Waking up on a fire exit wasn't something Kady was new to. She had been awakened by the sound of sirens on the street. Her sleeping state had disappeared and she was thinking of a way to get back to Iris's house before the clock struck wake up. Kady realized her attire and quickly teleported back to Iris's house, flashing into her bedroom. Iris was still sleeping, and she was happy that she was. She decided to steal some of her girly clothes and got dressed after showering.
Kady pulled open Iris's drawers and grabbed some of her underwear that she had left over there. She opened the closet and pulled out a pink dress that suited her more than Iris because it got into the curves that Iris didn't have. She pulled it on, the size 4 dress fitting her like a glove. She smiled, peeking at herself in the mirror. She grabbed matching wedges from the closet and snuck downstairs, knowing Eddie was probably asleep on the couch.
After she arrived in the kitchen, she pulled out some food for breakfast, hoping she didn't have to see Barry today. But she worked in STAR Labs. She couldn't escape him unless she talked to Dr. Wells about not coming in. As she contemplated her decisions, she heard her phone ring, Melanie Martinez's Mad Hatter filling the once silent room. She sped to her phone, which she found was buried under an overturned bowl of popcorn.
As she picked it up, she looked at the caller ID. Caitlyn.
"Hello?" Kady answered, walking back to the kitchen to prep her french toast.
"We need you at Star Labs, it's about Barry," Caitlyn said.
"Honestly, I don't want to be there right now. Is it really, truly important?"
Kady noticed Caitlin's inhale when she said she didn't want to be there.
"No, I guess not. Is anything wrong?" Caitlin asked.
"No. I just don't wanna be there right now. Can you tell Dr. Wells that I'm not feeling well but I'll be calling later?"
"Uh sure, yea. I'll tell him, see ya later."
"Bye Cait, love you." Kady said, hanging up the phone.
She noticed a presence behind her and quickly turned around, seeing Eddie with a coffee mug in his hand.
"Good Morning Kadence," Eddie said, a tired smile crossing his features.
Kady smiled back at him.
"Good Morning Eddie. Would you like some French toast?" she offered, sending him a courteous smile.
Eddie shook his head, checking his watch.
"Mmm, I gotta run, see you later, Johnson," he said, walking to the front door, putting on his jacket, and leaving.
Kady smiled and decided to get Iris something to get over her hangover. She went to the bathroom and pulled out a bottle of aspirin. She filled up a cup with water and walked up the stairs. She placed the glass of water on the nightstand and sat two pills on the nightstand.
She left the room and finished making breakfast. She ate and left, but not before leaving Iris a note. As she walked home, she listened to Idfc by Blackbear.
It wasn't long until she got home. She rushed straight to her room in case Barry was there and locked the door. She didn't think she could bear to be in his presence right now. She gathered her things for a nice shower and set out clothes on her bed. She grabbed a towel and walked to her door, listening to the outside. After being completely sure that Barry wasn't there, she dashed for the bathroom down the hall. After setting up her playlist of music, she drew a bath, lighting the starburst scented candles and throwing a bath bomb into the water.
She ran to the fridge and pulled out her emergency bottle of champagne and grabbed a flute from the cabinet. She dashed back into the bathroom, closing and locking the door. Playing 5SOS's Album 5 Seconds Of Summer of shuffle, she sunk into the burning water, the bubbles in the tub enveloping her body fully.
Heartbreak Girl filled the silent room as Kady went under the water.
~Flashback~
The bigger kids picking on the smaller kids, bullying them for their deformities or their differences. This was normal. It had been since the beginning of time. Kady just wanted it to go away. She knew she was one of the more popular kids but she liked to be with the smaller kids. She wished she could protect them all.
Young 10 year old Kadence watched as the class's bully Tony beat on some kid. She knew him and his posse were eventually going to get into trouble, like they always had. But this time, it was different. She watched in astonishment as a kid in a red hoodie walked up to Tony and grabbed his fist, stopping him from hitting the small kid on the ground.
Tony's posse gasped as Tony turned to look at the kid who stopped him. Kadence stepped forward.
"What do you want Bartholomew? Can't you see I'm busy?" Tony said.
