Episode 18 - Flash Back

Barry was in the Cortex working on an equation as he uses his speed to read all the books that could help make him faster. "I let it happen again." Barry complained. "I trusted someone I shouldn't have. Jay Garrick. Zoom. Just like I trusted Harrison Wells, or Eobard Thawne. You see what I mean? I made the same mistake twice. I thought they wanted to teach me how to use my powers, train me to get faster, but they didn't come here to help me. They came to use me and take everything I love away from me. But no more. I'm gonna crack the code. Figure out how to improve my speed. I'm gonna train harder, get stronger, and run faster than anyone's ever run before. And then I'm gonna stop Zoom."

Barry was still working on the clear board when Cisco walked in with more books. Cisco then saw Jay's helmet on the table and vibed Zoom which caused him to drop the books he was holding. Barry hears this and turns around. "Yo." Barry said.

"Can we please get rid of Jay's helmet?" Cisco wonders as he picks up the books and puts them on the table.

"No, sorry. It keeps me motivated." Barry admits.

"Well, it's giving me daymares." Cisco tells him as he holds up the books. "This is everything I could find even remotely related to increasing speed. How are these supposed to help apply the speed equation to you?"

"The answer's got to be here somewhere." Barry replies as he takes the books as Caitlin and Atchaco walk in.

"I think we found something interesting." Atchaco said.

"Good interesting or bad interesting? 'Cause that word could go either way." Cisco reminded them.

"After running some comparative data, it appears that you, Atchaco, Reverse Flash, and Zoom are moving your legs at essentially the same speed." Caitlin informs them.

"Then why are they so much faster than them?" Cisco questioned.

"Best I can tell, with each stride their feet spend less time on the ground, thus propelling them forward much faster." Caitlin explains.

"By almost 30%. Great. All right, well, I got to make up that difference somehow." Barry tells them.

"Barry? Look, after what that monster did, I want to stop Jay just as badly as you do…" Caitlin admits.

"Right." Barry said.

"But what if the reason you haven't been able to run as fast as him yet is because you just can't?" Caitlin wonders.

Later at the West house, Barry and Atchaco were having dinner with Joe and Iris. "Barry, you know what happened to Jay is not your fault, right?" Atchaco said.

"Well, I should've known better." Barry sighs.

"You? With Wells last year, I should've learned my lesson and dug deeper into Jay, but... I didn't." Joe told them.

"Come on, Joe." Barry moans.

"Point being is nobody saw this coming. Nobody." Joe reminds them. The microwave then beeps and Joe gets up and goes into the kitchen.

"So I... kind of went on a date." Iris admits.

"Really?" Atchaco wonders as she takes a sip of her wine.

"With who?" Barry asked.

"The new editor at CCPN. Scott Evans." Iris answers.

"Your boss?" Barry said with a confused look on his face.

"Okay, it wasn't like that. He's a really nice guy. He's sweet and smart and, um…" Iris stops for a moment.

"What?" Atchaco wonders.

"It just... it all makes me think about Eddie. I think about him every day. It just feels wrong." Iris told them.

"I know for a fact that Eddie would want you to find love again." Barry reassures her.

"Yeah, I know, but…" Iris started to say.

"Look, Iris." Atchaco interrupted her. "You're the only person who's gonna know when you're ready to move on, but until then don't keep yourself completely closed off, you know? You're gonna miss out on something great."

"Yeah." Iris agrees as the door opens and Wally walks in.

"Hey." Barry greets him.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Wally apologised as he walked over to the table.

"No, no, you're just in time." Iris replied.

Joe then walks in quickly with a bowl of food. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Joe groaned as he set it onto the table.

"Dad! Mittens!" Iris reminds him and they laugh.

"So... my advisor loved my engine designs and even asked me to help her out with one of her engineering projects." Wally informs them.

"Okay, big man on campus." Iris smiled.

"It's not that big a deal." Wally told her.

"It's a great opportunity, and you should take it because life doesn't give those out all the time." Joe said when he notices that Barry isn't paying attention. "Isn't that right, Barry?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Barry mumbles as he starts to pay attention again.

"What is the project about?" Atchaco asked.

"It's trying to push the speed limits with smaller propulsion systems." Wally explains.

"Yeah, that's cool." Atchaco said.

"Where do you even start?" Joe questioned.

"Well, I really like to read the journals of the classic engineers, so their engine designs, how they increase horsepower, and learn from the best, I guess." Wally admitted.

"You read their journals?" Barry asked.

"Mmm. I mean, it's not like I can just go and talk to Enzo Ferrari or Ferdinand Porsche 'cause they dead, but…" Wally said and they laughed. "You know, doesn't mean they can't still teach me."

"I got to go." Barry suddenly said.

"You haven't even touched your food." Joe points out.

Yeah, no, I'm sorry. I just, um... I just realised the key to a case Atchaco and I've been working on, so we both should just…" Barry stands up as Atchaco grabs her coat. "Thank you, Wally. Whoo! Um, sorry, guys. We'll be... we'll be back later." He grabs Atchaco's hand and the both walk out the front door.

