Chapter Text
"Whew!" Barry exhales after speeding back into the cortex of S.T.A.R Labs, immediately putting his hands on his knees. "How was that?"
"That was the fastest you've ever been, Barry," Caitlin responds, her eyebrows rising slightly. "That's a new record."
"Wow, are you serious?" Barry asks, taking his mask off, revealing his happy face. "That's awesome!"
Caitlin snickers. "Gotcha!" She says, covering her mouth with her hands.
"Seriously?" Barry exclaims. "What the hell?"
"I'm sorry, but I had to," Caitlin apologises, chuckling while shaking his head. "You know that Cisco would've done the same if he was still here because of how much he loved to pull pranks."
"Yeah," Barry adds. "Well, he helped with the pranks, most of the time. Especially when they were on Harry and were done by you."
"What?" Caitlin questions, her brows furrowing slightly. "They weren't done by me. You know I don't pull pranks."
"Wait, they weren't?" Barry asks, his brows also furrowing slightly, along with Caitlin's. "But Sebastian told me…Sebastian."
"Oh, my God," Caitlin giggles. "He finally got you!"
"I was afraid this would happen," Barry exhales through his nose, placing his hands on his hips in slight frustration. "I thought he was being serious."
"Well, he does always tell the truth," Caitlin adds, reminding Barry about something that everybody in the family already knew. "Unlike Nora. I don't know how she does it."
"Well, she does learn from Iris," Barry nods his head slightly. "And she has told Nora about the times when she was little and about the pranks that she used to pull on me and Joe when he took me in and when the years went by."
"Yeah, those stories were funny," Caitlin says, snickering again. "And Sebastian also told me about what happened this morning."
"Of course, he did," Barry smiles sarcastically. "I should've known that there wasn't a stain on the flower that he was wearing on his shirt."
"And he soaked you with water."
"Squirted," Barry corrects, his forefinger pointing at his friend. "He squirted water in my face, and I'll tell you about it just for the fun of it.”
"I'm all ears," Caitlin responds, wanting to hear exactly what happened a few hours ago. "And if Cisco were here, then we both know that he would walk in here and say, "Actually, I think you mean...we're all ears." while folding his arms." she adds, folding her arms as a way to prove her point.
"Okay, well," Barry claps his hands, rubbing them together, already knowing that she would enjoy what he was about to tell her, and that Cisco would enjoy it a little bit more than Caitlin would if he was still a part of Team Flash. "Here's what happened a few hours ago."
**
Flashback - A few hours ago
"Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!" Nora says happily, entering the kitchen to see Barry putting bacon onto four different plates after letting it sizzle on the hob, and seeing Iris sit at the table, waiting for breakfast to be ready.
"Hi, Nora," Iris smiles, leaning forward to kiss her forehead once Nora had sat down in the chair opposite her mother. "Did you sleep okay last night?"
"Yeah," Nora adds, confirming with a nod. "I slept fine. I didn't have any nightmares."
"Well, that's good," Iris responds. "Where's your brother?"
"He's still sleeping," Nora replies, trying to hide the grin that is appearing on her face. "But he should be here soon."
"Well, let's hope he'll be here soon," Barry says, walking over to the table, putting a plate of bacon and eggs down for Iris and Nora. "Because his breakfast is gonna get cold if he doesn't arrive in the next few minutes."
Iris looks at the time on her phone. "Three...two...one." She points directly at the West-Allen son after they all hear Sebastian speed into the kitchen, stopping in front of Iris when he sees his mother pointing at him. "Right on time."
Being the children of one of the best reporters of Central City, as well as CEO of Central City Citizen (as the two of them, as well as Barry and Bart liked to call her) was one thing for Nora and Sebastian, (and Bart, of course, who was still on his school field trip). But being the sons and daughter of a speedster and the hero of Central City was a whole new level for the three West-Allen children.
"Hey, buddy," Barry greets his younger son, walking over to him after putting the four plates down on the breakfast table. "Sleep okay last night?"
