"We have only located four of the seven Paragons needed to save the multiverse." The Monitor turned and faced us as we were all gathered in the Waverider.

Kate rubbed the back of her neck, eyeing Ray, "We could find the last three if-"

"Hey, it's uh repairing a Paragon Detector, okay?" Ray replied defensively, "It's complex stuff."

"Someone call for backup?" Cisco's voice filled the room after the sound of a breach, revealing Ralph, Killer Frost and Barry.

Barry's first movement was over to me, "Zee-"

"Hi, honey-" I walked over to him quickly and right into his embrace, hugging onto him tightly.

"Cisco, thank goodness." Ray exhales deeply at the sight of him, "I need another genius intellect, stat."

"That's why I'm here." Cisco looked toward Clark, "And that is a super doppelganger, which is super weird."

"Holy all-star squadron." Ralph looked around, "Hi, hi, how are ya? Ralph Dibny, Elongated Man- ready to help kick butt."

"Ignore him." Killer Frost waved his excitement off, "It's his first crossover."

"Listen, the antimatter wave is still ripping its way across the multiverse." Barry kept an arm around me when we pulled away, "We have to get everyone we can to safety."

"Calculations still show that Earth-1 will be the last place for the wave to hit." Our Clark nodded.

"I just heard from Alex and Brainy on Earth-1." J'onn walked in, "Everyone we saved from Earth-38 is still accounted for."

Clark nodded, "Then we should bring as many people to Earth-1 as we can in the time being."

"Let's get a rescue team together, save who we can across the multiverse." J'onn said, "I can use my psychic abilities to stay in connection with the Waverider."

Clark contributed, "And I'll go as well."

"Well, parallel Earth Rory still has Jonathan, so I'll run comms and keep everyone updated." Lois said to us, before leaving the room.

J'onn looked at Kara, "Supergirl?"

"I'll stay here." Kara replies back, "We have to find a way to get our world back."

"Hey, I think we did it." Ray suddenly said, standing straight, "I think we fixed it-"

Kate crosses her arms when we all gathered around the screen, "Guys, we already know all this."

Cisco looked at her, dramatically gesturing, "It's buffering, so- maybe a little patience."

J'onn's photo came onto the screen, showing us that he was the Paragon of Honor, Kara speaking, "Why am I not surprised?"

Then, Barry's photo came up, revealing to us that he was the Paragon of Love, "That's new-"

I pursed my lips to hold back my small smile, looking up at my husband as he couldn't help but break into one, his lips pressing into my forehead.

"Uh, who the hell is that guy?" Ralph asked to the new face on the screen, who was suddenly the Paragon of Humanity.

Cisco read off his tablet, "Dr. Ryan Choi, physics professor at Ivy Town University on our Earth."

"Well, I guess we know our next stop." I said, then looked between the two, "Ray, Ralph?"

"Dibny and Allen on the case-" Ralph pat my back lightly, "Or, well- the shorter- more prettier version-"

"Ivy Town- it's my old stomping grounds." Ray mentioned with a smile, "Let's go-"

I squeezed Barry's hand, walking backwards toward Ray and Ralph, "I love you-"

Barry pecked my lips lightly before I let go of his hand, "I love you."

-

"Zee-" Barry called out after me a few minutes later after what he needed to hear from the group was heard, him quickly coming after me as I had reached the hall, "Wait-"

"Hey," I looked back, then faced him, "What is it?"

"What if this is it?" Barry's voice was quiet when he came to a stop in front of me, grabbing my hands gently, "What if stopping the wave is my purpose as a Paragon?"

My eyebrows furrowed, "Barry-"

Barry squeezes my hands at his next few words, "I mean, what if it's the sacrifice I have to make?"

My heart immediately dropped along with my expression, small tears filling my eyes, "Well, if this is it, then I don't want you to die without me, Barry."

Barry inhales, "Zee-"

"No, I told you I'd be right there with you- I don't want you to be alone- I don't want you to be without me." I stepped closer to him, my eyes burning with upcoming tears, "I'll come with you-"

"No, you can't come, Zee." Barry lightly shook his head, a soft look on his face as he looked at me, "You know you can't."