"That dude gets weirder every time I see him." Wally said.

"Yeah." Joe sighs.

​​Back at STAR Labs, Barry has told everyone what he was thinking. "You mean the 'old' Harrison Wells? As in Eobard Thawne? You want him to teach you how to run faster? Oh, that's rich." Cisco said.

"How are you gonna do that?" Caitlin asked.

"By running back to a time last year." Barry answered.

"And what about the other you, the one from that other timeline?" CIsco wondered.

"I'll knock him out with something. I mean, he's not like he'll see me coming, and then I'll have Wells teach me." Barry told him.

"Barry, that's crazy." Caitlin admits.

"Nothing I've read is pointing me towards a solution, and if there's anybody that's figured out the key to getting faster without V-9, it's him. What do you guys think?" Barry said and Cisco scoffs.

"Your plan is asinine." Harry said as he walked in holding a bag.

"Did you find Jesse?" Cisco asked.

"Does it look like I found Jesse? How many times have you travelled through time?" Harry wondered.

"A few." Barry answered.

"Do you have any idea how many things you could screw up?" Harry said.

"All I need is one conversation with Dr. Wells." Barry replies.

"He's not Wells." Harry corrects him.

"Thawne." Barry repeats.

"I'm Wells! This man has been studying you for 15 years... for 15 years... and you don't think he's gonna know who you are?" Harry reminds him.

"Barry's pretty good at impersonating himself. You should've seen him over there on Earth-2. I was like, 'Somebody get this man an Oscar.'" Cisco said as Barry chuckles.

"He will know, Allen. He will know." Harry warns.

"All right, then what am I supposed to do? I mean, how am I supposed to stop Zoom?" Barry points to the clear board. "Do you know the answer to this equation?"

"If Thawne figures out that it's you, the timeline will be altered." Harry reminds him. "People can die. Others could live, and no one will know who or what will be affected, but I promise you, when you come back, things will be different. And only you will know what those differences are."

"Well, if that's what I have to do to stop Zoom, then so be it, because if I don't, and Zoom gets my speed and Atchaco's before I learn how to stop him, everybody I care about, everybody in this whole city... their world will never be the same anyway." Barry replies. Harry then shakes his head and walks out of the Cortex as Barry rolls his eyes,

"Do you really think you can do this?" Atchaco wondered.

"Yeah, I do. When I went back last year and I saw my mom die, it didn't affect the timeline." Barry replies.

"Yeah, but you haven't really time travelled on purpose like this before." Cisco reminds him.

"I have to do this, you guys." Barry said.

"Okay, let's go for it." Caitlin told them.

Minutes later, Barry was in his suit at the entrance to the accelerator ring. "Okay, you're gonna go back to the time when Wells was distracted by the return of the major jackass, Hartley Rathaway." Cisco explains. "This is the first time we found out Wells knew the accelerator might explode, and we were all angry with him, so anything that might seem odd about your behaviour Wells should attribute to that. Also remember: Do not underestimate Hartley. He almost killed you and Atchaco." Barry then takes off running.

Moments before Barry had left. "This is a tranq dart that should knock 'old' you out for about six hours, which lines up perfectly for when you're going back, because not much was happening until Hartley attacked the Cleveland Dam that night, so that should give you time to learn what you need and return." Caitlin said, handing Barry the dart.

"Also, we were not together then. You had told me how you had felt about me though. So no lovey dovey on past me, okay." Atchaco said. "Try your best to not be very close to me, past me can find out easier than the others."

"Got it." Barry chuckles.

Minutes later, Barry was running around the accelerator ring as everyone else watched from the Cortex.

Moments before Barry had walked down. "One more thing. You cannot tell us the truth about Wells, no matter what." Cisco warns. "You must keep the timeline intact. It's gonna be hard to course correct if anything gets altered, so get what you need and come back, preferably to this moment, this exact time you're leaving, or else you might set off some kind of '12 Monkeys' time loop you'll never get out of."

"Mm-hmm." Barry hums.

"No pressure." Cisco said.

"Yeah. Cool." Barry replies.

"So, we'll see you in, like, two seconds. Time travel's so weird." Cisco admits as he gives Barry a hug. Barry pulls out of the hug and walks over to Caitlin.

"Godspeed, Barry." Caitlin hugs him as well.

Barry then walks over to Atchaco and she hugs and kisses him. "Hurry back, get it." Atchaco said.

"I'll be fine. What could go wrong?" Barry told her. He looks at Harry and then runs off.

Minutes later, Barry was jumping into a portal in the accelerator. As he is running he sees the day that a breach opened up in Central City and Eddie died as Iris screamed. He then sees something that closely resembles the dementors from Harry Potter, the creature, a wraith charges at him. Barry ducks as he lands in the time he had aimed to be in. Barry steadies himself and looks up to see cops surrounding Rathaway Industries. He then sees himself and Macanese in front of Hartley. "Oh, no. I'm too early." Barry said.

Meanwhile on the other side of the street. "It's over, Rathaway." Macanese told him.

"You know my name? I know some names too." Rathaway smiles.

