Earth 2: Day of the Particle Accelerator, Mercury Labs.
"Belén?"
A dark-haired woman turned around from a white board, her heavy curls bouncing as she did. "You're not supposed to be here," Earth 2 Belén pointed at her husband with her open marker.
Earth 2 Barry walked into the lab holding something behind his back, something that immediately caught his wife's attention. "Well since I'm not from STAR Labs, Dr. McGee had no problem authorizing my entrance. I've got an early anniversary present for you, Belén. Do you wanna see…?"
Belén chucked the market behind her and rushed forwards. "Heck yes! Anything to get away from these awful calculations."
Barry chuckled as he set down a cubed-shaped present. It was wrapped in emerald green wrapping and was of decent height. "Your fault for becoming a scientist."
"If I hadn't done that I would've never met you," Belén nudged him as a reminder.
"True, I'm not much of an aerial dancer fan. I would've missed your shows if you'd stayed in that program."
"Exactly," Belén bopped him on the nose, chuckling when Barry stole a quick kiss from her "Now I've got glorious toxins to examine."
"What a dream," Barry chuckled with her. "So I'm deeply sorry for interrupting your work but it just came in and I was really excited."
"Well far be it from me to turn your gifts away," Belén hummed sarcastically and began to tear the wrapping off the box. Her eyes widened when she saw two, purple and red Datura flowers sitting neatly inside a glass box. "You found some!?" she looked at her husband in amazement.
Barry flushed a red and nodded his head. She'd long ago expressed how much she would love to examine Daturas and see if every part of their biology were truly toxic. If not, then it meant they could possibly do some experiments for the better of the public. Plus, Daturas were Belén's favorite flower. The problem was that the city didn't exactly sell these poisonous flowers - hardly any store in the nearby cities did. But Barry had found one store. One store that would sell them to him and he had to get them. "You know I'd do anything for you, Belén."
Now it was Belén's turn to turn a soft pink tinge on her face. "I love it. Thank you!"
Barry kissed her cheek, loving her reactions. "You just have to be careful with it, alright? They're not illegal in the city but they are highly discouraged for their poison."
"You know me, Barry…" Belén started opening the glass casing, "...I'm always careful. I'd never let it hurt anyone."
"Yeah, I know," Barry watched her fondly as she took a whiff of the flowers.
Belén straightened up and turned to him. "You're incredible for this, thank you."
Barry reached to tuck a dark curl behind Belén's ear. "I love you," he leaned in and softly kissed her.
One Year Later.
Barry refused to believe that his end would come because he could not figure a way out of his new holding cell. Zoom had stuck him in his evil 'lair' that really resembled an old style mountain cave with dirt for ground and hollow rooms. The only good thing that'd come out of being kidnapped was finding Jesse Wells...along with another prisoner in a metal clasped mask. Jesse watched Barry try to feel the clear wall of his cell, assuming to be searching for a weak point. She was about to tell him there was no point when a face popped in her view.
Jesse gasped and jumped back, her face contorting to fear.
Datura laughed. "Scared yah. Again."
Jesse whimpered and continued going back until her back hit the stone wall. Datura retracted a couple steps, blips of her laugh still slipping her lips. All this Barry watched in silence; a disapproving, horrified silence. He still could not process who she was and he doubted time would ever allow him to do so.
"Belén?"
Without the mask on her face, Jesse saw Datura roll her eyes in a casual manner that didn't befit the face of the usual cold and sinister meta she'd come to know.
"Belén, please…" Barry put a hand on the wall in front of me. "Look at me, Belén."
"That's not my name," Datura turned to him, dead serious. It reminded Barry of Killer Frost who had also denied her true name. He supposed shedding their civilian name made the life seem less real.
"Yes, it was. It was a beautiful name too...did you get a nickname here too?" Barry hoped to casually talk with her just to see when-oh-when she had gotten to be like...that.
Datura tilted her head at him, possibly trying to see his game. She was loving his stupid reactions. It was exactly the torment she thought she could get if she revealed her true identity. Revenge was so sweet. "My name is Datura. Like it or not, it is who I am. I'd appreciate if you used it. I mean, you don't hear me calling you by other names, right?"
Barry went grim. Even her sarcasm was malicious in all its intent. She loved creating problems and pain. It just didn't fit. "Belén, how could you...how could you do this? I saw your life before, you...you were married. You had a job, you had friends...a family. Why would you do this?"
Datura took slow steps towards his cell, her face dead straight as she spoke. "I have to go hunt down your friends—" she tapped the wall of his cell then directed another finger at Jesse, "—and your father. Busy day and without Poison Ivy, I have to spread myself thin."
"Belén? Bel - come back!" Barry hit the wall but Datura kept walking and walking. "Bells!"
Jesse watched with some twisted confusion. "Is that her real name?" Barry sighed and nodded his head, still watching the direction Datura had gone. "How do you know her?"
Barry thought of many things before answering, but he ultimately came up with the simple truth. "Because she's the love of my life."
~0~
As soon as it was known that Harrison Wells and accompanying breachers were wanted, STAR Labs became the most dangerous site in the city. Harry and Cisco needed to make an escape while also figuring out a way to get Barry and Jesse back. With no alternatives, they had to let Earth 2 Barry in on the secret...after they had uncuffed him of course.
They may or may not have forgotten about him in the first place.
Now he and Iris were listening to the explanation Harry and Cisco were making, probably trying to evade anger from both dopplegangers since they were primarily affected by their visit to the new world.
"So the Barry from yesterday was not you?" Iris tried wrapping her head around the idea of multiple world travelling.
Barry shook his head fervently. "No. No, look, I... I know that this is hard to believe, but I mean, it is just like that sci-fi series, "Commander Carl, Space Marshal of the Galaxy' where Carl gets sucked into a black hole and ends up on another planet that he thinks is Earth, but really it's Earth... of another universe-" Iris gave him a look to quit talking so much. It was often his problem.
"Motor mouth," Cisco muttered under his breath, suddenly remembering their deceased Belén in this world. He wondered if the nickname even existed here.
"It's why you were acting even weirder than you usually would yesterday," Iris continued fitting in the puzzles. Harry went dead silent and gazed down.
Before they got even more sidetracked, Harry spoke in. "Barry tells us you've been tracking Zoom?"
Iris nodded her head but didn't look so confident in her work. "Yeah, I've been trying to. Why?"
"We need to find his lair," Cisco declared but soon received a look from Harry.
"Lair?"
"He's a bad guy; I'm calling it a lair."
Iris looked at both of them like they were crazy. "Zoom is looking for you. Why are you going after him?"
"Zoom has my daughter and our Barry, and we need to rescue them both."
"Look, I want to find Zoom just as much as anybody, but no one can track him. The only person who would know where he's hiding someone would be a meta that's worked with him."
"A meta like Killer Frost?" Cisco suddenly asked with an idea.
"Yeah, maybe. But Zoom kept her alive yesterday because she always obeys him. There is no way that she's gonna tell you where he is."
Cisco waved a finger. "I'm not so sure about that. If she loved Deathstorm as much as my Caitlin loved Ronnie, I think she'd be more than upset at Zoom for killing him."
"That's if Datura hasn't already siphoned her or killed her," Harry reminded them of the bigger danger that was still lurking the city. She was fueled with more anger at them for what happened with Poison Ivy.
Iris gave him the agreeing gesture. "You could be searching for bodies now. But I suppose if anyone can find Killer Frost, it would be Barry."
Barry nodded and got up from his stool. He walked over to the computer, noticing some of his things were misplaced on his desk. "Have you been in here?" he asked Iris who shook her head.
"No, why?"
"Computer is already on...that case was over there on that table-"
"Uh," Cisco cut in awkwardly, smiling matching too. "Yeah, that was probably our Barry's fault. He came in looking for files on Datura last night."
Earth 2 Barry was once again outraged. "He went through my things!?"
"I-it was for a good cause!" Cisco made a motion with his hands for Barry to remain calm.
