You're suspended, indefinitely.
"I had a long talk with my editors about the article I published on my own without their approval and...that was last week," Belén crossed one leg over the other in her chair. She sat across her therapist, Dr. Baeva, and finished telling her everything that had happened as of late. It felt like an eternity since the last time Belén came by her therapist's office. But then again, a lot happened since then.
Dr. Baeva was a longtime confidant of Nina Clarke and she passed onto be Belén's as well, which was Belén really needed right now. She needed someone who would look at this situation without biases, and certainly somebody who wasn't going to give her the sorrowful look.
"And how have you taken that?" Dr. Baeva inquired.
Belén exhaled lightly. The smile tugging on her face gave off the feeling she wasn't that upset, at least not in the way someone in her position would naturally be.
"Honestly? I'm fine." Belén almost laughed each time she said it because sometimes even she couldn't quite believe it. "I know, I know, totally strange. You might think I'm lying — Barry thought that too. My Mom thinks that I'm secretly crying in the bathroom. I promise you that I'm not!"
It was true that Dr. Baeva was giving her the same look Veronica had when she first learned the news. But of course Dr. Baeva knew a lot of Belén's personal, deepest thoughts. It was harder convincing her than Veronica.
"I know that logically speaking, I should be upset. I'm suspended, without pay, and my future at CC Pictures is at stake...but I am okay," Belén uncrossed her legs and leaned forwards. "My conscience is clear. I know that publishing my article was the right thing to do. There's been such a good feedback from it. I don't know if the people who responded are metas in hiding or if they're just civilians, but it doesn't matter. People are reading it and they're spreading the word. Who ever needs help will finally have a way to get it. How could I feel bad about that?"
"Okay," Dr. Baeva nodded. "So let's go down this road. What would you do if your job is terminated at CC Pictures? Would you feel bad then?"
"Of course I'd be upset," Belén wouldn't even try denying that. "I have worked at CC Pictures for years now. I started as an intern when I was in college. It's the only reporter job I've ever had. If I do get fired, then yes...I would be upset. But that wouldn't make me regret publishing my article. I do stand by that. It's the only thing I'm certain about these days..."
Dr. Baeva sensed that the real reason behind this new appointment would start now so, as she always did, she guided Belén through the transition of topics. "Is there something you're not certain about?"
Belén's tongue played with the roof of her mouth for a few seconds before she finally nodded her head. "My doppelganger. I still haven't decided whether or not I want to help her. And I know how hypocritical that must sound considering what I just said before, but this is entirely different. This is a woman who has chosen to hurt and kill people because she likes it. I always thought of her the villain..."
"Has that changed now that you've discovered her real identity?"
Belén straightened in her chair and leaned her back against the cushion. "She's me but we are nothing alike. The only things we have in common is our devotion to beautiful, toxic plants and our love for the same man. And that's..." Belén's left hand raised to make a gesture but even that couldn't help her when she thought about Datura. "Being different is also something that gets me."
"How so?" asked Dr. Baeva.
"Because she's me but she...she made all the wrong choices because of the one good choice she made. I don't know what kind of life she had before being a meta except that she was married and supposedly happy...but what I do know is that she made the decision to save her husband's life and that was it. After that, she made the worst decisions until she became...Datura."
"And what is the question that you're trying to ask here?"
Belén would be more surprised how the woman knew what she wanted to ask if she hadn't known Baeva for a year now. With a humorless laugh, Belén answered, "If she started out like me, at what point did she stop being like me and the rest of our doppelgangers? Assuming that the others are not evil and I am actually not the runt of the group. Why would she become like this?"
"And have you also considered a way to find the answers?"
"Not yet. Things are so complicated. I mean, the only way to get answers is if..." Belén was about to laugh when the answer hit her straight in the face, "...I ask somebody who knows her."
"Do you actually have someone?" Dr. Baeva asked, genuinely curious now.
"Well, my first go-to would naturally be her husband but...he's a bit out of reach so...I could ask the next person who knows her best. Poison Ivy."
~0~
"I know how to learn a new way to get faster!" Barry announced that night when he and Belén were having dinner. They'd just finished their spaghetti and were clearing up the table to have dessert in the living room.
Belén had come back to the table with a bowl of chocolate amaretti cookies (Barry had declared them his favorite dessert and now they had to have a bowl every night). "Really? What'd you come up with?"
Barry licked his lips nervously, preparing himself for what was to come next...because he was pretty sure how Belén would react to his idea. "I need to see the old Wells, Thawne. I can time travel and just ask him as if I were the version of myself in that time. It's simple and quick!"
Belén had to slowly put the bowl of cookies on the table before she dropped it. Her eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates but as stunned as she was, the words were failing her.
"Belén...?" Barry was waiting for her reaction and watching her go silent only made him more anxious.
"...it's my fault," she suddenly said, almost laughing as if everything was just a joke. "I left you unsupervised." Barry's face fell flat as she turned away from him. "It's a stupid idea, Barry!" she marched over to him and turned him back around, ready to fight until they settled an agreement until Barry threw a very good point.
"Hey, you're the one who wants to talk to Poison Ivy!" Belén froze in her spot, eyes narrowing on him. Barry, however, would not back down. He understood her reaction, yes, but just like she felt like she needed to talk to Poison Ivy, he knew that he needed to talk to Thawne. "I don't want to argue," he said, raising his hands to show he wanted peace. Belén crossed her arms over her chest, huffing but giving him the floor to speak. "It's a crazy idea—" he winced when she scoffed, "—but it's the only chance I have. It pains me, believe me, that I have to go back and ask that man to help me."
Belén slowly sighed once she realized he was right. It had to be hard going back to Thawne, of all people, to ask for help. "It just scares me, alright? He's so dangerous. He killed your Mom, killed my Dad...he almost killed Cisco? He's hurt all of us! The idea of you going back there..."
"I know, I know," Barry moved over to her and hugged her. "I'll be careful, I promise...just like I hope you promise me that you'll be careful when you talk to Poison Ivy."
Belén pulled away and nodded her head. "She's not gonna get to me, I promise. I know what I want to ask her, what I want to talk about. Besides, she'll be behind the pipeline glass. You, on the other hand, are going to be face to face with Thawne. For the love of God, don't die on me."
"I can honestly say that I'll try my best."
"Good, because if you die...I'll kill you," she grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt and pulled him close for a kiss.
"...you taste like spaghetti," he murmured against her lips.
Belén let go of him and pushed him away. "Consider yourself single."
It was a struggle for Barry to contain his laughter when he went after her.
