I'll Be There in a Flash

65

We stare at the virtual article in shock. "Flash missing, vanishes in crisis. Hummingbird gone for 6 weeks." Cisco says reading the headline out loud. "After an epic street battle with the Reverse-Flash our city's very own Scarlet Speedster disappeared in an explosion of light." Barry says reading it and I turn to him and see his frown. "Barry, Tori, look at the date." Caitlin says and we look at the date. "April 25th, 2024." we say at the same time. "Hummingbird was taken hostage by the Reverse-Flash as bait for the heroic Scarlet Speedster. After the two speedsters disappeared, the bird had been missing for those six weeks." the article said and I read out loud.

"Guys, when I fought the Reverse-Flash at Christmas he said that we'd been fighting for centuries." Barry says.

"Wait, you can't really think that this is from... the future." Caitlin says.

"That would mean Dr. Wells, whoever he is, is also-"

"From the future." me and Barry say at the same time finishing Cisco's sentence.

"I have to say, I'm really digging the brighter red suit, and the electric currents on the side of the black suit with electric batons. And the white on the symbol, that's dope." Cisco says.

"Wait a second. Suppose we change the color on your suit, Barry, and we add electric weapons to yours, Tori. Will it be because we got the idea from this picture? That would mean we're living in a causal nexus. Wow this is trippy. Like "Marty and the Polaroid" trippy." Cisco says

"Not as trippy as the name on the byline." Caitlin says and we stare at the name. "Iris West-Johnson?" Barry says and I look at it confusingly. "Johnson? We don't know anyone named Johnson" I say in confusion. "Taylor Johnson. Photographer for Picture News." a feminine voice says and we look around kind of freaking out. "Uh-uh. What the hell is that?" Cisco asks and I just hold onto Barry tightly. "Is someone here?" Barry asks and we look around. "Hello?" I ask looking around again and we see a giant head appear. "Good evening, Barry Allen, Tori Gomez." the head says and I widen my eyes. "Hi. You-? You know who we are?" Barry asks and we walk closer to it. "Of course. Barry Allen. Director of Central City Police. CSI Division. Tori Gomez. Wedding performer." it says.

"Director?" Barry asks.

"Wedding performer?" I ask

"I guess you guys get a promotion." Cisco says and we look back at the head.

"Also known as the Flash and Hummingbird. Founding members of-"

"What are you?" Barry asks as we walk closer to it.

"I'm Gideon, an interactive artificial consciousness." the head named Gideon says.

"AI. Sick." Cisco says and me and Barry just stare at Gideon. "You know Dr. Wells?" Barry asks Gideon. "Yes." she or it answers and Barry looks at me and I shrug. "Do you know who he really is?" Barry asks it. "I don't understand the question." Gideon replies and I roll my eyes. "I mean, what is he doing here? Why did he come here?" Barry stammers. Gideon turns into a full body and I look at it. "To kill you." Gideon says and I widen my eyes and look at Barry. "Wells is in the building." Cisco says and I just look at Barry seeing his shocked reaction yet sad and he shakes his head. "How do you know that?" Caitlin asks Cisco.

"I put a tracker on his wheelchair. Which, if we're wrong about him and he is paralyzed I'm going to hell for that one." he responds.

"He's in the Cortex ask questions fast." Cisco says.

"What happened to me?" I ask.

"You, Ms. Gomez, in the future, marry Barry Allen. You went missing when the Reverse-Flash took you hostage and you never returned." Gideon says and I look at Barry and he looks at me.

"Why did Dr. Wells kill Nora Allen?" Barry asks.

"Because he was angry." Gideon answers.

"About what?"

"That you escaped."

"He's on B level. He's coming this way." Cisco says.

"What does he want from me?" Barry asks.

"For you to be the Flash." Gideon says.

"Well, maybe that's why Wells let the particle accelerator explode. So that you could become the Flash." Caitlin says.

"Why? I mean for what reason?" Barry asks.

"Guys, we gotta go. He's almost here." Cisco says.

We were about to leave when Cisco stops and tells us to wait. "What if HAL over there tells Wells that we were in here?" Cisco asks. "That would be bad." Caitlin says and I nod. "If I can get into its operating system, maybe I can disable its memory core." Cisco says and Barry tells Gideon to show us where its operation system is. "Certainly." Gideon says and the operation system flashes in front of us. Cisco laughs and I look at him, "Yeah. Nope, that's not gonna happen." Cisco says and I start to panic. "Guys, he's in the corridor." Caitlin says and I look at Barry. "Gideon, could you just, like, not tell him that we were here?" Barry asks. "Of course. I will accept any command given to me by you." Gideon says and we both look at it confusingly. "Barry. Tori." Cisco calls us. "Come on, we gotta get out of here." Caitlin says to us. "Wait. Why would you accept my commands?" Barry asks Gideon. "Because you created me." Gideon responds and we widen our eyes in complete and utter shock. Barry grabs my waist and I hook one arm to his neck and grab Cisco's hand and he wraps the other arm around Caitlin and we speed out.

*~*~

We go to my house and Barry texts Joe to meet us here. When him and Eddie get here, we tell them everything we saw and everything that happened. "Really? For three very smart people, that was very stupid. No offense, Tori, I know science isn't your thing." Joe says and I shake my head and raise a hand symbolizing that no offense was taken. "What if Wells had caught you in that...?" he says fading off not knowing what to call Wells' little hideout. "Time vault." Cisco says for Joe and Joe thanks him. "Ok, I know we've seen a lot this past year, but time travel?" Eddie asks like if it wasn't a possibility. "I did it." Barry says and I turn to him with wide eyes and I know everyone is looking at him. "Er- I will do it, I mean." Barry says and I cross my arms.

"Excuse me?" I ask and he looks at me and shrugs.

"One of the two speedsters in Barry's house the night his mother died was Barry. I mean, the Flash. He was there. Which means that one day in the future, Barry will travel back in time to that night." Cisco says to Eddie.

"Ok." Eddie says.

"Actually, I wasn't talking about that." Barry says and I look at him confusingly.

"I kind of already time-traveled. By accident" Barry says and I widen my eyes and slap his arm.

"And you didn't tell us?" I ask him angrily.

"I was running to try to stop a tsunami from hitting the city-" he starts to say.

"When was that?" Caitlin asks.

"A few weeks ago. Right before you started getting those dreams." he tells us and motions to Cisco.

"Oh. You mean the ones where Wells uses his super-speeding hand to shred apart my heart? Those?" Cisco asks.

"Yes, right. So... What if they're not dreams?" Barry asks and I look at him oddly.

"What else could they be?" I ask

"Memories." Barry says and I cross my arms and look down and Joe says he's not following. "What if that day, Cisco found out that Wells is Reverse-Flash, and then Wells killed him but when I ran back a day, I changed the timeline so that event never happened?" Barry says. "If it never happened, how can Cisco remember it?" Joe asks him. "I don't know. I don't know. I think the important thing is he does." Barry says and I look at him then look away. "Guys, I think I've got a really bad idea." Barry says and I look at him and lay my head on his shoulder and his arm wraps around me. I trust Barry, but whatever this bad idea is, I'm hoping it could help us.