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syoish-aot · 5 months ago

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"I Found You" - EREN/READER - REVERSE ISEKAI (part 5)

reverse isekai, time travel, memory loss

post canon (ish)

reader/eren

word count: 2450

<- PART 4 | PART 6 ->

*****

When Eren was fifteen he didn’t know much about love.

He did know that he had a fierce desire to protect. To save. To help, not just his friends, but all of humanity regain the freedom taken from them by the titans.

He also knew that Mikasa’s hair was very soft.

That her eyes were pretty.

That her skin looked warm.

That her lips, often hidden under the red scarf he had wrapped around her when they were children, distracted him from conversation more times than he could count.

But there was never time.

The more they learned about the world- and the more Eren learned about himself in turn- the more that their lack of time became obvious to him.

He told himself it was for the better than he never told her how he felt. That he never properly answered her question:

“What am I to you, Eren?” She asked him the night when they stood on the hill just outside of Liberio. What am I? She was everything to him, is what he wanted to say; but- “you’re family,” is what he said instead.

Because he knew, Eren knew, that in that lifetime they would never have enough time to be together.

So, when he woke up in a new lifetime, his first thought was that maybe-... maybe this was his chance.

But, when he opened his eyes,

it wasn’t Mikasa that he saw…

…when he opened his eyes,

all he saw was you.

*****

5 Years Ago

“I think I get why these men are on here.” You told your coworker, Mina, as the two of you leaned against the counter, your phone between you as you idly flipped through Hinge casting judgment on every man you saw.

“Why’s that?” Mina asked.

“Well, here’s my theory.” Tired of the mindless scrolling, you slide your phone into your back pocket and grab a marker from the lip of the register. You uncap it and begin doodling on a cup. “Men on dating apps are there because they give off such ick that they can’t meet women in person without setting off alarm bells, so apps are their only option.”

Mina shrugged. “Okay, so why are the women on there?”

“I dunno,” you replied with a snort, “why does anyone go to a zoo?”

“That’s kinda judgmental.” A customer, who appeared seemingly out of thin air, says at the counter.

“Jesus christ-” You jump and the sharpie in your hand goes flying toward him at a perfect angle to run a black streak straight across his shirt.

“Oh my god!” Your hands fly up to cover your mouth as your eyes widen. “I’m so, so, so sorry! Um- uh-” You glance around for a microfiber cloth (which normally makes your skin crawl to touch, but you can’t think about that right now). You quickly run the microfiber (ew) cloth under the sink. “Here!” You reach across the counter to press it to the front of his shirt. “Maybe it’ll um-” It does nothing. “Uh…” You try again. “O-Okay just…” That’s when you finally look up at him.

You figured you looked pretty pathetic, leaning over the counter and uselessly dabbing his shirt to get permanent marker out of polyester (spoiler alert: that doesn’t work and it never will).

So you’re pathetic.

And he’s gorgeous.

The universe must have it out for you. Seriously have it out for you because- …holy shit.

The first thing you notice are his eyes. A stunning composition that reminds you of the night sky on a full moon- swirling blues and greens beautifully illuminated with flecks of golden stars.

And then his messy-on-purpose brown hair, half tied up in a bun with a few tasteful strands falling against his forehead.

His flawless skin.

His sharp cheekbones.

His adorable nose and-

And his smile.

Woah.

It’s a real “knees weak, arms spaghetti” moment for you ((made even more embarrassing by the fact that the first thing you think is “knees weak, arms spaghetti” but that’s where your mind goes and you’ll keep that secret with you until the day you die)).

“I don’t think that’s working.” He tells you as he gently grabs your wrist and guides your hand away.

“Yeah um-” You clear your throat and drop the cloth to the counter, quickly standing back on the floor as your cheeks burn pink and you nervously look over his ruined shirt. “I really am sorry I could um- I could buy you a new one?”

“Eh,” he shrugs. “It’s old anyway.”

But it doesn’t look old.

Still, you’re too embarrassed to question him.

“Free coffee?” You offer instead.

He smiles again and you refuse to think about knees and spaghetti for the second time.

“Alright, “he laughs, “free coffee sounds good.”

Dammit.

Knees and spaghetti it is.

*****

He’s back the next day.

And the day after that.

You think that maybe he’s new in the area and just happens to be the type of guy who likes a consistent schedule, if anything that makes you respect him; but sometimes you wishfully hope it’s because of… something else.

“If you ruin my shirt again, will this one be free too?” He jokes on the fourth visit as you had him a semi-sweet iced coffee.

“Yeah, but you have to sneak up on me or it’s not authentic.” You tease back.

*****

You learn things about him every time he comes in.

First, it’s his name: Eren.

Eren.

And god, now that you know it you spend a stupid amount of time pausing on those ‘roll for the first letter of your soul mate’s name’ tiktoks. At least you have the decency to not post them (except for that one time you accidentally did).

You find out he’s also attending university. That he’s an English major but school is making him lose motivation to write.

You find out his favourite colour is red.

That he’s never lived anywhere but the city.

That his friends are more important to him than anything, and he’s known them for most of his life.

And then, a month after you meet, you find out something else…

“So,” you say, five minutes to closing as you wipe down the counter and Eren finishes off a donut you’d given him for free instead of throwing out. He has a habit of showing up when you’re closing. You aren’t sure if it’s because he has a night class or if he just likes the free pastries. Or maybe there’s a completely different reason entirely.

“So…?” He asks, when you don’t finish the thought (you’d gotten distracted by the way he was licking icing off his fingers).

You clear your throat and look down at the counter. “Why was I being judgmental?”

“Oh, because not everyone that’s in a frat is just there for the parties. My friend Reiner says he-”

“No not about that,” although maybe your opinions on frat boys are based on a stereotype and that’s deserving of its own conversation entirely, “I mean about the dating app thing.”

“What dating app thing?” He asks as his eyebrows momentarily tighten together with a scowl. It’s an expression he wears a lot and it always makes you laugh.

“The first thing you said to me!” You exclaim. “Mina and I were talking about dating apps and you said I was being judgmental. Honestly, I feel like it was the worst first impression ever.”

“Nah, the bad impression part was when you were feeling me up like three seconds later.”

“I-” Your cheeks burn bright red. “I was not feeling you up!”

Eren throws his head back and laughs.

You toss your microfiber (ew) towel at him and it lands smack in the middle of his face.

Eren’s still snickering as he leans down to pick it up from the floor. “I said you were being judgmental because you were.”

“Elaborate, please.”

“Well,” he stands back up, cloth now in hand, “there are some genuine people on dating apps just looking for connections.”

You roll your eyes. “Yeah, but it’s all- it’s so fake. How many times can I repeat the same: ‘Hi, how are you.’ ‘I’m good, how are you’ ‘Good. What do you do for work?’ ‘I work at this shitty café and there’s a regular that’s constantly patronizing me to try to get free food. What about you?’.” You let out a short sigh. “If people actually want to get to know each other, they should-”

Your rant comes to a quick end when Eren stops in front of you.

He’s closer than he normally stands, so you immediately notice the flecks of gold in his eyes. The last time you were this close to him, you’d been frantically rubbing sharpie out of his shirt but now-

Now you’re- you’re just standing there…

Just close.

So close that you might have forgotten how to breathe.

“Some people have to meet that way.” He says, softer than normal, but maybe it’s just because you’re close enough that he doesn’t have to speak loudly to be heard.

“...huh?”

Eren snickers. Your heart hammers. He keeps talking: “Some people,” he elaborates, “have trouble getting dates any other way.”

“Wh-” You clear your throat as it constricts, “Why’s that?”

For the first time, you see him blush.

You notice the confidence he normally wears come crashing down.

He looks away.

“Because some people are… pretty shit at asking people out.”

You jump as the cloth he’d picked up meets your hand.

And this time, it’s not even because of the gross sensation of microfiber.

*****

Eren gets over it, apparently, because 6 days later he shows up at your work right before close.

“No free muffins today, sorry.” You immediately tell him.

“It’s fine.” He replies and you can’t help but notice the way he awkwardly shifts his weight from one foot to the other, completely avoiding your eyes as he does it.

“Um… Eren?”

“Yep?”

You snicker. “Are you ok-”

“Do you wanna go out?”

Your breath catches. “...what?”

“With me. Now. Or- Or in like five minutes when you’re off. Unless you have to stay late tonight because the place is a mess. I can wait around though. Or we can go another day I just-”

“Are you asking me on a date?”

“I-...” Eren sighs, but he finds a way to smile through his embarrassment. “Don’t laugh you’ll-... you’ll hurt my ego.”

So you don’t laugh.

Instead, you say yes.

*****

You have a casual first date, just dinner at a local pub.

Your second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth date (although you start losing count towards the end) pass just as casually.

It’s comfortable. Relaxing. There’s no overly awkward tension between the two of you and you slip into a natural rhythm.

Your first kiss is in the park on campus.

You bring him day-old donuts any chance you get.

You meet his best friends and they quickly become your best friends too.

A year passes, you say “I love you”.

Another year passes, you both graduate.

By the third year you’re dating, you move in together.

By the fourth, you can’t imagine life without him.

And by the fifth year you’re dating, you have a feeling that it’s for life.

“Think he’ll propose?” Mikasa’s staticky voice comes through the speaker of your phone. You press said phone harder against your ear out of the embarrassment that Eren might somehow hear you from the kitchen.

“I- I dunno. Maybe.” You answer, nervously nibbling your bottom lip as you watch your boyfriend from over the back of the couch. He’s in the kitchen making dinner. Shirtless, because he’s an idiot that doesn’t care about getting hot chicken oil on his chest.

‘Sluts can’t get third-degree burns, babe.’ He always tells you.

‘Then commit to the bit and lose the pants too.’ You always joke back.

He doesn’t, for the record. Apparently, he’s okay with hot oil on his tiddies, but his dick and balls are a different story.

“Would you say yes?” Mikasa’s voice cuts through your thoughts.

You let out a short laugh. “Obviously.”

“Maybe he’ll do it tomorrow.”

“Pfft, that’d be tacky. Tomorrow is Niccolo’s big day, not ours.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s right.” You can hear Mikasa’s yawn through the phone.

“You sound exhausted,” you tell her, “don’t you have to get up early to catch your flight?”

“Yeah, but my hotel is lonely.”

You laugh. “Wanna talk to Eren before bed?”

“Sure. He’ll get mad if I don’t.”

You pull the phone away from your ear. “Eren!” You hold out the phone to him. “Mikasa wants to say goodnight.”

“Can you come stir?” He asks.

You pull yourself off the couch and step up to him in the kitchen, trading him your phone for the spatula.

He kisses your cheek before pressing the phone to his ear.

“Okay, so did you see the new episode?” He asks as he walks into the living room. “NO FUCKING WAY YOU DID NOT CALL IT!!”

You roll your eyes as the two of them start their passionate back and forth about the latest episode of whatever show they’re both watching.

*****

That night, after a plate of spaghetti, a shared bottle of wine, and a decent amount of time doing R-rated activities that start in the living room but finish in the bedroom; you end up with your arms around Eren’s waist and your face buried between his bare shoulders.

He likes to be the little spoon, even though he’ll deny it to your friends.

But you don’t mind. It means you can pinch his nipples if he says something sassy before falling asleep.

You smile and nuzzle your face into his back.

He smells like Eren.

Nothing distinct about it that you can put a name to.

It’s just Eren and you love it.

You smile as you think about how perfect your life is. Your career is going well, you have an apartment with an amazing view, and you’re dating the love of your life.

You wouldn’t change a single thing.

“I love you.” You mumble before placing a kiss on Eren’s shoulder.

“...that’s so fucking gay…” He mumbles back.

He yelps when you pinch his nipple, but afterward, he laughs.

Afterwards, he grabs your hand in his (mostly to keep his nipples safe from continued attacks) and pulls it up to his lips.

He kisses the back of your hand firmly.

Then softly.

Then firmly again.

“Love you too,” Eren tells you.

And the lights don’t need to be on for you to know that he’s smiling.

You just know he is, because you’re smiling too.

#eren x reader #eren yaeger x reader #eren jeager x reader #aot x reader #reverse isekai: i found you #my writing

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noahsresources · 2 years ago

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BED & SLEEPY PROMPTS

sometimes, our muses need to be kept company in the comfort of their beds. feel free to combine prompts, change pronouns & descriptors, and play with context if desired ♡

WORDS.

