Chapter 47 – "I Didn't Kill Him"
The morning light was thin and cold, spilling across Central City like it too didn't know how to begin the day.
Barry walked with his head down, his hands in the pockets of his jacket. Caitlin walked beside him, her gaze fixed on the pavement. Ronnie and Cisco followed quietly behind, the silence stretching between them like a thick fog.
No one said anything. Not a word. Not after what they'd seen. Not after what they'd done.
They reached STAR Labs together. The heavy door opened with its familiar hiss, and as they stepped inside, the Cortex came into view.
And there he was.
Dante.
Standing alone at the console, eyes locked on the screen in front of him. His figure was still, unmoving. He hadn't noticed them come in—or maybe he had and just didn't care.
Barry's heart lifted in his chest, a flicker of relief burning through the tension.
"Dante," he said quietly.
Dante turned around.
He looked at them—at each of them—and for a long moment, he didn't say anything. His eyes were unreadable, dark and quiet and tired.
And then he spoke.
Softly. Calmly. No anger in his voice—just something far more painful.
"I'm not mad for what you did, guys," he said. "I mean, you knew the man more than I did. So of course it's only natural not to believe me when I said he was hiding something."
No one moved. No one spoke.
He kept going.
"And especially since he died helping you… or so he showed you. So you believed it."
He stopped. Looked at them.
And for the first time, they really saw him.
Not the sarcastic Dante. Not the moody one. Not the boy who threatened Zoom or teased Cisco about anime.
Just… a twenty-two-year-old kid.
Young. Worn. Tired.
A kid who had been through hell and still came back to help them.
A kid who saved them more times than they ever realized.
And they had turned on him like wolves.
Dante's voice broke the silence again, soft as dust.
"But you blamed me," he said. "Like I was the one who killed him."
He looked at Barry. Then Caitlin. Then Ronnie. Then Cisco.
"None of you even thought about it. I said he was hiding something… and then suddenly, just that night, he comes with a solution to close the doors—the same doors you've all been trying to shut for weeks."
He tilted his head slightly, voice tinged with disbelief.
"And surprise—he dies closing the last one?"
A beat.
"None of you thought that was weird? That it didn't feel right? That maybe, just maybe, I wasn't lying?"
No one answered.
Dante's shoulders rose and fell with a breath.
"No. You just pointed your fingers at me and blamed me."
He took a step forward. His voice wasn't raised, but it filled the room like thunder.
"When really… I didn't do anything."
Another step.
"I didn't kill him."
Another.
"I didn't force him to do anything. I didn't plan anything. I didn't even touch him."
He looked right at Caitlin, and then at Cisco.
"All I did was say he was hiding something."
His eyes were sharp now. But not angry.
Just hurt.
"And now you know he was hiding something. He was Zoom. He was lying to you from the start. He played you. All of you."
He paused.
"And you think just because you came to apologize, everything will go back to normal?"
Nobody answered.
What could they say?
Dante stared at them for a moment longer.
Then, slowly, he walked to the middle of the Cortex.
He carried something in his hand. A black duffel bag.
He unzipped it and pulled out the suit.
His suit.
The one Cisco and Caitlin had made for him. Reinforced fabric. Dark blue and silver streaks. Lined with circuits. Custom built to channel and contain the unstable energy that ran through his veins.
The suit of a protector. A fighter.
He placed it gently on the ground.
"I hope you enjoy what Zoom gives you next," he said.
And then he turned, walked out of STAR Labs, and didn't look back.
.....
The team didn't move.
The silence felt heavier now.
Caitlin stepped forward, picked up the suit, and held it like it was something sacred.
Ronnie exhaled. Cisco ran a hand down his face.
Barry?
He just stared at the doors.
"I didn't kill him," Dante had said.
But the truth was, they had killed something too.
Not Jay.
Not Zoom.
But trust.
The bond that held them all together.
And now?
It was gone.
Because when it mattered most, they hadn't believed the only person who saw the truth.
They hadn't believed Dante.
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