[seven years.

its been seven years, and yet somehow, he's still here. still alive, in the loosest sense of the word. forced to make his way through life with a piece of his soul missing. without a drive there to have him do anything more than make it through each day. he has no goal, nothing to be heading towards. all possibility of a future died along with her, and there's nothing he can do to change that.

(they were meant to get married. to settle down. to have children, grandchildren, a family. they were meant to grow old together--)

he's in the time vault when the alarm sounds. the cortex may not be the hub of activity that it once was, but there's enough running in the background to keep him informed of any changes within the grounds of the lab. he may not be the flash anymore, but that doesn't mean he's prepared to ignore whatever this newest interruption is.

but despite how immediate the threat could very well be, he still takes the time to shut down gideon first. to lock away those memories, at least for the time being. they aren't ones he wants to share with anybody else. ones that he has to keep covered up until his own weakness sets in and he has to give in. again.

one last look at the now sealed wall of the time vault, and barry speeds off to the basement. to the anomaly forming. to the--

breach?]