Summary: Barry's never considered what would happen if he ever met himself. It's not like it's happened before and he wasn't planning on running through one of the wormholes into an alternate universe, so it's not something he's ever had to consider. He probably should have.

Author's Note: A small one shot that I wanted to get posted before watching the next episode in case they did or said something that messed with my calm and made me feel less than secure in posting this.

From There to Here

-Present Day (One Year After the Tidal Wave)-

The fight with Zoom started out bad and got better. That should have been his first clue. Barry was already winded and beaten half unconscious when he landed one blow, it wasn't even a solid one if he's completely honest with himself, and Zoom had turned tail and ran. Even as Barry's inner voice – the one that sounded suspiciously like Joe – said not to follow, he was already off and running.

They weaved through the streets, Zoom always just out of sight and Barry was pushing, he was tapping into the Speedforce, his legs burning, trying, but he already knew he was losing. Ahead of him, Zoom rounded a corner and by the time Cisco's voice was in his ear, frantically yelling at him stop, he'd already followed and slammed into the wormhole, the word "trap" ringing in his ears.

It knocked the wind out of him, took him by surprise and he came out of it shaken and confused. He was… not in Central City? He turned around in a circle, looking at the buildings around him. No, this was Central City, but he'd been running toward one of the older, business areas, away from the tall, sky scrapers and towards the warehouses.

In his Central City, this area had been revitalized and rebuilt. It was considered historical. Here, everything looked abandoned. Windows were boarded, the streets dark, and a damp smell hung in the air. It took him a second to realize none of the street lamps were even on. Behind him, the wormhole wavered, giving off an eerie kind of light that made the street feel almost haunted.

His ear piece crackled and Barry tapped it. "Can you hear me? Guys, are you there?"

Through the static, he heard a familiar voice say, "Barry?" and the blood in his veins turned to ice. He knew that voice, but that was impossible. Harrison Wells was dead.

"Barry, the coms went out for a second. Are you okay?" Except he wasn't, not here, because that was Dr. Wells, clear as day and definitely alive.

"Yeah, no, I'm good. What happened?" And that was him. The other him.

"I'm unsure, but there was an energy spike in the occurrence."

"On it."

Barry moved first and thought later. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he needed to figure a few things about before he confronted himself. Central City had always had a bustling night life. Barry was used to bright lights and the thumping of loud music coming from clubs and bars. Here, things were quieter. Not completely silent, but as Barry ran up the side of a building and stopped twenty stories at the top, looking over downtown, there was something missing.

It took him a minute to realize it was people. They were there, but not in the numbers he was used to. He ran down again and through the emptier streets. Buildings that had always been the heart of Central City night life were boarded up, roped off street and scaffolding constructed. All clear signs of rebuilding, but from what?

"I'm here. I don't see anything."

Barry ducked into a particularly dark alley. He could see the faint outline of S.T.A.R. Labs not far away, darker than he remembered.

"If it was another metahuman, they may be hiding."

"Right, I'm gonna look around, keep an ear out for trouble."

"Be careful, Barry."

A painful burst in Barry's chest at the familiar, false warmth in those words made him move. He might not understand what was going on here, but he knew someone who would.

He dodged through the darker Central City, eyeing the increased homeless population with sympathy and curiosity. Jitters was boarded up. The club he'd gone to with Caitlin, black. As he approached S.T.A.R. Labs, he saw the fencing around the facility was mangled. There were sections still up, others pushed down or gone completely, but no lights on in the parking lot. Boards were up over most of the windows on the first few floors, blocking any view he might have had to the inside and once inside, blocking out the light that usually illuminated the exterior halls.

The interior, however, was well lit and easy to navigate, nothing different, no traps or signs of evil. From inside, everything looked the same and if he hadn't been through the city, he wouldn't have noticed the difference. At least, not until he stopped in the cortex and saw Harrison Wells sitting at the computers.

Dr. Wells looked up, confusion clear in his pinched brow. "Barry, I thought you…"

His eyes flitted down to Barry's Flash emblem, then to his screen and back up. "You're not my Barry."

Barry's entire body shuddered with revulsion at the words 'my Barry,' but before he could say anything, a red blur streaked into the room, throwing itself into the seat next to Dr. Wells and he found himself staring at… himself.

There was an awkward moment where this new Barry hadn't noticed anyone else in the room yet. He held up what had to be ten white bags, a grin on his face and eyes on Dr. Wells. "Hey, so, nothing panned out. I'll let Eddie know we might have another meta on the lose. Picked up food on the way here and hey, that's me."

Barry stared at Barry Two and Barry Two cocked his head to the side as he set down the bags. "Huh, I like the white on the emblem. It really makes the Flash symbol pop. Burger?"

