⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥

CHAPTER TEN
seeing double

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JULIET WAS ONLY momentarily surprised when Barry took her wrists gently and flipped them over so her back is pressed against the bed.

Barry smiled at her, one that makes her all fluttery inside. "Hey."

Juliet's sure she has little pink cartoon hearts floating around her head. "'Sup." She then noticed that his eyes were completely focused on her. "You're not staring into space anymore."

"Just staring at you, babe."

She laughed a little. "You are such a dork."

"Only for you," Barry replied.

Barry then leaned down and pressed his lips onto hers again. However, unlike before, when they were quick and urgent, this one was slow and sweet. Juliet found herself smiling into it, nothing but serenity filling her veins as she kissed the love of her life in her bedroom scattered with discarded clothes.

Suddenly, Juliet's phone buzzed from her nightstand at the same time as Barry's, making the wooden structure vibrate. The two pulled away from each other — although a bit hesitantly — and Barry rolled off of Juliet. He grabbed their phones and handed Juliet hers. However, when they saw the text from Cisco, they were immediately on high alert.

"Shit," Juliet let out. "Shit, shit, shit."

She tumbled out of bed. Juliet picked her jeans up off the floor and put them back on, glancing in the mirror as she did so. Oh God, her hair was a mess, and there was a very prominent bruise on her neck. She pulled her shirt back on before tying her hair back into a low bun. There wasn't really much more she could do.

"You are a menace," Juliet scolded, reaching out and throwing a shit ton of concealer on her neck like it would do something, as Barry laughed at her, already ready because of speeding around the place. "Fuck you." Barry opened his mouth, but Juliet flicked her hand, making his head knock to the side. "Don't you dare."

With another minute of Juliet panicking, and maybe one more kiss shared between them, they were out the door.

There had been an attack at Central City Picture News. Apparently, after Barry's slip up, Doctor Light had gone after Earth-One Linda. She had gone completely off the rails and did exactly what Jay said she wouldn't — kill. One of the major editors of the newspaper had died, and if it wasn't for Iris shooting off Light's mask with a gun, Light probably would've killed Iris and Linda, too. Jay had tried to step in after Light had crashed the S.T.A.R. Labs van outside, but she sent a starlight energy wave to knock them all down and escape.

Juliet and Barry had arrived to the scene, both looking flushed and out of it. Iris had met them at the front, but once her eyes set on them, she let out a small laugh.

She brushed past Iris. "I don't want to hear any words from you."

"I didn't even say anything," Iris replied, but Juliet could hear the smirk in her voice.

Juliet and Barry had canvassed the entire scene, but what could they really do? Any prints would just pull up as Linda.

"I saw . . . myself," Linda said, still clearly shaken up. "How is that even possible?"

"Sounds like you have an evil Meta-twin," Patty answered.

Linda sighed. "And now Larkin's dead because someone who looks like me wanted to kill me?"

Joe put a hand on her shoulder. "Linda, none of this is your fault. We're gonna figure it all out, I promise."

Barry walked up to her, Juliet trailing behind him. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alive, thanks to Iris," Linda responded. "Turns out she's as badass with a gun as she is with a pen."

"Damn straight," Juliet agreed.

"I'm just happy that you're safe," Iris told Linda.

"I've arranged a security detail around the clock, just to be sure," Joe announced.

"I can take you to them if you're ready," Patty offered.

Linda nodded. "Yeah."

With that, Patty led Linda away. Juliet sighed and watched them go.

Juliet looked up at Barry. "We should've been here. I should've been here. I wasn't blind."

"Jules, you were helping Barry," Iris said. She then cleared her throat. "In more ways than one."

She glared at her, her face feeling warm. "Iris."

"The point is, there's nothing that you could've done."

Joe looked down at Light's mask that Barry was holding. "You think this mask can help us find that woman?"

"Any evidence on this, it's just gonna match Linda," Barry replied. "J and I'll think of something else. Light's not gonna kill again."

After they wrapped up at the crime scene, Juliet and Barry went back to S.T.A.R. Labs. When they walked in, they saw Harry pacing back and forth while Caitlin was putting a bandage on Jay's head.

"You okay, Cait?" Juliet began. "Jay?"

"Yeah," Caitlin stated.

"Juliet, Barry, I'm sorry," Jay voiced. "Doctor Light's never killed before. I thought we could reason with her."

"You cannot reason with someone under Zoom's influence, and now a man is dead because of you, Garrick," Harry argued. "This whole thing is because of you." He pointed at Barry and Juliet. "They doubt themselves because of you, but believe me, Barry and Juliet can do what you and Witch could not. Barry and Juliet can stop Zoom."

Jay stood up. "Witch and I spent two years hunting Zoom."

"Wrong! Zoom hunted you! You both have spent the last two years of your life running, teleporting, running, teleporting from Zoom."

