A/N: OK, so this story kind of got away from me and fizzled a bit. I'm not entirely sure where to go with it. Hope this is worth the wait!

Chapter Four

Barry heard the conversation around him before he was fully conscious. As he roused, he moved – and as he moved, he was suddenly very aware of the pain in his side. With a wince, he forced his eyes open and blinked against the light from the end table by his head.

At the table in the other room sat Iris, Joe, Cisco, Caitlin, Harry … and Wally. He had momentarily forgotten that Wally had been present when everything had gone down over the last few … hours? Days? How long had he been out of commission?

He tried to sit up and that drew a pained grunt and hiss from his lips. Enough to alert the ever-vigilant doctor side of Caitlin, who twisted in her seat and locked her gaze on Barry. She smiled and stood, "You're awake!" She said, drawing everyone's attention toward Barry, who managed a small grimace and nod. "I was getting a little worried. You've been out for a few hours. Usually you heal faster than that."

Barry frowned. "I'm OK, Caitlin," he said, tentatively moving and twisting to test out his range of mostly-painfree-motion. "I think I had just been sleeping badly and it all caught up to me." He paused when she reached him and began to pull his T-shirt hem up. "Hey … uhm ..."

She tutted. "Really Barry, it's not like everyone in this room hasn't already seen you shirtless," she said with a chuckle. Barry didn't respond, just turned a light shade of red as he stopped his protest and let her pull the shirt up to reveal the bandage.

Soon she had that unraveled, too.

The wound was well on its way to healed. And like his other wounds, it wouldn't scar. Soon, the skin would be completely unblemished, leaving no evidence he'd ever been wounded.

"That's amazing."

Barry's head snapped up to find Wally had somehow stood and approached without him noticing. He was looking at the healing stab wound with wide eyes and a stunned expression. Caitlin smiled up at him. "I told you he healed quickly," she said, leaving the bandages off and pulling Barry's shirt back down. "In a few more hours, there will be nothing there at all."

Wally nodded and then looked to Barry. He didn't know what to say to the other young man. For the last few hours, the others had been filling him in on their trials and tribulations, on how Barry had become the Flash, what metahumans they had faced, the old Harrison Wells and the trip to Earth-2 to save Jessie.

He was hard-pressed to absorb it all.

No wonder Barry seemed off to him! He was preoccupied with saving the city!

"So …" Barry said. "What'd I miss?"

He gingerly stood, stretching as much as his side would allow, then walked across the room to plop down in a chair beside the table with everyone else. Wally and Caitlin followed.

"Just catching Wally up," Joe said, studying Barry's face to see if that bothered the younger man. When it didn't appear to, he continued, "But we were waiting for you to wake up so we could discuss what to do about Zoom."

Barry's faced morphed into a heavy frown at the mention of his nemesis. "I don't know what to do about him," Barry said, picking at the edge of the table with a fingernail. "I was so surprised to see him back here after we closed all the breaches. I don't know why it didn't dawn on me he could open breaches … I mean, I was the one who caused them all to open the first time and he's a speedster like me. It shouldn't have been such a difficult leap in logic!"

Harry shook his head. "You couldn't have known, Barry," he said. "You're fast, but you're not omniscient. Nevermind how he created one, the question now is where is it and how to do we stop him. We know we can't face him head-on, it never ends well for you."

"Yeh, I don't fancy getting my back broken again," the young speedster muttered. "But there has to be something we can do to stop him." His head snapped up. "What about that man? In the mask? In Zoom's lair. There has to be a reason he's being held captive. Maybe he could help us?"

Truth be told, as soon as Barry had had a second to think straight after his encounter with Zoom his mind had shifted to the man in the mask. He had promised he would return for the man, and it had been eating away at him that he had not kept that promise. It was part of the reason he hadn't been sleeping well lately.

"No," Joe said, raising a hand. "No, no, no. You can't go back to Earth-2. That's Zoom's territory, it's too dangerous."

Barry shook his head. "More dangerous how?" he said, looking around the table. "Zoom can zip to Earth-1 whenever he pleases. It's not like I'm in any more danger there then I am here." He gestured to his side and then dropped his hands back on the table in exasperation. "I told that man I'd come back for him, Joe. And I haven't. He's still a prisoner."

"I don't like it, Barry," Joe said. "Last time you went to Earth-2, you were captured by that madman."

"I know, Joe," Barry said. "But he had help. Reverb and Deathstorm won't be there this time, and I expect there is a good chance that Killer Frost is … dead. I know there are other metahumans, but I don't know what else to try. Zoom will be back and he won't take, 'Give me more time, please' for an answer again."

Joe leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. "I know." He looked around the table. "But we're getting ahead of ourselves. We don't know where this breach is. How closely Zoom might be monitoring it. What if we go through it and he's standing on the other side? Then what?"

"We can't use his breach," Harry said. "We know that Zoom created it because he's a speedster, right? Then why can't we recreate the event that caused the breaches in the first place?"

"Because ..." Cisco said slowly. "Last time we caused a black hole that nearly destroyed all of Central City."

