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𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
can't catch a break

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SCARLET'S GOT IT was the new motto around S.T.A.R. Labs — for obvious reasons.

Juliet had taken the reigns on all of the crimes in the city, going on missions solo. Now, back when Barry had his speed, it wasn't exactly rare to see one without the other. They would team up and split ways to control more crime. But it was more often than not that the two of them would show up to the same thing, and Juliet could feel the city getting . . . suspicious, as to why the Flash wasn't with her.

That didn't stop her, though. Juliet knew Barry wanted to help, but there was only so much they could do at this point. So, yeah, crime had increased just a bit in the city since Juliet went solo, but she was still getting it under control.

Like now.

Bank robbers in a getaway car getting chased by cops, weaving through traffic and causing major roadblocks. Juliet was instantly on the scene, teleporting on the street right in front of the car. The car started to swerve to get out of her way, but with a simple mind connection and the outreach of her hand, the car slowed to a stop in front of her.

Juliet smiled at them, placing her hands on her hips. "Hey."

He pointed a gun at her from the rolled down window.

Juliet raised an eyebrow. With a casual flick of her hand, it flew out of his hand and went flying across the asphalt.

"Nice try," Juliet commented. She then glanced up to see the police cars skid to a stop, the police officers immediately getting out and pointing their guns at the car. "Good luck with that."

And with that, she teleported away.

Juliet appeared in the cortex of S.T.A.R. Labs, taking her mask off. "Too easy."

Iris raised her hand for a high-five, which Juliet instantly obliged. "Nice one, Jules."

Cisco then pointed at Barry, who was sitting in one of the rolling chairs. "You know, if they can get Tupac rapping again at a concert, we could get the Flash running around Central City." His eyes widened with inspiration. "Like a Flash video game. Oh, hold on—"

"That won't last," Harry interjected, entering the cortex.

"There it is."

"It's not gonna be long before someone figures out, Oh, wait. You never say anything. You never touch anything. Oh, wait. You never go indoors."

"It was a good idea," Iris argued.

"Actually, I beg to differ," Harry replied. "I think a better idea, instead of playing Hoodlums and Holograms, would be to rebuild the Particle Accelerator to get Barry's speed back."

Oh, yeah. Harry's genius plan. Harry thought that it would just be wonderful to recreate the Particle Accelerator explosion.

Okay, to be honest, Juliet didn't exactly know how to feel about the whole plan. On one hand, it was the best bet they had for getting Barry his powers back, something she knew he was yearning for. Yet on the much bigger other hand, Particle Accelerator explosions were disastrous, to say the least. They had already had two, and putting another one on the roster wasn't exactly Juliet's idea of a good time.

Juliet crossed her arms. "Am I nothing to you?"

"You're everything," Barry reassured her. "And yeah, Wells, that's what you keep saying, when Juliet's right there."

"Yeah, I see Juliet," Harry insisted. "She's handling everything great. But Central City was better when you two were a team."

"Look at what that explosion did to this city."

"Not to mention, last time we tried something like that, we blew a hole in the universe and created, like, fifty portals to your Earth," Cisco added.

"Which is exactly how Zoom and his henchmen got here in the first place," Iris stated.

"I told you," Harry said. "I know how to contain the explosion."

"Oh, you mean the explosion of dark matter that just radiated the entirety of Central City last time?" Juliet questioned. "Do you remember that you did the exact same thing on your Earth, which didn't go well? Like, at all?"

"And even if you could contain it, I thought you said that Barry couldn't tap into the Speed Force anymore," Iris voiced.

"It wasn't connected the first time he got his powers," Harry protested. "Look, I have your Wells' data. The Harrison Wells from this Earth, I have his science. I know what chemicals need to be in your 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 your speed back. This will work. Cisco's subterfuge idea . . . is not gonna last. But more importantly . . . it's not gonna save Snow. It's not gonna bring your Caitlin back. You wanna be ready should Zoom return — if Zoom returns — when Zoom returns — there is only one way to do it, and that's by getting your speed back."

Juliet had to admit, that was kind of a fair point. They did need speed to go through that breach, and without it, Caitlin was still stuck.

Harry then walked out of the room.

Juliet went up to Barry, reaching down and running her fingers through his hair. Barry leaned into it, his eyes sad as he glanced up at her.

Even though they only locked eyes for a second, Juliet knew that Barry was going to do what he thought was right. And that was getting his speed back. Maybe he didn't know it yet, but Juliet could tell.

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"I DON'T UNDERSTAND what I'm looking at," Juliet admitted. "What's this?"

While Barry had gone up north to see Henry for some advice, the others gathered in the medbay. Harry had pulled up a diagram of some contraption on the screen, made of multiple complicated parts.

"It looks like the Vacuum," Cisco commented.

"Uh, what's the Vacuum?" Jesse inquired.

"No Fringe on Earth-Two. Noted."

Iris looked back at Harry. "What is that thing?"

"That is how Barry's gonna get his speed back," Harry answered.

"This is what you've been working on in the workshop?" Cisco asked.

"Someone has to worry about Zoom."

"I'm apparently invisible," Juliet muttered.

"Okay, Barry cannot do this," Cisco said.

"He has to, Ramon," Harry insisted.

"You keep calling me that, but that's—"

Cisco suddenly froze, staring off into the distance, like he always did when he vibed. After a moment, he gasped, snapping back into reality.

"What did you see?" Harry questioned. "Zoom? Did you see Zoom?"

