Sirens wailed through the streets of Central City. A pair of criminals thought they could get away with a clean heist if they had anything to say. Their car made a swift swerve onto the opposite street and revved up on the engines, leaving the policemen to try and catch up by doing faulty turns.
"We lost them!" The one driving cackled and prepared for a much smoother ride.
Mistake number one.
Tendrils of vines had sprouted from the ground and wrapped around one street pole to the next at the crossing area. The car was forced to come to an abrupt stop in a halfway swerve.
The Tempest dropped in on the driver's side, startling the man, and shattered the window with a small force of wind. "Mind if we talk?" She didn't wait for the answer and yanked the man out.
On the other side, the Azalea formed from her vines. She opened the car simply and flashed a smile. "You better come out now or you'll be guest to my lovely poison." She gently blew air to the side and allowed the man to see the pink mist form a small azalea. "Beautiful but deadly."
Soon, the police cars had caught up with them. As they exited their cars, Azalea and the Tempest each pulled out the criminals and pushed them forwards.
"All yours," the Azalea grinned before making her exit with the Tempest.
~ 0 ~
"That was four heists in one night - what the hell is with these people?" Nina demanded to know as soon as she and Belén returned to STAR Labs and changed out of their suits.
"That is the night shift," Belén patted her friend's arm and went by the desk. "Please tell me Shivhan was able to get the other robbery under control and that we're done," she had leaned down beside Cisco.
"So far so great," Cisco was happy to report.
"Great," Belén sighed with relief. "We did it."
"It's never going to be finished," Harry came out of the side room, making everyone groan. They knew what was coming. "This temporary duo isn't gonna last very long before someone figures things out."
"No, they won't," Belén narrowed her eyes on him. "The people don't care who they see, so long as someone helps them."
"Really?" Harry tilted his head. "You don't think someone's gonna question why all of a sudden this uncommon meta-"
"I am well known!" Nina argued.
"Not like the Flash is," Harry corrected. "You usually make two rounds per month and now suddenly you're everywhere and the Flash isn't? People aren't that stupid."
"Have you seen the internet lately?"
"Okay," Cisco purposely talked loud. "Without Barry's speed, this is the best solution."
"Actually, I beg to differ," Harry pointed.
"Oh God, you started it again," Belén mumbled to Cisco under her breath.
Because Harry had started yet again on his tangent of his new, fascinating idea. "I think a better idea, instead of just playing around, would be to rebuild the particle accelerator to get Barry's speed back."
"You know, I think about that idea all the time and I still can't figure out on what planet would that be considered good one?" Belén sarcastically thought. "I mean, it's not like there was an explosion or something like that - oh wait, there was!"
"Not to mention, last time we tried something like that, we blew a hole in the universe and created, like, 50 portals to your Earth," Cisco added. "Which is exactly how Zoom and his henchmen got here in the first place."
Harry hated to repeat himself on something so simple. He wasn't asking them to jump blindly into something. He did his research, he knew exactly what to do yet the idea was just being thrown away. "I told you. I know how to contain the explosion."
"You know how to contain a dark matter explosion that, last time, just radiated all of Central City?" asked a seriously doubtful Cisco.
"Look, I have your Wells's data. The Harrison Wells from this Earth, I have his science. I know what chemicals need to be in Barry's body. I know how the lightning needs to bond with the dark matter from the particle accelerator explosion. I can recreate the circumstances to get you his speed back."
But still no one agreed.
"Cisco, you think you could open up a portal to Earth 38?" Belén huffed after Harry had left.
"No, why?"
"Because my adoptive daughter is also a speedster and she could help us right about now," Belén shook her head and decided to go find Barry. She had a pretty good idea of where he was.
~ 0 ~
"No, we need to kick-start the cells in her body-"
"Yes, but we need to identify the cells that are failing to regenerate-"
"-right except that-"
"I am properly scared," Belén made her presence known before Barry and Jesse went further in their argument. The two in question looked at her with slightly wide eyes. "See, this is why I don't do science. It leads to arguing."
"It's fine," Jesse playfully rolled her eyes. "We're just having trouble agreeing on the right way to go about this cure. I'm sure Caitlin would have known better."
"We're just stressed," Barry spoke up. "But you're doing fine. Thanks, Jesse."
Jesse took the compliment with a smile. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, then."
After Jesse left, Belén noticed there were several more pictures and tools set up for the apparent cure which meant they were advancing despite Caitlin's absence. "So, is progress being made?"
"Yeah, I suppose," Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "We're just having trouble finding the right way to actually stabilize Datura." Which was basically everything.
"I thought that's where I would come in," Belén pointed at herself, slightly confused.
"Well, yes, but it's like a jigsaw puzzle, you know?" Barry took her to the clear board where both Belén's and her doppelganger's profiles were set up. "We need to figure out how your cells could fit to regenerate your doppelganger's. We also need to take into consideration which of your doppelganger's cells belong to which power she owns."
"Sounds complicated," Belén shook her head.
"Kind of, but not impossible."
"Okay but does that mean you won't be coming home with me?" Belén latched onto his arm and sarcastically batted her eyelashes at him. "Or am I going to have to fight other-me for you?"
