Disclaimer: This story is loosely based on a storyline from the comics in which Barry's future self comes back to the past to try to kill him. The concept is the same, but this story will be very different from the comics.

Let Him Die a Hero

A flash of light suddenly alerted the team to Barry's presence in the cortex. The flash was brighter than usual, though, and they hadn't been expecting Barry to be at STAR Labs right now. His father had just died, and he was supposed to be at home with Wally and Jesse.

Even the defeat of Zoom hadn't lifted Barry's spirits, and he had told them to go to STAR Labs without him, which was why they were surprised to suddenly see him standing there, in full Flash attire.

"Barry," Joe said in surprise, "I thought you were going to stay at home."

Barry let out a heavy sigh as he reached up to lower his cowl. They all gasped when they saw him. It was Barry, but it wasn't Barry—not their Barry, anyways.

He looked older. His face, although still fairly youthful, had slight lines etched in it around the corners of his eyes, and his chin was slightly broader. Now that they looked closer, his suit was a slightly brighter red, and his muscles were definitely larger.

He was Barry from the future.

"Hi, everyone," he greeted, and they couldn't help but notice that his voice was slightly deeper.

"Oh, my God!" Cisco yelled excitedly, "This is awesome!"

The older Barry managed a slight twitch of the lips at Cisco's enthusiasm, but he quickly resumed his somber expression. Aside from Cisco, none of them said anything at first. Most of them simply stared at him in shock. Finally, Joe decided to speak.

"What are you doing here, Bar?"

Older Barry's lips twitched again at that.

"I haven't heard that nickname in a while," he muttered.

They all frowned at that.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked, "Why…?"

"I'm here to change things," Future Barry said, moving past the subject.

"Allen," Harry said seriously, "You should know better by now than to do that."

Future Barry let out a humorless laugh.

"Trust me," he said darkly, "I've learned that lesson the hard way. I needed to come back, though. I needed to do the right thing. This was the only way to fix the mistakes I've made…or will make."

"What do mean?" Caitlin asked, "What mistakes?"

Future Barry turned his somber eyes on her then.

"It's so good to see you, Caitlin," he whispered, tears forming in his eyes.

Caitlin was taken aback. What was that supposed to mean?

"I've come here to ask for your help," Barry moved on quickly, "I need you to do something for me."

"What?" Joe asked.

"I need you to kill me."

No one spoke. They all stared at him in shock, certain they had heard him wrong.

"You want us to…?"

"Kill me," he repeated calmly, "I need you to kill me. The past me, anyways."

They all paled.

"Barry," Iris choked, "We're…we're not going to…kill you."

"Why the hell would you ask us to kill you?!" Cisco demanded.

Older Barry let out a heavy sigh and ran both hands over his face.

"To stop me from making the biggest mistake of my life," he sighed, "To stop me from ruining all of yours."

"What do you mean, Allen?" Harry questioned.

"I—Your Barry is about to do something incredibly stupid," he told them, "He's about to ruin everything."

"What is Barry going to do?" Iris asked fearfully.

Future Barry shook his head.

"Just trust me. It's bad," he warned, "And you need to kill him before he has a chance to do it. Once it's done, it can't be undone, and the effects from it are going to escalate to catastrophic proportions."

"What on earth could Barry do to cause so much damage?" Joe asked quietly, his voice shaking.

"Does it have something to do with Zoom?" Iris asked fearfully.

Barry shook his head.

"No," he said, "He defeated Zoom. That's why I waited until now, this night, to come here. I waited until after Zoom was taken care of."

"You need to explain this to us more," Joe huffed, "You can't just come here, ask us to kill you, and not give us a reason why."

Future Barry shook his head again.

"I can't explain that to you guys," he said painfully, "Not only would you not fully understand, but by doing so I could be messing with the timeline even more than I already am right now. You don't have time to argue about it. Your Barry's going to do something awful, and he's going to do it tonight."

They all stared at him in shock, their eyes wide. All except for Iris. She was glaring at the older Barry.

"If you want to kill yourself so badly, why don't you just do it yourself?" she snapped, "Why come to us?"

"The time paradox," Harry muttered.

"What?" Joe asked.

"If he kills his past self, it'll create a tear in time," Harry explained, "It will open up a wormhole, just like…"

"Just like when Eobard's ancestor killed himself," Cisco said, understanding.

They all looked at Future Barry then.

"Bar," Joe said firmly, "I don't care about whatever horrible thing it is you say your past self is about to do. We're not going to kill you."

"You have to," Barry choked, "This isn't just for my sake. Or even yours, for that matter. This is about the sake of the world—of time itself."

Future Barry bit his lip then, clearly regretting his choice of words.

"Time?" Caitlin echoed, her eyes widening, "Barry's going to mess with time?"

"He's going to save his dad," Joe said, suddenly understanding.

They all looked sadly at him then, knowing he was probably right. They all knew Barry would give anything to go back and change how things had happened with Zoom. Really, he was grieving, and he would do anything to save his dad—to get his father back.

Future Barry shook his head.

"Worse," he said darkly, "He's going to save our mother."