Dr. Wells leaned back in his chair and removed his glasses, but didn't take his eyes off Barry, who was torn between screaming at this version of himself to get away from the murdering bastard and a sudden realization that he wasn't entirely certain this version of Dr. Wells actually was Eobard Thawne.

When no one spoke, Barry Two looked between them. "He is real, isn't he? I'm not hallucinating again? Or is he evil? Should I be fighting right now?"

Dr. Wells stared, calculating. "You are not hallucinating, Barry, and I believe the readings from his suit are interfering with yours, which would indicate they're running on the same frequency. It would appear, however improbable, that this is you from a not too dissimilar universe. He also has yet to attack either of us."

"So… not evil?"

"Not as of yet."

Barry Two relaxed considerably. "Oh, thank god, because I'm starving."

"For real?!" Barry Two had already unwrapped one burger and shoved it into his mouth. "A you from another universe shows up in S.T.A.R. Labs and you just… eat a burger?"

Around the mouthful, Barry Two managed a muffled, "I'm hungry."

What the hell? Barry looked around for a voice of reason and it was then that he realized there wasn't one. In fact, there was no one else in the cortex at all, no Caitlin or Cisco, just the three of them.

"What… where is everyone?"

Barry Two looked around the room and shrugged. "Everyone who?"

"Cisco? Caitlin?"

Dr. Wells' mouth tightened, but Barry Two didn't seem to notice. "They're dead."

Dead? Barry looked to Dr. Wells for signs of guilt, but the only thing he saw was concern, aimed at Barry Two, who seemed to have forgotten his food. "Are they… where you're from, are they alive?"

Barry nodded, "Yes. When you say they're dead, do you mean…"

"Everyone." Barry Two interrupted. "Caitlin, Cisco, Joe, Iris, Dad, everyone."

What the hell had he just run into?

[]

Dr. Wells had insisted Barry Two finish his food before going further. Without Cisco there weren't any Cisco Bars and Barry Two insisted the ones Dr. Wells made didn't taste right. He ate one a day, otherwise he'd drive Central City's food supply into the ground, but whenever possible, he loaded up on real food.

Dr. Wells sighed. "I'm still not entirely convinced Big Belly Burger counts as real food."

"That's because you're old and grumpy and you like to tell people what to do so they never forget you're smarter than them."

"I'm not…" Barry Two leaned over and oh god, he kissed Dr. Wells. Barry looked away quickly, his stomach turning a little. It hadn't been a deep or passionate kiss, a simply peck, but a kiss none the less and that was wrong. Or maybe not? It depended on who Dr. Wells really was.

"Hm, it appears you've made yourself uncomfortable."

"Huh?" Barry Two pulled back, momentarily confused before remembering Barry was there. "Oh, hey, yeah, sorry, that was… You're not…?"

"No." Barry chanced a look back, but the two were still sitting close. Uncomfortably close, practically knee to knee.

"You're single?" Barry Two shoved another handful of fries in his mouth.

"Kind of? There's a girl, Patty Spivot…"

"For real?" Did his other self have to raise his eyebrows like it was that much of a surprise? "She's cute."

Dr. Wells frowned at his Barry. "You've never mentioned her."

"I so did. She's the new transfer that's read all my case reports."

"Ah, yes. Your groupie. I stand corrected, you've never mentioned you thought she was cute."

Barry Two tossed his sixth wrapper in the trash and stood with a groan. "As much as I'd love to sit here and watch you wallow in your own misguided jealousy…"

"I'm not jealous, Barry."

"…I think I've put off talking to myself long enough."

Dr. Wells patted Barry Two on the leg, squeezing the thigh before he stood up. Barry did a double take, literally stepping back. He hadn't realized Dr. Wells wasn't in his wheelchair. It took every ounce of self control Barry had not to rush Dr. Wells and demand how he was walking. For all he knew this Dr. Wells hadn't faked his injury after the explosion, or he hadn't needed to because he wasn't evil.

As soon as Dr. Wells was gone, Barry relaxed. He didn't move to get any closer to the other version of himself, but it was easier to breathe and his subconscious was no longer ringing with murderous impulses.

The cortex was even quieter without Dr. Wells there. Whereas Barry had relaxed, Barry Two seemed to close off, tensing under the scrutiny. Barry considered his options before pulling over a chair and sitting on the other side of the table.

"So, what happened here?"

Barry Two looked at his knees instead of meeting Barry's eyes. "You know Mark Mardon?"

Barry nodded, but didn't interrupt.

"Joe killed his brother and he wanted revenge. He can control the weather here. Can he do that where you're from?"

"He tried to drown the city with a tidal wave."