"I hardly think going after that psycho siphoner qualifies as a 'good cause'," Barry mumbled and pulled up Killer Frost's profiles. "Sounds more like a waste of time."
Harry hid his face well behind and focused on the computer screen. "What's all that?"
"Oh, this is Killer Frost meta-data collected from numerous crime scenes... DNA trace movements, facial recognition, temperature fluctuations specific to her," Barry gestured as several cases of Killer Frost popped up. "My algorithm compiles all the data and gives us an approximate location. It works on most metas, except for Zoom, of course. He's too fast... never leaves a trace." And after a couple of minutes, the computer bleeped with an alarm. "Okay. Looks like the best bet's the woodlands."
"Best CSI in Central City," Iris clapped Barry on the shoulder.
"You know where that is, right?" Cisco asked Harry just as the two started going out.
"Yup, c'mon."
"Wait-" Iris stopped them midway, "I'm going with you guys. You're gonna need some help."
"Well if you're going then so am I," Barry stood up from his stool.
"N-no!" Harry was quick to wag his finger at the two.
Iris raised an eyebrow, clearly not intending on following that answer. "I think it's a pretty safe bet that since Killer Frost is in a weak moment, she might not be alone."
Harry immediately knew where she was going and had to shake his head fervently at her. "No, you can't come!"
"You don't tell me what I can and can't do," snapped Iris.
"Well forgive me if I doubt a cop can go up against an ice metahuman and a siphoner. It's best if you stay here, alright?"
"I don't know...Harry…" Cisco was beginning to doubt their numbers against skill. "Maybe getting some more numbers wouldn't be such a bad idea."
"Ramon—" Harry threw the man a glare.
"Hey, unless you know of some nice metahumans that would like to help us against Killer Frost and Datura," Cisco sarcastically waved his hands at him.
"We can't," Harry insisted.
"Let us try and help you!" Iris exclaimed, frustrated.
Cisco pulled Harry to the side to get some sense knocked into the man. "Dude, we need all the help we can get against these two metahumans. Need I remind you they have Barry and your daughter?"
"I know! I know!" Harry rubbed his face. "I know that, Ramon! But there's…"
"There's what?" Cisco raised an eyebrow, sensing there was something else being held back.
Harry's eyes flickered past him to Iris and Barry. "There's...something...I haven't...said…"
"More?" Cisco said with incredulity. "What more can you say!? You were working with Datura and Zoom, stealing Barry's speed, hoping to get to Belén. What more can you be hiding?"
"Datura's identity," Harry reminded him.
Cisco stiffened. He knew that Barry had gotten into an argument with Harry just before coming to Earth 2 because Harry had refused to reveal Datura's real identity. "What's that got to do with this now?"
"Everything," Harry grimly replied.
Cisco could tell this was something grave but he didn't understand why it suddenly mattered now. The loss of time was frustrating Harry. Everyone was staring at him, waiting for him to give a real explanation
"Harry?" Cisco expectantly waited for an explanation. "If this has to do with us, if it's getting in the way to Barry and Jesse, then you need to tell us right now."
Harry absolutely hated when Cisco was right. Time was ticking and every second counted if he wanted to save Jesse. "Fine," he raised his head. "But...it has to do with your wife," he set his eyes on Barry.
The weight of the atmosphere would soon shift.
~ 0 ~
Earth 1 Belén was attentively watching Iris point out the details of the newest article she had submitted for that week's paper. She had been allowed to go back to work on the condition that she and Iris stay together at all times. Belén suspected it was just a ploy to keep her away from any metahuman fighting until she was really ready to get back.
"Really good," Belén summarized her thoughts on the article in the shortest way possible. Her throat was still on minimal usage. Iris took it with a smile, proud of her efforts. "I...actually have an idea myself."
"A new article?" Iris beamed. It had been a long while since Belén came up with an article - up until now she'd done collaborations on the latest news in the city. "What is it?"
Just as Belén was about to open her mouth, a young, black man stopped by the desk. "Scott Evans, your new editor."
Iris quickly got out from her chair to greet their new boss. "Oh, Iris…"
"West, I know," Evans finished for her. "And you're the other one, Belén Palayta."
Belén quickly nodded her head and Iris jumped in to explain her condition before Belén decided to talk. "She's ill right now so her voice is kind of gone..." Evans seemed less than interested in it.
"It's fine. Anyways, I wanted to tell you—" he said to Iris, "—that the story you wrote about the recent Geomancer attack isn't being run."
Iris immediately frowned. "What? Why?"
"It's a fluff piece to try to make people feel good. What they need to know is the truth; The Flash might not always be there to save them."
Belén was scowling by now. "Not...only one…"
Evans spared her a glance. "If you're referencing the Azalea or even the other lesser known, the Tempest, you might as well save it because neither of them have showed up to do something. And your Black Orchid didn't even bother showing up either."
Belén opened her mouth to retort when Iris cut in. "Well, you never know what could be going on—"
"I need to run a real story," Evans bluntly said.
Iris was taken aback by the aggressiveness thrown their way. "Okay, uh... what if I could get you an exclusive with the meta-human that fought Geomancer? This... this other Flash."
"What, you friends with him too?"
"Just, um, give me a little time?"
"Fine, but if it's the same as the other crap that you wrote, I'm gonna run something about how The Flash may not be the hero we all dreamed he was," Evans warned them and walked off.
Belén intended on charging after him with a scrunched face and a balled fist but Iris grabbed onto her and pulled her back before anyone saw. It really sucked being unable to talk.
~0~
Barry knew trying to decipher what Zoom's third prisoner was trying to say was a dangerous idea, but he went ahead and did it anyways with the help of Jesse. Everything was going fine, even managing to get 'Jay Garrick' out from the helmeted prisoner. They were about to get more when Zoom showed up and threatened the third prisoner not to speak to Barry and Jesse again. And just to show his anger, and power, he through collective punches and kicks at Barry. The earth 1 metahuman was slammed against two of the four walls he was being kept within until Zoom sped out of the cell via vibration.
"Barry... Barry, are you okay?" Jesse tried peering through the open bars of her cell.
Barry leaned against a wall and nodded. "Yeah," he breathed hard and winced at the sharp pains he felt all over his body. "But Zoom just showed me how to get out of this thing."
There was a scream that belonged to none of the prisoners. Zoom had startled Datura by racing her back into the room. Her widened, disoriented face quickly scanned the area she was in.
"Time is up, siphon him," Zoom ordered, pointing a nasty, gloved finger at Barry.
Now Barry was a little confused to see the clear fear cross Datura's face.
"I-I...I said it would be better if Wells came in," she nervously responded.
Zoom grabbed her by the neck and pushed her towards Barry's cell. "Last time I heard Wells gave up the siphoning device. This should not matter." He once more crossed through Barry's cell and left Datura on her feet. "Siphon him now."
Barry met the woman's shaken face as he got up to his feet. This was the first time she looked decently scared.
"I can't! You know I can't!" Datura looked regretful of her words.
"DO IT!"
Datura pursed her lips together and walked to Barry, her gloved hand reaching for him. Barry inched back against the wall, eyes flickering from the hand to her face while she pulled one glove off. She seemed on the verge of collapsing into sobs. There was a strained vein across her forehead, one he only saw when Belén - his Belén - was extremely mad.
Just a mere inch from his skin she stopped. "I can't!" she exclaimed. "It'll hurt me! That's why I told you to use Wells instead!"
Wrong words.
Zoom snatched her again and sped through the cell, throwing Datura down. She cried out when he raised her and slammed her against the third prisoner's glass.
Barry couldn't help himself. He was seeing Belén being hurt and evil or not she was Belén. "STOP!" he shouted, pounding on the glass of his wall. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Zoom had dropped Datura on the ground but held her by the chin. "If you can't siphon his speed, then what is the point of you?" his voice echoed in the room.
