elrhiarhodan

Title: A Door Opens (in time of war)
Author:

elrhiarhodan
Fandom: The Flash (2014)
Rating: Mature
Characters Harrison Wells | Eobard Thawne, HR Wells, Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon
Pairings: Barry Allen/Iris West, Barry Allen/Harrison Wells | Eobard Thawne
Word Count: ~4800
Spoilers: All aired episodes of Season 3 to S3.10
Warnings/Enticements/Triggers: Infidelity
Summary: Harrison Wells | Eobard Thawne has been dropping clues about his identity since he'd arrived on Earth-1, pretending to be "HR Wells". Team Flash finally sees beyond the masquerade, again.

Author’s Note: Likely to be completely Jossed by S3.11. When discussing the title for this,

kyele said the story reminded her of the Roman god, Janus. And I always listen to her. Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, doorways, passages, and endings, and as part of the worship practices, Janus presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, and hence war and peace. The doors of his temple were open in time of war, and closed to mark the peace. source.

__________________

The reveal, when it comes, is just as delightful as Eobard had ever hoped for. The shock on the team's faces, the hurt and grief, the confusion. It's all so unbelievably delicious. And yet, Eobard feels no small bit of disappointment - there doesn't seem to be a single spark of appreciation for what skills he - and not that idiot, HR - can bring to the fight.

Eobard buries that and plays the board he's been given, the one he's been setting up for the last six months. "I'm just surprised that you took so long to figure it out. I was practically handing you the clues on a silver platter. And when Savitar called me the "False Wells", not one of you ever considered the possibility that HR really was me. I'd have thought, after your experiences with the fake Jay Garrick that you would have learned something." Eobard looks at his fingernails. "Or maybe my disguise was just that effective."

Cisco walks up to Eobard, goes deep into his personal space and pokes him in the chest. "Was HR even a real person?"

Eobard grins; his little engineer has become quite fearless. "Oh, most definitely. His holographic 'interview' was the real thing – you did well in choosing him for your new me. Or more accurately, your new Wells. Had quite a brilliant mind, I must say. An unusually creative thinker."

"Had?" Barry looks like a kicked puppy as he asks that. The expression is as endearing as it is familiar.

Eobard shrugs, "Well, certain sacrifices had to be made. He didn't survive the trip." At the team's appalled expression, Eobard backtracks. "Oh, all right. HR Wells is fine, I just intercepted him in transit and sent him home to his beloved Randolph."

No one looks the least bit convinced. Eobard doesn't blame them.

"How are you even alive?" Iris asks the obvious question.

"I have to admit that I'm not really sure, Ms. West. Your late fiancé's unexpected bit of heroism kind of punctuated my eventual existence. I've spend the past two years in a void, doing nothing but meditating on my sins." Eobard keeps smiling, well aware of how unnerving his expression is.

Barry steps in, "That's not what Iris means. We know that the original Eobard Thawne – the Reverse-Flash – is alive and fucking with the timeline, but this version of you shouldn't exist anymore."

That's surprising news. The team had never mentioned that he'd somehow survived his erasure. "A time remnant?" Barry nods and looks far too angry. Eobard contemplates the paradox and decides it's not worth the trouble to go find him. As if he's actually going to have any personal liberty now that his masquerade has been uncovered. "So what now? An indefinite stay in a cell in the Pipeline?"

"You bet." Cisco snarks.

But Barry has questions, "What do you want from us? Why hang around and pretend to be some goof-ball author who just wants to be 'useful'?"

"Because it's fun? Because I missed you? It was lonely in void." Eobard tries not to sound too self-pitying.

Barry just shakes his head. "You missed us? Really? Do you remember one of the last things you said to me?"

Eobard shakes his head and rocks back on his heels, "Honestly, nope."

"I do. It's etched into my brain, just like the feel of your hand around my neck and your fists pounding into me."

Eobard winces. Barry makes their fights sound like a BDSM encounter, not that that is too far from the truth. "Remind me, please?" He figures that courtesy would earn him a few points.

