#oc: Belen Palayta

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 9: Killer Frost

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

Story Masterlist • Previous Stories: Rise Up • It Had To Be You

Belén’s Masterlist • Fanfic • Ao3

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

Belén and Joe desperately tried to see the force that held Barry against the wall but try as they might, they just couldn't. Anais, on the other hand, was terrified and awed. Her eyes glowed her golden hue and she directed heat beams at the metallic armor of the unknown enemy but it was like a minor cut. If anything, it just agitated the enemy even more. In a flash of a second, it was in front of Anais, grabbing her by the neck. She was thrown across the room, landing on a table which then turned and crashed on the ground.

The armored enemy returned for Barry in less than half a second. Barry could say he didn't even feel when he was briefly let go for Anais. "What the hell are you?" Despite his struggles, Barry couldn't free himself from the grasp around his neck.

"You may serve the speed force, Flash, but I rule it," the metallic armor responded. "You are only a man, but I am a god. Your god. I am Savitar."

Kill us! Get it! Or get out! Belén struggled to breathe in regularly. The voices - sentient as ever - were squirming with the fear of death and wanted to make it known.

"Alchemy!" Joe, at this point, didn't know where to aim his gun but Alchemy made it easier since he was making an escape with the stone that crystalized Wally.

"STOP!" Belén screamed, however for the others it was on behalf of Barry, but she really needed the voices to be quiet or she would lose her sanity there and then.

"Let's go for a run, and give her some space," Savitar said to Barry then zoomed out of the place with him.

Belén dropped to her knees and looked around at the mess they'd created. She screwed her eyes shut when the voices echoed for them to leave.

~ 0 ~

From the cortex, the others tried to get ahold of Barry but were stumped to find him virtually all over the city.

"The suit's tracker must be malfunctioning," Cisco tried to get in touch with Barry himself. "It says he's appearing and reappearing all over the city at once, and that's impossible. He can't be moving that fast."

"Well if he can't, maybe something else can…?" Iris nervously watched the blinking dot meant to be Barry go in and out of appearance in every corner of the street map.

"What about the others?" Caitlin murmured as she switched to the comms. They might not have visuals on the subway but their communications were still intact. "Belén? What's happened over there?"

"I-I messed up, Caitlin!" Belén was quick to respond and let her frantic state be felt from across the city. "S-something took Barry! And it hurt Anais! Wally too - I don't know! I just don't know!"

"I got it!" Cisco cheered with his arms in the air. "Whatever it is, it stopped at the waterfront!"

"We have to get to him," Iris looked between the two considerably.

"Anais is down and I...I don't think I can reach them," Belén sounded on the verge of tears. They had yet to know what happened to Wally because she messed up.

"Cisco, you can open a breach and get you both to the waterfront," Iris thought of instead since this was a clear emergency.

"Guys, I can't," Caitlin gulped just by looking at her hands. "It's too dangerous."

"I'm begging you. Please!"

~ 0 ~

"Still alive down there?" Savitar's taunt came through the raspy, drawling voice of his his armor. Even as Barry tried getting up, Savitar forced him to stay put with a foot on him. "You are only a shadow beneath my throne. You are the past, whereas I... I am the future, Flash."

A breach opened up across them and out jumped Cisco and Caitlin. Cisco lost his balance with the source of energy he just pulled for the breach.

Caitlin wiggled her fingers and looked up ahead but all she saw was Barry in midair. "I can't see it!"

"Just do it!" cried Killer Frost in Caitlin's mind. Even as she shivered from it, she fired a large quantity of ice, probably more than she ever created since she got the powers. It encapsulated Savitar's form and made it visible for her and was able to feel the deep cold through Savitar's grasp.

Barry heard the cracking of the ice and the next he knew, he dropped to the ground. Savitar had disappeared. Cracks of ice sprawled underneath Barry's form, but otherwise he felt he would manage to pull himself up with Caitlin's support.

"Oh, boy. I'm gonna feel that tomorrow. Ah," Cisco groaned as Caitlin helped him stand. "That was a new and painful use of my powers." Caitlin rubbed his arm and looked back to Barry. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just cold," Barry nodded them. "Thanks for coming."

~ 0 ~

"Barry, you're already healing. You should be fine soon," Caitlin moved over to the x-rays she'd taken from Cisco, the man lying on a bed with a hand on his forehead. "Um, Cisco, the MRI I did of your brain shows changes in the capillary morphology similar to that of a mini-stroke. I wouldn't try an intra-dimensional breach like that anytime soon."

Cisco nearly went pale as he sat upright. "Okay, okay. Mini-stroke? You can't just gloss over that like that, okay? What does that... what does that mean? Am I gonna have this migraine for the rest of my life?"

"It means you should take a few aspirin and you'll be fine," Caitlin reassured him his health.

"Oh. Well, just lead with that next time!"

"Cait, I know what a risk you took using your powers," Barry stopped her just as she was leaving the side room. "Thank you."

"I didn't do anything..." Caitlin said sheepishly.

"Well, you saved my life."

"You've saved mine plenty of times. I'm gonna go check on Wally," Caitlin turned to finally leave. As she walked on, her eyes flickered silver to dark. Let me out, Caity…

~ 0 ~

Shortly later, Belén and Anais had joined the group in the cortex, each one looking worse for wear in their own way.

"Anais, you're okay?" Cisco asked, much kinder than before now that he knew where his dampeners had actually gotten to.

Anais knew this and scowled at him in return. "You care?"

Cisco figured he had that well earned. "I said I was sorry—"

"Keep saying it, then," she walked past him to her folded suit left on a chair.

"What are you doing?" Barry asked, curiously watching her get the suit.

"I'm leaving," she announced sharply.

"What - now? You're choosing to leave now?" Cisco blinked. Just when he was beginning to like her a bit more.

"Caitlin said I finished with my tests and Barry said I could leave whenever I wanted to after that. Well, I want to leave now," Anais informed them and walked up to them. She didn't quite care for the group's reaction. "No offence, but I didn't come here to sign up for another war."

"Uh, no, you just stole the passageway of another man," Cisco reminded him but it did no good for the case.

"Here," Anais handed Barry a card with a number on it. "I'm not disappearing, but I...I just don't want to be here anymore. I just got out of a war, I can't get into another one. You understand, right?"

Barry gave a nod without the intention of pleading her to stay. Unfortunately, he could understand what Anais was trying to say. In the end, this was their problem with Savitar and Alchemy, not hers.

"Iris got me the cellphone, I will answer if you call, I swear," Anais stepped around Barry and stopped by Belén. "Please take care of yourself, okay?" Belén meekly nodded and rubbed her arm. Anais was sure there was something Belén wasn't saying but who was she to start asking questions? All Anais wanted to do was get the hell out of there before something targeted her next.

"Well, there's your daughter!" Cisco gestured after Anais once she was gone, eyes set on Barry and Belén. "You're not going to stop her!?"

Belén shrugged at Cisco. "What do you want us to do? Call her to come back and fight a battle that's not hers?"

Barry tucked the card with the number inside his pocket. "Maybe she's making the right call, alright? Let's just give her some space."

Cisco wasn't even going to waste more breath on the matter. "Fine, whatever. So what was that thing in the waterfront, anyways? All frozen and whatnot."

"I don't know. But now we know Alchemy is just the lackey," Barry said. "Whatever that thing was, it's what we're really up against."

"So why couldn't any of us see it?" Belén asked. "Joe and I, we-we tried but...there was nothing." Of course maybe she would have seen more things if she wasn't dealing with the insanity going on in her head.

"Maybe it was a speedster thing?" Cisco offered, even though there was no clear explanation for it. "I mean, Anais saw it, right?"

"Maybe, but I think he's more than a speedster," Barry admitted. "I mean, when he had me, it wasn't like we were even moving; it was just like, 'bam!' we were instantly somewhere different, even from my perspective."

"Did he say anything else?"

"He said his name was Savitar."

"Nice name," Belén said distractedly. She felt the echo of pain on the side of her head.

"Bells…" Barry stepped towards her but she sniffed and nodded to the threshold.

Belén blinked at Barry, her face flushing when she realized she wasn't paying attention again. "Uh, Wally's still...I'm so sorry." She shook her head and rushed out of the cortex.

Barry was exhausted and yet this single moment felt even worse than him getting punched by Savitar. Whatever was going on with Belén was distancing them again and the last time that happened, Belén almost didn't come back from it.

~ 0 ~

A few hours had passed by since they brought Wally back and since then, Caitlin had performed a series of tests to see his condition. Her news wasn't relatively the best except that Wally wasn't entirely dead.

Belén heard the whole news and couldn't take the guilt. She cooped herself up in the greenhouse room and tried her damn best to meditate. It wasn't working. In fact, it was perhaps one of the worst meditation attempts of her life. Belén felt like sobbing at one point. That was when Barry found her.

"Bells, c'mon..." Barry had no sophisticated strategy to get her to open up. He was too tired for that stuff today. He sat down on the floor directly in front of her, crossing one leg over the other as if he was going to meditate with her. For the first couple of minutes, he didn't say anything to her. He just looked at her.

Belén did the same. Somehow, the silence between them was even more difficult to manage than when Barry actively tried to find out what was going on with her. In the end, she gave up. "It's my fault," her confession was a quiet whisper.

"Your fault?" Barry repeated. He hoped that it was glaringly obvious how eager he was that she had finally said something to him. Hopefully it would pave the way to her revealing what was really the problem.

Belén swallowed hard. "Yeah," she nodded. "I messed up. I messed up so badly. I let Wally walk right past me to that stupid stone! He was right in front of me and do didn't do anything!"

Barry was still, honestly, stumped about that moment. Even though there was still some fuzziness about what happened there, he knew something prevented Belén from stopping Wally. She was right. He had walked right past her and she didn't do anything. That wasn't like her. Lately, she wasn't acting like herself. "Bells, you have to help me out here, what's happening? I-I am being patient, but...look at yourself. It's like when Datura was getting to you and...and you shut yourself off from everyone, including me."

Belén bit on her bottom lip nervously. As hard as things were getting, she was scared to tell Barry what was happening. "It's scaring the living crap out of me right now," she admitted.

"What is?" Barry gently pushed for the answer. He reached for one of her hands on her lap, enveloping it between his hands. "You can tell me anything."

"I'm afraid how you'll take it," Belén said, watching him carefully. Already, she saw a spark of guilt in Barry's eyes. She couldn't imagine how he would take the news that his changing the timelines truly affected her and Caitlin in the worst ways. She couldn't do that to him. "But it's okay. It's okay. I have it under control."

"But, Bells—"

Belén leaned forwards and pressed a kiss on Barry's lips. She smiled softly at him, eyes looking at him fondly. "I really love you, do you know that?"

Barry recognized a tactic when he saw one and he was ashamed that it worked. Belén was purposely keeping something away from him and he couldn't force it out of her. The only thing left to do was wait and tell her that he loved her too.

~ 0 ~

"Alright then," Veronica settled a folder of evidence on the interrogation table and watched the lone acolyte of Alchemy's shift nervously in his chair. "Now that you lost the monk disguise, we can talk. Let's start with Alchemy."

The man gave her almost a sneer.

Veronica raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't test these waters," she warned in a deadly tone. "Why don't—" the door of the room burst open with Joe.

He let the door slam behind him as he walked over to the table. "Tell me about Alchemy," he commanded. "What he does, how he does it. Say it now."

There, the man repeated his sneer. However, he spoke this time. "His powers are beyond human understanding."

"Try us," Veronica leaned back on her chair and motioned him to get a move on.

The man merely smirked. "Oh, you will be tried. All of you. When my master rises, the human race will be judged. From where I'm sitting, you will not fare very well."

Veronica was about to tell him how delirious he was when Joe reached out and grabbed the man by the nose, almost threatening to break it. Veronica, startled, straightened up on her chair.

"You think I'm playing with you? My son is in one of those cocoons, and you're gonna tell me how to get him out. Now talk!" Joe ignored Veronica's attempt to get him to stop. He was beyond words at this point. The only salvation was the relentless knock on the door.

"Please just stop," Veronica warned him when she went to go answer. "Caitlin?" she blinked then looked past her to see if she was alone.

"It's Wally," the brunette said, immediately catching Joe's attention. The man hurried over. "He's out of that thing. He's fine."

"And he's okay?"

"Yeah. He's fine. I promise."

"Oh, thank God. Thank you, Caitlin," Joe glanced back at the suspect.

"You should probably go see him, then," Veronica smiled at him. "I can take care of this joke in ten minutes."

Joe laughed and merrily went on his way.

"Actually, Belén is waiting for you in the reception," Caitlin informed Veronica. "She said it's something important."

"Oh, wonder what it is now," Veronica smiled again and walked out of the room, leaving the door to close on its own.

Caitlin struck a boot just before it did close. She waited until Veronica was out of the way then walked in, backwards, and shut the door. Her eyes flickered to the security camera up on the ceiling and shot a hand up at it, freezing it completely.

"Where is Alchemy?" she revealed her silver eyes. The white streaks of hair were already making its presence on her head. "Tell me where Alchemy is."

The man eyed her with curiosity. He was not afraid, merely interested like he expected this to happen. "I sense great fear in you. You fear your power, your own greatness."

"I don't fear anything anymore," Caitlin's voice overlapped with Killer Frost. "Where is Alchemy?"

"The only one I fear is that whom Alchemy serves, the dark lord Savitar."

Caitlin regarded that with some amusement. Her eyes became a stronger silver as she rose her hand with threatening ice. "Maybe it's time you started fearing me."

GetHimGetHimGetHim, Killer Frost commanded and this time had the perfect control over Caitlin. Ice spread to the suspect's hands, causing terrible screams to erupt.

In less than a minute there was pounding on the doors. Caitlin's eyes briefly reverted to their normal chocolate brown. Caitlin herself whimpered as she felt the force that was Killer Frost trying to push her way out again. Her eyes flashed silver again and she filled the air with a cold fog then allowed the door to open. As the two officers hurried inside, she slipped out and shut the door, icing the doorknob as a measure of caution.

She was on her way out when someone called her back.

Julian Albert stood behind with an air of confusion as he heard his co-workers calling for help from the inside of the interrogation room. When he turned to Caitlin, he gasped at her very near proximity.

"I need you to come with me," she informed with her frost smoking up from her hands.

~ 0 ~

Joe came in a hurry into Wally's room and was stunned when he found his son was in the same condition as when he left. He met the others' confused looks and explained to them that Caitlin had assured him that Wally had woken up.

"What? I didn't even see her leave," Cisco realized that Caitlin had been out of sight for a while now.

"She said that?" Belén asked, focusing on the more important details of the story.

"Yes," Joe said, quite irritated to see that it was all lies.

"That's not like Caitlin..." Iris shook her head, thinking the same as the others.

Belén was the first to realize what was going on. Iris was right. Caitlin wasn't like that. Caitlin didn't lie to get officers out of interrogation rooms.

But she knew a certain metahuman who would do all those things.

~ 0 ~

The precinct was on red alert when Barry got there. Before he reached the offices, Veronica caught him on the side, startling him.

"You have got some explaining to do!" Her snap put him even worse for wear.

"What!? I—"

"Come here," Veronica grabbed Barry by the collar and dragged him into the bullpen, ignoring his 'what' again. She stopped by her desk and pulled up the security feed of the interrogation room where they'd kept Alchemy's acolyte. "Caitlin just attacked two officers, one suspect and kidnapped Julian."

"What?" Barry leaned closer to the screen just to make sure they hadn't made a mistake. He could only see Caitlin's side profile as she iced down the camera.

"No one's recognized her from the video but if Julian gets out first, he'll turn her in," Veronica warned him. "What the hell is going on?"

"I...I don't know," Barry rubbed his forehead. Killer Frost was making her appearance, that's what. Just like her earth 2 doppelganger, the ice made her bad.

"When did she get powers? And why would she take Julian?" Veronica's questions went unanswered.

Barry couldn't focus when the bigger issues were at hand. It would be a race to find Caitlin before the cops did.

~ 0 ~

As soon as she could, Belén fled to her greenhouse room to call a certain doppelganger to answers. She faced Datura on a video call while she paced back and forth. "What the hell is happening? Killer Frost is already taking Caitlin over! You said there was more time!"

Datura snickered on the other end. "I said there was only a question of who would end up taken first. Looks like I got the answer. Killer Frost was always a rowdy, annoying meta."

"Well now she's inside my friend and she's making Caitlin do things she would never do!"

"That's the point, stupid," Datura rolled her eyes. "Killer Frost wants access, and since Caitlin is probably getting more desperate, it's been easy for Killer Frost to take over."

"But she kidnapped a friend — Killer Frost kidnaps?"

"No," Datura said with some thought put into it. She looked to the side as she recollected patterns of the Earth 2 meta. "She kills. It's in her name. I think this little outburst might be Caitlin and Killer Frost together as a...mixture. One is just fighting the other."

"So, Caitlin is actively fighting back but losing?"

"Don't know. Look at her intentions and then let me know," Datura winked then shut off the call before Belén could say more.

Belén stuffed her phone in her back pocket then rubbed her face. "Caitlin, what are you doing?" She hated to think what Caitlin might be feeling - if Caitlin was feeling anything as herself at all. If what Datura said was true, then perhaps Caitlin was on her way to merging with Killer Frost to create a whole new person.

Who would that person end up, though?

~ 0 ~

"So, they don't know why she took Julian?" Cisco asked just to be sure. He was currently trying to locate Caitlin's location and a little stress might be making it more difficult.

"No, they don't. But more importantly, they don't even know that it's Caitlin yet, so we need to find her before they do," Barry couldn't hide the urgency in his words.

"Okay, let's say we do find her, then what are we going to do?" Iris made them stop for a moment. "It's obvious she's not thinking straight but have we thought about the reasons? Maybe something that could help us?"

"Killer Frost from Earth 2 is inhabiting Caitlin's mind," Belén walked in, her face expressing nothing but guilt. "Caitlin is literally having a battle with another person inside her own body."

"She's becoming Killer Frost. It's just like in the Vibe," Cisco shook his head.

"We don't know that yet," Barry reminded, but the doubt was still hanging over everyone's head.

"Her mother said the more that she uses her powers, the faster she's gonna go," Belén relayed what Caitlin once told her. "These powers aren't just powers, they're actual people that Datura siphoned. They're sentient and some of them are more forcible than others."

"How do you know that?" Iris now laid suspicious eyes on Belén.

"Because that's what Datura told me," Belén replied, hiding behind the technicality that she was not lying. "We just need to find Caitlin and make her see what's happening."

"I tried pinging her cell and Julian's, but she must have ditched them both," Cisco said with a groan of frustration.

"Stop thinking Caitlin is a regular person and start searching for another meta with cold powers," Belén moved over to him. "The answer here is not to ignore. Caitlin's powers, they're cold, so...could we use something we used for Captain Cold?"

"We tracked him using the satellite to scan for ultraviolet cold signatures," Cisco thought about it then snapped his fingers. "You're good!" he told Belén, making her smile, and got back to work. "Frozen food warehouse! That's where she is! Okay, I'm gonna isolate the feed so that no one else can see it!"

"Please do," Belén hurried after her suit.

"Figure out what she's making Julian do," Barry instructed as he went with Belén. The two would certainly need to know to help.

~ 0 ~

Julian worked incredibly fast despite the fear over his shoulders. Caitlin had him searching for acolytes of Alchemy and with a good motivation too. Find someone or be killed. She had already proven that she was willing to follow through by giving a deadly frostbite on his wrist, so...

"I found two individuals that have searched for the name Savitar. Here are both their addresses, both of them in Central City," he stopped working and looked at the woman. He still couldn't believe this was Caitlin Snow, a friend of Belén's who'd gone mad all in a week since the last time he saw her. "What exactly are you gonna do to them?"

"I don't know," Caitlin admitted as she walked a bit to the side. Killer Frost was screaming in her head to do something more fun, to use her powers. But all Caitlin wanted to do was silence her forever. "What am I doing?" She asked as herself. The noise of typing brought the more suspicious Killer Frost out. Julian had attempted - successfully - to send a message to the police. Angrily, she iced his laptop and destroyed it. "What part of "I'll freeze you to death" did you not understand?"

"Stop!" Barry sped in with Belén. Both were stunned to see Caitlin's appearance. It was half her, half Killer Frost.

Exactly what Datura said, Belén remembered.

"Get out of here," Caitlin warned them with one hand raised.

"You know we can't do that," Barry shook his head.

Belén swallowed hard and moved towards the woman but Caitlin brandished a frosty hand. "What are you doing?" Belén whispered in disbelief. "I know the powers are doing this but you have to fight it."

"Take her out. Take her out!" Julian frantically urged behind Barry.

"That's what I'm doing," Caitlin responded as herself, taking Belén by surprise. "I'm not trying to hurt someone—"

"You are wiring to hurt someone!" Julian was the first one to argue. "Knock her out!" he ordered the two known metas.

Barry didn't hesitate to knock him out instead. Belén threw Barry a look for that, eyes sharp with disapproval.

"Priorities," Barry reminded, though his lips did try to form a smile when Belén returned her attention to Caitlin.

"Cait, these powers, we can work with them—"

"I'm doing something about it!" Caitlin snapped at Belén. "I'm finding Alchemy!"

"We will find him. All right? Together," Barry misunderstood her intentions, as did Belén, and hoped to be reassuring.

"No. You don't understand. I don't want to lock him up. I need him to help me," Caitlin frantically argued.

"Help you what?"

"I need him to get rid of my powers!"

Both Belén and Barry paused in their tracks. Belén sighed at the brunette. "Caitlin... I'm not sure Alchemy can deal with...this sort of power," Belén felt sorry to say. She wished it would be that easy.

"You don't know that it doesn't," Caitlin very logically made her point. "I need her to stop talking to me! To stop controlling me!"

"Then let us help," Barry slowly reached out for her. "We all love you, and we will do everything that we can to help you. We've been through too much together to let each other down now."

Caitlin's eyes glimmered blue and silver. "Like you helped your mother?" Her voice vibrated with Killer Frost's. "Or Wally? Or me? You keep messing with everyone's lives, wrecking everything, and we're left behind to pick up the pieces from your mistakes. Some things you break can't be put back together!"

Barry, ashamed, took that with a hang of his head. "I can fix this."

Killer Frost had no mercy. "Oh, like you fixed Cisco's family? You didn't tell Cisco that you screwed him worst of all, did you?" she purposely spoke louder for the audience watching from STAR Labs. "You hear that, Cisco? Dante was alive, healthy and happy, until Barry created Flashpoint. When he reset things, that's what killed him. Barry is the reason your brother is dead."

"Caitlin, stop!" Belén ordered but Killer Frost was not done.

The best thing about accessing Caitlin's mind was getting a full view of her memories. "You're both—" she nodded to Belén and Barry, "—meant for each other, you know. Keeping secrets, it's what you do best. At least Datura was never a hypocrite about it."

Belén's anger was quick to form. "Be quiet!" she hissed, not entirely as herself, and nearly attacked if the police force hadn't arrived.

Before the bullets could reach them, Barry got them across the room towards another exit. "Bells?" he worriedly saw her holding her head again, reminding him of the last time they'd been like this.

Caitlin, on the other hand, saw a golden opportunity. She created an icicle and stabbed Barry on the lower part of his ankle, and smirked at Barry's cry of pain. "That severed your triceps surae. Even with your healing abilities, it'll take four hours to regenerate! Don't follow me!"

"Caitlin—" Belén didn't even move an inch before Caitlin threw another threat.

"Follow me and I'll say everything," Caitlin rushed out of there.

Belén pursed her lips together, guilt settling over her like layers of mountain.

~ 0 ~

Both Veronica and Joe walked into the cortex, Axel in tow behind his grandmother. The two detectives moved directly for the side room where they could see Barry. Axel, in the meantime, stayed behind with Cisco, chatting him up with questions over what was happening but Cisco barely regarded the boy.

"I'm not a good doctor so just...tell me if that hurt?" Belén slowly pulled her hands off the bandage she'd wrapped around Barry's ankle.

"It hurts as much as I deserve probably," Barry mumbled, feeling pain alright but it didn't exactly come from his injuries.

"They took Julian to County General," Veronica informed them both. "Mrs. Andrews is with him which is why I had to bring Axel around." Axel had given up on talking to Cisco and now directed all his questions to Iris.

"He's still out cold. How hard did you hit him?" Joe had to wonder.

"I don't know. I didn't mean to knock him out," Barry swallowed the pain he felt and he moved his legs to one side of the bed.

"Mhm," Belén's sharp eyes made him reevaluate his statement.

"Or maybe I did," he relented and got himself up. Belén rolled her eyes and let him move towards the cortex.

Barry saw Cisco crossing the cortex for the desks, and took his chance at a little explanation. "Cisco. Hey, man, um, what Caitlin said…"

Cisco stopped and sent him an scrutinizing glance. "Was she lying?"

"No. Um…"

Cisco almost rolled his eyes despite tears threatening to break free. "You're sorry? That you killed my brother? 'Cause he was here. He was alive—" he enunciated slowly, one hand jabbing at Barry's shoulder, "—until you created Flashpoint, until you did this!" he shoved the speedster backwards.

Axel scurried from Iris towards his aunt. "Why are they…" he stopped when Belén warned him to stay quiet with a finger over her lips.

"I don't even know how to feel right now. All I know is Caitlin is out there, and we need to find her. Can we do that?" Cisco backed to the desk, not giving much of an alternative. "I hacked Julian's computer. Caitlin had him look up two addresses: 16 Hawthorne Avenue and 1104 Truman Place. She's trying to find the acolytes, I was trying to say."

"What exactly would she want with Alchemy's followers?" Iris wondered out loud.

"Caitlin doesn't want her powers so... she thinks these acolytes can take her to Alchemy who would then take away her powers," Belén explained. It was exactly what Caitlin, in such a state, would attempt to do.

"We heard," Cisco muttered from the computers.

"Well, two acolytes, two addresses. Which one's she gonna hit first?" Veronica inquired, but knew there was no certain answer.

"We got to watch both," Barry decided. He was shot down before he even took a step towards his suit.

"You're gonna stay here. You can barely walk," Joe pointed him to the chair.

"We can take care of Hawthorne," Belén moved over to Cisco.

"I'll take Truman," Veronica volunteered.

"I care about Caitlin, but I don't want to leave Wally," Joe admitted.

"Dad, Barry and I will stay with Wally," Iris offered instead. "You go with Detective Greene."

"Alright," Joe sighed and moved with Veronica.

Belén started for her suit in the meantime.

"Cisco, if you find her…" Barry trailed off when Cisco directed a cold glare on him.

"I won't call you. You've done enough," Cisco mumbled and went on his way.

Belén came back but before she even called for Cisco, Barry motioned her to stop. "Just be careful," he told her and limped his way to Wally's room.

"Look after him, please?" Belén asked Iris quietly. Iris assured she would, allowing Belén to go on in a relative peace.

~0~

"The acolyte's on the second floor," Veronica settled her eyes on the apartment across them. She picked up her coffee cup then offered the second one to Joe. He shook his head and simply stated ahead. "I understand how you feel about Wally but he's going to be okay."

Joe's face said something else. "How would you know?"

"I think logically," Veronica shrugged. "If they wanted him dead, then that would've happened yesterday."

The manner in which she said it was so...carefree. There really was no trace of concern in her. "How do you do that?" Joe asked incredulously.

Veronica gave a small smile. "You're forgetting my own children have been affected. My eldest is in prison for murder and theft, my son is dead and my youngest...just won't stop fighting. After a while, you catch on that no matter how many times you attempt to stop them... they won't."

"So, what? I'm just supposed to let them do what they want even when my gut tells me something's off?"

"No. You use that intuition to help them. At the end of the day they're young and don't have the same experience that we do. That's why they need us," Veronica said with the utmost certainty. She exchanged a smile with Joe after. "So next time, just follow your intuition."

~0~

The first acolyte had been signaled out as the one chosen by Caitlin. She was sneaky like Killer Frost, but cautious like Caitlin as she waited for the acolyte, named Craig apparently, to come out of his bedroom. Just as the he went for the temperature controller, she let the hiss of her ice scare him into turning around.

"Both of my parents are doctors. It's all I ever wanted to be. Growing up, I used to practice the Hippocratic Oath. I was obsessed with it," she started moving towards the nab who only plastered himself against the wall. "If anyone was even gonna step on a bug, I would say, 'Do no harm'. It's built into my DNA." She raised a finger at him, letting ice encapsulate around it to create a perfect icicle. "Unfortunately, my DNA isn't what it used to be. So, believe me when I say answer every one of my questions, or I will harm you and your family." This left the acolyte with no choice. "Who is Alchemy?"

"I don't know. I've never seen him without the mask!"

"I know he can give people powers. Can he take them away?"

"Yes. But you can't make Alchemy do anything. He's just an acolyte, like me," the man admitted, his eyes constantly flickering to the icicle threatening to claw his eyes out. "We both serve the speed god, Savitar. He's shown us the future. I saw you there." Caitlin's eyes turned back to their regular color, even the icicle disappearing from her finger. "You were glorious and powerful. My lord has special plans for you. He will come to you and speak to you. The honor of that is..." his laughter only brought out Caitlin's fear even more. "He will call you...the Bringer. After all, only you, Caitlin Snow, can bring Her."

Caitlin backtracked, her eyes going back and forth between blue and brown. She was terrified. She needed to leave - now! She hurried out of the house, but by the time she managed to get out, Killer Frost was surfacing again. The light rain made for an eventful night, at least that's what Killer Frost kept saying in the head.

"Caitlin!" Cisco's voice stopped her across the road.

She smirked at him. "Really? You brought your toys?" she nodded to his goggled which he had yet to put on.

Cisco's hand gripped around hid goggles. "I'm hoping it won't come to that."

Caitlin raised her icy hands. "It won't."

"Look, I'm not leaving you out here. I want to help you."

"There's only one person who can help me."

"Really? You really think seeking medical advice from someone named Dr. Alchemy is the way to go?"

"Why not? My name is Killer Frost," Caitlin threatened to shoot frost from her hands.

Cisco moved a step forwards. "Your name... is Caitlin Snow.

"Can Caitlin Snow do this?" Caitlin's eyes glowed stronger. Killer Frost commanded her to start firing, and so she did. Icicles stormed towards Cisco and since he couldn't bring himself to attack yet, he ran for cover behind a tree.

Caitlin pulled back a hand to fire stronger but a vine latched onto her wrist, preventing her from moving it. Belén stood behind her, very much in the same cautious state as Cisco. "Caitlin, please!"

"My name is Killer Frost!" Ice zoomed up Belén's wrapped vine, forcing her to let it go before it reached her. Caitlin then whirled around and blasted a powerful mass of frost at the other woman. "Why fight me? We could be a killer team, you know."

Belén motioned Caitlin to calm down. "Caitlin, I know it's hard. The voice is strong but you are stronger. Don't let her control you."

"I'm doing fine, thanks! Can't say the same for you!" Caitlin swung icicles like boomerangs at Belén, forcing the meta to fight back. She moved forwards as her poison swished forwards along with pieces of vines trying to trap Caitlin but it wasn't enough to keep her down. The frosty meta engaged Belén in hand combat.

"Belén! Move!" Cisco put on his goggles, figuring that the best thing would be to bring Caitlin back to STAR Labs...and for that she needed everyone to help.

"I can't!" Belén was in the middle of dodging Caitlin who was probably drawing on Killer Frost's combat skills.

"Unleash those powers," Killer Frost taunted in-between punches. "You know they're itching to play!"

She's right. Let us out! Belén heard the voices begin to scream. With that distraction, Killer Frost backhanded her to the ground.

"Come on out!" she practically demanded, going as far as putting a boot over Belén's back.

Belén screwed her eyes shut but this time the voices weren't going away. They were doing the same thing Killer Frost said to. They wanted to come out.

Caitlin was drawn back by the noises of a zip. She caught Barry's light as he charged towards them. She froze the roadside and watched as the speedster slipped over and rolled on the ground. She walked over to him, glaring down. "How's the leg?"

Barry hated her sense of humor at the moment. He saw her boots from the corner of his eyes and retaliated in the simplest way. He swiped his arm across her legs and knocked her down beside him.

"I'm sorry, Caitlin," he heard her groans beside him and truly felt bad for her. Everything she said was right. It was his fault.

"That was cold, Flash," she gave him his due. "But this is colder." She jumped to her next move and straddled him, planting her lips over his for a frosty kiss.

Cisco knew it was time to act no matter his feelings. He could practically see Barry's blue face thanks to Caitlin. Belén was still on the ground once again raging at herself to 'stop' ... again. Cisco put on his goggles and struck Caitlin with a vibe energy that knocked her over a car. Cisco then came running forwards.

"Start vibrating. It'll warm you up," he left that advice for Barry on the ground.

Caitlin was just attempting to get up when she felt a hand curl around her ankle. "Oh let go you pathetic plant girl," she hissed with a raging icy hand.

"You wanted me out? Now I'm out," Belén had an unusual glare on her face, her eyes glimmering colors.

"Bells, just hold her!" Cisco ran up to them with the intention of knocking Caitlin out.

"I've got a better idea," Belén smirked. Heat erupted from her free hand and sent Cisco back against the same car that Caitlin had rolled over.

Start killing! Get them all out! Let us be free! The voices chanted in unison. Belén felt herself slowly lose against them. She didn't want to be like Caitlin, she wanted to control them...but she was so tired. The stronger they got, the less pain Belén felt, the less stress and ache.

"Well, you came out to play," Caitlin as Killer Frost looked down at Belén with a smug face.

Belén held her head in pain. "Leave me alone, Frost!"

Caitlin circled the woman, taunting her to come out and match her powers. "We could have some fun, can't you see? I hadn't thought about it before but, after all you were the one who wanted me to come out with Caitlin."

"I SAID STOP!" Belén screamed and whirled around to deliver a punch across Caitlin's face. She raised her hands above her head and let white energy blink into existence around them.

"Belén?"

Belén lowered her arms but kept the moon energy stirring between her hands as she turned to face Barry. He was stunned to find Cisco outcold over a car, Caitlin pretty much under the same state on the ground and... Belén being the cause of it. Her white eyes made him fear that perhaps Killer Frost wasn't the only one who was affected by the siphoning device. Had he done that to her as well?

"Shoot," Belén commanded, but as herself trying to regain control. The power around her hands struggled to keep itself going. "I don't want…" her white eyes flickered to Caitlin, "...I don't want to be...like her...knock me out!"

Barry couldn't believe his ears. Belén stumbled towards him, begging him to do what she asked. "But Belén—"

"KNOCK ME OUT!" she screamed at Barry, eyes flickering to gold. The sight terrified him. "DO IT!"

Barry shut his eyes and absolutely hated himself. He streaked forwards and knocked Belén down as cautious as possible. A smack would be enough, he hoped.

~0~

The next time Caitlin awoke, she found herself inside the pipeline with the group, save Belén, staring at her from the other side with sympathy. "Phew, guess I just needed a little sleep. Thanks, guys. I'm feeling much better now. It's okay. You can let me out. I promise I'm not gonna hurt anybody." Her eyes blue eyes scanned the group to see if anyone faltered, but they knew better. "Hmm. Guess you're all smarter than I thought. You know, that was some blast there, Vibe boy. It kind of hurt."

Cisco's eyes were still glossy with tears. He couldn't believe this is what they were reduced to in the end. "I didn't want to hurt you."

Caitlin's face contorted to disgust. "You're pathetic."

"Alchemy can't help you. But we can. I promise," Barry couldn't stop staring at her, hoping that she would come out of her trance.

Caitlin scoffed. "Oh, like you promised Eddie? And like you promised Ronnie? You know, for a hero, Flash, you sure let a lot of people around you die."

"This isn't you talking. It's the powers. They're messing with your mind. You're sick—"

"Killer Frost might be in my head but Caitlin is broken, Barry. And that's all your fault," Caitlin tapped her finger against the wall. A smug smile spread across her face, almost threatening to laugh. "But this time around, justice came through. You're not getting away with a happy ending this time. You hurt the person you supposedly love most. Belén? She's going to become just like me and then we'll take this city together."

Barry swallowed hard, the guilt he felt once now too hard to push with words of comfort. "We're not letting this happen…" He reached for the controller's to close the pipeline up.

"You did this to me!" Caitlin raged from the inside just before she was lost behind the pipeline.

"Do you have any idea how we can reverse this?" Barry turned to Cisco, hoping for anything at this point. "How we can get her back?"

Cisco refused to look at him. "It's like Caitlin said: sometimes when things get broken, they can't be fixed."

~0~

Belén sat at the edge of the medical bed with her head held low in shame. She couldn't stop staring at the meta dampener cuffs adorning her wrists. Cisco must have put them on her after being taken back to STAR Labs. The voices were dead silent in her head. It was as if everything was normal again.

Except she wasn't. She was far from it.

The sound of footsteps rose her head. She was mortified to see her friends and mother staring at her with...pity. She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head over her knees.

"I'm sorry," she said, not that it mattered. She had punched her friend and thrown the other over a car. One apology made no difference.

Barry asked with a pleading look to let him talk to her first.

"Do not let her become like Caitlin," Veronica warned with the same hostility she once showed him when they first met. She was angry. Hell angry.

Barry cleared his throat and walked into the side room once the others had gone. "This was it, wasn't it? The thing that you were hiding? It was about this and Caitlin."

"I could never say anything about Caitlin. It wasn't my secret to tell," she rose her head once more. "And I just didn't want you to think it was your fault."

"But it is," Barry said grimly, "This is all my fault. In the other timeline, this didn't happen to you. It didn't happen to Caitlin either."

"It does no good to think about that anymore," Belén said, letting out a heavy sigh, "You can't change it anymore. If I could, I would have tried to fix this on my own."

"But you shouldn't have to," Barry said, coming over to sit down on the bed with her, "This is my fault so please let me help to fix this. We're a team, right? You and I, we're partners above everything and everyone else. Please, trust in me that I will fix this."

"There's not much to work with," Belén said, "The voices are just getting stronger now."

"These voices... there's more than one?"

Belén nodded. "There's three. One who controls earth, the other controls the moon elements and the other has heat abilities. They're some of the victims Datura siphoned and killed. They're mad and they want to be free. Datura said that it's only a matter of time until I lose it. She was right about Caitlin, so…"

"Datura?" Barry raised an eyebrow at her. "You've been speaking to that woman?"

"Yeah, she called me one day because apparently she can now see the future sometimes. I visited her too," Belén said, deciding it was best to put it all out there now that the truth was out. "We, uh, we made a deal. She said she'll help and in return, she'll get Frost's power back. But being honest...I don't think she'll be able to reverse it. And I certainly don't want to wear these," she raised her cuffed hands. "If I have to live with these powers, then I want to control them. I don't want to hide them."

Barry ultimately knew she wanted the cuffs off. He could already hear Veronica shouting that it wasn't the safest thing but...he had already messed up by creating this situation. The least he could do was give Belén her choice. It was all he had. He reached over and unlocked the cuffs. Cisco had placed a password on it just in case Belén switched personalities again. Belén was a bit awed that he was listening so easily. Anyone else would've told her absolutely not.

"I'm sorry for doing this to you, but I swear I will do anything and everything I can to help you," Barry promised her. "Just please don't feel like you need to be sorry. This isn't on you."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't exactly help to hear you continually blame yourself. There's nothing you can do by that," she leaned her head against his arm.

"I should have just followed you inside the house," Barry deeply regretted that night he changed the timelines. He had everything and he didn't see it. It would probably be his biggest regret.

"But you didn't, and that's the fact. I'm sorry you feel this way but...there is nothing you can do to change it. There is no fixing. We are not projects," she shifted her head to look up at him. "We are your friends and we need you."

Barry wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. "I've been the villain of this story, Bells."

"Change the course," Belén said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Their moment was cut short when the lights mysteriously malfunctioned in the building. The only possible source of power had to be from Wally. The two metas hurriedly rushed towards Wally's room and found Joe in the middle of breaking Wally out of his cocoon.

"Joe! Hey! What are you doing?" Barry frantically urged him to stop but Joe had already made the decision long before. "You can't cut him!"

"I have to!" Joe argued back. He didn't want Joe to follow in Caitlin's footsteps, nor Belén's. With the help of a power saw, the cocoon was opened in half but along with it came an odd noise.

Barry figured what it was and sped the others away from the cocoon just as an energy exploded from it. Smoke filled the room over the tipped over furniture. There was only s familiar vibrating noise heard and it wasn't from Barry.

Wally stood in the middle of the room, his entire body vibrating. His gaze slowly went around the room but he never made a noise. Then, just like that, he zipped out of the room.

The group quickly intended on finding him, as well as seeing what exactly the cocoon made him.

"No sign of Wally. I've got the satellite scanning the entire city for rapid movement," Cisco called from the desk.

"If he's a speedster, he could be halfway across the country by now," Iris remarked, still unable to believe what they'd seen mere minutes ago.

"Barry, we have to find him," Joe felt the urgency of a parent but also knew it was his fault. He had only wanted to help his son before something bad happened.

"I'm more worried about what happens when we do find him," Barry admitted. "He didn't seem like he was all there."

"I shouldn't have cut him out of that thing," Joe put his hands over his head.

"If we have no way of knowing what effects Wally did under...should we really try to find him first?" Belén asked. "We need to be smart about this and the only one who could possibly know is…"

"Caitlin," Barry exhaled. "We need a biochemist."

"And how do we break her out of...whatever is in her?" Veronica inquired, accusing eyes landing on her daughter. She had spotted the clean wrists.

Belén sucked in a breath and walked to the desk. "Killer Frost from Earth 2 expects us to fix Caitlin by erasing the powers, her mind. If we want Caitlin back, then we need to remind her who she is."

"Remind her who she is? I think I can do that," Barry decided to play one last card and headed for the pipeline.

Veronica quickly took her daughter by the wrist to the side. "What the hell are you doing? Where are the cuffs?"

"I'm not wearing them," Belén pushed her mother's hands off and returned to the desk.

"I knew we shouldn't have given Barry the password," the woman came after her.

"Mom, you can't just lock them up! I mean, that's exactly what Caitlin tried to do and look where she is right now?" Belén turned to Cisco with the most sincere face possible. "Cisco, I swear I am so sorry that I threw you over a car! I'm sorry that I lied to everyone but you cannot force me to shut my powers away!" she shouted. "Like I said to Barry I am not a project to fix!"

Get them. Make them fear you, Belén closed her eyes and leaned on the desk. The others exchanged cautious glances.

~0~

Caitlin was smug when Barry reopened her prison. It was going to be difficult convincing her but Barry was not planning on stopping.

"We need your help, Caitlin. Wally... he's... he's out of the cocoon, but his biochemistry is all out of whack. He went AWOL."

Caitlin casually leaned against the back wall of the pod. Her lips formed a mock pout. "So?"

"So, when we find him, he's gonna need your help. He's gonna need your medical expertise, your experience with metas. What he needs is Caitlin Snow, MD."

Caitlin gave a mocking laugh. "So, you came to try and talk some sense into me."

"No. I came to let you go," Barry moved to the controls again and opened up the pod.

Caitlin waited a second fir any trick he might be holding back on. Barry just stood there waiting for her. She mocked him and walked out. "For a smart guy, that was an awfully dumb move."

"Like I said, you're free to go."

"What's the catch?"

"You have to kill me," Barry answered in a matter of fact tone.

From the cortex, Iris was deadlocked on the plan, thinking it stupid. "What is he doing!?"

"He's bringing Caitlin back," Belén shushed her, she and Cisco being the only ones not as worried. She had faith that their friend was still there, and if Barry really wanted to help them then he needed to be the one to take the leap. He was faster; he could move if he needed to.

Caitlin raised an eyebrow at Barry and moved up to him. He didn't move an inch. "You want to fight, Flash?"

"No. I'm not gonna fight you," Barry continued with his nonchalantness. "But if you want to leave this room, you're gonna have to kill me."

"Don't think I won't," Caitlin warned, Killer Frost lacing every word spoken.

"Then do it."

Caitlin turned her palm over and created one lone icicle.

Barry braced himself and didn't move an inch. Caitlin, for some reason, only raised the icicle to his chest. "What are you waiting for? What's the big deal? Come on! Live up to your name, Killer Frost. I want to see some killing!" he grabbed onto her wrist holding the icicle and yanked her forwards. "You want to be the villain? This is what they do. They kill their friends, because nothing matters to them anymore, right?"

Caitlin seemed to struggle to push the icicle. Killer Frost raged to do it already so they could go. I can't, Caitlin was the one to think. She's not in control.

"Kill me, Caitlin!" Barry practically ordered to the still woman. "You can't do it. You can't, because underneath all that cold, you're still you."

Caitlin released a shaky breath, Killer Frost's rage was being sealed away at least for the time being. She was not a killer. Killer Frost could not make her become that. Absolutely not.

The blue in her eyes faded away and were replaced by tears. She dropped the icicle in her hand and broke into sobs. "Barry!"

Barry hugged her with no hard feelings. "It's okay. I got you. It's okay." He held her tight and sighed of relief to have her back with them.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin felt a huge relief having the meta-dampeners back on her wrists. Her mind was clear again, there was just her and only her. It left her entirely focused on Wally's current state, the latter still unfound. She'd taken a couple of bits left over by the cocoon to see where exactly Wally's structure was at the moment. And because of it, she was able to form an injection that might help him.

"I think extracting Wally early from that cocoon left him in a fugue state. His synapses aren't used to functioning at super-speed, so his mind and muscles are misfiring," she stopped by Barry with the serum ready to go.

"I mean, will this stuff help?" Joe eyed the serum with weariness.

"I've synthesized a neural compound that I think will get his mind and body running at the same speed. We just have to find him first."

"Well, computers aren't doing a damn thing," Cisco muttered from his spot at the desk. He rubbed his face then dropped his hands and turned to the group. "I don't know what else to do."

"But maybe Joe does," Veronica gave the man a glance, knowingly smiling. "Father's know best. "What's your intuition saying?"

Joe had to smile, but didn't disregard her attempt that fast. He got to wondering if perhaps Wally wasn't lost. What if he had just...gotten nostalgic in that state he was in? When nothing made sense, what kept him together?

"The house that he grew up in," he said before he could even solidify the thought. "He used to go there when he missed his mother. In Keystone."

"Let's go," Barry got ahold of him and left together.

As soon as they were gone, Caitlin moved towards Cisco and Belén with that face that spelled utter guilt. "I, uh... I just wanted to…"

"It's okay," Cisco got up from his desk and hugged her tight. "You scared me for a second, getting all Mother of Dragons on me with that hair."

Caitlin managed to chuckle but she was still feeling pretty bad in regards to Belén. "I shouldn't have said anything, b-but I...I wasn't…"

"You don't need to explain anything to me, Cait, I know exactly what that feels like," Belén raised her hands. "I guess they had to know sometime…"

"Still freaked us out…" Iris was heard mumbling from her spot. "I nearly went reporter on you two earlier."

"I know," Belén mocked a putout face. "But it's a scary thing, and that's why we kept quiet. But rest assure—" she placed a hand on Caitlin's arm, "—that we will find a way to help you. Datura said she wanted her power back, so...she's on board."

"Woah, woah, we're letting psycho-Belén help us now?" Cisco went wide-eyed at the news, something that both Iris and Veronica shared.

"You can't be serious," Veronica shook her head. "Tell me you're not serious."

"Who's psycho-Belén?" Axel looked up from the tablet he'd gotten from home.

"No one, go back to your games," Veronica shushed him with a pointed finger.

"It's okay, we're on the same boat - believe it or not - so she's helping," Belén made it clear this was something that had already been decided.

"But did she ask for something in return besides her power?" Caitlin had to wonder. Datura, while Belén, was still dangerously ambitious.

Belén cleared her throat and shook her head. "Nope, just Frosty back." There was no point in telling Caitlin that she would also have to give up her powers to Datura as well. Caitlin felt terrible enough.

That would just remain her little secret till the end.

~ 0 ~

"Oh, so she got back to normal?" Belén rolled her eyes at her doppelganger's disappointment of Caitlin triumphing over Killer Frost.

"Please, don't try to hide your goodness…" Belén sat down on the edge of her bed and glared at Datura on her phone screen.

"Can't hide what I never had," Datura snorted and put a finger to her chin. "Though I do have to express my disappointment of getting this prediction wrong."

"What prediction?"

"I saw Killer Frost in all her frosty glory," Datura shared the vision she'd gotten that day, earlier, but nonetheless about Killer Frost.

"So your psychic abilities aren't always correct, then?"

"Well of course not, the future is never written in stone."

"So...right now, what do you see about...me?"

"Ooh, scared are we?" Datura was quick taunt before laughing. Belén hated her, she really did, because it was fear that was constantly coursing through her. Datura leaned closer to the screen. "I see nothing."

"I know you see something you—"

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Dream about that," the doppelganger spat and ended the video chat.

Belén growled and tossed her phone over her shoulder. She buried her face in her hands and thought about the possibilities if she did not learn to control these powers. She already made it clear to her friends that suppressing them was not an option for her - it never would be.

When she heard the front door unlocking, she quickly jumped up from the bed and ran up to the mirror. She didn't want to look so distressed when they had oh-so many problems as it was.

"Yikes," she whispered at her reflection. She combed through her hair with her fingers and walked out of the room to see how Barry did with...getting Julian not to say a word about Caitlin. She offered to go herself but Barry decided that he needed to, because it was part of him owning up to his mistakes. Barry had a somber face until he saw Belén coming out of the hallway. "So, how did it go?" she leaned against the hallway threshold. "Is he going to tell? Do you need me to try?"

How could Barry tell her that one of her closest friends had forced him to quit his job so that Caitlin could avoid jail? He couldn't. At least not tonight when Belén was already looking far too tired to deal with something else. "He's not going to say anything," he informed her with a the tiniest of smiles.

A big relief washed over Belén, even making her laugh towards the end. "Oh my God that is so good to hear!" she walked over and hugged him tight, swaying them a bit.

"Yeah," Barry rubbed her back and rested his chin over her head. Keeping his sudden departure from his job wasn't going to last a day, probably not even a week, but for tonight he would like to give Belén a moment of peace.

After everything, she deserved that much.

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

[waterloou]

Helloooo all! I’m bringing back oc Saturday to showcase some brilliant ocs! If you’d like to nominate your oc or somebody else’s, feel free to shoot me a msg, ask, or tag #ocextravaganzasaturday ! Also, there’s an option to submit a blurb!

Past oc Saturday

OC EXTRAVAGANZA GUIDELINES

Below are links/blurbs for the featured ocs this week! Go check them out!

Alena Foster created by @vannahthehufflepuff @reggiemantleholdmyhand-tle

Fandom: Harry Potter

Intro

Alena x Draco

Drabble

(There’s also a few more blurbs written and they’re all cute go check them out)

Blurb:

“Alena! Just the woman I wanted to see.”

Alena narrowed her eyes as she looked up from her freshly painted nails to see Fred Weasley standing over her, his usual dopey smile plastered on his face. Upon closer inspection, something about that smile looked off, and Alena had the sneaking suspicion that she knew exactly what he was approaching her for.

“What can I do for you?” Alena looked back down at her nails, waving her wand to dry the varnish she had just applied.

“I require your services.” Fred spoke under his breath, and when Alena finally acknowledged that she had heard him, he moved quickly to sit down beside her on the bench.

Alena scooted as far away from him as possible, an almost disgusted look on her face, as if being near him was the last thing she wanted.

“That’ll be three galleons.”

Fred quirked an eyebrow. “You don’t even know what I’m after.”

“Actually,” Alena finally looked at him again, her face deadpan, “I know exactly what you’re after. I think you’re forgetting that I know everything that goes on around here.”

“Alright then,” Fred seemed to be challenging her, crossing his arms over his chest, leaning back against the wall, “Tell me what you know.”

Alena gave him a fake, polite smile, crossing her legs, making herself comfortable, “Fine.

“I know you’ve been pining for Maisie Barker since your fourth year. I know you made an absolute fool of yourself in the courtyard a few days ago. I even knew that dreamy boy from Durmstrang had snatched her up before you ever did. Therefore, I know that you’re here for a love potion.”

Fred opened his mouth to speak, but Alena was on a roll.

“I know you can’t sleep unless you’ve had a good batch of tea before bed. I know you hate most fruits with seeds. I know what you buy at Zonko’s.”

“You’re bloody insane, mate,” Fred was staring at her incredulously.

“I’m not insane, I’m smart. It’s my job to know everything about potential clients.” Alena flipped her hair, looking bored with the conversation, “I’m working smarter, not harder. But, you are fully capable of making your own assumptions, and if you want to question me, go right ahead. You can get your potion elsewhere.”

Alena started to get up, but Fred grabbed her arm, guiding her to sit back down.

“I’m sorry,” Fred sighed, looking like it had pained him to say so, “You’re my last hope. I just want Maisie to like me again.”

Alena scoffed, “Pitiful.”

But she produced a little pink vial from her pocket, as if she had known Fred would be coming to her, and Fred had no doubt that she did.

That was the thing about Alena Foster, she was always at least three steps ahead.

Fred moved to grab the bottle but she yanked it back, sticking her open hand out. He pulled the three galleons she had demanded out of his pocket and placed them in her hand.

Alena pocketed the money and tossed the bottle into the air carelessly, watching Fred scramble to catch it. He nearly missed, catching it between his fingers, merely centimeters from the ground.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Freddy darling.” Alena just condescendingly patted him on the head before making her way down the corridor, the clacking of her high heels against the pavement echoing in Fred’s ears.

Alena is so friggin cool like she’s a bitch and likes to incite things but she’s not evil. She’s also a beater on her house team and has a whole business of selling potions on the side like she’s hella ambitious and I love it. Go give her some love!

Amy Andrews created by @wonder-boy-reid

Fandom: Riverdale

Reintroducing Amy Andrews

Amy x Jughead

Snapshots

Amy is so sweet and caring and genuine to everyone she meets! Go give her some love!

Belén Palayta created by @noble-crescent

Fandom: The Flash

It had to be you: masterlist

Playlist

(Much more can be found under the character tag! There’s so much work that has gone into Belen and I suggest y’all take some time to check her out!!!)

Cepheus Aries Black created by @princessofdarkness12

Fandom: Harry Potter

Cepheus Aesthetic

The End has no End(fic)

Cepheus is strong willed and competitive. The love he has for his little sister is unmatched and their bond is strong. Go give him some love!

Harper Rhodes created by @sgtbuckyybarnes

Fandom: MCU

Intro

As I was (fic)

Harper x Bucky

(Also I recommend just going to Harper’s section on their masterlist. There’s so much awesome material on her. She kicks ass!)

Hope Wood created by @foxesandmagic

Fandom: Harry Potter

Intro

Drabble

Stories of Hope: book 1-planned

Drabble 2

Drabble 3

Hope is cool and snarky and easy to love. Go give her some love!

Rufus “Snake Eyes” Dixon created by @humangrumpycat

Fandom: Riverdale

Intro

Blurb:

'Who's there?'

The door slowly opens as Fangs pops his head into the room.

'Is this a bad time?' he asks.

'No, I'm just making bombs,' the boy answers, never looking away from the table.

'Bombs?' Cheryl gasps.

'Bath bombs,' Fangs whispers to her. 'I don't know why he won't call them that. Can't really use them in turf wars.'

Cheryl furrows her brows as she follows Fangs.

'But does he make actual bombs, or...'

'Mostly Molotovs, but I assume you don't need them right now,' the boy replies, turning to Fangs for reassurance.

'Yeah, he comes here a lot,' Rufus laughs.

'For Molotovs?' Fangs asks.

'Bath bombs,' he answers. 'He likes it when I put them in the press. Sometimes, I let him use it when I'm in a good mood. I did have to banish him from the table; he kept knocking over my bowls.'

'I have a question,' Cheryl states.

Rufus gestures her to continue as he smacks Fangs' hand away from a bowl of powder, followed by Fangs making a sad face.

'How do you go from providing chemical weapons for a gang to making bath bombs?' she asks.

'Well, my mother used to work at Lush, and-'

'Not that I don't love you getting to know more people, Cheryl,' Fangs interrupts, 'but we're here for a different reason, remember?'

I love Rufus so much he’s just so cool and collected and awesome! Go give him some love!

#ocappreciation #ocextravaganzasaturday #oc: snake eyes #oc: hope wood #oc: harper rhodes #oc: cepheus black #oc: alena foster #oc: belen palayta #oc: amy andrews #vannah oc #laurien oc #wonder-boy-reid #noble-crescent #princessofdarkness12 #sgtbuckyybarnes #foxesandmagic #fd: riverdale #fd: harry potter #fd: mcu #fd: the flash

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 4: The Wrong Ending

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

Story Masterlist ● Previous Stories: Rise Up • It Had To Be You ●Belén’s Masterlist

• Can also be found on Fanfic and Ao3 •

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

"Where the hell are you!?" Belén raged on the phone while Datura mirthlessly laughed. "This isn't funny! If you think for one moment that I'm going to stop looking for you, you're sadly mistaken! I will find you, Datura."

"Oh, you will," Datura said. "I see it. I'm checking in, dear, that's all. I was fair and warned you what Barry would do, didn't I?"

"You knew he was going to change the timelines," Belén shook her head. "How do you even remember it? None of us could."

"I'm guessing the multitude of my psychological powers helped shield me."

"So you knew this was going to happen and you did nothing to stop it?"

"Why would I? It was going to thoroughly screw you over. How could I ever let the chance pass by? Me being able to escape was a pleasurable surprise."

"You are—"

"Enjoying this," laughed Datura. "And before you even get the idea to, I'm on a burner phone. I just wanted to check in on you. He told you, right? He told you in our original timeline you managed to put me away. You won. But he took that away from you."

"It's not his fault," Belén mumbled. "And I did win, by the way. You're cured and you're alone. No way home, no Poison Ivy." She took her confirmation in Datura's pause. "And absolutely no husband." She was ware of the heavy pause that followed after that last mention. In retrospect, maybe it was a remark too fast but after the hell that Datura put her through, she deserved it.

"You don't know to what extent Barry's decision will affect you and your stupid team," Datura came back strong.

"Do you?"

"You've talked to Caity, right?"

Belén froze again. "How do you—"

"I do. I don't get to see everything but I know that you're all upset with each other too. Your team will never be the same."

"I'm not listening to this. The only thing you need to know is that I'm coming for you. This time, I'm hunting you."

Even though they weren't face to face, Belén knew her doppelganger was smirking at the challenge. "Bring it on, Bells." She hung up.

It took everything Belén had not to throw her phone across the room. But she did grab one of the cushions from her couch chairs to scream into. This was beyond frustrating. The other timeline had her imprisoning Datura but now she was free as a bird.

"Belén?" Caitlin's voice startled her. She spun around, her fingers gripping the cushion in her hands. "Are you alright?"

Belén didn't have the words to begin to describe what she was feeling right now but if anyone could feel slightly anything similar to her, it would be Caitlin. "She knows, Caitlin." Caitlin turned her head slowly. "Datura called. She...she knows."

"A-about..." Caitlin began to gesture to herself.

"She wasn't explicit about everything but I know she knows. She's just that cynical!" Belén smashed the cushion to her face and screamed again. Caitlin made a face as the scream went on. "I hate her so much, Caitlin!" she exclaimed into the cushion.

"I know," Caitlin whispered. "But we can stop her, we can bring her in."

"Can we, though?" Belén lowered the cushion from her face. "Cos I'm not exactly at my best and you know that. Shivhan is gone too."

"But we're still a team, I'm sure the others will help us—"

"No," Belén said quickly. "I...I can't risk Datura telling them what's happened. It'll have to be you and I."

"Me?" Caitlin's eyes went wide at idea. "But...Belén, you know that I can't go out there."

"I don't mean that, just...I just need someone to help me. You and I...we make a good team. In the last timeline, Barry said we imprisoned Datura. We can do it again." She had to believe that they could.

~ 0 ~

Barry's sneakers squeaked as he cautiously made his way into his lab — their lab. Julian worked at his desk on something Barry would deem as...dolls? Who knew.

"Hey, um, I need your help…"

Julian barely regarded him. "It's the four words I seem to hear you most often say, Barry. That and, 'I hate that guy.'" This time he met Barry's look. "Which, the feeling's mutual, so…"

Barry rubbed his hands together and kept himself on business. "Mm-hmm. Okay, um, this is gonna be hard for you, but I just, for a second, need you to imagine that we're actually friends—"

"Can't do it," Julian shot him down.

"Friendly—"

"Equally as challenging, Barry."

"Okay fine then do it for our mutual - and possibly only - person we care about?" Barry knew he'd gotten Julian with Belén.

The blonde stopped his work and leaned back on his chair. "You can't keep using her. It's fairly offensive, actually."

