He'd been at CCPD again, with Iris, when he'd gotten the call from Joe. Barry had run over immediately. "Guys, what is it. What do we know?" he'd demanded, ripping his mask off. Cisco sucked in a breath as they entered, and Barry's stomach sank. Wildfire was standing in the center of the cortex and let out a high laugh as...the metahuman they'd been chasing got a crystal-clear view of Barry's face.

"I don't believe it," Wildfire smirked, "Dude, rule one of being a superhero. Don't take off the mask, man! You're worse than freaking Spiderman!"

Barry turned to Cisco, nearly fuming. "What is he doing here? Doesn't he work for Zoom?"

Cisco raised his eyebrows. "Okay. Long story short, He's good. Saved the world, like...okay, once , but he died for his girlfriend, so that says something. Blah blah blah, Zoom said he was the good guy, said you were bad, dumped him here, etcetera. And now he can fly."

Iris nodded. "The reason you couldn't find any meta DNA is because Caitlin was right. He's not a meta, he's a demigod like Carter and Kendra…but Greek."

Wildfire spread his arms. "If I could tell the whole story now, that would be nice."

Barry shook his head. "No. This is too perfect. What-"

Joe sighed. "Barry, can I talk to you for a sec?"

He let Joe pull him outside, and as soon as they were out of earshot, Joe exhaled, "Bar, I get it. You don't trust him, but it won't be like Harry. At least , he doesn't have any family or anyone on this Earth."

Barry groaned quietly, spinning around. "That's what we thought about Harry, Joe. And then he had Jesse, and he betrayed us. This feels...wrong. Zoom wouldn't send him through without a backup plan."

The older man grabbed his shoulders. "Zoom trapped him. Manipulated him. I...think he's trustworthy, and that says a lot coming from me.."

Barry shook his head, tapping his foot impatiently. "This-It's just not what he does. I just know Wildfire is just some pawn to him, just like every other-."

"Bar, his name is Leo."

"Fine, then, Leo is just some pawn to him. Look, I know how Zoom thinks, and he would not make a mistake like this! He has some kind of-" he waved his arms, but Joe just looked at him expectantly. "of...backup plan!"

They were silent for a while until Iris pointed her head in. "Hey, guys. He wants to know if you're willing to hear him out. His story...it's insane."

Leo's voice echoed from inside. "I couldn't make something this crazy up, okay?"

"Barry, look," Iris said softly, "Caitlin's at the warehouse cross-checking his story right now, and she's calling in to give us updates. If anything's wrong, we'll know immediately." She reached up and placed a gentle hand on his cheek. "He's just a kid. Give him a chance."

Barry let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and nodded. They strode back into the cortex, and Barry eyed the teen's twitching hands, oily clothes, and scorched arms warily. They considered each other for a brief moment, then Barry sighed and threw his hands in the air. "All right, go ahead," he relented, and a grin spread across Leo's face.

"...and then he got caught on the cannon and screamed like a little girl covered in fire," Leo smirked, "Which, of course, is what he basically is, but the point is he crashed. Into us. So, that hurt a lot, by the way?"

Barry raised an eyebrow, still skeptical. "So, um, humor me-how did you survive?"

He sucked in a breath. "I didn't, actually. I used this cure thing we got from this resurrected demigod dude, came back to life, and crashed on...whatever that "OJ" island was again, and since I was basically revived, I got to see Calypso. So I fixed Festus and we all flew off into the sunset and the series ended in the most unsatisfying way because everybody needed more and it was the biggest cliffhanger ever."

A chorus of agreements and nods rose up from Team Flash, and they gazed off a little wistfully, each of them imagining a tearful reunion and denying the existence of Trials of Apollo because they are not considered canon in this fic.

Leo cleared his throat. "Anyway, I came back, duh, and I got slapped and crushed, by, like, a lot of people. Then Zoom showed up, and he took me to Nebraska, or North Dakota, I forget which, but it really ticks me off 'cause I was about to go on a date with Calypso." Leo's expression suddenly turned a bit wistful. " ...man...I miss her." He took a breath, shoving the sorrow to the side. "So he threw me through a portal, I landed on the ground, annnnnd Barry kidnapped me."

Caitlin's voice sounded through the phone, slightly garbled with the static. "Where did you land?"

"Uh, an alley?" Leo shrugged. "Like...maybe eight blocks from that coffee shop, "Shivers" or whatever."

There was a pause, and then through the speaker came Caitlin's, "Oh. Jitters. Okay, I'm on my way back."

Iris blinked. "Okay."

"Okay!?" Barry choked, spinning around in disbelief towards Joe. Joe considered him for a second, before echoing Iris. "Okay."