❝ is that a blanket burrito i see? ❞ ❝ here, let me get you tucked in. ❞ ❝ that’s it, i’m carrying you to bed. ❞ ❝ you have dark circles under your eyes ... ❞ ❝ come here, you can use me as a pillow in the meantime. ❞ ❝ evening snuggle time is a must for me. ❞ ❝ sleep tight. ❞ ❝ good morning, sleepy head ... ❞ ❝ i didn’t know you slept in that position ... it’s cute. ❞ ❝ not gonna wake up, huh? we’ll see what the tickle monster has to say about that! ❞ ❝ did you fall asleep cuddling me? ❞ ❝ aww, you don’t need to ask me for morning kisses! ❞ ❝ you hogged the covers all night last night. ❞ ❝ ... you have morning breath, you know. ❞ ❝ hey, quit trying to hug my pillow! ❞ ❝ oh, all right, i’ll stay here with you. ❞ ❝ look how needy and adorable you are for your morning cuddles! ❞ ❝ ew, get in the shower, you stink! ❞ ❝ let go of me, i have to pee. ❞ ❝ well, i can’t wait any longer for breakfast. you gonna stay there or come with? ❞

ACTIONS. send +↻ for the reverse!

[ tuck ] — sender tucks receiver into bed [ lean ] — sender leans against receiver in a state of exhaustion [ yawn ] — sender yawns loudly in exhaustion [ wrap ] — sender wraps receiver in a blanket [ slide ] — sender crawls under the covers to cuddle up to receiver [ kiss ] — sender gently kisses receiver as they’re waking up [ boop ] — sender boops receiver on the nose as they’re waking up [ whack ] — sender whacks receiver with a pillow to wake them up [ tickle ] — sender tickles receiver to wake them up [ smooch ] — sender pecks receiver all over their face to wake them up [ jump ] — sender jumps into bed with receiver to wake them up [ pull ] — sender pulls receiver close in bed [ play ] — sender plays with receiver’s toes [ stroke ] — sender strokes receiver’s hair as they cuddle in bed [ cold ] — sender puts their cold fingers/toes on receiver’s bare skin [ tangle ] — both muses wake up to their legs wound around each other’s [ snuggle ] — both muses wake up to find themselves snuggling against each other

#rp ask memes #rp ask meme #rp memes #rp starters #rp starter #ask meme #ask memes #fluff prompts #fluff meme #fluff #memes #mine #200 #500 #1k #2k

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porcelaintoybox23 · 2 years ago

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I’m quite confused about fandom’s tendency toward non-reversible positions in mlm ships. Why? I can understand a preference, but a lot of people are like physically repulsed by the thought of their ship switching.

Maybe I’m letting the ORV fandom be a stat instead of an outlier, but people are very weird about it. I’m generally a switch with all my ships, so that could be why I’m lost. I was looking through the ORVintro hashtag and someone literally wrote “ew” about Dokjoong/Joongdok being reversible. I’ve dubbed myself CEO of tumblr’s Dokjoong tag, but a lot of that fervor is because the fandom sees Dokja as this “uwu twink” that gets railed, which feels a little ooc to me.

I guess something about it feels heteronormative. The smaller man is dubbed more fem, submissive, and is always the bottom. The bigger guy is more masc, aggressive, dominant and tops. It’s hard not to see a reconstruction of binary gender roles. I instinctively have an issue with this because I’m a very small cis woman. Femininity = weakness and submission is a concept that makes my skin crawl. When I was into the MCU, I had to dig to find Tony ship fics where he wasn’t made more effeminate than canon and wasn’t the bottom or sub.

I know if this gets some traction someone will say that I’m policing ships. I’m literally discussing my own confusion and perceptions. It just weirds me out a little and that makes me want to ask about this to challenge my view. I could just have a weird bias that needs to be worked out. Yes, I am being the change I wish to see but it’s a lonely battle.

Also, because I don’t want to make this a separate post, If we’re doing mpr*g with our resident idiots, wouldn’t that make more sense with Joonghyuk? He literally becomes a woman in canon. Yes, I am peddling non-binary, genderfluid Joonghyuk.

Edit: I’m not really inquiring anymore, I have a stance on it. If you attack someone bc they use any variant of a ship name not restricted to sexual positions get a life. If you see red because someone tagged the reverse name on a post to their own blog, get a life. If you’re trying to police how people tag things, don’t post things online. Not everyone speaks your language and not everyone reads your bio or dni or whatever else. If others want to use this post for discussion, have at it. I’m done with it

#omniscient reader's viewpoint #dokjoong #joongdok #yoo joonghyuk #kim dokja #fandom #fandom critical #kinda #shipping dynamics #shipping discourse #top bottom discourse #this tag still makes me chuckle

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chaoskirin · 4 years ago

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Reversed (Reworked) Chapter Two

Chapter Title: Sirensong Word Count: 5764 Rating: PG Genre: Fantasy/Gen

Summary: A little more description of this new setting, and a wild Freddie appears! The quartet is complete!! As always, reblogs and comments are very appreciated. <3

Read Chapter on AO3

---

Throwing open the nearest washroom door, Roger parked himself in front of a mirror and grimaced. "Are they going to do this every night?" he hissed, looking back over his shoulder. His eyes--both the white part and the iris--were inky black and eerily deep, filled with stars. Just like they had been the night John first cursed him. He could see, though, which was why the condition had gone unnoticed for days.

John narrowed his eyes, pressing his lips together in what he hoped was a contrite expression. He wasn't particularly good with friend freakouts, mostly because he hadn't had a friend before Roger and Brian came along.

"What! What's that face?!" Roger demanded. "Is that good or bad?"

Brian ducked into the washroom behind the others. "John's face is permanently unimpressed," he replied.

Roger repeated. "Are my eyes. Going to do this. Every night?!" He gestured at them, as if John hadn't yet noticed. "Because this is not okay. It's creepy." He glanced at the mirror again, fake-startled, and added, "See? I'm scaring myself."

John couldn't find any words to express how sorry he was, or how he'd thought Roger was okay with what happened to him, or how he really just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

"Rog, it's okay," Brian said. "It's at night. They'll be fine tomorrow."

"This is a lot more noticeable than purple," Roger said.

"It is a curse," Brian replied, glancing at John. "If it wasn't unpleasant, it'd be called a charm. We can get you sunglasses or something, if it bothers you."

"It's bothering me!"

John still couldn't even squeak another "I'm sorry." Maybe he'd reached his quota for the day. Or maybe the way Brian was staring at him, angrily waiting for him to say something, robbed him of his ability to speak. He couldn't be sure.

Thankfully, someone chose just that particular moment to walk into the bathroom, and John didn't have to think of anything to say. In fact, even Roger shut up, turning away from the newcomer, as Brian tried (and failed) to appear casual, leaning against the row of sinks.

It was a Ghittan student, wearing the earthy amalgamation of colors characteristic of the View, albeit with a bright red collar that drew attention to his rather sharp features. He stared at them for a moment, before snorting a quick chuckle. "Well then," he said, stepping up to the sink and turning it on. "This isn't suspicious at all. A Vexxzus and an Oerris hanging out together in the loo?" After splashing his face, he pulled an elegant laced kerchief out of one pocket and dabbed himself dry. Smirking, he allowed rather large, protruding upper teeth to show for a moment. "And a Kyyra referee? Should I go get a professor? Or popcorn?"

"You could just bugger off," Roger said. He was hyperventilating, almost out of breath, and pale. John put a hand on his shoulder.

"He okay?" The Ghittan asked, entire tone shifting. It sounded genuine enough. "You aren't beating the stuffing out of him, are you? I think that's a Vexxzusian thing to do. eh?"

John looked at the floor. He had a thousand witty things he could say, but unfortunately, they wouldn't pop into his head until after the Ghittan left. Such was his own curse.

"He's..." Brian started. Roger nodded just a little, and Brian finished with, "Fine," and an obviously strained smile.

"He's not," the Ghittan said in a sing-song voice. He sauntered around Brian and John. For a second, Brian looked as if he might reach out to stop him, but the Kyyra seemed to be entirely non-confrontational, from what John knew of him so far. And John, of course, was almost useless in the face of someone new. If he had even a small measure of bravery, he could have hauled this newcomer out by the hood of his robe, given him a kick in the rear, and told him to mind his own business.

John did all that in his head. He was a hero there.

Eventually, the boy stood directly in front of Roger.

And he stared, dumbfounded and horrified. "Oh, your eyes darling! They're hideous!"

Roger whimpered. It was just the tiniest noise, just the whisper of tears, that caused John to snap. Considering he was already feeling guilty and fairly protective of the boy he cursed, he found it quite easy to locate his backbone.

Reaching into his pocket, he expertly flipped the stopper off one tiny vial and crushed the beetle within it in his hand. Power suffused him, a spell instinctively clawing at his throat to escape.

He smeared the crushed beetle against the Ghittan's jumper. The boy said, "ew."

John smiled. He hadn't meant to smile. It didn't seem like a very smile-worthy moment. Then he said, "I can curse you, too, if you like it so much."

Awkwardly, Brian took John's shoulders and turned him away from the intruder. "Ah--how does one stop a Vexxzus from cursing? He has no gem to take. No wand...? Deacon, no more cursing people. Let's deal with one problem at a time."

Regardless, John struggled free, meeting the Ghittan's eyes. They were wide, his hands raised in shock. Fear. John shook his head, rubbing his temples. "Sorry... S-sorry," he said, tangling his fingers in his hair. "Just--He was making it worse. He was making it worse."

Brian took John's shoulders again. "I know. But we gotta work on that temper. You can't just do stuff like that. Okay?"

John nodded.

"Is this a new thing?" The Ghittan asked. "The hideous eyes, that is? I'm sorry, darling. I didn't mean to rub salt in the wound, as it were." He glared at John, suspiciously, then asked Brian, "Did you want me to get a professor?"

"No!" All three of them shouted at once, leaving the poor boy utterly confused.

"It was really an accident," Roger clarified. "I did challenge John to a duel. That's John, by the way." He nodded at the Vexxzus, who raised a hand to wave while still keeping his eyes down. "And I'm Roger. The tall one with the crazy hair is Brian."

"Crazy hair?" Brian asked.

"Freddie," The Ghittan said.

"Anyway, he didn't mean to. Or, I guess he did at the time," Roger said, scratching his chin. "But he feels bad about it, and it'd be really awesome if you didn't tell anyone he did it? We told the Head Matron that I accidentally cursed myself."

"Even though Roger would never be able to pull off a curse that advanced," John said. There! He'd told somebody. He felt much better now. "...Sorry, Roger."

"Oh, no, you're right."

"The staff doesn't know that though," Brian said. "And we'd rather nobody be expelled over this. We're dealing with it."

"Well, I know a thing or two about keeping curses secret," Freddie said. "Maybe this'll make you feel better, eh?" He hopped up on the sink, the old plumbing creaking under his weight. "I am one, you see. A curse, I mean, dears. So what you've got? It's nothing. You'll get used to it, I bet, so don't feel so bad."

"It's not nothing," Roger said. "My eyes are black holes. I've been scaring first-years all week, and someone just now told me I should look in a mirror. I mean, they're only like this at night, so I guess... I guess you're right. It's not so bad." He turned to look in the mirror again, turning his face this way and that. "It'll be amazing on Halloween." He looked at Brian, then John. "Why didn't you guys tell me?"

"We, uh. Meant to?" Brian said. "Anyway, didn't you hear him?" He nodded at the Ghittan.

"Freddie," Freddie said again.

"Right, Freddie. You can't be a curse," Brian said. He rolled his eyes back, thinking. Then he muttered, "Unless you're the one--May I?" He reached for Freddie's hair.

Freddie nodded. "I suppose. I was going to tell you anyway. But don't be surprised if I bite."

Brian tucked Freddie's long, black hair back, revealing both the intricate pattern of scales on the sharp jawline, as well as one severely mutilated ear. The edge was covered with green scar tissue. Brian quickly pulled away, and Freddie's hair fell back, covering the scales again.

As Freddie crossed his legs, John noticed he wasn't wearing shoes. A light smattering of scales sparkled on his pale skin.

"Your ears are--" Roger started.

Freddie interrupted. "Yes! Beautiful, aren't they? Oh, I love telling a good story just as much as you like hearing one, I'm sure. Turned out I possessed the wild magic of humans despite my half-siren lineage. So rare. So special." He paused to smile. "And you know what happens when a human displays magical aptitude."

Everyone groaned. Nobody liked school. Then again, learning magic on top of maths and sciences at least provided a respite to an otherwise boring day.

