Author's Note: I realized that Chapter 12, the second part to 'Black Orchid' was never uploaded so I just did that now. Please go read chapter 12 as it brings closure to the 2-part arc!
The sound of a buzzing phone was the alarm that neither Belén nor Barry needed. And it wasn't just one of theirs, it was both their cellphones. Problem was...both phones were somewhere on the ground away from their bed.
"I'm not getting them," Belén sleepily murmured before turning to her left.
"Morning to you too," Barry exhaled and sped out of bed just to find one cellphone. In two seconds he was back, lying next to Belén. "There's like twenty calls from Cisco, from Caitlin, Joe..."
"Basically everyone we want to ignore right now."
Barry laughed and dropped his phone on the ground again then turned to Belén's side. He scooted closer to her and pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder. "Pretty much, sorry. But good morning, sleep well?"
Even if Belén was looking at him, she could practically hear his big grin. "Don't be a show off." She turned to be on her back and shot him a look. "I don't like a show off."
"Me? Never," Barry wrapped an arm around her waist and closed the (already small) gap between them by scooting her up to him. "I'm so happy, you know that? Really, really happy." He nuzzled his nose on the side of her neck, missing the smile on her face.
He didn't have to tell her, she knew. She could sense it. And she felt sad when she realized she hardly heard him sound so content, relaxed. It was a testament to the challenging lives they led. She supposed it meant that they had to truly value every small moment of happiness they got.
"So am I," Belén said after a moment. She turned her head to meet his face and shared another smile. She then leaned forwards and pressed a kiss to his lips. Barry shifted so that he could move his arm from her waist to the back of her head where his fingers could thread through her hair. But of course, just when things were getting heating...the cellphones started buzzing again.
Barry reached for his phone he'd dropped on the floor and answered Cisco's call. "Yes?" his tone was rather sharp, which made Belén giggle knowing fully well Cisco would snap at Barry for it. Of course, once Belén saw Barry's eyes widen, she knew something bad happened.
"What is it?" she pushed herself to sit upright. Barry had hung up but he had yet to explain what Cisco so urgently called for. "What's happened?" She watched Barry's face morph into that concern and dread that was usually a part of him. It made her despondent, honestly.
"Mark Mardon broke James Jesse and Snart out of prison," Barry closed his eyes and brought a hand to rub his forehead.
"What?" Belén yelped. "But...what!?"
"I'm so sorry Bells," Barry sighed and dropped his hand to his side. "I thought we could have a day to ourselves but..."
"Hey, it's the lives of heroes, right?" Belén put on her best smile for him. She didn't want him feeling guilty for something that was completely out of his control. "Plus, just because we can't have a day to ourselves doesn't mean the nights are gone too." She smirked then kissed his cheek.
"Does that mean I'm invited again tonight?" Barry gave her own smirk.
"Tonight and all the days after that," Belén bopped his nose then told him it was time to get to work.
~ 0 ~
So in having to fight Mardon, Barry had to reveal the fact he time traveled last year when he was fighting Mardon again. It was a revelation that did end up bringing something good to the table, which was the right weapon they would need to bring Mardon down. Of course, while the team built the weapon - which would once again be a rod or a wand if Cisco had anything to say about it - all they had to do was wait...
...until the next day when the James Jesse, aka the Trickster, made his presence known in the city.
With one public video, he had challenged the Flash to a 'battle' that resulted in - surprise, surprise - a trap with a bomb. What was most surprising for Barry was finding Patty in the same spot, alone, and without intentions of getting back up any moment soon. When he told the story to his friends, no one could really understand the reasons of the woman to put herself in danger like that.
Then, Barry told Belén what happened.
And she knew.
"I'm only telling you this because I know you won't tell anyone else," Belén warned Barry as the two headed down the street towards Jitters.
As soon as she heard the story, Belén made it clear she needed to see Patty, and since Patty was on her lunch break Barry was taking Belén to Jitters so she could do it.
"Patty's a cop because her father was killed by Mardon and she blames it on herself."
"What!? Why would she do that!?" Barry couldn't find a logical reason for that idea.
"Because Mardon killed her dad in a bank on the day she was meant to be there instead. I believe it's called survivor's guilt?"
"That...that is awful…" Barry stopped just in front of Jitters and opened the door for Belén. "But as bad as that is...we can't have her snooping around where she's inevitably going to get hurt."
"I know that," Belén said, soon spotting Patty sitting alone at a table. "Which is why I'm going to talk to her."
"How are you going to explain the fact you knew she was in the same factory as the Flash?"
"It's kind of a rumor that I know you, remember?" Belén replied with a clean smirk on her face.
"Oh, right," Barry, too, began to smirk. "Kinda nice, don't you think?"
"You're an idiot," Belén shook her head, though she smiling too. "But I love you so you get a free pass. Get back to work!"
"Yes ma'am," Barry pretended to salute. He kissed her temple and left her in Jitters.
Belén took a deep breath then headed for Patty's table. It was no surprise to find the blonde cop staring blankly into the wall across her.
"Patty?" Belén approached cautiously. Patty startled from her thoughts and quickly looked down at her meal. "Hey, can I sit?"
"Of course," Patty said, politely, and looked back up with a fake smile. "Lunch break too?"
Belén looked around before she spoke again. "Patty, I know...about the...factory thing…"
Patty's eyes widened, but her shock was soon replaced with confusion. "How do you know that? Not even the station knows it."
"I, um...sort of know the Flash, you know? From a reporter's angle."
"Well…" Patty took a moment to process that, but found she wasn't that surprised either considering she remembered Belén had been saved by said vigilante at one point.
"Patty I don't think I need to go into detail on how dangerous that entire situation was, right?"
"You don't."
"Then why am I here about to do it?"
Patty gave a mild shake of her head. "I'm not about to get scolded by you, alright? You don't understand, just leave it alone."
"I don't understand?" Belén repeated, a tad offended by the statement. But of course Patty didn't know about her father who was murdered by another metahuman.
Patty's eyes glistened with tears. "No, you don't. I need to catch Mardon before he hurts anyone else."
"I'm a bit afraid to think of what you plan to do after you catch him," Belén said quietly. Because she was no stranger to the thoughts running through Patty's head right now.