"This is not a good start." Barry admits from where he is standing.

"Caitlyn Snow. Cisco Ramone. Harrison Wells." Hartley continued. Suddenly feedback squeals in all their ear pieces and past Barry notices future Barry standing there.

"Something's interfering with their comms. Barry! Macanese!" Cisco called.

Barry then speeds out of there as past Barry was still looking. Macanese then taps past Barry on the shoulder which makes him focus on Hartley again. Meanwhile, Barry was in an alleyway tinkering with his ear piece. "Come on! Damn it." Barry moans.

Meanwhile in the Cortex. "What's happening?" Caitlin asked.

"I don't know. Whatever Hartley's using must be shorting out their comms." Cisco answered.

"I can hear the radio waves…" Hartley smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember this." Barry said as he stood behind a trash can as he watched.

"I can hear the radio waves emanating from your suit." He points at Barry and then points at Macanese. "And your cybernetics."

"This could still work." Barry whispered to himself.

"About 1,900 megahertz. Are they on the other end listening? Will they hear you die?" Hartley smirks.

"No. They're gonna hear you…" Past Barry starts.

"Get your ass kicked." Barry finished with him.

"Okay." Hartley chuckles. He then sends both past Barry and Macanese across the floor. Barry acts quickly and drags past Barry into the alley as Macanese stands up. "I guess it was easy to scare your partner. And he chose you two over me?"

In the alley, Barry shows his past self the ear pieces. "My comms? Who are you?" Past Barry asked.

"I don't have time to explain this to you right now." Barry admits.

Barry takes the tranq out of his boot and was about to stab his past self when he takes off running and Barry follows. The tranq gets thrown out of his hand and Barry then shoves his past self across the floor as he grabs the tranq and runs over to him. "I don't understand. You're me." Past Barry gasped.

Barry walks over to past Barry and stabs him in the leg with the tranquilliser and he grunts in pain. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this. This'll all make sense eventually." Barry then switches emblems with his past self.

Meanwhile, Hartley and Macanese were fighting. Hartley was about to shoot waves out of his gloves when Barry arrived and sped around the police throwing their batons at Hartley. He then speeds behind the criminal and takes his gloves, just like he did last time. Macanese then zooms behind Hartley just like Barry remembered. She trips him up by grabbing his leg and flipping him over before putting her foot on his chest.

"Got ya again." Barry smiles. "Looks like you're not as smart as everyone says, huh?"

"Smart enough to have figured out who Harrison Wells really is. You see, I know his secret." Hartley admits.

"Barry, Macanese, are you there?" Cisco wondered.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm back." Barry reassures them.

"We're bringing Hartley in." Macanese said as she looked at Barry with a confused expression.

Minutes later, Harley was in a cell in the pipeline. Cisco looks at the screen. "Scanners picking up foreign metallic objects in your ears. Take 'em out." Cisco ordered.

"I can't. I suffered head trauma when S.T.A.R. Labs exploded. My hearing was severely damaged. Without these, I am in pain you can only imagine." Hartley replied and Barry remembered how he escaped.

"Cisco, see if the devices in his ears are generating any low level electromagnetic pulses." Barry said.

"You want me to scan for E-bombs?" Cisco questioned.

"I just... I mean, don't you think that could've been what was interfering with the comms?" Barry suggested.

"It couldn't hurt to check." Macanese said.

"Well, well." Cisco scoffs. "Trying to go all 'Mission: Impossible' on us? Use those things to bust out of here?"

"Vestra silentium loquitur volumania (your silence speaks volumes). Pump in some sound stimuli to counteract his tinnitus." Wells wheels in. "Then we'll make some non-explosive replacements for him. Deal with you later." Barry stares at Wells as he wheels out.

"Take them out, Hartley. Now." Caitlin orders as she walks over to the cell.

Minutes later, Barry catches up with Wells in the hallway. "Dr. Wells." Barry calls.

"That was quite an observation you had about Hartley in there, Mr. Allen." Wells tells him.

"Yeah, it just seemed too easy taking him down, you know?" Barry said.

"Mm-hmm, well, the likely reason for that is you're getting faster." Wells told him.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that." Barry admits. Moments later Barry was writing an equation in the Cortex. "It occurred to me that maybe we've been going about improving my speed the wrong way."

"How so?" Wells asked.

"Well, I've been learning different techniques involved in running, and I was thinking that there's just as much science involved in speed as anything physical or technical. I just can't figure out how to apply it to me when I run. Thought if anybody could help me, it'd be you." Barry explained.

"This is quite the... speed equation you've concocted here, isn't it, Mr. Allen?" Wells said.

"Yeah, I've been doing a lot of reading in my downtime." Barry replied.

"What on earth inspired you to adopt such a... what should we call this... unorthodox approach?" Wells questioned.

"I just know that I'm not the fastest man alive, and I need to be faster, a lot faster, if I'm ever gonna be able to take down the Man in Yellow. So what do you think? Can you help me?" Barry said. Barry looks at Wells thinking he was going to stand up but instead he grabs the marker.

