Hi, it's me. CarVie16.

This is my new Arrowverse story, which is based on the new seasons (Arrow S6, Flash S4, Supergirl S3, Legends of Tomorrow S3). If you're not caught up, then SPOILER ALERT! It's a crossover story, not like I haven't done that before. Characters from all four shows will be involved, but before the crossover craziness happens, seeds must be planted. So, this may be a slow build-up. Enjoy.

A/N: If you're someone who has been following all of my Arrowverse stories and notice that I'm recycling ideas, then it's intentional. This is kinda like a reboot. Personally, I thought it was a bad idea. Still, I wanna go for it.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Arrowverse. Everything Arrowverse belongs to the CW, DC, and Warner Bros.

Leave a review after reading, please. Feedback is always appreciated.

"Imagine being a speedster. Days seem like weeks. Hours seem like days. And seconds seem like... you get the point." - Barry Allen, The Flash

It was just another ordinary day in Central City. Cars on the road. People walking on the streets, smiling. CC Jitters selling the famous "Flash" coffee. Yep, nothing out of the ordinary today. And that includes Kid Flash and Vibe chasing a metahuman through the city. The "meta of the week" is Shawna Baez, a.k.a. Peek-a-Boo, who had just returned to Central City for another score.

Kid Flash has been chasing Peek-a-Boo for several minutes, but is unable to apprehend her because she keeps teleporting away before he could catch her. He stops in the middle of the road after losing sight of her.

"I can't find her, sis," Kid Flash said through his comm-link, reporting back to his sister, Iris, who is monitoring the chase from the rebuilt and refurbished S.T.A.R. Labs.

Vibe comes out of a breach panting from exhaustion.

"Man, I really need to work out," he complained, fatigued.

"Suck it up, Cisco," said Iris. "We only have one shot. If she makes it out of the city, we'll lose her for good."

"You heard the lady, man. Suck it up," said Kid Flash, teasing his partner.

"I don't have eyes on her," said Joe, who was following the chase in his police van. "Iris, what do you got?"

Iris tracks Peek-a-Boo's signal and narrows it to one spot on the map of the city. "I found her," she said. "Duck."

"I don't see no duck," said Kid Flash, confused.

Peek-a-Boo sneaks up behind the two metas and sucker-punches them both to the ground.

"Peek-a-Boo," she joked. "Only warning, boys. Stay back."

Peek-a-Boo teleports away as the two boys attempt to get back on their feet.

"She meant that duck," Kid Flash realized.

"I can't believe you thought she meant a duck duck," Vibe replied.

"Guys, she's heading for the Keystone Bridge," Iris said. "We can intercept her at the Broom Tower. Wally, you have to lure her there. Cisco, be ready. Dad, meet them below."

"Copy that," Kid Flash replied.

"I hate teleporters," Cisco complained.

"Really, man?" Kid Flash questioned, raising an eyebrow at his friend for his ironic comment.

Kid Flash runs off to the Keystone Bridge while Vibe breaches his way there. Joe drives towards the Broom Tower while calling for backup.

The rookie speedster chases Peek-a-Boo across the rooftops while Vibe waits at the very tower that Iris calculated where Peek-a-Boo will most likely be before she makes it to the bridge. With correct timing, Vibe fires a vibrational blast at Peek-a-Boo just as she teleported on to the tower, immobilizing her in mid-air. He then opens a breach to the alley below the tower and waits for Kid Flash to push Peek-a-Boo in it. However, Vibe loses his hold on Peek-a-Boo, who becomes mobile again.

Kid Flash zooms towards Peek-a-Boo to catch her, only to miss her again when the metahuman teleported away. Kid Flash runs into Vibe and they both stumble into the open breach, coming out of the end tumbling on the alley.

"Wally, what happened?" asked Joe.

"Uh, she got away," Kid Flash confessed.

Joe, Wally, and Cisco return to S.T.A.R. Labs to be met by a disappointed Iris. Even Joe was intimidated by the look his own daughter is giving to them.

"How could you guys let her get away?" Iris asked loudly.

"I... couldn't hold it for long," said Cisco, ashamed.

"I wasn't fast enough," said Wally, bummed.