They all knew that Sebastian slept fine last night, but just like with Nora, they still wanted to ask, just to be sure. And they always received the same answer every time the question was asked.
"I slept fine," Sebastian responds, climbing onto the chair to sit next to Iris. "I dreamt that you, me, Bart and Nora all worked together to save Central City."
"Really?" Barry asks, sitting down next to Nora. "That's awesome. We should do that some time."
"Over my dead body," Iris says after swallowing a piece of bacon she had cut up. She may enjoy having a speedster for a husband, daughter and two sons, but she was always going to be concerned about the safety of her kids.
She may like the idea of seeing her four favourite people team up and work together to save Central City, but like she always says, which Barry always must agree with, family comes first. And she couldn't risk seeing either of her kids (mainly Sebastian) getting injured when it wasn't related to something like falling over on the living room carpet or accidentally slipping on the kitchen floor after Iris mops it while cleaning the apartment.
And yes, she always wore her yellow rubber gloves while cleaning, but only because Sebastian and Nora always reminded her how harmful the chemicals can be before she begins.
"Sebastian, is that a flower on your shirt?" Barry asks his son, noticing a nice-looking yellow flower on Sebastian's pajama shirt.
"Yeah," Sebastian responds. "Nora made them for us."
"I made two and I know Bart wouldn't want one, so I gave the second one to Sebastian," Nora explains, smiling at her younger brother.
"Well, that was very nice of you," Iris smiles back. "You should be very proud of yourself, sweetie."
"I am," Nora replies, still smiling happily. "What's up, buddy?" She asks her younger brother, knowing that something was wrong with the West-Allen son.
"I think there's a stain on my shirt," Sebastian says, looking closely at his flower on his pajama shirt. "Daddy, can you take a look at it?"
"Sure," Barry responds, leaning forward slightly instead of heading over to where his son was sitting down. "Uh, I can't see any..."
Barry closed his eyes and squeezed his lips when he felt water being squirted in his face, his ears filled with the laughter that was coming from his wife and two kids.
"Very funny, Sebastian," Barry smiles sarcastically, wiping the water away from his face with his hand. "I should've seen that coming."
"You really should've," Iris laughs. "I remember when you did that to me, and I fell for it."
"That was last year, and you knew it was gonna happen."
"Yeah, but I still wanted to make our three babies laugh."
"Which we did," Barry smiles, looking at Iris, before taking her hand and holding it. "Together."
"Yeah," Iris responds, smiling back. "Sweetie, squirt Daddy again."
Barry closed his eyes and squeezed his lips again when he felt water being squirted in his face a second time in less than a minute.
End of flashback
**
"Oh, my God!" Caitlin giggles as soon as Barry is finished with the story. She was only finding it hilarious because she always loved hearing stories about her godson, whether they were happy stories or funny stories. It was only the stories where he'd been a very tiny bit naughty that she wasn't too keen on hearing about, even if they did make her smile a little bit. "That's so funny!"
"Yeah, they all thought it was funny, too." Barry replies, smiling at Caitlin's smile. "I also found it funny, but I was the only one whose face was wet."
"If Cisco were here, he would probably say something like, "When it rains and pours, I'll be damned."," Caitlin says, chuckling along with Barry. "Actually, that sounds like something that H.R. would say."
"Without a doubt," Barry agrees, pointing at Caitlin, wondering what H.R. would've said if he were still with them, had he not sacrificed his life to save Iris from Savitar. "H.R. may be gone, but at least he showed himself to be a hero who had helped us save the world."
"While he was far simpler and less helpful than the other versions of Wells, H.R. did ultimately prove himself to Team Flash," Caitlin adds, thinking back to the memories that she and the rest of Team Flash had when H.R. joined the group to assist them and to replace Harry after he had returned to Earth-2. "Actually, they were all helpful in their own unique ways, but H.R. was the only one out of all of them who came with a sense of humour."
