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saiilorstars · 1 year

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Ch. 1: The Paradox of Heaven

Pairing: Barry Allen x OFC // Fandom: The Flash

Story summary: Barry changed the timeline without ever thinking it would harm everyone he loved - literally everyone. Flashpoint planted the seeds for the team’s misfortunes and as much as Belén tries to help Barry fix things, the prophecies still come rolling out and the biggest one they fear is the one that includes all of them: ‘Fear Savitar who will lead the Bringer and help Amalgam rise and together rule over all.’ No one of Team Flash understands the prophecy but they’re smart enough to know that three new foes won’t bode well for their city. And when they see just how bleak their future really is, team Flash enters the race of a lifetime...but Belén will be damned if she leaves her entire future to her friends. She’ll work with whoever it takes, make whatever deals, to save herself and her friends but in doing so, she might just play right into the cycle that Savitar foretold and help bring Amalgam to life.

1. Story Masterlist 2. Previous Stories: Rise Up • It Had To Be You 3. Belén’s Masterlist

• Can also be found on Fanfic and Ao3 •

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic

Life was great — no, it was perfect.

That's what Barry thought every day he woke up and every night he went to sleep. He had his parents, both happily married and, best of all, safe and sound. It was really a treat remembering that every time. Things couldn't get better, well...there was one thing that could make it truly perfect but that one 'thing' didn't exactly pertain to an object.

It was a person...and my what a lovely person she was.

"Can I get a hot chocolate please?" Belén Palayta was bright and cheery in front of the Jitters' counter, her dark brown eyes flickering to each beverage on the menu. She had taken a bit longer to choose a drink that morning and it seemed like even when she did order, she wasn't 100% convinced she made the right call.

Barry sat just across the counter and was watching her like she was the most fascinating thing in the world. He kept telling himself to stand up and just...say hello. He'd done it on other several occasions now but each time it seemed even more difficult than the last.

"Actually, no, scratch that, I'm not supposed to be having a lot of sugar," Belén shook her head, her blonde tips bopping over her shoulders with the move. The barista on the other side nodded to follow Belén's order but Belén just kept going on a ramble. "But then again I really do deserve some sugar and, really, how much sugar is in your hot chocolates? Actually, I don't want to know the answer to that—

"Lady, are you going to order anytime soon?" the customer behind Belén piped up, rather irritated.

It might have seemed rude to others since they didn't know the story but Barry stifled a small laugh behind his mug. Something like that had happened to Belén in the other timeline multiple times.

Belén cleared her throat and apologized to the rude customer then quickly made her order...a hot chocolate. She payed for her drink and turned to find a table.

Say hi, Barry scolded himself for being so weak. He finally made a decent push out of his seat when he heard Belén calling out...just not to him.

"You're late," she pointed an accusatory finger at Iris West who was flouncing her way to the woman.

"I was on a lead!" Iris exclaimed and motioned to her laptop case in her arms.

"You said you were done an hour ago — what were you doing since then?" Iris' eyes flickered to the side, withholding her answer. Belén shook her head at her and turned to the counter.

Barry smiled at the two women. At least them two were still friends. In the new timeline, he had come to the disappointment of not meeting Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon and only briefly Iris West. They were all separated and he really wanted to fix it...he just didn't know how. Well, maybe he could fix that starting now. Kill two birds with the same stone.

GetupGetupGetupGetup, he heard in his mind over and over until he finally acted on it. He brought his empty mug for the perfect excuse.

"Can I get a refill please?" he kindly asked the barista. "Espresso."

The barista took his mug and went to go fill the order. When he turned around, he saw Iris showing a video on her phone to Belén, no doubt one of Iris' new article stories. Iris was still a reporter in this new timeline but Belén was not.

"You're gonna get yourself killed if you keep putting yourself out on the front lines of these superheroes," Belén said with honest concern for her friend.

Iris played it off with a roll of her eyes. "It's fine. The Flash has our backs, remember?"

Ah yes, the new Flash of the timeline. Barry had no clue who it was underneath that new yellow mask but he didn't care. The vigilante saved the day always.

"Hot chocolate?" called one of the baristas.

Belén eagerly went up for her drink and finally noticed Barry. She smiled at him as she reached for her drink. "Hi, Barry, are you on your break?"

Barry opened his mouth to answer her but nothing came out. Dammit. How was he so unprepared when he literally practiced his words beforehand every time? Barry hated how weak he was, honestly. He settled on a half-smile for the awaiting woman.

"Uh...yeah."

"Is my mother working you hard?"

Barry wished he could say he was used to Veronica Green-Palayta's attitude because he had known her outside the job, but this was no longer that timeline. In this timeline, Belén's parents had never divorced but had still moved into Central City along Belén's childhood. Now Veronica worked at the precinct as a Detective, and because she had no reason to treat Barry as anything more than the forensics guy, she didn't. The only good thing about it nonetheless was that it provided Barry with multiple chances to talk to Belén. She came often into the precinct and he made himself known by crashing into her.

Yeah, that just had to happen.

It at least opened the door for some conversations, albeit short ones since neither of them seemed to be very good at talking with each other. There were nervous laughs, pauses - a lot of pauses - and the occasional, almost mandatory, accident.

"Everything's just fine," Barry ultimately answered the question. "And you? Out of practice today?"

If there was one thing that got Belén even more cheery about, it was talking about her job. She was a full time aerial dancer and the best one in the city if Barry had anything to say about it. He'd gone to her last shows and sat right up front.

"Yeah," Belén nodded. "Just having lunch with my friend. Iris?"

Iris put away her phone and walked over. "Hey," she gave a wave. "So you work at the precinct too?"

Barry gave a small nod. Iris barely walked into the precinct. She and Joe did not have a good relation - yet another downside of this new timeline.

"Espresso?" a barista slid Barry's mug on the counter.

"Thanks," Barry picked it up and awkwardly met Belén's gaze. "Uh, I, um...did you…would you...?" No, he couldn't do it. He was that weak, yes he was.

There was a trace of disappointment in Belén's face that did not go unnoticed by Iris but did to Barry. "Your break is ending soon, huh?" she ended up asking.

"Uh, in a bit," Barry went to check his watch then remembered he didn't actually wear one. That oughta make him look cool. "I'll uh, I'll...see you around?"

"Mhm," Belén nodded and watched him go...or rather stared after him.

That's what Iris was gonna call it. Iris moved around Belén so that they were face to face. "Oh my God you have got it bad." Belén quickly tore her gaze from Barry and met Iris' teasing face.

"I do not!"

Iris scoffed. "Yes, you do. With those big eyes—" she waved her finger in front of Belén's eyes, "—and that soft voice—" she then mimicked Belén's last words to Barry, "Really?" Belén scrunched face and looked to the side with a huff. Iris had to laugh. "It's okay, girl, just admit it. I could help if I can."

Belén let it go with a sigh. "I can't help it. He's so sweet. You'd think after seeing so many corpses he'd have a hard time being so...cheery."

"He's the forensics right?"

"Yeah," Belén replied, rather dreamily as she stole a glance of Barry. "Kind of a hot job huh?"

Iris' face didn't quite indicate she agreed. "Sure...in a weird, nerdy kind of way." Belén's look on her turned hard. Iris raised her hands in defense. "Right, sorry. Well, go talk to him again!"

Belén seemed as if Iris had suggested something completely out of this world. "What? No!"