~ 0 ~
When Barry shared his idea with the rest of their friends, he was no stranger to unwelcoming responses. Harry made his stance known very clear and no matter what he was not going to be helping because it would simply be disastrous. Still, with Caitlin and Cisco it was another story. Although they were at first uneasy about the idea they gradually took to it and decided to help Barry. Secretly they thought he would go through with the plan with or without them. They figured it would be better and safer if they just helped.
So then they planned. And outlined. Everything.
The only one who couldn't give a proper opinion throughout the whole process was Shivhan because she had no idea what Thawne was capable of. She was more focused on Belén wanting to go talk to Poison Ivy. But she still helped in what she could.
"Man, I could have really used you guys during my finals," Belén was staring at the clear board filled with Hartley Rathaway's profile and the events that followed throughout the day Barry was meant to go back to.
"You were planning on time travelling too?" Cisco walked by with a marker twirling between his fingers.
"Ha, ha," Belén rolled her eyes.
"Okay," Cisco stopped by the second board they'd placed and began to plan out loud so that everyone was on the same page. "So Barry's gonna go back to the time when Wells was distracted by the return of the major jackass, Hartley Rathaway. This is the first time we found out Wells knew the accelerator might explode, and we were all angry with him, so anything that might seem odd about your—" he pointed at Barry, "—behavior Wells should attribute to that. Also remember: Do not underestimate Hartley. He almost killed you."
Caitlin emerged from one of the siderooms with a silver syringe in her hands. "This is a tranq dart that should knock 'old' you out for about six hours, which lines up perfectly for when you're going back, because not much was happening until Hartley attacked the Cleveland Dam that night, so that should give you time to learn what you need and return."
"Safely, I may add," Belén raised a finger.
"One more thing," Cisco said before Barry could open his mouth, "You cannot tell us the truth about Wells, no matter what. You must keep the timeline intact. It's gonna be hard if anything gets altered, so get what you need and come back, preferably to this moment, this exact time you're leaving, or else you might set off some kind of "12 Monkeys" time loop you'll never get out of. No pressure."
'Yeah," Barry scoffed, blinking a little too fast even for him.
"There is one more thing, um...that I'd like to point out," Belén raised a finger from her spot. "And this is totally just about us—" she motioned between them, "—but I just remembered that I wasn't really talking to you that day."
"What?" Barry frowned, immediately racking his mind for that specific memory.
"Man, what did you do that time to piss her off?" Shivhan thought she mumbled under her breath but Caitlin and Cisco chuckled at her while Barry mock-glared at her. "Sorry," she added, though she didn't look very apologetic as she sat back in her seat at the desk.
"This is right after I first saw Rayan, remember?" Belén pulled Barry's attention back. "Where he made me pick between you and him? And I chose you?"
"Riiiiight..." Barry cheekily smiled at her. "And you have no idea how much that means to me."
"Mhm," Belén had crossed her arms and was close to glaring.
"You might wanna go before she poisons you," Cisco clapped Barry on the shoulder. "Young Bells is gonna be a dream—"
"Hey!" went the woman in question.
Barry was quick to make his leave, but did plant a kiss of apology on Belén's lips on his way out. Down to the pipeline he went and did what he did best: run. He successfully opened up a time portal and was running as fast as he could until a strange, floating brown creature zoomed over his head and disoriented him enough so that he ended up coming out of the portal at the wrong time.
He had come early.
He saw Hartley standing against his younger self and Belén, Hartley going at it with his boring ole monologue. Barry remembered that at one point Hartley attacked them by surprise and so he waited for that moment. Sure enough, a couple seconds later, Hartley blasted both younger versions against a glass sign. It was perfect because Hartley was distracted and Belén was partially out cold enough that neither would notice the strange gust of wind from the speedster.
While his younger self did put up a fight, Barry put him down with Caitlin's tranquilizer and took his place without anyone ever noticing. And because he remembered how he had defeated Hartley the first time, it was an easy thing getting the guy too.
~ 0 ~
Hartley was glum and angry when he got put into the pipeline pods. Cisco was having the pipeline scan him for everything he had.
"Scanners picking up foreign metallic objects in your ears," Cisco looked over to Hartley suspiciously. "Take 'em out."
Hartley glowered. "I can't. I suffered head trauma when S.T.A.R. Labs exploded. My hearing was severely damaged. Without these, I am in pain you can only imagine."
Barry remembered just what those devices ended up doing the last time, and since he was in no mood to see one of his best friends and girlfriend (who wasn't technically his girlfriend at this point but anyways) be blasted, he spoke up. "Cisco, see if the devices in his ears are generating any low level electromagnetic pulses."
Cisco's eyes widened. "You want me to scan for E-bombs?"
"I just... I mean, don't you think that could've been what was interfering with the comms?"
Cisco found it strange but he went ahead with Barry's suggestion and was surprised to find that he was right. "Well, well, trying to go all "Mission: Impossible" on us? Use those things to bust out of here?"
Wells (or Thawne) came into the pipeline speaking words of Latin, never noticing the look he was getting from Barry. "Pump in some sound stimuli to counteract his tinnitus. Then we'll make some nonexplosive replacements for him." Hartley glared his way but Wells merely muttered a 'Deal with you later' and began to leave.
"Dr. Wells?" Barry went to catch up with him.
"That was quite an observation you had about Hartley in there, Mr. Allen," Wells remarked but Barry wasn't interested in getting compliments from him. Too bad he still had to play along.
"Yeah, it just seemed too easy taking him down, you know?"
"Mm-hmm, well, the likely reason for that is you're getting faster."
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. It occurred to me that maybe we've been going about improving my speed the wrong way."
Wells was of course interested. "How so?"
As Barry began to explain, he drew Wells into the cortex, catching Caitlin and Belén in one of the side rooms with the latter getting her cuts healed. He pulled in one of the clear boards and wrote the same equations and expressions he had in HIS his time. "I've been learning different techniques involved in running, and I was thinking that there's just as much science involved in speed as anything physical or technical. I just can't figure out how to apply it to me when I run. Thought if anybody could help me, it'd be you."
Wells was of course taken aback by the problem Barry had put on the board. "This is quite the... speed equation you've concocted here, isn't it, Mr. Al?"
"Yeah, I've been doing a lot of reading in my downtime…"
"What on earth inspired you to adopt such a... what should we call this... unorthodox approach?"
Barry went with the old excuse. "I just know that I'm not the fastest man alive, and I need to be faster, a lot faster, if I'm ever gonna be able to take down the Man in Yellow. So what do you think? Can you help me?"