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Joe announces, him and Cecile walking into the cortex to join the two of them. "Don't worry, I wasn't eavesdropping, but I heard the story about Sebastian squirting water in Barry's face and I couldn't stop smiling because of how funny it is," He adds, chuckling slightly along with Cecile. "And I was about to join you after Barry was done telling the story, but then you mentioned H.R. and I had no choice but to think back to…"
"To the days when H.R. was still here with us," Barry cuts off, taking the liberty of finishing Joe's sentence for him. "As was Harry, and especially Cisco." He adds, finishing his sentence with a moment of silence from everyone for a few seconds to remember the times they had with the Harrison Wells that they all knew for the longest, who still stood as the best Harrison Wells they'd worked with, as well as the mechanical engineering genius who was easily the funniest member of the team, and not just because he had a combustion of meta-human abilities, or because of the nicknames he came up with for the meta-humans they were set to defeat and stop them from terrorising Central City, but because he also because he also bought such a sweet, heartfelt, funny, and sometimes even snarky feeling to the team.
"H.R. may be gone, Harry may have left Team Flash to return to Earth-2 to reunite with Jesse, before Nash sacrificed himself to save Barry, killing all the other Wells to restore Barry's speed, and Cisco may have left Team Flash with Kamilla to move to Star City for a job with A.R.G.U.S, but that's not going to stop us from forgetting the memories of them still being with us in our heads, and their names are with us in our hearts." Caitlin adds, receiving nods of agreement from the others in response after reminding them all about why Harry and Cisco left Team Flash in the first place, even though they already knew the reasons as to why they left to begin with.
"You're thinking about something Cisco once said to you," Cecile says to Caitlin, knowing that she's hiding something by reading her mind. "And you want to share it with us."
"I do," Caitlin admits, chuckling slightly. "I'm thinking about when I was at Jitters with Cisco and he said this about me and Ronnie after I told him that I had Ronnie, then I lost him, then I found him again, but he actually wasn't Ronnie, then I got him back, but just for a day, until I lost him again, this is what Cisco said: "You guys are like 10 seasons of Ross and Rachel, but, just like, smushed into one year."." She adds, remembering exactly what he'd said to her that night.
"Aww, that's so sweet," Nora smiles after she speeds into the cortex, stopping by her father. "Hi, Dad."
"Hey, Nora," Barry replies, smiling along with his daughter. "Where's your mom and little bro?" he asks, already knowing that Bart is still on his school field trip, but would be returning very shortly.
"We're right here," Iris says, joining the others in the cortex with Sebastian following from behind. "And from what we heard while walking over here from the elevator, it sounds like you're talking about the memories you all have of Harry, H.R. and Cisco."
"We are," Barry responds, nodding his head slightly. "I was just about to tell everyone about what H.R. whispered to me right before he died." He adds, before taking a deep breath to prepare himself with what he was about to say. "As I held H.R. in my arms, he whispered to me: "Tell Cisco that this took strength and that he gave it to me.", and with his final breath, he told me to "go stop Savitar", which we all did together."
"I wasn't there." Sebastian points out, forcing the others to smile.
"No, you were not," Barry adds, pointing at his son. "But both you and your older brother and sister have helped me and Uncle Wally save Central City numerous times since then."
"Did someone say my name?" Wally asks, stopping by one of the monitors after he speeds into the cortex, wearing his Kid Flash suit.
"We're just talking about the memories we all have of Harry, H.R. and Cisco," Caitlin explains, taking a deep breath to process the memories that were playing in her head. "And it isn't easy."
"Yeah, that's understandable," Wally adds. "I remember when I went out with Jesse. It was amazing. I miss her and Harry so much."
"I remember when we first met H.R. and the first thing he said to us was: "Greetings. Earthlings."," She adds, making her voice sound as deep as possible to try and sound like H.R. from when he first came to Earth-1 and talked in a deep voice to amuse himself. "And then he said in his normal voice, "Hah, I'm just kidding, I don't really talk like that. I just always wanted to say that. Earthlings.", with his hands raised slightly and I said, "Wells with a sense of humour. That's new."."