Patty's surprise was clear, because really how would Belén know of her revenge plans?
"Finding him and arresting him is okay - it's what you do - but I can tell that's not why you're doing it. You're still thinking about your father…"
"And how could I not?" Patty snapped. "He was shot and killed by Mardon when I should have been there instead!" She jabbed a finger to her chest, "Me!"
"I'm so sorry, Patty..."
"This is why I became a cop. I joined the meta-human task force exactly for this. It'll be legal when I kill Mardon," Patty said, ever so darkly that it actually produced a shiver in Belén. "I have made my whole life about getting justice for my father, even if it meant I didn't have a life."
"Yeah, believe me, I've seen that story before…" Belén eyed the woman with sympathy on someone else's behalf. "And you know what? It doesn't lead to good things."
"I'll be glad to prove you wrong," Patty bitterly said in return. She started getting out of her chair, getting her purse too.
"Patty if we could just continue talking about this-"
"Belén, I'm sorry - I really am - but you just wouldn't get it. Let me handle this, alright?"
Belén didn't even have the chance to respond because Patty made it her business to leave as fast as possible.
That went lovely. Belén cursed herself for being so useless at that moment. She needed to make Patty understand that in the long run she would get even more hurt. Still, she would probably have to think about a new strategy before she saw Patty again.
Leaving Jitters, Belén checked her phone for the time and decided to at least give it another try with her mother. It was Veronica's day off at the station and Belén recalled something about Santa's lap and Axel. She could put two and two together and that is how Belén found herself at the city's square where Santa was meant to make an appearance to hear all the children's desires for Christmas.
It wasn't hard to spot the loudest four year old coming just from Santa's lap, holding a small, green present in his hands.
"I want to open it now!" Axel was complaining to his grandmother while said woman was barely paying him attention.
"You know the rules, Axel," Veronica merely said.
Axel groaned but his mood was lifted when he saw Belén coming towards them. He gasped and ran straight for her. "Auntie Belén! Look what Santa gave me!"
Belén smiled softly at the boy. "Wow, I wonder what that is."
Axel gave it a light shake. "I don't know. Maybe I can poke a hole, and…"
Belén put a finger on her lips. "Remember what your grandma said?"
Axel sighed, lowering the present. "The rules."
"Exactly," Belén chuckled then faced her mother. Veronica was looking cold as ever. "Mom…"
"You and I both know there is nothing to speak about until you decide that I am right about this," Veronica began with the calmest of moods.
"Mom, c'mon, aren't you a little tired of this same argument? You tell me what to do, I remind you that I'm not five-"
"But I'm almost five!" Axel cheerfully inputted.
"-and then you just yell again," Belén finished, but gave Axel a tiny smile of acknowledgment.
"This is a little more than our usual arguments, Belén. You don't get how dangerous things are out there-"
"I want to disagree there with the utmost respect. I know you're a cop so you know things about this world, but I'm also going to remind you that I have faced my share fair of metahumans now which gives me a little perspective of this world too."
"You have no need to be out there," Veronica gestured to the streets, "Endangering yourself when people like me - like the station - work to keep you all safe."
"What about Flash, Grandma?" Axel had caught onto (at least a bit) over what was being discussed and was eager to remind them of his own favorite metahuman. "He protects too!"
"Exactly," Veronica agreed without a second doubt.
Belén stopped for a moment to process this double-standard. Putting her hands together, she pointed them at her mother. "Do you hear yourself? You think it's okay for Barry to be out there doing what I want to do? Why would that be, mother? Because he's a man?"
"No, because he's not my son."
The words struck deep in Belén that for a moment she didn't really have words to create a comeback. Veronica looked hard at her daughter, hoping that Belén would finally understand where this was stemming from.
"We are the only ones left, Belén," she spoke quietly, "And the last thing I want is to see my only child here...die."
"That's not going to happen-"
"Who says? Who can guarantee me that you won't ever get hurt?" Veronica demanded. Belén truly thought about it for a minute and ultimately came to the answer that of course Veronica already knew.
"Okay, so...I can't promise you that...but I can't stop because you're scared. I have worked my ass off trying to get myself back out on the streets, and I'm not going to stop."
"But what is the need!?" Veronica frantically exclaimed.
"It's an explicable feeling, mother," Belén answered softly, a smile gracing her lips. "It's so...amazing...being out there, helping people. I can't give it up. I tried to once and it brought me here."
Veronica shook her head. She grabbed Axel's hand and threw a hard look at her daughter. "This is all nonsense! You're ruining our first Christmas together!"
"Me-" Belén was going to answer in her rightfully offended voice when Veronica added on.
"You have to give up that ridiculous idea of endangering yourself. Until then you can consider Axel and I off your Christmas list." Veronica hurriedly took Axel away.
Two fails in one afternoon - how lovely. Belén frowned and stalked off in the opposite direction.
~ 0 ~
"Wow, this place looks..." Barry couldn't even speak his thoughts on the greenhouse Shivhan had finished for Belén. She'd worked hard and it honestly paid off.
Even though it was still a room inside STAR Labs, it didn't give off the vibe. It had a glass ceiling like nearly any traditional greenhouse would have. It had dark mahogany wood outlining its squares. Most of the ground was actual hardwood floor but there were areas that had sand instead. Those areas then had sprouting bushes of plants. The room had been furnished with bought plants in their pots and others that Shivhan had grown herself. There were a couple of chairs around, though with time maybe they would disappear depending on what Belén would prefer later on. There was a couch as well, facing a small bookshelf that was already stocked up on books. Shivhan explained that they were botanical books, something she thought Belén would be interested in since it was part of who she was.
"I don't know why you act so surprised since you helped me build this place," Shivhan stood beside Barry, her arms folded. She tried giving off an indifferent vibe but Barry knew the woman was proud of her work and the fact he and everyone else had agreed that the place was great made her ecstatic. "You and Cisco, actually."
"We just put out your vision. This was all you," Barry pointed at her. "And Belén is going to love this place! I'm actually a little scared I'll never get her of here."
Shivhan then smirked. "Careful, Allen. I might steal your girl." Barry playfully rolled his eyes but then paused to consider the idea. Shivhan laughed and turned away, heading towards the threshold. "I told Cisco that we just need to watch out for the temperature in the room. Can't have it too cold like the other rooms. But other than that, I think it's all done."