Barry gives him a dead-eye stare and says, " 'Just so we're clear, after I kill you, I'm going to kill them. And then I'm going to kill your father. I always win, Flash.' "

"Ah." Eobard rocks back on his heels. "I can see why you really don't want to take me at my word."

"Not 'want', Thawne. It's 'can't'. We'll never trust you." Cisco's putting on his glasses – the ones that Eobard has been dying to get his hands on and tweak. But Cisco keeps them locked up when he isn't using them and "HR" would have no reason to ask to see them, much less tinker with them. One of the downsides of creating a persona with almost no scientific skills.

"It's time for you to get going into some more secure accommodations." Cisco holds out his hand and Eobard feels the push. He stumbles back, helpless to counter the vibe. Despite his resurrection, Eobard hasn't gotten his speed back, and what speed he has is severely depleted. He doesn't fight the vibe, his experience with that bounty hunter taught him the futility of that. So he tamely lets the team take him down to the Pipeline and put him into a cell.

"I've upgraded the tech, Thawne. You're not getting out this time." Cisco gives him a final push and the door drop.

"I have no plans to go anywhere, Cisco."

Barry steps forward, "This cell – it once held your younger and fully powered self."

"Really?" Eobard looks around the cell. He can actually feel the thrumming of the power dampeners. "If you had me locked up, why am I not still here?"

Barry snaps out, "Because Cisco's life was more important."

Eobard grins. "Ah, of course – the paradox effect." He catches Cisco's eye. "I hope you were properly appreciative to Barry for saving your life at the cost of my imprisonment."

Something dark crosses Cisco's face.

"Ah, but you forgot about that. I guess blaming Barry for your brother's death is a lot easier than remembering how many times you fucked up and nearly cost Barry his life."

"Shut up, Thawne." Barry steps between him and Cisco. "You don't get to say anything about that, ever."

Eobard chuckles. "Always the hero, Barry Allen. Even when your friends despise you."

Cisco hits the control for the outer door and as it starts to lower, Eobard calls out, "I'm hungry. My usual, please – and don't forget the curly fries this time."

The team doesn't answer and the only sound – besides his own heartbeat – is the thrumming of the generators. Eobard settles down on the floor and relaxes. The Pipeline's a hell of a lot noisier than oblivion.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Eobard doesn't want to admit to himself that he's getting bored, not after a two-year-long eternity spent in the void, but he is. A few months being able to roam free – not just in S.T.A.R. Labs, but out of it, too – has spoiled him. But he knows that this situation won't last long. Barry will be here soon enough. And not just with food.

He's going to want answers.

Eobard anticipates the questions: Why not kill us all in our sleep? Why pretend to be a moron? Why hang around? Why? Why? Why? But Eobard's already answered those questions. Two years as a consciousness in the void – no form or purpose other than existence – has given him some perspective. Eobard now knows that his hatred of the Flash had been irrational, juvenile, and just plain wrong. What he'd done to Barry is unforgivable, and he doesn't expect to be welcome with open arms anytime soon.

But he's not going to let them know how badly he wants back in. To work side by side with the team he'd built. Training Wally had been amusing, and somewhat satisfying; he might be fast, but he's not Barry and he'll never be Barry. The kid's promise is overshadowed by his serious impulse control problems that he'll need to overcome. And he's got an ego bigger than Eobard's ever was. Or will be. In another time, another place, Wally West will be a formidable hero, but this is not his time.

Despite the physical hunger and the lack of caffeine, Eobard is almost preternaturally aware of everything. The Pipeline cell still lacks anything more than the most basic amenities and if he's going to be kept here indefinitely, he's going to need some form of entertainment, otherwise, he'll really go mad.

And then there's a very subtle change in air pressure, the kind of change Eobard knows to associates with the presence of someone connected to the Speed Force. Wally, for all his quickness, doesn't have that connection. Not yet, at least.