Wells moved up to the board and grabbed a marker. "Let me see what I can do."
Barry stepped back to allow Wells free reign on the board. He hoped it wouldn't take long. He hated to admit it but Thawne was incredibly intelligent.
"What's going on?" Caitlin asked when she and Belén walked out of the side room.
"Math," Belén answered and rubbed her head, though she winced when she did and so Caitlin pulled her hand. "Whatever, I'm gonna get to work, then."
"I'd rather you didn't," Caitlin walked over to the main desk. "You may have a concussion and I'd rather have you in observation. Besides, I already called in for you," she smiled so innocently that Belén found it impossible to get mad at.
"Fine," Belén raised her hands and simply came to take a seat beside Caitlin.
Barry found it incredibly hard to stay out of conversations he didn't need to be in at the moment. Timelines and whatnot. It just didn't help that at this point in time Belén was probably feeling guilty - because yes he was remembering it now - about not speaking to his other version and she was throwing occasional glances his way. He suddenly missed his version of a girlfriend.
~ 0 ~
Present Day
Poison Ivy had her arms crossed when her pod's wall slid open for her to see Belén on the other side. "Oh goodie, you're back. Am I to assume Barry's dead now? Is Datura wrecking havoc again?"
"You wish," Belén took pleasure seeing Poison Ivy's face drop with disappointment. "No, your little partner is still tucked away on Earth 2 with no way back."
"You think you're so smart," Poison Ivy remarked.
"Well, science may not be my thing but I am pretty good at other things so...yes."
"In a way, you almost are like Datura."
Belén tried not to look offended because she most certainly wasn't like her doppelganger. Instead, she wanted to follow the plan she made before coming down. "Listen, nobody is going to save Datura unless I tell them it's okay. Right now, I'm the one deciding her fate so you best play your nicest cards here or your friend will be dead."
Poison Ivy suddenly looked at her with a new light, like she was impressed. "Hm, maybe you are kind of like her. Definitely sounded like Datura."
"Her name is Belén. Why don't you call her that?"
Poison Ivy scoffed and planted her hands on either side of the walls. "Because that's not her. On my Earth, Belén Palayta was a scientist with divorced parents, a brother in jail and a cop for a sister who just wouldn't give her some space. She was overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated."
"I can believe all that accept the underappreciated part," Belén glowered. "I know family problems as much as the next person but I also know that she was married and that her husband loved her like there was no tomorrow. So you can come at me with all the horrible things she endured but you are not going to tell me that she was underappreciated."
"Look," Poison Ivy didn't look the last bothered, "I personally don't know what that marriage was and I never frankly cared. That's not Datura—"
"Yes it was, it still is...from what I heard." Belén smirked when Poison Ivy rolled her eyes almost like she was jealous. "Because see, at first I thought Datura was pure evil and while I'm still very convinced that she is evil, I realize that...maybe there's still parts of her that are just like me. The civilian side. Funny how she still carries that one—" Belén raised a finger in the air, "—lone datura flower behind her ear. I heard it's one of the last flowers her husband gave her before she had to run away."
"How did you know that?"
"My Barry heard it from her Barry. So, as far as I can tell, my doppelganger may have not had the best working life nor the family, but she had a good marriage. What turned her towards evil?" Poison Ivy crossed her arms, a defiant look on her face indicating she wouldn't be talking for free. Belén laughed, not the least surprised about it. "You're not getting out. And like I said, if you don't talk, I won't make a decision about Datura. You do remember she's on a literal clock, right? How much longer does she have?"
"She's not dying," Poison Ivy swore. "She'll come get me and then together we're going to kill you."
"Right, I've heard the story but...what if she doesn't? Or, what if it takes too long to open the portals again? By the time she gets here...there might not be enough to fight me."
"What do you want?" Poison Ivy finally snapped in frustration. "You want to chit-chat? Tell me the reasons why I shouldn't try to kill you the first chance I get? Or is this some type of torture?"
Belén drew in a deep breath and walked a couple steps forwards. "I don't like people dying on my watch. Even someone like Datura deserves a hearing, and since I can't reach her...you're the next best thing I have. I want to know how and why she became what she is."
"Oooh, you want to know your doppelganger. Makes sense. But there's not much to tell, least nothing else you don't know."
"There is, I know there is. So let's get started. If I feel generous after this, you might get to choose your lunch today."
~ 0 ~
Past, 2014.
Barry cursed his luck when the metahuman alert went off and prevented Thawne from getting started on the equation promising new speed.
"There's trouble at the CCPD," Caitlin read off the computers and looked up to Barry. "It'd be better if you go. Bells is still under observation."
Barry looked from Caitlin to the clear board, completely torn. "I'm sure they have it handled, right?"
Confusion dropped on Caitlin's face but what Thawne had was suspicion. "No," he said rather sharply. "You need to go. Run, Barry."
And because he had no option, Barry ran.
The station was being, indeed, attacked, but not by a metahuman...it was the same creature that had disoriented Barry on his way to the past. That wasn't what really got him, though, it was the fact he saw Eddie Thawne living and walking. Yes, of course it was obvious that being back in this point of time meant Eddie was living but Barry hadn't really thought about it until then.
~ 0 ~
Since the creature - that had still yet to be named - had sprouted in Barry's lab at the station, it was the prime area for investigation. It left a whole mess of destruction that no corner of the room escaped.
"There's no sign of it outside," Eddie came in and was oblivious to the stares Barry sneaked every now and then. "It just disappeared. Hey, Bar, any idea what that thing could be?"
At least there Barry couldn't lie. He really didn't know what that creature was and why it was coming after him, because he was sure the creature had been looking for him. "No, I don't know. Not yet. If I figure it out I'll let you know."
Eddie glumly looked around the room. "Things just keep getting more and more strange in this city. I'm gonna check in with Iris, let her know I'm okay."
"Great," and Barry quickly turned away before Eddie realized he'd been staring too long.
"Oh, sorry Belén!" Eddie's exclaim made Barry whirl around to see Eddie stepping back from Belén after presumably crashing into her. "I was on my way to see Iris-"
Belén had a cheery smile on that could have fooled anyone, including the Barry from that point of time, who didn't know about her predicament. "Don't worry about it, Eddie. I get it. Excited to talk to the girlfriend. Oh!" her two index fingers rose in the air when she remembered. "Um, actually, she's probably going to be really happy since I just got her into CC Picture News!"
"I have to go congratulate her!" Eddie laughed and hurried out of the lab.