"Good that you've finished your Christmas shopping then," Barry turned as well and went after her. "It's almost Christmas Eve and I still have no present for Belén."
Shivhan looked back with another smirk. "Hm, maybe I might actually steal Belén, then."
"I'm serious!"
"What do you want me to do about it? I just met you. I don't know what she likes. Only reason I could make this up-" Shivhan gestured to the room, "-is because I knew Belén needed one after seeing no other room for her here. So shouldn't you be having this conversation with say, Cisco? Or Caitlin? Or that adoptive sister of yours?"
Barry tilted his head at her, giving her the same look others had been doing. Shivhan had come to name that look as the 'why do we let you hang out with us?' look. It was kind of funny, actually. "I'm going to go," the speedster said after a moment.
Shivhan laughed. "Hurry up! Clock's ticking for that present!"
Barry wanted to argue that it wasn't...but it really was...
~ 0 ~
"I love when it's your turn to make dinner," Belén laughed when Barry set down a plate of lasagna on her kitchen table. "Cos, you know, you cheat and have Iris do it for you. She's such a good cook."
"How do you know I didn't do this?" Barry pretended to be deeply offended she was doubting his cooking skills.
"You can do breakfast but dinners just are not your stuff," Belén shrugged and sat down. She reached for the spoon to serve herself when someone knocked on her door.
"I'll get it," Barry said so she wouldn't have to get up. "Did you expect anyone today?"
"Um, no...not that I remember…" Belén said dismissively. Iris' casserole was filling the air and boy, oh, boy did it smell good.
"Delivery for Miss Palayta," a young blonde teenager stood on the other side holding a scarlet red gown covered with a protective plastic bag.
"Uh…" Barry stepped back and glanced at Belén. "Were you expecting the cleaner's?"
"Oh!" Belén exclaimed, dropping her fork. "Mark and Selena's wedding!" she came running up to the two men and snatched the dress from the teenager.
"Sign please?"
Belén, unfortunately, had already rushed off to go see the dress so Barry had to sign off. Belén was unzipping the plastic bag by the time Barry joined her in the living room.
"So...you've got a party?" he crossed his arms.
"Selena's and Mark's wedding, remember? I'm a bridesmaid! Oh look at the dress it's so pretty!" Belén gushed over her gown while her fingers worked to gently pull it out from its bag.
Barry began to smile as he watched her go back and forth in her rambles over what she would pair it with and what hairstyles and whatnot. It was nice to see some honest, pure happiness in the midst of their problems.
Belén pressed the dress to her body and turned to Barry. "What do you think? And be honest."
"I think...the Flash pales in comparison to your scarlet."
A laughter filled the entire room, and probably the entire floor. Belén dropped the dress on the couch and rushed to Barry, encasing him in a hug.
"I love you!" she planted a kiss on him. "With everything that's been happening I forgot about the wedding. You are coming with me, right?"
"I'll have to think about it…" Barry said, pretending to be thinking about it right then. "I mean...I think I may have to…"
"Barry," Belén frowned.
"Of course I will," Barry chuckled. "I'm sure it'll be fun."
"Yes," Belén gave him a short kiss then turned for the kitchen. Barry walked behind her, with his arms wrapped around her. "Oh, it'll be fun, you know. We can dance together. Oh, you can meet my dancing team. And Selena says her cake is going to be super good."
"Sounds great. It can be a glimpse into our future."
Belén stopped and immediately Barry stopped too, figuring he probably shouldn't have said those words. "Do you mean...like...for our own wedding…?" Belén dared to ask, tilting her head up. "You think about that stuff?"
Barry's face went completely red. Sure he had once said that he thought about a future with Belén but there was a difference between that and thinking about marriage. "I-I mean...I d-d-on't think...a-all th-the time, just...just the...the, um…"
Belén laughed and turned around, draping her arms over his shoulders. "That is so sweet to hear," she cooed, somewhat letting Barry relaxing. "I think about it too sometimes."
"Really?"
"Mhm," Belén nodded her head. "I just...I wasn't sure if you did too."
"The mind wanders sometimes…a lot...sometimes…" Barry admitted.
"You are so sweet, I love you! Does that mean you promise you'll be with me forever and ever?" Belén got on her toes to press her forehead against his. "And I do mean forever, you know."
With a smile, Barry nodded too. "I promise."
Belén obviously wasn't thinking as serious but it was still a sweet moment. She kissed him on the lips then returned to the kitchen to finally start their dinner. Barry stared hard at her from his spot, his mind 'wandering' again...only this time it wandered to a brand new idea he hadn't yet thought of yet.
A present.
Finally, he told himself and happily went into the kitchen.
~ 0 ~
The next day was Christmas Eve which meant anyone who hadn't yet bought presents was frantically fighting through crowds at the mall. At least, that's what Belén thought as she looked at her finished project meant to be Barry's present. She'd worked on it for days now, and because she had worked through the morning she'd finally finished that day. She was so excited for him to see it! Caitlin's suggestion to hand-make a present turned out to be such a good idea!
After taking a shower (to get rid of glue in her hair) she came into her room to get dressed. She had gotten Patty to agree to a small get together at Jitters since the woman was refusing to come to the Wests' Christmas party. Picking up Patty's present bag, she left the apartment and headed for the station.
Meanwhile, in STAR Labs, the rest of the group was waiting for news on Mardon and Jesse. The two finally made their presence known when Cisco's alarm system went off.
"What is it?" Barry rushed over to the desk. "Is it Mardon?"
Cisco checked the computer just to be sure. "That's definitely him. Atmospheric pressure just dropped 200 hectopascals."
"Where?"
"Central City Square."
A light gasp came from Caitlin. "The tree lighting ceremony."
Barry's eyes widened with panic. "There's thousands of people there." He sped off for his suit and took the weather 'wand' with him.
"So am I just not going to help, then?" Shivhan was left asking by the desk.
"Maybe it's best if you don't," Caitlin said kindly. "You don't know his ways, after all."
Mardon was standing over the ledge of a building merely staring out the night city view. Despite feeling the familiar gust of air, he didn't turn away. "Oh, glad to see you. Maybe you can help me."
