"Just let me go. Let me disappear," Dr. Light pleaded from her prison pod. She probably sounded like a broken record but it didn't matter to her. Ever since the team decided to try to reason with her, all she kept saying was to be freed so she could hide from Zoom. Unfortunately for her, they weren't having it.
"You would spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, never knowing when Zoom is coming," Barry meant to serve as a reminder but all Dr. Light did was shrug. "Okay, how were you supposed to contact him after you killed me?"
"I was supposed to get something... something I could only get if you were dead... and then throw it through the breach as proof," Light explained.
"And then what?"
"Then he'd come for me. Confirm the kill and bring me home," Light exasperatedly sighed. "Why do you want to know?"
"Because I want to find him."
"You really don't," Light said with widened, alarmed eyes.
"He's gonna keep coming for me. He's gonna keep kidnapping people like you, forcing them to do what he wants," Barry shook his head. "I have to stop him before more people die."
"You can't stop Zoom. Okay, everyone on my Earth knows that Zoom wants the Flash from another world," Light shook her head fiercely. "You're not getting away. He has plans."
"Among those is the Siphoner?" Belén walked into the pipeline, throwing Barry a look for his secret meeting with the metahuman.
"It's only a matter of time until she comes," Light warned quietly, her voice indicating she was as much afraid of Datura as she was of Zoom.
"Well too late," Belén crossed her arms, "She's already here." Her revelation seemed to freeze Light in her spot. Fear accumulated in her eyes, making the other two metas almost feel sorry for her.
"You have to let me go!" Light pounded a fist against the pod. "If Datura is here it means Zoom knows I failed. She's going to siphon me or kill me!"
"Then help us take them down before they do any more harm," Barry still tried to reason with her, hoping that her fear would somehow help her see they were her only option now.
But Light refused. "Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work. Because if you somehow manage to escape Zoom's speed, you won't escape Datura's touch. A lot of us have tried and they're dead."
"We'll see," Barry meant it as a challenge.
~ 0 ~
"Zoom wants Doctor Light to send him your new emblem…" Caitlin repeated after hearing the story. It actually made sense in the villain's perspective, but since none of them were villains it just sounded plain crazy.
"Yes. We need it for bait," Barry glanced momentarily at his suit sitting on the display. "If we can get Doctor Light to take my emblem, throw it through the breach, then Zoom will come to collect my body, and we can trap him."
Cisco wasn't happy with that idea. "You know it took a lot of work to make that emblem, right?"
"Am I the only one who remembers that she tried to kill Linda just to escape Zoom?" Caitlin decided to input in case they truly had forgotten that crucial detail.
"Linda sure hasn't," Belén snorted.
"Look, I know we can get her to help us," Barry could almost promise it was the case. "She's rational, she'll see it's the only way."
"Before I left Earth-2, I worked on a serum to dampen Zoom's speed. All we would need is for Ramon to develop a weapon to deliver it," Harry shared.
"Oh, great, that could be this year's cold gun," Belén shot Cisco a warning look that he shouldn't even try it. "Maybe another criminal can get it, and then we'd have Sergeant Slow."
"I would never let that happen. Sergeant Slow is a terrible name," Cisco flatly responded with.
"Are we forgetting how much more powerful than Barry Zoom seems to be?" Caitlin looked at them incredulously. "I mean, if Barry can catch bullets, what's to say Zoom can't catch whatever you shoot at him?"
"Surprise... the element of surprise," Harry laid it out for them. "All we would do is rig a projectile to fire as Zoom crosses into the breach. He can't stop what he can't see coming."
"That's great," Barry was relieved to see that someone was at least following through with the idea.
"Thanks."
Caitlin shook her head. "Joe, voice of reason here?"
"We need a plan," Joe agreed on some level. "That's as good as any. As long as he can deliver."
"Don't underestimate me, Detective," Harry pointed and walked out of the cortex to get started on the task ahead.
Barry's phone went off and when he checked it he saw Patty's name on the ID. "Oh, Patty needs us back at the station," he told Joe.
Joe nodded. "I'll meet you there, all right?"
Barry agreed and took a head start with Belén.
~0~
"Hey," Iris stopped by Belén's desk at work. She put down a coffee for Belén and then took a seat at the edge of Belén's desk. "I didn't know you'd be coming in today."
"Yeah well, since my endeavors to get stronger, I've been neglecting my work," Belén reached for the cup of coffee. "I can't afford to get fired."
Linda came by rather nervously, and Belén knew once again what the reason was for her detour. "Hey. Have you had any word from The Flash about the meta-human that attacked us? Or the other one that got to me? Look at me, I have to keep count on who kidnaps me."
"Linda, I promise you that you'll be safe," Belén sighed. She knew it would take Linda a good amount of time before she could feel normal again, what with Dr. Light and Datura kidnapping her...
"Still...I'd just feel better if I could talk to, um...the Azalea? Or the Flash?"
"Linda, I don't think that's a good idea…"
"It's not that I don't believe you!" Linda exclaimed. "I just...I want answers, Belén. Why does that woman look like me? Knowing there's a metahuman with my face on who likes to nearly kill people makes it really hard for me to concentrate on field goals and doping scandals. And then I've got that new plant meta to think about? I don't want to sit around being told not to worry my pretty little head about it."
Belén acknowledged Linda's feelings and sighed. "I get that. Believe me, I do."
"Then tell the Azalea and Flash that I want to talk to them. I bet you can get the message across to the Flash. Please," Linda said, then added, "Iris says he'll listen to you no matter what because of that crush."
Had it not been because they were in public, Belén would have smacked Iris again for that. It definitely didn't help that Iris was smirking.
"I will...try my best," Belén forced herself to say in one go. Soon as Linda was gone though, she hit Iris on the arm. "I'm going to kill you for ever telling that to Linda."
"Sorry," Iris honestly apologized. "When I did that, I didn't know it was Barry. So really, this is your fault."
"Oh, yeah, my bad!" Belén playfully rolled her eyes.
~0~
After getting word of Dr. Light making a run for it, the group gathered at STAR Labs to figure out what exactly enabled her to do it.
"Doctor Light managed to hack into the lights of her cell. The whole building runs on fiber optics that operate on pulses of light, so she turned off the dampeners and used her powers," Cisco reviewed what he learned from the mechanics.
"And made herself invisible?" Belén glanced at the full costume Light had left behind for them. "That's possible?"
"Apparently," Cisco mumbled.
"I told you how dangerous she was," Harry was beyond mad with them. It wasn't like he had warned them about Light - oh wait, he had. "You should have listened to me and sedated her."