And Eobard can't imagine that the old man is back in this dimension. From the first moment he'd laid eyes on Jay Garrick, Eobard had known that Garrick is a most formidable speedster - someone he needs to stay far away from. Garrick's a Speed Force guardian and if "HR" spends even more than a moment in his company, Garrick would sense his damaged connection to the Speed Force. Eobard's masquerade would be over, and not on his terms.

No, of course it isn't Garrick. Nor is it Wally. It's Barry and he's very close by, probably gazing at the Pipeline portal and wondering if he should even feed the beast.

Pity that his olfactory senses aren't as finely tuned as his sense of the Speed Force, which isn't completely overwhelmed by the power dampeners. He can't smell the aroma of charred meat and fried, spiced potatoes, but he suspects that Barry is carrying a Big Belly Burger bag. His one-time nemesis and eternal idée fixe is nothing if not predictable, at least in certain things.

Eobard counts backwards from one hundred and by the time he reaches eighty-one, the Pipeline cell starts rotating gently and the locks into place. The outer door opens and Barry's standing there, the anticipated paper bag clutched in his fist.

Eobard's mouth waters a little at the sight of the Big Belly Burger logo. "Please tell me that's a double-double with curly fries."

Barry shakes his head. "Actually, it's a chicken sandwich with apple slices."

"You're kidding, right?" Eobard hopes he is, because a chicken sandwich and apples is a revolting thought.

Barry doesn't blink, he doesn't smile, he doesn't give a damn thing away. He just passes the bag through the slot and Eobard takes it, almost afraid to look at the contents.

"You're an asshole, Barry Allen. What have I ever done to deserve this?" Eobard laughs and pulls out the hoped-for double-double, unwrapping as his stomach rumbles.

"You murdered my mother, twice."

Appetite killed, Eobard doesn't take a bite; but instead rewraps the burger and puts it back in the bag. "Twice?"

Barry stares at him, the lightning flickering in his eyes and Eobard shivers. As HR, he really hasn't spent much time with Barry - deliberate on both their parts - and he's only just suspected how formidable the boy has become in his absence. It elates him to see the proof.

"What do you mean?"

"Flashpoint, Thawne."

Eobard doesn't quite follow. "Ahh, the alternate timeline that brought Savitar into our midst." He hadn't wanted to delve too deep into this Flashpoint. It would raise too many questions if he too curious about something that ostensibly didn't concern him. "You created it when you went back to stop me and save your mother, and then – for some reason – undid it all and tried to return the original timeline. But you couldn't, of course. Your return from a past that never happened ended up creating the timeline that's responsible for Caitlin's powers, for Dante Ramon's death. No great loss, to be honest."

"But you don't know how that alternate timeline was created. No one does. Well, no one except me and your time remnant."

That doesn't surprise Eobard. For all that the team teases Barry about his ability to keep secrets, Barry rarely shares the things that hurt him the most. "And are you going to tell me?" Eobard has the sinking sensation his younger self is responsible for a lot of the crap that's happened in this timeline.

"I stopped you from killing my mother and dragged you forward in time, to 2016. My life was - for a while - idyllic."

Eobard didn't have to stretch his imagination to conjure up a happy Barry Allen who grew up with both of his parents. He'd seen it. "So, what happened?"

"My powers started to fade and I began losing huge chunks of my memory. Then Wally was almost killed - and he was a speedster. He should have healed, but he didn't. That's when I knew I had messed everything up. That I had to undo what I'd done."

"But what did I do?" Eobard has a feeling he's not going to like Barry's answer.

Barry looks like he wants to kill him. "You made me beg you to kill my mother. You laughed at me and made me beg."

Eobard's nauseous. Even when he'd hated the Flash, when he'd vowed to become the Reverse-Flash, even when he had been working to undo all the good that the Flash had done, he'd never like to think of himself as a sadist. But the sad truth is, that is exactly what he'd been. Cruel and selfish and reveling in all the pain he'd caused.

"You dragged me back to 2001 and made me watch as you killed her, again. Then you dragged me forward to 2016 and deposited me on Joe's front porch. You said that while things were back to they should be for you, they weren't for me." Barry stares at him, his eyes blazing.

