Barry returned just in time to be called to a crime scene.

After gathering his evidence, Barry went back up to his lab. While running his tests, a young man came in.

"You need to work on your stealth Jay." Barry said without turning around.

"Oh please, if I was trying to sneak up on you, you wouldn't even know I was there."

Barry smiled and turned to give his rebellious brother a hug.

"It's good to see you Jay. What brings you to Central."

"Well, I had planned to go with my favourite brother to see the particle accelorator turn on."

At Barry's raised eyebrow, Jason smirked.

"And I may be checking out the mob situation here. I can multitask."

"Please don't have me collecting evidence against you. My biological family isn't the only reason why I took a job here instead of in Gotham or Blüdhaven."

"Yeah, daddy bats and big bird would've locked you away in your freaking tower till you died."

"Well they'd certainly try but that's not what I meant and you know it."

Jason grimaced but before he could say anything more, Detective West walked in.

"Hey, got anything for me?"

After moving to central, Barry had reconnected with the West's. He wasn't as close as he would've been had he been raised by the cop but he had missed them.

"Uhhh, yeah, the tracks had cow manure containing traces of oxytetracycline, an antibiotic that is used in the feed of only four farms around Central city. My bet is the Mardon brothers are holed up in one of those places."

"Great work Bar."

"Now Detective, despite my poor baby brother's tardy behaviour, he did just get you some very important information and doesn't have any more work at this time so what do you say about letting him go? The particle accelerator is turning on in..." Jason glanced at his watch, "about an hour or so and I promised to accompany my nerdy bro to see it."

"Hey! I am so not as bad as Tim."

"I'm sorry, who was it that set the sitting room on fire?"

"Which one 'cause Tim was responsible for one of them."

"Yeah, and you caused the other five."

"At least I haven't broken any priceless items using a dirt bike in the house."

Iris waltzed in, coming to stand next to her father while the brothers continued bickering.

"You know I was planning on going with these two knuckleheads but I'm not sure I want to anymore. This is so much more entertaining."

"-threw a butterknife at me first!"

"He was only eleven!"

"And already a psychopath, yeah!"

"Dami's not-!"

"Please just get them out of the precinct before the damage anything."

Iris smiled at her dad and strode over to the two young men.

"Jason, long time no see. Now are we going to see this atom smasher thing smashing?"

"Hey Iris, good to see you."

"It's a particle accelerator!"

The three young adults left, Jason and Iris on either side of Barry. Joe smiled after them, glad to see the boy he knew all those years before hadn't been changed by what life had thrown at him.

<><><>

"There are so many easy attack points here." Jason commented, prompting an alarmed look from Iris and an eye roll from Barry.

"Could you tone down the paranoia for one night Jay?"

"You're only paranoid if they aren't out to get you."

"Can I just say, I'm so glad you aren't dead. That sounds bad. I just mean, I'm glad I got to meet you. You're quite the character." Iris said with a laugh.

She and Barry had really reconnected when the Forensic Scientist started going to college. At that time, his more rebellious brother was still supposedly dead (and wasn't that a strange concept) so she heard many bittersweet stories about him. Barry was good at hiding it, but there had been something missing, a light in his eyes that only returned with the news of his brother's survival.

"I'm glad I got to meet you too Iris, good to know this idiot has someone keeping him in line when I'm not around."

"Oh as if you're any better."

"Both of you need significant others."

"Oh we both have one."

"Jason!"

"Barry! Why didn't you tell me?!"

The scientist groaned, burying his face in his hands to hide his blush.

"Well, little baby Bear got his boyfriend walking on the wild side."

Barry was saved from further embarrassment by the arrival of Dr. Wells. When the cheers died down, the man spoke into the mic.

"Thank you. Tonight, the future begins. The work my team and I will do here will change our understanding of physics, will bring about advancements in power, advancements in medicine. And trust me, that future will be here faster than you think."

As the crowd clapped, a guy in a hoodie shoved past the group of three, snatching Iris' bag.

"No! My laptop is in there! It has my dissertation on it!"

The brothers exchanged a glance before taking off running after the guy through the crowd.

"You take the roof I'll keep going after him down here."

