Barry and I walked into the cortex, both holding coffees from Jitters. I was dressed in one of Barry's burgundy crewnecks, and a pair of light wash ripped jeans, converse worn by my feet, my hair was straight as per usual.

"Holy winter wonderland-" Barry stares at everything HR had done to the place, considering Christmas.

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Cisco sipped his own coffee out of his mug, then looks at me, "Oh, thank god."

"What?" I look at him confused, my eyebrows furrowing.

"You're wearing ripped jeans-" Cisco puts his mug down. "You've been wearing too many skirts lately- I thought we actually lost you."

Barry lets out a laugh, wrapping an arm around me, Cisco's joke earning a laugh from me also.

"Oh my god-" I looked around, beaming with excitement as my eyes scanned over everything he had set up, "We didn't even get to actually celebrate last year."

"Yeah," Barry pressed a kiss to my head, "Everything with Mardon and The Trickster, we didn't get to celebrate."

I look up at him, "The best present this year would be- just to have a normal Christmas. With no- crazy villains trying to kill hundreds of people- with a nice get together with our friends and family- man, would that be great."

"You're right, and I love you." Barry shoots me a look, "But, we live in Central City."

"Some traditions are multi-versal." HR smiles, sipping his coffee.

"Any more info on Savitar?" Barry asks Caitlin.

She shakes her head, "Nope, all we know is that he's a speed god and you're the only one who can see him."

"I'd love to stay and figure out how to defeat our new villain, but-" I look down at my watch, "I'm gonna be late for work."

"I'll meet up with you for lunch, alright?" Barry pecks my lips, "I love you."

"Alright, I love you too." I turn, quickly walking out the cortex, leaving Star Labs, and heading to CCPD.

-

"Julian, as much as I dread coming up here now that I don't get to see Barry Allen every time I come, I have to ask you if-" I cut himself off when I see Barry standing in front of Julian's desk of his new rearranged CSI lab, them seeing to have a conversation.

Barry turns at the sound of my voice, a boyish grin on his lips from what I decided to say entering.

"Barry- honey- hey- what're you doing here?" My footsteps slow down, and come to a stop when I'm just a few inches away from Barry.

"To pick you up for lunch-" Barry began, "But, I also had to talk to Julian about something."

Julian looks at me, ignoring my comment I had made when I came in, "What did you need, Detective?"

That was the thing about Julian and I. We made comments about each other, right in front of each other, but we always pushed it to the side, ignored it, and continued as professionals.

"I needed to know if you found anymore huskies at any of the most recent crime scenes." My gaze staying on Barry, as I spoke to Julian.

"None so far, no." Julian answered.

"Good- uhm-" My eye contact broke with Barry, I looked at Julian, "I'll be downstairs- just tell me if there's any updates, okay?"

"Will do, Detective." He nods.

I nod back, backing out of the lab, pointing at Barry, "See you downstairs."

I turn, walking out the lab fully, and I was only halfway down the steps when Barry caught up to me, grabbing my hand, interlocking our fingers.

The corner of my mouth turns up, my gaze falling onto him, "What were you guys talking about?"

"He knows something about Alchemy. And he's heard about Savitar before, he's obviously hiding something. I mean- considering he had a whole expedition about this- Philosopher's stone." Barry told me, as we continued to walk down the steps.

"What's the Philosopher's stone?" I question, coming to a stop when we had a few steps left.

"Some sort of stone that Julian spent most of his future funds on to find." Barry told him, "It supposedly gives humans- powers. Like the Particle Accelerator did to all the meta's."

"Did he ever find it?" I look at him, "Because if he did- that could mean that Julian's Alchemy."

"He never found it." Barry shrugged lightly.

"And by what he's hiding- it must be about finding that stone." I thought out loud, letting my detective skills free.

Barry opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off when we see Cecile and Joe walk to the center of CCPD. They spoke for a little, as Barry and I willingly eavesdropped from the stairs.

A minute or two later, Cecile leaves Joe alone, Barry and I taking the opportunity to talk on him instantly, jumping down the steps, making our way over to him quickly.

