⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
what a brutal way to die

⊱ ──────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ──────── ⊰

BARRY ACTUALLY WASN'T that hard to find. Juliet had only searched for a little bit until she found him, standing in one of the rooms in the basement, where Harry had built the whole contraption that would help Barry get his speed back.

Juliet slowed her pace, clasping her hands behind some back. "Mind some company?"

Barry let out a breathy laugh. "I always want your company, J."

"That's good, because I would be a little concerned if you didn't." She leaned against one of the walls, glancing up at the complicated machine. "Seems like you've got a shit ton of things on your mind."

He leaned against the wall opposite of her. "It should be an easy decision. Why isn't it?"

"Getting hit by another Particle Accelerator explosion isn't an easy decision," Juliet insisted. "You're changing your entire body, not going shopping. There's a very high chance that something could go wrong, and something bad can happen again. You shouldn't beat yourself up over weighing your decisions."

"I thought bringing my dad here would make this easier. It's just made it a lot harder."

"You also have to understand why he doesn't want you to do it. I mean, Barry, he lost the love of his life. He technically lost you when he spent all those years in prison and didn't watch you grow up. All he wants is for you to be safe." Juliet gave him a small smile. "He just doesn't want to lose you."

He nodded to her. "What about you? I know you told me you would back up whatever I decide, but I need to hear your opinion."

"I can't make the decision for you, Barr."

"You won't." Barry stared at her pleadingly. "Just . . . tell me your thoughts."

Juliet let out a deep breath. "I just . . . I've watched you ever since you lost your speed. You feel lost. Empty, even. And no one can blame you — you've had speed for well over a year, and it was ripped away from you in the blink of an eye. Now Harry's saying that he's found a way to give it back in a more controlled setting, and . . ."

"And?" Barry urged.

"If it was the other way around, and it was me who gave up my powers, I would want to get them back, too," Juliet admitted, something she hadn't really fully realized until now. "And if that meant doing another Particle Accelerator explosion . . . it's risky, but it's the option that makes the most sense."

He tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling. "Yet, J, you saw what that explosion did to the city."

"Yeah, I did." Juliet shrugged. "The worst thing that could happen here is that you get hurt. Which is pretty awful, considering it tears me apart seeing you in pain." She gave him a soft smile when he looked at her again, and she tilted her head. "Whatever you choose, just run home to me, okay?"

Barry nodded, his eyes glinting. "I'll always run home to you."

"Need some more time to think?"

He pushed himself off the wall and extended his arm out to her, and Juliet immediately sunk into his side. "I'm good. Let's go upstairs."

Together, the two of them went back upstairs. They walked into the cortex, where Joe, Harry, and Henry were gathered around a table, just in time to hear Joe mention Caitlin's name.

"What about Caitlin?" Barry asked.

"She sent us a message," Joe answered. "Rupture's gonna attack Jitters tonight."

Juliet nodded. "I'll be on it."

"And Allen?" Harry pressed.

Henry nodded to his son. "What are you gonna do, slugger?"

"Having the Flash with Scarlet might be the best way to stop Zoom and all the Metas he's sending over," Barry began. "But, look, I — 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."

"Yes, but Allen—" Harry protested.

"Stop, Wells. Look, I'm sorry. I've — I've made up my mind. Sorry." Barry then sighed and looked down at Juliet. "Scarlet's got it, right?"

She grinned. "Absolutely, I do."

First, they had to take care of their actual CSI job. Jitters was packed with the members of the CCPD, restless for the announcement about the attack. Her and Barry descended down the stairs from the loft to see Captain Singh walking away from joe.

"Hey, we're all set up," Barry told him. "Are you sure this is the best plan?"

"Well, we have Jules," Joe replied. "You ready?"

She nodded. "Ready."

"Besides, stopping one of Zoom's cronies sends a message that we won't be intimidated."

"You think I made the right decision?" Barry questioned.

Joe shrugged. "I don't know, Barr. Whether you made the right one or not, you're gonna have to live with it."

"Yeah, all right."

Juliet discreetly left Jitters and teleported into her suit before coming back, standing near the back entrance. All of the members of the CCPD hid behind the counters while Barry and Cisco sat in a S.T.A.R. Labs van outside. Juliet waited for the signal — which, in other words, was complete destruction.