Iris shrugged. "I believe him. He's right; no one could make this up. You'd have to be some...award-winning author with matching initials or something."

Leo smirked. "See? Leo Valdez. LV. Those are, like, ten letters apart. Now, I'm sure you all have questions-"

Caitlin and Cisco had apparently been waiting to hear those words for the past half hour. Cisco sprang up. "So is your girlfriend still immortal?"

"How does the Mist specifically work? Is it different to everybody? Does it use existing memories to simulate-"

"What's the range on your belt? Does it make the things from scratch like a-a Star Trek replicator or summon them like—I don't even know, this is too cool!"

"Do the memories of Wilderness School with Jason seem clouded? Is it like everything just has it in him now? Are you able to tell the difference? How?"

"What if Jason's coin landed on its side?"

"What specific properties in ambrosia make it rejuvenate your cells faster?"

Leo looked around helplessly in amusement, breaking into laughter after a moment. "Oh man, I have no idea. "

Barry shook his head in disbelief. "Are we ignoring the fact that he was just in Zoom's prison? Convenient, huh, he doesn't know where it is. Convenient that he appeared out of nowhere. Zoom could have him bugged, or have-"

Leo practically bristled. "Hey, man, I'm one of the good guys. You straight-up kidnapped me, all right? I have no knowledge at all about you , mister Barry Benson, and I just want to get back home."

The room fell silent. Next to Barry, Cisco sucked in a breath. "Hoo. Boy. He did not just compare you to Barry B. Benson."

Barry's face went hot, but before he got the chance to respond, Caitlin strode into the cortex. "Your story checks out," she declared. Her words were backed with such certainty that even Barry didn't argue. "And we'll help you."

Leo, however, drew back in alarm. "I-I know you," he gasped, scrambling off the stool "You're her -you're working with Zoom!" With a blaze of light, Leo's hands ignited, flames licking his sleeves. "I know we just met, but trust me, Lightning McQueen, get her in a cell and make it cold-proof!"

Whatever color was left in Caitlin's face drained at cold-proof. "Y-you met Killer Frost?" she breathed, unable to keep a small quiver out of her voice.

Joe whistled. "Your hands light on fire?"

Leo hesitated for a moment, his gaze swinging from Barry to Joe and back to Caitlin, before understanding slowly dawned on him and the inferno died out. "Did I meet Elsa?" he clarified, "Yeah. She looks exactly. Like. You. What, is she like your evil twin? "

Caitlin let out a breath. "Something like that. She's kind of...a different me."

"Like...one part of you or a completely different person?"

"Er—"

Barry felt a sharp pain in his ribs, and turned to see Iris handing him the white marker. He sighed, pulling up the board and beginning to write. "Ok, Leo, you're from Earth-683. Now, imagine every single version of yourself you've ever had the chance to become. Anything at all. And maybe that's you on the next Earth over."

Leo tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, man, I don't think the world could take that kind of awesomeness. A ton of Leo Valdez's on one planet?"

Barry shook his head with a small chuckle. "Well, not really on the same plane. Or phase. There's a ton of Earths-infinite, actually-and on some of them"-he motioned towards one of the many circles he'd drawn-" Maybe Leo Valdez is-is a rocket scientist. Maybe on another, he's a sushi chef. Maybe on another, he's actually a girl named Stacy."

"Oooookay, how about this Earth? Where am I here?"

Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, and Joe all simultaneously winced.

Leo groaned. "Ah, man, I'm dead, aren't I. Call it beginner's luck." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "So... everything's different on every Earth, then."

"There are a few constants," Cisco jumped in matter-of-factly, "Big Belly Burger, The Godfather—"

"The Bee Movie," Leo added dramatically, making Cisco snort, "One of the few constants in the universe. Hey, uh, weird question, do you guys know anything about a Camp Half-Blood?"

Iris shook her head, her eyes narrowing—Barry immediately recognized her 'reporter mode' and couldn't resist a smile. "Never heard of it," she said, "Any particular reason?"

"It's a summer camp." At their expressions, he added, "I live there," and settled into the black spin-chair at the center of the cortex, twirling around a few times and tapping one of the screens.

Cisco let out a small squeak of protest and raced over to the console with speed that would have put Barry to shame. "Uh, nope, no, that's my chair, dude!"

Before he could be shoved out of the cortex, Leo's eyes suddenly widened and he turned to Cisco with a huge gasp. "Dude. Holy Zeus, this computer is beautiful. Oh, oh man, you've gotta show me how this works, please . Is it just more pathways to the server or did you just increase the clock speed of the CPU—"

Cisco interrupted him with loud, extended slurp from a drink on the table, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. " Server pathways?' Oh-ho-ho, come here, young padawan, let me show you a little something called the frickin' STAR Labs satellite ."