"Let me see what I can do." Wells told him.

Later at CCPD, Joe was straightening up a picture on the wall when someone walked up to him. "Hey, Joe." Eddie greeted him.

"Hey, Eddie." Joe returned, turning around. "Must have been a good lunch." Joe noticed the smile on his face.

"Iris is the first girlfriend I've ever lived with, so it's all very new and exciting." Eddie admitted.

"New? Yes. Exciting? No." Joe replied.

"Sorry. Somehow I keep forgetting you're her dad." Eddie said.

"Hey, try to remember for both our sakes." Joe tells him as they walk into the elevator. "Come here. I was thinking about what you said about Wells, how there's something off about him. I need you to do something for me, off the books."

"Joe, come on." Eddie sighed.

"Just trust me, Eddie." Joe replies.

"Okay. What?" Eddie asked.

"Go back to his house. Search everything." Joe answered.

Up in Barry and Atchaco's lab, a police officer was dropping off a file when a map behind him rustles. "Someone there?" He questioned. He walks over to the map on the board and then suddenly a wraith comes out of nowhere. It chases the police officer downstairs to where everyone else was and floats in front of everyone.

"What the hell?" Joe gasped.

Back at STAR Labs, Barry and Wells were in the Cortex when the computer started beeping. "CCPD." Wells said.

"I'm sure they have it handled, right?" Barry replied.

"No. You need to go." Wells tells him.

Atchaco then walks in. "I heard the alarm. What's going on?" She wonders.

"Something's happening at CCPD." Wells informs her.

Atchaco nods before she speds into her suit. "Barry, come on." She then zooms away as Barry looks over at Wells.

"Run, Barry." Wells said, looking up at him. Barry puts the marker down and super speeds out of the room.

Back at CCPD, the officers were shooting at the wraith but the bullets were just going through it. By the time Barry and Macanese show up, the wraith is gone. "We're too late." Macanese whispered and Barry's face widened when he saw Eddie.

"Is everyone okay?" Eddie asked as Barry continued to look at him.

Minutes later, Barry, CyAmze and Joe were up in the lab cleaning the mess the wraith made. "Barry." Joe said.

"Yeah?" Barry replied.

"You should cover that up." Joe points to the board with the crime scene photos of Nora's murder.

"Oh, right, yeah." He pulls the map over the photos. "Thanks."

"Joe." Eddie said as he walked in. "No sign of it outside. It just disappeared. Hey, Bar, Maz."

"Hey." CyAmze smiled.

"Hey, Eddie." Barry stares at him.

"Any idea what that thing could be?" Eddie asked.

"No, I don't know." CyAmze admits, annoyed.

"Not yet. If I figure it out I'll let you know." Barry tells him.

"Things just keep getting more and more strange in this city." Eddie sighed.

"Yeah, they do and it will keep getting stranger." CyAmze agreed.

"I'm gonna check in with Iris, let her know I'm okay." Eddie said.

"Great." Joe replied.

"All right, see ya, Bar, Maz." Eddie called.

"See you, Eddie." CyAmze returned as Eddie walked out of the room, Barry staring at him.

"What the hell's going on with you?" Joe asked.

"What the hell's going on with you?" Barry repeated.

"What he means is, why are you being so weird to Eddie." CyAmze questioned.

"Yeah." Joe agreed.

"Okay, um, look. I'm sorry. Let me and CyAmze just take care of all this, okay? I'll talk to you later, I promise." Barry said.

"Fine. But soon." Joe told him.

"Soon, yeah." Barry replied.

Later at STAR Labs. "What's going on?" Barry asked.

"Oh, you know, just trying to figure out how to find this Dementor that's apparently roaming through Central City right now." Cisco answered as Atchaco sat down.

"I always found that Dementors gave Harry Potter the creep factor." Atchaco admits.

"See, this is why we are friends, you get my references." Cisco smiled and Atchaco chuckled.

"I assume that was the cause of the CCPD alarm." Wells said.

Yeah, actually, it attacked our lab." Barry replied.

"You saw it?" Caitlin wondered.

"No, we didn't see it, no." Atchaco replied.

"I di... um... well, I didn't get there in time, but I have seen it before." Barry told him.

"Where?" Wells asked.

"It was earlier today, actually, when I was running to take Hartley down." Barry answered.

"Uh-huh. You're just mentioning this now?" Wells said.

"I... I didn't know what it was. I thought it was some sort of illusion. I don't know." Barry replied.

"Okay, well, we need to find it before it hurts somebody." Caitlin reminds them.

"Caitlin's right, guys. We need to find this thing." Atchaco agrees.

"Can you track it?" Barry asked.

"What is it with you guys? It's like you think I have ESP or something. I can't just magically sense where things are." Cisco replied.

"What can you do, Cisco?" Wells asked.

"I'm thinking I can reconfigure the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to look for it. Um, it might take some time though." Cisco said.

"Do it. In the meantime, Mr. Allen, come with me." Wells said and they both went into his office. "Have a seat."

"Is this about the speed equation?" Barry asked.

"As a matter of fact, it is." Wells answered.

