Always Running

Need for Speed

Caitlin is cuffed to the same desk, the other desks moved further away from her so she can't reach them. She is expecting to be scolded but she looks up to see Jay gazing at her. She turns away, not liking the admiration in his look.

He walks up to her and leans down to look at her. "You have to break to see who you truly are." He smiles, reaching to touch her face. She flinches back, but still lets him. She realized how little pull she still had over him when he ignored her at Jitters and right now, she was the only thing that had kept Joe and Barry alive. "You're almost there." He says softly.

He runs off.

Caitlin turns and looks out the window at the night sky. At least I'm back on Earth 1. She thought. At least I'm not in that cave.

******************

"What more do you need?" Harry scolds. "I told you he would kill those officers. I told you he would employ more metas. What more do you need!" He yells.

Harry looks a mix of angry and desperate. Cisco is standing, zoned out in the corner. It's not his call. He already knows his answer. Wally and Jessie are sitting at the control desk. They came to check on everyone after they saw what happened at Jitters on the news. Joe is standing and staring solemnly at the ground, not sure how to feel after having lost so many people at Jitters. Henry and Iris are the only two arguing.

"We don't know what's going to happen." Iris defends.

"I do. He is going to tear this city apart. Faster than he did mine." Harry argues. "And right now, there is nothing we can do about it." He turns to Barry who hasn't said anything since they got back. "But he can."

Barry looks up, staring at Harry. He nods.

Henry walks over to him. "Son, you don't have to do this. It doesn't have to be up to you to save everyone."

"It does." Barry corrects. "I'm the one who opened the black hole that showed Zoom this Earth. I'm the one who brought him back. I'm the one who gave up my speed. This is all because of me. It has to be me. And Harry's right. This is how we save Caitlin."

"Barry, this could kill you." Iris reminds him, walking up and putting her hand on his arm. She looks up at him, a stern look on her face.

"One of the cops killed tonight...he has a son. Same age I was when mom was murdered." He looks over at his dad. "Now another kid has to grow up without a parent. No more. I need to do this." Barry turns to Harry. "How does this work?"

Harry leads all of them into the room where he's been working on the machine that will help Barry get his speed back. He explains the process. Barry will be hooked up to the machine. It will inject him with the same chemicals he was exposed to the night of the first explosion. Cisco will use the weather wand to draw static from the sky and direct lightning to the machine. The accelerator will go off and...if all goes to plan, the Flash will return.

"That's a lot of things that can go wrong." Joe comments.

"And we're sure this isn't going to affect anyone outside of S.T.A.R. Labs?" Barry confirms. Harry nods.

"The explosion will be contained to right here."

"Will we be affected?" Cisco asks. "Caitlin and I were right outside the accelerator last time and we got-" He gestures showing him and Caitlin getting blown back from the explosion.

"We should be safe." Harry says, still focusing on his calculations.

Henry sighs. "I still don't like this."