Hello.
So in order to not be a total copycat, anything I mention anything about this episode it is from my memory. So things may not make sense if I mess things up.
This is pretty much just a retelling of season three episode nine "The Present" because, even though, it is my favourite season three episodes I was upset about what they did.
Also my sister and I got into rant about Alchemy and Savitar and Julian and how until Savitar gets free, he can still possess Julian.
Bam. This fic is born.
So to get to the fic! I don't own The Flash, any of the characters of The Flash, but the plot is mine. I don't even own the references to the episode either.
Enjoy!
"Did it work?" Julian Albert asked after they finished their Savitar séance.
It was an innocent question that seemed to echo in the room.
"Oh, uh yeah," Cisco Ramone said, "It worked. And it was freaking creepy man!"
Caitlin Snow moved to help Julian to his feet; he was a little weak in the knees from their conversation, though he remembers nothing of what happened. Barry Allen was standing quietly to the sidelines, HR Wells (the Harrison Wells from Earth Nineteen) was going on and on about how terrifying it was. He continued to talk about it as they moved towards the cortex where they would figure out a plan for the Brahmastra or The Philosopher's Stone.
Joe West was staying near his daughter, Iris, and his son, Wally, in order to protect them if something happened. Jay Garrick, The Flash from Earth Three who came and helped defeat Savitar and Alchemy, was standing off to the sides. He had just been informed about what happened because he wasn't present for the séance because of the injuries he had sustained from the battle.
The group talked about throwing the stone into the Speed Force because they couldn't destroy it or bury it ("Jumanji," Cisco warned). Jay was explaining his plan that involved running faster than Barry and then letting the younger speedster use the kinetic energy from the elder speedster in order to make a portal to throw the stone through.
While they chatted about the stone, Julian was growing slightly anxious. A few hours ago, he was just a Meta Human specialist and Crime Scene Investigator. Now, he was also Alchemy (or Doctor Alchemy as Cisco called him), a powerful sorcerer who, when given powers from The Philosopher's Stone, can give people their Meta Humans powers from the Flashpoint timeline.
Flashpoint was the timeline Barry created after his father died. He saved his mother from death and, therefore, never became the Flash leading to his father also not dying. After realising his mistake, Barry erased that timeline and now they were dealing with the consequences of his actions.
What Julian was the most freaked out about was the fact that during the blackouts he has been having, he was turning into Alchemy. He was also anxious because of the fact he has had many blackouts throughout the years since he discovered The Philosopher's Stone in India.
He also wondered why he wasn't arrested.
Joe was a detective for the Central City Police Department. Everyone in the CCPD had been told that they were to arrest Alchemy if they had located him. Julian was Alchemy, and was standing in the same room as Joe and two Flashes!
Alchemy was the avatar that Savitar used in order to make Earth ready for his arrival. Savitar had forced Julian to collect acolytes that worshiped the so-called 'God of Speed'.
Julian has killed many people while being Alchemy, including the people who went with him to India.
So he was happy that they were getting rid of the stone that caused the mess that they were in. Once the stone was gone he wouldn't have to worry about Alchemy anymore. He almost smiled, but didn't because he was in the public place and didn't want to be asked why he was smiling.
Barry and Jay had just finished their plan when a loud alarm from the computer startled Julian.
Cisco ran over and typed on the keyboard to stop the alarm.
"We got a Fire!" Cisco exclaimed, "230Th and Robson Street!"
"Mind if I help?" Jay asked Barry.
Barry teased him, "Better keep up,"
The two flashes left the room in a strong gust of wind. Barry's Flash Suit was missing. Papers flew off the counters and Caitlin sighed.
"I really need to get some paper weights," she muttered.
Cisco started to speak to Barry and Jay through their headsets as they arrived at the scene.
"I'm getting coffee!" HR declared as he left the cortex.
Iris, Wally, and Joe crowed around the monitors as Julian watched from afar.
Julian listened as Cisco gave Barry orders and as the rest suggested what he could do when the building was about to collapsed. It seemed that everyone forgot about his presence. Even though Barry told them to watch over Julian as they entered the cortex.
This didn't worry Julian, he wasn't going to go and abandon the group that was trying to help him. If he did leave them, he would disappear to his apartment and stay there for as long as possible.
He kept his arms crossed as his posture bent slightly. Ever since he found out that he was Alchemy, he felt a mild discomfort in his own skin. He felt like he couldn't trust his body or his mind because of how each has been used as a puppet for Savitar. He would subconsciously scratch at his arms as if he could scratch the discomfort off.