"We're sorry, baby girl," Joe apologized, embarrassed.

"You guys should be, because that was the third rogue in one week that we let get away," said Iris. "First, Mark Mardon. Then Trickster. And now, Shawna Baez."

"Don't worry, sis. Team Kid Flash can step it up next time," said Wally confidently.

"Wally, I love you, but ain't no one feeling Team Kid Flash," said Joe.

"It's, like, too many syllables," Cisco added.

"Okay, if we're done fooling around, let's get back to business," said Iris. "Dad, I need you to get back to CCPD and get a lead on the whereabouts of Lisa Snart. Cisco, try to work on perfecting your powers. Wally, I have a new training simulation for you at the Speed Lab."

"Oh the great and mighty West, as much as we love to keep working, we need a break," said Cisco, feeling lightheaded. "Seriously, I have a headache from all that teleporting."

"Fine. Take some aspirin and then start training," said Iris.

Iris returns to the cortex to keep monitoring the city in case there's a crime or meta attack that needs stopping.

"I have a feeling I'm going to miss family dinner," said Wally quietly, knowing that the training Iris gives him usually takes hours.

Iris spent the entire night in her apartment, alone and depressed. She misses Barry so much. Without him, Team Flash couldn't protect the city like they used to. Without him, she couldn't sleep in her own bed. She couldn't even look at the picture of her with him as it would only worsen her pain. She knew Barry made the choice to sacrifice himself to save the city, but she couldn't stop feeling hurt. All she can do is keep her promise to him. Keep running.

Her depressing evening was interrupted when something fast flew past her apartment building. She returned to S.T.A.R. Labs just as Kid Flash, Vibe, Joe, and the CCPD found what appears to be a samurai with a jetpack. Iris watches the entire situation from the monitor via a security camera recording the whole thing.

"Does anyone know how to speak Japanese?" Cisco asked, wondering if the samurai can only speak one language.

Kid Flash steps forward and says, "Go aisatsu, ryoko-sha. Na ndeshou?"

"Tell me he did not just speak Japanese," Vibe reacted, surprised.

"I can do things," said Kid Flash. He faces the Samurai again and says, "Watashitachi wa anata o kizutsuketaku arimasen."

"The Flash," said the Samurai. "Bring me The Flash."

"That Flash ain't coming," said Joe.

"Furthermore, Mifune, we're gonna need you to sheath that sword before somebody gets hurt. Somebody like you," said Cisco. "Because you're up against some bad hombres. What are you gonna do against us with a sword?"

Answering Vibe's question, the samurai strikes the ground with his sword, unleashing a wave of unknown energy that literally blows everyone away. The samurai made a threat before flying away on his jetpack.

"You have 24 hours. Bring me The Flash, or else your city falls."

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ FLASH ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Team Flash regrouped in S.T.A.R. Labs to discuss about the Samurai's threat and how they're going to stop him. Cisco decided to tell everyone the first thing that popped in his head.

"We need to bring Barry home," he said.

"What?" Iris, Joe, and Wally reacted simultaneously.

"I've, uh, actually been working on a way to bring Barry back," Cisco confessed.

"For how long?" asked Iris.

Cisco hesitated, knowing how his friend would react to his answered. In the end, he answered anyway.

"Five months."

"Cisco!" Iris scolded him.

"Dude, you know what would happen if we try to bring Barry back. The Speed Force would go unstable and destroy the city," said Wally.

"Don't worry," said Cisco. "I've talked with Harry, Tina, Tracy, Felicity, and Curtis about this, and I think I found a way to get Barry out of the Speed Force without unleashing another lightning storm on the city. I just need a couple things."

Cisco looked directly at Iris. The new leader of Team Flash knew that the first he needed was her approval.

"No," she said. "Barry told us to move on without him, and that is exactly what we're going to do."

"Iris, we can bring him back. We can bring him home. I'm certain of it," said Cisco with confidence.

"Are you certain that this will even work and the Speed Force won't take Wally in his place? Are you certain that Barry is even still alive?" Iris questioned him.

"He's gotta be," said Cisco hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Cisco, but my final answer is no," said Iris.