Belén's cheeriness faded the further she got into the lab. "Wow, this place is just…"
"Mhm," Joe started to move around to leave as well. "Thank God I won't have to clean it up." He shot Barry a big smile that the speedster did not return.
"I mean totally...nice...looking…" Belén cleared her throat awkwardly when Joe finally left. "Cisco's calling the creature, um...Dementors?" she shook her head. "In my opinion, I think those are actually way creepier and scarier - though I guess I can't really say that since I haven't seen these creatures yet—"
"And you won't," Barry blurted quite determinedly, startling her. He put down the broken microscope on the table nearest to him and tried amending his statement so that it wouldn't make her uncomfortable. "I mean, we'll probably find it and stop it before it could hurt you or the others, you know...since Cait said you should be taking it easier right now."
Belén's hand touched her temple where she apparently was handling head injuries from Hartley's blow earlier in the day. "Honestly, I think Caitlin is overreacting. But, um...well, I'm glad you're talking to me again...even though I know I don't deserve it."
Barry quickly tried to remember how it was he acted in the last version of that day. Snarky. That was what came to mind. "Uuh…"
"I know I've been very, um, radical and...well, plain rude to you ever since Captain Cold attacked but I'd like to explain why…"
"Bells, we should do this later." Because as much as he would have liked to help relieve her guilt, Barry had to stop her because she was about to do it with the wrong him. If she confessed the reasons for her distance to him instead of his other version, then that Barry would never hear it and would continue to distance himself from Belén as well. All distance and no apologies meant no dating.
Barry wouldn't let that happen.
"I mean, there's a lot of things I need to do here…" he gestured to the room languidly. "...and then there's the creature on the loose...and…"
"I know," Belén nervously passed a hand through her hair. "Believe me, I know how bad of a time this is. I shouldn't have taken this long to apologize and explain. You probably don't even want to talk to me and—"
"It's not that, I promise!" Barry quickly cut her off.
"You can tell me the truth, Barry, I deserve it…"
"I swear we can talk and we will," Barry walked up to her and was cautious not to take her hand as he probably would have done out of custom. She would definitely be freaked out if he did that now. "But I think it would be better if we did that when there wasn't a creature after us. It'd be calm and a perfect time to talk, yeah?"
Belén stared him directly in the eyes for a full minute of silence. "You're not lying?" she asked in such a soft voice Barry felt she was practically begging to be hugged and kissed.
"No, I'm not."
"Okay," Belén lightly smiled. "Thank you." She stepped back from him and looked around. "I'm with Joe in that I'm happy I don't have to clean this place up."
"Ha, ha," Barry watched as she backtracked.
"Oh, you just have to speed around and that'll be it. Quit acting so offended," Belén turned to leave, but stopped just under the threshold to glance back. "I'll see you later, then?"
"Yeah," Barry smiled and nodded his head. The other me better thank me for this, he thought. He just got themselves a girlfriend.
~ 0 ~
When Barry returned to STAR Labs, he found Caitlin and Cisco dead set in work on the computers. Wells was situated between the two, staring endlessly at Barry.
"What's going on?" Barry took off his jacket and left it on a nearby chair.
"Oh, you know, just trying to figure out how to find this Dementor that's apparently roaming through Central City right now," Cisco huffed and switched tabs to begin a new search.
"I assume that was the cause of the CCPD alarm," Wells remarked, hand on chin.
"Yeah, actually, it attacked my lab."
Caitlin looked up from her computer with widened eyes. "You saw it?"
"No, I didn't see it, no. I di... um…" Barry knew he was messing up there, "Well, I didn't get there in time, but I have seen it before."
Wells dropped his hand to his lap and tilted his head. "Where?"
My God it was like he was asking to be caught. Barry inwardly groaned. He'd seen plenty of movies where the main character traveled back in time and acted cool about it. Why could he do the same!? "It was earlier today, actually, when I was running to take Hartley down."
"And you're just now mentioning this?"
"I... I didn't know what it was. I thought it was some sort of illusion. I don't know!"
"Okay," Caitlin slowly returned to her own work, "Well, we need to find it before it hurts somebody."
"Can you track it?" Barry directly asked Cisco, for a moment forgetting this Cisco hadn't yet learned he could 'vibe'.
"What is with you guys!?" went Cisco, raising his hands in frustration. "It's like you think I have ESP or something. I can't just magically sense where things are."
"What can you do, Cisco?" Wells calmly asked beside him.
Cisco calmed before he answered. "I'm thinking I can reconfigure the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to look for it. Um, it might take some time though."
"Alright, in the meantime, Mr. Allen, come with me," Wells motioned Barry to follow. Thinking he had finally cracked the equation for him, Barry happily followed Wells into his office.
"So, you figured the speed equation out?" Barry asked after taking a seat.
"As a matter of fact, I have," Wells went behind Barry's chair.
"Oh, great," Barry could feel a part of him begin to relax. He would be going home real soon then. "You figured it out!"
Wells suddenly got up from his wheelchair and swung his fist at Barry's head, knocking the speedster out. "I've figured it all out."
~ 0 ~
The next time Barry woke up he found himself in Thawne's secret room, cuffed to Thawne's wheelchair with some sort of high-tech in them. He was startled to find Thawne sitting directly across him on a chair, staring at him.
"Now, who are you?" Thawne didn't waste a moment with him. "I mean, who are you really?"
Barry cleared his throat. "Dr. Wells, what are you doing?"
Thawne leaned forwards on his chair, hands together and against his nose. "None of it adds up. The interference with the comms, the speed equation, the Time Wraith." He could see the glint of realization in Barry's eyes at the new name and smiled. "That's what we call them. Time Wraiths. Scary, aren't they? I thought, 'Oh, no, a Time Wraith has found me.' But then I thought, "No, no, no." You know what you're doing. Now, the Time Wraith is after someone who's traveled through time... and doesn't know what they're doing."
Barry could feel his heart racing and not in a good way. "Dr. Wells, c'mon," he released a small laugh. "It's me. It's... it's Barry. I don't... Really?"
Wells began to sarcastically clap for him. "You are good. You are good, and I would believe you, except that…" and he suddenly sped up to Barry waiting for a reaction that never came. Barry had glared straight away. "Nothing. I move like this, you barely flinch. You know who I am. Don't you?" Barry decided he was not going to sit there and let the man keep going at whatever game he'd invented. He tried vibrating through the cuffs around his wrist but failed. Thawne observed the action with a bit of disappointment. "And you're from the future. Do you know how I know that? Because I haven't taught my Barry Allen how to phase through objects... yet"
"Let me out here, Thawne," Barry ordered.