Iris rolled her eyes. By this point she was used to her friend's way of being. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"I could die!" Belén responded all too fast. Iris shook her head and made to push her towards Barry's table. "I'm serious, Iris! You know last week I accidentally stapled him? He was holding the stapler, Iris! What does that tell you?"

"Uh, that you're both ridiculous klutzes?" Iris thought logically and gave Belén one final push forwards. "Now go. I'll pretend I have a new lead to go to. Call me later, I wanna know everything."

"I hate you," Belén huffed.

"And you can say that at your wedding!" Iris waved a happy goodbye with her fingers.

Belén really hated this. She had no speaking skills - at least that's what it seemed like whenever she was around Barry. It was ironic, really, considering she had the nickname 'motormouth Belén' growing up. Well, she supposed there was no turning back now. After taking a deep breath, and perhaps gripping her hot chocolate mug just a bit too tight, she walked forwards and did not stop until she reached Barry's table. "Hey," she said a little too quietly but she congratulated herself for reaching this part of the plan anyways.

That alone was a milestone.

Barry nearly choked on his drink when he saw Belén right next to him. He hadn't thought this out very well, he saw that now. "H-hey...uh…?" He immediately scanned the area for Iris but saw she was nowhere to be found.

"Um, Iris just got some new important lead, um...do you mind if I sit with you?" Belén pointed to the empty seat across Barry. "I, uh, it's stupid but I...I don't like eating alone."

Barry remembered that perfectly. It wasn't a fear of Belén's per say but it was certainly something she disliked. She never liked being alone. "Of course," he said. He took her mug and placed it on the table for her while she sat down.

Channel 52 breaking news. The latest from Central City, where the mysterious meta-human criminal, known only as the Rival is once again terrorizing the populous with his incredible speed.

Belén looked up at the television screen and sighed. "Is he ever going to stop?"

"Oh, you know, the Flash will get him eventually," Barry said, seeing the concern fill her eyes.

"I worry that the cops will get hurt in one of those battles of theirs," Belén admitted. "Mom loves to catch the bad guy. You know how she is right?"

Bad talking the mother was never the way to go. "I mean, she's just...you know, doing her job…"

"I don't think I could ever do that…"

"What? Be a hero?" Barry smiled, now the words just coming to him naturally. It felt like any conversation they had back then. "I think you'd be a perfect one."

Belén's face garnered a pink tint from his words. "I'm not...I'm not brave enough."

"Yeah you are, you just don't realize it," Barry kept going. He loved seeing her reaction. If only she knew who she had been in another timeline.

"Okay, then…" Belén trailed off, her eyes once again going up to the screen as a new report broadcasted. "Oh, maybe I could've worked with Solar, huh?"

Barry followed her gaze to the screen and could not help his smile upon seeing his once adoptive daughter from another world, Anais, in the guise of her superhero identity Solar. At least in this timeline, Anais existed (although Barry had never found out if she had existed or not in the last reality). Here, she lived in their version of National City and was the superhero she always wanted to be. Too bad they would probably never meet.

"Definitely," he said knowingly for Belén, making her chuckle. His phone went off then and when he pulled it out he saw a notice from the precinct.

"Work?" Belén guessed.

"Yeah, yeah, uh…" he pushed his mug to the side and sighed. They were having such a nice time together and now he had work. It was a cruel fate.

It doesn't have to be a complete failure, he reminded himself. He looked up at Belén who had reached for a napkin at the time. "Belén, would you… would you…" He really needed to get ahold of himself. He gave her an apologetic smile before deciding to just go.

Belén went back to her hot chocolate, suddenly finding its taste therapeutic for that failed attempt of talking with him. Iris would have her head no doubt.

Barry made it halfway to the door when he stopped. Oh my god he hated himself, yes he did. He was really just going to let Belén go without even trying? He loved her, dammit. And sure, she didn't feel the same way for him in this world but...maybe she would if they tried again. He had already found her just like she promised him that they would. It could be a sign that they were simply meant to be. If everything happened the same way as the last time, they would be together again and they would be happy.

But that couldn't happen until he stopped being stupid and just asked her out.

Barry turned back and determinedly strode back to Belén's table. "Belén—" he unintentionally startled her into almost dropping her mug. He quickly caught it but it did splash some of his face in the process.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed and rushed to get some napkins...all in the meanwhile he laughed. Belén somewhat calmed seeing he wasn't upset with her. She gently dabbed the drink from his cheek, trying not to be as red as she felt. "Figures this would happen to us, huh?"

"I... don't think it would really be us if it didn't," Barry couldn't help his widening smile. It felt infectious as Belén slowly matched it.

"I staple you, I crash into you, I make you drop things and now I spill hot chocolate on your face...why do you still talk to me again?" Belén counted her lucky stars that he did but it never made sense to her why. He could easily avoid these accidents by simply not talking to her. Any other guy would.

"Because I like you," Barry blurted. Belén froze for a second but ultimately ended up smiling again. "Uh...Belén, would you want get a coffee?" He shook his head suddenly when he realized that's exactly what they just did. "I mean, I know we were having a coffee right now. I meant, like, you know, at a different time. With me—" he was talking and he could not stop, "—or it doesn't even have to be a coffee. It could be any kind of beverage, like a wine or a beer, or - not that I wanna get you drunk! We... we could get iced tea. Do you like iced tea? Do...would you wanna get an iced tea with me? Um—"

Belén promptly covered his mouth with her hand and chuckled. "You talk just like me!" She raised her hand from his mouth and leaned forwards. "And yes, I would really like to get an iced tea with you...or any other beverage you listed. If we feel spontaneous, we could even try some..." she paused for dramatic effect then whispered: "Dinner."

Barry laughed. This is what he thoroughly missed with her. "Yeah, that would be good. And I will make an effort not to talk so...fast."

Belén leaned back and smiled. "Nah, it's cute. Plus, it'll make competition between us."

Barry chuckled with her. "Alright then. Is tomorrow okay, then? Lunch? Dinner?"

"Let's start with lunch tomorrow," she beamed and was all too ecstatic to exchange phone numbers with him.

~ 0 ~

When Barry returned to the precinct, he was finally wearing something besides the glumness that usually followed to work. It was inevitable, really. In a very short time Barry had learned Joe and he no longer had a deep bond. They weren't even on a first name basis. At the same time, Cisco no longer worked there as "meta advisor". Barry didn't even like to think about Cisco that much anymore because of who Cisco turned out to be in this world. Work was just work now.

That was really unfortunate.

"What's up, Barry?" A middle-aged man stopped Barry before he could reach the staircase.

Another difference was that even Captain Singh wasn't there anymore. It took some getting used to but at least he got there. "Hey."

"You look a little less glum this day's afternoon…"

The big smile worked its way across Barry's face again. "Captain Mendez, I asked out a girl and she said yes!"

"Ah, there's no better feeling, is there?" Mendez laughed. "No better feeling. Well, until the day she says, 'I do'."

Barry coughed. "Yeah, we got a ways to go before that, I think." It was basically starting back from 'zero' but he didn't mind.

"Great, well that'll give you a lot of time to catch me up on where we are with the Rival?"

"Nothing substantive. He hasn't left any hair or skin samples at any of his attacks on the CCPD."

That put a damper on the mood. "So you're telling me there's no way to ID this guy."

"We'll figure out who he is when the Flash stops him," Barry stayed positive.

"Well The Flash better hurry up. Pun intended," Mendez turned away searching specifically for someone. "Has anybody seen Detective West?"

