WE wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes
- We Wear the Mask, Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

"Go ahead, Barry, ask it."
"Why did you kill my mother?"
"Because I hate you."

Barry Allen lay in bed, unable to sleep and replaying those words over and over and over again in his head.

That conversation between them seemed like eons ago; a tense, long-awaited for moment that seemed to bring up more questions than answers, with Eobard Thawne - the Reverse-Flash, the Man in Yellow, Fake Doctor Harrison Wells - refusing to answer the biggest one of all: Why did he hate him?

Since Eddie's sacrifice that erased Eobard from existence, since the black hole that had almost wiped them all out, Barry had found himself tormented by this. After all, what had future him done that was so bad that one of his enemies would go so far as to travel back in time to kill him as a child and erase him? To be the cause of that destructive, poisonous darkness he had glimpsed in Thawne's eyes that day in the pipeline when he spoke of The Flash from his timeline.

Despite his best efforts, Barry found that he had to know the truth. No matter what the answer, he must know. Only then would he have some sort of closure and be able to move on.

It doesn't take long for him to realise, though, that the only way he's ever going to get the answer he's searching for is by tracking down an alternate timeline where their Eobard is still alive and asking him instead. However, to do such a thing would require the ability to see and travel to alternate dimensions, a power which he doesn't possess.

Lucky for him, he knows someone who does.

Cisco - or The Vibe, as he now goes by - is understandably reluctant when Barry comes to him asking for his help.

"I don't know, man. Hate to state the obvious here, but don't you think that's kind of dangerous? Who knows what'll happen when you confront Wells-" he paused and then corrected himself. "I mean Thawne. What if he attacks you? What if he attacks me? I really don't want to experience dying again, Barry, because it really sucked."

"Don't worry, I won't let anything bad happen to you. Trust me," he reassured his friend. He knew that Eobard Thawne was a sore spot for Cisco due to the father-son relationship the two had shared and the betrayal that had ultimately broken it.

"If you do this for me, we can make TGIF Movie Night an official thing?"

"TGIF Movie Night already is an official thing though," and Barry inwardly kicked himself because he was right. It had become a weekly tradition of sorts for the two of them, meeting up at one another's houses and watching a wide array of films, popcorn in hand.

"Okay, then how about this? I'll give you a super speed piggyback ride."

"Tempting…"

Realising it was going to take a lot more to make his friend accept, the speedster resorted to desperate measures, grabbing the mechanical engineering genius by the upper arms, a puppy dog look now gracing his boyish face. "Please, Cisco, I need this."

The Latino let out a groan. "Dammit, Barry, that's cheating!" He then sighed. "Okay. But, you owe me for this."

"Thank you, Cisco. You have no idea how much this means to me," Barry grinned back and, with a whoosh and a gust of wind, he was already decked out in his Flash suit. "Alright, I'm ready, let's do this!"

"Hey, Barry, how do you know Thawne won't go all 'A Few Good Men' on you?" Cisco asked as he, too, got ready.

"Huh?"

Seeing his quizzical look, Cisco elaborated, "You know, 'You can't handle the truth!'? What if he refuses to talk to you or just lies? 'Cause he was really good at that."

Barry pondered this. He did have a point… Finally, he suggested, "Then, instead of just travelling to one timeline, why don't we go to several? So if he does lie, we'll have others to fallback on. He's bound to tell the truth in one of them."

Cisco shook his head. "Barry and Cisco's Excellent Adventure. And it's only Monday..."

He laughed. "Look on the bright side, it'll be something to brag about to the family when you next see them."

"You're right! I can see it now: 'So, Francisco, what'd you get up in the week to disappoint me this time?' 'Well, Mom, me and my freakishly fast best friend visited a couple of alternate worlds to have a chat with my evil, ex boss who killed me once and was, FYI, erased from existence!' So, basically, just your average week at S.T.A.R Labs."

The two fell into a fit of giggles, resembling a bunch of schoolboys more than the superheroes they actually were.

However, once the moment arrived for them to head off and start 'dimension-hopping' as Cisco liked to call it, they couldn't have been more serious.