Now to this Datura could answer, and very well. "T-to keep the rest of your metahumans with abilities dire to your speed in line. I may not be able to siphon as much as I please but they don't know that. Kill me right now and you lose one of your biggest holds over this city."
Zoom gripped her chin, making her gasp of the pain. "If Wells does not make it in, you will siphon his speed whether it kills you or not." He let her go abruptly and sped off, leaving her to lose her balance and fall.
Barry bent down to be on her eye level, even from a short distance. "Bells?" he tapped his wall. "Bells? Are you okay?"
Datura raised her head with disheveled hair. As soon as she did, Barry saw a trail of blood oozing from her nose. Her eyes widened in alarm as her fingers touched the liquid pooling over her lips.
"She does that a lot," Jesse said with cold eyes settled on the woman. Barry quickly glanced at her for an explanation. "Poison Ivy used to tell her not to exert herself. I heard it various times."
"Shut up!" Datura quickly snapped. She wiped the blood off her skin and got up to her feet.
"Your sick," Barry realized soon enough. His face softened as he gazed at her paler face. So many things began to click in his mind. "You had Wells make you a siphoning device for me because you were sick." Datura locked her lips, clearly not in the like of being outed. Barry planted his palms on the walls of his cell. "All this time...you've been sick and you haven't had anyone help you."
Datura charged up to his cell with newfound anger in her. "My help was locked away in your pipeline! Ivy was all I had and you and my stupid doppelganger took her away from me."
"No, no, she wasn't your friend…" Barry shook his head.
"Yeah, she was," Datura assured him, relishing in correcting him. "She was the only person I truly had after I became this. And you-" she pointed at him, "-helped lock her away. If I die, let it be on your head."
"You're delirious," Jesse blurted, and immediately had Datura turning for her. Jesse backed up as Datura walked towards her cell.
Her eyes were flashing yellow as her hands crackled with golden electricity. "I assure you I am quite right in the mind," she spoke in overlapped voices.
Jesse whimpered, her hands digging into the wall behind her. Barry was appalled at the sight but more than that, he was stunned. Was this how sick Belén was? He assumed it had something to do with her powers, just like Jay...just like Earth 1's Rayan Palayta. "B-Belén! Belén stop!"
Her head whipped in his direction. "Something more to say?" she spoke still with that overlapped voice.
"Yes, and a lot! You're sick, and I guess now I know why you want your doppelganger…"
A pleased smile spread across Datura's face. The flash of yellow in her eyes faded away and the next time she spoke it was with her own voice. "Plant bases and exact DNA. Good for you for figuring that out. Now when I kill her it won't be much of a surprise for you."
"You don't have to kill her to get her help," Barry promised her.
Datura walked back to his prison with a mock pout. "Yeah, cos I was going to ask for it."
"That's all you had to do! Belén would never let anyone die knowing she could help them. Let us help you—"
Datura suddenly laughed, well amused apparently. "That's adorable. You think I want your help? Moreover, do you think I want to ask for her help?" she wagged a finger at him, clicking her tongue. "N-n-n-n-no. What I want is for her to die. I want her powers and I want her dead. She owes me for hurting Ivy and locking her up. She's just lucky I can't kill you or you'd already be gone."
"How can you say that?" Barry genuinely asked. He searched and searched for some emotion besides hatred on Belén's face but couldn't find anything. "How could you...become this? I don't need to know your past to know you were a sweet, kind woman who apparently held a botany job?"
"You think I left because I wanted to?" snapped Datura. "You don't know anything."
There Barry had to disagree. "I know things! I know that despite everything you still care for the people you left behind."
"That's not true—"
"Yes it is! Back at Jitters when Killer Frost and Deathstorm were about to hurt Iris, you blocked the way-" Datura's face became stony hardat the reminder, "-and you ordered them away. Once upon a time you and Iris West were good friends and that's still there. What's more, you still wear a mask when you're in the city. You-"
"Everyone does that," Datura gritted her teeth together, trying to remain strong and mighty in front of the audience, but she failed. Barry was finally seeing some twinkle in her dark eyes.
"No they don't. Killer Frost doesn't wear one. Deathstorm and Reverb didn't. Poison Ivy never did. Why? Because they didn't have anything to hide from. So what could you possibly be hiding from?" a smug face tool over Barry. "Better yet, who could you be hiding from?"
Datura strained to keep herself composed. "Be quiet…" she warned.
"I think I know the answer - hell, I think even Jesse knows the answer," Barry motioned to the attentive girl. "What do you think, Jesse? From an unbiased party?"
Jesse blinked and glanced at Datura. "Um...well...she...she would have to...um...be hiding from someone she really—"
"Loves," they both said together.
"Who could that be, hm?" Barry waited for Datura to answer herself. "Your husband. The one who thinks your dead. You faked your death to get away from him but it didn't work—"
"You think I faked my death to get away from my Barry!?" Datura snapped, slamming a gloved hand on the wall. There was a new type of fury in her face that, honestly, would lead to murder if there wasn't a wall between them. "The way I got my powers was spontaneous and very soon became dangerous! I left because I didn't want to hurt him! If I had just run away, he would've thought that I abandoned him and he deserves much better than that! Me faking my death guarantees that he doesn't stay up in the nights wondering why he wasn't good enough for me. If I'm dead, he doesn't come looking for me. He doesn't get hurt. He lives happily and maybe even remarries someone without these powers.
Barry stared at her for the longest minute, seeing her pain, feeling it in his core. It was a moment where he didn't see Datura; he didn't see the hard, cold criminal she paraded herself to be. It was just the woman he had known for a long time now. "That's my Bells," he said quietly.
That infuriated Datura even more. She slammed a hand on the wall. "I AM NOT HER!" she screamed. "I am not your 'Bells'! I am not yours! GOT. IT? I only had one husband and that was not you! To your unfortunate luck, I don't have the issue of seeing you—" she laughed sourly, "—as my husband. I don't see you as him because you're not."
"That's fine," Barry said, half of a lie. It was virtually impossible for him not to see her as Belén. Maybe it was a gift he wished he could have to make things easier. "But to your unfortunate luck, your efforts to keep him safe are bout to become futile." Datura visibly stiffened. "Because right now I'm willing to bet he, along with my friends, are searching for me."
"You're lying," Datura tapped the wall with a finger. "You're just desperate. Understandable but still desperate."
"Hell yeah I am! But we also know I'm telling the truth. Cos see now that I'm in here Wells has no reason to keep your identity a secret. And guess what's the first thing he'll do?"
Panic struck the woman. Her hands flung to her hair, barely able to go through it because of her curls. "I'll kill him first," she decided. "I'll definitely kill him first."
"N-n-n-no!" Jesse began to panic as well when she heard the new devised plan. "You can't kill my Dad! Y-you need him! Remember that?"
"Then I'll bring him here and let Zoom have him," Datura snapped her fingers. "Yes, exactly. That's what I'll do."
Barry was already dejected to see her so easily accept murder, but when he saw a glow of green in her eyes he became even more worried. Was that part of her illness? He didn't even register her leaving until Jesse called to him loudly.
"Good going, now she'll kill my Dad and who's going to rescue us?" the girl was scowling at him, accusatory.
Barry shook his head and tried to focus on the wall in front of him. "Nah, your father has been dealing with her for some time. He's resilient and he's not alone. He'll make it."
"You know, just because she's the doppelganger of your girlfriend or whatever, doesn't mean they're the same person," Jesse said as a point for her. "She literally just told you she'd kill you without a moment's thought. This woman is evil, okay? Forget the face because on the inside she's a murderer. I've seen the cases. I've seen her now. There is nothing good inside of her."
Jesse didn't know if Barry shaking his head was because he disagreed or if it meant he wanted her to stop talking. Maybe it was both. Barry just didn't want to listen to that and think it was true...despite him knowing it probably was. It didn't fit. It couldn't. He knew that even if they presented all the information, the cases, the corpses, a confession from Datura herself about all the crimes she'd committed, he would not be able to accept it.
