The man wanted everything to end, a final release from the guilt pressing down on him without mercy. The thought carved a deep frown into Victor's expression. What kind of suffering drove someone to seek death as relief?
After a moment of contemplation, the reason became clear. The man had taken lives against his will. The burden of remembering each death, of carrying responsibility without agency, was enough to shatter even the strongest mind.
The men. The women. Murdered in cold blood. That was not something anyone could simply let go of. It would cling for life.
"You still have a life ahead of you," Victor said calmly, though guilt stirred beneath his words. Even to his own ears, they sounded hollow. He could not imagine what it was like to watch his own body commit atrocities while his mind screamed helplessly from within.
"We both know that's not true," the man replied weakly.
"What I've done… it's unforgivable."
Victor knew then that there was no salvaging this. The choice had already been made.
"She tried to help me."
There was a brief moment of silence before he decided to respond "Don't blame yourself for things beyond your control,"
He did not know why he kept trying. Maybe some part of him felt responsible for the man's suffering.
The man let out a pained chuckle. "I wasn't strong enough."
Victor did not know who she was, but it was obvious she had been someone he loved, someone he trusted completely. Losing her, especially by his own hands, must have shattered whatever remained of him.
The guilt must have been unbearable.
Victor could not imagine himself in such a position. He would not. This man had already gone beyond his limit.
"There's no convincing him at this point."
The man stared into nothingness, then turned to Victor, taking his silence as refusal. "I don't want to hurt anyone else."
Several seconds of contemplation later, Victor finally reached for a nearby gun. He hesitated briefly before pressing it against the man's chest. He didn't want to, but this was the best he could do now.
His footsteps echoed as he approached the exit. His business here was complete. At the entrance, the man's final words of gratitude followed him.
~~~
"I wanted to save him," Barry said quietly.
"Some people, when they break, can never be put back together again," Victor said arms crossed.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Wells said, sliding his glasses back into place.
The atmosphere was suffocating. Caitlin and Cisco stood behind the monitors, their gazes occasionally drifting to the news reports playing in the background.
Victor and Barry, on the other hand, shared the same expression. They had both gone after two metas, but none had returned.
Danton, defeated by Barry, had chosen to jump through a window. He chose death over imprisonment, knowing the man who murdered his wife would never face justice.
He died knowing he would never get the revenge he so desperately wanted. If he could not avenge the woman he loved, then he would join her in death.
Michael chose death out of guilt and pain. The weight of knowing he had taken so many lives was too much to bear.
Barry seemed lost in thought, He understood Danton on a level he wished he did not. His own mother had been murdered in cold blood by the man in yellow.
Worse still, his father had been imprisoned for the crime. No one believed him, but Barry knew what he had seen that night. When he finally found the man responsible, he was not sure he would be able to stop himself from seeking revenge.
"Well, at least Multiplex and Man-Bat won't be able to hurt anyone else," Cisco said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Is Man-Bat really the best you could come up with?" Victor asked, glancing at him with a mocking smile.
"I knew it. I just knew you'd have a problem with it," Cisco shot back in mock anger.
"It's pretty cool," Barry said, backing him up.
Cisco smiled widened, "Finally, someone who appreciates my work,"
Caitlin shook her head. "It's not the best you've come up with," she said, clearly siding with Victor.
Cisco expression shifted to one of deep betrayal. Then, they all turned to Dr. Wells, waiting for his verdict.
Wells chuckled softly. "It's not the worst name you've come up with, but it's certainly not the best."
Cisco sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine. I'll work on it."
"The only thing left now is getting you two some cool names," he said turning to the two, a lollipop spinning between his fingers.
A few chuckles followed, the tension easing slightly.
"You know," Barry said, speaking for both himself and Victor, "we may be the ones in the suits doing the saving, but when we're out there helping people, making a difference, you're all out there with us."
He paused, glancing around the room.
"I finally realized something," he continued. "We were all struck by that lightning."
With that, Barry turned and walked out of the cortex, his words leaving faint smiles behind.
Victor watched him go, his fists clenching. Yes, he felt guilty for what had happened, partly because the altered timeline was his fault.