"I remember that," Barry chuckles, pointing at Caitlin. "I also remember when I ran back in time for the first time ever, on the same day that occurred, before that, I ran into the cortex and told everyone that Mark Mardon had returned and had weather powers and Cisco said: "He'd have to be a Weather Wizard. Ooh, been waiting since week one to use that one.", and he took a sip of his slushie and groaned and Caitlin said: "Trigeminal headache?", and Cisco said: "What?"."
"And I said: "Trigeminal headache. Brain freeze."," Caitlin says, remembering every second of what Barry was talking about and knew exactly what Barry was about to do. "And Cisco said: "Then why didn't you just call it a brain freeze?"," She adds, talking along with Barry, the two of them saying what Cisco said at the exact same time.
"Yeah, that was good," Barry responds. "And then I said it at the same time you did after I went back to 24 hours earlier, and was on my way to the morgue."
"I remember," Caitlin adds. "I also remember when I first found out about me being Killer Frost on Earth-2 after Cisco told me and later that day, I went into his lab to see what he was doing and I said: "What are you doing with those?” and he said: "I'm adjusting the wavelength trigger, see if I can get those to work over here.", and I said: "So you can catch some breachers?","
"I think I know where this is going," Barry says, smiling at the bioengineer, already knowing what Caitlin was about to say next.
"And then I touched Cisco's hand, and he sucked air in through his teeth and said: "Dear God! Caitlin, your hands are freezing.", to which I said: "Caitlin. I've always hated that name." And then he got up from where he was sitting and took a few steps back and said: "Oh, no. No, no, no. It's starting. You're starting to become…" and I said: "Killer Frost?", before snickering after a slight pause, and when Cisco realised that I'd tricked him, he said: "That ain't right. That ain't right. That's just rude. Who put you up to this? Barry put you up to this, didn't he? Oh, I shoulda known you two were...","
"Cold?" Sebastian asks his aunt, smiling when he sees her look at him with an impressed look on her face.
"That's exactly what I said," Caitlin responds, smiling at her nephew as she sees Iris bounce him back up. "And he responded with: "Yeah.", and I said: "You deserve it for thinking that I could ever become like her."."
"Which you did," Barry replies, pointing at Caitlin. "And we all know how things turned out between you two. And what happened to Frost. But we won't go into that because we're talking about the memories we have of Cisco and the myriad versions of Harrison Wells we had over the years."
"Well, while you all continue to discuss the memories you have of them, I am gonna go use the ladies room." Cecile announces, randomly, before turning around to leave the cortex and head over to the bathroom.
"I remember when Harry first joined Team Flash," Caitlin starts, thinking back to the time where Harry Wells became a member of the group. "And while we were planning to trap Zoom, Harry said: "Before I left Earth-2, I worked on a serum to dampen Zoom's speed. All we would need is for Ramon to develop a weapon to deliver it.", and that's when I said: "Oh, great, that could be this year's cold gun. Maybe another criminal can get it, and then we'd have Sergeant Slow.", and then Cisco said: "I would never let that happen. Sergeant Slow is a terrible name."."
"It really is." Sebastian responds, forcing everyone to chuckle.
"I remember when I first met Nash, and I was with Cisco and we were both going around McCulloch Industries after Allegra gave us a story about for the Citizen about Harrison Wells re-emerging," Iris begins, knowing that Sebastian was going to be smiling because of how much he loved his mother telling him the story she was about to tell everyone. "And we saw Nash there and he said to me: "So... It's you.", and I said: "What?" and he asked me: "What's your name?", and I said: "Iris West-Allen."," She adds, already knowing that her son is about to start giggling. "And Nash said: "Well, Iris…" and that was when I got my taser out and tasered him before saying: "And don't you forget that.","
"And what did Uncle Cisco say to what you did, Mommy?" Sebastian asks, grinning at his mother.