"Oh, great. Okay, good. So you figured it out?" Barry wondered.

"Mm-hmm." Wells hums. He then gets up from his wheelchair and knocks Barry out. "Yes. I've figured it out."

Later, Barry wakes up in Wells… Thawne's time vault and sees that he is handcuffed to the wheelchair. He then looks up and sees Wells. "Now, who are you? I mean, who are you really?" Thawne asks.

"Dr. Wells, what are you doing?" Barry wondered, playing dumb.

"None of it adds up. The interference with the comms, the speed equation, the Time Wraith. That's what we call them. Time Wraiths. Scary, aren't they?" Thawne chuckles. "I thought, 'Oh, no, a Time Wraith has found me.' But then I thought, 'No, no, no.' You know what you're doing. Now, the Time Wraith is after someone who's travelled through time... and doesn't know what they're doing."

"Dr. Wells, come on. It's me. It's... it's Barry. I don't…" Barry laughs softly.

"Really? You are good." Thawne starts clapping. "You are good, and I would believe you, except that…" He speeds in front of Barry. "Nothing? I move like this, you barely flinch. You know who I am. Don't you?" Barry then starts trying to phase his hand out of the handcuffs. "Oh! And you're from the future. Do you know how I know that? Because I haven't taught my Barry Allen how to phase through objects... yet."

"Let me out of here, Thawne." Barry said.

Thawne then pulls up a chair and sits down. "I know." Wells sighs. "You're upset. But it does me good to hear that name again. Now, onto the bigger question. Why are you here?"

"Because I want to go faster, and you're the only one who can teach me. You're the only one who's figured out the equation. The Speed Force. You've manipulated it. How did you do that?" Barry asked.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No." Thawne walks over to Barry. "You'd only come here if something went wrong. If you're still alive, then that means... I haven't beaten you. If you're still alive... that means my plan fails. And if my plan fails, I don't get to go home, and if that's the case, well, then…" He kicks the chair away. He then vibrates his hand and he is about to shove it into Barry's chest but he stops him.

"No, no, no!" Barry interrupted. "Hey, hey, hey! It's the opposite! It's the opposite! It... you trick me. You harness my speed. We turn on the accelerator to create a path for you to go home. I go back in time. You go back to yours. You won. Yeah."

"Then why are you here? Why are you here now?" Thawne orders.

"Because when I got back, a singularity had formed. And now the only way for me to learn how to get faster and stop the singularity from happening was to come here. Now." Barry answered.

"Well, that's good to know." Thawne sighs. "There's just... Just one thing that occurs to me. I don't need you. Do I? Not this you certainly. Oops. You probably should've thought of that before you came back here. Shame…" He laughs. "You ran all the way back here just to die."

"You kill me... Barry... this Barry, your Barry, he learns it all." Barry lies. "There's a hidden letter telling him how it ends, how to beat you, everything. Anything happens to me, you never make it back home. Go on. kill me, Thawne. See how this all ends." Thawne stays silent as he sits down. "Now, you're gonna help me get faster."

Later, down in the pipeline, Cisco was playing 'Never Gonna Give You Up' into Hartley's cell. "Please." Hartley begged.

"I want to know how these work." Cisco said, holding up Hartley's gauntlets.

"I'll tell you, just kill the music." Hartley replied. Cisco walks over to the computer and stops the music. Once it was off, Hartley heard a high-pitched squeal and he groaned. Cisco then tosses him some hearing aids and the squealing fades. "Thanks."

"The gauntlets, Hartley. What kind of frequency is this?" Cisco questioned.

In the Cortex, Caitlin and Atchaco are standing there when suddenly a Time Wraith appears. "Oh my god." Atchaco gasps. Atchaco grabs Caitlin and then speds her down and into the pipeline with the Time Wraith on her tail.

"Cisco, it's here! It's coming!" Caitlin warns.

"Inside the cell, now!" Cisco orders as he opens Hartley's cell.

"Uh, sorry. What's coming?" Hartley asks as Cisco, Caitlin and Atchaco all go into the cell and shut the door. "Holy Harry Potter." The Time Wraith enters the pipeline and sheiks as it slams against the glass and cracks it. "Okay. Well, isn't this fantastic?"

"Look, we're gonna be safe in here. These cells are…" Cisco starts to say but the Time Wraith roars and cracks the cell door even more.

"Impenetrable?" Hartley says sarcastically.

"Barry!" Atchaco yelled.

"Dr. Wells!" Caitlin shouted.

Meanwhile, Thawne and Barry were watching from the time vault. "All right. We have to help them." Barry said.

"You let it track you here." Thawne reminds him.

"Get me out of here! Come on!" Barry shouted.

"If that thing comes after me and messes with my plans, you're all dead." Wells warned.

Back in the pipeline everyone is wondering what to do. "Where are they? I'm not so sure I can beat this thing." Atchaco admits.

"Okay, let's step back." Cisco said as he held up Hartley's gauntlets.

"You'll shatter the glass." Hartley tells them.

"You got a better plan?" Cisco wondered.

