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5-seconds-of-bucky · 4 years

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Tasty Pastry (Baker!Shawn au)

A/N: Hello lovely people! I attempted to make an angsty baker!Shawn, and I must say, I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. Thanks for your support and happy reading! :)

Summery: Life at the bakery is great until the unpredictable happens and Shawn blames it all on you

Word Count: 4.2k+

Warnings: Swearing, angst

“Thank you, your muffin will be out in a minute,” you said to the customer with a smile. They smiled politely with a nod and stepped aside for the next person in line. There was no one behind them though, so you went ahead and started working on their order.

It was an unusually slow day for the bakery. You were usually hopping at eight in the morning. Perhaps you could attribute the lack of business to the gloomy day. People were probably headed to coffee shops where they could get a good dose of caffeine instead of a bakery to fix their sweet tooth.

Shawn walked up behind you as you turned around to grab a box for the muffin, causing you to smack right into him. His hands grabbed your shoulders, making sure you weren’t going to fall down.

“Fancy meeting you here, darling. We’re gonna need more flour soon,” he said with his signature grin.

“Didn’t we buy a ton not too long ago?” you asked as you maneuvered around him to grab the box.

“Yeah but I was experimenting on that new cake and we had a huge cupcake order last week.” He waved to the waiting customer and went to fix something on the chalkboard menu.

“I’ll add it to the list.” You walked over to the clear case on top of the counter that held a number of pastries, taking out a blueberry muffin and putting it in the box before handing it to the customer. “Have a great day.”

They nodded once again and left, leaving just you and Shawn in the bakery. It was the perfect day to experiment with some new creations.

“Think I’m gonna try to make that cheesecake recipe you sent me the other day,” he said once he finished writing. “But I’m going to make it just red berries instead of mixed.”

“Okay, well I have to go to the bank at some point to make a deposit so are you good to hold down the fort for thirty minutes or so?”

“Why don’t we go together after closing and grab dinner? We haven’t had a date night in a while.”

“Ooh, yes! We definitely need a date night”

The day continued on as expected; a few people here and there but nothing exceptionally busy. The smell of whatever Shawn was making was absolutely divine, and you found yourself peaking your head in every couple minutes to see how it was going. He had three different versions of that cheesecake going on while he was also making a few batches of cupcakes and cinnamon rolls.

“You’re back again?” he laughed when you walked back there for what must have been the 50th time in the past hour.

“The display case needs to be refilled, okay? Stop belittling me. Besides, cinnamon rolls are amazing and I know you love seeing my beautiful face every two seconds.” You winked at him as you pulled out a tray and placed a variety of pastries on it.

“You’re not wrong about that.” Two years of marriage and he would never get tired of your teasing. He continued staring at you as you loaded the tray. He remembered the day he proposed to you in that very spot like it was yesterday.

“This is going to take forever to clean up,” you laughed as you motioned to the mess of flour and batter on the counters around you. “Why did you think it was a good idea to make such an extravagant cake at two in the morning?”

“It was in the name of science! We had to do it!” He held up a whisk and bopped your apron with it, leaving a bit of egg on the green material.

“We have to be up early to drive to my parents house! Why did I let you talk me into this?” There was a smile behind that scold, and he knew you could never actually be mad about spending time with him.

“Because you love me! Admit it!” He wrapped his arms around you from behind, using a finger to swipe some flour off the counter and wipe it on your cheek.

“Gross!” you giggled. “I would never.”

“You sure about that?” His head rested on your shoulder and he gave you a smirk.

“I mean, what crazy person would a good looking man who can bake?” You leaned your head into his.

“I think you do.” You both giggled and he pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek. “We should probably clean up.”

It was quiet as you wiped everything down, the only noise being the hum of the refrigerator and your footsteps as you moved around the kitchen.

“Almost ready to go?” you asked as you shook out your apron and hung it in the wall.

“Yeah, one second. I need to grab something.” He walked towards you, stopping a few feet away and opening a drawer. He reached to the back, fumbling around before pulling out a small black box. Your eyebrows furrowed as you tried to figure out what it was and why you hadn’t seen it earlier.

He came towards you again. “I thought about putting it in a cupcake or something but I didn’t want the ring to get all sticky so I used my better judgement there,” he laughed nervously, bending down on one knee. “I’ll skip all the sappy stuff cause that’s not your thing. So, to keep it short: I really, really love you, Y/N. Will you marry me?”

You stared at him in shock. You had been dating for three years but you never saw a proposal coming.

“Yeah,” you laughed nervously. “Yeah, I’ll marry you.”

He let out a quiet yes as he stood up and grabbed you into a hug. You were both laughing through tears of joy and you swayed side to side.

“I can’t believe you proposed at two forty-five in the morning.”

He couldn’t do anything but smile.

“You alright?” you asked with a raised eyebrow, snapping him back to the present.

“Yeah, just thinking.”

“Less thinking, more baking.” You picked up the tray and walked over to him, kissing the top of his head and walking out of the kitchen.

Two hours later, you were cleaning everything up and getting ready to close shop. Your backpack was already on your back and you worked quickly, wanting to get to the bank before it closed.

“I’ll take that,” Shawn said, taking your backpack off your shoulder and hoisting it onto his own.

“Why thank you, my dear.”

“My pleasure, m’lady.” He threw an arm over your shoulder as you exited the bakery for a well deserved date night.

Shawn hummed at something you said as you walked back home, seeming distracted from the conversation.

“What’s up? You seem in your head.”

“It’s nothing,” he mumbled. “You locked up before we left, right?”

“Uhh . . .” You racked your brain, trying to remember if you did. “Maybe?”

“I just wanna check before we go home.”

You nodded, and neither of you said anything as you walked there. Shawn furrowed his eyebrows and you felt him tense up next to you as the bakery came into view. He walked faster, causing you to have to pick up the pace as well.

You understood why he was so tense once you reached the front of the store.

“What the-”

Shawn shot out an arm in front of you, his body partially covering you as he looked through the window. “Stay behind me.”

The bakery was a mess. The door was slightly ajar and Shawn could see overturned chairs and the broken display case through the windows.

“What’s going on?” you asked, trying to peek around him.

“I said stay back,” he growled. You stopped trying to see past him, knowing that fighting him when he was protective usually didn’t get you far.

“I’m going in. Stay here.”

“No, I’m going in.” Despite the previous fact, it was your bakery too, and you deserved to see what happened to some degree.

He glared at you and you glared right back. He eventually gave up, knowing you were too stubborn to let him go in alone. “Fine, just please, stay behind me in case someone’s still in there.”

He eased the door open and flicked on the lights. The bakery was a disaster. Chairs were strewn everywhere, posters on the wall torn to shreds, the glass display case you used to hold pastries was shattered, and the cash register was smashed on the ground.

“Oh my God,” you whispered, placing a hand on Shawn’s shoulder. You could feel the anger rolling off of him and you gave it a small squeeze in hopes it would help calm him to the slightest.

He made his way to the back kitchen with you following close behind. The cafe area was bad, but the kitchen looked like three tornadoes went through it. Pastries were smeared over the walls and floor, utensils were thrown everywhere, and the fridge had been left open, making sure everything that wasn’t smashed was spoiled.

“Stay here and call the police. I’m going to check to make sure there’s nobody lurking.”

You didn’t fight him this time. Shawn left slowly, taking calculated movements in case someone was still in the bakery.

He came back as you were finishing up and shook his head.

“Nobody in the shop. Doesn’t look like anything is missing. I just don’t get why,” he said, leaning against a counter and running a hand through his hair. “It looks like they just came to mess with stuff, not take anything.”

“I don’t know. The dispatcher said to check security tapes but since we don’t have any, there’s not much we can do.”

The thing was, Tasty Pastry was located in an older part of town. All of the buildings around it had been around for generations and most businesses never bothered putting up extra security measures. The likelihood of having someone else’s cameras catch whoever did this were slim to none, considering most didn’t have any.

“If you just locked the fucking door,” he muttered under his breath. You heard it anyways and it stung, but you let it slide. He was frustrated.

You stared at your feet until the police showed up. They took statements and went to investigate the scene, leaving you and Shawn standing outside until they finished.

“How could you forget to lock the door? You do it every day,” he said, arms crossed and head leaned against the brick wall of the bakery. A breeze blew by and you shivered, finding yourself wishing you hadn’t left your jacket at home that morning.

“I’m sorry, it must’ve just slipped my mind,” you said, twisting your wedding ring back and forth.

“Slipped your mind?” he laughed sadly.

“I’m sorry, Shawn. I was just-”

“It just slipped your mind, Y/N? Do you see what happened? This one thing that ‘slipped your mind’ is going to cost us a fortune.”

“I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration.”

“Oh, really? We’re going to have to close for at least three days; three of our busiest days of the week to clean everything up. Not only that, but we have to buy all new ingredients too. We’re going to lose time trying to get back on schedule for orders and keeping up with everyone else coming in. Time is money, Y/N. You’re downplaying this situation way too much,” he scoffed, kicking a pebble with his worn out sneakers.

“Look, Shawn. I know it’s my fault and I deserve all the blame, but we can bounce back from this. It’s a minor setback.” You turned to face him.

“Minor setback, huh? We have to replace the display case, all of the pastries and upcoming orders, keep up with the demand. That’s not a minor setback.”

“We’re going to be fine. Accidents happen; we’ll get through it.”

“Accidents happen?” he raised his voice and you flinched slightly. “Look at what happened because of this accident, Y/N. Look at this mess you made.” He gestured to the inside of the bakery and you knew he was right, but his tone was a little harsh. He was right to be mad at you, but that didn’t mean that he had the right to talk to you like that.