As soon as Iris walked out of the cortex, a mischievous smile appeared on Cisco's face.

"You're gonna do it behind her back, aren't you?" Wally guessed.

"Oh, yeah," Cisco replied, nodding.

In a bar somewhere in Gotham City, Anatoly Knyazev is having a glass of vodka while waiting for someone who called him for a private meeting. The caller of the meeting finally arrived. The smile on Anatoly's face meant that the face he's meeting is a face he adores.

"Caitlin Snow. My favorite American," he greeted as he opened his arms wide, read for a hug.

"Anatoly," Caitlin greeted him politely and accepted his request for a hug.

The two sit down next to each other as Caitlin ordered a glass of martini.

"So, do you have it?" asked Anatoly.

Caitlin reaches into her jacket and takes out a flash drive.

"It contains all of Alec Tarkov's financial transactions, as well as every incriminating photo I can find on him on the Dark Web," she said.

"Impressive," Anatoly replied as he took the drive. "How did you manage to get it?"

"Breaking and entering. Hacking. A few delegates with broken bones and severe concussions. No one knew it was me," said Caitlin, seemingly proud of herself.

"If women can be included in Bratva, you'd be the first," said Anatoly, impressed.

"Now, do you have what we agreed on?" Caitlin asked.

Anatoly gives Caitlin a file. She looks into it and smiles, meaning she got what she wanted.

"S vami bylo priyatno dela, gospodin Knyazev," said Caitlin.

"Oshchushcheniye vzaimnoye, Doktor Snow," Anatoly replied.

After finishing his glass, Anatoly leaves the bar. Caitlin orders another glass of martini. Just when she thought she could have a nice drink alone, someone decided to sit next to her.

"What is a woman with a PhD in Biochemistry doing in a rat's nest like this?"

"What do you want, Cisco?" Caitlin asked without looking at him.

"First, let's talk about you," said Cisco. "You look... not frosty. Is she still in there?"

"She is not here right now, so you can talk to me," said Caitlin. "How did you find me?"

"Uh, satellite imagery... facial recognition software..."

"You vibed me," Caitlin guessed.

"Y-Y-Yeah, I vibed you," Cisco admitted, wondering why he bothered to lie.

"You're here to ask me to help you get Barry out of the Speed Force," Caitlin guessed. "Yeah, I was there that night. I saw what happened."

"And... what do you say?" asked Cisco.

"Say no more. I'm in," said Caitlin.

"That was easy," Cisco reacted, surprised.

"There's a Samurai out there threatening to destroy Central City if The Flash wastes his 24-hour deadline," said Caitlin, telling Cisco that she's aware of the situation. "Besides, you're not the only one who misses him."

The next morning at Ferris Air's testing facility, Team Flash had set up all the equipment they need to free Barry from the Speed Force. Joe and Wally were surprised when they saw someone they didn't expect to see. It was Caitlin.

"It's okay. She's Caitlin again. She's here to help us," said Cisco, assuring Joe and Wally that there's no need for a fight.

"Joe, I know you can never forgive me for the things I've done to you and Cecile, but I'm hoping you can at least find it in your heart to trust me," said Caitlin, pleading for a second chance.

Joe settled for a simple handshake, which Caitlin approved.

"So, how are we gonna bring Barry back without ripping a hole in the sky?" asked Wally.

Cisco removes the tarp covering the device they need to do what they need to do.

"Behold! The Speed Force Bazooka," he said. "I made a few slight modifications, as Captain Solo would say."

"And this is the Quark Sphere," said Caitlin, giving Wally a red spherical piece of technology. "It's filled with Barry's unique genetic marker and programmed to track his specific DNA using the electric current of the Speed Force."

"The Quark Sphere will trick the Speed Force into thinking Barry is still in there," Cisco clarified.

Wally places the Quark Sphere in its place as Caitlin gets behind the computer to track Barry's heat signature. Cisco readies the bazooka.

"I got a lock on something," said Caitlin.

"It's him. IT'S HIM!" Cisco said excitedly.

"Now, Cisco!" Caitlin signaled.