She got it when she heard the sound of glass shattering and a bright light coming from the main entrance. Juliet teleported inside to see Rupture coming in, surrounded by shards of broken glass on the floor.

Rupture stared at her. "Scarlet. Now, where has everybody else gone?"

Juliet waved at him. "Hey. Nice staff, cool if I have a look at it?"

He twirled his staff around before pointing it at her. It sent a jet of red energy hurdling towards her, but Juliet was quicker and teleported out of the way just in time.

"Come on, I just want to see it." Juliet waved her hand towards her, and instantly, Rupture's staff flew out of his hand and entered hers. "That easy, huh?"

Joe then stood up and shot his taser gun at Rupture. Instantly, his body shuddered from the electrocution, sinking to his knees. Captain Singh ran up and knocked his mask off, revealing him to be the true doppelganger of Dante.

"Get up," Joe ordered, hauling Earth-Two Dante off of the floor. "Are we the guys you were looking for?"

Captain Singh handcuffed him. "Hope you like being alone, 'cause you won't be talking to anyone at Iron Heights."

Juliet placed her hand on her hip, staring up at the staff. "This is kinda badass, not going to lie." He then pointed to a reporter. "Get back! Get that camera back."

A flash of blue lightning then entered Jitters. Juliet immediately got on high alert, letting the staff drop with a clang on the ground. She stepped forwards in front of the officers, her palms starting to glow red.

Juliet glared at him. "Zoom."

Zolomon, however, just stared at the camera. "Make sure you get this."

All of the sudden, his entire body crackled with blue lightning. Juliet's eyes widened.

"Everybody move!" Joe shouted.

Juliet lifted up her hand, but it was too late. Harry was right — her one weakness was super speed. Before she even had a chance to move everything, Zolomon sped around the room, killing everyone besides Juliet, Joe, Captain Singh, and Earth-Two Dante. The sound of the bodies hitting the floor made Juliet absolutely sick to her fucking stomach.

"What the fuck . . ." Juliet trailed off.

She then concentrated on Zolomon fully, holding him in place. Yet like every other time she dealt with somebody on Earth-Two, it pushed back against her, and Juliet felt herself draining. Even if she had gotten more powerful lately, there was nothing she could do about the difference in frequencies.

Zolomon stared at Captain Singh. "I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me."

Barry then ran into the shop. "Hey, stop! Stop! God . . . you've made your point."

"Not quite yet." Zolomon turned his attention to Juliet, whose limbs were starting to shake. "Let go, Scarlet."

A sharp pain suddenly shot through her head, making her cry out and drop all concentration as she stumbled backwards. He embedded his sharp hand into Earth-Two Dante's stomach, lifting him up off the floor. Zolomon sped over to the counter and slammed Earth-Two Dante down onto it.

"You're an even bigger disappointment than your brother," Zolomon stated.

He then ripped his hand out, and Earth-Two Dante laid there, completely dead.

Juliet picked her head up. She still had one last bit of energy in her. Zolomon wasn't even looking at her, so Juliet lifted up her hand. Her mind connected to Zolomon's, and even though she was so fucking tired, she ignored it. She stared at him angrily before wrenching her hand to the side, making Zolomon go flying. He went right through the hole caused from the broken front doors and slammed into the concrete.

"You may think 'cause there's no more Flash there's no more hope in Central City, but they've still got me," Juliet called.

Zolomon then pushed himself onto his knees. "You're only alive because of Caitlin. Go against me again, and my affection for her won't stop me from killing you . . . or the rest of this city."

"It would be an interesting plot twist if I killed you first, though." She flicked her head to the side, making his head whip like he had just gotten slapped. "Fuck off, Zoom."

He stared at her for a moment before speeding off in a flash of blue lightning. Juliet shut her eyes, rubbing her hands against temples as if it would help with the pounding. Barry rushed up to her and held her up for a moment, a tear dripping down his cheek.

They went back to S.T.A.R. Labs, where Juliet immediately got out of her suit and back into her more comfortable clothes. She had had a small snack and was in the midst of drinking more water while all of them — besides Wally and Jesse, who were still in the Time Vault — discussed what had happened.