"I know," Thawne sighed. "You're upset. But it does me good to hear that name again. Now, onto the bigger question. Why are you here?"
Barry went with the truth since there was nothing else to lose now. "Because I want to go faster, and you're the only one who can teach me. You're the only one who's figured out the equation. The Speed Force. You've manipulated it. How did you do that?"
But Thawne was scowling. He turned away from Barry and began to make his own conclusions. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. You'd only come here if something went wrong. If you're still alive, then that means... I haven't beaten you. If you're still alive... that means my plan fails!" He threw the chair in the room against the wall and turned on Barry. "And if my plan fails, I don't get to go home, and if that's the case, well, then…"
Barry panicked when Thawne raised a threatening, vibrating hand. "No, no, no! Hey, hey, hey! It's the opposite! It's the opposite!" he shouted desperately. "It... you trick me. You harness my speed. We turn on the accelerator to create a path for you to go home. I go back in time. You go back to yours. You won."
Thawne kept his vibrating hand in the air and stared at Barry for what the speedster considered was the longest minute ever. "Then why are you here? Why are you here now?"
"Because when I got back, a singularity had formed!" Barry quickly supplied. "And now the only way for me to learn how to get faster and stop the singularity from happening was to come here."
"Well, that's good to know. There's just… Just one thing that occurs to me. I don't need you. Do I?" Thawne smirked. "Not this you certainly. Oops," he sarcastically laughed. "You probably should've thought of that before you came back here. Shame...You ran all the way back here just to die."
Barry didn't flinch under the new threat because that one was easy to excuse. "You kill me... Barry... this Barry, your Barry, he learns it all. There's a hidden letter telling him how it ends, how to beat you, everything. Anything happens to me, you never make it back home. Go on. Kill me, Thawne. See how this all ends." But of course Thawne didn't move now that he knew what was at stake. "Now, you're gonna help me get faster."
~ 0 ~
Present day.
"So you're saying that the Belén of your world—"
"Her name's Datura," Poison Ivy left that dead clear for Belén to understand.
"So anyways, she was a scientist at Mercury Labs who was accidentally turned into a metahuman - although one could argue that her Barry was actually responsible for creating 'Datura' - and because she was unable to control her powers she faked her own death. I got that. One thing I'm just curious about is how Datura got the siphoning ability? Technically speaking, she should've only had the Datura powers just like I have my Azalea powers."
Poison Ivy gave a shrug of her shoulders, just as lost as Belén was. "She was working on an experiment that, if successful, would have absorbed energy but that was it. It must have mixed with the daturas she had there and altered her DNA."
"It's made her unstable," Belén did feel a bit sympathy for the woman in that part. She remembered Bette Sans Succi who couldn't touch anything and how frustrated Bette was because of it. It can't be easy and it does, eventually, take a toll on someone. "And that's why she turned evil?"
Poison Ivy laughed at such a juvenile thought. "She didn't turn evil. She always had that darkness inside her. Her civilian life never called for it but it was always there, sitting and waiting for the day it could come out."
"Yeah...so when did that day come?" Belén asked, making her tone sound as straight as possible. She wasn't intending on letting Poison Ivy start taunting her that the same darkness Datura let out was also inside her.
"In the beginning, she wanted to test her siphoning abilities out," Poison Ivy lightly smirked. "That's how we met, actually. She'd accidentally killed some pesky gardener on my hit list. Datura thought that perhaps going to the same person who'd sold her Barry the 2 daturas might have more. She wanted to go back to the basics, but things got out of hand when he realized that Datura was supposed to be dead and before Datura knew it, her hand had touched the man. He shriveled in 10 seconds flat. I was impressed."
Belén was disgusted and she let it be known. "She killed a man! That's terrible!"
"He had it coming," snapped Poison Ivy. "He was arguing with Datura and she lost it. I showed up just before it happened. One way or another, that man was going to die...Datura just beat me to it. She was so scared, poor thing..." Poison Ivy laughed as she thought back to that day. "She looked like a scared child. I had to tell her that it was fine, it was okay. She did what she had to. That man had threatened to expose the fact she was still alive. I made her see that it was all okay. I was the one who took her to her first metahuman victim."
"Oh what a great friend you were," Belén sarcastically said, feeling a rage start in the pit of her stomach. Up until now, it sounded like Poison Ivy was responsible for creating the terrible metahuman that was Datura.
"I was," Poison Ivy glared. It sounded like she was truly offended that Belén would think otherwise. "I've been Datura's partner, best friend, you name it, for a long time now! She doesn't have to hide with me. I taught her how to harness her datura abilities and she's learned how to siphon people. Up until now, she hasn't found anything she can't siphon. The only downside is that side-effect she gets each time she siphons someone. She takes their powers but also a part of them."
"Wait..." Belén blinked, "You mean that thing with the overlapping voices? What is that!? It's so creepy!"
"Well, we're not entirely sure about that but we have hunches. Somewhere along the siphoning process, she ends up siphoning a bit of the victim. A bit a of their consciousness ends up embedded in her and, when she uses their power, that victim's personality briefly appears."
"My God no wonder she's a psychopath," Belén's eyes had widened in horror. "There must be dozens of voices in her head." Poison Ivy raised her head but no longer looked at Belén. "She's not right in the head because she's got all these different people living in her like...like echos. Why doesn't she just stop, then? It's clear that the more she siphons, the crazier and weaker she's going to get. That's how she became sick, right?"
"Because she likes it," Poison Ivy groaned. "Why is that so hard to understand!?"
"Because I don't believe it! So far, it seems like you made her what she is! When's the last time her head has been clear!? Quiet? When's the last time she's been on her own, without you and those voices telling her what to do? Last time I heard, she started making better choices when she had her husband in front of her. She is capable of doing good."
"She is," Poison Ivy surprisingly agreed, making Belén pause for a second. "She's capable of anything. I don't control that and neither does her husband."
"...you're right," Belén said quietly after carefully reviewing what she'd learned so far. "Nobody can control her, but it's clear that environmental changes do have an affect on her. She's evil, no doubt about that, but deep down...she's fundamentally the same as me and any other doppelgangers we have out there. She gets scared easily, she's sneaky, sarcastic, she loves Barry Allen and their family. Barry told me that he found objects in your greenhouse that belonged to Earth 2 Maritza, Rayan and their parents."