"Help get back into a jail cell?" Barry responded with dripping sarcasm. "It'll be my pleasure, Mark."
"No. No, see, I'm trying to decide if I should kill everybody down there with a deadly hail storm, or... little trickier, with acid rain, what do you think?"
"Ah, let me think, um…" Barry stepped forwards, "How about neither? You see this wand here?" he waved said wand in the air. Mardon smirked and did the unthinkable. He turned to face Barry and held his arms on either side of him...before letting himself falling over the ledge. Barry quickly sped to the edge and found Mardon literally hovering in the air and slowly getting away. "Um...guys? He's flying?"
"He can fly?" he could almost hear Caitlin's frown. "Since when can he fly?"
Cisco had the logical response. "Well, he's using his powers to alter the air pressure around him to create pockets of updraft that can…"
"No, he can fly," Harry interrupted.
"Barry, get him!" exclaimed Jay.
Barry forced himself to get over his stupor and remember that Mardon needed to be caught quick. "Yeah!" he sped down the building and went after Mardon, intedning on bringing him down at all costs.
~ 0 ~
When Belén arrived at the station, she was nearly crashed into three times by different cops before she saw Patty.
"What is going on?" Belén set Patty's present on her desk. The blonde woman was crazily going through her computer to look up to her visitor. "Patty? I had to literally protect myself from the running cops. What's happening?"
"Mardon showed up," Patty responded through gritted teeth. Belén froze on her spot. "I'm trying to locate their precise location-"
"Their?"
"Well, I imagine if Mardon is around then the Flash will be too, but considering they can both move rather fast...I need to predict where they're going to stop."
Belén looked around the room and saw her mother coming out of Singh's office with that worrisome face. "Maybe you should leave this, Patty. Others can handle it, I'm sure."
Patty snorted. "I'm sorry Belén. I think our dinner is going to be cancelled."
"But-" Belén's phone decided to start ringing at that moment. "Give me a second," she turned away to take the call. "Hello?"
"Bells!" Cisco's voice rang in her ear. "Hi, listen, don't panic-"
"Unlikely," Belén said quietly so that Patty wouldn't overhear. Although the woman was so focused on her computer she probably already forgot Belén was there.
"-but the wand didn't quite work on Mardon."
"Yeah, see, I'd be panicking but I'm in public...and at the station!"
"Right, so, um, listen...Jesse put in bombs in a random selection of kids from the public Santa job a couple days ago and unless we find them Barry is probably going to be beaten like a pulp."
"Wait, what-"
"I was thinking maybe this is the time to use some of your Azalea powers to maybe help out while we try to find the bombs-"
"No, Cisco, shut up for a minute!" Belén made a hand gesture as if Cisco would see it. "Did you say a bomb in a present?"
"Yeah. There's about a hundred in the city wrapped in green-"
"Holy…" Belén turned to her mother. "Just give me a second, okay? Don't hang up!" Without waiting to hear Cisco's answer, she ran for her mother at her desk. "Mom!"
Veronica flinched with the sudden visit. "Belén-"
"Listen! That little present Axel got from Santa a couple days ago...what color was its wrapping?"
"Excuse me?" Veronica blinked lazily. "What?"
"Mom, please!" Belén tried her best to remain polite. "Barry's life is on the line so just listen and answer my question! The present thing Axel got...was it green!?"
Veronica still gave her daughter a crazed look but, seeing Belén's utter concern, she gave it a real thought before answering. "Well...I think it was. Yes. Why?"
"Hold that thought!" Belén then raised a finger to keep her mother quiet while she tended back to the waiting Cisco. "Okay, Cisco, listen to me carefully! Axel got one of those bomb present things and right now it's in my childhood house. Get it from there!" she covered the phone and asked her mother, "Axel is with Mrs. Andrews right?"
"Yes, but I don't-" Veronica tried to voice her confusion but Belén put her on hold again.
"Cisco! Get in by all means! Got it!?"
"Got it!" Cisco dutifully responded and hung up.
"Okay," Belén took a moment to breathe after hanging up herself. When she opened her eyes, she found an expectant Veronica in front of her, arms crossed and everything.
"Annah-Belén would you like to explain now or after I yell?"
"Mom, please, not the time, okay? Barry went out to fight that Mardon guy and they're basically going to kill him if Cisco can't deactivate the bombs in the 100 presents James Jesse handed out to kids as Santa! One of those kids being my nephew and your grandson!"
"See, this is why I don't want you to be the Azalea anymore!"
Belén groaned. "Are you seriously picking this moment to argue again?"
"I'm not arguing. I'm simply showing you a live example! You can't be the Azalea when things are like this!"
"Forget it, I'm going to help Barry," Belén turned to leave. "I'm just going to say goodbye to Patty and - where'd she go?"
Patty was no longer at her desk.
"Belén, you are not going anywhere!" Veronica came after her. "If you had any common sense you'd go home! Or at the very least you'd go to Mrs. Andrew and Axel!"
Belén couldn't listen to her mother at the moment as she hurried to Patty's desk. She checked the computer's last activity and saw Patty had more or less discovered the location Mardon would probably be waiting at. "She is going to get herself killed," she mumbled and started to leave for real.
"Belén! Are you listening to me!?" Veronica went after her again.
"Yes! I am!" Belén turned around suddenly. "I have been listening to each of your arguments and entertaining them! Just give it up already! I'm not stopping, okay? Nothing you say is ever going to change my mind. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go save my boyfriend's life and maybe my friend's too."
But just as Belén was turning to leave again, Veronica reached out for her arm. "You are not going there! It's too dangerous! Leave the job to me and the station!"
"I'm going there whether you want me or not," Belén pulled her arm from her mother's hold. "If you're that scared, then give me a lift."
"What?"
"Half the station's gone anyways. Look, Mom, with all due respect, I love you but you don't make my decisions anymore. I am going and that is that."
Veronica swallowed hard and stared long and hard at her daughter.
~ 0 ~
Cisco, Harry and Jay drove all the way to Belén's childhood home without actually stopping. Ignoring all the mad honks their way from other cars, they parked - all wrong - and while Harry and Jay started unloading, Cisco hurried towards the house.
"Cisco?" a child's voice stopped him midway.
Axel had been playing outside in their neighbor's front yard, with Mrs. Andrews overwatching from the porch. "Why are you going into my house?"