"It won't be long now," Harry voiced. "He's moving faster than he ever did on my Earth."

"So what's next?" Iris inquired.

"Next, he'll recruit every Metahuman he can find, and then force them to do what he wants."

"How many could be left?" Joe asked. "We defeated most of them, didn't we?"

"No, you're not even close," Harry revealed. "This—" Harry lifted up a thumbdrive before putting into the computer, making the screen pull up a very long list "—is a list of Metahumans 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 Metahumans here?" Henry questioned.

"Because of the Flash and Scarlet," Joe answered.

"It was a statement to have me go alone against Rupture," Juliet added. "They started to hide with the two of us, and when it became just me, more appeared. Now that the city probably realizes the Flash isn't here anymore, they're going to overwhelm us. And me. I'm probably never getting any sleep ever again."

"We don't know that," Henry protested.

"What more do you need?" Harry argued. "I told you he'd recruit Metahumans. 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 interjected. "I want to do it."

Juliet looked up at him. "You sure?"

"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 help Scarlet stop that monster. I left this city partially unprotected by giving up my powers to Zoom. I enabled him to think he can rule this Earth. I need my powers back. Let's do it. Let's set off the Particle Accelerator."

Harry and Cisco went down first to finish fixing the Particle Accelerator. In the meantime, Barry got into his Flash suit. He then instantly grabbed onto Juliet's hand as they descended downstairs.

"So how does this work?" Iris inquired.

"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 explained.

"Good," Joe commented. "Last thing we need is more Metahumans running around Central City."

"So . . ." Iris continued. "Barry just gets in, we turn it on, and that's it?"

"Yeah," Harry responded. "No, not exactly. In addition to recreating what happened with the Particle Accelerator explosion, we also have to recreate what happened to Barry."

"Getting struck by lightning," Barry said.

"That's right."

"Wait, so how are you gonna do that?" Iris asked. "It's not even raining outside."

"Well, Ramon, you have the wand," Harry stated.

Cisco blinked at him. "The one I made for Mark Mardon?"

"No, uh, the one you built for the Harry Potter convention. Yes, of course, the one you built for Mardon."

His eyes narrowed. "How do you know about the Harry Potter convention?"

"Get the wand, get on the roof," Harry instructed.

"Why the roof?" Joe questioned.

"Because we're gonna need a lightning rod, and that, Ramon, is gonna be you."

Begrudgingly, Cisco got on the roof after getting the wand. Honestly, that whole Harry Potter convention thing intrigued Juliet, but she definitely wasn't going to ask about it now.

"All right, I'm on the roof," Cisco announced. "Wow. I've never actually been up here before. I think I can see my apartment from here."

"Now head straight to the satellite, Ramon," Harry said. "When I give you the signal, you're gonna create a lightning storm above you."

"So I'm just supposed to stand here in the middle of a lightning storm?"

"Really, Ramon. Chances of being struck are slim, indeed."

"Yeah, now when you're the one causing it," Cisco insisted.

"All we need is one lightning bolt to strike the satellite," Harry reassured him. "The satellite circuitry's connected to the breach room. Barry's in the breach room. Just do it."

"Yeah, I'm doing it. Mozart better watch out. Cisco Ramon's about to conduct something nasty."

Barry placed a hand on Juliet's waist. "You okay?"

She tilted her head at him. "I should be asking you that." Juliet then sighed. "It'll be hard to watch for sure, but it'll be fine."

He then wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight. "I love you."

"I love you more." Juliet pulled away after a moment and kissed him for a moment. "Now go get your speed back, handsome."

Barry got up into the Particle Accelerator, where it honestly looked like he was getting completely locked in . . . which he probably was. Juliet backed up a bit, linking her arm with Iris'.

"You're gonna feel these clamps, but they're necessary," Harry told him.

Joe stared up at Barry. "You good?"

"Yeah, you?" Barry replied. He then noticed the look on Joe's face. "I'll be fine, Joe."

Iris smiled at him. "Good luck, Barry."

"Son . . ." Henry began. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Barry shook his head, tears starting to fall down his cheeks. "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."

"Okay."

"You ready, Allen?" Harry inquired. Barry nodded once. "All right, then. Here we go."