"Leave him alone! He didn't do anything to you!" Bartholomew said.
"Actually, he did. He didn't give me his lunch like he's supposed to everyday." Tony said.
Kadence rolled her eyes, knowing Tony was obviously lying, he had decided to do it for fun.
"NO HE DIDN'T HE DOESN'T HAVE TO, YOU IDIOT!" Bartholomew said.
Tony stood up, looming over Barry and grabbed for him, but Barry was faster than him. Barry took off running as Tony and his posse chased after him.
Kadence moved to watch as they caught the kid, knocking him down and taking turns beating on him.
Kadence ran down the street towards the gang. She grabbed Tony as he kicked Barry. She jumped on top of him and punched him multiple times, watching the blood emerge from different places on his face.
"STOP! GET OFF OF HIM!" Tony's posse yelled at her.
She stopped, realizing she had lost control and stood up.
"Leave him alone Woodward." she said and stepped back, watching as he and his posse ran down the street.
Kadence turned to Barry, seeing him on the ground coughing.
"Are you okay Bartholomew?" she asked him, helping him stand up.
"I'm fine. But please, call me Barry." he said to her.
Kadence smiled.
"I'm Kadence, but you can call me Kady." she said.
~ End of Flashback~
Kady sat up, her flashback triggering tears. She cried hard, pulling her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her knees and just cried.
When the water became cold, she got out, wrapping herself tight in towel. She clung onto the towel, hoping that was the only thing that would keep her dry and warm. She slowly walked to her room, trying to be quiet in case Barry was there.
After getting dressed in her clothes, which were pajamas, seeing as she wasn't going anywhere all day. She grabbed her laptop, opened up Netflix, and started Glee. She was gonna watch it from the first season all the way up.
After getting to the 7th episode of season one, she felt hungry. Knowing neither her or Barry had gone grocery shopping, she decided to call the grocery stores that delivered in Central City.
30 minutes later, she was eating butter pecan ice cream drizzled in hot fudge. She knew stress eating was bad for her powers but she didn't have any choice. Her dreams about 'Seductress' taking over and hurting Barry felt real and she didn't want it to happen if it was real.
After getting 20 missed calls from Barry, Iris, Caitlin, and Felicity, she turned her phone off and went to sleep.
Kadence stood in a small room, tied to a chair. A man stood in front of her, saying things incoherently. She struggled against her bonds but found she could not get free. As she looked around the room, she saw two lumps on the ground, faced towards the wall, blood trailing from them. One lump was scarlet red and the other was blood red.
Shock filled her senses as she realized who they were, Barry and Roy. She heard muffled screams and looked to her left. Felicity's glasses were falling off her face as she screamed and struggled. Her eyes were bloodshot.
Kadence finally heard what the man in front of her was saying.
"Choose Oliver, one of them has to die," he said, his australian accent slipping.
Oliver sat on the floor behind them, his hands zip tied together. Tears streamed down his eyes and suddenly Kady couldn't breathe. The room was stuffy as tears streamed down her eyes.
"Please don't do this. They don't deserve this. Your issue is with me, leave them out of this." Oliver pleaded, more tears streaming down his face.
"You have 5 seconds left. Don't make me choose." the man said.
Oliver held up his hand as the man counted down from five. Kady grabbed onto Felicity's hand as they waited for death to come upon one of them.
"Time's up." the man said.
Kady closed her eyes. The sound of a sword being removed from its sheath filled the air and then silence. Suddenly, The room then was filled with a piercing scream. Kady opened her eyes, looking to Felicity to check. But when she looked over, Felicity's eyes were on her abdomen. Kady then realized that the scream they were hearing was her as she watched blood seep through her shirt. Pain washed over her senses as she stared into Felicity's eyes, screaming once again.
"Kady wake up!" she heard, as another scream pierced the air.
"Please wake up Kady." she heard again before she opened her eyes.
She realized where she was and quickly looked to her abdomen, feeling an intense pain there. She slipped her hand under her shirt and felt for blood. As she brought her hand back up, her hand was coated in the copper smelling red substance.
She screamed again, sitting up.
When she sat up, Oliver was standing above her, hands on her shoulder.
"Ollie?" Kady questioned.
