(The Flash) Frozen Flashpoint: Chapter 35 - After the Bang

Chapter 35 - After the Bang

Summary: The fight is over. Now all that’s left is to move forward—and… wait, what’s this about Wally?!

Barry was the first to look away from the sky. But even as he did, he could feel the ache of having to sacrifice someone to put an end to the threat of DeVoe.

From Barry's point of view, Marlize was wrong. She was manipulated, by her love for her husband and by pure desire to make the world a better place. She had nothing to atone for, and even if she did...

This, this was far too much.

Some would say Barry shouldn't be so depressed and mournful about the death of a woman he knew less than a week, far less when this woman up until a few days ago fought against him and his team.

But Barry was always quick to become attached to people. Iris, Wells, Caitlin, Cisco, Joe, Jay, Frost, and even Harry. The same was true for Marlize.

They might have known each other for such a short time, though in that time Barry could see her drive. After she was poisoned by the husband she dedicated everything for, she had every right to take time and wallow in her misery, but instead she pushed on, determined to see her dreams come true, even if it meant overturning everything she believed in until then.

Barry admired it; he wished he could be as strong as her. After all, there were many times since he became the Flash, and even before it, that Barry needed this kind of strength and lacked it.

She was strong until her last moment and was willing to go out holding tight to her beliefs, and to the man she once loved so dearly. Barry remembered how Marlize boldly declared that her husband was dead, killed by the monster DeVoe became after he was hit by the lightning during the particle accelerator.

And still, Barry thought even now that she was lying when she said that. Was it to herself? Or for some specific goal? Barry wasn't sure. One thing was certain in his mind—she still believed her husband was in there somewhere and tried to reach him in her final moments.

Was she successful? Barry would like to imagine that the answer was yes; after all, she deserved at least this much before the end.

Barry looked around the group to see their reactions.

Harry and Cisco looked to the ground with frowns on their faces. Barry could guess both of them were angry at themselves for not being able to find another solution to the tech problem and having to rely on Marlize.

Jesse was sitting on the ground with her knees pulled to her chest as she kept looking at the sky with a faraway gaze. Barry couldn't even begin to guess what was going on inside of her mind. Between Marlize and Wally, she had a very difficult couple of hours.

Caitlin had tears in her eyes, but she was looking down at the crying girl in her arms. That girl was none other than Lyra.

Lyra was sobbing into Caitlin's chest, and Barry couldn't blame her. Even if it was a future version of the woman, even in this timeline, Lyra spent the most time with Marlize and had the strongest bond with her.

Lyra saw the woman Marlize could become with enough time outside of DeVoe's influence and had the deepest understanding of what was just lost, the possibilities that would never come to pass.

Barry closed the gap between the girls and himself so he could pull them into a tight hug. As he hugged them close, he said in a voice that could be heard by everyone, "Let's go back to the lab. We can all use some rest."

As if on cue, dozens of police cars and a couple of vans arrived at the scene. The first one to come out of one of the cars was Detective Joe West. The man was wearing his usual detective attire: buttoned-up white shirt, a red tie, and a long tailcoat.

His eyes scanned the street in front of him, and he frowned, seeing all the metas on the floor while his granddaughter was crying her eyes out in the arms of her parents.

His deep voice was professional and lacked any tell about his worry. "Flash, what is the situation?"

Barry carefully pushed Lyra to lean more onto Caitlin so he could untangle himself from their family hug and face Joe. Knowing that most of the officers knew him as Barry Allen, he used his speed to vibrate both his face and sound so they would be distorted. "Those are the twenty meta humans who were willing to aid in the plan to take City Hall by force. All of them are knocked out, but not for much longer."

Joe nodded and turned to look at the officers behind him over his shoulder to order, "You heard the man. I want meta cuffs on each of them right away, then start loading them into the vehicles."

He received a unanimous 'Yes, Sir' from the cops around him, and a moment later, most of the metas were in handcuffs and heading toward one of the cars. Barry watched as his face was still vibrating, which Barry would admit to no one, was so uncomfortable that half of the time Barry wanted to reach to his face and scratch the blurriness away.

He was drawn out of his annoying thoughts by Joe's voice again. "You have mentioned a head to this attack, Flash. Where is this DeVoe guy?"

Barry cringed at the question his adoptive father asked, as well as hearing the unasked question he was asking, 'What the hell happened here?'

Barry let out a heavy sigh. "DeVoe has been defeated by Speedstorm, but he turned himself into a bomb. We were forced to send it as high as possible to stop it from doing any damage."

Joe raised his eyebrow, and Barry could see the gears already turning in his head. Putting the pieces together, he asked carefully, "I doubt DeVoe was kind enough to drive it himself, so..." His voice was still careful, but far more direct. "Who did you lose?"

Barry looked down and said with as much calmness as he could muster, "Marlize DeVoe gave her life to put a stop to her husband's plan."