Barry Two laughed, but it sounded forced, sarcastic. "He didn't try anything. He, um, kidnapped Joe, got Iris and me to the shore and then… I tried to stop it, but I'd barely started running when the Reverse-Flash showed up. He grabbed me, dragged me out of Central City, beat me half to death, and left me there. By the time I woke up, the water had receded, thousands of people were dead, everyone I cared about was…"

He choked up and rung his hands together. "The city's been trying to rebuild, but with the meta problem, it's hard to get funding. Insurance companies don't want to pay out and not everyone has the time and energy to fight it in court. A lot of people just moved on."

"And Dr. Wells?"

Barry Two turned to the door behind him and then back, a sad smile on his face. "He's all I have left. He was here with Cisco and Caitlin when it hit. I think he blames himself for not being able to save them."

That didn't make sense. Or maybe it did. "Wasn't he paralyzed?"

"Right? I've told him there wasn't anything he could have done, but sometimes there's just no talking sense into the man."

"But he can walk now?"

"Well, of course, 'cause the… wait, is your Harrison still paralyzed?"

"My Dr. Wells is dead."

Barry Two faltered, finally making eye contact. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He didn't elaborate. Oliver was always telling him to evaluate a situation before jumping into it and that's what he was doing, gathering all the facts first. If he'd lost almost everyone, he knew how hard he would cling to whatever was left. Convincing Barry Two that Dr. Wells was evil wouldn't be easy, so Barry had to be sure.

At the dismissal, Barry Two dropped his eyes again. "There was a meta we came across a few months after the tidal wave that could re-grow limbs. Harrison got a sample of its DNA and was able to engineer a serum that repaired the damage to his spine."

"That's amazing." Or just really convenient.

"He's amazing. I don't know what I'd do without him."

It was those words more than anything that convinced Barry he was right. He couldn't jump into this without proof.

[]

His team would be working on a way to get him back and it wouldn't take long. Barry figured he had a day at most before they stabilized the wormhole enough for him to go back through. Dr. Wells agreed to keep an eye on the readings and let them know when things changed. In the meantime, both Barrys should get some rest.

When Barry hesitated, Barry Two suggested they could have a sex. "There's a bed in Harrison's office. Don't worry, he doesn't have to join us – wouldn't be able to keep up, anyway. What? It's not cheating, more like really creative masturbation." Dr. Wells looked less than amused and Barry decided rest sounded like a really good idea.

Barry Two huffed, "Spoilsport," and changed out of his Flash Suit. "I'll take him back to our place."

"I'll join you when I've finished up here."

Barry averted his eyes for the goodbye, but not before he saw tongue and actually, no, that was wrong. It didn't even matter if Dr. Wells was really Dr. Wells or Eobard Thawne.

When they were done – and it took a lot longer than Barry thought was necessary – Barry Two winked and said, "Keep up." Before shooting off through S.T.A.R. Labs.

It wasn't hard. Either Barry Two was holding back or he wasn't as fast as Barry. It was impossible to tell. The city had gotten even darker in the late hour, which made sense. Without as many people in the city, there wouldn't be the need for so many twenty-four hour conveniences.

They streaked through the dark city, into the wealthier area and came to a stop at a familiar front door. "This is Dr. Wells' house."

"Yeah." Barry Two fished out a set of keys. He turned the alarm off with the touch of a button and opened the door for Barry. As they stepped in, the lights turns on, the fireplace activated and Barry Two pulled his jacket off, throwing it on the table.

Barry followed his counterpart through the house and into the kitchen. It looked mostly the same, but there were clear signs of… well, himself. Books that he knew were his laid around, a picture of Iris and Joe in a frame on the coffee table next to one of his parents, magazines that he'd subscribed to and forgotten to cancel. When Barry Two put a cup of chocolate milk in front of him and he found himself holding an over sized plastic cup with a worn image of Funshine Bear. He didn't need to look at the bottom to know Iris's name would be there, but he did anyway.

"So, you live here?"

"Mhm." Barry Two pulled another cup out, Good Luck Bear, and behind it Barry could see the entire collection of Carebear cups that Joe had bought Iris when she was little, before Barry moved in with them. They took up most of a shelf, surrounded by expensive looking glass wine flutes. Barry Two poured his own milk and looked at Barry while he took the first drink. "It really bothers you, doesn't it?"

"What?"

"Me and Harrison. Like I just thought maybe it was a little weird for you or something, 'cause it's different, but it bothers you."

Barry closed his eyes and sighed. "Yeah, okay, it does. You, I, we were in love with Iris and you went from her to… that."

"Okay, first of all, rude. He's a very attractive man."

"He's old enough to be our father."