“I think I need to go home,” you said quietly, pushing yourself off the wall and dusting off your pants.

“You’re going home at a time like this? Nice, Y/N. That’s real nice.”

“Well where the hell am I supposed to go? You obviously don’t want me here.” You threw your hands out in exasperation. “We’re both upset right now and I don’t think you want me around, so I’m going home.” With that, you turned in the other direction to walk home. Shawn didn’t even call after you, just watched as your figure grew smaller and smaller in the distance.

Considering all the events that had just happened, you’d think your mind would be swirling with thoughts and anxiety. How are we going to fix the shop? Does Shawn hate me now? This is all my fault. Surprisingly though, your mind was blank as you trudged on the sidewalk. All you could do was count your steps until you got home.

You sighed when you reached the front door, patting your pockets to find your key. You frowned and patted again, only finding your phone. That was when you realized that your keys were in your backpack, which was at the bakery. Great.

You leaned your head against the door, whispering a soft “shit” to yourself as a tear feel. A breaking and entering, fight with your husband, and getting locked out of your house. Could this day get any worse?

You pulled out your phone to call Shawn, finding yourself half hoping he wouldn’t pick up. Which was worse: waiting outside in the cold for him to come home who knows when or call him to admit you locked yourself out?

The phone was ringing before you could decide and you leaned your back against the door, trying to shield yourself from the cold and hoping your husband would pick up.

“You’ve reached Shawn. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you soon!”

“Dammit, Shawn!” You dropped your head to your chest. All you wanted was to go inside and go to sleep.

You stood there for a few minutes, debating if it was worth it to break a window to get in, when you remembered that you had a spare key hidden on the deck behind the house.

You walked around to the backyard to grab the key, sighing in content once you were inside the warm house. You were ready for bed in ten minutes and knocked out well before Shawn made it back.

Shawn stood in the doorway of your bedroom, watching you breath and feeling only the slightest bit guilty. It was one in the morning and he was exhausted beyond belief, yet he couldn’t bring himself to lay down next to you.

He was still mad out of his mind, but he knew it was wrong to yell at you like he did. It was a strange feeling to have; simultaneous anger and guilt. He finally laid down, keeping as much distance as possible between you.

Needless to say, he didn’t sleep well that night.

You woke up around 6 that morning, Shawn on the complete opposite side of the bed. Seeing him so far away broke your heart. You weren’t people to sleep overly close to each other, but he was never facing the other way, far away as possible.

You got out of bed and dressed quickly, trying to stay quiet so he wouldn’t wake up. He didn’t look as peaceful as he usually did when he was asleep, and you couldn't help but blame yourself for it.

You left him a short note before leaving for the bakery:

Went to the bakery to start cleaning up. See you later. Love you!

You assumed he would sleep late and show up later in the day. By 6:45, you were out of the house and ready for a long day of putting things back together.

You checked the clock for the 100th time that day. 12:37 in the afternoon and Shawn still hadn’t shown up. You had done nothing but clean for the past five and a half hours, yet you couldn’t find it in yourself to take a break. The mess was your fault, after all.

You found yourself sitting down, calling Shawn about an hour later. It went straight to voicemail, which didn’t surprise you all that much. That didn’t mean it didn’t sting though.

“Hey, babe. I’m at the shop. About halfway done with the cleaning and I’m gonna order supplies before I leave. Hope everything’s okay at home. I’ll see you later, I guess. Okay, love you. Bye.”

He’s probably just busy, you thought. Nothing to worry about.

Shawn was staring at his phone when you called him, actually. He felt conflicted as he clicked the decline button. He wasn’t that angry with you anymore; it wasn’t really all your fault. He could’ve locked the door. If anything, he felt guilty for yelling at you, but he was worried you were just going to yell at him for not coming in to help.

He shouldn’t have let you walk alone last night or even that morning. There were so many alleyways along the walk to the bakery, and he always made sure you were with him or on the phone with him when you walked home; well, almost always.

What if you were walking back and you needed him? What if something happened at the shop? The more and more he thought about it, the more he regretted not answering your call.

His worries were calmed when he listened to the voicemail, though. You didn’t even sound upset with him, just tired. What time did she leave?

Within five minutes of listening to the voicemail, he knew he needed to go to you.

You were ordering ingredients when you heard someone walk in. It was 5:15 and you were beyond exhausted.

“Sorry we’re-” you looked up to see Shawn, hands in his pockets, a guilt-ridden look on his face. “closed.”

You both stared at each other for a minute, neither having the courage to break the tension. You eventually looked back to your computer, deciding to finish the order before Shawn decided to yell at you for messing everything up again.

Shawn silently took a stool up to the counter, sitting across from you and patiently waiting for you to finish. He looked up from his hands every once and awhile, seeing how the stress of the day was manifesting in your demeanor: slouched posture, head resting on your hand, eyes blinking so slow you sometimes looked like you were falling asleep. Knowing he was half the reason for it only made him feel even worse.

How do you nicely tell your wife she looks like shit?

His eyes shot up when he heard the soft click of your laptop closing. You placed your hands on top of it and fiddled with your ring, trying to find the right words to say.

“Last night . . .” you paused. What was the right way to address this? “I know it’s my fault, and I deserve every bit of the blame. I get why you’re mad.” You couldn't find it in yourself to look up at him.

Your voice was devoid of emotion and he almost hated that you weren’t yelling at him for going off on you the night before.

“Y/N, I shouldn’t-”

“Please, just let me say what I need to say. Then you can yell at me all you want.”

“I’m not-”

“Shawn.” It was stern, almost pleading with him to just let you finish. He lazily crossed his arms over his waist, leaning forward, waiting for you to continue.

“I get why you’re mad, and I’m really, really sorry. But even if it was my fault, I don’t think you should’ve talked to me like that last night.”

Amidst your talking, Shawn found himself wondering what exactly you had done that day. The bakery looked pretty good considering the circumstance. With an exception of the broken ones, most of the chairs and tables were back in the right places. Pastry remnants were no longer visible on the floor and the kitchen appeared to be fairly put back together. Did she even stop to take a break? Did she eat today? How long had she been here?

“Okay, you can yell at me now.”

“Wha- Why do you think I want to yell at you?”

“You were pretty pissed last night and you’ve been ignoring me all day.”

“No I . . .” He reached across the counter to grab your hands in his own, squeezing them slightly and hoping you would squeeze back. “I came to apologize.”

You left your hands limp in his and his heart sunk. It was such a little gesture, yet it meant so much to him.

“I shouldn’t’ve yelled at you. I was frustrated and upset but you didn’t deserve that. Truth is, I could’ve locked the door. It’s just as much your fault as it is mine. I’m not even mad at you, to be honest.”

“So you’re not mad at me?” You looked at him with slight disbelief. “Then where were you all day?”

“I was at home . . . debating if I should come in or not.”

You pulled your hands out of his, wiping them on your jeans before letting out a sarcastic laugh. “So, you stayed home all day, let me clean up a mess we’re both responsible for, and thought you could say three sentences and everything would be okay?”

He kept his eyes down, feeling even more shame in the moment.

“Wow. Wow, Shawn. You really let me do all the work while you sat at home?”

“Y/N-”

“You know what? I’m going home. I’ve been working non-stop for eleven hours. I’m tired, hungry, and I don’t have time to deal with your bullshit.” You shoved your laptop into your backpack and tossed it over your shoulder.

“Y/N, please.”

You were out the door before he could say anything else, turning right on the sidewalk and making your way home. It pained him to watch you go, but he didn’t know if going after you was the right thing to do in this situation.

He had no idea what to do, so he did the one thing he knew to do: bake.

He somehow managed to find enough ingredients for cinnamon rolls within various cabinets. Between random bags of flour that were never finished off before a new bag was started and the other random things he found, he was bound to be able to piece the recipe together. Cinnamon rolls were your weakness, and while they wouldn’t fix the issue, they sure couldn’t hurt.

At home, meanwhile, you contemplated if you were overreacting to the situation. Shawn had his own troubles he had to deal with. You were both in rough spots and different ways of dealing with them. Still, that didn’t justify him ignoring you all day.

You decided to just wait until he came home.

Shawn came back at 8:45 that night. You were scrolling through your phone, almost falling asleep on the couch from the long day when you heard the sound of the door opening and Shawn’s footsteps entering the house. Your head shot up at the noise and he noticed you on the couch right away.

“I come with peace,” he said, holding out the box of cinnamon rolls in front of himself. You let out a small laugh and watched as he made his way over to the couch, putting the box in between you before taking a seat.

“I know you’re mad at me,” he started, staring at the ground with such intensity you thought he would burn a hole through it. “And you have every right to be. I shouldn’t have yelled at you or ignored you. I really need to apologize, and I’m so, so sorry, Y/N. I know it isn’t going to fix much, but I really am.” He looked up to see you looking right back at him. There was a conflicting look of emotion on your face, but he couldn’t figure out quite what it was.

“I’m not that mad at you for yelling at me anymore. To be fair, I shouldn’t have yelled at you either. I just don’t get why you ignored me. I mean . . . I don’t get it.” You rested an elbow on your thigh, leaning your head onto your hand and looking at Shawn’s knees.

“There was no reason.” You frowned “I was worried you were going to yell at me, which I guess happened anyways.” He let out a light chuckle. “I’m just an idiot.”

You nodded your head and sat up straight. “Can’t disagree with that.”

He smiled and shook his head. “What can I do to make it up to you?”