Cisco fires a beam from the bazooka into the Speed Force. Suddenly, a system failure occurs. Nothing happened, much to the chagrin of Team Flash. Iris shows up, revealing that she has been watching them the entire time.

"I can't believe you guys did this behind my back," she said, aggravated.

"You would've tried to stop us," said Wally.

"Because it was a waste of time," said Iris.

"I don't understand. It should've worked," said Cisco as he checked the computer, confused as to why he failed.

"Or you could've gotten us all killed," Iris replied sarcastically.

"We were getting close to something, Iris," said Caitlin.

"I'm sorry. We?" Iris questioned her, looking at the biochemist with contempt. "Where were you the last five months? You got a lot of nerve showing up here after what you did. Did it ever occur to you that we wouldn't be in this position if you hadn't betrayed us and worked for Savitar?"

"I am sorry, Iris," Catilin apologized.

"Damn right, you should be," Iris snapped. "Guys, we have 12 hours left until the Samurai destroys the city. We should be coming up with a plan, not trying to bring Barry back."

"Dude, what is your deal?" Cisco raised his voice, fed up with Iris' excuses. "It's like you don't even want him back."

Before the tension between Cisco and Iris can escalate, a breach into the Speed Force opens, capturing everyone's attention. Walking out of the Speed Force is a manifestation of Barry's deceased mother, Nora Allen, who was looking at Team Flash the way a disappointed mother would look at her child.

"Hi, Mrs. Allen," Cisco greeted her nervously and waved, even though he knows that it's not the real Nora Allen.

"You tried to free Barry from the Speed Force," said Nora disapprovingly.

"We need him back," said Cisco. "Central City needs The Flash."

"There are some things about the Speed Force that can't be manipulated by science," said Nora.

"Please, is there anything we can do to convince you to bring him back?" Joe pleaded.

"There is only one way," said Nora. "Like a lightning rod that attracts lightning, one of you has to anchor Barry back to the real world."

"I'll do it," Iris volunteered.

"Barry can only be freed from his prison by the right person, and I'm afraid it's not you, Iris," said Nora. "It's her."

All eyes were on Caitlin, whom Nora was looking directly at.

"Me?" Caitlin asked.

Nora responds by holding out her hand, waiting for Caitlin to take it.

"Bring our boy home, Caitlin," Cisco begged.

Caitlin slowly walks towards Nora and takes her hand. She enters the Speed Force. Everyone stood in anticipation at what might happen.

Half a minute later, Caitlin walks out of the Speed Force with a smile on her face.

"Well, what happened?" asked Cisco.

"He's coming home," said Caitlin.

Suddenly, a streak of yellow lightning zooms out of the breach and past Team Flash and into the city. As the yellow streak ran through the streets of Central City, a bus stops when a breach into the Speed Force randomly opened directly in front of its path.

The yellow streak ran all the way to Ivy City and finally stopped when a man driving a truck stopped upon seeing the yellow blur coming straight at him. The yellow streak was a man, but not just any man. His name is Barry Allen.

Team Flash were called by Cecile to the CCPD, informing them that Barry has been returned. They were excited to see him after all this time. However, Cecile warns them to prepare themselves. They enter the interrogation room to see Barry sitting down on the floor writing a bunch of random symbols on the wall. In fact, he has written random symbols all over the walls of the entire room.

When he heard his name called, he turned around, allowing his friends and family to see his face. He's still the same, except he's grown a beard. They smiled at him, very happy to see him. However, Barry dampens the mood when he started rambling random stuff. From everyone's perspective, he was going crazy. No matter what they say to him, he just goes on and on about things that didn't make sense to them. He even suffered a random breakdown.

"Nora shouldn't be here."

"Your honor, I'm innocent. I didn't kill anyone."

"Can you hear the stars singing? Rhyming, chiming, timing, every hour, every minute!"

"Stars melting like ice cream, dream, gleam..."

"It's a whole knew way of looking at physics. It will change the way that we think about everything, from a single atom to an entire galaxy."

"Stars so loud, loud, cloud, proud!"

"I'm just not sure I'm like you, Oliver."