It was simply beyond him.
~0~
Caitlin worked hard at the main desk in the cortex, switching tabs of Jay's biology. She felt like she was so close to getting to the cure for Jay's illness that wouldn't even require siphoning the powers back from Datura in the first place.
From across the room sat Iris and Belén, the latter helping the former with the new article on Jay meant to be turned in the next day to Evans.
"Mhm," Belén pointed at the screen, specifically a paragraph Iris had just finished revising.
"I'm taking that as an 'excellent job, Iris! You've done fantastic!'" Iris exclaimed, bobbing her head and laughing till she saw Belén shooting her a sarcastic glare. "Sorry, it's just not often you can't talk."
Belén rolled her eyes and uttered an 'Payback soon' as best she could. Caitlin looked up from her computer to scold her for that one.
"Belén, I've told you for the last time you can't make a quick recovery if you keep forcing yourself to talk!"
Belén released a big breath and got up from her chair, mimicking the words. She laughed until she turned around and saw none other than Geomancer appearing at the threshold. "NO!"
Caitlin, not knowing who was behind her, sighed deeply and went to scold again. "Bells! What did I just say-" but Iris had glanced back thanks to Belén forcing her to turn in her chair.
"Oh my God!" the woman jumped from her chair. "Caitlin!"
The brunette finally saw the intruder and quickly got away from the desk. "What do you want?"
"I like to watch heroes fall and never get back up," Geomancer came towards them.
Caitlin's jaw tightened indignantly. "He always gets back up!"
"Hard to do that when the Earth swallows you whole!" Geomancer then crushed his hands against the floor, making the entire room rumble. The three women hurried out of the room, hoping to find something to defend themselves against.
Midway down the corridor, Belén stopped and turned back with the intention to fight. Caitilin skidded to a stop and went back for her. "You can't!" she yelled and pulled Belén.
They ran into Cisco's working room with Iris. Caitlin let go of Belén and went in search of something on a metal shelf.
"Where is it?"
"What - what are you searching for?" Iris went over to help her despite not knowing what Caitlin wanted.
Another ripple shook the new room and caused the shelf to topple over Caitlin and Iris. Belén would've screamed but her throat was still hurting. She strung her vines forwards and started throwing things out of the way to get to her friends. She rushed forwards, or at least tried to, when Geomancer appeared and yanked her back by the collar. She was thrown to the ground, her head knocking into the leg of another table.
"Looks like this new Flash isn't much of a hero after all," Geomancer stepped towards her.
Belén scowled, not at all afraid of the man. She pressed her fingertips to the floor and started releasing vines towards him.
"Let's see what a seven will do to S.T.A.R. Labs…" Geomancer raised his fists to crush on the floor when he was attacked by an electrical beam binding him together.
Caitlin had found what she was looking for: a great big gun that probably belonged to Harrison Wells.
"Nice shot," Iris remarked as she went to go help Belén up.
"I was aiming for his leg," Caitlin admitted and lowered the gun, sparing a glance at the groaning Geomancer on the floor.
~ 0 ~
Harry led the group through the woods for Killer Frost. It was a long walk but no one complained. They were just glad that so far Zoom hadn't found them yet.
"Okay, so let's review our plan A," Cisco blew some air and honestly hoped for the best.
"What plan?" Iris frowned behind him. "The one where you're asking Barry to risk his life?"
"No one forced you to come," Harry reminded. "Soon as you came you wrote yourself up for risk and resilience."
"I still think the plan is crazy," Iris flatly said back. "It's not going to work—"
"It will!" Cisco stopped and turned to the woman, letting Harry continue ahead. His eyes flickered past her to Barry who had yet to say a word since they devised the plan. Cisco licked his lips, anxious himself about the results of this plan. "Look, man, the Belén in my world is also a metahuman—" Barry's face paled at the new revelation, and before he could panic Cisco added, "—but despite going through a hell of a lot of darkness, she came back. She came back because of her family, her friends, our Barry, and most of all...because of her. Because deep down, in her core, she can't be...evil."
Barry looked down for a moment, thinking about that other Belén from another world. He would like to meet her just to...be able to fully prove that there would be more versions of his wife that lived happily. "Well...in theory...just because dopplegangers look the same doesn't mean they're the same."
"Okay, you got me there," Cisco acknowledged. "My doppleganger, Caitlin's doppleganger and Ronnie's doppleganger are all evil...but you know why we're going to Caitlin - er, Killer Frost - and your Belén? Because when they love someone, those people mean the world to them. They would do anything for them. Is that your Belén?"
Barry raised his head, meeting Cisco with a strong face. "I want to believe she still is," he said and walked past him and Iris. He needed to believe his wife was still good somewhere in that siphoning heart of hers.
Up ahead Harry was trudging along a pathway that was seemingly leading down to a lower pathway. He started to hear crackles of branches, leaves swishing...and the temperature suddenly became a rash cold. Harry paused, eyes keenly alive and flickering.
"Peek-a-boo," Datura's voice startled from behind. He whirled around, ready to take aim with his gun, only to find the woman's face inches from him...and upside down. She was hanging from a tree, secured by a trusty vine. She really shared that trait with her Earth 1 doppelganger. "Dr. Wells, I need you stat."
Before Harry could do or move, she struck him with a vine, pushing him across till he landed against a tree. She extended a balled fist towards him, letting red flames dance around her hands. She shot towards him but he rolled to the side and dodged it. Before anything else, he took ahold of his gun and shot at her. Her hands raised and vines sprung to two trees to pull her up.
"FROST!"
Harry tilted his head back and saw the blips of white hair moving behind the trees. Icy smoke went straight for him but he scrambled up to his feet and rushed out of the way. Just as he was about to pass through, Datura jumped from above and whacked him with a vine.
"Gotcha," her eyes flashed red and her voice overlapped with another woman's. Red energy beams danced around her gloved hands. Her arms pushed forwards and released the beams.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Cisco came running towards them, shooting but aiming to miss. "No! You don't do that, Bells!"
"Who's Bells?" Killer Frost's appearance made him yelp and stumble back.
"Yikes!"
Harry took the moment to get up and take perfect aim at Datura. The woman merely smirked and begged him to continue.
"Either way you're coming with me," she warned yet promised at the same time. "You don't need to be able to walk to finish the speed device." The blazing red beams grew around her hands.
"Belén don't you dare," Barry's voice made her stiffen for a moment. He and Iris had finally caught up but neither dared to move closer.
"Come back for more?" Killer Frost's voice drawled on.
"We came to talk," Cisco said but the step he took was immediately retracted when she raised her billowing, icy hands. "I will talk from here," he pointed at his spot.
"Belén…I know it's you," Barry continued with the metahuman who still had her back to him. "Dr. Wells told us everything."
The red glow faded from her eyes as they settled on Harry. Her anger faded to be replaced by frustration. "You just couldn't hold your tongue, huh, old man?"
"I thought he had a right to know his wife became a murderous psychopath," Harry refused to take down his aiming gun. At least this way, she would be easier to take down.
Fury easily found her again. "I AM NOT!" she thrust forwards of energy beams again. Harry whirled to the side but, on Barry's pleading note, he did not shoot back. This however, did not stop Datura from continuing her attacks. She sucked in a big breath and blew red poison his way.
"Hey, my Bells does that too!" Cisco exclaimed but quickly remembered that unlike his Bells, this Belén aimed to kill. "You can't do that!"
"Belén stop, please!" Barry started walking towards her, making Iris attempt to stop him. He wasn't seeing the clear danger and she wasn't going to let him die because of a stupid mistake.
"You can't!"
Barry shook Iris' hand from his arm. He was focused on his wife who was currently trying to poison a man. "Belén…"
Datura stopped with her poison but green vines were springing and swaying around her hands. "Get out of the city, Barry. Just go or you're going to get hurt."