“Accept my apology for yelling at you and eat these cinnamon rolls with me?”

“That’s way too easy but I’ll take it.” You both took out a cinnamon roll and clinked them before taking a bite.

Oh, the wonders of Tasty Pastry.

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@aelingalthynius @musicalkeys @voguesir @lonelyreputation @fallinallincurls

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saiilorstars · 4 years

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It Had To Be You

Ch.8: Focus // [Story Masterlist]

Pairings: Barry Allen x Original Female Character

Summary: Barry tries to move on after Belén suddenly left the city, but in doing so he begins to harbor resentment towards her.

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

In the following morning after going against 'Captain Cold', Barry thought a good (and hopefully civilized) talk with Belén was in order. Since she had no more classes, he assumed she would either be at home or at her job. Calling would've been pointless since she hadn't answered any of his calls the previous night so guessing was all he had to go by.

He was knocking incessantly on Belén's front door - he was hoping her father wasn't there so he wouldn't have to awkwardly explain the reason behind his pounds on the door. After five minutes of knocking, he gave up. Giving it one quick scope with his speed he finally concluded that no one was home.

That left CC Pictures.

"Hi, Barry," Linda greeted him from her desk when he walked in.

"Linda," Barry headed for her desk while taking a look at the current employees rushing about. He assumed after the tumbling train and cold gun incident, the news was buzzing with new articles. "I need to talk to Belén. Can you call her?"

Linda's face scrunched in confusion. "Barry, I thought you knew."

"Knew what?"

"Belén called in last night - she's left the city."

Barry's eyebrows raised, equally confused as the reporter. "She...she...she what?"

Linda rose from her chair, lightly tapping her knuckles on her desk. "I was hoping to bump into you or one of her other friends so that someone could explain this. She called in last night and said she was going to be taking a break. She understood her job here could be lost but she seemed very determined to leave."

"Did...did she give you any sort of reasoning?" Barry asked, the wave of guilt not wasting time in hitting. "Or, where she went to?"

"Nothing just that she needed a break," Linda shrugged, clearly doubtful that it was the truth. "I told her her job was safe. But, between you and I, if she's gone for a long time I won't be able to help her later on. You think you can pass on the message?"

Even though he had no idea where Belén could've possibly gone, he still nodded his head. "Yeah…"

"Barry?" Linda called when Barry was already halfway back to the doors. "Do you know why Belén would just pick up and leave?"

"Uh…"

"I mean, I know she's gone through a lot of stuff lately but if she wanted to do something like this she would've done it a long time ago…"

Barry swallowed hard and forced himself to shake his head. "N-no...not at all…"

Linda seemed to trust him but looked no less disappointed. With a polite smile, they bid goodbye and Barry rushed to go find the missing (possible) metahuman.

~ 0 ~

2 Months Later.

"Felicity, I'm here, but are you sure this is the place?"

"Positive, Belén. There's been tons of break-ins into this jewelry store by that gumbo woman."

"Plasticine, you meant Plasticine."

"Eugh, that's still a creepy name."

Belén rolled her eyes and came to a stop in front of the jewelry store that barely had any customers inside. It seemed like a perfectly normal jewelry store yet she has discovered - thanks to the wonderful techy powers of Felicity Smoak - that this was a preferred robbing spot for the metahuman known as Plasticine.

"Belén," came Oliver Queen's voice through her earpiece, "Remember what I told you to do."

"Yes, yes," Belén's eyes - which were hidden behind tendrils of vines forming a nice mask with small Azaleas decorating its corners - quickly glanced down at her hands. She flexed them over and over as she saw spots of green trying to make its way across her skin. No, she told herself. That needed to go away. "I learn fast, remember?" she answered in a perfectly normal voice, nothing that would ever indicate what she was trying to desperately hide.

"Two months is hardly fast."

"Shut up," Belén commanded and she was sure Felicity had done something from the other line to make it so.

As Belén's eyes re-opened, this time more focused on her task. Her ombre-blonde hair, which had been picked up into a high pony-tail, were being overun by thin roots with green vines that contained several small azaleas throughout its course. It was just enough to cover her blonde tips (in case any civilian identified it and configured back to her).

Her dark green leather jacket, whose green shade faded midway to turn into a hot pink just like her pants, was zipped closed as she burst into the store.

"Customers," her perfectly modulated voice (thanks to Felicity's addition to the earpiece) made everyone in the building stop, "get out."

See, the good thing about Central City now was that when some crazed leather bound person ordered those three words people listened in a snap. When customers had ran out, Belén sealed the door by wrapping her vines all over them.

"Freeze!" came the predicted security guard behind her.

"Belén," Oliver's voice warned the young woman before she made her move.

"I know," Belén rolled her eyes and thrust a hand back to the guard. A thick green vine had shot out from her palm and swiftly snatched the gun from the officer, breaking it two before letting it drop to the floor. "I don't mean to hurt anyone," she addressed the rest of the people in the room, "I need to talk to a certain employee: Alizae Fraye."

The woman in question squeaked in terror and instantly had Belén turning in her direction. Belén felt a little guilty since she already knew the woman thanks to her sister. She hoped neither would ever found out about this.

"I don't want to hurt you," Belén clarified. "I'm only here to ask questions."

The woman, a brunette, gave a light nod but it didn't mean she wasn't terrified.

"Belén, there's about two minutes before the police get there," Felicity called from the earpiece.

"Get in, and get out," added Oliver.

"A woman in purple, shoots some sort of purple gumbo, she comes here to steal every month or so. Correct?"

Alizae nodded.

"But she never hurts anyone does she?"

Alizae shook her head.

"And whenever she comes in, she always come straight for you. Why?"

Alizae shrugged. "I…don't know…" she croaked.

Belén looked around the room, the people paralyzed with fear of what she would do next. "There has to be a connection here," her voice hardened intentionally. "A woman with powers comes in here every month - always on the same day and time - and she takes a couple priceless jewelry then makes a clean getaway."

"She knows what she's coming for," the guard that had tried to shoot her was now helping, apparently.

That was a good thing, Belén smiled.

"It's like she knows where everything is," Belén acknowledged his help with a light nod.

"From the moment she got here," a third employee spoke up, a male, "she knew where everything was. Like...like…"

"She had already visited the store before," Belén finished for him. "See, I can understand that. She's clever, she scopes out her place before robbing it. What I can't understand is why she always comes to you," she pointed a pink nailed polished finger at Alizae. "Why you?"

"I swear to you I don't know," Alizae whimpered.

"And she doesn't hurt anyone either," Belén continued on. "This is like a normal day at the grocery store for her. But see, here's another thing: she's big and bad with her powers so she can do far better than measly jewelry here - no offense," she quickly added, "Why settle for this?"

"She says she doesn't like doing it," Alizae dared to reveal. "I can see it too - in her eyes - that she does it with hesitancy."

"Useful," Belén thought and looked up at the cameras. With both her hands she shot out vines and smashed them to pieces. "Sorry," she honestly said to the others, "I didn't steal nor hurt anyone but I still don't want trouble. This was interesting, thank you all."

With a wide smile, she let her vines enclose themselves around her body and in a snap, they fled the building.

~ 0 ~

"I should be leaving," Belén walked alongside Nina, the latter in regular clothes. The dark, lonesome street allowed for an uninterrupted conversation between the two.

"If you truly believed that then we wouldn't have left our suitcases back at my place," Nina smirked.

"Yeah, but...I don't know, I'm nervous," Belén bit on one of her nails.

"Course you are - you've changed."

"Thanks, Nina," Belén rolled her eyes. "I feel better, and I'm going to be better. It's just seeing them all…"

The two women trailed off at the sound of a police sirens. They exchanged concerned looks before running towards the scene. It appeared there had been an explosion of some sort. The consequences were grave but what really took it home was the man hanging onto a loose window scaffold.

"Help! Help!" the man frantically cried from the top.

"That's gotta be at least forty feet high," Nina raised her eyebrows.

Belén stepped fowards, turning her palms upwards. "Hmm…"

"Bells, don't," Nina warned when she saw the idea forming into Belén's mind.

"Why not? This is why I left in the first place. Besides, it's not the first saving I'd be doing."

"Yeah, but do this, and you could get caught by that someone you say you're not ready to bump into."

"That man is going to die and I'm not gonna let it happen because of silly nervousness." Belén made her declaration with the utmost honesty. Without hearing Nina's next response, she rushed off to go help the poor man that was literally hanging from a tearing rope.

She tilted her head and cracked her neck, simultaneously stretching her hands. Nina was right, the man was up at least forty levels and she hadn't quite stretched her powers that far. She needed to be extra careful. She cast another look at her hands and saw the same greeness trying to make its presence. I said no. She balled them up and backtracked a little before thrusting her right hand forwards and released one of her thick vines. It stuck to the wall like a suckers and she did the same with her other hand, landing the second vine rope-like mass. Using them like anchors, she brought herself up. Ignoring the fact she was oh-so-many-feet high, she got onto the falling scaffold, using one of her vines to keep it to a regular position.

"It'll be alright," she assured the awed and terrified man. "It's gonna feel weird, but I'll get you down," she promised.

Multiple vines extended from her body and wrapped around the man's body. Belén admitted there was the adrenaline she grew to love from doing stuff like this. It was rather wonderful knowing you could have peoples' lives in your hands - or in this case vines - and that you could keep them protected when no one else could.

Those were her thoughts as she watched her vines lower the man down the building. She gently let him down to the ground.

And then she got a crazy idea she knew Nina would scold her about later. She let herself drop headfirst and laughed as she put her hands together. They created an extra thick vine that helped her land with a front handspring move.