He watched as Team Flash worked together as a machine, everyone understanding their place as what the suggest or not to suggest. He had never worked with someone the same way they do and he had to look away out of envy and loneliness.
Julian was glad that Cisco offered to hide the stone somewhere safe. He was also glad that he didn't know where it was hidden, because then he couldn't get possessed and then steal the stone. But he had figured three places that the stone could be: Cisco's lab, Caitlin's lab, or the Pipeline.
One thought that terrified Julian was the fact that when he Alchemy, Savitar can make him do anything he wanted. He had no control over his body or his mind; he was at the literal mercy of the speedster. Savitar could make Julian kill himself if the speedster wanted him to.
Julian listened in to their conversation with Barry. It seemed like dealing with a fire took longer than expected for the group of speedsters. Julian wondered if they were alright.
"I can go and help." Wally suggested to Joe, "You know I can help them. I've done it before!"
"No," Joe said, "You aren't trained. You nearly died."
"Come on!" Wally begged, "That was Savitar! This is different! I can help them!"
"No Wally. End of conversation!" Joe stated, "It's just a fire, they can deal with it."
Wally grumbled and he turned away from his father. Julian could tell how clearly annoyed Wally was about this.
The fact that even someone of Team Flash was worried made Julian worry even more, if they thought Barry was in trouble then he might actually be in trouble. Barry couldn't be in trouble, he had Jay with him. The elder speedster would be able to protect Barry if something happened. That thought calmed Julian down and he relaxed as much as someone in his position could relax.
He was relaxed until he heard a familiar voice he wishes he could forget whisper something to him.
Julian…
The man's atmosphere and posture changed as Savitar took over his body and forced the Meta Human specialist to blackout. Since he didn't have the stone he wasn't Alchemy, he was just Savitar possessing Julian.
He silently turned and left the room heading towards the closest room that the stone could be in: Caitlin and Cisco's labs.
He walked towards the elevator where he would have to use to get to the floor. He pressed the button and waited as the elevator arrived. The doors opened and he was surprised that HR stepped out of the elevator. The man held a coffee in his hand.
"Oh," he said, "Hey," he looked down at the man, "What are you doing?"
Savitar couldn't answer the question because his voice sounded different than Julian's British accent. He tried to brush passed the man but HR didn't let him.
"Isn't someone supposed to watch you?" HR asked, "Why are you alone?"
Savitar didn't answer and walked passed him. HR turned and grabbed Savitar's medium's arm and pulled him away from the elevator, an action that HR wouldn't ever do to someone else. But Barry had warned HR as well as the rest of the group to keep Julian in STAR Labs until they can make sure he wouldn't get possessed by Savitar again. Something Julian had willingly agreed to. If Julian was leaving STAR Labs and acting strange, then something was wrong.
Savitar turned around and grabbed HR's shoulder. He pinched down on the pressure point which made the man fall to his knees in pain.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" HR wined, "Let go!"
Savitar stopped pressure pointing HR and instead grabbed HR's arm that still held Julian's arm. He forced HR to drop the arm and then proceeded to break HR's wrist. Before HR could cry out in pain, he covered the man's mouth, smothering the cry, and dropped his wrist.
HR dropped his coffee and grabbed his broken wrist in agony. He uncovered his mouth and managed to figure out what was wrong with Julian.
"Savitar." HR said.
Savitar didn't say anything. He, instead, punched HR in the face knocking the man out.
He didn't notice how painful the knock-out punch was for Julian's hand. It was already bruising and maybe even broken. Savitar didn't notice this but refrained from using it much as he stepped into the elevator and pressed the button that took him to the level the labs were at.
He entered Caitlin's lab first. He spent a minute or so trashing the room finding where the stone could be hidden. Figuring that the stone wasn't in there, he turned and left the room.
He headed down the hallway and towards where Cisco's lab away.
"Yes!" Cisco cheered as the fire was put out, "Way to go guys!"
He spun around as Barry and Jay raced back into the cortex. Barry still had his Flash suit on and so did Jay. Barry looked around; he counted everyone in the room.
"Hey," Barry said, "Where's HR and Julian?"
"HR went to grab some coffee," Joe said, "I don't know where Julian is."
"Cisco can you find him?" Iris asked as Cisco was already typing on the computer.