"Zoom would have killed me, and possibly Witch, just like he will kill Barry and Julie if you lead him down this path!" Jay shouted.

"No, because they are not like you," Harry countered. "Barry and Juliet run towards danger, not from it, because they're not cowards."

Jay then wound his fist back and punched Harry right across the face. Juliet blinked in surprise. Harry then regained his composure and punched Jay in the face before his stomach multiple times. Jay blocked another punch and started to repeatedly swing at Harry.

God, the testosterone in the room was just too damn high.

Juliet rolled her eyes. She lifted both of her hands up and focused on Harry and Jay. With red energy traveling from her fingertips down her arms, she pushed her hands to the side, successfully separating them and holding them in place. Juliet walked and stood in the middle of them, letting her hands drop and therefore letting her concentration drop from them.

"Enough," Juliet ordered, glancing in between them. "Are you going to pull your heads out of your asses or do you need me to do that for you, too?"

Harry then stalked off, evidently wanting to get as far away from Jay as possible. Juliet sighed and looked over, only to see that Barry had his hand outstretched to hers. She took it, and the two of them followed Harry all the way downstairs into Cisco's lab.

"You were pretty hard on Jay in there," Barry stated. "And on Earth-Two Juliet, wherever she may be."

"Maybe you should be hard on them too," Harry countered. "I've seen what you two can do. I've calculated how fast you can run and how powerful you can be, and you should be teaching Jay, not the other way around."

"You know, before J and I learned that the other Wells was the man who murdered my mom, we looked up to him. He was our mentor, actually — except the part where he constantly discarded Juliet to the side."

"So my doppelganger, a man who looks exactly like me, betrayed you. I'm sorry, I'm not him, so you need to listen to me when I say you can take care of Zoom, and all we have to do—" he snapped his fingers "—is capture Doctor Light."

"We could test the mask, but it would only come up as Linda's DNA, not Light's," Juliet said.

"Mask?" Harry repeated. "What mask?"

"Uh, you know. The one Doctor Light wears. Silver, black visor, kind of ominous."

And that's what brought them all the way back upstairs. Cisco rolled out a cart, which had Doctor Light's mask displayed on it.

"How did you get this?" Harry demanded.

"Iris shot it off Doctor Light when she attacked Linda," Barry responded.

"You know how to use the mask to find Light?" Jay asked Harry.

"Yes, I do," Harry agreed. "All we have to do is give it to him."

Harry turned expectantly to Cisco. Juliet knit her eyebrows in thought. Huh?

"Why me?" Cisco questioned.

"Because you have powers," Harry said.

Juliet raised an eyebrow. Cisco, having powers?

"What are you talking about?" Cisco inquired.

Harry rolled up his sleeve. "I developed this watch to detect Metahumans."

He opened up the watch and stuck his arm out towards Juliet. Immediately, it lit up red and started to beep. Harry took another step and held it out towards Barry, and it beeped again. He then walked over to Caitlin, but the watch stayed normal and silent when it was by her.

"You never got an alert on your phone. You never reprogrammed the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite, and this is why."

When Harry stuck his arm out towards Cisco, the watch lit up and beeped, just like it did with Juliet and Barry. Juliet's eyes slightly widened a little. Woah, okay. She knew he had been acting really strange lately, but that wasn't something she expected.

"He's a Metahuman," Harry finished.

"Cisco, have you known about this, and you didn't say anything to us?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, I was gonna tell you," Cisco replied, sending a pointed glare towards Harry. "Thanks a lot, Harry. I swear I was, but I didn't. I was just — I was afraid."

Juliet frowned. "Of what?"

"Dr. Wells said the dark matter gave me this — this gift. He said that one day I'd thank him for it. What if I become like him?"

"Cisco, I don't think any of us would become evil if we all of the sudden got powers, even if they were from Dr. Wells," Caitlin insisted.

He turned to face them all. "Yeah, maybe you're right. I should have said something. That's my fault. I'm sorry."

"Well, you can be sorry later, because right now, we have to use your powers to find Doctor Light," Harry cut in.

"Cisco, your abilities, how do they work?" Jay questioned.

"Uh, I get these feelings sometimes, these vibes, visions of the breachers when they come to this Earth," Cisco explained. "I just — I'm not sure what triggers it. Sometimes it just happens. Sometimes it's when I'm touching something of theirs."

"Touch the mask," Harry ordered. "You want to find Doctor Light, do it."

Cisco then reached out his hand. He took a shaky breath, and Juliet watched expectantly as he put his hand on the mask and squeezed his eyes shut. However, nothing happened. Cisco let out a hum and tried to touch the mask more, but still, there was nothing. Finally, he opened his eyes and pulled his hand away.

"I don't think it's working," Cisco admitted.

"Try again," Harry instructed. When Cisco did nothing, he raised his voice. "Try again!"