But the timeline was not something he could control. Not yet. It moved on its own, shaped by countless variables beyond him. The timeline wrote itself, not him. Still, the guilt remained. It was unavoidable, unless one ceased to be human.
He could not control the timeline or the changes caused by his presence. But if there was one thing he could do, it was treat the symptoms as best he could.
Now what do I do about Thawne?
Victor glanced at the absentminded man. As much as he wanted to end him right there, he held himself back. He could handle the speedster at this point, but it would only be temporary. Thawne always returned. That was his specialty.
Count your days, Thawne. It's coming to an end very soon.
There was still a meta on the loose. A third rogue. An unknown variable.
Victor knew nothing about them, not even their abilities. The thought of an unseen meta with an unknown power made his chest tighten.
He knew how unpredictable meta abilities could be. His own biokinesis was proof enough. For all he knew, the meta could possess some form of reality manipulation.
Victor sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I really hope it's not that."
Even with biokinesis, he was not sure he could face someone who bent reality itself.
He pushed the thought aside. Worrying would change nothing. The only thing he could do was continue to grow stronger, acquire more templates, more adaptations. With enough strength, he could solve ninety-nine point nine nine percent of the problems in his way.
Shelving those thoughts for later, his mind turned to a more immediate concern. The limits he was placing on himself by not telling his aunt the truth.
If he had been honest about what he was truly capable of, he would not have had to worry about her growing suspicious over her sudden surge in strength overnight. That was why he had held back from giving her the Kryptonian template, his bootleg version free of any weaknesses.
"I have to," he muttered, the decision finally settling in place.
He had no idea how she would react once the truth came out. The possibilities branched endlessly in his mind. She might dismiss his secrecy entirely and show no reaction at all. Or she might not,
Whichever it turned out to be, he did not mind. As long as the truth was finally off his chest, the outcome hardly mattered.
After leaving STAR Labs, he stopped by his place and brought Zephyr with him. He had grown far too lenient with the bird, especially considering it was one of his most powerful creations. The decision had already been made. Zephyr would serve as the family's close-proximity guardian.
With the array of extrasensory abilities he had deliberately engineered into the bird, Zephyr was, for all intents and purposes, the perfect protector.
When Victor arrived at Jennifer's house, she was just pulling into the driveway.
"I've finally got work for your lazy ass," Victor said, glancing sideways at the bird perched comfortably on his shoulder.
Jennifer stepped out of the car, the twins following close behind. Victor waited a beat before approaching.
The moment the twins spotted him, they broke into a run, their expressions caught somewhere between excitement and confusion. Their attention was not on Victor himself.
It was the bird perched calmly on his shoulder, Zephyr was far too conspicuous to ignore.
The twins skidded to a stop a few feet away, eyes wide and sparking.
"Is that a hawk?" Matt asked, pointing.
"No," Chloe said confidently, squinting. "It's… bigger. It's a falcon."
Zephyr tilted his head, staring at the two, pupils contracting unsettlingly.
Victor smiled "Good guess, that's five points to you."
"Can I pet him," she asked expectantly.
"Of course," he said before gesturing to zephyr who reluctantly lepth and perched on her shoulder.
"He's heavy," Chloe commented with fascination, patting his head softly.
Jennifer who had been observing from a distance, couldn't help but chuckle. "Since when do you keep birds," she asked, curious. She glanced at the twin, the uncomfortable bird perched on Chloe's shoulder. " Let's go inside," she said.
Victor falled in step, following them inside. Upon arrival in the living room, Jennifer stared at the exchange between the bird and the twin before turning to Victor. " So, why a bird, I thought you were a dog person," she said turning to him curiously.
Victor scratched the back of his head hesitatly. "Yea," Victor said smiling thoughtfully. Perhaps he should have a made his own krypto he mused to himself, not that he still couldn't.
"But Zephyr is not a normal bird," he said finally, making Jennifer frown slightly in confusion.
"Not normal, how," she asked arms folding as she stared at Victor with scrutiny.
"I created him," he said fully turning to face Jennifers bewildered gaze.
"What?!"