"I thought we would be able to convince her that helping us was the only way she'd free herself from Zoom," Barry argued.
"Well, you thought wrong!"
"Yeah. Okay, look, Doctor Light is gone, so instead of assigning blame, let's try to figure out what we're gonna do next," Joe cut in before they went any further.
"Do you think she's gonna try and take Linda again?" Belén worried over her friend who, at the moment, probably didn't know much.
"I had Iris bring Linda to the house, just in case, to keep an eye on her," Barry informed her to ease her concerns. "How are we doing with the speed-dampener?" he asked the others.
"I think we isolated the composite…" Caitlin began, still sounding unsure with this plan.
"And we're modifying the dart the Arrow used to take down Wells," Cisco added.
Harry was growing close to hitting something if they kept using that line. "He's not Wells. I'm Wells!"
"Whatever, Harry," Cisco sarcastically retorted in a louder voice.
"Okay, but we don't even really know if this thing works?" Joe asked just to be sure he was hearing all this craziness.
"Until we try it, no. This will be a field test, so can we end this scintillating staff meeting and get back to work?" Harry motioned he would at least continue with work while everyone else continued to talk.
"Or how about I say what everybody's thinking?" Joe challenged. "Maybe it's a good thing that Doctor Light is gone. Maybe it's the universe stopping us from doing something really stupid."
Caitlin made an agreeing gesture, and honestly Belén was close to doing the same. They had learned the hard way they couldn't just come up with any old, fast plan against Zoom.
"No. No," Barry said loudly. "Keep going. I'm gonna figure out another way to get Zoom."
"A-are you sure?" Belén had to ask, stopping him before he could leave. "Couldn't we come up with something we could all agree with?"
"We don't have the time," Barry sounded rhetorical. Did no one understand they couldn't have the luxury to sit down like a group and discuss their options? Options that were already little to begin with?
When Barry actually left the room, Belén released a sigh. "We can't just go through without calculating. I'm not the cop, I shouldn't have to tell him this."
"I've got you," Joe promised and went after Barry.
~0~
Later that day, Belén stopped by her childhood home to pick up one of the last boxes she meant to take to her new apartment. As she walked in, she found her mother working at the living room, unbeknownst to Belén it was with the papers Veronica had taken from the precinct earlier in the day.
"Mom, hey," Belén greeted and shut the door.
"Hi," Veronica seemed entranced with whatever she was reading at the moment.
"Where's Axel?" Belén searched for her nephew in the quiet room.
"Oh, out in the garden. What did you need?"
"Just coming to make another trip," Belén left her bag at the side table and walked up behind the couch. "What's all that?" she pointed to the mess of papers on the coffee table.
"Information on some old metahuman cases."
Belén raised an eyebrow at her mother, now noticing there were several manila folders spread around the coffee table. "Why are you looking at old meta cases?"
"Because there's some things not adding up, that's why," Veronica said so matter-of-factly one could believe it was just a casual thing she was doing.
"What?" frowned Belén. "What do you mean?"
Veronica sighed as she raised her gaze from her work. "There are several metas that the cops never found but the Flash and the Azalea did yet there are no arrest papers anywhere. Am I to assume the precinct just let it go?"
"Well, what does it matter? The metas were caught-"
"-what matters is that they were not brought to justice in the correct way," Veronica closed the file on her lap. "Does the CCPD let these super heroes take justice into their own hands? We are the cops. These metahumans should be in Iron Heights. And do you know the most significant thing I've discovered in all these cases?"
"Humor me," sighed Belén, figuring she wouldn't win this argument.
"Every single case has been handled by Joe West, with your boyfriend's signature right along the papers."
"Well...I would deem that normal since Barry is the only CSI at that precinct," Belén tried to be casual, and perhaps a tad sarcastic just to make it sound like she wasn't nervous. "I'd be surprised if he hadn't signed anything."
"These cases all have odd details, Belén. If it's not the fact there's no arrests, it's the fact that Joe's overseeing is everywhere on these cases. Does he only do meta cases that involve the Flash and the Azalea?"
"What?" Belén nervously laughed. "I don't know how case selection works. Do you choose your own case or-"
Veronica raised a hand to stop Belén from going further. "I'm beginning to think there's some secrets at this precinct. I'll have to keep digging."
"But Mom-"
Veronica got up from the couch and headed for the kitchen. "Are you staying for dinner? I'll get Axel and we cant try this new recipe I found online..."
Belén didn't listen to her mother in the end. She just kept wondering how complicated this would all get if her mother didn't stay away from meta cases. It could land Veronica into dangerous trouble with the newest metas in the city...as well as causing more conflicts between her and Barry and the Wests.
~0~
When Barry returned home the last thing he was expecting was to have the entire house smelling of a mixture of meals. He spotted Iris standing by the dining room that was filled with said mixture of meals.
"Are you guys having a dinner party?" for a moment he thought maybe he'd missed one of Iris' planned sleepovers.
"You would think," Iris crossed her arms and waited for Linda to return from the kitchen. Seconds later, Linda came by holding yet another pot of food.
"I know, I know. It's just, sometimes cooking helps me to relax," she profusely apologized to them both. She knew she was running them dangerously close to nothing in the pantries. "Have you heard anything about Doctor Light? Or that Datura? Am I still in danger?"
"We're not really sure…" Barry felt bad lying to her but they couldn't tell her much.
"Come on. I'm going crazy here, Barry."
"Yeah, she is," Iris nodded to the table full of meals.
Linda gasped when the oven timer went off. "That's the cake! Hope you're hungry."
"She's not kidding," Iris leaned off the table and started making way for the couch. "There's enough food in there to feed an army."
"She must be terrified," Barry misread the situation.
"Uh, more like furious. Someone nearly died because of this metahuman who so happens to look like her. And then she was used as bait in front of the entire city? I mean, trust me. If Linda had Doctor Light's powers right now…"
Barry suddenly raised his head with an incoming idea.
"What?" Iris recognized that as his thinking face.
"I just, uh, Linda and Light...they're identical. So identical that Light even thought she could fool Zoom. Now we have Light's suit." Barry stopped when Iris said nothing. "You don't even have to say anything, I know. It's a terrible idea."
"Well…" Iris tilted her head. "No, not really. We make Zoom think that Linda is Doctor Light and use her to draw him out."
"It's too dangerous, right?"
Iris would have said yes, but this was something neither could decide. "Let Linda decide. I mean, she's desperate to catch the person with her face who's terrorizing people, and she deserves the chance to help us."
"Okay," Barry smiled and started to tell her how it would work for Linda to help them.