"Spare me that, please," Barry barely held the urge to snap. "I would have believed you if you hadn't said, just this morning, how fun it was to see our argument unfold."

Julian made a gesture that Barry had a point. "Alright, what are you after?"

"I need to read your report on one of the husks."

"Which one?"

"The one from this morning. Edward Clariss."

Julian raised an eyebrow. "Edward Clariss?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"May help me figure out a case I'm working on…"

"Well," Julian tended to the case beside him, "The nutshell is, uh, the hyaluronic acids were found to be above normal. Uh, androgen degradation atypically low. Cellular regeneration seemed to occur at a staggering rate. It's quite a bit different from the previous husks that we found. That's about it."

Barry tentatively reached for the file on the desk but drew his hand back when Julian gave him a hard look. "Could I... could I maybe just take a peek at it? I'm sorry, it's just something I need to see to know what I'm looking for."

Julian scoffed and handed him the report. "Sure."

Barry eagerly took the report and started skimming through it. "Wait, why does this say the body's place of discovery was Williamson when it was found on the waterfront in Leawood?"

"The body ended up in Leawood. There was a strong current this morning, so chances are that it originated from Williamson. Somewhere near the old Prescott sawmill." Julian watched Barry apparently think like he'd been wrong. His impatience got to him and so he held his hand out for the report. "You done?"

"Yeah, uh, yes. Thank you," Barry quickly gave him the report back and started out, missing Julian's highly suspicious eyes follow him.

~ 0 ~

"Eugh, it is getting way too hard to walk around like this," Nina said as she entered the cortex. She battled a brown coat around her that no longer wanted to close over her stomach. "Elliot's going to pick me up in an hour so why am I here?"

Everyone had regathered in the cortex but there wasn't much discussion going on. Iris spoke up since no one else seemed to want to. "We have something to tell you." Nina nodded and waited for this 'news'. "Barry, uh...changed the timelines and...we don't know how that changed us completely—"

"Oh yeah, I knew that," Nina said and subjected herself to various degrees of stares. "What? I'm the only one he didn't screw up. Well, me and Shivhan. Actually, if we're being technical, Shivhan is the only one whose life didn't change because mine—" she waved a hand over her stomach, "—certainly did."

"He told you first?" Belén asked, unable to not feel offended by that.

"Oh please, don't put so much thought into it," Nina motioned Cisco to get out of his chair so she could take it. "He was scared, and rightly so - he royally screwed up. He wanted to tell you but you weren't speaking to him and...he was afraid cos he changed lives..."

"Except for you," Joe pointed, "Because…?"

"Because I wasn't married nor about to pop," Nina shrugged. "I asked him what the differences were about me and he told me."

"Well, we don't know what to do," Iris gestured to their side of the group.

"Nothing," Nina said like it should have been obvious. "That's the thing that's driving Barry crazy. He can't actually do anything about it anymore except apologize and tell us what our lives were like before he changed the timelines."

"He changed our lives," Cisco snapped. "And he kept it a secret. Kind of a hypocrite too…"

"I am not saying you should all be up and ready to forget but we have to be realistic," Nina shrugged.

"She's right," Belén leaned on the desk and massaged her temples. There was an aching on both sides that just wouldn't go away. "I let my brother go when he was a clear menace to the city - and twice. Cisco, you told Captain Cold that Barry was the Flash and you gave him my name all to protect your brother."

"Okay, not my finest moments…" Cisco admitted in a low mutter.

"We've all been rather...wrong with our decisions…" Belén admitted herself.

"You know, I was always hesitant to join this team for real," Nina leaned her head back in thought. "I didn't see it until I finally committed. You guys are like a family. And like a family, you screw up. I just think that as a family we should also...forgive."

"Nina is right," Caitlin nodded. "We all have secrets. We've all screwed up, but this is Barry we're talking about." At the same time, the computer in front of her came to light with an alarm. "Who...apparently is in trouble."

The others quickly gathered behind to see what she meant.

~ 0 ~

Barry was having a hard time getting up from the ground after being blasted by God knew what that hooded-cloak man had used on him. "And who are you?" Barry languidly gestured to the cloaked man behind the golden metal mask. He could hear Clariss' laughter from the rail above him.

"I am Alchemy," the cloaked man responded with a slow, raspy voice.

"Okay, well, what do you want?" Barry pushed himself up despite his balance being off.

"To help people achieve their true potential... such as he has," Alchemy gestured up to Clariss who gave a little smug wave at Barry.

"And why are you doing this?"

"Because I'm preparing this world," Alchemy was left behind as Clariss sped down and pinned Barry against a wal..

"Remember what happened here last time, Flash? It's where I died," Clariss yanked off the comms right from Barry's ear and punctured them - rather strongly - against Barry. "And I'm not gonna waste this second chance I've been given. This time, I'm gonna show you who's the fastest man alive!" He took off with Barry to fulfill his promise.

~ 0 ~

"Where is he, Caitlin?" Belén was already in her suit and was just waiting for Caitlin to give them the location.

"His comms aren't working," Caitlin murmured with knitted eyebrows after trying to get in contact with Barry. "He's at the Prescott Mill, though."

"Great, that's right around the corner," Belén took in a deep breath and let her Azaleas and vines form her usual mask over her eyes.

"Wait…" Cisco stopped her though still seemed unsure as he spoke next.

~ 0 ~

Both Belén and Cisco arrived at the prescott mill with Cisco's help. It was rather quiet, eerily quiet.

"We need to split up," Belén indicated Cisco to the building just up ahead.

"Careful, okay?" Cisco asked, making Belén smile.

"Of course. But you, you're the rookie here, so be careful," she pointed and chuckled when Cisco pretended to fix his goggles for the show. It did feel good to get somewhat back to normal.

Cisco went after the building while Belén went around the mill searching for any lurking speedsters with a trick up his sleeve. "Caitlin—" she tapped her comm. "—can you get in touch with Barry yet?"

"No, I'm trying, but it's not working," Caitlin did sound frustrated she was unable to help. "But you be careful…"

"Mhm," Belén continued walking but stopped when she heard metal clanging behind her. She whipped her head back and scanned the area. Since it was dark all she saw a wavy cape through barrels and structure. "Come out," she ordered and prepared herself for a fight if need be. Vines entangled her fists and continued to swirl as a figure in a hood and golden metal mask emerged from the darkness. "You're not Clariss."

"I am Alchemy," he re-introduced himself. "I am preparing this world…"

"Oh great, a whackadoo," Belén mumbled and pulled her arms back to attack.

"The Azalea will fall so that Amalgam can rise."

Belén involuntarily dropped her arms to regard his words. "What—?"

Alchemy raised his weapon which turned out to be a stone of some sort and emitted the same blast of energy he'd used on Barry. However, it turned out to go directly beside Belén who only had time to shield herself from the blinding light.

"Belén?" Caitlin's voice rang in Belén's ears afterwards. "What happened!?"

Belén lowered her arms from her face and saw that she was completely alone again. "I have...no idea."

~ 0 ~

Cisco had found Barry and Clariss inside the building and did what he could to help bring Clariss down. With his gauntlets he emitted his vortex energy that threw Clariss away. Barry took the opportunity to speed around Clariss who was on his way of getting back on his feet. Punches were delivered from every possible angle to keep Clariss down. The force of his speed chucked Clariss back towards Cisco but Cisco himself was prepared and gave the final blow of a smack.

"Thank you," Barry released a breath and leaned back on a crate. His body was aching but at least their battle was over.

"Sorry it took so long," Cisco gave a weak smile.

"You were just in time," Barry returned the smile.

"Guys?" they heard Belén coming in to look for them. She rushed in and saw Clariss on the ground, out cold, and smiled at the two. She gave Cisco a quick high-five then rushed to hug Barry.

"Ow…" the speedster groaned as she squished his injured body with her force. "Maybe...no hugs…"

"You change the time line, you get a bone crushing hug," she refused to let go of him.

~ 0 ~

"There is no mention of Alchemy anywhere," Caitlin pushed herself away from her computer after a long, exhaustive search for the mysterious man.

"Definitely no mask-wearing monk metas," Cisco agreed beside her. He got up from his chair and walked around to stretch his legs. Belén dropped into the seat instead.

"We didn't find any known aliases in any of the records at CCPD," Joe also said.

"And Clariss is suddenly Mr. Silence," Veronica crossed her arms, rather upset their interrogations weren't working.

"All right, well, keep at him. Alchemy is the one that gave Clariss back his speed," Barry said, still misunderstanding how that was even possible.

"He's kinda like a doctor, that way, don't you think?" Cisco suddenly asked. "Come on, don't pretend like 'Doctor Alchemy' doesn't have a nice ring to it," he gave a warm smile that hadn't made an appearance in months.

"Okay, well, that explains why he didn't have any traces of dark matter in his cells. He didn't get his powers from the particle accelerator, he got them from Alchemy," Caitlin leaned back on her chair.

"What was that?" Cisco gave her a look until she revised her sentence.

"Doctor Alchemy," Caitlin playfully rolled her eyes.

"But how could he do that?" Belén asked, still thinking about the man behind the mask. "Is he a meta that can restore powers or...just plain give powers to people?"

"I don't know, but we need to figure it out. There's gonna be more," Barry sighed. "Alchemy...Doctor Alchemy said that he is preparing this world."

"Preparing the world?" Belén immediately remembered Alchemy's words.

"I am preparing this world…"

"The Azalea will fall so that Amalgam can rise."

"Is that supposed to be like some rapture or something?" Nina made a face from her chair.

"He's just...crazy, that's all," Belén gave a wave of her hand at the group. "Every bad meta we meet has some crazy agenda. We can't expect his words to make any sense nor for them to have any truth in them."

"It's still an agenda we need to keep a look out for," Veronica pointed at her daughter. SHe was not going to take any chances dismissing even the smallest of details a crazy meta threw at them. She didn't want a repeat of Datura.

"An agenda we'll be happy to report on," Iris gave a smile to Belén. They were sure to get some deets about those husks now.

"I think that everyone that had powers in Flashpoint is gonna get them back," Barry meant that as a preparation for what they were about to face.

"Well, we already found four other husks, which means there's at least that many running around Central City right now," Joe reminded.

"We need to find him before he changes more people's lives."

"Speaking of changing lives, we all talked about it, Barry, and most of us decided we don't want to know what our lives were like in Flashpoint," Belén spoke up about that delicate matter.

"Most?" Barry began looking at one person to the next trying to see which one had chosen the opposite.

"I want to know," Belén's voice went soft, but it still caused Barry to freeze with fear.

"Um...Dad, you want to stop by Jitters?" Iris asked her father in an attempt to get people out of there for privacy.

"Yeah, it's on me," Joe smiled, more than happy about it.

"Oh good, then I'm coming too," Wally was all for it and trailed after his family.

"Cisco…" Nina grunted in her chair. She couldn't get up and so she held her hands out.

"When is that kid going to pop?" Cisco mumbled as he went over to help her. He'd been on chair duty ever since she stopped being able to get up on her own.

"I'll let you know," Nina rolled her eyes.

"Men are so inconsiderate," Veronica waved goodbye at her daughter and helped Nina walk out.

"For real?" Cisco called after them and marched after them intending on explaining why he was most certainly not inconsiderate.

Caitlin chuckled. "Glad to see everything's starting to get back to the way it was."

"Almost," Belén was the one to mumble, reminding Barry of their pending conversation.

"Bells, whatever you want to know, I will say it," Barry promised her and briefly glanced at Caitlin.

"We made the decision Barry," Caitlin revealed with an apologetic smile. "Belén was just brave enough to say it for the both of us."

"Oh…" Barry blinked, taken aback of course but got himself prepared for any questions thrown at him. "Okay, well...what do you want to know?"

The two women shared glances before Belén spoke up. "My fight...with Datura? Do you know...how that ended? In the other world? Like, I know we imprisoned her but do you know how I took her down."

"Uh...well I wasn't there - was I there in this time line?"

"No," Caitlin shook her head. "I went with Belén with a meta-dampener and the siphoning device."

"Yeah, that's what happened in the other timeline. You, Caitlin and Shivhan went to the community theater to bring Datura in."

"How did the fight end?" Belén asked.

"Oh, um, well you were the one who told me the story," Barry reminded only to realize that it was the other version of herself who told him the story. "It went like this..."

"There we go," Datura bent down in front of Belén. "The start of the end."

Belén stopped struggling with the embedded piece and focused on ending that smug face once and for all. "You're...actually right." Belén revealed Caitlin's device and stabbed one end on her palm then smacked it over Datura's shoulder to embed the other end.

The device whirred to life instantaneously. A golden stream of colors was extracted from Datura while a green glow came from Belén. The two doppelgangers felt the immediate pain followed through. Datura, however, seemed to be taken a worse hit. Her eyes began to flash from gold to scarlet red to frosty blue and so on. Electricity began to spark from her body and into the device. Belén felt the wasps of electricity and hissed louder and louder until it became a true scream, coupled with the pain she already had from her wound.

Caitlin rushed towards them but there was an explosion that made her fall back. A bit of smoke emerged from the doppelgangers as far as Caitlin could see. She waved her hand in the air and coughed as the smoke drifted towards her.

"Belén? Belén! Are you okay?" she called out and used the chairs beside her to get up. Without thinking, she shot the meta dampener neckbrace at Datura who was out cold.

Datura was outcold but Belén was coughing from her spot. "Someone...get this off me." She waved her burned palm over the wooden piece in her chest.

"Oh, oh, right," Belén smiled awkwardly. Caitlin flipped her head in Belén's direction, her eyes asking the ombre-blonde what she was doing. "Yeah, okay. Same thing happened then. The flow of my DNA fused with hers and stabilized her. We were just curious if anything about us really changed."

"Did it?" Barry nervously asked. "Besides the obvious of course."

Belén shook her head. "Nope." She saw the relief flood his face and couldn't help herself but to bring him in for a tight hug. "You're good, Barry." Caitlin, however, stepped away from them. She couldn't be sure her face wasn't outing them both.

Barry nuzzled his head in Belén's neck. He missed her so much. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm so sorry."

"I know," she patted his back. "I know you are. You always have the best intentions."

"I have to get back to the precinct...I can still come home, right?"

Belén chuckled. "Yes you idiot. And who knows, maybe when you come back you'll find some nice chocolate amaretti cookies you like so much."

Barry couldn't believe the rush of relief he felt upon hearing those words. Something as minuscule as cookies staying the same helped so much. Even though Belén thought she wasn't baking them right, he thought they were delicious. They were hers. "I would want nothing more than that," he pulled away from her to meet her happy gaze. He cupped the side of her face and gave her a short kiss. "I'll see you then, okay?"

"Mhm," Belén nodded, still wearing her smile.

"I'll see you then. Bye Cait," he waved at the brunette and left them on their own.

Belén's smile fell from her face once he was gone.

Caitlin bit on her lower lip. "You didn't say anything..."

"Yeah," Belén whispered. "I couldn't do that to him. He already feels so terrible. Imagine what would happen if he found out that he drastically changed the ending of that fight."

Caitlin lowered her gaze. She knew Barry enough to know the answer. She raised her hands and watched as icy smoke billowed from them both. Belén was already used to that. Her mind had wandered back to her fight with Datura. The way Barry had explained it, described it...it wasn't the real ending, at least not in this timeline.

"Belén? Belén! Are you okay?" Caitlin called out after both Belén and her Datura were thrown in opposite directions by the siphoning device. Caitlin rushed down the aisle of theater chairs and looked at the two women. Her siphoning device was still whirring and, concerned for the effectiveness of it, she dashed for it first. She grabbed it, but the moment she did she felt an icy current prick her fingers. She whirled around in Belén's direction, the ombre-blonde still unconscious, and though Caitlin was still under pain, she saw an colorful hue around Belén's hands.

Had the siphoning device transferred more than just from Belén to Datura?

~ 0 ~

Julian purposely dropped his finished report right on top of Barry's current work. Barry, startled, closed the lid of his pen and looked up at the blonde. "What's that?"

"That's the finished Edward Clariss report. Or should I say The Rival?" Julian rolled his eyes at the ridiculous name. "At least, that's what the Flash called him last night when he took him into Iron Heights. I thought you might want to see it," he tapped a finger on the file. "You know, to do with your other case."

"Actually…" Barry leaned back on his chair, "...it turns out there was no connection."

"Hm," Julian gave a small nod. "You know, I have to ask you how did you know his name?"

"What?"

"Yesterday, you came in and you asked for Edward Clariss' report, but I didn't tell you who that husk belonged to, so that means you stole a sample when you showed up to my crime scene. How did you do that?"

Oh my God he was stupid, yes he was. Barry mentally smacked himself for being so...stupid. "I…" It was even worse when he realized he had no excuse to give out.

"Oh, wow. You've really got this good guy routine thing down, haven't you? And everyone just buys it," Julian spat, and Barry was sure there was a little name - a mutual person - Julian was just on the verge of saying. "There is something not right about you, Allen. They don't see it...but I do."

"Is that right?" Barry calmly put down his pen on the desk and leaned forwards, feigning interest in the conversation.

"You know, I learned from Detective Green that she didn't trust you either in the beginning—"

"But now she does," Barry reminded, and maybe that smirk just came out on its own…

"Yes, well, unlike her I am not going down that road. You know why I don't actually like you, don't you?"

"Hm, I've got some ideas…" Barry frowned, "Want to see if they corroborate?"

"I don't trust you," Julian enunciated slowly for Barry to understand. "Ever since I got here there are things about you that do not add up."

"Look Julian, why not, for Belén's sake, we just keep it civilized? You don't like me, that's fine—"

"Whatever you propose, it's not happening," Julian took his leave. "I can't ever like things I don't trust!" He called on his way out.

Barry scowled and found it incredibly difficult to get back to work when all he could think of was…

~ 0 ~

"I hate that guy," Barry plopped down on the couch next to Iris.

Iris snorted and popped in a piece of popcorn. "Yeah, you say that a lot."

"I now know why," he muttered and crossed his arms. "You know, I'm sure he's just looking for some excuse to badmouth me to Belén. I can almost swear it."

"Yeah, you say that too," Iris gave him a brief look which resulted in a small laughter.

"I'm being serious!"

"You're both ridiculous," Iris rolled her eyes and got more comfortable on the couch. "Take your win for today - which is being back in your girlfriend's place and, oh yeah, getting your friends back," she nudged him on the side.

Barry playfully rolled his eyes. "What are you still doing here anyways?"

"Belén said I could stay until I'm ready to go back to my Dad's," Iris smirked at him. "Did I put a damper on your romantic attempts?"

"Shut up," Barry reached for her bowl of popcorn but Iris smacked his hand away. He did wonder where Belén was. She was supposed to be baking cookies.

"Don't worry, I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I just got lazy," Iris admitted and picked up the television control to turn the volume up.

At the same time, the apartment door unlocked and in came Belén with a rather hasty movement.

"Bells?" Barry sat up straight on the couch. "Hey, what happened to the cookies—"

"Gotta shower, be back in a couple minutes," Belén gripped her purse's strap and made a beeline for the hallway.

"What just happened?" Barry got up from the couch and peered into the hallway in time to see Belén practically slam the door to their bedroom.

"She went to meet up with Caitlin," Iris said. Her sour tone did not go unmissed by Barry. "They're up to something," she elaborated.

"Like what?" Barry slowly sat back down and waited for Iris to swallow her popcorn to explain.

"I have no idea, but I'm a reporter...so I'll find out," Iris pointed at him.

"She's a reporter too, Iris."

"You know what I meant," Iris playfully hit him on the arm. While she managed to smile it off, Barry did not.

He wondered if there were, perhaps, things about the timeline he still had yet to know about.

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #fd: the flash #the flash #barry allen #barry allen fics #barry allen imagines #the flash fics #the flash imagines #arrowverse fics #barry allen x oc #arrowverse imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #fic: make you stay #6 more chapters and we're all caught up!!!! #finally!

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 3: Mistakes Never Forgotten

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

Story Masterlist ● Previous Stories: Rise Up • It Had To Be You ●Belén’s Masterlist

• Can also be found on Fanfic and Ao3 •

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

Dr. Nina Clarke hardly received any friendly visits while she was on the job, much less from Barry who was supposed to be at his own job right now. Yet, here he was, sitting across her in the hospital's cafeteria...detailing the story of how he royally messed up.

Nina was, shamefully, awed by the fact that changing a timeline was very possible. "You actually...did that…? You went back in time?" All this time they had only so far gone through worlds but then again, she had to remember the one moment where Barry traveled back in time to save his mother 2 years ago. Apparently, this time around he went through with it.

"Well, I've done it a couple of times but...just a day, the most had been a year...until…" Barry trailed off, letting her fit in the pieces.

"Until you went way back in time." She eagerly ate her grapes.

"But I reset everything! I put everything back to the way that it was before!" Barry exclaimed, obviously frustrated with his unsuccessful efforts. "Except some things weren't the same anymore. Not even a little bit."

"Oh, I bet they weren't," Nina shook her head. "What changed?"

Barry didn't know where to start. For one, Cisco wasn't speaking to him. Iris and Joe weren't speaking to each other. Not everything was bad but it was changed. He found that out when he learned that Axel, Belén's nephew, was already back from Italy. The only thing that remained completely the same was Shivhan Jade—Black Orchid—leaving the team for a while to go back to school. Barry was utterly relieved to find that her life hadn't been screwed up. And last, but not least, there was Belén. Belén.

"Well… I'll start with the most obvious one, being the reason I've had to stay at Joe's for the last couple of days..." Nina unashamedly chuckled, making Barry roll his eyes.

"Belén's pissed at you," she popped in another grape into her mouth.

Barry's deep frown was enough to confirm it. He came back to a world where he and Belén had a royally big argument that ended up with him leaving the apartment. He couldn't possibly remember any of that but it happened and Belén wasn't speaking to him now. The worst part is that he couldn't figure out what they argued about. "She won't talk to me because I won't apologize for what I did. But I can't do that because I don't know what I did!"

Nina rested a cheek against her closed fist. She could tell Barry had no clue—it was all in his face. He was utterly lost and confused. "This is sure coming back to bite you, isn't it?"

Barry's face fell flat at the question. It was a fair thing to ask but he didn't want to answer. "Point one, Nina."

Nina sighed heavily, finally taking pit on him. "You want to know why she's mad at you?"

"Very much, yeah."

"Datura." Nina smiled when Barry's face fell flat again. The mere mention of Belén's Earth 2 doppelganger put him in a sour mood. He thought that woman, and everything related to her, was completely gone after her defeat. "In your reality, before you changed it into, uh, that perfect world, did Belén fight Datura in the community theater?"

"Yeah..."

"Did Datura manage to escape?"

"What!?" Barry's eyes had widened.

"I will take that as a 'no'."

"What do you mean Datura escaped!?" Barry asked a smidge too loud that Nina had to shush him before someone overheard them. "Datura's gone? How can that be? Belén had her with the dampeners and the...there was Caitlin and Shivhan too! They captured her!"

"In this reality, Datura escaped when Belén stuck her with the cure. Belén passed out and Shivhan was too weak to get up. Caitlin making it out alive was a miracle. Datura let her live."

"No, no, no, no," Barry buried his face in his hands. Datura was gone? She escaped!? All of the work Belén had put into capturing her doppelganger had gone down the drain!?

"This didn't happen in the last timeline?" Nina felt terrible for him right now. Being responsible for the doppelganger of his girlfriend—the same doppelganger who tried murdering Belén countless times—was on the loose again...because of him.

"No," Barry shook his head. "Belén captured her and brought her back to STAR Labs. She was in the pipeline."

Belén came to a stop in front of the door and looked over her shoulder. She could feel Barry looking at her and for some reason she couldn't bring herself to face him. "Datura knew something about you," she whispered. "Something that you were going to do."

Barry's heart ached. "Yeah?"

Belén nodded. "She said it didn't matter what I did because you were going to do something that would screw it up. What are you going to do, Barry?"

Barry remembered that lost moment with Belén before he changed the timeline. Had Datura meant this? She had low level psychic abilities—those of which were siphoned from some poor soul—which, in theory, could have allowed her to see him changing the timeline.

"She said it didn't matter what I did because you were going to do something that would screw it up."

Barry brought a hand to his face. Was he going to screw Belén over? Like this? He couldn't believe he was in a world where Datura was right, and possibly the better person between them. "Nina, what exactly did I say to Belén?"

"Barry, it's not like I have a transcript or something..."

"Nina please," Barry begged. "I have to know so I can fix it."

Nina sighed and thought for a moment. Belén had been a hot mess after that fight so a lot of her words were meshed together even more than usual. "Um, something about thinking Belén let Datura go because of her psychic abilities. I think Datura said something about you doing something..."

Barry closed his eyes. "The timelines. Datura must have known that I was going to change the timelines."

"You thought Belén let Datura go so that she could try to change the timelines herself, stop the steps that would lead you to not change anything."

"What!?"

Nina raised her hands in defense. "I'm just the informer. You gonna eat that?" She pointed to the yogurt he'd barely touched sitting idly in front of him.

He shook his head and passed over the snack. He wasn't very hungry for anything that day. "Okay, well, I'll fix that. I don't know how but I will fix it. Tell me what happened between Iris and Joe. How come they're not talking?"

"Oh, let me guess, in the other timeline she actually forgave Joe for not telling her about her mother still being alive?"

"That's why they're mad?"

"Yup. To be fair, I would be upset too."

"You don't need to tell me about Cisco," Barry said before Nina even opened her mouth.

She swallowed some of the yogurt and blinked. "You know?"

"That his brother, Dante, is dead? Yeah," Barry had the stupid idea of following Cisco to 'the gym' which turned out to be a support group. At first Barry thought that Cisco developed a bad habit in this new timeline but no...Cisco felt guilty over not patching things up with his brother before he died. "I just don't know why he's mad at me."

"Yeah that's a very complicated one that I would rather stay away from," Nina apologized with a smile. "So you're all up to speed now, which means we're done," Nina put her spoon down and have a knowing smile at him. "And now that we are, I can finally say it."

"Say what…?" Barry dreaded yet another change he wasn't informed of.

"There were plenty of people you could've talked to about this, and yet...you chose me," Nina's intense stare made him squirm. "I mean, I guess Shivhan was another option but she's at school so here's me. Meaning, I have to either have the same life as in the other timeline, or…my life turned out to be better here. Which is it?" As she stood up, Barry's gaze slowly fell to the floor but then briefly flickered to her very pregnant stomach.

In this world, Nina Clarke was pregnant and about to give birth.

"So, which is it," the woman put her hands on her stomach. "Was I not pregnant? Or not married?" She waved her left hand with her wedding band. "Or both?" Barry met her playful gaze and hesitated to speak. "You can tell me," she chuckled. "I am asking. Full consent here to know what my other life entailed."

Barry sighed and just gave in. "Fine. You weren't married nor pregnant."

"Did I have my husband as my boyfriend or—"

"No."

"Ah. Did I have my powers?"

"The Tempest?" Barry was actually a little afraid he'd cost Nina her metahuman powers too. He'd only seen her once and got the gist the timeline was a bit kinder to her than the rest of their friends.

"The Tempest," Nina nodded and gestured her stomach. "And, according to Caitlin," she started in a whisper, "Mini-Tempest."

"Your baby...is a meta…?" Barry's eyes comically widened.

"She is following in her mother's footsteps," Nina proudly.

"And does your...husband know…?"

"He knows everything. Elliot knows about all of us," Nina decided to let him in on that secret. "You and Belén both said it was okay…"

Barry smiled. "Don't worry. You trust him, that means we do too."

"And, just a little advice between us, maybe explaining this whole timeline thing to the others isn't such a bad idea," she patted him on the shoulder. "I should get back to work."

"You shouldn't be working," Barry said off handedly.

"And you shouldn't be changing timelines," Nina quipped.

Barry took that second blow with a nod. Yeah, he deserved it. "Point 2 to Nina."

He considered the idea of telling the others about the new alterations of the timeline with some serious degree...but perhaps he was too much of a coward. By the time he got to the precinct, the idea had been thrown out the window. He was at least relieved to see that Singh was back as Captain once again.

Because then even Barry was met with his own unique alteration.

"Um, hello?" He geniously greeted the blonde man working in the second desk of the room.

"Yes. Hello, Mr. Allen," the blonde greeted with an English accent without looking up from his work. Barry already wasn't liking the stiffness in the tone of the man, but right now all he wanted to know was who the he was. "I can still see you're there and no, I don't want your help, thank you."

Barry moved up to the desk and eyed the name plaque sitting at the edge. "What are you doing here, Julian Albert, meta-human CSI Specialist?"

Julian met Barry's curious gaze with a deeply annoyed one. "I did tell you the meta-human conference was only for two days."

"Okay, but this is…"

"Still our lab... unfortunately," and the regret truly showed on Julian's face. "Yes, County forgot to mention that significant detail before assigning me, but here we are. Looks like you and I get to be roomies for a little longer than we'd hoped. Roomies."

At this point, Barry didn't know what to expect anymore. How many more things were changed? And in what ways would he find out? Someone cleared their throat at the doorway and garnered the attention of both men. Belén stood with a duffel bag slung around her shoulder.

"Bells-" Barry wasn't sure how he was going to apologize for something he really couldn't remember, but he would try as much as needed to.

Belén stopped him with a finger. "I'm in a rush. Save whatever sorry excuse you have." She them directed her gaze to Julian who was, rather amused, watching Barry's reaction. "My Mom said you were heading out anyways. You think you can give me a ride to the theater?"

"Your car still not fixed?" Julian asked, yet Barry was a bit indignant all that sourness in his earlier words were gone.

"Are you kidding me? Meta-apocalypse totaled it. I have to buy a new one but that's not the point here!" She exclaimed. "Point is, practice time is now and I have to be there! Let's go!"

"Yeah, alright," Julian agreed so easily it stunned Barry.

"Thank you," Belén said and turned to leave, but not before giving Barry a look. The poor speedster had no idea what the hell was going on.

Julian had gathered his things and started after her. "I don't know what you did, Allen, but it is fairly fun to see it unfold," he smirked and went on his way.

~0~

Nina laughed after hearing Barry's unfortunate run in with Julian. She was on her way to her car when the meta stopped her. "Oh right, Julian hates you."

"What—why!?"

Nina shrugged. "Don't know. But you hate him too. You always claim that he liked Belén."

"That makes sense," Barry muttered, thinking back to drastic change of attitude in Julian after Belén walked in. "He was all sunshine when Belén came into the lab—I hate him."

Nina smirked. "Green eyed speedster is not a good idea. And Belén doesn't like him. They were childhood friends, that's it."

"Childhood friends?" Barry repeated, trying to think of any story Belén might have told him including such a 'friend'.

Nina understood it was hard to feel relaxed when he really did not know what this new timeline entailed. She explained to him the situation since he was meant to already know this. "Barry, he's Mrs. Andrew's grandson, Belén's neighbor? He's been here for a year now."

"He wasn't here in the other world," Barry said the obvious.

"But he is now," Nina softly said. "And you're going to have to get around it somehow. I suggest not to argue with him a lot. That's always a source of arguments between you and Belén." Barry rolled his eyes and Nina added, "She's been his friend since they were kids, so they're close."

"Okay, but—"

"And she loves you," Nina purposely said louder to shut him up. "You guys put her in the middle of your fights like high schoolers. Since you've changed a lot of things, it wouldn't be a bad idea to change this too," she gave him a soft smile and a pat on the arm. "I have to go. My feet are killing me."

"You shouldn't be driving! You're pregnant!" Barry exclaimed as Nina got into her car.

She laughed in her seat and reached to close the door. "And you shouldn't be changing timelines yet here we are." She closed the door and left Barry to mumble a "Point three, Nina."

~0~

Caitlin wanted to be polite, it's how she found the way to survive throughout these rough times with the team. Being polite and mostly not talking worked like a charm whenever everyone was around but now that it was just her and Barry in the cortex, she could speak freely and tell him his sample just wasn't working.

"You know, there's really not that much here…" she looked up from the microscope examining the sample of a human body husk he'd brought in earlier.

Barry stood behind her with arms crossed. "Yeah, no, I know. It's basically touch DNA. I had to steal the sample because our meta-human expert wouldn't let me take one." It was mighty annoying having to work with someone who clearly disliked him and made things much more complicated.

A little smile worked its way across Caitlin's lips. "Oh, you mean Julian Albert?"

Barry sighed. "Yeah, you know him?" But of course they would know about that guy. It was just another thing he forgot about the new timeline.

Caitlin gave him an odd look for his question. "Yeah, Belén introduced us, remember?"

"Sure," Barry replied through gritted teeth.

Caitlin noticed the tension straight off and glanced at the threshold to see if Cisco was anywhere near. He'd gone off almost immediately after Barry arrived. "You know, Cisco told me you showed up to his bereavement group last night."

Barry dropped his arms to his side and sighed again. "Yeah, I did. He also tell you it didn't go so well?"

Caitlin apologetically nodded. "It's only been a few months since Dante was killed by that drunk driver. I'm sure he just needs a little bit more time."

"Yeah, but why is he mad at me?" Because as much as Barry looked at the situation from every possible angle, he just didn't understand why Cisco was upset with him.

Caitlin raised her hands almost instantly and turned away in her seat. "Oh no, I am staying out of that one!"

"Cait, he'll... he'll barely look at me unless other people are in the room!"

"Maybe it's just easier when the rest of us are around?"

Barry rubbed his face and surprisingly did good at keeping his frustration at bay. "Everyone's just... everything's wrong." Caitlin tilted her head in question over his choice of words. Barry leaned his hands on the desk and thought for a second. "Cait, do you think maybe you could convince Cisco to come with you to Joe's for dinner tonight?"

'Why?"

"So I can try to fix things between us, maybe between Joe and Iris, too. Just all of us together again in one room and try to work this out once and for all."

Caitlin thought that was definitely some god complex he was creating. "Are you sure that's a good idea? We haven't had a get together in...in a very long time…"

"It's better than just letting things keep going like this," Barry got himself a new round of determination and took a deep breath in. He started heading out.

"Where are you going?" Caitlin called from her seat.

"To get things arranged and then I'm gonna find Belén," he marched out with a good source of determination.

~0~

It was late in the afternoon when Belén finished her aerial dance practice. Today especially she needed the distractions so she might have stayed a little longer than planned. It explained her more weary attitude as she made her way up to the floor of her apartment. She unlocked her door with her free hand as she was carrying a cup of coffee she stopped by Jitters for, and automatically went to find the light switch. She stopped halfway when candlelights illuminated the entire apartment.

"What the…?" Her brain immediately wondered if a fire metahuman had popped up but soon deemed it ridiculous. No metahuman would take the time to delicately arrange candle lights everywhere before striking.

"I'm sorry," Barry's voice startled her. He emerged from the hallway. "Of course I know that you wouldn't purposely let Datura go, not even for my sake. You were obviously hurt and I should have focused more on that instead of stupidly believing that you let her go."

Belén seemed hesitant to believe it straight away. They'd spent a whole hour arguing over her last battle with Datura. She closed the door and dropped her duffel bag on the floor. "You said I was being irresponsible. That I shouldn't have let her go. Barry, I didn't." Her eyes glimmered with tears rather quick, making Barry wonder how much they argued about this and what terrible things were said. "In fact, I made a huge mistake when she escaped. I wasn't strong enough to keep her—"

"You were," Barry said, but she shook her head. "Belén, you passed out. Caitlin said that the device she made to cure Datura went haywire when it was connected to you and Datura. Plus, you had a chest injury. Passing out wasn't something you did voluntarily." Barry was frustrated, and the worst part was that he was frustrated with another version of himself so he couldn't technically do anything about it. He put his hands together, in front of his face, and took a deep breath. "Belén, you have no idea how sorry I am. I...ruin things—it's my trademark." He let his hands drop to his sides and shook his head. "I ruin things and the worst part is that I ruin them for everyone I love. I...screw them over." Datura's words were coming back to haunt him again. "I screwed up your fight and for some stupid reason I blamed you."

"You don't ruin things…" Belén said quietly. He was far too worked up this time around. "I just...I don't understand how you would think that I purposely let her go. What she said about you changing things, breaking the ultimate rule...even if she was saying something coherent, I wouldn't let her go for that. I'm trying to find her — every day, every night, I try to look for her."

"I know, of course you would. I believe you, trust me." Barry took a few steps towards her. "I know you would do that because it's who you are. You make good choices...I don't."

Belén shook her head. "No, don't say that, Barry. You try and that's what matters. I just need to know that you trust me."

"Of course. Bells, you have no idea how proud I was of you. You used to be so afraid of Datura and you ended up fighting her and putting her friend away, bringing her down. I got to see that."

Belén smiled sadly. "Yeah," she swallowed hard. Despite how the fight ended, she would always be proud of herself for rising up to that woman. She stood up and fought. She'd technically won too...she just passed out before she could imprison Datura.

"I'm sorry," Barry said again and reached for her free hand. "Can I make that up to you, little by little?"

"One condition: you're going to get rid of the candles all on your own." Belén gazed at the dozens and dozens of candles surrounding them. Barry laughed but promised he would. "Without speed," she warned. "Fire, wind...bad."

"I solemnly swear," Barry raised a hand to show he was serious.

Belén didn't bother with it as she leaned forwards, far too excitedly to kiss him. In her excitement, she bumped her coffee cup into him and spilled said coffee on him. She gasped and covered her mouth. "I am so sorry!"

Flashes of her previous (yet nonexistant anymore) drink-spilling accident made Barry laugh even harder. No matter what timeline they were in, this would always happen and he wouldn't want it any other way.

"Why are you laughing?" Belén asked, dead serious. "We're good now, you don't have to keep trying here!" She wanted to help him but didn't know how. Her hands kept going forwards and backwards trying to get him to keep still enough for her to help him get cleaned up.

Barry had other ideas instead. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her up to him for a sound kiss. Belén didn't mind the warm coffee staining her too; she missed her boyfriend a lot.

"Is it okay if I sleep here again?" Barry still asked cautiously afterwards.

Belén chuckled with her arms still around him. "Yes, I've missed you. But you'll have to share the bathroom with Iris again. She'll hate that."

"What?" Barry blinked and looked around for Iris as if she would pop up any moment.

"She's staying here, remember? She and her Dad…?" Belén wasn't sure how to take his realization. This wasn't news. It was like he was barely hearing about it. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, uh…I was just focused on you that I...forgot about everything else…" Barry was slowly putting the pieces together of this new timeline and with every new piece he found everything was worse than he thought.

"That is cliche and I love that...and you... and this place…" Belén looked around with a big smile. "I'd feel more romantic if I hadn't spilled coffee on you and if I had showered…" She then poked him on the chest with an innocent twinkle in her eyes, "Two of which we can fix...together…?"

"How…?" The fact Barry looked genuinely confused made Belén want to kiss him again, but she held herself for another moment.

"Don't make me explain. My singing scientist you are much smarter than that…" She pointed them to the hallway and let her smirk clarify it all for him. She laughed when it finally donned on him.

"Oooh...!"

~0~

Dinner was difficult to get everyone together, but what Barry found the hardest was getting people to talk. Belén could have told him this idea wasn't going to work out but she thought he would probably realize before…

Apparently not.

"This hits the spot, huh?" Barry said after dead silence for a good ten minutes. He hoped it would spark some conversation at the table, but only Joe followed.

"You can thank Grandma Esther…"

"Well thank her indeed," Nina was the only one eagerly eating. She hated her big appetite but no one seemed surprised.

Barry couldn't help smile at her. "Actually, I just meant, um... all of us, actually, just here, together. I was actually thinking, um, that maybe it'd be fun if we all went away together for a few days. Just like a little Team Flash vacay…?"

Iris lowered her fork, trying to understand what he was getting at. "And do what?"

"Bond? Reconnect?" Barry was getting nowhere with them.

"You mean like a retreat?" Caitlin asked just to be sure.

"That's the ones with trust exercises and the weird songs…" even Belén was having trouble picturing the idea.

"Epic fail, party of eight," Cisco muttered as he angrily stuffed his forkbite into his mouth. Caitlin gave him a disapproving look but he merely shrugged and ate.

Barry did his best to keep things going despite the odds of winning becoming more and more slim. "I just... I just feel like we're not the team that we were or can be."

"I'd be down for it," Wally felt awkward as he raised a hand. Thankfully, Nina did the same.

"I would be too, but, uh…" she gestured to her current state, "I'm afraid I think I'll pop at any second. Plus, I'm not sure Elliot would be okay with it. Sorry."

"I...I get what you're trying to do, but...you don't think we can afford to take a vacation," Belén bit her lip, sending Barry an apologetic smile.

"You were the one that said we should take a break to Italy," Barry said without thinking.

"I did?" Judging by her face, Barry figured the changed timelines erased that part of her too.

"I'm going to have to agree with Belén, sorry," Caitlin spoke up, very much sorry. "Especially with all these husks showing up all over town—"

"Speaking of husks, I'm glad you're finally ready to open up about them," Iris gave her a father an expectant glance.

"Iris, I already told you, I can't tell you anything about this case."

Iris was confused only for a second before she realized what actually happened. "Oh, really? Because that's not what I was told."

Joe was quick to figure it out as well. "Strange. I was under the impression you had some things to say to me, too. Isn't that right, Bar?"

"Told you. Epic fail," Cisco murmured to Caitlin who, by this point, didn't know how to keep his comments at bay.

Barry sighed and gave up. "Okay, look, yeah. I arranged this. I put all this together. I'm sorry, guys. Look, I just... we're not acting like a team, and I just wanted things back to how they were. Just fixed."

Cisco shook his head and let his fork fall on his plate with a loud clang. "If you wanted things fixed, maybe you should have gone back in time and stopped my brother from dying!"

Everyone went dead silent, including Barry who had finally understood the real problem Cisco had with him.

"You want me to change the timeline to save Dante?" The mere question added on an extra layer of guilt on Barry.

"Why would you do that?" Cisco sarcastically responded. "It's not like he's your brother." Everyone's cellphones went off with the same alert.

Cisco picked up his phone first. "Meta-human app. We gotta go!"

"I would love to help—" Nina barely got the words out when Belén shushed her.

"Elliot would kill us," the ombre-blonde pointed Nina to Wally. "Look after her please," she asked and hurried off with the others.

Barry was the first one to reach the spot where the metahuman app had directed them. Saying he was stunned to find the Rival was a clear understatement. He was beyond confused and wondered if, somehow, the timeline was yet again being changed as a consequence of his decisions.

The Rival seemed to understand perfectly the situation Barry was in. he ripped off the hood of his mask with smug rage. "Remember me, Flash?"

"Clariss?"

"Oh, you do remember, Flash? Good, I remember everything, too."

"How are you here?"

"It doesn't matter. You see, what does matter is that I know your little secret. You changed the timeline. Because if I recall correctly, the only Speedsters in my other life were me and that smartass Kid Flash, until you showed up and stole everything from me!"

"I didn't steal anything from you, Clariss. I... I was just trying to put things back to the way they're supposed to be!" Barry hoped to God no one was listening in on them.

"This is how my life is supposed to be!" Clariss shouted. "For years, I felt like something was missing. And now I know why."

"Well, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do this to you-"

"Yeah, well, you did. And here I am. Your Rival, back again," Clariss gestured to himself with utter pride. "Believe me, Flash, this time, you're not gonna steal my life so easily!"

He took off with his usual speed, leaving Barry to go after him. The two chased each other all over the city with no upper hand. When it looked like the Rival was about to speed ahead Barry surprised him from the side and threw him with all his force. The Rival toppled over many streets until his body flung over the water bridge. Barry was there mere seconds later but as much as he looked the Rival was gone.

~0~

"Barry, hey!" Belén found him first after coming back to STAR Labs. "I'm sorry I didn't catch up - something...came up…"

And perhaps if Barry had been paying better attention to her instead of the fact Edward Clariss was back, he would've sensed her strange excuse. He merely told her it was alright and went on to tell her, and the rest of the group, what happened.

Belén's mother, Veronica, was the first to get frustrated. "You mean to tell us that after finally getting rid of Zoom there's another evil Speedster?" The detective flung a hand towards Belén who blinked with surprise. "At least tell me there's no doppelgangers this time?"

"Why do you imply it's going to be another me?" Belén frowned. Veronica waved her off, deepening her frown. "I'm praying that Datura was the only evil one of my doppelgangers."

"Okay, well, who is this guy?" Iris asked Cisco and Caitlin at the desk.

"Well," Caitlin got up from her chair as she worked to bring up the profile of their new meta, "I finally got the results back from the test I ran on the husk that Barry gave me this morning. And it's weird, because there's no traces of dark matter, but there are traces of the Speed Force. His name is…"

"Edward Clariss," Barry dejectedly said just mere seconds before the screen behind him came to life with Clariss' profile. Everyone's eyes flickered from Barry to the screen and so forth.

"And somehow Barry is exactly right," Caitlin sat back down trying to figure out how that was possible.

"You're holding out on us," Belén knew right off the top. She didn't mean it to be demanding, but that's the lead Iris took.

"What is it?"

Barry couldn't take their accusing looks, especially when he knew it was all his fault. Clariss had come back, and on top of it he created terrible rifts between his own family. It was all him. He did it…

"Barry?" Belén cautiously called his name. There was something not right with him but she couldn't decide if it was still grief or... something new.

"I'm sorry...I have to...I have to fix things," Barry decided and sped out of there. He would attempt to fix things the only way he knew of…

"What just happened?" Iris was left asking in the room. No one had an answer.

"It's just Barry," Cisco muttered and walked out.

"We need to figure out a way to put that speedster in the pipeline," Joe told the remaining women. "Before he does something really bad."

"We'll figure something out," Caitlin promised him and Veronica as the two began to leave as well.

"Belén, can I show you something?" Iris asked ad soon as it was just them and Caitlin. She motioned Caitlin to near them too as she pulled out her phone.

"What are we looking at exactly?" Belén asked after Iris pulled up a security video of the waterfront where Barry and Clariss were.

"This is the feed Cisco pulled up while you and Caitlin went M.I.A after dinner," Iris explained, although she missed the nervous glances of her two friends. "He didn't pay too much attention to it - does that a lot now often - but I did. Okay look, it's pretty obvious that this guy knows Barry." Because indeed the two speedsters were conversing quite emotionally before they chased each other.

"I don't... understand…" Caitlin gave a tilt of her head. It did look like Clariss was...accusing Barry of something? That pointed finger at Barry couldn't say anything else.

"Barry is keeping things from us, I know it," Iris put her phone away and settled a sharp stare on Belén. "And you need to find out what it is."

The woman in question blinked with alarm. "Me?" she pointed at herself. "Demand to know about a secret? I don't...I don't think I can, Iris." She avoided Iris' scrutinizing eyes by backtracking several steps from her and Caitlin in the process.

"What? Why not?" Iris crossed her arms, expecting some sort of explanation that would possibly make sense.

Belén's eyes kept flickering to Caitlin, something Iris picked up on fast, while she really did try to answer the question. "I just...I don't...it would be very...I can't." And Belén hated how that made her sound, but she just couldn't go demanding Barry to reveal something, not when she was…

Iris turned to Caitlin to see what the brunette had to say, but Caitlin followed Belén's league and avoided making eye contact with Iris at all costs. "You want to fill me in or something…?" Iris asked both of them.

"I just can't, I'm sorry," Belén shook her head and hurried out.

"I think it's better to just drop it, Iris," Caitlin gave Iris a soft warning and went after Belén.

Iris truly had no words, and much less a clue as to what had just happened.

~ 0 ~

The last thing Barry ever thought would happen now was facing his father's doppelganger and actually being forced to have breakfast with him on Earth 3. Really, what else could happen now? Oh, right, this earth ran a little slow so it was also 1998.

Barry really hoped that was it. "This isn't the reason you pulled me out of the Speed Force right?" he gestured to the menu on the table.

Henry gave a shake of his head. "Because you were about to reset the timeline again after screwing it all up." Barry opened his mouth but only noises of his shock came out. "Oh, yeah, I know about that."

"How did you—"

"After your not-so-subtle reaction when you first met me... Harry told me all that happened with Zoom and your mom and your dad, so I decided I'd keep my eye on you for a bit."

Barry figured that was exactly what Harry would have done the moment they were gone. "He tell you anything else?"

"He did. I'm your father's doppelganger. Sorry about that…" Because even now it was hard for Barry to keep an eye-level conversation with him.

"It's just...really weird."

"And really sad, too... I'm sure. Having a loss like that in your life, I see why you'd wanna erase it. Who wouldn't try to save their parents? I understand that, Barry, completely. But the thing is, there are consequences to time travel."

"I have heard all of this before—" Barry tried to say, even about to count the times he'd heard the same lecture. It didn't matter anymore as he'd done already.

"Not from me you haven't. I'm not some Doctor with a theory, Barry. I'm a Speedster, like you, who's traveled in time, and made these same mistakes you are making right now. Here, let me show you something," Henry reached for an empty cup of tea beside the menu on the table.

Barry rolled his eyes, and surely was about to leave. "Okay, you know what—"

"Humor me, kid," Henry motioned him to keep in his seat. "This coffee cup right here. Think of it as the space-time continuum. Whenever you go back in time it breaks." He vibrated the cup until a chip of it cracked.

Barry wanted to know how the man was giving speedster lectures when he just vibrating his hand in open daylight. "For real?"

"Now... you can reset the timeline, you can try to fix it, but no matter how hard you try…" Jay had pulled the chip of the cup off and tried placing back as if it was never broken in the first place, "...it's never gonna be exactly how it was."

"Look, I've learned all this stuff that I didn't know before, okay? I'm not gonna make the same—"

"Mistakes," Jay finished for him. "Yeah, what you just said right there? That is the paradox of time travel, and also the paradox of life. I mean, if I only knew then what I know now."

"Why have these powers if I can't go back and fix what I broke?" Barry couldn't help demand with frustration. Here he was with powers not a lot of people had and yet he couldn't do something grand like saving people from death without causing even more trouble? What kind of logic was that?

"We're not gods, we're men, who, for whatever reason, have been given extraordinary abilities," Jay hoped Barry would catch on. "The question you need to ask yourself is, what kind of hero are you gonna be? Are you just gonna take a do-over every time you make a mistake? Or will you live with them and move forward?"

Ah, the ringing honest question that made Barry pause for the first time and think about the long run. It wasn't the present, nor the next day he should be thinking about...it was the future. What kind of person was he going to be for the rest of his life?

~ 0 ~

"Are you sure you're okay?" Caitlin's question carried into the cortex as she and Belén walked in. Cisco, Iris, Joe and Veronica were already there, recruited once again.

"Yeah, yeah," Belén waved Caitlin to stop just as they faced everyone. "Where's Barry?" she asked the group.

Just a mere second later, Barry sped into the room with a face worse for wear. "I need to tell you all something," he said almost instantly. He needed to be fast or else his courage might slip away from him. "The truth."

"The truth about what?" Iris asked.

"Okay, um... after Zoom killed my dad, after we defeated him, um... I wasn't in a great space, and I felt like the only way I could fix that was to run back in time and save my mom."

There was a silence over the group as Barry's words settled down.

"You stopped the Reverse-Flash from killing your mom?" Belén spoke slowly, as if that would make better sense for her.

"Yes…" Barry let his head hang in shame.

"Wait, so, is she alive?" Wally wondered out loud.

"She was. For a few months. I lived with her and my dad. I had a completely different life," Barry still smiled at the bittersweet memories. "I wasn't even the Flash for most of it."

"You mean to tell us you created this whole...other world, then?" Even Veronica was lost like Wally. She didn't understand the full extent of a speedster's powers, and she never cared enough to ask.

"Okay, um…" Barry spotted a nearby clear board and picked up a marker to explain in the usual way. "This is the timeline," he drew a horizontal line and made a dot at the end. "This is the point that we exist on it right now. This—" he scribbled in a dot at the other end of the line, "—past point is where my mom was murdered. So when I saved her, I created a new reality. A new timeline. I was living in…"

"A mirror universe," Cisco mumbled but Barry heard him.

"It's called a Flashpoint, apparently."

"But you decided to leave it," Joe gestured to the obvious. "Why?"

Barry sighed. "That life started to spin out of control. This guy, Clariss, he was a Speedster there, too. He was known as the Rival. He caused a lot of problems. So, um... I decided to run back in time again and let things happen as they were supposed to, in hopes of... resetting the timeline, but…"

"Things weren't the same," Belén understood first.

"She said it didn't matter what I did because you were going to do something that would screw it up."

She shuddered. This is what Datura had seen this coming. It had to be. "You screwed it up," the words tumbled out of her mouth.

Barry knew what she was thinking of. They both remembered. "When I came back, things weren't the same. People weren't the same. Um, I created another timeline."

"Another world to live in," Caitlin nodded. "This—" she gestured with a finger at the room, "—isn't the original world we used to live in?"

"It's not as different as the last one. Not in large ways, but in some ways, in smaller ways, and, uh—" Barry swallowed hard, "—meaningful ways for all of you or anybody that's close to me. And I can't ever really put it back together." He forced himself to face everyone in the eyes, like they deserved, because at this point it was all he could for them.

"Barry, that's a lot to take in…" Joe murmured from his spot.

"We got along in that other life, my dad and I, didn't we?" Iris finally realized that part and didn't know whether or not to be furious or plain sad. "That's why you've been working so hard to get us talking again."

"Okay, here's the thing. Um, I will tell you what's different, all of you, if you wanna know," Barry made it clear, even though it might not even do them well. He would still give them that choice. "But you have to live with those differences because I can't change it again. But at least you'll know. And you all deserve that choice."

Belén put her two index fingers together in front of her nose, her mind thinking rapidly. "That's why you asked about Italy. I never said anything about a trip. And the fight we had...that's why you were so confused. You didn't argue with me, this timeline's version of you did."

"So you decided it was okay to change things when someone in your family dies, but when it's someone in my family…" Cisco pointed after the two and waved at the others, indicating he was taking a leaf out of their book.

Iris rubbed her forehead, unsure of what she even thought at the moment. "We're...going to need some time, Barry."

"I know," Barry whispered. He understood the consequences, and that was what he was going to face...with all his courage.

~ 0 ~

Belén was heading into the Green room of the building for some space when her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw an unknown number on the screen. She brought the phone to her ear to answer it. "Hello?"

"I did warn you, didn't I?"

Belén froze.

"Tsk, tsk, the speedster breaking the ultimate rule: changing the timelines. He has no idea what he's done to everyone."

Belén swallowed hard. "Datura."

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #fd: the flash #the flash #barry allen #the flash fics #barry allen fics #barry allen imagines #barry allen x oc #the flash imagines #the flash x oc #arrowverse ocs #arrowverse fics #arrowverse imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #fic: make you stay #i'm also catching this fic up across platforms #i have like 4 more chapters left to catch up to so bear with me!!

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 2: A Ghost World

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

Story Masterlist ● Previous Stories: Rise Up • It Had To Be You ● Belén’s Masterlist

• Can also be found on Fanfic and Ao3 •

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

The incessant knocking on the Palayta residence made Rayan scream at his sister to get it.

"You're so lazy!" Belén shouted from downstairs and went to go answer the door. She was mighty surprised when she found Barry on the other side.

The man was nervous as hell. Her face was indescribable yet fear worthy.

"For the record, my brother says I should punch you in the face," Belén warned. She leaned her head on the side of the door, refusing to open it completely.

Barry rubbed the side of his neck, accepting his fault. "Yeah, I deserve it. Probably deserve a lot more to be honest."

"Why'd you stand me up? If you didn't want to go out with me anymore, you only had to say," she spoke quietly, and fraily. Barry knew that was her voice when she was just despondent.

"I didn't mean to, I swear, I just…" Barry paused to think we'll how he was going to explain. "Can we talk, please?"

Belén nodded. She thought she deserved an explanation and she was going to get one. She stepped out on the front porch and closed the door. "So, what happened?"

Barry had Wally's full consent to divulge his secret. He figured after being helped, Barry deserved to clear things up with Belén. So, that's exactly what Barry did. Belén listened and never spoke until Barry was finished.

"I know it must be hard to believe but—"

"Actually, no," Belén cut him off. She moved to sit down on the front steps of the porch. Barry followed and sat down next to her. "I mean...Iris has given me such ridiculous excuses that...her brother being the Flash is really the only logical explanation for everything."

"Is it?" Barry was a little doubtful that this was going to so easy.

"Yeah," Belén passed a hand down her hair in thought before nodding. "It does. And so...you just...got yourself entangled with it?"

"Well, basically…" Barry left his speed out of the story for the moment. "And I'm so sorry. I just...I was on my way for our date, I swear, and...it just happened."

"So...you didn't stand me up?" Belén asked, just to make sure.

"No, no! Of course not!" Barry quickly shook his head. "I couldn't - who would stand you up?" He gestured to her, making her blush and smile. "I mean, really?"

"It's happened," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "My last date said I wasn't up to his level. He's this brilliant scientist at Mercury Labs. Carlton."

Barry physically cringed at the reminder of her ex. He was sure he would despise that man in any reality. That was the price someone paid if they kidnapped his Belén.

"I mean...you're this top-notch forensics so I just thought…" Belén shrugged again, "...you'd rather be with someone like that. It's totally fine if you do…" she added much to quickly and failed to look nonchalant about it too.

Barry smiled at her. "I know who I want to be with." Belén slowly looked at him, actually a bit nervous to hear the answer. "Bells, it's always been you!"

"Bells?" she repeated, reminding Barry that nickname had never come into play for her in this time line.

"Sorry…"

But Belén ended up smiling after a moment of thinking about it. "I like it," she bobbed her head.

Barry smiled at her too. He scooted closer to her, hoping his nerves weren't too obvious right now. "Okay then, Bells, would you please consider giving me another chance at a date?"

Belén seemed to be thinking about it until she took pity of Barry's nervousness. "Mm, one condition."

"Anything!" he swore.

"No Chinese food. I hate Chinese food."

Barry laughed and remembered that was the first thing she had said to him after—

He stopped suddenly when he realized he couldn't remember. He knew there'd been a moment with those same words, involving him and her, but…

"Barry?" Belén noticed his frantic face. He snapped out of it and saw her concerned look. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…" he slowly nodded. "Just...happy...that we're okay again." She scrutinized his face for any giveaway so he quickly moved onto the prime topic. "Um, so listen, Iris and Wally...they have this idea, of, um...meeting with Cisco...Ramon...but they said they need an access card or something to get into his building."

Belén smiled only so lightly. "So did you only apologize to get my help?" She truly enjoyed seeing his widened alarm.

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Mhm," she playfully rolled her eyes. "But since I'm such a good person, I'll help."

"Belén, it's not—"

But Belén got up from the porch ground and motioned him to wait. "You don't move, got it?"

"Yes, fine, but can we just clarify that I didn't apol—" Barry was forced into silence when she once again warned him to stay put. She walked back into the house and kept him waiting for all of two minutes. When she returned, she held a pass key in her hand. Barry was surprised to see her name written on it. It was very official. "How do you have one of those?"

Belén chuckled. "It's a long story. Well...not long, but...embarrassing. So, ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah…" Though confused, Barry gestured her to walk first. "Bells, you do know that I didn't apologize just to get your help, right?" Belén stopped walking and turned around. She purposely stayed silent to hear what else he would give her. "I don't want to ruin this," Barry stepped closer to her.

"Ruin what?" Belén asked. "Barry, I stapled you! If that didn't ruin things I don't know what would."

Barry smiled at her. "You are one of a kind—"

"And that's a nice way of saying I'm the only woman who's ever stapled you."

"And you are the only woman I'd like to be stapled by."

Belén laughed and gave him a hug. "Mm, we're definitely going on a date."

"I really hope so," Barry kept hold of her for a minute longer. It'd been far too long since he could have just one moment with her.

He really missed her and he wanted nothing more than to get back to where they were...just in this world of course. He brushed some hair from her face and felt her warm skin from a probable blush. Belén watched him come closer to her and didn't do anything to stop it. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't imagined what a kiss would be like between them.

And it was way better in real life.

It was a small kiss but a fulfilling one nonetheless. Belén slowly opened her eyes to meet Barry's gaze.

"Please tell me this is just the first of many?" She bit on her bottom lip.

"If I get lucky," Barry blurted and immediately regretted it. "Not that I-I—no! I meant—"

Belén laughed and pulled him down for a second kiss. Barry managed to remember that he loved when they cut each other's sentences off in this way. But for some reason, he was having trouble remembering some of those too.

"I'm sorry," Belén murmured against his lips.

"You? What for?"

Belén looked up at him with a matching apologetic smile. "Because you're not going to like the reason I have a pass key to see Cisco Ramon."

~ 0 ~

As it turned out, Cisco now worked in what used to be STAR Labs. Though once they were at the building, Barry realized Cisco didn't exactly "work" there.

"He owns the place," Barry repeated after listening to Iris' explanation.