And so, Caitlin sedates him so they can return him to S.T.A.R. Labs to figure out what is wrong with him.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ FLASH ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Barry wakes up from his sedated nap to see Cisco and Caitlin looking down at him. Caitlin was shining a flashlight to test his optical responses while Cisco was playing the song "Poker Face," much like he did back then when Barry was waking up from his 9-month coma.

"Are you sure this is appropriate?" Caitlin questioned her friend.

"It worked last time," said Cisco.

"Last time, he was in a coma, not a pan-temporal extra dimension," said Caitlin.

Cisco ignores Caitlin's comments and focuses on Barry.

"Hey, Barry. It's me, Cisco, a.k.a. Vibe, a.k.a. your best friend," he started with a smile. "While you were gone, I made you a new suit. You wanna take it out for a spin?"

Barry looked at everyone with a blank expression on his face. Everyone was hoping he was back to normal.

"Stars are raining," he babbled, however. "Draining... paining... no, I'm not hungry."

Barry gets off the bed and tries to comprehend what is going on while still in the same crazed state he was back at the precinct.

He looks at Joe and says, "He didn't do those things. He didn't kill my mom. There was man, plan... no plan..."

Barry was about to have another breakdown until he laughed for no reason.

"We're gonna need more diapers," he babbled.

Barry picks up a marker and continues drawing symbols on the glass. Iris asks everyone to leave the room. They did, leaving their leader alone with the crazed Barry Allen. He kept on drawing symbols as if nothing else mattered. It hurt Iris to see him like this. Caitlin theorized that he could be suffering dementia from probably thousands of years in the Speed Force, and it scared Iris to wonder if the raving, bearded shell in front of her is all that's left of the man she loved.

"Barry, I don't know if you can understand me or if you're trying to send us a message, but I just wanted to tell you something. I did as you asked. I kept running, just like you said," Iris started, trying to reach him somehow. "When Cisco told us that he found a way to bring you back, I didn't know what to think or how to react. I was afraid that it would all be for nothing. I didn't even know if you're alive. If this is all that's left of you... of the man that I love... please come back to me, Barry."

Iris cries as she buries her head on his shoulder. Suddenly, Barry started vibrating. He bolted into the cortex and started running around in circles without reason, accidentally hurting Wally and Joe.

"Breach him into the pipeline!" Iris ordered.

"He's too fast," said Cisco.

Barry was now running circles on the ceiling, until he was hit by a beam of cold temperature, stopping him. Barry falls to the floor, cold and unconscious. Everyone turns their head to the direction where the cold beam came from. It came from Caitlin. A few strands of her hair was white and cold smoke was coming out of her hand, meaning she used her ice powers to stop Barry.

"Don't ever make me do that again," Caitlin growled as her hair slowly turned back to normal.

For the safety of the team, Barry is locked up in the pipeline. Joe gives him a shave in hopes that he might snap out of his delusional phase, but it didn't work either. Barry's latest ramble is: "Like you said, she goes looking for danger." He then proceeds writing symbols on the wall.

Samurai was spotted in the city, so the team thought this might be their chance to stop him before their 24-hour deadline is over. Since Barry is in no state to suit up, Wally volunteered to put on Barry's suit. While Wally fights the Samurai as The Flash, Cisco works on decrypting the message behind Barry's symbols. Caitlin also theorized that Barry could be suffering from schizophasia, meaning that his nonsensical words and symbols have a hidden meaning.

"Any luck?" asked Caitlin.

"Nope. Computer says it's all gibberish," said Cisco. "But it's not. Barry's sending us a message, I know it. He spent all this time in the Speed Force, so maybe he knows the answer to life, the universe, and everything."

"So, you're saying that all this random writing is Barry's way of telling us 42?" Caitlin joked.

Cisco laughed as he looked at his friend, feeling comforted by her presence.

"Did I mention how great it is to have you back?" He asked her.

"I'm only here to help," said Caitlin.

"Any ideas on what all these random symbols are?" asked Cisco.

"Nope, it all looks Greek to me," said Caitlin. Suddenly, a thought pops in her head. "Wait, I think I know the problem. You're using a monoalphabetic substitution cipher, right? But if you use the polyalphabetic substitution ciper, you can crack the meaning behind ancient language, like Greek."