It would've been a perfect ending if there hadn't been a watcher nearby.

"Wo-oah…" she sucked in a breath at the sight of her good friend Iris West standing across.

Iris looked wonderstruck of all she saw - and with great reason!

Belén's first instinct was to look down. Her mask would only cover her so much, and she was no where near ready to try her...other side. But, her hair tips were covered with stringlets of roots and flowers till it covered up her identifiable blonde tips.

Iris thought for sure she had squeaked then. Yes, she was sure.

She made a step towards Belén but in the next second vines had entangled themselves around Belén and taken her away from the scene.

~ 0 ~

In Jitters, Barry sat alone at a table waiting for Iris to come over with his ordered coffee. It was a particularly casual day, waiting for STAR Labs to come up with an identity for the person who mysteriously bombed an elite storage room the previous night. This case, however, was more interesting than any other case: the army had come to take it over. Just like that, they swept up the case with all its compartments and took off.

But, Barry managed to snag the most important part of the evidence and got it to STAR Labs right away for analyzation.

"Oh my God," Iris' voice made him snap out of his thoughts. She was coming over with her pot of coffee, but her eyes were stuck past him to the doors. "Barry, look."

He followed her gaze and glanced back to see Nina Clarke coming. On any other occasion, the appearance would've been normal…

2 Months ago:

"Hey," Barry greeted Caitlin as he walked in, the bio-engineer anxiously looking up at him.

"How'd it go?" she asked.

"Not good," Barry leaned against the side of the desk. "Get this, Nina took an absence of leave-" he did air quotation marks, "-from the hospital this morning. I checked her apartment and she wasn't there anymore."

"That's highly suspicious," Caitlin made a face.

"Very," Barry agreed. "Belén leaves last night, and then today one of her friends does the same? And with no specific reason?"

"You think she's where Belén is?"

"Of course. But question is, where?"

At that moment, Cisco strode into the room, and he looked nowhere pleased.

"How'd it go with you?" Barry asked him, though by the big sigh Cisco gave he could tell it wasn't going to get better.

"I talked to Bells' dad and he said he had no idea Belén was going to do this," Cisco plopped down in one of the desk chairs.

"Did you believe him?" Caitlin arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he was looking worried too," Cisco shrugged. "But he knows where she is now-" and just as Barry opened his mouth he added, "-and he said Bells told him not to say anything. She wanted a 'break'."

"Looks like Belén doesn't want to be found," Caitlin concluded with the obvious facts. She leaned back on her chair, sadly smiling at her two friends. "I think we need to respect her decision."

"But that's just it!" Barry exclaimed suddenly, startling the two. "It was a stupid, rash decision! She left the city because of me! Because I...I lied."

The pang his heart gave was a painful one.

"Do you think Bells is back too?" Iris quietly whispered to Barry as the two watched Nina go up to the counter to order.

Out of everyone, Iris was the most concerned of Belén's friends. She really had no idea what possessed Belén to get up and leave the way she had. No one seemed to know where Belén had run off to, nor her reasons. Even her graduation party had been cancelled because of her sudden departure. Her father had picked up her certificate from the office the day before the graduation ceremony took place. As far as Iris knew, Linda had hired some newly graduated student to cover Belén's position in the meantime the woman was gone.

Overall, Iris was confused and she just missed her friend.

"We should talk to her," Iris resolved and glanced at Barry for his opinion. He was mildly glaring at the nurse and while Iris could understand (in some way) his annoyance with the abrupt leave, she hit him in the arm. "It's not her fault Bells left! Don't you dare ruin this," she warned with a finger before going to greet Nina.

Nina wasn't surprised to find the younger woman taking her order. She politely smiled. "Hello, Iris."

"Nina, it's been a long time," Iris mustered her gracefulness and patience for this conversation.

"Has it?" Nina chuckled.

"Only been two months but...who's counting?" Iris chuckled alongside but it was easily fake as Nina's. "Can I get your order?"

"Espresso, please."

Iris nodded and dotted it on the register. "So...are you back in the city for good now?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Nina answered, reaching for her wallet inside her bag. "I had to take care of some personal stuff."

"Did that 'personal stuff' also require Belén?"

Nina didn't seem fazed by the question as she handed Iris a ten dollar bill. Her smile was gone but her voice was still polite. "Actually, it was personal matters for each of us."

Iris accepted the bill and worked with the register. "Was it resolved?"

"Hm, yes, in a way, it was."

"And is she okay?"

"In what fits, Iris, yes. She's finally accepted her brother's death but how well can a sibling be when they accept that their twin is dead and with no recovered body to mourn?"

Iris had held out Nina's change and was left to think about the question with a decent amount of guilt. She had never thought about Belén leaving for her brother. Truthfully, at one point, Iris believed Belén was just doing this on purpose. How was she supposed to know this was about Rayan?

"Is she back now?" she whispered. "Is she back in the city?"

Nina took her change and put it back into her wallet. "I'll wait over there," she pointed to a lonesome table near the doors then left.

Iris glumly went to prepare the espresso. It was then that Barry got up to take his opportunity.

"Hello Barry," Nina greeted without so much of a glance from her phone screen. "How's it going?"

"Are you serious?" the hard tone in his voice made her chuckle.

"Oh, don't tell me you're mad. Out of everyone you are the least person with the right to be mad."

"I don't think it's funny when a friend disappears and has all of us going crazy wondering what happened."

Nina finally raised her eyes to the metahuman, and her sarcasm was no longer with her. "She's fine, Barry. She left because she thought it was the right thing to do for her. It has nothing to do with what fell out between you two."

While it did relieve Barry somewhat it wasn't enough. He took a seat across her, earnestly speaking. "Where is she? Where did she go?"

Nina just smiled at him. "You'll see her again, don't worry."

"That's not what I'm asking," Barry snapped. "Where the hell did she go?"

"She won't be the same, though," Nina warned, acting as if Barry hadn't said anything yet.

"That's not what-"

"She's a bit scared though of how you'll react - how everyone will react…"

"Nina!" Barry had slammed a hand on the table, not loud enough to cause a distraction but enough to make the doctor flinch on her spot. "I have spent the last two months going crazy wondering where it is she could've gone to. I get it, I messed up, and she's mad. But the least she can do is give us a call to let us know she's fine."

Nina bit her lip, looking reluctant of her next words. "The thing with her brother, it's part of the reason why she left. I love her, I really do, but I'm afraid what's gonna happen now that...that she's…"

"Now that she's…?" Barry motioned her to keep going.

"Here's your espresso," Iris chirped and set down the coffee cup on the table. She looked between Nina and Barry, getting strange vibes from them. "Um...am I interrupting?"

"No," Nina picked up her espresso and got up. "It was nice seeing you guys. I have to get to my shift. Bye."

"Well that was strange," Iris sighed and looked over to Barry. "Did she tell you anything about Bells?"

Barry was left in an even fouler mood than before. "No," he answered shortly and also got up.

"Do you think if we-"

"I have to go Iris," was his last statement before promptly (and what Iris deemed as rudely) leaving as well.

He had only made it halfway down the street when his phone vibrated. As soon as he answered it, Cisco quickly told him of the last known address (which in reality was an emergency contact) of their new metahuman in the city. As it turned out, Bette Sans Souci had a an address not too far. Getting in the suit, he sped to go find her.

He came into an alleyway where a tall ginger woman had been running from a staircase. She yelped when he came to a stop right in front of her. Immediately, she backtracked but Barry wasn't gonna let her go.

"Bette Sans Souci? I need you to come with me!"

"Don't touch me!" the woman nearly pleaded but Barry grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her forwards.

Her hand landed on his suit's emblem and she blinked with terror as it began shifting into a bright purple. "Get whatever you're wearing off of you. Hurry!"

Barry wasn't one to listen to strangers so quick but just for once he would make an exception. He sped away from her and got the suit off just mere seconds before it exploded into nothing!

Back at STAR Labs, Cisco was trying to get through to Barry while Caitlin assured him everything was fine on the other side.

"Barry? Can you hear me? Barry?"

"There must be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why he's not answering."

And then Barry sped in, going for the spare clothes in one of the side rooms.

"Barry?" Caitlin eyed him curiously as he came back out with pants he surely did not have before and pulling down a gray shirt over himself. "Uh…?"

"Don't ask," Barry mumbled, still not over what happened.

Cisco's eyes roamed the entire room for his crimson suit. "I'm gonna ask. Where's my suit?"

"It's... Gone."

Cisco straightened in his chair, his brow furrowing."What do you mean, it's gone? What did you do with my suit?"

"It blew up, dude. I managed to get out of it before it went, "kaboom."

"My suit went "kaboom"?"

Barry ignored Cisco's processing and walked over to the desk. "Fun fact about Bette Sans Souci. She's not carrying bombs. She touched the emblem on the suit and turned it into a bomb. She's a meta-human."

Dr. Wells came into the main room having heard the revelation. "With the ability to cause spontaneous combustion upon tactile contact."

Cisco was scowling by then. "She blew up my suit."

Caitlin rolled her eyes at him. "You have, like, three more."

"Okay, I have two. And I loved that one!"

"All right, what else do we know about her?" Barry asked from the two, now a little more impatient to find her.

Cisco leaned towards one of the computers and began looking up the recent information they had downloaded on the metahuman. "Oh, I don't know. She's pure evil. We're gonna find this girl and send her butt into the pipeline. No one blows my tech to smithereens and gets away with it…" his irritated tone vanished upon seeing a picture of the mysterious Bette, "Unless she looks like that."