Barry laughed and patted his hand over hers placed on his arm. "Never." Belén turned them to leave, then. "Is Harry still out there?"
Belén groaned. They both were tired of hearing Harry's incessant idea. Belén suspected was why Barry all of a sudden secluded himself in Cisco's workshop, to get away from the the madman trying to rebuild the Particle Accelerator.
~0~
It was midday when Detectives Green and West were called to Mercury Labs for a break-in. Dr. McGee led them into the security camera footage while telling the detectives it was just tiresome to have go through this all over again.
"It didn't even seem like this thief cared she was caught on video," she said as the security team worked to bring the videos up.
"Why do you say that?" Joe asked. Even he was slightly confused since nearly every meta doing thievery at least tried to take down the security cameras before committing their crime.
"Take a look," McGee gestured as one video popped up.
A tall ginger woman walked into the middle of the room and smiled directly at the camera. She wiggled her fingers and even blew them a kiss.
Veronica's blood went cold at the sight of Poison Ivy. The meta went around the room picking things up and putting them down, until she would find what she needed and kept hold of them.
"What exactly did she steal?" Joe inquired sine he knew Veronica would probably need a moment.
"A couple things," McGee began to list. "Lab tools and several meta-dampener syringes."
"What would she need that for?" Joe mumbled but Veronica had a pretty good guess.
~0~
Cisco didn't even want to look at the computer model of the 'new' Particle Accelerator and yet here he was...
"It looks like the Vacuum," he declared after a moment.
"Uh, what's the Vacuum?" Jesse gave him a questioning look.
"No "Fringe" on Earth-2. Noted. This is what you've been working on in the workshop?"
"Someone has to worry about Zoom," Harry came up to stand beside him.
"Okay. Barry cannot do this," Cisco turned away.
"He has to, Ramon-"
"You keep calling me that, but that's-" Cisco stopped when an image of his brother came to mind in a vibe. "Dante?"
Harry quickly got on him to know what he saw. "What did you see? Zoom? Did you see Zoom?"
"No. I saw my brother. I got to go!" Cisco wasn't taking the chance of letting his brother get into new danger and rushed off.
At the same time, Barry and his father, Henry, walked into the cortex. "Where is everybody?" Barry asked after only catching Harry and Jesse.
"Cisco just strangely left," Jesse shrugged and came out to greet them. "Hi," she shook hands with Henry.
"That's Jesse, Harry's daughter," Barry introduced them. Harry gave a mere wave from the doorway of the side room, not quite interested with the new visitor. "And…" but Barry's voice was drowned out by an incoming argument.
Belén came striding in with her mother right behind her, and the ombre-blonde looked absolutely livid. "I am not doing it!" She whirled around to meet her mother's equally angry face. "No! No! And did I mention no!?"
"Bells, what's going on?" Barry called their attention. He decided not to comment how similar Belén's angry face was to Veronica's, but it was weird.
"My mother is being unnecessarily…" Belén began when she saw Henry beside Barry. Her anger immediately dropped to be replaced with a smile, and a possible nervous laugh. "I am always make bad first impressions around you...sorry."
Henry liked the woman already but her personality was something else. "It's fine."
Belén came over to properly greet him. She still wished she would've gotten a little heads up from Barry to put on her best behavior, but then again she was sure Barry couldn't possibly know when Veronica would irritate her. "It's so good to have you around. I guess Barry dragged you back for a bit, huh?"
"Looks like maybe for good," Barry chimed in, completely ecstatic about it. It was refreshing for Belén to see is first real smile because as of late, he barely gave one of those.
"Really? That's great!"
"Yeah, yeah, I figured I spent enough time away from my son," Henry agreed.
"See, Mom? Take notes!" Belén remarked and huffed when Veronica got started again.
"I am not joking around, Annah-Belén. You need to leave! It's not safe!"
"What is going on?" Barry had never seen Veronica so frustrated and...scared? That couldn't be good.
"She's back," Veronica didn't hesitate to answer while Belén rolled her eyes and looked to the side.
"Who?"
"Poison Ivy! She's back and if she's here then it means so is that other woman."
"Or she's on her way," Harry offered but received a glare from Veronica in return.
"Be quiet!"
"How do you know she's back, Ms. Green?" Barry tried to understand. As angry as Belén was about the situation, he couldn't imagine that Veronica would make something like that up.
"Joe and I got called in by Dr. McGee this morning because someone broke into the lab last night. It was Poison Ivy."
Belén wasn't going to let her mother scare the others. "It could have bee -"
"It was," Veronica insisted, allowing no room for doubt. "She waved at the security camera like it was a game."
"If she wanted to come get me she would have done it already!" Belén argued logically.
"What exactly did she take from Mercury Labs?" Barry asked once again. He was beginning to share some of Veronica's concern but he knew at this point it would only further annoy Belén.
"I don't know," Veronica sighed, rubbing her face. "Lab tools and syringes. Meta-dampener syringes."
"Sounds like Datura is starting her own cure process," Harry spoke up. "And I think we all know who those meta-dampner syringes are going to be used on."
"Thanks for nothing," Belén spat, though she didn't have time to say what else was on her mind because of Joe coming in with a haste.