He had learned from the very beginning that there was no STAR Labs in the new reality, and that Cisco had made himself rich with tech apps...he just never learned how filthy rich Cisco was.

"Cisco Ramon is the richest man in America," Belén said just as the elevator doors opened up.

"And you've got him wrapped around your finger," Iris nudged her.

The group were met with a fun, careless atmosphere inside the building. People bustled about fufilling duties, creating quite the ruckus with the music in the background. Of course, there was one voice that went above the rest, one that everyone in the group recognized instantly.

"LogicFrame is a relatively small startup," an older man was in the middle of conversing with Cisco himself. "The I.P. is expected to be in the low teens."

Cisco, rather carelessly, motioned the man to quit talking. He seemed much more interested in the tall brunette, dressed sharply, beside him. "Offer them 20 mil."

Barry was quite frankly in awe of what Cisco had created. The man himself was stark different from the Cisco he knew. He was in a blue suit and tie - something the old Cisco usually hated - and his hair was neatly tied back in a low pony tail. There were thick rimmed glasses framing his face...overall, this Cisco was the utter opposite of the old Cisco.

Belén cleared her throat and immediately caught Cisco's attention. She gave a meek wiggle of her fingers as a wave.

A new light flashed across Cisco's eyes when he saw her. He waved the brunette woman behind him to leave. "I got business to attend to." Before the brunette woman could even respond, he walked off towards Belén. "Your brother's not in today which means you have to be visiting me."

"I hope you're not busy," Belén began, rather embarrassed about his undivided attention.

"Mm, for you, never," Cisco gingerly took her hand and gave it a kiss on the back.

Barry's face went flat. He now understood perfectly how it was that Belén got a passkey to the building without actually working there. In this reality, Cisco Ramon still had a crush on Belén like he did in the previous time line. Only in this time line, he never got over it because he and Belén never got to know each other. They never got close enough to decide that they were better off as friends...and so Cisco was left with his initial image of Belén: she was a pretty, young woman.

Hell no.

It seemed like Iris was reading his thoughts because the moment his foot stepped forwards she grasped his arm. She shook her head at him.

"We need your help, Cisco," Belén went on with the plan without noticing the green-eyed speedster behind her.

Cisco looked past her and frowned. Things could never go his way, could they?

~ 0 ~

Cisco, very annoyed, led the group into a conference room, practically shouting at them. "I make you a friction-proof suit so your clothes don't explode at mach 2, and you leave me out of your brother/sister war on crime! That was the deal!" He turned, pointed fingers at Belén, and with a new bright expression for her. "Definitely not shouting at you, sweetheart."

Belén was, at this point in her life, very accustomed to his ways so she just smiled. "Cisco, they really need your help. You've seen the Rival and what's he's done so far."

"Yes," Cisco came up to her, hoping she would see his perspective and get a clue. "And it is exactly why you should not be near them, sweetheart. It's too dangerous out there for you."

Barry balled his fists but somehow kept it together.

Belén raised an eyebrow at Cisco and very kindly responded with, "Don't patronize me, Cisco."

"Sorry," Cisco retracted from his statement. He cleared his throat and walked away from them. "But I still stand by my view. You know what happens when you mess with a Speedster?" He made the gesture of a shaking hand that slashed through something. "That. That's what happens. You get a vibrating hand going right through your ribcage. No thanks. My money needs me!"

Barry rubbed his forehead and got it together. He needed to remember this wasn't the Cisco he was accustomed to. "Cisco, please, you need to help us."

"Oh—" Cisco leaned on a hip, "—that reminds me. Who the hell is this?" He directed a finger at Barry. "I don't appreciate you bringing these folks—" he addressed Belén but waved a finger at Iris and Wally, "—to my place already, and then you go ahead and bring this one—" he moved his finger to Barry again, "—too? And suddenly everyone knows who the Flash is? Belén, sweetheart, what's your plan?"

Belén apologetically glanced at Barry. She probably should have explained that before coming to the building but...he did leave her hanging for a date so he owed her a little bit. Still, if they wanted to push through their agenda, he'd need to suck it up and leave the matter alone.

"Cisco—" he made his attempt but was immediately cut off.

"Uh-uh. I don't know you, string bean."

"Stri... Mr. Ramon?" Barry tried again, having to bite his tongue.

"Oh, yes?"

"I do know what kind of person you are. Deep down, you care about helping other people."

Cisco rolled his eyes. "Please, tell me more."

"I heard a story about how, when you were 15, your brother Dante owed a bookie and he couldn't pay back what he owed, so you gave him all the money you earned that summer delivering pizzas to help him…"

Everyone ended up staring oddly at Barry, all wondering how he knew that...but no one more than Cisco.

"How do you know about that?"

"I have a feeling that... we would work really well together as partners," Barry replied honestly. "Taking down meta-humans together. I mean, it's what we're supposed to do. We're a team. We're friends." But the moment he started to think about all those times where they'd worked together to solve a meta case...it came crashing down on him.

"Barry?" Belén grew worried again and rushed over to him. He'd stumbled back against the conference table and ultimately had to take a seat.

"I'm okay. I'm okay, I just... What was I…" Barry came to the realization he'd forgotten what he was talking about, completely. He had no idea what just happened in the last minute. "What was I just saying?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Belén bent down in front of him.

"I'm...I'm not sure…" Barry admitted.

~ 0 ~

Barry stormed into the warehouse demanding answers from the only man who could possibly know. But of course, Thawne loved to play the game. He was sarcastic in the beginning, only fueling Barry's anger. "And here, I was starting to think you'd forgotten all about me."

"But I am forgetting!" Barry continued to shout. "What's happening to me?"

"I was wondering when you'd notice…"

"It's like I'll be thinking of a moment from my past and then it...it vanishes. I can't get it back!"

"Flashpoint. It's a side effect," Thawne got up from the cruddy floor of his prison. "See, I told you before. You don't know what you're doing. This new reality you've created is starting to overwrite the reality that you and I know. So your original life...your friends, your family... Pretty soon, all of that will just fade away."

"Why isn't it happening to you?" Barry spat. Why was it only affecting him?

"Not sure. Unless…" Thawne trailed off, and it annoyed Barry thinking it was another part of his game.

"What? What?"

Thawne began to laugh.

"What the hell's so funny?"

"Your speed! The more you use it, the faster you lose your memories!"

"No, you're lying!" Barry snapped, speaking louder than the laughter Thawne had going on. "You just want me to let you out of here. That's never gonna happen."

Thawne slowly sobered and gave a condescending stare in return. "The you I know from the future, he's not this stupid. Pretty soon, you won't even remember that you're The Flash. And when that happens, this world will become permanent. Time will set like concrete, and nothing will be able to change it back to the way it was."

"That's fine by me," Barry shrugged, giving the fact he didn't care. He wouldn't need to in a couple of days as it seemed. So he would forget about the other world, but in this world he would create a better life. He already had his parents and Belén. He was starting to get to know Iris, Wally and even Cisco. He'd only need to find Caitlin to have the group back.

"You know what you have to do," Thawne taunted. "You have to take me back to that night and let me finish what I started."

"You go to hell!" Barry screamed and stalked off, leaving Thawne to shout after him.

"You're taking both of us there! Now who's the villain, Flash? Now who's the villain!?"

~0~

It was a long thought to decide but ultimately Barry thought it was the only way to do things right this time before he lost his speed. And so, one by one he sped Wally, Iris and Belén into Cisco's main room - used to be the cortex.

"Don't do that! I told you it freaks me out!" Cisco shouted at the first person sped into his premises.

Wally looked around in confusion. "It wasn't me."

Cisco paused when Iris was suddenly in the room with them. The woman seemed just as frazzled as the other two. Finally, they heard Belén's deep gasp from across. In less than a second all eyes were on the red suited figure.

"Who are you?" Belén leaned forwards on a table, actually feeling a little motion sickness.

Barry pulled off the hood of his suit and gave everyone the surprise of their lives. "The man who's gonna help you stop the Rival." It took Barry all but five minutes to explain about the timeline being changed and who he was...that was the easy part. The hard part was getting the rest to actually believe in it. "Okay, so... I can tell from the 'I don't believe you' looks on your faces that you don't believe me. "

"Sure you're not Sherlock under that too?" Belén asked, and it worried Barry that he couldn't tell if she was joking or dead mad.

"We believe you're a speedster, but you're gonna have to explain that part about Flashpoint again," Wally said.

"All right, look. This is as simple as I can put it," Barry grabbed a nearby marker and headed for the nearest wall. "I'm gonna use this glass, Mr. Ramon. Okay?" Cisco barely had time to disagree before Barry began to write on said wall. He drew a straight horizontal line. "Imagine that this line is time, okay? I went back in time—" he drew a second line jumping back to the beginning, "—and stopped the Reverse Flash from killing my mom. In doing so, I created an alternate timeline." He then drew another line going outwards from the original, "A whole new existence where you're Kid Flash."

Wally almost didn't care about the time line explanation when he heard the name again. "The Flash."

"Kid Flash," Belén, Cisco and Iris corrected much to his dismay.

"And Cisco's a billionaire," Barry finished with.

Cisco raised a finger. 'So you're saying there's a time line out there where I'm not rich? Boy, that's a glitch in the universe."

Wally shook his head at it all. "No, not buying it. Um, my life is my life! Didn't just start three months ago, okay? I've always been me."

"But it's like on those TV shows," Belén quietly spoke up. "Um, you know, where they change the timeline and suddenly all of us have something different in our lives but no one knows except…" she slowly directed a gaze on Barry, "...for the one who changed it."

"But this isn't a TV show!" Wally exclaimed.

Iris raised her hands to get the room quiet. "Okay, look. Even if we did believe you, why are you telling us this now?" she asked Barry.

"Because...I've been hiding here for too long. The Rival needs to be stopped. I stop the bad guys. And...we can all take him down together."

Wally frowned. "I can get him myself."

"Then why haven't you?"

"Well, I'm not interested. I don't know how many times I gotta tell you freaks, I already did my bit for queen and country," Cisco for up from his chair but almost immediately Belén moved in front of him.

"No one leaves until we figure this out," she warned.

Cisco smirked at her. "Whatever you say, sweetheart."

"Okay—" Barry made a move towards them but Iris called him back.

"Argument here? We'd like to hear more of it."

Barry rolled his eyes at her. This was probably the part where Caitlin would get them to settle down. Caitlin. He rushed to the nearest computer and began doing some research.

"Hey!" Cisco went after him only to have Belén pull him back. "Don't touch that!"

But Barry finished the job quick and sped out. He returned a mere second later with Caitlin Snow. The slender brunette had a mouth in the shape of an 'o' from the sudden trip.

"What just happened!?"

"Stop bringing strangers into my lab!" Cisco frantically shouted.

"Who is this?" Iris asked, eyeing Caitlin curiously.

"Dr. Snow?" Belén was the one to recognize, much to everyone's surprise.

Caitlin relaxed only a little bit when she saw the familiar face. "Belén?"

"You know each other?" Iris made a face.

"She's Axel's eye doctor," Belén explained then looked at Barry for an explanation. "Did you just kidnap my nephew's doctor?"

Barry was now the one confused. "No, I didn't...well, yeah, I guess, I…" he stopped and tried again. "In my timeline she's a scientist."

"But I'm not a scientist," Caitlin gently reminded. "I'm a pediatric eye doctor."

"And...we're done," Wally wrapped a finger in the air.

Belén watch as everyone began a commotion with disagreements. She pulled Barry to the side and asked for a word. The two easily slipped from the room into the hallway.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know that this is hard to believe...and a lot to dump on, but…" Barry stopped when she turned to face him.

"In that other world, you knew me, didn't you?" Her question caught him off guard. Belén looked dead serious, and a little annoyed.

"I, uh, what?"

"That's how you knew about my almost going into journalism, my twin brother, and the fact that I hate eating alone," Belén stepped closer to him. "I don't tell anyone that last one because it—"

"Embarrasses you," Barry finished with her, basically confirming her suspicion.

"Just like in the shows," she whispered. "So...in that other world, who am I? I mean, are we friends? Were we friends?"

Barry sighed. He pondered shortly of what to tell her and what not because it really wasn't necessary to put her through that kind of pain.

"Were we…?" she frailly pointed between them. "You know...?"

"Yeah," he ultimately nodded.

"So then...right now, this..." she pointed again, "Is it real? Or is it just a ghost of a relationship I have no memory about?"

"It's real, you know it is," Barry promised her. "Do you think I just crash into a revolving door for a 'ghost relationship'? No, because I love you." Belén's eyes widened. "And that will not change no matter what reality I'm in." Seeing her stunned face was a heavy indicator of his mistake. He shouldn't have dumped in the 'I love you' far earlier than needed, but it wasn't a tactic. It was the truth. It was a truth that would follow into whatever world he was in. "I am so sorry I'm telling you all this." Barry was fully conscious in the fact he could potentially be scaring her off for good but he was willing to work for the ending they deserved. "I know it's...I would understand if you're scared or something—"

"You would think that…" Belén's eyes darted to the side, "Any normal person would have run out that door—" she pointed at the door behind them, "—and never ever speak to you again. And yet…" A nervous smile crossed her face, "I'm weird as hell because instead all I want to do is hug you."

Barry chuckled. "You're not weird, Bells."

"Yeah, I am," she nodded. "I've never been normal. I guess it was only fair that I find the only man who could change timelines. Yeah...I deserve that." Her nervous smile widened. "Actually, it makes me feel all giddy inside."

Barry pulled her into a tight hug and set a kiss on her hair. He couldn't believe his luck at all. He thanked God he met Belén - in this world and the last. He couldn't ever think about living in a world where he didn't end up with Belén.

~0~

After a phenomenal argument between the group regarding kidnapping and timelines, actual work got done and there was a realization that they actually could work together. Caitlin had taken position at a single computer desk and was able to find a way to track the Rival.

"I have always wondered why no one turned the speed cameras in the city to register near sonic velocities," the brunette remarked while she waited for a scan to be done. "Seems like a ready-built early warning system. So I reprogrammed the cameras, and…"

The light alarm going off indicated her scanning was done. Cisco peered to the screen beside her.

"Babadook! There's your rival! The old sawmill out by Williamson."

"All right. Follow my lead?" Barry looked over to Wally, thinking they'd work together but Wally was more than ready to go on his own.

"The Flash doesn't follow anyone."

Iris rolled her eyes at her brother. "Listen to him, Wally. He's the Flash."

Caitlin had been (not so) discreetly staring at Cisco and finally worked up the courage to tell him "You know, you would be an excellent candidate for Lasik."

Cisco settled a rather snarl-like glare on the woman in return. Caitlin then knew never to bring that up again.

~ 0 ~

Both Barry and Wally - each in them respective suits - had arrived at the location where the Rival was meant to be.

From Cisco's building, remained the others without much to do. Belén circled the desk Caitlin had used to search for the Rival in the first place.

"Shouldn't there be some sort of way to communicate with them?" She finally gave her thought up to the others. She shyly smiled at the uncommon group. "I don't know, it just...it feels like we would have one."

"You mean in this other world where we're supposedly all friends?" By Cisco's tone of voice, everyone knew he wasn't planning on becoming friends with any of them.

"It sounds fun," Belén maintained her cheery attitude. "But seriously, do you have a way to see what's going on?"

"You are lucky you are you," Cisco pointed at her then motioned her to step aside from the computer. Belén of course did and backtracked until she was beside Iris.

"When do you think he'll realize you're going on a date with Barry?" the woman whispered fairly low.

"Shhh…" Belén waved the question off. For now, that information didn't need to be known.

Cisco managed to break into one of the cameras on the location where indeed they saw both Barry and Wally and the Rival all together in deep fight mode.

The Rival - who had minutes before he revealed himself as Edward Clariss - was going head strong against Wally first. Just like many of their previous fights, however, he flipped Wally over to the ground. Wally would not give up, and more so when he was sure the others were monitoring him for real. He jumped back on his feet and went straight for the Rival. The latter, however, had a different plan that he set in motion. He passed by Wally and came up behind with a piece of a metal that he struck right through Wally's left side.

Wally crumpled to the ground and moved no more. From the building, Iris cried for her brother but Cisco pointed that the suit entailed Wally was still partially alive.

"That one was never my rival. You could be, though," the Rival now faced Barry, quite smug from his victory.

"You want to find out?" Barry angrily stalked towards him.

The Rival laughed shortly. "Defeat me, and I'll let you take your little friend for help."

"No. You're the one who's gonna need help!" and Barry set loose on a chase that consisted of a roundhouse kick and a series of punches across the face.

The Rival escaped his clutches and started swirling in a circle, creating not one but two hurricanes. Barry stepped back, getting flashes of Mark Mardon and - oh Lord, he was forgetting again. He felt the memories of his early days begin to slip away and even caused a momentary balance problem.

"God. It's like "Twister" in there, the movie, not the game," Cisco stared at the computer with alarmed, widened eyes. "The satellite's picking up two distinct funnel patterns. Tornados measure at F3 on the Fujita scale. This guy's like a Weather Wizard or something."

"Nice name, but terrible moment," Belén remarked quietly.

"Guys!" Barry called in frantically. "I can't stop him!"

"Cisco, move it," Belén now waved him to leave the seat. She gained easy access and plopped down on the chair. "Okay now listen to me, Barry, you brought this entire - admittedly weird - group together because we're a team."

"Did she just call us weird?" Iris mumbled to Caitlin who hummed a 'yes'.

"Which means you've done this before, I'm sure, in that other world," Belén continued. "Just...just think about what we do if this was still your world."

"A little easy to say. In the other world you were here with me - you had meta powers too," Barry said in his frantic thinking.

Belén's face went flat at the prospect of having 'cool' powers too. "I'm gonna kick you for that because I could've worked with Solar...but it's not the point. You're the Flash, Barry, so...what does he do? It's not giving up, right?"

Barry managed to smile a little. "No. I'm the Flash…" He supposed he'd forgotten what that meant in these months he spent basically hiding.

He sucked in a deep breath and stared at the two hurricanes that gained more force with each second. He knew exactly what to do, and so that's what he went on. He charged for the left hurricane and started running counter-clockwise. It took some extra energy that perhaps he could have had easier if he'd spent more time keeping up with training.

"That's impossible!" the Rival practically screeched as he saw both of his hurricanes dissolve into nothing. He barely had time to process Barry coming straight for him before his body had already met a series of construction poles on the ground.

Barry went back to check up on Wally who was barely raising a finger. He still felt a vital, a weak one, but a vital nonetheless.

"You really are the fastest man alive—" the Rival had barely extended forwards a vibrating hand when a gunshot went off.

Barry internally scolded himself for being so careless, but Wally's life was on the line. Still, he relaxed when he saw that it had been Joe who fired at the Rival. Joe wasn't sure of what he'd done, but Barry was hoping that seeing his son in need of help would stir the man back to life.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin had been nice enough to extend her abilities to see that Wally was properly taken care off. Barry had thought about finding Nina Clarke - Belén's close friend from the other reality - but had the good sense of asking her if she knew Nina in this new timeline. He was given a very harsh 'unfortunately'.

Apparently, this world's Belén and Nina did not get along. It didn't matter in the end because, much like Caitlin, Nina turned out to be a school teacher in this world.

"Wally's vitals are low, and he's lost a lot of blood," Caitlin felt sorry to inform both Iris and Joe.

"He should be rapidly healing. It's one of the gifts of being a speedster," Barry kept staring at the unconscious Wally in his bed.

Caitlin shook her head. "He's not. I'm sorry." She coughed, rather awkwardly before asking, "Am I free to go?"

"Dr. Snow, you weren't kept against your will," Belén gently informed, though she could see why Caitlin would think that.

Caitlin smiled only slightly due to the circumstances. "Axel is due in another month."

"I'll tell Maritza," Belén assured and watched the brunette leave.

Cisco passed right by her, this time not even her presence was enough to pull out his playfulness. "This is why I didn't want to get involved. Crime fighting sucks!"

"I thought I could just make things better, but everybody's been paying for my happiness," Barry slowly came after the other two and walked with Belén into the main room. "Will you help me?"

"Anything I can do," Belén immediately said, though she thought he was talking about simple strategies to get things better.

Barry had made his decision - yet again - about the timelines. He needed to stop being selfish and let...life take its course, even if it meant excruciating pain. "I need to make things right," he stated with the heaviest heart possible.

~ 0 ~

Normally, meeting the parents of the guy you liked was nerve wrecking but the situation gave nothing but despondence for Belén. She walked into Barry's home and soon heard the light laughter of his parents.

"Hey, guys," Barry greeted quietly. He'd already begun to take in the last images of his parents.

"Hey, slugger," Henry smiled and stood up from the couch with his wife.

Nora was the first to spy Belén just a little behind. "Who's this?"

"Belén, remember?" Barry took Belén's hand to bring her up to his side. He needed all the support he could get in order to do this.

"Oh, yes. We loved your show," Nora's praise elicited a light pink blush from Belén.

"Thank you," Belén kept her words short and brief. She wanted to give as much time to Barry as possible.

"You okay, Barry?" His father was the first to notice the expression sitting on Barry's face.

"Yeah, I just... wanted to see you both one more time…" Barry decided to go with the simple truth. It wouldn't matter soon enough...

"What does... that mean?"

"Nothing. Nothing. I, uh…" Barry paused, hoping to find the right words, yet they didn't come. He would just have to continue with the truth. "These last three months have been the best. Just getting to spend time with you. I just...wanted you to know how grateful I am, to both of you, to be your son."

"Barry, you're scaring me," Nora's eyes flickered to Belén as if the woman would give some clarification. Belén wanted no part in that explanation.

Barry went up to both of his parents and have them a last goodbye hug. "No, there's...there's nothing to be afraid of. Promise. I just...I love you both."

And though neither understood, Henry and Nora hugged their son back just as tight.

Barry honestly wasn't sure how he managed to walk out of the house after that...but the image of an almost dead Wally was a good pusher. Just as he walked down the front porch steps, he felt another rush of memories leave his system. He nearly fell over if Belén hadn't grabbed onto his arm.

"What exactly is that!?" Belén had made her conclusion that his small episodes were a result of his changing the timeline.

"Memories are disappearing," Barry grunted as he took one last step to the pavement. "It's getting worse. We have to hurry before it's too late."

He used his last bits of energy to bring them to the warehouse where Thawne was already waiting for them. Belén had to help Barry walk now but she hoped it was just a temporary weakness.

"Having a bad day, Barr?" Thawne called out in a tainting voice until he spotted Belén walking beside Barry. "Well...if it isn't the future Mrs. Allen?"

"You even sound annoying," was all Belén had to say to him.

Thawne had a small laugh before he set his eyes on Barry who was reluctant to do the same. They both knew what was going to happen but Thawne was going to exploit it for as much as he could. "All you need to do is ask me, Barry," he spoke calmly, yet the smug look on his face spoke volumes.

Barry still didn't look at him. "We need to go back in time. To that night."

"To do what?" Belén couldn't understand how there could be someone so sinister like him. "You know what I need you to do. But I want to hear you say it," Thawne basically commanded.

Barry gritted his teeth together and glared in the man. "I need you to kill my mother."

The smile on Thawne was automatic. "With pleasure."

Belén watched with utter disgust as the man was let go from his prison. There truly could not be any justice in the world if this was truly about to happen.

"If you can, punch him a bit," she told Barry afterwards. She knew her words weren't valuable at the moment but it was all she had. There were absolutely no comforting words for this type of situation. "I'm so sorry. No one...should have to do things like these."

Barry took her hands and gently squeezed them. "This was...always meant to happen." And yet it sickened him that it actually wasn't. Thawne had already messed with the timeline before and made his mother's death a fixed event in time.

"When you get back to the other me, in that other world, let her comfort you."

Barry managed to smile at that. "I look forwards to that. You're all I look forwards to, actually." It was true. With his parents dead, Belén was all he had. Sure, there were his friends but...he loved Belén, and she was the most important thing to him.

"And you owe me that date, with other me," Belén added, just to give some humor.

"Promise," Barry said.

She smiled at him as best as she could. She didn't want to say that she didn't want to see him go. It would just make things harder for him. She brought her hands up to his face and pressed a kiss to his lips. She wished it could've lasted longer but Thawne decided to cut things short. "STOP!" Belén screamed when Thawne gave Barry an unnecessary throw to the ground. "If there's any justice in the world, you'll die too!"

Thawne picked Barry up like a ragdoll and chuckled. "The Missus always had a way with words, huh?"

"Don't." The last thing Barry wanted to hear from that man were his thoughts on Belén.

"God, I wish I could kill you. But today, I get to be the hero," Thawne actually laughed before speeding off.

They entered the cursed night in the past, and Barry willed himself to let the event run as it once had. His mother was dead, yet again, and with it the chain of reactions were set off.

Thawne dropped Barry just in front of the West residence, although there was a knowing smile on his face that Barry wasn't liking. "There we go. Things are back to how they should be. Well, for me, anyway. For you…" he chuckled, "Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and find out."

Barry frowned. "What? What does that mean?" His demand went unnoticed.

"See you sometime soon, Flash," Thawne saluted and sped off.

Barry wasn't going to stand there and wonder what the hell Thawne meant. For all he knew it was just another trick. When he entered the place he was surprised to find only Wally and Joe inside. He wondered if the celebratory party had already finished. He went straight in and hugged both Wally amd Joe. At least they were back in order.

"Are you okay?" Joe thought it was a redundant question but nonetheless an important one.

"Yeah…"

"You just lost your father, Barry. You don't have to be okay."

Barry sat down on the couch and accepted a beer from Wally. "Actually, I feel closer to my parents than I ever have."

'Well, good, son. To your pops," Joe clinked the beer with his and Wally's.

"To Henry," Wally agreed and took a sip.

"To my Dad," Barry said with a bitter-sweetness. He looked around the house and saw it was exceptionally clean for a place that had meant to be having a party. "How did Iris get this place cleaned up so soon?"

Joe's face went flat in an instant. "That ain't funny. I'm gonna chalk that up to grief." He put down his beer and decided to call it a night. "I'll see you both in the morning."

Barry was left in a state of confusion. He turned to Wally with the intention of asking what was wrong but instead met with an incredulous Wally.

"Are you kidding me? You know Iris isn't here!"

"Wait—"

"They don't talk, Barry. You know that," Wally shook his head at Barry. "Don't pull that again unless you feel like sleeping on the streets."

"Why would I...sleep on the street…?" Barry was dreading the answer. The timeline wasn't setting in correctly was it?

"Grief can be bad, I know it," Wally went about it in another way. "And maybe that's why you and Belén had that argument—"

Yup, there it was.

"Wally, what!?"

Wally still chalked it up to the aftermath of their battles but Barry was in a real despair. He wasn't understanding anything!

"Just...get some rest," Wally patted his shoulder. "And tomorrow you'll probably have a better idea of what to say to Belén." He left Barry alone in the living room.

Barry fell back onto the couch with a horrified face. Iris no longer talked to Joe? She didn't live with Joe? He argued with Belén? That meant they weren't on speaking terms either, but why? "Oh, God. What did I do?"

~ 0 ~

Belén went back and forth in the cortex while Caitlin continued their search on the computers. It was already a long night but Caitlin doubted that Belén would ever give up so easily. And truth be told, she wanted the search to come up successful too. She needed it.

"Anything?" Belén asked once again. Every fifteen minutes or so she would do the same thing.

Caitlin shook her head. "No. She's not coming up on the scanners."

Belén groaned. "She's an Earth 2 metahuman! It shouldn't be this hard finding her, dammit! Where the hell could Datura have escaped to!?"

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

[saiilorstars]

OC Valentines Challenge - Day 6

‘Flowers mean something, not just a bouquet as an apology, but the flowers themselves have their own symbolism. What is your oc to afraid to say in words? What flowers share a secret language that makes the wedding so much more meaningful? Or maybe they just like pretty flowers. Thank you @ginevranights for this adorable idea!‘

“As a botanical metahuman, I have a connection to all plant life but I admit I’m biased towards my primary source of power: the azalea flower. And there are so many of different azaleas...”

Pink Azaleas symbolize femininity and beauty  White azaleas symbolize civility, restraint, and purity Red azaleas symbolize passion and romance Purple and light pink azalea generally symbolize friendship and joviality.  Yellow azaleas can also symbolize friendship, but they can also be used to represent family relationships. 

“But because Azaleas are poisonous, there are some cultures who use azaleas as a death threat. If you ever find a bouquet of azaleas in a black vase, you should be very careful.”

“Of course besides azaleas, roses are the next favorite.”

A red rose is the purest symbol of new love, love at first sight, or a “one and only love,” giving someone a single red rose symbolizes the giving of your heart.

❁ Belén Palayta x Barry Allen ❁

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

#ovc2023 #arrowverseocs #the flash #arrowverse ocs #barry allen #the flash fics #barry allen imagines #the flash imagines #barry allen fics #arrowverse fics #arrowverse imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #oc: the azalea #fic: it had to be you #fic: rise up #saiilorstars

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 6: Don’t Look in the Mirror

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

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

• Can also be found on Fanfic and Ao3 •

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

Belén was too focused on her computer screen to notice the Jitters' barista drop off her second round of coffee. She was deep in reading on her doppelganger's profile. Harry had come through with his reports and for the last couple of days, it was all Belén did. She was making herself an expert on Datura — all over again.

She'd made it a complete mission to learn everything about her doppelganger's history. When she fought Datura with Zoom, all she did was focus on Datura's powers. This time, Belén was honing in on Datura's background; how she became Datura in the first place. So far, it was a pretty straightforwards story.

Datura started making her appearances in her metahuman identity only a week after Harry's Particle Accelerator went off. It took her only a couple of more weeks to figure out she could siphon powers because that's when she started displaying them in the open. Certain metahumans whose powers matched the ones she displayed were petty thieves who were barely getting the hang of their powers. They were easy kills.

Belén wondered if Poison Ivy had made any influence on Datura enough to begin making kills just for the heck of it. Datura had been a one-woman villain for a while before Poison Ivy came into the city. Being a much more experienced villain, Poison Ivy led Datura to grander schemes until Datura herself could make plans and execute them. This was all before Zoom started taking over and dragged the two women with him.

All in all, Belén couldn't pinpoint at what point did Datura began...to hear the voices. She couldn't figure out when her doppelganger started to "lose it" in a sense. It meant she couldn't calculate how much time she had before she succumbed to the voices.

"What are you so interested in?" Julian's voice startled her out of her reading. He stood beside her table holding a stack of files in his arms.

"Hi," she closed midway her laptop and greeted him with a kind smile.

"Good morning," he took a seat across her and put the files between them on the table. "Let's see, you asking me to bring you old cases of metahumans instead of your dear old boyfriend indicates there's some secrecy going on that Allen's not in on. I'm a little proud."

Belén rolled her eyes and completely shut her laptop's lid. "I did not call you in so that you could take jabs at my boyfriend. In a perfect world, you two would get along."

"In a perfect world, he wouldn't be here," Julian had no trouble retorting.

"Julian."

"Fine," the blonde huffed and focused on the main issue. "So why did you ask me to bring you this? It's against my rules, you know."

"I'm sorry, I'm not...I just want to look over some stuff for a report I'm doing. Don't worry, I won't take long with them," Belén assured him and took the folders into her bag.

"Are you alright?" Julian began to notice her weary ticks and the two cups of coffee already empty on the table.

"Yeah, I'm just tired." The excuse was so recited that Belén now said it without thinking. It was an instinct. She was sure it was getting on Barry's last nerve but he was too sweet to say anything. She wondered how long that would last.

"Well, what exactly are you looking for? Maybe I can help take some of the load off."

"Um…" Belén debated on the offer. She had yet to tell anyone except Caitlin what she was doing, but she trusted Julian in the end. They'd been friends forever and he did know a lot about metahumans. "Well, you remember Datura?"

"Evil psycho part of Zoom's group?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Belén swallowed hard. "Um, I'm just taking a lead on her since her powers were a unique set. She could siphon but I heard from an eye-witness that she seemed to assume different personalities every time she used a power." Julian nodded as he listened in, his eyes already doing the usual flicker to the side every time he began to think. "This whole personality disorder thing interests me. I want to know if there's a way to stop it." Belén reached for her coffee and took a small sip from it. She felt terrible for lying, but lately that's all she felt. She felt terrible leaving Iris on the job, she felt terrible for constantly lying to Barry, and most of all she felt terrible because she was letting the same thing happen to her again. She was losing control.

"To stop a personality disorder?" Julian raised his eyebrows at that. "That's a long, complicated medical process, Belén. Why the interest?"

"Because Poison Ivy said that Datura was a good person once—"

Julian scoffed, almost laughed at her too. "And you believed her? That woman was a criminal and her partner was one too. Wherever the Flash and the Azalea put Datura, I hope they keep her there."

"But I'm just saying—"

"No, you're done looking for all this nonsense," Julian patted a hand over her closed laptop. "Besides, who even said — who can clinically confirm — that Datura suffers from that?"

Belén bit on her bottom lip. That was a good question. So far, she had just assumed but this was metahuman business, after all. Assuming was the worst thing she could do, especially when it came to siphoners.

"Go get some sleep, it looks like you haven't done that in days," Julian said after a moment.

"Yeah, Barry says the same thing," Belén mumbled. He'd been on her case for her strange behavior, lack of sleep, and overall distance.

"Well, for once, Allen is right," Julian started getting out of his chair. "Those folders? You don't need them, Belén."

"I do," she softly countered. "Let me keep them for a couple of days. Please?"

Julian knew once she laid her big eyes on him he stood no chance. It was always the same story when they were younger. "Fine," he pointed a warning finger at her. "But you better take some rest."

"Promise," Belén raised a hand.

"See you around," Julian gave her a side hug and went on his way.

~ 0 ~

Barry and Joe had taken the video of Clariss' murder over to STAR Labs to get the others' opinion on the strange matter. The video was on a loop and no matter how many times they rewatched it, nothing made sense.

"Are you sure this is even real?" Iris asked after about the tenth time. For all they knew, it could've been edited.

"Forensic analysis indicates that the footage is genuine, no evidence of tampering," Barry confirmed. He understood her perspective. At first glance it seemed like a joke, but seeing the corpse made it all too real.

"And we're pretty sure this is Doctor Alchemy that did this?" asked Caitlin.

"The last thing Clariss said before he died," Joe nodded.

"Unless someone else killed him. Like a meta with telekinesis or cloaking abilities," Harry suggested. "We've got both on our Earth."

"So what do we do now?" Cisco asked on their next move.

"Our meta-human specialist at CCPD, Julian Albert, he prefers to work alone, but I got feelers out on his investigation. I'm gonna go there now and see if he dug up anything," Joe said and began to leave.

"I have to get back to work too, give me a ride?" Iris went after him and grabbed her purse along the way. "Oh, Barry," she stopped momentarily, "Do you know why Belén didn't show up to work today?"

"No," Barry frowned, just now hearing about it. When he woke up, Belén was nowhere to be seen in the apartment. He figured it was just another tactic of hers to avoid his questionings. He'd been asking her over and over what was bothering her - what was going in her life. He supposed he'd finally annoyed her to the point of driving her away. "She didn't show up?"

"No," Iris shook her head. "I covered for her and said she was sick."

Caitlin discreetly shifted herself away from them and pretended to work on her computer. She knew Belén was reading over Harry's reports and felt awful for not helping Belén despite wishing not to use her own powers. She, personally, did not want to know anything about Killer Frost from Earth 2.

"I'll see what's going on," Barry assured Iris and let the woman catch up with her father.

"Hey, is it okay if we train again?" Jesse walked over to him with a hopeful expression. She didn't want to waste any time that could help her.

Barry figured since he wouldn't be seeing Belén for the rest of the day, he could at least help someone in the group. "Yeah, sure. Let's go."

She beamed and sped out of the cortex to the speed lab first. Barry chuckled and followed.

Caitlin, Cisco, Wally and Harry all remained in the cortex and monitored from there. While everyone seemed awed with Jesse's superb progress, Harry was still reluctant to be as carefree as them.

"Damn, Jesse's almost as fast as Barry!" Wally exclaimed.

"Velocity's just under Mach 3. Heart rate, 100 BPMs. Her vitals are normal," Caitlin was happy to report.

"Yeah, no, we already know all that. Cisco, we need to test her reflexes. Can we test her reflexes?" Harry didn't exactly give Cisco the opportunity to answer any of his questions since he kept adding something new every second or so.

"Patience, Harry, patience. If anyone's gonna teach Jesse the ways of the Speed Force…" Cisco let him finish the thought.

"It's Barry '

"Thank you."

They continued to watch the two speedsters train until, somehow, Jesse tripped over her own feet after attempting to speed going up the ceiling. It wasn't her most proud moments but she was still greeted with congratulations for her continued progress.

"Maybe we should stay a little bit longer," Harry said once Jesse and Barry returned. If Jesse was going to pursue this vigilante business, then he wanted her to be as prepared as possible.

"Yeah, I guess so," Jesse agreed with a deflated sigh.

"It's gonna take some time to master your powers, Jesse. You'll get the hang of it," Caitlin assured her.

"Yeah, I know, thanks. Well…" Jesse turned her attention to Wally, "...since I will be here for a while, do you want to get out of here?"

"Where to?" Wally curiously asked but Jesse laughed.

"Does it matter?"

Wally agreed that it did not. They took each other's hands and got out of there as Jesse had said.

"N-no touching!" Harry's call was made in vain, much to the amusement of the others. "Not what I meant by staying longer!"

"Hey, Harry," Caitlin called the man's attention. "Are you really sure you have to leave?"

Seeing Jesse was not coming back anytime soon, Harry sat back down. "Just a lot I still have to fix on my Earth."

"Yeah, but you know it's more fun when you're here helping us fix stuff on our Earth," Cisco admitted.

"He is right," Barry leaned over the desk. "It hasn't been the same without you. The team doesn't feel complete without Harrison Wells."

Harry smiled. "Then change that. There's a whole multiverse of Harrison Wells out there at your fingertips. You want one? Let's go get one."

The others thought the idea was out of the blue but since Harry seemed to like the idea...they wondered if it could possibly be good.

~0~

Before being able to return home, Barry received a call from Veronica urging him to get to the precinct first. He came rushing in to find Joe and Veronica watching at a distance a dark-skinned man in a wheelchair and heavy injuries be interviewed by a fellow co-worker.

"What's going on?" Barry came to a stop beside the two detectives.

"We've got a new meta in town with a revenge plan against Snart," Joe took Barry back into the reception with Veronica. "Name's Scudder. He used to pull heists with Snart before the Particle Accelerator went off."

"Okay, so he's not part of Alchemy's…" Barry glanced back into the offices to see the interviewee.

"No, this one's all evil Dr. Wells' fault," Veronica bitterly said.

"Scudder's going after everyone in Snart's old crew to track him down," Joe explained the situation but there Barry gave a little wry smile.

"Yeah, Scudder's not gonna find him. Snart's gone." He was met with two blank stares in return. "Did I never tell you?"

"Tell us…?" Joe made a gesture of rolling his finger.

"Oliver told me that Snart left with some friends of ours on a... trip," Barry felt at this point it was best to leave any time travelling out of their lives.

"I don't even want to know," Joe shook his head then glanced at Veronica.

The woman raised her hands. "I wish I knew less."

"Bet you wish you hadn't poked your nose into this mess," Joe nudged her, almost laughing too.

Veronica wasn't amused and it showed on her flay face. "One of Snart's old crew is at Iron Heights. We'll go see if we can talk to her tomorrow morning, but we just wanted you and the others to be aware."

"Yeah, thanks," Barry nodded and was finally given the 'ok' to go home.

He entered the apartment and immediately spotted Belén's sleeping figure on the couch. Her laptop was sitting on the coffee table, closed, and with the charger cable threatening to pull it over the table. Barry walked over and carefully unplugged the charger from the computer and placed the cable beside the couch. He gazed at Belén, wondering what it was that kept her so busy and distant from everyone lately. He didn't want to wake her up for a new argument. There were only so many they could have without actual consequences. Still, Barry decided not to push it.

Carefully, he retrieved Belén's body from the couch and brought her into their bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and pulled a blanket over her. She must have been exceptionally tired because she didn't even move throughout all that.

Well, she has spent days without sleep, Barry reminded himself. And for that matter, he grabbed his pillow and a second blanket to take into the guest room. He didn't want to risk her waking up and finding him beside her, pushing her away even more.

So, he left.

~0~

"I am...Flicker Do you remember me?" A woman wearing an orange mask, dressed in a matching orange one suit with dark brown hair threw Belén across a foggy place. "After all, you did kill me and took my powers."

Belén sat upright, breathing hard from the blow she took. "That wasn't me. It was Datura!"

"And yet here you are, enjoying my powers," Flicker stalked towards Belén but before she could reach Belén, the foggy place darkened.

An Illuminating moon flashed up in a sky that had not been there two seconds ago. A feminine figure in a silver suit rose in the air. "You think you could ever dominate my powers? You're too weak!"

"Eclipsa…" Belén recognized the woman and gulped. "It wasn't me!" she tried to say but Eclipsa ignored her in favor of attacking.

Lunar beams shot from Eclipsa's hands and just narrowly missed Belén on the ground. She rolled to a stop on her back and looked up in time to see a third metahuman, Terra, rising on a rock structure.

This meta had nothing to say as it had already been done. She fired multiple rocks of all sizes towards Belén. She screamed as she dodged some of the rocks but ultimately there was one large rock she just could not escape. It came crashing down on her...

Belén gasped wide awake. Her quick-paced breathing was the only sound in her room after her livid nightmare. She couldn't decide if it was just a simple terrible nightmare or if it were the victims now stored in her head that were actually finding another way to torment her.

Flicker, Eclipsa and Terra were the three victims Datura had killed on Earth 2 and unfortunately for Belén, they were the three metahumans whose powers she'd accidentally gained from Datura.

Belén's hand instinctively went to the other side of the bed. Though she was upset Barry was nowhere to be seen, it turned into confusion because...she hadn't fallen asleep in her bed. She got up and walked out the room to find everything dark. Last time she remembered, she'd fallen asleep in the living room with everything turned on.

Barry was home.

Belén moved towards the guest room and found the speedster asleep in there. He didn't feel like he could sleep with me, she felt terrible again. Maybe Caitlin was right and she should just leave this alone. It was costing way too much for Belén.

But then what if you lose control completely? That was the trick question. She couldn't afford to leave her powers unused and thus uncontrolled. She was already susceptible to losing control since her original powers had acted the same way.

She inwardly sighed. There was nothing conclusive yet, but all she knew was that it was pushing Barry away from her and that was unacceptable. She closed the guest room door and went back to her own, though she doubted sleep would happen again that night.

~0~

Caitlin yawned behind her coffee mug while she watched Harry and Cisco tinker on metal device aiming straight ahead. "How sure are you that this will work?"

"Pretty sure," Harry whirled hid screwdriver.

"Okay, but how's this going to help us find another Harrison Wells?"

"You ever go fishing, Snow?"

"No."

"No, all right. When you go fishing, you use lures. Lures attract fish. Fish end up on your fishing pole. This satellite is our fishing pole, through which we're going to cast our very tempting bait out into the world's largest ocean."

"Okay, how?" Caitlin felt her lack of sleep was affecting her ability to understand simple things. She blamed it on her nightmares. It was why she agreed to come see this in person. She would much rather be awake than suffer nightmares starring Killer Frost. At least attempting to find yet another doppelganger of Harry's was more amusing.

"Cisco will open a breach, and this satellite will shoot a message embedded with a tachyon-enhanced laser out into the multiverse, and any Earth that is technologically advanced enough should be able to receive it," Harry spoke in a quickly ramble as he went around the satellite.

Cisco shot him a look before studying the clear board full of algorithms. "Okay, let's say this somehow works. Just 'cause they can solve a riddle doesn't mean they're a right fit for the team."

Harry stopped working to express his offence. "A riddle. Did you say riddle? How dare you, sir! This is not a riddle! This is a complex algorithmic cryptogram designed to test deductive reasoning, IQ, problem-solving skills, anything that our team will need to combat threats, meta-human or otherwise!"

Caitlin smiled after taking a sip of her coffee. "Okay, so you're just sending out an intergalactic IQ test to all of your doppelgangers in the multiverse."

"Not just a test. Think of it as an invitation," Harry corrected. "Think of it as an elaborate "help wanted" ad."

"Will it test their attitudes, too?" Cisco mumbled. "'Cause I'm not sure I can stomach another Wells with your bedside manner."

Harry smiled nonetheless. "I care for you too, you jack wagon. System is calibrated." He motioned Caitlin to step back then glanced at Cisco. "What are you waiting for?"

Cisco figured they were already doing crazy things anyways so he just went along with the plan. He helped Harry ignite the satellite then opened up a breech straight ahead. The satellite whirred in a red glow and a couple seconds shot right into the breach.

Caitlin waited for some sort of second reaction but nothing happened. "Was that…?"

"That's it," Harry read her thoughts and answered her. "Now we go get a Big Belly burger." He happily came down the steps and led the two out.

~0~

"Hey," Iris came into the cortex where Belén was working at the computers. She'd gotten the call from Belén to head over to STAR Labs that morning since there was apparently a new case to work on. "What are we doing?"

"Uh…" Belén would've explained the little she knew but heard the others coming in and opted to let them do the work.

Barry had taken the crime case to them so they could start thinking of a way to end it. Caitlin pulled up the profile pictures for the group to see.

"Good-looking guy," she remarked without thinking and earned herself rather odd looks from Barry, Cisco, and Harry.

"Mhm," Belén and Iris agreed without the same thinking as Caitlin. All three men redirected their stares at them next.

"Just because he's a criminal doesn't mean he stops looking good," Iris raised her hands in defense.

Barry still felt no less jealousy after seeing Belén smiling to herself. "He's more than just a criminal now. Apparently, he's a meta who can travel through mirrors."

"Oh, oh, I got this one!" Cisco snapped his fingers with excitement. "He's, uh—"

Harry beat him to the punch without even trying. "Mirror Master."

Cisco dropped his fingers and whirled around. "What the f—"

Harry smirked. "Boom!"

"That's good," Caitlin admitted, even though she had Cisco glaring at her too.

"Thank you, we had a Mirror Master on our Earth, Evan McCulloch," Harry explained. "Wasn't a meta, though. He had some kind of mirror gun that he used."

"How'd it work?" Barry asked.

"Must've had dimensional warping tech that changed everything into two dimensions."

"Well, Scudder is hell-bent on finding Snart, and he's going after anybody that worked with him in the past. Joe's interviewing one of 'em right now."

"Well," Caitlin began searching through the database of the precinct, "All of Snart's known associates are either presumed dead or gone AWOL, except for one." She pulled up a blonde woman's mugshot. "Rosalind Dillon. Says she has the ability to induce crippling vertigo."

Cisco once again snapped his fingers. "Oh, um, uh... She's, uh—" he jumped to a quicker end when he saw Harry opening his mouth—, "Top, like a top! She's The Top! That's her name!"

"Top. Amazing," Harry sarcastically said.

"What, you want to go?" Cisco opened his arms.

"Okay," Belén tried her best not to laugh. "So this woman — is she going to lead us to Scudder?"

"It all depends if Joe and Veronica can get answers out of her," Barry shrugged. He struggled to look at her and not feel awkward.

"Is there anyway we can start writing about this?" Iris asked after clearing her throat.

"You might want to wait at least until there's public witnesses," Barry replied. "I'll go see how that's going." He gave them a quick goodbye and headed out. After him, the others began to disperse as well.

"I'm sorry," Belén apologized to Iris when it was just them in the cortex. "I thought we could write about this together but I forgot about the witnesses…"

"Don't worry about it," Iris waved it off and reached for her purse on the floor beside her chair. "I'm just glad you managed to think about me and our job a little. You know," she turned her chair in Belén's direction, "You've been pretty off lately, so...thanks."

Belén took the jab with with a shake of her head. "I'm working on that, trust me."

"Hm, you might want to start close to home," Iris gave her a hug and left her to think about it.

~0~

Even though there had been no necessary gains from talking to Rosalind Dillon by Joe and Veronica, it had been wortwhile since Scudder made an unexpected visit.

"You're telling me that this guy escaped through a glass window?" Belén was sure that sounded ridiculous even after dealing with every possible metacase for the past three years.

Veronica gave a weak nod of her head, still shaken up about the matter herself. Sam Scudder had escaped with Rosalind Dillin right in front of her eyes through a window and no possible capture. "He grabbed her hand and then...they went into the window."

"There was no possible way of getting them," Joe shook his head.

"So, mirrors, windows. It sounds like he can travel through anything that has a reflective surface," Harry theorized.

"How exactly does he do that?" Caitlin wondered with no possible explanation for herself.

"He must be able to link Einstein-Rosen bridges to anything with high solar reflectance, right?"

"In English, please," Belén cast a hopeful glance at Cisco.

"He creates wormholes through reflections."

"That's a new one," Barry rubbed his face.

"Look, I can't pretend to understand or care about the science of it all, but we need to find Dillon and Scudder before something really bad happens," Joe pointed at them in warning to get working on a solution. "So I'm gonna go old-school at the precinct."

"And I will definitely help," Veronica turned with him. "That little smug look Scudder gave is one I'm gonna enjoy wiping off," she muttered as the two walked out.

There was a chorus of chiming phones in the room after a second or two. "Oh, my God, pings," Caitlin picked up her phone first.

"We got pings. Looks like some of your doppelgangers out there actually cracked your code, Harry," Cisco blinked with surprise. "That was fast."

"Let's go take a look," Caitlin said with some actual excitement and got up from her chair.

"What are you...what have I missed?" Belén made hand gestures to express her confusion.

"We're getting ourselves another Harry," Cisco shrugged and went after Caitlin and Harry.

"That still makes no sense," Belén put her hands on the desk and got up from her chair. "On another note, do you think we can use this for Iris' and my article yet?"

"Uh...I mean, probably not a good idea, just yet," Barry awkwardly responded. "Using your parents as your source…"

"Not a good idea, I see that now," she nodded and smiled only slightly. She met his shifting gaze and awkwardly cleared her throat. "Thanks for cleaning up my mess last night. And for taking me to our room."

"Yeah, no, that was...you just looked tired," Barry slowly started making his way to the desk. "I know you haven't been sleeping well for the last couple of days, so…"

"Yeah, I've had some...things to think about," Belén nodded. She absolutely hated the awkwardness between them, especially knowing it was all on her. "I'm sorry for...this—" she pointed between them, "—and being...my weird old self from the past."

Barry moved around the desk and took Belén's hand. He encased it with his own and genuinely looked at her. "Are you okay?"

Belén met his look and really thought about things and to what extent their consequences could lead to. She resolved now that there was no way in hell she could ever understand the position she was now in. She wasn't smart enough to comprehend the implications of her powers and Caitlin was in way over her head trying to solutionize her powers and Belén's. There was only one person left who could help both of them.

And if that was the truth, then there was no point in hiding everything from Barry.

"No," she finally answered. "But I guess you already knew that."

"Yeah…"

"I just...I have been trying to figure things out on my own, but - surprise - I am not smart enough."

"Bells—"

"To put it in another way: it's not my area of expertise."

"Let me help you, then," Barry of course offered and took Belén's other hand. He held them both together. "We do make one fantastic team, you know."

"Yeah, we do," she agreed. "But I just can't right now."

"But Belén—"

"Just give me until the end of the week," Belén quickly requested. "Give me until then to...to gather courage, and...just to find one last bit of information I need."

Barry stared at her for a couple of seconds, trying to deduce anything that could help him figure out what was bothering her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded her head. "Yes. I promise. At the end of the week, you can ask me anything you want and I will answer."

"Alright," Barry agreed without much of a choice. "But I have one condition."

"What?"

"You have to start getting proper rest. Sleep, Bells, please."

Belén chuckled and leaned on him. "Only if you sleep in the same room as me."

"I think we can work something out," Barry pretended to think about it but ultimately smiled with her. "Can I take you home?"

"Please do," Belén was eager to get home and finally have one decent night with her boyfriend.

Despite Belén's work still being in the living room, Barry paid no attention to it. He was keeping to his word and giving her until the end of the week. "You have a specific craving tonight?" he asked just as Belén let herself fall on the couch.

"Um...some donuts wouldn't come by bad…"

"Donuts? That's not dinner," Barry moved towards her.

She let her head lean back against the couch as she laughed. "Are you going to police me for having dessert before dinner?"

"It's very unhealthy," Barry took a seat beside her.

She snorted and laughed again. "You're one to talk Mr. five-pizzas-all-for-me." She draped her arms over his shoulders and gave her best smile. "Donuts? Glazed donuts, please?"

"That smile will forever make me do absolutely anything," Barry pretended to sigh so deeply.

"Aw, it's not like you don't have a hold on me either…"

"What!? Like what!?"

"You're charisma, your charm - eugh, I hate your smug charm," Belén playfully rolled her eyes.

"What cha—"

"Don't even try it," she put a finger over his lips, "Donuts?"

"Yeah, alright," Barry gave a light shrug of his shoulders.

Belén beamed and kissed him before sending him on his way. In about five minutes he'd returned with not one but five boxes of donuts in his arms.

At her face, Barry cleared his throat and said, "I may have gotten some for me…"

"You don't say?" she pretended to be surprised.

"Shut up," Barry handed her a box full of glazed donuts just for her.

She giggled and picked up her first donut. "So good," she hummed.

Barry watched her for a minute or so and felt like this was just a regular night between them with no metahuman problems and definitely no secrets hanging over them. He really wished it could become a normal thing for them again, but maybe that was his punishment too. He changed the timeline and now everything was different, including Belén. It wasn't on her - it was his fault.

"What?" Belén noticed his long stare and suddenly felt self conscious about being on her third donut already.

Barry leaned over and kissed her. It was a short kiss but a rekindling one nonetheless. "Sweet," he couldn't help himself to say.

"Stop," Belén grabbed him by his shirt and brought him back for more kissing. They had about five minutes of sweet romance before both their phones started ringing with alerts.

"What…?" Barry pulled himself off Belén with a deep scowl on his face. "Really?"

Belén chuckled at his reaction. "Nice to know I still got it."

"Always will," Barry mumbled as he got up to retrieve his phone from the coffee table. "There's a robbery at First National. Suspects match Scudder and Dillon's description. Ready?"

"Um…" Belén apologetically smiled, "You know that whole secret thing...until I figure it out, I don't think I should be out there. I'm a liability to you and Jesse."

Even though this only made Barry worry even more about her situation, he let it go just for the time being. "I'll be back."

"Mhm," she nodded, accepting a short kiss from him before he left.

~ 0 ~

There was a deep regret inside Belén of not accompanying Barry and Jesse. Here they were, the entire group in the speed lab, with Jesse hauling in the street structure mirror that now held Barry on the other side.

"What happened?" Iris couldn't get the facts straight, and much less make sense of how things...ended up this way.

No one was taking it worse than Jesse. She was removing her gloves with teary eyes full of guilt and frustration. "I don't know. I don't know, okay? I looked at Dillon, and I lost my balance."

"You said she induced vertigo and that's...that is just a creepy, yet powerful power," Belén said, glancing at Caitlin just to make sure she'd gotten it right.

The brunette in question agreed. "She just surprised you, Jesse. It could've happened to anyone."

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" Jesse didn't mean to snap. Her frustration was simply getting the best of her. "Because now Barry's trapped in there and it's because of me," she gestured to the speedster inside the mirror. Shaking her head, she left the room.

"I...I'll go talk to her," Wally offered and went right after her.

Barry pursed on the mirror wall and called to them, but no one understood a word he was saying.

"He's finally actually speaking Chinese…" Belén whispered with rapid blinking eyes. "It's finally happened."

"No, I think...it's mirror language," Cisco slowly began to realize.

"Mirrors show objects in reverse. Maybe that's what we're hearing here," Harry snapped his fingers.

"Only one way to find out!" Cisco exclaimed and hurried up to a stock of drawers.

"What are you looking for, Cisco?" Joe asked.

"You ever seen "Twin Peaks"? Of course not," Cisco answered himself and shook his head, "Why do I ask? This is an old back-masking trick they used for the Man from Another Place, where they record his audio backwards and then play it forwards." He brought back a small circular device to the mirror and stuck it on like a magnet.

"Like the Ozzy Osbourne records," Joe simplified it for his own sake.

"Sure, let's go with that," Cisco gave the device a little push, igniting it. "Okay, Barry, say something." Barry said something alright but it still made no sense. "Oops," Cisco realized he forgot to turn on one last part of the device. "Say it again?"

"Um, get me out of here?" Barry repeated himself, presumably.

"Now we can understand you," Cisco clapped his hands together.

"How do we get him out of there?" Iris asked the others.

"Barry, have you tried to phase out yet?" Caitlin inquired, beginning with the most logical option.

"Yes. It's not working," Barry planted both his hands on the mirror.

Harry paced shortly while he thought out loud. "If Scudder used this mirror as a wormhole, then these molecules are in a hyper state of flux, so all…"

"We need is something really cold to slow them down," Caitlin finished once she caught on.

"I can help with that!" Cisco exclaimed and hurriedly went along with Harry to begin on the task.

~0~

"Grandma and I bought the baby three different rattles! One's got a white unicorn and it's all pink! The second one's purple but it doesn't have a unicorn. And the third one's green with sparkles!" Axel finished his detailing of the presents he'd gotten with much enthusiasm that even though with the situation in STAR Labs, Belén and Barry couldn't feel completely down.

"That sounds good, Axel," Belén chuckled at her phone as the seven year old started digging through another bag of presumed-to-be presents for Nina's unborn child. "Axel—"

Axel dropped the bag and told his grandmother to give him her phone. He stuck his face just a little too close to the screen but, at Veronica's instruction, he backed the phone away. "Auntie Belén, when are we going to the park? You and Barry promised me…"

"I never promised…" Belén mumbled and shot Barry behind the mirror a suspicious look.

As much as the speedster tried to recall, he couldn't. It had to be a promise his other version in this new timeline made. "I...sorry," was all he could by this point.

"Axel, give Grandma the phone…" they heard Veronica on the other end say.

"Auntie Belén!" Axel exclaimed urgently, knowing his time was about to be cut short. "We're going to the park! Right?"

"Axel, give me—"

"You promised!"

"Axel, we'll do that next week, I swear," Barry managed to say just before Veronica took back her phone from the boy.

"I don't think you should make promises while you're stuck behind glass, Mr. Allen," Veronica smirked at them now.

"She's got you there," Belén shrugged at Barry.

"So, what are you doing to get yourself out of there?" Veronica inquired.

"We have Caitlin, Cisco and Harry working on it," Barry sighed. "So I'm just...stuck waiting."

"Well, I'm a bit preoccupied with Axel right now, but if there's anything I can do just give me a call."

"Thanks Mom," Belén ended the video chat and shifted on the floor to face Barry in the mirror. "I definitely wasn't expecting to talk to Axel right now. But, how's that for distraction?"

"He sounded like he really missed you," Barry noted. Axel had been delighted at getting a chance to use his grandmother's phone to show Belén everything he had gotten in the last week.

"Yeah, I feel terrible. But...I guess we now have a park date," Belén smiled. "Plus one."

"I look forwards to it," Belén honestly said. She'd been practically pushing her poor nephew away when he had no fault whatsoever about her situation. "But I think my Mom is right - we should first focus on getting you out of that thing. I am so getting these two freak metas back for this."

"I thought you said you didn't feel comfortable going out in the field yet?"

"After what they did to you and Jesse — I'm going." Belén made that clear for him, and hoped to God she would go through without a problem.

A short time later, Cisco and Harry came in with their cryogenic machine that would hopefully get Barry out. Caitlin walked in with the last bit of cable for them to connect the machine to the mirror. The machine did give an encouraging whir of life and send cracking ice at the mirror. It only encased half of the mirror, however.

"It's only negative 280 degrees Fahrenheit!" Harry groaned and tried to tinker with the machine again to give it more power. "We got to get it colder somehow!"

"I thought you guys said this thing could get him out of there," Joe remarked, doubt now seriously etching across his face.

"Okay-" Cisco clapped his hands together, "-this thing is a highly advanced molecular decelerator that's being powered by a cryo-engine, and we just kind of improvised it in the last 30 minutes, so let's just... just cut us some slack, please?"

"Then just try to phase out, Barry," Belén came closer and watched with hope as Barry planted his arms on the wall.

"I am!" he grunted. For some reason, he just couldn't do it.

An alarm went off, signaling a metahuman was up and about in the city. "Let me guess, Top and Mirror Master are back?" Belén frowned.

"Probably," Cisco said as he scanned his phone. "We're going to need to take a break for a moment, Barry," he held a finger at the speedster and hurried out.

"Hold on, Bar," Joe warned as he went after Cisco.

"I'll get them," Belén promised Barry, even though she had no idea what she was going to do.