"Yes, exactly," Freddie continued, pulling a sequins-decorated pouch out of one pocket. He twirled it around his fingers. "Of course I fitted into the Ghittan View. But it turned out, I also suffered from the siren's curse, as well. Dear me... My first week here, I accidentally started humming a jaunty little tune, and before I knew it, there were well over a dozen people following me. Silently. Waiting for me to tell them what to do."

John and Brian glanced at each other. John almost mentioned that they didn't need a life's story, when Brian said, "but the ears...?"

"Oh, yes. Quite mundane. My mum cut them off when I enrolled. Don't worry," he hastily added when Brian gasped. "It was a mutual decision. We thought I'd blend in more if I didn't have fish ears."

"Yeah," Roger said. "You're right, that's worse."

"Excellent," Freddie said. "I do like winning."

"Do you know," Brian asked, his tone almost conversational. And yet John felt the looming storm about to crash down as Brian continued. "...if they intend to admit more creatures to Vale Rest?" John only had time to say, "Oh, Brian, no."

"Creatures," Freddie repeated, his entire demeanor turning icy. It wasn't subtle at all--John definitely recognized the signs of an oncoming anger hurricane, since he was prone to fits himself. Still, he couldn't say anything quickly enough to prevent the inevitable tirade.

Maybe, John wondered, Brian deserved it.

Brian blustered, fumbling for an answer.

"Listen very carefully, darlings," Freddie growled, his brows darkening his eyes.

Then, he began to sing.

It was a beautiful song, in beautiful tenor, with an undertone of something uncomfortable. It was a series of clicks and whistles that Freddie seemed to produce without meaning to, or without realizing it. Almost like whale or dolphin song. And it wasn't long before Roger's and Brian's faces were completely blank, devoid of any expression whatsoever. Freddie hopped off the sink and pointed at all three of them. "Now, you all stay put here until this wears off, then get to your dorms. Got it?"

Roger and Brian nodded obediently, expressions still slack.

"Good," Freddie said. He sighed--sadly, John thought--and headed for the door.

John caught his sleeve, and Freddie whipped around, meeting John's eyes with surprise.

"Are they going to be okay?" John asked.

"Er, yeah. It lasts a few minutes, darling, but they'll be fine. Why aren't you under?"

"Am I supposed to be?"

Freddie looked at the other two. Brian was actually slack-jawed and drooling. "Well, it's not selective. It just affects everyone who hears it. Or, I thought it did. Hm. Lemme try again."

John clapped a hand over Freddie's mouth, and glared. "None of that. You've already got them in a state. You want 'em brain-dead, too?" Still with his hand over Freddie's mouth, he looked past the boy's shoulder and tried, "Brian? Roger?" No answer. Not even a reaction.

Freddie pushed John's hand away. "But why aren't you...?"

"I don't know," John replied, curling his lip. "Why'd you do that to them, anyway? And you were just going to leave them like that? Everyone thinks Vexxzuses are bad. This is just cruel."

"It wears off after a bit, I told you," Freddie said. "I mean, they'll be a bit fuzzy for a while, so that's why I told them to get to their dorms after. It's just hypnotism, you see. They wouldn't do anything against their own self-preservation, or I don't think they'd have let me into Vale Rest. I'm not a full siren." He turned to Brian, getting right up in his face and adding, "And I'm not a creature."

Brian didn't even blink. It was quite disturbing.

"Is that it?" John said. "That's why you--what. Mind-controlled them? With Brian, that's a compliment. I've only known him for a couple weeks, really, and all I know about him is that he loves animals--" John paused and amended as Freddie scowled. "Non-humans, I mean! It's what he's studying here! It's his best subject. He wants to write his thesis on werebats. I think he was kind of happy about maybe getting to know you better."

Freddie blinked, confused. John pushed past him and gave Roger's shoulders a shake. "C'mon, Rog." "They won't listen to you, dear," Freddie said quietly. "Brian studies non-humans?"

"He does. He knows practically everything about them, too."

"Oh." Freddie muttered. "Well. I'm. I'm a being, first of all. But, I'm sorry."

"Maybe tell him when this wears off," John said.

"Oh, he heard me. It's just that he can't do anything at the moment." Freddie turned to them and added, "Besides, I shouldn't be here when they snap out of it. They're probably terrified. It's the whole reason I do this, you see. No one bothers me twice. Nod if you're terrified."

Roger nodded. Brian didn't.

John laughed. "Tell him to nod if he thinks this is the coolest thing in the world."

"Er, okay. Nod if you think this is cool."

Brian nodded.

"I told you," John said. "Non-humans. Beings. Whatever. If you'd given them a chance..."

Freddie didn't say anything. He stared at Brian for a while, then turned his attention to Roger, putting his hand on Roger's cheek. Roger reached for it, and Freddie said, "Don't be scared. It'll wear off, I promise."

Roger nodded.

Freddie tried to remove his hand, but Roger held on, wrapping both his arms around Freddie's.

"Oh, wonderful," Freddie said.

"He's a hugger," John said. "Does this mean it's wearing off?"

"Yeah, if they're acting on their own. But... They won't be very good conversationalists when they snap out of it. Trust me on that."

John waved a hand in front of Brian's face, though the Kyyra didn't even blink. His eyes might have moved, just a bit, but he was still obediently staying put, waiting for the siren's spell to wear off. "They can hear everything we're saying?" John asked.

"That's the horror of Siren Song," Freddie said. "It's why humans don't like them. You're fully conscious as you're made to do things you don't want to do. If I was a full-blood siren, I could make them do anything. They wouldn't even question it. They wouldn't be able to." He turned to Brian and Roger again, stating for their benefit, "But I'm not. Like I said, this is no more than hypnotism. I couldn't make 'em follow me into the ocean and drown, if that's what you're worried about."

"Sounds to me like you're the one that's worried about that," John said. "I mean, they haven't said a word. And apparently I'm immune, so."

"Yes, strange."

"Anyway, you're gonna have Brian following you around like a puppy now, so good job there," John said. He did feel a little bad, making fun of the Kyyra when he couldn't fight back. Still, it was true. Brian could talk for hours about dragons and hippogriffs. Why not sirens? "And it was Roger's idea to lie about who cursed him, so he's already forgiven you, I'm sure."

Freddie hopped up on the sink again, despite Roger's grip on his arm. He brushed the beetle bits off the front of his uniform. "Maybe this is fate, then, me meeting you three."

"Well, I don't believe in fate," John said. "But if you need friends, then I think you got yourself a few." He attempted to hop up on the sink as Freddie had done, but his arms weren't quite up to the task. Giggling, Freddie grabbed the back of his jumper and hauled him up.

"Ugh, why did you have to be a Vexxzus, though?" Freddie asked.

"Look, you're a Ghittan. I feel the same way about you. I mean who uses dirt to do magic? It's weird. The Headmatron used it to heal a broken arm I had a couple weeks ago and it's... It's just..."

"Dirty?" Freddie drawled, smiling.

John grunted. "Trust me here. These two are all right, and these View rivalries are pointless anyway."

"Says the one who cursed a poor, defenseless Oerris."

"He had it coming."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Roger nod.

"How much longer, you think?" John asked.

"Any second now, probably." Freddie snapped his fingers next to Brian's face, and he actually blinked this time. "They're moving on their own, which is a good indication. It'll be tomorrow before they're themselves again though, I'm afraid. There's a sort of fuzziness that comes along after you break out of Siren's Song."

"Everything is pink and fluffy," Brian mumbled.

"I think I'm gonna get married," Roger said, dreamily.

"Welp. Here we go," Freddie said. "Let's get these two back to their dorms so they can sleep it off."

~*~

The lowest floor of Vale Rest was called the Recreation Well. Most people just called it Rec, or the Well. Located seven floors underground, Rec was a sprawling complex of fields, an enormous hot spring, a gaming compound for those who were Virtuatekk inclined, and a vaulted cave ceiling which held all manner of glowing spell-lights and naturally glowing mosses. It had its own weather patterns overseen by students; understandably, things sometimes went awry in the Recreation Well, but those events were few and far between.

It also featured a well-developed shopping area, ironically called the Weald. Unfortunately for the students, the Weald remained off limits except with special passes, or on certain days. Located behind a magical barrier, a separate entrance admitted the outside public, who found the little underground town quaint and relaxing.

Most new students found it absolutely astounding that someone could fit what amounted to an entire town under Vale Rest's ground, but once they spent the majority of their free time in the Recreation Well, most came to call it home.

"That's just the thing, darling," Freddie said, reaching across their picnic table to take Brian's book away. He scrunched up his face at the picture. "It's not something I can stop. I know you mean well, but this...?"

"And we're not letting you cut him open," John added. "It's barbaric."

"I wasn't suggesting..." Brian snatched the book back and laid it out on the table. These people had absolutely no imagination whatsoever. Still, he felt bad, after offending Freddie. It wasn't the end of the world, but he hadn't expected the half-siren to be so vocal about his idea. In hind-sight, he should have. "We're mages. If we can find a spell..."

"But I like what I can do," Freddie said, tapping his chest with his fingers. "It's me. I mean, maybe it's a pain sometimes, but it's fantastic defense, isn't it? Against... You know. Vexxzuses."

John elbowed him. "Not against me."

"Which isn't fair," Roger said. With the weather within the Well mirroring the sunny weather outside, his eyes were a bright, golden yellow. Sometimes fluffy clouds would drift across the spell-lights, and his eyes would turn silver. "It's a little frightening. I wish I was inane."

"Immune," Brian said. "You know the right word."

"I do, but it was still funny. Freddie laughed."

"I didn't, dear."

Roger shrugged. "You meant to."

Freddie tapped the picture. It was a mostly humanoid creature, with the tell-tale signs that it was something else entirely. Long, webbed ears, for example, and webbing between each of its fingers and toes. The latter was something Freddie never had to worry about, he'd said. "You know, they probably dissected a siren to get this much detail in the drawing."

Guiltily, Brian pushed the book away. "Well, these illustrations are hundreds of years old. I'm sure it wasn't, er... Related. Look, I'm just trying to help. Sirens are so badly understood..."

The others stared at him. Roger curled his lip a bit and said, "Uh. Freddie is right here."

Brian sighed. "I'm not helping. I'm sorry, it's just that--The creatures I study don't... usually... Talk back--I'm going to stop now before I shove my other foot into my mouth, too." Stifling a groan, he put his head down on the table, curly hair splaying out in all directions.

Freddie patted his shoulder. "Oh, come now, Brian. It just frazzles you so, when you think I'm angry."

"You're not?"

"No! Of course not. I'm the center of attention. It's right where I ought to be."

"Prat," Brian said. He reached for the book, but Roger climbed up onto the table, lifting it from his reach.

"So your ears looked like this?" he asked.

"Smaller, but all sorts of colors." Freddie smiled sadly, and sighed. "They'd sparkle in the sun." "Well, we would have been your friends anyway," Roger said. "Even if you hadn't hacked 'em off."

"I know, that's what makes it so tragic that they're gone." He rested an elbow on the table, and lay his head in his hand. "It would have been too much of a risk, though. I mean, most of the Views get along, but there's always some Kyrra who don't see you as human, then there's the Vexxzuses who're a bit specist. It was better that people got to know me, in all my wonderful glory and humility, before they discovered my deep, dark secret."

John rolled his eyes. Roger turned another few pages in the book. "Green blood, too?"

Freddie nodded. "Oh, that's the coolest part. Look here." He searched around on the table until he found a splinter, and pried it loose with his fingernails. Holding up a thumb, he gave his skin a light stab.

It wasn't exactly green. More like a muddy greenish-brown. Still, very odd, and very cool. "Don't touch, though," Freddie said as he wrapped it in a fresh kerchief. The cloth sizzled. "It'll burn."

"Sirens sound wonderful," John muttered.

"They are," Freddie said, grabbing the book off Roger's knee. "I'm sure I could make some proper edits here and there. Make this chapter much less sensational. This is all fear-mongering stuff."

"So sirens don't lure people to their deaths?" Roger asked.

Brian couldn't help it. He held his breath, while John stared at Roger with surprise. Both of their expressions must have said what words couldn't--how could Roger possibly say something like that, with Freddie sitting right there? And poor Freddie looked distinctly uncomfortable, glancing away. Realizing he was still holding the book, he tossed it on the table, which echoed thunderously through the Well. "Freddie," Roger said.

Freddie held out his hand, stood, and retreated toward the stairwell.

Roger started to stand. Brian reached for his wrist, taking it and shaking his head. "Are you actually an idiot?" Brian asked. "Because sometimes I don't think you actually..."