Barry didn't even need to do a quick scan of his own. Joe was probably nowhere near work...he learned that rather quick too. "You know, I think he had to stop by evidence." Mendez gave him a sharp look. "I don't know where he is, actually. Sorry. Oh, Captain, is it okay if I leave a little early today?"

"For your hot date?"

"No, I'm, uh, just meeting a friend for dinner."

Unfortunately on that matter it was more for humanitarian reasons than anything else.

At an abandoned warehouse that once used to be stockrooms, Barry walked into the very last room where only one prisoner stood. He admitted he very much liked seeing Eobard Thawne stuck behind a glass prison that rendered him useless. It was the same glass Zoom once kept Barry in and that was perhaps the only thing he was grateful of learning from the demon speedster.

"Dinner," Barry waved said dinner bag in the air.

Thawne merely gave the bag a glance from his spot and muttered, "There better be curly fries in there."

Barry set the bag on an old chair behind him and shrugged. "Yeah, human beings can go almost three weeks without food so I'd sound a little bit more grateful if I were you."

And yet, Thawne found the situation ironic. "Well, you wouldn't do that to me, Barry. After all, you're the hero. Or did you forget that? Too busy leading your reverse 'It's a Wonderful Life'?" he laughed but all Barry did was just stare. The words were literally flying over his head.

"Reverse, huh? That's irony for you."

Thawne paced in the little space his prison allowed. "So, uh, what should we call this, uh, brave new world that you've whipped up for us? I was thinking... Flashpoint?"

"So you don't want this?" Barry pointed back to the bag.

"You may have figured out a way to dampen my speed with this glass cage, but I will get out of here and I will destroy your life, Flash, one way or the other."

Now it was Barry's turn to laugh. "No, you won't. Ah, you're never getting out of here. And you're never gonna hurt anybody ever again," he said with the utmost certainty. "I have everything back that you took from me. I have everything Zoom took. I'm finally free. I'm home."

"This isn't your home, Barry. This is a mirage," Thawne purposely enunciated slowly like he was talking to a child. "A fiction that will end us both, unless you let me the hell out of this thing!"

"Well, you're not listening, Don. Why would I want to get out of here? I'm whole, here. There's even a Flash so I don't have to be."

Thawne mildly cared about that small detail. "Yeah, who is this dashing young speedster, huh? Do you know? You even care? While you sit around and hide like a lost, lonely little boy, letting someone else risk their life to protect the city, our common enemy is coming for us both."

"What common enemy is that?" asked Barry, mildly bores.

"Time. It's already screwing with you and everyone you love. And pretty soon, it's gonna take me right down along with you—"

"Wow," Barry almost clapped for the show he was being given. "You know, you've got some nerve. I'll give you that. Warning me about messing with other people's lives. You...you know the whole reason I did this is because of what you did to my life. To my family. To my mother."

"Yeah, well, one day, soon, Barry, you'll be begging me to kill her again," and that was a promise Thawne made.

Barry, however, could care less what kind of promises Thawne vowed to make. As far as Barry knew, there was no escape. This was the happy ending he deserved.

And he was enjoying every waking moment of it.

~0~

The next morning, like the one before and the one before that, Barry smelled the delicious scent of breakfast in his room. See, how the hell could this be wrong? His mother was up and early, cheery as usual, humming as she made breakfast for the family. Barry would come down the stairs and just stare from the last step at his mother while she came in and out of the kitchen. He sometimes couldn't imagine how he'd gone so much time without her.

"Morning, Barry," Nora greeted when she finally noticed he'd been standing there.

A big smile immediately spread across Barry's face. "Morning," he walked into the dining room and found his father already at his place. He hugged his mother before anything. It was a rule.

"What is up with you?" Nora asked through a small chuckle as she hugged back.

"What do you mean?" Barry pulled back.

"Lately, you hug me every morning as if it's the first time you've seen me in months."

Barry knew she was bound to notice his unique attitude. He just didn't think it would be this early. "Well, I mean, I'll stop if you really want me to."

But Nora smiled and shook his head. "Never. I love it."

Barry laughed and hugged her again before taking his usual seat at the table. He didn't stop himself from serving himself a rather full plate, not even when his father jokingly told him to leave some for them. He'd forgotten how his mother's meals tasted and he wanted to savor every bit he could. Plus, he always ate a lot anyways.

"Oh, Barry, I wanted to tell you, I sold a house to a nice older couple a few weeks ago," Nora began after finally sitting down with them. Barry was a bit focused on the bit of bacon in his mouth to speak so he just nodded. "The basement apartment. They emailed me this morning to tell me they wanted to rent it."

Barry swallowed and dove for another piece. Man he really loves his mother's cooking.

"Very reasonably," Nora added and when Barry finally looked up he saw the meaningful stares of both his parents directed at him.

"You want me to move out?" he couldn't help the sad tinge in his voice. It wasn't that he was planning on staying with them forever - because he had other plans indeed - but maybe for longer than three months.

Henry quickly jumped in to explain their motives. "No, no, son, come on. It's just, you know, if you ever thought about dating…"

Barry dropped his fork when he remembered the amazing thing that had happened the day before. "Oh, I forgot to tell you guys. I've got a date - finally." Three months was far too much time to be away from Belén.

Nora gasped and called for an explanation. "With who?"

"The one with the boy scouts selling cookies?" Henry took a stab at it.

Barry shook his head but then halfway started nodding. "Well, no... that's her nephew, Axel, actually." He had been taken by surprise when little Axel Palayta had shown up at their front door three months ago offering some truthfully good cookies for his boy scout team.

"Oh, the adorable little one with the jelly cookies?" Nora cooed at the memory of the five year old. "I had to buy two boxes from him last week. I didn't know his mother had a sister."

"Maritza's younger sister, Belén," Barry nodded. "She was the aerial dancer we saw three months ago, remember? The whole Earth Day show the city put up?"

"I knew you couldn't be the least interested in Earth Day," Henry sarcastically narrowed his eyes on Barry.

"I was…" Barry weakly argued. "I was just a little more focused on the girl behind the azalea mask."

"Oh, she was a talented dancer," Nora remarked when she fully remembered the event.

"Yeah…" Barry smiled to himself. It'd been the first time he saw Belén since he created the new timeline. After getting a little vague information from Axel and Maritza, he'd figured out Belén wasn't a journalist and was instead a fully committed dancer. As if he would miss her upcoming show. She was absolutely gorgeous and talented in her dancing.

"This girl just got the best guy, huh?" Nora pulled him out of his thoughts. Barry laughed instead of saying anything more. He was sure he was completely red in the face anyways.

~ 0 ~

"There you go, all set to sell some more cookies," Belén laughed as her nephew, Axel, fixed his boy scout hat. "Do you purposely tilt your hat to look more adorable?"

Axel shared a toothy grin. "Mommy says it's a good tactic."

"Your mother is awful," Belén purposely said louder as Maritza came out from the kitchen. "And your Dad will agree when he picks you up later."

"Hey, it sold him out in a week," she raised her hands in defense.

"Business is all about strategies," Belén's twin brother, Rayan, spoke from the dining table. Belén turned sideways to look at both of her older siblings. "So you're both awful. He's five!"

"You better not be arguing," the siblings' mother, Veronica, came in with a black folder in hand. "It's too early for that."

"They're—" Belén gestured to Rayan and Maritza, "—turning your grandson into a businessman already. He's five!"

"Nothing wrong with getting some business skills," David Palayta came into the conversation as he walked past them to the kitchen.

"Dad! Oh my God!" Belén shook her head at all of them.