Caitlin appeared behind them, redirecting Leo's shoulders to her station. "Oh Cisco, unless someone else already knows what the DNA of gods looks like under a microscope, I'm running some tests on him."

Leo paled. "Sure, sure, um, but no needles—"

Iris followed them inside. "And would you mind just answering a couple more of my questions?"

As Barry eyed his three teammates connecting wires to a nervous Leo, he did a quick mental catch-up on the last half hour. Leo was fairly scrawny and short, clever and witty but not quite sly, and of course, carrying the ever-present lack of respect towards authority figures that came with being a teenager. But still, Barry had to acknowledge his grudging admiration for this teenager's clear head and creativity.

Joe tapped his shoulder. "Okay?"

"Okay," Barry agreed, "Sure. For now."

"Oh, look.."

A voice as cold as ice jerked Sam awake, residual panic making his heartbeat jump in a matter of seconds. He scrambled back, pressing his back against the wall as memories of Ty, gutted with a switchblade, flooded his mind and he turned away, repressing the urge to gag. His groggy eyes finally settled on a figure in front of him— Stell? No, no, he's taller than that— but when he reached out, his fingers brushed glass. Sam coughed, pulling himself into a sitting position. "Wha-" his throat was hoarse and dry and a cough forced itself out of his mouth. He groaned. "What am I doing here?"

The voice spoke again. "You tell me."

As his vision stopped spinning, he could recognize a blue-clad figure in the cell opposite from his, flipping a silver dagger. Her face looked vaguely familiar like he'd seen on the news, but the name was blanking on him. It was only when everything came back into focus that he realized that the silver dagger was, in fact, not a silver dagger at all, but a long, thin icicle she was repeatedly growing and smashing in the palm of her hand.

"K-Killer Frost," Sam breathed, subconsciously inching a little closer to the glass in curiosity. The making and breaking of the swirling icicle was hypnotizing, and for a moment everything else seemed to melt away.

Killer Frost sighed carelessly. "Goody goody, you're awake. Welcome to this pathetic hellhole."

Sam just stared, open-mouthed.

"Not as chatty as the other one, huh," she drawled lazily, but her eyes flashed in the light. "Please tell me you at least talk and you're not gonna be like him ." Sam followed her gaze to the glass cell next to hers, where a man in a metal mask lay limp, asleep or unconscious.

He shook his head, breaking whatever trance he'd been in. "Who—H-hold on, what 'other one?' Where are we?"

"Let me out, maybe I'll tell you!" she snapped, with a new intensity that made Sam flinch and leap to his feet. Killer Frost was a whole head taller than he was. With ice powers. And—he winced—not a care in the world for other people.

"Wait, you're not the one...keeping me here?"

She raised her eyebrow. "Of course not. Use your eyes, dimwit, I'm stuck too." Frost crushed the icicle again and sighed. "So what did you do to wind up here?"

"N-nothing!" he gasped, his sudden breath fogging up the glass. "I work for a DJ! As a roadie! Y'know, EnTiTy, the guy who did the instrumental for One More Time in 2017! I'm-" he spread his arms desperately- "I'm completely normal!"

She continued to stare as if completely normal was the craziest thing he could have said. "Oh boy, the people who wind up in here aren't completely normal... Just tell me, what did you do?"

Sam felt his face heat up. "Please, I think he killed my friend. I have to get out of here."

"You're not gonna cry , are you?"

"N-no." Something she'd said earlier suddenly caught his attention. "Who was the other one that was here? He took someone else, his name's Stell—"

Frost huffed. "You ask a lot of questions—so no, I don't mean your boyfriend, I mean the other kid. One of Zoom's favorites, I think. Called himself Wildfire. Smart. And his flames really reminded me of... " She paused to look him over once more. "You're really not a metahuman?"

Sam's mouth went dry . "No. Well, I-I don't think I am?" He hesitated for a moment, then kicked the glass. Nothing. "So, where are we? Is this...a puzzle? What are we supposed to do?"

"The only thing we can do in this damn cage," Frost said quietly, the cold slowly creeping up the glass walls of her cell. "We wait."

WOW, I forgot this existed. (Don't be mad) No worries, folks, FoF is back, thanks to you! ;)

really, those comments were quite literally 90% of my motivation for this chapter. Thank you to EVERYONE who left a comment or a favourite or something, because each and every single one helped this get written. So if you like it, go ahead and let me know :D.

also, holy zeus I love you all!