Juliet let out a deep breath, her heart racing as she stepped up to join Harry on the platform. Iris made their arms link a little tighter, giving some comfort to Juliet. She locked eyes with Barry as the glass doors shut, separating him from them. Juliet gave him a soft smile, and he responded with one as well.

Harry then started up the Particle Accelerator. After about a minute, the whole building started to shake.

"Particles are becoming unstable," Harry voiced. "Ramon, get ready! I'm gonna release the chemicals into his system."

Harry then made the chemicals start to inject themselves into Barry's system. At once, his body froze before jolting. Juliet watched her boyfriend, the love of her life, go through more pain, her heart hurting. She blinked away the tears that formed in the back of her eyes. This was taking her back to that night, the way her skin burned when that red chemical spilled all over her . . .

"Why are you doing this?" Iris screamed.

"The night Barry and Juliet were struck by lightning, they were doing fingerprint analysis," Harry answered. "Those chemicals got into 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."

"I'm okay, Iris," Barry said through gritted teeth.

Iris looked over at Juliet. "Jules."

Juliet felt a tear roll down her cheek. "If it was me, Harry would be doing the same thing."

"Hold on, Barry," Joe said.

"God!" Barry cried out, his body thrashing against the metal.

Henry watched his vitals. "He's going hydrostatic."

"Almost there," Harry insisted. "Almost there."

"Wells!"

"Almost there. Ready, Ramon?"

"Ready," Cisco confirmed.

"Now!"

"Expecto Patronum! Great Scott, it's working!"

Juliet only had a moment to think about how fucking nerdy of him that was before lightning entered the room. She lifted up her free hand to cover her mouth in shock as bolts of lightning hit Barry's body over and over again. Her breath hitched in her throat, remembering how that lightning bolt struck Barry in their lab, the sound of his body being knocked back from the floor, the shock of that red spark from him touching her . . .

"Initiating collision," Harry announced.

At once, antimatter and dark energy flowed at Barry, covering his body in an orange glow. However, before her very eyes, Juliet saw everything go wrong. Barry's eyes glowed a bright shade of orange before his face started to fall apart, drifting into the air like dust particles.

"No!" Juliet yelled.

The matter blew past them through the wall, knocking them all back. Juliet hit the metal hard, her body screaming in pain. She then pushed herself up, blinking through the smoke.

Cisco came into the room. "It worked. Is everyone okay? What happened?"

It didn't work. Because when Juliet looked fully at the Particle Accelerator, her worst fear was confirmed — Barry wasn't there. She stumbled to her feet, her heart twisting in a knot. Tears were falling down her cheeks, but she was too numb to even feel them. Harry opened the glass doors, further confirming the truth that Barry was gone.

He couldn't be . . . right? Allen was written in her future. Her forever lover couldn't just be . . . gone.

"No," Henry let out. "What did you do to my son?"

A flash of blue lightning then sped in. Juliet only glared at Zolomon's figure. And he did the one thing that absolutely crushed her . . . he picked up the remaining piece of Barry's suit, which was jagged and blackened from electricity. Juliet felt anger rise up inside her. He didn't deserve to hold that.

Zolomon turned to them. "You thought you could give the Flash his speed back? Well done. You killed him instead."

"Get out," Juliet ordered.

He tilted his head at her. "Scarlet—"

"Did you not hear me? I said get the fuck out!"

Juliet then concentrated on him and wrenched her side, making him fly into the wall. Zolomon shook it off and sped out. Juliet turned back slowly to the entrance to the room before descending down the steps. She walked up to the jagged piece of Barry's suit, staring at it in disbelief.

Her boyfriend, her forever lover, her everything — dead. Just like that.

"Jules?" Iris whispered.

And that's when she broke.

Juliet let out a sob. She felt her knees give out underneath her, clearly not letting her hold herself up anymore. Juliet fell to her knees, and without really knowing what else to do, she just screamed — a scream of pain, a scream of agony, a scream of heartbreak. Instantly, the second her knees hit the ground, red energy inside of her expelled from her body, shooting out throughout the breach room.

Because Barry was gone, taking her entire heart with him.

〖 ϟ 〗

I remember watching this for the first time and being like OH MY GOD WHERE DID HE GO