"I don't think she meant to hurt me," Barry admitted to them.

"Well, her being a meta-human explains General Eiling's interest in her," Wells remarked.

At that moment, Joe came in and didn't look too surprised of what he'd heard so far. "And why he stole the case from us. He didn't want anyone to know what she could do. So... Human bomb. Must be Tuesday in Central City."

"Yes, and General Eiling's not one to give up a potential asset without a fight."

"We have to find her before he does."

"Barry?" Joe asked once the others got to work. "Can I see you for a second?" Barry nodded and followed him out into the corridor. "We've got a problem with Iris. She saw a metahuman - upclose at a police scene."

"I wasn't there, it wasn't me," Barry's hands shot up in immediate innocence.

"I know it wasn't you - it was a woman, least that's what Iris says."

"Well, maybe it was this one," Barry gestured to the room but Joe shook his head.

"This one bombs, the one that Iris saw apparently shoots plants or something."

Barry stiffened, not that Joe noticed. He was too preoccupied with his daughter at the moment.

"She's writing a blog now-"

"I already talked to her about that," Barry reminded, though his thoughts were beginning to roam from the conversation.

"Talk to her again. And be more convincing."

"Okay," Barry nodded and was about to go back inside when he caught Joe's sharp look. "Oh! You mean, right now?"

"Yes, I do," Joe motioned him to get a move on.

"Alright," Barry hurriedly left.

~ 0 ~

Sticking to his word, Barry was back at Jitters and desperately trying to get Iris to sway from her sudden passion.

"You've got to stop writing about these people - they don't exist."

Iris scoffed and turned to him, lowering the tray she was carrying. "I saw one of them, alright? They do too exist. I went to that crime scene thinking just maybe I would get a glimpse of the Streak but instead I saw this woman who singlehandedly saved a man from plummeting to his death. She wore this green and pink outfit…"

While Barry was listening attentively to her description of this new metahuman (that clearly was not Bette) he played it off with disbelief. "I mean, Iris, come on. You were drinking last night at the bar," he reminded her of their previous night out with their friends.

"I was not drunk, and I know what I saw," Iris said with a hint of annoyance. "It was amazing. I watched her dive from a window scaffold and landed perfectly on her feet and she only used these vines," she turned over one of her palms for gesture. "They just shot out from her hands! And body! It was incredible, Barry!"

All the details began ringing a red alert in Barry's mind.

It was just oddly familiar.

"I want to have people know that there are these extraordinary people out there saving us. What is wrong with you?" Iris stopped to give Barry an accusing look. "This is important to me. Why can't you be more supportive?"

"I'm just... you haven't even put your name on it. How serious can you be about an anonymous blog?"

Iris had enough of all the useless questionnaires and comments on something she was really interested in. "Okay, you know what? Our entire lives, you couldn't scream loud enough that the impossible existed. And now it's actually happening in Central City. I have proof of it, and you don't want to know about it? That doesn't make sense, Barry. So when you're ready to tell me what this whole routine is really about, then we can talk."

In other occasions, her being mad at him would've been bigger but all Barry could think of was the last time he had heard of a metahuman with vines.

Well, he wasn't going to sit there and watch her laugh at him like that.

~ 0 ~

"I'm looking through them, Felicity," Belén was in Nina's apartment, sitting at the kitchen table with a laptop in front of her. She was talking to the blonde techie over the cellphone while looking at a previous robbery of the jewelry store she visited last night. "I just don't understand what exactly I'm looking for this time. Oliver's already had me scour through them for clues till I broke down and you know it."

"Well, here's the one I wanted you to look at," Felicity said and soon Belén got the ping of an e-mail alert. She opened it up to find a video, security footage, of the Stagg building.

"Felicity, what am I looking at exactly?" Belén asked in confusion as she watched the video. It had a viewpoint from a nearby building by Stagg's, and as the seconds went by Belén saw the woman in purple standing at the rooftop of a building that would be just across Stagg's.

"These are a couple of videos I montaged," Felicity began to explain. "See, this one was when there was the incident with Simon Stagg and the tons of clones."

"Okay…"

"Now this is the night where Barry fought said metahuman, and do you see what's happening in the meantime of this fight?"

"Nothing," Belén shrugged. "She's just...watching."

"Exactly - she's watching. And do you know what else I've picked up on?"

"No, but please tell."

"There's other security video feed of her just 'happening' to be around when there's a metahuman or robbery going on. It's not always but there's a good 80% she will be there."

"She's got no life, then," Belén joked to herself.

It was short lived as a strong wind blew everything save the computer off the table.

"Belén? Is something wrong?" Felicity's voice barely made a noise in the already silent apartment. "Belén…?"

Barry had entered in a completely abrupt and rude way into the apartment, but he currently did not care. Belén ended her call with one click of a finger and put the phone down.

"Barry…?" She rose from her chair, unsure of how to even talk to him anymore.

Barry was in the same predicament, unsure how to address the woman across him. There was a turmoil of emotions washing over him and he didn't know which one was the one he felt the most.

"How did you...how did you know to find me here?" Belén discreetly closed the laptop beside her.

"I saw Nina earlier today," Barry said quietly. He was staring hard at her, studying her appearance for anything that would tell him (or give him a clue) as to where it was she had gone off to.

Belén nervously bit her lip, her feet locked on the spot she was in. "No one knows I'm here, though. My Dad...he doesn't know yet. Can you please not tell him anything?"

Barry surprised her by lightly laughing. "I'm sorry, after everything you're asking me a favor?"

There was the seeping anger Belén had been expecting.

"I know I don't deserve anything but it's important," she whispered.

"You don't get to ask favors from me anymore."

"I know-"

"No you don't!" Barry snapped. "You left, Belén! You left without saying a word to any of us! One call," he pointed at her, "One measly call to let us know you were fine would've been enough. It didn't even have to be to me!"

"I told my father to tell you all," Belén meekly reminded.

"Getting a message isn't the same thing!" Barry's voice kept rising and rising, and he knew it was completely out of his character to do so but looking at her and seeing she was fine made it all the more angering when he remembered how guilty he'd been (and still was) for causing her to leave. "I thought we were friends-"

"So did I," Belén finally made a comeback. "I thought we were friends but then I came to the shocking surprise he'd been laughing at me behind my back by pretending to be some super hero helping me."

"And you thought the best way to get back at me was to flee the city?"

"My choice in leaving was not about you!"

"Yeah, right. Admit it Belén, you wanted to hurt me like I hurt you."

Now it was Belén growing angry, and unlike Barry she had less control of her feelings. She could feel that other side trying to creep its way to the surface. "Stop it! I left for other reasons that didn't include some silly revenge!"

"Are you sure about that?" Barry challenged her, taking a couple steps towards her. Her teary eyes were not going to get him to back down, not this time. "What I did was wrong, I admit that and I take my

responsibility for it. But what you did, hurt not only me, it hurt everyone else. You left us, and you made me feel like it was because of ME me. Do you know what feels like?"

"It wasn't like that," Belén persisted, but her voice was faltering.

Barry shook his head. "And then you come back as a metahuman - because don't you dare lie to me and say you aren't - and let Iris see you."

Belén's eyes shot up to him, surprised he'd figured it out and that he knew of the incident with Iris. "You looked at the results…"

"No, I promised you I wouldn't so I didn't. Iris told me about it, and it doesn't take a genius to figure it out if you were at the scene of your kidnapper's vacation home. You have powers and you've been using them!"

"And I suppose you're gonna fault me again because I didn't tell you?" Belén arched an eyebrow. "Because remember, when I met you I was under the belief you were just Iris' best friend who worked as a forensics."

"But now that you know, and that you're in this world, you need to know that Iris cannot know anything about us."

"What-"

"Joe doesn't want her to know and we have to respect that. But if she keeps writing about this, about you and me and anyone else, she's going to get hurt!"

"But I didn't plan on seeing her, honest! Like I said, no one knows I'm back!"

"I'm just giving you one warning, Belén. This was it."

Belén confusingly watched him head for the door. "So that's just it? You're not going to talk to me anymore?"

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Barry glanced back, reminding her of her requests. "You said if I talked to you again I would be punched."

"I was angry with you, Barry! I could've said a lot of things I clearly didn't mean!"

"Now I'm mad at you, and I think I know I mean it when I say don't talk to me."

Belén stifled a sob as she made to come after him. "B-Barry!"

But he was already gone.

Through her feelings, she felt that same feeling start at her hands. Gasping she looked at her hands and was horrified to see that emerald green beginning to fully cover her skin this time.

"No! No! No! No!" she dashed to the bathroom and slammed the door shut with lock. She put herself in front of the mirror to see parts of her face also sporting some blotches of green. "Go away! Go away!" she shouted at it and screwed her eyes shut, hands firmly gripping the edges of the sink.

"Go away, go away, go away, go away, go away," she repeated like a chant.

~ 0 ~

"And you said that to her? All of that?" Caitlin was gaping towards Barry after hearing the incident between him and the newly arrived Belén.

"Not cool, dude, not cool," Cisco said distractedly while recording Bette's numbers onto the computer.

They had finally met with Bette, under some bad circumstances, and took her back to STAR Labs to get a clearer understanding of her abilities. But due to General Eiling still after her, they were forced to take her into the training area a bit quicker than planned so that Dr. Wells could deal with the man.

"Barry, I don't think that was the best way to greet her," Caitlin gently said, understanding where Barry's anger was coming from.

"I couldn't help it!" Barry exclaimed and paced back and forth beside the table of computers and other objects for Bette's exams. "I was so mad that she came back like nothing!"

