.:44:.

Epilogue

"Mom, can we go now? I don't like being here."

Cadence set her plate of food aside and glanced around the crowded room for moment. The CCPD Precinct had been filled to the brim since Eddie Thawne's funeral earlier that morning. The entirety of the officers and detectives within the CCPD showed up in their dress blues and sent him off with a salute. The funeral had been as nice as funerals can be; his family showed up and thanked everyone from Central City that had been a family to him and for the city in general for taking him in with open arms. Many people spoke; Captain Singh, Iris, Joe, and anyone else who had a story or some other anecdote to share.

Then as his body was laid to rest and flowers were tossed down into his gave there were a few people who started to cry. Eddie's mother certainly was distraught over losing her son despite how proud she was of him as well. Mr. Thawne stood firm, holding his wife up as he blinked back his own tears, wanting to stay strong for his own son. But it was difficult going to a funeral for a fallen friend and knowing the real reason why he was gone rather than what the public knew. Throughout the funeral she and the rest of Team Flash continued to glance at each other when certain things were said, having to bite back their own anger and sadness.

Now Cadence sighed and reached out, running her hands through Brady's hair as he rested his head in her lap. "What's wrong, bud?"

"I'm sad that Eddie's gone," Brady said honestly. "I liked Eddie. He was funny. He kept me from being bored when I waited for you at work."

Cadence's eyebrows rose and she leaned forward to look down at him. "I didn't know that."

Brady nodded. "And when we went shopping in Starling City, when we went to help Oliver with Captain Boomerang. That was fun." He reached up and wiped at his eyes.

"I didn't know him that well," Cadence admitted. She laughed a little. "Unless you count when we were arguing over who was going to drive to Starling City and what directions we were going to follow. And a few times when working together. But I was too caught up in what was going on with Reverse-Flash and stuff that I never really took the time to. I wish I did."

Brady made a humming sound and closed his eyes again.

Gently rubbing his back, Cadence looked around the precinct once more. Though there were a lot of people that had cleared out as time went on, the floor was still crowded. She could see Iris and Joe talking to some of the other officers—there certainly was truth in the fact that a precinct was like family—Caitlin and Cisco were standing off to the side, talking quietly to each other and other officers that came around. Harrison and Tess weren't in attendance, Ryder had shown up for the funeral then had left at the reception—stating he didn't feel so comfortable having not knowing Eddie much other than his last few days and Lois, despite having gotten close to Iris, had left after the funeral stating she had been to enough funerals in her life.

"Besides, my husband and I have to get back to work," Lois said apologetically as she bid goodbye to everyone. She then reached to her side and gently grasped a spectacled man's arm. "Clark, this is Iris and her friends. Iris this is my husband Clark Kent."

"Hi," Iris said with a small smile. She reached out to shake Clark's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"I wish it was under better circumstances," Clark replied, shaking her hand as well. He reached up and shifted his glasses so they adjusted accordingly on his face. "I'm sorry for your loss though I've heard he was a brave man." There was a strange twinkle in his eye as he said so, almost much like a knowing look.

"Very brave," Iris agreed after a long second of looking at him. "I'm really proud of him."

"Let me know if there's anything Clark or I can do," Lois said. She handed Iris a card then leaned forward to give her a hug. "Even if you just need to talk, I always have the time. Even when I'm at work I want something to break things up a bit."

"Lois," Clark said in a warning tone.

"Oh come on, Smallville, even you know I can multi-task like no one's business," Lois said. Iris laughed and hugged Lois tighter before taking a step back. "I wish we were leaving on better terms."

"The city just needs to be rebuilt; we haven't lost a lot…" Caitlin said quietly. "I think it's the best terms we can get."

"Considering the alternative," Cisco added. "Thank you for all of your help."

"I'll tell Ryder you had to go," Cadence said to Clark. "I don't think he even knew you were coming."

"Well, it was a last minute thing as you can imagine," Clark said slowly, that twinkle in his eye growing. "But like I said to Iris before I wish it was under better terms. I was actually in the city for a few day with a report Lois and I were working on together."

"A report?" Iris asked.

"There have been many instances of unusual attacks on Metropolis for as long as we can remember and hearing there were instances of the same attacks going on here it was our job to come in and do some reports to see if there was a link between them," Lois explained. "But we had to be as secretive as possible to keep from causing a widespread panic."

"I understand that," Iris said.

Mostly because there'd been enough panic over the last couple of days, Cadence thought. Which was certainly true. Central City has been put into a state of emergency, emergency personnel (fire, police, emts) were working around the clock to get people to safety and to start rebuilding. It would take a while before it would return to the great city they had known it to be.

But looking at everyone now it appeared they were ready to work hard to do that.