~ 0 ~
Deciding to show up to Linda as the Flash, Linda was given the chance to try and help them set a trap for Zoom. Linda didn't think twice before agreeing to help. The idea was for her to pretend to be Dr. Light and have a fake fight with Barry where she would 'win' and hand over his suit's emblem as proof of his defeat.
"Where are they?" Belén walked into the training room where Linda would shortly be out to practice. She wasn't happy and that was evident as soon as someone saw her face. "I cannot believe - oh hell no." She had stopped beside a couple of cardboard cut outs near Cisco who was on top of a small scaffold. "Cisco, why is there a cut out of me?"
Cisco looked over the rail and grinned. "They're practice targets. Don't worry though, yours aren't the target."
"I was a bit more creeped out on the part where my friend keeps cardboard cut outs of me," Belén crossed her arms.
"It's important to have hobbies," Cisco turned over another cut out he was in the process of hanging. It turned out to be himself holding a camera while striking an odd pose of him sticking his tongue out.
Belén blinked emotionlessly for a second. "I fear for your future wife," she shared and walked away. She spotted Barry with Iris from a distance, the former donning his red suit, and so Belén made a direct beeline for them. "What is going on here!?" she asked them soon as they could hear. "Linda is doing what now!?"
"It's okay-" Iris began when Belén cut her off with a sarcastic 'really'.
"Having our friend who has no powers put herself on the line is not okay in my book!" Belén then glanced at Barry. "And was it really smart of you to show up like that?" she gestured to his appearance. "You outed yourself...ish."
"We don't have time to think of something else," he shrugged. "Besides, it can work, Bells."
"That's my friend," Belén said quietly. "I have known her for years. I can't even think about it if something happened to her because she got caught up in this."
"Hey," Barry took her into a hug, "I won't let that happen. I promise." Belén relaxed a bit but she still wasn't entirely on board with this idea. She felt like Barry was rushing into this without all the connections being made.
"This is ridiculous," they heard Linda coming in. Caitlin walked beside her in the costume that gave her the image of Dr. Light.
"Linda," Belén pulled away from Barry, blinking as she studied the new appearance of their friend.
"Belén, hey," Linda was relieved to see she'd been contacted. While she was comfortable with Iris, she had known Belén far longer and truly trusted her.
"You look...just like Doctor Light," Belén looked Linda over.
"I feel ridiculous," Linda admitted and hugged herself.
"You're fine," Caitlin assured and held out a pair of black gloves. Linda took them rather confused and looked at them for some explanation. "And with these gloves that Cisco rigged up, you'll be able to do what Light does."
"Oh...great," Linda said nervously as she began to put the gloves on.
"I'm gonna go make sure everything's been set up," Caitlin said and headed for the elevated platform where they would be monitoring Linda's practice session. Iris followed behind her, and soon enough went Barry as well.
"Linda, I'm sorry," Belén felt the need to apologize to her friend. However, Linda didn't understand only took a double-take at her in response. "I didn't know that...Flash, was going to pull this. Rest assured I would not have let him."
"What? No!" Linda exclaimed. "I'm glad Iris took me to him. Though I'm a bit surprised that Iris knows him too?" Belén's eyes widened for a moment but Linda, thankfully, went ahead and made her own assumption. "I guess that comes as a perk when you're the daughter's cop, hm?"
"Yes!" Belén didn't think twice in confirming. "Exactly."
Linda smiled and started walking with her towards the platform. She fixed the gloves on her hands and thought to ask whether or not these were pretty safe.
"They should be," Belén glanced at Cisco on the platform. "Right?"
"Totally," Cisco said without thinking.
"Ish," Harry said instead, freezing both women below.
"What?" Belén raised both her eyebrows.
"Well, come on, it's gotta be believable," Cisco tried to reason with them, "so they really do fire and explode things."
"Hm…"
"And you-" Cisco then pointed at Barry, "-are going to have to let her hit you with those blasts when she gets the hang of it."
"Please don't kill him," Belén then mumbled to Linda.
"Okay, the suit can absorb the blasts," Cisco said for her comfort, and probably Barry who wasn't looking so excited either.
"For real or 'ish'?" Belén crossed her arms. "Because let me tell you the difference between those two."
"Okay, you know what? I like to think I can see the bright side of things, okay?" Cisco got snappish with her as well. "Positivity, people," he clapped his hands and went back to work.
Barry gestured to Linda to follow him down the room where Cisco and Joe had set up several cardboard cut outs of themselves. "So just hit the ones of me. Okay?"
Linda nodded. "Got it. Great." She took several steps towards the cutouts, mumbling to herself to get prepared. "Doctor Light…" she took a deep breath and thrust a hand forwards to shoot. Soon as she did, however, she felt the gloves sort of take control and shot relentlessly. "Oh! Oh!" she stumbled back on her feet while the gloves continued shooting. Barry caught her from behind and thankfully put an end to the glove fiasco.
"Uh, you know what? I'm just gonna adjust those a little!" Cisco snatched a nearby screwdriver from the platform and rushed towards Linda who more than terrified now.
"Just...okay, so, um, do the opposite of that, and we'll have it," Barry gave a light pat on Linda's arm, figuring she was probably a little discouraged now.
Later, when Cisco promised that the gloves would not malfunction, they gave it another try. Linda led the way slowly searching for the right cut outs to shoot at. She nearly shot a couple of the 'civilians' but she did manage to shoot some of the right ones.
"Yes!" Linda cheered excitedly after shooting the first right cut out of the Flash. "I did it!" she turned back to her friends. "Did you see that?"
"Yeah!" Barry was equally happy to see her beginning to get the hang of it. The two went to do a high-five but Linda's glove accidentally went off and fired straight at the platform. Poor Cisco was blasted backwards to the floor.
"Oh my God!" Linda gasped. Cisco rolled to his side then sat right up, looking pretty annoyed. "Sorry?"
"She's gonna kill you," Belén quietly said to Barry, meaning all kindness for her friend. "And when she does...I'm going to kill you."
"C'mon…" Barry tried to be optimistic, but everyone else seemed to agree with Belén's perspectives.
After dispatching Linda with Iris, the group met back in the cortex to discuss the day.
"Okay, no offense to Linda, but there is no way she can pull this off," Caitlin honestly didn't mean to sound rude.
"Well, maybe if she didn't scream every time she fired," Cisco shook his head.
"Okay, Linda had a rocky start, but she can pull this off," Barry continued firm, apparently, despite everyone going against it. "I know she can. All right, did you find someplace near breach where we don't have to worry about civilians getting in the way?"