"I watched them drag Dad's bloated corpse out of Iron Heights after two days. I pulled Iris's dead body from the rubble. I wouldn't have recognized what was left of Joe if it weren't for his badge. Cisco and Caitlin were washed out with the debris along with… countless others. I helped with the search and rescue, but it was just body after body. The death toll kept rising." Barry Two's voice had lost all humor. "I don't know if you know what that feels like. I don't know what happened in your timeline, but don't judge me because I clung onto the only thing I had left."

"What about Oliver? Felicity? Team Arrow?"

"They helped for the first two weeks, but after that Oliver had to get back to Starling City. They couldn't stay here and I wasn't leaving Central City. I had a job and the CCPD lost more than half their officers, I couldn't leave them like that."

Barry tried to imagine what that would have felt like, but he couldn't. He couldn't even begin to process losing that much, but he knew he wouldn't have left either. "Did, um, you said Cisco and Caitlin were washed out. You never found the bodies?"

"Nope," Barry Two suddenly smiled, too big to be entirely honest, "but hey, this way I get to pretend they died a quick and painless death instead of an autopsy report detailing the horrible ways they suffered before the universe decided to put them out of their misery. Chocolate chip cookie?"

Barry's stomach did a slow roll at the box of cookies Barry Two had pulled out of the cabinet and he shook his head.

Barry Two opened the box, anyway. "So, what about you? I'm assuming everyone is alive where you come from?"

"Almost. Eddie and Ronnie didn't make it when the singularity opened up over Central City."

Barry Two stopped, mouth open. "Singularity? For real? A black hole opened up over Central City? How are you even alive?"

Slowly, Barry worked around the details in explaining what had happened in his universe. He was careful that when mentioning Eobard Thawne, he never related him to being Harrison Wells. Cisco and Caitlin's bodies being missing were a little too much of a coincidence for him. If the same thing that had happened in Barry's timeline had happened here, if Wells had killed Cisco, he would have killed Caitlin. She'd been about to tell him something over the phone that morning and Wells didn't leave lose ends. Bodies would have posed a problem. It was difficult to explain a crushed heart as being somehow related to the tidal wave. It was possible, in fact probably, that Wells had killed Cisco and Caitlin, gotten Barry Two out of Central City and then come back to dispose of the bodies.

However, none of his hunches counted as proof of anything. He needed to get back to S.T.A.R. Labs. If Wells was still Eobard, the room would still be there, with Gideon and all the proof he needed.

[]

Barry stared at himself sprawled out across Harrison's couch. At least he'd finally gotten him out of the Flash suit. It was weird to see it, almost the same, but not quite, on a him that was almost him, if he hadn't…

The front door opened and Barry stayed where he was, leaning against the wall of the fireplace as Harrison came in, mindful of their sleeping guest as Barry had texted him on the development a few minutes prior. A hand came to rest on his shoulder and he didn't move away from it; didn't lean into it, either.

A moment later, the hand squeezed, a silent indication that he should follow and Barry did, not wanting to wake his other self. He'd made so much progress in the last year, hadn't lashed out in over a month, which, come to think of it, he was overdue for a temper tantrum.

The bedroom was dimly lit, silk sheets and goosefeather comforter half covered in Barry's Star Wars fleece blanket. Barry threw himself on the bed as soon as the door was closed and locked. He stretched out and groaned. The best thing by far about newer construction was the sound proofing. Barry knew from experience that he could make as much noise as he wanted without disturbing the other him.

He remembered Joe's house and his old apartment downtown. Every little sound had bled through the walls. He'd hated that then. Missed it now. He missed waking up to the sound of Joe trying to sneak out the front door without waking them.

"You're pouting." Barry rolled over and sat up. Harrison was standing in the bathroom door, shirt tail pulled out, cuffs unbuttoned. He didn't bother responding as Harrison walked over to set his glasses on the bedside table. "Has Mr. Allen attempted to enlighten you as to my true identity?"

Barry rolled his eyes. "Not yet."

Harrison pressed his hand into Barry's leg, just over the knee. "Has he said anything?"

"We compared timelines. It looks like the divergence is Mark Mardon. He tried to stop the tidal wave and ended up resetting the timeline, I tried to stop it…"

"And I stopped you, I know. You weren't ready. Clearly this Barry was making more progress with his speed."

The hand squeezed his leg and Barry moved away. "He said you crushed Cisco's heart."

Harrison's eyebrows raised in amusement. "You knew I killed them. I never kept that from you."

"You never told me how."

"I thought it was poetic, given the situation."

Barry supposed it was – Cisco had loved Harrison and finding out his surrogate father was the Reverse-Flash would have crushed his heart, metaphorically speaking, before Harrison crushed it with his fist, literally speaking – that being said, "You hate poetry."

In response, Harrison reached back into his pocket. "I brought you a gift."

