it's 8 in the morning." I shot him a look, "You need to put your mind to work- we need to get to work. I mean, Nora already left."

"Okay, I'll let my mind get to work." Barry looks up as if he was in thought, a thoughtful pout on his lips as he stared at the ceiling, then looks down at me, "I've made an educated guess of what you look like without clothes on. Wanna let me see if I'm right?"

"Hey-" I hit his shoulder playfully, a small chuckle leaving his lips, "You can't make a guess if you've already seen it."

"Well, I haven't seen it in what feels like ages- so I have forgotten." Barry kisses my neck.

"As if you could forget." I roll my eyes, a small laugh leaving my lips.

"You're right. I think about it every day." Barry smiles up at me, before pressing his lips into mine, cutting me off completely, starting the day off with a completely different turn.

-

"Orlin Dwyer." Ralph introduced, "Near as we can tell, he grew up in the Midwest. In and out of juvie, pretty much fell off the map, and then popped up in Central City a few years ago."

"Part-time employee of Szrek Chemicals for the last two years." Sherloque continued.

Ralph went on, "Foreman says he keeps to himself, pretty much a loner, gave a fake address."

"Did take custody of his niece." Sherloque pulls up her picture as they both repeat, "Grace Gibbons."

"After her parents were unfortunately murdered by a meta-human, now-" Sherloque continued on.

Ralph finishes for him, "So now we know why Dwyer hates metas. Once he got his powers, he started targeting them."

"Powers he got the night of the Enlightenment, as we all know, and he was struck by a shard from the Star Labs satellite explosion." Sherloque told us.

"Which was also the same night that Grace went into a coma." Ralph added.

"Where Dwyer visits her every day, every night, for the last three weeks." Sherloque informed us.

"So he's there now?" Barry asks, as they nod in response, "Then let's go get him."

I look down at my feet, letting out a quiet scoff at what he just said, rocking back and forth on my feet, the heels of my black heeled platform boots hitting the ground over and over.

The strands of my straightened hair falling from behind my ear, my entire body feeling unusually cold, despite the brown plaid skinny taper pants on I had on, paired with the cropped black sweater that ended right on the high waist line of the pants.

"Let's go get him?" Sherloque repeats, "How are you going to do that? Look, as always, I respect your spirit, Barry Allen, but as long as Cicada has his dagger to dampen your powers, there's no stopping him."

"So let's destroy his dagger." Barry states.

"How are we gonna do that unless we have some kind of power-dampening dagger power dampener hidden away in storage?" Ralph asks.

"We don't, but if we did we'd come up with a much better way of saying that." Cisco remarks from next to me, as I stopped rocking back and forth, looking up at Ralph.

"Sure, I mean, just, like, dagger-dampener," Barry starts to mutter.

"Wait, yeah, that's actually- that's decent," Cisco starts, as they all start to conversation amongst themselves, trying to figure out a name for it, as I stared at them in confusion.

"Guys." Nora cuts in, looking up from her journal, looking at all of us, "What if we could make one?"

"Make one what?" I ask.

"What if we can make a weapon more powerful than his weapon?" Nora suggests, "Cicada can control his dagger, so what we would need would be something more powerful than his connection to it."

"So like- some sort of super-charged magnet?" I question.

"Exactly." Nora nods.

"I don't know if we have anything strong enough for that." Cisco told us, "We made Sally out of a micro-composite alloy. As far as satellite's go, she was heavy-duty."

"And even if we could get our hands on the dagger, we'd still have to figure out how to take the dark matter out- to negate it's powers." Caitlin went on.

"Well, exactly right." Sherloque joined. "I mean, what you're suggesting is we find an alloy- no, no- indestructible alloy that has super magnetic properties, but also has the ability to negate dark matter. I mean, where are we going to find such a thing?"

"The past." Nora told us quietly, looking between Barry and I.

Barry and I instantly look at her, saying in unison, "What?"

"You've already come across everything that we need, right? A strong alloy with magnetic properties." Nora began.

"Savitar's suit." Cisco realizes.

"Something to remove dark matter." Nora continued.