Against his better judgement, Cisco answered him. "Yeah, there's a place by the docks that's usually deserted at night."
"Awesome. Cait, how are we doing with the speed-dampener?"
"My tests indicate that it should work," Caitlin answered rather doubtfully as well.
"It will work," Harry was the only one who seemed to share Barry's persistence in the plan. "I'll tune up Ramon's gloves, make sure they work better."
"Okay great," Barry nodded as the other man started to leave.
"Wait, so we're actually going through with this?" Belén's eyes flickered from one person to the next.
"Yeah, we're doing this," Barry said, confused.
"Uuum…" Belén trailed off waiting to see if he would make the connection but apparently she hadn't been too clear. "We can't! Linda is not ready for this - hell, I don't even think we're ready for whatever plan you have in that big head of yours!"
"Bells, we don't have the time-"
"We need to have the time," Belén snapped. "I went up against Datura on a whim and I got my ass handed to me! Now my friend is going to be out there, risking her life to help us. The least you can do is be truly calculating and have a right plan."
Barry was giving her an incredulous stare for her sudden outburst. He couldn't believe she actually was doing that. Yes, she did make some sense but he made sense too. They didn't have the luxury of time. "We have this-"
"No, we don't," Belén shook her head frantically. "And I'm a little worried, honestly, that you're so hellbent on getting Zoom against everything. I...I can't go through with it." She decided that upon seeing that Barry wasn't exactly going to back down anytime soon. Waving her hands, she signaled she was sticking to her decision and leaving the place.
One would think that would be enough to put Barry straight, but he proved to be severely persistent. Now Joe thought enough was enough, and decided to add onto Belén's thoughts. However he would do it privately.
"I can't believe we're still on this, Barry," Joe gave a deep sigh and crossed his arms once Caitlin and Cisco had left them the cortex.
"Belén will get over it, but this is our only chance to get Zoom," Barry said truthfully. He thought that perhaps Belén was a bit too close to Linda and that's why she wasn't seeing what he was: the perfect chance to get Zoom.
"You saw what happened in there. Linda's not ready," Joe hoped to open his eyes.
"She is," Barry argued. "She's ready enough."
"Why are you pushing this!?"
Barry couldn't believe he was actually going to have this conversation. "What... why do you think? I want to get him!"
"Get who, exactly?"
"Is that a real question?"
"You tell me. I'm... I'm not sure this is even about Zoom, honestly," Joe admitted. "I'm starting to feel like you're still chasing the Reverse Flash."
"Reverse Flash is dead," Barry flatly said, finding no relevance in this.
"Yeah, but after all he did to you, you weren't the one that stopped him."
"We all worked together-"
"Yeah, and Eddie got him in the end," Joe reminded. "I mean, did that make you feel cheated, like you didn't get your revenge, and stopping Zoom is the next best thing?" Barry remained silent and for a moment couldn't look Joe in the eyes. "Belén is right. If you're gonna ask people like Linda to risk their lives, you better be sure of exactly why they're doing it. Otherwise, call it off."
With those words, he left Barry to think.
~ 0 ~
Belén thought nothing would help her distract herself than by working. So, she had thought to continue with her unpacking . And she did that...until she felt her arms would fall off for trying to put together a side table. Thanking the heavens that she had brought along one of her couches already, she plopped down and grabbed her laptop to hopefully continue an article she was meant to turn in by the end of the week. Trying to write proved difficult after spending a good thirty minutes coming up with about three sentences. Her attention, however, was drawn to the jiggling of her door's knob.
Thinking it was perhaps a burglar, Belén stopped her writing and began preparing for a fight.
"Auntie Belén!" Axel, instead, came running in after Veronica opened the door.
For a moment, Belén just stared at her incoming mother, ignoring Axel clutching her waist.
"Hey there, sweetie," Veronica closed the door like nothing and walked in.
"H-how did you get in?" Belén gave a pat to Axel's back. Seeing he was acknowledged, the boy rushed to his grandmother to retrieve his tablet so he could watch his shows.
"Oh, yes, well, Mark stopped by to give me his set," Veronica held up a different key in her hand. "I thought I'd bring it back for you."
"Okay…" Belén still wasn't very comfortable with her mother's presence.
"What's wrong?" Veronica noticed her daughter's odd behavior, despite their earlier disagreement she was pretty sure it wasn't related to her this time.
"Nothing…" Belén answered slowly and took the key from Veronica's hand. "Did...did you need anything?" she took a seat on the couch and grabbed her laptop again.
"I thought we should talk...about earlier…" Veronica took a seat across her daughter, setting her purse beside. Axel silently sat across on the same couch, delving into his tablet.
"Oh, you mean where you went ballistic on me?" Belén stared hard at her screen. "Yeah, no, I totally forgot about that."
Veronica may have thought it was sarcasm but in truth Belén had forgotten about it due to Barry and the Dr. Light situation. "Well I haven't, and I really don't want this to cause another problem between us."
"Well it's a little difficult when you're investigating my boyfriend's adoptive father."
"Not going to argue there," Veronica admitted. "But...Belén I'm a cop. I can't let things go where I don't see logic."
"Mom," Belén sighed. She pursed her lips together, struggling to keep it together all of a sudden. "I accept your apology, I do...but can we not do this right now? I just...I had a day...and I don't want to do anything tonight."
"Belén, what's wrong?" Veronica asked again, this time hoping she would get an answer.
Belén closed her laptop once she realized she would not be writing that night. "Barry and I may have had a disagreement."
"About…?"
"Stuff," Belén left it at that.
"Well that 'stuff' seems to be making your eyes, uh…" Veronica gestured to her own, "...kind of reddish…"
"It's normal stuff," Belén shrugged. "I don't like arguing with him but I had to say something."
"Good for you," Veronica said instantly, showing right approval. "Never swallow down your words for a man, sweetie."
There, Belén found amusement. "Yeah," she gave a slight nod of her head. "Well, I spoke my big mouth...and now I'm here."
Veronica took a moment to look at her daughter, and try to feel the pain Belén felt. With a sigh, she got up from her couch and moved to sit with Belén. "I told you my thoughts and on that man-"
"Yeah, believe me, we both got the idea," Belén sniffled a bit.
"But, if there was one thing that was left clear to me, was that this was something mutual. It's not everyday that a mother is shouted at that her daughter is loved by someone-"
Belén chuckled. "Yeah, believe it or not...he's sort of done that before with our old neighbor Mrs. Andrews."
"Really?" Veronica laughed for a moment. "Maybe you two share big mouths after all."
"Mom," Belén playfully rolled her eyes.