"Uuh…" Cisco ran a hand through his hair.
"Cisco! We're wasting time!" Harry snapped.
"Right!" Cisco them rushed to the door. "Uuh, I don't have a key!"
"Break the window!"
"I have the key! I have they key!" Axel shouted excitedly. With much huff and puff from Mrs. Andrews, who had has no idea why three men were trying to break into the house, the old woman and the boy crossed the street.
"He's not a stranger, Mrs. Andrews," Axel was explaining. "That's Cisco, that's Dr. Wells, and that's Jay. They're auntie Belén's friends."
"Who want to break into the house," Mrs. Andrews finished.
"Not break in," Cisco smiled widely, "Belén told us we could get in. It's an emergency, please."
"I'll just break the window," Harry said and started for the house.
"Alright!" Mrs. Andrews exclaimed and quickly handed the keys to Cisco. "But don't think just because I'm old I won't remember your faces if the police comes questioning me."
"Mrs. Andrews we've already met before," Cisco felt the need to remind the woman. "Countless times."
Mrs. Andrews paused and really looked at Cisco's face. "All you young people look the same," she mumbled.
Cisco awkwardly smiled and let the woman continue talking about their similarities, going as far as comparing him with her grandson. Meanwhile, Axel followed Cisco right in.
"Why did Auntie Belén say you could come in?" he began asking the third degree (4 year old style) questions. "Grandma says no one can come in except her, Auntie Belén, and Mrs. Andrews. And why are you going to my presents?"
"Uuh...because Santa wanted me to look through them to, uh, make sure they're all there, yeah," Cisco wasn't sure if coming up with answers for a four year old was trickier or not than coming up woth scientific ones.
"Oh...but then why did you need the key? Didn't Santa give you a magic key?" Axel suddenly gasped. "Or did he let you borrow his sleigh!?"
"Oh geez," Cisco forgot what it was like being around kids. But he soon forgot about that trouble when his hands found the current, bomb trouble.
"Hey! That's the present Santa at the mall gave me!" Axel chased after Cisco who was taking away (in his eyes) his green present.
~0~
"Let me get this straight-" Veronica began as soon as she parked the car just by the lighting tree sqaure, "-James Jesse gave Axel a present that is actually a bomb and so now your friends are breaking into the house to get it ans hopefully- through some way - turn it into a magnet so that it'll attract the other 99 bombs in the city? All in the meanwhile Barry tries staying alive by not fighting Mark Mardon James Jesse?"
"Uh, yeah, pretty much," Belén knew how that sounded and was expecting some sort of another round of scolding.
"That's...amazing," Veronica, instead, said, sounding truly in awe. Belén did a double-take just to make sure she'd heard right. Realizing what she said, Veronica quickly explained. "I mean, what you have to do to save the people. Can Cisco do it?"
"I have full trust in him, Harry, and Jay," Belén said without a second thought.
A loud crackling made both women turn away from their conversation. They saw a blip of a thunder clap striking down, and while they couldn't see it completely, they were sure of who was the target.
Belén unfastened her seatbelt and was about to get out the car when her mother caught her arm.
"Belén, you can't go out there," Veronica softly said, her eyes full of nothing but fear. "If it's like you said, then you'll only end up getting hurt like Barry is right now. What's the point?"
"They don't know me, I have that upper hand. I can sneak in and maybe take away the control for the bombs…"
"And if that doesn't work, hm? What happens then?"
Belén hated she couldn't answer that.
"Or what if, like you said, you lose control? You haven't actually been out anymore."
"Mom…"
"Just think about it!" Veronica begged. "Think about this logically - like a cop would - and tell me you think this is a gold idea?"
Belén had always hated when her parents were right. How was she supposed to argue against her mother if she decided to go and be right!?
~0~
"Why is my present in there?" Axel stood just beside Cisco who was working the machine that would hopefully get rid of the bombs. Neither Axel nor Mrs. Andrews had left the scene.
"It's a bomb, we told you," Harry bluntly said, once again making Cisco question how the hell that man had a daughter with those parenting skills.
"Oi, Grinch, cool it with the answers. He's still a four year old who believes in Santa," Cisco scolded.
"You don't believe in Santa!?" there was an alarm on Axel's face, like that of blasphemy.
"Way to go, Cisco," Jay gave him a pat on the back.
Axel would have continued to question Cisco over his beliefs had it not been for a streak of presents flying in the air above them.
"What in heavens is that?" Mrs. Andrews blinked and rubbed her eyes. Things came more as a shock when a breech opened up.
"It's Santa!"
"It's not Santa-" Harry had begun to say when Cisco shushed him.
"Look, Mrs. Andrews! It's Santa!"
~0~
There was a noise in the sky that crippled like thunder.
"That has to be them!" Belén figured Cisco's plan was on the move. "Maybe it'll be safe now…"
But just as soon as she said those words, there was a strong force of wind that they took notice of by the trees swishing more.
"That's Barry!" Belén almost laughed. The fear was gone and replaced by a heavy measure of peace. "Cisco's plan must have worked!"
"Which means we can arrest them now," Veronica pulled her radio to communicate the news and location.
But soon as she did, another police car swooped by. Belén leaned forwards and caught a blonde cop coming out of the car. "Oh no, that's Patty!" and the woman was carrying a large metal gun in her arms which signaled nothing good.
"What is she doing!?" Veronica asked incredulously.
"A mistake! That's what!" this time Belén didn't stop to chat and think. She flung open the passenger door and got out.
"Belén! No!" Veronica called after her but did no good.
Belén ran towards the scene and flinched in the process when Patty shot the gun at Barry. The metahuman had been grounded by a contraption around his leg. Its metals were binding him to the ground. "PATTY! Stop!"
Patty was shaking in her spot but she pulled out her regular gun nonetheless. "Belén, get out of here. This is a cop's job."
"No, this isn't," Belén didn't dare take a closer step. She could see Barry's concerned looks for both her and Patty. Neither wanted Patty to make the biggest mistake of her life. "This is a revenge plot - I know one when I see one."
"He killed my father for a couple hundred dollars," Patty gritted her teeth, her hand tightening on the gun.
"I know…" Belén sighed, letting her head hang for a moment.