"She. Is. Datura," Poison Ivy enunciated each word slowly before slamming a fist against the pod's wall.
"She is," Belén agreed. "But I wonder what she'd be if she didn't have all those voices rocking about in her head. Who would she be if she was no longer scared of her powers and actually had some control over them? I'm kind of curious..."
"She'll always be Datura!"
"Yeah, she might be..." Belén started drifting towards the pipeline's controls, "She could very well be the same...but I'd like to see it. See what happens, you know. I'll let you know how that goes." She winked at Poison Ivy who couldn't look more furious.
"You won't change her!"
"I'm not going to," Belén left it clear just as her fingers found the prison pod controls. "I won't make her be someone she's not. I'm just going to..." A clean smile spread across her face, "...take something out of the equation. Bye!" She jammed a hand against the buttons and waved at a screaming Poison Ivy.
~ 0 ~
Past, 2014.
Barry was waiting for Thawne to finally make his decision and let him go once and for all. But then they began to hear shouting from outside. And screeches. There were definitely screeches out there. Thawne quickly pulled up the security camera feed to showing multiple footage of the building. In one screen was Caitlin running towards the pipeline with a Time Wraith hot on her trail.
"We need to help them," Barry tried getting up but fell right back down since he was still cuffed.
Cisco had sealed himself and Caitlin inside Hartley's prison pod but the Time Wraith was still pounding, and by the looks of it cracking the wall of the pod.
"Get me out of here, c'mon!" Barry shouted at Thawne since the man hadn't moved yet.
"If that thing comes after me and messes with my plans, you're all dead!" Thawne warned as he moved over.
Barry stared at the screens and panicked even worse when he saw Belén coming out of the elevator. "Oh n-n-n-no. Hurry up!" he frantically pulled on the cuffs. He might just speed out of there with it.
~ 0 ~
"Yes, Maritza, I'll text you if I'm coming home for dinner or not," Belén was in the middle of a phone conversation with her sister when she exited the elevator. "Yeah, actually, I don't know if I'm gonna be late…" She planned on finally talking with Barry and hoping for a good resolution. "I might be...if I'm lucky…"
But then the Time Wraith's screeches made her lower her phone for a moment. There was definitely something there.
"Mar, I'll call you back," she said goodbye to Maritza and hung up. She dropped her phone in her purse and walked forwards. "Caitlin? Cisco?" she began to call out, and loudly unfortunate. "Dr. Wells?"
The screeching grew louder as the Time Wraith rushed towards her. She dropped her purse when she finally saw the Time Wraith at the other end of the hallway. Her scream was inevitable. Green patches sprouted on her hands when she raised her arms over her head. Thankfully, her scientist friends had Hartley's gauntlets in the pipeline, giving Hartley the tools to release a destructive signal on the same frequency as the Time Wraith. A reverberating, ear-splitting screech blasted throughout the entire building with so much force that it threw Belén back against the elevator doors. The noise was, however, successful in forcing the Time Wraith to retreat and leave the building.
While Thawne went to release Caitlin and Cisco from the pipeline, Barry sped to the entrance to find Belén.
"Bells!" he found her trying to sit up and failing.
"My head…" the woman groaned. She rubbed the side of her head, letting Barry see the familiar random green patch of skin on the back of her hand. This was still the period in which Belén hid the other side of her powers from everyone.
"Bells, let me help you," Barry didn't necessarily wait for her to agree. He scooped her up into his arms and headed for the cortex. Caitlin would have to give her another check up.
"Was that...the Dementor?"
"Uh, yeah…" Barry was careful as he laid her down on a bed. She winced when her head touched the pillow, prompting Barry to give an apology.
"I stand corrected. It's a lot scarier than what the movies show," Belén said with a small smile.
"Bells…" Barry tried not laugh because this was a serious moment. She was hurt and needed to be looked at...but she was also pretty funny.
"Hey, what's going on?" Cisco called when he, Caitlin and Thawne walked into the cortex.
Barry quickly came out of the side room and motioned for Caitlin to go in. "Bells was hurt by whatever you guys did…"
"Hartley used the gauntlets to get the creature to leave for now," Cisco waved Hartley's gauntlets in his hands.
"You should check if the thing's still here, though," Barry suggested. Cisco hummed in agreement and hurried back to the computers.
Thawne gave deep stare at Barry, probably blaming him for all this. The bad thing was that this time Thawne was right. The Time Wraith had come back for him and nearly hurt his friends because of it.
~ 0 ~
Present Day.
"So...that's it, you're going to cure Datura?" Shivhan seemed outraged at the news but at the same time she was hopeful that she'd heard wrong. She looked at Caitlin and Cisco in the cortex for their input. "Well? Did you hear her!?"
"Not much we can say at this point," Cisco shrugged his shoulders.
"Except maybe...you're crazy!?" Shivhan exclaimed, though it was nothing that Belén hadn't prepared for.
"Am not," the ombre-blonde waved her off. "I just want to see what happens if we do cure her. Everything that Poison Ivy told me...it made it sound like after Datura got her powers, she never had a moment of clarity."
"It must be difficult thinking clearly if she has dozens of voices in her head," Caitlin remarked but as soon as she did, Shivhan threw her a glare. "Sorry."
"No!" Belén moved to Caitlin's side of the desk. "Because that's exactly what I thought too. I'm not saying that I expect Datura to be a better person afterwards. I'm not expecting anything. I just want to see what happens to her. What happens when we remove all the voices and give her control over her powers? If she goes back to being herself...then it proves that it was just the powers making her evil."
"And if not?" Shivhan crossed her arms and fixated a hard-eyed stare on Belén, almost assuming that if they got the worst side of Datura then Belén would lose it.
"Then we lock her ass up in the pipeline for good," Belén said without any hint of hesitation.
"So you would leave her alone if she turned good again?" Cisco genuinely wondered.
"I don't know," Belén admitted. "I mean...if we get that lucky, then I think we'll figure something out at that point but right now this is my choice. I want to try and cure her. But I also want to make it clear-" she pointed a finger at Shivhan, "-that I am not expecting for Datura to change her ways. I'm giving her a path like Poison Ivy did, and if she makes the wrong one that's on her. I'm not going to lament the fact my doppelganger is evil."
"I think that's very noble of of you to decide this, Belén," Caitlin offered Belén her supportive smile. It couldn't have been easy choosing to help a woman who's been hurting them nonstop all year. "Anything you need from me, I'm here."
"You know I already had work set up so..." Cisco trailed off, leaving his side clear.