"Hey now- I'm totally on Cecile's side for that nog off. Grandma Millie sounds like she makes a mean eggnog." I joke, nudging Joe, winking at him.

Barry puts his hands up in surrender, as we both tried to keep our excitement contained, along with our laughter, "Hey- Grandma Esther's nog is some really good nog."

"You two are evil." Joe points at us, but couldn't help the smile that was forming on his lips.

"You guys are so cute." I let out a very squeal, clapping my hands together, "I can't wait to see you guys together at the Christmas party."

"Neither can I." Barry smiles at Joe, Joe shaking his head at us, the smile widening on his face.

Joe was happy.

"I need to go grab my purse." I kiss Barry's cheek, turning, heading to my desk.

-

[ barry's pov ]

"Anything on Savitar?" Joe asked me when Zee walks away, my hands shoved into my jacket pockets.

"No- not yet." I shook my head, grabbing my phone that was inside one of the pockets my hands was in, pulling it out, accidentally dropping a small black velvet box onto the ground.

Joe's eyes widen once his eyes land onto the tiny black velvet box. I immediately crouch down and grab the box, shoving it back into my pocket, looking to the side, looking at Zee's desk, where she was grabbing her hand purse, along with her jacket, "You don't think she saw, do you?"

"Barry-" Joe's eyes are still wide when I look back at him, "You're going to propose to her?"

"I-" I trail off, taking note that I had been caught red handed.

"When?" Joe quickly asks, his eyes glancing at Zee to make sure she wasn't coming over here.

"Soon-" I shove my hands into my jean pockets, "I've just been keeping the ring with me the entire time- I've been afraid that I'd lose it or she'd fine it. I mean- I live with her for Pete's sake."

"How are you gonna do it?" Joe questions.

"I mean- we all know Zee. She never wants too much. She's fine with the little things. She'd never want me to go over board with this if she knew I was going to propose to her." I lower my voice. "And she-"

I cut myself off when Zee walks back over to us, "Mmm- yeah- nothing on Savitar yet."

"Lets go?" Zee asks, slipping on her jacket.

"Yeah- lets go." I wrap an arm around her, kissing her head, smiling at Joe before leaving CCPD with her.

-

I toss another book to the ground, "I've read every Hindu textbook there is on mythology and spirits and demigods and nothing. No mention Savitar. Not once."

"In my experience, the answer usually tend to come in time." Jay told me, eyeing the books on the ground.

Jay Garrick had come here from Earth Three, due to my mention of Savitar to him when I went to his Earth, after dropping Zee back off at CCPD. He had decided to stay here for a while, for when Savitar decided to show up again.

"Yeah, well I can't just sit back and wait for Savitar or Alchemy to attack." I reason.

"You can't worry about what may or may not lie ahead." Jay exclaimed, "Besides, it's Christmas. A time to be with the ones you care about."

"You know, it's just that, Savitar's still out there-" I run a hand through my hair, remaining slouched in my seat.

"Yeah, but not right now." Jay reasons, "And your beautiful girlfriend is."

I look down, a smile instantly coming to my lips as the thought of Zee crossed my mind. Jay went on, "Get your head out of the books, and go, spend time with your loved ones while you still have them."

As if on cue, Zee came running in, completely out of breath, "Barry-" her head turns, as she sees Jay, "Jay? What're you- hi- how are you-"

She cuts herself off, breathing harder, trying to catch her breath, as I got up, walking over to her, rubbing her back, "Hey- breathe."

"I ran here- from ccpd-" She finally catches her breathe, her hands on her hips, clearing her throat.

"You ran here from ccpd? What was so important?" I question, crossing my arms.

"Julian." She spoke, "He lied about the Philosopher's stone."

My eyebrows furrow, "What do you mean- he lied?"

"After you told me about your conversation with Julian, I took it upon myself to do some digging of my own with my free time at work and-" She runs a hand through her hair, "Turns out, a few years ago, four scientists were killed in an excavation in India and Julian was the point person."