Freddie appeared directly in front of his face, smiling. Brian squeaked, nearly falling backward off the bench, as Freddie laughed. "You know, it's incredibly difficult to walk off in a proper huff if no one follows and fawns over you. Were you three coming, or...?"

Roger arched his eyebrows. "Are you an idiot?" he asked Brian, who was still trying to slow his pulse. "You did not know he was going to do that!" he called after Roger and John. Standing, he hurried to catch up, too. "You didn't! Dammit, Freddie."

"You should have seen the look on your face," Freddie chuckled.

"I'm laughing," Brian replied, glaring at Roger and John. "They didn't know, either." "We were all in on it," Roger said. Brian elbowed him a little harder than intended. Roger guffawed through a pained "Ouch!" Which just caused John to start chuckling, too.

"They weren't, it just played out so well," Freddie said. "I do love you guys."

"I am sorry about the whole... luring people to their deaths thing," Roger said. "We were just chatting. I wasn't thinking."

"Oh, I'd be offended if it weren't true," Freddie said, his voice growing theatrically dangerous. "Most sirens don't like humans. The ocean is full of trash. Even my father wasn't fond."

"Is this a love story?" John asked. "If this is a romance, I have somewhere else to be."

"Oh, shut it. My dad's a perfect gentleman. Mum was on holiday. He saw her cleaning the beach. I think he was just curious at first, but then he had himself silenced so he could get to know her." Freddie smiled. "It's hard to stop a siren from singing, you know. He had to learn. But he figured it out eventually. It's sad, though. He has such a beautiful voice... I do wish mum could hear it."

"See? It's a romance," John said.

"Right, that's the point I was trying to make. Thank you, John."

John smirked. "You're welcome."

"What I'm saying is that... Maybe it worked for my dad, being silenced. But I don't want to be. I want to be able to talk to you guys. I haven't had friends in years, and, well, I've got a lot to say."

They passed into the central staircase, which stretched all the way through the two aboveground floors. The steps were carved out of the gnarled tree's roots; each one was alive, and often grew offshoots of new staircases, which very often led to nowhere. Some of the stairways were carpeted with moss. Others, ancient beyond understanding, displayed the deeply grooved surfaces of dozens of generations of students. Some were carved or decorated, while others were left to wither away at the tree's whim.

John and Freddie walked ahead, with Roger just behind them. Brian brought up the rear, his head down, hands in his pockets. How could he have even thought that silencing Freddie would be a good idea? Perhaps it would work for an animal... You could silence one of the louder ones and it would barely care. Somehow, he thought Freddie might even appreciate the notion, but now that he really considered it, Brian knew he wouldn't want to lose his voice, either. He was just trying to help. Good intentions. Good intentions often led down the worst roads. But he had another idea. A better one. He hoped.

"Oh, what, are you having a sulk now?" Freddie asked. "Come on, Brian, it's fine. You academics just can't help it. I understand. If you don't constantly invent problems to solve, you languish away."

Brian ignored the insult as Roger had a good chuckle at his expense. "No, it was a stupid thing to suggest. But... I think I can make it up to you. I'm doing really well with non-human healing. We just started, of course, but if I study up a bit, I bet I can figure out how to heal your ears." Unguarded, Freddie brightened. It may have been the first genuine reaction he'd seen from the Ghittan. "You think you could?"

"Yes! I do! I mean, not now..." Freddie's face fell a bit, and Brian hurried to add, "But in a year or two, once I get a good grasp on healing magic. They're some of the hardest spells to master, and regrowing lost ears, with your... physiology. Give me some time. I promise I can do it."

He absolutely could. It was the best consolation he could offer. Freddie, giddy, wiggled a bit. "Yes. Okay! Apology accepted. Let's go to the library and see if we can find some books for you to read. Might as well get a start!"

Brian blinked. "What, now?"

"We've the time!" Freddie said.

It was a fair point, with classes starting later in the morning. They could pop into the library, and with his record, he could likely check out a book more advanced than he'd normally have access to. Shrugging, he followed, as Freddie hummed a happy little tune.

In fact, Brian was so relieved, he almost felt as if he were floating. His mind emptied of all its worries, and soon he could only focus on--oh.

Oh no.

He couldn't say anything. Couldn't deviate from the path set out before him. Couldn't act against Freddie's wishes. Silently, he willed Freddie to stop humming!

They made it up a few more flights before John, quirking a brow, glanced over his shoulder. "You're awfully quiet back there, Rog. Are you sick, or... Ah. Freddie."

Freddie stopped. Brian stopped.

Freddie turned, confused, and realization dawned. He covered his face with his hands, muttering something completely unintelligible. Since his attention was entirely focused on the half-siren, Brian could almost see the conversation playing out in Freddie's mind, even though he said nothing. "This is so frustrating," he finally mumbled. "I didn't mean to do this again, guys."

Brian couldn't do anything. Couldn't say a word of reassurance or even move his eyes. They were locked onto Freddie. Everything the Ghittan did caught Brian's attention. He was stuck.

It was truly amazing how quickly it worked, though. Freddie couldn't have been humming for more than a few seconds before John caught him. But even then, it was too late. Amazing magic, and completely innate, too. No need for a focus.

"There's nothing we can do, either," Freddie went on, pacing back and forth along a step. "I'll--I'll get you guys somewhere safe. Maybe we can talk about that silencing spell after all. Or maybe I'll just command them to stay away? I think I can do that. Yes, it's in their own best interests, so they'd follow the command to the letter, I'm sure. Then again, I'd be down two friends, and I don't want to--"

John shuffled up a couple steps, reached around Freddie's shoulders, and once again covered his mouth.

Freddie swore.

"Freddie, it's hypnotism," John said, removing his hand. "You said it yourself. Right? That's how this works." "Essentially," Freddie replied. His voice was higher, distraught. "I can't keep doing this to them, though. Harmless or not, it can't be comfortable to--Well, look at them!" Brian did feel himself drooling again. That was embarrassing.

"I've always called this the suggestion phase. Right now, I could literally tell them to behave like chickens for the rest of their lives, and they might do it." Freddie quickly amended, "I wouldn't, guys. Promise."

"You said 'might,'" John observed.

"Right. Because eventually it'd go against their sense of self-preservation and they'd stop. At least, I think so. I'd hope so." He paused, rubbing his chin. "Roger, though..."

"Huh," John said. "Hang on."

Setting his bag on the nearest landing, John sat down, shuffling through his things until he found a notebook. Brian would have loved to spy what he was writing, but his attention remained comfortably on Freddie as he waited for that all-important suggestion. He had no choice. Even so, his consciousness remained intact, if not wholly confused by the whole ordeal.

Worried, Freddie chewed on his fingernails as John scratched away at the paper. Eventually, John stood, holding the notebook out. "Tell me this won't work."

Freddie read it over. "Well, you've certainly accounted for everything. I don't know. I can try."

"Go on, then." "Should I just read it?"

"Like I wrote it," John said. "I think I've covered all the loopholes."

"Okay." Freddie nodded, holding the paper in front of him. "Brian May and Roger Taylor. Next time I say 'now', if you hear my song, you're to behave entirely normally, how you would if I wasn't singing at all. From this point forward, my song has no effect on you whatsoever, but you're to remember this suggestion." He paused, then added, "Do you understand?"

Brian felt himself nod.

Freddie looked at Roger, who nodded.

Freddie said, "Now."

And the curse fell away. Not slowly, like before, but immediately. Brian barely had time to reach out as the step jumped up to meet him. Grunting, he seated himself and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear away the last of the lingering fog. "Ooh, that's going to freak me out every time it happens," Roger muttered. "That's bloody scary." "Hopefully it doesn't have to?" Freddie suggested, crouching in front of them. "It's genius, if it works," Brian said. "Go on, then. Sing something." "What? Now? Already? You've just come out of it!" Freddie looked at Roger, who'd grown very still at the suggestion. "Yes," Roger said. "Do it while I’m expecting it. Better if I know it's comin'."

Freddie gave them one last Look, as if they were both daft, and he sang.

It wasn't like the last times. It wasn't beautiful and otherworldly, nor did it melt over him and wrest control of his mind before he realized what was happening. As Freddie sang, Brian felt a certain fuzzy feeling behind his eyes, but when he looked down and checked if he could still move his fingers, he found he wasn't stuck like before. This time, there was something under the song that Brian hadn't heard previously, which was almost grating. It was high-pitched and whiny, borderline unpleasant. Freddie trailed off, and Brian shrugged, glancing over at Roger.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Roger said. "That was terrible, though. What'd you do to your voice?"

Freddie actually cried. His eyes were wide--stunned and almost wild--as a giant grin broke out across his face. He paced a step or two, before throwing his arms around John and sobbing into his shoulder.

"Oh, go on," John said, embarrassed. "It was no more complex then figuring out a puzzle."

Freddie backed away, laughing, then turned and threw himself at Brian and Roger, who somehow managed not to fall face-first down the stairs. John knelt next to them, putting his hand on Freddie's shoulder. No one said anything. Nothing needed to be said.

#queen #queen band #roger taylor #brian may #freddie mercury #john deacon #fantasy #fantasy au #reversed #ck writes #not bestiary

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ghostsray · 5 years ago

Text

Danny Zombie

(now that the dannypocalypse is over, here’s my second @phicphight 2020 fic, this time based on @burning-clutch‘s prompt: “Reverse ghosts au. What would the odd ball rogues gallery be if they were human? Or perhaps Phantom turned Fenton? How would the human cast be as ghosts?”)

(word count: 3591) (AO3)

(part 2)

The teenager climbed over the cemetary gates and dropped onto the ground on the other side, being careful not to break her guitar. Not many people found comfort in the burial park, but Ember McLain was not most people. She had decided early on that she was going to be a rockstar. Whenever she found herself stuck on a song, she found that coming to this place helped her clear her mind. She held her guitar in front of her and gazed across the moonlit graves.

In the middle of the night, in a lonely cemetary

Under the gaze of the moonlight, a place that's just for me.

Was that too goth to use as lyrics? She strummed her guitar softly and was about to try working out a melody, but she paused when she heard something. Moaning coming from behind that tree. She walked over to it and looked around. "Ew, gross," she said with a grimace.

The couple who was making out hastily stopped. They blushed, not expecting to get caught, before Johnny glared at Ember and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Ember countered. She smirked and added, "Honestly, I thought you'd be too scared to step foot here at night."

Johnny huffed, but Kitty cut in and explained, "There's no better place for privacy than an empty graveyard...or so we thought."

Ember rolled her eyes and stepped back from their make-out spot. "Whatever," she told them. "I just hope the dead are fine with you two fucking over their graves."

"Like you're one to talk," Johnny retorted. "Playing a concert to corpses?"

Johnny must have meant it as an insult, but Ember thought that sounded like a badass song title. She was about to tell him as such when Kitty suddenly shuddered. "It's cold," she commented.

Johnny gave Kitty a flirty smile that made Ember want to punch his face in. "You want to borrow my jacket?" he smoothly asked.

But Kitty didn't say that as romantic bait. Ember shivered as she, too, felt the cold growing around them. She slung her guitar onto her back and hugged her arms just as the wind picked up. And it picked up strong. Ember had to plant her boots into the soil to keep herself from being buffetted by the gust. Before her, Johnny and Kitty held onto each other.

"A storm?" Kitty exclaimed over the whistle.

Something wasn't right, though. The wind seemed to be converging into one swirling spot right inside this graveyard. Ember turned to face the direction the wind was moving to, her brown hair flying around in her vision. All of a sudden, despite the lack of clouds in the sky, a bolt of blinding green lightning flashed down and neatly struck one grave.

The afterimage of the flash was still lingering in her eyes when the whirlwind faded as quickly as it had started. A split second later, she felt the pressure drop and the breath leave her lungs, as if the earth was sucking up all the air. She shielded her eyes as a second flash of light appeared in the same spot (and this time, she could swear it came from the grave) before the air finally settled back to normal.

Seconds passed. Nobody spoke.

"What the fuck just happened?" Johnny finally broke the silence by saying.

Ember said nothing, only stared at the grave where the lightning had struck. Gingerly, she picked up her feet and began to walk toward it.

"Where are you going?" Kitty called to her. Ember glanced over her shoulder and found the other girl still in Johnny's hold, her dyed hair sticking out wildly from being abused by the wind. She was staring at her with wide, scared eyes.

Ember gulped and kept going. She was now close enough to the grave to make out the name etched onto the tombstone: DANIEL FENTON.