"Zoom! He's back!"
The three words were enough to silence everyone in the room no matter their positions.
~0~
Caitlin endlessly stared at the cuffs binding her wrist to an officer's desk. There was no point in escaping now. She got what she wanted: she was back home. It was just the fact she wasn't actually home that got her. The only solace she had as of now was the she'd gotten Zoom to spare the officers in the precinct. The place was now deserted of cops, leaving only the wicked to lurk about.
"Alright," Poison Ivy came walking in like she owned the place. She let go of a bundle on a desk nearby Caitlin then walked over to the brunette. Caitlin didn't know what to think when set her free by bursting the cuffs to pieces with her vines. Poison Ivy merely chuckled. "Don't look so surprised, honey. This is a conditional freedom. Up!" She yanked Caitlin to her feet.
"What are you doing?" Caitlin was forcibly pulled to the table where Poison Ivy had dropped her bag.
"About to do some supervising that's what."
"But - hey!" Caitlin yelped when she hit the table. She looked down and saw a series of files, syringes, and medical tools. "What is all this?"
Poison Ivy came to stand beside her. "It's what Datura said you would probably need. Oh, and this," she let Harry's speed siphoning device drop on the table.
"What - you want me to help you do this cure?" Caitlin's eyes widened.
"What's the problem? Weren't you helping do that here?"
"Yeah, with my friends. They want to actually help Datura but that's not what she wants. She wants to kill Belén."
Poison Ivy hummed and tilted her head to the side. "Plausible. But either way you're going to help because if you don't, I'll bring your little friend here with these," she grabbed one of the syringes and twirled it around her fingers.
Caitlin's scowl deepened as she saw her options slowly fade from her reach.
~ 0 ~
"So Zoom came back with Caitlin and Poison Ivy?" Belén knew that probably didn't make sense to others too. Datura had not been sighted in the city which could only mean she was still on Earth 2...but why? "Why would he do that?"
"To show power," Harry believed himself to be the only lucid thinking one in the room. He told them this would happen and now they were about to see it. "That's exactly what he did on my Earth. The first thing he did was murder people. Slaughtered a bunch of policemen. Then recruited every meta-human he could find. And those that disobeyed, he killed too."
"Where are the police now?" Barry looked to Joe.
"Outside the precinct."
"He'll kill them, Joe. He'll kill them all," Harry meant as a warning so that everyone could just see his idea was the only option left.
Joe didn't believe it right away. "Not with Caitlin with him. She talked him out of killing everyone when he took over CCPD."
Harry scoffed. "That's what we're gonna rely on? Snow talking him out of it? Joe, you need to get those guys out of there!"
Barry had to agree there. The cops were sitting ducks at this point. "Joe, what if they set up at Jitters?"
"That's a good idea... it's just a block away from the precinct."
Harry shook his head, warning them it wasn't going to work. "And then what? What happens next? You saw what Zoom did on my Earth. He will do the exact same thing here. Barry, we need to get you your powers back."
"There must be another way," Henry cut him off. He didn't understand much about this metahuman business but he sure as hell understood the danger Harry was trying to impose on Barry.
"There's not!" Harry snapped.
"Well we better start thinking of something," Belén glared at the man. She knew she wouldn't be able to capture a full speedster like Zoom but it didn't mean there wasn't technology that couldn't either.
"I know one thing we ought to do," Veronica settled a sharp look on her daughter, hands on hips too.
Belén rolled her eyes. "Oh my God," she threw her head back and kept her mouth shut for the sake of the larger problem at hand.
"I'm gonna get word to Singh. Get him to set up a task force at Jitters," Joe made a motion to leave but stopped for Veronica.
The woman looked between him and Belén, waiting for her daughter to agree with her stance. Belén matched her older siblings in that she was just as stubborn as them; she did not budge.
"I'm not going, Joe," Veronica declared, eyes always on her daughter. The ombre-blonde in question groaned and crossed her arms.
Joe wouldn't press further and made his leave.
~ 0 ~
"I-I don't know what to do," Caitlin sighed and stared down at the desk she was being forced to work at.
Poison Ivy stood behind her and waited for the brunette to get started. "What do you need, then?" She demanded, annoyed with Caitlin's lack of work. "Just tell me and I'll get it."
Caitlin's shoulders slumped downwards and shook her head. "My desk, my files, Barry's work. I don't have anything here!"
"Then you want me to clear out STAR Labs for you?" Poison Ivy forcibly turned Caitlin around.
"N-no! I don't - I don't want you to hurt anyone! I can't!"
Poison Ivy raised a hand as if to strike Caitlin but ultimately turned away and swiped clean a different desk. Caitlin leaned against the work desk and watched as Poison Ivy compose herself.
"If you...if you would let me go...I would help her," Caitlin weakly made her escape attempt. "You shouldn't have to cater to Zoom just to get the cure." She could see Poison Ivy's shoulders shake from an apparent laugh.
"You think I cater to Zoom for the cure?" She straightened and turned sideways. "I do what I do for Datura. She's my best friend and wherever she is, I am. But right now, she's dying-" she started coming towards Caitlin and since the brunette didn't have anywhere else to go she only kept leaning back on the desk, "-and poor you if that happens. I will show you why my name is Poison Ivy."