Maritza walked to the dining table to gather her son's things. "Oh quit your whining and go get ready for your hot date already. We all know that's what you're killing time for."

"You've got a date?" Their brother scrutinized Belén. "With who?"

"I'd like to know that too." Their father returned with a mug of coffee.

"Maritza!" Belén exclaimed. She hadn't planned on this being a whole family discussion.

"It slipped," Maritza said, but the trace of a smirk left Belén suspicious.

"Who is it, sweetheart?" their father asked again.

Belén nervously looked from one family member to the next, knowing she wouldn't get out of it until she gave a name. "It's...fine," she sighed. "It's Barry, from the precinct?" She was left looking at her mother.

"I knew you didn't care how I was doing at work," Veronica rolled her eyes. "Those visits weren't to see me."

"50% of them were," Belén apologetically said.

"And we're the awful ones," Maritza laughed with Rayan.

"Shut up!" Belén exclaimed.

"Please don't argue like children," Veronica sighed. "And Belén, I don't think it's a good idea to date someone I have to work with every day."

"Mom, he's professional, and I doubt you two have more than a sentence per conversation anyways," Belén shrugged.

"Plus—" Rayan began and Belén assumed another tease was coming, "—it's pretty funny seeing her drool over the guy." Rayan smirked at Belén who was utterly offended. "Yeah, that's right, I noticed."

"You met him once and — leave me alone!" Belén crossed her arms. "Don't you have to go to work today?"

Rayan was getting over his smirk while he gathered his things from the table. "No. My day off, remember? I will be upstairs watching Netflix all-day."

"Good, so you can leave me alone then," Belén pointed him to go already.

"You know Rayan is just poking fun at you, dear," her father began getting his work stuff ready for the day.

"It was suited for when we were in high school!"

"Let it go, Belén," her mother turned back for the living room.

"Gotta go too," Maritza took Axel's hand and held onto his backpack. "Off to sell 100 cookie boxes. Hey, maybe we'll stop by Mrs. Allen and see if she's all buttered up enough to buy five cookie boxes."

"Yaaay!" Axel cheered as they started on their way.

"I hate this family," Belén muttered, but it only made the others laugh. She wouldn't let them ruin her day, though. In the end, their jokes made her feel all that more excited over her date. It's not that she'd pined after Barry so much that any minimal contact would make her lose it, but she'd been waiting far too long for a simple date.

It was too bad what was coming next was utter disappointment.

It was in the afternoon when Belén decided to face the fact the date wasn't happening. She thankfully met Iris on her way out of Jitters. Iris was completely disappointed to hear of Belén's misfortune.

"I don't understand, you two seemed so…" Iris didn't know how to explain it but Belén got it.

"I don't get it either," Belén sighed. She gripped the strap of her purse and looked ahead. "He sent me a text. A quick one by the looks of it." She gave the phone to Iris for her to see said message.

"'So sorry, something came up.' What?" Iris looked up with a big frown. "What the hell is that?"

"Right?" Belén took her phone back and dropped it inside her purse. "It's a stupid excuse. If he didn't want to go out anymore he could've just said it…"

Police cars zoomed past the two women, startling them into a stop. A third police car stopped by them, furthering their confusion.

"What's going on?" Iris was the one to ask.

"The Flash and the Rival had a run in at the Werther Building. This entire area is in evacuation mode," the policeman made the motion the evacuation included them two as well.

Iris entered some sort of panic state after the police car left. "I am so sorry. I have to go!"

Belén blinked. "What—"

Iris started backtracking from Belén, truly sorry for the sudden departure. "It's important!"

"But we were talking—"

"I know! I'm so sorry!" Iris turned around and hastily hurried away.

Belén was left with further deception and anger. "Why not?" she muttered and walked home alone the rest of the way.

Two bails in one day? That was a record alright.

~0~

Barry was not having the day he'd expected. He'd been set on having a perfect date with Belén and then suddenly came face to face with Wally West...who turned out to be the Flash. Barry didn't plan on jumping into the fight between the Flash and the Rival but the the latter was getting dangerous enough to put a serious blow on Wally. Barry had to go in and help as much as he could. The Rival managed to escape them both but it left Barry with Wally's identity. Now Barry stood in the "quarters" of Wally with an awestruck face. It was nothing like what STAR Labs had been in their world. It was rarely secure, even less than STAR Labs, and it seemed more like a regular, cluttered room.

"So this is your base of operations, huh?" He tried not sounding so...

"Yeah. What were you expecting? A fortress?" Wally was smart enough to know where Barry was intending on going.

"Uh, no, you know, no. Just something a little more secure. I mean, you never know who's gonna come walking through that door." Barry pointed to the front entrance that he knew probably wasn't even locked.

A minute later, Iris walked in and found the unusual sight before her. "What are you doing here?"

Barry was just as shocked as she was. "I... you're...you knew?"

"He showed up when I was fighting the Rival, and he already knew who I was," Wally explained.

Iris put down her things and scrutinized Barry. "You stood my friend up."

Barry sighed. "I-I didn't mean to!" He was definitely on his way to his date with Belén when he came across Wally.

"She's upset and she's mad."

"I know, I deserve it—"

"Can we not do this here?" Wally cut into what was sure to be a spectacular argument.

"Fine," Iris raised her hands in defense but then warned Barry he had bigger problems with Belén anyways. "So how did you know who my brother was?"

"Um, uh, CSI. You know, so I just, uh... Put it together," Barry cleared his throat. "So what I don't know is how you got your speed…" he looked to Wally.

"Oh, okay, so before I went on the straight and narrow, I used to drive illegal cars. I was messing around with a new nitro formula to get my engine revving faster. Then one night, I'm racing in a thunder storm, my car get struck by lightning. And it must have mixed with the formula because...boom!" Wally made a gesture in the air. "I was in a coma for nine months. Then when I woke up, I was the fastest man alive. The Flash."

"More like Kid Flash," Barry remarked.

Wally shook his head. "Don't call me that."

"I call you that," Iris reminded.

"Okay, how about no one calls me that?"

"And how did you get involved?" Barry asked Iris.

"I'm a reporter for CCPN. Instead of just reporting on crimes that are happening in the city, I decided to do something about it."

"Brother/sister crime-fighting unit," Barry smiled at them, getting some nostalgia from their old team. "So does your dad know about you two?"

Iris scoffed. "You work with the guy. What do you think?"

Touche, thought Barry. "I think that...we need to stop the Rival."

Wally sighed. "Yeah. We're open to suggestions. I've been trying to run him down for months. No luck. He's fast. Maybe faster than me."

"You know...there might be another way," Iris spoke up again, throwing her brother a sharp look.

Barry watched as Wally shook his head, clearly on the fence about whatever idea Iris was talking about. "I'll help in anyway that I can," Barry promised, eliciting a smirk from Iris.

"Good, because the way to get that help is to go to someone else first. She can get us to him."

"What do you mean?"

Iris' smirk widened. "You're gonna have to face Belén today."

Barry gulped. Yup, there was some dread there.

#ocappreciation #ocfairygodmother #arrowverseocs #fd: the flash #the flash #barry allen #the flash fics #barry allen fics #barry allen imagines #the flash imagines #barry allen x oc #the flash x oc #arrowverse fics #arrowverse imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #fic: make you stay

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saiilorstars · 2 years

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Ch.23: The Rogue Reporter

Pairings: Barry Allen x OFC

Current Masterlist | Previous Story

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

Taglist: @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @antonybridgertons @foxesandmagic

[If you’d like to be part of this OC’s taglist, let me know!