Barry hung his head with a deep exhale. He never saw Caitlin's guilty face at him. The brunette bit her lip and looked out to see if anyone was still around then quickly hurried behind the mirror. She stared at her palms and focused on just the bit she needed to help Barry out. She barely gasped when she felt the prickly ice surface in her skin. The billowing smoke reached the mirror and further spread the ice around it.

Caitlin hoped it was enough to get Barry out.

~ 0 ~

"Central City Municipal Bank just got robbed," Cisco picked up on the computers.

"Let me guess by who," Jesse bitterly said.

"Guys…?" Barry's voice made them all turn in shock at his presence. Even he was looking confused of his escape.

Caitlin came stumbling in behind him and did her best to look normal. That did not work with Belén.

"How did you get out?" Joe blinked.

"I have no idea but it doesn't matter. Right now we need to stop Scudder and Dillon," Barry moved over to the map Cisco pulled up.

"Okay, so... so what do we do?" Jesse asked, more than ready to take the two metas on again but with more caution.

"I've got an idea," Barry was happy to report. "We're gonna use mirrors, an old trick, and an old friend."

~ 0 ~

Scudder and Rosalind fell right for the trap set by the team. The two arrived in an old abandoned carnival set. Lighted games and streamers illuminated the place, reflecting off the several mirrors set in a neat circle.

Captain Cold stood in the center of the mirrors, taunting Scudder to come forwards. It was no challenge angering Scudder and making him try to attack. He struck a punch forwards but found his hand went right through Snart. Even more, Snart whirled around shouting "bang!" with his cold gun before completely disappearing.

Scudder stumbled back a couple steps, confused. "What…?"

"Funny thing about holograms. They're just pale reflections of the real deal," Barry's voice made Scudder get on high alert since he was supposed to be stuck behind a mirror...forever. Barry took off speeding around the mirrors, confusing Scudder for the first couple of seconds.

In another part, Jesse Quick found Rosalind carelessly spinning a wheel. "Hello again," Jesse greeted.

"Jesse Quick," Rosalind gave one last final spin of the wheel. She grinned devilishly at Jesse. "Quick to run, quick to fall." Her eyes flashed lime green and once again put Jesse under the effects of her vertigo.

"Run, Jesse!" the speedster heard. She forgot about Rosalind and took off in a run.

Rosalind, confused searched for the second feminine voice. "Now who wants to play?"

The Azalea dropped in upside down, hanging from above with the help of her vines. "Peek-a-boo, bitch," she wiggled her fingers then blew out her poison.

Rosalind waved a hand in front of her nose then quickly covered it up. She flashed a glare at Belén then attempted to use her vertigo powers. Belén knew better than to keep staring, she turned over and landed in a squat. Rosalind took her chance kicked Belén on the side, smacking her to the ground.

'Get her back! Don't be weak!' the voices began just a second afterwards.

"No…" Belén groaned and held her head. She could feel a fiery power prick underneath her suit not built to withstand the new powers she held.

"You're not up to the standards this city puts you on," Rosalind sneered and moved towards Belén.

Jesse came up from behind after shaking off Rosalind's vertigo and spun around the blonde. She thrust Rosalind to the side and then sped up again to pick Rosalind up. Without hesitation, she punched Rosalind out cold.

"I learned fast," Jesse was proud to say but then heard the groans of Belén behind. "Azalea?" she hurried over to check on Belén. "Azalea? Are you - hey," she tried pulling Belén's hands from her head but all of a sudden Belén viciously growled and her eyes snapped open to reveal glimmering golden irises. Jesse gasped and immediately retreated.

'You weak girl. Flicker would have gotten her! Rise up!'

Belén pushed against the fiery feeling in her body, the same one trying to expel powers she just wasn't ready for. "I can't, I can't, I can't…" she told herself and repeated until it all...seemed to fade…

But Jesse would not forget.

~ 0 ~

Barry had tricked Scudder into following him to an aisle of mirrors. As Scudder jumped through each one, Barry shattered them to prevent any surprise return. Scudder finally reached a circle of mirrors, to which Barry completed it by adding three more.

"Well played, Flash," Scudder gave him his props before jumping into one mirror.

Barry didn't even move and instead chuckled when Scudder jumped back into the place he started. "I know, right? This is the, uh, Droste effect. I'm sure you've heard of it, right? It's an infinite reflective loop that even you can't escape. Good luck getting out." He sped the meta-dampener cuffs on Scudder and put an end to the fight.

~ 0 ~

"You sure you don't want to stick around to see your doppelganger?" Caitlin joked with Harry now that he and Jesse were going to return to Earth 2.

"Uh...I think I can do without," Harry said with utmost honesty. He was not interested in meeting another version of himself. "We don't have to go through all the tears again, do we, gang?" he asked once he took in all the sad stares of the group.

"Well, did I...did I cry last time you left?" Cisco sarcastically tilted his head in thought.

"I was talking about myself," Harry responded in his same tone.

"Oh, gotcha. Hey, listen. Don't worry about it, okay? There's only one Harry," Cisco promised him with a light smile and gave him a hug.

"Oh, I wanted to tell you," Harry whispered, "The molecular decelerator, it wasn't working."

"Okay, what does that mean?"

"It means that we did not get Barry out of that mirror. It wasn't us."

Cisco frowned. "Then who did it?"

"You tell me. See you later," Harry left it all up to Cisco.

To the side, Jesse was giving her goodbyes to the group.

"Earth-2's gonna have one hell of a speedster protecting it," Barry said proudly at his pupil, making the younger girl laugh.

"Well, I did learn from the best."

"If you ever need any help, you know how to get back."

"And just take care of yourself," Belén hugged Jesse and secretly whispered, "And I'm sorry about...you know…"

Jesse gave her a nod and said nothing about the sort. "Just...you take care too," she said since Barry was right there watching them. She didn't know what exactly she saw in Belén, but Belén left it clear that it was a secret and that she was going to get help.

"Oh, Allen?" Harry called to the speedster one he and Jesse were side by side. "While I'm gone, never, ever, no matter what—"

Jesse sped him and her into the breach Cisco opened up for them, leaving it a mystery as to what Harry would have said.

"Okay, so how's about we get that Harry doppelganger?" Caitlin asked Cisco, very much curious to see what new Harry they would be getting.

"You guys, I've never vibed across 18 dimensions before…" Cisco sucked in a breath and rubbed his hands together.

"Well if there's anyone who can do it, it's you," Belén chuckled at him.

Cisco agreed with a nod of his head. He rubbed his fingers then shook his entire body, creating amused smiles from his friends behind. He struck a hand forwards and opened up a new breach. It took a while for him to reach the required Earth. "Just a little bit longer…" he told the others before they started asking why it was taking a while. Usually his breaches were short and quick.

"Shouldn't we...be prepared?" Iris wondered, much to the group's confusion. "Cisco is reaching out to some new Earth. I just meant we should probably take precaution..."

"Someone's coming," Belén excitedly said as the breach gave a wriggle.

Indeed a figure jumped out of the breach, but right away there was something that told the group this was not one of Harry's doppelgangers.

First of all...she was a woman.

She had long blonde hair and green eyes.

She was scared.

And she was very familiar to one person in the group.

Barry walked a couple steps forwards, stunned and dumbfounded. His mouth opened and shut several times before he was able to spit the name out, a name he never thought he would use in his world. "Anais…?"

Earth 18's doppelganger of Barry's and Belén's adoptive daughter — whom Barry had met on Earth 38 with Supergirl — gazed at the group. Anais gulped. She locked eyes with Barry, giving the impression she too knew him despite being a completely different version of the woman Barry met on another earth.

"Anais—"

But then, just like that, Anais sped out of the room.

A/N:

Aaaaand we're finally getting into the good parts! If anyone's read the previous story or even my Supergirl fic, Anais is an alien hybrid who was adopted by our loveable dorks on Earth 38! Obviously this is not Earth 38 Anais so you don't have to read my Supergirl fic for this to make sense. She is just a doppelganger! That being said, it's quite clear there will be no H.R. in this story. I found that character utterly useless and was merely placed in the show to be decoy character who was murdered :)). Not in my book!

#ocappreciation #fd: the flash #arrowverseocs #the flash #barry allen #barry allen fics #barry allen imagines #the flash fics #the flash imagines #barry allen x oc #the flash x oc #arrowverse fics #arrowverse imagines #arrowverse ocs #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta

[saiilorstars]

Ch.28:  Lost

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

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

Sirens wailed through the streets of Central City. A pair of criminals thought they could get away with a clean heist if they had anything to say. Their car made a swift swerve onto the opposite street and revved up on the engines, leaving the policemen to try and catch up by doing faulty turns.

"We lost them!" The one driving cackled and prepared for a much smoother ride.

Mistake number one.

Tendrils of vines had sprouted from the ground and wrapped around one street pole to the next at the crossing area. The car was forced to come to an abrupt stop in a halfway swerve.

The Tempest dropped in on the driver's side, startling the man, and shattered the window with a small force of wind. "Mind if we talk?" She didn't wait for the answer and yanked the man out.

On the other side, the Azalea formed from her vines. She opened the car simply and flashed a smile. "You better come out now or you'll be guest to my lovely poison." She gently blew air to the side and allowed the man to see the pink mist form a small azalea. "Beautiful but deadly."

Soon, the police cars had caught up with them. As they exited their cars, Azalea and the Tempest each pulled out the criminals and pushed them forwards.

"All yours," the Azalea grinned before making her exit with the Tempest.

~ 0 ~

"That was four heists in one night - what the hell is with these people?" Nina demanded to know as soon as she and Belén returned to STAR Labs and changed out of their suits.

"That is the night shift," Belén patted her friend's arm and went by the desk. "Please tell me Shivhan was able to get the other robbery under control and that we're done," she had leaned down beside Cisco.

"So far so great," Cisco was happy to report.

"Great," Belén sighed with relief. "We did it."

"It's never going to be finished," Harry came out of the side room, making everyone groan. They knew what was coming. "This temporary duo isn't gonna last very long before someone figures things out."

"No, they won't," Belén narrowed her eyes on him. "The people don't care who they see, so long as someone helps them."

"Really?" Harry tilted his head. "You don't think someone's gonna question why all of a sudden this uncommon meta-"

"I am well known!" Nina argued.

"Not like the Flash is," Harry corrected. "You usually make two rounds per month and now suddenly you're everywhere and the Flash isn't? People aren't that stupid."

"Have you seen the internet lately?"

"Okay," Cisco purposely talked loud. "Without Barry's speed, this is the best solution."

"Actually, I beg to differ," Harry pointed.

"Oh God, you started it again," Belén mumbled to Cisco under her breath.

Because Harry had started yet again on his tangent of his new, fascinating idea. "I think a better idea, instead of just playing around, would be to rebuild the particle accelerator to get Barry's speed back."

"You know, I think about that idea all the time and I still can't figure out on what planet would that be considered good one?" Belén sarcastically thought. "I mean, it's not like there was an explosion or something like that - oh wait, there was!"

"Not to mention, last time we tried something like that, we blew a hole in the universe and created, like, 50 portals to your Earth," Cisco added. "Which is exactly how Zoom and his henchmen got here in the first place."

Harry hated to repeat himself on something so simple. He wasn't asking them to jump blindly into something. He did his research, he knew exactly what to do yet the idea was just being thrown away. "I told you. I know how to contain the explosion."

"You know how to contain a dark matter explosion that, last time, just radiated all of Central City?" asked a seriously doubtful Cisco.

"Look, I have your Wells's data. The Harrison Wells from this Earth, I have his science. I know what chemicals need to be in Barry's body. I know how the lightning needs to bond with the dark matter from the particle accelerator explosion. I can recreate the circumstances to get you his speed back."

But still no one agreed.

"Cisco, you think you could open up a portal to Earth 38?" Belén huffed after Harry had left.

"No, why?"

"Because my adoptive daughter is also a speedster and she could help us right about now," Belén shook her head and decided to go find Barry. She had a pretty good idea of where he was.

~ 0 ~

"No, we need to kick-start the cells in her body—"

"Yes, but we need to identify the cells that are failing to regenerate—"

"Right except that—"

"I am properly scared," Belén made her presence known before Barry and Jesse went further with their argument. The two in question looked at her with slightly wide eyes. "See, this is why I don't do science. It leads to arguing."

"It's fine," Jesse playfully rolled her eyes. "We're just having trouble agreeing on the right way to go about this cure. I'm sure Caitlin would have known better."

"We're just stressed," Barry spoke up. "But you're doing fine. Thanks, Jesse."

Jesse took the compliment with a smile. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, then."

After Jesse left, Belén noticed there were several more pictures and tools set up for the apparent cure which meant they were advancing despite Caitlin's absence. "So, is progress being made?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "We're just having trouble finding the right way to actually stabilize Datura." Which was basically everything.

"I thought that's where I would come in," Belén pointed at herself, slightly confused.

"Well, yes, but it's like a jigsaw puzzle, you know?" Barry took her to the clear board where both Belén's and her doppelganger's profiles were set up. "We need to figure out how your cells could fit to regenerate your doppelganger's. We also need to take into consideration which of your doppelganger's cells belong to which power she owns."

"Sounds complicated," Belén shook her head.

"Kind of, but not impossible."

"Okay but does that mean you won't be coming home with me?" Belén latched onto his arm and sarcastically batted her eyelashes at him. "Or am I going to have to fight other-me for you?"

Barry laughed and patted his hand over hers placed on his arm. "Never." Belén turned them to leave, then. "Is Harry still out there?"

Belén groaned. They both were tired of hearing Harry's incessant idea. Belén suspected was why Barry all of a sudden secluded himself in Cisco's workshop, to get away from the the madman trying to rebuild the Particle Accelerator.

~0~

It was midday when Detectives Green and West were called to Mercury Labs for a break-in. Dr. McGee led them into the security camera footage while telling the detectives it was just tiresome to have go through this all over again.

"It didn't even seem like this thief cared she was caught on video," she said as the security team worked to bring the videos up.

"Why do you say that?" Joe asked. Even he was slightly confused since nearly every meta doing thievery at least tried to take down the security cameras before committing their crime.

"Take a look," McGee gestured as one video popped up.

A tall ginger woman walked into the middle of the room and smiled directly at the camera. She wiggled her fingers and even blew them a kiss.

Veronica's blood went cold at the sight of Poison Ivy. The meta went around the room picking things up and putting them down, until she would find what she needed and kept hold of them.

"What exactly did she steal?" Joe inquired sine he knew Veronica would probably need a moment.

"A couple things," McGee began to list. "Lab tools and several meta-dampener syringes."

"What would she need that for?" Joe mumbled but Veronica had a pretty good guess.

~0~

Cisco didn't even want to look at the computer model of the 'new' Particle Accelerator and yet here he was...

"It looks like the Vacuum," he declared after a moment.

"Uh, what's the Vacuum?" Jesse gave him a questioning look.

"No "Fringe" on Earth-2. Noted. This is what you've been working on in the workshop?"

"Someone has to worry about Zoom," Harry came up to stand beside him.

"Okay. Barry cannot do this," Cisco turned away.

"He has to, Ramon—"

"You keep calling me that, but that's—" Cisco stopped when an image of his brother came to mind in a vibe. "Dante?"

Harry quickly got on him to know what he saw. "What did you see? Zoom? Did you see Zoom?"

"No. I saw my brother. I got to go!" Cisco wasn't taking the chance of letting his brother get into new danger and rushed off.

At the same time, Barry and his father, Henry, walked into the cortex. "Where is everybody?" Barry asked after only catching Harry and Jesse.

"Cisco just strangely left," Jesse shrugged and came out to greet them. "Hi," she shook hands with Henry.

"That's Jesse, Harry's daughter," Barry introduced them. Harry gave a mere wave from the doorway of the side room, not quite interested with the new visitor. "And…" but Barry's voice was drowned out by an incoming argument.

Belén came striding in with her mother right behind her, and the ombre-blonde looked absolutely livid. "I am not doing it!" She whirled around to meet her mother's equally angry face. "No! No! And did I mention no!?"

"Bells, what's going on?" Barry called their attention. He decided not to comment how similar Belén's angry face was to Veronica's, but it was weird.

"My mother is being unnecessarily…" Belén began when she saw Henry beside Barry. Her anger immediately dropped to be replaced with a smile, and a possible nervous laugh. "I am always make bad first impressions around you...sorry."

Henry liked the woman already but her personality was something else. "It's fine."

Belén came over to properly greet him. She still wished she would've gotten a little heads up from Barry to put on her best behavior, but then again she was sure Barry couldn't possibly know when Veronica would irritate her. "It's so good to have you around. I guess Barry dragged you back for a bit, huh?"

"Looks like maybe for good," Barry chimed in, completely ecstatic about it. It was refreshing for Belén to see is first real smile because as of late, he barely gave one of those.

"Really? That's great!"

"Yeah, yeah, I figured I spent enough time away from my son," Henry agreed.

"See, Mom? Take notes!" Belén remarked and huffed when Veronica got started again.

"I am not joking around, Annah-Belén. You need to leave! It's not safe!"

"What is going on?" Barry had never seen Veronica so frustrated and...scared? That couldn't be good.

"She's back," Veronica didn't hesitate to answer while Belén rolled her eyes and looked to the side.

"Who?"

"Poison Ivy! She's back and if she's here then it means so is that other woman."

"Or she's on her way," Harry offered but received a glare from Veronica in return.

"Be quiet!"

"How do you know she's back, Ms. Green?" Barry tried to understand. As angry as Belén was about the situation, he couldn't imagine that Veronica would make something like that up.

"Joe and I got called in by Dr. McGee this morning because someone broke into the lab last night. It was Poison Ivy."

Belén wasn't going to let her mother scare the others. "It could have bee -"

"It was," Veronica insisted, allowing no room for doubt. "She waved at the security camera like it was a game."

"If she wanted to come get me she would have done it already!" Belén argued logically.

"What exactly did she take from Mercury Labs?" Barry asked once again. He was beginning to share some of Veronica's concern but he knew at this point it would only further annoy Belén.

"I don't know," Veronica sighed, rubbing her face. "Lab tools and syringes. Meta-dampener syringes."

"Sounds like Datura is starting her own cure process," Harry spoke up. "And I think we all know who those meta-dampner syringes are going to be used on."

"Thanks for nothing," Belén spat, though she didn't have time to say what else was on her mind because of Joe coming in with a haste.

"Zoom! He's back!"

The three words were enough to silence everyone in the room no matter their positions.

~0~

Caitlin endlessly stared at the cuffs binding her wrist to an officer's desk. There was no point in escaping now. She got what she wanted: she was back home. It was just the fact she wasn't actually home that got her. The only solace she had as of now was the she'd gotten Zoom to spare the officers in the precinct. The place was now deserted of cops, leaving only the wicked to lurk about.

"Alright," Poison Ivy came walking in like she owned the place. She let go of a bundle on a desk nearby Caitlin then walked over to the brunette. Caitlin didn't know what to think when set her free by bursting the cuffs to pieces with her vines. Poison Ivy merely chuckled. "Don't look so surprised, honey. This is a conditional freedom. Up!" She yanked Caitlin to her feet.

"What are you doing?" Caitlin was forcibly pulled to the table where Poison Ivy had dropped her bag.

"About to do some supervising that's what."

"But - hey!" Caitlin yelped when she hit the table. She looked down and saw a series of files, syringes, and medical tools. "What is all this?"

Poison Ivy came to stand beside her. "It's what Datura said you would probably need. Oh, and this," she let Harry's speed siphoning device drop on the table.

"What - you want me to help you do this cure?" Caitlin's eyes widened.

"What's the problem? Weren't you helping do that here?"

"Yeah, with my friends. They want to actually help Datura but that's not what she wants. She wants to kill Belén."

Poison Ivy hummed and tilted her head to the side. "Plausible. But either way you're going to help because if you don't, I'll bring your little friend here with these," she grabbed one of the syringes and twirled it around her fingers.

Caitlin's scowl deepened as she saw her options slowly fade from her reach.

~ 0 ~

"So Zoom came back with Caitlin and Poison Ivy?" Belén knew that probably didn't make sense to others too. Datura had not been sighted in the city which could only mean she was still on Earth 2...but why? "Why would he do that?"

"To show power," Harry believed himself to be the only lucid thinking one in the room. He told them this would happen and now they were about to see it. "That's exactly what he did on my Earth. The first thing he did was murder people. Slaughtered a bunch of policemen. Then recruited every meta-human he could find. And those that disobeyed, he killed too."

"Where are the police now?" Barry looked to Joe.

"Outside the precinct."

"He'll kill them, Joe. He'll kill them all," Harry meant as a warning so that everyone could just see his idea was the only option left.

Joe didn't believe it right away. "Not with Caitlin with him. She talked him out of killing everyone when he took over CCPD."

Harry scoffed. "That's what we're gonna rely on? Snow talking him out of it? Joe, you need to get those guys out of there!"

Barry had to agree there. The cops were sitting ducks at this point. "Joe, what if they set up at Jitters?"

"That's a good idea... it's just a block away from the precinct."

Harry shook his head, warning them it wasn't going to work. "And then what? What happens next? You saw what Zoom did on my Earth. He will do the exact same thing here. Barry, we need to get you your powers back."

"There must be another way," Henry cut him off. He didn't understand much about this metahuman business but he sure as hell understood the danger Harry was trying to impose on Barry.

"There's not!" Harry snapped.

"Well we better start thinking of something," Belén glared at the man. She knew she wouldn't be able to capture a full speedster like Zoom but it didn't mean there wasn't technology that couldn't either.

"I know one thing we ought to do," Veronica settled a sharp look on her daughter, hands on hips too.

Belén rolled her eyes. "Oh my God," she threw her head back and kept her mouth shut for the sake of the larger problem at hand.

"I'm gonna get word to Singh. Get him to set up a task force at Jitters," Joe made a motion to leave but stopped for Veronica.

The woman looked between him and Belén, waiting for her daughter to agree with her stance. Belén matched her older siblings in that she was just as stubborn as them; she did not budge.

"I'm not going, Joe," Veronica declared, eyes always on her daughter. The ombre-blonde in question groaned and crossed her arms.

Joe wouldn't press further and made his leave.

~ 0 ~

"I-I don't know what to do," Caitlin sighed and stared down at the desk she was being forced to work at.

Poison Ivy stood behind her and waited for the brunette to get started. "What do you need, then?" She demanded, annoyed with Caitlin's lack of work. "Just tell me and I'll get it."

Caitlin's shoulders slumped downwards and shook her head. "My desk, my files, Barry's work. I don't have anything here!"

"Then you want me to clear out STAR Labs for you?" Poison Ivy forcibly turned Caitlin around.

"N-no! I don't - I don't want you to hurt anyone! I can't!"

Poison Ivy raised a hand as if to strike Caitlin but ultimately turned away and swiped clean a different desk. Caitlin leaned against the work desk and watched as Poison Ivy compose herself.

"If you...if you would let me go...I would help her," Caitlin weakly made her escape attempt. "You shouldn't have to cater to Zoom just to get the cure." She could see Poison Ivy's shoulders shake from an apparent laugh.

"You think I cater to Zoom for the cure?" She straightened and turned sideways. "I do what I do for Datura. She's my best friend and wherever she is, I am. But right now, she's dying-" she started coming towards Caitlin and since the brunette didn't have anywhere else to go she only kept leaning back on the desk, "-and poor you if that happens. I will show you why my name is Poison Ivy."

Caitlin gulped and visibly relaxed when Poison Ivy backed away from her. Poison Ivy walked around the office and picked up a notepad and a pen then brought it over to Caitlin. She pushed it to the brunette's chest. "Make a list of what you need. No tricks."

~ 0 ~

Now that Poison Ivy was back, Datura was sure to be making her return at any moment and Belén wanted everyone in the Green to be on alert. Datura was nearing her end so she was angrier and had nothing to lose; it made her an outright menace. If she was trying to come up with her own cure again, at any cost, then every botanical meta was in danger.

"Belén, what do you want me to do?" Shivhan had pulled Belén to the side after the Azalea had made her speech towards the botanical metahumans regarding Poison Ivy's presence and Datura's intention.

"Just stay here with them," Belén said, glancing back at Kinsley amongst the group. She was one of the younger metas and she still had trouble controlling her powers. Naturally, she would also be one of the metas who were most afraid. "Keep training them and just...be here for them."

Shivhan nodded. "Okay, if that's what you want..."

Belén was firm about it. "I am."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay in here because...you know...CC Pictures?"

Even with her mask on, Shivhan could still see Belén rolling her eyes. "No, I already told you that I'm not mad." How could she be mad that her friend went through so much trouble to get her job back? Belén was touched that Shivhan had gathered up all their botanical brothers and sisters to do that for her, she just wasn't sure how effective it would turn out to be.

"Good, because I really did just want to help," Shivhan reiterated yet again. Belén had lost count how many times she had said that.

"I know, trust me," Belén reassured her one more time before leaving the Green. Outside, she had to deal with her mother who'd been following her around STAR Labs trying to convince her to leave the city.

She'd done her best to evade Veronica but she was proving quite insistent. Belén was going to go crazy if she didn't get space from her. She stormed down the corridor while Veronica trailed after her.

"Mom, I don't know how else to explain it to you - maybe I should do it with apples or something - but I am not going anywhere!" She made a turn for the cortex and found a grim atmosphere. Cisco especially looked disconcerted. "What do we have now?"

"Rupture," Cisco dropped his hands from his face. "My brother's doppelganger? Yeah, he's here...and trying to kill me."

"What?" Belén looked over to Barry for some help. She seemed to have missed quite a lot in her time in the Green. Everyone seemed grim.

Harry was at the desk and pulled up a profile of said metahuman. He was covered in metal but he bore a threatening scythe. "He's another metahuman under Zoom's control from my Earth."

"So he's already beginning to bring his friends over from Earth 2," Veronica grumbled behind her daughter.

"It's exactly what I said he would do," Harry reminded, and the hint of smugness in his words made everyone shake their heads.

"Okay, well, Zoom must've lied to fake-Dante and told him I was the one who killed Reverb, 'cause dude wants me dead," Cisco raised his hands. "We've got to do something."

"He gets his power from that scythe he wields so maybe we can do something with that," Harry said.

"Thing's legit too... it almost took half the van with him," Cisco's face was distant as he recalled the monstrous weapon used against him earlier.

"All right, then that's what we need to do. We need to figure out a way to get it away from him," Barry logically thought but didn't want to see the calculations of their chances for a clean win.

"Right. Okay, all right. I'm sure I can come up with something. I just have to figure out a way to not tell Dante why this psychopath looks exactly like him," Cisco dreaded that idea as he got up to leave.

"You know what you need to do," Harry threw Barry a look.

"I need a minute," Barry felt the room too cramped-up for him and quickly left after Cisco.

"Would you put a sock in it?" Belén spat at Harry. She was already frustrated with her mother and the last thing she wanted to see was her boyfriend continuously harassed with a life-threatening idea.

"Belén—" Veronica tried to get a word in but Belén pointed a finger to her.

"No! God, would you just leave us alone!?" She threw that at Veronica and Harry together before leaving herself.

~ 0 ~

It was no surprise that Belén found Barry in the breech room since it was the room Harry had already declared would be converted for the new Particle Accelerator site.

"I'm just saying, I will punch him if you want," she came up beside Barry. His small smile made her feel a little better. He wasn't all that gone yet. "I'm sorry I haven't helped you with...all this. My Mom won't leave me alone and...between her and the city, I just…" she turned to him, "How do you feel?"

Barry really doubted that sharing his feelings would make things clearer. He thought about Harry's proposal day and night but nothing would come to mind. " It should be an easy decision but it's not."

Belén made a face at his comment and cleared her throat. "Uh, well, that's sort of normal. Building another particle accelerator and willingly letting yourself be struck by lightning it isn't exactly an 'easy decision'. If you didn't think that, I'd honestly be a little worried."

"What do you think about it?"

A nervous pit started in her stomach, especially since Barry had turned to face her to hear her thoughts. "Well…" She bit her lip and really did try to look him in the eyes, "Things are different since the Particle Accelerator went off. Back then you were just Iris' friend but now…" Her lips became like gum she chewed on. She swallowed down hard. "If anything happens to you...I would die. And I know that's a horrible thing to say because it just adds onto your pressure but it's just what I feel and I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry!" By the time she had finished, she was nearly out of breath.

Barry brought her into a hug. "I'm sorry," he said, finding nothing else to make her feel better. They had all these 'choices' and yet none one of them offered a 100% guarantee that they wouldn't get hurt.

"I'm sorry too," she raised her head to meet his gaze. "I'm supposed to offer you reasonable advice...but it scares me."

"It scares me too," Barry admitted.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin played dumb with the tools Poison Ivy had left for her to use. She noticed the ginger meta lurking towards the threshold where Zoom had gathered with another metahuman Caitlin didn't know of. Caitlin slowly, and innocently, began to push towards a stack of evidence boxes left behind by the cops. She was sure one of them had to have a cellphone, she just needed the right moment to search for one.

"He got away but I'll find him." It was Rupture facing Zoom outside.

"Later," Zoom said, having a different task for him in the meantime.

"But he needs to pay for what he did to my brother!"

"And he will. Later, Rupture!"

"What do you want me to do?"

"The police have gathered again. They think I've spared their lives. Tonight... show them they're wrong."

Even though Caitlin froze at the news, she quickly pulled the lid off one evidence box and thankfully found a cellphone lying just at the top. She stuffed it in her front pocket and draped her blouse's hemline over it. She hastily returned to the desk and glanced at Poison Ivy. The ginger was too focused on the others.

"Datura did good in sending him here, right?" She finally spoke.

Caitlin pretended to look into a microscope as Poison Ivy and Zoom walked into the room.

"Yes," Zoom agreed.

"Especially the lie she fed him? That his brother was killed by the very doppelganger and not you?" Zoom stopped and faced the woman, pulling his mask off. "I just want you to remember how Datura keeps serving you," Poison Ivy crossed her arms. "She's literally dying and she's gathering up your best metas for your plans."

"What do you want?"

Poison Ivy's eyes flickered to Caitlin and since there had been silence, Caitlin understood she was being watched. She dove closer into the microscope and hoped to God neither would speak to her.

"The doppelganger. Caitlin can't seem to work without her presence. Datura is coming tonight and in order for this cure to work, we need the other one."

"You want me to go get her?" A spark of amusement crossed Hunter's face.

"I can get her, no problem," Poison Ivy volunteered. "I've got the meta syringes ready," she gestured the syringes on the nearby desk. "I just need the 'ok' from you to do so."

"Please, don't," Caitlin couldn't take hearing more of this and turned to them. "Belén doesn't need to be kidnapped. She wants to help Datura."

"Sure she does," Poison Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Please," Caitlin pleaded with Hunter instead, knowing he was her best shot. "Don't take her. And...and spare the policemen. You said you would."

"We'll just see how that works out, then," Hunter flashed a wicked smile her way.

Caitlin turned back to the desk with fresh new tears. He had given her no guarantee. She waited until they got back to conversation to sneak in a brief text while she pretended to do more work.

~ 0 ~

"Belén! Guess what?" Iris was quick as she hurried into cortex. Her beaming face was quite shocking considering all the problems they had.

"What? Did something else happen?" Belén dreaded having yet another problem on her hands. She was shamefully short-handed around the place since she had sent Shivhan to the Green and Barry didn't have his speed. She was aware that at any moment they would have to call in Nina again.

"Yes, but nothing bad!" Iris knew her words were probably sounding like a dream but this was exactly why she had wanted to come to STAR Labs to tell Belén in person. "Scott wants to talk to you about your job."

Belén blinked. "What?"

"He says he tried calling you but you never answered and I figured why..." Iris threw a specific glance around the cortex. "So I gave him some excuse and said that I would find you for him. You should go talk to him."

"Right now?" Belén looked back at the others. Despite how inconvenient it was right now, she couldn't' help the smile that was breaking across her face. She was getting her job back!

"Yes!" Iris nodded. "You need to!"

Before Belén could say anything, they all heard a small bleep from the desk. Harry was closest so he took over the computers and found they had a message from the CCPD.

"It's got to be Caitlin!" Barry rushed over, prompting the others to do the same.

"She's sent us a message," Harry opened up the file and read it out loud. "Rupture is gonna attack Jitters tonight. Poison Ivy wants Belén."

Belén closed her eyes because she knew what was coming next…

"You can't go out there!" Veronica turned to her daughter.

"It's nothing new, Mom. I'm gonna call Nina," Belén responded and gave a small smile to Barry before she left. She had done it too quick so that she hadn't noticed the look on Barry's face.

"Having The Flash might be the best way to stop Zoom and the metas he's sending over. But, look, until we know for sure that setting off the accelerator will work, it's too risky. Not just for me. For the entire city. Countless others that would be affected if the explosion is not contained."

Harry rubbed his forehead. That sounded reasonable but it wasn't the easiest of things. Time was of the essence after all. "Yes, but Allen-"

"Stop, Wells. Look, I'm sorry. I've made up my mind. Sorry," Barry stopped him before he went off like Veronica did with Belén. "The Flash isn't gonna make an appearance anytime soon."

~ 0 ~

At Jitters, the cops had set up a good place for the inevitable attack of Rupture. From the street, both Barry and Cisco had decided to monitor in case something went wrong. Behind the counter were Joe and Singh, ready to deliver the last blow that would hopefully put Rupture away before he did real damage. It had taken a lot of convincing for Veronica to stay outside but it helped that her own boss was behind the idea. Belén would at least get that space there.

"Here he comes," Cisco warned the two gals in waiting.

"Copy that," Nina got the message first and began to lower herself into the building.

Rupture had entered the dark Jitters with his trusty scythe in hand. "Now, where has everybody gone?"

Belén's vines traveled from the back entrance and gracefully formed her figure. Nina flew in through the same entrance and landed just beside her.

"Definitely not who I was expecting but you'll be a nice warm up," Rupture said.

Belén wasn't interested in talking. She had to be quick, literally. She hadn't forgotten about CC Pictures and now more than ever she wanted to grab what little normality she had in her life.

Rupture gave his scythe a twirl and released a blast of red energy directly at them. The two women jumped out of the way.

"Too slow, my friend!" Nina purposely waved an arm at him. "Does that thing have a beginner stage?"

Rupture began firing at her, leaving Belén the perfect opportunity to strike. She raised her hands up, thrusting thick vines into the air. They swung in multiple lassos, attacking at different moments to make it even more difficult for Rupture to defend himself.

"Get the scythe!" She screamed at Nina over the chaos.

Nina swept down to try and grab the weapon. Rupture saw her coming and sent her another blast of energy. She put her hands over her head, creating a miniature cyclone to deflect the attack then sent it right towards Rupture. It threw him over a table.

Belén sprinted towards the tables, throwing out a vine to grab the scythe. Rupture was closer and had easier time getting to it first. "Dammit!" Belén seethed.

"We need to bring him closer to the counter," Nina flew over to Belén.

"Yup," Belén agreed. "Hey?" She called to Rupture as she backtracked towards the entrance doors. "Did you hear the news? I'm what Datura wants. You know her, right? Big bad siphoner? Bring me in and I'm sure your powers are safe for the rest of the century."

Rupture got back on his feet and held his scythe again. This time he did not shoot at her. He started following her trail, passing the turned over tables and chairs...and the counter…

"Where is she, huh?" Belén's back hit the doors and was forced to come to a stop.

"Earth 2," Rupture barely answered when Joe sprung from the counter and shot the meta-dampener brace around Rupture's neck.

Singh shot forwards with the accompanying cuffs. "Are we the guys you were looking for? Hope you like being alone, 'cause you won't be talking to anyone at Iron Heights."

"Too bad you won't be able to bring in the big prize," Belén now scowled at the meta.

~0~

Breaking news coming out of Jitters coffee shop. CCPN has learned that a meta-human was just apprehended after an altercation with the Azalea and the Tempest.

Caitlin couldn't help the smile on her face when she saw the report. Her text had saved the cops. It had worked.

"You told them Rupture was coming. How?" Hunter came in furiously. Caitlin winced at his scream but she kept herself quiet for now. He stopped beside Poison ivy and demanded an answer.

"She must have snuck something in whole we discussed," the ginger argued. She wasn't exactly watching her when she had a million things to do for Datura's cure and Hunter's own plans.

Hunter looked around and spotted the open evidence box. "Oh, you... are smart, aren't you? You betrayed me!"

"Did you really think that was a surprise?" Poison Ivy raised an eyebrow. "I told you she was a flight risk."

"You said you would spare them!" Caitlin said before the ginger got another word in. "I-I had to!"

The fury subsided in Hunter's face. "I guess now we're even, then." He pulled on his mask and sped away...but with something else with him.

"You just saved me a trip to Jitters," Poison Ivy mirthlessly laughed at Caitlin.

~ 0 ~

Zoom sped into Jitters and essentially froze all the cops in their tracks. Belén and Nina were just arriving at the van when they were alerted of the unscripted appearance of the speedster. Inside Jitters, Zoom began to build up power. His blue electricity engulfed his body, leaving very little speculation of what was about to happen next.

"Everybody move!" Joe shouted in vain, because when Zoom began to move, time stopped.

The speedster went through every cop except Joe and Singh, and Rupture, snapping necks. When he came to a stop, the remaining watched as everyone else collapsed on the ground dead.

"I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me."

"Enough!" The Azalea came rushing inside with the Tempest over her. Even Cisco and Barry had come in, at least to see what the damage was.

"What is the point!?" Tempest gazed at the corpses on the floor in horror.

"To show the truth," Zoom turned around. He zipped across the room and snatched Rupture. He slammed the meta on the counter. "You're an even bigger disappointment than your brother."

Cisco gave an audible gasp when he saw his brother's doppelganger killed right in front of him. Zoom then moved around and picked up an ongoing camera from a cameraman he'd killed.

"Central City... the time for vigilantes have come to an end. There is no more Flash and there will be no more Azalea nor their silly companions. There is going to be no one left to protect your city...from me."

"We're always going to be here," Belén declared loudly for the camera to get.

Nina raised her hands and created another miniature cyclone. She directed it at Zoom and while it did produce a momentary force of wind throwing people around, it was not enough. Belén got Barry and Cisco to safety behind the counter then pulled Joe and Singh as well. Nina proved to be a quick meta with useful wind serving her. She threw whatever was in her way at the speedster but made the fatal mistake of throwing what was behind the counter. Zoom dodged the utensils but snatched a knife in the air and swung it back to Nina. Nina released a grunt when the knife punctured the side of her stomach. She clutched at it and fell to the ground.

"Tempest!" Belén started snapping her vine tendrils at him but her fate had already been thrown.

Zoom slammed her against the wall and with one hand around her neck, he stuck the meta-dampener syringe in her chest. Belén's eyes widened and barely expressed confusion of what had happened before her body felt the effects of the syringe.

"No!" Barry pushed Cisco's restraining hands away from him and jumped over the counter, but it was too late. He only saw Belén's eyes close shut before she was taken away by Zoom. "NOOO!"

Cisco dashed for Nina on the floor. She was outcold but he found a heartbeat. "We need to get her to a doctor!" He called but Barry was staring at the doors. His entire mind was spinning and the only thing that managed come through was: DO. SOMETHING.

"Barry!" Joe called as soon as he and Singh were up. "Get the van! Go!"

Barry tore his gaze from the doors. With teary eyes he glanced at Nina and knew there was no way in hell Belén would ever forgive him if he willingly let anything happen to her friend. He forced himself to breathe and ran out to retrieve the van.

~0~

"She's stabilized," Henry said after putting Nina's wrist back on her side. He'd taken her pulse and was glad to see the woman responding positively to her treatment.

"Is she going to be okay?" Iris asked. Her eyes gazed over the unconscious woman repeatedly.

"Well the wound wasn't deep enough to harm any organs so she should be waking up soon. With a few weeks, she'll be good."

"At least she's here where we can look over her," Veronica had never been so furious and frustrated in her life and there were plenty of worthy situations in the past that could've come close. Her daughter was missing, kidnapped, and she knew where Belén would end up. Datura would have her soon enough and here they were, doing nothing.

"Ms. Green…" Iris went over to her but Veronica shook her head st her. Absolutely no words mattered at the moment.

"It won't be long now," Harry's voice drawled from the doorway. "He's moving faster than he ever did on my Earth."

Iris turned to him, as did her father, wearing matching glares. "We really don't need this right now."

But Harry kept going. "Next, Zoom will recruit every meta-human he can find, and then force them to do what he wants."

"How many can be left?" Joe wondered. "We defeated most of them, didn't we?"

"No. You're not even close," Harry walked back to the main desk with the others behind. He plugged in a USB and provided a list of names for them to see. "This... is a list of meta-humans from my Earth. Ones that are known, anyway. The particle accelerator explosion was contained on my Earth. That didn't happen here."

"Then why wouldn't we know about other meta-humans here?" wondered Joe again.

"Because we had the Flash and the Azalea," Cisco knew instantly.

"But since he's not around and two more of our metas have been put out of commission," Harry flat out ignored the looks from everyone for the statement, "The others are going to start coming out of the woodwork."

"We don't know that," Iris shook her head. The mere idea put her to scare. Not everything was lost. They still had Shivhan...they just needed to find a way to communicate with her while she was in the Green, that was it...

"What more do you need!? I told you he'd recruit meta-humans. We've seen him do that. I told you he would kill those officers. We saw him do that too. What more do you need?"

"Let's do it," Barry came in with a fierce determination. It took only a second for them to realize what he'd just said. "I want to do it. One of the cops that Zoom killed tonight, he had a son. Same age I was when Mom was murdered. And now, another kid has to grow up without one of their parents because The Flash wasn't there to stop that monster. I knowingly left my partner at a disadvantage and now she's out there, kidnapped just like Caitlin. Nina—" he angrily pointed at the room the woman was kept in, "—took a knife to the stomach because I wasn't there to catch it! Now they're both hurt and we can't even get ahold of Shivhan. I am not letting her get hurt too! Zoom has the path wide open to take the city down. I need my powers back. Let's do it. Let's set off the particle accelerator."

It was no secret they wouldn't be able to change his mind, and so...

"So how does this work?" Barry gazed at the makeshift personal Particle Accelerator in front of them. The sight of it did make him nervous, not to mention it gave him flashbacks of the first time he was struck by lightning.

Harry had gone straight to work with his creation and had it finished in an hour or so. Now even Cisco was helping, though he wasn't so on board with it.

"It's an abbreviated version of the accelerator evil Wells built, except Harry is isolating the antimatter and dark energy to direct it to Barry instead of the entire city," Cisco tossed Harry a wire.

"Good. Last thing we need is more meta-humans running around Central City," Joe mumbled.

"So... Barry just gets in, we turn it on, and that's it?" Iris couldn't stop staring at the big holders she knew would be strapping Barry to the machine

"Yeah," Harry nodded but then paused. "No. Not exactly. In addition to recreating what happened with the particle accelerator explosion, we also have to recreate what happened to Barry."

Barry knew what he meant. "Getting struck by lightning."

"That's right."

"Wait, so how are you gonna do that? It's not even raining outside," Veronica remarked.

But Harry had of course accounted for the weather. This was, after all, all he had been thinking about for the past week. "Well, Ramon, you have the wand."

"The one I made for Mark Mardon?"

"No, the one you built for the Harry Potter convention. Yes, of course, the one you built for Mardon!"

Cisco lightly gasped at his knowledge. "How do you know about the Harry Potter convention?"

"Get the wand," Harry punctured his words with dripping command. "Get on the roof."

"Why the roof?"

"Because we're gonna need a lightning rod, and that, Ramon, is gonna be you."

Cisco's heart nearly stopped and yet somehow he was forced upon the roof despite it. "All right, I'm on the roof. Wow. I've never actually been up here before... I think I can see my apartment from here?"

Harry had placed himself behind the monitor to get things started. "Now head straight to the satellite, Ramon. When I give you the signal, you're gonna create a lightning storm above you."

Cisco was not liking his odds as he gazed at the big satellite in front of him. "So I'm just supposed to stand here in the middle of a lightning storm?"

"Really, Ramon. Chances of being struck are slim, indeed…"

Cisco scoffed and loudly too. "Yeah, not when you're the one causing it!"

Harry skipped over that fact and continued with business. "All we need is one lightning bolt to strike the satellite. The satellite circuitry's connected to the breach room. Barry's in the breach room so just do it."

Cisco sighed and braced himself. "Yeah. I'm doing it. Mozart better watch out. Cisco Ramon's about to conduct something nasty."

Meanwhile, Joe and Iris helped Barry into his appropriated spot.

"You're gonna feel these clamps, but they're necessary," Harry warned just before he activated said clamps.

Barry tried to suppress his yelp but the clamps punctured his skin. He saw Joe staring with undeniable fear. "You good?"

Joe thought the question ridiculous seeing Barry was the one in actual pain, but he went along with it. "Yeah. You?"

"I'll be fine, Joe."

"Barry, whatever happens, we'll be right here," Iris promised him. She would try to support him on behalf of Belén even though there was a huge difference. She honestly thought that Belén would've talked him out of this mess if she was here...

"Son... you don't have to do this if you don't want to," Henry reminded Barry with a bit of hope it would get through to him. He was scared out of his mind seeing his son strapped to all that technology that would strike him with unbearable pain.

"Being the Flash... that's the best version of me. If I don't have my speed, I'll never be that person anymore. I have to do this," Barry spoke with nothing but honesty. It was all on him and he wanted to go through with it.

His eyes rested on Veronica who had yet to say a word. She stood on her own, no longer talking to anyone. She was at a loss just like him.

"Ms. Green," he called but she barely looked at him. "First thing I'll do when I come back is find her. And I will bring her back."

Veronica saw his honesty. She learned to recognize it by now. She truly appreciated to what extent he was going to go to just get everyone back, especially her daughter. It was hard to believe that she hated him before. She wanted nothing to do with him, she wanted her daughter far away from him because she firmly believed that he wouldn't be good for Belén. And now there he was risking his life not only for Belén but for an entire city. She had shamefully judged him wrongly.

"Just...just come back, Barry. Start with that." Because the last thing she wanted was for him to get hurt too.

"All right, then. Here we go," Harry began to activate the Particle Accelerator.

The others gathered around the steps where Veronica was, but their fears rose when the ground began to rumble like an earthquake was about to strike.

"Particles are becoming unstable. Ramon, get ready!" Harry shouted through the comms. "I'm gonna release the chemicals into his system!"

And as promised, Barry began to feel every last injection spiking his body. The pain seem to increased with each injection but he was still adamant this was the only way.

"Why are you doing that!?" Iris was close to tears.

"Because the night Barry was struck by lightning, he was doing fingerprint analysis. Those chemicals got in his system then, and they are going in now."

"So you're injecting them into him!?"

"We have to recreate everything that happened to Barry that night!"

Even though Barry called out to them that he was fine, it was hard to sustain the lie.

"He's going hydrostatic. Almost there. Almost there!" Harry kept a close eye on the monitor.

"Wells!" Joe was close to shutting everything off.

"Ready, Ramon? Now!"

From the rooftop, Cisco took in a breath and raised the rod up. "Expecto Patronum!" he shut his eyes and prayed to god he wouldn't turn into ash in the next second. He felt the lightning clap down but it skipped and transferred right into the satellite. "Great Scott! It's working!"

"Initiating collision!" Harry turned the last switch and let the rest take its course.

A great release of smoke blasted from the machine, followed by a throw of its same energy that pushed everyone backwards to the floor. As they came through, the machine died down.

Harry was the first to get back on his feet. "It worked!" He cheered

Joe helped Iris up and looked to the others. "Is everyone okay?"

Now they awaited for Barry to give the 'ok!' from his spot. The waited for the smoke to clear out, but when it did they saw no Barry...just a tattered piece of his suit.

"No! No. What did you do to my son?" Henry turned on Harry, assuming the worst. There was no where for Barry to go and if that was true...

Zoom sped into the room and taunted them for their failure. "You thought you could give the Flash his speed back? Well done. You killed him instead!"

He had won.

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

[saiilorstars]

Ch.27:  An Unlikely Alliance

Pairings: Barry Allen x OFC

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

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

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Cisco had never felt so much pent rage than when he held something belonging to Jay...or Hunter. "I really wish we didn't have to keep Jay's helmet around. I hate this thing. Just want to put a dent in it." He stared down at the silver helmet in his hands and wondered just how far away he could chuck it.

"Cisco, did you see Caitlin in your vibe?" Barry set him back on the topic. No one liked keeping anything of Jay's but it was the only thing connecting them to Caitlin.

"Zoom's got her in his lair. She's scared, but she's okay," Cisco let the helmet drop on the nearest table.

"Well thank God for that," Belén sighed. "So now we have to think of a way to get her back."

"But without his speed, there's no way any of us can get through that breach that Cisco found at the hospital," Joe discarded anything. "I just don't think there's anything we can do right now."

"Look, Shivhan and I are more than ready to go through that breach," Belén reminded them, frowning since they kept throwing the idea out. It's not that she didn't understand why but...time was really beginning to dwindle. Plus, she had a score to settle with Datura since the doppelganger had made a clean getaway to Earth-2 with Poison Ivy. She took advantage of all the chaos and easily got her partner out of the pipeline. She'd also taken the siphoning device Harry had made for Barry's speed. For what, only God knew.

"It's too dangerous," Barry shook his head. "He's too fast, especially now."

"Not to mention it's far too dangerous," Veronica made sure her opinion on the matter was heard loud and clear. "You will not be going anywhere near a breach, Annah-Belén."

"Legal name, yikes," Cisco made a joke at Belén who retaliated with a deep glare.

"Mom, we don't have the luxury of options here—"

"I'm sorry, I still can't get over the fact this is even on the table," Veronica took an accusatory glance at the others. "That doppelganger got her stupid partner out of the pipeline and we know she's coming right back for you, Belén."

"And I'm not alone, Mom. If you haven't noticed, I'm surrounded by people," Belén gestured to the group. "Plus, I have more allies in the Green. They're helping me train just as I'm helping them train. I'm not backing down."

"So far no one has opened up the breeches again. We think Zoom's probably basking in his recent glory. We still have time," Barry spoke up to ease some of the tension between Belén and her mother.

Veronica made a series of hand motions but her frustration didn't exactly get across. "This is stupid. You are in danger, Belén. We all are!" she told the rest but of course it wasn't big news anymore.

Belén softened and moved around the desk to meet her mother. "Mom, why don't you leave the city of a while? I would completely understand it. Maybe you can join Axel in Italy."

"If you think I am leaving you alone you've got another thing coming," Veronica outright refused the idea. "I want to see each and every one of you-" her finger went from Cisco to Barry to Joe, "-coming up with plans on how to stop these awful people."

"That we promise to do," Barry assured her.

"Don't see how," Harry came in with a hasty movement from one table to the next. He was gathering things up. "Allen here gave Zoom everything he wanted. Practically on a silver platter."

"Enough," Joe shut him down. "We're all suffering here."

Harry barely stopped to come back. "That's right. That's right, Detective. We're all suffering. We've lost Snow, you've—" he threw a sharp point at Barry, "—lost your speed, and now... now Zoom can come through that breach anytime he wants. And that, Allen... that's on you."

"You're acting like we wanted to do all this," Belén scowled. "You were there, you saw how things went down. What were we supposed to do, hm?"

Harry shook her words and grabbed his usual choice of weapons and slung it over his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Veronica glowered. The man was not about to run off on them, oh no.

"I'm gonna go find Jesse before Zoom does... again."

"Wait, you found her?" Cisco blinked. "How?"

"Cellular dead zones, remote... People from my Earth vibrate at a different frequency than people from your Earth. They leave cellular dead zones wherever they go."

"That's why I'm always dropping calls around you?"

"Cisco," Belén made him drop all jokes in his mind. "So how exactly did these dead zone things help you find Jesse?"

"I track the dead zones created by Jesse since she got here and I follow the trail. It's easy."

"Mm, and is the gun just a decorative item there or…?"

"The gun is not for my daughter. She's not the only person from a different Earth hiding out on this one If I run into them, I'm gonna need this."

"Okay, but you're also gonna need some help," Cisco said with the actual intention to help him.

"Really? You know anyone with the speed to help me, Ramon?" Harry left with that sarcasm departure.

"Please don't even bother to listen to him, Barry," Belén sot him a warning look since he refused to agree. "He knows he has me, Cisco, Shivhan and Nina to help with anything meta related. He's not alone, he chooses to be."

"Excellent words," Cisco gave her a small smile. "I'll be in my workshop...trying to come up with ideas." He dared to believe as he walked out.

"We should go too," Joe waited for Veronica to (begrudgingly) agree.

"Fine," but she neared her daughter again before leaving. "You need anything you call me, okay?"

Belén nodded her head, deciding to just give that simple thing to her mother. "I will, thanks."

"You need a ride back to the station?" Joe asked from Barry but he was already heading for one of the side rooms with the intention of staying.

"No, I'm good. I'm gonna stick around, actually. Finished all my cases this morning," Barry languidly informed them.

"Damn, that was fast," Joe blurted and instantly received looks from Belén and Veronica. "That was a poor choice of words. You do know it's okay to ease back into the way you used to do things, right?"

The words didn't seem to register with Barry. "Well, this is the only way I can fight crime. If I'm not The Flash, that's what I got to do." He gave them a weak wave and finally disappeared into the room.

~0~

Caitlin felt her stomach rumble with actual pain but as much as she looked at the plate of food in front of her, the will to touch it never came. She took to staring at the rust cuffs binding her wrists together.

"You need to eat," Zoom appeared in the room, but Caitlin took no acknowledgement. "Caitlin."

"If you want to speak to me, then take off that mask," she muttered.

Zoom sped out of the room and returned all in the same second, but dressed in his regular clothes. "Does this make you feel better?"

Caitlin couldn't believe he was genuinely asking her that. "Nothing you could ever do would make me feel better."

"You don't need to be afraid. I'm not gonna hurt you. I care too much about you to do that."

Caitlin could almost laugh in his face if it wasn't for the shackles keeping her back. "You only care about yourself... Hunter."

He suddenly heard the echoes of his mother screaming just as she was killed. It was like a reflex when he heard his true name, it's why he didn't use it. He shook the images off. "I know you think that I'm a monster. I understand why. But that'll change. Please, Cait…"

"Do not call me that!" Caitlin snapped, almost disgusted. "Why are you keeping me here? You're cured. You don't need me for anything."

"You're here because I love you. It may take a while, but someday, you'll start feeling that way about me again, too." He approached her bedside and vibrated a hand through her shackles, breaking them. "Make yourself at home. You're gonna be here a while. Okay?"

Caitlin was glad when he left. If he thought she was just gonna stay put and be prisoner, he had another thing coming. She got up and started walking through the only available passageway. The sounds of distant tapping caught her attention and when she matched the noise to a prisoner behind a metal mask, she didn't know what to make of it.

"I-I don't understand…" Caitlin took a step back.

"Look at that, we've got a new prison mate," a familiar voice called out to her from behind.

Caitlin whirled around to find two additional prisoners stuck behind another glass wall. Datura and Poison Ivy sat on the ground side by side with identical smirks.

"But she gets benefits for sleeping with the enemy," Poison Ivy mirthlessly laughed with her friend.

Caitlin was frozen to her spot, unsure of her next move.

~0~

"Hey..." Iris barely knocked against the slightly opened door of Scott's office. The editor was already waiting for her. He silently motioned for her to come in and take a seat. She did so quietly and noticed the opened laptop in front of him. "Um, was there something wrong with my last article?" Iris asked when he turned the laptop around for her. Before her eyes could truly focus on the screen, Scott started talking.

"Are you aware of these videos that have been circling the internet?" He pressed the 'play' button before Iris could come up with an answer.

She was mighty surprised to find Shivhan - Black Orchid - staring back at her. She stood in front of the camera, God knew where. "Central City, my name's Black Orchid for those who still don't know me. I work with the Azalea and occasionally the Flash. Recently, a civilian posted an article concerning my botanical sisters and brothers. Her name is Belén Palayta. The article helped many of my sisters and brothers have recently been able to come together in the place we know as 'the Green'. It's the source of our botanical powers. There's so many new metas that have managed to find their way into this place and find the help they need. Some of them have trained with the Azalea, others have found shelters through connections. Many of them have been able to hide better from Datura. This reporter has helped us so much but instead of being praised for what she did, CC Pictures has suspended her indefinitely. She might be fired. She helped a whole community and this is what she gets in return. I ask you, is that fair? Is that justice? Before you make that decision, I ask you to watch my sisters' and brothers' videos."

Scott paused the video there and pushed the laptop to the side. Iris swallowed when he met her gaze. He was searching for something but she didn't know what, not until he went directly for it. "Did you know about this?"

"I...no, not at all," Iris shook her head, eyes wide with genuine shock. She couldn't believe Shivhan would do something like this — no, wait, she did. It was exactly something Shivhan would do. She just couldn't believe this is how they were finding out. Oh, what would Belén say about this?

"There's more videos like this one," Scott tapped the top of the laptop. "More of these...metas. All of them coming together for Miss Palayta."

Iris frowned immediately when she got what he was trying to say. "What...you don't think Belén made them do it, do you?"

"Well since she had the genius idea of going rogue on us—"

"The only reason she went behind your back and published the article is because she wanted to help those metas. And you heard what Black Orchid said. The article did help a lot of metas come together in that place. It's what Belén wanted from the start but you didn't see it. You couldn't!"

Scott's face hardened. "If this is about my views on metas—"

"No, actually, it's not. It's about the fact you didn't see what Belén was trying to do from the start. This city is under threat and we need to do everything we can to help out the metas. I mean, if the Azalea and the Flash do it why can't we?"

"Iris, this...this puts CC Pictures under fire," Scott brought the laptop between them. He turned it over for a moment to bring up a few more videos. "All these metas are shooting at us for putting Miss Palayta on suspension. There's already thousands of responses."

"I'm sorry if this puts you in a difficult position but I, for one, think that Black Orchid makes a point." Iris winced when Scott scoffed at her.

"Of course you do—"

"It's not because of my friendship," Iris snapped. "If I had the knowledge that Belén had at that moment...I would've done the same thing. I would've published the article too. People are in danger, Scott, and it's our responsibility as reporters to give out all the information to help our citizens. And that's exactly what Belén did. I suggest you go through Black Orchid's and the other metas' videos and hopefully see what they're trying to say." Iris got up from her seat and walked out of the office without looking back.

You've done it now, Shivhan.

~ 0 ~

"You need to stop watching the news," Belén sighed as she took the remote from Barry and turned the television off. He had taken to watching every news channel to see what the city was saying about the Flash's disappearance. He did at home and in the cortex.

"Everybody's gonna realize sooner or later that I don't have my speed…" Barry tried taking the remote from her again but she moved around the desk to dump it in a drawer.

"That's not the concern right now, alright? We just need to figure out a way to get your speed back, which we will do."

"Good news is the city isn't entirely alone," Barry felt some relief knowing that he hadn't left the city defenseless. Belén was doing everything she could to keep the city safe and it really helped having Shivhan too. Nina was even helping as well.

"Exactly," Belén smiled at him and walked back to his side. She draped her arms over his shoulders, leaning on him. "Please...relax, just for a bit."

Barry could barely chuckle at the joke. Relaxing was something far, far from their reach. "I know you're focusing on me but, are you okay?"

Belén knew what he meant. Had CC Pictures called her yet? They hadn't. She admitted that it was a little concerning that it was taking them this long to make a decision over her job status. Maybe they were gearing towards firing her. Belén preferred not to think about it so much. If she got fired, then she got fired. So be it. She wouldn't regret her choice even if that happened.

"It's fine, I'm fine," she assured him, going on her toes for a second to kiss him...when an alarm startled them.

"What is that?" Barry looked around to see if anything came up on the screens.

"It's mine!" Cisco came rushing in from the hallway. "It's mine! It's mine!" He plopped down at the desk and opened up the specific page with the alarm.

"Uh, you installed a new alarm?" Belén raised an eyebrow. "I'm losing count for all the different ones you have, Cisco."

Cisco made a face at her small joke and searched through the computer for the origin of the alarm. "It's Harry. The camera in the lab van recorded an accident." He pulled up the video to the screen for them to all see. "See, this is my version of crash assist. It's like those Russian dash cams, but, you know, without attack helicopters and bad pop music on the radio."

In the video they could see Harry apparently crashing and then being yanked out of the car by some man.

"That does not look like an accident," Barry frowned after they saw the man pull the car door off the van. "First Caitlin's taken, now Wells."

"This is where he got taken, but there aren't any traffic cams in that area," Cisco said after looking through the angle of the location.

"I'm gonna head out there, see what I can find," Barry went to grab his jacket off a nearby chair.

"I'll come with," Belén offered herself. "Unless Cisco wants to go…?" She thought perhaps the more qualified person would want to go but Cisco shook his head.

