Frozen Flashpoint

Chapter 35: After the Bang

Summary: The fight is over. Now all that's left is to move forward—and... wait, what's this about Wally?!

Barry was the first to look away from the sky. But even as he did, he could feel the ache of having to sacrifice someone to put an end to the threat of DeVoe.

From Barry's point of view, Marlize was wrong. She was manipulated, by her love for her husband and by pure desire to make the world a better place. She had nothing to atone for, and even if she did...

This, this was far too much.

Some would say Barry shouldn't be so depressed and mournful about the death of a woman he knew less than a week, far less when this woman up until a few days ago fought against him and his team.

But Barry was always quick to become attached to people. Iris, Wells, Caitlin, Cisco, Joe, Jay, Frost, and even Harry. The same was true for Marlize.

They might have known each other for such a short time, though in that time Barry could see her drive. After she was poisoned by the husband she dedicated everything for, she had every right to take time and wallow in her misery, but instead she pushed on, determined to see her dreams come true, even if it meant overturning everything she believed in until then.

Barry admired it; he wished he could be as strong as her. After all, there were many times since he became the Flash, and even before it, that Barry needed this kind of strength and lacked it.

She was strong until her last moment and was willing to go out holding tight to her beliefs, and to the man she once loved so dearly. Barry remembered how Marlize boldly declared that her husband was dead, killed by the monster DeVoe became after he was hit by the lightning during the particle accelerator.

And still, Barry thought even now that she was lying when she said that. Was it to herself? Or for some specific goal? Barry wasn't sure. One thing was certain in his mind—she still believed her husband was in there somewhere and tried to reach him in her final moments.

Was she successful? Barry would like to imagine that the answer was yes; after all, she deserved at least this much before the end.

Barry looked around the group to see their reactions.

Harry and Cisco looked to the ground with frowns on their faces. Barry could guess both of them were angry at themselves for not being able to find another solution to the tech problem and having to rely on Marlize.

Jesse was sitting on the ground with her knees pulled to her chest as she kept looking at the sky with a faraway gaze. Barry couldn't even begin to guess what was going on inside of her mind. Between Marlize and Wally, she had a very difficult couple of hours.

Caitlin had tears in her eyes, but she was looking down at the crying girl in her arms. That girl was none other than Lyra.

Lyra was sobbing into Caitlin's chest, and Barry couldn't blame her. Even if it was a future version of the woman, even in this timeline, Lyra spent the most time with Marlize and had the strongest bond with her.

Lyra saw the woman Marlize could become with enough time outside of DeVoe's influence and had the deepest understanding of what was just lost, the possibilities that would never come to pass.

Barry closed the gap between the girls and himself so he could pull them into a tight hug. As he hugged them close, he said in a voice that could be heard by everyone, "Let's go back to the lab. We can all use some rest."

As if on cue, dozens of police cars and a couple of vans arrived at the scene. The first one to come out of one of the cars was Detective Joe West. The man was wearing his usual detective attire: buttoned-up white shirt, a red tie, and a long tailcoat.