"Julian- he never mentioned that." I spoke, my voice lowering.

"Considering- he was obsessed with that stone for years, and he's either covering herself or someone up." She puts her hands in the back of her jean pockets.

Jay stood there listening to us, as I continued the conversation, "You think this is about Alchemy?"

"It has to be." She went on, "It's either Julian is working with Alchemy- and covering for him. Or, Julian is Alchemy."

-

[ zee's pov ]

Barry had called the team over, and we were all stood in the cortex. He had informed them what I had told him, and eventually we had gotten a ping on some sort of location for where Alchemy was.

Wally had admitted to training secretly, in attempt to go along with Jay and Barry. But the attempt failed when no one allowed it, Wally probably going to get in trouble for secretly training with HR.

Jay had gotten beat up by Savitar, but was doing alright, laying in bed here at Star Labs.

Barry had just came up from having a talking with Alchemy, who I hadn't ask was under the mask yet. We had Alchemy locked up in the pipeline, after Barry had stopped him and captured him.

I was in a room with Jay, making small talk, checking if he was okay when Barry walked in, in his suit but without the mask, holding Alchemy's mask. "How ya feeling?"

"Not so bad for a guy who got beat up by a myth." Jay chuckles lightly.

My head snaps towards Barry, "Who's Alchemy?"

He looks at me, opening his mouth to speak, but I went on before he could, "I heard that you unmasked him. Who's under the mask? Who's Julian covering for?"

"Julian- is Alchemy." Barry tells me, conforming my statement from earlier.

"Julian's Alchemy?" I repeated, "I was right?"

"You're always right." Barry wraps a arm around me, pressing a kiss to my head.

I smile lightly, closing my eyes, my voice low and raspy, "I love being so good at my job."

"You stopped him. Good job, Barry." Jay tells Barry, a smile on his face.

"It was nice, having you out there with me." Barry admits, a smile on his face also.

"Yeah, I've never had a sidekick." Jay spoke.

Barry's features switched, as his expression turned into him being fake offended, "Oh, I'm your sidekick?"

"Well, as a senior partner." Jay chuckles.

"Senior citizen is more like it." Barry also chuckles, his smile widening.

"I'll bet your dad would've been proud of you." Jay told him, causing Barry to stop laughing.

"Henry would've been really proud of how far you've come." I look at Barry, a weak smile on my face from the mention of Henry.

Jay tries to sit up, but Barry stops him quickly, "Hey, take it easy, all right? We'll see you in a bit."

Barry grabs my hand, pulling me into the cortex by Cisco and Caitlin. Barry speaks, "What do you guys think about what Julian was saying?"

"I think that every bad guy we've ever had has pretended to be our best friend, while really being a evil, murderous bastard." Caitlin said.

"I think if he's lying, he's sure believing the hell out of his own lie." Cisco stares at the screen.

A thought pops into my mind, "What if he blacks out before turning into Alchemy?"

"That's a possibility." Caitlin nods.

"Okay, what do we think about this box?" Barry asks.

"It's creepy." Cisco looks at it, "Like "Indiana Jones" melt your face creepy."

"Have you guys figured anything about it yet?" I ask.

"It's nothing." Cisco looks at us.

"Mmm-" Barry hums, "It's something."

"No, I mean that the box is literally nothing. I've run it through every possible test I could think of, MRI, x-ray, mass spectrometer, the photon shifter. Not one reading. It's like the box doesn't even exist." Cisco told us, his teeth gritting at the end of his sentence.

-

"Have you been losing time? Blacking out?" Barry asks Julian, as I stood next to him, my face tilted down so he couldn't see me or recognize me, Barry's mask on and voice vibrated. "Hours passing, waking up somewhere different? Not being sure of how you got there."

"No." Julian simply says.

"No?" Barry asks.

"No." Julian repeats, "I'm getting tired of these baseless accusations and ridiculous theories of yours."

"Julian, I'm trying to help you!" Barry raises his voice, getting slightly frustrated. "But you need to trust me."

"Says the man in a mask." Julian shot back.