"I need to analyze this footage and see if we can figure out who this is."

"So you're stuck with meee," Belén gave Barry a big smile.

"Not quite a punishment," Barry smirked. He allowed her to walk out first but he stopped by the desk where Cisco was already deep into work. "What was the last place the van stopped?"

"Woodmen and Shore for about 15 minutes before heading back to Central City. Why?"

"That's where Jesse must be. She should know if something's happened to her dad," Barry left that task to Cisco.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin knew there was no way in hell Datura was ever like Belén, and yet she couldn't look away…

"If it wasn't for the carbine wall between us, I'd wipe that look off your face," Datura was still sitting on the ground next to Poison Ivy.

Caitlin blinked, becoming self conscious, and looked away. "Sorry."

"I can't believe this is Killer Frost's doppelganger," Poison Ivy gave a condescending stare-over at Caitlin. "It almost makes me miss the icy bitch."

Datura lightly chuckled and glanced sideways. "I'm right here," she said with Killer Frost's voice and blue eyes.

Poison Ivy laughed louder.

"How do you do that?" Caitlin asked, knowing the wall would keep her safe, she inched closer to the prison.

"Afraid, Caity?" Datura mocked her with Killer Frost's voice again. But just as she asked, she gasped and shook her head. She brought a gloved hand to her forehead and took a moment to gather herself again.

All this Caitlin saw and added to her mental notes for the cure. "You're sick…"

"Tell us something we don't know," Poison Ivy glowered. She put an arm around Datura and gently laid her head against the wall. "You're getting a nose bleed. Move your head low."

"I know," Datura harshly pushed Poison Ivy's hands away from her but followed the instruction nonetheless. She lowered her head and gently squeezed her nose.

"She needs help," Caitlin knew that help wasn't exactly being offered at the moment.

"We know that, idiot," Poison Ivy stood up and walked up to the wall. "But Zoom's punishing her for not siphoning the Flash's speed."

"So why are you in there?"

"I defended her."

Caitlin thought she could at least respect the loyalty between the two metas. "If she would have listened to my friends, they're working on the cure. It doesn't look like she's got time to waste."

"I know that. I know everything about it!" Poison Ivy snapped, obviously frustrated with the repeat of information. "So here's where we strike a deal, Caitlin. Get us out of this thing-" she pointed at their cell, "-and we'll take you right on home."

Before Caitlin had time to process the deal, Datura gave a loud 'hell no!' in return.

"I am not getting their stupid help!"

"Be quiet," Poison Ivy snapped at her. "We're making a deal so that you can live." She returned her gaze to Caitlin and waited for an answer. "If the cure's still on the table, we'll definitely get you home. Do we have a deal?"

Caitlin's eyes flickered from the ginger woman to Datura behind. She knew these women were dangerous and yet...they were her only option to get home.

~ 0 ~

"You are so dead," Iris met Shivhan at Jitters just as the latter was about to drink from her cup.

Shivhan lowered her mug to shoot Iris a look. "It's normal for people to just 'hey' when you meet them."

Iris rolled her eyes and sat across her. "My editor just showed me your little video stunt."

"Ah," Shivhan actually beamed. She put her mug down on the table. "What did he say? Is he mad?"

"Yeah, kinda!"

"Good! Maybe now he'll realize what an ass he was!"

"Shivhan, what were you thinking?" Iris shook her head at the woman. She respected Shivhan's brash way of doing things but she couldn't see this one ending well with Belén. "When Belén finds out what you did, she's going to kill you."

"What for? I'm helping her! Have you seen all the responses our videos have gotten?"

Iris sighed without answering. She had. After leaving Scott's office, she went searching for those videos. Black Orchid had gotten so many botanical metas to do the same types of videos asking for the public to help Belén out. They told their stories of how Belén's article had helped them out and how it was unfair what was happening to her. "Look...it was...moving, but I don't think this is what Belén wanted. She didn't do it to get noticed."

"I know that," snapped Shivhan, almost offended that Iris thought she believed that. As if she didn't know Belén already. "That's why I didn't tell her anything. It's why I also made the second video telling them why I kept the Azalea and the Flash out of the loop. I didn't want it to seem like they were playing favorites. I thought about it, Iris, and I knew that this would end either two ways. Both ways benefit Belén."

"How?" Iris was curious to hear of Shivhan's conclusions. She had an odd way of thinking that sometimes made things slightly more interesting.

"Well, path 'a' ends with CC Pictures offering Belén her job back. She gets to go back to work with you and the others, blah, blah, blah. Path 'b' has CC Pictures terminating her job-"

Iris' eyes widened. "Shivhan!"

"-and some other newspaper publisher will hire her," Shivhan said in a matter-of-fact tone that Iris almost felt the need to laugh. She was so casual about things despite all the rumble she was causing on the internet.

"You're sure about that?"

"Of course. After all this passes, another site will think Belén did the right thing and they'll want her working for them. So you see, either way Belén wins. Bonus if she gets another offer and CC Pictures is offering her the same job at the same time. She gets choices."

"Alright, fine," Iris raised her hands to show she was defeated. "But you get to tell her what you did. I'm not getting anywhere near close to that."

~ 0 ~

Belén tired of staring at an empty roadside that just screamed metahuman attack. She could see from around the crushed STAR Labs van that Barry was getting something off the yanked driver's door.

"There's nothing around here that could've caused that-" she pointed at the front part of the van which was just totaled, "-sort of accident. Not even a single car!"

"Well it had to be something strong enough to exert an equal amount of force back on the van," Barry went over to examine the front part of the van. As soon as he ducked he saw a splatter of dry blood. "Someone was definitely here, though!" He rushed back to his kit to retrieve the required tool.

"Not a detective, nor a forensics, but I knew that," Belén promised and nodded her head. "I also know it was a metahuman."

Barry smiled for a split moment before he returned to take some of the blood off. "If it's a meta that's after Wells…"

"Then they could be from Earth-2," Belén quickly sobered back. "But why wait this whole time? Or...do you think they were sent?"

"I don't know," and it really killed Barry being at such a disadvantage. "We've got to get Jesse, though. She needs to know."

"Yeah," Belén agreed. That should be interesting.

~0~

Finding Jesse was no big deal, bringing her back to STAR Labs and showing her what happened to her father was.

"I never should have left," Jesse wiped away some tears at the corner of her eyes. She looked away from the computer. "Do we know what took him?"

Cisco stood across the cortex, indicating them he had found something. "That fingerprint that you guys brought in, the one from the van, belongs to this guy." He pulled up a picture of a young teen on the computer.

Belén instantly made a face. "Griffin Grey. A senior at Central City High School?"

Even Barry was making a similar expression. "No, wait, I've seen this kid's picture before. He went missing, like, six months ago."

"But he's not the guy from the video," Belén waited for someone to say she was right.

Cisco was gleeful with the discovery he had made earlier. "That's what I thought at first, but feast your eyes on this." He pulled up a screenshotted picture of the kidnapper and meshed it with that of the teenager. It was a perfect match.

"It's the same guy?" Jesse tilted her head and raked the detailed information on the side of the screen.

"Yeah, the blood sample confirms it."

"I need a scientific explanation and I need it now," Belén crossed her arms, endlessly staring at the picture.

"I wish," Cisco sighed. "Without Caitlin here, I can't really analyze the cells on a molecular level to see what we're dealing with here."

Jesse cleared her throat, attracting the looks of everyone else. "You know, I might actually be able to help. Bio-chem was one of my majors in college."

"One of your majors?" Barry caught on fast. "How many did you have?"

"Five," Jesse answered and became self-conscious of the gaping stares she got. "What, is that not common here?"

"That is not common anywhere," Belén patted her arm and tried not to laugh.

"All right, let's search for that Grey, see what we come up with. I'll see if facial recognition brings him up and I'll have Joe check CCPD's database," Barry made a motion to the side room he'd taken as refuge after giving up his speed.

"Cool. See what you can do," Cisco took Jesse back to the main desk.

At the same time, Belén heard her phone go off inside her bag. She went to the desk after the other two and saw it was a text.

"Uh…" she made a curious face at the sender.

Cisco was the first to notice and purposely made a 'yikes!' out loud. She then shot him a look to calm down.

"Is it someone we need to worry about?"

Belén rolled her eyes. "It's Wally."

"Wally?" both Cisco and Jesse repeated, equally confused.

"I don't even know how he got my number," Belén looked over the text again. "But he wants to meet me, apparently."

"What about?" asked Cisco.

Belén shrugged. "Wish I knew." She leaned in the direction Barry was in and saw he was concentrated in his work. "Will you let me know if you find anything?" she quietly asked of Cisco.

"For sure," the meta nodded.

"Thanks," Belén grabbed her bag and waved them goodbye.

~ 0 ~

Poison Ivy handed Datura a silver device that the brunette quickly hid in one of her pockets. Caitlin returned with a thick wire in hand that was presumed to be able to break down the carbine wall.

"Tick tock, tick tock," Poison Ivy urged her keep working.

Caitlin rolled her eyes. "I'm going as fast as I can."

"Well, you better go faster. Zoom will be back any minute."

"I could just leave you in there, you know."

That was where Datura interrupted to laugh. "But we both know you wouldn't because 1) you want to go home so badly and 2) I have your family's face."

Caitlin hated she was right. As evil as Datura was, she still had Belén's face and that stopped her from any killing thoughts. "You should count your blessings Zoom didn't just kill you already."

"Only reason I'm still alive is because of these powers, honey," Datura rolled her eyes. "I'm nothing but an asset to him."

"But if you don't get cured you'll die," Caitlin made a face at the logic.

"He's punishing me. I promised I would siphon the Flash's speed and I didn't follow through. Now he's toying with my life to show who's in charge."

"Men and their dominance," Poison Ivy growled Caitlin had to agree there. "Hurry up!" Ivy hissed when we saw Caitlin just staring at her friend.

Caitlin flinched and did just that, but her eyes kept flickering to the two metas. "You two are close, right? Did what happen to both of you happen in the same place?"

"No," Poison Ivy responded, finding no point in this conversation but since Caitlin had returned to work she would let it slide. "I was a botanist, tricked by my own boss and nearly murdered."

Caitlin froze for a second but seeing the woman's glare she set right back to work. "I'm sorry for that."

"Bastard thought he could get rid of me by poisoning me but instead I was given powers," Poison Ivy devilishly smiled. "Boy was he surprised."

Caitlin gulped, knowing exactly how that story ended. "So then your powers didn't come from the Particle Accelerator…"

"No, she was known way before that," Datura smiled at her ginger friend. "I used to be scared of you. Barry would come home and tell me of the newest crime you would do."

"I was bored, sue me," Poison Ivy shrugged ever so casually.

"What about you?" Caitlin directed the same question now to Datura.

"No one's told you?" Datura quirked an eyebrow upwards. "I thought I was the major story in your group."

"I want to hear it from you," Caitlin bit her lip. "So I know how best we can help you."

"I don't need your help-"

"But you're gonna get it!" Caitlin, frustrated, shouted out. "Have you been so far gone out that you forgot what it's like to have people who care about you?"

Datura did not like where this was going and made a move to stand. "Hey—"

"I don't want to hear it!" Caitlin dropped the second wire she'd brought over. "Now you listen to me, you want me to help you escape? Fine. But here's my end of the deal. You're gonna come back with me and you're gonna let us cure you."

Datura laughed purposely loud. "You're joking—"

"I don't have to joke about someone's life!" It was her oath she took as a doctor. This woman was sick, she had Belén's face, and she was dying. She couldn't let that happen if she had a way to stop it. "And if you don't agree then this entire thing stops here." She stepped away from the tools as a show that she wasn't kidding.

Datura raised an eyebrow at her, expecting her to back down.

Caitlin never did.

~0~

"Hey, Wally," Belén greeted the younger man outside Jitters. He looked nervous, too nervous, and it made Belén wonder what was going on. She'd never met Wally without Iris around. She was so confused why he had called just her.

"Hey, Belén," Wally gave a weak wave with her hand.

"Do you wanna go in?" Belén motioned to the shop.

"Uh, actually this won't take long," Wally said, still withholding his nervous smile.

"Is something wrong, Wally?" Belén began to worry there was something he was hiding, maybe even from his family. "Do you need help? Should I call Iris!?"

Seeing her panic, Wally quickly shot down the idea. "I'm okay! I just...I read your latest article...and…"

Belén swallowed. "Yeah."

"Yeah, it made me realize that I think I need you," Wally put his hands together, rubbing his palms together. "I want to speak with the Flash, and...since it's pretty much established you know him...I thought you could help me."

Belén was speechless for all of two minutes. She assumed he had already tried this with someone else because they weren't that close for him to be asking this sort of favor from her. "Um...I don't...I don't know if I can do that, Wally. I...I haven't even, uh, seen him anymore…" she thought the lie would make her look more convincing.

"I would imagine. He saved my life, and I know he saved yours too. I owe him a thank you."

"I'm sure he knows that," Belén said softly, though she was beginning to see this was a lost a battle. He'd hit close to heart.

"Look. I've been reckless my whole life. Racing cars, pushing limits. I did everything at full speed without a care in the world," Wally said, pausing, actually feeling the wasted time. "But it wasn't until Zoom took me that... that I really thought I was gonna die. And I was going to die, if the Flash didn't do what he did. He gave up his powers to save me. A guy he didn't even know. No one's ever done anything like that for me before. I need to tell him how much that means to me."

"He has a way of getting to you, that one," Belén mumbled under her breath. She gazed at Wally again and couldn't take his pleading look. "Agh, fine! I'll...I'll see what I can do."

Wally beamed. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome. But if your Dad kills me I'm putting you on the front line," she playfully warned and Wally chuckled. Hearing her phone, she motioned she needed to go and turned back for her car. As she walked, she pulled out her phone to see the probable S.O.S and, instead of being upset she promised she would scold.

Oh, she would scold.

~0~

"Where the hell is he?" Belén strode right into the cortex and planted her bag on the desk, causing Jesse beside her to flinch. "And why the hell did you lie and say you would call me if you found anything?" she found Cisco first as he walked out the side room.

"Hey, I tried doing my job but he-" Cisco pointed to Barry coming out behind, "-said we had it."

Belén wasn't even surprised. "And did you 'have it'?"

"It...no, we did not." Cisco made a quick beeline for the main desk.

"You might as well save it because I said the same thing," Joe admitted and Belén did notice the similar annoyed look on his face.

"It's done, alright?" Barry said for everyone's benefit. "It was supposed to be a quick in and out plan."

Belén moved towards him, the scolding gone and replaced with concern. "What happened to you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just bruised…" Barry thought over his statement and added, "... everywhere."

Belén tried to hug him but he indicated his ribcage was one of those bruised parts. She got on her toes and simply placed a kiss on his lips. "Try anything like that again and I will go full-on poison on you."

"Message received," Barry tried to hide his smile as best he could.

"Guys, I got the results from the DNA sample I ran through," Jesse called them back to the main desk. "His genes have actually mutated. The functional myostatin in his cells is essentially gone. I mean, giving him super-strength."

"And there's something else," Barry admitted, his eyes just a bit wide as he remembered his brawl with Grey. "Um, I saw him age. Right in front of me."

Jesse knew exactly what the reason for that was. "He's suffering from oxidated stress. It means the protein in the DNA in his body are being ravaged by oxidants."

"So, what, he needs to up his blueberry intake?" Joe carelessly asked since her statement had made no sense.

Jesse chuckled lightly. "No, it means, uh, the more he exerts himself, the faster he ages."

"So, theoretically, if we can get him to exert too much energy...he'd become old and weak?" Belén was already thinking on how to make that possible.

"So how exactly do we do that?" Joe went again and stopped Barry when he saw him opening his mouth. "I can't watch you be a human punching bag until he turns into Grandpa Simpson."

"It's simple, actually," Belén spoke up with a small smile. "I call Shivhan and we make it a ladies' night."

"Bells, you haven't seen this guy, he's really strong," Barry shook his head at her.

"No offence but I think I would bear less injuries than you at the moment," she patted his arm and turned to Cisco. "Shivhan and I can be in the field. Can you guys monitor?"

"We can, yeah," Cisco nodded though threw a cautious look to Barry.

Belén of course noticed it and sighed. "Hey, if you three can go without powers then I sure as hell can go with Shivhan to get this guy. It's not up for discussion." And even if she sounded rude, she didn't care. At the moment, no matter how grim things were, this was the only way. "Cisco?"

"On it, yeah! I'll get Shivhan down here!"

Belén thanked him but noticed Barry silently dispersing from the group. She felt guilty for her outburst and glanced at the others, asking for a moment without actually saying it.

"Barry, I'm sorry for that…" she went after him. He'd taken to staring at his suit, one hand gently rubbing his ribcage since it still hurt. "I didn't mean to sound...well, rude. I know it's hard right now, I just...I'm sorry."

Barry briefly looked away from his suit and saw her genuine sorrow expression. He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It's not your fault."

"I should be more cautious though…"

Barry shook his head and held onto her hand. "It's not you, Bells. It's me." Belén withheld the fact that she knew it was about him. "You know, after I woke up from the coma, I didn't know what the hell was going on. All I knew was that I somehow had saved Iris from a car crash and that I moved pretty fast. It wasn't until the night where I told you that I would help you that I realized what I could do. We started because of that suit…"

"We didn't start because of the suit," Belén corrected him with a small chuckle, "We started because of you."

"But helping you is what made me realize what I could be," Barry amended his mistake. "You gave me my purpose but now...I don't even know who I am anymore or who I'm supposed to be."

"You know who you're supposed to be," Belén smiled to herself. She couldn't count the many times she had to repeat something like this to him. "That—" she jabbed a finger of her free hand on his arm, "—is also not up for discussion. It's your drive to help people that made you who you are." When she saw his usual smile on her face she knew he would be alright. "I love you, Barry Allen, but you need to stop saying nonsense, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," Barry said without hesitation. His reward was a nice kiss.

~ 0 ~

"You know, even though you're not Killer Frost, you have got something like her," Datura had not given Caitlin a rest since she'd been practically forced to agree to the new deal.

"Don't insult me, please," Caitlin mumbled.

"She hated you, you know. Despised you…"

Caitlin ignored her and plugged in the last bit of wire. "I think it's done."

"And what exactly is this going to do?" Poison Ivy stepped up beside Datura.

"The electrical current in the cable should heat up the carbine, which in turn should speed up the electrons and the faster they go the weaker its molecular structure becomes," Caitlin stepped around the wires on he ground. "And when it gets hot enough, it should make the carbine as fragile as glass."

"And then we can all get out of here," Poison Ivy smiled. "What do you know, you might be more useful than your doppelganger."

"That I will take," Caitlin smirked. "Stay away from the wall. Let's give it a whirl."

Datura and Poison Ivy stepped backwards until they were against the wall. Caitlin moved back to the small device she had found and (hopefully) turned into what they needed. There was a loud whir coming from it and an electrical current that zipped through the wires and shattered the glass of the prison. Caitlin couldn't help laugh at her work. She'd done so much with so little...and now she would finally be going home!

"Not as stupid as you seem," Datura remarked as she walked over the btis of glass. "Now that cure, then? Do you have a way already?"

Caitlin made a face indicating she wasn't all the way there. "Not exactly. I have your blood that our Belén got from you during your last fight. I was just about to look at it and compare it to hers."

"You wouldn't have to," Poison Ivy remarked. "They're a perfect match."

Datura began to pull off her gloves then, attracting a curious look from Caitlin. "Except for the part where my cells aren't stabilizing. With each new power I take, the more unstabilized my body is."

"What are you…?" Caitlin barely got the words in when Zoom sped into the room, startling her. She whirled around, scared but not for her. "Don't you hurt them."

"He won't hurt us," Datura said, completely calm despite having the speedster's murderous glare set on her. The woman had dropped her gloves and held her bare hands out. "You might be fast but I have the power to freeze your ass now, literally."

"You want to test me?" Zoom growled and stepped forwards.

"I just want my cure," Datura stood her ground as well. "And I already have a way to get it." Caitlin gaped when Datura took out Harry's siphoning device from her pocket. "Poison Ivy and I can turn this so that I can use it against my doppelganger. And then, we might even be able to turn it so that you could get more speed."

"What are you doing?" Caitlin frowned.

"There are other earths and we know that," Datura continued on like Caitlin wasn't demanding questions from her on the side. "If we get this device to work on my doppelganger and I stabilize myself, then I can siphon Reverb's doppelganger's powers and open up portals to the other Earths. More Earths mean more speed. How would you like to rule planets now?"

"We had a deal!" Caitlin exclaimed.

"A deal you stupidly thought I agreed to," Datura rolled her eyes. "So, what do you say, Zoom? Take me back to Earth 1 and let me open the doors to the rest of the Earths for you."

Caitlin had hot tears in her eyes as she looked between Datura and Zoom.

~ 0 ~

A figure gracefully flew over a ferris wheel and stayed in place as she called the area out. She then raised a white gloves hand to her ear. "I don't see anything from my end," Nina reported.

Below walked Belén with keen eyes on the turned-off amusement rides. "Same here. Although some light wouldn't be so bad. Did you guys get ahold of Shivhan?"

"No, sorry," Cisco said. Shivhan hadn't answered their calls to come help so they had to ask Nina instead. She wasn't all that willing but knowing there was no one else, she came in.

"Well looks like you'll be getting it soon," Barry's voice rang in both women's earpieces. He and Cisco were monitoring them from the STAR Labs van parked not too far away. Jesse was with them as well since she refused to stay back this time.

"Grey's headed your way, Bells," Barry quickly added.

"Show time," Nina quickly dove to hide behind a ride.

Belén stayed put and allowed herself to be caught. Griffin Grey was a middle aged man and looked absolutely normal for those who didn't know his deal.

"I know you," Grey stated. "You work with the Flash."

"Always nice to meet a fan," Belén regretted those words as soon as they left her mouth. Truthfully, Captain Cold was a man smooth with words. Funny, he'd sort of disappeared as of late. Belén shook her head. This was not the moment to think about that. She took a step forwards and called back. "I just want Dr. Wells. You had a run-in with some friends of mine and while I'm unhappy with the results, I'll let it go so long as you give me Wells."

"I wanted him to fix me but apparently he can't," Grey bitterly returned. "So once I finish you, I'm gonna finish him."

"No," Belén calmly said like she was turning down a coffee.

"Have it your way," Grey reached over and picked up a miniature amusement ride car and threw it directly at her.

Belén disbanded into vines and disappeared. Nina then shot up into the air and produced a blast of energy from her hands that zipped down. Grey was hit and rolled on the ground to a stop, but that didn't prevent him for much long.

"Come and catch me," Nina mocked a salute and purposely stayed put. She watched as he grabbed a barrel of trash and chucked it her way.

"Wow, you missed twice in a row," Belén had reappeared behind Grey. "Let me guess, you weren't a baseball player?"

Grey growled with annoyance and grabbed the closest thing possible. Belén smiled to herself when he threw a construction piece her way. Her vines entangled hin and brought him to her.

Soon as he was close enough, Belén punched him across the face. "Now catch us!" She let him and disbanded in vines again. Nina waved in the air and flew off in the direction Belén had gone off in.

"He's definitely following you guys," Cisco informed the two women from the monitors. "And he's definitely aged."

Belén had regained her figure and now walked alongside the shut-off ferris wheel. "Yeah, well, I don't feel pretty good about making him mad."

"Oh, but that wasn't a problem yesterday when you swore I moved your cell phone," came Barry's bitter remark.

"I apologized for that," Belén calmly said, although half of her did regret cursing at him for the cell phone. She found her bag had a rip inside and that's where her cellphone decided to hide out.

"Three words after a whole paragraph of cursing at me?" Barry scoffed.

"Do you want to do this maybe at another time?" Belén had spotted a figure not too far away from her. "Maybe when we're not dealing with Mr. Incredible?" Cisco laughed in the background.

"Sorry, Bells. He's coming over to you," Barry saw the man (or teen) passing the Ferris Wheel on the other side. "Nina? You ready?"

"Ready!" Nina exclaimed.

He flicked on the lights of the Ferris wheel and momentarily blinded Grey with it. Nina started pelting him with repeated wind blasts. She stopped when Grey got over the lights and prepared to receive his attack. Just as predicted, he threw her the actual control panel of the Ferris wheel which she barely avoided.

Two lassos made of vines snapped on either side of Grey, alerting of the second meta presence. He whirled around, revealing to be a white haired man now.

"Definitely almost there," Belén said, instantly taken aback by it.

It was the second of distraction Grey needed. A metal piece of fence from the ferris wheel was his next choice of weapon. Belén tried avoiding it but it managed to hit one of her knees and forced her to collide to the ground.

"Hey!" Nina quickly dove back into appearance. "You want a cure? I'm the doctor in this group. Get me!"

Grey didn't even think about his cure anymore. He only wanted her to disappear. He started throwing anything in his vicinity. Nina dodged more monitors, fences, barrels, but the last two went consecutively fast and knocked her down. She crashed onto a wooden weight game.

Even if her leg did hiss with each step she took, Belén got back on her feet. Her vines helped her hover just above the ground to avoid further pain. She shot a different vine and it wrapped around Grey's legs. "You could have had the help you wanted if you had just asked!"

"This is my fault?" Grey laughed and grabbed onto the small platform of a wack-a-mole game. "You're no martyr. You're trying to put me away for something I didn't do! You'll be dead and so will your partner!"

Belén narrowed her eyes on the man. She pulled harder on the vines gripping his legs but Grey knew his next move long before. He purposely yanked the game platform and chucked it her way. Belén yelped and swished to the side but did not let go of him. It angered him more and pushed him to keep throwing her whatever he found. She could see that with each hit he aged more and more…

"I'm so sorry," she said and let go of him, not even attempting to avoid the final attack.

An empty barrel of trash crashed right into her. She hit the fence of a ride behind, stopping her from rolling any further. When she raised her head she saw Grey go still on the ground.

"Bells!? Are you okay!?" Barry repeated his question at least three times before Belén could finally answer.

"Yeah," she groaned and turned flat on her back. "Grey's dead. But we should really get Nina…"

~0~

After finding Harry safe and sound, the group returned to STAR Labs to get the other metas checked over.

"Nina, maybe you should be the one lying down," Belén allowed her doctor friend to conduct the studies. "I just got some bruises after all."

"I've got a concussion, so I should really not be lying down," Nina playfully looked at her.

"You fell at least twenty feet from the air, take it easy girl," Cisco stepped into the side room. "Oh but might I say: completely badass tonight. Well done."

Nina and Belén exchanged glances and chuckled. "It was pretty cool," Nina admitted first. "We could be a team all on our own."

"I just wonder where Shivhan got into," Belén wondered with a shake of her head. "But yo're right Nina. Imagine you, me and Shivhan?"

"Hey, I thought you liked working with me," Barry came over to Belén's side and kissed her temple. He was glad to see there were only just bruises from her battle.

"I do, but, think about it this way. It's the dream team—" Belén made a gesture to the women, "—featuring the Flash."

"But just so you know," Nina began, dead serious too, "We'd totally kick your ass. And Cisco's too if you became a team."

Barry playfully rolled his eyes but Cisco took a mock offence. "Oh! That's how it's gonna be, then?"

Nina's lips stretched into a smile bordering a laugh. "If you disagree with my theory, practice and come back to challenge us."

"Woman, you are so on," Cisco pointed at her and backtracked out of the side room.

"He's unbelievable," Belén lightly chuckled.

"He's your friend," Nina made sure to clarify of her relation to him. "Anyways, we all look pretty fine. I'm gonna go home and keep myself awake."

"Do you want to stay over at our place?" Belén offered, knowing that was a tricky task to do when you lived on your own.

"I'll be fine, trust me," Nina assured her as she went to gather her things.

"Thank you, Nina," Barry stopped her with his seriousness. She stopped and sideways glanced at him. "Really."

"I know I'm unofficially part of this team but I will always be here to help whenever you need me. Flash and Azalea featuring Tempest?" she made a grinning motion that made the two metas in question laugh. "Goodnight, guys," she waved.

"Goodnight," the others chorused.

"I'm tired," Belén admitted but would never say her pain.

"Let's go home," Barry took her hand and let her hop off the bed, which in reality turned out to be a bad idea since her bruises reminded her of their presence.

"Oh, no, wait, I need you to do me a favor," Belén made a round so that she faced him. "It's about Wally."

"What about Wally?"

"It's not bad. Um, he just...he feels really bad about you giving up your powers for him. He wants to thank you."

"He doesn't have to," Barry tried being modest but Belén wasn't having it.

"He needs to," Belén said softly. "He feels like he has to."

"You mean it's guilt?"

"I don't...think so. It's...just something he feels he has to do. So, will you?"

Barry wasn't sure what he would get from this visit but he knew he had to do it. "Alright. When and where?"

"I know the place," Belén smiled in thought. "Rooftop at Jitters."

~0~

"Wally West?"

Hearing his name, Wally scoured the rooftop for the man he'd been searching for. He found the Flash standing across him, just as was promised to him.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes," Wally croaked. He took a moment to swallow and gain some composure. He had thought about what he would say if Belén managed to pull it off and get the Flash to come but now that he actually had the meta in front of him, he had no idea what to say. "I, uh, I...wanted..."

Barry could see the struggle Wally was in but instead of cutting him, he gave Wally the time he needed.

Wally drew in a deep breath and hoped to God that he would get this right. He had messed up too many times before in his life and that needed to stop. He wasted too much time doing stupid things but it was only until he had been kidnapped by Zoom did he realize just how stupid the things really were. "I just wanted to thank you for saving my life. And I know that that came at a huge price for you. And I don't know how I'll ever repay that. I guess, what I wanted to say was that... I'm not gonna waste this chance that you've given me. Thank you."

He didn't really know what he would do, but Wally knew that he would do something. No more wasting time, no more being reckless. Somebody else had paid a huge price for him to stay alive and he wasn't going to let them down.

"You're welcome, Wally," Barry said with all honesty. He finally understood why Belén wanted him to do this. Something was going on through Wally's head, promising to be akin to change. He was aware of all the choices Wally made weren't exactly the best so he hoped that this was the moment things would really begin to change for them.

~ 0 ~

Belén was focused on her phone when Barry returned to her car. She looked up and waved her phone. "Shivhan says she's busy doing something. I have no idea what she's doing but I get the feeling we'll be figuring it out soon."

"She's weird like that," Barry felt like that pretty much summed their friend up.

Belén dropped her phone inside her purse, making sure it didn't fall into the rip again. Barry would never let her live it down if she lost it and it turned out to be in that thing. "So, how did it go?"

"Yeah, it went... good," Barry nodded. "You were right."

"I always am," Belén smirked at him. "Make sure to remember that for future arguments."

Barry laughed. "Yeah, I'll...make sure to take note of that."

Belén smiled softly at him. He was holding his mask tightly in his hands. "I'm sure Wally isn't gonna forget it."

"Yeah," Barry leaned his head back against the seat.

Belén reached over for a hand of his. "This isn't forever. We will find a way."

"I mean, will we?" Barry couldn't help the feeling of hopelessness fill him up. As the days passed by, he saw the possibility of getting his speed back slipping away from him.

"Yes, we will," Belén reassured him. She touched his face and leaned over to kiss him. It was an intended short kiss but Barry relished in it. His hand moved to the back of her head while the other traveled down the side of her body. Belén hissed and pulled away when one of her bruises was accidentally touched.

"Sorry," Barry immediately apologized but Belén chuckled.

"I think we should go home and probably rest," she said, finding their current appearances ironic. "Plus, it wouldn't be so good if someone caught us in the act. I'm supposed to be going out with a forensics and you're supposed to be going out with the Azalea."

"Good point," Barry nodded, though couldn't help smirk.

~ 0 ~

Datura was sitting on a wooden chair calm and easy, but within was another story. The voices in her head were beginning to get louder, louder than they usually were. It made her, in a sense, tired, and she knew the only way to stop them - to get back in control - was to get back to Earth 1 and get her doppelganger. She just had to play her cards right and not further test the speedster in control.

She raised her head when Zoom sped into the room. "Where's Poison Ivy?" she asked but with no real demanding from her part.

"She's in charge of Caitlin now," Zoom replied and took off his mask. "We're going back to Earth 1 and she's coming with me."

"And me?" Datura swallowed hard.

"I have another task for you," he started coming towards her so she got up from her chair. "Poison Ivy will gather the ingredients you require for your cure and when it is ready, you will get what you want and open the portals for me. But, in the meantime, you're staying here to gather my metahumans."

"What for?" Datura cluelessly asked.

"It's time to bring the other world to its knees."

Datura took that as a pre-final round to the ending of all this mess. If it meant she could keep her life, then she would make herself ready. "Whenever you're ready."

~ 0 ~

Harry didn't expect to see that Barry was already in the cortex looking ready to get to work.

"You're here early," he remarked to the ex-speedster and took a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep," Barry confessed. He had woken up hours ago and decided not to bring Belén down with him. He thought maybe having an empty, silent cortex to work at would provide with good results.

"Yeah, me neither," Harry gave a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"I know that we just took down Grey without my powers, but... I have no idea how to get Caitlin back without them."

"We can't, Allen."

"Then what are we gonna do?"

Harry slowly put down his mug on the desk and decided to just come out with the crazy idea he'd thought of. "You know, Grey... Grey kidnapped me because he thought I was the Harrison Wells from this Earth, and I know he was talking about another guy, but I just... I can't help but think... I still haven't paid for what I've done."

"What does that mean?"

"I thought, you know, when you...when we closed the breaches, I could just forget about everything I've done, but I can't. I realize what I can do. You are gonna get your speed back, Allen. And I'm gonna help you do that."

Barry still felt confused about the big speech. "How?"

"By creating another particle accelerator explosion."

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

[saiilorstars]

How well do you know Belén?? #2, 3, 8, 16, 20, 22, 23, 32, 41, 56 annnddd 59 ^_^ I'm sending a lot, but only because I thought you'd enjoy lots.

#2: Where does your OC work?

Belén currently works as a reporter for CC Pictures, even though she's struggling to keep herself form losing it whoops

#3: What's your OCs favorite food?

Belén's favorite food is pasta but not a specific (like alfredo, marinara, etc). She'll eat any kind of pasta, no questions asked.

#8: What are some of your OCs strengths?

I would say some of Belén's strengths are her determination and her willingness to take lead without bluntly saying 'I'm taking the lead'. She's persistent with whatever she wants and even though she sometimes assumes the role of a leader (whether it's being a reporter or, as of late, kind of taking leadership with other botanical metas in their community) she doesn't really 'boss' anyone around. She doesn't make anyone feel like they have to listen to her. I don't know if that's kind of like a charisma thing?

#16: When is your OCs favorite time of year?

Because Belén's a botanical meta, her favorite time of the year is definitely spring. It's when all the flowers start blooming and look their best!

#20: What's your OCs favorite kind of pizza?

She loves pizza with any/all kinds of meat on it. Pepperoni, bacon, sausage, ham etc. That's her game ;)

#22: Has your OC ever killed someone?

She's had close calls in the past but she's never actually killed someone.

#23: Whats your OCs biggest secret?

Belén's biggest secret would be that she's actually constantly anxious about being a hero and being a good one. Every situation is different so she has to constantly come up with ways to win the fight and that's a lot of pressure so it's something she carries with her.

#32: Did your OC go to college? What did they major in?

Belén went to college within Central City. Her first idea was to go in as a dancer but ultimately chose to become a journalist.

#41: What is your OCs motto about life?

Belén's kind of an easygoing person so I think she would have the common mottos about life. I think her personal favorite would be "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" solely because it's funny to her.

#56: What kind of clothes does your OC wear?

Belén's style is pretty average, honestly. She doesn't have a lot of favorites but she's definitely not much of a dress-wearer because it's just not a good fit for her super-hero life and investigating. She'll pretty much wear jeans and blouses.

#59: What is the first thing that someone would notice about your OC?

I think that would be her hair. If there's something that Belén loves, it's her hair. Her traditional style is, of course, her ombre blonde tips.

Thanks for asking!

Ask me a question about my OCs <3

#oc: belén palayta #oc: belen palayta #flash ocs

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 8: Dear Doppelganger

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

Story Masterlist • Previous Stories: Rise Up • It Had To Be You 

Belén’s Masterlist • Fanfic • Ao3 

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

"Coffee is actually very delicious," Anais happily sipped her cappuccino in her hands.

The others chuckled at her but ultimately Iris lowered the coffee cup from Anais' lips for fear of it burning her. "You should take it easy."

Anais' smile turned confused. "Yeah, I know humans have this obsession with 'watch what you eat' but my metabolism doesn't work the same way."

"I remember that," Barry smiled at the memory of when Earth 31's Anais took him to a coffee shop where she proceeded to eat a stack of pancakes, cupcakes and then his own meal. "You basically eat without worry."

Anais nodded and returned to her coffee and walked behind Caitlin who worked at the computers. "I don't have to run anymore, do I?" Anais eyed the speed lab with weariness. As part of her condition to remain on this Earth, the group wanted to study her - not prod - but simply get a better idea of who she was.

"No," Caitlin softly smiled at her. "You're all done for today."

"Thank you," Anais' face said all the annoyance she was hiding out of sheer politeness for their consideration. "So can I leave, then?"

"You still want to leave the city?" Barry asked, not doing a good job of hiding his disappointment.

Anais had expressed her desire to leave the moment she felt she had herself collected from her trauma. "I just...I had a team, and I don't think I'm ready for another one."

"Especially one that has the faces of two dead people…" Cisco could be heard mumbling behind them. When everyone turned to give him sharp looks, he meekly smiled.

"I swear I will never harm anyone - I just wanted asylum," Anais sighed. "And I will do every test you want but at the end of the day...will I be free to go?"

Barry looked at the others but of course none of them really knew what to say. He, on the other hand, would've liked for Anais to stay and fight with them. He never did learn if this earth had a version of Anais…

"You...of course are free," he ultimately said.

"Thank you," Anais gave him a small nod. She sipped her coffee until it gave its last drop. She shook the cup with a frown and groaned. "Iris, can we go back to Jitters again?"

With an amused smile, Iris nodded. "Sure. My treat." Anais beamed and followed her out.

"So...that's nice," Cisco remarked the trio was left in the lab. "Homegirl gives us the scare of our lives, lives in Caitlin's place for free and…"

"Cisco," Caitlin settled a look on him.

"I don't trust her," Cisco came out with it, earning himself a suspicious Barry on his side. "Look, I know that she stole my meta-dampener cuffs, alright? I know it's her." He just had no evidence.

Caitlin gulped and busied herself on the monitor, while also pulling her sleeves down.

"Cisco, why would she take those cuffs? It makes no sense," Barry tried to be reasonable with Cisco, something he wished Cisco would try. "She's an alien. Her powers didn't come from any dark matter."

"I don't know how aliens think!" Cisco threw his arms in the air. "All I know is that she pops up and a couple days later my devices are gone."

"Cisco—"

"I'll get her for it, don't worry," Cisco warned them as he backtracked out of the room. "I'll get her in the act!"

Barry sighed and glanced at Caitlin, but the woman had taken it serious to pretend to do her work. "Cait, you okay?"

"Hm?" the brunette blinked up from her screen. "Oh yeah, definitely."

"You sure you don't mind Anais staying with you? I know it's a little weird, but...she doesn't exactly want to be with her two dead friends' doppelgangers."

Caitlin smiled and shook her head. "It's fine. She's actually a very neat person. She doesn't speak too much, though. I think she's still trying to process the fact she's never going home."

"Yeah, well...I wish she'd let us help…"

"Sometimes, a person just needs to figure things out on their own," Caitlin offered a word of advice, but it just got Barry on another matter.

"Now I know you and Bells have been talking," his playful suspicious stare was still enough to put Caitlin on red alert. "She said she'd talk about whatever was bugging her by the end of the week - that was last week," and there Barry didn't attempt to hide his irritation. "Now this morning she woke up with the sudden idea to go somewhere because she needed to do things on her own. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"No…" Caitlin buried her attention on her computer again. The guilt was probably radiating off her by this point, especially since it had been because of her that Belén suddenly traveled in secret.

Barry would've pressed further if his cellphone hadn't gone off. "It's Joe. I'll see you later, okay?" Caitlin nodded him and thanked God he left without another question.

She pulled up her wrists and stared at the glowing dampeners around her wrists. Killer Frost was making her presence known and it was making her even more desperate. She didn't want her powers, she needed them to go away. She needed them siphoned.

And there was only one siphoner in this world…

~ 0 ~

A diner was the stop Belén was forced to make courtesy of one annoying woman who knew how to pick her battles. She sipped on a milkshake at the counter while she was waited for the rude tardy woman.

"Sam, can I get the usual?" A woman spoke from behind.

Belén stopped biting on her straw and gave the dark brunette woman all her attention. It wasn't for a good reason. She swallowed hard, unable to control her immediate reaction of seeing her own face reflected back. Every time she was face to face with her doppelganger Datura, it was to fight. Now here they were, sitting side by side at a local diner.

Datura did indeed have the same face as Belén, but there were a couple differences between the two. Where Belén styled ombre-blonde tips, Datura's hard was a darker brown with red tips. She dressed in darker clothes and the biggest difference? Her voice. She was always more authoritative than Belén, confident (for better or for worse).

"And here I thought I'd have to hunt you down," Belén muttered, taking a big sip of her milkshake. She instantly regretted it when a brain freeze came over her.

Datura snorted. "Can't believe you ever beat me."

"Believe it because that's why I have your powers and you have nothing."

Datura wagged her finger at her doppelganger. She turned her stool to face Belén, planting an elbow on the counter then her cheek on her palm. "Don't be fooled, Belén. I can still kick your ass."

"Okay, let's just skip all this," Belén snapped, turning her stool to face Datura. "You gave me your location." She was up and ready to hunt down Datura, just like she promised, but last night she got a text message from Datura herself asking to meet. "What's stopping me from taking you into the pipeline right now?"

Datura smirked. God, Belén hated that smirk. "Common interests," Datura answered. She snapped her fingers at the employee — Sam. The teenager handed her a vanilla milkshake. "You won't stuff me in the pipeline."

"You really think you don't deserve to be there right now? Along with your Poison Ivy partner?" Belén shook her head.

Datura took a small sip of her milkshake then set it down on the counter. "Oh, I deserved a lot better but I was screwed from the moment Harrison Wells turned on his stupid Particle Accelerator"

There, Belén hated the doppelganger was right. Datura was bestowed by an uncontrollable siphoning power that made her involuntarily kill Mrs. Andrews of Earth 2. It set her to run away and fake her death to her husband and her family. But Belén would never condone what she did on behalf of Zoom.

"He may have turned on the Accelerator, but you did the rest," Belén pointed out.

Datura scowled. "Things didn't work the way they did here after the Accelerator went off. I didn't get offered the help that this Wells did."

"You mean the speedster who murdered my father and Barry's mother? Yeah, because that offer was so much better."

Datura glared at Belén. "Look where you are right now, okay? Look at where I am. I can't go back to my Earth because I'll be arrested, so I can never see my Barry again. I can't see Poison Ivy here either. I have to hide for the rest of my days, especially because you and I share the same face. But you? You get to go home tonight."

~0~

Barry had come to the unfortunate news that Alchemy was once again striking the city, but very close to home this time.

"So I did have powers? I was Kid Flash?" Wally breathed a sigh of awe once he got confirmation. He knew those dreams didn't feel like dreams. He had actually been a hero. "I knew that this was happening. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Wally, it, look... in that timeline, you were fighting The Rival," Barry wanted to word hid ending very carefully. "You couldn't stop him. There was no S.T.A.R. Labs. There was no team to help you. It was just you and Iris. The two of you were a brother-sister superhero crime-fighting team."

Hearing her name mentioned got Iris scowling. "Why didn't you tell us this before?"

Now there Barry knew he was not at fault. He'd be given then all the opportunity to know what their lives had been in Flashpoint and they refused. "You didn't want to know about your Flashpoint lives. But look," he looked at Wally again, "Listen to me, you got hurt, all right? You got hurt bad."

"So what?" Wally shrugged. "That's that me, it's not this me. And I want to be a speedster. I... I want to be a flash."

"No, no, no, you don't—"

"Yes, I do—"

"You're not hearing what he's saying. He's telling us it's not safe," Joe spoke up with the air of a parent, not that it mattered for Wally.

"Who cares what Barry's saying? How do we even know he's telling the truth?"

"Wally, come on, this isn't because of the particle accelerator, it's because of Dr. Alchemy," Iris wanted to keep the peace at least for a while. "It's the same thing that happened to Frankie Kane."

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, we do. And we need to try to keep it from happening," Joe waited for Barry to give a solution for this.

"Why don't we just say what this is really about?" Wally began, the anger seeping through his teeth. "You're okay with Barry having powers; you're okay with Barry running into danger, fighting all these metas. He can screw up over and over again You're okay with all of it because he's Barry. But you won't give me the same amount of leeway because at the end of the day, you just don't trust me."

"You know that's not true, Wally," Barry tried to say but was shutdown.

"I don't need you fighting my dad's battles for him," Wally crossed his arms and waited for his father to speak. "Say it, Joe. You don't trust me, do you?"

Joe hated that everyone was staring at him. Hid mouth opened and closed several times. "Wally…"

"That's what I thought," Wally snapped and stormed out of the house.

~0~

Datura had herself an actual, thorough laugh when Belén told her of the situation the team was going through. "I warned you that Barry would do something like this." Belén glared deeply at the woman. "But anyways, now you've got Alchemy to deal with and metas from another world. That's more interesting, I'll be honest."

"Do you know who Alchemy is?" Belén tried her luck getting some honest information out of her doppelganger, but had very little hope it would succeed.

"No. But one thing I know is that he didn't exist in the other timeline. This is yet another consequence of changing the timelines."

"Here's the situation now," Belén dug inside her bag and pulled out a folder, to which Datura comically stared at, "Caitlin and I both acquired some of your powers and they are manifesting in ways we do not like."

"Hm, I bet," Datura's grin didn't exactly portray concern. "Are you hearing the voices?"

"Yeah, I heard them first," Belén answered just as she opened up the folder. Inside was a neat stack of papers she'd taken from her research and Harry's help. "I've narrowed down the victims that are now speaking to me, ordering me to do things." She spread about four different profile pictures of Earth 2 metahumans. "Terra—" she tapped the picture of a blonde woman, "—who controls earth elements. I broke someone's noise a couple days ago because she controlled me."

Datura laughed, slapping a hand to her forehead while Belén glared directly at her. "Terra was a clumsy idiot who I got from behind."

"Eclipsa," Belén then gestured to the silver-haired woman in the next photograph.

With her, Datura grew nostalgic and a bit frustrated. "I remember her. She's an interesting one considering she only came out at night, like a bat." She picked up the photograph and stared at it with contemplation. "Now she thought she could get away with stealing in Zoom's area so I had to end that. My only regret is that I never unlocked her full powers."

"Well, she's a quieter one," Belén remarked.

"She hardly spoke," Datura agreed and set down the photograph. "Made it a little harder to track her down."

"What about Flicker?" Belén picked up the brunette's profile picture. "She's the one I hear most."

"Yeah, I bet you do," Datura snickered. "She was a cocky one. She thought she could stop Zoom but Poison Ivy and I had something different to say."

"So, she was a good person?" Belén found it hard to believe considering all Flicker had done so far was push her to be impulsive.

"Oh yeah, she and Terra were good. I managed to get them both down," Datura said with the utmost pride. "But I bet after twisting and writhing in the back of the minds, they're not as happy as they once were."

"They are pushing me and making me lose control," Belén said. "I want to control them but I don't know how."

"There's no manual for this. Be glad you only got four of these people - I had dozens in my mind before Caitlin zapped me with her device."

"Three," Belén corrected, momentarily confusing Datura. "I only have three powers of yours. Caitlin has…" her eyes flickered to Killer Frost's profile, and when Datura followed she let out a long whistle.

"Well how's about that…" she grabbed Killer Frost's profile and turned it over to Belén. "The meta whose powers I wanted most. Now you gotta be careful with her. She's a sneaky one and probably the only one who can hurt a speedster."

"Caitlin isn't like me, she doesn't want to keep the powers. She wants to get rid of them. Do you...happen to know a way to do that?"

Datura raised an eyebrow, her lips forming a big smug smile when she finally realized the reason Belén made the unexpected visit. "You want me to siphon the power back."

"Caitlin does."

"Well, you're out of luck, sweetheart," Datura clicked her tongue. "Because as much as I would love to have that power back, I don't have the siphoning ability anymore. You can thank Caitlin for that," she ended with a bitter tone.

"What do you mean?" Belén blinked, now actually a little concerned.

"Caitlin's siphoning device shut away all the voices in my head, but at the same time it erased most of my powers - leaving me with only five plus my original power. I can't siphon anyone anymore."

Belén stared long at Datura, genuinely shocked to hear the news. "How long have you known…?"

"About a week after, I tried siphoning a teleporter," Datura smirked when Belén shot her an incredulous glare, "I thought maybe I could, at the very least, retire to Cabo or something. Turns out I couldn't."

"So…" Belén put a hand on her head, "...you don't siphon anymore and...you don't have most of your powers."

"All thanks to Dr. Caitlin Snow, feel free to pass that message on. Oh, and send her my regards about her situation," Datura laughed to herself and made to get up from her stool when Belén latched a hand onto Datura's wrist.

"You are going to stay right here and at the very least - since you can't help - you'll tell us how to control the powers!" Datura blinked in genuine surprise because Belén had made that order not alone, but joined by Flicker. "And if you don't then I'll just throw you inside the pipeline right now."

Belén gasped and released a shaky breath once she returned to normal. The fear on her face made Datura want to laugh probably for an hour straight. It was the revenge she didn't plan but would enjoy every second of the ride.

She sat back down and picked up a file to read

~ 0 ~

"I didn't take anything!" Anais' shout could be heard even before she entered the cortex. Her long blonde hair bounced with each hard step she took. "Stop accusing me without evidence!"

Caitlin, who sat at the desk, closed her eyes with guilt.

Cisco stormed in after Anais, fully intending on getting his devices back. "My evidence is that you have only been here a couple days and none of my work had ever disappeared up until then!"

Anais groaned and spun around, bumping into Cisco in the process. "I don't even know what I'm being accused of stealing."

"Meta-dampner cuffs! The same ones we need for when Barry catches the metahumans!"

"What would I even want with those?" Anais' looked lost of all causes.

"I don't know, you tell me!"

Anais' eyes glowed with a fiery orange, making Cisco take a step back and even Caitlin to rise from her chair. "I don't know anything!" Anais shouted.

"So when you get angry your eyes do that trick?" Cisco was momentarily curious about that.

Anais sighed and rolled her eyes. "You are unbelievable."

That got Cisco back on track. His eyes narrowed on the woman. "Well you are a thief and you're-"

But he never finished his insult. Barry had zipped in with the news of a new metahuman terrorizing the city. He handed Caitlin the evidence the precinct had so far of the metahuman so they could all come up with ideas first.

"He was killed by a shadow?" Cisco stared in disbelief at the profile picture of the victim Barry had dealt with earlier. "That's a new one."

"Maybe that's what killed Edward Clariss," Caitlin remarked since no one had yet to figure out how Clariss was murdered inside his cell.

"Clariss was a meta-human. This victim doesn't appear to be," Barry informed them, though he was still just as stumped as they were.

"Do we know if this shadow meta is from the particle accelerator explosion or from Dr. Alchemy?" asked Cisco.

"Dr. Who now?" Anais repeated, her eyes bouncing from one to the next.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Cisco suspicously squinted his eyes on her, but the woman remained blank.

"Do what?"

Caitlin put a hand on Cisco's arm to keep him from arguing once again. "Why don't we look at the evidence, alright?"

"Yeah...we actually haven't found any evidence to process yet…" Barry made a face at them.

"It's fine, we can use the security cameras," Caitlin smiled in return. "If he was attacked by a big shot company then they had to have caught the incident. Where was the crime scene at?"

"Chubbuck, uh, Palmer and Racine around 11:00 last night."

In about a minute she had found the camera that caught the metahuman and the victim. There they saw a shadow rising from the ground just behind the victim. Said shadow grasped the man by the neck and practically strangled him to death.

"That's gonna give me night terrors," Cisco blinked the video images away.

"Shade," Anais whispered, attracting the attention of the trio.

"You know it?" Barry thought to ask.

"U-um…" Anais' entire demeanor changed to fearful. She rubbed an arm with her hand and glanced at the screen again. "Th-there was a metahuman like that in my world. He was on the opposing side of the metahumans. He called himself Shade."

"What did he do, throw his side-eye at his enemies?" Cisco mumbled and received a nudge from Caitlin to settle down.

"The name was bad but his powers were good," Anais admitted. "But what Shade could do was vibrate at such a high frequency he created the illusion that he was a shadow. At least that's what the others said."

"It's how I phase…" Barry remarked to the side, though thinking they could work with that information. "Do you think he's doing the same thing?"

Cisco had taken a better look at the crime scene reports and figured they were right. "Heat signature's fluctuating. Red shift is ridiculous. So, definitely a yes."

"He must be slowing down his molecules whenever he attacks," Caitlin agreed. "So we just have to figure out a way to keep them slowed down, and that should be enough to grab him."

"All right, can you get started?" Barry moved over to the desk with a hopefulness that wasn't exactly matched by Cisco.

"Okay, but, like, right this minute?" he flickered glances to Anais, warning her their earlier disagreement was still not settled. She air-strangled him in return.

Barry was nonethewiser. "Yeah, I'm sor... we just... we gotta stop this guy fast so we can focus on Alchemy. Wally has been having dreams about being a speedster, Alchemy dreams."

"He was a speedster in Flashpoint?" Cisco paused. "Anyone else gonna have powers we should know about?"

"No…." Barry hoped.

"All right. I'm gonna work on Shade," Cisco turned but then stopped to point at Anais."And you girl have until the end of the day to return my cuffs or I'll vibe you back to Earth 19!"

"But I didn't take anything!" Anais exclaimed with frustration.

"Don't worry about that," Barry told her and noted to have a serious talk with Cisco to get him to drop the ridiculous notion of Anais being a thief.

Caitlin had pretty much the same intention.

~0~

Caitlin lightly cleared her throat as she walked into Cisco's workroom. The man smiled at her and put down his water glass.

"Cisco, Anais didn't take your cuffs," she said meekly.

"Cait, you don't need to lie for her," Cisco turned from his computer. "I get that Barry just automatically trusts her because of the freaky adoptive daughter doppelganger complex but I know she's a thief."

"She's not," Caitlin sighed and pulled up her sleeves to reveal the cuffs. "Because I took your cuffs."

Cisco paused to show utter confusion. "What for?"

"Because I need them," Caitlin dropped the cuffs on his desk.

"Is... is this some sort of, um, bold fashion choice 'cause you're not a meta-hu... hu…" Cisco's eyes widened till they almost popped from his head when Caitlin's hands hid behind icy smoke, "...human."

She grabbed his glass of water of crystallized it with ease. "Surprise…"

Cisco's mouth could have fallen to the floor at this point. "H-how…?"

"The siphoning device I made for Datura transferred Killer Frost's powers to me. It changed my DNA," Caitlin felt almost like crying because this was the fact of her life now. It was a terrible, fear worthy fact. "I have tried everything to reverse it - I even went to my own mother - and there's nothing that anyone can do. At least here."

Cisco popped his mouth back shut. "Here? What—"

"Belén is visiting her doppelganger to see if she can siphon them back," Caitlin admitted.

"She's-she's with Datura? You know where she is!?"

"No, but Belén does right now. She went to ask Datura if she could take these powers back."

"Caitlin…" Cisco really had no words of comfort. He probably felt a similar fear of Caitlin's. Earth 2 Killer Frost was no joke. She was ruthless and...evil.

"I need a favor. I need you to vibe me in the future because I need to know if I become... her," Caitlin asked. "If Datura can't help then I need to know where these powers are going to lead me."

"You're not gonna become her," Cisco immediately refused the idea. "Okay, just because you have these powers doesn't mean you're gonna turn into Killer Frost."

"I hear her voice, Cisco, her actual voice inside my head," Caitlin shook her own. "She wants to come out and control me. Please? I need to know if I become evil because if I do, I have to leave and never come back."

Cisco looked at her hand waiting to be vibed. As much as he hated it, he followed and joined hands with her. He closed his eyes and focused on...Killer Frost.

The scene around him changed to that of a city - the city's square perhaps? An icicle shot directly past him, making him turn to see Caitlin...as Killer Frost, threatening to shoot another one. Familiar vibe energy surged past him, trying to get her. Very slowly, he turned back and saw himself being the one to fight her. Not just that, however, he noted an ongoing fight around them with familiar people…

The vibe image disappeared before him. Caitlin waited with pure hope. "And?"

Cisco knew he couldn't say what he saw. For the most part, he didn't even understand who was fighting nor why. Caitlin could not become evil, it just didn't go. "I didn't see anything." Caitlin released a relieved sigh. "You're fine."

Caitlin threw her arms around him for a hug. "Oh, thank you. Thank you!"

Cisco hugged her back, incredible guilt. He would have to speak with Belén when she returned. The future could not be that.

Caitlin pulled away from Cisco and happily sighed. "Please, um, don't tell anyone about this yet, okay?"

"Of course," Cisco nodded and gulped when she wasn't looking.

~ 0 ~

Belén was led into a clean apartment belonging to Datura and sniffed her nose when the scent of a familiar poison hit her. "Daturas?"

There were bouquets of daturas sitting around the living room and possibly the kitchen. "It's my trademark," Datura waved a hand at her doppelganger.

"How on earth did you get an apartment?" Belén was flabbergasted with the sight. "And how are you keeping it normal and not like a lair?"

"Did I mention my psychic abilities are reaching to astral projections?" Datura gave a brief smirk. "Illusions. Now say you're proud of me for being a diligent civilian of this city, not that you gave me much of a choice."

"Please, I didn't make you do all this," Belén moved over to the closed window and looked down at the busy city. "You tried to escape once and you haven't made another attempt? You could be out there again trying to kill people - me for starters - and yet you're here, living a clean apartment."

"Please skip the whole part about redemption, I don't need it," Datura rolled her eyes. "You, on the other hand, need all the help you can get. The voices - how far apart are they?"

"They're...they're coming usually when I'm fighting," Belén leaned her head against the window, eyes following people walking by the building. "Telling me to stop being pathetic and fight back."

"Because the more you fight, the more active your brain is looking for strategies to win the battle. All that action makes the brain more susceptible to be taken over by the other metas."

"How do I make them stop?"

Datura's short laugh irritated the hell out of Belén. "If I knew how to stop those voices, I wouldn't be here, would I?" she gestured to her current situation. "The voices is how it starts. They consume you until they get the power to come and go."

"I don't believe that, I'm not gonna let that happen!" Belén snapped and detached herself from the window. "Caitlin will—"

"Is already on the way to losing herself," Datura cut her off, shrugging her shoulders. "The only question here is who will lose it first: you or her?"

"If you firmly believed all this then you wouldn't have brought me here," Belén stalked towards her doppelganger, pointed finger at her. "So tell me what it is."

Datura pretended to play with one of her curls for a minute or so. "Well...I may have some resources…" Belén smacked her hand off her hair, once again close to losing it to another meta in her head. "What? I can make friends."

Belén scoffed. "I doubt it."

"I did," Datura assured, "And you'll like her because she can be useful. Her entire family has built a fortune on engineering things. You might have hard of them."

"Who is she?"

"Lena Luthor."

"Wait…" Belén backtracked a couple steps, her eyes flickering to the side in thought, "Is she related to that delirious Lex Luthor?"

"Oh yeah, but she's actually one of the good people in that family. Let me talk to her, ask her what can be done about this situation," Datura walked past Belén. "She's a smart cookie that one - knew I was a meta even before I thought to tell her."

"She knows about you and me…?"

"No," Datura stopped by one of her datura boquets. "To her I'm simply Belle. But here's the deal—" she turned sideways, "—that I'm going to make and you're going to follow. Caitlin's powers? I'll gladly take them back if and when we create a device to siphon the DNA. But in return, I also want the powers you stole from me."

"I didn't steal—" Belén was on her way to shout when Datura waved a hand for her to stop.

"I am the siphoner here, those were my powers—"

"That you murdered people for!" Belén exclaimed. "Did you forge that part!?"

"Either way they were mine!" Datura overspoke her doppelganger. "And that is what I want in return! My powers - the ones you have and the ones Caitlin have - I want them back!"

"And then what? You want to me break Poison Ivy out of her prison so you and her can continue on your crime sprees?"

Datura rolled her eyes. "I want my powers back. I won't return to my ways but I want to be the Siphoner again. That's my condition. Will you help your dear Caitlin?" she pretended to pout.

