Chapter Text
“One of the happiest moments in life is when you find the courage to let go of what you cannot change.”
That was something Barry Allen had learned the hard way this past year.
First with Flashpoint, then with Savitar. Death, so much death and sadness. Not to mention aliens?
All of it had compounded into one year and made it one helluva rollercoaster.
The team was sad, in disarray, and their base of operations had been nearly destroyed.
Had it not been for his and Wally’s superspeed, they probably wouldn’t have it up and running for another two years.
But thanks to their laser-focus work, and the helpful sum of money “Eowells” had left him, it was on its way.
Much of Star Labs was still uninhabitable, seeing as the two speedsters still had a city to take care of and a job/school to focus on.
But it was getting better. They were repairing it. Which he knew would go a long way for team morale.
Barry looked around Cisco’s lab, the empty, gnawing feeling in his gut growing stronger.
Three months.
It had been three months since they defeated Savitar. Since HR died saving Iris. Since Caitlin left.
Cisco was still devastated. Not only by the death of HR, but because they hadn’t heard from Caitlin since the funeral. He hadn’t been himself since.
Iris too, held lots of guilt over what happened. HR had taken her place, after all, and been stabbed by Savitar.
Then she shot Savitar in the back, killing him as he made another play at Barry.
She’d been quiet too.
Jay had left not long after it all went down. He had things on his own earth to deal with and Barry completely understood.
The one person he was really proud of was Wally. He’d stepped up with Savitar, and now had stepped up with watching over the city.
They’d been training a lot. Wally was a fast learner and was becoming a remarkable hero. Pretty soon, he was going to outgrow Barry’s teachings. Maybe even surpass Barry himself.
That kid had a good head on his shoulders. Much moreso than Barry when he started out.
He shook his head, focusing on the task at hand.
With Cisco a bit out of commission, Barry was trying some mechanical engineering of his own. But first he needed some of Cisco’s tools.
Crouching down, he slid a box out from under the desk, ruffling around in it before finding one of Cisco’s little toolboxes.
“Perfect.” He hummed, standing up straight and cracking his back.
Maybe I should look into some yoga.
These late nights of city-watching only to go straight into work at CCPD the next morning were really doing a number on his body.
He glanced around Cisco’s lab once more before sighing and heading back into the hall.
The place was quiet, the only sound being his own footsteps and the occasional clang from the pipes.
Iris was at CCPN, Joe at CCPD, Wally was patrolling right now, and Cisco was probably at home. It gave him the whole facility to himself and quite frankly, it was a little spooky.
He stopped in front of the time vault, a room that used to put him on edge by merely looking at it. The room Thawne first used as his refuge while he plotted behind their backs.
Now, it was mainly used to house Gideon, who they went to when they really needed help.
Who Barry was now determined to work on.
He apparently created her in the future, but Thawne had robbed him of that too since she was here now and there was no reason for him to create her again when she was literally right here.
So, he was going to improve her. Make a mobile version that he could take anywhere with him.
If Savitar and Flashpoint taught him anything, it was that he couldn’t change the past. He had to let go and make things good now. Life was unpredictable, and he had to start taking it seriously.
Wally wasn’t going to be here forever, he had to move on for his own sake. After his training, it was the next logical step.
And for that matter, Team Flash wasn’t going to be around forever. That’s another thing the Savitar situation taught him.
People leave. They move on with their lives. Sometimes, they die. And he had to start making peace with that or it wasn’t going to be all the more painful.
Which is why Gideon would be a great solution for the future. When he was alone, doing most of this by himself, he’d need someone to bounce ideas off of and help him.
“Gideon?” He spoke aloud, bending down to the central control panel where her mainframe sat.
“Good evening, Barry Allen. What can I assist you with?” Her voice rang out in the otherwise room.
He set the little toolbox down on the floor, sitting down and crossing his legs before pulling out the screwdriver. “I’m going to study your mainframe for a bit, okay? Just monitor be and make sure I don’t mess anything up.”
“Very well. What goal do you have in mind by studying my mainframe? I could help you?”
Barry chuckled, nodding. “I promise to ask for help if I need it. This is kinda something I want to try and do on my own. I want to make a mobile form of you, for when I’m out in the city.”
“So you just need to scale me down to fit into an earpiece?”
“Yeah, basically. I just have to figure out how to connect this version of you, to this earpiece.” He held it up. “But, I’d also like to figure out how you work. Since I did make you in the future. Do end up making you? Whatever.”
“If it helps, some of the technology inside me won’t be discovered for another six years.”
“Oh.” Barry looked up at the controls as if he was looking at a real person. “Okay, I guess you can just fill in those blanks for me.”
“It will be my pleasure, Barry Allen.” She responded cheerfully.
He smiled, finally getting the panel unscrewed and stopping to stare. Yeah. This was complicated and it would take a while to understand it all. Good thing he could speed read otherwise this would be a real chore.
He began poking around the wires, making notes on a pad of paper he’d found in the toolbox about possible other tools he’d need to make this work and which types of wires were connected where.
He had to have been working for at least an hour because he was starting to get to the point where his body was feeling weak and needed some fuel now or he’d pass out.
Maybe he’d surprise Iris with some Big Belly Burger for a late lunch? She needed some cheering up anyways.
“Barry?!”
He jumped a little at the sound of a familiar voice. Gypsy, it took him a second to process it before reasoning that it was likely coming from the Cortex and not inside his head. “In the time vault!” He called back.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the door opened and she walked into the room, looking around cautiously.
“This place is fucking creepy when it’s deserted. Everything echoes.” She said as her way of greeting.
“Tell me about it.” He put the tools down and shifted to face her. “So, what’s up?”
They didn’t normally talk, and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever been alone with her before. So if she was here looking for him specifically, it must be for a good reason.
“I can’t find Cisco anywhere. Thought maybe he’d be here.” She approached him, looking noticeably less like a stoic badass and more like a concerned girlfriend.
It made him pause though. “Can’t you feel your connection?”
This was worrisome. Usually she could feel their vibe-connection from earths away.
“Why do you think I came to you? The connection went dark about half an hour ago.” She pushed some of her hair behind her ear and stepped even closer to him. “I didn’t think anything of it at first, I was in the middle of a mission on Earth-74. But still, something kept nagging the back of my brain.”
“And then you came here, to his apartment and he wasn’t there.” Barry finished, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.
She nodded. “Yep. And I thought maybe I would regain the connection when I stepped onto this earth, but still, nothing. That usually means the person is… Barry, what if something bad happened to him?”
“Hey, hey.” He stood up and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You‘ve been training him a bit right? I’m sure he can handle himself in a fight. There has to be another reason why you can’t sense him.”
She sighed, “But what?”
“I-“ they were interrupted suddenly by a flash of gold lighting that rushed into the room, stopping right next to them.
“Wally!”
He seemed out of breath, or maybe just extremely anxious because he looked from Barry to Gypsy worriedly. “What are you guys doing in here?”
“I was working on Gideon when she came in. Wondering where Cisco is. We were talking about where he could be. She can’t sense him right now.” Barry explained.
Wally pulled his cowl down, looking serious and indeed very anxious. “Well, we have another problem.”
Dread curled itself in his belly at Wally’s ominous words.
What now?
“What is it?” Barry asked, a lot calmer than his insides felt right now.
“CCPD found a victim at the junkyard in the Lower West Side. Multiple stab wounds. From icicles.”
Oh god.