Cisco shook his head. "No. I saw my brother."

Juliet blinked. "You saw Dante?"

"I got to go."

Cisco then walked out of the room, worry and determination etched onto his features. Juliet suddenly heard Barry's familiar voice say something, and she looked over to see him walking into the cortex with Henry.

"Hey," Barry greeted.

"Henry?" Iris breathed out.

Juliet gasped happily. "Henry!" She bounded up to him, extending her arms out. "Oh my God, hi."

Henry wrapped her in a tight hug. "Hi, Jules."

Iris immediately leaped into a hug when Juliet pulled away. "It's so good to see you."

"Aw, you too."

"I guess Barry dragged you back for a bit, huh?"

"Looks like maybe for good," Barry admitted.

Juliet's eyes widened, and she smiled brightly. "No way, for real?"

"Yeah, yeah, I figured I'd spent enough time away from my son," Henry responded. "And my son's girlfriend, because I'm expecting a wedding soon."

"Oh." Juliet's face felt warm, and her smile only widened when Barry wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. "I mean, Allen is in the future, so . . ."

"Have you told dad?" Iris inquired.

"No, I wanted to tell him in person," Barry replied.

"Yeah, I think he's with Wally at CCPD. I'll — I'll give him a call."

Henry gave her a grin. "Good to see you."

Barry patted Henry on the shoulder. "Yeah, let's get settled."

They went farther into the cortex and helped Henry get adjusted. However, it wasn't long before something went wrong — because, truly, they could never have a moment of peace in Central City. Joe came running into the cortex, saying that Zoom had reappeared . . . and not alone.

"Caitlin's with Zoom," Joe announced.

"Why would he bring her here?" Iris asked.

"To show power," Harry explained. "That's exactly what he did on my Earth."

Joe stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"The first thing he did was murder people. Slaughtered a bunch of policemen. Then recruited every Metahuman he could find. And those that disobeyed, he killed too."

"Where are the police now?" Barry questioned.

"Outside the precinct," Joe responded.

"He'll kill them, Joe," Harry told him. "He'll kill them all."

"Not with Caitlin with him. She talked him out of killing everyone when he took over CCPD."

"That's what we're gonna rely on? Snow talking him out of it? Joe, you need to get those guys out of there."

"What if they set up at Jitters?" Barry suggested.

Joe nodded. "That's a good idea. It's just a block away from the precinct."

"And then what?" Harry argued. "What happens next? You saw what Zoom did on my Earth. He will do the exact same thing here. Barry, we need to ger you your powers back."

"Or I can just make him slam against the wall," Juliet interjected.

"Except your one weakness is superspeed. Trust me — I've studied you, and I've studied Witch. You're powerful in every way, but when it comes to super speed, your mind can't keep up."

"There must be another way," Henry protested.

"There's not," Harry said. "There's not."

Joe walked off. "I'm gonna get word to Singh. Get him to set up a task force at Jitters."

Iris watched him. "And then what?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm gonna make sure Wally and Jesse are safe."

Juliet looked up at Barry. "Barr."

Barry shook his head. "I don't know what to do."

"That's okay, you know." She reached out and took his hand in hers. "You know I'll be right next to you every step of the way, right?"

He nodded, a very small smile on his face. "Yeah, I know."

"I've got you, babe," Juliet stated. "Whatever you choose, I'm in support."

Unfortunately, the chaos didn't end there. On top of Zoom being back, one of his minions — cronies — fans — whatever the fuck they were, had come as well, and it was Dante's doppelganger. He had attacked Cisco and Dante in their car, and Cisco had sprinted into the cortex absolutely screaming his head off about what happened. Harry pulled up an image, and it showed a guy with a mask, holding a scythe that was surrounded by something that looked a lot like Juliet's energy.

"He calls himself Rupture," Harry explained. "Another Metahuman under Zoom's control from my Earth."

"Great, so he's bringing more of his friends over," Iris said.

"That's what I told you he would do."

"Okay, well, Zoom must've liked to fake Dante and told him I was the one who killed Reverb, 'cause dude wants me dead," Cisco voiced. "We got to do something."

"What else do you know about him?" Barry inquired.

"He gets his power from that scythe he wields."

"Thing's legit too," Cisco added. "it almost took half the van with him."

"So I can just make it fly out of his hands," Juliet suggested. "Wherever he goes next, I'll be ready." Juliet gave Cisco a soft smile, noticing his panicked state. "Don't worry, Cisco. We'll figure it out. Scarlet's got it, remember?"

Cisco sighed. "I just have to figure out a way to not tell Dante why this psychopath looks exactly like him."

Harry looked at Barry. "You know what you need to do."

Barry walked off. "I need a minute."

Juliet watched him go, her heart sinking down to her stomach. As a superhero, Juliet knew what it was like to have the weight of the world on her shoulders — something she usually shared with Barry. But this added pressure of Harry, Zoom, and now Rupture, Barry was practically being crushed by everything. Juliet could only do so much as Scarlet . . . but, she was also a girlfriend.

Iris nodded to her. "You give great inspirational speeches. If there's one person who he'll listen to wholeheartedly, it's you."

"Thanks," Juliet replied, twisting the end of her braid around her finger. "Here goes nothing."

She sent a pointed glance to Harry before leaving the cortex, determined to find where her boyfriend went.

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okay yeah this chapter is short but are we going to talk about it? no we are not! thank you very much!