"Already looking," Cisco said as he pulled up the video feed of the levels below them. "There." He said pointing to Julian leaving Cisco's labs, "What's he doing in my lab?"
"The stone," Joe said pulling out his gun, "He's after the stone."
"How can you be sure?" Caitlin asked.
"I agree," Barry said, "It's the only logical thing he would be after that would be in Cisco's lab."
"Hey, I have a bunch of cool things that he might want," Cisco complained, everyone turned to look at him, "Or maybe he is after the stone."
"Where would he go?" Jay asked.
"The pipeline," Wally said.
The group turned to look at the youngest speedster, "How would you know that?" Barry asked.
"It's the most logical place for it to be," Wally explained, "Inside a prison."
"We should send people after Julian and people to protect the stone," Jay suggested.
"Good idea," Barry agreed, "Jay, Joe, Cisco come with me. We'll go after Julian. Iris, Wally, Caitlin, find and protect the stone. Caitlin, do you know where it is?"
"I do," Iris said.
"Okay," Barry said, "You guys good?"
"Yeah," Wally said trying not to smile for getting and doing something instead of being in the sidelines.
"Meet you two down there?" Barry said Joe and Cisco.
"See you there." Joe said as both Barry and Jay raced off towards the pipelines. Joe and Cisco ran towards where Cisco placed his Vibe Glasses and Gauntlets. Then he could Vibe them down to the pipeline.
The second group went and headed towards where The Philosopher's Stone was really hidden. They went through the hallway and saw HR.
"HR!" Iris exclaimed as they stopped by the nearly conscious man.
Caitlin knelt beside him, she checked him for injuries. "He's fine, besides from the broken wrist and that bruise."
"HR what happened?" Wally asked.
"Wallace," HR said, "It's Julian-err not Julian. Savitar, its Savitar not Julian,"
"That's not good," Wally said.
"Okay, um," Iris started, "HR you and Caitlin go back and get your wrist treated. Wally and I will continue and protect the stone."
"Okay," Caitlin said worried about the West siblings. She helped HR up, "Can you walk?" she asked.
"Yes," HR replied. The two headed back to the cortex.
Iris and Wally continued to the elevator.
Savitar glared at the palm pad that opened the door to the pipeline. It would only respond to hands it recognises, and the palm pad didn't recognise him. He tried again, but the door wouldn't open.
"Julian stop!" the voice of Barry Allen exclaimed behind him.
Savitar smirked before turning around. He faced the man who ruined his life.
"Julian isn't here," Savitar said. Barry couldn't help but flinch at the dark voice of Savitar.
"Savitar," Barry breathed he took half a step back and reached his hand out. Maybe he could try and reason with Julian, seeing as he might still be conscious while Savitar is in control, "Julian? Are you in there? Can you hear me?"
Savitar laughed, "He is but dead," Barry clenched his jaw "He won't hear a thing."
"What do you want?" Barry asked.
"I thought you were smarter than that," Savitar said.
"The stone," Barry answered his own question.
"Yes, the stone," Savitar said, "With its power I can finally end you."
"Not if I stop you." Barry said.
"How can you stop me?" Savitar asked, "You are too slow."
Before Barry could answer, Cisco and Joe jumped out of Cisco's portal.
"Cisco," Savitar said, "Joe, come and join the party."
Cisco wore his Vibe glasses and gauntlets and Joe had his gun out. He pointed it at Savitar and was ready to fire.
"Don't you dare move," Joe warned.
Barry held his hand in front of Joe, "Don't," he said, "It's still Julian."
Joe didn't lower his gun, but he moved his finger from the trigger.
"Still Julian?" Savitar asked, "After everything he did as Alchemy? Still Julian?"
"You made him do everything he did as Alchemy," Cisco reminded.
"He's the one who came to me," Savitar reminded.
"You tricked him! Like you tricked Cisco," Barry said.
Savitar laughed, "Oh," he said, "Is this a trick too?"
He reached and pulled a gun from behind his back.
"Where did you get that?" Barry asked.
"I had it on me," Savitar smiled. He looked at the gun and cocked it.
"You won't kill Julian," the speedster hoped.
"Why not?" Savitar asked.
"Then you wouldn't do anything from where you are trapped if he is dead," Barry said, "We would destroy the stone and you would never kill me."
"Kill you?" Savitar asked, "Who said anything about killing you? I want to end you, not kill you."
"Why do you want to end him?" Jay asked, he was observing from the sidelines. He didn't know Julian, but he now knew that this wasn't normal behaviour.