"I'm here Kay. Don't worry, I got you." he said, pulling her into a hug as she clenched the fabric of his shirt in her hands.
"I'm so scared." she screamed, staring at her stomach, tears rolling down her face.
"It's okay, I'm here. I've got you." Oliver said, pulling her down onto his lap as he cradled her.
"H-how did you get here?" she asked him.
"Iris called, said something happened between you and Barry. You weren't returning any of Felicity's calls so I took the next train here." he explained.
"I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me anymore." she said, pulling out of Oliver's embrace and standing up.
Kady walked over to the full length mirror and took in her appearance. There were bags under her eyes and her skin was a sickly pale. Oliver stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"This here Kadence, is not okay. You've been hiding in your room away from everyone for two weeks now. You're not healthy. You're going to get sick." He explained to her, preparing for one of his famous Oliver Queen speech (A/N: Sounds like I have a dream.).
"I'm fine, Oliver. I'm doing great on my own." Kady said, breaking away from him yet again.
"Have you showered?"
Kady scoffed and crossed her arms.
"Of course I have."
Oliver smiled.
"Has Barry been home?"
Kady shook her head and looked down at her Hello Kitty socks.
"You have to talk to him, he feels bad." Oliver said.
Anger boiled in her system.
"Did you ask him why he felt bad?" she asked calmly.
Oliver stood at a defensive stance.
"No. But you can tell me," he said.
"The day he visited me at your place, he told me he had feelings for me. Then when Nimbus almost killed me, Barry told me to forget everything he told me." She said, feeling herself break again.
"Oh Kady," Oliver started.
Suddenly she couldn't breathe and the room was becoming blurry.
"Oliver, I think I'm gonna pass out..." she said before passing out.
When she came to, she realized she wasn't in her bed like she had been for the past two weeks.
"Welcome back, Ms. Johnson." she heard Dr. wells say.
She opened her eyes. Looking around the room, she noticed that all of team flash and team arrow was there. Meaning Barry, Oliver, Felicity, Caitlin, Diggle, Roy, Dr. Wells, Cisco, and Joe.
She avoided Barry's concerned gaze and concentrated on everyone else in the room.
"We were worried about you," Caitlin said, rushing over to envelop the emaciated girl in a bone crushing bear hug.
"I'm fine, really." Kady said, brushing her hair to the side.
She didn't miss the way Barry sucked in a breath afterwards.
"No you're not, look at yourself Kadence. You've gained weight, there's dark circles under your eyes, and you've got more gray hairs than an old woman in a nursing home," Felicity commented.
"I think, she just needs one of us hassling her one after another, not all at the same time," Roy said.
Kady sent a nice glare his way, hoping he would feel it.
Everyone filed out, Barry being the last to leave. He sent her a longing stare hoping she would look his way but her will was great enough for her to ignore him.
As Barry stepped out to the Cortex, he watched as Roy approached Kady slowly, seeming to be speaking to her in a soft tone. No one knew, the room was closed off, sound and sight wise.
Roy stepped slightly towards Kady as she leaned back onto the bed.
"So what's up?" he asked.
"Basically, heartbreak. I just felt like my world was falling apart and I no longer had the motivation to do anything," Kady responded, covering her eyes from the bright lights.
Roy sat down on the bed and placed his hand on her upper thigh.
"Who was it?" he asked, moving his thumb in a comforting motion.
"Him."
"Who, Kady. I'm not good at guessing these things." He commented, raising his hand higher on her thigh.
"It's Barry. He's been the closest one to me since I got here and I've fallen in love with him. I'm was even so stupid to think that he would drop his feelings for Iris and come to me. I'm not that special." she said to him, a tear spewing out her eye.
"I'm so sorry. Do you want me to help you?" he asked her.
"How could you possibly help me?" Kady asked him, taking her arms off her head.
She stared at the cart, willing it to fold in on itself and break. She smiled, knowing her powers were strong.
"I can help you get him back. Or make him super jealous." He said back to her, and suddenly, an idea was forming in her head.
"I think you just gave me an idea. Thank you Roy!" she squeaked, jumping up and hugging him tightly. he grunted and returned her tight embrace.