The others' eyes all widened.

"Oh, Barry," Iris said softly to herself.

"You can't let him do this," Future Barry warned, "You can't let him go back and change things."

"So, what if we just stop him?" Joe asked, "Why do we have to kill him?!"

Future Barry looked at him with sullen eyes.

"Because he'll do it anyways," he said sadly, "Even if you stop him tonight, he'll end up making the same decision later on. Trust me. I know. I know myself better than anyone. You can't imagine how many times he's thought about it, even before our dad died."

The others looked down sadly, thinking over everything future Barry was telling them.

"And…" Barry continued, "And he still won't learn his lesson. Even after seeing the consequences of time travel, I…I still did it again. Countless times. Trying to fix things. Trust me, the temptation to meddle with time is too strong. I wasn't able to resist it, and no matter what you do, your Barry won't be able to resist either. Even if you convince him not to save his mother, he'll still eventually try to change time for other reasons at some point in the future, and the consequences will be…catastrophic."

"Barry…" Iris squeaked, "We're not going to kill you."

"You have to," Barry persisted, "You don't have a choice. The powers that I—he possesses are too dangerous. They're too corrupting. Too tempting. I'm ashamed it took me this long to figure that out, but I see it now. The only option is to kill him."

"There are so many alternative options, though," Caitlin insisted desperately, "Barry doesn't have to die. We could…we could take away his powers or…"

She shook her head, straining to think of other solutions. Future Barry looked at her with sad eyes.

"If there's one thing I've learned from all the times I've lost my powers—and trust me, it's been quite a few times—it's that no matter what, I get them back, one way or another. I wasn't just struck by that lightning. I was chosen by the speed force. It's a part of me, and it always has been, long before I ever got my powers. I know it, and your Barry knows it. The lightning will always find him."

Future Barry let out a heavy sigh before continuing.

"I know this is a lot to take in, and it's hard for you all to understand, but it has to be done, and it has to be done tonight."

He pulled his cowl up over his face again then, and he looked at them with a mournful expression on his face.

"I wish there was another way," Future Barry said softly, "Just always know that I, that he, loves you, and if you had a chance to explain it to him, he would support this decision. He's a hero, after all. For now. Let him die a hero, before he makes this mistake and unintentionally becomes his own villain."

With that, Future Barry flashed out of the room, leaving them all to stand there in shock, processing his words.

For the longest time, all they could do is sit there, thinking over what future Barry had said, all that he had told them. After a moment, Joe looked around at everybody, taking in the thoughtful expressions on their faces.

"We're not seriously considering this, are we?" he demanded.

"No, of course not," Cisco said, "We're thinking of a solution."

"We should probably get home," Iris said seriously, "Future Barry didn't exactly say what time this was supposed to be happening, but for all we know, Barry could be running back in time any second. We have to be there to stop him."

They all quickly moved to leave the lab then, not really wanting to think about what they supposedly "needed to do" and focusing more on just getting to the house. In record time, they all made it to the house and burst in through the front door.

They were all surprised to find Barry sitting on the couch with Wally and Jesse, watching the news report of Zoom's defeat on the television with the others. They didn't really know what they had been expecting. To find Barry suiting up, getting ready to save his mom? To find him already gone? They had all been thinking the worst.

Jesse, Wally, and Barry all looked up when the others abruptly burst into the house, panicked expressions on their faces.

"What's wrong?" Barry asked them immediately.

They all stared at him, stared at the once-again youthful face of Barry Allen, Barry Allen who, a minute ago, had just been justifying to them why they needed to kill him. Iris's stomach churned as she looked at Barry, sitting cluelessly on the couch, staring back at them with a confused expression on his face.

"Nothing," Joe answered him, eyes carefully scanning over Barry's face.

Was he already planning on changing time? Had he already been sitting here, thinking about going back to save his mother?

Joe gave Barry an uneasy smile.

"We were just worried we wouldn't get back in time to watch the news report of the Flash's victory."

They all did their best to seem calm, like nothing was wrong. All looking at Barry out of the corners of their eyes, they slowly moved to sit down in the living room with the rest of them, looking at the TV screen, when really their main focus was on Barry.

Barry seemed to accept Joe's explanation, and his attention had returned back to the screen, but his eyes were far away, as if he wasn't really seeing it. They all watched him nervously, all exchanging worried looks. Of course, Barry would be distracted, though. His father had just been killed in front of him. It was only understandable that he wouldn't be entirely there right now.

They were all alarmed, though, when Barry suddenly stood up from the couch.

"Where are you going, Bar?" Joe asked him nervously.

"Just going to get some air," he muttered, his voice distant.

They all exchanged worried looks as Barry walked out the front door, shutting it softly behind him.

"We have to stop him," Caitlin said instantly.

Jesse and Wally looked at her in confusion. Before they could ask what she meant, though, Joe spoke up.

"I know Barry," he said seriously, "If we all go out there at once and confront him, he'll probably bolt."

"I'll go," Iris volunteered, "Let me talk to him."

Her father gave her an uneasy look but then nodded.