Eobard, still the smartest man in the world, easily draws the natural conclusion. "I was the one who created this alternate timeline, not you. You were merely a passenger."

Barry nods.

"And you've shouldered the blame for every terrible thing that's happened." Typical Barry. Eobard does the only thing he can do. "I'm sorry."

Barry pounds his fist against the glass and the whole cell shudders. "You're sorry? You murdered my mother, you made me watch when you killed her again, then you drag me through time and mess up everyone's life. Wally's and Caitlin's and Cisco's? Iris is going to die in four months, and you're fucking sorry? You don't get to be sorry."

"That wasn't me. At least not after the first time." Eobard defends himself, but it's hollow and pointless. Weak. He hates being weak.

But Barry, brilliant, beautiful Barry, actually concedes the point. "No, I guess it wasn't." He leans his forehead against the cell. "Why did you come back?" His question is plaintive.

"I told you, I missed the team. I missed everything we had." I missed you, Barry Allen.

"Why should I believe you? You spent fifteen years trying to get home, to get away from here. Do you want our help now, do you want us to get you home? I'm sure that between me and Cisco, we can do it without needing to blow up the city again."

"You can't stop being the hero, can you? You'd help your greatest enemy." Eobard shakes his head, slightly appalled at Barry's pathological lack of self-preservation.

Something painful dims the lightning in Barry's eyes. "No, I am that stupid." Then Barry laughs, the sound harsh and unpleasant. "I can't believe it took me three months to figure it out. You really did lay all of it out, a fucking road map."

Eobard lets out a tiny sigh. "I was never quite sure if I should keep playing the moron or just come clean. I told myself to stop with the clues - you weren't seeing them and it was pretty clear you didn't want to. But I couldn't help myself." The last isn't really for Barry's hearing.

Barry gives him a puzzled look. "You didn't want us to figure it out?"

Eobard shrugs. "I was of two minds about that."

"Well, that's nothing new. Is the real Harrison Wells - the one you killed - still in there?"

"He's quiet, for the most part. I think the time in the void has given him some peace."

Barry's pacing outside the Pipeline cell door - like a caged lion - and Eobard finds the role reversal a little charming. "I thought the turtle was a nice touch, naming it after Iris's favorite stuffed animal. I was honestly quite surprised that she didn't pick up on that." Eobard pauses and throws Barry a bone. "I do approve, you know."

That gets Barry's attention. "Approve of what?"

"You and Iris. I didn't lie that night, when you had your party. I'm glad you've found your happiness." Eobard's quite proud of the smile he manages. It's not a lie, but it feels like one.

"Really?" Barry's incredulous. "How can you stand there and say that with a straight face? After what you told me."

Eobard feels like he's missing something. The time in the void has not been without consequences. Mostly – it seems – to his memory. "Barry?"

"You told me I'd never be happy."

Eobard suddenly remembers the video he'd left for Barry, the one he'd made in case he'd failed. "Ah, yes. I was angry at you."

"You were always angry at me, at the Flash. Even now, I don't understand how I earned your hatred."

"Honestly, I'm not sure I understand either. It was a kind of madness. I see that now."

"I don't know if you've changed or if this is just another act. Who are you pretending to be? You're not Harrison Wells, you're not HR Wells. Who are you, really?" Barry's confusion is a little heartbreaking.

"I'm a time-traveling professor of chrono-dynamics who once suffered a delusion that made me do terrible things."

Barry keeps pacing. "I don't believe you really think that."

"I didn't think you would. Will you let me prove myself?"

That gets Barry's attention. "How?"

"Let me help you save Iris' life. Really help - not just take notes on a board. You know me, Barry - you know what I'm capable of. You know I can help."

"I also know you can twist things to your benefit. You will. You want something, I know it. If you don't want to get home, what is it? Your speed? You want your speed back? Is that it?" Barry stops and stares at Eobard, eyes once again filled with lightning. The boy's oozing Speed Force and despite the power dampeners built into the cell, Eobard feels it like a caress against naked skin. "Are you planning to steal my speed, too?"

