The team takes in the fact that Barry is gone. Harry apologizes for miscalculating, but Cisco insists that Barry is out there somewhere. They call for Jesse and Wally but get no answer, and find them unconscious in the hallway. Wally wakes up while Harry confirms that Jesse's heart has stopped. He yells at his daughter to wake up, and she gasps for breath. Joe goes to get Henry, and Iris tells Wally that Barry is gone.
In the breach room, Joe tries to get Henry's attention but he's staring off into space. After a moment, he gets up and goes to check on Jesse. Meanwhile, Cisco touches Barry's uniform and gets a vibe of his friend floating in the middle of a vortex. He tells Joe and Henry that Barry is alive.
Barry wakes up and finds himself in his childhood bedroom. He goes downstairs and finds Joe in his old uniform, kneeling next to the crime scene tape marking where Nora died. "Joe" explains that he isn't Joe, and asks how Barry feels being back in his old house. Barry says that he feels awful, and "Joe" says that they thought Barry would be more comfortable talking to someone who looked familiar, in the place where he grew up. The figure admits that it's hard to explain what's going on, and invites Barry to sit. Once he does, the figure says that "they" were there when the world was created, and will be there when the universe dies.
Barry realizes that he's talking to a personification of the Speed Force, and says that he needs to go back and help his friends against Zoom. Something runs by outside, and the Speed Force says that Barry isn't going back until Barry catches the running man. Barry goes out and sees the speedster run by, and goes after it.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Cisco and the other tell Harry that Barry is still alive. Harry realizes that Barry is in the Speed Force and admits that he doesn't know if he can get Barry out. When Henry snaps at him, Joe calls him aside and tells him to take care of Jesse while he focuses on Harry. Henry says that Barry is all that he has left, and Joe promises that he'll find him.
Henry tends to Jesse and wonders why she isn't waking up. Iris says that Barry was the same when he was in his coma, and Harrison brought him there. Henry asks for the records of the treatment, and Cisco and Iris go to get them. In the downstairs morgue, they hear something fall over and an undead Girder smashes his way in. He smashes over the shelves and tables, and Iris tries to get through to the man she knew as Tony Woodward. He sees his reflection in a metal lamp, smashes it, and walks outside and into the night.
Barry runs out of breath and finds himself in a park. The Speed Force is there looking like Iris, and invites Barry to sit. Once he does, the Speed Force wonders why Barry is upset. He says that his whole world is in danger, and the Speed Force says that Barry was given a gift and rejected it. Barry insists that he gave up his powers to save someone, and wonders why they gave him his speed. The Speed Force says that he's the Flash.
Cisco and Iris find Joe and Henry, and tell them that the accelerator explosion reanimated Girder. Harry is distracted tending to Jesse, and Joe says that they have to work together. He tells him and Cisco to bring Barry back while they deal with Girder and Jesse. After a moment, Harry tells Cisco to get Henry the records and then meet him in the breach room. Joe and Iris go to find Girder.
Girder staggers through the streets and makes his way to a Big Belly. A couple goes to their Humvee, and Girder yanks off the door.
In the breach room, Harry hooks Cisco into the accelerator frame and says that he's going to use a feedback loop to home in on Cisco's vibes, locate Barry, and send a signal that Barry can follow home. Cisco touches the uniform and they get a lock.
Barry asks why he has to catch the speedster before he goes back, and begs the Speed Force to let him go back.
Cisco finds Barry in the vortex and calls to him. A glowing column of energy appears near Barry, and the Speed Force says that his friends want him to come back. It says that he can go back, but warns that if he does then it will be without his powers. In the vortex, Cisco holds out his hand to Barry. In the other reality, the speedster goes past and the Speed Force tells Barry that it's his choice. After a moment, Barry turns away from Cisco and goes off after the speedster.
The others return to the breach room, and Harry breaks the loop. He says that he saw Barry but lost him.
Later, Joe, Iris, and Henry track Girder as he trashes Jitters. Joe realizes that Girder went into Jitters and that was his target. Henry remembers a cellmate who escaped and went to his old girlfriend's house looking for him. He figures that Girder is operating on habit, and Iris realizes that the metahuman is after her. After Jitters, Girder went to the West house to take Iris. Wally is there, but Iris says that they use her as bait to lure Girder to S.T.A.R. Labs where Harry and Cisco can kill him.
Barry stops to catch his breath, and sees the Speed Force as Henry. It assures him that he has all of the time in the universe, and Barry insists that he's helped people and sacrificed so much. The Speed Force says that they know what he's done, and he's the only thing standing between his world and unspeakable evil. It walks over to Nora's tombstone and says that Barry has never been there.