Cisco started using the alternate ciphering method that Caitlin suggested.

"Excelsior!" Cisco exclaimed excitedly.

"Well, did you do it? Have you figured out what Barry's trying to say?" asked Iris, having heard Cisco's cheer.

After a long period of loading, the computer gives the translation of Barry's symbols. Cisco reads it.

"From death by missile to the stubbing of a toe, the cure you seek lies within the snow."

"So, this is a cure for Barry's mental state?" Caitlin questioned.

"We just have to find out what it means," said Cisco.

"This cure sounds painful," Iris commented. "I mean, death by missile? Stubbing of a toe? Is Barry trying to tell us to shoot a missile at him and then step on his toe to snap him out of it?"

"It's a riddle, obviously? Maybe it's a foul-tasting concoction or just simply hammering his knee," Cisco guessed.

"Or burying him in the snow with a bomb?" Caitlin joked.

Before the three can wonder any further, a scream from Wally could be heard from the other monitor. The three rush to see what is happening. Through a security camera, they can see Wally, wearing The Flash suit, fighting the Samurai. Wally was on the ground with a blade piercing his leg.

"Wally!" Iris cried.

The Samurai hangs Wally with his sword before throwing him down. He reminds the speedster that he only has until nightfall to bring him the real Flash.

Wally returns to S.T.A.R. Labs so Caitlin can patch him up. Despite his rapid healing, his leg will take hours to heal. Until he recovers, he's gonna have to sit on Eobard Thawne's wheelchair. Nightfall soon came, which meant that the 24-hour deadline that the Samurai gave has passed. Joe leaves S.T.A.R. Labs and calls Captain Singh, telling him to send every officer to the Samurai's location so they can stop him before he destroys the city.

Iris, for some reason, left and followed her father without telling anyone.

Some time later that evening, Joe ran back to the lab, telling everyone that Iris gave herself up to the Samurai. Seeing the footage of Barry in the pipeline, Joe realizes why Iris did what she did. It was because she had faith that her being in distress would wake Barry up. So, Joe runs to the pipeline to tell Barry that Iris is in trouble.

"We gotta do something," said Wally.

"You can barely walk," said Caitlin, advising the injured speedster against standing up.

"That's my sister out there, Caitlin," Wally debated.

Caitlin looks at the translation of the symbols again, searching desperately for the message behind the message. She looks at the security footage of the pipeline and sees that Joe is still failing to snap Barry out of his current state, which only pressures her more. She read the message over and over again, failing to comprehend it. Suddenly, she found something.

"Missile. Toe," she muttered. "Mistletoe."

Caitlin then reads the last word of the message. Snow. Her surname is Snow.

Realization struck as Caitlin runs to the pipeline. She arrives to hear Joe say, "Iris is gonna die!" It still didn't work as Barry kept on drawing symbols on the wall. Caitlin immediately puts her hand on the palm scanner, opening the cell, capturing Joe's attention.

"What are you doing?" asked Joe.

"I know how to save him," said Caitlin.

Caitlin walks into the cell and looks at Barry in the eyes, making sure she has his attention.

"Barry, look at me. Look at me," she asked.

"You and me. We've been through too much together to let each other down now," Barry babbled.

"I know," said Caitlin with a smile.

Caitlin pulls Barry closer and kisses him on the lips, much to the surprise of Joe, as well as Wally and Cisco, both who saw the kiss through the security footage. After the kiss, Caitlin can see electricity surge from Barry's eyes. Knowing what it meant, she smiled.

"Cait," Barry said with a smile.

"Welcome back," said Caitlin. "Now, go. Save Iris."

Barry zooms out of the pipeline at an unusually high speed, creating a burst of wind that literally blows Caitlin and Joe off their feet. He takes the new suit that Cisco made for him and runs after the Samurai to save Iris.

"What's going on?" asked Wally.

"Flash is back!" Cisco celebrated.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ FLASH ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Flash runs as fast as he can through the streets of Central City. He has never run as fast as he is now. According to S.T.A.R. Labs computers, he is running 5 times faster than he ever has. As the Samurai flew over the Keystone Bridge, Iris smiled with hope when she saw the yellow streak down below, knowing that it's her beloved fiance coming to save her. She believes that the knowledge of her kidnapping snapped him out of it.