"As a matter of fact, give me those." Hartley points at the gauntlets.

"No!" Cisco replied.

"Now, Cisco!" Hartley ordered.

"Just give them to him." Atchaco said and Cisco hands him them.

"What are you gonna do?" Caitlin asked.

"These cells have speakers linked throughout S.T.A.R. Labs." Hartley said as he started tinkering with the gauntlets.

"Yes, and?" Caitlin replied.

"I rigged these gauntlets to emit a destructive signal if ever they're disarmed. If I can just find the right frequency of whatever the hell that thing is, well, let's just say you'll be glad you're in here with me." Hartley explained. Then there was a cacophonous frequency blaring through the speakers. The Time Wraith shrieks as it flies away. Barry and Wells finally arrive as Caitlin, Cisco and Atchaco are getting out of the cell.

Minutes later, they were in the Cortex. "I'm sorry that we didn't come sooner." Barry apologised.

"It's all right, Inky's gone." Cisco replies as he goes through the surveillance feed. "I don't see anything. You know, we'd be toast if it wasn't for Hartley and those gauntlets."

"Well, self-preservation is a very strong motivator, but he stays in the cell until I say otherwise." Wells replied.

"Okay, I'm just saying." Cisco reminded him.

"So the two places this thing has attacked are here and CCPD." Atchaco tells them.

"The common denominator being…" Caitlin starts to say.

"Me. Yeah, I know. I just... I don't know why." Barry admits.

"Well, you must have done something to piss him off. Satellite hasn't found anything." Cisco informs them.

"We need to find a more permanent solution to this problem. Start by repairing Hartley's gauntlets. That's about as good a first step as any." Wells said.

"I got some parts for it." Cisco told them.

"Let's go for it." Caitlin replied.

"I'll wait out front, Barry." Atchaco said and they all walked out.

"You don't know how to stop a Time Wraith?" Barry asked.

"None of us do. That's why we always try to avoid them in our travels." Wells answered.

"'We'?" Barry wondered.

"Speedsters... we're not the only three out there, you know?"Wells replied.

"This isn't the first time I've time travelled. How come I've never seen one of these until now?" Barry questioned as Wells get out of his chair.

"Because you ran out of luck." Wells answered. "And Time Wraiths hate it when speedsters manipulate the timeline, and now that thing's gonna do everything it can to end you." Barry scoffs. "Here's what we're gonna do. You're gonna go to CCPD. You're gonna see what you can find to help us stop this thing... I'll do the same here."

"Well, what am I supposed to be looking for?" Barry asked.

"You're in forensics. Figure something out." Wells tells him as he grabs his wheelchair.

"Hey, what about the equation? Me getting faster?" Barry wonders.

"If we don't stop this thing, there's gonna be no point in me teaching you anything." Wells reminds him.

Later in Barry and Atchaco's lab. "No trace elements, no prints, no sign that it was ever here except the whole mess." Barry sighed.

"Any idea what it was looking for?" Joe asked.

"Well, according to Barry. It's after him." CyAmze answered.

"What, why?" Joe questioned.

"It doesn't like something that I did." Barry replied.

"And what exactly would that be?" Joe wondered.

"Joe, Singh needs you in his office." Eddie said as he walked in and Joe left.

"Hey, Eddie, do you have a second?" Barry asked.

"I kind of got to go check out a lead for Joe." Eddie told him.

"Okay, actually this is for Iris's birthday." Barry said.

"That's two months from now." Eddie reminded him.

"Yeah, no, I know. You're right. I just... um, I want to make a video montage for her, just everybody in her life and how her being in your life has made it better." Barry replied.

"Aww." CyAmze smiles.

"That sounds great, yeah. I'll think of something to say." Eddie said.

"Can we do it now?" Barry wondered.

"Barry, I really got to go do this thing." Eddie sighed.

"I... I know. I really... it's just I kind of have to get it today." Barry replied.

"Sure." Eddie agreed.

"All right, great. Just, um... just speak from the heart." Barry holds up his phone. "Talk as if... talk as if it was the last thing you could ever say to her. Okay." Eddie nods. "Go ahead." Barry then hits the record button. CyAmze stands next to Barry and smiles.

"What does Iris mean to me? Uh, wow." Eddie said.

Back at STAR Labs. "So can these gauntlets be salvaged?" Wells asked.

"Their electron guns are fried." Cisco answered.

"So it shorted the wave tubes…" Wells continued.

"And destroyed the amplifiers." They said together.

"Yeah, but to be honest with you, I don't know how to manipulate the frequency variance." Cisco admits.

"Hartley would know. He's the one who did it." Caitlin reminds them.

"See if he can help, but he stays in the cell." Wells said.

"But then what? That thing's gonna come back." Cisco warned.

"I don't know." Wells admits when suddenly Barry from this timeline shows up with future Barry's emblem still on. "Where is he? Where's the other Flash?" Barry-2 asked.

"Right here." Barry said as he walked in with Atchaco, who surprisingly wasn't shocked.

"Okay. Not how I expected today to turn out." Cisco admits.

"Yeah." Barry agreed.