Belén crossed her arms, a part of her dead angry she would be forced to give up these new powers she would have liked to keep...but the other part knew Caitlin needed this. She wanted to get rid of the powers because she was afraid. Belén never wanted to stand in the way of that. "Fine," she spat. "But the moment I get word of a crime you make - no matter how small - I will come for you. "

Datura's lips stretched into a wide smirk. "I'll call Lena."

~ 0 ~

Wally wearily looked at Caitlin as she finally backed off from her medical exams and hoped they were finally finished. Iris was right beside him, giving him support as he explained to the others what caused him to collapse at the precinct.

"I was Kid Flash again, but this time it wasn't a good dream. I was fighting The Rival at some abandoned sawmill…" he scrunched his eyes shut as the memories flew back into his mind again. At least this time, they were painless.

"That's what happened in Flashpoint before you got hurt," Barry sighed. "They're not just dreams, they must be memories of that life. More and more people are getting powers."

"And that's because of this Alchemy guy?" Anais had taken a seat on the railing itself of the speed lab stairs. "That's his power?"

"Apparently so," Joe mumbled, none too happy this situation was actually reaching his son.

"Okay, so how do we stop this?" Iris wondered.

"I mean, is there any stopping it even?" Cisco said just a bit too quick, earning himself a glance from Caitlin. "If Alchemy could reach you at CCPD, he could probably reach you from anywhere, right?"

"Maybe not in the pipeline," Caitlin offered as an alternative.

"You want to lock him up?" Joe gave her a look.

"I'm just saying maybe the pipeline could be a safety net," Caitlin elaborated. "If Alchemy tries to get him to come to him…"

"In the pipeline he wouldn't be able to," Iris saw where she was going with and agreed.

"I think that's a good idea," Wally admitted.

"I'm gonna cancel this movie with Cecile," Joe had enough wit the situation and turned to go call Cecile.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, wait, wait, you've got a date with Cecile?" Iris' voice pulled him back to the group.

"Yeah, I was gonna bring her to the movie in the park tonight…"

"Well, don't not go. You've put your life on hold for us long enough!"

"Yeah, Dad, she's right, I mean, go be Joe West; you're always Dad," Wally gave him a smile.

"Yeah, we'll stay with Wally, and make sure nothing happens," Barry added on had the agreement of the others.

"I told her all of you were coming with me. Am I gonna be the only one that shows up?" Joe made a face.

"Uh, I would love to see a movie!" Cisco jumped in just a bit too fast. Caitlin knew now something was definitely up. Cisco hurried up to Joe, however. "What movie is this?"

"The Shining."

Cisco clapped his hands together, hiding the strain behind a smile. "The Shining, oh, I love that movie."

Barry shot him a look. "That movie freaks you out. You have never made it past the part with the Grady twins."

"That's... that's... that was... I was younger," Cisco hoped he would just shut up and let him leave.

Caitlin cleared her throat and slowly stepped towards him. "Why don't I go with you?"

Damn, so close. Cisco lowered his hands and looked at the others. "You sure you don't want stay…?"

Caitlin shook her head. "No, I want to be with you."

"Either way, the more the merrier," Joe shrugged. "Let's do it. Wally, keep me posted?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Wally assured him even though he wasn't quite...certain. "Just go have fun. That's great."

~ 0 ~

The sun was just beginning to set down at the park when the group trudged into the field. Joe had already left with Cecile and left the seating arrangement to Cisco. Caitlin watched him like a hawk as they set up their seats. Cisco was practically doing everything in his power not to touch nor look at Caitlin.

"Alright, Cisco," she finally stopped him when she had enough. "What's going on?"

"Hm?" Cisco blinked and rapidly tried looking for something else that needed to be set up.

"You've been on edge ever since you vibed me. Are you gonna tell me what you saw?"

"I told you...what I saw…"

"Yes, and that lasted all for but a minute until you started acting strange. I can tell when you're not being honest with me. Am I her?"

Cisco now knew there was no getting around the truth. He swallowed hard and gave a nod of his head. "Yeah, you're her. I... I saw the both of us fighting in the middle of this bigger fight. We were, like, full-on Vibe versus Killer Frost. It's like we're meta-frenemies."

Caitlin slowly looked down, particularly at her palms. "Well, have you ever vibed anything from the future that didn't come true?"

"Just Earth-2 being ripped to shreds. But that doesn't mean that can't happen again…." he walked up to her and got her gaze off her palms. "Caitlin, you have to tell them. You have to tell the team. We have to figure out what's going on—"

"No," Caitlin immediately refused. "No. It's too late. There's nothing you can do. And if Belén can't get Datura to help then...I'm leaving."

~ 0 ~

Anais felt someone walking into the cortex and looked away from Belén's and Barry's suits on display. She found only Barry coming in.

"Iris went to go check on Wally, but, uh...are you okay?" Barry knew that question was hardly going to be answered. Anais had been hearing it ever since she got there.

Anais gave a meek shrug. "I...it's difficult," she left it at that and turned back to the suits. "So you and her...you're heroes too, huh?"

"Uh, partners, but yeah," Barry came to stand beside her. "And then there's Nina."

"Back on my Earth, there was no Tempest," Anais admitted. "It was...just different."

"Well maybe, stick around and you can feel at home…"

Anais shook her head, giving him a sad smile. "That's just it, I can't. I can't ever feel like I'm at home because it's not. Because on this world, most of my friends are alive. Do you know how hard it is to look at you and Belén and not remember that...you're dead? You're plain dead. And that it was my fault."

Barry could somewhat understand that. He thought of his father and Jay Garrick - the first time he'd seen Jay's face...he nearly broke down. And it was a good part of the reason why he went back to change the timeline. He couldn't take it.

"I have nothing against you nor this team Barry, but asking me to stay...it's just incredibly painful," Anais crossed her arms and glanced at the suits. "I lost everyone back there...I need time to heal."

"You need time to yourself," Barry understood that. That had been his original plan too…

At least Anais was just going through it in a better way.

"Can you just do us one favor?"

Anais gave a nod. "Sure?"

"Don't disappear on us."

Anais smiled, thinking that wasn't too much to ask. "Okay."

"Wally is doing okay," Iris came into the cortex but not alone.

Belén had returned and was more or less confused by the fact Wally was in the pipeline. "What did I miss?"

Barry moved over to greet her with a hug. He didn't realize how much he missed her until then. She had been radio silent all day and that was unlike her. "Where have you been?"

"I told you, I just needed to do something," she smiled up at him.

But 'what' was the question Barry was itching to ask. He just didn't get the chance to ask because the alarms went off. They hurried back to the desk and Barry got the location off Cisco's metahuman alert.

"It's Shade! He's at Hofherr Park," he looked up.

"Shade? Who's Shade?" Belén blinked.

"No time, just stay here, okay?" Barry didn't necessarily give her the chance to think about it. He sped for his suit then left.

"Well, thank you for your consideration," Belén bitterly sat back down on a chair.

At the same time, they heard Wally through the pipeline security feed scream in pain. Iris quickly called to him but since he wouldn't respond, she dashed out of the cortex.

"What is going on!?" Belén was left to shout.

"It's that Alchemy guys you keep talking about," Anais hurried to the desk. Belén was not going to sit there cluelessly. She tried getting in contact with the others.

~ 0 ~

At the park, Cisco and Caitlin had already gotten into the STAR Labs van to help Barry outside. They received Belén's incoming demands to know what was going on and how she could help.

"Shadow man! Literally shadow man, Bells!" Cisco exclaimed. "He's going—" but he stopped when he and Caitlin witnessed Barry be thrown up and down like a ragdoll.

"Ouch," Caitlin said with eyes screwed shut.

"Attaching the security cameras was a more or less interesting idea," Cisco muttered. "Barry, we're in the van. Can you hear us?"

The speedster pulled himself back to his feet but stumbled around for a bit after the fall. "And I just got tossed on my ass like a rag doll…" he shook his head and tried to find the Shadow meta again. "Alright, guys, I cannot do anything if I can't see him. Can we light this place up?"

"Light's gonna slow down his molecular vibration so we can catch him," Cisco remembered.

"How are we gonna light this place up?" Caitlin asked since Shade had turned down nearly every street post lamp.

Belén, in the cortex, looked up from the computers to Anais. "We might have a way…"

"I…" Anais' widened eyes looked around, "...I'm not sure…"

"You're a hero, you've proved it to be since you got here. Just...do what you do best. Light things up, girl," Belén encouragingly smiled at her.

~ 0 ~

"What are you doing?" Cisco saw Caitlin pulling the dampener cuffs off her wrists.

"He's gonna need these," Caitlin said and hurriedly got out of the car.

In the park, Barry was unable to catch sight of Shade. "Just...I guess...wait for my mark…" he dreaded exactly what that meant and muttered, "And by mark, I do mean next time that I get punched." He heard a noise behind and whirled around only to get punched right across the face just like he predicted. "Mark…"

"Let's turn on the lights, shall we?" Anais swooped down from the sky, putting her hands together in the process. She raised them above her head and created a bowl of bright light which was then shot up. It illuminated the entire area and forced Shade to dissolve into his human form.

"Flash!" Caitlin came running into the scene. She tossed him the dampeners and he quickly got them on the meta.

Anais lowered herself to the ground, her orange cape slowly waving to a stop. "Are you okay?" she came running to Barry.

"Yeah, yeah, just fine," Barry sucked in a breath and turned to the two women. "We need to get him to Iron Heights."

"Guys?" they heard Belén, except Caitlin. "Wally's acting...Alchemy-possessed-like…"

~ 0 ~

Wally's body was transferred to one of the side rooms of the cortex after being put down by Iris and Belén.

"Wally wasn't himself. He was possessed," Iris explained to the others. "Alchemy was calling for him."

"I knew I shouldn't have left," Joe shook his head and put a hand down on Wally's shoulder.

"It's okay, Joe, nothing happened," Barry said, although they all knew that wasn't exactly the truth.

"He's not okay, Barry. This thing's coming after him, and... and there ain't a damn thing we can do?"

"Well, we stopped Shade. And now we can focus on Alchemy, all right?"

"Unless he sends another meta to Central City to attack. Then there'll be trouble," Anais blurted and received some worrisome looks. "Sorry. I just...The opposing side did that a lot on my Earth."

"You think Shade was a distraction?" Belén wondered out loud. It wouldn't be the first time they'd fallen for a trick like that.

"If that's true, that means Alchemy's gonna sending another one of his metas soon," Joe dreaded.

"We don't know that…"

"Barry, we found six husks. So besides Shade, Magenta, and Clariss, there's still three unaccounted for."

"Okay, well, if more come, then we'll stop them," Barry was just running on the short-presence time and it was failing. "But Alchemy can't get Wally if he stays in the cell."

"Barry, we can't just let Wally suffer in there. And besides, burying our head in the sand is not gonna make Alchemy go away."

"Ignoring the problem does not get rid of it," Cisco said, somewhat distant yet eyes on Caitlin. "You're gonna have to face it."

Caitlin could not believe he was actually intending on doing this. "Cisco…"

"What?" Barry looked between the two.

"Nothing," Caitlin waved him off but Cisco came towards her.

"Come on, Caitlin…"

"Not right now, Cisco!"

Belén blinked, her heart beating fast as she started to make assumptions. Had Caitlin…

"I... just... I can't just keep this in. You have to tell them!" Cisco exclaimed.

"Tell them what?" Barry watched Caitlin nearly go red in the face from anger.

The brunette snapped the dampener cuffs off her wrists. "That I have powers," she snapped.

"What kind of powers?" Iris asked.

Caitlin turned her palms over and allowed the ice to smoke over. "The cold kind."

Everyone gaped, but Barry let his head hang. Belén, on the other hand, was dreading what else Cisco knew.

Caitlin shook her head at Cisco. "Happy now?"

"So, what, we're just gonna keep secrets from each other?" Cisco wondered about it but not enough.

"Yeah, well, this wasn't your secret to tell, was it, Cisco?" Caitlin gritted her teeth together.

"I did that because I care about you," Cisco tried to explain but Caitlin waved her hand at him.

"If you cared about me, then you would have let me tell them all when I was ready. Because this is happening to me, not you!" Caitlin got more worked up the more she thought about. "I'm the one turning evil! I'm the one who's gonna have to leave soon!" she stormed out of there.

"Cisco...how did...how did you…?" Belén slowly, and very cautiously, moved to him.

"I vibed the two of us fighting each other in the future," Cisco revealed, the images still haunting him like a nightmare. "She was Killer Frost."

"No, she's...she's not going to be," Belén put a hand on his arm, but he shook it off and received a rather accusing look.

"And you knew!"

The woman pulled her hand back and let her eyes widened. "I—"

"You knew and you didn't make her tell us so that we could help her!"

"Bells, is that true?" Barry was stunned, possibly even more so. However, that began to make sense out of every strange thing happening between the two women.

"Even if it is, like Caitlin said - it wasn't my secret to tell," Belén snapped and sent Cisco an equally-charged glare. "No one has the right to disclose something that doesn't belong to them!"

Get angry, more angry!

A light gasp slipped through Belén's lips. "I gotta go!"

"No - Belén!" Barry called after her but she waved him off too and stormed out of the cortex.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin was in the middle of putting back the dampeners on her wrists when Barry walked into the room. "I didn't mean to pull Belén into this," Caitlin said, though she would probably have to tell that to Belén herself.

"Uh, yeah no she doesn't want to talk to Cisco, specifically," Barry cleared his throat and took a seat across Caitlin. "How long have you known?"

Caitlin bit her lip, putting one hand against her cheek. "I...it was just after we took down Zoom and Datura. The-the siphoning device I made, it...it accidentally transferred Killer Frost's powers."

"Cait...I'm sorry," Barry ran a hand through his hair. "I don't...I don't know if that was how it was supposed to be, I…I don't remember that happening in the other timeline."

Caitlin lowered her head. "We figured that, trust me."

"Caitlin, I'm so sorry." Barry didn't know what else he could say, much less do, to help Caitlin. This was truly his fault. "I've changed everyone's lives and brought in new dangers. Dr. Alchemy. Wally. You getting powers. Even Dante being dead in this timeline. It's all because I created Flashpoint."

"Hey," Iris poked her head into the room, "Wally's up."

The group regathered in the side room where Wally was now wide awake. Belén and Cisco stood across from each other, neither looking at each other.

"You have to use me," Wally was telling them. "Alchemy is calling me to him, so use me."

"Hell no," Joe wondered if being punched by Iris had put Wally into a different state.

"C'mon dad! Follow me wherever he is, and we can stop him!"

"But sorry for my interjection here—" Anais cleared her throat, "—because...do any of you know how to take down this guy?"

"We hardly ever do," Belén patted her arm down.

Wally yelped when he heard Alchemy's voice once again seething in his mind. It was as if someone scratched glass back and forth against another."He wants me! He's hurting me!" he writhed in pain.

Find me, Alchemy called.

Wally's entire body wriggled with no stop. Caitlin hurriedly ran to one of the desks. "Turn him on his side!"

Joe and Barry both moved Wally on his side just as she returned with a needle in hand. "This should help! It's a mild sedative," she told them just as she injected it into Wally.

"What is that?" Cisco asked her.

"Lorazepam. It works on seizures. Hopefully it'll work on whatever this is."

"These episodes keep happening more frequently," Iris remarked once she got to thinking about it.

"Yeah, and this is just a temporary fix. If we don't stop it too, he could suffer from permanent brain damage," Caitlin warned them. Keeping Wally in the pipeline would definitely not help in the long run.

"So then we don't have a choice. We have to do what Wally wanted; we have to use him to find Alchemy," Joe sighed.

"No, we're no... it's too dangerous," Barry wanted to argue more about it but there really wasn't another option.

"So is doing nothing," Joe countered.

"Need I remind everyone that Dr. Alchemy has a rock that shoots lasers, so who knows what he has up his sleeve?" Cisco cleared his throat, hoping that would be taken into consideration.

"Cisco's right. What if we're walking into a trap?" Iris thought that was logical.

"You guys aren't walking into anything. You guys are gonna stay here," Joe warned her along with the others. "If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that if I'm gonna put Wally at risk, I'm gonna use everything in my power to protect him."

~ 0 ~

"You don't have to help," Belén came over to Anais, both dressed in their suits.

Anais shook her head. "I have dealt with possibly every metahuman on my Earth except for a Dr. Alchemy. I'm a little curious, honestly."

"Well then, thanks," Belén chuckled. The more backup they had, the better.

Both turned just as Barry came into the cortex, also dressed to go. "The police are ready."

"Well, which one of you is going to give me the lift?" Belén looked between the two speedsters curiously."

Anais apologetically smiled. "I don't do lifts...sorry…"

"It's not like I weigh much," Belén mumbled as she moved towards Barry instead.

Barry took the lead by hand and purposely pulled Belén a little quicker towards the elevator. "I talked to Cait…" He started, watching Belén's immediate reaction. She seemed nervous.

"Did she say something?" Belén swallowed hard.

"Uh, no, just...she's just very scared," Barry said, wondering when, oh when, would Belén get the courage to tell him the missing part of the story.

~ 0 ~

An old abandoned subway was where Wally ended up bringing the police and the three heroes. Wally entered first and soon spotted several cloaked men on their knees, surrounding one cloaked figure who stood on their feet. Wally gulped when the standing figure turned around and revealed a golden metal mask underneath the hood.

"Hello, Wally," Alchemy greeted but Wally's eyes flickered rapidly to one thing and the next, eventually landing on the white-glowing stone set on a rock pillar behind Alchemy.

"Are you him? Are you the voice I've been hearing inside my head?"

I am Alchemy."

"I've been having visions of another life. Where... where I have speed, where, I'm…" Wally slowly made his way around the figures, acting awed as he took in the cloaked followers. "The Flash."

"I can give you that back, should you desire it."

"I just want the pain to stop."

"It will, child. Whatever you desire, I will see it so. Now tell me, do you wish for the life that was taken from you to return?"

"What I wish for... is all of you gone," Wally's smirk said it all.

"It's a trap!" Alchemy shouted at his followers. The figures rose and tried to make an escape, one of them even pulling a knife and going towards Wally.

Both Anais and Barry sped into the room and began tying some of the followers up. Belén, on the other hand, swooped in as vines and rose in her figure. Vines shot out of each of her palms, smacking two followers against the walls. Anais easily grabbed one follower by the arm and turned him over like a pancake.

"Child's play," she smugly said then reached out for another to do the same.

Barry went straight for the Alchemy. A mere second before he reached Alchemy, the cloaked figure drew the stone on the rock pillar through telekinesis and immediately used its light beam against Barry.

"The boy has been chosen, Flash. And you will not stand before what must be...ever again!" Alchemy hadn't given Barry the opportunity to get up and fight back. Each beam of energy struck him and raged pain in his body.

A bullet shot and knocked the stone out of Alchemy's hand. Joe and his backup had gotten through and helped put the followers all on their knees.

"That was a grave mistake," Alchemy warned them despite their situation.

"You weren't kidding when you said it was a monk," Anais remarked to Belén when the two women circled the followers.

"What do you want?" Belén couldn't help but ask Alchemy straight up.

"I'm simply preparing the world."

"We had a premonition guy like that back on my Earth - spoilers, they lost," Anais smirked.

"It's over Alchemy," Barry came towards them, a little wobbly on his feet but he knew he would heal.

"Over? You have no idea what's about to begin," Alchemy's voice drawled with exceptional condescension. Right after, there was a rumble underneath everyone's feet, rocking them to the side.

For a second, Belén wondered if it was somehow her who was losing herself to the powers. But she didn't feel at a loss...nor did she hear the voices…

Suddenly, Alchemy and his followers dispersed around the room just as a white light struck. Barry saw it zigzag around the room, hitting one thing and causing another to fall and crash.

"Are you guys seeing that?" Barry followed it, whirling around as it cross over him.

"It's a...light…" Anais' own hands glowed with light energy ready to make an attack if need be. However, it appeared only she and Barry were able to see the light.

"What's going on?" Belén looked around cluelessly. All she saw were things crashing but nothing that would cause it. "What is it?"

The light made its way across the police-force Joe brought and started sweeping through them like ragdolls.

"Go!" Barry shouted at the others frantically. "Get the hell out of here!"

Joe cocked his gun to whatever the light was - not that he could see it - and pulled Wally towards the doors. "Wally, move towards the door! Stick with me!"

The three heroes tried to keep track of what exactly was going through them, but every time they blinked one new co-worker was taken down.

"What is that!?" Belén screamed, her hands reaching to her head. Attack. Attack them! Now! "Not now!" she scrunched her face. She already risked herself with Anais who thankfully hadn't taken notice of her powers switching from earth manipulation to botany but a second time was sure to raise some suspicions.

Barry yelled as he was suddenly swept off his feet and thrown across the room. Joe ran over to help him up.

'Wallace' Alchemy's voice rang inside Wally's head. 'Wallace West. Take your power.'

Anais began taking her shots at the light but with no success. This was far beyond what she dealt with on her Earth.

"Wally!" Joe spotted his son nearing the stone left behind on the floor.

"Wally, don't!" Barry groaned and tried getting up. "Azalea, stop him!"

Let them take it. Fight back! Belén couldn't hear anything but the swirl of voices in her head telling her to act against her own friends.

Wally walked right past her and grabbed the stone. As soon as he touched it, a cocoon encased him from top to bottom.

"NO!" Joe screamed.

Barry's body was swooped right beside him and pinned against the wall, high up by an invisible force in Joe's and Belén's perspective. For Barry and Anais, however, there stood a metallic suited (presumably) meta glowing blue.

"Who are you?" Barry could barely breathe the words out from the metallic hand clawing his neck tight.

"The God of Speed," the metallic figure raised its free armed hand to unsheathe blade.

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

[saiilorstars]

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

[saiilorstars]

Ch.31:  The Final Race

Pairing: 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: @ocappreciationtag​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @arrthurpendragon​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @anotherunreadblog​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @stareyedplanet​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @foxesandmagic​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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Cold rain hit hard against the umbrellas of the group. It made the grass in the cemetery mushy to walk through, made Henry's coffin just a bit damp too. The group huddled around the coffin and listened to biblical words in hopes of easing their hearts.

"...and comfort us today with the word of your promise as we return our brother to the earth, and leave us with the hope that, one day, we'll meet again."

Barry cleared his throat and forced his gaze to land on his father's coffin. All eyes were on him, waiting to say something right about Henry. "Um...my father's…" But the words failed him. His mind was racing but at the same time there were no clear thoughts, there was nothing he could say. "I can't do this right now."

Belén wrapped her arm around his and assured him it was fine. It was completely understandable. She would know. One year ago she stood in his place, burying her father (who was also murdered by a crazy speedster).

Joe took the lead and said the final words for Barry. "Henry Allen. Henry suffered two great losses in his life. He lost his wife, Nora, and he lost Barry. He suffered guilt, embarrassment, ridicule, shame, and everything that comes with being blamed for a crime he didn't commit. Henry Allen was proof that love can get you through the darkest of days, and that love will keep him alive in all of our hearts."

Barry left the umbrella to Belén as he went around to take a rose. He placed it over his father's coffin and sucked in a shaky breath. "I promise you I'm gonna take from him what he took from you."

The others exchanged worried glances from his words, but for the time being they would let him grieve.

~ 0 ~

Even though there was no desire to eat, Iris made sure to spread around a decent meal on her dining table. She gave Belén a cautious look when the ombre-blonde set down a stack of empty glasses. Belén quietly sighed and followed Iris' gaze to Barry, who had been staring out the window for the last fifteen minutes.

"I can't talk to him…" Belén confided in her friend, shamefully too. She tried countless times to get a word in but each time Barry would shut her down. He wasn't in the mood and though it was understandable it didn't make Belén feel any better knowing she wasn't able to help him.

Iris rubbed Belén's back comfortingly. Belén shook her head and gently pushed Iris' hand from her. "I'm not the one who needs comforting."

"Alright," Barry started coming back to them. "Guys, Zoom's still out there. We need to come up with a plan."

Cisco had a finger against his temple, obviously out of fresh ideas. "The man can crack open breaches to Earth-2. I mean, if he can do that, what else can he do that we don't know about?"

"Well, those breaches he opened have to be limited," Caitlin sat beside him at the table. "I mean, why else have a personal siphoner?"

"What if that was just a ruse for distraction?" Nina offered another suggestion. "Use a familiar face to keep us away from the real plan."

"A damn good distraction if you asked me," Shivhan muttered.

"And what would that real plan be exactly?" Veronica looked between the team for the answer.

"Right after he killed his time remnant, he told me I was 'almost ready'." Barry reviewed the last fight he had with Zoom and felt the burning fury of losing it.

"Almost ready for what?" asked Joe.

"I don't know."

"Yep. Classic psychopath. Why can't they ever just say what they want to do?" Cisco dropped a hand to the table and drummed his fingers against it. "We also have to figure out why I keep vibing Earth-2 being ripped to shreds. Seriously. It's like I'm watching "Transformers" in 4-D, but, like, ten times more realistic and with much better acting."

"Maybe it's your powers developing," Belén suggested with a light smile that lasted very little. "If that's the future then we need to stop Zoom before it actually happens."

Barry had been listening and paying attention as best as possible but ultimately decided it was just too much. "I'm gonna get some air, all right?" He made a hasty leave for the front door.

Belén went after him, telling the others to not interrupt them. She had to get him to talk to her one way or another. She tried doing the same thing last year, keeping everything bottled in hadn't been the best of her ideas. She couldn't let Barry fall into the same path.

Barry was sitting on the front porch when she finally stepped out. She was cautious as she approached him but at least this time she would hear his voice saying something besides 'I need to be alone'. "When I was in the Speed Force, I felt like I'd finally come to grips with her death, with not saving her when I went back. And then the moment where I'm finally at the place I can move on, my father's taken from me. How am I ever supposed to find peace with that?"

With a sigh, Belén took a seat beside him. "I get how you feel. We had a conversation like this a long time ago, remember?" She scooted closer to him and reached for his hand. "Accepting your parents' death is going to take time. But the key thing you have to do is to try to move on. Not fast, not on a schedule, but just...accepting and moving on."

"I just miss him so much already," Barry leaned his head on her shoulder. He was well aware of his recent distancing from her and now that he felt her warmth, he felt like he could stick to her for the rest of the night and yet...there was still a part of him screaming that he needed to put some distance, not for him but for her. She'd been so kind to him these past days and he couldn't put himself together even for her. He was curt and he was distant. That wasn't a relationship and much less something she deserved.

"I'm so sorry, Barry," Belén whispered to him in the midst of his grim thoughts.

In their moment of silence, a blue glow zipped down the street and without any hesitation Barry chased it. Belén could've screamed for him to stop but there would be no point. He was going no matter what.

And in the end of that chase, Barry came to a solitary intersection where Hunter waited.

"Bad time, Flash? Thought I'd give you some time to mourn," he had the audacity to say.

Barry gritted his teeth together and barely kept his feet in place. "This ends now."

"Not yet," Hunter countered, wagging his finger. "There's always more to take, Barry."

"You're gonna stay away from them," Barry warned.

"Well, that's completely up to you."

"What?"

"When we first met, I told you that Zoom needed to be the best. You just didn't realize I was talking about myself."

Barry thought it completely ridiculous what he was hearing. "Is that what this is about?"

"A race, Barry, between you and me... to see who's the fastest. You win: this is over, and you get to be the hero."

"I'm not racing you."

Hunter made a shrug. "Then your father won't be the only person you love that I'll take from you. Think about it, Flash. All I want to know is who's the fastest man alive on either world. I'll be waiting."

He left the choice with Barry and disappeared.

~ 0 ~

"So...Zoom wants to race you?" Cisco wanted to make sure what he heard had been correct.

Barry found it hard to look at his friends without showing all the anger bubbling inside him. "He's obsessed with being the best."

"You know, that actually makes sense in a weird, twisted way," Belén swayed her head. "I mean, he's technically the fastest speedster in his world so naturally he'd want to come over here to our world and challenge the fastest speedster here...you."

"But that can't be everything he wants," Joe said, refusing to believe that it would all come down to this challenge. All the murders and pain that man caused was all to come to...a race?

Harry had already taken initiative and began doing some research. "It isn't. This Magnetar that's being developed by Mercury Labs…" He pulled up a schematic of the device for the others to see. "Turns out, it can act as a pulsar."

"What the hell is a pulsar?" Shivhan stared at the screen in confusion.

"It's a power amplifier with a highly magnetized, dense rotating core that can be easily weaponized."

"Well, that's not dangerous at all," Iris said.

"That's what happens to Earth-2," Cisco realized soon after. "What happens in my vibes is because of this machine."

"No, hold on, that thing is powerful enough to destroy a planet?" Veronica made a gesture for them to slow down. They had gone from talking about a simple race to...the destruction of the entire planet.

"A lot more than just a planet, if it has the right power source," Harry confirmed.

"Like what?"

"Like me," Barry said, still coming to terms with it. "That's why he wants to race. He wants to siphon the energy I create when I run."

"He wants to siphon the energy off both of you," Harry told him.

Caitlin thought for a second and remembered some important words of Hunter's during her awful time with him. "When Jay captured me, he said that he used to measure his success by counting the number of victims he had, but now he was gonna measure it by counting the number of Earths he conquered instead."

"He doesn't want to just destroy Earth-2; he wants to take out every other planet in the multiverse," Belén shuddered a breath at the thought. They'd gone from a race to the destruction of their planet and then the end of the universes.

"And how many of those are there again?" Nina looked scared to even glance at Harry for the answer.

"Infinite."

"Ah."

"If he can create a breach to Earth-2 all on his own...he can get to all of 'em," Joe said.

"One pulse to destroy them all."

Barry decided there and then. "I guess I don't have a choice. I have to race him. And I have to win."

~ 0 ~

A short time later - after Barry had gotten back in his suit and told the others he would be practicing in the pipeline - Caitlin had called Belén into a sideroom. Even though there was no one left inside the cortex, Caitlin didn't want to take a chance.

"What's up Caitlin?" Belén crossed her arms and watched as Caitlin sat down on the single desk.

Caitlin didn't say anything as she picked up a silver metallic device blinking red. She stared at it for a short minute before holding it out to Belén.

Belén's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What...is it?"

"Cisco helped me create the physical device and I combined my work with Barry's for the actual components. I-I think…" Caitlin took in a small breath, "...I think we finished it."

It took only a minute for Belén to realize what Caitlin held. "That's...the cure for Datura?"

A small smile slipped through Caitlin's lips. "It's not technically a 'cure'—" she made air quotation marks, "—but more like a conduit."

"A what-a-what now?" Belén took the device into her hands. She noticed there were needle-like parts sticking out at the bottom and the top, both encased with protective plastic.

"The way it's meant to work is for both of those—"Caitlin tapped the casing of the needles, "—to extract yours and Datura's DNA and sort of…" Belén was sure Caitlin was having trouble explaining in simple terms and felt for the woman. She always did need things simplified. "It meshes them together, rearranging them into the right sequence needed for Datura's body to become stable again. It'll hopefully get rid of those awful personas in her head."

"That sounded scientifically correct," Belén smiled. "So I inject this into the bitch and then it's over?"

Caitlin wasn't one for cursing so she went on like it never happened. "That's the idea."

"Great, except for one problem: she's surprisingly very good at hide-and-seek," Belén put the device on the desk.

"Well, yes...but we're even better at seeking," Caitlin turned to the computer and typed pretty fast. "Since Datura and Zoom are technically the last Earth-2 metas outside of the pipeline, it's a lot easier to find them."

"Eugh, definitely don't wanna find Zoom that fast," Belén mumbled.

"But if we use Harry's cellular deadzone trick, we can find both of them," Caitlin finished typing and gestured to the screen that had a blinking dot.

Belén leaned forwards and scanned the screen. "Bitch is really me," she mumbled with just a hint of a smile. "She's at the community theater."

"Was she a dancer before like you?" Caitlin truly wondered.

"Who knows," shrugged Belén as she straightened up. "But I guess we're going to find out." She grabbed the device and walked out of the room.

Caitlin came after her but both women were greeted with the grim faces of their friends. "What happened?" Caitlin asked them.

"We, uh...we may have done a thing…" Iris spoke slowly and nervously, her eyes constantly flickering to the others.

"What kind of thing?" Belén raised an eyebrow. She saw her mother standing very straight and confident. It was usually the face she did when she 'made a decision'. "Mom? What did you do?" Veronica opened her mouth several times, apparently finding it harder to speak than she anticipated. "Mom? What did you do?"

"It wasn't her, Belén," Shivhan said quietly, her eyes drifting over to the others but more specifically at Harry. "I'm pretty sure it was a unanimous decision."

"We made the decision," Harry sharply clarified.

"What decision?" Belén insisted, growing frustrated by the second. Silence irritated her the most.

"We put Barry in the pipeline," Harry said, showing not as much conflict as the others.

Both Belén and Caitlin blinked in surprise.

"Hold on...what?" Belén asked again. Caitlin decided to find out on her own and headed for the main desk. "Why would you do that!?" Belén exclaimed.

"Because he's going to get himself killed," Harry continued answering for the others. "We made the decision—"

"We did not make any decision!" Belén snapped. She glanced at Caitlin and saw the security camera showing Barry indeed inside a pipeline pod. "Oh my God," Belén frowned and headed for the pipeline.

"Belén!" Veronica shouted and immediately followed. The others quickly did the same. "Belén!"

Belén ignored the calls of her friends all the way into the pipeline. She smacked away Harry's hand when he tried to pull her hand from the pipeline control.

"You can't open it!" Harry warned her.

"Frikin watch me!" she shouted in his face and indeed opened the pipeline, bringing in Barry's pod.

"Belén, stop!" this time it was Iris who brought Belén back.

"Iris! Why—"

"Just...just let us talk to him, okay?" Iris had a significant expression sitting on her face. "Just listen to him...and then...and then see for yourself."

Belén thought she was crazy, but feeling the outnumbering pressure got to her. She turned around to face Barry who was coming out of the tranquilizer they'd injected into him.

On wobbly feet, Barry got up and planted his palms on the wall of the pod. "What are you doing? Why did you put me in here?"

"Because you're too angry right now," Joe began and Belén did the watching like Iris instructed. "You can't race him like that. Without a plan, you're... You'll lose."

Barry began the anger fuse in a second. "Keeping me in here is gonna get everyone killed. I'm the only one that can stop him; you know that."

"You race Zoom on his terms, you'll lose," Harry said slow and steady for Barry to understand.

Barry slammed a hand against the wall, startling Belén. "This is not your decision to make!"

"It is this time," Joe corrected him. "We all made it together."

Offence scratched at Barry's surface. He took in the guilty faces of his friends. "All of you?" he especially lingered on Belén.

"Barry, I…"

"She and Caitlin weren't there," Veronica beat her daughter to it.

"Bro, I went back and forth. I was, like, a good 60/40 at first…" Cisco wanted to explain but Harry cut him of.

"Ramon!"

"Yeah, yeah, we all made the decision," Cisco mumbled.

"Come on!" Barry exclaimed. He was riled up and slamming the walls of his prison. Belén watched him carefully as promised. "This is ridiculous!"

"Belén," Harry's sharp voice startled the woman in question. He had one hand hovering over the pipeline's control. "What's your call?"

"I…" Belén bit her lip nervously, feeling her heart rapidly beating with the decision resting on her. "I…" she sighed and put herself together, "Close it down."

"Belén!" Barry seemed stunned. "Don't do this!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry…" Belén hated hearing his screams as the pipeline was forced to shut.

He was completely out of it, delirious with anger...and that was a one way ticket to death. It was probably what Zoom was counting on. Barry's grief and endless anger combined together made for the perfect opponent. She couldn't let that happen.

~ 0 ~

"I can't believe I just did that," Belén was the first to speak after they returned to the cortex. It was heart-wrenching to see Barry in that position and much more to hear his screams.

"Believe me, it was for the best," Nina assured her. "I have seen my share fair of patients' families go down a similar road of rage and it never ends well."

"I have never seen him that angry before…" Belén trailed off and a small chuckle escaped through her lips, "Except for when he fought the Reverse Flash. Seems like we're always in these situations."

"Well this was just the easy part, ladies and gentlemen," Harry strode out of the side room with two large briefcases that he set on the table. "Now, using our plan to take down Zoom without Barry, that's gonna be the hard part, but it's gonna be a lot easier once we know where he is, Ramon!"

Cisco felt the sharp jab of that statement from the computers. "Chill, man! I'm working on it!"

"Well work harder!"

Cisco was proud to say he had found the location. "Got it. He's at the industrial park on Leawood. Give me that!" he high-fived with Jesse.

"What the hell is even the plan here?" Belén asked, shooting the group suspicious looks. "Since you were all so kind enough not to tell me and Caitlin beforehand?"

"It would be nice to know," Caitlin agreed quietly.

"The plan is Caitlin will distract Jay so that we—" Harry motioned to himself and Cisco, "—can hit him with the boot."

"You want to use Caitlin?" Belén stopped them right there, exasperated on behalf of Caitlin. "Are you out of your minds!?"

"It's the only logical way—"

"Don't you say that to me when I am standing right here," Belén warned him.

"Belén it's okay," Caitlin suddenly spoke up after dwelling on it for a minute in silence. It gave her a terrible feeling in hwe stomach but there was a fiercer determination to stop Zoom once and for all.

"What? Caitlin—"

"Honest, Belén," Caitlin patted her friend's arm. "Jay may be a monster, but there's a human inside of him somewhere. I've gotten to that part of him before. I know I can do it again. I want to stop him, Harry, for good."

"Alright, thanks," Harry gave her a nod. "So then after Caitlin does her distraction, Cisco's gonna open the breach, and we're gonna put him through it. I'll disarm the Magnetar."

"And what, pray tell, am I gonna do?" Belén wasn't liking this plan since it was basically pushing her aside.

"You are going to be on watch duty," Harry had an answer for her ready to go.

"Because she might be there," Veronica said. "I am not taking any chances again. Shivhan is going to be looking after you like a hawk."

Belén gasped indignantly at the idea and even shot a glare at Shivhan who'd been quiet all this time. "Seriously?"

"Sorry," she shrugged. "But she has a gun." Belén rolled her eyes.

"I'll be fine," Caitlin reassured Belén in the end. "We'll all be okay."

"One more thing," Joe stepped forwards. "We need to agree. We all made this decision together, so if anything goes wrong, we stick with it."

Everyone gave their re-confirming nods.

"Let's load up," Harry moved.

~ 0 ~

Harry, Joe and Cisco each took respective hideouts in the industrial park before 'Caitlin' was meant to call in Zoom. The women, ironically, were set in the STAR Labs van.

"I should be out there," Belén muttered for the fifth time to her mother. "I'm not five years old."

"Then quit whining like one," Veronica swiftly retorted, furthering her daughter's irritation.

"Okay…" Iris cleared her throat. "Are you guys ready?" she called in to the others through the comms.

"We got you," Harry dutifully responded.

"Caitlin?" Nina glanced at the brunette expectantly. She, much like Belén, wasn't exactly on board with the precise details of the plan. Her wound didn't allow her to get back in the meta field yet so she was on "watch duty" just like Belén.

"Yes," Caitlin was more than determined to finish this once and for all.

"Then all hands on board," Shivhan declared.

~ 0 ~

"Jay?" Caitlin called out to the meta. "Jay!"

Her voice drew him in within the second. He sped to stand across her in the open area of the park. "How did you find me?"

"Doctor McGee said the Magnetar was stolen from her labs. I knew that it had to be you, so I tracked you here," Caitlin played the part well. "I tracked you here, Jay. No one else knows." She paused for a second and contemplated her next words. "Datura let me go…"

"I know," Hunter said bitterly. "Woman knows how to hide. But that won't last long."

"But I'm here," Caitlin gestured to herself. "She let me go and I returned. I came back to you." She discreetly took several steps towards him and watched as he did the same. "You were right. There is a dark side of me. I'm...I'm more like Killer Frost than I thought...and I really didn't want to accept that. I tried to lock the darkness inside of me. But you knew that that was already a part of me now. And you're the only one who did. And now, I'm ready to accept who I really am." By this time, she had successfully drew Hunter close to her. "I am so sorry it took me this long to realize," Caitlin finished. "I want to be the one that only you know. Please, Jay. Let me try."

"I knew you would see the light, Caitlin," Hunter sighed. "But it's too late." Without hesitation, he struck a hand through her chest and came to the realization she was only a hologram.

Caitlin had never left the van.

There was a locking noise in the air and the next thing Hunter knew was his restraint to a metal dampener around his neck. Cisco, from above, shot a breech energy close to him and waited for Joe to finish it all. When Harry saw there was no finale, he took matters into his own hands and shot at Hunter with his own gun. It missed only slightly since Hunter was still stumbling with the metal dampener around his neck.

"Tranq him! Tranq him!" Harry shouted at Joe.

"Gun is jammed!" came the response. Joe grabbed the tranquilizers and made a run for Hunter. He jabbed the tranquilizers into both sides of Hunter's shoulder blades and stumbled back.

Harry came into the area again and shot at Hunter. The blow made Hunter fall into the breech, but it also caused for an easy snatch of Joe. Both men were gone within the second.

~ 0 ~

Iris intently watched Cisco vibe for her father's location and half knew the answer when Cisco sighed and pulled off his vibing goggles. Yet, she dared to believe. "Did you see my Dad?"

"No, the vibe keeps changing. It's like my brain is channel surfing or something," Cisco dejectedly found a seat nearby.

"They must be on the move," Caitlin theorized. "That's why the vibe's in flux. Keep trying."

Harry and Jesse came into the cortex wearing almost identical grim faces.

"Did you turn off the Magnetar?" asked Nina, though she knew the answer already.

"No, there's no messing with that thing. Whatever he did to it...we try and touch it, we try and move it…" Harry shook his head.

"This planet's done for," Belén said, extremely struggling to keep herself together.

"Belén, you should cal—"

"Mom, please, for the love of God, don't finish that," Belén warned her. She didn't want to hear how she should 'calm down'. There was absolutely no way to calm down. She had decided to go along with their plans and leave Barry in the pipeline because it was the best thing for him. But now he was still in the pipeline and Joe was gone. "We made the wrong decision and now Joe's out there. What the hell were we thinking?" She rubbed her forehead.

"Iris," Wally came into the room and almost immediately sensed the dense atmosphere. "What's...what's wrong?"

Belén released a loud breath, making no attempt to hide her mood. "We screwed up, that's what."

"Belén," Veronica spoke her daughter's name through gritted teeth.

"Okay, what's going on?" Wally demanded to know.

"We tried to stop Zoom by pushing him through the breach, but... he took Joe with him," Caitlin was the one to explain.

"Well, where's Barry? Did he go after him?" Wally asked but then noticed that the speedster in question wasn't there.

"He's not with us because we decided to put him in a cell," Belén felt terrible as she spoke the words. She was the worst girlfriend in the world, she was sure of it.

Wally wasn't sure if he was hearing right but once he got a better look at everyone's faces in the room, he decided that he actually heard right. "Wait, you... you tried to stop Zoom alone? Well, we have to get him back!"

Iris reached out for her brother's arm before he got going. "Wally, before Zoom took Dad, we all agreed that if we got him off this Earth, we would close the breaches for good, and we would never open them again, under any circumstances."

"Why...why would you do that?" Wally made frantic hand gestures in the air. "No! No way, that's not gonna happen!"

"He made us all agree to it," Iris said, doing her best to withhold her emotions.

"Well guess what? I didn't agree to that!" Wally snapped. "I already lost my mom. If Dad... I…" he trailed off, deeming things to be too much for him, and he stormed off.

"He's not wrong," Belén sighed. "We screwed up, and badly."

"We agreed to it—"

"Iris quit reciting that! We know you want to go and save him just as much as we want to," Belén surprisingly held her voice down for Iris' sake. "We all do!"

"But that's not what we agreed on," Harry meant no argument, just a simple reminder.

"And if it had been Jesse again?" Belén countered with. She saw the immediate glance to Jesse and sighed. "Or what if it had been Caitlin? Iris? Let's all be honest here, the promise we made was always going to be voided if something like this happened. Who were we trying to kid?"

Silence filled the room with mixtures of guilt. The only sound came from a blinking alert from one of the computers. Being closest to it, Jesse checked on it.

"Uh, hey, guys, Barry's not—" she got cut off by Barry himself who had sped in with Wally, "...in his cell anymore…"

Iris' irritation returned with her brother's disobedience. "Wally!"

"What?" the younger sibling turned to her. "I wasn't just gonna stand here and let this happen."

Barry had learned exactly what had happened from Wally and was rightfully angry. "You let him take Joe? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Allen, there was nothing we could do," Harry said with a repeated sigh.

Barry felt like a broken record repeating the solution. "You could've let me race him!"

"You're not racing Zoom!"

"What are you gonna do? Are you gonna tranq me again?"

"Don't tempt me!"

"Look, I know you guys made a pact to keep Zoom on Earth-2, but you did that without me and Wally. All right? You don't get to do that!"

"And you don't get to go die being reckless," snapped Belén and dared him to come back. "You are not okay, Barry—"

"My dad was just killed in front of me!"

"I know! We all do!" Belén upheld her loudness. She hated yelling at him, especially in moments like these but if she kept talking at a normal volume then she would never get through to him. "We've all lost someone to people who didn't deserve to play God. But you going out there, all angry and emotional won't help anyone."

"Look, Barry—" Caitlin took a crack at it, "—I know how cold and angry and distant that can make you. But when this happened to me, you were the one who kept me in check. You told me to stop and take a breath, and that's all we're telling you to do now."

Barry took in some air and spoke much calmer, abet still laced with frustration. "I'm telling you I'm good!"

Harry scoffed. "Really? You're good? Because it seems to me you want to do more than stop Zoom. It seems to me you want revenge. If that's why you're doing this, Allen, you will lose."

"Please, Barry," Belén begged in a whisper.

Barry mildly reconsidered after getting her look. "Look, you guys. I... you may not think I can do this. You may think I'm too angry. But we're running out of time! I have to beat him, and I'm going to, whether I have your help or not. So which one is it?"

Well, there wasn't much to think about after that.

Cisco vibed Barry to Zoom's old cave on Earth 2 to accept his racing challenge. The group at least had some relief to know Zoom would be bringing Joe back with him to their Earth. Now all they had to do is figure out a way to beat him.

Belén and Caitlin, however, were a little more focused on their side mission. Eventually, even Shivhan had drifted to their corner. Belén was already in her suit, holding the curing device tightly in her hands, and was talking to them about their situation when Barry approached them.

"What are you two doing?" he eyed them suspiciously.

Belén turned out and waved the device at him. "Caitlin did it."

Barry's eyes widened at the sight of the device. "Cait, you did it!?"

Caitlin sheepishly nodded. "With all our combined efforts, yes."

"I was thinking I'm going to do this myself," Belén informed and quickly added on when she saw Barry opening his mouth to argue, "It's the only way. Look, it's obvious I can't fight Zoom because of speed differences and you can't fight Datura because of, well, her face. We have to split up if we really want to win."

Barry wanted to argue that she was wrong...but she really wasn't. It had been his weakness from the very beginning against Datura. He couldn't bring himself to physically hurt her, and it was obvious words weren't going to get through her. Not to mention, Datura was definitely counting on her advantage and would beat him to a pulp if he gave her the chance. "You're right."

"Yes, I am."

"But... please...be careful." Because as much as they hated to admit it, Barry also knew that Datura held an advantage against Belén. Belén had said it from the very beginning; they were evenly matched.

"She'll be fine because she's definitely not going alone," Shivhan declared just as Caitlin moved to stand beside her.

Belén shot both of them a wide-eyed look. "What?"

"Belén, we want to come with you," said Caitlin.

"Cait…" Belén had severe doubts of this new addition to the plan, but both women were ready to make their cases.

"You came to me for some back up all these months ago," Shivhan reminded her. "And you were right because if you hadn't, I would still be trying to hide from Datura. I told you that I would help you wipe that smugness off her face and that's what I'm going to do today."

"It turned into my fight a while ago when Jay took me to Earth 2," Caitlin admitted. "We had conversations when we were back on this Earth. Cisco mentioned it before that maybe it was like an echo of our friendship coming out. Datura made some choices with me that...might be more from her human side. If I can tap into that and help you in any way that I can, Belén, I will."

Belén looked between the two women, searching for any trace of doubt in their eyes. She really didn't want either of them to come with her — she wanted to keep them out of harm's way — but she got the feeling that no matter what argument she made, they would outmatch her. "I am so very lucky to have you guys as friends."

"Yeah you are," Shivhan smirked, making them laugh.

"Dr. Snow, pack a weapon for yourself," Belén started. "I don't want you completely unarmed in case Datura gets any funny ideas."

"On it," Caitlin said and started off for their stash of weaponry.

"I'll...help her pick out something gnarly," Shivhan decided after getting the feeling she would be a third wheel in a couple of moments.

Belén watched them disappear and perhaps would've kept herself in that way if she didn't feel Barry placing a hand on her shoulder. They had yet to talk about the pipeline earlier.

"Bells, you have to be careful," Barry said.

She turned slowly to meet his gaze. "I will if you will," she countered with.

"I will...do my best," Barry promised. For now, that was all either of them could promise to each other.

"Barry, I'm sorry for locking you in the pipeline - well not that I had originally been in on it because Caitlin and I were still here actually. But, you know, I'm sorry for later deciding to lock you in. I was scared for you and us—"

Barry knew that if he let her, she would talk until her face turned blue. Her college nickname 'Motor-mouth-Belén' still made him laugh every now and then when it was brought up. He wished he could go back to those moments instead of what they had now: pure trouble. He cupped her face, stopping her in the middle of a phenomenal apology with a sound kiss on the lips.

Belén would take any opportunity like this whenever she could. Her hands snaked their way up to his face and stayed there because it was the closest she could have him in that moment. "Is that code for forgiveness?" she asked afterwards in a whisper. "Because I'm really sorry."

"I get why you did it," Barry told her, reassuring her that he wasn't upset with her. "I just hate that you needed to do it. It feels like these past few days, you've had to do deal with a lot because of me and I...I can't seem to get myself together, you know? I'm too hurt to do right by you."

"So?" she said, surprising him that she was that aware. "Your father just died, Barry. You can't pull yourself together right now. You have to mourn, you have to let time pass before you can ever claim some normality. I know that and I'm here for all of it — I'll be here for every stage of it."

"But you don't deserve that," Barry let his head hang with guilt. He felt it in the pit of his stomach that it would be a long time before he could ever be someone good for her again. She didn't deserve that at all.

"Stop thinking you know what I deserve," Belén said gently. "I know what I deserve, alright? Let me be here for whatever you need...just like you were there for me when my father died." He ultimately nodded but Belén felt like he still hadn't completely grasped her point. In fact, she felt like she was missing something and it scared her. For that, she wrapped her arms around him for a very tight hug. Suddenly, it wasn't all about the fighting they would be doing soon...something was telling her to hold onto him before he disappeared. That was scary.

~ 0 ~

Everyone except Belén, Shivhan and Caitlin had returned to Zoom's hideout. Cisco was the first one to spot the magnetar in all its grandness right across them. It was lighting up in glows of white and yellow, giving it a similar appearance to a ferris wheel. But this was no ferris wheel.

"I tell you, Jay might be crazy-pants, but he can pick a venue," Cisco sucked a breath in after finally managing to tear his gaze from the magnetar.

Zoom sped in from behind, with Joe tight by the arm. "Brought the whole crew with you, huh? Can't say I blame you."

"Dad!" Wally nearly ran to his father if Iris hadn't grabbed hold of him.

"It's gonna be one hell of a show," Zoom promised.

Barry moved to stand in front of his friends. "Let him go."

"After we race."

"Cut the crap," Harry had a good aim on Zoom. "We know you plan to power up the Magnetar so you can destroy the multiverse."

"Bravo. You figured it out... almost," Zoom said, pulling off his mask. "I don't want to destroy all of it. This Earth is at the center of the multiverse. It's the access point to every other Earth in existence. One trans-dimensional shockwave, and... poof."

"Leaving just our Earth," Cisco narrowed his eyes. "How generous of you."

Hunter took the compliment. "Need to have some place to hang my cowl. You might want to say your good-byes." He sped off to take his place and leave Joe tied up somewhere to the side.

Barry turned to Iris and Wally, the most affected by far. "Don't worry. I'm gonna save your dad."

"No. You're gonna save our dad," Wally corrected him, encouraging him to go on.

~ 0 ~

Belén slowly crept into the community theater which, as of late, had been closed down for reconstruction after Zoom's metas had given it a good rundown. Shivhan and Caitlin, who held a small meta dampener gun, were right behind Belén. They made it past the hallways with no problem but saw a blinking light coming from the stage room. Belén warned the others to stay behind as they walked in through the back.

Even though the lights were dim, they could see a figure lying on their back on the stage. Said figure was humming to herself, wagging a finger in the air. Belén wasn't sure what to think.

Shivhan, however, had her thoughts perfectly lined up. "She's officially gone insane."

"Shh," Belén said quickly.

"'Insane' is much more difficult to fight, Belén," Shivhan warned.

"She's not crazy," went Caitlin, earning herself a look from Shivhan. "I'm serious. These personas bombarding Datura aren't making her crazy. She never was. They're overwhelming her to the point where she has to break at moments in order to not go crazy."

"Either way, she can't stay here," Belén took in a deep breath. It was time to go. She started making her way down steps leading to the stage. When Datura stopped humming suddenly, Belén balled a fist and prepared for a fight.

"It's funny what you end up thinking about in your last moments," the doppelganger spoke with ease. She stretched and arm over her head to point back at the silks dropping from the ceiling. "I dabbled in dancing before I went into biology."

"Your mom make you quit too?" Belén inquired, stopping midway down.

Datura snorted. "Mom? No. It was Dad. He said it was a useless talent."

"Been there done that…" Belén mumbled. "So that's why you're here then? Relive past moments?"

Datura supported her upper body with her elbows and gave Belén an "are you serious" stare. "I'm here because I can't get home, dumbass. I can't leave because everywhere I go, Zoom will be there."

"So you want to go home?"

Datura licked her lips, clearly struggling to be that honest with her. "Well...when everything is said and done, when you're about to die...where do you want to go?"

Belén swallowed hard. "Home..." she whispered.

"Yeah, except in my case, I can't really do that all the way, huh?" Datura cocked her head to the side. Her husband was gone, her family thought her dead, and Poison Ivy was locked up right here on this Earth. Even if she did manage to go home, where would she go? "It's stupid but I'd rather not die by myself. Any chance you'd let Poison Ivy come out?"

Belén raised an eyebrow at her. Somewhere in the back, she was sure that Shivhan was snorting at the audacity of the woman. "Listen Datura, I know what you did for Caitlin, and I'm thankful for it," Belén said, eliciting a small sarcastic laugh in return.

"Spare me the "you're a hero within" speech. I'm dying, no reason to bring her down with me. Right Caity?" Datura purposely called out to Caitlin, knowing she was there in the room. "You can come out of the darkness, it's not like I'll shoot you. Well, maybe." Shivhan led Caitlin down a couple steps but she kept one arm in front of her in case Datura tried something. "Oooh, Black Orchid is here too," Datura sighed dramatically. "Must we do this?"

"No," Shivhan said. "You can go straight to the pipeline and make our night easier."

"I redid the cure. I'm pretty sure it'll work…" Caitlin started but Datura's eyes flashed red all of a sudden. Belén and Shivhan prepared themselves to block whatever attack Datura would send their way...but instead Datura started laughing.

"Hey, genius, instead of laughing why not be more grateful that someone still cared for your ass?" Belén snapped. Maybe Shivhan wasn't all that wrong about the 'insane' part.

Datura let herself fall back to the floor. Something new had popped into her head and it was delicious. It was brand new hope, a brand new adventure she was more than willing to go into head-first. One of her hands covered her forehead as she continued to giggle. "You don't get it. It doesn't matter anymore…"

"What are you talking about?" Belén asked. She glanced back at Shivhan and Caitlin, hoping that they — like her — had gotten the gist that they had missed something just then. Determined, Belén jumped onto the stage to get closer to her doppelganger.

"None of it matters, idiot!" Datura snapped and sat up, flashing a smirk. "In the end, Barry's going to screw it up. The non-rule breaker will break the ultimate rule."

"I don't know what you're talking about but this ends now!" Belén went to grab Datura but the doppelganger seized her wrist and threw her over. Shivhan rushed down the remainder of the stairs but Datura called her.

"Stay where you are before I forget my fondness for Caity!" the doppelganger slowly stood up and walked over to Belén who was trying to get up. She pushed a heeled boot on Belén's back, forcing her to the ground. "I said I wanted to die in peace and you can't even do that?"

"Who said you got to die in peace?" Belén groaned.

"I don't have anything, not even Poison Ivy anymore. I've accepted the loss, so do me the favor and just go."

"That's the problem. You don't just get to decide you lose. After everything you did? Please."

"Why bother sticking me with that cure when it's not going to matter in the end?"

Belén swiped am arm across Datura's legs and knocked her over. She jumped over the woman and began to wrestle for the device's injection.

~0~

Barry had come to stand beside Zoom, both in front of the magnetar. "What are the rules?"

"One lap around the inside of this loop will produce about 1 gigawatt of energy, and I need 500-plus to power the Magnetar enough to do the job," Zoom motioned to the spinning design of the magnetar. "Once it's full, I win, because there is no stopping it."

Barey did not consider such possibility. He gave the magnetar another study. "So all I have to do to beat you is stop you before that happens."

"Yep. It's that simple," Zoom agreed but almost laughed at the absurdity of the notion. "But if, at any point, you decide you don't want to race anymore, dear old dad number two is a dead man, as well as your little fan club."

"They're not my fan club. They're the reason that I'm running, why I'm gonna beat you," Barry corrected and got ready to run the race of his life.

Zoom scoffed at the bubble-filled statement. "Let's see what you're made of, Flash."

"Just say when, Zoom."

Zoom pulled his mask on and spoke in a demonic voice. "Run, Barry. Run!"

And the two speedsters raced.

~0~

Caitlin had taken multiple aims with the meta dampener gun but found it impossible to actually shoot since the two doppelgangers kept going back and forth. Shivhan tried intervening but the first two times she had accidentally struck Belén in the middle of their ongoing fight.

"Belén! You need to stay still!"

Belén was currently dodging electric bolts and so found the challenge a bit difficult to manahs. "Can't—" bolt! "—really—" bolt! "—do—" bolt! "—that! Ah!" The last shot had gotten her from the side.

Electricity crackled around Datura's arms as the woman walked towards her doppelganger. "If anything, before everything on this world gets screwed over, I can have the satisfaction that you lost." Her eyes were golden as her electricity.

"Is that what this is to you? Whether you win or lose?" Caitlin called out, turning her attention. "I knew you served Zoom but I didn't think you were actually like him."

The statement elicited a newfound wave of rage. Electricity was exchanged for the familiar frost. "I am not Zoom!" spoke Killer Frost who shot icicles in Caitlin's way.

Shivhan wielded a shield of thick tendrils to cover them. "I guess the truth hurts, huh?" She then threw her shield like a boomerang that took Datura against the back of the stage. "You're just like Zoom. It's no wonder the Green didn't want you in."

Belén heard the distinctive growl of fury as soon as Shivhan mentioned the green. It gave her an idea. Datura jumped back on her feet, sending her own vine tendrils towards Shivhan.

~0~

"He's powering up the Magnetar," Harry had seen the controls of the device glowing with a white sphere at the center.

Cisco felt a rush of insecurity as they witnessed Zoom get a gain on Barry in the race. "Come on, Barry. Catch up."

A bright, white light sprouted from the magnetar and went right into the sky, ripping a hole that would soon create the breeches to the other worlds. But at the same time, the team saw Barry split into two.

Jesse tried following the original but ultimately lost track. "Which one's Barry?"

"Both of them. He made a…" Harry began and Cisco finished with him.

"...time remnant."

~ 0 ~

Shivhan delivered a punch followed by a second one across Datura's face. She pushed her foot against Datura's stomach then lunged on the doppelganger.

Caitlin tried once again to take aim but — just like when Datura fought Belén — Shivhan was in the way. "I can't get a clear shot!"

Datura sent Shivhan toppling over a prop table with a streak of energy. "Oh Caity, be honest, could you really shoot me?" She turned to face the brunette who was now gripping her weapon. "

"I shouldn't need to," Caitlin walked down the theater steps. "Because there's no reason for you to deny our help. It's what you wanted, no? That's why you nearly murdered our friends, why you kidnapped Belén's family?"

"I've got nothing anymore!" Datura frantically snapped. "My kind have been eradicated and the metas who survived - like Poison Ivy - are in your stupid maximum security prison right now! And excuse me if it sounds cliche but I don't like being alone."