"I don't care what the Monitor says, Ralph and Ray can do fine on their own-" I put my hands on his shoulders, "You're so much more important to me than finding a Paragon-"

"Zee, it's so we can save the universe." Barry softly chuckled at my words but barely, as I could see he didn't want to leave me either, setting his hands on my waist, "You need to go, this is your mission."

I shook my head, "I have faith in Ralph and Ray."

"And I have faith in you." Barry had me so close that our chests touched, holding eye contact with me, "We may both have superpowers, but you don't need yours to get what needs to be done, done."

"The flames that erupt from the flick of your wrist isn't your superpower." Barry looked deep into my eyes to persuade me, "Your intelligence, your resourcefulness, your heart- that's your superpower and that's what's gonna help you convince Ryan Choi to be the hero he needs to be."

"Barry, I don't want to live this life without you." The tears that were in my eyes fell, "What if by the time I'm back- you're already gone, I can't-"

"Honey-" Barry gently grabbed my face.

"Not yet, Barry." I was in denial, fearing for what was going to come, "I don't- I don't want to say goodbye."

"When I put this ring on your finger, I promised I'd always come running home to you." Barry put a hand over mine that held his face, touching my ring, "And if we're apart, for however long, know that wherever I go, I will be running home to you."

My eyes only burned even more with tears, a small sob leaving my lips as I shook my head, his forehead leaving against mine, "I'm not ready."

"It's okay." Barry held me close, keeping our faces inches apart, "Go find Ryan Choi and hurry back."

-

"Amanda, please." Ryan Choi said on the phone as we had spotted him at his work place, "I know the red skies are freaky, honey, but I'm sure it's just atmospheric-"

I cleared my throat, sniffling, "Dr. Ryan Choi?"

"Disturbance- babe, I gotta go." Ryan hung up the phone and gaped at the sight of Ray.

"Wow, is that really you? Dr. Ray Palmer?" Ryan quickly walked over to him and shook his hand, "Oh. Emm. Gosh."

"I'm Ryan Choi, it's so wonderful to meet you." He quickly introduces, "Your second paper on subatomic density manipulation was the foundation for my work on miniaturization-"

Ray seemed flattered, "Wow, thank you."

Before he could keep talking, I cut in, "Uhm, here's the thing- Dr. Choi, we need you to come with us- like right now.

"Look, you've seen the red skies outside?" Ralph backed me up, "The world is ending."

Ryan swallowed hard at our words, "Dr. Palmer, who are these people?"

"We are superheroes, and Ryan, we need your help." Ray told it to him straight up.

"Sure, Dr. Palmer, good one." Ryan backed away and nervously laughed, "And next you're gonna tell me I've been nominated for the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics?"

I huff, "We don't have the time-"

"Seeing is believing, right?" Ralph helped out and stretched his arm, grabbing the tissue box and holding it in front of Ryan, "Tissue?"

"You're Elongated Man?" Ryan stuttered when Ralph set the tissue box down and pulled his arm, "Are- are you superheroes, too?"

I shrug, "I've got a few tricks of my own."

"I know this sounds cuckoo, pal, but- you're what's called a Paragon, which is a fancy word for saying," Ralph inhales, "We need your help to save the universe."

Ryan turned away from us.

Ray spoke up, "Dr. Choi?"

"If the world's ending, I need to go home." Ryan suddenly grabbed his coat and briefcase, heading for the door.

"Please, Ryan." Ray took a few steps after him, "We really need your help-"

"No, you don't." Ryan faced us, shaking his head, "I'm no hero- I'm a husband."

"And if this is the end, I have to be with my wife and kid." Ryan showed us true sincerity before turning and walking out, "I'm sorry."

-

I slowly walked into Ryan's office as he was grabbing a frame of his wife and kid, "They're beautiful."

Ryan looks up at me and swallows hard.

"I didn't get to introduce myself earlier, Dr. Choi." I took a step closer to him, "My name's Zee Allen- I'm from Central City."

Ryan looks at me, "Are you a superhero, too?"