"Anyways, I can't seem to understand what you would argue about so suddenly," Veronica admitted. "You don't want to explain?"
It was then that Belén gave her mother a look that Veronica had never seen before. It entailed a mixture of guilt and concern to such a level that for a moment Veronica wondered what this argument was really about.
"It's private," Belén finally said, looking away from her mother.
"Really?" Veronica began to show her doubt and suspicions.
"Yes, um, it's just things between us, you know? Sometimes it's too intimate to tell someone…"
"Mm…" Veronica hummed and raised her head momentarily, apparently thinking, "...so, there isn't anything you want to tell me, then?"
"Mom, I'd really rather not," Belén meant that honestly. She didn't want to think what her mother would say if she discovered that her daughter had been moonlighting as the Azalea, and that her boyfriend was doing the same thing.
"Is 'secrets' something that Barry showed you how to keep?" Veronica got up, confusing Belén as she went on. "Because if he did, then I'm pretty sure he learned that from his pseudo-father Joe West."
"Mom…"
Veronica had crossed to the other couch to retrieve her purse. "If that's the matter then I'll have to take back everything I said about him."
"Mom, what are you-"
"I insist that Joe is covering something up with these meta cases," Veronica said, not raising her voice since Axel was still on the other couch. He was so in-tuned to his tablet he didn't notice their growing disagreements. "No one in this precinct bothered to check where these metahumans were initially being kept in prior to the metahuman compartment being built at Iron Heights. Every metahuman case that was handled was done so by Joe West and Barry Allen and that-"
"Mom-"
"I like knowing where I work, and who I work with. Now you and I can both see that there is something going on in that precinct that no one else has figured out. So I'm going to ask you, Belén, do you know something that I should know? Could this argument you and Barry had possibly be linked to these metahumans?"
Belén looked down for a moment. She knew that lying to her mother about this should have been easy considering this was something important. It was something that could put her mother in danger. But, Belén found it difficult to lie straight to her mother's face. Because right now, all Belén wanted was to tell her mother all her problems she was having. She wanted to tell her mother that someone was targeting her for something dangerous; someone wanted to hurt her. That the same someone had already sent her to get shot, had already fought her and won. Belén wanted to share that her boyfriend was also being targeted for a clear death and she was just scared he might get hurt, or killed.
I need my Mom, she came to the conclusion. That'd been the first time she thought about her mother like that...perhaps because it was the first time Veronica had been available as a mother to Belén...
But Belén couldn't do anything. Because telling Veronica everything would put her in the cross-fires of Zoom and Datura.
"There is nothing I have to say," Belén forced herself to say in one go. She surprisingly held her tears together as she then requested that Veronica leave.
Extremely upset with her daughter lying, Veronica took Axel and hurried out the door. Belén was right behind them and was there to quickly close the door.
"I'm sorry," Belén whispered, closing her eyes as they began to spill tears.
~0~
Heeding some of Joe's words, Barry decided to reveal himself to Linda in order to help both of them out. Linda was already discouraged of her villainous abilities, and seeing the Flash was an actual friend did make her a little more comfortable. It also did help explain some of the oddities surrounding STAR Labs and the Flash. So, she agreed to help him out once more. Dressed as Dr. Light, she took on the role as the Flash's current enemy.
"I'm here to kill you, Flash," she stood tall and mighty across the Flash. "I am loyal to Zoom, so get ready to fry."
Soon as she said those words she knew it was a bad pun.
She shot a ray of light towards Barry but hit a couple of a stockage from the docks instead. Barry whipped a head back and decided to just go with it.
"Ow!" he let himself fall to the ground.
"Gotcha," Linda smirked, although she struggled to stay with a serious face.
"Yeah, you did, real good," Barry pushed himself up.
"Bring it," Linda motioned with a gloved hand.
Barry sped towards her and when Linda shot, she actually managed to get him. Struggling, Barry got past her only to be shot yet again on the back. This time, his fall to the ground was not fake. Linda turned around putting on her best evil smirk.
"Told you, Zoom always wins." She walked towards Barry who had kept himself down. She bent down to take his emblem and found time to whisper to him. "You're okay, right?"
Barry cracked open an eye and whispered back. "Yeah, yeah. I had to make it look good."
Linda straightened up with the emblem in her hand. "Here it is, Zoom, I did what you wanted." She headed to where the open breech was in midair. "Now bring me home." She chucked the emblem into the breech and nervously waited for Zoom to appear.
Wells and Joe waited as well, but hidden in place with weapons hoping to deter Zoom's speed. Barry had to remain 'dead' on the ground but he was more than ready to jump at the chance when Zoom appeared. Everything was in place. Everything.
However, nothing happened. Minutes passed and everything remained silent. It added onto the fear already placed over several of the group.
"Hey, stop fidgeting," Linda hissed when she caught Barry slowly attempting to move his leg.
"Sorry, it's been an hour. I landed in a ridiculous position, and my foot fell asleep," the speedster argued quietly and returned to being 'dead'.
From STAR Labs, Caitlin and Cisco were carefully checking over any security feed from the docks they could find in case Zoom appeared from another unknown breech. "He's probably just waiting to see if you're really dead. Any minute now, he's gonna strike," Cisco said as a means of encouragement.
"No," Barry decided it was just not happening tonight. He sat up with a deep sigh.
"Sorry, I probably screwed up somehow," Linda hung her head, feeling like she had failed them all.
Barry got on his feet and moved over to give her an honest thank you. "No, Linda, you did great. Thank you for helping me."
Linda knew he was disappointed and smiled sadly. She wished there was more that she could do for him. Her thoughts were interrupted by Joe and Harry coming out of hiding and the latter loudly kicking anything in his way.
"So Wells ain't taking this well," Joe sarcastically remarked as he met with Barry.
"Mm-hmm…" Barry watched Harry turn in a different direction of the docks, storming and kicking things still.
"How about you?" Joe noticed how unusually quiet Barry was despite the loss of the night.
"Yeah, it just sucks, you know," Barry shrugged, thinking of the entire day's course. "You were right a little bit about this not being just about Zoom... about it being about the Reverse Flash. But not for the reason that you think, not because I didn't beat him." With a sigh, he explained the bit of an old video Joe had yet to know about, that everyone save Belén knew. "It's... Wells... he said something to me on that video before he confessed to my mom's murder. He said that even if he was dead, that he still won because I wasn't happy, that I'd never really be happy."
Joe frowned. It was truly unbelievable how Wells could still manage to screw with them even from beyond the grave. "How the hell would he know?"
Barry shrugged again, thinking logically. "He knew me. He knows future me."