"What was so important that my father had to lose his life!?" Patty practically shouted at Mardon on the ground.
"Mardon will get what he deserves," Barry tried to get through to her as well, but it seemed Patty was more determined than ever.
"He deserves to die!"
"Yes! Probably so, but not like this," Belén shook her head.
"You don't have it in you, pretty lady," Mardon flashed a sinister, teasing smirk Patty's way that just made the woman's blood boil.
"I've been asking myself that for the last four years, and now I know," Patty quipped.
"Patty, please just listen!" Belén begged. "You can't do it! This isn't you!"
"You don't understand..." Patty had begun in that same snappish voice she'd used earlier at Jitters.
"Yes, I do! I so do!" Belén frantically waved her hands. "Believe me, I am no stranger to that. Did you ever hear how my Dad died?"
Barry saw Patty's eyes flicker for a brief moment. "Bells…" he nodded Belén to keep going. If anyone was going to get through to Patty, it would be Belén.
"Do you remember that yellow speedster that was terrorizing the city last year?"
"Dr. Wells, yeah," Patty nodded, swallowing hard.
"He broke into Mercury Labs last year and he killed my Dad because he was in the way of some science gadget," Belén's eyes were glossy with the memory. "My Dad was just doing his job and some criminal decided my Dad wouldn't get to survive. So yes, Patty, I do understand your feelings. You feel like it's up to you to get that man and make him pay. And that's fine...but not this way. He doesn't get to take away more from you. Because if you pull that trigger, your life ends here too. You'll go to prison and everything and everyone you could have had in your life will be taken from you. Again. Mardon can't take anything else from you unless you let him."
Patty's gaze lowered to the ground but her trembling hands remained at aim.
Belén took a cautious step forwards. "When my Dad died, I nearly entered this identity crisis...I felt like nothing mattered so I...kind of let my life just pass me by...until someone told me that my Dad would have never wanted that. I thought he was annoying at the moment-" she crossed glances with Barry for a moment, both smiling at each other, "-but then I realized he was right. Our Dads, Patty, loved us. I didn't have to meet yours to know that. And I didn't have to meet him to know that he would never want you to do this. Please?"
Patty sucked in a breath and gave Mardon a hard look. The man was too weak to move thanks to Barry, but still upheld his teasing smirk, practically begging her to do it.
"Not over you," she muttered and kicked him so that he fell on his stomach. She put away her gun and took out handcuffs instead. "Mark Mardon, you're under arrest."
Belén released a hearty sigh and a great big smile started spreading across her face. She then rushed over to Barry, hoping to get him out of his own trouble.
"That was beautiful," James Jesse's heartfelt sob from the pole Barry had tied him to.
"When we're done here can you let me punch one of them just to feel like a part of this?" Belén asked Barry while secretly releasing some of her vines from her palms. She was hoping to pull the metal tendrils from the root.
"You are kidding me right?" Barry laughed.
Belén just smiled to herself.
~ 0 ~
Christmas at the Wests' wasn't complete until someone broke out the Grandma Esther's eggnog. The smell of whiskey and eggnog filled the room as Joe and Cisco came out of the kitchen passing out mugs.
"What a beautiful tree," Belén remarked when Iris put the last decorative figure on the tree - it was golden lightning bolt.
"Yeah, I did good," Iris proudly said, crossing her arms and looking at her masterpiece.
Belén tilted her head and stared at the tree beside Iris. "I didn't even get to put up a tree of my own in my place. Everything's been so hectic, and…" she sighed, "...last Christmas was a hard one so maybe that had something to do with it." Iris put a comforting hand on Belén's arm. "My Dad had this thing where he put this old picture of our family right on our fireplace mantle, above the stockings.. It was really old - I mean, I think I was seven?" Iris laughed. "But it reminded us that even if Mom and Dad were divorced and Maritza was married...we were still one family...however dysfunctional we were."
"Eggnog?" Cisco stopped by with two mugs for them.
"Don't mind if I do," Iris happily took hers and went by to take a seat on the couch with her father.
"No Harry?" Belén curiously wondered and looked around the room.
"No, Barry couldn't get him to come," Cisco gave a light shrug of his shoulders.
"Speaking of, where is Ba-"
But Cisco had seen Caitlin and Jay kissing under the mistletoe across them and just had to remark. "Finally!" he sarcastically called to them.
Belén promptly smacked him upside the head for that. "Leave Caitlin alone or next time you get a date I'll go full on annoying little sister."
"Don't you dare," Cisco shot her a look.
Raising her eggnog mug to her lips, Belén flashed a smirk. "I've got practice," she just warned.
Cisco decided it was better to end it right there and then. He noticed Iris opening the door to let Shivhan in, though the latter looked pretty out of place as she took small steps into the house.
"I, um, I took your invitation," Shivhan, uncharacteristically sheepish, told Iris. Iris laughed and reiterated the invitation still stood.
"Shivhan," Belén was quick to go and greet, though her big hug was startling for Shivhan. "You look great, by the way!"
"Thanks," Shivhan tucked some hair behind her ear. She was dressed in a high-waisted, black jeans with a long sleeved purple, blue and yellow striped shirt tucked into the jeans. Her high-heeled boots made her even more tall than she already was. "My, uh, my parents do Christmas until like 9 and then it'd bedtime so...I thought why not come here?"
Belén chuckled. "You made the right call. Listen, I really want to thank you for that greenhouse. It is insanely beautiful! I love it!"
Shivan beamed. "Really?"
"Oh yeah! Barry was right in being scared that I might never want to leave it!"
"I just wanted to thank you for saving my life."
"Ditto," Belén nodded. "So when do we start training?"
"December 27, that's the day I won't be hungover," Shivhan made a gesture to the wine bottles she saw sitting on the dining table. Belén laughed as the woman went to get herself a glass.
Hearing someone knocking on the door, Iris went to answer again and this time Patty stood on the other side. Patty had decided to come after all despite refusing to in the beginning. The woman came in wearing a red Christmas sweater and holding a bottle of wine.
"Patty!" Belén beamed. Patty walked further into the room and tried avoiding all the attention. "I'm so glad you came!"
"I think I deserved to," Patty admitted with a nervous laugh. "Did that come out mean? I so didn't mean that to come out mean - or disrespectful! Oh my - did that sound disrespectful?"