Caitlin stopped and lowered her gun without realizing. "Just like Belén…"

~ 0 ~

Zoom had pinned Barry to the ground, never noticing that the other time remnant had switched to running around the magnetar's monitor control. "A remnant? Stole my trick, Flash. But you're too late. Bye-bye, multiverse!"

Barry didn't take his taunt and kicked Zoom backwards. As the man stumbled, Barry took his chance and gave in some hard (well deserved in his mind) punches.

"What's the time remnant doing?" Iris had to speak louder for the others to hear.

"He's creating his own pulse…" Harry replied, the idea still coming to him.

"Why would he do that?" Cisco focused explicitly on the time remnant.

But Harry had finally figured it out. "Because... if that's out of phase—" he pointed to the magnetar's monitor, "—it'll counteract that one!" He directed his finger to the magnetar itself.

"Wait, his body can't handle that!" Cisco soon realized.

Jesse raised an eyebrow. "Then what's gonna happen?"

"He'll die," Harry replied in a grim tone. The others behind him quickly turned their attention to the time remnant, who in all but five seconds, disintegrated into nothing.

Zoom saw his magnetar device shutting down. "NO!"

Barry lunged on him and delivered several punches before Zoom got an upperhand from coursing rage. The two speedsters went up the walls, going back and forth striking for blood. Barry pushed through and struck Zoom down against a street water metal object. Without giving a chance for breath, Barry flipped Zoom over then ripped a part of Zoom's mask off. The anger was still raw enough to push him without giving his brain time to catch up.

Zoom chortled darkly as Barry held off a vibrating hand in the air. "You're a hero, Barry. You couldn't kill me before. You won't kill me now."

Barry held his breath when he heard a familiar screeching in the air. A time portal had opened up to release two Time Wraiths. "I don't have to," Barry smirked and stepped off Zoom.

The Time Wraiths came straight for Zoom and the moment their clawed hands touched him, he began to scream. His skin morphed into a mummified figure. He was picked up like a ragdoll and carried right into the speed force, leaving a terrified group behind.

But Barry would watch on with a form of satisfaction that, at the same time, wasn't as fulfilling as he thought it would be.

~ 0 ~

Datura had gone after Shivhan, giving Caitlin only a brief moment to catch her breath. It was, though, the brief moment Datura should've kept guard over Caitlin and Belén.

"It's over Caitlin," Datura spat as she hopped down the stage towards Caitlin. Before she took two steps, Belén started throwing matter of chloroplasts at her. The first one smacked Datura's back and threw the woman into the first row of seats. Belén threw two more to Datura's wrists.

Datura's wrists crackled with electricity as she broke through the makeshift binds. As she was turning around, Belén fired a series of thorns her way. Rose thorns. Datura managed to conjure up a vine shield but not after getting a series of stabs on her arms first.

"How could a metahuman who comes from Mother Nature be this toxic against her own sisters?" A female voice had spoken through Belén's lips and if Datura had been part of the Green, she would've known that it was Rose Red.

Datura's face was scrunched up in utter confusion, as was Caitlin's from her spot. "What?" Datura only lowered her shield for a second before Belén struck the thickest tendril of vine she ever had — and Caitlin would know considering she and the others monitored Belén's abilities. Datura's body was swept up in it and the more she writhed against it, the more she could feel bark splintering through her suit.

"That's Swamp Thing," Caitlin heard Shivhan say from her spot. Shivhan was only now pulling herself up from the pieces of the prop table she landed on. She seemed to be almost laughing. "Belén pulled out the big guns — Datura, meet your brothers and sisters. Belén's channeling them because none of them like you. None of them want you terrorizing people with our botanical powers; powers meant to be used for peace."

"Bring...it...on!" Datura's eyes flashed a wicked brown. The ground underneath them rumbled as if an earthquake was striking but instead of that, chunks of the ground began rising. She was controlling the pieces and managed to throw one directly behind Belén. As soon as the cement struck her, Belén was forced to let go of her doppelganger as she landed hard on the ground. "I don't care how many of you there are, I don't need you. Poison Ivy told me that. I have never needed the Green—" she spat the name with disdain, "—to help me."

"Such a shame that Poison Ivy did to you what she does best. She poisoned you," Belén had looked up at her, her voice her own this time. "Because I talked to the Green, you know? You actually had a chance but you let yourself get poisoned. You let somebody tell you who you were supposed to be and that's not even Poison Ivy's fault. It's yours. Because you're weak and you always have been. That's why you let yourself get carried into the darkness." A new type of fury crossed Datura's face as Belén went on. "It was always there. You left your husband because you were scared of who you were becoming and that was your first mistake. You were too weak to admit that you needed help. I'm not the runt of our doppelgangers, you are. I'm sure that my doppelgangers have had the courage to speak up when they needed help. Me? I rise up to the challenge. You? You run away from them."

Datura's body actually shook with anger. "You're going to regret that — even when this all goes to hell, I'm still going to take satisfaction knowing that I killed you." She struck a hand forwards and shot a streak of acid that burned Belén's right arm. With her scream, Datura took her chance to strike again with a fire of red energy bolts. Shivhan rushed forwards when Belén fell against the stage. "Back off Orchid!" Datura punched a fist into the air and with it rose another part of the stage ground to force Shivhan back. She then grabbed a piece of the broken stage ground and twirled it between her fingers. She didn't hesitate to plunge it into Belén's chest, just above her heart actually. Belén screamed against and struggled to yank the piece out.

"There we go," Datura bent down in front of Belén. "The start of the end."

Belén stopped struggling with the embedded piece and focused on ending that smug face once and for all. "You're...actually right." Belén revealed Caitlin's device and stabbed one end on her palm then smacked it over Datura's shoulder to embed the other end.

The device whirred to life instantaneously. A golden stream of colors was extracted from Datura while a green glow came from Belén. The two doppelgangers felt the immediate pain followed through. Datura, however, seemed to be taken a worse hit. Her eyes began to flash from gold to scarlet red to frosty blue and so on. Electricity began to spark from her body and into the device. Belén felt the wasps of electricity and hissed louder and louder until it became a true scream, coupled with the pain she already had from her wound.

Caitlin rushed towards them but there was an explosion that made her fall back. A bit of smoke emerged from the doppelgangers as far as Caitlin could see. She waved her hand in the air and coughed as the smoke drifted towards her.

"Belén? Belén! Are you okay?" she called out and used the chairs beside her to get up. Without thinking, she shot the meta dampener neckbrace at Datura who was out cold.

Datura was outcold but Belén was coughing from her spot. "Someone...get this off me." She waved her burned palm over the wooden piece in her chest.

~ 0 ~

When all was said and done, the cortex became a much lighter, happier way. Even though Belén sported a wicked wound, she felt much better knowing that Datura resided in the pipeline along with the rest of her Earth 2 meta-comrades. Now she just had to understand exactly what Barry had done to defeat Zoom.

"Okay, so you ran back in time and made a copy of yourself?"

"Well, uh, basically…" Barry gave a small nod. He already had to explain that to Wally but since Belén was coming off some meds, he didn't mind explaining it all over again. "It's not something that I can do every day, but I needed a way to draw the Time Wraiths out of the Speed Force, hoping they'd be more upset at what Zoom had done than they'd be with me.

Wally was still comically staring at him.

Joe motioned Iris to come over to his side. He was struggling not to laugh. "Is that what I look like when they start talking about science?"

"Pretty much," she confirmed.

Joe laughed. "Don't worry, Wally. It'll get easier to understand."

"Don't lie to the boy, Joe," Belén shook her head from her chair. "I've been dating that—"she jerked a thumb at Barry, "—for almost two years now and half the time I still don't get what he's talking about."

Barry playfully rolled his eyes at her. "It's actually not that complicated, Bells. I just ran back in time moments before I left. It's the only way I can be in two places at once."

"Yeah after about an hour of scientific explanations," Belén took her shot and crossed her arms, only to feel the fresh jab of her chest wound. She quickly dropped her arms to her sides.

"Okay, so the time remnant, it's still you?" Wally once again made a question.

"Yeah," Barry nodded.

"But...he died," Nina didn't want to remember in what way the time remnant had died. "He...he willingly died."

"Uh...he was willing to sacrifice himself for all of us."

"Respect," Shivhan said nodded.

"Brave," Belén reached for one of Barry's hands. "But I am so glad that in the end you're okay, that we're all okay."

"Some of us better though." Barry absolutely hated what Datura had nearly done to Belén. He already had the argument that he should've been there but Belén easily shut him down. It just didn't mean that he had gotten over it yet.

Harry's and Cisco's argument from the sideroom started carrying over. The two were trying to get the metal mask off Zoom's third prisoner but were having a challenging time.

"Are you ready?" Harry asked once the group heard a locking noise from said mask.

"One, two…" Cisco counted.

They lifted the mask off the prisoner and were stunned to find the results.

"Ugh. I don't know what's more annoying, being in that thing or listening to you two arguing about it," the prisoner retorted with a raspy, unused voice. Neither Harry nor Cisco responded and so the prisoner got up from the chair to meet the others.

Harry's and Cisco's faces matched theirs too. Even Belén had risen from her chair in shock.

No one took it worse than Barry. "Um... you're…"

"I'm Jay Garrick, the real Jay Garrick," the prisoner introduced himself. Underneath the dirty, bearded exterior, the doppelganger of Henry Allen was quite distinctive. "What?"

Barry's mouth opened several times before he could say a few words. "I'm sorry. I... I'm sorry." He rushed out of there without looking back once. There was a dense feeling left in the room, and in an attempt to lighten it Belén suggested they help Jay get cleaned up.

"I'm just gonna...go get my medicine," she promptly excused herself to go find her missing boyfriend. It didn't take that much searching to find him in the corridor.

"He looks just like him. He looks just like my dad!" Barry was practically bawling. "I can't believe this. My dad told me. He told me this. He said his mom's maiden name was Garrick. I just never thought that that meant…"

"You couldn't have known," Belén grabbed him by the shoulders, ignoring the jab of her wound again.

"I never thought it meant…"

"Barry, he doesn't know that. He doesn't know that he's your dad's doppelganger, okay? If you want me to tell him that you had to leave I'll do it," Belén promised. "The others will back me up on it."

Barry shook his head, deciding he had to face him. "I just...I just need a minute." That was a lie, he needed much more time.

Belén cleared some of his tears from his face. "It's okay. We're here for you," she reminded and hugged him.

Her wound needed to shut up because she was not letting go of him anytime soon.

~ 0 ~

It turned out Zoom had taken Jay's real suit to fit the persona he was modeling. Jay had been cleaned and shaved, now looking identical to his Earth 1 doppelganger.

Cisco stopped beside him to show him the mechanics of Zoom's metal mask. "So the reason you didn't have your powers is because there was a dampener in the mask. You see?"

Jay took the mask and eyed it with disdain. "I don't want to see this thing ever again."

Cisco's eyes widened as Jay destroyed the mask with a vibrating hand. "So your powers are back."

"So Hunter stole your color scheme too, huh?" Nina questioned. "Was he at all original?"

Jay shrugged. "He took a lot of things that were mine, except for that," he nodded to the familiar helmet with wings. "That's, um...that's all him."

"He said it was his father's from the war," Caitlin explained, her words laced with bitterness.

"Ironically, on my... on our Earth...this helmet stood for hope," Harry shook his head.

Jay took the helmet into his hands and turned it over. "Yeah? Yeah. Well, maybe I can continue that sentiment, take something from him for a change, make it my own."

"It suits you," Iris smiled lightly at him.

"Thank you, all of you, for saving me from Zoom, especially you, Flash."

Hearing his name, Barry stiffened. He gave a firm nod and even managed to say something in one go. "You're welcome, Flash."

Jay out the helmet on and gave it a sturdy turn. "Now all I have to do is find my way home."

"And where's that, exactly?" Veronica asked.

"I think you would call it Earth-3."

Cisco made a playful, serious face. "Uh-huh. Well, I can get you to Earth-2?" He would need a lot of practice before he could go to any other Eart.

Harry shook his head at Cisco's antics. "My daughter and I can help you with the rest."

Jesse perked up at her father. She had been so sure he would decide to stay on Earth 1. "We can?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, we can. We're going home."

~ 0 ~

Cisco had gotten ready to breach the travelers in the breech room. Now all they were waiting for were the actual travelers.

Harry was the first to show. He had a backpack strapped and his cap that he had when he first arrived. "Okay. Snow?" he stopped by the brunette. "You're a tremendous scientist, but... you're an even better person."

It wad impossible for Caitlin not to get emotional. She gave him a big hug. "Don't make me cry, Harry. I've done enough of that already."

"Belén?" he moved onto the next. "You are nothing like your doppelganger. You never could be."

Belén gently patted her hand over her chest - the non-wounded side - and smiled. "That is the best compliment you have ever given me, Harry." She ended up smiling, borderlining a laugh, as she hugged him.

Harry took it then moved to Joe. "Detective Joe West…you have great kids. You take care of them."

Joe shook hands with him and even hugged too. "Same to you. You take care of that beautiful girl."

"Yes, sir," Harry saluted and switched to Veronica.

"Sorry I shot you," the woman easily said.

"Forgiven," Harry assured and the two shared a smile.

"If you find my doppelganger can you make sure she doesn't turn out evil?" Nina asked. "I feel like I'm the only one with a chance."

"Yeah, because I'm already dead in that world," went Shivhan.

"If it helps, you were one of the good metahumans," Harry said. Shivhan smiled lightly. It kind of did. "Hey," Harry finally stopped with Barry. "I'm a better man than I was when I got here, and that's 'cause of you."

Barry genuinely smiled. This Wells had been nothing like the first he'd met. It was definitely life changing. "I'm not the same either."

Cisco moved over when they finished hugging. He spoke in a dead serious voice, though they weren't exactly what he'd been meaning to say. "Hey, don't be surprised if I project myself over to Earth-2 every once in a while, you know, just to throw your stuff across the office."

Harry still understood the translation. "I'll miss you too, Cisco."

Wally discreetly moved closer to Jesse with Iris at his side for cover. "So I guess I can't text you from another Earth, huh?"

Jesse meekly shrugged. "I guess not."

"That's too bad…"

"Thank you guys, seriously, for saving our home," Jesse told the group as a whole.

Jay had the two come closer so that he could hold onto them when it came time to run into the breech. "Ready?" he asked them.

"Yeah," answered both father and daughter.

Cisco took that as his cue and opened up the breech connected to Earth 2's STAR Labs.

In a second the trio were gone.

~ 0 ~

With their winnings collected, a proper celebration was a must. The West residence turned into the host for such celebration. Iris came with a bottle of wine and some glasses. She passed down the glasses to Nina and Shivhan who then handed them to Belén and Caitlin.

"I say some toasting is in order," Iris began pouring wine into each glasses with hers being the last.

"You should see the way your Dad is looking at you right now," Nina barely hid her laugh as Iris sent her father a clean smile. Joe shook his head, smiling nonetheless, and returned to his conversation with Veronica.

"Celebration," Iris argued with her own laugh.

"You have no idea how good it feels not to have your doppelganger breathing over your shoulder," Belén pretended to shiver. "I really am Damon Salvatore in that I never want to hear the word 'doppelganger' ever again."

"Seriously," Shivhan said. She cleared her throat suddenly, her face losing the playfulness of the conversation. "Um, before we get deeper into the night and possibly drunk, I need to tell you something..." She had spoken loud enough to attract the attention of the others and it was exactly what she was intending on.

"What is it?" asked Belén who glanced at the others in case they already knew what Shivhan was going to say. It didn't appear that way.

"Belén when you first found me I wasn't doing so great. I was a bartender moonlighting as a vigilante but I wasn't a good one."

"Don't say that. You were trying to protect people..."

"Yeah but I wasn't good," Shivhan clarified. "Cisco knows this..." Even though the man in question didn't know exactly where Shivhan was going with her announcement, he stepped forwards in support. "I dropped out of college because of my powers. I had a life before all this started. I was an art major and I was top of my class. I left everything because I needed to work on controlling my powers and when I finally did...I was too scared to go back." She gripped her glass like her life depended on it. "After everything that's happened, I think it's time to face my own past. If I faced Datura and God knows the other metas we've come across...this should be a lot easier."

"Where are you going to go?" asked Belén.

"For starters I'm moving back in with my parents. I really miss them," she admitted with shiny eyes. "Seeing you guys with your own families made me realize that I've been missing out on a lot with my own parents."

"Shivhan, you know you're part of this family," Cisco said and earned a small, soft smile in return.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "And I want to be. I'm going to go back to school and finish what I started there. Maybe even call Melody."

"Shivhan you do what you need to do," Belén said. "And if you want to come back, you know where to find us." Shivhan nodded. "Thank you so much for helping me. Without you, I would have never been able to defeat Datura."

"I think you would have," Shivhan said. "You are the best of us. The Green knows it and so do we." She move over to hug Belén tightly. Promises were made to keep in touch and visit every so often.

By the time Shivhan went around giving the rest of her goodbyes, Belén had realized there was one more person still left on that list. But, he had left the living room without being noticed.

When Belén walked out to the front porch, Barry was already in deep thought, leaning against the porch pillar.

"I can't stop thinking about my dad's doppelganger," he admitted. "Seeing him, knowing that he's out there, that should've made it easier. It doesn't. It just made me miss him even more."

"Doppelgangers don't make anything easy," she said apologetically.

He turned around to her, revealing a very distressed expression. He was frustrated. "We just won. We just beat Zoom. Why does it feel like I just lost?"

"Because you had a major loss along the way," Belén didn't feel like he needed a reminder but...perhaps to put things in perspective for him. "And it's okay if you feel like that. Please don't think you're in the wrong and that you should be completely happy right now." She wrapped her arms around him and chuckled when he swayed her a bit, turning so that her back was against the porch pillar. She leaned up and kissed him for a minute. "You know, my Mom mentioned that it's time for Axel to come home from Italy. Why don't we go pick him up?" Barry blinked at the suggestion. "My family in Italy would love you. I know my Nonno would for sure. It could give you some time away from this place. I'm sure Cisco and Nina can hold the fort here."

Barry truly considered that idea, for her, but he ultimately decided that he couldn't do that to her. She offered him a chance of distraction, but something inside him told him that he couldn't lie to himself. He had been thinking that he wasn't someone good for her and he wasn't going to lie and say that he hadn't thought of a possible solution. He knew what he wanted to do. "Bells...I can't. I...I feel so hollowed out inside right now. I feel more broken than I've ever felt in my life. If I'm ever gonna be worth anything to you, I need to fix what's wrong with me. I need to find some...some peace."

Belén saw clear guilt in his eyes, like he was doing something wrong. She cupped his face and made him listen. "You have helped me in so many ways that I don't think I could ever repay you in this lifetime. If you need space - on your own - then take it. I am not going anywhere."

She kissed him again but he took it with a different meaning, an unknown meaning to her. He kissed her hard and held her as tight as he could without hurting her chest wound. The next time he saw her, things would be different...if he saw her again.

"Bells, do you remember when you asked me if I believed we would find each other in whatever world we were in?"

Belén didn't find the relevancy in the question but nonetheless answered. "Yes." He had asked her that when he had the opportunity to change the time lines and because he was afraid of losing her, he had asked her that same question. "Of course I do."

Barry held onto her hands tightly, his gaze somewhat shifty. "Do you still believe that?"

Belén nodded again. "We've seen it," she smiled. "Our Earth, Earth 2, Earth 31. I get the feeling that we would find each other in any world. You and me, and throw in an adoptive alien daughter in some of those worlds too."

Barry matched her smile and moved one hand to stroke her face. "Thank you. I love you, Belén."

"I love you too," she said. She took his hand from her face and kissed it. "You know where to find me," she smiled and kissed his cheek before heading back inside. Though as she walked away from him, she got the feeling that she missed something. Her mind drifted back to the moment where she had felt the same thing earlier. The scary feeling came back to her and even more so when she thought of Datura's words.

"None of it matters, idiot!" Datura snapped and sat up, flashing a smirk. "In the end, Barry's going to screw it up. The none rule breaker will break the ultimate rule."

"Why bother sticking me with that cure when it's not going to matter in the end?"

She had no psychic powers like Datura did but she did have a gut feeling. What if Datura hadn't been saying nonsense?

Belén came to a stop in front of the door and looked over her shoulder. She could feel Barry looking at her and for some reason she couldn't bring herself to face him. "Datura knew something about you," she whispered. "Something that you were going to do."

Barry's heart ached. "Yeah?"

Belén nodded. "She said it didn't matter what I did because you were going to do something that would screw it up. What are you going to do, Barry?"

Barry swallowed hard. "I just want the pain to end."

"That space...exactly how far is it?"

Barry's courage to tell her the truth was fleeting. He would never have the courage to tell her face to face. "I hope it's the best for both of us."

Belén felt the gust of his wind trail and when she turned around, she only saw a glimpse of his lightning streak at the end of the street. He was going too fast. Barry pushed away any guilt, telling himself it was worth it. Everything would be fine. It would be. It would be. It had to be.

Time was about to be rewritten.

Author's Note:

To be continued in...Make You Stay. 

Some fun facts for this story:

1. In the dream world from chapter 12, Belén gives a list of girl names (Ruth, Alya, Ximena, Valerie, Aileen, and Everly) for her and Barry's unborn daughter and one of those names is actually the real name I have given their future daughter. Bet you guys can't guess which one it is ;)

2. Shivhan was originally meant to be a one-off character but I liked her so much that I made her a recurring character. Maybe we'll see her around for story #3, who knows!

3. Before re-editing the story, the Green never made an appearance. I literally learned about it as I was editing, along with Black Orchid and Red Rose (though she is from Marvel but shhhh)

4. I originally considered leaving Belén and Barry broken up to then add the Barry/Patty arc and, you know, angst but I decided not to go down that road. I thought they both suffered enough in season 1.

5. I want to say I added about 4 extra original chapters after re-editing which is why it took me a longer time to update this story.

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

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 7: The Chase for the Unknown

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

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

• Can also be found on Fanfic and Ao3 •

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

Caitlin took in a deep breath before she entered a high-class building. Her heels clacked against the squeaky clean floor as she made herself steadily walk towards the reception desk where a brunette woman sat.

"I'm here to see to see Dr. Tannhauser," she informed the receptionist.

The receptionist was quite uninterested in the new visitor. She didn't look up from her computer. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure she'll see me. You can just tell her Caitlin Snow is here—"

"Dr. Tannhauser's a very busy woman. I'm sure you can understand—"

"I appreciate the diligence, Jackie, but Caitlin's always welcome here, even if I wish she'd call first," an older woman claimed both Caitlin's and the receptionist's attention. Dr. Tannhauser stood at a second level railing and was smiling curiously at Caitlin.

"Nice to see you too, Mom." Caitlin felt a shaky breath leave her. This wasn't exactly her best idea but she was getting desperate. It was only a couple days ago when her powers had truly manifested and nearly caused her entire hair to change into a while silver. Caitlin tried to forget the blue lips that were Killer Frost's trademarks. But the accidental icing of her shower, the white streaks in her hair and the blue lips weren't what scared Caitlin the most. The following morning, Caitlin had began to hear...her voice.

It's time to wake up…

Caitlin had dropped her favorite coffee mug on her kitchen tile floor. Killer Frost had spoken to her. It was only a brief sentence but it was all Caitlin needed to get scared for the rest of her life. If Killer Frost was "awakening" it meant Caitlin was one step closer to losing control like Belén already had on small occasions.

It was for that very reason that Caitlin decided to share her experience with Belén just before announcing her idea to visit her mother. Belén understood Caitlin completely and of course promised to cover for her at STAR Labs so the others wouldn't suspect a thing. She just wanted Caitlin to be at peace, even if she didn't agree with Caitlin's latest decisions of not using her powers.

Caitlin remembered her friends just as she walked into her mother's office. The warm family bond they had was something far better than what she and her mother would probably ever have.

Carla Tannhauser didn't seem to suspect a thing as she calmly took a seat at her desk and began to work on her computer like Caitlin was any other visitor. "So what brings you here? I didn't forget your birthday, did I? I'm pretty sure I sent a card."

Caitlin drummed her fingers on her crossed arms while she watched this carefree behavior. You'd think being her daughter she would pay just a little more attention. "You did...in April. Thank you. Look, I read your new paper on applications in cryo-medicine, and I think you might be able to help."

"I had no idea you kept up on the literature over at S.T.A.R. Labs. That's still what it's called, right?"

"Yes, and I have a patient who could use your help."

"Well, if you want to send over the file, I'll be happy to take a look when I have a chance, but right now, I have a shareholder meeting to prepare for and…"

Caitlin felt an anger — that didn't belong to her — rise up until it pushed her to slam her hand against the glass desk. "Mom!" her voice seemed to acquire a vibrate tinge. "I'm the patient!" Her hand involuntarily released a frost that spread across the desk.

Carla slowly removed her glasses, revealing widened eyes. She slowly leaned to her phone and put in a call to her assistant. "Cancel my appointments, and have Nigel meet me in the bio-lab."

Caitlin gulped as she pulled her hand off the desk. She turned her palm over and closed it into a fist as if more ice was about to shoot out from it.

That was fun. Killer Frost could practically be seen grinning.

~ 0 ~

Barry zipped into the cortex and left his suit in its display. He turned to the desk where Belén and Iris sat. "I couldn't find her again." The tired sigh he released was beyond him. Nights had been sleepless for days again.

"I performed the tracker of speed just like you said Flashpoint Caitlin did—" Cisco came out from a side room with a similar weary face as Barry, "—and nada. Girl's not coming up."

"Okay, well, Anais Mjorkland isn't your typical speedster," Barry pulled his hands behind his head, letting out another heavy sigh. He would kill to close his eyes for a full five minutes. "She's not a metahuman. She's an alien."

"Your alien adoptive daughter from Earth 38…?" Iris repeated in a one go just to make sure she'd gotten the backstory right. She turned her chair in Belén's direction, but the ombre-blonde knew just as much as Iris did.

"Yeah, run that by me again," Cisco spun his hand in a circle at Barry.

Barry dropped his hands to his side and resigned to telling the story again. He wasn't surprised that he had to repeat given its unique situation but he didn't really like the awkwardness of it at all.

"The Anais Mjorkland I originally met was on Earth 38 and she is Supergirl's partner. She's known as Solar to National City but her civilian name is Anais Allen." This is where the awkwardness came back. Barry bit on the inside of his cheek for a moment before continuing. "She's half alien, half human and she was adopted by my...doppelganger...and Belén's..." At the mention of her name, Belén's head ducked to hide her instant flush. "On that Earth, Belén and I are older. We're Anais' adoptive parents and she has our last name."

"You two are really just doing the most, huh?" Cisco looked between the pair in question. "Should I say mazel tov?"

"Shut up!" Belén snapped. "Barry?"

"Right, um..." Barry cleared his throat. "So, Earth 38 Anais is an alien speedster, basically."

"Okay, but this girl definitely did not come from that Earth," Iris said, thankfully taking it much more seriously than Cisco.

"Yeah," went Cisco sourly, "I specifically vibed for Earth 19 and that is where that girl jumped from."

"Her name is Anais," Barry said rather argumentatively. Belén sensed a protectiveness in her boyfriend that she hadn't really heard in another time. It was strange but if Anais was truly like a daughter then she supposed she could understand. She might even feel guilty that she didn't feel the same protectiveness but she tried to remind herself that she had no idea who this woman was. Anais was a stranger.

However, Belén didn't think that Iris nor Cisco would understand that feeling and it was proved a moment later.

"Barry, she stole someone else's passageway to this world," Iris reminded Barry and took the subjected glare. "Cisco vibed for a Wells. That girl had to have known—"

"Her name is Anais!" Barry snapped again.

Iris nodded, deciding to give him that for now. "Anais took that passage. How do we know she didn't hurt Earth 19's version of Wells?"

"I don't know, okay? But what I do know is that Anais looked very afraid when she came out of that breach," Barry spoke fast, "And that means she could've been running from something."

"Or it means she might have done something bad on the other side," Cisco shrugged.

"Cisco—"

"I'm just saying!" Cisco exclaimed. "She did look at you like she knew you, Barry."

"Maybe she knew my doppelganger from there! I don't know!"

"Okay!" Belén cut in before things got heated and that was the last thing they needed right now. She got up from her seat, hands in front of her to show that she was trying to be a neutral side. "Can I give my two cents now?"

"What, as the mother?" Cisco's comment wasn't appreciated in the least by said mother in question. "Sorry."

"I don't know Anais," Belén began, slowly lowering her hands, "I've only heard the stories that Barry told me about when he first went to Earth 38. I do think that she looked kind of scared coming out of the breach but you know what? None of our guesses matter until we actually find her. It's been five days since Anais came out of the breach and ran and until we find her, we can't assume anything. So, can I suggest that we all get back to work on that instead of arguing?"

"I'll just go continue running more scans, I guess," Cisco mumbled and started leaving.

"And don't touch Caitlin's pizza pockets!" Belén warned but Cisco waved her off. He might have been a little annoyed at her.

"Sorry," Iris felt the urge to say after a moment. Her eyes flickered between Belén and Barry. "I guess it's a little strange having this situation...given who she is."

"Don't look at me, I don't even know her," Belén gave a meek shrug of her shoulders. "But I do think we're better off just waiting until we can get her back here. Right, Barry?"

"Yeah," Barry said quietly.

"Well, I'll tell you what, this would go quicker if we had all hands on deck," Iris moved behind the computers, "Where's Caitlin?"

"She said she was taking care of some things," Belén said purposely carelessly. She'd worked on the simple excuse over and over in front of the mirror to say as perfectly as she had. "

"Alright," Iris nodded, "I guess we can keep running scans," she said to Belén. The latter agreed.

"We've been running all information we can on her," Belén told Barry, "Since you said she's originally from National City, Iris and I thought that was our best shot of finding her."

"But you didn't," Barry presumed and he sighed seeing the two women nodding.

"Nothing," Belén was sad to report. "We found a ton of stuff on the latest events over in that city."

"Yeah," Iris crossed her arms, "CatCo. says flared jeans are out. The Luthor family has had another spat — oh, did you hear?" Iris glanced at Belén. "Rumor has it one of them finally split. Left the city and all."

"No way," Belén snorted. "That family's beyond insane but I guess that's what happens when you're stupid rich."

"Yeah, that's why we don't get rich," Iris said, prompting a mutual laugh between the two reporters.

Barry rolled his eyes at the pair. "Okay, "I've got to get to work." He moved over to pick up his jacket left on Belén's chair. "Julian's been on my case for being late all this week and I just…"

"Please don't start," Belén gave him a hopeful glance for him to — for once — just keep a civil relationship with Julian.

"He does not make it easy, Belén! With you, he's all walking-on-sunshine but once you leave he's like a different person!"

Iris shook her head and discreetly turned away from the two. It was a sure way to start an argument...as it typically did.

"You guys clash, but...deep down you're the same. You're both nerdy, you're both funny—"

"He is not funny," Barry made that clear, perhaps with a bit too much jealousy.

"You're both passionate about your work—"

"He's stingy about his work—"

"—and you both just want to help people," Belén took Barry's hand and smiled encouragingly. She knew she was talking quicker than usual and not in the usual cute way Barry often said she did. "Why can't you just get along?"

"Because I am pretty sure he likes you—"

"Oh my God!" Belén pulled her hand out of Barry's as she laughed sourly. "No, he doesn't!"

Barry scowled. She was dismissing him...just like that. "I know from your perspective I've been saying this for a year—"

"Yeah, you have!"

"—but from where I stand, it's only been two weeks and it took me only two days to figure out that he does," Barry had spoken slowly to make his point.

Belén shook her head, smiling at nothing in particular but with obvious annoyance. "You want to start that again, I see..."

Barry rolled his eyes. Why was she being so naive about this? Was she just faking it to avoid problems? Whatever the answer was didn't matter because he was tired and upset from the whole Anais case that if he kept going, he would say something he shouldn't. "I am going to work," he decided, "I'll see you later."

Belén nodded silently and let him go. She rubbed her forehead but dropped her hand when she saw Iris watching her with a face that...wasn't exactly on her side. "What? You think he's right?"

Iris' shoulders pulled up but her answer wasn't definitive either. "Barry is not the jealous type. That, I know."

"Iris, c'mon..." Belén sighed. She pushed all her hair back from her face. "This is ridiculous!"

"It might be to you but it's important to Barry and given his recent mistakes, I think he might be a little insecure about...where you two stand..." Iris wished she could be anywhere but here right now.

"Well, he shouldn't be!" Belén exclaimed. "We already talked about it. We're good."

"Okay, but, that doesn't mean he's not insecure that you might change your mind."

"Iris—"

"Just clear things up with Julian and you're good," Iris suggested quickly and just as Belén went to say something, Iris cut her off, "You say you're close so it shouldn't be a big deal and hey, if you're right, then you can at least make Barry see it. And if not, then…"

"I would owe Barry the biggest apology of my life," Belén said bitterly.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin followed her mother's closest employee, Nigel, into a high tech lab. The first thing that got her attention was the cylindrical structure glowing brightly orange and yellow. She could feel its intense heat radiating towards them.

"What's this?"

"It's to test how your ability affects molecular motion," Carla moved around the structure. "That shaft is solid tungsten, and it's heated to over 2,000 degrees centigrade. I want you to cool it down, and when we determine how you can do that, we can figure out the best way to help you. Best we could do in such little time."

"So this is where you've been for the last hour," Caitlin bitterly said. She wouldn't hide her disappointment that even when she exhibited the full range of her problems, her mother still didn't make her a priority.

"I had to reschedule my day for this, Caitlin. A lot of things around here require my attention."

"I remember," Caitlin said curtly.

Carla and Nigel both stepped backwards to allow Caitlin some space. "Whenever you're ready," Carla nodded Caitlin to get a little closer.

Caitlin wiggled her fingers as she stepped forwards. Her heart beat wildly as she raised her hands towards the structure. This time she didn't even have to consider how much power she should put into it. The ice just came out.

Carla and Nigel both gawked as the cylinder became crystallized in ice.

The gulp Caitlin took afterwards was involuntarily and made of pure fear.

~ 0 ~

When the alarms started going off in the cortex, Belén thought they finally caught site of Anais...but they found something else just as interesting.

"Cameras are shutting off in a ten-block radius," Cisco said without a clue of its purpose as he read off the computers.

"So...even if I tried to get there…?"

"Forget it," Cisco waved her off, already dialing for Barry's number.

"And could this be Anais?"

"I would doubt that girl could cause this but then again since she is alien and unknown...ha," Cisco gave only a small sarcastic laugh to answer them.

"Alright, I'm here," they soon heard Barry's voice through the comms.

"Settle our differences and tell us who exactly is causing the commotion?" Cisco asked him.

"Uuh…" despite Barry being dead silent, the others could hear the rowdy noises from the street he was in.

"Barry? What is it?"

"It's...a monster…"

The two in the cortex looked at each other with the same confusion.

"Guys!? Did you hear me!?" Barry called them back to his attention. "There is a monster in Central City!" Because he was facing a gigantic, brown alien with claw-like arms and a tail. It was the screaming of it that caused most of the noise, that paired with the humans'.

"Are you...are you that scared?" Belén blinked. She wished they could see exactly what they were dealing with.

"No, I mean it's an actual monster!"

"Cisco, anyway to see it?" Belén watched the scientist quickly working on the computer.

"S.T.A.R. Labs satellite, show me something," he pleaded just before the computer up ahead on the wall showed them what Barry was staring at.

"Oh...kay," Belén rubbed her eyes just to make sure she wasn't being fooled.

~ 0 ~

Barry saw how multiple cars crashed, including a bus, along with several live wires just sparking out. He rushed to the bus that was threatening to tip over and came to the surprise of finding Iris already there, trying to open the stuck doors for the frantic people inside.

"Iris, what are you doing here!?"

Iris paid no attention to his overly shocked self as she kept trying to open the doors. "Working on a story, and last time I checked, you don't need super-speed and a red suit to help people!"

Perhaps she spoke too soon because the doors simply would not budge.

"Okay, step back," Barry was about to vibrate the doors off when a golden streak came forwards and easily yanked the double doors off. Barry barely had time to blink when he saw the familiar figure. "Anais…"

The woman behind the golden mask only inhaled and took a step backwards.

"Did you do this?" Iris went with the only logical presumption at the moment. Her demand startled Anais enough to make her backtrack more steps.

Anais' blue eyes flickered from her to Barry. The latter recognized the flash of fear in her eyes. Without saying a word, she sped off again.

"No, wait!" Barry made to move after her when Cisco called him to stop.

"Monster — priorities!

"Where'd it...go…?" Iris blinked when the monster disappeared before her very eyes.

"What?" Barry spun around to find the monster completely gone. He looked up at the sky to see if the thing managed to pull itself up and fly. "Cisco?"

"Got it! Hold on!" Cisco made a motion for everyone to just wait on him, despite the fact that only Belén could see him do it. "Cameras are still off but the car alarms make it easy to track the direction the monster's heading in. Head north three blocks!"

Barry followed the instruction.

"Cisco…" Belén was the one confused when the map on the computers also had the monsters disappear. "Did we just lose it?"

"Yeah — what the hell!?" Cisco dug his hands into his hair, completely outraged.

They weren't the only ones who lost the monster.

~ 0 ~

"It was...it was a frikin monster just...just rampaging through the streets and we-we lost it," Barry was in the same state of confusion as the others were. He honestly felt like he was explaining some video game.

"And Anais?" Belén couldn't help but be curious about the mysterious woman who'd gone and helped him out of the blue. All this time they've been searching for her and she just comes up to them instead.

"Gone," Barry shrugged, equally upset about that too. "I searched for her afterwards and she was just...gone."

"But she's still in the city," Iris expressed her trouble with that fact. "Now why would she do that? I mean, if she's scared then she would run and, I don't know, leave the city?"

"Maybe she wants to go home?" Cisco said, honestly not as interested in the mysterious woman at the moment. He wanted to get that monster!

"No, that's not right," Belén said. She leaned against the desk, her fingers drumming over the top. "If she had wanted to go home, then she would've come back already. If she wanted to leave the city, she would've done that too. She's staying here for a reason."

"She's hiding," Barry said as soon as he made the conclusion. Everyone, including Belén, looked at him. "If she had been our enemy, she would've attacked us from the start. If she wanted to leave, then she would've done it too, but she hasn't. She's here. And she helped. She's watching us."

"So why doesn't she come on over and say 'hi'," Cisco muttered but the others still heard him.

"She's scared," Barry said easily, "I saw it again in her eyes. She's afraid of something."

"Okay," Belén nodded to herself. She glanced over at Cisco who had taken a seat behind the computers. "Maybe we can keep an eye out on the breaches in case something else tries to get through. In the meantime, I think we should discuss this monster..."

"Also not a meta," Iris chimed in, "Are we looking at another alien?"

"I don't know," Barry shrugged, "But it just vanished.

"Well, maybe we shouldn't focus on the 'how' and instead look at the 'how to stop it'," Cisco fell back into his chair, hands getting together in thought.

"First of all, you need to find a way to keep that thing from hurting people," Belén said, beginning easy. "Like a field? You guys make those, right?"

"We could," Cisco gave in. "Maybe like...a rope...or...you know what, I will come up with a good name for it."

"There was something else that was weird, though," Barry admitted after more thinking on the event. I... I saw a transformer explode as this thing passed by it."

"What's weird about that?"

"Monster didn't even lay a finger on it. It exploded before it got to it."

"And we're sure it wasn't Ana—"

"It wasn't," Barry settled a sharp look on Iris, not forgetting the fact it was because of her that Anais fled the scene before he could ask her. "And maybe next time, we'll also take it a little easier on the accusations?"

Iris had nothing to say on that matter. She merely asked what was most obvious at that moment.

"Barry, is there anyway I could look at the transformer?" asked Cisco. "The beast had to emit some kind of electrical pulse."

Barry almost scoffed at the slim chance of that. "No. The whole place is a crime scene now with Julian in charge of it." He saw the face Belén was making at the desk and groaned. "I'm not saying anything!"

"I didn't say you were!"

"You didn't have to!" Barry stopped himself before he said anything else that could ensue an actual argument between them. "I'm just gonna go back to the lab and see...what there is…"

~ 0 ~

Barry walked into the lab where Julian was already packing away things for the latest case. Just seeing Julian put Barry into a worse state. He was causing yet another rift between him and Belén, and for what? For someone who was plain rude.

"Is there any point in me asking where you've been for the last hour?" Julian broke the silence try didn't even spare Barry a look. "Or should I just assume the rules still don't apply to you?"

Yup anger was there again. It killed Barry not being able to tell just what he was doing which was probably more helpful than whatever Julian was doing. He could just tell him off, tell him to mind his own business and that would be that. But then he thought about Belén, and how much he knew she wanted them to get along. He put herself in her shoes for a second and wondered what it would be like if she never got along with Iris. What would he want then? Well, definitely for the two to get along since he loved both of them.

Dammit, he thought.

"Look, hey, man, so I know that... you and I, we got off on the wrong foot. We never managed to find the right one, and I'll take that," he forced himself to say, knowing that half of it was true. "That's probably my fault, but I just... I don't want things to be like that anymore, you know? I... I'd... like it if things changed."

Julian's smile indicated something was amusing and that was definitely not the goal. "It's funny, 'cause I remember you saying something similar to that right before you stole the case from underneath me. Do you have idea what it's like to work side by side with someone with such little regard for the rules? You may very well be contaminating my work."

Barry had to actually bite his tongue for a moment or else he probably would have gone off. "That's exactly why I want to learn from you. I don't follow. I just... you know, whenever I read your reports, it's clear that your evidence collection techniques are far superior to mine."

Julian considered this line of compliment with curiosity. "Go on."

"I don't know; I mean, if I could just shadow you for a day, maybe ask a few questions, I think that you could really help bring my skills up to... snuff. What do you say?" Julian gave a shake of his head. "What if I gave up the lab? There's a storeroom downstairs that I could convert, so if you let me follow you on this case, lab's yours."

See, he should have just started with that.

"Deal," Julian grinned. "You can't slow me down, though."

"I would never," Barry raised his hands. He couldn't believe he'd actually done that.

~ 0 ~

Belén entered her last stop before returning to STAR Labs. She figured she should have started with Jitters and worked her way across the city, but trying to find Anais was harder to do considering she was an alien speedster. With Cisco's help, they'd managed to crop a picture of Anais' face from the breach room. It was a long job of going through placed asking if they'd seen the girl, but since they had no other plan as of yet it was their only option.

Plus, both Cisco and Belén figured that if Anais was a speedster she needed to eat something, somewhere. If they were lucky, she would've stopped by and paid with something and not just sped in and out like a crook.

"Have you seen this girl around?" Belén asked the barista after making it up the line. She brandished the picture of Anais and hoped for the best.

The barista narrowed her eyes on the photograph for a moment, trying to recall the customers she'd met with all day. "Yeah, I think I have. Yeah! She's the one that ordered a lot of food." She gave an apologetic smile at Belén. "I mean, I know I shouldn't be but...kinda jealous. She ordered like three course meals and it doesn't even look like she gains what she eats. I'd kill for a metabolism like that."

"Has she been here before?"

"I think so, yeah. I don't work in the mornings but I remember one of my co-workers saying something about this girl. Same thing - wishes she could have that weight luck."

"So, she's been here a lot, then?" Belén saw the chances of a pattern about to establish. The excitement was inevitable. "Co-workers had to see her!"

"Yeah, I guess so. Why are you looking for her? She's not a criminal is she?"

"No, she's just...a potential source for an article I'm writing," Belén waved it off. "Thank you so much." She figured now they could keep an eye on the place if Cisco hacked the security cameras from STAR Labs. She made to leave when she spotted a familiar blonde eating at one of the tables on his own.

She didn't know exactly what she was going to do but she sure hoped she figured it out on her way to Julian's table. "Eating all alone?"

Julian gave her a languid point of his fork. "Better than being badly accompanied."

"Swallow before you speak," Belén playfully pushed his fork back to his plate.

"Where's your little reporter friend?" he reached for a napkin to clean his mouth.

"Iris had to give a witness testimony for the earlier incident on the street so it's just me."

"No golden boy boyfriend either?"

Belén's face contorted to near annoyance, just like it would have if this had been Barry. She gave him a long look to which Julian merely continued eating. He was quite used to them.

"Julian, you know that I love you right? Like, you're one of my best friends kind of love?"

"Sure, why?" Julian spared her a strange look before he reached for his drink. "I don't need reassurances of anything, you know. I'm secure."

"Yeah, you always have been," Belén smiled softly. "You are incredibly strong despite your family and your losses."

Julian made a face at her out-of-place words. He put his fork down and cleared his throat. "Belén, what's this about?"

"Uum…" Belén felt her face warmed up with embarrassment. She was horrible at these talks, she knew. She could remember how terrible she was with Barry before they got together. "You remember when we were kids and...you stayed for the summer with Mrs. Andrews for the first time?"

"Ah yes, I believe that was the summer you told me I had to stop trying to show you bugs or you would throw me off a swing. You're lucky I didn't tell my grandmother."

Belén laughed at that memory. "You knew those bugs made my skin crawl! Mrs. Andrews would've sided with me anyways!"

Julian let Belén have it. "Anyways, I don't suppose you wanted to talk about old times, did you?"

"No, but that was funny," Belén admitted as she sobered up. "Anyways, it was also the summer that...well…"

"I told you, you were going to be my girlfriend," Julian remembered straight off the top and didn't look the least embarrassed by it. "Yeah."

Belén had long ago lost her surprise when it came to Julian's bluntness. "I know. You, um, you said you had a crush on me." If she ever told Barry that, he would completely lose his mind. "But...that was, like, ages ago. Nothing worth...talking...about..."

Julian's eyebrows rose and Belén didn't know whether to be relieved that he was smiling so easily or be concerned that he wasn't taking her seriously. "Are you concerned that I'm going to talk about those moments with Allen?"

"Umm..." Belén innocently looked around, "I mean, I wouldn't see any point to it. I certainly haven't mentioned it."

Julian rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, well, seeing as I would have to actually to have a conversation with him, I don't think I'll be doing it either."

Belén swallowed hard. Do it now already. "Um, Julian, Barry and I are having a hard time right now—"

Julian snorted. "There's a surprise."

"Julian—"

"Allen lives to make things harder for others and then he has the audacity to pretend that he does nothing wrong."

"What?" Belén laughed. She took a seat across Julian, genuinely curious to hear this ridiculous idea out.

"I'm not joking, Belén!"

"Yeah, I got that," Belén assured Julian, "But I just want to know why on earth do you hate my boyfriend so much?"

"I don't think you'll like to hear it—"

"No, I need to hear it," Belén said adamantly, setting her finger down on the table, "Because Barry and I have argued about it way too much for me not to be aware that you are rude sometimes and I've no doubt that you've been like that with him. I, of course, try to defend you and hope that sometimes your rudeness is just your bluntness getting mixed up but you know what? I know Barry. He's not mean — he's literally incapable of being mean. Trust me, I have the full scoop from Iris."

"So then what?" Julian raised an eyebrow at Belén. "I'm the bad guy?"

"No, I..." Belén sighed, "I'm just going to be frank, alright? What you told me when we were kids...is that...does that have any standing today?"

"Are you kidding me!?" Julian scowled so deeply that Belén wondered if it would mark his face afterwards. "Look, Belén," Julian began in a stern voice, eyes hardening for a second, "Yes, it was true that I did like you as a child. But that, as I said, was during a time of childhood. It passed. I see you as a very close friend, the only friend that I entrusted my entire secrets to so forgive me if I feel like we're close."

"We are..." Belén said softly, now feeling terrible she even brought it up. But now you know, she told herself. Now she could argue with Barry knowing that he had no standing. "I'm sorry," Belén felt the need to say. "I-I didn't mean to. I thought maybe, it was, I don't know, a reason…"

"That I dislike Allen? Yes, well that would probably have been a first guess, I suppose," Julian leaned back on his chair, his eyes making Belén squirm in her seat. "But rest assured, it is not. You can ease his thoughts now."

"If that's not it, then...why do you hate him? Help me understand, Julian, because maybe I can help. Because I don't want to keep this cycle going. I love Barry and I don't want to have an argument every day because you and him can't get along." This time it was Belén who stared hard. "I don't want to ever have to pick, alright? So tell me something valid. Now."

"You want to know? Alright. But you'll probably end up defending him. He's late — always late — and he never has a reasonable excuse as to why. He lies and disappears. For someone who worked his way up to his position, it certainly doesn't seem like he cares."

"He does care," Belén corrected but left the defenses for the tardiness out. It was terrible, really, because it wasn't like Barry chose to be late for no reason. At least not anymore.

"Of course you would say that," Julian rolled his eyes.

"Because I've seen it ever since I met him. And if I recall correctly, you two are on the same team both wanting to help those victims. Now if that's the case, then why can't you just work civilly?"

Julian released a sigh and crossed his arms. "He did ask if he could shadow me in the case of this monster. Says he likes my work."

Belén's lips twitched into a smile. "He said that?"

"Yeah, course I also get the lab so…" Julian shrugged and Belén rolled her eyes. "It was a win, win."

"Okay, then, use this day to actually try to get along?" Belén asked as kindly as possible. "It would make me really happy…" Julian gave a small nod to her plead. It made her beam and feel confident enough to get going.

"But you also know a reason why I don't like him?" He stopped her just as she got up. "It is because of you…"

Belén blinked nervously. "Oh, really?"

"It's because if he's someone who has no regards for rules and other people, I wouldn't want you to end up with him. For your own good, Belén."

Belén softly smiled at him. "Believe me, if there's someone who cares a lot about people it's Barry. It's one of the reasons why I love him. That's how we met actually, officially." Her smile spread. "He helped me with my brother's case."

Julian shook his head. "He's hiding something, Belén. Behind all those tardiness and lies…"

"I will be just fine, Julian. Thank you," Belén offered one more smile as she got up from her seat to leave.

~0~

Barry walked into a pretty solitary side of a street - right on time this time - where Julian had called him to. It was the same street where the transformer had exploded due to the monster, or so they thought.

When Julian spotted him, he paused with a certain degree of confusion. "I said get here quick, but that was...quicker than I expected."

Barry cleared his throat and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Oh, no, yeah, it was a... crazy Uber driver."

Julian shrugged it off and returned his attention to the transformer in front of them. "Well, the blast pattern and the scoring on the insulation suggests that it was a power surge that blew it out."

"So it's a coincidence?"

"I highly doubt it. But I'll figure it out," Julian went around to get his briefcase from the ground, mumbling, "Someone in this city has to do something about these metas."

"What do you mean? We have a whole police force working to stop these metas," Barry's strange looks were missed.

"No, you have the Flash," Julian had no hesitation in showing his dislike. "And the Azalea, the Tempest...and so on…"

Barry's face went sour at the mention of his and his friends' names. "So it's not just bad metas you don't like. It's all the metas."

"I'm just saying that because of them, the police department has got lethargic. I mean, why do anything at all if these metas are gonna save the day every time?" Julian spared him a glance, but only to say, "It's a bit like you with rule breaking... a momentary fix, and now you're lazy, sloppy."

Barry purposely looked somewhere else because he was sure if he didn't the words would just tumble out of him. "I think the Flash, the Azalea and the Tempest are actually sources of inspiration for the city. I think they kind of provide hope."

"They're not even consistent with their appearances," Julian remarked, and didn't need to go further on what he meant.

The Tempest had stopped making an appearance nine months ago, and the Azalea was beginning to fall into the same tract. Once again, it was many of the things they could clear up if only Julian know the truth.

Barry put those thoughts away when he noticed Julian staring at a building behind him then to another one at the opposite end of the street. "What? You see something?" Barry turned the same ways in hopes of catching whatever Julian was seeing.

"A pattern," Julian mumbled while he thought. "The creature's movements, they seemed random at first, but they were contained to a prescribed area. You know, like the creature was stuck in an invisible fence."

Barry remembered their biggest problem at STAR Labs when the monster first showed up. "Traffic cameras were down, right? Maybe it was being watched or controlled by somebody that needed to keep it in visual range the entire time? Constricting the creature's movements to the line of sight."

Julian blinked at him. "That actually makes sense. Maybe there is a brain in there after all, Allen."

Barry playfully rolled his eyes. "Well—" some of the wires in the streets snapped all of a sudden, shooting sparks in different directions.

The cars parked blared their alarms as if they were being broken into. Both men turned to see the monster once again going down the intersecting street up ahead. Barry took a couple steps forwards while Julian called for backup. He looked around for a place to leave Julian by so he could deal with the monster. However, Julian grasped his collar and yanked him towards an alleyway.

"Hey, maybe we should split up…" Barry tugged his collar back into place now that they'd hidden behind a dumpster.

"That's a terrible idea," Julian reached for something on him.

"Yeah, but we got to do something, right? We - woah!" Barry blinked with wide eyes, stunned at the polished gun Julian had revealed.

"Don't worry, I have four years' training in the military," Julian said calmly as he stocked said gun.

"Uh, even still, since when does a CSI carry a gun?"

"Since there were monsters in our city!"

Before Barry could refute that statement, a force of wind hit them in passing. Barry recognized the golden light trail and immediately poked his head out into the street.

Anais, in her hero guise, had stopped at the end of the street and was gazing up at the monster. There she was again, just...trying to help. Barry didn't understand her movements.

"A new speedster in the city? Really?" Julian's sigh from behind pulled Barry back to the present, and just in time.

There was a small explosion right above them and caused an advertising sign board to drop down towards them. Anais whirled around but before she even thought about returning, Barry pulled out his quick thinking and pulled Julian into a sloppy jump backwards. The two rolled to a stop on the ground and just as Barry looked up to see Anais the blonde alien shot up into the air and disappeared.

That's right, she flew.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin finished putting on her blue blazer and grabbed her bag to leave when she bumped into her mother's assistant. "Sorry," she sheepishly smiled and went around him to the door.

"You're leaving us?" Nigel called after her, making her stop.

Caitlin sighed as she came to a slow stop. "Yeah," she turned sideways and gave a sad smile. "Things between my mother and me are... complicated." Truth be told, she expected her mother to show at least a little regard for her feelings about this situation and yet...nothing.

If Killer Frost was cold, what did that make her mother?

"We can help you," Nigel attempted his hand at persuasion, but Caitlin shook her head.

"I don't need your help with the science. I can do that on my own. I came here to get something from my mother that I realize now I'll never get."

Nigel sneaked his hand into his pocket where he held the controls of the doors. He activated them and locked the doors behind Caitlin. The woman heard the clicking of the locks and frowned at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Sorry, Frosty, but you're not going anywhere."

"Let me out of here. Open these doors!"

"I said no! I am sick of working day after day, night after night, only to have my work benefit your mother.. With the information I can get from you, I can finally get out of this place, so you're gonna stay here until I get everything that I need!" Nigel latched a hand onto Caitlin's bare arm and pulled her towards the desk.

Oh he is not getting away with that, Caitlin heard Killer Frost. Her fear easily allowed Killer Frost access to the controls of her body.

Caitlin's eyes flashed a silver white and moved her hand of the arm Nigel was grabbing so that she now held his arm. "You are not going to test me!" her voice reverberated with Killer Frost's.

Before Nigel knew it, Caitlin's hand emitted her deadly frost that spread to his forearm.

"Wait, let go! Let go!"

Caitlin's lips started twitching into a devil smirk. "What's the matter, Nigel?"

"Caitlin!" her mother came running into the room with her own door controller. "Don't do this! This isn't you!"

"You don't know anything about me, Mother," Caitlin said this time, her voice less of Killer Frost. This was the anger inside flourishing and joining everything Killer Frost once held.

"I... I know I wasn't much of a mother, and I know I have a lot to make up for, but I know I didn't raise a killer," Carla shakily reached to touch Caitlin.

Caitlin gasped and felt Killer Frost be pushed back behind that blue door where only she stayed. She blinked and looked around, immediately letting go of Nigel when she saw what she'd done.

"For whatever it's worth, I am so sorry," Carla's voice pulled Caitlin to her.

"It's worth a lot," Caitlin admitted.

"Now go," Carla nodded to the open door.

"What about…" Caitlin stared down at the man on the ground.

"I... I'll take care of him. No one will ever know about this. I promise!"

"Thank you," Caitlin backed away slowly, still horrified herself. She turned around and practically ran out of there.

~ 0 ~

"Every time there's been a sighting of the monster, multiple transformers have blown," Julian checked over the reporting of the monster incidents so far.

Barry leaned back against his desk, partially thinking about the incident and then to Anais. He'd left that for Cisco and Belén in the meanwhile. "Hmm, so it's definitely feeding off electricity."

"Mm-hmm, and see, I mapped out all the streets that it's been spotted around. Never leaves a ten-block radius," Julian shook his head at the computer and pushed his chair away for the moment. "You know, this is exactly what I was talking about. Some meta's been gifted this incredible power, and this is the very best thing they can do with it... terrorize a city. It's pathetic."

"Why exactly do you hate metas so much?" Barry now find the time to wonder.

"If you think I'm gonna break down now and tell you that one killed my parents and that's why I have to do this job, I'm not, okay?" Julian missed the once again sour face of Barry, and went on. "I don't need a deep, personal reason to hate metas, Allen. I just need to see person after person transformed, given these extraordinary abilities, and watch them be squandered. Robbing banks, hurting people, spreading fear. It's just... well, it's not just a crime. It's an absolute waste. I mean, can you imagine what it would be like to have those powers? I mean, I would be helping people! I would be improving the world!"

Barry couldn't help remember Belén's words that sounded almost exactly like Julian. Barry supposed there was, apparently, a nice side to the man…

"I guess I wasn't one of the chosen few, was I?"

Barry raised an eyebrow at Julian. "That's it? You're mad at them because you weren't chosen?" Julian shot him a suspicious glance. "Sorry, I mean, I'm just saying, it can't be easy being a meta-human, having your life... their lives change in ways that, you know, neither one of us could possibly imagine. It's got to take some adjusting."

"Right. So now you're defending them?"

"Well, no, I mean, I'm... I don't think that…" Barry could see he'd chosen the wrong words to say to him because Julian was now packing his things.

"This internship thing we're doing is completely over," Julian warned him to stay put as he walked out of the lab.

~ 0 ~

"All I'm saying is that she's going to eat - paying her dues - and she's attempting to help us? That doesn't sound like a criminal to me, Cisco," Belén followed the man around in the cortex. She was relaying to him everything she found out about Anais from the baristas at Jitters.

"Yeah? Then why doesn't she stay and explain herself to us?" Cisco made a passing gesture at her as he crossed the cortex to the computers. "And have we forgotten that she probably stole Harry's doppelganger's passage here?"

Belén rolled her eyes at him for that one since she knew he wasn't as upset as he portrayed to be about that matter. "Cisco, if you really wanted to bring over the doppelganger you would've vibed again."

Cisco opened his mouth to retort but then pointed at her instead, giving her the point. "Fine. I like Harry and I don't want someone else. What if we get an evil Wells again?"

"Nobody wants that," Belén leaned her hands on the back of the desk, peering over the computers to see what Cisco was doing. "But why'd you let Harry go on with the plan, then?"

"Because it looked like he wanted it—"

"Which he didn't."

"Yeah, we know that now."

"Okay, back to my point that I was making, we should really find Anais and bring her in."

"I've kept an eye on the Jitters cameras all day and there hasn't been any sign of her," Cisco gave a light shrug of his shoulders. "My best bet is that she'll show when the monster does."

"Yeah, and then she'll run off like she has the past two times."

"So we don't let her," Cisco said like it was the easiest thing. "We need to take her by surprise."

"You mean knock her out? That's original and clearly the best kind of welcoming," Belén smiled sarcastically at him.

"She came in unwelcomed! And she ran off!"

"Well—"

"You two arguing is never a good thing," Caitlin surprised them both with her presence. Belén especially gave her a scrutinizing stare, wondering how her visit to her mother's had gone.

"We were just disagreeing on how to best deal with our speedster-breacher," Cisco waved it off. "And where've you been?"

"Just...out," Caitlin shrugged then set her hands on her hips. "So how are we doing over here?"

"Well, we're no closer to getting the monster nor Anais—"

"What monster—?"

Cisco's meta app started ringing in all three of their phones. The creator immediately whipped out his phone and pinpointed the location. "Thank god for the app with GPS!"

"What's going on?" Caitlin asked.

"It's the monster," Belén headed for her suit and missed Caitlin's blinking eyes.

"What monster?"

"You've missed a lot," Cisco distractedly patted Caitlin's arm while he got in contact with Barry.

"Cisco, I'm gonna follow your plan - I think," Belén called. "But how exactly do I knock out a speedster? Not to mention a flying speedster?"

Cisco opened his mouth but soon shut it and swayed his head to Caitlin for a fresh idea. The brunette brought a hand up to her cheek and thought about it. She went through multiple scenarios and ultimately came up with something, just something that she wasn't quite sure of. It hadn't been tested properly.