Caitlin gulped and visibly relaxed when Poison Ivy backed away from her. Poison Ivy walked around the office and picked up a notepad and a pen then brought it over to Caitlin. She pushed it to the brunette's chest. "Make a list of what you need. No tricks."
~ 0 ~
Now that Poison Ivy was back, Datura was sure to be making her return at any moment and Belén wanted everyone in the Green to be on alert. Datura was nearing her end so she was angrier and had nothing to lose; it made her an outright menace. If she was trying to come up with her own cure again, at any cost, then every botanical meta was in danger.
"Belén, what do you want me to do?" Shivhan had pulled Belén to the side after the Azalea had made her speech towards the botanical metahumans regarding Poison Ivy's presence and Datura's intention.
"Just stay here with them," Belén said, glancing back at Kinsley amongst the group. She was one of the younger metas and she still had trouble controlling her powers. Naturally, she would also be one of the metas who were most afraid. "Keep training them and just...be here for them."
Shivhan nodded. "Okay, if that's what you want..."
Belén was firm about it. "I am."
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay in here because...you know...CC Pictures?"
Even with her mask on, Shivhan could still see Belén rolling her eyes. "No, I already told you that I'm not mad." How could she be mad that her friend went through so much trouble to get her job back? Belén was touched that Shivhan had gathered up all their botanical brothers and sisters to do that for her, she just wasn't sure how effective it would turn out to be.
"Good, because I really did just want to help," Shivhan reiterated yet again. Belén had lost count how many times she had said that.
"I know, trust me," Belén reassured her one more time before leaving the Green. Outside, she had to deal with her mother who'd been following her around STAR Labs trying to convince her to leave the city.
She'd done her best to evade Veronica but she was proving quite insistent. Belén was going to go crazy if she didn't get space from her. She stormed down the corridor while Veronica trailed after her.
"Mom, I don't know how else to explain it to you - maybe I should do it with apples or something - but I am not going anywhere!" She made a turn for the cortex and found a grim atmosphere. Cisco especially looked disconcerted. "What do we have now?"
"Rupture," Cisco dropped his hands from his face. "My brother's doppelganger? Yeah, he's here...and trying to kill me."
"What?" Belén looked over to Barry for some help. She seemed to have missed quite a lot in her time in the Green. Everyone seemed grim.
Harry was at the desk and pulled up a profile of said metahuman. He was covered in metal but he bore a threatening scythe. "He's another metahuman under Zoom's control from my Earth."
"So he's already beginning to bring his friends over from Earth 2," Veronica grumbled behind her daughter.
"It's exactly what I said he would do," Harry reminded, and the hint of smugness in his words made everyone shake their heads.
"Okay, well, Zoom must've lied to fake-Dante and told him I was the one who killed Reverb, 'cause dude wants me dead," Cisco raised his hands. "We've got to do something."
"He gets his power from that scythe he wields so maybe we can do something with that," Harry said.
"Thing's legit too... it almost took half the van with him," Cisco's face was distant as he recalled the monstrous weapon used against him earlier.
"All right, then that's what we need to do. We need to figure out a way to get it away from him," Barry logically thought but didn't want to see the calculations of their chances for a clean win.
"Right. Okay, all right. I'm sure I can come up with something. I just have to figure out a way to not tell Dante why this psychopath looks exactly like him," Cisco dreaded that idea as he got up to leave.
"You know what you need to do," Harry threw Barry a look.
"I need a minute," Barry felt the room too cramped-up for him and quickly left after Cisco.
"Would you put a sock in it?" Belén spat at Harry. She was already frustrated with her mother and the last thing she wanted to see was her boyfriend continuously harassed with a life-threatening idea.
"Belén-" Veronica tried to get a word in but Belén pointed a finger to her.
"No! God, would you just leave us alone!?" She threw that at Veronica and Harry together before leaving herself.
~ 0 ~
It was no surprise that Belén found Barry in the breech room since it was the room Harry had already declared would be converted for the new Particle Accelerator site.
"I'm just saying, I will punch him if you want," she came up beside Barry. His small smile made her feel a little better. He wasn't all that gone yet. "I'm sorry I haven't helped you with...all this. My Mom won't leave me alone and...between her and the city, I just…" she turned to him, "How do you feel?"
Barry really doubted that sharing his feelings would make things clearer. He thought about Harry's proposal day and night but nothing would come to mind. " It should be an easy decision but it's not."
Belén made a face at his comment and cleared her throat. "Uh, well, that's sort of normal. Building another particle accelerator and willingly letting yourself be struck by lightning it isn't exactly an 'easy decision'. If you didn't think that, I'd honestly be a little worried."
"What do you think about it?"
A nervous pit started in her stomach, especially since Barry had turned to face her to hear her thoughts. "Well…" She bit her lip and really did try to look him in the eyes, "Things are different since the Particle Accelerator went off. Back then you were just Iris' friend but now…" Her lips became like gum she chewed on. She swallowed down hard. "If anything happens to you...I would die. And I know that's a horrible thing to say because it just adds onto your pressure but it's just what I feel and I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry!" By the time she had finished, she was nearly out of breath.