Joe rolled his eyes. "Fine. But that's future you. This is the you here and now."
"I still think that Wells is right. Ever since I went back to that night and I didn't save her... I didn't save my mom, I just... there's just been this void in me. You know, I just feel like that is always gonna be there. For better or worse, Wells...he knew me."
"Better than I know you?" Joe would have laughed had it not been a serious matter. "He may have stalked you for 15 years, but I raised you. Look, Wells said what he said to you to mess with you... to get in your head one last time. If you listen to him, you let him win."
"I know," Barry sighed. And he thought that Wells was already beginning to win. Because of his rushed persistence with this plan, he had gotten into a big argument with Belén. God knows how he would be paying for that one.
"I don't want that. You're responsible for your own happiness, Barry," Joe sincerely hoped Barry would finally begin to listen again. "Forget about Wells. Think hard about what you want and what makes you happy. Go out and get it. Simple as that. All right?"
Barry smiled a bit, giving a small nod of his head. "Yeah."
~ 0 ~
Belén had just finished setting up a small rectangular pot holder for her new Azaleas up on the kitchen window when someone knocked on her door. She dumped the trash then hurried to go open. Her heart skipped a beat when she found Barry standing on the other side. Her first thought was his lack of knowledge of today's events, and for now it seemed like the best.
"You were right," Barry decided to open with that. Perhaps hearing he was admitting she had had a point would soften her up into talking with him.
"Please tell me Linda is okay?" Belén asked in fear. Her first assumption was that his plan went wrong and it got Linda into some serious pain.
"She's fine," Barry promised her. "Zoom...didn't show."
"Oh…" Belén knew that despite her feelings on the matter she didn't like to see Barry so upset either. It was important to him, for good intentions after all. She opened the door more and gestured for Barry to come in. "I'm sorry about that," she honestly said. A good part of her was happy that Zoom didn't show up to terrorize them all, because she knew they were not prepared to fight him yet.
"Thanks," Barry watched her close the door. Sheepishly, Belén crossed the living room, or at least intended to. Barry reached out for her arm and stopped her. "Bells, I'm really sorry. You were right about it all. I knew you were right from the start but I just...I wanted to catch Zoom already."
"Yeah, I think we all saw that," Belén said, mildly playful. "And I get it, believe me I do. I want nothing more than to get Datura...but I just don't like the fact you were willing to go into it all rushed and...fast. This time, we need to be slow and calculating. If Datura was difficult to manage, just imagine what Zoom is like."
"I know," Barry accepted it. "But I have to admit that...it wasn't entirely all about Zoom."
"Then…?" Belén smiled a little as she tried to understand what he meant. "...what was it about?"
"You remember the video Wells left behind as part of his will? Our Wells, I mean."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"He said that I wouldn't ever be happy no matter what. And...and it got to me more than it should have…" Barry ran a hand through his hair, still frustrated it did get to him so much, to this point actually.
"I can't believe you're still giving this dead man the time of the day," Belén said first and sighed. "His words are nothing. They should have gone through one ear-" she pointed to one of his ears, "-and out the other." She then pointed to his other ear. "Ever heard of selective attention? I use it all the time."
Barry smiled knowing this was her playfulness coming out to get them back on track. "Yeah," he nodded.
"You should have said something," Belén touched his arm. "Instead of making a scene in front of our friends, I would have had a very different conversation with you somewhere else."
"Believe me if I'd realized earlier I would have." Barry reached an arm around her waist and brought her closer to him and rested his forehead against hers. "I hate arguing with you, Bells, so much."
"Me too," Belén whispered. "I don't like it. It just feels wrong, you know? If that makes sense?"
"Yeah, it does. I don't like knowing that I upset the person that makes me the happiest." Barry gave her a moment to smile before kissing her. And this time, he meant to kiss her in a way that would show her he was truly happy with her despite everything that surrounded them. He walked her up against the nearest wall and kissed her.
Belén let herself be encased in his arms and kissed back until she had to breath, but even then she barely wanted to let go. Barry dragged his lips from hers and set a one kiss on her cheek, then another lower on her jawline, and last on the side of her neck. Afterwards, he nuzzled his nose against her neck, relishing from their moment. This is what made him happy - she made him happy.
"Can we just rest for a while?" his soft tone made it hard for Belén to understand the first time.
She turned her head to the side and met his eyes. "What?"
"The Zoom problem, the Datura problem...I just need one moment of peace...with you," Barry repeated, hoping he made sense without sounding...weird.
Belén brought a hand to rest on his cheek, and just a few seconds after Barry placed his hand over it. "Okay. Let's do that."
She gently pulled him into the hallway and brought him into her bedroom. She wished she could have finished fixing it earlier, but what was done was done. At least she'd gotten the bed. It was an odd thought to just lay down together without doing anything. Usually, they had some movie times or at the very lest were joking with each other about something. Tonight, there was no television. There was no movie. There were no jokes.
And yet, things seemed more...intimate.
Barry was the one to rest his head next to Belén's neck. He eventually scooted closer to her and nuzzled his nose against her neck. Belén moved her arm so that it would rest over his back and she could run her fingers up and down.
It was peaceful.
"We should do this more often," Belén's voice was soft and quiet, perfect for the moment.
"Mhm," Barry had nestled his head closer to the crook of Belén's neck. He didn't want to move anytime soon.
So they continued to lay together, doing nothing except be together. But, like all good things, it had to come to an end. Half an hour later, both of their phones started vibrating. At first, neither of them wanted to move. Neither wanted to break the nice, peaceful bubble.
But the phones kept vibrating.
"I'm sorry," Belén kissed Barry's hair and sat up so she could answer her phone. Iris was on the other end of the line, and once she was able to speak she said it all in one fast ramble.
Zoom had Linda.
~ 0 ~
STAR Labs' computers were all simultaneously ringing in alarms, indicating there was a new visitor in the area.
"He's on the roof!" Harry shouted soon as he got word from the computer.
"He has Linda," Belén rushed to the desk to see through the security cameras where oh where was Linda. "Is Datura with him!?"
While the question couldn't be answered at once, they had a clear view of Zoom. He had chosen to dangle poor Linda over the roof's edge just as Barry got there. Proving to be the ultimate villain, Zoom dropped Linda like she was a pair of socks. Barry sped down to the ground and, using his whirlwind trick, softened Linda's fall into his arms.
"You need to get out of here, okay?" Barry set her down on her feet.
Linda was beyond terrified. "No, you can't fight that thing. It's a monster! I don't know who's worse, him or that crazy lady!"
"Just go!"
Linda looked up at the roof and thinking that Zoom would come for her again as bait, she ran off as fast as she could.