"I wouldn't consider myself one, no." I lightly shook my head, then snapped my fingers, a small flame erupting, before I caught it and it went out within seconds, "But, I do have a few tricks."

Ryan looked from my hand to my face, and barely smiled, "You don't use them too often, huh?"

I shook my head again, then inhaled deeply, "Look, I know this is a lot to ask and you're right to want to be with your family when things go bad."

"What about you?" Ryan brought up, glancing at my ring, "You clearly have someone in your life you care about- don't you want to die holding them when the world ends?"

"More than anything in the world." I teared up at the thought of Barry being gone by now, "Except, my husband's not like us- he goes out there as a superhero day after day and faces whatever he has to to keep his city safe."

"That's really brave, Zee, but- that's not me." Ryan shook his head, "See, I'm nothing like your husband."

"No, no, you're not." I agreed with him pretty quickly, "You're human, and you have a purpose too- you remind superheroes what they're fighting for."

"My wife, Amanda and I, just had a baby six months ago- Simone." Ryan opened up to me, swallowing hard at the thought, "I might not get to see her grow up."

"I understand that." I stepped closer to him, my voice falling quiet, "But, don't you want to hold her knowing that you had a hand in making the world safer? For her."

Ryan went quiet for a moment.

Then he broke the silence, exhaling deeply, "I need to go tell my wife I'm gonna be late for dinner."

A bubble of laughter left my lips in relief as he walked past me, pulling out his phone, as Ray and Ralph walked over to me, Ray speaking, "Just got word from Lois- six more Earths are gone. This is the only Earth left."

"At least now we have Ryan." Ralph nodded lightly, "How'd you know what to say to him?"

My mind went to Barry immediately.

But, I slightly shrugged, "I don't know."

-

"Attention." Leonard Snart's voice announced in the Waverider when we walked in, "Zee, Ralph, and Raymond have returned with Dr. Choi."

This was supposed to be reliving news.

Except, I only felt fear.

Fear that Barry would already be gone.

Fear had I had lost my Barry.

Tears were present in my eyes, as I frantically looked around for Barry, doing a complete 360 turn, losing all hope when I couldn't see him.

Then, my heart leaped when Barry peaked his head from the doorframe connecting to the hall at the sound of Leonard saying my name, walking in, a relieved look on his face, "Zee-"

"Barry-" I rushed over to him and threw myself in his arms, hugging him tighter than I had ever before, the tears in my eyes falling, "Oh my god-"

Barry shushed me, rubbing my back, lifting me off the ground, holding onto me just as tight, if not tighter, "I told you I'd come running home to you."

"I love you so much, I love you-" I sniffled, more tears falling when I pulled my face away and looked down at him, "You're still with me-"

"I'm always with you." Barry leaned up and connected our lips, kissing me like we had just reunited after being separated for so long.

I sniffled again when we pulled away, holding his face when he set me down but kept his arms around me, "If wasn't you-"

"It was the Barry Allen from Earth-90." Barry's expression dropped lightly at the thought, holding my face, wiping my tears with his thumbs.

"Everyone, this is Jefferson Pierce." Barry wrapped his arm around me and gestures to the new face, "We wouldn't have been able to stop the anti-matter wave without him."

"Wait, so- so the Superman thing is real?" Jefferson gestured between the two Clark's, "Oh, damn- after all these years."

Ralph then gestured to Ryan, "And this is your Paragon of Humanity, Ryan Choi scientist, super brain, and ready to help save the universe."

"How do you guys plan on doing that, exactly?" Ryan decided to ask the question that we probably burning into his mind.

Our Clark inhales deeply, "Well, Kara decided not to use the Book of Destiny."

Clark nodded, "It was too risky."

"And Harbinger, unlike me, can travel anywhere she wants." Pariah, better known to us as Nash Wells said, "So- how do we find her?"

"By whatever means necessary." Diggle replied.

"Well," I cleared my throat and began taking a few steps toward the many monitors, "We can start by trying to re-task the Waverider's satellite search grid-"

Before I could even leave Barry's side, a bright light shined in a white silhouette, revealing Lyla.

"Lyla-" Diggle immediately engulfed the woman he loved, holding her to his chest.