"The Speed Force transmitter that Zoom used to steal Barry's speed." Caitlin thought out loud.

"Yeah, but that was his Speed Force." I cut in.

"Yeah, but those are exotic particles, which are basically the same thing as dark energy, so we would just need some of that to recalibrate it." Nora explained.

"Can-" Ralph stammered, "Can you do that?"

"I mean, you'd have to infuse the transmitter with the same kind of dark matter." Cisco says.

"Like the Devoe kind?" Ralph questioned.

"More like the Particle Accelerator kind." Cisco looks up.

"I'm sorry, we-" Ralph stuttered, "We need to blow up Star Labs again?"

"No, no, not again." Nora shook her head, "We just need to go back to the first time that it happened."

Barry shook his head, crossing his arms, "This is gonna mess with the timeline too much."

"No, it's not." Nora stops him, "Savitar's suit, the transmitter, these are all just discarded objects in time, so if we steal them, it won't affect anything at all."

"Even if all of that worked, we can't just waltz into the hospital with our soon-to-be-named dampening device." Ralph reasons, "Dwyer smells us coming, he's gone."

"Then we do a time hack." Nora said, having really thought of everything.

"A time hack?" Ralph repeated.

"Is when you-" Sherloque began to explain.

Cisco cut him off, "Plant something in the past so it's available in the future."

Cisco looks at Barry, "You go back, you take the device, and you hide it near the hospital. Somewhere it won't be found for five years. He won't even know it's there."

"So you and your father go back to the past to defeat Cicada in the future." Sherloque looked at Nora, "Quite an off-the-cuff plan you've come up with."

"We can do this." Nora smiled at her dad.

"No." Barry spoke up, catching us all of guard, "I can do it."

The look on Nora's face was unreadable, as Barry dismisses everything, walking away, "Can you guys figure out the best dates to go back to?

"We're on it." Cisco and Caitlin turn, walking out the cortex.

-

"You're not coming with me." Barry walked through the hall, telling Nora, as I slowly followed behind them, a few feet away, not wanting to interfere.

"Why?" Nora asks him.

"Every time I try something like this I nearly get killed." Barry reasons, as they come to a stop, Nora and Barry's sides towards me.

"Well, yeah, all the more reason for me to come with you, so that I can watch your back so you don't get hurt." Nora reasons, practically pleading.

"It's too risky with the timeline." Barry shook his head, "Look, time travel, it's complicated."

"I know, I've already done it." Nora spoke up.

Barry cut in, "And look what happened."

The expression on Nora's face changes, her tone falling, "Look. I just want to fix what I screwed up. Okay, what I did. Please, let me come with you."

"Not today." Barry stood by his statement, Nora letting out a sigh, leaving the hall, Barry's eyes landing on me.

My hands rested in the back pockets, as I shot him a look, standing still.

"You think she should come with me?" Barry could already tell what I was thinking by the look on my face.

"Will you get mad if I said yes?" I squint my eyes as if I was preparing for him to practically explode, "If that's the case- then no."

Barry rolls his eyes lightly, "You never say that- you always stand by your decisions."

"You're right." I fix my posture, walking over to him, "Barry, I think she could come with you."

"Zee, if I do this, I'm going back to some crazy times. Savitar, Zoom, Thawne-" Barry started to reason, wanting to convince me to back him.

"Speedsters- who you've all outsmarted and defeated. In ways that I can't even begin to explain." I quietly told him, a small smile on my face, my hands resting on his chest. "This was her idea, Barry. Her solution. And it's a good one."

Barry huffs, his hands cupping my wrists, his eyes glued to mine.

"So, unless you can give me a better reason-" I trail off, "You should let her do this."

-

"All right, let's do it." Barry walks into the cortex after a while, as I was seated in my chair, Cisco, Caitlin and Ralph stood in the middle of the room, Nora seated in a chair on the side.

"You're not gonna want to forget this." Cisco tosses him the Flash ring, "Had to make some adjustments to the suit, but I finally figured it out."

Barry caught the ring, putting it on, a small grin on his lips.