Barry brought her into a hug. "I'm sorry," he said, finding nothing else to make her feel better. They had all these 'choices' and yet none one of them offered a 100% guarantee that they wouldn't get hurt.
"I'm sorry too," she raised her head to meet his gaze. "I'm supposed to offer you reasonable advice...but it scares me."
"It scares me too," Barry admitted.
~ 0 ~
Caitlin played dumb with the tools Poison Ivy had left for her to use. She noticed the ginger meta lurking towards the threshold where Zoom had gathered with another metahuman Caitlin didn't know of. Caitlin slowly, and innocently, began to push towards a stack of evidence boxes left behind by the cops. She was sure one of them had to have a cellphone, she just needed the right moment to search for one.
"He got away but I'll find him." It was Rupture facing Zoom outside.
"Later," Zoom said, having a different task for him in the meantime.
"But he needs to pay for what he did to my brother!"
"And he will. Later, Rupture!"
"What do you want me to do?"
"The police have gathered again. They think I've spared their lives. Tonight... show them they're wrong."
Even though Caitlin froze at the news, she quickly pulled the lid off one evidence box and thankfully found a cellphone lying just at the top. She stuffed it in her front pocket and draped her blouse's hemline over it. She hastily returned to the desk and glanced at Poison Ivy. The ginger was too focused on the others.
"Datura did good in sending him here, right?" She finally spoke.
Caitlin pretended to look into a microscope as Poison Ivy and Zoom walked into the room.
"Yes," Zoom agreed.
"Especially the lie she fed him? That his brother was killed by the very doppelganger and not you?" Zoom stopped and faced the woman, pulling his mask off. "I just want you to remember how Datura keeps serving you," Poison Ivy crossed her arms. "She's literally dying and she's gathering up your best metas for your plans."
"What do you want?"
Poison Ivy's eyes flickered to Caitlin and since there had been silence, Caitlin understood she was being watched. She dove closer into the microscope and hoped to God neither would speak to her.
"The doppelganger. Caitlin can't seem to work without her presence. Datura is coming tonight and in order for this cure to work, we need the other one."
"You want me to go get her?" A spark of amusement crossed Hunter's face.
"I can get her, no problem," Poison Ivy volunteered. "I've got the meta syringes ready," she gestured the syringes on the nearby desk. "I just need the 'ok' from you to do so."
"Please, don't," Caitlin couldn't take hearing more of this and turned to them. "Belén doesn't need to be kidnapped. She wants to help Datura."
"Sure she does," Poison Ivy rolled her eyes.
"Please," Caitlin pleaded with Hunter instead, knowing he was her best shot. "Don't take her. And...and spare the policemen. You said you would."
"We'll just see how that works out, then," Hunter flashed a wicked smile her way.
Caitlin turned back to the desk with fresh new tears. He had given her no guarantee. She waited until they got back to conversation to sneak in a brief text while she pretended to do more work.
~ 0 ~
"Belén! Guess what?" Iris was quick as she hurried into cortex. Her beaming face was quite shocking considering all the problems they had.
"What? Did something else happen?" Belén dreaded having yet another problem on her hands. She was shamefully short-handed around the place since she had sent Shivhan to the Green and Barry didn't have his speed. She was aware that at any moment they would have to call in Nina again.
"Yes, but nothing bad!" Iris knew her words were probably sounding like a dream but this was exactly why she had wanted to come to STAR Labs to tell Belén in person. "Scott wants to talk to you about your job."
Belén blinked. "What?"
"He says he tried calling you but you never answered and I figured why..." Iris threw a specific glance around the cortex. "So I gave him some excuse and said that I would find you for him. You should go talk to him."
"Right now?" Belén looked back at the others. Despite how inconvenient it was right now, she couldn't' help the smile that was breaking across her face. She was getting her job back!
"Yes!" Iris nodded. "You need to!"
Before Belén could say anything, they all heard a small bleep from the desk. Harry was closest so he took over the computers and found they had a message from the CCPD.
"It's got to be Caitlin!" Barry rushed over, prompting the others to do the same.
"She's sent us a message," Harry opened up the file and read it out loud. "Rupture is gonna attack Jitters tonight. Poison Ivy wants Belén."
Belén closed her eyes because she knew what was coming next…
"You can't go out there!" Veronica turned to her daughter.
"It's nothing new, Mom. I'm gonna call Nina," Belén responded and gave a small smile to Barry before she left. She had done it too quick so that she hadn't noticed the look on Barry's face.
"Having The Flash might be the best way to stop Zoom and the metas he's sending over. But, look, until we know for sure that setting off the accelerator will work, it's too risky. Not just for me. For the entire city. Countless others that would be affected if the explosion is not contained."
Harry rubbed his forehead. That sounded reasonable but it wasn't the easiest of things. Time was of the essence after all. "Yes, but Allen-"
"Stop, Wells. Look, I'm sorry. I've made up my mind. Sorry," Barry stopped him before he went off like Veronica did with Belén. "The Flash isn't gonna make an appearance anytime soon."