"That is something for me to know," Savitar said he raised the gun and twisted it towards himself.
"Put the gun down," Joe said, "Or I will shoot."
"Joe…" Barry said, "You'll kill Julian."
"Oh, poor Barry Allen, caring for other lives no matter the sacrifices." Savitar taunted, "If he does kill Julian, I will be trapped forever. But you won't do it, will you? You won't kill Julian; instead you will try and think of another way to stop me. But there is none! Julian will die, but by his hand or mine."
"There is always a way," Barry said, "And we will stop you. You will not kill Julian."
"Unlikely," Savitar scoffed, "I'm a god."
"You're not a god," Barry said.
"But I am," Savitar said. He looked at the group and then at the palm pad. It was on a touch screen meaning that if he shot it, is should open. Or at least stop anyone from opening it again. Either way he could deal with what would happen.
Savitar shot the screen and the doors opened as the screen buzzed out. Barry ran over to Savitar and grabbed his arm, keeping the man contained.
Cisco ran over to the palm pad with Joe and looked at it.
"Congratulations," Cisco said to Savitar dryly, "It's broken."
Jay ran over to Savitar and reached for his gun. The 'God of Speed' pulled the trigger and shot at the screen again, missing Cisco by a few millimetres. Everyone was so shocked at Savitar's action that he was able to leave Barry's and Jay's grasp and run into the pipeline. He turned and locked the door before anyone could follow him.
Savitar smirked at them and turned before heading towards the middle of the pipeline.
"Savitar!" Barry slammed against the door, "Come back here!"
"Dude," Cisco said, "You can't break the glass. You don't have the strength."
"How about we vibrate through," Jay suggested.
"Not going to work either," Cisco said, "It's supposed to dampen Meta Humans abilities and make it so they can't escape."
"Hartley did," Barry said under his breath.
"What was that?" Joe asked.
"What about the supersonic punch?" Barry suggested ignoring Joe's question.
Cisco thought for a moment, "It could work." He agreed, "But why do we want to open the door? He's trapped inside."
"How big is that pipeline anyway?" Joe asked "I have never seen this part." He looked at the hallway that curved around the huge particle accelerator.
"It's big," Cisco said, "Each cell is connected to a part of the particle accelerator that will move down to this door. When there is no cell in front of the door, it allows access to the particle accelerator. It's odd, but it works."
"What do you think Savitar will do once he realises that the stone isn't in there?" Jay asked.
"Don't know," Barry said, "We will have to wait and see."
"Hey, uh, Cisco," Joe said, "Can you fix the pad?"
"What?" Cisco asked, "Oh, yeah. It may take an hour or so."
"Good," Joe said, "It would be bad if we have to lock someone up and the pipeline doesn't work."
"How long do you think it will take Savitar to realise that the stone isn't in there?" Jay asked Barry.
"Long enough," the younger speedster answered.
"I need to get my tools if you want me to fix this pad," Cisco said.
"Need any help?" Joe asked.
"No, I'll be good." Cisco replied.
"I should leave soon," Jay said to Barry, "I still have my Earth to protect."
"We still need to get rid of the stone," Barry said.
"What about Savitar?" Jay asked.
"He can't leave until the pad is fixed," Cisco said, "We can leave for five minutes."
"What about Julian?" Joe wondered.
"That's a different story…" Barry said, "We have to see what happens next."
"Fine," Joe said.
The four turned and left the pipeline and headed to the Speed Lab. They couldn't hear the scream of frustration coming from the pipeline.
"Where is the stone?" Savitar yelled, "There is nowhere else it could be!"
He had looked everywhere throughout the Pipeline, he walked along the track that circled around the particle accelerator. He screamed in frustration and decided that he needed to wait until later to continue his search. He left Julian and the man collapsed to the floor.
Julian's head hit the floor hard and he went unconscious.
When he woke up he realised that his hand was screaming in pain. He grabbed it and bit his lip to stop his screams. His head ached and his whole body was sore. He couldn't remember a thing about what happened. The last thing he remembered was watching everyone talk Barry through the fire.
He sat up and looked around, not recognising where he was. He didn't know why he had his gun in his hand. He placed back to where it was earlier.
The place he was in looked like a racetrack. He slowly stood up and used the wall to help keep his balance.
"Hello?" he asked, his voice echoing around.
Julian decided to walk towards the door. It took him a few minutes to get around the track. He rounded the corner and saw the door.