"Okay, so I'm... who are... who are you?" Barry-2 asked.

"Who is he? Who are you?" Atchaco asked.

"What do you... I'm Barry. I'm Barry. Your Barry. He's…" Barry-2 started to say.

"Your doppelganger." Cisco realised.

"No, not yet. I am you, Barry. Just... different." Barry mumbles.

"Wait a second, how do we know which one's the real Barry?" Cisco questioned.

"Dude, okay, I've watched 'Wrath of Khan' with you like five times." Barry-2 tells him.

"Imposter!" Cisco points at future Barry.

"Yeah, and every time at the end, you turn to me and you say, 'I have been and always shall be your friend.'" Barry replies.

"Haha! You, imposter! What is going on here?" Cisco wonders.

"Okay, guys, I'm sorry. This was not supposed to happen. The tranq dart that Caitlin made was supposed to last a lot longer." Barry admits.

"I did not give him a tranq dart." Caitlin defends.

"Okay, no, yes, not you, the you from the time that I am from." Barry said.

"The time that you are from?" Barry-2 said, confused.

"I think what he's trying to say is he's from the future." Wells admits.

"The future?" Atchaco asked.

"Yeah." Wells replied.

"The future?" Barry-2 questioned.

"Yes." Wells sighed.

"Wait, the future?" Barry-2 repeated.

"Yes." Wells huffed.

"Are we saying I can time-travel?" Barry-2 wondered.

"One day." Barry chuckles softly.

"Oh, that explains the white on the symbol. Well, wait a second. Suppose we now change your emblem. Will it be because we got the idea from this? Or, I mean, that would mean…" Cisco rambles.

"Stop talking." Wells ordered before looking at Barry. "You stop talking too, all right? More you say, the more the timeline is disrupted. Now I'm going to assume that your presence here is the reason that thing is attacking us."

"What? What thing?" Barry-2 questioned.

"Have you ever seen 'The Frighteners'?" Cisco wondered and Barry nodded. "It's sort of like that, but scarier and faster and it's after you... after him."

"Yeah, it's been chasing me ever since I got here." Barry replied.

"Okay, so how do we stop it?" Barry-2 asked.

"We don't know." Wells admitted.

"Then what are we gonna do?" Barry-2 questioned.

"The one thing we can." Wells answered.

Later, Barry and Wells were in the time vault. "What? What are we doing here?" Barry asked as he stood in front of the reverse flash suit.

"We're here for the answer to your speed equation…" Thawne holds up a USB drive. "The reason that you travelled back to this time, and the key to running faster." He puts the drive in the pillar in the middle of the room. "Tachyon enhancement."

"This was not the deal." Barry said.

"If you think that I'm gonna hold your hand this entire way, you're sadly mistaken. Everything you need is on this drive. This is for Macanese as well. You both follow its instructions, you and Macanese will enhance the Speed Force in your systems and run faster... than you both have ever thought possible." He hands the drive to Barry.

"If this doesn't work, I'm coming back." Barry said.

"Dr. Wells, we need you." Cisco calls over the speaker.

"Time to go home, Flash." Thawne tells him.

Minutes later, everyone was up in the Cortex and looking at the computer screen. "Okay, our satellite has finally found our floating friend and it's coming back." Cisco warns.

"You need to go." Barry-2 said.

"I need to know how to stop it." Barry told them.

"Barry…" Atchaco tried to say.

"Not now. When I get back. You guys have a year to figure it out." Barry tells them.

"Okay. We'll figure something out." Cisco said.

"Cisco, come here." Barry whispers. "Hartley knows where Ronnie is."

"Okay? What?" Cisco said as the computer started beeping.

"It's coming." Caitlin warns.

"You need to leave now." Wells reminds him.

"Yeah." Barry said and the two flashes switch back their emblems. Barry then puts his mask on. "Thank you." He then takes off running into the accelerator as the wraith enters STAR Labs.

"Barry, here it comes." Cisco said.

The wraith shrieks as it follows Barry into the pipeline. Everyone watches from the Cortex as they see the wraith catching up to Barry. "It's not working. It's slowing him down." Caitlin noticed.

"Not for long." Atchaco looks at Barry. "Come on." Atchaco then quickly puts on her suit as she and Barry-2 sped out of the room.

"No! Barry! Macanese!" Wells yelled.

Down in the accelerator, the wraith grabs Barry but then the other two speedsters show up and shove the wraith away from him. Barry then starts running faster and jumps into the time portal as it opens and the wraith went in behind him. Barry and Macanese start running as they watch the portal close and run into the entrance of the pipeline. Macanese rests her hand on Barry's shoulder. "Cool." He says in awe before looking up at the cyborg. "You weren't surprised by his presence."

"I knew the moment he came." Macanese admits. Barry looks at her confused. "It's just my job not to say."

Moments later, Barry was being trailed by the time wraith. Barry was running in the portal as the wraith was right behind him. Just as the wraith was about to touch him, Barry makes it back to his own time. He slides onto the floor of the cortex and looks up at Caitlin, Cisco and Atchaco. "It's coming!" Barry warns.