"Uncle Cisco said: "I had that."."
"And then what happened?" Barry asks, playfully, grinning along with his son, much to Iris's amusement.
"After Nash regained consciousness, Cisco said to him: "Harrison Wells. Welcome to Earth-1. My name is Cisco Ramon.", and Nash then grabbed Cisco and shoved him against the wall, saying: "Why are you following me?", which made Cisco say: "Oh, great. Another angry one."."
"And then what happened?" Nora asks, grinning at Iris with her father and younger brother.
"Cisco asked him why he was on our Earth, but I won't go over all of that because I think I've said enough." Iris adds, before she bounces Sebastian back up, readjusting him in her arms.
"Okay, well, now that we've talked about some of the memories we have of H.R., Harry and Nash, I know that we don't like to talk about this one, but I feel that I should tell you all something that we've all known for a long time," Barry says after, putting his hands together. "As we all know, one of the greatest shocks we ever faced was learning that the first Harrison Wells we ever worked with, was in fact, the Reverse Flash, after he'd stolen his identity and pretended to be him for 13 years, and I remember when we all found out who he really was and I confronted him with the help of Ronnie and Oliver, right before we fought him, I said to him: "I don't care how fast you are. You can't fight all three of us at once.", and he said: "Oh, I can't? Trust me. This…this is gonna be fun."." He adds, remembering exactly what was said, as well as every second of one of the most memorable experiences of his life.
"I'm sure it was," Wally responds, chuckling with his arms folded. "Wish I was there. Would've been epic."
"If Cecile were here right now instead of using the bathroom," Joe starts. "I'm sure she would talk about the time where she…"
"I'm saying it," Cecile announces, talking through the comms. "It was the time when I was testing my powers with Cisco, and it was after I read Caitlin's mind after the ultrasound scan I had when I was pregnant with Jenna, and found out that I was having a girl, when Cisco went "Ha-ha-ha," and he turned around to look at me in the chair he was sitting in with his fingers together, and he said to me: "Boy, girl, that's 50-50. Let's test your skills for real. What number am I thinking of?", and I was reading his mind, saying: "Three. 11. 25. Three again.", and then I said: "Bulbasaur. What the hell is a Bulbasaur?", and Cisco said: "That's so weird. Why would I be thinking of Pokémon at a time like this?"."
"Because it's the cutest Pokémon of all!" Sebastian exclaims, forcing everyone to giggle at how serious he's being. "What? It's definitely in the top 10!"
"I'm sure it is, buddy," Barry responds, smiling at his miniature speedster of a son. "But to me, there is no cuter Pokémon than Pikachu."
"Wait a minute," Iris begins, knowing that something is a little bit off. "Cecile, aren't you in the bathroom?"
"Yes," Cecile replies. "But I still wanted to listen to the memories you all have of Cisco and the many versions of Harrison Wells that we had because I miss them all so much," She adds, instantly forgetting that they can still hear her when they all hear the sound of the toilet flushing. "Oh. Sorry, guys." She says, right before turning the comms off.
"Have we talked about the memories we have of all the myriad versions we had of Harrison Wells, or have we missed any of them?" Joe asks, feeling that one of the myriad versions of Wells had yet to be mentioned.
"There's still Sherloque," Barry points out, reminding everyone about the one Harrison Wells whom they hadn't mentioned yet out of all the other versions they'd had over the years. "And the one thing I remember him saying the most was: "Sherloque. Simple pronunciation."," He adds, hearing a chuckle come from Caitlin and Iris.
"As we all know, he was the only Harrison Wells who wasn't a scientist or a writer, but instead, was an esteemed detective who was observant and insightful and was able to uncover important details from the smallest clues, and while he may not have been as technologically minded as the previous versions of Wells we had, he did provide us with a brilliant analytical perspective, and was by far the greatest detective in all the Multiverse," Nora says, speaking for her father, hearing a few hums in agreement. "That's all I can say about him."