"Shivhan?" Belén waited for the woman's input. "You've helped me a lot...will you do it one more time?"
Shivhan rolled her eyes. "Gah, you know I will. I just won't be happy about it. Seriously, if it was me, I'd leave that woman to die. The only thing I'd be doing is finding her a good cremation box."
Belén chuckled. "Oh Shivhan."
~ 0 ~
Past, 2014.
"Just...try to take it easy…" Caitlin walked cautiously with Belén out from the side room. Belén refused to stay in bed any longer despite still feeling woozy from the second blow of the day.
"Relax, Caitlin, I doubt that thing will come back right now... I hope…" Belén couldn't continue with this streak of bad luck any longer.
Caitlin walked her to where Cisco and Thawne were working on Hartley's gauntlets. "How's it going?" Caitlin asked.
Cisco grumbled, apparently the answer being not good. Belén leaned against the threshold, still rubbing the side of her head. "Why don't you just ask Hartley? He was the one who created them after all."
"It's what I said too," Cisco threw a look over to Thawne.
"Fine," went the man. "See if he can help, but he stays in the cell."
"But then what? That thing's gonna come back—"
"Don't argue," Caitlin tried to say when Barry - or at least a Barry - sped into the room looking frantic as ever.
"Where is he? Where's the other Flash!?" His eyes scanned the entire room but found only his confused friends staring at him.
Confusion grew even more when the future Barry appeared behind. "I'm right here."
The younger Barry quickly turned on him, suspicious yet fearful another syringe might be injected in him again.
"Cait, maybe I do need to go lie down. I'm seeing two Barry's," Belén shook her head fervently as if that would make one Barry disappear.
Caitlin put a hand on Belén's arm to stop her from shaking her head before she got dizzy. "No, they're real."
"Okay, so then who are you?" Belén made a gesture to the younger Barry. "You just pop in out of nowhere - speed in or whatever—"
"Bells!" he exclaimed and cut her off. "I'm Barry!" he gestured to himself. "I'm Barry. Your Barry!"
Cisco raised his fingers at the two speedsters, being the first one to get what was happening. "He's...your...doppelganger…?"
"No, not yet," went the future-Barry with a shrug before glancing at his younger version. "I am you, Barry. Just...different."
"Wait a second, how do we know which one's the real Barry?" challenged Cisco.
"Oh, that's good, make them answer a lot of questions," Belén smiled to herself. "That's always funny in the movies…"
Young Barry was not amused by her antics. He was already upset with her because she'd been ignoring him. "It's not funny!" he snapped at her. She scowled in return.
"Okay, guys—" went the future-Barry in an effort to stop a new argument between them, "—I'm sorry. This was not supposed to happen. The tranq dart that Caitlin made was supposed to last a lot longer-"
At the accusation Caitlin raised her hands in defense. "I did not give him a tranq dart!"
Thawne kept making gestures for the future-Barry to understand but was being plainly ignored.
"Okay, no, yes, not you, the you from the time that I am from," Barry was trying to clarify that he was talking about the version of Caitlin he knew.
"The time that you are from?" the younger Barry repeated, confused.
"I think what he's trying to say is he's from the future," Thawne finally just cut in.
"The future?" young-Barry continued to ask.
"Yeah."
A new gleeful glint crossed young-Barry's face as he realized. "Are we saying I can time-travel?"
"One day," his older version promised.
"Well that is just unfair," Belén crossed her arms and sighed.
"Oh, that explains the white on the symbol," Cisco pointed at the white emblem sitting on young-Barry's chest. "Well, wait a second. Suppose we now change your emblem. Will it be because we got the idea from this? Or, I mean, that would mean…"
"Stop talking," Thawne ordered. "You stop talking too, all right?" he warned the future Barry. "More you say, the more the timeline is disrupted. Now I'm going to assume that your presence here is the reason that thing is attacking us."
"What? What thing?" young-Barry quickly asked.
"A Dementor," answered Belén with a sway of her feet.
"Is she on meds…?" young-Barry directed his question to Caitlin. "Or…?"
"I hit my head twice, alright? Leave me alone!"
"Oh, yeah, that's what you've been making sure I do lately!"
"That's why I was trying to apologize and - oooh…" Belén trailed off and gazed over to the future-Barry who was already apologetically smiling at her. "Now that makes sense." He didn't want her apologizing to him because she wouldn't be apologizing to the right version! Smart!
"What does?" demanded the younger Barry.
"Doesn't matter. Right now I say we focus on the Dementor…"
"Time Wraith," corrected future-Barry.
"For your safety, don't help."
"And how do we do that exactly?" asked Caitlin.
"We don't know yet," Thawne said with regret.
"So then what are we gonna do?"
Thawne leveled a look future-Barry. "The one thing we can."
~ 0 ~
"What do you think Wells is giving the future Barry?" Cisco came back to the cortex after peering out into the hallway for the third time.
"Who cares," the young Barry sat the white emblem belonging to his older version down on the desk. "He can take that and I want mine back."
"Is this a case of boys and their toys?" asked Belén curiously.
Barry shook his head and tried to be rational about this. But then again an older version of him had fought him, injected him with a tranq dart and taken his place for most of the day so maybe being rational wasn't exactly his strongest point yet. He directed an accusing hand at Belén and turned on her. "Okay, you are confusing—"
"And you—" Belén pointed at him, "—are extra cranky. Guess we're both having a bad day."
Barry glared at her hard. "I don't think you should be pushing it, honestly. You've been ignoring me ever since we fought Snart and Rory!"
"Well, I was going to tell you but then I learned that the 'you' I was going to tell wasn't actually you because he was from the future!" Belén stopped after listening to her own words, her nose scrunching. "Hold on..."
"I was here and even I'm confused with what she said..." Cisco mumbled to Caitlin from their chairs.
"Imagine me," Barry snapped and briefly glared at Belén again.
"Barry, I'm sorry," she tried to apologize there and then since he was only getting more upset with her. She knew she deserved it but it didn't mean that it didn't hurt.
"Yeah," he scoffed instead.
Belén sighed and, dejectedly, glanced Caitlin and Cisco. "I deserve it, I know."
"It's not that you deserve anything it's just...I'm frustrated," Barry crossed his arms, scowling at her.
"I know. And you have every right to be, I swear. You can be mad and I won't be upset cos I know it's my fault."