"I don't think anything can hurt more than finding out your wife faked her death to turn into Zoom's servant." Barry stopped just a couple inches from her. He could begin to sniff her scent he'd missed so much in the year after her 'death'.
"I didn't want to hurt you but it was the only way. Now go. You and Iris...you can get out now. Dr. Wells needs to come with me."
"Uh...and...me?" Cisco dreaded to know what his fate would be.
"We don't need spares."
"Ah." Yes, he completely regretted asking.
"Belén...please…?" the moment Barry touched her arm she winced and stepped back to get away from him.
"You don't want to do that," she warned. "Anyone who touches me runs the risk of dying."
"I don't care! You owe me so much now TURN AROUND!" Barry unexpectedly found his courage to order something. Even Iris was surprised by it.
Datura bit her lip and slowly turned around. Barry stumbled back a couple steps. Without the mask she was the same Belén he had known for so many years and yet, at the same time, she wasn't. She was filled with pain and so much anger.
"My God…" Iris whispered. "It is you…"
"Yowzah…" Cisco breathed in. "Bells?"
Datura's dark eyes flickered his way. "If I have to hear that name one more time I'm going to make sure the squirrels eats your corpse."
"Hey," Barry snapped his fingers at her, gaining her attention. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You have me mourning you, missing you, loving you...and you're out here committing atrocious crimes with Poison Ivy and Zoom? What the hell!?"
"Uh, yeah, you don't have to worry about Poison Ivy anymore," Cisco waved a hand. Iris sent him a confusing glance. "The Belén of our world captured her and locked her way."
"Hm," Iris nodded, mildly impressed. "She a cop?"
"No, journalist...with aerial dancing on the side."
Datura groaned. "I can't believe she kept that. Truly the runt of my doppelgangers."
"Enough talking," Killer Frost broke through. "What are we doing?" she asked Datura, confused. "I thought you said to bring that one—" she nodded to Harry, "—to Zoom and kill the rest."
"You can take care of that one," Datura pointed at Cisco who frowned, utterly offended at her dismissal. "Barry and Iris are leaving," she settled her dark eyes on her husband.
"No we're not," Barry stood his ground. "You're coming back—"
"I'm not," she shook her head. "I can't! I don't belong there anymore. I don't want to."
"You can't forget us, Belén…"
"I never said anything about forgetting," she said despondently. Her hand raised to the purple datura sitting on the side of her head, the one she always wore no matter what.
Barry followed the gesture and immediately recognized the flower. "You kept it."
"Of course I kept it...it's a part of me. It's what made...me," Datura gestured to herself. "The flowers you gave me mixed in with what I was working on...and because of Wells' Particle Accelerator...I became a siphoner…"
"An unstable one," Harry spat.
"And who's fault was that!?" she snapped, turning on him. "I was a botany scientist, just working when you turned that thing on and ruined my life! I didn't ask to change. You made that happen. You created me, you created her—" she gestured to Killer Frost, "—and then you treated us like criminals when the only criminal was you."
"No one told you to use your powers for evil," Iris narrowed her eyes on her. "We could have helped you."
"No metahuman powers, no opinion," she snapped. "Nobody ever thought of helping people like me—" she frantically gestured at herself, "—when we were scared of our powers. All anyone knew was that there were metas with strange powers who needed to be locked away. I did what I had to."
"Look, that's all bad and stuff, but you still made wrong choices," Cisco said. "How about you do something good for once and tell us where Zoom keeps his prisoners?"
Both Datura and Killer Frost laughed. "Why would we do that?" the latter them asked when she was sober enough.
"Because it would be a real good testament that you're not as cold hearted as you seem."
Killer Frost was studying him with some degree of fascination. "You really don't know how to use your abilities, do you, breacher?"
"It's a work in progress, Elsa," Cisco rolled his eyes. "Zoom killed the love of your life. This hurts, even for somebody with a heart as cold as yours."
"And you think that would make me turn on Zoom?"
"It better not," Datura warned. "You know I've been dying to get your powers. One wrong move and I get them."
Killer Frost stiffened in her spot but kept her mouth closed.
"Hey…" Barry made the mistake of grabbing Datura's arm.
She quickly yanked it away from him and glowered. "Don't touch me!"
"Sorry! I just want you to listen," Barry could sense a different sort of panic in her face, one that seemed enough to be abnormal.
"You need to leave," she pointed. "You and Iris need to go. Wells and the breacher are already dead. There's no need for you two to go down with them."
"We're not leaving," Barry frowned. "We're going whether you want us or not. But here's the thing…" he stepped closer to her but she backtracked the same step, "...if you're so worried over us, then come with us."
"What? Absolutely not!"
"I am going to help these people and maybe you being on our side would make the difference between our lives or our deaths."
"I could care less whether they live or die," she replied bluntly.
"But me? Iris?"
"You protected me," Iris spoke up and walked up beside Barry. "You could have let them kill me like they killed my dad, but you didn't. Are you really going to let us walk straight into Zoom's lair on our own?"
Killer Frost lowered her icy hands and released an annoyed breath. "Oh just let them go. They'll be saving us the trouble of fighting. If they walk in and Zoom will find them anyways. We'll just get the credit."
"Belén, please…" Barry whispered to his wife, reaching to touch her face.
She stepped backwards again. "Don't touch me," she warned again. "I'll lead you there," she glanced at Harry, "But the moment Zoom comes in I get Barry and Iris out of there. You two—" she pointed now at Cisco too, "—become new prisoners."
"We'll see about that evil Belén," Cisco mocked her tone before making a face. "Nope. See? Even the words put together don't fit."
Datura rolled her eyes, simply beyond done, and started walking off.
"Uh, where are we going?" Iris looked to Killer Frost for the answer since Barry (in her mind stupidly) gone after Datura.
"Ascension Cliffs," Killer Frost responded in an eerie tone.
The road through the woods was a difficult one considering its group consisted of problematic sides. It became even more difficult when the doors of the past were being forced open no matter how much one tried to keep it locked.
From her end, Datura could begin to see glimpses of the cliffs where Zoom's lair was. She was already making up plans - sorting through the best ones - on how she would get both Barry and Iris safely out of there once Zoom arrived...because he would arrive. That was the plan after all.
"You're going to have to talk to me at some point," Barry's voice cut her off in the middle of a decent plan. He was following closely behind, not letting her out of his sight.
"Sorry but you'll have to keep dreaming on that one," Datura said as emotionless as possible. "You opted to come - stupidly - so this is your punishment."
"Well if that means you're taking me into consideration then I'll gladly take it. Probably the first time in a long time, huh?" his accusatory voice made her stop.
"Don't do that," she said quietly.
"Do what?"
Datura turned around, eyes briefly flickering past him to see where the others were coming from. She'd purposely walked on a little ahead intending on getting away from Barry but she'd forgotten how determined he was. "Turn this into something...domestic...a-and...about us," her gloved fingers pointed between them. "Because there is nothing anymore. You're a civilian. I'm the city's best meta - next to Zoom of course."
Barry was quick to disagree. "No! You know what you are. You're my wife—"
"I'm not. I'm dead."
"Yeah, because you faked it to get away and start all this…" Barry shook his head. "Did you even think what you put me through? What you put your family through? We lost you. We didn't even have a proper corpse to mourn because you made your death so damn good enough to leave nothing behind except for one of the Daturas I gave you."
"I had to separate from you," Datura whispered, new tears coming to fill her eyes.
"I raged like I never did before because I thought you'd been murdered by the person you are today! Honestly what the hell were you thinking!?"
"I was trying to keep you safe…"
Barry scoffed. "Safe? Really?"
"Yes, I was—"
"So that's why you terrorize the city along with the rest of Zoom's metahumans? That is supposed to 'keep me safe'?"
"That came after!" she snapped. For once, there was a raw emotion settling on her face. "Zoom came after! Poison Ivy came after! You—" she pointed, "—came first. You always came first, Barry. That's why when I became this...I knew I had to get away from you before…"
"Before what?" Barry waited for a good answer that would justify everything she did.