Great, like today hadn't already been bad enough. Listening to the other Barry talk about his friends had made the wounds feel fresh and the last thing he needed was another one of Harrison's little tokens.

The chain that dropped from his hand was expectantly familiar. Harrison didn't do things by half, if he was going to go out of his way to make a point, it would be an obvious one. Still, as Barry watched it swing between those long, thin fingers, it took him a second to place the pendant hanging at the end of the silver chain. "Patty?! Man, I liked her."

"That's the point."

Of course it was. "Yeah, but I've only known her for a month. You couldn't have gone after someone that really meant something to me?"

"You have someone in mind?"

"I don't know, Singh?" Since Joe had died, the Captain had taken it on himself to give Barry personal attention, inviting him to family events, checking in on him, indulging his 'hunches' and not that Barry wanted Captain Singh dead, but… Patty?

Harrison dropped the necklace on the bed next to Barry's knee. "I don't recall you ever referring to Captain Singh as cute."

Without thinking, Barry picked up the necklace and said, "No, but his fiancé is. Goddamnit!"

He didn't need to look to see the spark of jealousy that said the next time Harrison felt like giving Barry a token, it was going to be Rob who provided it. Why couldn't Barry learn to keep his stupid mouth shut? He knew how this worked. At least he had some time. If Harrison had removed Patty, it would be a few weeks or months before he decided to do it again, depending on how cooperative Barry was.

Good thing Barry knew how to be cooperative. Even better, the other him may not have realized it, but he'd given Barry the kind of ammunition he hadn't had in a long time.

Gripping the necklace, Barry straddled Harrison's thighs, arms hanging loosely over his shoulders. "You know, you're not nearly as attractive when you're jealous."

The long fingers that had held the necklace, dug into Barry's hips in warning. "Careful, Barry."

"Maybe I should take up with Eddie. He's young, pretty. Get him talking about Iris, he drinks like a fish. I bet I could get him drunk enough to…"

Barry was flat on his back before he could finish, Harrison pressing his wrists into the bed above his head. It took a second for Harrison to get the angry vibrating under control and Barry pressed his hips up against it, the subtle shake of Harrison's thighs sending a shudder of pleasure from his hardening cock to his spine.

Harrison frowned, grinding the bones of Barry's wrists together. "I thought you liked Eddie."

"Oh, I love Eddie." Harrison's eyes flashed red again and Barry smiled. "But you won't kill him."

"So sure of yourself?"

"Sure of you, Eobard Thawne." Harrison froze and Barry's smile widened as he parroted his other self's words at the man over him. "The Reverse-Flash, his name is Eobard Thawne, yes, like Eddie. They're related. In my world, Eddie killed himself to save us. It erased Eobard from history, causing a paradox that opened a singularity over Central City. Ronnie died stopping it."

Barry lifted his head an inch off the bed, his nose nearly touching Harrison's. "I could fuck Eddie right here in our bed and you won't kill him. You'd want to, but you can't."

"There are other people I can kill."

"Go ahead. You were going to anyway."

The silence that followed was electrifying. Pushing Harrison was a gamble. If he didn't go far enough, Harrison would leave and find someone else to take it out on, if he went too far, he'd take as much of it out on Barry as he could without doing permanent damage before leaving to find someone else. Just enough, though, and…

Harrison pressed down on Barry, his voice vibrating, soft and deep as he spoke. "It looks like someone needs to be reminded of his place."

Bingo.

[]

"Wake up."

Barry breathed in and instantly regretted it, fire spreading through his torso. "Owww."

"Get up. You're cooking."

What the hell? "You don't let me cook. You threatened to cut off my left index finger if I ever touched so much as a spatula in your kitchen."

"Not you. The other you."

It took him a second, in part because Barry was still trying to breathe through the pain and when it came back to him, he groaned. "Oh, fuck me."

Harrison chuckled from the open closet door. "I believe I did that last night, several times, but if you're so eager, I could certainly make the time."

Barry shoved his face in his pillow and held up a middle finger in salute. Harrison ruffled his hair affectionately. As the bedroom door opened and closed, there was a faint waft of a familiar smell, but he couldn't place it.

Normal wear and tear, he would have already healed from, but Harrison knew how to make it last. He needed food if he wanted to recover, but there wasn't much in the house. It wouldn't be a punishment if he recovered too quickly.

He rolled out of the bed stiffly and made his way into the bath, washing away the evening's activities. It was never without pleasure. Harrison enjoyed the game. He enjoyed bringing Barry to the edge, dragging him down, only to build him back up, all with Barry knowing it wasn't going to end for hours. That he wasn't going to get any kind of release until Harrison allowed it, until he thought Barry had learned his lesson.