Ember stopped in front of the mound and realized she had no idea what she was doing. Nothing peculiar was evident in the grave, nothing to suggest that it had been hit by the strangely green lightning.

Then--a hand broke through the soil.

A scream rang behind her, one you would expect to come from Kitty but was actually from Johnny. Not that Ember could judge, considering she jumped ten feet in the air and backed away in bewilderment as the hand--the human hand sticking out of a grave--fumbled around for a grip and began to pull the rest of its body out.

Ember removed the guitar from around her shoulders and held it in her hands like a baseball bat, watching the living corpse with baited breath. The soil shuddered, then parted as a dirt-specked head poked through. Black hair, pale skin, and sunken eyes. The eyelids fluttered open, revealing eyes that were as green and radiant as the light from before. Eyes that stared at Ember.

Ember screamed and swung her guitar at him.

The head bobbed in place comically for a second before it fell limp onto the earth. Ember dropped her guitar/weapon and scampered back. Now that the undead boy was unconscious, Johnny and Kitty gathered up enough courage to approach the grave and stand by Ember's side.

"What the fuck," Ember heard Johnny mutter over and over under his breath.

Ember tensed her muscles to keep them from shaking. Slowly, she moved back closer to the grave. When the body didn't stir, she dropped to her knees and observed him closer. His nostrils were flaring, air coming in and out. Breathing. Somehow, alive. Just to make sure, she tentatively held out a shaking hand and pressed it against his wrist. Her fingers were met with a soft but steady beat.

"He's alive," she said, unable to believe it.

"How?" Kitty asked, voicing the question that was in all their heads. "We just saw him crawl out of a grave."

"I--I dont know."

Ember watched the boy...Daniel Fenton? breathing softly. He looked so young and peaceful, it was hard to imagine he had ever been dead. Ember tightened her grip on the boy's wrist. Then she stood up and started to pull him the rest of the way out.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Johnny exclaimed. "That's literally a zombie."

"He's not a zombie," Ember replied with a grunt as she tugged him out of the earth. "Zombies are dead."

"Alive or not, there's no way that guy's a human. I mean--" He gestured wildly to the grave and then added, "I swear, this is how horror movies start. Don't blame me if he eats our brains when he wakes up."

Ember set Daniel on the ground and knelt next to him. She didn't understand what was happening, or how he could be alive after crawling out a grave, but she couldn't just leave him inside a grave. He couldn't have been any older than 14, a year younger than she was. As she observed him, she saw color seep into his pale cheeks, hiding the idea that he had ever been anything but alive and healthy. For a second, she found herself doubting whether she had imagined his grave, but a quick glance over her shoulder told her that the dug-up grave was still there, and a second look at Johnny and Kitty's expressions assured her it was no dream.

The boy stirred, making Ember jerk in surprise. She watched as he inhaled, then dissolved into a coughing fit.

"Are you okay?" she reflexively asked, then realized after she said it how ridiculous the question must have sounded after she had whacked him in the head.

Daniel's eyes flew open, revealing icy blue irises. That was weird. Ember could have sworn they were green before.

He took in a breath, then another, as if he was new to the sensation of breathing. He stared at Ember, then down at himself. He lifted one hand, then set it back down on the grass, touching the blades of plant with his fingers. Finally, he spoke in a soft voice and said, "It worked."

Ember wasn't sure what she expected him to say. Actually, she wasn't sure she expected him to speak at all, so hearing him say those two words startled her. "What worked?" she questioned.

He looked at her as if he only just noticed she was there, but he ignored her question. Instead, he tried to lift himself into a sitting position. In the corner of Ember's vision, she saw Johnny take several steps back as Daniel moved.

It took him multiple attempts to sit up. Each time he pushed himself on his arms, they buckled under his weight, and he fell back. Finally, Ember felt too sorry for him and offered him a hand. Daniel's eyes slightly widened when he touched her skin, and he flexed his fingers in the air after she let go.

Kitty, who was apparently braver than her boyfriend, stepped toward the boy and asked, "Who are you?" After a moment's hesitation, she added, "Is your name Daniel Fenton?"

He looked up at her in surprise, then noticed the empty grave behind her with his name on it. "Oh. Yeah," he said. "It's Danny."

"Danny," Ember said, testing the name on her tongue. "What were you doing inside a grave?"

Again, he didn't answer her. Instead, he asked, "Where am I?"

"Uh. Amity Park's cemetary."

"That's in the human world, right?"

The question caught her by surprise. "The...human world?"

"I knew it!" Johnny exclaimed. "This guy isn't human. Come on, Kitty, we're leaving."

Kitty looked like she was about to argue, but just then, the sound of tires on gravel was heard, and all teens turned toward the cemetary's entrance. In the night's darkness, they couldn't see the car or the person who came out very well, but they could see the beam of flashlight he held that roved across the yard.

Kitty cursed and muttered, "It's Walker." Then she joined her boyfriend in running away.

"Walker?" Danny asked. "What's a Walker? Is it bad?"

"Walker is a cop," Ember explained, "and yes, he's bad."

Ember turned to scram as well, but then she heard scuffling in the dirt and turned back to see Danny still struggling to pick himself up. He was new to all the tendons and ligaments in his limbs and the body mass he had to carry. Ember glanced at the cemetary gates, where the flashlight was bobbing closer, then back at Danny doing a good impression of the worm. Finally, she sighed, hooked an arm under his armpits and picked him up. He felt light and fragile in her grip.

"Come on, ghost boy," she said and dragged him with her to the back edge of the graveyard.

They reached the wall just in time to see Kitty disappear over the edge. Ember paused at the foot and looked up. She could probably climb over fine, but how was she supposed to carry Danny over?

Fortunately for her, she felt Danny's weight lighten at that moment and turned her head sideway to see he had finally learned to stand up on his own. He stood facing the wall, his arm still around Ember's shoulders. Ember thought she imagined a sudden chill spread from his hand through her body. A tingling sensation enveloped her. Then, with surprising strength for someone who couldn't push himself off the ground, Danny pushed them both toward the wall.

Ember yelped and closed her eyes, sure she was going to hit her face any second now. She went forward, but the impact didn't come. Cautiously, she opened her eyes again, then had to blink them several times to make sure she wasn't imagining things. Both she and Danny were on the other side of the wall.

"What--" She looked at their surroundings, which was very much not the cemetary, then craned her head around to look behind them, where the wall was still very much there. Her eyes landed on Danny, and her heart skipped a beat as she saw, for a second, his eyes glow a faint green before dimming back to blue.

"You--How?" After stammering for a while, she said, "What are you?"

Danny met her eyes with a puzzled expression. "I thought you knew. You said it yourself." Before Ember could ask him what he meant, he gestured to himself and said, "Ghost boy."

It took all of Ember's willpower not to faint then and there.

Danny glanced behind, then back at Ember. "Walker bad?" he said.

"Uh..." She shook herself back into alertness and said, "Yeah. Walker bad."

They kept fleeing.

There were two problems. One was that Ember's house was pretty far from the cemetary. The long walk between here and there had never bothered her, but that was before she had a ghost-turned-zombie shuffling by her side with Walker possibly on their tail. At the rate they were going, a snail could probably catch them easily.

Ember heard a pained moan come from Danny. That was the other problem. Despite how healthy he had seemed back in the graveyard, now his breath was ragged and his head was slicked with sweat. Ember looked down at him and saw his face turn green.

"You okay?"

Danny nodded, but he didn't look very okay. "Fine. I just need..." He trailed off before he could finish the sentence and gagged. Ember realized what was coming and quickly jumped away from him, and not a moment too soon. Danny bent over and vomited.

"What in the--?" Ember was really hoping she was done seeing the strangest that this day had to offer, but when she looked at the pavement, Danny's emptied stomach content was a glowing, lime green goo.

Danny's face stopped being the shade of guacamole, but it went back to being pale. His eyes were faint green under his half-closed eyelids. "Ah," he said. "My soul is still adjusting." Then he began to sway.

Ember caught him before his body could hit the floor. Her boot accidentally stepped into the puddle of vomit-goo, which disgusted her to no end, but now was not the time to worry about that. Even though Danny was light, she didn't think she could carry him all the way to her home. She glanced around at their surroundings, and relief flooded through her when she recognized the neighborhood. One of her classmates lived here. One who was fortunately too nice to turn down helping someone.

Ember dragged Danny to one of the houses, which was identical to every other in the neighborhood except for the adress. She rang the doorbell and waited. A minute later, the door opened, revealing a scrawny male teenager with huge glasses, buck teeth, and an upturned nose. "Ember?" he said, then noticed the unconscious boy in her arms. "Wh--"

Ember jammed herself through the opening and forced herself into his house, closing the door behind her. "Hey, Poindexter," she greeted. "Think I need to crash here for a while."

Sidney Poindexter glared at her, but he didn't refuse. "What did you do this time?" he said, then his gaze landed on Danny, and his eyes widened. "Wait--you didn't mug him, did you?"

"Nah, he was already dead."

"He's dead?!"

"Sort of. It's a long story."

"Hold up!" Sidney waved his arms wildly and declared, "I might do your homework for you, but that doesn't mean i'll help you cover up a murder!"

"I didn't murder him! Like I said, he's only sort of dead."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

Ember set Danny on a couch. A trickle of green ran from his mouth, probably still there from his stomach purge. "Honestly, I'm not sure."

"You're not making any sense. Who is he?"

Ember looked at Sidney, who was waiting for an explanation with his arms crossed, as if that would intimidate her. She sighed and plopped herself onto the couch next to the unconscious sort-of-dead person. "Danny. Daniel Fenton. It was written on his grave."

"...His what?"

"Yep," Ember said, popping the 'P.' "He climbed out of a grave."

Sidney was speechless for a moment. "...He what."

Sidney came over to the couch and looked down at the body, noticing for the first time the soil that sprinkled his form. He raised his eyebrows at Ember. "This is a prank, right? It's not very funny."

"It's not a prank," Ember assured.

"So, what, you expect me to believe that this person came out a grave alive--or half-alive--and you brought him to my house?"

Hearing Sidney say it like that, it did sound awfully stupid. Ember sunk into the couch and sheepishly said, "Yeah...I'm not sure why I did that."

"This isn't funny," he repeated. "Who is he really?"

"I already told you. Danny Fenton."

"That can't be him, because the Fentons are dead!"

Ember looked up at Sidney. "You knew the Fentons?"

Sidney hesitated and shifted on his feet. "My grandma did. She said they were the city's whackos. They were obsessed with ghosts, even tried to build a portal in their basement, but I guess they failed because their house blew up and they died. A couple and two kids."

Ember let that information sink in. A portal into the ghost world. Now Danny had come from there to the human world. She remembered his first words in the graveyard: It worked. Could his parents, as ghosts, have completed their portal in the afterlife and somehow sent their son here?

"Okay, this is gonna sound crazy, but..." She told him her theory.

"That's prepostorous," Sidney said once she was done.

"I don't know, man. This whole day has been preposterous."

"You're telling me--" he pointed at Danny--"that this guy is a ghost. But he doesn't look like a ghost."

"That's because he got resurrected...or something. I'm not sure."

Sidney looked like he was about to make another argument, but whatever words he was about to say were cut off by a gasp.

Ember felt the couch beneath her shift as Danny's weight lifted itself off. By that, I mean it really did lift--the boy had righted himself into a standing position suspended in the air, a foot off the sofa. When he opened his eyes, they were bright green again.

At this point, Ember had come to expect the unexpected from Danny, so she was fairly calm about him hovering in mid-air. However, Sidney was staring at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Danny knitted his brows, as if he was confused by Sidney's shock. He looked down at himself, then understanding dawned on him and he looked back up and said, "Oh, right. Humans can't fly, right?"

Sidney opened his mouth and closed it several times wordlessly before he finally stammered out, "G-g-ghost."

Danny settled himself neatly down onto the couch, and his eyes returned to blue. He frowned. "Well, I'm supposed to be a human now, but apparently I'm still part ghost. Maybe I'm somewhere in between. Half a human, half a ghost."

"Great," Sidney said with a gulp. "You're a halfa."

Ember raised an eyebrow. "Halfa? Really? You couldn't have come up with a more creative word for hybrid?"

Sidney ignored her, instead turning his attention to the so-called halfa. "What do you want from us?" he demanded with narrowed eyes. "Are you going to kill us to expand your undead kingdom in the ghost world? Will you take over the living realm as your own?" He hugged himself protectively and questioned, "You're not going to steal our bodies, will you?"

Danny seemed amused by Sidney's suggestions. "No. I'm not the ghost king. I'm not doing any of that."