Eobard steps back as if he's been slapped. He'd read Cisco's notes about what Zoom had done to Barry, how his Earth-2 doppelganger had extracted Barry's speed and then re-engineered its return. "No - no. I only needed speed when I was the Reverse-Flash."

"And you're not the Reverse-Flash anymore?" Barry snorts. "Try again. You always win, no matter what game you're playing."

"No game, Barry. I've changed."

"So you keep saying." Barry sighs and rests his head against the glass. "I don't know what to do with you."

"Let me help you," Eobard keeps making his case.

Barry stares at him, no lightning - just those lambent green eyes glowing in the blue light. Eobard wonders if Barry is remembering their last interview in the Pipeline. Eobard remembers it - not so much words as emotions. He'd been so sure of himself, so filled with smug, self-righteous anger. So sure that Barry would take the bait he'd been dangling.

For Barry, it wasn't that long ago. For him - for Eobard - he was an eternity.

Barry steps away from the glass and goes to the control panel. Eobard's stomach sinks; he's going back into the darkness. At least until Barry - or one of the members of Team Flash - decides to pay him another visit. But to his surprise, the outer door doesn't swing down. The cell door opens, but before Eobard can step over the threshold, Barry rushes in and the door closes behind him. Both doors, as the outer one seals them in. The cell rotates back to its position in the containment ring and the locks slide into place. What's surprising is that Barry's turned off the power dampeners.

Eobard slowly lets out a deep breath. "So, this is how I end? Not with a bang, but a whimper."

Barry just stands there, silent.

"I take it that you've disabled the cameras, and that in an hour or so, a program will return this cell to the prime position and you'll walk away. Tomorrow, when Cisco or Caitlin or Iris come to deliver my meal, they'll find my body. It'll look like a suicide?"

Barry shakes his head and finally says something. "Believe me, Thawne, if I was going to kill you, I wouldn't need such an elaborate set up. And Cisco might fight me for the chance to end you."

"Then what is this? Why are you doing this?"

Barry pushes him back against the wall, his hand against Eobard's throat. "Come on, Thawne, fight me. Let me see the real you." He squeezes - but not hard enough to do anything - and demands, "Fight me."

Eobard likes this version of Barry Allen, so desperate, so needy. He locks eyes with his tormenter and smiles.
"No."

Barry's face crumbles and he lets go, but he doesn't step away. Eobard feels the electricity, the speed surrounding them. He lifts a hand to touch Barry's face and the boy flinches. But he still doesn't move. Eobard strokes Barry's cheek and Barry shivers at his touch.

"You've missed me, too," Eobard whispers. "I hurt you so much, but you still missed me."

Barry nods, closing his eyes. "I didn't want to. I wanted to hate you, but I couldn't. I could hate the other one, but not you. Why?" That last word is a sob.

It's like hugging a wild creature, one who could gut him with a single swipe of his paw, but Eobard doesn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Barry, to bring him close. Barry sobs again as he rests his head on Eobard's shoulder.

"Why?"

"Because we're too alike, Barry Allen."

Barry doesn't contradict him. On the contrary, he softens in Eobard's arms and murmurs. "I missed you so much." He clings and Eobard holds him like the precious thing that he is.

Eobard can feel Barry's rising desire and he shifts his own hips so Barry can feel his. Barry looks at him, his face wrecked and tearstained.

They're poised on the knife's edge. If Eobard guesses wrong, it might very well mean his life. He cups his hand around Barry's neck, a tender parody of the times they'd battled, and rests his thumb against Barry's lips. To his delight, Barry parts his lips and sucks on it.

After a few heartbeats, Eobard removes his thumb and leans in. He whispers, "Maybe, for now, we both win?"

Barry doesn't reply, except to pull him close and kiss him as if the world is about to end in a violent rush.