Harry frowned. "Oh. Well. Yes, we can't do that again, then."

Running a hand through his hair, Barry shook his head. "No, we can't. I think the only way we can travel to Earth-2 is to use Zoom's breach. I can't imagine he just hangs out around the other end of it. He's busy … terrorizing a city, remember?"

"How many people can you bring through the breach?" Iris asked, derailing the topic of whether the breach was monitored.

Barry looked at her. "As many as I want," he said. "I'd just have to go back and forth, since I can only pull two people through at a time." He narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Because there is no way you are going back there alone, Barry," she said, looking around the table. "We're coming with you."

A half dozen voices sounded with varying levels of "no" to Iris' words.

"It's way too dangerous," Barry said over the din.

"You took Cisco last time, he's fine. And you got Jessie and Harry back," Iris persisted. "You can't do this alone Barry. We learned the hard way what happens when you try. You need your friends and like you pointed out, no one is any safer here than they are over there. Zoom could come and kill us all while you are on Earth-2."

Barry deflated. She was right. If he traveled to Earth-2, Zoom could travel here and take out everyone he loved. It was probably better that he kept them in his sight. Which meant taking them to Earth-2 with him.

He had a few allies on Earth-2 – his doppleganger and Iris'. But they wouldn't be enough. This team was well versed in helping him take down metahumans and would be invaluable to him on Earth-2 trying to save the man in the mask and maybe find the key to stopping Zoom.

"Ok," he said. "Ok, I agree, bringing the whole team over would be helpful."

There was only one head that didn't nod.

"This is a bit too much," Wally said quietly. "I just found out my brother is the Flash. And now you're all talking about going through some hole to another world and fighting some insane speedster who, according to all of your past experiences, is more than a match for Barry. This is … too much."

He pushed his chair back and stood. "I'll keep it all a secret, obviously," he said. "But … I … it's too much." Wally made for the door. Barry jumped up and gestured for the others to stay.

"Wally, wait!" He reached the door at the same time as the younger man and followed him out onto the stoop. "I know, it's a lot," he continued. "But it would be safer for you, if you came with us. Zoom has seen you and if he comes here looking for me when I'm on Earth-2, he will stop at nothing and no one I know will be safe from him. I … God, Wally … if anything happened to you because of me, I would never be able to forgive myself. Please … come with us."

Wally was frozen to the spot. He hadn't really thought this Zoom fellow would pay him any mind. But Barry seemed sure he would be a target if the speedster returned and found no one from Team Flash to torment. And truth be told, he was petrified of the man after what he'd seen him do to Barry.

"Barry," he said faintly. "You want to drag me through some worm hole thing to another Earth. Do you realize how insane that sounds? It was crazy enough finding out you're the Flash. But this is so much more than crazy, I can barely wrap my head around it!"

"I know," Barry said, wanting to reach out and take Wally by the shoulders, but not doing so. He wasn't that close to the younger man and didn't know if that was a liberty he could take. He did it without thought with the others, but Wally was a wildcard. "And I'm sorry it's all happening so fast. Hazard of knowing a speedster."

That drew a small grin from Wally, which in turn put one on Barry's face. "Look, Iris and Caitlin, they usually don't do the dangerous field work either. But Zoom is the most dangerous man we've ever faced and I don't want to leave anyone at his mercy. That means taking you with us. You're a part of this now, Wally. More than just a part of the family – a part of the team. And … honestly? I was hoping if you came you could help keep Iris out of trouble. Joe will be divided between us, and I'd love to have an extra set of eyes on her since he'll be torn."

Wally swallowed. It made sense. It really did.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but … OK," Wally turned back toward the house. "I'll do it. But not because you are afraid that thing will come back while you're gone. I'll do it because I don't want to lose my family now that I've found them. That includes you, Barry."

The speedster smiled and pulled Wally into one of his famous hugs. "Thank you, Wally," he said, steering him by the shoulders back toward the door and into the house. The others were pacing around the living and dining rooms, and it looked like Joe had been about to bolt from the house to chase Wally himself. He visibly slumped in relief when he saw both his boys reenter the home.

"Wally," he said, hurrying over. "I'm so sorry about all this craziness, but we can't leave you here alone – defenseless."

The young man raised a quelling hand. "I know, Joe," he said. "I've already agreed to come with you guys. Barry had a sound argument."

Joe glanced over his son's shoulder to Barry. He nodded lightly in thanks, and then drew Wally back into the dining room and sat him down for a one-on-one, father-son chat. He knew it was a lot for the young man to take in, and he gave him a chance to vent it all and ask any questions he had.

Meanwhile, the others piled into the S.T.A.R. Labs van, and with Barry speeding along ahead, they began the trek back to the lab to start the search for Zoom's breach. Joe and Wally would follow in Joe's patrol car once Wally had asked any and all questions he might have about the upcoming trip.

A/N: Sorry this is so short. I've been super busy and have a slew of medical appointments to get through. I'm hoping to update again … pretty soon. Seems there isn't as much interest in the story as there had been, anyway. Til next time!