At first, Barry had tried to play dead. He'd tried pretending to be subdued, but Harrison always seemed to know the difference. It didn't matter now, though. Now, Barry knew that no matter what else, in the end, Harrison would make it good. Barry hadn't even known it was possible to feel that much pleasure when you were in that much pain, but Harrison was full of surprises.

The bath helped and after, he dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and went to find Barry. The moment the door opened, the smell hit him again, strong and just as familiar. "What is that smell?"

The other him turned around, holding out a plate with a stack of brown rectangles on it. "Cisco Bar?"

Barry's stomach did the strangest combination of painful twist and hungry clench. His mouth watered instantly. Cisco Bars. He missed Cisco Bars so much. He missed them almost as much as he missed Cisco himself, except if he had Cisco, Cisco could make Cisco Bars, which would be win-win.

He sat down carefully, cringing as every part of him protested the movement, but then he was eating the bar and oh, god, that was good.

The other Barry gave him a strange look, one that Barry couldn't place because he was too busy moaning over the rush of calories and flavor that wasn't those stupid Indian Chinese fusion bars Harrison insisted on making.

"I tried one of Dr. Wells' bars this morning and figured I'd do you a solid. Cisco taught me how to make these a few months ago, just in case. I wrote the recipe down if you wanted to…"

Barry reached forward and snatched the paper off the counter and stared at it with wide eyes. Harrison had to be exaggerating when he'd said he'd cut off Barry's left index finger, right? Although, an exact finger was a little specific for an empty threat. For Cisco Bars, though? For Cisco Bars, he might be willing to risk it. Besides, it wasn't like he needed his left index finger to run.

The other Barry looked around the kitchen, clearly uncomfortable, which was actually kind of funny. Barry had never been in a position to see himself flustered.

"So, was Dr. Wells heading to S.T.A.R. Labs?"

Barry shook his head. "No, he's got a meeting with Captain Singh this morning."

"Captain Singh?"

"Harrison is the scientific advisor for the CCPD Anti-Metahuman Task Force. I, on the other hand, have the day off." Barry took a gulp from the large cup of water his other self set in front of him. "You said your team wouldn't take long getting you back?"

"We know how to stabilize the wormhole, but it'll take some time. Do you mind if we go to S.T.A.R. Labs?"

There it was. Barry could see the determination in his own face, which again, not something he'd ever been in a position to do before. Harrison was right. He was ridiculously expressive. He'd have to work on that. For now, better to let this play out the way his other self wanted.

"Yeah, sure. There are clothes in the spare bedroom. Take a shower, get changed and we'll head over."

He ate another Cisco Bar, because his accelerated healing was burning through the calories and because, seriously, Cisco Bars, then downed the last of the chocolate milk. It was enough that by the time they were ready to run, he was mostly healed. Usually, it took him days. Harrison's bars didn't have the same caloric punch that Cisco's did. He ate several throughout the day. Barry, on the other hand, would rather take a day off work to heal at less than half his normal speed than choke down more than one.

The run over aggravated some of his wounds, but he focused on watching the other him take in the city. It was different during the day. The devastation that still plagued the city nearly a year later was even more stark. The population had been halved – from the tidal wave, people leaving rather when rebuilding was too expensive, and still more people abandoning their homes when the metahuman problem became more prevalent.

Barry did what he could, but it wasn't nearly enough.

The other Barry had said the singularity had ripped apart skyscrapers and devastated the city, but it was rebuilding. The other Barry was helping with that, both by fixing up building in his free time and stopping the metahumans from doing more damage. Then again, the other Barry had a team.

Barry didn't have that. He didn't have Cisco and Caitlin backing him up. He didn't have Joe to support him or his dad to make proud. He didn't have Iris to fight for. He had Harrison Wells, Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash and Harrison had one goal. Fixing up the city didn't exactly figure into it.

They came to a stop in the cortex, eerily dark and quiet. Barry didn't go there alone very often. Too many memories.

"You okay?"

He looked over and it took him a second to realize he was holding is side. "Fine, just catching my breath."

The other Barry didn't say anything further on it. Instead, he looked around the room, taking the time he hadn't the night before to actually take it in. Most of the desks had been bolted down, but they'd had to buy new computers, new lab equipment and Harrison hadn't bothered to replace anything that wasn't strictly necessary for his purposes. Caitlin's lab was mostly bare, save the hospital bed and IV rack in case Barry got injured. Well, unintentionally injured, anyway.

When he was done, he turned back to Barry. "I've got something you need to see."

Barry shrugged and followed himself down the hall, into the elevator. It didn't take long to figure out where they were going.

The room lit up around them. Harrison's Reverse-Flash suit was on its form, the podium in tact. The room had been sealed from the water that flooded most of the building.