"What is that thing?" Belén was disgusted by Zoom's appearance despite it being only through a computer screen. She had yet to see the full figure of the speedster but now wished she hadn't. "He cannot be human."
Zoom was pitch black, from head to toe. There was an eerie spark around his figure. One could even say his suit didn't have gloves for hands but instead for claws.
"He is human," Harry was also staring in disgust but in a different tone. "Or was, at least."
"How the hell is Barry supposed to defeat that?" Cisco was thinking of the odds in their favor and they were not looking good.
"Why is he running away?" Harry scowled after they all saw Barry speeding away from Zoom. It looked like even Zoom was a bit confused on it too.
"He's not," Belén shook her head. "He wouldn't. I think we can all agree he's not scared."
A delirious laugh came from Cisco, prompting everyone to look at him. "Ooh, he's gonna thunderbolt him!"
"What?" Harry was left thinking.
"Jay taught him how to throw lightning," Caitlin explained.
Barry returned with a thunder bolt that he threw directly at Zoom. They were all stunned, and horrified, to see Zoom literally grab said thunderbolt and throw it right back at Barry, causing the red speedster to crash against a wall.
"Did he just…?" Belén gaped and glanced at the others just to make sure she hadn't seen things. Even Barry was in disbelief.
"Did you guys see that?" he asked through the comms.
"Uh, see him catch a bolt of lightning with his demonic claws?" Cisco met everyone's looks. "Yeah, saw that."
"Jay was right. He cannot do this alone," Caitlin shook her head.
In their shock, they hadn't even seen Harry go into the side room and come back with his trusty, big gun. "He's not alone," he was busy inputting the syringe into it.
"Barry, maybe this a strategical point where you just run," Belén spoke into the comm. hoping he would listen to her.
"No," Barry, unsurprisingly responded. He had gotten back on his feet and pulled out another syringe carrying the speed-dampener liquid. "I'm gonna see if Wells' speed-dampening serum works."
"Yes, but maybe this is the 'rushed, uncalculating' thing we were talking about earlier?"
Although Barry didn't turn off the communication system, it was almost like he did. He ignored the worries of his girlfriend in an attempt to finally put Zoom down.
"How is Barry gonna match Zoom's speed?" Belén sighed, looking to one of her smarter friends for some reassurance this wouldn't end so bad.
"He's not," Cisco smirked once he had made the realization. "He's gonna take it out of the equation altogether."
Caitlin exchanged a look with Belén, neither one of them in the know. "What are you talking about?" Caitlin then asked.
"Terminal velocity. The highest velocity attainable by a falling object."
"You mean...falling through...the air…?" Belén waved her finger above her head.
"Yeah, freefall fight. Their drag force equals the downward force of gravity, making the net force zero, making…"
"Equal velocities," Caitlin joined Cisco in the end.
"That is genius!" Cisco repeated.
"Is it really?" Belén bit her lip nervously and stared at the computer screen like a hawk.
Following through with Cisco's theory, the two speedsters had made it into the air and as they fell, they tried attacking one another. However, Zoom was the one to put Barry to the ground. Zoom picked him right up and delivered a series of punches that disoriented Barry. The last blow, the strongest of all, was given through the back - through the spine. Barry wasn't sure what he was hearing anymore, nor what he was seeing (it was all mostly blurry) but he was sure he had felt that cracking of bones.
"Never forget, I am the fastest man alive," Zoom declared without a scratch on him to show evidence he'd been in a fight.
"He's killing him!" Belén shouted frantically and turned around, making a run to go and help.
"Woah!" Cisco quickly jumped from his chair to block her way. "You can't go out there! He'll kill you too!"
"Someone has to help him!" Belén tried pushing her way but Cisco kept her there despite her fight. "Cisco!"
"Guys!" Caitlin's loud call made them both stop. They rapidly returned to the desk to see what Caitlin wanted them for. Zoom had injected the speed-dampener into Barry's bloodstream and hadn't stopped there.
"Where did he go!?" Belén slammed a hand on the desk once they lost sight of Zoom and Barry. Even Harry, who'd gone out to help Barry, was struck with confusion.
"I-I don't know," Cisco seemed unable to think of something to help them.
"FIND HIM!" Belén cried. She would've done it herself but she didn't know how the system worked.
Zoom had gone to CC Picture News to make a show of his 'triumph'. In one hand he held an unconscious Barry and addressed the entire staff. "Look at your hero."
Iris nearly had a heart attack. Behind her, cameras started going up and active.
"This man is no god. He is nothing!" Zoom left them with that knowledge and next made a stop at the precinct. "The days of The Flash protecting this city are over."
All of the cops in the area formed a line with aimed guns at the speedster.
"Put him down!" Joe was the one to shout at Zoom.
"Now what will you do without your precious hero?"
"Shoot that thing, now!" Singh gave the order.
All the cops fired until their guns finished their ammo but in the end, Zoom merely dropped all of the bullets to the ground from his palm. "Nice try."
He then sped off again.
~ 0 ~
"I should have gone out there," Belén repeated for the tenth time since Zoom had gone off their radar.
"And then what? Get yourself killed? I don't think so," Cisco remained adamant that he had done the right thing in keeping her inside the place. He was sure that Barry would agree with him.
"But then we wouldn't be in this-" Belén gasped when Zoom sped right into the cortex. "Barry!"
"Harrison Wells, you thought you could defeat me with this?" Zoom lifted Barry's body like it was some rag doll in his possession.
"I made a mistake," Harry admitted truthfully.
"Yes, a costly one."
"Let him go! Let him go right now!" Belén yelled frantically and threw a hand forwards, releasing a vine.
Zoom dropped Barry and sped up to her. Belén gasped with the ugly sight in front of her face, though a good part of it stemmed from fear.
"You are not my fight," he said just a second before Cisco shot a third syringe of the speed-dampener.
Belén stumbled backwards, yelping when Zoom dropped to his knees. Still, he managed to speed out of the place before they could capture him. Soon as he did, Belén ran for Barry's body on the floor.
~ 0 ~
As soon as Joe arrived at STAR Labs after the Zoom fiasco, he went directly for blame. If he thought Harry was suspicious before, now he firmly believed that Harry was at fault for all of it.
"This is all you! If Barry dies, you die!" Joe jabbed a finger on Harry every time he said a word.
"Enough!" Belén walked into the cortex in a hurry with Cisco. Their shouts had carried over down the hallway and, fearing a fight, Belén and Cisco left the workroom to come and stop the two men. "Joe, I get you're angry, believe me I am too, but Harry's got nothing to do with it. Barry wanted to go through with the plan in the end. No one forced him."