~ 0 ~
At Jitters, the cops had set up a good place for the inevitable attack of Rupture. From the street, both Barry and Cisco had decided to monitor in case something went wrong. Behind the counter were Joe and Singh, ready to deliver the last blow that would hopefully put Rupture away before he did real damage. It had taken a lot of convincing for Veronica to stay outside but it helped that her own boss was behind the idea. Belén would at least get that space there.
"Here he comes," Cisco warned the two gals in waiting.
"Copy that," Nina got the message first and began to lower herself into the building.
Rupture had entered the dark Jitters with his trusty scythe in hand. "Now, where has everybody gone?"
Belén's vines traveled from the back entrance and gracefully formed her figure. Nina flew in through the same entrance and landed just beside her.
"Definitely not who I was expecting but you'll be a nice warm up," Rupture said.
Belén wasn't interested in talking. She had to be quick, literally. She hadn't forgotten about CC Pictures and now more than ever she wanted to grab what little normality she had in her life.
Rupture gave his scythe a twirl and released a blast of red energy directly at them. The two women jumped out of the way.
"Too slow, my friend!" Nina purposely waved an arm at him. "Does that thing have a beginner stage?"
Rupture began firing at her, leaving Belén the perfect opportunity to strike. She raised her hands up, thrusting thick vines into the air. They swung in multiple lassos, attacking at different moments to make it even more difficult for Rupture to defend himself.
"Get the scythe!" She screamed at Nina over the chaos.
Nina swept down to try and grab the weapon. Rupture saw her coming and sent her another blast of energy. She put her hands over her head, creating a miniature cyclone to deflect the attack then sent it right towards Rupture. It threw him over a table.
Belén sprinted towards the tables, throwing out a vine to grab the scythe. Rupture was closer and had easier time getting to it first. "Dammit!" Belén seethed.
"We need to bring him closer to the counter," Nina flew over to Belén.
"Yup," Belén agreed. "Hey?" She called to Rupture as she backtracked towards the entrance doors. "Did you hear the news? I'm what Datura wants. You know her, right? Big bad siphoner? Bring me in and I'm sure your powers are safe for the rest of the century."
Rupture got back on his feet and held his scythe again. This time he did not shoot at her. He started following her trail, passing the turned over tables and chairs...and the counter…
"Where is she, huh?" Belén's back hit the doors and was forced to come to a stop.
"Earth 2," Rupture barely answered when Joe sprung from the counter and shot the meta-dampner brace around Rupture's neck.
Singh shot forwards with the accompanying cuffs. "Are we the guys you were looking for? Hope you like being alone, 'cause you won't be talking to anyone at Iron Heights."
"Too bad you won't be able to bring in the big prize," Belén now scowled at the meta.
~0~
Breaking news coming out of Jitters coffee shop. CCPN has learned that a meta-human was just apprehended after an altercation with the Azalea and the Tempest.
Caitlin couldn't help the smile on her face when she saw the report. Her text had saved the cops. It had worked.
"You told them Rupture was coming. How?" Hunter came in furiously. Caitlin winced at his scream but she kept herself quiet for now. He stopped beside Poison ivy and demanded an answer.
"She must have snuck something in whole we discussed," the ginger argued. She wasn't exactly watching her when she had a million things to do for Datura's cure and Hunter's own plans.
Hunter looked around and spotted the open evidence box. "Oh, you... are smart, aren't you? You betrayed me!"
"Did you really think that was a surprise?" Poison Ivy raised an eyebrow. "I told you she was a flight risk."
"You said you would spare them!" Caitlin said before the ginger got another word in. "I-I had to!"
The fury subsided in Hunter's face. "I guess now we're even, then." He pulled on his mask and sped away...but with something else with him.
"You just saved me a trip to Jitters," Poison Ivy mirthlessly laughed at Caitlin.
~ 0 ~
Zoom sped into Jitters and essentially froze all the cops in their tracks. Belén and Nina were just arriving at the van when they were alerted of the unscripted appearance of the speedster. Inside Jitters, Zoom began to build up power. His blue electricity engulfed his body, leaving very little speculation of what was about to happen next.
"Everybody move!" Joe shouted in vain, because when Zoom began to move, time stopped.
The speedster went through every cop except Joe and Singh, and Rupture, snapping necks. When he came to a stop, the remaining watched as everyone else collapsed on the ground dead.
"I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me."
"Enough!" The Azalea came rushing inside with the Tempest over her. Even Cisco and Barry had come in, at least to see what the damage was.
"What is the point!?" Tempest gazed at the corpses on the floor in horror.
"To show the truth," Zoom turned around. He zipped across the room and snatched Rupture. He slammed the meta on the counter. "You're an even bigger disappointment than your brother."
Cisco gave an audible gasp when he saw his brother's doppelganger killed right in front of him. Zoom then moved around and picked up an ongoing camera from a cameraman he'd killed.
"Central City... the time for vigilantes have come to an end. There is no more Flash and there will be no more Azalea nor their silly companions. There is going to be no one left to protect your city...from me."
"We're always going to be here," Belén declared loudly for the camera to get.