"Then what do you plan to do?"

Danny turned his gaze down like he was mulling it over. "I just want to live," he finally said.

For a long moment, there was silence except for the soft ticking of the grandfather clock from the hall.

Sidney hesitantly broke the silence by asking, "You're really Daniel Fenton?"

Danny shifted in his seat, but he nodded. "Just Danny is fine."

Sidney collapsed onto an armchair in the living room and rested his head in his hands. "Right. This is normal. Totally normal."

Ember studied Danny. He looked better now--his breath was even, and he wasn't vomiting any slime--though his skin was still a shade paler than what is generally considered healthy. Maybe that was normal for a halfa. She thought back on the night, which felt like a week long. All she had expected to do that night was play some guitar...

"Fuck," Ember said a little louder than necessary. The two boys turned their attention to her. Ember despaired and said, "I forgot my guitar at the cemetary."

Sidney raised his eyebrows at her. "You met a dead person, and that's what you worry about? You can go get it back in the morning."

"You don't understand. Walker's gonna see a dug-up grave and my guitar and think I robbed a grave."

"Well, I mean..." He jabbed a thumb at Danny and said, "You did take something with you."

Ember didn't find that very funny, but Danny laughed. A soft and cheerful laugh. She saw the boy smiling and felt just a little bit less angry.

"Oh, that reminds me," Danny said, and he turned in his seat to face Sidney. "You don't happen to have a way to contact the ghost zone, do you?"

#Phic Phight #phic phight 20 #phic phight 2020 #Danny Phantom #danny fenton #ember mclain #johnny 13 #kitty #sidney poindexter #rated T+#fic #fanfiction #writing #mine

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saiilorstars · 4 years ago

Text

It Had To Be You

Ch.28: Rogue Ending // Story Masterlist

Fandom: The Flash

Pairings: Barry Allen x Female OC

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: Belén and Barry enlist Snart to help them transport metahumans out of the city all while they continue to figure out how to move on from the fact Belén almost dated Cisco.

"In precisely two days the Particle Accelerator is set to get back online," Wells stood before Rayan and Angie "And knowing the Flash he will want to protect those inside the pipeline so he'll move them. That's when we strike."

"But I get Azul out?" Angie made sure to know before she was to do anything he asked. "He shouldn't die with the rest of the rodents you caught."

"You can do whatever you want with those metahumans - I could care less. I need to get back into the Accelerator and in the meanwhile you're going to keep good old STAR Labs busy. And do you hear me?" Thawne specifically looked at Rayan for that one. "Only keep them busy. You don't kill-"

"-your precious Flash, yes I understand," Rayan said plainly, though it seemed like he wasn't paying much attention. His eyes were locked on a water pipe above them that was dripping water. Every now and then some water drops were stopped midway and forced back into the pipe. "But my sister's free game and I so want to see her again."

Thawne watched him for a minute as the metahuman repeatedly shoved water back into the pipe. Though his health was deteriorating, Rayan was becoming much more skilled with his powers. His telekinesis was developing finely to the point of almost being able to control a human's actions. If he wanted to, Rayan could put up an interesting fight.

"Is your silent stare supposed to mean something?" Rayan asked without looking away from the pipe.

"I'm just wondering..." Thawne purposely trailed off.

Rayan's gaze shifted down to the man. "Wondering what?"

"If you could actually kill your own sister - your twin."

Thawne's smirk only irritated Rayan. "I'm sorry, your condescending-murdering self is asking me if I am capable of killing someone? Seriously?"

"You're talking about killing your own blood, Rayan. It's pretty cold. Can you look Belén in the eyes and kill her?"

"Spare me the talk," Rayan turned his back on the speedster. "I don't have siblings anymore, so...what happens will happen."

And he truly meant that.

~ 0 ~

The group except for Iris stood in the cortex listening to Cisco and his apparent discovery of Wells' old wheelchair. "I kept asking myself, why would Wells pretend to need a wheelchair?" Cisco made a round on the wheelchair, taking occasional sips of his soda.

"Sympathy, I suppose," Caitlin shrugged, everyone else agreeing with her with nods.

Cisco smirked. "That's what I thought at first, but he's the man in yellow. He's the Reverse-Flash. He's much smarter than that. Sympathy can't be the only reason."

"Yeah, it was a misdirect. Just like everything else Wells has done," Joe agreed, although they still didn't understand Cisco's point. "I mean, the last person we'd suspect to be the man in yellow is someone who lost the use of their legs."

"That's exactly right, Joe. Which is why I started messing around with the wheelchair," Cisco put down his soda on the floor and then turned over the wheelchair. He pulled a compartment lid out and revealed some sort of device stuck inside. "And that's when I found this."

"Daaaamn. You can't get that at Radio Shack," Joe's eyes widened.

"Looks like the tech inside Gideon…" Barry remarked as he looked at the device and only the device. Cisco didn't push him further.

"I measured the output, and this thing is kicking off serious juice. I mean, we're talking enough to power all of Central City."

"Why would Dr. Wells want something like that?" Belén quietly asked.

"I think this thing is some kind of battery…"

"Battery?"

"As in, Wells was using it to power himself. To gain more speed," Cisco gave a brief glance to Barry. "And that's why he's so much faster than you."

Barry, in return, gave a small nod of acknowledgement but nothing more. Cisco still didn't push.

One of the computers from the main desk began to beep with an alarm. Cisco rushed over with his soda back in hand and looked at the screen. "The accelerator, it's been reactivated!"

Caitlin hurried over to see for herself. "It can't be!"

"How is that possible? It blew up," Joe said what the remainder had been thinking of.

"It had to have been rebuilt," Caitlin theorized after checking more of the accelerator's state.

"That could...only be done by Wells, no?" Belén blinked, her stomach churning.

Caitlin agreed with Belén but was still having trouble seeing its logic. "Even if he did rebuild it, how did Dr. Wells turn the Particle Accelerator on?"

And then it clicked in Barry's mind. "He's here. That's why we couldn't find him. He's been inside S.T.A.R. Labs the whole time."

He and Joe hurried for the hallways. Cisco made to leave but warned Caitlin and Belén to stay behind. He rushed out but returned in a second for his soda, ignoring the odd looks from the two women.

Joe led the way into pipeline with a gun aimed ahead in case anything popped up. "Cisco, what did you bring in that orange soda for?"

"Whenever something happens with the Reverse-Flash, liquid floats in the air. You know, Barry's fish tank, Wells's champagne, remember that? If this does the same thing, we'll know that Wells is in there."

They stopped in front of the pipeline. Barry glanced at Cisco, for the first time, and nodded. "Do it."

Cisco placed a hand on the computer beside the pipeline to open it up. As the door lifted, the three stepped into the actual accelerator.

"Man... this... is... big," Joe couldn't help being astounded at the sight of the incredibly large particle accelerator.

Cisco froze when his soda began to rise in midair. "Oh, God. Guys…"

Wells sped right past them and of course Barry sped after him.

"Barry!" Joe turned after the two speedster that were already far gone.

'Prisoner release. Protocol initiated.'

Cisco saw one of the prison pods begin to love forwards. "Oh, no, no, no, no!"

It turned out to be Shawna's prison pod - aka Peek-a-boo - and soon as the pod lost its power, she disappeared. She reappeared behind Joe and headbutted him with his own gun before disappearing again. She reappeared on the other side of the pipeline and shot a machinery part that forced the door to close, leaving Cisco and Joe on the other side.

Caitlin and Belén had run down after the release protocol had been activated.

"Peek-a-boo," Shawna smirked at them.

Belén grabbed Caitlin's arm and yanked her down the hallway. But, Shawna appeared before them at the entrance of the building and kicked Belén back before hitting Caitlin over the head.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to be stuck in that box?" Shawna kicked Caitlin on the stomach and watched as the brunette rolled on the floor.

"She didn't lock you up! I did!" Belén rushed forwards and tried punching Shawna old style. Shawna was well prepared for a basic fight and grabbed Belén by the hair, smacking the metahuman against the wall.

Belén hissed as she slid down the wall. Shawna grasped her by the neck and pinned her on the wall while aiming the gun at her. "Now you're the one who's gonna go into a box. In the ground!"

Belén could actually feel her skin prickling as it turned green. As of late, there were many things she was angry about and Shawna poked at the last bit of patience Belén had. Shawna flinched when Belén's hand grasped her arm.

"It's either the pod or the coffin for you," Belén warned before her vines drifted from her fingers to Shawna's wrist.

"Ew! What is that!?" Shawna freaked when the vines embedded on her skin. "Get it off me!" she cried while the vines crawled up her arm.

Belén smirked without even moving an inch. She was clearly enjoying her powers at work and was somewhat disappointed when Shawna was whacked on the head with a large, metal wrench courtesy of Iris.

"Those are some wicked powers you have," Iris admitted after a second. She could see the vines on Shawna's skin slowly disappearing now that they had no contact with Belén.

"New side and all," Belén reminded with a light shrug. She moved to help Caitlin from the floor when she groaned. "My head hurts."

"You may have a concussion," Caitlin predicted while she got up with Iris' help.

"Of course I do."

~0~

While Caitlin checked herself and Belén in the cortex, the rest went to return Shawna to her prison pod. Caitlin pulled the flashlight from Belén's eyes and set it over the metal table.

"I was right, you do have a concussion so…"

"Staying awake, got it," Belén nodded. She sighed after a moment and looked up at Caitlin. "Sorry I didn't get Shawna before she kicked you. I think I panicked in the beginning..."

"It's okay, it happens to all of us sometimes," Caitlin returned, looking very honest but Belén still blamed herself for letting things get that far.

"I've been off my game lately," Belén said even though she thought it was pretty obvious to everyone.

Caitlin smiled sadly, knowing how difficult things were for her friends at the moment. Despite the three having some unofficial agreement to continue working to capture Wells, Belén, Barry and Cisco didn't interact how they used to. It was all short, brief sentences when it came to speaking with Barry. Even between Belén and Cisco their conversations were short and brief because they didn't want to give Barry another reason to be upset.

"He'll come around," Caitlin put a comforting hand on Belén's arm.

"I don't know about that..." Belén mumbled.

"I hope," Belén said honestly. It'd been days, after all, since their fallout.

Their conversation was cut short when Joe and Iris brought in none other than Eddie from the pipeline. Cisco hurried in behind them and explained where they found the weakened detective. Caitlin immediately ran some exams on him in case Wells had done anything. After a thorough checkover, Caitlin concluded he was only a bit dehydrated and other than that he'd be fine. Barry returned after a long chase after Wells without success. Despite his tiredness, he was incredibly relieved to find Eddie had been found.

"Eddie, why did he take you?" Joe asked Eddie after everything had been settled.

"I don't know. He said that we're... family. Said his real name was Eobard Thawne," Eddie shook his head, still trying to come to terms with the idea of him and Wells being related.

"Eobard Thawne?" Cisco dreaded the familiarity of that name. "Just like in my dream."

"Did he say anything else?" Joe further asked. "I mean, anything that could help us figure out what he's really after?"

"I... he didn't say much," Eddie felt bad he couldn't be much help. "He just kept working on some tube."

"A tube? What did it look like?"

"Metallic, futuristic. He said it was the key to him getting back everything that was taken from him."

"The key?" Barry felt even more lost. "I don't understand."

"Wha... Yeah, I don't know. Look, I just want to go home. Is that okay?"

Caitlin gently removed the tape holding the IV needle on Eddie's hand. "Yes, of course."

Iris helped Eddie stand. "I'll make sure he gets some rest."

Barry waited until Iris and Eddie were gone to continue speaking. "What do you think Wells was talking about?"

But then the computer went off again and Cisco, once more, went to check on it. "Oh, no, no, no!" he said with widened eyes and ran out the room without so much of a hint of the problem.

"Did anyone else get free again?" Belén sighed as she came to the desk herself.

"What?" Barry said without thinking. Belén raised her head at him, surprised that had actually been directed at her.

Caitlin sensed the new awkwardness and made to cut it. "Wells initiated the release of a metahuman which turned out to be Shawna's. Belén and Iris got her though."

Barry's eyes widened as he now stared at Belén. There was a pang in her heart as she recognized the glint of worry in his eyes.

Cisco's voice cut through the silence that fell over in the room. Belén was startled to find the computer in front of her now serving as a video chat with Cisco. The man stood in front of a rock wall with a metal tube glowing blue sitting behind.

"Cisco?" Joe and the others moved to the desk to see as well.