"Bells, it's not," the older Barry said as he and Thawne returned. He cast a deep glare at his younger version, warning him to stop right there. "So quit making her feel like it or you and I are going to argue right now too." His words surprised everyone but he didn't care. This argument was pointless now that he thought about it. Belén made a decision between Rayan and him and she chose him thinking about the greater good. Rayan wasn't playing fair and Belén only chose thinking about the city. That wasn't her fault. It was just who she was. He would he damned if anyone, even another version of himself, made her feel bad about herself.
"Okay, our satellite has finally found our floating friend and it's coming back," Caitlin announced with a clearing of her throat. She, like the others, were looking from one Barry to the other, wondering if they would actually fight.
"You need to go," Thawne pointed at the future Barry. "Now."
"I need to know how to stop it," he told the others. "Not now. When I get back. You guys have a year to figure it out."
Cisco nodded. "Okay. We'll figure something out."
"Cisco, come here," Barry pulled Cisco to the side for a moment. "Hartley knows where Ronnie is."
"Okay?" Cisco said before his words truly registered. "Wait, what?"
"It's coming!" Caitlin went again.
"You need to leave now!" Thawne more urgently told Barry.
"Yeah, okay," Barry went over to the desk to retrieve his rightful emblem. His younger version cleared his throat and held out his hand to get his own emblem back. "Sorry," future Barry said as he handed the old emblem back.
"Thank you," young Barry strapped the emblem back on his suit.
"And listen," future Barry spoke in a hushed tone, "This argument with Bells? Not worth it. Trust me. Just listen to her, please. For both our sake's." His younger version seemed to listen this time so Barry could leave feeling at peace. Of course, before he truly left, he had to stop by Belén first.
She was already smiling when he came up to her. "Thanks for backing me up."
"Always," he said earnestly. "And just so you know, your choice meant a lot to me." He leaned closer and whispered so that only she would hear. "Thank you."
Whether she wanted to or not, she blushed. She waved him goodbye with a languid hand until she noticed everyone else's look on her, including their version of Barry.
"What he say?" he asked her curiously. Her smile was a bit funny.
"Nothing," she cleared her throat and moved a few steps away.
Future Barry had gone down into the pipeline and followed the same instructions he'd done to get there in the first place. He ran as fast as he could in a constant circle and just like before, the Time Wraith swooped down and started chasing him.
"It's not working. It's slowing him down," Caitlin told the others as they watched from the monitors.
"So what do we do?" Belén frowned. "Can we help him?"
"I can," answered their Barry before speeding away despite Wells calling him not to.
He rushed into the pipeline and waited for his older version to pass by and when the Time Wraith came next, he launched a foot straight at it. The Time Wraith went flying backwards, giving future Barry the precise gap and speed to go into a time portal. The Time Wraith went after a minute later.
"Cool," young Barry breathed in with a laugh. He couldn't wait to be able to do that one day. For now, he would just focus on what he had in front of him. He brought a hand to the comm. in his ear. "Bells?"
"...yeah?" came the unsure voice from the cortex.
"Let's talk." And even though Barry couldn't see her at the moment, he knew she was smiling just like he was.
~ 0 ~
Getting back to the present day, Barry came through the portal only a couple hours after he had left. He also came to the mighty surprise of finding a reformed Hartley Rathaway helping them and even creating the gauntlet device that permanently destroyed the Time Wraith. It was nice knowing that he managed to do a little good along the way.
It was even better to know that the trip was successful in that Thawne had kept his word and gave Barry the keys to new speed. With all this, he happily went to find his girlfriend - the version he would be able to kiss now - in the building. She was fixing things in her greenhouse but as soon as she saw him, she dropped everything to greet him. Turns out that they both had some news for each other.
"Seems like we both found what we needed," she concluded. "You got your speed equation solved and...I decided to try and cure a psycopath. Not the same but, still...yay?"
Barry chuckled at her. "It's a semi-win. So then...you sure this is what you want?"
"Mhm," Belén nodded her head. "After listening to Poison Ivy I wondered what I would be like if I had all those voices in my head. It's not personality disorder, it's a serious side effect that her own powers are creating. I bet Datura hasn't had a quiet mind in a very long time. I don't know if it'll cure her mentally but I can at least say that I tried to help."
"Okay," Barry smiled at her. "Let's try."
"Right. And you got your speed problem solved, right?"
"Oh yeah! We're going to be looking over everything Thawne gave me," Barry was anxious at what exactly the USB contained. He only skimmed a bit of it earlier with the others but once they were all together, they would start working on it.
"Hey! There you are!" Iris suddenly popped into the room with her laptop bag slung around her shoulder. She came into the room in a hasty run. "I've been looking for you, Belén!"
"Why? What is it?" Belén watched her pull her laptop out of her bag. She let the bag fall to the floor while she opened her laptop up. "Iris? You okay?"
"I am and after you see all this, you will be too!" Iris turned her laptop around so that Belén could see the screen.
Belén leaned closer but all she saw was her article. "I'm confused. I know I wrote this. I was there."
Iris rolled her eyes. "No, no! Look at the comments! The responses!"
Belén took the laptop into her arms and scrolled down to the end of the article where all the responses would be. "Wow, okay...there's more now."
"Try hundreds! Yesterday you had about a hundred. It spiked between then and now! There's a total of 800 and who knows how much there'll be by tomorrow!"
"That's good right?" Barry looked between the two reporters with his own growing smile.
"Yes!" Iris laughed. "For a freelance article like this...it's really good."
"It's doing good for people," Belén whispered, as if it was just now donning on her. She was trying to read as many comments as possible and despite there being a few bad apples, there were plenty of people thanking her for writing the article. Others showed their support to any botanical meta that might need shelter or food or anything else while they were in hiding. "It's like a community is starting there..."
"Yeah, a community you started," Barry said to her. He kissed her temple and started reading a few comments as she kept scrolling. "If any metahuman sees this, they'll know about the Green. It's exactly what you wanted."
"Yeah, it is," Belén bit her lower lip to keep herself from laughing. It was just too surreal that her article was actually working. It truly made her suspension all the more worth it.
Author's Note:
Soooo our dear Belén has decided to help Datura out. And she's made it very clear that she's not expecting for the doppelganger to change but she'll at least try to give Datura a start. What do you think will happen with that?
And next chapter is one of my favorites! Just like my second Arrowverse OC was introduced here (in Chapter 9 and 10: New Path / A Jinx's Path), my THIRD OC will be introduced in the next chapter! I've been dying to debut her ever since I published Graciela's chapter! If any of you follow me on Tumblr, you know that this third OC will be part of Supergirl's world and her name is Anais. I really hope you guys like her!
P. S: As always, check out my tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! My URL is "saiilorstars"