Nina raised her hands and created another miniature cyclone. She directed it at Zoom and while it did produce a momentary force of wind throwing people around, it was not enough. Belén got Barry and Cisco to safety behind the counter then pulled Joe and Singh as well. Nina proved to be a quick meta with useful wind serving her. She threw whatever was in her way at the speedster but made the fatal mistake of throwing what was behind the counter. Zoom dodged the utensils but snatched a knife in the air and swung it back to Nina. Nina released a grunt when the knife punctured the side of her stomach. She clutched at it and fell to the ground.
"Tempest!" Belén started snapping her vine tendrils at him but her fate had already been thrown.
Zoom slammed her against the wall and with one hand around her neck, he stuck the meta-dampener syringe in her chest. Belén's eyes widened and barely expressed confusion of what had happened before her body felt the effects of the syringe.
"No!" Barry pushed Cisco's restraining hands away from him and jumped over the counter, but it was too late. He only saw Belén's eyes close shut before she was taken away by Zoom. "NOOO!"
Cisco dashed for Nina on the floor. She was outcold but he found a heartbeat. "We need to get her to a doctor!" He called but Barry was staring at the doors. His entire mind was spinning and the only thing that managed come through was: DO. SOMETHING.
"Barry!" Joe called as soon as he and Singh were up. "Get the van! Go!"
Barry tore his gaze from the doors. With teary eyes he glanced at Nina and knew there was no way in hell Belén would ever forgive him if he willingly let anything happen to her friend. He forced himself to breathe and ran out to retrieve the van.
~0~
"She's stabilized," Henry said after putting Nina's wrist back on her side. He'd taken her pulse and was glad to see the woman responding positively to her treatment.
"Is she going to be okay?" Iris asked. Her eyes gazed over the unconscious woman repeatedly.
"Well the wound wasn't deep enough to harm any organs so she should be waking up soon. With a few weeks, she'll be good."
"At least she's here where we can look over her," Veronica had never been so furious and frustrated in her life and there were plenty of worthy situations in the past that could've come close. Her daughter was missing, kidnapped, and she knew where Belén would end up. Datura would have her soon enough and here they were, doing nothing.
"Ms. Green…" Iris went over to her but Veronica shook her head st her. Absolutely no words mattered at the moment.
"It won't be long now," Harry's voice drawled from the doorway. "He's moving faster than he ever did on my Earth."
Iris turned to him, as did her father, wearing matching glares. "We really don't need this right now."
But Harry kept going. "Next, Zoom will recruit every meta-human he can find, and then force them to do what he wants."
"How many can be left?" Joe wondered. "We defeated most of them, didn't we?"
"No. You're not even close," Harry walked back to the main desk with the others behind. He plugged in a USB and provided a list of names for them to see. "This... is a list of meta-humans from my Earth. Ones that are known, anyway. The particle accelerator explosion was contained on my Earth. That didn't happen here."
"Then why wouldn't we know about other meta-humans here?" wondered Joe again.
"Because we had the Flash and the Azalea," Cisco knew instantly.
"But since he's not around and two more of our metas have been put out of commission-" Harry flat out ignored the looks from everyone for the statement, "-the others are going to start coming out of the woodwork."
"We don't know that," Iris shook her head. The mere idea put her to scare. Not everything was lost. They still had Shivhan...they just needed to find a way to communicate with her while she was in the Green, that was it...
"What more do you need!? I told you he'd recruit meta-humans. We've seen him do that. I told you he would kill those officers. We saw him do that too. What more do you need?"
"Let's do it," Barry came in with a fierce determination. It took only a second for them to realize what he'd just said. "I want to do it. One of the cops that Zoom killed tonight, he had a son. Same age I was when Mom was murdered. And now, another kid has to grow up without one of their parents because The Flash wasn't there to stop that monster. I knowingly left my partner at a disadvantage and now she's out there, kidnapped just like Caitlin. Nina-" he angrily pointed at the room the woman was kept in, -"-took a knife to the stomach because I wasn't there to catch it! Now they're both hurt and we can't even get ahold of Shivhan - I am not letting her get hurt too! Zoom has the path wide open to take the city down. I need my powers back. Let's do it. Let's set off the particle accelerator."
It was no secret they wouldn't be able to change his mind, and so...
"So how does this work?" Barry gazed at the makeshift personal Particle Accelerator in front of them. The sight of it did make him nervous, not to mention it gave him flashbacks of the first time he was struck by lightning.
Harry had gone straight to work with his creation and had it finished in an hour or so. Now even Cisco was helping, though he wasn't so on board with it.
"It's an abbreviated version of the accelerator evil Wells built, except Harry is isolating the antimatter and dark energy to direct it to Barry instead of the entire city," Cisco tossed Harry a wire.
"Good. Last thing we need is more meta-humans running around Central City," Joe mumbled.
"So... Barry just gets in, we turn it on, and that's it?" Iris couldn't stop staring at the big holders she knew would be strapping Barry to the machine
"Yeah," Harry nodded but then paused. "No. Not exactly. In addition to recreating what happened with the particle accelerator explosion, we also have to recreate what happened to Barry."
Barry knew what he meant. "Getting struck by lightning."
"That's right."
"Wait, so how are you gonna do that? It's not even raining outside," Veronica remarked.