I cleared my throat, catching his attention, "For emergencies only."

"She's right, you don't want to get caught running around the past- in your future Flash suit." Cisco said, "You might get ideas."

"Thank you." Barry nods, weakly smiling up at him.

"You're welcome." Cisco leaves the room for a moment.

Barry's eyes land on me, as I signal towards Nora, shooting him a look, as she sat there, staring at the ground, a pout on her lips, her chin resting on her hand, her elbow on the arm of the office chair.

Barry gave me one last pleading look, hoping that I would just let him this alone. I gave him an innocent smile, showing them that I wouldn't change my mind and I was going to make him take her if I had to.

He lets out a sigh through his nose, before looking at Nora, quietly murmuring, "Come on."

Nora looks up quick, her eyes filling with excitement as she jumped up.

Barry walked over, kissing my cheek, before leaving the cortex, heading down to the pipeline, Nora's smile wider than ever, as she starts following.

"Gimme some-" I held my hand out, as she let out a small laugh, high fiving me, before quickly following her dad.

Cisco, Caitlin and Ralph come by me, as I looked at the screen in front of me, the particle accelerator shown on the screen in a model form.

Suddenly, Ralph turns on some music, the pun practically screaming as the song he turned on was Back in Time by Huey Lewis and The News.

We all slowly look up at him, as he quickly responds to look on all of our faces, "What? When am I gonna get the chance to do that?"

"Hey, game face." Cisco turns it down.

"All right, so what do we do while they're gone?" Ralph questioned, "Do we stake out the hospital? Get everything ready here or what?"

"Literally nothing." I cross my arms, slouching in my seat, "They're gonna return to the exact same moment that they left."

"Wait, so, they're gonna go, but to us it'll be like they never left?" Ralph asks.

"Yeah, time travel's weird, isn't it?" Cisco remarks, then looks down at the screen.

Caitlin trails off, "Here they go."

-

[ nora's pov ]

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" I ask once we reach the other side of the wormhole, my eyes instantly widening at the sight of blue lightning, "Is that Savitar?"

"That's him." My father nodded, staring up at the speedster. "Come on."

He grabbed my arm, pulling me behind a few bushes and trees, as I gaped at what was happening in front of me.

"I only have a few minutes left." Savitar heaved, "But before I go, I'm gonna kill Joe. And Wally. and Iris. And Zee. If I am going to die, then everything you love is going to die too."

"Holy shrap." I quietly say, staring at the sight.

Suddenly, the past version of my father, Barry Allen, ran, phasing right through the suit, being in control now, Savitar, an exact replica of him, on the ground, "How's it feel to get so close to your ascension, and end up on the ground?"

"Now I see." Savitar pants, "It's written."

"Nothing's written." My father shouted at him through the suit, the sound of something catching both my and my father's attention.

"What was that?" I ask him, looking into the dark.

"Time Wraith." He told me, "They protect the timeline. I've got to get it out of here. Nora, you're gonna have to get the shard, okay? Meet me in the forest where we first arrived."

I nod, as he rushes off, my attention instantly diverted back towards what I was watching before.

"I thought you were dead." A woman who looked exactly like my mother was right behind her, my eyes widening at the sight.

My mother knocked her out quick, her attention glued to the man she loved and his remnant, not wanting him to do what he was about to.

"Mom?" I whisper to myself in confusion, not knowing that she was every out on the field.

"Do it." Savitar told him, "You kill me, you become me. Either way, I live."

My father had phased the suit into pieces, "I will never let the pain, the darkness, determine who I am. I will never be you."

He punches him, starting to walk towards the others, my mother running towards Aunt Iris, her best friend.

I grabbed the nearest shard, holding it close, my head snapping up when Savitar got up, starting to run towards my father, trying to catch him off guard.

"Shoot him-" Aunt Iris told my mother, as my mom instantly grabbed her gun from her holster, aiming it right at Savitar, her hands shaking and my eyes widening.

What if I was about to witness my mother kill?

"I can't-" My mom admits, a sigh mixed with relief and panic leaving my lips, Aunt Iris grabbing the gun, shooting quickly.