"Well, did you expect her to be begging for forgiveness?" Cisco asked, still appearing to be annoyed with him.

"No, Cisco, but I did expect some sort of explanation."

"So did you let her talk? Because you have a tendency not to when you're mad at someone."

"You know, it sounds like you're taking her side, Cisco," Barry suspiciously said, crossing his arms.

"I'm not," Cisco clarified before anything else was said. "It's just...I don't think what needed to be said was said. I wanna talk to Bells and find out why she left."

"Good luck," Barry scoffed and walked off to go see how Bette was doing.

"That went well," Caitlin remarked and eyed a boomerang Cisco had apparently brought for the tests. Bette was supposed to throw the objects to the sky for them to explode but clearly Cisco forgot about that small detail.

"I can't believe he shouted a her," Cisco muttered.

"Look, on some level, it is understandable. We can't blame Barry after these two months. He felt guilty, and he still does. What Belén did was wrong. What did she expect was going to happy?"

~ 0 ~

"What did you expect was going to happen, hm?" Nina stood in front of the couch where Belén was sitting.

The ombre-blonde was sitting cross-legged, currently sniffing as tears fell from her eyes.

"You left abruptly and you didn't even bother giving your friends a call. It's a natural response to be angry."

"I know I deserved it, but it doesn't mean it didn't hurt," Belén meekly argued.

Of course she had expected for Barry and the others to be angry with her decision and the way she executed it. She wasn't expecting some sort of big welcome back nor immediate friendship. Those were the first warnings Felicity, and then others of Starling City told her, but she was firm on her decision.

She still was.

"It doesn't help to cry, Belén," Nina sighed and walked into the kitchen.

"There's nothing more I can do," Belén finally looked up. "I messed up and these are the consequences that I have to endure."

"By crying?" Nina rolled her eyes and plopped down at the table, re-opening the laptop Belén had forgone a while ago.

"Well, I'm sorry but not everyone can be rigid like the great Nina Clarke is," Belén rolled her eyes but the statement seemed to only amuse Nina.

"I'm only saying instead of sitting on my couch and sobbing for your woes, go out there and do something about it."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, but I would start by returning your life to normal. Right now, you're stressed and your mind is clouded with Rayan's case."

"That's because he's my only priority right now. I'm not gonna get distracted."

Nina shook her head and raised her eyes from the computer screen for a moment. "Being what we are - metahumans - is already weird and distancing. Don't add unnecessary negatives to it."

Belén leaned back on the cushion, still pouting. Nina went back to the computer and for a while there was no more conversation. It wasn't until Nina gasped in what sounded like horror that Belén forewent her sad thoughts.

"Nins, what is it?"

"Your friend Iris really wants to die," Nina was blinking wide-eyed at the screen. Belén got up and rushed to go see what was Iris had done now.

"Oh my God," Belén said with a mixture of horror and weariness.

Iris had posted a new article for her blog...with her name written on it this time.

"She just doesn't get the memo," Nina scrolled through the newest post.

"Barry told me Iris posted a new thing about me, but I didn't really think about what would happen."

"This can't keep going. One of these days someone will make the connection she knows 'the Streak' and now you."

"It's my fault," Belén walked away from the table, running her hands through her now messy hair. "And you know, no matter what happens I don't want Iris getting hurt when she's the least one who deserves it."

"So what are you planning on doing?" Nina asked, genuinely curious.

"Exactly what Barry did to me when I most needed it," Belén turned around with a wide smile.

"Oh, no…"

~ 0 ~

Later that night, Iris was busy cleaning up inside Jitters so that she could properly close down and leave. There was a light knock on the door followed by a bell chime.

"Sorry, we're closed," Iris called without looking up from the dishes she was collecting.

"I was hoping you would make an exception."

Iris nearly let the cups in her hands fall after seeing several tendrils of vines passing through the doors. The tendrils swirled up from the floor into the shape of a figure until it became the familiar woman in green Iris had seen. "Oh, my God, it's you!"

Belén stood there in her 'vigilante' outfit, with the flower mask around her eyes. Her hair was covered in the strings of roots that hid her blonde tips.

"You remember from one night?" Belén mused, her modulated voice coming as not a surprise for Iris.

"Actually," Iris beamed and put down her glasses to go retrieve her bag behind the counter. "I knew you were familiar from somewhere and I couldn't just let it go!"

'Course you couldn't," Belén hid her smile by looking to the side.

Iris had pulled out her computer and set it on the counter. "There have been reportings of a mysterious new addition to the Arrow's team…" she turned the computer over to Belén's direction, "...it's you. Isn't it?"

Belén took no steps towards her. Instead, she extended a hand and with a vine sprouting from her palm she brought the computer over to her. She looked intently onto the screen where several news pictures had caught her in low resolution pictures.

"It's so you," Iris concluded on her own after taking a moment to really study the woman.

"Yes," Belén saw no point in denying what was so clear on picture. Slowly, she returned the laptop to the counter. "You looked me up?"

"Of course," Iris said as it were obvious. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you don't know me, no one knows me."

"I know. Right now, it's all about the Streak. But…" Iris came around the counter with a wide smile, "...girls need the recognition too, right? I saw you save that man last night, and I've been going through some of Star City's news online. You're a hero, just like the Streak. What have you been doing over at Star City though? Or, why did you decide to come here now?"

Belén sucked in a breath. "Can we speak somewhere else? Like, the rooftop?"

Iris nodded her head, forgetting her duties and motioning to the staircase leading up to the roof. Belén just smiled and motioned her go first. Iris did so and was halfway up when she realized the woman had never followed. She ran up the remainder of stairs and came to the surprise of finding Belén already waiting for her.

"How did you…?" Iris laughed, looking around for a clue as to how she was beaten. "How did you do that? You're fast too?"

Belén sat on the ledge of the building, leaning forwards over her knees. "It's much more fun using my vines to climb buildings. I'm no Streak but I do set my own speed records when I turn vine-ish…"

Iris figured and laughed again.

Belén remained serious and stood up. "I need you to stop writing about me, about any of us with powers. The Streak agrees."

"You know each other?" Iris brightened up, and Belén inwardly smacked herself on the face. Apparently, that was all that Iris had heard from her statement. "Are you like...like some superhero duo now? Or-"

"Iris," Belén raised a hand to cut in, "please just listen. It's not safe for you to keep writing about us."

"But there are a lot of people who need someone like you guys right now. To know that you're out there."

"Maybe not," Belén countered. "This writing stuff, isn't it becoming a problem for you and your family? I would assume they would be concerned for your safety. And I have to be honest, putting your name on this newest article wasn't your smartest idea."

"You read my article?" Iris gasped.

Again, she only heard the last of Belén's words.

"You are a fantastic writer and I have no doubt that you will go on to do amazing things in journalism...but just not with these articles."

"Why are you so keen on me letting it go? Don't you want people to know about you? To know about the Streak?"

"Personally, I haven't the faintest idea why you decided to post something about me," Belén put a hand over her chest.

"Because you're just as amazing," Iris shrugged, coming to take a step towards her. "You climb buildings with vines! Not to mention, you actually turn into vines! You are amazing!"

Belén bitterly laughed, and though it was dark Iris could clearly see the woman's green eyes glossy.

"What's the matter?" she gently asked. "You don't believe it?"

Belén looked at her friend with a sad smile. "You don't know me, Iris West. I am not grand, I am not deserving of any articles written for me. You want a hero, you go to the Streak. Me? I'm not a good person."

"Yes, you are," Iris was quick to interject, the soft smile across her lips nearly making Belén believe it. "Why wouldn't you believe it?"

"A good person doesn't hurt their friends nor family - that is exactly what I've done," Belén bit her lip, hating herself for talking about this...but her lips wouldn't stop opening. "I did a bad thing a while back. I was mad at a friend and I made a decision that same day that I knew would hurt him back." Belén then lowly laughed when she made the realization. "I guess, in a way, I wanted him to hurt like he made me hurt. But my decision didn't just hurt him, it hurt a lot more people...and I don't know how to fix it."

Iris wished nothing more than to go over and hug this mysterious woman who in reality seemed a lot more vulnerable than what the media portrayed. It was just a reminder that heroes were still human. "That doesn't make you a bad person," Iris gently declared. "Everyone makes mistakes, but what matters is how you intend on fixing them. This doesn't stop you from being a hero in my eyes."

"I'm not a hero, Iris," Belén reiterated.

Iris smirked, tilting her head in that way that told Belén it was already set in stone. "Too late. I just need a name to call you. Do you have one?"

"No," Belén chuckled and sniffed. "Because, as I said, I'm not a hero. I'm not doing this for glory or recognition."

"So why do you?"

"For someone very important in my life," Belén thought to her elder twin brother.

"Yeah?" Iris stepped forwards again. "Well then hear my side. I have this friend, and he had something terrible happen to him when he was a kid. His whole life, he's been telling stories about this impossible thing. And people laughed at him. And shrinks analyzed him. And he's been searching for an explanation ever since. But now, suddenly, it's like he's lost his faith. But you and the Streak... you two are proof that he wasn't crazy. Help me save my friend."

Belén could've burst into more sobs if she didn't have more control of herself. "He is a very lucky guy, you know."

"Believe me, he's not," Iris confided in a dramatic whisper. "He's overly clumsy and everything happens to him whenever it comes to dropping something, crashing into someone, or even just making friends. But this thing that happened to him as a kid, I can help him with that. This is why I'm doing my blog, please help me."

Belén raised a turned palm and slowly created a small, pink flower. But it was a specific flower, one that Iris saw a couple times.