Belén felt like time was passing incredibly slow, and she would know something about Time considering her boyfriend was the Flash. She checked the clock in the office set right behind her editor's desk, and saw that it had only been about three minutes. Four, max. It feels like an hour, she thought.

She was anxious to know what Evans thought about her newest article. It had to be something special because he hardly ever required his reporters to sit in while he read the pieces. He'd called her into his office almost immediately after she clocked in. He said a couple words about her article she submitted to him last night but nothing concrete about whether or not he was going to publish it. So, there sat Belén, waiting for him to finally finish.

"This is a good article..." he began suddenly, making her heart thump anxiously. She straightened up in her chair as Evans lowered the hard copy to the desk. "But I won't be publishing it."

Belén's heart stopped. Her face fell at the news and yet...she wasn't all that surprised. In fact, she was surprised that she was surprised about Scott's decision. She knew from the start that this article wouldn't be easy to pass, so why was she so shocked to hear it come true?

"It's a good article," Evans repeated as if that would lighten up his decision. "I can't publish it and much less with your name under the byline."

"But...why not?" Belén pushed her chair closed to the desk, leaning forwards over it to touch her hard copy. "You've said it was good, twice!"

"And I stand by it but I've noticed something about your work: there's a clear bias for the metahumans in this city."

"Well, considering it's because of those metahumans that I live, I like to show my support for them," Belén picked up her article and skimmed through the paragraphs again. There were no mistakes in it - she proofread it so many times that in the end Barry had to pull her away to go to sleep - and there were no marks from Evans which meant that it really was a good article.

"And there lays the problem," Evans puts his hands together on the desk. "And it's not just you. West has the same issue."

"Well, if we're being honest, you seem to have something against metahumans too," Belén pointed out, recalling what Iris had mentioned to her days ago. "You don't like them and I don't think it's fair you're putting that towards my work. I did all the research for this article, I got interviews with metahumans that this city doesn't even know about yet. It's meant to unite a specific group of metas that are terrified of Datura."

"I know the intention of this article, I do, and I think it's very noble of you to try to do something like this...but I can't have all my workers showing nonstop support for metahumans. You, especially, are geared towards the Flash and the Azalea. Take a break."

"With all due respect, this article has nothing to do with my support for them," Belén kept her tone calm despite the bubbling anger that was growing inside her. "This article is not meant to glam them up. It's meant to offer information to other metahumans, let them know that they can get support from the Azalea, from this place called the Green...it's supposed to help."

"Again, I admire your drive for this. I am aware of your passion for your work, but this is one work that I really don't think will bring any good to this place."

Belén so badly wanted to shout that it wasn't meant for 'this place', but that it was meant for other botanical metahumans. He was missing the entire point!

"Why don't you try re-writing this and gear it towards the public in general?" Evans suggested, but it only served to further agitate Belén more.

"What—"

"Try to make it as a support platform for everyone in general," Evans continued. "You have the right idea, I just think—"

"No!" Belén shook her head, her ombre-blonde curls bouncing with her. "I can write another article about that but it's not what I want for this piece! This—" she snatched the article off the desk and raised it in the air, "—is meant for botanical metahumans! They are the ones in most danger right now! It's part of the first page - did you read it!?"

"I'd watch your tone, Miss Palayta," Evans' voice sharpened as did his gaze on her. "I understand your upset with this decision—"

"I don't think you do," Belén's humorlessly chuckled. "I wrote a good piece and more importantly, I wrote it thinking about a community that, up until now, hasn't gotten a lot of support. They're being hunted down and I want to help them. This article can do it!"

Evans did not falter. "I'm sorry. Either rewrite the article using my suggestion or move onto a different subject."

Belén gritted her teeth behind her lips. Her hand gripped the edge of her article but for all the anger she felt, she managed to keep her mouth shut. She whirled around and stormed out of the office.

~ 0 ~

"I shouldn't even be surprised," Belén shook her head after telling her friends what happened to her. There she stood in the middle of the cortex, hands flapping as she got angry all over again. "I knew he wouldn't publish it and I still went ahead and wrote it! Twice!"

"Bells," Barry walked over to her, reaching for her arms that were once again all over in the air. He was angry himself with that editor had turned away the article. He had read it each time Belén showed it to him and each time it was fantastic. How could Evans turn it away?

This was just the tip of the iceberg for them. None of them were in their best states considering they only just discovered Jay was actually Zoom. It was more than difficult to process that once again, they'd been duped by their enemy. Barry had done all the screaming a few days ago and while it passed, it didn't mean he was done. He was holding himself together because everyone else managed to clamber onto some type of state that didn't make them want to scream all day.

"It's my fault," Belén walked over to the desk where Cisco and Caitlin sat. Shivhan stood off to the side, taking sips of coffee. "I knew it and I went ahead and did it anyways." She swiped her article off the desk and headed towards the trash bin where she dropped her article in.

Shivhan nearly choked on her coffee at such a terrible sight.

"Bells!" Barry exclaimed but before he could even move for his girlfriend, Shivhan dashed forwards.

"Nu-uh!" she quickly dove a hand into the bin and pulled out the article. "You did not make us all help you with these interviews for you to just throw it all away!" Belén frowned at her like a child, but Shivhan wasn't done there. "This wasn't just your work! A lot of us put our words there to help you! And you're not going to let some guy—"

"My boss," Belén reminded her.

"—ruin all your work!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do!?"

"Publish it yourself!"

Belén paused to look at Shivhan. Everyone else exchanged reluctant looks with each other. None of them were sure that was the best idea, but Shivhan was always a bit more out there than the rest of the group.

"I-I can't..." Belén was shocked by such an idea, and yet there was a itty-bitty part of her that wondered...

"Shivhan, Belén can't go doing something like that," Cisco pushed himself out of his seat. He blinked suddenly then looked at Belén. "Right?"

"I don't think so," Barry said as he watched Belén grow silent, as if she was truly considering the idea. He didn't ever want to tell her what to do about her job, but it did worry him that she might make a rash decision because of her anger. "Belén?"

Shivhan seemed to get the social clue that she'd overstepped. Caitlin was pretty good at her expressions. "S-sorry, Belén. You're upset and I'm not helping - Iris might be right about my people skills."

"No, it's..." Belén reached for her article in Shivhan's hand. She took it back and gazed at the front page, sighing. "I don't know, I'm just..." She couldn't even put together the right words to describe how she felt.

Shivhan decided to move away before she made things worse.

As she moved away, Barry moved in and took Belén into a tight hug. "Can I take you home?" he suggested to her quietly.

Belén gave a small nod of her head. He brought them back to her apartment in just a minute but from there on, he didn't know what else to do for her. There was already so much on their plate that this was just the tip of iceberg.

"I can bring you some of your favorite pasta," he offered after getting settled, or rather after he'd persuaded her to settle in. She'd taken her shoes off, her jacket off, and she was sitting on her bed. "Oh, and we can watch Netflix all day. I think it's been a while since we had a date, right?"

Belén smiled appreciatively at him. "It has."

"So, pasta?"

"You're trying to appeal to my Italian side..." Belén tilted her head, the growing smirk on her face making Barry laugh.

"Caught me!"

"I love it. E ti amo per questo," the Italian language rolled perfectly off her tongue.

Barry would never get over how good she sounded speaking her beautiful Italian language. "No idea what you said but feel free to continue."

Belén laughed. "And I love you for it," she translated and scooted closer to him. "Your attempts to cheer me up."