"I think that's all anyone can say about him," Barry responds, thinking back to the memories he'd had with Sherloque Wells, as well as all the myriad versions of Harrison Wells that had joined Team Flash at different times over the years. "All the versions we had of Wells may be gone, and Cisco may have left us to go work at A.R.G.U.S in Star City, but one thing's for sure; the memories we all have of them will never be forgotten."
"Hey, guys?" Cecile asks, talking through the comms in a panicked voice. "There's a breach down here!"
"Looks like it's in the basement." Caitlin announces, looking at one of the monitors that shows her what's going on in S.T.A.R Labs and where it is.
"We'd better go down there, it could be something dangerous." Iris says, putting Sebastian down before rushing out of the cortex.
"Or someone dangerous." Barry adds, his eyebrows lowering slightly, before speeding out of the cortex with Nora, Sebastian and Wally following from behind, along with the others.
**
"Okay, be careful, buddy," Barry says, directly to Sebastian, everyone standing in front of the breach in the basement, preparing themselves for who was coming through it. "I know you've experienced this before, but this isn't Uncle Cisco who's coming through, so we don't know who it is."
"I'll be fine, Daddy," Sebastian responds. "I did this all the time with Uncle Cisco until he stopped being Vibe."
"I know," Barry adds, his attention focusing on the breach. "But this isn't Uncle Cisco, it's a…" He stops talking when a little brunette girl appears, holding a stuffed zebra close to her chest. "Little girl?"
"Hi, I'm Esme," Esme starts, introducing herself. "This is Lovey." She adds, showing off her stuffed animal.
"Hey, Esme, I'm Barry," Barry replies. "Are you lost?"
"No. She's with us," Alex says, coming through the portal with Kelly by her side. "Hey, Barry."
"Alex?" Barry raises his eyebrows slightly. "Hey. Is this Kelly?" He asks, noticing Alex's wife standing by her side with a toddler beside her hip.
"It is," Alex confirms, nodding her head. "Kelly, this is Barry Allen."
"Nice to meet you," Kelly says, kindly shaking Barry's hand. "Sweetie, are you gonna say hi to the fastest man alive?"
"Hi! I'm Sophia!" Sophia announces, forcing everyone to chuckle.
"Hello, Sophia, it's very nice to meet you," Barry adds, smiling at the younger Danvers-Olsen daughter. "Why is the breach still open?" He asks, feeling curious as to why the breach is still open and hasn't closed yet.
"We're not all here yet." Alex responds, looking over her shoulder, waiting for the others to arrive.
"Whew!" Nia exhales as she comes out of the breach, putting her hands on her knees. "That was fun."
"Indeed, it was," Brainy replies, coming out of the breach, standing by his girlfriend's side, looking at her before focusing his attention on Team Flash. "Hello, Barry."
"Brainy?" Barry asks, his eyebrows lowering. "Why are you here?"
"I believe that someone else can answer that when she arrives." Brainy says, turning around to focus on the breach that was still open.
"Okay." Barry responds, refocusing his attention on the breach, as was everyone else.
"Is this the right place?" J'onn teases, grinning slightly when he steps out of the breach, looking around the various parts of the S.T.A.R Labs basement.
"It is, J'onn," Brainy responds, confirming J'onn to be correct, even though he knew it was just a little joke. "Now, we only have three people left to come through."
"Hey," Lena says, smiling happily at the others. "They're just coming." She adds, turning around to wait for the last two remaining people to step out of the breach, her smile gets bigger when she sees her blonde wife step out of the breach right before it closes, along with their blonde daughter being held in her arms with a stuffed rabbit clutched in her small hands.
"Kara?" Barry asks, raising his eyebrows slightly again, surprised to see his best friend and other friends from Earth-38 standing in front of him and the rest of Team Flash completely unannounced, while also smiling at the sight of Lena kissing her wife and daughter.
"Surprise," Kara responds, bouncing the Danvers-Luthor daughter back up, readjusting her child in her arms. "We've come to visit."