Aunt Iris drops the gun, my mother engulfing her in a tight hug.

I snap out of the trance I was stuck in watching this, running off and right after my father, getting into the Speed Force, as we quickly end up somewhere else.

"Did you get it?" My father instantly asked.

"Yeah, I got it." I nod, holding it up.

"Nice job getting that into the Speed Force on time." He compliments, looking away.

"Nothing to it." I told him, "Dad, about Savitar-

I am cut off when blue lightning whooshes right across from us, Dad speaking, "This is right. 2016."

"How do you know?" I ask.

"Because that was Zoom with Wally." He told me, "I'm about to lose my speed. Come on."

-

I was crouched with my Dad, peaking through the little door window through the closed Med Lab door.

Zoom was unmasked, as my father from the past was running, his speed getting transferred into the little vial.

My mother was stood next to Zoom, her hair longer than I had ever seen it, as she looked younger, more full of life- less motherly. But I couldn't deny the fact that even if we was my mother, her personality hadn't changed, and she was the same person she was in this timeline.

Zoom grabbed her arm, pulling her away from everyone, getting somewhat closer to the door, enough for Dad and I to hear their conversation.

My father's eyes furrowed in confusion, as if he had never witnessed this happen.

"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." He told her after she ripped her arm from his grasp.

"You didn't have a problem when you kept me prisoner." The words seethed through her teeth.

"That's because you're smarter than you think, Zee." He completely changed the subject, "If anything, I know that better than anyone. You're my sister."

"I'm not your sister." She shot back.

"In theory, you are. Even if- I'm from a different Earth- you are still. my sister." He said, my father looking down, not aware that this conversation was had, "Whether you like it or not."

My mother goes completely silent, looking away, as Zoom went on, "Like I was saying. You're smarter than you think. You figured something was up- the minute my remnant walked in here. You knew something was wrong when you got captured- and saw the man in the ironed mask. You figured it all out before anyone else did. No one listened to you."

"You and your doppelganger are a lot alike, you know?" He mentioned.

She instantly looked up at him, anger sparking in her tone, "I am absolutely nothing like her."

"That's where you're wrong." He exclaimed, "You're both very intelligent. You get what you want- when you want it- no matter what you have to do to get it- the only difference is. You changed and she didn't. The only other difference is that you won't let yourself feel- and achieve how far your powers can go. You're holding back. You won't let yourself be her. You're practically the higher- more useful version of Death Storm."

"I've changed. Leave it at that." She shoves past him, walking back over to the Team, rushing in instantly when the past version of my father falls to the ground.

She moved as quick as she could, and sat next to him, one hand going to his chest, the other wrapping his arm around her shoulder, as it moved as went to his back after, as she rubbed his back, nothing but concern shown on her face, as he panted, his eyes falling onto her.

Their connection was so strong. I could see it. Past, present, and what had become of the future. With the way they looked at each other, you could tell that they would die for each other.

The way Mom rushes to his aid, showed how much she cared for him. And how he would do the same for her.

The concerning look on Mom's face, and soft look of Dad's, showed me that they would always love each other more than they could ever love anything.

Their love was strong. And today was the day I had seen it. That it was proven to me.

"Barry, are you okay?" Aunt Iris asked, rushing to my mother's side.

Zoom injected the speed into him, the scene horrific as he ran, snatching my father away from my mother, tearing the bond, shoving him into the wall and holding him up by his neck.

My mother's hand clamps right over her mouth, tears filling her eyes quick.

"Jay, stop!" Caitlin shouted, "If you have any humanity left, then please let him go."

Zoom lets go of my father and whooshes off with Caitlin, as we quickly hide, Cisco running towards the door we hid behind, "Caitlin!"

"We gotta get Caitlin back." Cisco turned towards the team, walking back over.

"Stay here." My father told me quietly, "Don't move. Okay? Stay."

I nod slowly, as he slowly leaves me alone, my attention caught at the sound of my mother's voice.

I slowly move towards the hall, crouching and hiding, my eyes landing on my mother comforting my father.