"Oh...you want to say something else?" Barry asked and made her laugh again. "No seriously. I'd love an Italian lesson from you."

"Something tells me you're not very interested in learning the lesson."

"Maybe so," he admitted with a careless shrug. "I just think you sound incredibly hot speaking Italian."

Belén rolled her eyes in an attempt to be casual but the truth is she was blushing as if it was the first time he said that. He always said that to her. She would say a few sentences in Italian at random moments. Sometimes they would come out when they were having meals together, or when she was mad - they were no strangers to when they were engaging in...certain activities. At those points, Barry would love it even more. Remembering that caused Belén's blush to deepen. It was not the time to remember such things.

"I'll go get you that pasta, then," Barry brought her back to the present with a kiss on the lips. "And maybe a couple for me."

"Thank you," Belén said softly as he climbed off the bed. She knew he was giving his free day up just to cheer her up.

Barry stopped by the bedroom door to look back at her with a smile. "I'll be back," he promised and left the room. Just as he was about to speed out of the apartment, his phone started to ring. He fished the phone out of his pocket and saw Iris' name over the screen. "Hey, Iris."

"Hey! Just calling to make sure we're still on for lunch today," Iris said, immediately confusing Barry since he had already made his plans with Belén. "I told Wally we'd do 4 o'clock and I really hope that you won't be late. Actually, I'm placing all my faith on Belén because I know your track record."

"Lunch?" Barry repeated, scratching the back of his head. "With you and Wally?"

"Yeah, why are you asking me? We agreed - all of us - to do lunch today!"

"Right..." Barry closed his eyes when he remembered that they had. "Um, listen Iris, I think we'll have to—"

"Barry?" Belén's whisper caught him off guard. She had come out the bedroom and leaned against the door. She heard the entire conversation and remembered that they did make plans with Iris and Wally. "Tell her we're still coming."

Barry pressed his hand to the phone as he turned to Belén. "But you're not feeling—"

"I'm fine," Belén offered him her best smile. She leaned off the door and took the few steps necessary to take the phone from him. "Hey, Iris. We'll be at Jitters at 4."

"Make sure Barry's ready," Iris chuckled.

"Of course, don't worry." Belén hung up the call and turned around to face Barry, holding his phone out to him. "Iris doesn't know what's going on. It was her day off and she's sort of seeing him."

"She's what?" Barry blinked.

"Yeah so I would really like to keep my personal troubles away from her, at least for now."

"I get that but are you sure that you don't want to stay at home? You're not feeling up to it—"

"Iris is waiting for us," Belén took his hand and placed his phone on his palm. "I'm going to go get ready." She made sure he held onto his phone and headed back for her room.

~ 0 ~

An hour later, both Belén and Barry were at Jitters having lunch with Iris and Wally. If one looked at Belén, no one would be able to tell that she was upset. She was laughing and keeping up with the conversation just like she always would on any other day. Barry didn't know if he should be happy that she could pull such a stunt or be upset that she felt like she needed to pretend to be happy.

"Honestly Wally, sometimes you make me miss college," Belén said after hearing Wally retell a story about a frat party he'd gone to just last week. "I used to go to some of the sorority parties myself and they almost always ended up going wild."

"You went to those parties?" Iris threw her a disbelieving look.

"Yeah, well, sometimes my friend Hilary used to make me but they were so much fun!"

"I didn't go because I wanted to, my friend took me," Wally chimed in before Iris got the idea that he was wasting time at college. He didn't need that getting back to Joe.

"Right," scoffed Iris. She crossed gazes with Barry and wondered why he was so quiet. "I guess you and I are the only ones who didn't go to those parties, huh?" she had asked in hopes of getting him to join the conversation, but all he did was nod and mumble a 'yeah'. His awkward smile didn't help either.

Belén studied Iris and realized she was beginning to notice Barry's odd behavior. She was just too smart to fool sometimes. "Hey Barry, you think you can get me another matcha tea?"

Of course he would. "Be back," he excused himself as he got out of his stool.

"Is he alright?" Wally asked, having noted Barry's strangely quietness throughout their lunch.

"Yeah, um...just things about work," Belén quickly dismissed it and changed the topic of conversation. She wasn't interested in throwing the blame on Barry when he was like that because of her.

"I'm gonna get another refill," Iris excused herself a few seconds later and grabbed her mug off the table.

"So, uh, Iris told me you were working on a new article about metas," Wally said not a moment after his sister was gone. Belén almost choked on her own saliva but managed to pass it off as a regular cough. "I thought it was a pretty cool idea what you were trying to do."

"Yeah, um...yeah," Belén shifted awkwardly in her stool. Leave it to Wally to bring up the very thing she was trying so hard to forget. All this time she shouldn't have concerned herself with Barry and Iris, she should've kept her eye on the quiet one!

"Do you actually know them?" Wally purposely lowered his voice. He leaned on the table a bit, his eyes eagerly looking at her for the answer. "Like...like the Azalea and the Flash?"

"Well, uh...I wouldn't say p-personally..." Belén wasn't sure how much she could say without sounding suspicious. None of them had really talked about whether or not they wanted to let Wally in on the STAR Labs secret.

"The things you've written...you pretty much establish that you know both of them."

"Is that what I established?" Belén awkwardly chuckled. "Oh me..."

Wally gave her a look asking her not to treat him like he was stupid. "Seriously. It's not like I'm going to ask who they are. I just think it's cool that they would let you constantly interview them for your work. Kind of makes them sound...normal."

"Normal?" Belén couldn't help the genuine laugh that came out of her mouth.

"Everybody sees them like Gods - you should hear the students at my school. Most of them claim that they're in love with them and others put them on these high pedestals saying that they can't be beat."

"And you think they can be?" Belén asked, choosing not to focus on the fact some people were out there saying they were in love with the Flash. He's mine so back off, she almost rolled her eyes at herself.

"They're humans, aren't they? I don't know, I thought they were kind of lame but after reading your work...it sounds like they actually care about people like us. You know, the non-metas?" Wally smiled at her. Belén almost felt sorry that he was thinking they were part of the same club. "And then Iris told me that you got the Azalea to do this big-deal interview along with other metas like her? That's cool! I can't wait to read it when it comes out."

Belén's smile slowly became strained. "Yeah..."

Barry and Iris had just finished ordering their refills at the counter when Iris turned to him demanding to know what was wrong with him. Sometimes it was just too scary how she did that.

"Nothing," the speedster tried playing it off but he forgot that he basically grew up with her. She saw right through him.

"You haven't said two words back there," Iris gave a nod at their table. "And you have a face..."

"It's not about me, alright?"

It then took Iris only two seconds to change gears. "What's wrong with Belén?"

"How do you...?" Barry looked at her like she was some psychic because sometimes it felt like she wasn't just a regular human.

Iris rolled her eyes at him. "Barry Allen you better tell me what is going on right now." There was a sharpness in her tone that always, without fail, made Barry wince as if he'd just gotten in trouble.

"I really can't. Belén said it would upset you and that editor of yours. The one you're apparently dating - thanks for letting me know, by the way!"

"What?" Iris didn't seem as surprised as Barry thought she would be considering no one knew she'd been seeing the editor. Instead, she looked confused. "I'm not dating..." she shook her head with a sigh. "I'm not dating Scott."

Now it was Barry's turn to be confused. "What? Bells told me you were having coffee dates with him."