"Here," he said, holding something out to her, "Take this…Use it only if you need to."

Iris sucked in a sharp breath as she looked down at her father's hand. She let out a shaky breath as she nodded and took it from him, pocketing the small object before promptly exiting the house after Barry.

"What's going on?" Wally asked.

"I'll explain later," Joe said seriously, as they anxiously watched Iris disappear through the front door.

Iris was surprised to find Barry sitting on the top step of the porch, leaning his head against the frame the way he had after his dad's funeral. She cautiously moved closer to him, quietly sitting down next to him to peer into his face.

All she saw there was pain and grief. She could see how much he was hurting, and it killed her that she couldn't take this pain away from him. There was nothing she could think to say to comfort him. Iris was surprised, though, when Barry spoke first.

"I can't stop thinking about my dad's doppelganger," he whispered.

Iris gave him a sad look, not knowing what to say. Everything in her head just sounded stupid and unhelpful.

"Seeing him," Barry continued, "Knowing that he's out there…That should have made it easier. It doesn't. It just made me miss him even more."

Barry eyes filled with tears as he finally turned his head to look at her. Iris opened and closed her mouth a few times before speaking.

"I can't even imagine how hard that must have been," she whispered, her heart breaking for him.

Barry looked away thoughtfully for a second before looking back at her and speaking again.

"We just won," he said seriously, "We just beat Zoom. Why does it feel like I just lost?"

Iris had to fight to stop tears from forming in her eyes. She could see now. She could easily see why Barry was about to make the decision he was. He would do anything to get this pain to stop.

"Because you've lost a lot in your life, Barry," Iris said, thinking it was probably the most unhelpful, uncomforting thing she could say, "More than most."

She needed to show him he hadn't lost everything, that he still had a life worth living here—in this timeline.

"But," she said, leaning forward, "Maybe you and me…seeing where this thing goes…Maybe that can give you something for a change."

Iris was slightly relieved when Barry offered her a small smile.

"That's all I ever wanted to hear you say," he said, smiling sadly at her.

Iris smiled guiltily at him in return, feeling as if she was only saying these things to keep him from making a huge mistake. No, she thought to herself then. She wasn't just saying this to stop Barry. She meant it. She loved him, and she found the idea of him going back in time, changing this—changing them—unbearable. Her smile faded when Barry continued to speak then.

"And I wish that I was in a place that I could try that with you," he said painfully, "But I feel so hollowed out inside right now. I feel more broken than I've ever felt in my life. If I'm ever going to be worth anything to you, I need to fix what's wrong with me. I need to find some…some peace."

Iris felt all the blood drain from her face. Future Barry's words echoed in the back of her mind.

He'll do it anyways.

She wasn't going to be enough to stop him, and Iris didn't blame Barry for that. She couldn't blame him for being broken. Zoom may as well have ripped Barry's heart out that night with all the pain he had caused.

"Barry," Iris choked, knowing there would be no talking him out of this at this point.

She knew what had to be done. Iris could barely keep her voice steady as she spoke to him.

"You've always been there for me. For years, you've always stood by my side. I'm going to do the same for you. I'll be whatever you need, whether that's as a friend or…more. I'll be here to help you do whatever you need to do to find the closure that you need. I'll always be here for you, Barry, no matter what choices you make."

Barry stared back at her with watery eyes.

"Okay," he whispered.

Iris had to fight back a sob.

"I love you, Barry," she whispered, fearing her voice might break from all the sobs she was trying to suppress.

Slowly, with tears still in his eyes, Barry leaned forward toward her, and Iris closed her eyes, a few tears now falling down her face. When his lips finally met hers, Iris felt her heart both melt and shatter at the same time. It was the gentlest kiss she had ever experienced yet filled with more raw emotion than she ever thought a single kiss capable of.

And then it was ruined.

Barry gasped, his lips suddenly leaving hers. Iris was afraid to open her eyes, but when she finally did, it was to see Barry's staring back at her, wide open in shock. He leaned back then, away from her, and he looked down to see the tranquilizer dart in his abdomen where she had stabbed him. He looked back up at her with an expression of confused betrayal on his face.

"I'm so sorry, Barry," Iris sobbed as he started to slump over where he sat, still looking at her with confused eyes filled with hurt, "We'll explain later. I couldn't let you make a decision you would regret for the rest of your life. I couldn't let you do it."

"I-Iris," he gasped, now lying on his side on the porch.

"I'm so sorry, Barry," she cried, as his eyes slid shut, "But this was better than the alternative. I'm so sorry. I love you, Barry."

As her father and the others then came out onto the porch to help, Iris slumped back against the porch frame, sobbing uncontrollably.

"You did what you had to do, Iris," her father assured her, kneeling down next to Barry, who was now out, "It was the only thing we could do."

"Come on," Cisco said heavily, painfully looking down at his unconscious friend, "Let's get him in the pipeline before he wakes up."

As they lifted Barry and carried him over to the car, Iris slowly rose from her seat on the porch to follow, wondering if Barry was ever going to forgive her for this. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she knew they were definitely not going to kill him.

Barry was alive, and he was going to stay that way.