"Um, are you seeing this? That's the tube Eddie was talking about," Cisco nodded to the device. "It's some sort of future power source. That's what's charging up the accelerator."

"Can you shut it down?" Barry inquired.

"Do you see a power button anywhere on this thing?" Cisco's sarcasm dripped in his words. "Dude, this thing is from the future. It's beyond me. I press, or touch, or cut the wrong thing, I could bring the whole building down."

"Okay," Barry saw his error and accepted it. "How long until it's fully functional?"

"Best I can tell, 36 hours."

Barry nodded. "That's when Wells will be back."

"Why would Dr. Wells want the Particle Accelerator to work again?" Belén asked, looking at the others for some answers. "I thought the whole point was to make it not work?"

No one could answer her question.

"And what about the metahumans still in their containment cells?" Joe asked and made the others think for a bit.

Cisco shivered as he got the idea. "They're toast."

"We put them down there and now their lives are in danger because of us," Caitlin sighed as she got to thinking of the true danger those people were in.

"Look, I think you all know I've never been a fan of this arrangement here. I thought the whole plan was to rehabilitate them and set them free," Joe sternly told the group.

"It was," Caitlin argued but under the man's look she added weakly, "We've been a little busy."

"Well, if they stay in there, the die," Belén stated and sighed, "And if we let them go, they destroy the city. So...what do we do about them?"

Barry had been thinking about for a couple minutes now and concluded his idea was the only one they had left. "We're gonna have to move them."

Joe gave him a look. "Move them where? Iron Heights can't handle meta-humans."

"You're right, but Lian Yu can."

"What the hell's a "Lian Yu?"

Before Barry could explain, Belén did. "Lian Yu is the island where Oliver was stranded for five years. I heard A.R.G.U.S built some sort of covert military prison on it." She met eyes with a surprised Barry and added for his benefit, "He told me a while ago."

Barry tore his eyes from her, not quite ready to have a conversation with her...much to her disappointment. "It's where we sent Captain Boomerang. Oliver keeps his worst criminals there. They won't be able to escape, and more importantly, they won't be able to hurt anybody."

"Great. So we ship them from one illegal black site to another?" Joe was still not convinced with this idea, but he suspected it wouldn't matter. "And how do we move them to Oliver's own private Alcatraz?"

"I'll call him," Barry said, standing from his chair. "Maybe he can help with transport. And Cisco... if we do this, nobody can get loose."

Cisco nodded. "I might have a way of getting them out of here safely."

"Alright, get on it," Barry instructed and Cisco agreed, getting a head start out of the room.

"Barr, this is insane," Joe shook his head.

"Joe, we have to do this."

"You don't think that if we start bussing super-villains through downtown, nobody's gonna notice?"

"Oh, they'll notice. That's where you'll come in," Barry couldn't help smile as he began to tell his next part of the plan.

~ 0 ~

The next day, Belén was sitting silently at her desk, meant to be writing an article for the week yet her screen barely contained a measly paragraph. She had mind clouded with all sorts of thoughts ranging from the Particle Accelerator to her missing sister to...Barry. She mindlessly tapped her pen on the edge of her desk as she wondered what kind of solutions she could offer in case their primary one would fail.

Hearing her cellphone ringing, Belén forced herself to pay attention. She looked at the caller and saw it was Cisco.

"H-hello?"

"Bells, listen, we need you to come in," Cisco began, and sounding disappointed Belén deduced their plan hadn't worked.

"We need another idea, don't we?"

"Yeah...Joe couldn't get the CCPD to work with them," Cisco sighed. "Barry's coming over to think again, but...it would be good if you came too."

"Yeah, yeah...okay, I'm coming," Belén hung up and put her phone down on the desk. She rubbed her face and faced her screen again.

"Hey," Iris stopped by her desk with some papers in her hands. "Look what just got dumped on my desk?" she waved her papers in the air, leaving Belén to guess.

"A new assignment?"

"Not my assignment," Iris rolled her eyes. "Spencer Young just got fired so I got her topic."

"She got fired?" Belén looked to the empty desk that once belonged to their co-worker. "Since when?"

"Since yesterday - where have you been?" Iris knew it was a dumb question to ask since Belén hadn't exactly been paying attention to her surroundings for days. "Larkin finally caught up with her lying words and fired her, soooo I now get her unfinished work."

"Well, serves her right for not being an honest journalist," Belén said with a careless shrug afterwards. She hardly passed words with the ex-employee and it was for a good reason: she was mean. "So what's the topic about?"

"A spree of robberies done with - and I quote-" Iris made a quotation mark in the air with one hand while the other held the paper to read from, "-a freeze ray gun, a firey gun, and a golden gun. Sound familiar?"

A big scowl came to Belén's face. "Seriously, the last thing we need is for the Rogues to be back."

"Mhm, I'll do some digging on them but I don't think they'll be doing any more crimes since their thing is to do a series of robberies then disappear," Iris put her papers back together.

"I'll pass on the message to the others just in case," Belén said once Iris got leaving. She returned to her computer with the intention of continuing on her assignment - this time for real - when an idea popped into her head. Oh, you're crazy.

She snagged her phone back from the desk and dialed for a different number.

~ 0 ~

Barry was shifting on the park bench he was sitting on. The mere place brought back memories that reminded Barry of what he didn't have at the moment. He wondered if this was a trick being played on him, just to toy with his mind. Well, he didn't have more time to think on it when he saw Belén walking up to him.

"You came," Belén said with a sigh of relief. She was worried that Barry wouldn't show up at the last moment because of their disagreements. While they hadn't exactly argued, it was still pretty clear they were not in the best places. Belén didn't want to push Barry into talking when he had shown no interest in doing the same.

"I said I would," Barry reminded and got up. "Though I don't think I can care for this precise stop," his eyes flickered to the nearby fountain.

"Sorry, I just...needed to talk in a place where no one would bother us," Belén said, biting her lip, "I think I have an idea on how to get the metahumans out of the city."

"You do?" Barry's eyebrows rose with curiosity.

"But I don't think you'll like it…"

"Let me hear it."

"Iris just told me the Rogues are back in the city," Belén knew it was a big thing to say so she started to ramble on her evidence, "There were recent crime scenes that left a specific evidence trail to them. The police are very sure that Captain Cold is back in the city and doing his usual spree of crimes - I mean there's been frozen part of buildings that only a cold gun can do along with the occasional golden trails which really means that his sister is with him this time-"

"Belén, breathe!" Barry had put his hands on her arms to stop her from her rapid rambling. Belén blinked and blushed as she saw him so up close. Barry had realized what he'd done and instantly let her go, taking even a step backwards to get his head clear. "Just...just take a pause and breathe," he repeated nervously.

Glumly, Belén continued on with her original plan. "I was thinking we could find Snart and ask for his help."

"What!?"

"Snart is the only one crazy and tough enough to help us with all these metas! And since Oliver's not answering I think this is our only option."

Barry stayed quiet as he thought about it. He had tried getting in contact with Stein and Ronnie too but couldn't get through. Without the CCPD's help either, they really didn't have much options left. "Okay," he gave in. "I'll find Snart and talk to him-"

"Nu-uh," Belén cut him off with a frown. "We will and before you open that mouth to tell me 'no', I'm reminding you that this was my idea."

"You are not going," Barry gave her a sharp look but Belén wasn't stepping down.

In fact, just to prove herself, she stepped closer to him again, looking up at him defiantly. "Who says?"

"Belén…" Barry forced himself to look down at her without backing down as well. But in reality, he was beginning to fall under her charmful gaze and scent. God, I miss her, was all that ran through his mind.

Belén's eyes flickered from his eyes to his lips, and continued to make her case. "It's my idea and I'm not letting you take it just like that. So either you take me with you, or you get to discover how mad a poisonous Azalea can get."

"Is that a threat?" Barry raised an eyebrow, feeling a tingle down his back as her lips stretched into a smirk.

"Take it however you'd like." Belén was pretty sure she was causing an effect on him judging by the fascinated look in Barry's eyes...and it made her feel pretty damn special knowing she was still the only one that could make him feel like that. "So, what's it going to be?"

Barry swallowed hard. "Well...lead the way, Miss Azalea."

~ 0 ~

It wasn't difficult to find out where Snart tended to spend some time after looking at some of the evidence left behind with the CCPD. Barry let Belén walk first into a solitary, pretty slum-looking bar where Leonard Snart was at. Barry didn't like the idea of having to bring Belén along but apparently he was out-charmed here.

Snart was able to sense their presence and turned from the counter with an unexpected smile. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the scarlet speedster." His eyes then flickered to the brunette woman and his smile turned to a smirk. "And shooter-girl."

"For real? I have a name," Belén frowned.

Barry didn't care for the interest Snart had in Belén and spoke over them to get things moving. "We need to talk."

With raised eyebrows, Snart moved over to them and took a casual seat on the edge of the pool table near them. "Oh? And you went looking for little ole me?"

"Shut up," Belén spoke over again. "We need your help with a problem."

"Mm, that's not the first time someone of yours asks for my help," Snart tilted his head her way with a knowing smile. Belén, startled, looked up at Barry out of reflex. Before Barry could snap at him, Snart went on. "Must be pretty desperate to come asking for my assistance, but I'll bite. What do you need?"

"Help transporting some people out of the city," Barry was able to say without showcasing his irritation with him.

"How many?"

"Six. Six very bad, very angry people who have powers."

"Powers, hmm? So you want me to what? Freeze the problem?" Snart looked at both who nodded their heads. "Protect you from them if anything goes wrong? First rule of business: always protect yourself. I'm not gonna help usher your enemies out of town."

"Oh, but you consorted with others to get what you want," Belén snapped. "Listen you're gonna do it because you need to do it."

"Oh, and why is that?" Snart feigned incredible interest in what she had to say, irritating both metahumans even more.

"These people are your enemies as well-"

"I doubt it-"

"They will destroy Central City which is your city as well," Belén paused, hoping he'd get the point but apparently not as he responded with a very easy 'not my problem'. "Imagine a city you can't rob because there's no more people to rob because they're all dead?"

Snart looked to the side, pausing to think. "It's a compelling argument. But if I'm gonna help you out. I'll need something in return."

"Yeah, we imagined," Barry rolled his eyes.

Snart pulled a pen from his jacket and moved to the nearest table. He got a menu and wrote down something which he then slid to Barry. "This."

Barry took one look and saw an outrageous amount of money. He laughed and looked at Snart. "No. this is impossible. We can't do that."

"Then I can't help you," Snart turned to leave when Belén angrily reached for his arm, and because she was angry her hand holding his arm turned green and scaly. Before Snart could realize, Barry lunged in a snap and yanked her hand from Snart's arm and kept it tightly shielded under his hand. They could not let her identity slip as well.

"There has to... Snart, there has to be something you want that we can get," Barry tried to reason with the man who keenly watching the two.

"Let me think about it," Snart only mildly relented. Perhaps there was something else, he just had to consider it more closely. With a wide smile, he turned to leave.

Almost as quick, Barry took Belén away as well. He stopped them in another part of the neighborhood to check her. She was breathing fast as he released her hand to reveal it was still its pretty bright green color.

"Barry, I-I-I didn't...I didn't mean to…" she tried to explain but Barry shook his head at her.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," he tried to soothe her, knowing that only calming her down would make her hand return to normal. "Just breathe, okay? Do that, c'mon," he mimicked the breathing pattern they had worked on long ago for these sorts of situations.

Belén quickly tried doing that but she kept remembering her slip that nearly cost her identity secret. "I-I'm s-s-sorry, I could have...I could have jeopardize it a-all I'm so sorry-"

Barry pulled her into a tight hug, a bit shaken himself from her reaction. He'd forgotten, honestly, that she was still trying to get a better control of her new side. He also remembered he had promised to help her get control no matter what. "It's going to be okay," he whispered, rubbing a hand over Belén's back.

~ 0 ~

After getting back to STAR Labs, Caitlin took Belén into one of the side rooms to give her another checkover to see if she'd been negatively affected by her sudden outburst of powers. Meanwhile, Cisco and Barry remained in the main cortex where the former had taken apart Wells' wheelchair along with its futuristic device in hopes of putting something together for their metahuman transfer. As Cisco worked, he kept glancing over at Barry who was keenly staring at the side room Belén and Caitlin were in. He hadn't muttered a word to Cisco.

Here goes nothing. Cisco took in a deep breath and spoke up to the metahuman while trying to pull something apart. "She really likes you, dude, make no doubt about that." Barry said nothing except briefly glancing back at him before returning his eyes to the side room. "Barry, c'mon, are you really going to let things end because I asked her out before you?"