Flash chases the Samurai out of the city and to the flatlands, which was filled with windmills. He ran faster and faster, overtaking the Samurai. Noticing the red-clad speedster below, the Samurai fires energy from his sword and at multiple windmills, causing them to collapse, intending to crush The Flash beneath one. With his improved speed, Flash avoids each falling windmill, even speed-ducking under one. He runs on the tower of a falling windmill and jumps off of it. He lands on the Samurai, grabs Iris, and then slices off a wing of the jetpack with a vibrating hand.

Flash lands on another falling windmill, using it to run back down with Iris in his arms, while the Samurai falls from the sky. He gets hit by a falling windmill's blade, increasing the impact of his crash-landing. Flash puts Iris down and then investigates. He pulls off the mask, only to find circuitry. The Samurai is no man, but a machine.

"Flash. Welcome back," said the Samurai.

The Samurai then dies due to too much damage.

"Barry," Iris called, smiling.

Flash takes off his cowl and shows his face. It only made Iris' smile grow wider.

"You came back to me," said Iris happily.

Iris rushes towards her fiance and kisses him on the lips. Barry, however, pulls away after a second, confusing and worrying Iris.

"Is something wrong?" asked Iris.

Barry didn't speak, because he was afraid of how he was going to tell Iris the truth.

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Iris sees the footage of how Barry snapped out of his manic trance. Safe to say that Iris was not happy to see her fiance being kissed by someone else, least of all Caitlin. She then turns her head to the medical room where Caitlin was performing tests on Barry to see if he was back to normal.

"It's good to have you back," Barry said, smiling at Caitlin.

"Right back at you," Caitlin said, smiling at Barry as well.

"How do you feel, Bar?" asked Joe, being the worried father he tends to be.

"I feel incredible. It feels like I've been reborn," said Barry.

"Okay, Speedy Jesus," Cisco joked.

"I can't believe I'm admitting this, but you are the fastest speedster ever," Wally said to his mentor.

"Trapped in the Speed Force for five months, maybe you were soaking up its energy," Caitlin theorized.

"Maybe," Barry replied. "How was everything while I was gone?"

"Well, it was rough, but Team Kid Flash had it under control," said Wally.

Iris, Caitlin, Cisco, and Joe all reacted simultaneously in a disapproving manner.

"Nah," said Caitlin.

"Wally, please," said Joe.

"That's never gonna be our name," said Iris.

"No way, Jose," said Cisco.

Barry was amused while Wally was embarrassed.

"So, true love's kiss is the cure?" Cisco asked, confused. "That's a little too Disney, if you ask me."

"But wait, if it was true love's kiss, then doesn't that mean..." Wally paused, looking back and forth between Barry and Caitlin.

The cortex's atmosphere was full of awkwardness as the Scarlet Speedster and the Snow Queen avoided eye contact with Iris, who was definitely not pleased with the recent knowledge she's been given.

"Moving on," said Cisco, trying to break the awkwardness. "We have other mysteries to solve, like our Samurai robot here."

Everyone gathers around the table where the parts of the Samurai robot's head was placed.

"Samurai android," Cisco muttered. A cool nickname popped into his head. "Samuroid. Oh, we back, baby!"

"Whoever created this did it for a reason," said Iris.

Caitlin turned away to hide her not-so-subtle reaction to everyone's contemplation.

"Well, it's been fun, but I gotta go," she said, grabbing her jacket.

"You're leaving already?" asked Cisco, bummed that his best friend is leaving again.

"I have business elsewhere," said Caitlin.

"You mean exchanging flash drives and folders with guys who look like they came out of a gangster movie?" Cisco replied.

"I came here to help you bring Barry home. I've done my part. Just be glad I didn't ask for anything in return," said Caitlin.

Caitlin was about to leave the cortex, until Barry spoke to her.

"Cait, please. Don't go," he pleaded. "We all miss you. I miss you."

"Not all, apparently" said Caitlin, throwing shade at Iris.