"No matter what, we stick together," Barry promised, hand gripping the other's tightly.

"Agreed. Oh, and the second Dr. Evil uses his vibrating hand attack-thingy, we're outta there!"

The matter settled, Cisco took a deep breath and used his powers to locate a timeline which was similar to their own and had a still living - or existing, to be more accurate - Eobard Thawne within it so he and The Flash could enter it.

Finally he found one.

"I will say...it's been an education. Watching you grow up all these years - science fairs and soccer games. No hint, no sign, no trace of the man you will be one day. For whom I have nothing but hate.

And, to be clear, nothing is forgiven. There will be a reckoning. I promise you, Barry Allen, that you will die."

The Flash sees Thawne standing over the prone, comatose form of the Barry Allen of this timeline and, for a second, he is seized with both a great rage and a great fear. Rage at seeing that man in the flesh again and hearing his words. And fear at seeing the other him so vulnerable, at the fake Harrison Well's mercy. His life literally rests in his hands and, if he so willed it, he could kill him right there and then.

The fact that he knows he won't changes nothing. Barry wants to run over and rip the other him away, keep him safe from Eobard Thawne's clutches and the hardships and heartbreak he knows will come as a result. He wants to protect him from the manipulations yet to come.

But he can't. He can't because he promised Cisco that he wouldn't. The Latino metahuman had stressed to him the gravity of travelling to alternate worlds and timelines and how it was not to be taken lightly. How they couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't interfere too much, lest they unintentionally make things worse.

All he was allowed to do was enter, talk to Eobard, get his answer, and then leave. That and nothing more.

With this fresh in mind, Barry entered the lab room, Cisco waiting outside.

Eobard frowned as he heard him approach from behind and, upon turning to look at the source, his blue eyes widened when he caught sight of the Scarlet Speedster. They quickly narrowed, however, when he took in his appearance.

After what felt like an eternity of tense silence, he snorted. "You know, for a second there, I really thought you were him. The Flash, bane of my existence, back from non-existence to ruin things for me yet again."

He smirked. "But you're not him, are you?"

Barry took a step towards Eobard. "I know," he said, fists clenching with anger. "I know everything, Thawne. What you've done and what you're planning to do."

Eobard's expression turned menacing. "Do you now? And how do you plan to stop me?"

It doesn't escape him how the man edged closer. The Barry Allen of this time was still hooked up in his bed, helpless underneath Eobard's looming figure. His hand slid down to where his heart was and ever so slightly began to vibrate. The warning couldn't have been more clear.

"I don't." The Flash sighed, hating how this was the way things had to be. "That's not why I came here."

Thawne raised an eyebrow, sceptical. "So, if you're not here to stop me, then why are you?"

"To talk. I have questions I need to ask. Questions that only you can answer."

And then, because Eobard still had his hand poised right over other Barry's heart as if it were a dagger, the speedster, hands raised in a 'I come in peace' gesture, slowly retreated and took a seat on the end of the bed.

For a tense second, Eobard Thawne sized him up, no doubt trying to decide whether he was a threat or not.

Finally, much to Barry's relief, he stepped away to lean against the medicine cabinet next to the bed, crossing his arms.

"Very well. Ask away, Flash," he smiled, though it did not reach his cold, blue eyes.

And so he asked the question that wouldn't stop plaguing him. "Why do you hate me?"

Eobard let out a harsh laugh. "That's what you came from another timeline to ask me? I'm disappointed."

He cocked his head and studied Barry for a second or two before stating, "I don't hate you. Just like I don't hate our friend over here. Why should I? Nothing about you two resembles him. Different age, different costume, different life." He shook his head. "No, the only Barry Allen I hate is the one from my future. Who, may I add, no longer exists."

"I don't understand. If you don't hate me, then why…?"

"Do you know what the opposite of hate is?" Eobard asked, much to Barry's confusion. "It's not love and vice-versa. It is indifference. And that's exactly how I feel towards you, Mr. Allen. I don't feel anything for you. You are nothing to me."

Barry swallowed a lump in his throat and shook his head, "You're lying. There's no way that's how you honestly feel about me."