"Did you even go?" Caitlin asked.

"The Time Wraith." Barry gasped.

"That's a good name." Cisco smiles.

"Looks like that's a yes." Caitlin replied.

"Did you figure out how to stop it?" Barry questioned.

The time wraith enters and Cisco shoots a gun at it but nothing happens. "Damn! We thought so!" Cisco said.

The wraith flies over them and tackles Barry to the ground. "Barry!" Atchaco shouted. The wraith then starts sucking the life force out of Barry until an energy pulse hits the wraith and it moves away from Barry.

The person who saves him was Hartley who was wearing his gauntlets as he destroyed the time wraith. "I suddenly realised. Low frequency, high intensity." Hartley tells them.

"I knew that." Cisco lied and Atchaco mouths 'liar' to him.

Barry sits up and looks shocked to see Hartley. "Oh, hey, Barry. How was your trip?" Hartley asked. He reaches out to help Barry up but he just lays back down, confused.

Minutes later, Barry was back in normal clothes. "So aside from the fact that a Time Wraith came over here and nearly killed us, how did it go?" Cisco questioned.

"It was interesting." Barry admits.

"Good interesting or bad interesting? 'Cause that could go either way." Atchaco reminds him.

"So far so... good." Barry said.

"Non facile de terra ad sidera via (the road from the earth to the stars is not easy)." Hartley says and Atchaco chuckles.

"How many times do we have to tell you, Hartley? Ever since Evil Wells got erased from existence, no one speaks Latin around here anymore." Caitlin tells him.

"Well, as always, it's been a pleasure working with you all on this little project. If you need anything in the future, call me. I'm off to a late dinner." Hartley starts to walk away.

"Mm, dinner. Anyone special?" Atchaco wondered.

"Very. My parents." Hartley answered before leaving.

"So? You got me on pins and needles over here. What about the speed equation? Did Wells tell you what you need to do?" Cisco questioned.

"Well, let's see." Barry showed them the drive.

Moments later they were all in the time vault and Barry puts the drive into the pillar in front of them but nothing happens. "Hmm. Maybe it's password protected?" Cisco ponders.

"Oh... are you kidding me? After everything I just went through... this doesn't even work!" Barry said angrily. He slams his fist on the pillar and a projection of the equation pulls up. "We got it."

Later Harry was in his room unpacking when Atchaco walked in. "Hey." Atchaco greeted him.

"Hey." Harry returned.

"You okay?" Atchaco asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Although it turns out it's easier to find a two-ton gorilla on this earth than a teenage daughter." Harry sighs. "I don't know what I've done."

"You did what you thought you had to do. You risked your life to save her. You brought her here to protect her from Zoom. You acted like a father." Atchaco replies.

"'Like a father.' You know, my wife had to... she had to talk me into having kids. Kids, you know, they're... they're small, loud, run around. All I needed was my science and my job for my joy and happiness. And then... the moment we had her... all that I wanted was her love. Now, I don't know if I'll ever see that again. It seems every decision I've made lately has... backfired on me." Harry explained.

"You just have to trust that, in the long run, you made the right ones." Atchaco tells him.

Later at night, Barry walks into the house to find Iris on the couch. "Hey." Barry greets her.

"Hey. I put your plate from dinner in the fridge." Iris tells him.

"Thanks." Barry replies and notices that Iris was looking at her photo album of the photos of her with Eddie. Barry sees the photos and goes and sits in front of Iris.

"It's been almost a year already. Can you believe that?" Iris said.

"That's the thing, Iris. Everything keeps moving forward. Question is, when will you?" Barry smiles at her softly.

"I don't know, Barry." Iris admits.

"Well, um, I found something that I think might help."Barry takes out his phone. "I was putting together this little video montage for your birthday last year with everybody, and... everything happened. Um, but, uh, take a look. I think it might help." He hands Iris the phone with a special video on it.

"Okay." Iris said. Barry pats her on the shoulder and leaves to give her some privacy. Iris then hits play and sees it a video of Eddie.

"What does Iris mean to me?" Eddie wonders. "Wow. You know, a lot of times I have a hard time figuring out what to say to people, but when it comes to you, Iris, I don't. Because with you, everything that used to feel tough just doesn't anymore. It's one of the things I love about you. You don't need me. You can handle anything on your own because you're fearless and independent... loving, kind." Iris smiles at the video as tears stroll down her face. Barry smiles as he sees her from the stairs and continues walking up them. "You are without question the best decision I ever made, Iris West. And I've never thanked you for choosing to be with me because each day with you is a gift. So, thank you. You deserve the world, Iris. You deserve to be happy the rest of your life, and no one wants that more for you than me. Happy birthday, baby. I love you." The video then ends.

"I love you too." Iris said.

Later, Barry walks in the Cortex and over to Jay;s helmet. "Sometimes the only way to move forward is to revisit the things in your past that were holding you back." Barry said. "You have to deal with them head on, no matter how scary they may be. Because once we do, you'll see that you can go further than you ever imagined." Barry then holds up Jay's helmet. "I'm coming for you."