In A Blink ➳ Barry Allen/The Flash

33.

chapter thirty-three ; revelations

_________________

"What are you doing?" Natalie asked as she looked over Cisco's shoulder as he focused solely on the computer. "After the accelerator explosion, I built a 3-D model of S.T.A.R. Labs so I could pinpoint the exact location of the malfunction. Never bothered running the test outside of the pipeline or Cortex until now. S.T.A.R. Labs is a big place, big enough for Wells to hide something," he explained as he clicked through different maps.

He stopped when a small beeping and a red light flashed on the screen. Caitlin, Barry, and Natalie leaned closer. "What is that?" Caitlin asked as she pointed at the flashing red rectangle.

"That shouldn't be there."

The three followed behind Cisco and his tablet as he scanned the area the test had flagged. "There," he said pointing at the wall with his device, "Tachyons."

Barry looked at his friends and girlfriend before running his hands on the wall, only for a panel to open up into a dark doorway.

"So do we go inside or.." Natalie asked as she rocked on her heels and stared warily at the empty space. To answer her question, Barry grabbed her hand and the two stepped into the darkness, a light scanning them on their way in with their friends on their tails. Natalie clenched Barry's hand tightly when she heard the door panel piece itself back together, enveloping the four in darkness.

Before Natalie could say something about them being trapped in there, a spotlight shot on revealing the suit of the Reverse Flash. Still holding tightly onto Natalie's hand, Barry stepped forward to it, his jaw clenched and his face contorted as if he was in physical pain from seeing the suit. The main light struck on, revealing the rest of the secret room, white, braille-like walls enclosing the four in the room. Barry slipped his hand out of Natalie's as he moved to walk around the room, leaving her, Caitlin, and Cisco to look at the suit.

"Guys," Barry called out softly from where he stood. His friends and girlfriend walked up to him to see what he was looking at. "Barry what's-" Before Natalie could finish her sentence, her eyes fell upon what Barry found. The big, bold words were hard to miss: FLASH MISSING VANISHES IN CRISIS.

"After an epic street battle with the Reverse Flash, our city's very own Scarlet Speedster disappeared in an explosion light," Barry read as they all took tentative steps closer to the projected article.

"Barry, look at the date," Caitlin said softly. "April 25, 2024."

Barry shook his head in disbelief, "When I fought the Reverse Flash last Christmas, he said that we'd be fighting for centuries."

Natalie felt a lump grow in her throat, "You guys can't really think that this is from.. the future, right?"

"That would mean Dr. Wells, whoever he is, is also from the future," Cisco concluded as the four of them stared at it, not knowing what to think. Cisco looked closely at the picture of the Flash on the article, "I have to say, I'm really digging the brighter red suit. And the white on the symbol, that's dope. Wait a second. Suppose we now change the color on your suit, will it be because we got the idea from this picture? That would mean we're living in a causal nexus-"

"Cisco. We are staring at a supposed article from the future in the Reverse Flash's lair and you're wondering about changing the color on Barry's suit?" Natalie breathed out, flustered at the sharp turn of events that evening.

Cisco frowned at her and mumbled, "Well I don't really know what to think right now."

"Look at the byline," Caitlin pointed out as she analyzed the article.