He didn't know what he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. Regardless, it hurt. Everything about it, from how the man answered with total ease, to the words themselves, because, if there was anything worse than being hated, it was to have meant nothing at all.

Eobard shrugged. "Believe what you want, but I've watched the you of this time grow from boy to teen, teen to man, and every step of the way I haven't felt a single thing. Not a shred of remorse, compassion, or concern. Know why? Because you're an anomaly, a mistake. You were never meant to exist and, soon enough, you won't. Well, in this time, at least."

The man smirked as he bent down to ruffle the sleeping Barry's hair, a move that the speedster was sure he did solely to get a rise out of him.

"What's the matter, Flash? You asked me what my feelings were towards you and I gave you my answer. You are but a means to an end, nothing more, nothing less. I will use you for the sole purpose of returning back to my home and, once you have served that purpose and are no longer of any use to me, I'll dispose of you. Satisfied?"

"No. No, I'm not," Barry answered truthfully, standing up and getting ready to make his leave. He didn't see himself getting anything more out of this conversation. Best to leave now before things escalated.

Still, wanting to give it one last shot, he asked, "Okay, so you don't give a damn about me. Just- Could you at least tell me why you hate future me so much?"

Eobard Thawne grinned an unnerving grin. "Well, that's between me and the Flash from my timeline now, isn't it?"

Just so we're clear, after I kill you, I'm going to kill them, and then I'm going to kill your father. I always win, Flash!"

"Eddie! What did you do!? What did you do!? What did you do!?"

They don't have much time in the second world. As they enter, Eddie has just shot himself and the Eobard Thawne of this time has already started to show signs that he is disintegrating into nothingness.

Lucky for them, the alternate Flash and Cisco are both unconscious, while Joe and Iris are far too preoccupied with the dying police detective to notice them. And, as for Dr. Stein, Caitlin, and Ronnie, they will never know they were ever here thanks to The Vibe's ability to render himself undetectable to security cameras.

"NO! No! Eddie, no, don't! You need to stay with me, okay? Stay!"

Running up to the kneeling Reverse Flash, Barry grabbed him by his shoulders so they could face one another. "Why, Thawne? Why do you hate me?"

Eyes wide and staring off into the distance, his enemy's appearance changed from Harrison Wells to the real one of Eobard Thawne. It was the face of a stranger, the face of a man that now, thanks to Eddie Thawne, would never be.

"Hate you? I don't hate you," the man let out a weak chuckle, a small smile playing on his lips. "I pity you. I've controlled your life for so long, Barry… Methodically, coldly… How will you get along without me? What will you do without me there to guide you, reassure you, protect you, push you? You need me."

"You're wrong. I don't. And neither does Caitlin and Cisco. We can all get along fine without you." Despite his efforts, Barry couldn't hide the quiver in his voice.

"Oh, but you do. You might not realise it now, but one day you will. You'll see that, if not for me, you wouldn't be standing here, the man you are today." He reached up to touch Barry's face, but, before his fingertips could graze him, they, too, started to break away. "You're just a puppet whose strings have been cut. How can you hope to pick yourself up and walk on your own when you've depended on someone else to help you do it all your life?"

Cracks - as if he were made of crumbling stone - started appearing all over the man's body, floating upwards into the air until they faded from sight. Terror replaced Eobard's expression as he stared at his arms - or what remained of them - as more and more of him started to chip away and disappear.

With the last of his being, he let out a howl of despair that echoed all around.

And, just like that, the Eobard Thawne of this time was gone. No life, no death, no sign of previous existence. Nothing.

Shakily, Barry rose to his feet and left with Cisco before their presence was noticed.

"Go ahead, Barry, ask it."
"Why did you kill my mother?"
"Because I hate you. Not you now, you years from now."
"In the future."
"In a future, yes. We're enemies, rivals, opposites, reverses of one another."
"What- Wh-why were we enemies?"
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Yes it does!" Barry interrupted before this world's Eobard could continue. "It matters to me! I have a right to know, Thawne. Tell me!"