"My God there's two of them," Iris' eyes comically widened at Patty and Belén, though she quickly went somewhere else before Belén would hurt her for the comment.
"I'm really glad you did come, though," Belén said afterwards. "You deserve a nice Christmas night."
"Thank you," Patty said then looked at her a bit longer, "Really, thank you."
Understanding the meaning, Belén nodded her head. "I've been there - actually, I know someone else who's been there too. He helped me, and I'm glad I could help someone too." Patty nodded, sheepishly smiling.
The front door suddenly re-opened and just when Belén was about to ask Barry where he'd been (because honestly how could he be late to a Christmas party in his own house!?) when Axel came bustling through holding a bag.
"Axel?" Belén raised an eyebrow.
"I'm Santa!" the four year old happily declared, and loudly so that everyone would know the news.
Belén barely had time to react - which was to laugh - when she saw her mother coming in. "...Mom…?"
Veronica seemed awkward but everyone else nonetheless greeted her like they had done with Patty. "Barry came by...asking us to come…"
"Did he now?" Belén shot her boyfriend a look for not telling her.
"Surprise?" went the metahuman in return.
"Get out, get out right now," Belén pointed him to the living room.
"Love you," Barry stopped by to kiss her cheek. "C'mon, Axel, let's give those presents to everyone!" he then helped the four year old with his bag.
"Everyone gets one...except for Cisco!"
"What - hey! How come?"
"Because you made my present go to another dimension!"
Everyone comically looked at Cisco.
"Wha...well…" Cisco huffed, "...so did he!" he pointed a finger at Jay.
While the two argued it out, Belén approached her mother. "So did Barry have to get on his knees to convince you to come…?" she asked truthfully.
"Um, no...he really only had to stop by," Veronica bit her lip. "I wanted to come but I didn't wanna show up after...everything…"
Belén nodded, understanding the feeling. Veronica seemed to want to say something but her mouth kept opening and closing so many times.
"I am so proud of you," finally emerged from her mouth. Belén's eyes widened. "I know...after everything that's probably not what you expected…"
"Yeah, kind of…" Belén tilted her head. "We just argued so much, that…"
"Well, I am. I am really proud of you. I didn't...I had never seen you so...determined for something...than I did yesterday night," veronica swallowed hard. "Seeing you out there...talking Patty Spivot down from making a huge mistake...that was amazing. You saved her."
Belén's face was getting warmer but mostly her eyes were tearing up. She had never seen her mother so affectionate and open with her. "Y-you...you think…?" her voice was like a child's.
Veronica nodded her head. "I can see why you want to be out there now. You're good at it."
"Well, the Azalea has had her moments-"
"No, not that side. This side-" Veronica gestured to her daughter, "-is the hero. I mean, the Azalea is just you with a mask-"
"Well not exactly. My skin sort of turns green and…" but Belén realized she was messing up her mother's warm message and instantly shut herself up, "...never mind."
Veronica chuckled. "The Azalea is just someone you created so that no one would figure out who you were. But Belén is the one striving to do amazing things like yesterday. It scares me half to death knowing you'll be in danger, but...it's like being a cop...with a perk. A green perk," she made a face at the oddity of her words.
Belén smiled and hugged her mother. "Oh you have no idea how much this means to me, Mom. Thank you!"
For the first time in a long, long time, mother and daughter shared a deep, long hug.
It wasn't until Axel came running over with a present in hand that the two women broke apart. "Auntie Belén, here's your present!"
"But it's not midnight…" Belén looked at the rest who were already beginning to open presents.
"Let the kid pass out presents!" came Cisco's voice. In the end, Axel had given him a present as well and he was itching to get it open.
Belén took the present from Axel and he rushed back to the living room to continue giving out more presents. "Open it," Veronica encouraged Belén as the two came to join the others by the couches.
"Not gonna deny a present," Belén joked and began to unwrap it. Underneath, she found a familiar photograph with a golden string at its top. She pulled the picture up and laughed. "It's Dad's old picture for the fireplace! Oh my God I forgot how awful we all looked!"
"Let me see it," Barry came over to take a better look. The photograph was old but because it was laminated it lasted years and years. "Who's that one?" he pointed at a brunette little girl with a bowl over her head that had purple ribbons sticking out from it. "You or Maritza?"
"...Maritza...obviously," Belén cleared her throat and looked away.
Veronica laughed. "Oh I think not. This one-" she pointed to the second brunette girl sitting on the ground beside the only boy, "-is Maritza. Belén had a thing for climbing her Dad's back."
"And the bowl?" Barry was struggling not to laugh.
"I was a hunter…" Belén answered and rolled her eyes, "...with magic. I used to make my hair purple, okay?"
"Oh I can't wait to use this on you," Barry finally broke into his laughter.
"I will show everyone that video of you doing karaoke!"
"Now why do I have to suffer?" came poor Caitlin's question.
"Merry Christmas, dear," Veronica gave Belén another hug.
"Thank you," Belén grumbled a response. "Laugh it up, Barry. You know I can make you pay."
"Alright, alright," Barry handed her the picture, or at least tried to because Iris had swooped in and taken it to get a look herself...with Cisco...and Caitlin...and so on. "Let me give you my present, yeah?"
"Not before I give you mine," Belén rushed over to the three and pulled out her present for him. "Now please, if you don't like it, lie and say you do then throw it away when I leave because I spent a lot of time on it."
Barry graciously accepted his present. He carefully unwrapped the present that had a sort of book shape to it. Underneath it all was a scrapbook of some sort. As he opened it and passed the pages, he found it was an album full of himself as a young boy with both his parents. Belén was anxious as he passed the pages without saying a word.
"Caitlin gave me the idea of maybe making something for you and I got to thinking that maybe you had a lot of albums of you when you lived here and maybe that the old one - with your mom and dad - may have been lost or just...not touched in a long time so I thought 'let's give him a redo album' and I thought it was a good idea but since you're not saying anything maybe it wasn't," Belén was almost purple in the face from her speedy ramble.
Barry looked at her with the biggest smile on his face. He leaned in and gave her a kiss. "Thank you for this."
"Yeah? I did good?" Belén beamed.