I sigh, stepping into the light, showing my face, "Then trust someone who isn't in one."

"Detective? You have got to be kidding me." Julian lets out a sigh in disbelief, "You're with him on this? How the hell can you accuse me of being Alchemy?"

"No- Zee, he's right." Barry's voice wasn't vibrated anymore, his voice dangerously low, as he reaches, starting to take off his mask.

"Hey- no-" I turn my upper body and catch one of his wrists, trying to make him stop from doing this but it was too late. Barry had taken off his mask and stepped into the light next to me.

"I should've known. I should've guessed it." Julian shook his head, letting out a chuckle in disbelief, "The unexplained absences, your passion for metas, your general thumbing your nose at authority. How- she covers up for you so quickly, and uses every excuse in the book- because her boyfriend is out saving the day. I'm sure you two had a good laugh behind my back."

"I actually wish I could've told you before." Barry admits.

"Well, I know I had a good laugh-" I began, Barry removing his hands off my lips, wrapping a arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side, using his other hand to cover my mouth.

Julian chooses to ignore my comment as per usual, "So why tell me now?"

"Because I need you to trust me, Julian." Barry spoke, "You are Alchemy. I just don't think your aware of it. Now, have you been blacking out?"

"Yes," Julian admits.

"When did it start?" Barry questions, keeping my mouth covered.

Julian sighs, "My sister, Emma, does when I was 20. It really broke the family up, ya know? Mom and Dad weren't speaking, they wouldn't been stay at the house. One night, I was alone, she came back to me. She stood right in front of me, clear as day, a ghost or a vision- I don't know. But she was real."

"What happened?" Asked Barry.

"She told me about the stone. She told me where to find it, and if I got it, it would bring us back together again. And at the that point, mate, I would've done anything to have her back. And that's what I did. I mounted an expedition to India. Days we searched, weeks. Nothing. But then we found it. Next thing I remember, I woke up in a hotel room. I didn't remember anything, and that's when the blackouts started happening. There was a news report saying that every other member of my team had been found dead at the site. I panicked, I thought they were gonna blame me for their deaths, so I ran. I ran to America."

I grabbed Barry's wrist, pulling it down so it wasn't covering my mouth, "What happens when you black out, Julian?"

"How does it start?" Barry follows up from my question.

"I hear the voice." Julian says, his voice dangerously low.

I zone out, starting to feel guilty for Julian. I tune out their conversation for a minute, before the alarm starts blaring next to us.

"What's that?" Julian asked.

Barry reaches over, pressing a button, Caitlin's voice coming through, "Cisco's workshop. Guys, he opened the box."

Barry immediately runs off, as I stood frozen, trying to process everything that was going on.

"Detective- what's going on?" Julian asks me, lightly pounding on the glass to get my attention.

My head snaps up as I was already backing away quickly, "He needs to close the box."

I turn, bolting out the pipeline, running into Cisco's workshop, "Cisco!"

"I'm gonna save Dante." Cisco smiles weakly at me, holding the box in his hands, a blue light shining through it, a tear streaming down his cheek. Caitlin comes running in behind me, her eyes landing on Cisco.

"Cisco, that isn't Dante. It's Savitar." Caitlin told him, holding her hands out. "You need to close the box."

"Cisco- just give me the box." I take a step closer to him, holding my hands out for him.

"I won't lose him again." Cisco said, his expression full of determination.

"Savitar- is using your memories against you- Cisco, please- give me the box." I take another step closer.

"Cisco- we're running out of time. Please, just give Zee the box." Caitlin begged.

Cisco holds his free hand up, ready to use his powers on us, causing us to back away a little, "I will not lose my brother again!"

"Cisco, Dante is gone." Caitlin tried, "I'm so sorry, but there is nothing you can do about it. But you can save people right now."

"Cisco-" I tried to get through to him also, "If you don't close that box, Barry and Wally will die."

"Cisco, listen to us!" Caitlin shouts, as Cisco turns, saying one last thing to Dante, before shutting the box, setting it down.

I let out a huff in relief, putting my hands on my hips, Caitlin and I starting to comfort Cisco because of this.