"Yeah, like 2 or 3 times but that's not happening anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Iris looked away. She didn't want to get into that right now. She had only just recently decided to stop those little dates and if she explained it to him or even Belén, she would have to bring in the reason. She didn't know if she was ready to talk about him yet. "That's not important right now. I want to know why you're so quiet and why Belén is, apparently, pretending to have fun right now."

"Iris—"

"I swear to God if you don't tell me I will embarrass you in front of your girlfriend. I do have untold stories. Shall we go back to freshman year?"

"Stop!" Barry ordered her instantly. "It's that...that article you helped her rewrite, remember? Apparently, your editor decided not to run it because Bells has some bias towards metas, specifically the Azalea and the Flash."

"Oh no," Iris sighed. She knew that would always be a risk, they all knew it, but like Belén she had hoped that Scott would see past his own bias against metas to realize how helpful Belén's article could be.

"I'm pissed, honestly," Barry admitted and it felt good to be able to express it too. He hadn't done much because he wanted to help Belén and the last thing she needed was an angry boyfriend. "I read that article and if it did get published, a lot of botanical metas would benefit from it. The Azalea could potentially bring together an entire community. And Scott—" he spat the editor's name viciously, leaving Iris stunned that he could even be like that, "—decides that Belén has a problem. He has the problem if he can't see what this article could do."

"Calm down," Iris said, patting his arm and nodding to the barista who was now a bit nervous to approach them with their refills. Barry turned away to gather himself up. He rarely went into states like that in public. Usually it was around STAR Labs or by himself, but like Belén he was tired of everything going wrong for them.

"It's not fair, alright? And the only reason I haven't marched down there myself is because I know how much Belén loves her job." He grabbed his mug from the barista.

"We'll find a way to get it published," Iris assured him.

"Hey," Belén suddenly joined them at the counter. She took her mug from Barry's hands and looked between them. "Wally and I have been waiting for you two. How long do refills take?"

"Drop the act Annah-Belén," Iris promptly said, startling Belén for a moment. "I know everything."

"Dammit Barry!"

"I couldn't help it!" the speedster raised his hands in defense. "Plus, she's not even dating the editor anymore."

"Oh, it doesn't - wait, how come?" Belén fixated a concerned, yet puzzled, gaze on Iris.

The reporter groaned, throwing her head back. "That's not important right now!"

"Yes, yes it is. What happened?"

"It doesn't matter!" Iris ultimately snapped to silence them both. "I don't want to talk about it, alright? But what I do want to talk about is this article. We need to figure out a way to get it published."

"Well you never know, I might just end up publishing it on my own," Belén muttered, earning herself wide-eyed looks from the two siblings. "What?"

"Bells, I know that's what Shivhan said but even she realized that wasn't a good idea."

"I just don't know, Barry. Maybe it's time I stopped acting so much like me and pick up a little something from Datura. She wouldn't take this crap! Why shouldn't I publish my article on my own?" she waited for one of them to answer her, but neither could come up with a decent response. "Exactly. I work hard every day to make sure my articles are good but something always goes wrong with me. I can't catch a break and I'm tired of it." She gazed down at her mug and shook her head. She moved up to the counter and left the mug on it. "I think I need to go home. Tell Wally I'm sorry, I...got a headache or something."

"Bells..." Barry couldn't even touch her arm with how fast she moved away from them. "Great!"

"We'll figure it out," Iris promised him again. They always figured everything out and this wouldn't be an exception.

~ 0 ~

Belén had planned on going directly home after such a lunch, but her mother called her midway asking her to stop by her place instead. Even if Belén wasn't sure she could take more conversations, she changed directions. Her mother wouldn't be accepting 'no'.

"Auntie Belén, look!" Axel called her over the moment she walked into the house. He was sitting at the dining table, animated over a drawing he was working on. As she walked over, he flashed a picture of a bright orange fish inside a fish bowl. "I made it for show and tell tomorrow."

Belén laughed as she studied the drawing. "It's wonderful."

Axel beamed with his aunt's compliment. He stood on the chair and leaned on her so he could tap a finger over the paper. "It's my pet fish - Goldie."

Belén had to suppress her hard laugh at the name. Goldie. "So, um, why don't you bring in the actual fish to school instead?"

Veronica emerged from the kitchen, loudly clearing her throat and making a cutting motion across her neck. Belén didn't understand what she'd said wrong until she noted Axel's entire mood changing. He glumly took his picture back and sat down on the chair again.

"Grandma says I can't because I could break the fish bowl glass…"

"Way to go, Belén," Veronica muttered.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Axel," Belén kissed her nephew's head. "Maybe we can find a better fish bowl for your next show and tell."

"Axel, go upstairs while I talk with your aunt," Veronica promptly ushered the boy off his chair. Axel grabbed his crayon box and went towards the stair case.

"Belén," Veronica said as soon as Axel had gone. Belén immediately noticed her mother's strange expression. "I've been thinking about our situation with Zoom and Datura..."

"You and me both," sighed Belén. She collected all the sprawled papers on the table that Axel left behind.

"I decided that this place isn't safe for Axel anymore." Veronica watched her daughter freeze in the middle of shuffling papers in her hands. "I know it's hard to actually believe it but-"

"No, it's not," Belén said quietly. Of course she knew that Central City was no longer as safe as it once was. It was just one of those things that she would push to the back of her mind.

Veronica was relieved that she could at least slip the arguing concerning the safety levels of the city, but she wasn't sure if she'd have the same luck with the next part. "Leaving Axel with Mrs. Andrews doesn't really make me feel secure. I could potentially be putting an old woman in danger."

Another valid point, Belén sighed at. She could see her mother struggling to put her next words together, probably assuming that she would get angry at her for it. "Mom? What is it?"

Veronica exhaled and went for it. "I want to send Axel away...to your father's family in Italy."

Belén's eyes widened like dinner plates. "To Italy!?" she exclaimed louder than she'd intended to, but the idea was a bit much too handle easily. "You want to send him to Italy!?"

Veronica had prepared herself for this type of reaction. She wasn't going to yell at Belén to listen to her, but she would make a damn good argument on why it was the best option for Axel. "I know it's far away—"

"Try 'on the other side of the world'!" Belén exclaimed, turning away from Veronica. Tears were stinging inside her eyes. Their family was already separated enough and now Axel would be in Italy!?

"I know that it's far but that's the point. Zoom and Datura wouldn't waste their precious breaths trying to find a four year old in Italy. They'd forget about trying to use him against us. He would be safe, Belén. Isn't that what we want?"

Belén's legs seemed like they wanted to stomp but she controlled herself and instead turned back to face her mother. Of course that made sense. It made absolute sense. It just didn't mean it would be easy. "Italy...?"

Veronica nodded her head. "I can call your Nona and set it all up. I just want you to be on boars with this. I won't send him if you don't agree. No more fighting."

Tears rolled down Belén's face but it wasn't all for Axel. Time was she had battled it out for Axel's custody with her mother and now, despite having full custody over him, Veronica was giving her the power to decide his fate.

"I'd love to argue to keep him here but you're right. It's not safe for him to be around us," Belén sniffed. A deep anger crossed her face when she remembered all those times they allowed Jay to be around Axel. They couldn't let that happen again. "Italy will be good for him. He'll have fun and-and he'll be around the family."

Relief filled Veronica's face hearing Belén agree. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Belén wiped the tears off her face. "Kind of jealous. I haven't been to Italy in forever. Miss my Nonno Maxi."

Veronica chuckled. "Yeah, it's been a while."

"Alright," Belén exhaled with resignation. She nodded at her mother. "Let's do it. Let's send Axel away to Italy."