"Barry, calm down," Cisco hissed from behind, glancing over his shoulder at the entrance. They didn't need to rush like the previous timeline, but they did need to be more discreet. Though The Vibe's powers ensured they wouldn't be spotted talking to Thawne, there was still the risk that they might be heard.

Eobard simply stared back at him, even now face frustratingly passive.

"No, Barry, it doesn't," and his tone carried an air of finality. "Because that history doesn't apply to you. You're not him yet - Future you, that is."

Barry growled. "Fine. Then why do you hate me?"

"I did hate you once…" Eobard mused, facing the back of his cell. He paused and laughed under his breath. "Do you know how many times I would watch you and have to restrain myself from killing you right there and then? How every time I so much as looked at you, I would feel nothing but rage?"

"No, but I think I'm starting to understand…" Barry responded, his green eyes burning holes through Thawne. "So, what about now?"

"Now? You may find this hard to believe, but I've come to care for you very much," Eobard walked closer to shield and placed his hand on it, staring at him with a tender expression that could only be described as paternal. "Now, somehow, I know what Joe and Henry feel when they look on you with pride. With love."

He'd already heard this before, but Barry still reacted the exact same way he did the first time. "No. No! Don't you ever say that to me! You don't get the right to say that!"

"Oh, I don't? I think you'll find that I do. I have been just as much of a father to you then Joe and Henry have, maybe even more so. Remember, Barry, If not for me, you wouldn't even exist. I created you! Everything that you are and will ever be is thanks to me."

"No, I don't owe you a goddamn thing!" Unable to stop himself, Barry banged his fist against the glass, so wishing he could get his hands on Thawne.

"I understand that rage you're feeling, but it's all the truth. When I look at you now, when I see the kind of man you've become - your strength, your heroism, the justice you stand for - I feel nothing but love. Love for the son I never had. You and Cisco."

Behind him, Barry heard a choked sound escape from Cisco, as if he'd had to restrain himself from swearing. When he turned, he saw his friend standing behind him, looking the angriest he'd ever seen him. Thawne's speech must have hit close to home since, up until now, he had refused to interact with his former boss, going out of his way to hide, merely observing.

"Cisco, I was wondering when I'd be seeing you." Eobard smiled. "You know, you don't have to hide behind Barry like that. You've got nothing to be afraid of, I'm not going to hurt you."

"You already have."

"Forgive me for the deceit, but it changes nothing about my feelings towards you. Everything I said about how you've shown me what it's like to have a son was the truth," Eobard replied softly, having misunderstood the meaning behind the metahuman's stony words.

"Yeah, I really felt the love when you shoved your fist through my chest and crushed my heart!" Cisco hissed vehemently, tears pooling in his eyes.

Confusion replaced Eobard's previously gentle expression as he tried to make sense of what he'd just heard. "What? What did you just say?"

But Cisco ignored his question, continuing. "In another timeline, I found out about your secret and you killed me. You called me a son then, too, not that it stopped you. And, since then, I've had to relive it over and over in my nightmares. Because of you. So don't you dare stand there and tell me that you love us!"

"Cisco…" Eobard had the decency to look repentant, not that it meant much to either of them. "I'm sorry. That you found out and I was forced to dispose of you. That you remember."

"But not for killing me, right?" Cisco smiled bitterly, his tears falling freely now. "See, Doctor Wells - Thawne - that's how I know you're full of crap. You don't hurt the ones you love! You don't kill them!" He rubbed his damp cheek. "I've got nothing more to say to you."

With one last look, a mixture of hurt, grief, anger and contempt, Cisco turned on his heel and stormed off, practically smashing his fist down on the button that would close the entrance to the man's containment cell.

"Cisco!" Barry was by his side in seconds, concerned for his friend. "I'm sorr-"

"It's cool, dude, don't worry about it. Just getting some closure of my own, that's all." Cisco wiped the tears from his face. "You know, I hate how, even now that he's gone, he still makes me feel this way. That I still care."

"Yeah, believe me, I know," Barry said sympathetically, patting him on the back.

Taking a deep breath, Cisco calmed his nerves before forcing a smile. "Come on, let's get out of here and head over to the next timeline."