"Hey," Juliet snapped. "Cool it."

Cisco, however, did as he was told. He touched the mask again, and yet, nothing happened.

"I'm sorry, it's not—" Cisco began.

"Again!" Harry shouted.

"I can't control it."

Harry took the mask off of the cart. "Because you're afraid."

"I'm telling you, I don't know how it works!" Cisco exclaimed. "I can't just make it happen."

"I'm telling you, yes, you can!"

He thrusted the mask right into Cisco's chest. This time, Cisco let out a gasp before his entire body went still with his mouth open and his eyes wide and unfocused. Juliet gripped Barry's hand just a little bit, but merely a second later, Cisco came back.

"South Plaza train station, platform fifteen," Cisco announced.

Harry looked at Barry and Juliet. "What are you waiting for?"

Juliet and Barry shared a quick look before letting go of each other's hands. While he sped away in a flash of yellow lightning, Juliet teleported into her suit before teleporting away to the train station. When her feet hit the ground, Barry immediately skidded to a stop by her side. Juliet looked around. There were way too many people there right now.

"Oh, guys, the platform's crowded," Barry stated. "Are you sure she's here?"

"She should be wearing a black trench coat," Cisco responded.

Juliet glanced through the crowd, only to see Earth-Two Linda standing by a train with a black trench coat and white boots. "Got her."

"Everybody, get out of here," Barry called to the crowd. "Go, go, hurry!"

At once, all of the people on the platform ran away until it was just Juliet, Barry, and Earth-Two Linda.

"Why won't you just let me leave?" Earth-Two Linda complained, walking towards them while taking off her coat.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have killed an innocent man," Juliet said. "Our actions have consequences sometimes."

"That was an accident."

"Maybe so, but trying to kill Linda Park definitely wasn't."

"It's the only way that I can be free from Zoom, unless I kill you, Flash," Earth-Two Linda voiced.

Juliet sighed. "Well, since you won't be doing that either, now we've got problems."

"We'll see."

At once, Earth-Two Linda sent two blasts of starlight at them. Juliet blocked it with her own energy blasts, just like she did back at the vault, and at once, the starlight fizzled out. She then grabbed onto Barry's shoulder and teleported them behind a nearby pillar.

"Guys, we should have talked about this before we left, but how should we stop her?" Barry inquired.

"Keep trying different angles," Jay answered. "Find her blind spot."

Juliet peeked out behind the pillar. Earth-Two Linda saw her and sent more starlight, to which Juliet made go away with her own energy. She grabbed Barry's shoulder again and teleported them behind a nearby train.

"I can try to teleport behind her, but I feel like she'd be faster," Juliet added. "What do we do?"

"I don't know," Jay responded.

"I gotta tell ya, that's not exactly the answer we were looking for," Barry said.

"You need to confuse her," Harry interjected. "Give her more than one target, so she does not know who to fire at."

"All right, how do we do that?"

"Barry, by running so fast, you create multiple afterimages of yourself, you create a speed mirage. Juliet, you get inside her head, make her see what you want her to see. Use your mind control to the max."

"A wha — speed mir — I've never run that fast," Barry protested.

"I don't know if I'm that powerful," Juliet added.

"Well, from what I've been told, you've traveled through time and you've made numerous people bend to your will," Harry told them. "You'll be more than fast and powerful enough."

Earth-Two Linda then saw them behind the train. Juliet immediately teleported out of her spot, entering a new hiding spot where she wouldn't be as vulnerable. While Barry sped around, creating vibrating speed mirages, Juliet shut her eyes. She could sense Earth-Two Linda's mind near her, and she poured all of her concentration into it. There was a vague pounding in the back of her head, but she ignored it as she moved her hands covered with red energy, thinking multiples of me.

Suddenly, there was another shockwave. It reached Juliet's feet, knocking her off balance and therefore making all of her concentration go away. All of the speed mirages and Juliet's immediately disappeared. She stumbled a bit, gripping onto the wall in order to stay upright as she breathed heavily, her head feeling like she knocked into it a million times.

"Barry?" Caitlin's voice echoed over the comms. "Jules?"

"I can't do it," Barry let out.

"Yeah, I don't know about this," Juliet agreed.

"You can do it," Jay insisted. "Hey, Dr. Wells is right. You are fast, faster than I ever was and better than I ever will be. Juliet, you're more powerful than Julie, and she would agree. Don't let fear and doubt hold you back like it did to us. You're the Flash and Scarlet. Show Light what that means."

Juliet nodded to absolutely no one but herself. She could do this. Juliet shut her eyes again and raised her hands, allowing the energy to flow through her veins. Just like before, she connected to Earth-Two Linda's mind and just focused. Juliet could feel her powers start to pull away from Earth-Two Linda, but she held on, making Earth-Two Linda see multiples of her.