"Yes! I love it! It's...it means a lot," Barry truly didn't have words to describe how he felt for her at the moment. Thankfully, he was sure that his present for her would encompass all his feelings. He set his album on the couch chair beside them and went looking for his own present. In no time did he pull out a small box for her. "Don't be deceived by the size."
With a laugh, Belén took it from him. "Last year you gave me tickets. The box can so be deceiving."
"Open it," now it was Barry's turn to be anxious.
Belén chuckled and unwrapped the present to reveal a small, black box. She opened it up and gasped when she found a rose-gold ring sitting inside. Her eyes nearly popped from her head. "I…"
"Don't freak out!" Barry said first before she thought of it wrong. "It's a p-promise ring!"
"I know what it was, you idiot," Belén playfully hit him on the arm. "Doesn't make it less shocking." The ring was silver with rose-gold accents on either side of it, the largest stone framed with sparkling, smaller stones. Belén couldn't take her eyes off it. "Barry, this is incredibly beautiful…"
Barry stepped closer to her, taking her free hand into his. "We both think about a future together, and I...wanted that to be seen by everyone. I know it's a huge step and I would definitely understand if you feel uncomfortable because of its commitment but I needed to give you this - at least to show you where I was. I love you Bells-" he raised her hand and kissed it, "-and I honestly believe you are going to be the last woman I will ever say those words to."
And swoon, Belén leaned forwards with a giggle escaping through her lips. "...maybe our future daughter?" she tested the waters of his confidence.
Barry's eyebrows raised in the moment he thought. "That would be a different sort of love, but I suppose in a sense she would be the on-"
Belén's heart fluttered with the thought. He had thought about things like that. She laughed and encased him in a hug, soon planting a kiss on him.
"Woah, woah, woah, there is a child present here!" Cisco's voice broke them apart. Both metahumans shot him a look but didn't let go of each other.
"You really do love to break up moments, huh?" Shivhan stopped beside him with a glass of wine in her hand.
Cisco rolled his eyes. "Not on purpose...most of the time." Shivhan shrugged and meant to leave when Cisco quietly called her name to stop her. "I want to say I'm sorry for digging into your past. It wasn't my intention to be nosy."
"You wanted to know who you brought into your team, I can respect that," Shivhan shrugged.
"Yeah but there's a difference between that and being plain...invasive. So, I am sorry."
Shivhan could see his honesty and decided that she should put him out of his guilty misery. "I got my powers the night of the Particle Accelerator but I didn't know it then. I didn't realize it until they started manifesting on their own." Cisco nodded that he was following but he would let her say what she wanted first. "And when they did start to manifest...it wasn't always in a nice way." Shivhan visibly swallowed hard at the memories. "I, uh, I started to trap things...like-like I would touch a book and next thing I knew it was all covered in vines until I squeezed it into nothing. One time..." she involuntarily paused for a few seconds, the guilt beginning to settle over her shoulders again, "...I was doing a dissection in a class and I accidentally trapped a dead cat in my vines. It was cut into pieces. I had such a hard time hiding that from people." Shivhan bit her lip the more she continued to explain, and honestly Cisco was about to tell her it was alright if she wanted to stop. She looked so frail, so...unlike the tough girl she usually was. "You were right, I was about to graduate when I dropped out. I didn't drop out because I wanted to, I dropped out because I needed to. I was becoming a danger to everyone around me. My girlfriend, she-she almost became one of my victims." She shook her head fervently, as if that would shake away the memory she was about to speak. "I was hugging her when I saw the vines creeping out of my fingernails...that's when I knew I had to stay away. I had to stay away from everyone that I cared about or else they might die."
"That's why you moved neighborhoods?" Cisco asked, keeping his voice as quiet as she had hers. Everyone else was in their own Christmas moments and if Shivhan wasn't going to share this with anyone else, he wouldn't say anything either.
Shivhan nodded. "Least if I accidentally killed someone, chances were they were criminals anyways."
"But you got better...you-you have your powers under control now..."
"Because I spent so much time practicing and training. But I separated myself from anyone I cared about until I knew for sure that I wouldn't hurt them."
"So then why don't you go back to school, then? Go back and finish your degree? And that girlfriend-"
"-oh, she's probably moved on. I made a pretty convincing breakup. And school? I don't know, I just..." Shivhan shrugged.
Cisco put a hand on her arm and offered her a friendly smile. "You don't have to give an explanation. Just...when you're ready, if you want to share this with anyone else, I'll be there."
"Yeah right," Shivhan sighed. "Belén wants me to train her. Can you imagine if I told her about this?"
"Believe me, she would understand," Cisco promised her on the spot. "Bells had her own trouble controlling her powers. In fact, you might connect better if you shared that with her."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. But in the meantime, it's Christmas, so..." Cisco raised his glass to clink with hers. Shivhan smiled and rose her glass to his.
After a few minutes, there came yet another knock on the front door, but this time no one expected another guest.
"Maybe Harry changed his mind," Barry offered an idea while Iris and Joe went to go answer. He distractedly swayed Belén a little. He didn't want to let her go anytime soon and she wasn't complaining either.
It had not been Harry, nor Nina as Belén later thought to add.
Wally West had come to visit.
Author's Note:
Okay I really loved writing this chapter! It had to be one of my favorites of this story!
For the reviews:
ReidsLittleGenius213 : I laughed too hard at this xD. Yeah I thought it was about time too. Thanks so much!
Musical Bear : Oh I know! I didn't even know about the Green until I started researching more of Poison Ivy! I thought it was a great thing to incorporate into this story since it makes perfect sense that Belén have a place to herself like Barry has the Speed Force. Yeah, from the very start of Belén's story I wanted to avoid unnecessary tension between women in this story so that's why I decided to completely omit the WestAllen arc and even the Barry/Patty arc too. At least for this story, it wasn't pertinent. Aaah, I always wondered if I was leaving too many clues about Datura being Belén's doppelganger or too little but I guess I got it right xD. It's funny that you would think that about Datura being like Savitar's counterpart for Belén considering her role in the next story. It'll blow your mind! No, Poison Ivy isn't Datura's wife. Datura has an established civilian life on Earth 2 before she became Datura that we'll learn more about in the upcoming chapters! And thanks so much! Hope you liked the new chapter!