Finally, Cadence spotted Barry sitting at the top of the stairs, watching everyone below him and she realized she hadn't seen him all day. Since Eddie's death and what happened with the singularity he had kept away from everyone. If he had been at the funeral he stayed back, hidden somewhere because she couldn't believe he would miss it entirely. And he had been putting in long hours to start to rebuild Central City as she had seen on the news where the general public praised him for saving the city as well as for helping buildings that were previously destroyed to be completely fixed by the next morning.

And yet, he ignored phone calls and didn't return messages and Cadence completely understood why despite how much it was hurting everyone else.

"Hey, bud, I'll be back in a second and then we can leave," Cadence said, patting his back. "I'll just be a few minutes, okay?" Brady nodded as he sat up from his mother lap. He shrank in on himself in his chair, gently kicking his legs back and forth as he looked around, almost as if waiting for another metahuman to go bursting through the ceiling.

Smoothing down the back of her black dress, Cadence walked towards the women's restroom, looking around to be sure she wasn't watched before teleporting to where Barry was. He jerked in surprise, noticing that she suddenly appeared at his side, then shifted aside so she had space on the step next to him.

"You've been really MIA lately," Cadence remarked, gently lowering herself down lest she slipped and went tumbling down the stairs. "We've all been trying to reach you."

"Yeah, I know," Barry said. He sniffed and pushed the sleeves of his dress shirt up to his elbows. Then he leaned forward and rested his arms on his upraised knees. "I've just been busy, you know? I want to have Central City fixed as soon as possible."

"You mean so everyone can forget what happened," Cadence said.

Barry was quiet for a long minute. He pressed his lips together, his eyebrows furrowed, and he frowned. Then he shook his head and ran his hand over his hair. "Not to make them forget. I just want them to move on. To get better."

"Then if you're not trying to help the city move on then you're trying to help yourself." Cadence waited for Barry's response. He turned further away from her. "I know you're probably thinking about your mom." She felt her heart hurt when Barry closed his eyes and brought his hand up to cover them. "I know it hurts that I bring her up, but this is nothing you could've stopped because this was what Eddie wanted to do."

"It's not just Eddie, its Ronnie too," Barry finally said. He continued to keep his eyes closed as he spoke. "It's everything. I do as much as I can, I work hard to make people believe in me…and everyone around me keeps getting hurt. I don't know if I can take it anymore."

"You're not alone in this Barry. Joe and Iris and Caitlin and Cisco and me…we're all here to help. That's the point of being a team." She reached out her hand to place on his shoulder but he pulled away. Her heart hurt even worse now but for the same reasons he had listed. "We're all grieving right now and we're grieving together. It hurts to see you pulling away like this."

"It's the best thing to do. For me. I need time. I can't…" he took a deep breath. "I can't look around and see all of the destruction and not think about everything I could've done different…better! And you and I both know I wasn't the one to save Central City and yet I'm the one that's having all of this praise…"

"Because you're a hero, Barry."

Barry shook his head. Finally, he lowered his hand from his eyes and looked at her seriously. "I'm not a hero," he said firmly. "I'm not the one who saved Central City and I shouldn't be treated like I am."

Cadence nodded.

He made up his mind and that wasn't going to be changed so easily. No one was going to be changed so easily after what they had seen and gone through. Having been in the middle of the fight she knew how Barry felt and she continued to feel helpless not knowing how to help him. Much like when he was fighting the Reverse-Flash for the last time, before he had been defeated; Barry insisted that she and Brady have little to do with the fight knowing how hard it was going to be as it was Harrison's face and memories she would be fighting against.

Against her better judgment she listened to what he had to say, knowing he was doing his best to keep from any more emotional damage to come her way. In the end he had made the right decision, but at a cost he hadn't seen coming.

She wasn't going to change his mind.

"You know I'm here if you need anything," she said finally.

"I know. Thank you." Barry leaned over and gave Cadence a gentle kiss on the cheek. Then he got up and raced out of the precinct with a gust of wind.

Cadence watched him leave and hoped it wasn't the last she'd see of The Flash.

THE END

A/N: Whew, it's over guys! I hope you really liked it. I do have to go back through Flash Fire and this story to edit some things. Especially Flash Fire as I have to make things needing to be fixed so things make more sense story wise, plus I need to re-work the first chapter. Anyway, now that this story is over go check out the sequel to this story, Fuel to the Fire which is now up And I've also got the next chapter to When We Collide, Sparks Fly being updated this week as well, so it is definitely a Flash day for me!

Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed and favorite and alerted the story. There had been many times where I contemplated not finishing it as well as long bouts of writer's block or lack of motivation that really stumped me. So thanks for sticking with me for so long as well as thanks for continuing to stick with me on the next one.

It really does mean a lot to me.

-Riles