Lyla hugged back, "Johnny-"

"You okay?" Diggle looked down at her.

"I'm sorry." Lyla was stuttering, "I tried to get word to you that I was doing recon on Earth-1, but the deaths of the other Earths is affecting my abilities."

Barry questions, "Where were you on Earth-1?"

"I- I can't remember." Lyla stammered.

"It's okay." Diggle grabbed her face gently, "I thought I lost you, Lyla."

"Not that easy." Lyla lightly shook her head, "I just wish I could remember what happened."

Diggle assures her, "We'll figure this out."

Barry lightly patted my back to signal to listen to him, stood with Pariah and Ralph, as he quietly spoke, "What if the Anti-Monitor wanted Harbinger back on the ship?"

I looked at him, "What?"

Ralph added in, his voice quiet as well, "He's been controlling her the entire Crisis."

Clark looked at Pariah, "And controlling you, only allowing you to appear when he wants you to see-"

My eyes widen, looking between them, a small whisper leaving my lips, "A great tragedy."

Barry looked towards her, "Lyla?"

Lyla's eyes went wide as she grabbed Diggle and threw him to the ground, Barry covering me immediately, shouting out to her, "No!"

Lyla walked around the console, the voice of the Anti-Monitor present through her mouth, "It is time to end the age of heroes and everything you hold close."

Diggle looked up at her from the ground, "Lyla-"

"That is no longer your wife, John Diggle." The Monitor stared. "She has been taken by-"

Pariah finished his sentence, "The Anti-Monitor."

"Murderer!" Clark launches himself for her, but she had him on the ground within seconds.

"This is for my girls." Jefferson began, but Lyla clenched her fist, and suddenly there a strong force that was sending us all down.

"Barry-" My voice came out weak, reaching for him, my body not being able to function.

Barry was quick, wrapping his arms around me with a grunt as we fell to the ground, his voice as weak as mine, "I got you-"

"Lyla!" Diggle shouts, "You have to fight him, Lyla!"

"The fate of all humanity lies with you now, Pariah." The Monitor instructed, taking a few steps.

Pariah exhales, "What can I do?"

"You will know when the moment arrives." The Monitor tried to fight back at Lyla, but she overpowered him quickly.

"Pathetic." Lyla spat, "It was foolish to try to stop me, Novu."

"No, Mobius." The Monitor was on his knees, "It was foolish to allow your creation in the first place."

"Goodbye." Lyla said before completely sucking the life out of him, as he dropped to the ground, dead.

"Alert." Leonard's voice filled the Waverider, the force no longer keep us on the ground, "Earth-1 is gone."

Barry got up, pulling me up with him, complete heartbreak on his face, "We're all that's left?"

"It is done." Lyla said "The infinite Earths are gone.

Soon only the anti-matter universe will remain."

"Warning." Leonard spoke again, "The anti-matter wave will hit the ship in 28 seconds."

"I know what I must do." Pariah suddenly said, his hands glowing as shots of light flew out of his hands and around the room.

Ryan looked around, "What's happening?-"

When one of those blasts hits Barry, he immediately reaches for me, "Zee-"

I went to grab his hand but he had disappeared.

As if he was never there.

And with him, all the Paragons.

"Where did you send them?" Lyla looked at Pariah.

Pariah softly chuckled, inhaling, "Somewhere you can't touch 'em."

I tear up lightly, knowing that this was the end for me, "Wherever they are, they're gonna fight you."

Jefferson stepped up, "By any means necessary."

"To their very last breath." Clark was at my side.

Then, the anti matter wave made it's way into the ship, Lyla bringing it right for us, disappearing into it herself.

Ralph grabbed my hand, looking at me, giving me a sly nod, as I gave him a small smile.

Then, my free hand gripped the necklace Barry had given me many years ago, the tears in my eyes falling, a small whisper leaving my lips as the wave got closer, "I love you, Barry."

Then, I vanished with the wave.

Just like everyone else.

this chapter. made me cry so hard.

i was in tears writing this chapter, honestly.

this ship holds such a special place in my heart-

thank you for 181k !!! oh my god

go read skinny love !!

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