But Harry had of course accounted for the weather. This was, after all, all he had been thinking about for the past week. "Well, Ramon, you have the wand."
"The one I made for Mark Mardon?"
"No, the one you built for the Harry Potter convention. Yes, of course, the one you built for Mardon!"
Cisco lightly gasped at his knowledge. "How do you know about the Harry Potter convention?"
"Get the wand," Harry punctured his words with dripping command. "Get on the roof."
"Why the roof?"
"Because we're gonna need a lightning rod, and that, Ramon, is gonna be you."
Cisco's heart nearly stopped and yet somehow he was forced upon the roof despite it. "All right, I'm on the roof. Wow. I've never actually been up here before... I think I can see my apartment from here?"
Harry had placed himself behind the monitor to get things started. "Now head straight to the satellite, Ramon. When I give you the signal, you're gonna create a lightning storm above you."
Cisco was not liking his odds as he gazed at the big satellite in front of him. "So I'm just supposed to stand here in the middle of a lightning storm?"
"Really, Ramon. Chances of being struck are slim, indeed…"
Cisco scoffed and loudly too. "Yeah, not when you're the one causing it!"
Gary skipped over that fact and continued with business. "All we need is one lightning bolt to strike the satellite. The satellite circuitry's connected to the breach room. Barry's in the breach room so just do it."
Cisco sighed and braced himself. "Yeah. I'm doing it. Mozart better watch out. Cisco Ramon's about to conduct something nasty."
Meanwhile, Joe and Iris helped Barry into his appropriated spot.
"You're gonna feel these clamps, but they're necessary," Harry warned just before he activated said clamps.
Barry tried to suppress his yelp but the clamps punctured his skin. He saw Joe staring with undeniable fear. "You good?"
Joe thought the question ridiculous seeing Barry was the one in actual pain, but he went along with it. "Yeah. You?"
"I'll be fine, Joe."
"Barry, whatever happens, we'll be right here," Iris promised him. She would try to support him on behalf of Belén even though there was a huge difference. She honestly thought that Belén would've talked him out of this mess if she was here...
"Son... you don't have to do this if you don't want to," Henry reminded Barry with a bit of hope it would get through to him. He was scared out of his mind seeing his son strapped to all that technology that would strike him with unbearable pain.
"Being the Flash... that's the best version of me. If I don't have my speed, I'll never be that person anymore. I have to do this," Barry spoke with nothing but honesty. It was all on him and he wanted to go through with it.
His eyes rested on Veronica who had yet to say a word. She stood on her own, no longer talking to anyone. She was at a loss just like him.
"Ms. Green," he called but she barely looked at him. "First thing I'll do when I come back is find her. And I will bring her back."
Veronica saw his honesty. She learned to recognize it by now. She truly appreciated to what extent he was going to get everyone back, especially her daughter. It was hard to believe that she hated him before. She wanted nothing to do with him, she wanted her daughter far away from him because she firmly believed that he wouldn't be good for Belén. And now there he was risking his life not only for Belén but for an entire city. She had shamefully judged him wrongly.
"Just...just come back, Barry. Start with that." Because the last thing she wanted was for him to get hurt too.
"All right, then. Here we go," Harry began to activate the Particle Accelerator.
The others gathered around the steps where Veronica was, but their fears rose when the ground began to rumble like an earthquake was about to strike.
"Particles are becoming unstable. Ramon, get ready!" Harry shouted through the comms. "I'm gonna release the chemicals into his system!"
And as promised, Barry began to feel every last injection spiking his body. The pain seem to increased with each injection but he was still adamant this was the only way.
"Why are you doing that!?" Iris was close to tears.
"Because the night Barry was struck by lightning, he was doing fingerprint analysis. Those chemicals got in his system then, and they are going in now."
"So you're injecting them into him!?"
"We have to recreate everything that happened to Barry that night!"
Even though Barry called out to them that he was fine, it was hard to sustain the lie.
"He's going hydrostatic. Almost there. Almost there!" Harry kept a close eye on the monitor.
"Wells!" Joe was close to shutting everything off.
"Ready, Ramon? Now!"
From the rooftop, Cisco took in a breath and raised the rod up. "Expecto Patronum!" he shut his eyes and prayed to god he wouldn't turn into ash in the next second. He felt the lightning clap down but it skipped and transferred right into the satellite. "Great Scott! It's working!"
"Initiating collision!" Harry turned the last switch and let the rest take its course.
A great release of smoke blasted from the machine, followed by a throw of its same energy that pushed everyone backwards to the floor. As they came through, the machine died down.
Harry was the first to get back on his feet. "It worked!" He cheered
Joe helped Iris up and looked to the others. "Is everyone okay?"
Now they awaited for Barry to give the 'ok!' from his spot. The waited for the smoke to clear out, but when it did they saw no Barry...just a tattered piece of his suit.
"No! No. What did you do to my son?" Henry turned on Harry, assuming the worst. There was no where for Barry to go and if that was true...
Zoom sped into the room and taunted them for their failure. "You thought you could give the Flash his speed back? Well done. You killed him instead!"
He had won.
Author's Note:
I hope everyone's doing well during these tough times! If you're back to work like me, take extra care!
As always, I have a 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! 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.