-

"Okay, Julian, today when I was fighting Savitar, him and Alchemy had the same voice." Barry started.

"All right, what does that mean?" Julian asked, as we had him sat in a chair, surrounded by a few devices that Cisco was double checking ready to hook them up to Julian.

"I don't think there is an Alchemy." Barry shoves his hands in his pockets, "I think it's Savitar speaking through you."

"Savitar clearly possesses someone who rallies worshippers." Caitlin explains.

"But he's like a poltergeist, he needs a medium to manifest himself." Cisco went on.

"You." I look at Julian.

"Right, but what does that mean?" Julian looks at all of us.

"We think we found a way to sync your brain to the stone." Caitlin starts.

I finish for her, "And it'll allow us to speak directly to Savitar."

"If you want to try and be free of this, you need to trust us." Barry told him, keeping his hands shoved completely in his pockets.

Julian chuckles, "I've never liked you, Allen." Barry nods, and Julian went on, "Having a little seance with your friends now is not going to change that fact. You do know that."

We all stay silent, as Julian sighs, "Fine, I'll try it."

Cisco hooks up the device to Julian, "Count backwards from ten."

"Te-" and with barely finishing the first number, Julian was out.

Cisco snaps in front of his face, "That was quick."

"How long until this works?" Iris asks, staring at Julian.

"Not sure, it might take a minute for his brain waves to-" Caitlin is cut off when Julian screams, causing me to flinch and stumble back, being startled.

"Hello, Barry." Julian's voice had completely changed, "Its been a while."

"Savitar?" Barry asks, putting his hands on his hips.

"None if you are on your knees. It's a smart move to bow before a deity." Julian looks at us all, but skips past me, not noticing me.

"You're not God." Barry spoke.

"To be a god, you just have to make people believe you are." Julian keeps a straight face.

"No one believes you." Iris tells him with full confidence.

"You should, Iris. I hold the power of life and death over all of you." Julian spat at her.

Caitlin spoke up in question, "How do you know so much about us?"

"I know you, Caitlin. Cisco, Joe, Wally. The fake Wells. I know your fears and I know your weaknesses. I know you better than you know yourselves. I know your destinies. One shall betray you. One shall fall. One will suffer a fate far worse than death. This is the knowledge I have for you. About your everlasting damnation." The words seethed through Julian's teeth.

"Who the hell are you?" I finally spoke up, catching his attention.

Julian's head slowly turns, looking at me, "How are you alive?"

"What the hell do you mean by that-" Barry starts, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Because I am the future, Flash." Julian's teeth grit together.

"What do you want from us?" Barry questions.

"Everything! Everything you took from me, I want it back. And I'm gonna take it back. Then, I will destroy you." Julian shouts.

Barry steps closer, "Then why haven't you already? If you're all-powerful, then why don't you just go ahead and kill us all now, be done with it? Because you can't."

"You did this to me. You trapped me in eternity. Your future self you did this to me, Barry. And now the age of my revenge rises. My freedom is at hand. You will feel my wrath." Julian raises his voice, "The wrath of Savitar!"

Barry moves quick, pulling the wires of the device, disconnecting them, ending the communication with Savitar.

Julian sits up, panting, his eyes wide, taking off the device from his head, "Did it work?"

-

Barry and Jay had thrown the box that held the stone into the Speed Force, to get rid of Savitar for what we thought was forever.

"Barry-" I giggle, holding his face, Barry seated in a single seat, I seated on his lap, at the Christmas party hosted in the West Household. "He's letting you come back to ccpd?"

"Yeah." Barry gives me his best smile, even if I could tell his mind was wrapped around something else before I came over to him and he was at slight unease, "He told me Captain Singh didn't go through with my resignation papers- so if I wanted to go back to sharing the lab, I could."

"You're gonna do it right?" I quickly ask, "Cause I really miss seeing you up there, and I'm pretty sure I've become more of a bitch towards Julian since you left- so maybe he's just sick of my endless comments." I shrug.

