Hero of Central City

The Race of Their Lives

The race began like a whirlwind of lightning. The three of them ran around the inside of the Magnetar, powering it up. Dakota ran beside Zoom and Barry was a few steps behind. She noticed that they were suddenly two Barrys.

Genius.

He made a time remnant.

One of the Barrys released Joe and the other along with Dakota were pushed out of the Magnetar.

Zoom stood over them, "A remnant. Stole my trick, Flash. But you're too late. Bye-bye multiverse."

A lightning bolt shot from Dakota's hands sent Zoom flying. A fight broke out between the three of them and soon enough the Magnetar was powered down thanks to the time remnant. Zoom was angry but he was losing the fight.

Barry had Zoom pinned to the ground and his vibrating hand pointed at his chest.

"Barry." Dakota says, a crackling lightning bolt in her hand. "Don't."

A breach opened up and two Time Wraiths came flying through.

"I don't have to."

The Time Wraiths took Zoom away, never to be seen again.

****

"Okay, so you ran back in time and made a copy of yourself?" Wally asked.

"Basically." Barry nodded his head.

"Alright well, let's just forget about it. I'm glad you're okay." Wally smiled.

"So Dakota." Cisco says from over where him and Harry were working on the man in the mask. "So I'm thinking about calling you...The Storm. What do you think?"

"It's perfect. Thank you Cisco." Dakota laughed slightly.

The mask came off and the man turned to face the team.

It was Henry Allen's dopplergänger. "I'm Jay Garrick. The real Jay Garrick."

"Oh my...."

****

They all stood in the breach room saying goodbye to Harry, Jesse, and the real Jay.

"Harry." Dakota murmured as he walked up to her.

He hugged her, "I'm sorry I look like your least favorite person."

She pulls away, "Don't be. You're a better friend than he was."

The team watched as the three of them disappeared into the breach.

****

Dakota tosses the last bag in the back of her truck and closes the gate. Matty and Legend come out of the house just as Barry skids to a stop on the sidewalk.

"Dakota, what's going on?" Barry asks looking worried.

Matty walks past them to the truck and Legend sits by Dakota's feet.

Dakota hands him a piece of folded paper from her back pocket, "Matty and I are being transferred to Coast City. We've been promoted to the head of the counterterrorism unit."

Barry reads the paper, "I don't understand. I thought we were going to start a life together."

"Barry...you and I both know that was never going to happen. You're destined to marry Iris and I'm destined to live in Coast City." Dakota murmurs. "I have to do this. You know that."

Tears drop down Barry's cheeks, "I'm really sorry Kota. That I put you through this."

Dakota stands on her tip toes and hugs him, "I know. I'm sorry too."

"For what?"

"For causing you so much pain. When I was the Blue Arrow." Kota stuffed her hands in her pockets.

Matty walks up to the two of them, "We should get going if we want to catch up with your dad and Griffin."

Dakota hugs Barry one last time and walks to the truck.

Barry sticks out his hand to shake Matty's, "You take care of her Matty."

"I will." Matty goes to walk away but he stops and faces Barry again. "Can I ask you something?" Barry nods. "If you knew that you were going to marry Iris, then why did you try? You both moved on like it never happened and fought to the tooth and nail to keep the relationship alive."

Barry shrugged, "To be honest, I don't know. The way she looks at you is the way she used to look at me before we saw that article. The way you look at her. It's something magical. You both love each other, I can see that. But before all of that, Dakota and I had something special. She always looked out for me back in grade school and when she was a vigilante. Just be good to her. She's fragile."

"I heard that!" Dakota shouts from the truck.

Matty shakes Barry's hand again, "I will Barry. You take care of yourself."

"You too."

THE END