"Moon," she said the one word and hoped Belén would understand.

Cisco did not. And he showed it by scrunching his face at Caitlin. "Moon? What does that—" But Barry sped in and out for his suit and stopped just beside Cisco, startling him back.

"Don't do that!" Cisco shouted in Barry's face.

"Rope! Did you get the rope!?" Barry motioned his hands.

While Cisco showed Barry to the rope, Caitlin took the opportunity and rushed up to Belén to better explain her idea. "It's wrong for me to put you in that situation but you have moon manipulation powers. With that you can maybe do some gravitational pull attack."

"I-I've never done that in my life," Belén blinked. "And I think Datura said she never figured out how to do that."

"Moon abilities also allow you to redirect a reflection - stunning! Light manipulations—"

"So I'm gonna have to stick a hand in my bag of siphoned powers and see what works," Belén released a big breath. "Oh boy."

~ 0 ~

With Barry's help, Belén arrived at the site with him and immediately set to search for Anais. The woman's golden suit would make her stand out in the night amongst civilians.

"Oh my God…" Belén was first taken aback by the monster's appearance. This was the first time she'd seen it in person. It was a lot bigger than what the cameras showed. She gaped and turned her head at Barry.

"I know," he could see his first reaction on her face. "Cisco? I'm here."

"Please tell me there was a plan to catch this monster…" Caitlin let her concern show.

"Alright, so we fashioned just a carbon fiber rope, but correct me if I'm wrong, we never actually discussed how he was gonna use that rope, did we?" Cisco slapped a hand at his face when he realized his error.

"Cisco…" Caitlin couldn't believe it.

"I know," the man groaned. "Okay, so we...so...um...oh!" he snapped his fingers, startling Caitlin with the motion. "Barry, we're gonna do 'Empire'. Just take it down like it was an AT-AT. Just like an AT-AT!"

"I've no idea what that means," Belén wasn't afraid to admit.

Barry smiled at her. "Let me handle this." Belén motioned it was all him. She, on the other hand, spotted a golden streak zigzagging at the other end of the street.

"And I see our alien," she told the others and rushed off.

While Barry tied the carbon rope around three distinct street poles to keep the monster restrained, Anais was busy getting people away from it.

"Run to safety! Go on!" She urged many of the civilians and was just about to speed off when she saw tendrils of vines swirling in front of her. "Aah…" she retracted a step and raised a hand to her face.

The vines disbanded to show Belén. "You have explaining to do, Anais."

Hearing her name made Anais gasp. She lowered her hands from her face, revealing wide blue eyes. "You know me?"

"I don't. But my boyfriend does," Belén pointed at the red speedster across from them.

Anais followed the pointed finger and gasped again. Her head flipped back at Belén. "You're — you and him — here too?"

Belén tried making sense of that chopped-up question but given the circumstances, she didn't have enough time to sort it all out. "You need to come with me right now."

Whatever Anais thought, it was hidden behind her golden mask. Still, her eyes blinked rapidly in confusion when she saw the monster across them walk through the rope the Flash had put around it. "It's...a hologram…"

"What?" Belén followed Anais' gaze.

"The city's not a threat, then," Anais said with relief, but Belén knew exactly what that meant.

"You can't leave again!"

Anais got smug and wiggled her fingers at Belén. "Watch me." She turned around and even stretched her arms upwards for show.

You going to let her be smug? Let her taunt you? Terra will not allow it. Belén shivered when that same voice's owner pushed through her mind.

Just as Anais started off, Belén extended a hand forwards and thrust up an actual chunk of road into a wall that Anais hit face-first. The alien speedster groaned in terrible pain, her hand flying to her broken nose.

"Belén? What happened?" Caitlin was thankful for the cameras being shut off. Her guess was that Belén was using the moon powers she was instructed to.

"Yo," Cisco also called in. "Barry's just gone to 2nd and Fulton to warn the police not to shoot! I'm trying to disrupt the signal for the monster but Belén you need to get over there!"

Anais detached herself from the road and angrily punched a fist at it, making it crumble down. Belén, not as her, pushed her hands upwards to rebuild the structure but instead Anais came directly for her. It was easy to throw Belén down with her incredible strength.

"I don't want to hurt anyone!" Anais exclaimed at the groggy woman on the ground. "Please! I-I can go!"

HitHerHitHerHitHerHitHer, the voice screamed in Belén's head. She scrunched her face and sat upright. "I am in control," she mumbled to herself and opened her eyes again. Anais was watching her with incredible fear.

Belén took in a deep breath and faced Anais. The blonde woman backtracked a step as Belén got back on her feet. Her hands wielded light beams in her hands in case Belén attacked again, but something different happened instead.

Belén's mask disbanded and revealed her face. "Please tell me you recognize me."

Anais' face said it all. The light around her hands disappeared. However, seconds later she burst into sobs.

~ 0 ~

After stopping the monster - and discovering the evil culprit was just a fifteen year old boy - it was time to call it a night. At least, that part was over…

Anais was given a pair of normal clothes courtesy of Caitlin - though Caitlin took notice of the way Anais stared at her as if she were afraid. In her golden suit, Anais sat on a stool in the middle of the cortex with her arms around herself and the clothes on her lap. Her blue eyes briefly flickered to the entire group staring at her like hawks, probably waiting for her start explaining herself.

It was hard.

"Could you just please start with your name?" Barry was the only one who took more of a hands-on approach with her. He couldn't help it. "You're still Anais, right?"

She gave him a small nod. "Anais Mjorkland. And you're still Barry, right?"

"Yeah. You knew me on your Earth?"

Anais nodded again, her eyes then flickering past him to Belén. "I knew her too."

"Were we...friends…?" Barry didn't want to ask if they were also adoptive parents on that Earth for fear of freaking Anais out.

"We were a team," Anais' voice was barely heard by the others. She sighed and let her head hang. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to...to take that guy's place."

"Dr. Wells?" Cisco called from the desk.

The blonde nodded once again. "He runs STAR Labs - well, that's what he used to do before they discovered it was a farce."

"Ha, see, we would've gotten another liar Wells," Cisco nudged Caitlin who rolled her eyes in return. "I'm not vibing again."

"How did you steal his place?" Belén asked Anais.

"I-I...I lost people, okay?" Anais put her hands together in front of her face. "On my Earth, there was this war against metahumans - World War M - and there was a final battle...and a lot of people died." Her eyes filled with tears as she looked between Barry and Belén. "I tried my best, I really did, okay? But I lost them."

"We died…" It was easy for Barry to see that truth in Anais' face. She quickly looked back down at the clothes on her lap. Her long blonde hair draped in front of her like a curtain.

"Oh, that's…" Belén shook her head, unable to even complete that thought. It didn't make her feel any good.

"So you knew their doppelgangers—"

"When they discovered I was a speedster too, they helped me train. Them and all the metas who wanted peace, but then…people started discovering that I was neither meta nor human...and that's a big rule," Anais bit her lip. "Aliens are prodded and experimented on to enhance human life."

"Were you being hunted for that?" Caitlin gaped in horror.

"Yes, and people tried to protect me and instead it just got them killed…" Anais' eyes once again drifted to Barry and Belén, guilt riddened. "I am so sorry," she said to Barry who was closest. "I shouldn't have let him try, I shouldn't have but I was a coward and now he's dead and she…" she trailed off when she met Belén's horrified face. "I'm just sorry."

"Hey, it's okay," Barry rubbed Anais' back, not attempting to hug her since she barely wanted contact with them or anyone in the room. "If we chose to try and protect you it was because we were friends."

"Yeah," Belén came forwards. "It's what we would've done for our friends here."

"But they died in vain!" Anais exclaimed, sniffing loudly. "Because people still went after me! I had to escape so I took my chance with STAR Labs. I watched and I waited for a breach to open and I went right through! I can't go back there. It's against the law to do inter-dimensional travel. They'll kill me if I go back. I have to stay here."

"We're not sending you back," Barry reassured her and helped her stand on her feet. "You can stay here as much as you'd like."

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" Caitlin walked around the desk towards the trio.

"Coffee?" Anais blinked at her. "You still have coffee on this world?"

"Uh, yeah…"

"You don't?" Cisco asked, exchanging confusing glances with Caitlin.

"Humans' coffee supply was wiped out by blight. I don't know what coffee tastes like."

Caitlin offered a sweet smile at Anais. "You're going to love it. And, you can also stay with me if you'd like." She heard the story about Anais and she honestly couldn't see a reason to distrust the woman after hearing her awful story.

"Our place is also up for offer," Belén raised a finger, making Anais glance back at her and Barry.

"You two are…?" Anais pointed between them. "You're…married too?"

Barry cleared his throat and shook his head. "No." Although it was rather interesting hearing of another world where he and Belén were married. It's just too bad this particular Earth also killed them off.

"Oh…" Anais half smiled, "Sorry. I just assumed..."

"No problem," Belén said quickly, "Um, maybe you'd like to get changed?"

Anais nodded. "Yeah, it's been a while since I took my suit off." Caitlin offered to bring Anais to a more private room to change in, followed by the offer of coffee.

"Well, that was interesting," Cisco gave the Belén and Barry a pointed look. "Why is it always you two?"

"Shut up," Belén rolled her eyes at him.

"What exactly are we going to do with her, though? For real?" Cisco asked.

"She's too shaken up for any more questions," Barry said, still thinking about this other world Anais was from. "But she's not a bad person and that's what matters. Let's just give her a couple days to...process things."

"Alright, fine, but you two—" Cisco pointed a warning finger at them, "—get to explain to the others about this alien girl. Please let me be there when you tell Joe and Veronica."

"Whatever," Barry playfully rolled his eyes at him.

"Actually, I think I should see my Mom and forewarn her about questioning," Belén gave a hopeful look up at Barry. "Lift to the precinct wouldn't come by bad."

Barry smiled and gave a little salute to Cisco before speeding away with Belén. "You know if you could go ahead and let Joe know that would be great too…" He whispered as they walked into the elevator.

"Ha, ha, and you get Iris-the-reporter-full-of-questions all to yourself," Belén grinned.

"Now wait a minute—"

Belén stuck a hand out for him to stop talking. "Nope, too late. Oh, and you get Nina and Elliot too."

Barry knew a lost cause when he saw one. The elevator dinged open and allowed them into a rather quiet reception.

"You know, about Julian…" Belén stopped when she realized she had yet to tell Barry what she and Julian talked about earlier that day.

"He nearly shot a child, Bells," Barry revealed, leaving her mouth-open in shock. "The monster culprit? He hadn't realized it yet, but...give it a few more seconds and he would've done it."

"He's not...he's not bad," Belén tried to argue for his defense, but Barry didn't need it. As rude as Julian was, and annoying, he was no killer.

"I'll see you in a bit, okay? I'm gonna grab my things from the lab," he kissed her then hurried up the staircase.

Belén sighed and started for the offices where she could already see her mother and Joe working on no doubt the monster case.

~ 0 ~

Barry nearly jumped in his spot when he found Julian still in the lab, in the dark. Add creepy to the list, Barry made the mental note. He went straight to his desk and picked up a box he left beside it. Placing it on the desk, he started gathering his things to for the move out.

A promise was a promise after all.

Julian didn't even look at him. He was staring directly out the window, but he was disheveled like he'd been working all day. "I nearly killed a kid tonight. The monster we were chasing, it turns out it was just a hologram, operated by a 15-year-old boy. Flash came to save the day. And he saved me from doing something…" he shook his head, still unable to believe it.

Barry gave a small nod. "I heard."

"You know what's sad? That kid, he's just acting 'cause he's scared, you know? He wants everyone to be terrified and to run away from the monster so he can feel powerful. I know what that's like."

"How do you mean?"

"I come from a pretty wealthy family…" Julian rubbed his forehead, shaking his head as the words just came out. "Back in England. It's a long line of generations of old money, tradition... nonsense, really. And I was the heir. I was their firstborn son. I was supposed to inherit the lot. But I was the odd duck. Who would rather go in the garden and collect samples of insects...rather than learn how to tie a Windsor knot or which fork to use first at dinner." At the same time, Julian pulled off the tie around his neck that was already on its way to falling off. "Yeah. No, I wanted more. You know? I came here to do the one thing that they couldn't stop me from doing. Becoming a scientist... becoming a great scientist. And then just as I got to the top of my field, poof-" he snapped his fingers, "-the world changes overnight. Meta-humans. I don't know a single thing about meta-humans. I don't know how they talk. I don't know how they walk. I certainly don't know the first thing about stopping them, so... rendered useless. I suppose that's the monster that I'm running from now, just feeling powerless."

To say Barry was stunned was a rude understatement. This was the first time Julian ever spoke more than a sentence stringed together. It was the first time Julian looked like an actual person. "Yeah, I feel the same way some days, Julian. I lost my mom when I was a kid. Lost my dad recently. It's a scary world. People die. Trusts are betrayed. Things change. But change can be a good thing, you know? It can bring new experiences, new opportunities, people. You can treat 'em like a potential enemy or like a new friend. Just trust that everything's gonna be okay."

Julian gave a meek shrug of his shoulders. "Yeah, maybe you're right." It was then that he noticed Barry's push to get all his things cramped in the box. "You can stop. You can stay," he saw the surprise on Barry's face and sighed. "I was really wrong about the Flash, so I could be wrong about you too." Barry kept his hands hovering over the box, waiting for Julian to snap back and say it was a joke. But instead, Julian just grabbed his jacket and started heading out. "Good night, mate."

"Julian?" Barry suddenly called, not even sure what he was doing. "You want to get a drink?"

This time the shock was evident on Julian, but he decided to just let it flow. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

~ 0 ~

Belén's eyes flickered from Veronica to Joe in a manner that would make someone dizzy just watching. Veronica rubbed her temples, wearily, while Joe just stared at his screen.

"You mean to tell me this girl isn't your daughter—"

"Adoptive daughter, Mom," Belén clarified but received a harsh gesture to stay quiet.

"She's your friend from another Earth - an Earth where you and Barry died trying to protect her?"

"Uh, yes…" Belén gave a nod of her head.

"No, no matter how many times I think I've seen and heard it all...it never stops," Joe dropped his hands to his desk.

"I...I'm not…" Veronica pushed herself up out of her seat. "Goodnight Detective. Goodnight Belén."

Belén knew better than to argue with that smile. She chuckled to herself and waved goodbye to Joe as well. She started on her way out and saw both Julian and Barry coming down the staircase.

"Hey…" she greeted with caution. "Ready to go?"

"Actually...I…" Barry looked at Julian who shrugged with the same motion. "We were going to get some drinks…"

Belén blinked and quickly looked around. "Am I being punked?"

"You're so funny," Julian said flatly, making her smile.

"This is real?" she asked, her smile widening when the two nodded their heads. "Then go! Go! Don't let me interrupt!" she waved her hands she was leaving.

"You need a ride home—"

"Mom's on her way out," Belén cut Barry off. "Don't even worry about it! You just...you just go!" she beamed.

"Belén? Hold on," Julian quickly hurried up to her just as she pushed the button for the elevator. "You didn't happen to mention our conversation to him...did you?" he whispered.

"Uh, no. I was going to but I never got the chance. Why?" Belén blinked and looked at the confused Barry waiting for them.

"Just...wanted to know," Julian said, confirming this was not just because the other man had dissuaded his doubts.

Belén beamed. "Have fun!"

~ 0 ~

Late at night, Caitlin locked the door to her bedroom and went to open up her laptop with a blinking notification of a video message. She had waited until Anais was asleep in her guest room before opening the message of her mother.

"Caitlin," Carla's face soon appeared on the screen, "I've been going over the data we collected, and I found some disconcerting results. Your body's chemistry is changing in ways that I don't fully understand, but one thing is clear. These powers you have, the more you use them, the more difficult they're going to be to reverse. I'm sorry, honey, but listen to me. You must not use these powers under any circumstances."

Caitlin clicked the message to stop, but her frustration was already seeping through her skin. With silver-white eyes she gripped her laptop and froze it to an icicle before throwing it to the ground.

Just like that, she blinked away the silver and realized what she'd done. She crawled to the edge of her bed to see the crushed computer and...definitely feared for her sanity.

That was fun, Killer Frost echoed in her mind.

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

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 5: A Push and a Loner

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

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

• Can also be found on Fanfic and Ao3 •

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

Let us out.

We want to be free.

We will come out.

Belén jumped in her seat when Iris dropped a file of papers on her desk. Belén blinked up at Iris who was suspiciously eyeing her.

"What?" Belén looked around and saw none of their co-workers had stopped to look at them oddly. CC Pictures was, after all, a place of gossip.

"I just thought you forgot how to blink," Iris picked up her papers from Belén's desk then peered over to Belén's computer screen.

Belén was meant to be working on an article due that same day, in a couple hours actually, but was still nowhere near finished. Iris knew that, she'd been watching Belén all day and noticing how...distant Belén seemed. At random times Belén would just start staring into space, like she was forgetting where she was or what she was doing. It was odd, even for her.

"I'm just tired," Belén gave a little smile and got back to work. "Thanks for the wake up call."

"Mm," Iris eyed her for another minute before continuing on her way to her own desk.

Belén discreetly watched after her and scolded herself for being so weak. You can get this under control, she told herself.

She just needed distractions off her usual fear thoughts. She needed to take control. That was the key to everything. After all, it wouldn't be the first time she needed to work on getting control over herself. It was what she kept telling Caitlin to do and she should employ it herself to make the example.

"I can hear the voices, Cait," Belén explained as she and Caitlin walked into Jitters later that day. "What does that mean? That I'm actually going to go crazy here?"

"I think...actually, I don't know what to think," Caitlin admitted. She herself didn't understand how her powers came to be except that it was because of her siphoning device they used to "defeat" Datura.

They each ordered a drink then went to take a seat at an empty table. Belén fidgeted in her chair like she would lose it at any second. "Do you hear...her voice?" she asked in a whisper.

Caitlin shook her head. "No. At least, not now." Belén sighed, frustrated with her unique situation. Caitlin didn't like seeing Belén so...lost. She felt partially responsible because she created the siphoning device and now even she couldn't figure out where it went wrong, why it had gone wrong in this version of their time line. According to Barry, they had successfully defeated Datura in the original time line without any sign of...whatever the hell this was right now."You know, it might have to do with the fact you're using them more than I have."

Belén's eyebrows knitted together, taken aback by the assumption but definitely didn't discarded. "I...you think?"

Caitlin didn't say anything while the waitress stopped by to hand them each their drink to go. "It's possible that while you're attempting to use them, it's giving a chance for development. Involuntary development."

"I can't just not use them," Belén nursed her cup of coffee like her life depended on it. "I've been down the road of pushing powers away. It resulted in me losing total control. I don't want that again." She took a sip of her coffee and crinkled her nose. "It's cold."

Caitlin managed a weak smile as she drank from own cup, which turned out to be just fine. The two women then got up from the table and started to leave.

"I think, maybe, leaving them aside for now would be best," Caitlin offered a piece of advice after the two headed down the street.

"No," Belén knew that wasn't an option. "I can't ignore them, especially when they talk to me. I have to practice, take control before they do. And maybe you should too." Caitlin bit her lip, just nervous at that idea already. "Just because she hasn't talked to you doesn't mean she won't ever. She's lurking…"

"I...I don't think so," Caitlin shot that down before it could manifest in her own mind. "I don't want to use my powers."

"Well…" Belén came to a slow stop, "I didn't ask for them but I'm going to learn how to use them." Her eyes lowered to her cold cup of coffee. "In fact…"

Caitlin followed Belén's gaze and started shaking her head. "Bells…"

Belén made a hand gesture for Caitlin to stop. "Starts now," Belén shrugged. She focused her attention on her cup and the exact power she would need to use. It was strange — not the attempt to use her usual plant-based powers — but this was what she was given now and she would have to get by with it.

It just didn't work out the first time.

Caitlin gasped when the cup burst into flames. Belén dropped it instantly and, alarmed, stared with wide eyes at the flaming cup on the ground. "Oh my God!"

Caitlin looked around to see if anyone had noticed yet. Thankfully, most of them were on their phones. She quickly stomped on the cup and put out the small fire. She yanked Belén into a sprint-like walk.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know that would happen!" Belén kept glancing over her shoulder to spot anyone who might have caught them.

"Don't look back!" Caitlin hissed and immediately Belén obeyed. "I understand you want to practice them—"

"But you don't," Belén forced them to stop at the end of the street. "Caitlin, you got one power from that siphoning device. I got...I don't know how many powers I got," she turned her hand over and let flames consume it.

Caitlin once again nervously looked around. "Stop that!"

Belén let the flames die and a red energy erupt from her hand instead. Caitlin looked so pale she could have passed out on the spot. Belén put her hand down and turned her head to the road where Caitlin saw her raise a couple of rocks.

"Belén…" Caitlin was terrified and so Belén finally let it all die.

"I almost burned myself a couple days ago when I tried out my heat powers, remember?" Belén made Caitlin think back to a the night they'd gotten together at Caitlin's apartment in order to...test out their powers. "Barry kept asking me if I was okay. And I definitely had to get rid of my clothes before his freaky forensics nose got into the scorch marks on my blouse."

"I'm so sorry I did this to you—to us—" Caitlin covered her mouth with the back of her hand. All she had wanted to do was save Datura from her terminal illness. She ventured to create such a complex siphoning device that would have - ideally - restored Datura's biology enough so that she would keep her powers and be stable. Caitlin never foresaw that instead she would alter her own friend's DNA along with hers. She'd given them a part of Datura's powers with the danger of unstable DNA as well. She recreated the problem, twice.

"Caitlin, it's okay," Belén hugged the near crying brunette. She didn't blame Caitlin at all. It was, unfortunately, an accident. The timelines changed and they had to make do with what they had. All that was left to do was try to control it.

~0~

Cisco stood alone in the breach room with eyes glued to the swirling breech in front of him. Little by little, the group began to arrive from his urgent call.

"What's going on? Why'd you open a breach?" Barry quickly rushed up beside Cisco. Who the hell could be on that other side? He dreaded to know. If his luck was with him, maybe it was a benign area on the other side, maybe like Anais' world. He would like to see her again...or maybe…

"What's a breach doing open?" Belén made both men turn to see her and Caitlin coming in. "We didn't decide on that, did we?"

Caitlin shook her head to answer. "No we did not."

"I didn't do it," Cisco raised his hands in defense. "That's why I called you." He pointed at Barry.

"Well, can you close it?"

"Once again, I wouldn't have called if I could."

"Okay, well, who's coming through?" Belén cautiously stepped forwards with Caitlin.

The breach rippled as someone finally crossed through and with it went the group's nerves. Harry Wells jumped through, although if the group had been paying more attention they would have seen the urgency on the man's face.

"Allen," Harry Wells greeted, "I need your help."

Barry was still trying to process this unannounced visit to properly dread what new problem Earth 2 could be facing. "With...what?"

But before Harry could answer, someone suddenly zipped through the breach and went around the whole room before stopping in front of Barry. The gust of wind she left behind put everyone into a state of surprise.

"With that," Harry pointed a finger, unimpressed, at his daughter.

"Hey, guys," Jesse waved with a cheery hand at the dumbfounded group.

Harry would then have to explain how his daughter was now a metahuman. They moved into the cortex to better discuss the new change.

"When did this happen?" Wally was probably the most affected, but no one would really know then.

"A few days ago," Jesse was all too happy to explain. Everyone could tell she was over the moon happy with her speed.

Harry, not so much. "So, when I got Allen his speed back, Wally and Jesse were hit with the dark matter. Turns out she was affected," he glanced at his gleeful daughter. "She was totally affected."

"But I didn't get speed, so could it have been from something else?" Wally asked.

"No... I mean, I doubt it. Dark matter affects different people in different ways at different times...sometimes not at all, so be thankful, but she was affected, and I want to run some tests and find out just how much."

"Well, then, you've come to the right place. Let's go to the Speed Lab," Caitlin suggested but both Harry and Barry turned to her with similar confusion.

"Speed Lab?"

~ 0 ~

The 'Speed Lab' turned out to be a rather dramatically large room with everything a speedster would need to train...except Barry had no idea it even existed, and he didn't remember ever training inside of it. He was mostly struck by the large tube-like structure that actually ran above them. According to Cisco, Barry had been using it nonstop

"Something tells me you've never been in this room before…" Cisco sarcastically said to the open-mouthed Barry in the center of the room.

"Nope," the speedster confirmed.

Harry stopped and turned to Barry, only giving him a brief glance before he got the gist of what was going on. "Wait, you...you nev...Allen." Barry actually winced at the sharp edge in Harry's voice. "I suppose that means you traveled back in time again."

"Yeah, but—"

"How many times did I tell you not to do that?"

"How did you even figure that out so fast?" asked Belén.

Before they could say anything else, Nina walked in. Her condition made both Jesse and Harry gasp. She rolled her eyes and looked at the others. "Seriously, anyone else going to give me the wide-eyed look? I've been pregnant for almost nine months!"

"Not from where we stand," Harry settled a sharp glare on Barry.

"How are they immune?" Iris nodded to Harry and Jesse, wondering how that was even possible if no one else noticed the timeline changed.

"Because it's another Earth, so it's another timeline," Harry answered her. "So when did you do it?" He once again turned on Barry. "After we returned to Earth-2?"

"Look, Harry, only a couple things are different—" Barry didn't even get his attempt at an explanation.

"Oh, I'm sure. Not."

Cisco's eyebrows raised. "Really? You guys are doing "not" on Earth-2 now?"

"Uh, no. That's all him," Jesse jerked a thumb at her father.

"Okay, let's just get Jesse on the track and see what she can do," Barry hoped to get things moving because Harry's sharpened eyes were not something he could withstand for long.

"Yeah, let's do it," Jesse was all too happy to show off her new speed. "All right. Check this out!" she took off into the tubing and ran as fast as she could.

"Damn. She really can move!" Joe was the first to react with popping-wide eyes, making the others laugh...except Harry and Wally.

"Yeah, she can. Um... I got to go," Wally tore his gaze from the speeding Jesse and left in a hurry.

"Wally?" Iris called after him but it was no use. It was easy to tell he wasn't quite thrilled with the news. Iris offered to go talk to him but it still wasn't enough to ease Joe.

"Look, it's just... it is better if he doesn't have speed," Barry moved over to Joe but was surprised to find the opposite in Joe.

"Oh, you don't have to convince me of that. The last thing I want is two of my kids zipping around the city, running into danger!"

"Cause he looked pretty disappointed…"

"This is about that other timeline, isn't it?"

Barry had only just thought about the fact Wally could be next on Alchemy's list. He had been a speedster, and though not an evil meta, Barry was sure Alchemy would do something to make Wally a threat. "No, I just... I think you should keep an eye out."

~ 0 ~

Things were picking up with the metahumans Alchemy was summoning. At least that's what Barry thought this new case was all about. John Kane had been attacked with a street lamp post the previous night that just happened to fly into the apartment.

"That smells like a metahuman case from a mile off," Belén told her mother as the Detective led her daughter into the offices. "You have to give me something."

"Yeah, even though you're my daughter—" Veronica stopped and turned to Belén, making the younger woman bump into her, "—I can't do that. Iris came in with the same attempt about an hour ago."

"She did?" Belén blinked.

"Oh yeah, I thought you were worked at the same place…?" Veronica gave her a strange smile.

Belén weakly smiled back. Truth be told, she hadn't quite listened to Iris that morning. The voices were inhabiting her mind and Iris' voice just couldn't break through. "Must have forgotten."

"You okay?" Veronica asked and looked her over to make her own assumptions. "You've been acting...a little...odd, even for people like us."

"I'm just tired," Belén said and believed herself to be telling a technical truth.

"Hm, take a little rest, then," Veronica patted Belén's arm then spotted Barry coming in. "You!" she snapped her fingers at him, making him immediately hold his hands in defense.

"Am I in trouble?"

Belén rolled her eyes and turned around to him. "Have you done anything else?"

"No," he frowned at the similar stares he was getting from both mother and daughter. "I just…" he made a hand gesture to them, the open office where Joe was conducting an interview with a young girl, and to the reception, "...I'm just...doing my job…"

"Help me out on mine then," Belén walked up to him with a warm smile. "I need deets on this case."

"Nu-uh!" Veronica warned her. "You can't bat your eyes at our forensics to get private information."

"Is it a meta?" Belén ignored her mother and waited for Barry to answer her. "You know I can't write about that anyways. Not if it's...you know, Alchemy's doing," she whispered in the end.

Barry apologetically smiled at Veronica who groaned. "I'm pretty sure it's a meta, though I don't know if it has to do with Alchemy."

"Well, we wouldn't know that until we need this new meta," Belén waved a finger in the air and walked towards the nearest desk.

"Barry," Veronica called to him again, this time serious as a Detective, "What exactly did you find? Because we're not getting much from that girl," she nodded towards the open office, "Frankie Kane."

"Well, the outer layer of the lamppost is a half an inch thick, but to bend even a quarter-inch of steel requires 177 tons of tensile strength, so…"

"Are we looking for Mr. Incredible?" Belén smiled at the two, wanting to chuckle at her own joke.

"...but I'm the dork?" Barry playfully asked.

"That's a truth too," she gave a nod. "But back to that little theory—"

"I know you're not infiltrating information to a reporter, Allen," Julian strode into the room, missing Barry rolling his eyes at him, and met Belén's smug look. "You know it's against the rules."

"Mhm, I know how much of a stickler you are for rules," she leaned against the desk and crossed her arms. "But this is off the record, so c'mon…" she gestured with a hand for him to keep going. "Let me hear how the story ends."

Julian upheld her stare for about a minute or so before he continued with their discoveries. Veronica looked between her daughter, Julian and Barry and wondered to what extent did Belén have the two men in front of them wrapped around her fingers.

"...the only problem with Barry's little theory is there were no fingerprints found on the post."

Barry really had to force himself not to roll his eyes at Julian. "Again, Julian, not my theory, and the meta could've been wearing gloves—"

Julian did not hold back. He raised a hand to stop Barry from talking. "Yes, perhaps. But the curvature on the post suggests that equal amounts of pressure were applied to the whole thing at the same time. So, unless our strong man has a wingspan of over 20 feet…"

"Something else caused it," Veronica nodded.

"You two are not really going to fight over theories, I hope," Belén warned Barry and Julian seeing as the two couldn't stop glaring at each other.

"They've fought over less," Veronica mumbled to her and moved for the office. She had pulled Joe out from the office so that they could converse.

"Who's that?" Julian spotted Frankie from the open door.

"That's Frankie Kane, the victim's foster kid," Joe seemed to be harboring something."That poor girl's been in and out of homes for years. Listen, she said that she blacked out during the incident."

"Blacked out?" Julian repeated, confused. From the desk, Belén listened in with a little more interest.

"Yeah. Repressing memories is a coping mechanism for lots of foster kids," Barry gave a little insight but it didn't seem to keep Julian at bay.

"Hmm. Is it?"

Barry's glare was just automatic at this point. "It is," he mimicked Julian's accent.

"It could be something else," Julian pushed past him to get to the office.

"When will you two just...stop?" Belén sighed as she leaned away from the desk.

Barry gestured after the blonde who was in the middle of discreetly taking Frankie's glass of water. "Did you not just—"

"Like school boys, you are," Belén shook her head at him. "But those blackouts...what if they're not just blackouts?"

Even though Barry was fairly annoyed she was getting on his case for something Julian so easily provoked, he listened to her question. "Blackouts have been...a recurring theme for metas…"

Belén cleared her throat when the theory got back to her. It was how she'd started losing control of her powers when she first got them almost three years ago. That...made her wonder. "I have to go," she said with the idea fresh in her mind.

"What? You're not going to persuade these two idiots to keep telling you whatever you want?" Veronica's gesture at him made Barry even more annoyed.

"No, not today, gotta go!" Belén scurried out of there with the intention of finding someone.

~ 0 ~

Jesse came to a stop with a laugh after finishing up a new round of exams for Caitlin and Cisco. "So, how'd I do?" she eagerly waited to hear the response.

"Blood pressure, heart rate, metabolic rate all excellent. And you've got some serious speed, girl," Caitlin looked up from her computer scanner with a proud smile. "I think you're good to go."

Harry, who stood on the other end of the computers, pointed a finger at Caitlin. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I still want to run a few more tests."

"Like what?" Cisco gave him a look. They were basically finished with every possible test they could conduct on Jesse.

"Like...more tests," Harry waved him off.

"Hey, so, is Wally here?" Jesse peered to the doorway of the room.

"No, not yet," Caitlin was sorry to say. She could tell Jesse really wanted Wally to be there for her.

"Right. Um... Okay, I'm gonna... I'm gonna go grab some food. I'm starving," Jesse sheepishly patted her stomach.

"Yeah, there's some PowerBars in the workshop. Help yourself," Cisco suggested. He waited until Jesse was completely gone before he called Harry. "Harry? Can I just ask...what are you doing?"

Harry would not tear his gaze from the screen in front of him. "Being thorough."

"Yeah? 'Cause it seems like you're stalling…"

Harry flung his hands in the air. "Okay, fine. I'm stalling. I'm stalling! So what?"

"So what? So why?" Cisco would like to know.

"So why? Why? Why? I got to explain myself to you two? Oh, I guess I do, 'cause you're not parents. That's my daughter, okay? And she spent months on this very Earth watching Barry Allen defeat meta after meta after meta... And Zoom... And all of a sudden, bam! She's got speed, and now she wants to be a hero just like him. And I think that's a great idea. Not!"

"Harry, we can help her. We can train her just like we did with Barry," Caitlin took a much kinder approach than Cisco's sarcasm. "We've done it with Belén and Nina too. We know what we're doing."

"Yeah, except I don't want you to train her, okay?" Harry didn't know what else he needed to do to get that point across. "I brought her here for you to talk her out of it, not talk her into it, all right, Ramon? You... you should talk to her. You're a meta."

Cisco pretended to think about that crazy idea. "Yeah, which makes me the last person she should talk to about not using her powers."

"Okay, Snow... Caitlin... You and her—" Harry put his hands together like a prayer, "You've always had such a special relationship. You talk to her."

Caitlin looked at him like he was crazy. "No, we don't. And I don't know anything about having powers, so I'm the last person you should talk to, so don't ask me…" she knew she'd rambled on a bit too fast during that last sentence. She should start learning how to lie better - it was something she and Belén would need to work on together...just another thing they needed to get under control.

~ 0 ~

Belén arrived at STAR Labs and found Caitlin first in the cortex. "Where's Harry?"

Caitlin looked up from her computer and sighed. "He's probably still cooped up in the breech room trying to figure out how to keep Jesse from using her powers."

"What?" Belén was only momentary surprised but then remembered this was Harry Wells the protective Dad and brushed it off. "Whatever, I think I have a way to figure out a little more about...our situations."

Caitlin turned her chair in Belén's direction. "Like…?"

"Well, besides us and Datura, who exactly would know about Datura and Killer Frost's history?"

"I...I don't know…"

"Harry!" Belén exclaimed. "He kept tabs on the metas in his city. Granted it might not be in-depth but something is something."

"Belén, I don't know about this…" Caitlin sighed. This was a tough situation alright. She knew that unlike her, Belén wanted to understand and control these powers while Caitlin felt said powers were more of a curse. So far, Caitlin didn't know much about their powers and she didn't exactly have the support from the others since they were choosing not to say anything about it.

"I'm not revealing anything, I'm just...asking some questions," Belén tried to explain her idea so that Caitlin could see no danger of disclose would loom over them. "I can make it work as if I'm trying to understand Datura more. He has to know whose powers she owned and what exactly happened to make her...crazy. He can give me the timeline we need."

Caitlin tapped her fingers along the desk, indecision written all over her face. "I just...I don't want people to know…"

"And they won't," Belén promised her. "Worst case scenario, I'll tell him about me."

Caitlin could see that despite Belén coming to her to explain her idea...there wasn't much convincing her otherwise. "Just be cautious, please."

Belén beamed and assured her it would be alright. Unfortunately, Belén didn't have the time she needed to talk to Harry because their metahuman had finally made a true appearance.

Frankie Kane was their culprit.

Barry stared at the profile picture of Frankie on the wall screen. He, Joe and Veronica had the unpleasant task to meet her metahuman side after Julian practically forced it out of her. He nearly paid for that with his life if Barry hadn't gotten him out of the way.

"Her name's Frankie Kane, but she's calling herself Magenta," he told the others.

"Meh," Cisco crinkled his nose at the name.

"That Magenta is a whole different person than the scared, kind girl I was interviewing," Joe remarked. Magenta had an air of smug confidence that Frankie Kane was very far from.

"She's dissociative," Harry said.

"You mean split-personality?" Belén asked and gave Caitlin a discreet look of 'he knows what he's talking about' to which Caitlin inwardly sighed at.

She instead focus on the computer screens before anyone noticed. "According to her medical records, it's a condition she's been dealing with her entire life. I'm sure all the yelling at CCPD is what triggered it."

"So Frankie is Jekyll. Magenta is Hyde," Wally simplified it. "Classic good versus evil."

"Or she's pulling a "Primal Fear." She's faking it," Harry suggested.

"No, she's not faking it. I saw the struggle going on inside of her," Barry reassured them all this was a real case. "Magenta's trying to take over completely."

Belén looked down with an actual twinge of fear. It was an all too familiar fear she wished would leave her alone. Seeing it happening in someone else, a young girl like Frankie, didn't help.

"You said she was raised in the foster care system?" Caitlin asked.

"It's in her records," Veronica came over. "She's been going from home to home."

"Yeah, and maybe not good ones," Caitlin said after checking the records of Frankie's current home. "Her current foster father, John...the one who was hurt in the attack has got a few disorderly conducts."

"He might have some information we can use," Iris saw a chance to help and went over to Caitlin's side. "Belén and I can follow up with him."

Iris' smile made Belén feel terrible when she shot her down. "I can't go. I...have something else to do…"

Iris raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"I...I just...can't," Belén quickly looked down at the floor to avoid Iris' suspicious stare.

Even Barry was wondering, at this point, what she meant. "There is...something else…" he spoke up only to keep Iris down. He had began picking up on some strange behavior from Belén after Iris had pointed it out. He was going to look into it, soon. "She got her powers from Alchemy. When I said his name, she knew who he was, so Magenta must have existed in the other timeline too."

"Who's Alchemy?" Jesse asked.

"Well," Cisco began with an overly sarcastic tone, "Doctor Alchemy is a magic man in a cloak who can somehow restore the powers that people had in Flashpoint."

"Okay, and what's Flashpoint?"

"That's what we're calling the alternate timeline that Barry created when he went back in time and saved his mom," Caitlin explained.

"Oh. So Magenta is another side-effect from your time trip. Genius," Harry spat at the speedster in question. "Not. Who knows what else you've changed!?"

"I don't need to be reminded. Thank you," Barry crossed his arms.

"Look, anybody with those powers and as angry as her needs to be tracked down," Joe said, getting them back on track. "Fast."

"Well, great. I mean, fast I can do!" Jesse exclaimed and started out. "Let me just go carb-load."

"He didn't... That's... you don't…" Harry was left calling in vain. "Snow!" the brunette flinched in her chair.

She knew exactly what he wanted and groaned. "Okay, Harry, I'll talk to her, but I don't know what I'm gonna say." She got up from her chair and went after Jesse.

"And I guess I'll go see John Kane," Iris announced, lingering a sharpened look on Belén.

I am a horrible friend, Belén thought.

"Belén?" Veronica startled her out of her thoughts. "Still okay?" she was watching her daughter for any movements but Belén knew that trick all too well.

"Just tired," she recited her lie and waved her and Joe off.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin took in a deep breath before she entered the pipeline where Jesse was finishing her snack. Jesse sheepishly smiled as she cleared the crumbs of power bars off her face.

"You guys weren't kidding when you said speedsters were hungry all the time…"

Caitlin gave a little smile, an awkward one too since she wasn't sure how this conversation was going to turn out. "Listen, Jesse, before you speed off to find Frankie, I just want to make sure that you feel like you're ready."

"Why? Is something wrong? I mean, did the test results say something?"

"No, not at all. All the test results have come back fine so far. It's just... maybe you should take it slow…"

Jesse thought about it for a second before shaking her head. "Sorry, is this how you guys treated Belén when she got her powers?" Caitlin blinked, sensing the sort of accusation Jesse was about to throw at her. "Because we're girls? We need to take it slow?"

"What? No! Not at all!" Caitlin exclaimed. "It was the opposite - she was scared-"

"Well I'm not," Jesse cut her off without intending on being rude. "I like my powers and I can use them!"

This was going downhill, thought Caitlin. "Well, I mean, I'm sure you think that it's a great thing to have powers, but sometimes, it's not so great. Trust me," Caitlin paused involuntarily as her own secret began to resurface in her mind. "I'm just saying that if I had powers, I would probably take it slow…"

Jesse sighed and got up from her seat. "My dad put you up to this, didn't he?" Caitlin opened her mouth but Jesse didn't give her the opportunity to answer. "Yeah. I mean, of course he did!"

Caitlin winced as Jesse stormed out of the pipeline. She quickly went after Jesse, but by that time the younger girl was already shouting at her father in the cortex.

"You don't want me to have this speed, do you? I mean, that's why we're here, right? Not so you could test me, but so you could get everyone to talk me out of using my powers!"

Harry briefly looked over Jesse to Caitlin - the brunette quickly lowering her head and rushing to sit beside Cisco and Wally at the desk. Harry returned his gaze to his outraged daughter still waiting to hear what he had to say. "I just want you to be…"

Jesse groaned when she recognized the same old story about to be told. "To be safe, yeah. Yeah, I know. I've heard it my entire life!"

"This is different. This is way different!"

Jesse scoffed. "Yeah, no, it is. 'Cause I'm not Barry, right?"

"Right. You're not Barry—"

Jesse didn't give him the opportunity to speak. She was tired of hearing the same excuses for everything she did. She whirled around and left the cortex. Harry helplessly watched after her but the action of actually trying to speak with her again was definitely not the right one at the moment.

Wally cleared his throat and slowly got up from his chair. "Let me...talk to her this time," he offered. Harry gestured him to get a move on it.

~ 0 ~

Despite the troubled air in STAR Labs, Belén still managed to secure Harry alone in one of the cortex's side rooms. Caitlin had distracted Cisco with something that would hopefully take at least ten minutes.

"Harry?" Belén poked her head into the side room and gave a wiggle of her fingers.

Harry wasn't exactly the talking sort, and it was even less when he was in problems with his daughter. Belén had to remember that as Harry gave only a brief wave of a hand before returning to a deep work on the computers.

Belén cleared her throat and slowly stepped into the room. "Um, I have something to ask you...it's...um, it's about my doppelganger."

Datura was a delicate topic for Harry considering the woman helped kidnap Jesse and nearly got them both killed. "What could you possibly want to do with her now?"

"You haven't heard, then?" Belén dreaded to be the one to give Harry yet another point against Barry regarding the time lines. "Datura sort of got away from me in this time line."

"WHAT!?" Harry wouldn't try to keep his voice at bay even if Belén clapped a hand over his mouth. "ALLEN! I swear to God—"

"Harry, please! It's already done! There's nothing we can do about it. I'm trying to figure out where she is right now and I need your help!"

"I want to know why the hell Allen is still allowed to walk when he so clearly can't help screwing things up!"

"Harry, I know what Datura being free means to you so if you really want her to pay for everything she did, help me out," Belén put her hands together, "Please?"

Harry shook his head knowing that he would end up helping Belén with whatever she wanted. "You need to put that boyfriend of yours in the pipeline for at least a week."

Belén cracked a small smile. "Sure."

"So, what do you need to know?"

"Datura's history." Belén bit her lip nervously. "Uh, specifically her development into, uh...an evil meta."

Harry cocked his head, his scrunching face pretty much implying he had no idea what that had to do with her search. "What do you mean?"

"I was, um, thinking that perhaps learning her true history would help me ensure things end differently the next time we meet," Belén explained and gave herself silent props for making her excuses sound legit. "What I mean is, I'd like to know what powers she's been known to have. I know a couple, of course, but I also know that she only showed a pea-sized amount of what she actually had."

"Nobody knows all the powers Datura had, Belén," Harry shrugged quickly, "I doubt even she knew."

Belén blinked at the revelation. "What?"

"The whole reason Datura's meta physiology was unstable was because she couldn't control the powers she had. She couldn't stabilize enough to switch between them and actually identify each one."

"But...but what about the people she siphoned? There has to be records about those victims—"

"I can get you the reports from my STAR Labs on her and her victims but her actual body count isn't known, neither are her powers. She kept losing some while gaining others."

Belén let out a heavy breath. This conversation wasn't going exactly where she needed it. Make do with what you have, she reminded herself. It was all she had left. "Okay, um, can I just please get whatever you have on those?"

Harry nodded. "Give me a couple hours to compose all the profiles, alright?"

"Yes, of course." Belén would have to anxiously wait to receive those profiles and get started on a proper plan for her future.

~ 0 ~

"Seriously, what the hell were you thinking? You can't just go stepping into the street like that! I mean, you got to use your head!"

Belén, Caitlin and Cisco each squirmed in their respective spots in the cortex as each of Barry's shouts carried into the room. And if it wasn't enough, Harry and Jesse were going at a similar match in the very room. Apparently, Wally had gotten the idea that he could jumpstart his 'speed powers' like Jesse had - involuntarily - done in her own world. Unfortunately, it didn't work out and Jesse had to pull him out before he got ran over by a car.

Now everyone was mad...except for the leftover trio hearing everything. In the end, both Wally and Jesse each stormed away from their shouters.

Harry immediately called upon Caitlin, who jumped in her chair at suddenly being put in the spotlight with an accusation. "What did you say to her?"

"Me?" the brunette pointed at herself.

"Yeah, you," Harry directed a finger at her face.

Caitlin got over her initial startle and scowled. "Don't blame me for this. I tried to help!" Helping was all that she tried to do lately with no success.

"Help her or help me?" Harry's demand only pushed her further into annoyance.

"Listen, Harry," Caitlin pushed herself up from her chair and slammed a hand on the desk, startling both Belén and Cisco. "Maybe the reason she's shutting you out is because you're not trying to understand what she's going through—"

"I don't need to unders—"

Caitlin was not giving him the chance to speak. "Maybe if you helped her navigate her powers rather than just assuming they'll destroy her, she'd turn to you rather than push you away!" she gave him a sharp glare before leaving herself.

"Point one, Caitlin," Belén mumbled to Cisco who 'mhmed' in response. Harry overheard her and sent the two a murderous glare which prompted them to get out of there too.

~ 0 ~

"Iris, what are you doing here?" Nina accidentally startled the focused reporter in the hospital hallway.

Iris stopped and turned sideways to see the doctor smiling at her. "I'm following up on John James...for job purposes and…" she leaned forwards and whispered, "...meta reasons."

"Ah," Nina understand and looked around the rather empty hallway. "Our street lamppost victim. He's this way," she started walking with Iris. "What's going on with him?"

"His foster daughter is the metahuman," Iris began to explain in a quiet voice since nurses were still passing by.

"Frankie Kane?" Nina recalled the girl which took Iris aback.

"You know her?"

"Not personally, but…" Nina stopped Iris for a second. Her eyes flickered around in case anyone lingered by. "I'm not supposed to disclose anything, but...she's been in here a couple times with some...weird accidents."

"What kind of accidents?" Iris crossed her arms.

"Broken bones in the arms, one time a leg," Nina shook her head. "If you asked me, it's abuse but I can't exactly prove it which is…"

"Why you haven't said anything," Iris nodded, understanding the position Nina was in.

"I can't do anything unless I have concrete proof and if the girl comes forwards. I've just reported my suspicions to the social worker but...there's not much I can do."

Iris began to wonder how that might factor into Frankie's current condition. It definitely made sense. If Frankie lived in a hostile environment, she would try to cope with it some way or another...which might have made her an easier target for Alchemy. "Wait…" she grabbed Nina's arm when a new idea suddenly entered her mind, "...maybe that's why turned into Magenta."

"Magenta?" Nina wasn't in the loop about Frankie's new identity for the moment, but Iris didn't stop to explain.

"Maybe Magenta came out as a defense mechanism! She tried to get back at John Kane for hurting her…and if she did it once - and failed - she's going to try again!" she dashed for the room the nurse in the reception room had indicated was John's.

"Can we not run? I can't run!" Nina grumbled and walked her fastest after Iris.

"Nurse!" Iris found one nurse in the room at the moment and went directly to her. "We need to get this man to a safe location!"

The nurse gave the reporter a strange look. "Why?"

But before Iris could even attempt to expalin with an excuse, they heard distinct noises of metal from outside. Nina came in with a slight short of breath and saw Iris nearing the room's window.

"What is it, Iris?"

Iris' mouth fell open at the sight outside.

"Oh my God," the nurse nearly fell back.

Magenta was back...and with a tank.

~ 0 ~

In the cortex, an alarm went off but it wasn't one that Barry recognized. "What kind of alarm is that?" he looked over to Cisco and Caitlin who were already working on the computers to see the situation.

"That's Iris' panic button," Belén came rushing into the room with Joe and Harry. "What's going on?"

"Her what?" Barry was dead confused but apparently no one else was. "What is that?"

"Her panic button. We installed them on everyone's phones!" Cisco exclaimed and looked up to Barry's confused face. "Cause we kept getting kidnapped!" he nearly shouted.

"After I could start making an actual tally mark chart counting my kidnappings, we decided it was better to be prepared," Belén looked at the others who nodded in agreement. "I still won, though."

"Yeah you did," Cisco smirked.

"We got it!" Caitlin pulled up Iris' location on the screens behind Barry. "It's...the hospital…"

"Iris said she was visiting John Kane, remember?" Belén blinked. Now she definitely felt terrible leaving Iris on her own.

"Is that...a tanker?" Joe nearly fell over seeing the security feed.

Cisco slowly rose from his chair in utter shock. "Th-th-that's a tanker, yeah."

"She's gonna kill everyone in there," Jesse was wide-eyed like the others.

"We have to go there," Barry looked over to Belén, wondering if her strange behavior would also carry over to their work.

But Belén would be damned . "Let's!"

~ 0 ~

Inside the hospital, Iris and Nina were working to get John out of there, even though the man didn't really deserve anything at this point.

"I should really be up there helping," Nina struggled to get people moving without bumping into her.

"Are you kidding me?" Iris sent her a sideways glance while pushing John's wheelchair. "Don't you even dare! Let the others take care of things."

They made it to the front doors but stopped simultaneously when they saw Frankie's figure outside. Magenta was holding her hands on either side of her, controlling the tanker moving over the hospital.

Barry sped to the hospital's roof with Belén. The two settled on their feet and gazed at the tanker coming their way.

See, super strength would be very handy right now, thought Belén. She wished Datura could have had that power siphoned somewhere…

She shook her head after realizing the implications of that. Another metahuman killed for their power was definitely not something she should be wishing for.

"There's not enough time to get everybody out of the hospital. This thing's coming down," Barry communicated with the others through the comms. "What if... What if I create a wind funnel?"

"You won't be creating enough updraft to keep that tanker up," Harry shot him down.

"No, no. Not with my arms. If I run. That could…"

"Propeller," Cisco realized. "That could work."

Harry agreed too. "Barry! Run in a figure eight fashion. You'll act like a propeller. The wind will build upon itself. It'll create the supersonic resistance we need. Could work."

"All right," Barry exchanged nods with Belén then started running in the infinity symbol trail keeping the tanker from crashing over them.

"Okay, well, that worked, but now what? He can't stop her if he's up there," Joe remarked.

"We don't need to fight her," Belén said, still staring down at Magenta. "If she's dissociative then we can get Frankie to assume control again."

"That's your plan?" she heard her mother's doubtful voice and rolled her eyes.

Belén jumped over the ledge and let tendrils of vines create a downward slide allowing her an easy landing in front of the girl. "Frankie? Frankie Kane?"

Magenta's pink eyes glowed bright in the dark and settled over Belén. "You need to leave," Magenta ordered. "I'm not allowed to hurt you."

Belén blinked pretty rapidly, confused by Magenta but took any advantage she could. "Allowed? Why not— you know what, that doesn't matter because I don't want to hurt you either. I know that you're sick, or that...someone made you sick. Let us help you. My friends can help you figure this out…"

Magenta growled under the strain of her tanker. "You need to leave!"

Belén jumped when the tanker gave a large creak on the roof. "No!" she shouted at Magenta to stop. "Magenta—ah!" she lurched forwards as she started to hear voices again.

They want us.

We want to come out!

Use the fire!

This was the worst time to get sucked into the whirlwind of voices. What was worse is that she could actually feel some of those powers forcing their way up her finger tips. "No! Leave me...alone!" Belén clutched her head, shaking it frantically as the voices continued to invade her mind.

~ 0 ~

"What is going on…?" Cisco checked the monitors and saw Belén's vitals spiking up and down. "Magenta hasn't touched her!"

Caitlin immediately took over and smacked Cisco's hands away from the computers. "It's probably her sugar levels," she said the only thing she could think of.

"What's that got to do with this right now?" Cisco frowned at the ruddy excuse.

"Blood pressure is going up, really up…" Caitlin mumbled the readings with growing concern, "Neuron activity spiking...I...Belén!" she called into the comms. "Belén!"

"If she's not getting through Magenta will let that tanker crush everyone in that hospital!" Joe was in equal frantic state since Iris was still in said hospital.

"He right," Harry slowly met Jesse. "They need all the help they can get."

Jesse was a little doubtful of her father's seriousness. After everything, it wasn't expected. "Dad…"

"You need to get out there, now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I know you can do it. You're more than fast enough. Now, run, Jesse," Harry encouraged her with a smile. "Run!"

Jesse smiled back and sped out of there. She met Barry while he was running on the roof. "Hey, thought you could use some extra help. I got this. You go take care of her."

Barry was happy to see her there. He let her take over and rushed down to where Belén and Magenta were.

"Go...away…" Belén said through gritted teeth but the voices were swirling like a vortex, overlapping one another.

"Azalea…" Barry wasn't sure what was happening but he started getting flashes of her earlier days when she wasn't in total control of her powers. Could it be the same thing was happening again? Had he caused that too?

"Barry, Magenta!" Harry's voice rang in his ears.

Barry took care of the priority - he supposed - but felt a little better when Belén managed to send a weak smile his way. She was coming back…

But from what? And why?

"Magenta, killing your foster father and everyone else inside that hospital isn't gonna give you what you need-" his step forwards put Magenta into a snappy mood.

"You have no idea what I need! It's not just John that I want to get rid of. I want them both gone!"

"I know you're still in there, Frankie. Don't let John destroy the good that's still inside you…."

Magenta's eyes flickered pink to dark brown, but inevitably filled with tears. "He said I was weak. That I was pathetic! He said I was a horrible person."

"He's lying," Belén managed to get a word in, simultaneously taking in a deep breath. The voices were going away, but that was an episode she definitely did not want to repeat. "He's just blaming you for all the bad things he's caused in his life. It's not your fault. This isn't because of you."

"I just want him to stop hurting me," Magenta slightly lowered her arms.

"This isn't the way. Your foster father never forgave himself for his mistakes. That's why he took them out on you. He couldn't move forward. But you can…" Barry took cautious steps towards the girl.

Magenta's pink eyes faded to brown, and remained that way, this time. She looked up at the tanker and redirected it back to its place. Seeing the immediate peril was diminishing, those inside the hospital who could leave did.

With Magenta gone, Frankie Kane sobbed her apologies.

~ 0 ~

"So no one else got hurt?" Frankie was now properly there and sitting in the cortex with the group.

"Luckily, no. You don't have to worry about that," Veronica gave the girl a little smile.

"What about John?"

"The DA's prosecuting him for what he did to you. So I think he's gonna be serving time, and he's not gonna ever be anybody's foster father again," Joe was happy to report. It definitely helped having Nina's records on file just for extra evidence of that man's abuse.

"It's just so strange being responsible for all of this and not remembering any of it," Frankie stared at her hands, the ones who apparently had control over...terrible powers.

"What do you remember about how you got your powers?" Barry asked her, in the guise of the Flash. "How this all began?"

"Um... I started having dreams, at night, of Magenta."

"Dreams?" Wally asked, and she nodded.

"They were more than dreams. It was like I was living another life or something. And then I started getting them all the time. During the day. And the more it happened, the more painful they became. Then I started hearing a voice."

"What voice?" Barry had a good idea of who that voice was, but he wanted to confirm…

"It was a man. Named Alchemy. He said he could give me what I wanted and make me powerful again. I didn't understand. I thought I was going crazy," Frankie shook her head.

"Trust me. Magenta is not here because of anything that you did. There may be a darkness inside of you, but if you face it, it'll make it easier for the good side of you to win."

Frankie took his words' meanings with shock. "You're letting me go?"

"None of this is your fault, Frankie. Caitlin found you a good home in Keystone. People that will never hurt you."

"But what if Magenta tries to come back?"

"Fight her. And if you need help, we'll be there. We have faith in you, Frankie," Barry's smile was infectious to Frankie. She thanked them all for the second opportunity she would be getting.

~ 0 ~

"Your neuron levels spiked up like crazy, Belén!" Caitlin was reading over the reports she'd stored while Belén had been out with Magenta.

Belén was now the one sitting down in her greenroom while Caitlin circled her chair. "I don't even know what that means, Dr. Snow," Belén reminded her they did not speak the same scientific language.

Caitlin leaned on one hip, not amused with the response. "Whatever happened out there, caused every single vital of yours to just go up! I barely hid it from Cisco."

"I'm sorry, I didn't...know that would happen," Belén fiddled her fingers together. "I was just talking to Frankie when...the voices started. They were like attacking me with different things."

"They were doing more than just saying stuff," Caitlin looked over the reports on her tablet. "It's like, for a brief second, they were taking ahold of you."

"I felt the powers try to force themselves out of me," Belén admitted.

Caitlin shook her head. "I knew you shouldn't have tried to use them—"

"So then what the hell am I supposed to do with them?" Belén snapped and pushed herself up from her chair. "Because the last time I was in this situation was because I didn't use my powers! They controlled me, Caitlin, remember that? I worked hard to control them and be the Azalea. I refuse to let them take me over."

Caitlin pursed her lips and stayed silent. Of course she remembered. Belén had been close to fighting even Barry off in her non-controlled state.

"I'm just trying to do things differently here," Belén crossed her arms, her anger softening as she calmed down. She wasn't angry with Caitlin, and she wasn't upset...she was just...scared. "It's happening again and I don't want it to. I don't want to lose control. I want to take control. Not using your powers works for you but it's not what I want for me."

"Okay," Caitlin sighed and passed some hair over her shoulder. "Let me...device a training plan, alright? Maybe, if we start slow, then we can take control of each power you siphoned."

"Thank you," Belén said softly and sat back down on the chair. She rubbed her forehead and somehow the fear she felt only increased as seconds ticked by.

~ 0 ~

"Hey, what's going on?" Barry walked into the precinct's desks where Joe and Julian already were. He'd gotten the call so suddenly when he was all ready to go home after such a day.

"Listen, Singh wanted me to show you guys this," Joe motioned Barry to quickly come over. His hand was hovering the clicker of the computer where a video was paused. "This happened a few days ago at Iron Heights. They tried to keep it under wraps 'cause they didn't want anybody to think there was a security issue, but check it out."

"That's Clariss," Julian said without care. "Is this why we were brought in?"

"No, this is why," Joe let the video play.

Clariss was shouting in his cell for Alchemy when all of a suddenly he was picked up and pinned at the wall. He was thrown around like a ragdoll, harshly, until he was flung one last time and hit the ground.

"Dead before he hit the ground," Joe muttered and looked up at the two wide-eyed forensics.

"Alchemy. You ever heard that name before?" Barry asked specifically for Julian just to try their luck at some new information.

"Alchemy? No, I haven't," the blonde shook his head.

"Maybe there's an invisible meta," Barry thought otherwise. Iron Heights was made specifically to cancel out any powers...so where exactly would this invisible meta come in?

"Maybe it's a ghost," Julian suggested. "Do you believe in ghosts, Allen?" Barry's flat face gave him the answer. He rolled his eyes and left the place.

"Hey, do you think this thing is part of the Flashpoint timeline too?" Joe asked once Julian was surely gone.

"I have a feeling a lot of things are these days," Barry muttered and tore his gaze from the video.

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

[saiilorstars]

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

• Can also be found on Fanfic and Ao3 •

Chapters:

1. The Paradox of Heaven

2. A Ghost World

3. Mistakes Never Forgotten

4. The Wrong Ending

5. A Push and a Loner

6. Don’t Look in the Mirror 

7. The Chase for the Unknown 

8. Dear Doppelganger

taglist: @ocappreciationtag​ @arrthurpendragon​ @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic @frostandflamesfanfic

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