Datura looked at her gloved hands. "Do you know why I wear these gloves all the time?" she raised them up. "When I got my powers it was an accident, and I tried — I tried my best—" she said with fierce regret, "—to hide them. I did anything I could to keep them away but every day it got worse. It came to the point where I got scared that I would end up hurting you…" she trailed off once she felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. She released a breath and started pulling her gloves off. "I'm a Siphoner, probably the best one you'll find…because anything I touch...I feed on…" she revealed pale hands underneath.
Even from a distance Barry could see patches of red over them. They didn't look so good. "What are you...what are you saying?"
"I can't touch anything without siphoning whatever energy they have. I discovered that when I made the mistake of touching Mrs. Andrews."
"Wait, what? You killed our neighbor!?"
Even then Barry could swear he was seeing remorse in her face. It gave him a little hope that she wasn't all the way gone. "I-I didn't meant to!" her hand frantically searched for the Datura on her head. "I just wanted to ask her when she could come by and it happened! I just...I sucked up her energy...and I...I was so scared…" a distant look began to take over her features, "...I remember that pit in my stomach...when I saw her literally...shrivel...right in front of my eyes. She was weak. And I had a power of God but I couldn't control it so I just...I watched her die. My first kill." She swallowed hard and came back to reality. "I knew then that I couldn't stay with you anymore. So I made a plan that same day...and I faked my death at work. No one would go against a tragic experiment gone wrong."
"You ran away because you were scared?"
"Well, how would you react if you suddenly had the power to kill anyone who touched your hands?" Datura snapped, offensive. "Death literally dances on my fingertips and I couldn't let you…" she trailed off, meeting her husband's soft gaze, "I loved you...so I had to go before you ended up shriveled and dead. You can hate me for that but I don't care."
"If you think I could ever hate you then maybe you did forget me…" Barry walked up to her and so she quickly put her hands behind her, balled up and firmly pressed onto her back. "I can't...and I really don't want to," Barry's hand tentatively hovered over her cheek. There was a fear in her eyes and just like always, he wanted to make it go away. He gently stroked her skin and while she flinched for the first second she gradually fell under it. She missed it.
He's going to die. The voice inside her head reminded her of reality. She sucked in a gasp and her eyes flashed white. She stepped back from Barry and put on her gloves. "Get away from me," her voice overlapped with someone else's. "I've yet to take you and the rest of Zoom. He hates waiting."
Barry was speechless but overtly confused. What the hell was happening? She was just fine a minute ago and now she was threatening his life and walking away. He panicked.
"Barry?" Iris saw Datura leaving and Barry frozen to his spot. It was pretty easy to assume. "Barry!? What did she do!?" she ran towards him. The others sped walked after her.
"I-I-I don't….I don't know," Barry ran a hand through his hair, the other pointing after Datura. "We were just...we were talking - like actually talking - and then she just...she started talking like...like there was someone else talking at the same time…"
"She does that," Killer Frost clearly took pleasure in his fear. It was always hilarious seeing civilians react to Datura's condition.
"You know what it means?" Harry asked.
Killer Frost smirked. "Consider it the echoes of those she has siphoned. My personal favorite is Scarlett Queen. God I hated that bitch."
"Do you mean to tell me that every time she siphons someone she takes not only their powers but also a bit of them?" Cisco gawked. "Man she's making it hard to root for her recovery."
"There is no recovery, Ramon," Harry warned and started walking ahead. "She's sick. And the only way she could get a cure is—"
"Yeah, yeah, go to our world and get our Belén. I've heard the story," Cisco rolled his eyes. "But honestly, she could have just asked. It's not like Bells would've said no."
"Bells? That's what you call her?" Barry snapped out from his moment.
"Yeah. I nicknamed her," Cisco said proudly, "I do that with everyone. What do you call her here?" he winced as soon as the words left his mouth. "What did you used to call her...I-I meant…"
"Elle," Barry replied blankly before starting to walk again. Iris threw Cisco a cold glance, probably scolding him for his imprudent question.
"Sorry," the man mumbled and quickly walked too.
~ 0 ~
Earth 1's STAR Labs was going under major struggles as the portal room underwent chaos from Geomancer's visit. Despite the sparks, Belén used a fire extinguisher to get them all out before it turned into an actual fire.
"So that was the sound that we heard," Iris said just as she and her father walked into the room.
Joe saw the portal rings making buzzes and winced. "Please tell me it's not as bad as it looks."
Belén turned around and lowered the fire extinguisher. "Bad," she croaked.
Caitlin stopped working for a second just to warningly point at her to keep quiet. Iris quickly took out her cellphone to check the time.
"They still have an hour left. What if they're trying to get through the breach right now and they can't?"
Belén honestly tried not to think about that.
"Okay, the jolt disrupted the quark matter. The electromagnetic insulators are failing," Jay read off the controls next to Caitlin.
"So how do we fix this in time?" asked Joe.
"I don't know if we can…"
~ 0 ~
Barry tried, and tried, and tried, to phase through the walls of his prison. Zoom had done it with no problem and yet hr he was crashing every two seconds. Jesse winced with each attempt but no matter how many times she told him to stop Barry wouldn't listen.
"Barry?" he started to hear Cisco's voice calling out. At first he thought it was probably a hallucination from the many blows his head took. "Barry?" Cisco came into view.
"Cisco!?" Barry quickly went up the prison wall.
Cisco chuckled, feeling mighty relieved to see Barry was well. "Dude, we made it."
"How did you find this place?"
"Had some help…" Cisco languidly gestured back to the incoming Killer Frost and Datura. Barry straightened , eyes settling on the familiar faces of Belén and Caitlin. "Dude, seriously, how could you keep that from me?" Cisco's finger moved to Datura.
Datura glowered and sucked in a breath to release, what everyone presumed, would be poison.
"Hey! No!" Earth-2 Barry clapped a hand over her mouth, startling her for a second. "You don't poison people!"
Harry ran just past them towards Jesse's cell. "Stand back!" he raised the bars of her cell and hurried to hug her. "I'm here. I'm here. Come on, let's get you out of here." He pulled on the chain around Jesse's wrist, which was anchored to a stone pillar, to no avail. "Frost? A little help?"
The metahuman in question raised her eyebrows, wearing a face that said they had to be kidding her. "You have about 5 minutes until Zoom decides to show up-"
"Approximately 2," Datura corrected.
Killer Frost thanked her with a nod. "And then you're all dead."
Cisco cleared his throat, sending Datura a questionable face. The woman smirked. "You did my work for me. I didn't have to lift a finger to get you three here. But now it's time for you and you—" she pointed at her Barry and Iris, "—to leave."
"We're not going anywhere," Iris warned and moved closer to Cisco and Harry. "They have to leave with us."
Datura rolled her eyes. "They're not. Zoom will come and he'll have Wells siphon Barry for the speed. Then when he's happy I get to go back for Ivy and my doppleganger. I can't have you ruining my plans, Iris."
"Get them out!" earth 2 Barry suddenly ordered. "You're not doing this, Belén! I don't care what you think your plans are but I know you would not let a girl die."
"It's been a year, how would you know?" she eyed him. "You've seen how many bodies I've left in the city? All the botany metahumans I've targeted? I killed them, Barry, because I needed something from them."
"So you've done enough, don't you think?" this time Barry snapped with full intention. "Go set her free," he pointed at Jesse.
Killer Frost laughed shortly, thinking it all ridiculous. As if Datura would ever take orders from anyone but Zoom.
"If I free her...will you go?" Datura asked cautiously. "No questions asked. You and Iris just leave."
"Yeah. But he has to go too," Barry then pointed at his earth 1 counterpart.
Datura laughed then. "Now I've heard it all."
"I wasn't playing!"
"Neither was I!"
"Belén enough is enough," Barry seized her gloved hand.