"Is that an Azalea?" she pointed.

"Mhm. It's the source of my powers, apparently," Belén had a vine take the flower to Iris. "The thing about these flowers, they're adorable and they're beautiful...but they are also known for their deadly side."

Iris took the fragile flower into her hands and looked at Belén, confused.

"What I'm intending on doing others may call a suicide mission. I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire because of an article you wrote. Keep the flower, change your blog. Goodbye."

"But-" Iris called to the woman in vain as she dropped from the ledge again. She looked at her new flower and walked back into the building.

~ 0 ~

"Maritza's been slacking," Angie put a laptop in front of Rayan Palayta. "There's a new metahuman in town as reported by Iris West. Doesn't your sister know that girl?"

Rayan snatched the laptop to his lap and read the article Iris had written. "This one's different. She's helping the Streak. See, this is what I knew would happen if we let that speedster keep doing his thing."

Angie got up from the couch, looking suddenly determined. "Let me take care of her. I've been dying to finally debut out in the streets."

Rayan gave her a questionable scoff. "You? Are you serious?"

Angie nodded. "Well, she's not going to want to help you take down Wells and STAR Labs, might as well get her out of the way."

"Fine, but you'll eliminate her without a mistake," Rayan warned.

"Watch me," Angie smirked, more than ready to go out.

~ 0 ~

Belén wasn't sure who'd she find in STAR Labs that early noon she walked in. She didn't exactly know what she was going to tell anyone, much less how to even greet them. But she figured she had to start somewhere.

"Hello?" she peered inside the cortex room, only to find a ginger woman inside.

Bette glanced back and immediately took a defensive stance against her. Belén came out from the side with her hands raised.

"I'm a good one, promise," she said, but Bette still didn't look very convinced.

"Belén," Dr. Wells' voice startled the ombre-blonde from behind and made her spin around to meet the man.

"Dr. Wells," Belén put a hand over her chest, "Sorry, you just…"

"It's nice to see you back," he remarked as he wheeled further inside the room, giving Bette a reassuring nod everything was fine.

"Um, yeah," Belén sighed and turned in their direction. "I think you're probably the only one who can say that about me."

"Nonsense, I'm sure Cisco would be delighted to see you're back. He's in the experiment room if you're looking for him."

"Yeah, actually, I was," Belén glanced towards Bette. "Um, hi. I don't think we've met yet."

"Bette," the ginger said, but she didn't seem quite interested in making conversation. It worked just fine for Belén as she was more interested in seeing her friends.

"Belén," Wells called just as she crossed the doorway, "I know you must be having trouble adjusting to your abilities but please to take in consideration that STAR Labs is always here to help you."

Belén softly smiled at the kind words. "Thank you, Dr. Wells. I may just take your words to heart."

"We'll see what we can do," Wells reassured her and she went on just slightly happier than before. How could she know that he actually could care less whether her abilities developed or not? The only reason he extended the offer was for appearances and because of who she would end up being in the future.

Not to mention the losses she would end up suffering.

~ 0 ~

Cisco was focused hard on some sort of device in his work room when he heard a knock on the door behind.

"Can I come in?" Belén's voice startled him enough to drop what he was holding. She nervously smiled his way as he turned on his chair.

"Belén!"

Belén was relieved when Cisco rushed to meet her with a tight hug. There had to be someone who would be happy to see her right?

"Cisco, it's so good to see you," she pulled away and chuckled. "I missed you."

"Maybe next time you shouldn't leave!" Cisco playfully replied with and led her to a chair next to his.

"You're mad too," Belén sighed and sat down.

"I'm not mad, I'm just...so confused. Why'd you do it? Barry thinks it's because he didn't tell you about...you know…"

"Look, my decision may have taken that as part of the motive but it was also to learn to control myself, to learn how to fight." Belén lightly smiled and put a hand on the table. She let the tips of her nails release thin, small vines that soon rushed to cover up a book nearby. "Two months ago, I could barely do this."

"Barry was right, you were a metahuman," Cisco gawked. "Why did you keep it a secret? We could've helped you."

"Like I told Barry earlier, for me you guys were all just regular people. How could I go up to any of you say 'Oh, by the way guys, I seemed to have developed plant powers'. That's not exactly something easy to say. The only reason Nina knows is because she covered for me at the hospital."

"And she's the he only one that knows…?"

"Yes," Belén eyed him with plead, "And I beg you not to tell anyone out of this building. My dad still thinks I'm at Starling City with my friend Laurel and my mom - as of yesterday night - thinks I'm back with my dad."

"Neither knows where your are then?"

"Not even my sister. And they can't know.'

"But why?"

"Because I have to do something that isn't safe and I don't want any of them getting hurt."

"But...if you're doing this then you're gonna get hurt...and none of us want that."

Belén sighed, giving him a sad look in return. "I don't think 'everyone' can be spoken for."

Cisco immediately understood and reached for her hand, giving a warm pat. "Hey, look, Barry's going to cool down. But no matter what he's said he wouldn't want you getting hurt."

"I want to believe that," Belén whispered, her eyes drifting to the side as she uncharacteristically became quiet.

It was then that Caitlin happened to walk in, and Belén found herself in another round of questions and explanations. She didn't care, though, she was just relieved that Caitlin hadn't expressed any hostility against her (though she knew she very well deserved it). They spoke briefly about her powers, seeing

Belén wasn't very willing to release specific information about that side just yet. Their conversation steered more towards what she was doing in Starling City for the two past months, but even those were given short sentence answers.

They moved back to the main room, where Cisco came to the disappointing news that Bette had decided to leave.

"That's funny," Belén remarked by the side of Cisco's chair, the latter silently pouting for his loss, "She didn't mention anything about leaving when I bumped into her earlier."

"She wasn't doing well," Dr. Wells briefly explained. "Bette's metahuman abilities weren't exactly the best."

"How do you mean?"

"To make it short, Bette is literally a bomb," Caitlin made a face. "Anything she touches goes boom in about five seconds."

"Wow," Belén raised her eyebrows, "That can't be easy. Even with humans?" she asked for a clarification.

"Aha…"

"Ouch," Belén comfortingly placed a hand over Cisco's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Cisco. I'm sure-"

"Don't use the 'there's other fish in the sea' line on me," he playfully warned her, making her chuckle.

Her laughter was cut short when Barry walked into the room. She locked eyes with him and so she straightened up, meekly bidding goodbye. "I should get going…"

"Stay," Caitlin was the one to say, briefly glancing at Barry in a warning manner. She was not going to stand for a childish act from neither side.

"Where's Bette?" Barry decided to focus on anything else that wasn't Belén.

"She left," Cisco answered glumly.

"What do you mean? Where did she go?"

"She didn't say," Dr. Wells gave him the same answer he'd given to the others earlier.

"Well, where the hell could she be? We have to find her, she can't be on her own." Barry walked over to the desk, intending on starting a search for her. Cisco jumped on the opportunity to see the woman again and quickly went to do it himself.

"I got back on the military feed. Looks like they've gone to the waterfront to rendezvous with Bette."

"She's turning herself in," Caitlin realized and quickly looked at the others, all silently agreeing that was most certainly not going to happen.

"She's with the military?" Belén gaped, her eyes widening. "Barry, you can't go in alone. That's too dangerous."

Barry ignored her in favor of retrieving his suit. It had been left out in plain sight now that Belén knew the secret. Iris never came to the building as they had noticed long ago.

"Barry!" she cut him once he returned in the suit. "For God's sake, you're angry with me fine, but that doesn't mean I don't want to help you."

They had a mini-staredown that neither seemed keen on backing down from. Barry was silently wondering where Belén acquired this new sense of boldness she most certainly didn't own two months ago. He left the thought when he remembered Bette was going to get herself into trouble. Without saying a word, he sped out of the room.

Belén bitterly laughed as she spun towards the doors. "He's not getting rid of me that easily."

"What are you planning…?" Cisco recognized that idea expression that was currently taking over her face.

"I learned a new trick while I was gone," Belén gave him a sideways smirk. "Can you give me the location please?"

~ 0 ~

Under certain influence, Bette had planned a fake surrender with General Eiling by the waterfront of the city. But of course, the older man didn't believe it. That was why he was trying to be smart by pitching her an idea he thought she couldn't pass up.

"All over the world, people are plotting to destroy our country. To end our lives. Brave American soldiers are gonna die in that fight, but they don't have to. Because of you, we could have victory."

"All I've ever wanted was to make the world a safer place. And it will be when you're not in it." Bette chucked towards him and the rest of the soldiers small, purple glowing spheres that soon exploded and cause mayhem.

While most soldiers were unconscious, Eiling remained half awake. Bette walked towards him with one hand extended. She would blow him into smithereens. Barry arrived and blocked her way.

"What are you doing here?" Bette gasped at the sight of him.

"Being a soldier doesn't mean you're a murderer. Don't become one now."

In the midst of their distraction, Eiling had raised a gun from his spot on the ground and fired. Bette did a spin and fell to the ground with a bullet lodged in the middle of her chest.

Barry panicked and pulled off his mask as he got down beside her. "I'm sorry. I didn't see him."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. I'm glad you stopped me," Bette flashed a light smile.

"I'm gonna get you back to S.T.A.R. Labs."

Bette shook her head, feeling her strength fading fast. "Barry, Dr. Wells. He... he…" but her eyes closed before she could finish the sentence.

"Barry, watch out!"

Barry glanced over his shoulder in time to see her shoot a couple of thick vines that pinned Eiling to his spot.