"I've spent my entire time in the Speed Force being reminded of my mistakes. My biggest mistake was not being there for you when you needed me," said Barry. "I know we've grown distant this past year and I have ruined your life in the most horrible way possible, but I want to make up for all that. You just have to let me."

"I'll think about," said Caitlin.

"Will we still see you around?" asked Barry.

"I'm always around," Caitlin answered, smirking.

Caitlin kisses Barry on the cheek before walking away.

"See you 'round, Flash," she said.

"See you around, Frost," Barry said playfully.

Caitlin left S.T.A.R. Labs, leaving a dumbstruck Iris to maintain the awkwardness in the atmosphere.

Barry and Iris return to their apartment. Barry was surprised that nothing has changed, apart from a picture frame placed up-side down on a table. He turns it over to see a picture of him and Iris together. It made him smile.

"I couldn't bare to sleep in our bed without you," said Iris.

"I'm proud of you," said Barry. "I know it couldn't have been easy running forward, but you did."

"Yeah, I did," said Iris, trying to smile but failing to do so.

Barry knew why she couldn't look happy right now.

"Iris, I know you're not taking this well," said Barry. "I just want you to know that I never meant to hurt you."

"Of course not," Iris knew. "It's just... why Barry?"

"When I was in the Speed Force, I was forced to relive certain points of my life. Some good, some bad," said Barry. "They were also trying to teach me a lesson, and I don't just mean messing with time. They taught me to stop denying my true feelings."

"For Caitlin?" asked Iris.

Barry couldn't answer the question, knowing how it will affect Iris.

"We were in love, Barry. What we had was real," said Iris, tearing up. "Why is this happening?"

"It's... hard to explain right now," said Barry, not wanting to rub salt in the wound. "I think we both could use some rest."

"I'll take the couch, if you don't mind," said Iris, looking away from Barry.

"Uh... okay," Barry agreed, opting not to argue with her.

Barry kisses Iris on the cheek before walking to bed. Iris sits on the couch as she tries and fails to hold back her tears. Her beloved has finally been returned to her, only to discover that he has feelings for someone else. Why does the universe hate her?

Meanwhile, Caitlin goes to her old apartment building and repurchases her room. After thinking about her previous talk with Barry, she has decided to stay in Central City for the meantime. As soon as she walked into the door of her apartment, memories returned. The memory that she treasured the most was the night when she and Bary drank and sang at a bar.

Oh, how drunk she was that night. She was such a horrible singer. She was such a mess, vomiting and feeling woozy all night. But what made that memory special was Barry. He didn't just invite her to the bar so they can stake out Shawna Baez and her partner. He did it so they can both get back out in the world. He had such an amazing voice, she thought. He was such a gentleman, as well, not even taking the opportunity to "take a peek" when she asked him to help her out of her dress. When she asked him to stay, he did. He comforted her until she feel asleep. His presence warmed her emotionally, which helped her go to sleep.

That was one of the best nights of her life, she admitted. Not only did she have a great time, in spite of the drinking and vomiting, but it helped her grow close to Barry. On Day One, he was just her patient. It was at that very special night at the bar where their friendship became even more true. It was because of Barry that she was moving on from Ronnie, even if though he did come back and all.

She couldn't stop smiling from the memory.

After taking a shower, she gets ready for bed. Before she went to sleep, she decides to check on something on her laptop. First, she checked an article that had a picture of the Samuroid. Team Flash must still be thinking about who created it. What they don't know is that Caitlin already knows who did it.

She then checks her personal database, which was protected by a very complex triple encryption, and clicks on the profile of the person she knows was behind the Samuroid. Clifford DeVoe.

"What are you thinking about now, DeVoe?" She wondered.

I know that this is based on Flash 4x01, but that was intentional. Need I remind you that I made alterations so that it fits with my direction and does not seem identical with the canon episode. I hope the changes intrigued you. There will be a lot more alterations coming your way. Bear in mind that this story is its own. It's heavily influenced by the new seasons, yes, but I'm gonna find my own path with this.

So, what do you think?

By the way, I didn't include "This house is bi***in'" because I wanted Barry's symbols to actually mean something serious.