When Barry unmasks Savitar and sees his own scarred face staring back at him, the truth hits hard: this monster is a future version of himself, born from pain, betrayal, and abandonment. But instead of reacting with fear or rage, Barry does something else—he offers him a hand.

“Come home. We’ll figure this out. Together.”

And for the first time in a long, long time… Savitar hesitates.

Against every survival instinct carved into him by years of torment and solitude, he listens. He returns to S.T.A.R. Labs. He doesn’t kill Iris. He tries.

But the rest of Team Flash can’t see past the monster. To them, he’s not Barry—he’s a mistake wearing Barry’s face.

Even Iris, kind as she is, can’t love him. Not when the real Barry is right there beside her, whole and hopeful and warm.

Savitar tries to be useful—he helps stop threats, lends his future knowledge, even saves Caitlin’s life once—but it’s never enough. He’s always met with wary glances, half-hearted trust, and locked doors.

Except from her.

She, one of Team Flash’s strongest metas, always saw Barry like family. She loved his heart, his goodness, his hope. And seeing this version of him—a time remnant of Barry torn apart by time, pain, and abandonment—does something to her.

She can’t unsee the way he flinches at kind words, like he expects cruelty to follow. She can’t ignore how he lingers in hallways after conversations, like he’s desperate to stay just a little longer. She can’t hate him—no matter how much everyone else tries to.

Because underneath the armor, beneath the scars, is a man who once had everything ripped away. A man who never stopped loving people who forgot how to love him back.

And without meaning to… she starts to fall for him.

Not because he looks like Barry. Not because she pities him. But because he’s still capable of love, even after the world tried to rip that out of him.

And Savitar, for the first time in his existence, finds himself wanting to be someone better—not for revenge, not to prove himself to the team, but because she believes he can be.