"What are you doing here?" Barry hissed, though he still eyed the leather outfit on her. He remembered it vaguely from an old news report Iris once showed him in the past. "You were at Starling City," he whispered his realization. However, the brightening purple glow beside Barry grabbed both their attention.

"She's going to blow up," Belén rushed forwards.

"Guys, we have a problem," Barry spoke with the earpiece.

"Is Bette okay?" came Cisco's anxious voice seconds later.

"No. Eiling killed her. She's glowing. She's gonna detonate."

Caitlin gasped. "Oh, my God, a mass that size, the explosion, it would be... Devastating. Barry, you have to get her away from the city.

"But there's no time…"

Belén glanced towards the waterfront and suddenly shifted to Barry. "Random question...but can you run on water? You know, like they do in the movies?"

At first, Barry was intending on scolding her for asking such a ridiculous question at a time like this...but then he understood. "How fast do I need to go to run on water?" he quickly asked of the STAR Labs employees.

Cisco began making the calculations. "Assuming your weight... 450 pounds of force per step for vertical suspension. Accounting for fluid drag…"

"Approximately 650 miles an hour…" Dr. Wells figured out just before and spoke up.

"You have to outrun the blast or you'll die too," Caitlin warned.

Barry nodded and pulled his mask over his face again. He looked at Belén for a minute, this time not needing to voice his instruction. She got up and took several steps back.

"Stay mad with me if you must, but...good luck," she told him meekly from her spot.

For a minute, Barry's anger faltered. He shook his head then and picked up Bette, finding there was no time to waste. He sped off towards the waterfront, unable to hear Belén's small laugh as she watched him leave.

Her happiness didn't last long when she was shoved to the ground by something behind her. The moment she raised her head she saw blonde streaks of hair.

"Well, this city just doesn't stop with its freaky heroes," the new woman spoke up.

"We're called metahumans," Belén growled and jumped to her feet. "And let me guess, you work with Plasticine too?"

"I don't work for her," the blonde corrected. Belén desperately tried to get some good clues on this woman's identity, but much like Belén and Barry, her face was covered with a pixelated, half-mask. Her attire was a mixture of bright colors but the gold seemed to be her thing. Still, Belén didn't think too much. She thrust her hand forwards and shot a round of thorns in the woman's way. She was careful to have them miss any of the unconscious soldiers nearby.

While some of them did graze the blonde woman, it didn't cause much pain. "Ha! You're not fighting Plasticine now, sweetheart. I'm Pixel!" She literally disintegrated and reappeared behind Belén to give her a good roundhouse kick.

Belén went down to the ground, groaning. They were momentarily struck with a semi-earthquake which turned out to be the reverberation of Bette's explosion from the water. Pixel saw the Streak making way back to them, while simultaneously trying to evade the large wave behind him.

"Better get on with it!" she smirked but Belén shot back with a vine, slamming her down to the ground.

Belén didn't give her a chance to fight back and punched the woman out cold with another vine, least that's what she thought. Pixel, holding back her groans, reached for something in her back.

"Don't get near her!" Barry's sharp, irritated shout made Belén flinch and freeze on her spot. "She's dangerous."

"This isn't Plasticine!" Belén turned to him. "This is someone new! Don't you see? They're gaining numbers! And I have to know what it's got to do with my brother! I'll-"

A second gunshot rang in the air.

Belén gasped before falling over.

Barry acted fast and sped towards her, catching her mere inches from the ground. Her mask has dissolved into nothing, giving a clear view of her face.

"Oh my God…" Pixel muttered from her spot on the ground, her hand still holding the gun.

Normally, Barry would've fought off the man until he had answers but Belén's current condition required immediate attention. Without saying a word, he sped out of the place.

~ 0 ~

The first thing Belén was aware of when she became mildly conscious was the sharp pain on her lower back. She registered the fact she was on a bed of some sort. So, when she opened her eyes and saw she was in the STAR Labs room, it came as no surprise.

"O-ow…" she groaned and turned her head to the side, hoping that whatever hurt just stopped.

"You can't heal fast, can you?"

"Hmm?"

Barry was leaning against the threshold, his arms crossed. Belén could only look at him for so long before remembering all of that day.

"My genes didn't change like yours did," she replied quietly, her eyes drifting to a metal, wheeled table against a wall on her left. "Though my body does seem act more like a mushy ground for light injuries, more severe ones will affect me like normal."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Um...there was Pixel, and then...I punched her...then you came, and...there was a funny noise in the air…"

"You were shot," Barry reminded, slowly leaning off the hinge.

"Hmm," Belén mused with a crooked smile. "I suppose this was all planned by Plasticine. It only makes sense."

"Why would they want you dead?" Barry asked the pressing question.

"It's kind of obvious, Barry. They're bad guys, it's what they do."

"Don't insult my intelligence," Barry shook his head. "Funny thing, I was going over Iris' blog and it just so happens she posted something new about a certain metahuman...that arrived from Starling City."

"Can we not do-"

"You left Central City with Felicity, didn't you?"

And there was the ringing question Belén had dreaded of the moment she returned.

"Yes, yes I did," she whispered.

"All this time I have felt completely awful about our argument that day. I understand it was difficult for you to forgive me for keeping all this-" he gestured to the lab "-a secret from you. I get it. But you did not have the right to turn the tables on me." By this time, he had begun to pace and Belén's eyes struggled to follow him throughout the room. "Because I don't care what you say, you were trying to get payback. But to put yourself in danger by actually going with the Arrow - and don't deny that's where you went because the news reports say otherwise - was completely ridiculous! I know the Arrow, I know what he does, and what he does is not what you should be learning!"

"You're right," Belén finally inputted a word, "about almost everything."

"Well…" Barry made a face at her, intending on staying mad but the way her glossy green eyes were looking at him made it more difficult. He exhaled dramatically and walked over to a chair, bringing it beside her.

"I did leave to get payback, and for that I'm sorry," Belén sighed. "But that wasn't my main reason. I realized that I didn't have control over myself, emotionally and physically."

"You're a metahuman, we could've helped you."

"No, you couldn't have. You would go incredibly easy on me and who would win there? Caitlin would go all 'mom' on me whenever I got a scratch. Cisco...well, Cisco would be the worst of them all. I love him but he's an overprotective friend. The only one that would perhaps help me for real would be Dr. Wells. Going with Felicity seemed like the only logical thing to do. It wasn't easy to convince Oliver - er, the Arrow - to help me, but Felicity stepped in and then my friend Laurel. When he agreed he saw me as nothing more than a student. There was no easy win, no light training. That is what I needed."

"And in the meantime not even a call ever crossed your mind? We were worried sick over you, Belén. Having your father tell us you were fine wasn't what we were looking for."

"I'm sorry…"

"You should be," Barry said firmly, but this time Belén noticed there was a lighter tone in his voice.

"I''m sorry I made you feel bad for two months. You have every right to be mad with me," Belén sighed in resignation.

"I was mad...and then someone shot you. I lost someone I barely started considering a friend, I don't really want to lose someone I've known longer."

"I wouldn't like to lose a friend like you either…"

There was a minute of silence afterwards.

"How about we move forwards, then?" Barry asked, giving her a light smile. "Maybe we can get back to where we were before all this happened."

Belén chuckled, and for a moment Barry couldn't tell if it was a genuine laugh or if it was an after effect of the anesthesia Nina put on her earlier. "Barry, I think that's quite impossible. You now run faster than the speed of light, and I'm part plant. I don't think we can ever get back to where we were."

"Sorry, Belén…"

"You know…you can start calling me Bells again if you'd like. My friends usually do that…"

Barry laughed and nodded his head. "Bells. That does feel nice to say again."

Belén smiled for a moment before feeling another jab of pain on her back. "Oh, that hurts."

"Oh, don't try to move much!" Barry quickly instructed. "The others should be back and Cait will help you with your things."

"Guess it's a good thing no one knows I'm back," Belén forced herself to sit up a little.

"Cisco told me about your little idea and your suicide mission. I don't agree with your strategies."

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't ask."

"Belén, you're doing this for Rayan, aren't you?"

The way Belén remained silent told Barry all he wanted to know.

"I thought you gave up on that…"

"Because I couldn't defend myself nor my family," Belén shook her head. "But now that I can, I am going to keep looking for my brother. Plasticine sending Pixel after me is proof enough that there's something going on concerning my brother. I have to find him, whether he's alive or...dead," she gulped at the idea, "But I have to find him so that I can finally put this all to rest."

"You want to find him?"

"Yes, I do."

"And you're not gonna stop at anything?"

"Nope."

"Fine, then STAR Labs is also going to help you."

"What?"

Barry stood up from his chair, looking like there was nothing else to discuss. "Now that you know who I am, and that you do have powers, we can work together - side by side - and find your brother."

"B-Barry, I can't...I can't ask you to do that," Belén said, the idea making he stomach churn.

"It's a good thing I wasn't asking, then," Barry flashed her a smirk.

"But...but you...you can't...n-not…" Belén was left sputtering as Barry turned to leave. "I don't want you helping me!"

"It's too late for that!"

Belén tried getting out of the bed but her back still hurt far too much for any movements like that. She was forced back to her bed. "Barry Allen, you get back here right now!"

Barry listened to her her shouting as he made his way out of the room, wearing a very widened smirk across his lips.

Just one small payback wouldn't hurt anyone.

#noblecrescentedit #barry allen x oc #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #the flash #the flash fanfic #barry allen x original female character #Barry Allen #Caitlin Snow #Cisco Ramon #Linda Park #Iris West #It Had To be You

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