The other Barry stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed over his chest and watched Barry take it in. Or not. He'd seen it before. Gideon and the future was one of the first things Harrison showed him after he'd stopped fighting it. Him. Them. Everything.

Finally, he looked up and the recrimination was clear. "How long have you known he's the Reverse-Flash?"

"Not long after. I nearly got myself killed fighting a meta. He didn't have time to change before jumping in to save me. When did you know I knew?"

"This morning. There aren't many people that can hurt me and make me stay hurt. So, you knew who he was and you still…"

"I already said, you don't get to judge."

The other Barry's arms dropped to his sides. "Are you insane? He killed our mom. He…"

"Yes."

"What?"

Barry leaned back against the wall, letting it take some of the weight. Would it kill Harrison to put a chair in there? "After the search and rescue was called off, everyone in the department was required to take a psych eval and grief counseling. I stole a look at the results. Apparently, I'm mentally unstable, but I scored very low on homicidal tendencies and the department was desperate, so I got to keep my job. Lucky me."

The other him paced the room a few times. "He's using you. You know that, right?"

"I know."

Apparently, the other Barry didn't believe him. "He just wants you to open the wormhole and…"

"I said, I know." God, was he always this annoying? Seriously, where did he get off talking to… himself that way? "It's not like he hides anything from me anymore. Well, almost. Thank you for the tip about Eddie, by the way, that's going to be very useful."

It explained how Eddie had survived. Barry had figured dumb luck. The detective didn't even remember the water hitting him, just a big blank until he woke up in the rubble hours later. Harrison must have knocked him out and left him there after the water receded.

"I can help you. We can help you. I'll get Cisco and Caitlin to…"

"I don't want your help. I want you to go back to your perfect little world and leave me to mine. I'm fine." A hand jabbed his ribs, lightning fast, and he double over, clutching at the healing bruises. "Ass!"

"He's hurting you."

What was it going to take to get himself off his back? "And I enjoy every minute of it."

There was something immensely satisfying in watching himself go pale with disgust. "So you're what, going to let him abuse you until he finishes rebuilding the accelerator and then go back and erase it?"

"I'm not erasing anything." Anger welled up, rare and dangerous. He didn't let himself get angry anymore. It didn't help anything and when he was angry, he did and said stupid things. "He did this. He stopped me and he let everyone else die and he doesn't get to go back and make it better! He has to live with it. Here. Now. With me."

Dr. Wells stepped through the door as he finished, frowning. "That's not very nice, Barry."

The anger in Barry Two's face smoothed out to something else. Not happy, but not scared, despite what he must have known Dr. Wells overheard.

"I brought you cookies, although I'm not entirely sure you deserve them."

"Cookies!" Barry Two dove forward and took the small, brown bag Harrison held out. "Oo, chocolate chocolate chip with walnuts. You really do love me."

"On occasion."

Dr. Wells stepped into the room and Barry stepped back. Barry Two ignored them as he moaned around a mouthful of chocolate. "Mr. Allen, I received word that the readings on the wormhole you came through have stopped shifting. I believe it's safe for you to return."

Behind him, a voice said, "That is correct." Barry jumped back away from it, startled, then realized he'd moved closer to Dr. Wells and couldn't decide what to do. So far, this Wells seemed only to want him to leave, which was good, except Barry wasn't sure he should.

Barry Two rolled his eyes, sighing loudly. "Go. Give Cisco a kiss for me."

"What… we… I do not kiss Cisco."

"Too bad." Barry Two grinned. "Maybe our two worlds aren't as alike as I thought."

He was joking. He had to be, because Barry and Cisco had never… not that Cisco was unattractive, but Barry was… okay not strictly, there had been a few times in college and one time… but this was Cisco, his best friend. Barry Two leaned into Dr. Wells. "You were right, I do look constipated when I'm confused."

Okay, seriously, he was done with this. This wasn't his world, it wasn't even really his problem. Still, "You're sure. We really can help…"

"And I said I don't want your help. I want you to go."

Barry hesitated one second more, but he could see it wasn't getting him anywhere. The more he mentioned helping him, the harder Barry Two dug his heels in and why not? That was exactly what Barry had done after the singularity. It just… it didn't feel like his place. It made him uncomfortable and confused and a lot scared to think he wasn't as far from that as he would have thought.

Without another word, he ran out of S.T.A.R. Labs and back through the city, past the boarded up buildings, the homeless, the scant people walking around. It felt deserted, empty, wrong. He immediately recognized the smell of mold in the historic district, from building left damp and sitting after the flood.

He braced himself before he hit the wormhole, half expecting to bounce off it, but instead there was the altogether unsettling sensation of being pulled through, tugging at his inside and spit out the other end, breathless and disoriented.