Still, Joe cast a menacing glare at Harry who looked more or less unaffected.
Cisco debated whether or not to bring in the mysterious topic he'd learned from Harry, but seeing that Joe was inches away from punching Harry, he decided to go with it. "Who's Jesse?"
It was easy to see that Harry was shocked to know that Cisco had knowledge of the name. "How do... Jesse's my daughter. Zoom has her." Cisco seemed to then be making the connections from his earlier vibe. Harry rushed up to him. "You've...you did vibe me-"
"Yes-"
"What did you see?"
"I saw your daughter. She was with Zoom," as Cisco explained, the others shared mutual surprise - and a bit of understanding - looks.
"But she's alive?" Harry needed to hear proper confirmation that his daughter was still breathing.
"Yes," Cisco said, and he admitted that he did feel a bit of sympathy for Harry. If he was grumpy all the time and had short patience it had to be because he was constantly worrying over his daughter being kidnapped by Zoom.
"Zoom sent you here like the others? You kill The Flash, and you get your daughter back?" demanded Joe, still un-inclined to see Harry in any other light.
"I don't...think he did…" Belén barely got the chance to say when Harry answered and explained his reasons.
"The only way I get my daughter back is I capture Zoom. Do you understand?" Harry tapped the side of his head sarcastically. "You love Barry. I love my daughter. And none of these children are safe as long as Zoom is here. I tried on my Earth to capture him. I failed. I thought I could bring him down here with Barry's help. I was wrong."
"Where are you-" Joe didn't finish on account of Harry storming out of the cortex.
~ 0 ~
When Barry finally came to, he felt his entire body aching in pain. He felt something tight around his neck and took a couple of seconds to realize it was a neckbrace.
"Can you hear me, Barry?" he heard a familiar voice beside him. He found Belén sitting beside his bed, looking so concerned over him. "I've been calling you for a couple of minutes now. Can you hear me?"
"Sorry…" Barry looked around as much as he could and saw it was broad daylight through the windows.
Belén followed his gaze and sighed. "You were out-cold for the entire night. Cait said it was normal, for you anyways…"
"How bad is it?" Barry could see a couple of bruises on his arms and he was sure there were more to discover once he could get rid of the neck brace. But even now, his body still hurt to the point he'd rather not move.
"Well, Caitlin said if you didn't heal fast it would be truly bad," Belén felt relief knowing this situation wouldn't last long for him.
"And...Linda?"
"She's fine. She told Iris and me that she was going to stay with some friends out in Coast City," Belén sighed. "I think after everything that's happened to her it's the best thing she can do."
"...Zoom?"
Belén's eyes lowered. "Um...let's...let's give that some time." When she looked at him again she had plastered a fake, cheery expression for him. "Caitlin says that in a couple of days you'll be able to try and walk and run again." She touched one of his legs with a small smile. "But you're gonna have to be patient. And don't worry, I have a lot of movies we can watch. Maybe we can try to just rest together again?"
Barry smiled, though tired, because the way in which she had asked made her look adorable. He needed that right now. "I'd like that."
Belén's smile widened. She ran her hand up and down his leg. "But you'll be patient, okay?"
Before Barry could answer, he thought of something. He realized that in all this time he hadn't felt her touch. Her fingers running down his leg...he didn't feel it. Thinking perhaps it was just the medication that was affecting his mind, he tried sitting up to check for himself.
"N-n-n-n-n-n-no, you have to stay put!" Belén assumed he would try to get back in the running game before he could.
"No, Bells, I...I didn't feel your hand…"
"What-"
"I can't feel my legs!" Barry frantically yelled, leading Belén to call for their friends.
~ 0 ~
"It's about time you showed up," Wells heard soon as he put one foot into the alleyway he'd been appointed to.
Datura's heels clicked against the cement underneath but she still walked in a graceful manner to meet with Wells. "I was doing my errands." Her sarcasm was met with rolling eyes. "C'mon, you can at least say you like where we're meeting," she gestured to the alley, "It's where I made my first Earth 1 kill a few days ago. What was her name?"
Harry dismissed her smugness and went straight to business. "The hell did you want me for? Can I expect Zoom to make another appearance?"
Datura smirked, almost laughing since she knew exactly what happened. "He really knows how to make an entrance, doesn't he? But that's not why I'm here now. I need you to retrieve something for me," Datura said, losing her sarcasm when it came to her brewing idea.
Of course that idea, whilst unknown to Harry, was one that would require him to further betray the STAR Labs team. "What do you need?" he finally asked.
"It's simple. I need Belén's suit tracker." Datura raised her head the moment Harry's eyes widened. She was already tall, but this was one of her ways to feel in control. And unfortunately for Harry, she was in control.
"Why do you need that!?"
Datura's red lips curled into an evil smirk. "That's for you and the others to find out later - soon, if all my errands go well."
"I...I can't do that-" Harry attempted to argue but Datura raised a finger to stop him.
"Don't say no to me. No one says no to me," she said darkly, bringing one gloved hand to the air. Electricity crackled around it for a few seconds before it was fired at the dumpster just behind Harry. The man jumped to the side to avoid getting hit then wildly blinked at her. She, however, remained completely at ease. "It's not a difficult mission, Wells. All you have to do is take the damn device and bring it to me. I'd let you keep it but I don't trust you not to hand it back to the others."
"What do you need it for!?" Harry still demanded some type of answer from her.
"For an idea, I've said this already," she playfully rolled her eyes.
"I can't take that from her suit!"
"Well, I'd ask you to take it from Barry's suit but he's on another level. I'll take care of him when the time comes." Her resurfaced evil smile gave Harry the chills.
"I thought he was all Zoom's..."
"He is, but it doesn't mean I can't have my own fun. Besides," Datura put her hands behind her back as she took a couple steps forwards, "He's not my target. He's really just a bonus for me - to get to Belén, I need him on the side. And to do that, I need Belén's suit tracker. It's really a whole-" she made hand gestures in the air, "-cycle thing that only I understand, but..." she drew in a deep breath and put on a sweet smile, "...it's all good. I get it. So-" she came to stand right in front of Harry, her sweet smile gone and replaced with seriousness, "-get me the suit tracker by tonight or I'll get it myself and I won't care who gets in my way."
Harry honestly felt like shooting her right there and then...but he was out of weapons...and he was short one daughter. "Fine."
Author's Note:
I'm baaaaack! I meant to update way before but I had family visiting for all of April and then I ran into some health problems myself. Hopefully, things will be back on track from here on out!