The moment he touched her hand was the moment she lost her cold boldness. Her eyes widened and she struggled to get out of his grip. "D-d-d-don't!" she cried frantically as Barry began to pull the glove off her hand.
The others watched, baffled, by the sight. Iris had never seen Barry act so...brash, but then she remembered this was how he and Belén were back in the day before any metahumans. They were opposites, and when they had their moments, they pushed each other towards new things. They were like a push and pull kind of relationship, and it worked. Phenomenally.
Behind her were the confused earth 1 Cisco and Barry. Unlike Iris, the two were trying to figure out what was triggering Datura's vulnerability besides her husband's presence. There was something earth 2 Barry knew that was mighty important to have Datura in such a state. Perhaps it was their winning ticket.
"No! No! Barry, stop!" Datura pleaded. On a whim, she saw Killer Frost raising her icing hands, intending on getting Barry no doubt. "No!" Datura forgot about the fight and whirled around, covering Barry. "Don't you dare!"
Barry latched onto her wrist from behind. "Belén, do the right thing. I'm not joking anymore. If you have any feelings left whatsoever for us...you'll do this."
Datura swallowed hard. "You'd bargain your life for those 3 breachers?"
"Absolutely," Barry faced the three out-of-world travelers with a big smile.
There was a terrible defeat in Datura's face. After a moment, she requested one more time, faintly, "Don't touch me...please."
Barry released her wrist, careful not to touch her hand and stepped back. Killer Frost watched in amazement as Datura walked over to Jesse's cell and used her red energy beams to break the chain off.
"Well this is a surprise," Killer Frost smirked. "Wait until Zoom finds out."
Datura directed a fist with red energy swimming around it. With eyes flashing red, she commanded with an overlapping voice, "Release the Flash or I'll siphon you without a second thought."
"You'll die," Killer Frost triumphantly reminded.
"Not before you do," Datura raised her other fist. "Go."
Killer Frost glowered but did as told. She walked over to Barry's cell and tried icing it to bits. After the fourth attempt, she stepped back with pursed lips.
"What's going on? Why... why isn't it working?" asked Cisco.
"I don't know. I've never had this problem before."
Harry went to check the quality of the wall, half presuming Killer Frost was just playing dumb. "Carbyne. It's some form of carbyne. This cell's made out of some form of carbyne. You'll never be able to freeze him out of there."
"Ivy made it," Datura relished in the bit of revenge she was getting.
Cisco pointed at her to stay quiet and turned to Barry. "You can't phase out of there?"
Barry thought about it for a second, knowing that his attempts before were futile. Zoom was coming, that much he knew for a fact, and everyone there was running a risk for him. "Just go, all right? Before Zoom comes back."
Cisco stared like he'd lost it. "We're not leaving you here."
"I can't get out of this cell. I've tried a lot. I'm not fast enough to phase through this. You got... just leave, all right? Just leave."
"You heard the man," Datura made a shooing motion. "Get out. Wells you can stay you too."
Her Barry shook his head, wearily sending her a glance. "Frost?" The white-haired woman raised an eyebrow. "Knock her down."
"What!?" Datura barely had time to react when Killer Frost sent a harsh show of blue cold beams her way. She hit the wall of the third prisoner and rolled to the ground, unconscious.
"Don't know why you asked but thanks. I've been dying to do that for the longest," Killer Frost beamed with malicious pride. Everyone else waited for an explanation.
Barry made sure Datura was completely knocked out first before he facing his doppelganger. "She's sick - and I don't mean mentally but physically - she is sick. Anything she touched she siphons, and she intakes part of the victim's actual soul. Now I don't know how things work on your Earth but here, death makes people do crazy things. If you don't get out of that prison, she is going to go to your world, find her doppelganger and probably kill her. Maybe you don't want to get out of there, maybe deep down you think that you'll be saving everyone if you stay here and give Zoom what he wants. But just think about this: you being here means that in your world, your Belén won't know what's coming for her. She'll be caught off guard and a split second of disorientation is all my Belén needs to capture her. Get out, Barry. Now."
Earth 1 Barry glanced at Cisco, and even Harry for that matter. Sure, they could tell Belén what happened, and maybe with the breaches closed she would be safe...until Datura found a meta with breech powers to siphon. That was thing, wasn't it? A siphoner could go around any plan so long as she had her powers. He couldn't leave his Bells alone. Yes, she probably wouldn't hesitate to fight, and she could handle herself, but he needed to help her. He needed to be there. Like he promised.
"Dude, if we come back without you she could go a-wall on our asses," Cisco said after a couple seconds of silence. "Could give this doppleganger a run for her money in the scary department."
Earth 1 Barry gave a small chuckle. Belén's face of doom was not one to mess with. "Okay," he motioned them all to step aside. Even Killer Frost moved a bit. He prepared himself to 'run', taking breaths like he'd done before but this time with a focus not on himself. His doppelganger may have been right in some things…
With energy pumping through his body, he ran straight first into the wall...and vibrated through it.
"Okay, let's go!" Cisco motioned and started to run first. "Go, come on!" And just as he passed earth 2's Barry and Iris, he added, "Psycho-Belén stays here!"
Earth 1 Barry stopped in front of the masked prisoner still behind his wall. "Wait, wait! Hey! We're not leaving him!"
"Barry, there's no time!" Harry snapped, motioning to still Killer Frost and the unconscious Datura.
Almost a second later, Zoom sped in, forcing everyone to stop in their tracks. "He's not going anywhere, and neither are any of you. Thank you for bringing them to me. I would have expected better from my siphoner." Killer Frost cracked a smirk.
"Zoom. Let them go. All you need is me and Barry," Harry spoke up.
Zoom took his words quite literally. "You're right. I may not be able to kill you yet, but I can kill them." In less than a second he had snatched Jesse from her spot. "I told you I'd kill you in front of your father."
"No! No!" Harry didn't know what to do nor how to move. He wasn't fast enough. Neither was Barry. Jesse sobbed as Zoom held her like any other rag doll.
Killer Frost blinked rapidly, something about the scene making her feel...odd? The girl looked young, far younger than everyone in the room. Why did she have to die? Same reason as Deathstorm. To prove a point? What a ridiculous, unfair point. Why should the girl and Deathstorm be killed to prove a point to breachers? Her heart leaped a jolt with pure fury. Her hands reacted faster than she could think. Zoom was thrown into Jesse's cell with a non-stop blast of cold rage.
"Get out of here!" she told the rest.
"Caitlin…" Cisco breathed in, completely stunned.
"You were right. He killed Ronnie. For a stupid point."
As everyone started to leave, Datura began to stir from her brief slumber. Disoriented, she could only make out sounds of people shouting.
"Belén? Elle!" It was Earth 2 Barry trying to wake her. He had both Iris and Harry shouting for him and his doppleganger to get the hell out already. Neither listened.
Earth 1 Barry was still trying to figure a way to get the last prisoner out.
It took very little for Datura to catch up. She groaned and sat up, rubbing the side of her head. "Get out of here, Barry. I'm gonna have to go after the breechers...and probably stop Killer Frost now. Thanks a lot."
Still, her Barry helped her stand. "You have to get help, okay? We need to find a cure and—"
"I already found a cure," she snapped. "And I'm gonna get it no matter whose lives I have trample over." Barry shook his head, refusing to believe such a thing actually came out of her mouth. She knew what he was thinking: was she really his wife? And it hurt. It was exactly why she had faked her death. With her being dead, she could be the worst of herself and not have to face him. But now that was ruined. He knew who she was and everything she did from now on, he would know was her. She grabbed his head, forcing him to look at her. "Barry, listen to me, just listen, I'm gone. I'm not coming back. You have a right to move on and live your life. I'm sorry. Belén is gone."
She leaned forwards and gave him a last kiss, a proper one meant to say goodbye. Barry knew exactly what kind of kiss that was and kissed her as hard as he could, hoping that it would never end.
But, just like that, she pushed her Barry away. "10 seconds—" she warned, "—before I go full on siphoner."