Joe's voice was measured, though Barry could hear the sadness hiding deep within as he simply replied, "I see. I will report it."

Barry nodded and was quick to announce, "If this will be all, me and my team will be leaving now."

Joe gave him a nod and responded professionally, "Go ahead. If there will be something else the department will need, I will reach out to you."

Barry nodded and quickly gathered his team so they could leave using one of Cisco's breaches.

FF FF FF FF FF

The moment they exited the breach into the cortex, Caitlin didn't waste any time and immediately ordered everyone, "Harry, Cisco, please monitor things from here. Barry and Jesse, you are coming with me and Lyra for a checkup."

There was no one who would dare to defy Doctor Caitlin Snow when she used that tone. Before any of them could leave, another voice spoke from the hallway of the lab. "Now, now, my dear, you require a checkup as well." Carla stood in the doorframe and beckoned the four of them while saying casually, "I will be taking over there."

This time it was Caitlin who was left without any means to argue with her mother, so she went along. What Barry found adorable to a ridiculous level was that Caitlin's pouting expression was a copy of the one on Lyra's face. Barry never saw the resemblance between the two of them more than he did now. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to not burst out in laughter.

While on their way to the medical bay, Jesse asked with a worried tone, "Ummmm, Doctor Carla..." Oh, yeah, Barry almost forgot that Carla asked all of them to call her by her first name. Adding the doctor part was the only way Jesse felt comfortable, and even now he could hear she wasn't completely sure of herself using it. Still, she pushed on. "What about Wally... Oh, Wally is..." Jesse added the last part after she realized the older woman probably didn't know what happened.

But they were all surprised when Carla cut the younger speedster off and said gently, "Mr. West is certainly an interesting case I didn't believe I would ever encounter, and yet..."

Barry began to worry. Cisco said he was okay, and still, the way Carla put it, Barry had a hard time making the two opinions fit into the same situation. He waited for Carla to finish her sentence, but instead, she trailed off, pushing the button to open the door to the medical room.

Barry was about to question Carla about her abrupt stop. He noticed Caitlin was about to do the same, but both of them lost their voices, and their jaws almost hit the ground from what they saw in front of them.

A yellow streak of lightning was zooming all around the medical bay, shaking the trays with different medical equipment on them and sending any loose piece of paper into the air.

After a moment, the yellow lightning stopped, revealing Wally West, who tried to stop himself but instead ended up tripping on air and falling on his butt on the floor.

Wally rubbed the back of his neck, still sitting on the floor, and he said with a small laugh, "I guess sitting in on Jesse's lessons didn't do much good."

Jesse's mouth kept moving without any sound until finally she managed to choke out one word: "How?"

Wally seemed to take her reaction as a negative one. He shrunk a little on himself and looked down, saying quietly, "I don't actually know."

That was when Barry got a flashback to the meta who absorbed the power Jesse had when she hit him, and released it back toward her, only for Wally to jump in the way and take the energy hit.

Barry unintentionally gasped, drawing everyone's attention to him. With no other choice, he explained his outburst. "The meta Jesse was fighting. He could absorb energy and redirect it. I think when he absorbed Jesse's, he took some small part of the Speedforce as well, and when Wally took the hit for her, that part of the Speedforce then settled in him, causing..." Barry wasn't sure what to say, so he pointed at Wally and simply said, "This."

Wally looked up at Jesse and asked, "Are you mad?"

Jesse shook her head and gave her boyfriend a soft smile. "Of course not. I'm happy! Think of all the possibilities now."

Wally jumped back to his feet and held up his fist, saying enthusiastically, "We can be the next hero power couple after Frost and Flash."

Caitlin was quick to put an end to the direction Wally was taking. "I'm sure you will, but no heroics until after you've had training with Barry and he approves you to go on the field. Is that clear?"

Wally took a step back and raised both his hands in a placating manner, quickly replying with the only possible answer, "Yes, ma'am."

Jesse chuckled at her boyfriend and closed the gap between them to hug him closely and say, "Don't worry. I'll be there too."

Barry noticed the still upset Lyra. And even though her eyes were bloodshot from all the crying in the past hour, Barry still noticed the wide-eyed look she kept giving Wally. With a frown, Barry leaned toward her and asked in a whisper, "You look surprised. Wally didn't have powers in your future?"

Lyra shook her head, her eyes still locked on the scene in front of them. Wally was caught in Jesse's hug while Caitlin was admonishing them both for their careless attitudes. After a moment, she finally spoke in a low voice, "No. Don't forget in my timeline, Auntie Jesse was killed in the first ambush by DeVoe. Uncle Wally didn't even get to say his goodbye to her, and after that, he was different."

Both Lyra and Barry fell into comfortable silence and watched as Carla cut the moment short by announcing in a firm tone, "Okay, fun time is over. Now it is time for medical reviews, so each of you take a seat, please."

Not wanting to mess with the older woman, Barry began to do as he was ordered when he heard Lyra's final words before she followed him, "But this is a different future now."