"Of course I'm gonna do it." Barry laughs lightly, keeping an arm wrapped around me, slowly rubbing up and down my side.

I was dressed in a dark green skin tight dress, that went down knee length, and was short sleeved. I had black heels on, along with my hair being curled. Julian had come to the party, accompanied by Caitlin. HR was drunk out of his mind from the eggnog, earning many laughs from me due to his ridiculous behavior.

"Hey-" Barry caught my attention, "I wanna show you, your Christmas present."

"I can go grab it-" I stood up, pointing to the tree, "Which one is it?"

"It's not- under this roof actually." Barry stood up, grabbing my hand, "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Oh?-" I follow him as he pulls me to the coat rack, grabbing two of his jackets, slipping one on himself, putting the other around me, before picking me up, leaving the West Household, speeding off, running to somewhere that I couldn't quiet catch because of how fast we were going, before he sets me down at the front door.

"Cover your eyes." Barry instructs. I shoot him a look before raises my hands, closing my eyes and covering them with my hands.

Barry opens the door, putting his hand on my lower back, lightly pushing me forward as he walked, signaling for me to walk with him.

"You ready?" Barry quietly asked me, his voice in the tone of a child who had just gotten a toy for their birthday, excitement laced in his tone, as I heard him flick a light on, before putting a hand over my hands, double covering my eyes, his large hand covering both of mine.

"Yeah-" I told him, my voice low.

"Okay, open your eyes-" Barry trails off, stopping me, his touching immediately vanishing from me, his footsteps sounding against the floor as he was now in front of me, a few feet away from me, "Now."

I slowly uncover my eyes, blinking a few times, looking around where we were, my eyes landing on Barry, to see him smiling like an idiot. We stood in an empty loft, which confused me even more. "What's this? Where are we?"

"Home." Barry's smile widens, awaiting my reaction.

"H-home?" I stammer, my heels clicking as I slowly walked over to him, now standing in front of him, "What do you mean?"

"I told you- I was going to stay at your place until I found a place of my own. And I mean, your place is sorta small for two, so-" Barry holds a pair of keys in his hands, "I signed a lease and I put both of our names on it."

My eyes scanning around the loft we were standing in, tears stinging in my eyes. I made eye contact with him again, this making me feel overwhelmed with many emotions, my voice cracking lightly, "I got you a watch."

"I'm sure I'll love it." Barry keeps his gaze on me.

"This just shows how bad I am at giving Christmas presents-" A tear slipped my eye, a quiet sob leaving me, "You- you got us this- huge loft- and I got you a watch."

"I love everything you give me." Barry steps closer, holding my hands, the cold surface of the keys touching my hand. "I'm sure- I'll love the watch very much."

My lips fall into a small pout, guilt washing over me from how much my gift sucked compared to his, "We're going to officially live together. Both of our names are on the lease and everything-" Another sob leaves my lips, a small laugh following after it due to how happy I was, another tear slipping my eye.

Barry smiles, slipping the key into his pocket, grabbing my arms, wrapping them around his neck, wiping my tears away, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me close, "I know that- right here- right now- I want to spend every moment I can with you. I want to wake up to you next to me every morning- or- to the burning smell of the toast when you're attempting to make breakfast. I want to come home with take out- to see you on the couch, dressed in my clothes, looking through different case files. I want to- dance around with you- to our favorite songs when we're both off of work. I want to- chase you around the loft when you steal one of my things, trying to get my attention when I'm focused on a case. You're the first person I want to see when I wake up, and the last thing on my mind when I fall asleep."

Fresh tears stung in my eyes, as I used every working cell in me to hold them back, a cocky joke slipping out, trying to make it easier for me to hold my tears back, "I always need attention."

"You always have my attention." Barry smiles down at me, "I love you so much."

"I love you too-" I lean up, pressing my lips into his, the kiss slow and passionate.

We slowly pull away after a few seconds, a quiet squeal leaves my mouth, followed by a laugh as I engulf him into the tightest hug, the smile on my face never fading, Barry letting out a laugh, wrapping his arms around me.