Joe and Iris go to the house to wait for Girder. Wally gets them some coffee, and Joe asks him if he's noticed anything different. He assures Wally that he can come to him if he wonders how his body is changing. Wally has no idea what he means, and Joe drops a cup to see if Wally catches it at superspeed. He doesn't, and they hear Girder outside. Joe sends Wally upstairs and Joe spots Girder coming. Iris goes out and gets Girder's attention, and then leads him away to S.T.A.R. Labs.
Barry wonders why the Speed Force brought him thee, and it asks if he's accepted Nora's death. He didn't come to where he is because it would make it real, and knows what he chose. Barry says that he'll never be at peace with letting his mother die, and the Speed Force points out all the people that lived because of Barry's decision. The speedster appears briefly and runs off, and Barry says that he has to get home as he runs after it.
Iris arrives at S.T.A.R. Labs with Joe, and Cisco explains that the stray energy from the accelerator activated Girder's brain. He's created a pair of electromagnets to disrupt the energy in Girder's brain. Cisco warns that he can only maintain the power for a few seconds. Girder comes in and Cisco activates the electromagnets. They short-circuit and Cisco and the others run to the breach room, where Henry has moved Jesse. Girder starts pounding on the door.
Barry continues chasing the speedster and finds himself back at the Allen house. He goes in and finds the Speed Force waiting, looking like Nora. It says that they're not doing anything to Barry and invites him to sit and rest. Barry does so and admits that he hasn't accepted Nora's death and never will. The Speed Force says that he has to find a way, and tells Barry that what he's become won't stop bad things from happening to him. It tells him that Nora is proud of Barry and the man that he has become, and assures Barry that the Speed Force and Nora are both telling him that.
At S.T.A.R. Labs, Girder pounds through the door and Harry confirms that there's no way out. Iris offers to lead Girder off, but Joe points out that girder won't let her go. Cisco remembers that Barry looked like he didn't want to leave the Speed Force.
The Speed force shows Barry his favorite book as a boy, The Runaway Dinosaur. It reads about how the dinosaur wishes it was special like the other dinosaurs. Barry recites it from memory, and how the dinosaur that what made it special was that it had the mother that was just right for it. The Speed Force says that Barry is ready, and he nods in agreement. Barry stands up and the speedster runs in. It's the Flash, and Barry finds himself wearing his costume.
Cisco says that they have to turn the machine on again. Harry confirms that anyone in physical contact with Cisco can see what he sees, and Henry says that he can get Barry to come back. Iris asks for the chance to do it, and Henry agrees. Joe hesitates and then lets her, and Iris takes Cisco's hand. He touches the uniform and vibes, and they see Barry in the vortex.
In the Allen house, Barry sees the vortex and Iris calling to him. The Speed Force tells him to run, and Barry goes into the vortex and takes Iris' hand. He reappears in the breach room and Cisco tells him what's happening. Girder breaks in and Flash runs Iris behind him. She gets Girder's attention and then they draw Tony off. Harry and Cisco go to the workshop and hook the electromagnets back up, but they don't have enough power. Girder comes in and Flash avoids his first few attacks. The metahuman zombie finally hits him, and Flash says that it's time to end it so that Girder can rest for good. He speeds around Girder hundreds of times a second, using his spin to charge the magnets. They reactivate and Girder looks at Iris for a moment before collapsing, dead once and for all.
Later, Harry is sitting with Jesse when Barry and the others come in. He says that he has to be there and takes Jesse's hand. Electricity crackles from his grip and she wakes up, and a relieved Harry hugs his daughter. The others wonder how Barry knew what would happen, and Harry says that it's the Speed Force.
Henry checks Barry's condition and points out that he worked everything out. Barry explains that he never understood what Henry meant by fate until now. Now he says that he wouldn’t change what happened to him even if he could. Henry tells Barry that he's decided to stay in Central City with his son.
The next day, Barry and Iris go to Nora's grave. As Barry puts flowers there, he says that he always found an excuse not to come there. He puts The Runaway Dinosaur on the tombstone, and Iris says that she didn't like it because it had a mother who was always there for her child. She and Barry never had a mother like that. Barry says that he's wasted so much time being angry at what he lost, when he had so much... including Iris. He tells Iris that she's everything to him and always will be, and the sound of her voice will always bring him home.
At the police station, Jay asks Caitlin if she's with him or not. Before she can answer, Jay says that he's going to go out and talk to his allies. If she isn't there when he returns, he'll know that she's chosen her friends and show her as much mercy as them. Jay goes out to the main room and greets the Earth Two metahumans that he brought there to conquer Earth One.
Written by Gadfly on May 11, 2016