I bet he doesn't kiss Iris like this. Eobard dismisses the intrusive thought as he kisses Barry back. What he has now, and what he has had with Barry Allen has nothing to do with Iris West. Iris might be Barry's soul-mate, his anchor, the woman he loves above all else, but Eobard Thawne is Barry Allen's destiny and that counts for something.

It counts for a lot.

Barry's hands become desperate as they pull at Eobard's clothes, seeking bare skin. Eobard pushes Barry back against the wall and Barry moans.

"We've never been able to do it like this, have we?"

"You were pretending to be a cripple, damn it."

Leveraging himself against Barry, Eobard mutters, "A foolish masquerade."

Barry rocks against him and growls, "Fuck me."

Eobard doesn't think Barry's using an invective. "Really?"

"Yes - there's a packet of lube in my pocket."

Eobard freezes for a moment as joy breaks through the clouds of lust. Barry came here, wanting this. Wanting me. He finds the lube and lets Barry strip them both. Despite the passage of years and the hard usage Barry's put on his body, it is unchanged - still willow-lean and and deceptively strong. Eobard can remember the Flash that he'd first encountered, a muscle-bound freak, and it's clear that Barry will never become that man.

"You're so beautiful." He can't stop the praise, the honest appreciation.

"Shut up, Thawne." Barry's angry, but his desire is certainly not diminished for it.

"Will you please call me 'Eobard'?" Eobard's on his knees, he's stroking Barry's cock, he's slicking up Barry's ass, and in this moment of intimacy, he'd like to be called by his name.

Barry looks down at him, his expression terrible and wonderful at the same time. "Eobard." That's all he says.

It's the first time Eobard's heard his given name from Barry's lips, and there's none of the anger that usually accompanies Barry's tone when he says "Thawne".

Eobard kisses the tip of Barry's cock and gets to his feet. He uses the last of the lube to slick himself up. Barry's going to be tight and Eobard hopes he can last. It will be embarrassing to come too soon - although he does still have that part of a speedster's metabolism.

Hooking an arm under Barry's thigh and hauling it up and around his waist, Eobard takes a deep breath and presses into Barry. As much of a cliché as it is, it really does feel like he's come home.

Barry pulls him close again and consumes his mouth as Eobard thrusts in and pulls out. For the first time since he tagged onto HR Wells as he travelled through the void, Eobard let himself access the Speed Force. His connection, always fragile since his great crime, is still limited - but it's enough to wrap them both in lightning, to call to Barry's speed and feel it answer.

Barry's nails scrape along his back, inflicting minor wounds that heal almost instantly. Not for the first time, Eobard wonders if sex with Barry is recharging his speed, but then Barry's bites down on his lip and the pain is delicious and it sends all thoughts of speed and the Speed Force out of his mind. It's also enough to drive him over the edge, and he comes into Barry in a hot, blinding rush. He feels Barry come against him in response and in that moment, everything Eobard has gone through - the eternity of loneliness and regret - has had its purpose.

They stay coupled for much longer than they'd ever had when he'd been pretending to be Harrison Wells. Now, Barry doesn't have to be considerate of his lover's paraplegic state. They are kissing, slowly, languorously, and Eobard is growing hard again, but Barry pushes him away and gets dressed.

Eobard follow suit and says nothing. He knows well enough that Barry's not going to offer hearts and flowers. Barry had done that once, and the Reverse-Flash had given him a hard beating for his pains. Words of love from Barry Allen will not come again - or at least not for a very long time. Eobard knows he can make do with what he has.

The cell begins to rotate back towards the portal, and Barry doesn't say anything. Eobard expects to be cautioned about mentioning what they'd just done to Iris - or anyone on the team, to be threatened. But Barry says nothing, as if he's pretending that nothing had happened.

The outer door slides open and before the inner one lifts, Barry finally looks at Eobard. "I'll think about your offer to help save Iris."

Eobard stays put, he nods and keeps the smile off his lips. He doesn't mind being Barry's dirty little secret. And he's not interested in interfering with Barry's happiness, not this time around. Let him have his true love. It won't last forever.

FIN