The mob boss nodded, peeling off to get to the rooftops.

Catching up to the thief, Barry grabbed the bag, using it to yank the guy back. When he tried to shove it forward into the CSI's stomach, the former vigilante twisted to the side giving him enough leverage to wrench it from his hands. Seeing that he wasn't gonna win this one, the guy climbed the fence, dropping down only to find himself face-to-face with Jason.

"Hey punk, next time you try something like that, learn to pick your targets." Jason growled, shoving them into the fence.

"Jay. Let's bring him in," Barry said, handing the bag back to Iris who had just caught up. "We've missed the cutoff line to get in at this point anyway."

Jason smiled wickedly at the poor terrified guy and started dragging him away.

"Meet you there little bro!" He called over his shoulder.

Barry sighed.

"And he calls Damian psychotic. Let's go Iris, they're gonna need your statement."

<><><>

While Iris and Jason were giving their statements to the new transfer from Keystone, Barry gave team Arrow a call.

After he said his goodbyes, Barry walked over to his laptop where the news was talking about the Particle Accelerator.

"-despite the severe storm, we are told that the accelerator will be turned on as planned-"

Barry wandered over to his cork board containing the bits and pieces of impossible events and added the clipping about the mirakuru crazed man. At the roll of thunder, Barry went to stand under the open skylight where rain was coming in. Grabbing the chains to close it, the twenty two year old froze, spinning to see the chemicals rising out of the beakers he kept on his shelves. In a flash of light and crash of sound, everything went black.

<><><>

When lightning struck at the CCPD, it caused more issues than anyone could have predicted. Many of the older members of the police force remembered little Barry Allen hiding out at the station when he was bullied, hanging out with his best friend's father. They were glad to see him return, having seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth when Joe couldn't adopt him. Now, here he was years later, happy and healthy. Sadly, the accident changed everything. When Barry Allen ended up in a coma, it took a while for the news to reach his family. The man that had trained him, raised him since his mother's death and father's incarceration, only found out a few days after the accident.

Bruce immediately got in his jet, calling the rest of the family during the trip from Gotham to Central City.

When Bruce Wayne walked into CC General, many people, nurses and families alike, stopped to stare at the impeccably dressed billionaire as he strode forward determinedly towards the front desk.

"Hello, I'm looking for my son, he would've been admitted under the name Bartholomew Allen."

The poor nurse stared awestruck for a moment before snapping out of it and quickly typing it in, making a conscious effort to not look back up at the handsome CEO. She quickly found the room number and told him, sending the billionaire gothamite striding away through the hospital.

His polished black shoes made each step audible as he made his way to the room. Pushing the door open, he found his middle son laying on the hospital bed, nearly blending into the white sheets if not for the wires and tubes that connected him to various machines. A young man in a leather jacket and who's dark hair held a streak of white sat at his side, his stony expression was ruined by the red of his eyes.

"He's in a coma." The younger man croaked without looking away from his adoptive brother. "They don't know when he's gonna wake up, if ever."

Bruce walked forward slowly until he stood beside his second oldest. There were some major issues between the two of them, issues that weren't about to go away anytime soon. Despite all of that though, when the Bat of Gotham placed a firm hand on the younger man's shoulder, he allowed himself to break down. To seek comfort from the one who even with all their issues was his father figure.

There was no telling what would come, but for the moment, the family of Barry Allen would support each other.

<><><>

Eobard Thawne should've known better. He really should've. When Barry Allen resurfaced, he'd been positively gleeful. His plans had nearly been ruined by his own impulsive behaviour but the young man had returned to his home city. At first he seemed just like the original timeline's Barry. Then things started to come to light. Barry was taken in by Bruce Wayne. He'd lived a rich life. Theoretically, any medical complications could be handled by a person of Wayne's choosing anywhere in the world rather than resulting in leaving the Flash in his hands.

Thankfully, the more violent and vengeful of Wayne's children convinced his father that Star Labs caused the problem so they should be the ones to "fucking fix it or I swear to god I'll shoot you all in the head".

He could only hope that things went to plan. The article had not changed, as Gideon reassured him every day.

After all, AI's can't lie.