Barry came to an abrupt stop just inside the alleyway, looking out onto the street at the people walking past the open shops, everything alive, bustling, right.

"Barry?"

He turned and standing on either side of the wormhole were Cisco, Caitlin, Jay and Iris, all looking at him expectantly, alive and breathing and thank god! Rushing forward, he hugged Caitlin, hugged Jay, hugged Iris, and what the hell, kissed Cisco, because, seriously, he'd never been so happy to see anyone in his entire life.

Cisco leaned back, eyes wide. "Barry? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I swear, just, missed you. So much. All of you." Caitlin and Jay exchanged looks. "You need to destabilized that thing, like immediately."

Cisco moved first, Jay following to help turn off the stabilizer they'd constructed in the alley while Caitlin and Iris rushed to check on Barry, his heart rate, blood sugar, pupil dilation, while he assured them he was fine. "I'm good, nothing happened, I'm not hurt."

Across the street, someone pointed at them and Barry lowered his voice. "We've been noticed."

Caitlin nodded, "Right, get to the lab, we'll meet you there."

[]

Joe showed up with the rest, alerted to his return by Iris. Not that Barry was complaining. He hugged Joe until the older man managed to choke out that he couldn't breathe.

They'd grabbed burritos on the way over and while he ate, he explained the other universe in all it's disturbing detail.

Cisco shook his head. "That's gross."

"I know right?!"

"Who the hell would make an Indian Chinese fusion protein bar?"

"Are you for real? There's a me out there in an abusive, sexual relationship with Harrison Wells because I apparently had a psychotic break when you all died and that's what you take away from it?"

"Yeah, no, every time you say that I erase it from my mind, because otherwise, I'm gonna have a psychotic break. Is that my t-shirt?"

He looked down and now that Cisco mentioned it, sure enough, that was Cisco's shirt. Not one of his favorites, but still. "Do you want it?"

"Did he wear it?"

"Maybe?" It had been in the guest closet, but it looked like all of Barry's clothes were in there.

"Burn it."

"Fair enough." Barry stood up. "I'm going to go home, take a shower, and scrub every inch of that universe off me. You guys are going to keep working on a way to keep anything from coming out of there."

"I'll drive you." It was a thinly veiled way for Joe to say he wanted to talk alone, but Barry nodded and Joe picked up his jacket to follow. As soon as they were in the car, he asked, "You want to help him?"

Barry stretched his arms back behind his head, gripping head rest tightly before going limp. "I don't know. He doesn't want it."

"Neither did you."

No, he hadn't, but he'd needed it. Barry Two clearly needed it, too, but it was a completely different universe with completely problems. Barry got the feeling that if they locked Wells up, Barry Two would most likely break him out. If they killed Wells, what would that do to him? Barry Two had said he had no one else, but that wasn't true. He had Eddie, he had Singh, he would make more friends and family – unless he wasn't willing to.

Then there was the problem parallel universes presented in general. By going back and helping, would they be creating another universe where they didn't? Would there always be one where there was a crazy him running around sleeping with Wells?

In the end, he came to one very simple conclusion. "We deal with Zoom for now. If we live through that, we'll consider it."

[]

Barry rocked the chair back and forth with his foot, staring at the ceiling of S.T.A.R. Labs, waiting. Waiting. Waiting. He was bored. He'd finished the cookies forever ago. He wanted to go out, run, his body tingled to do something, but he was supposed to stay. Sit. Good boy.

The Cisco Bars had given him energy he hadn't had in forever and he was desperate to use it, but no.

A rush of wind signaled the return of Harrison, clad in his yellow suit, eyes red and body vibrating softly. The hood came down and Barry lolled his head back over the headrest, eyeing Harrison in what he hoped was a lazy fashion. "You took too long."

"Your leg is vibrating."

Barry looked down, pressing his hand to his knee to stop the movement. Stupid excess energy. At least he'd finished healing. After his little outburst, he was pretty sure Harrison would have wanted a round two tonight, regardless of whether Barry was healed or not.

"I've tuned the wormhole to a rotating frequency that should prevent anyone from coming back through anytime soon."

"Anyone like Professor Zoom?"

"Or you." Harrison ran his hands through Barry's head, pulled it back by his hair, just enough to hurt. "What you said earlier, it changes nothing. The plan will go forward."

Barry pulled his head to the side and Harrison let him. "I'm not letting you leave me."

"You would be getting your family back, Barry. Your friends…"

"Joe used to say, you make your bed, you lie in it. I hope you enjoy your bed, Harrison. I know I do."

There was an angry flash of red and a little thrill ran up Barry's spine. He had no doubt Harrison would do everything in his power to change Barry's mind. In fact, Barry was looking forward to it.