"Belén—"
She forced herself to turn away from him. "10...9...8...7…" she threatened the Earth 1 Barry with glowing white hands.
"I'm not…" he was much more frustrated than his counterpart.
"...6...5…"
"I can't hold him forever!" Killer Frost called over her ongoing battle with Zoom. The ice around him was beginning to crack.
"I'm going to cure you," earth 1 Barry promised to Datura, who merely smirked. "And I'm coming back for you when this is over, all right?" he said to the last prisoner.
"...1!" and so Datura shot her stolen beams at the speedster. He easily dodged them and snatched his doppelganger from the site.
Datura stood there for a moment, welling in her loss (again). After another additional 20 seconds, she took in a deep breath and pulled off her gloves. "I always did want your powers…" she set eyes on Killer Frost and calmly walked up behind the white-haired woman.
She grabbed her by the neck…
Killer Frost gasped from the strain she was now carrying. Her eyes bulged, and little by little the pale skin grayed.
Datura convulsed behind her but forced herself to keep a steady grip on her victim until the job was done.
~0~
The team on Earth 1 were still going crazy figuring out how to solve their situation with the portals. The breech was coming in and out of existence, allowing no one to cross.
"Our only chance is to reboot the electromagnetic insulators and hope the quark matter redistributes equally," Jay said after a long thought with the computer in front of him.
"Hope?" Belén managed to say and this time ignored Caitlin's scolding looks.
"But we'd have to do it manually," Jay regretted to add, as it made him sound even less reliable.
"You can't be near the stabilizer rings when they power on, or you'll get sucked into the breach!" Caitlin exclaimed.
"Not if I create a vortex to counteract the pull."
"But you can't do both at the same time!"
Belén cleared her throat, ignored the pain she felt because of it, and raised her palms. Several tendrils of vines raised from her skin, reminding them all that she could - effectively - do various things at the same time.
"Yes!" Jay pointed at her without a second thought. He hurriedly brought her to the portals to explain what she needed to do. "There's an override switch on every stabilizer ring-" he motioned to the rectangular switches she would not to flip for each portal ring, "-I'll create the vortex and all you have to do is flip all of them. They should all reboot." Belén nodded and stepped back to get a full view on all of the portals. "Caitlin, once that's done, you power up the cannon. The breach should stabilize."
"And what if it doesn't?" Caitlin asked, her face expressing grave concern.
"We're all out of luck," Jay bluntly responded. He glanced at Belén one more time to know if she was ready or not.
When she gave a nod, he sped off for the dais. As he circled the breech, keeping it stable, Belén fought against the wind and shot vines towards the first two portal rings. Her feet slipped back a little but she regained her control and with more force switched the two flips back into place. Then she rushed for the other two portal rings.
"The Velocity-9 is running out!" Caitlin said after monitoring Jay's vitals. Indeed they noticed Jay beginning to go a little bit slower.
Belén did her best and once more shot tendrils of vines. They wrapped around the side of the rings and forced the switches to the other side. Jay came bursting out from the force, and with it pushed Belén to the floor as well.
"Jay!" Caitlin ran for him while Iris went for Belén.
"I guess now we know how long the Velocity-9 lasts," Jay remarked with some humor.
"You okay?" Iris helped Belén stand up.
She nodded her head and dusted herself off. She cleared her throat to get Caitlin's attention then pointed at the portal rings. "Good?"
"Should be," Caitlin said as she and Jay hurried to check on the computers.
~ 0 ~
Barry had managed to speed everyone back into Harry's STAR Labs. It still didn't mean they were safe yet, though. "You need to get out of Central City, all right?" he stopped by his doppelganger and Iris. "Any place you think you'll be safe from Zoom."
"Yeah, we, um...I have some family in Atlantis that can help us," Iris responded nervously then glanced at her Barry.
He was shaking his head and stuttering, probably disoriented. "I'm not - she's still out-"
"Look, I'm going to close the breech that leads into my world but I swear I'm gonna find a cure for her," Earth 1 Barry promised. There was a split moment of confusion on his doppelganger's face, as if asking whether he really meant that. "She's Belén - I have to help her. Think you understand…"
"Yeah…something like that," his doppelganger bowed his head. Iris put an arm around him comfortingly. "Help her...because it's obvious that I couldn't."
"Are you kidding? You reintroduced the concept of humanity in her," Iris said, blinking rapidly. "That's gotta count for something right?" she glanced at Earth-1 Barry for some confirmation.
"Definitely," he nodded. "You've put doubt in her actions and that counts for something big. Things could change now."
"Barry!" Cisco called from across the room. "Zoom is probably coming for us all!"
Because just as he said that, the alarms of the building began to blare.
~ 0 ~
Belén constantly coughed as they all now waited for their friends to come back through the breach. She suspected it was more of nervousness than actual pain she felt.
"It's almost time," Iris checked her phone again. She'd been doing it for five minutes straight.
"I don't care what time it is. After all we did to stabilize this breech, we're not closing until they show up," Joe said, dead serious. Belén hummed her agreement. "Y'all hear me?"
And suddenly, Cisco and Jesse came through, quite panic stricken.
"Get ready to close the breach for good - Zoom's coming!" Cisco shouted and released his grip on Jesse.
~ 0 ~
On the other side, Barry was just about to take hold of Harry when someone called through...
"Forgetting someone, Flash?" Zoom was holding onto Harry.
Barry forgot about the breech for a second and faced Zoom. "Let him go."
"I got a better idea…" an over-lapping voice spoke up. Barry was mortified, as well as horrified, to see Datura coming in with her hands billowing in blue, ice smoke...and her eyes flashing blue.
"Killer Frost…" he took a breath. She siphoned Killer Frost and…
"All dead," Datura's voice was a mixture of her own and the shaky Killer Frost. She raised a hand - which wore no glove at the moment - and fumed with blue snow. "I finally got the powers." She then glanced at Zoom beside her. "I don't actually need to be here right? I can go get my doppelganger?"
"You will stay until I say so," Zoom said, although it sounded more like a warning.
"Barry you have to close the breach," Harry was looking at the speedster with a significant look then letting his eyes lower to his own hand. Barry followed the movement to see Harry holding a syringe, unbeknownst to anyone else. "Tell Jesse I love her."
"Tell her yourself," Barry got himself ready for the big escape. Harry plunged the syringe into Zoom's clavicle. Zoom growled and dropped Harry as his hand clasped to his shoulder.
"NO!" Datura acted fast and debuted her new powers with a blast towards Barry. He, however, sped for Harry then zipped into the breech. "NOOO!" the woman screamed after him, helplessly.
~ 0 ~
On the other side, everyone was waiting anxiously for the last two of their friends to come through. Of course no one was more stricken than Belén and Jesse.
"It shouldn't be taking this long," Cisco swallowed hard. Just beside him was Jay, who was jittery as he was waiting to throw the last of the breech-sealers into the breech.
Iris went to check her phone again but Belén pushed it down and shook her head. They were going to come through.
And then, finally, Barry came through with Harry. "Close it! Close it now!" the speedster frantically ordered.
Jay didn't hesitate and chucked the breech-sealer in. He hurried up to the portal rings to see it through...
The breech successfully closed.
Everyone burst into cheers.
Barry moved to hug Belén but involuntarily stilled when he saw her face. His mind just automatically went to Datura. He got rid of that fast and took Belén into his arms, the woman being far too happy seeing him back to notice the strange moment.
Caitlin was just about to run up to Jay when the breech gave one last blip of life and a black-suited arm struck through Jay's chest.
"NOO!" Caitlin's scream echoed in the room just as Zoom pulled Jay's corpse into the breech.
Author's Note:
Loved finishing this two-parter! We finally get an insight into Datura's life before she turned into who she was. So I think we can all presume that from here on out the game will be changing against these Earth 2 metas!
P. S: I also have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where I thought anyone might want to comment about a story or even just talk! I often drop some aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.