"Thank you," Veronica walked up to her and hugged her.

"It's just so hard having to let him go," Belén hugged her mother tightly. She didn't want to keep losing family members.

"I know," Veronica sighed. "But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. It might not be easy, it might bring some problems, but if you're doing it for the right reasons...then it has to be done."

Veronica's words struck a chord she hadn't intended on. Belén started thinking about her article. It would never see the light of day even when it was really meant to help many people.

Do what you gotta do.

~0~

When Barry came back to the apartment, he expected to have some trouble persuading Belén to talk to him. Instead, she had shouted that the door was opened and the moment he walked in he was met with the sweet scent of chocolate. It took him a moment to realize that she was making cookies.

"Hey!" she emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of chocolate cookies. "Want a Chocolate Amaretti?"

"Wh-what? How...what...you're making cookies!?"

Belén nearly laughed at Barry's adorable confused face. "Yes, I am. My Nona Enger used to make these for me when I was younger. She taught me how to make it—" she took a bite into one of the cookies, "—but I don't think I could ever make them taste the same."

If Barry was confused before, now he was bewildered. "I thought you were..." his hand gestures didn't exactly make sense but Belén knew what he was trying to say.

"I was upset, but I fixed it," she set the bowl on the table, along with her half eaten cookie. "I visited my Mom today. We, uh...we decided to send Axel away to our family in Italy."

Barry blinked, his body lurching forwards as if his feet forgot how to stand. "What?"

Belén looked up with saddened, but resigned, eyes. "It's not safe for him anymore, Barry. We all know that Zoom and Datura will eventually come back and when they do, I'd rather not have Axel around. Mom's arranging things to send him as quick as possible."

"Bells, I'm sorry," Barry walked over to her and kissed her temple.

"No, don't be. It's the best thing we can do for him. He's four, you know? He shouldn't have live surrounded by our meta troubles. Where my Dad's family lives...it's a small town, it's lovely. Axel will love it there." But as she spoke, Belén's tears pooled in her eyes. It was truly going to be so hard to let her nephew go, even if it was for a temporary period.

Barry wrapped an arm around her waist. "You are making a good decision. I know it hurts—"

"It does," Belén turned to him, taking in a deep breath for what she was about to say next. "I agreed to it because it was something I had to do, something that I needed to do...just like my article." She licked her lips nervously and stepped away from him. "I...published my article."

Barry stepped towards her but she quickly retracted the same step back. "You got Evans to publish it?"

"Not exactly. I...published it on my own. I, uh, made a blog - like the one Iris used to have - and I published my article there. With my name and everything."

"Wh-wh-why...what!?" Barry exclaimed, giving her a look that begged her to take it back, to say that it was just a joke. "Belén, tell me you didn't actually-"

"I did!" Belén raised her head high, making it clear that she wasn't ashamed of it. "I had to do it—"

"You didn't have to—"

"I did!" snapped Belén as she moved past him in a determined stride. "And I didn't do it as a rash decision, like some little girl who was mad! I did because I had to! I needed to!"

"But you could get into trouble with your editor!" Barry turned around and watched her pace to and from him. "Belén!"

"I'm listening!" she stopped pacing to face him. "I had to! Datura is coming back and when she does I want every botanical metahuman that's afraid of her to know that they're not alone!" Her shouts increased in volume each time she said something new. " That there's so many of us out there! I needed them to know that so they won't be as scared as I used to be!"

Silence hung in the air afterwards.

Barry stood in his spot and watched her try to calm herself down. Her chest heaved up and down until she was able to speak in a normal volume.

"I used to be so afraid of Datura back then. I still am but with reasonable amount. Back then, before I knew about the Green, I thought it was a lost battle," she swallowed thickly. "And when I finally learned that I wasn't alone...Barry you have no idea how I felt. It was..."

Barry strode up to her for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her so tightly one would think he was afraid that she'd slip away. "I didn't know," he murmured over her head.

"Of course you didn't," Belén moved her hands up his back. "I didn't even realize it myself. I thought it through, Barry, and I know the risks that I'm taking. I needed to do it so that others won't have to live in fear."

"You are incredibly brave, you know that?"

"Hardly, they're words."

"Still. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did, and no matter what happens...I'll be here for you."

Belén smiled up at him in relief. She'd been nervous to tell him what she did. It wasn't something to take lightly but she wouldn't backtrack. "Thank you," she kissed him on the lips.

"Always together, right?" Barry tilted her chin upwards, giving her reassuring smile.

"I'm really lucky to have you," she sighed and leaned on him. A little part of her wondered to herself how Datura had gone on the way she had without her Barry. Maybe that's why she went psycho. She couldn't imagine what her life would be if she couldn't be with Barry. She wouldn't go 'psycho' but she definitely wouldn't be able live happily either.

"Sooo...we're making cookies tonight?" Barry let her go to turn back to the table. They smelled really good.

"Well since Axel's leaving to Italy, I'm kind of nostalgic for my family. My Nona Enger used to bake these with me."

"If this is our dinner then I'm definitely sleeping over," Barry drifted towards the table and grabbed a cookie from the bowl. Belén watched him happily munch on her cookies, almost laughing when he moaned on the second bite. "Oh yeah," he said in-between bites, "I'm definitely staying tonight."

A new thought suddenly popped into Belén's head. It made her feel stupid for not thinking about it before, and she meant way before. "Why don't you just stay?" she asked.

Barry was too engulfed in the pieces of heaven that were the cookies to understand Belén the first time. "If you continue baking these, I'll stay here for days!"

Belén rolled her eyes and tried to make her words more clear. "I meant, why don't you just move in?"

This time, Barry understood. He stopped just as he was about to drop the last bit of cookie into his mouth. "What?"

Belén would ignore the heat in her face as she went on with her proposal. "You're here for most of the week anyways. I mean, really, you're only at Joe's and Iris' to do like, laundry or something. I'd love to have you here every night with me, all day with me. Wouldn't you?"

Barry didn't need to think twice on the answer. "Of course!"

It was easy to become excited with that kind of answer. "So...so you want to move in? For real?"

"Yes! I'd love to."

Belén beamed and rushed up to him for a hug. Barry caught her with a laugh and gave her a little spin. When he set her back on the ground, he reached for another cookie in the bowl.

"But you're going to have make more of these," he warned her before dropping it all in his mouth.

Belén laughed. "Moderation, Barry!" He tried to say something along of 'I'm trying' but Belén couldn't understand him. "So, you obviously can't stay in Axel's room because he's, well, four…"

"Obviously…" Barry said after swallowing.

Belén cupped her face, chuckling as she cleared the crumbs off his lips. "So...I guess you'll just have to stay with me in my room…our room."

"That sounds fair," a roguish smile etched across Barry's face. "I should get my stuff, then..." With his speed, it'd only take a few minutes after all.

"Nah, let's wait until tomorrow," Belén grabbed another cookie and held it to him. He gladly took another bite and watched her drop the remainder in her mouth. "I've got another batch in the oven..."

Barry's eyes widened as a gleeful expression took him over. Belén dared say it almost won over his reaction about moving. She burst into laughter, having to move away from him to really get it out.

A part of her realized, in the midst of everything, that she truly wouldn't be able to live without her Barry.

#ocappreciation #ocfairygodmother #arrowverseocs #fd: the flash #the flash #barry allen #barry allen fics #barry allen imagines #the flash fics #the flash imagines #arrowverse fics #arrowverse imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #fic: rise up

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