"The door!" he said.
He walked over to the door and looked at it. It was locked. He tried to unlock it, but it didn't work. Julian noticed Cisco with his back to him and working on what seemed to be a damaged palm pad. He tried yelling Cisco's name, but it didn't work. He then decided to knock on the window.
That seemed to scare the mechanic. He jumped and yelped as he turned around. He placed his hand on his heart as he slowed it.
Julian could barely read Cisco's lips.
"Julian?" he asked.
"Yes," Julian answered, though he figured that Cisco couldn't hear him.
"What?" Cisco asked.
"What?" Julian was confused.
Cisco turned to the just finished palm pad and turned on the speaker.
"Julian?" Cisco asked.
"Yes?" Julian assured wearily.
"Say something." Cisco demanded.
"I just did say something," Julian said, "What is going on?"
"Oh thank god, it is you," Cisco said. He opened the door and Julian left the pipeline.
"What?" Julian asked still confused, "What happened?"
"Uh," Cisco said closing the door, "You kinda got possessed by Savitar again…"
"What?" Julian asked.
"It's okay!" Cisco assured, "The stone is now gone!"
"Why was I in that place?" Julian pointed to the Pipeline with his good hand.
"Oh, the Pipeline," Cisco said, "Savitar thought the stone was in there."
"Oh," Julian cradled his hand, "Where was it."
"Not important, now it is in the Speed Force." Cisco said.
"What exactly happened?" Julian wondered.
"Apparently you slipped out of the cortex, knocked HR out, and searched for the stone, almost shot me (not fun), shot the palm pad, and thought the stone would be in the Pipeline." Cisco explained.
"Oh," Julian asked, "How long have I been out?"
"Well," Cisco started picking up his tools, "All together until I saw you… An hour and a half to two hours,"
"Oh," Julian said, he accidentally moved his hand and hissed silently in pain. Cisco noticed his second of pain and addressed it.
"What happened to your hand?" Cisco exclaimed.
Julian looked at his hand, "That's what I would like to know."
"Got to take you to Caitlin," Cisco said he turned and gestured for Julian to follow him. The British man followed Cisco as they headed towards the elevator and then towards the cortex.
"Look who I found!" Cisco declared as they walked into the cortex. Julian didn't appreciate how everyone turned to look at him.
"Julian?" Barry asked.
"Yes?" Julian answered.
"Yo Caitlin!" Cisco said earning the doctor to turn and look at him, "Julian needs some TLC!"
"What?" Caitlin asked as she stood up from where she was and walked over to them.
"It's not that bad," Julian lied. He didn't want to stay much longer in STAR Labs nor did he want to take up more of these people's time. They did help him escape Savitar's clutches, and he feels like he shouldn't keep them from doing something more productive when he could go to the hospital to get his hand check out.
"Really?" Cisco asked. He picked up a slightly heavy metal cup that Caitlin was using as a paperweight, "Catch."
He tossed the cup towards Julian and he caught it with his injured, dominant hand. The moment he caught it, he hissed in pain and dropped it to the floor. He then grabbed his hand again.
"Ow." Julian said.
"It's not that bad, huh?" Cisco teased.
Caitlin grabbed his wrist and looked at his hand, "It's fractured!" she exclaimed, "What did you do?"
"Knocked me out with a punch," HR explained, "Not your fault, James,"
"Sorry…" Julian apologised not going to ask why HR called him James.
"Come with me," Caitlin said the two of them walked over to where the medical lab was. She instructed Julian to sit on the bed while she got the equipment for the splint ready. While she started on the splint, Iris walked over to Barry.
"What do you think?" Iris asked.
"What?" Barry said.
"About Julian, do you think Savitar will leave him alone from now on?" she asked.
Barry looked over at Julian and Caitlin, she was chastising him about not hiding injuries and Cisco was smirking in the door way.
"Maybe," he replied, "I hope so. For his sake and for ours,"
THE END.
Yay! It's finished!
I hope you enjoyed this fanfiction! (Sorry if anyone was OOC, not used to writing Flash characters)
I know that this wouldn't happen ever in the show, or could ever happen, but I wanted to read something like this. So I wrote it.
(Yes I do know that HR calls Julian 'James' because of James Bond)
I know that this was the Christmas episode, but I didn't want to write a Christmas scene. So yay, sorry about the no Christmas fic.
But I think this is all.
Fiddlerinthewoods OUT!