"Where are you?" Earth-Two Linda yelled.

While she was distracted, Juliet opened her eyes back up and ducked out from behind the pillar. Linda maybe didn't see multiples of her anymore, but she definitely saw multiples of Barry, who had made tens upon tens of speed mirages. Juliet then summoned a ball of red energy in her hand and threw it straight at Earth-Two Linda. It sent her flying into a nearby metal pillar, and she collapsed onto the floor, now unconscious.

Juliet blinked a couple of times, suddenly very dizzy. "Oh God."

Barry put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

"All good. I've never really done something like that before."

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "And you did great."

Together, the two of them took Earth-Two Linda back to S.T.A.R. Labs. While Caitlin made sure she was taken down to one of the Metahuman cells, Juliet and Barry went back to the cortex, now in their regular clothes. Joe and Iris were there now, too. Juliet was slumped comfortably against Barry's side, who had his arm around her, holding her close.

"Doctor Light is safely locked in the pipeline," Caitlin voiced.

Cisco held out a fist to her. "Nicely done."

"Wells, thank you for helping Barry and Jules put away Doctor Light," Iris stated.

"So, what now?" Joe asked.

Barry exhaled. "We do what Dr. Wells said. We use her to lure Zoom here, end this once and for all."

"You can't be serious," Jay protested.

"More breachers are gonna come. More innocent people may die. I can't let this happen anymore."

"You're making a mistake. Okay, Zoom is a nightmare you can't wake up from."

"I don't know if you remember, but our worst nightmare basically already happened," Juliet interrupted tiredly. "You know, Reverse Flash? I hate to admit it, but I was afraid of him for a long time. Maybe more so for Barry's sake, but he was a complete psycho. I don't want it to be like that anymore. As Taylor Swift titled her second album, we have to be fearless."

Jay let out an incredulous laugh. "Okay, Julie—"

"Juliet. Call me Julie one more time and you're getting punched."

"—you may be more powerful than Witch, and Barry, you may be faster than me, but you're not ready to fight Zoom by yourselves."

"That's just it, Jay," Barry voiced. "We're not gonna fight him by ourselves. We've got all of them to help us. We've got Dr. Wells. We've got you."

Jay shook his head. "No, I can't in good conscience help you two when I know it'll only lead to you losing your speed and powers, or even worse, your deaths."

"Optimism must be an Earth-One thing," Cisco said.

"You all need to ask yourself why this man—" he pointed at Harry "—for years, wouldn't admit that he was responsible for the Particle Accelerator exploding underground. He may not be Harrison Wells from your Earth, but he has just as many secrets as the one you knew."

Caitlin stepped in his path. "Jay, please don't go."

Jay sighed, looking grim. "I'm so sorry, Caitlin."

Juliet leaned her head more into Barry's chest. Well, shit.

The next day, all of them were still reeling from Jay walking out, and from the rollercoaster of events that happened yesterday. That's how Juliet, Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco found themselves at Jitters. Cisco was in the middle of going up to order two Flashes and two Scarlets with the same pretty barista that rejected him while the other three sat at a table.

Barry squinted at Caitlin. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just — I was getting used to Jay being part of the team," Caitlin admitted.

"Well, hey, Jay's a hero," Juliet said. "And heroes always seem to show up when you need one."

Cisco then came back to the table, setting down a tray of four cups. "Yo, peep that."

He lifted up a piece of paper. On it was a phone number — obviously the pretty barista's one.

Juliet's eyes widened and she raised her hand for a high-five. "Oh, hell yeah."

Cisco high-fived her. "That's how it's done. Going on a date next week."

Barry smiled, one that made Juliet feel all giddy inside. "Things are looking up for Cisco Ramon."

"I guess so. Still stuck with these powers, though. I just don't know how to feel about 'em."

"Well, the good thing is that you don't have to go through it alone," Juliet told him, taking a Scarlet from the carrier try.

"And now you need a cool name," Caitlin added.

"Oh, snap!" Cisco exclaimed. "You're totally right. Oh, I gotta think about this one. Well, you know me. It's gotta be perfect. Something that really sings, you know? Something like—"

"Vibe?" Barry suggested.

Juliet's mouth fell open and she reached over, poking his cheek. "Woah. You never fail to amaze me." She nodded. "Vibe."

"Vibe," Caitlin agreed.

"Vibe," Cisco repeated before grinning.

And so Scarlet, the Flash, Caitlin, and Vibe clinked their cups together, sealing in the new name.

〖 ϟ 〗

I miss nia nal and brainy what the fuck.

anyways, just wanted to clear up one thing. some of you have expressed that you wanted to see the entire sex scene between barry & jules last chapter, but I don't feel comfortable writing smut in full. all I really want to write is the moments leading up to it and the moment after. so sorry if you feel robbed, but I'm not going to push my personal boundaries ❤️