Short on Time

Chapter 122

"Mummy, why sad?" Henry asked as he looked at me. 

"Not sad, just messing with the lights," I said as I turned them back on. 

"I stared at that newspaper for so many years," Barry said as he held Esther tightly to him. "First, it felt like a guide. You know, like proof that things were headed in the right direction. Then it became a sword hanging over my head."

"I thought we always had time," I whispered. 

"A part of me always felt like if I vanish in whatever crisis is coming," Barry said. "Maybe I was still out there somewhere, looking for a way to come back to you. To our family.  According to The Monitor, that doesn't happen."

"To save the lives of billions, the Flash must die," I said, quoting Monitor. "What is he on about? The Monitor shows up out of nowhere saying you're supposed to die on December tenth? That article said that you were in a fight with Thawne, not some cosmic disaster."

"The article changed," Barry said. 

"If that article can change, then that means that we can still change the future," I said. "So what do we do first?" 

"When the doctor told you you were dying, you went to get a second opinion," Barry said simply.

~*~

"I thought you were suggesting we go talk to someone," I muttered as I crossed my arms. 

"I'm gonna go see this Crisis for myself," Barry said. 

"Are you sure?" I asked. 

"Yeah."

"Where will you go?"

"December eleventh, twenty-nineteen," Barry said. "It's the day after I'm supposed to disappear."

"Maybe we should loop in the rest of Team Flash," I said nervously. 

"Not until we know the truth," Barry said. 

"I just," I sighed. "I don't feel great about you going in there alone. I'd go with, but pregnant women probably shouldn't time travel." 

"I'm not gonna be alone," Barry said as he pulled out an earpiece. "I have this."

"Hello, Barry Allen. Preparing for temporal observational protocol," I heard the familiar voice say. 

"Is that Gideon?" I asked. 

"It's a mobile Gideon unit I built from salvaged parts of the plinth," Barry said.

"Of course you did," I said. 

"Relax, after this, we'll go out for dinner," Barry said. "Your siblings are watching the kids, might as well make the most of it."

"My siblings are studying for midterms, I hope Esther hasn't burned down the house when we pick them up," I responded. 

"Henry'll keep her under control," Barry said smiling. 

"You'll come right back to this moment? Right to this second?" I asked nervously. 

"I promise," Barry said, and then sealed it with a kiss. I stood nervously as he ran out, only he came back, and rather hurt. 

"Ow!" Barry hissed as I tried to clean the wound. 

"Stop being such a baby," I scolded. "Your wound is still not healing."

"Mm-hmm," Barry agreed in pain. 

"My readings indicate you were exposed to an extra-universal material that destroys positive matter on contact, a substance known as antimatter," Gideon told us.