"Cisco, I'm not doing this now," Barry crossed his arms and turned a bit to the side.

"Well tough because I don't know when to quit," Cisco put down the device he was working on and sighed again, this time speaking much more seriously. "I asked her out like four months after your coma, okay? She wasn't sure at first but she said yes and I took her to dinner at-"

Barry shook his head and turned to Cisco, making a face that just showcased his disapproval of this. "Cisco, I don't want to hear about this...date thing." That was the problem: his mind would only show him possible bits of Belén and Cisco dating. It was what made it difficult for him to talk to either of them. It's what made it hard to move on from it.

"You have to," Cisco adamantly replied. "You have to know what happened in order to finally move on."

Barry looked to the side without another word considering what Cisco believed was pretty correct. He was dying to know what exactly - and he meant exactly - what happened during that apparent date. Maybe it would help his mind in some way...

"We went to the movies, saw a funny movie and then we took a walk," Cisco continued. "It was fun, I'm not going to lie, because Bells is just so much fun to be around. She was cute-" Barry looked back at him with a warning expression but Cisco shrugged in response. "Hey, I'm not lying here. Your girlfriend's hot, okay? That's why I asked her out. But in the end, when we tried to kiss...we couldn't." And it did make Barry a little less concerned when he saw for himself how Cisco honestly seemed okay with it. "Bells and I realized we were friends, like best friends, and we liked that. Yeah, she's hot, as is Caitlin, as is Iris, - she's my attractive best friend who happened to end up going out with my other best friend. And I'm so happy for you two. Honest."

Barry sighed, shaking his head. "Cisco, I...it's just...it would've been better to hear from you first…"

"I know, and that's my bad, I accept it," Cisco raised a gloved hand. "I should've been a good friend and told you about this when you asked Caitlin and I to help you ask Bells out."

Barry stared at him and slowly began to smile. "But you were. Belén said she asked you not to say anything...and you didn't. You promised her and you kept it."

"Look, dude, I have never tried anything with her since our date," Cisco meant to clarify once and for all. "She's Bells, my best friend, and only my friend."

Barry nodded to show he acknowledged Cisco's words, but he didn't feel like he was quite there to be okay. "Thank you."

"Of course," Cisco hoped his words would allow Barry to talk with Belén now.

A couple minutes later, Caitlin brought out a much more calm Belén into the room. Barry turned back expectantly. "She's fine," Caitlin began, placing a hand on Belén's shoulder, "It's actually very interesting how some points of that other side can affect Belén and others don't."

"Yeah, trust me, it's not that interesting from my perspective," Belén admitted.

At that moment, Joe walked into the room, a hasty entrance, with narrowed eyes on the two metahumans. "What the hell were you two thinking calling Leonard Snart for help!?"

Barry winced and slowly turned around. He'd called Joe to explain their idea and needless to say the man was not happy.

Joe came right up to them. "Do we not remember who Snart is!?" Caitlin and Cisco slowly inched away from them back to the table Cisco was working with the device on.

"Joe, it was my idea," Belén stepped forwards. "Barry just went along with it."

"Which puts both of you at fault," Joe sternly responded. "Why would you do something so stupid?"

"Because, Joe, we have already tried everyone else. Look, you tried the CCPD. I tried Oliver. I even tried Ronnie and Dr. Stein," Barry, frustrated explained their lack of options. "And the Particle Accelerator goes online in…"

"16 hours," Cisco called.

"16 hours, Joe. I'm not willing to let the metas die, and we can't let them escape, either. So, like it or not, Snart, with his cold gun, is the only one that can stop them if Cisco's transportation does not hold."

"Then lucky for you I figured out what it is you can get me," Snart surprised them with his presence. Despite Joe initially pulling out a gun on him, Snart took a nice calm strode through the room, taking an observation. "Hello, Detective. Nice to see you again. Caitlin, Cisco." He came up to Barry and Belén with a smirk. "I thought about your proposal. You want my help, this is what I want. My fingerprints, dental records, DNA, criminal records, family tree, everything there is in this world concerning Leonard Snart. I want it destroyed. All of it. At CCPD, online, everywhere."

Belén stood there dumbfounded at such an outrageous price.

"The brass on this dude," Joe muttered. "You really think we'd do that for you?"

"Absolutely not-" Belén was midway turning him down when Barry cut her off with his own decision.

'I'll do it. If it's the only way, fine."

Belén whipped her head at him with widened eyes. Joe was in the same predicament and immediately ordered Barry to talk with him in the training room.

"I can't believe you're asking for that much," Belén snapped at Snart after being left alone. Caitlin and Cisco still remained there, half pretending to work and half ready to attack.

Snart smirked her way. "Then you're not as bright as you're made out to be."

"You don't know anything about me," Belén stepped forwards.

"I know about your family."

"Lies."

"Really? I know about your wayward brother," Snart loved the stunned reactions he got from everyone in the room. "I mean, I know my sister isn't exactly innocent but at least I know where she is. Can't say the same for you and your sister, though."

"Listen to me," Belén got in Snart's face, leaving Caitlin and Cisco in a little panic state because of how Snart might react, "I know damn well what my sister does behind my back - and I know that she worked with you - so you can put away your mighty attitude with me. I know that my family's rotten."

Snart raised an eyebrow at her, somewhat impressed. "Quite the burden you must carry, then...being the only good one left. Maybe you should think about switching, huh?"

"I would never," Belén stepped back. "It's more fun putting criminals like you away."

"Well, if this is it, you can tell your boyfriend I'll be waiting by the Algiers tonight for all my files. This criminal's not going anywhere!" he turned around and headed out of the room.

Belén's eyes flickered to Caitlin and Cisco. "It's going to be my fault if that guy ever rules the city."

"Maybe you should talk to Barry about it," Caitlin suggested but Belén scoffed.

"Please, he won't talk to me unless it's business and this would just be me telling him not to do something."

"Okay, how do you intend for this cold shoulder argument to end if neither of you get over it and talk?" Cisco moved for the desk where he left some of his licorice.

"Because he doesn't want to talk, Cisco! It's been days and...nothing."

"Well I just talked to him and he seemed ready...ish..."

Belén deadpanned him for a moment. "It's not funny, Cisco. And you know what? Maybe it's...it's just not going to get better."

"Belén..." Caitlin mildly gaped at her friend. "You don't actually...mean that, do you?"

"I don't know," Belén admitted. She brought her hands to her hair and sucked in a breath. "I've got family problems like there's no tomorrow and-and maybe it'd be easier to deal with things if I didn't drag Barry with me."

"Okay, you know that's not true," Caitlin looked over to Cisco for some help. The man seemed to be thinking about something and that clearly involved not talking for the moment. "Belén, I think you're just tired-"

"-it's a possibility," Belén let her hands fall to her sides. "But I mean...what if I talk to him and he can't get over the date? What if - what if he doesn't want to be with me anymore? Things could be over."

"Nope!" Cisco's sudden pop startled the two women. "Absolutely not, I will not have crazy talk in this room."

"Cisco, what-" Belén was cut off by Cisco coming over and grabbing her arm. "Where are we going!?" she asked when he started leading her out of the cortex, even looking back at Caitlin for some help.

"Cisco, what are you doing?" Caitlin rushed after them. "Cisco!"

"I'm knocking some sense into her!"

"With what!?" Belén exclaimed with actual fear in her tone.

"The future!"

Caitlin's eyes widened when she realized where Cisco was heading for. He brought them to Thawne's secret vault, and despite Caitlin's warning for him to think about it, Cisco opened the vault and yanked Belén in.

"This is Wells' creepy lair - why am I here?" Belén pretended to shiver.

"This is why," Cisco walked up to the small podium. "Glad I figured out how to bring it up," he mumbled as he passed his hand over the podium, bringing up the futuristic article to life.

"Woah..." Belén blinked. She crinkled her nose, however, when she read the title of the article and saw the subject of it. "No, hold on...what is this?"

"It's what we found a while ago," Cisco looked at Caitlin, "We don't really know what it means but...I think you'll see something pretty interesting."

"Apart from the fact this thing says Barry will go missing...not exactly sure what else is supposed to be 'interesting'," Belén walked up to the article to read, or at least try to skim since the words were pretty small. "This is from 2024..."

"It's the future, as of now," Caitlin came to stand beside her.

"Get out," Belén blinked with awe. "But...but he goes missing?" her hand came to rest over her heart as the fear started creeping over her. "Barry goes missing in the future?"

"Check out who wrote the article," Cisco nodded her to look underneath the byline.

It only took her a couple seconds to see her own name written there - well, her new name. "Oh...oh my...that's me," she pointed at it as if the other two hadn't already seen it. "Like...like..."

A big, teasing smile spread across Cisco's face. "As in your future married name?"

"Shut up," Belén said automatically, though the visible red on her face made it hard for Cisco not to keep smiling. Even Caitlin was having trouble keeping her smile hidden. "Francisco Ramon you better shut up."

"Belén, I get that you're scared to talk to Barry but this-" Cisco gestured at the article, "-proves that everything works out for you two. It means your destiny is to marry him."

Belén's eyes gazed over her name again. Annah-Belén Allen. Her heart may have skipped a beat or two. "It's not destiny," she said quietly, her eyes flickering between Caitlin and Cisco. "Destiny isn't what makes that happen," she pointed at her name. "It's my decision - it's our decision - to get married. But that could change at any time. What matters is what I want right now and what I really want is to go get my boyfriend back."

She smiled at her two friends and turned on her heels. She had somewhere to go.

~0~

Barry didn't know if he was purposely lingering in his lab to wait out the employees in the precinct and get the files for Snart...or if he was doing it to avoid being shouted at by Joe again. It wasn't like he wanted to steal but it was the only option they had left if they wanted help to transfer the metahumans. It was literally their only option left.

"Barry!" he flinched after hearing Belén's sharp call. She came striding into the lab with an air of confidence. "Barry Allen we are going to talk and we are going to talk now!"

"Um...okay..." Barry rubbed the side of his neck, somewhat afraid of her right now. "Uh-"

"-yes, I went on a date with Cisco, and yes it did involve hand holding and shared popcorn and a nice romantic dinner but it involved no kissing and the most important thing is that it didn't continue," Belén was aware she was rambling but if he was a speedster then he would be able to keep up with her. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it before but I thought it would just freak you out - which it did-" she gestured at their current situation, "-and I honestly thought it was irrelevant. Cisco is one of my best friends but you are the one I want to be with."

Barry considered speeding and make time stop just to think about everything she'd said. He stared at her silence, thinking about her words and...her. She seemed so determined and perhaps it was a misplaced determination because...

"I'm a jerk," he sighed.

Belén blinked. "What?" she'd been expecting a little more than just that.

"I'm a big jerk, and an idiot, and a lot of other things but I'll leave it at that," Barry sighed again. "In Iris' words: I am a drama queen. I overreacted about this whole...dating thing between you and Cisco. In my defense, it was kind of sprung out of nowhere and it-it is a very hard picture to get out of my head."

"Well see, I don't want you to just ignore it or bottle it in. I get that it's a weird thing - I'd probably be a little on the fence if you happened to date Caitlin before me. It's natural, but I don't want it to be the cause of our break up," Belén crossed her arms, that confidence of hers dwindling the more she thought about the potential outcomes of this talk. "I don't want us to break up, Barry. If you need time, I get that, but...I don't want it to be a permanent time."

"I don't need time," Barry said, easing some of her concerns. "I just need you right now." He felt a ping in his heart seeing her light up so quickly. "I'm sorry."

Belén's smile was so wide it could have cracked her face. She rushed up to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her senseless. He missed her a lot.

A couple minutes passed before they pulled apart.

"I'm not letting you go for another couple minutes," Belén warned about her arms still clinging to Barry's neck. "In case you get any other ideas for arguments."

"I won't," Barry playfully rolled his eyes. "I know I was an idiot."

"A little," Belén lightly shrugged. "But it was a valid emotion to feel."

"It just...got me thinking, you know? What if it things had worked out with you and Cisco? Then I would've come back from my coma to a world where Bells...wasn't my Bells."

Belén's face warmed up. "You didn't even like me back then, Barry. We were just friends."

Barry rested his forehead against hers. "I believe that I would have fallen for you no matter what. Then what would I have done?"

"Best not to think like that," Belén chuckled. "Because it didn't happen and it's not happening. Besides, according to a certain article you neglected to tell me about, we sort of end up married and all that jazz..."

Barry almost choked on his saliva. "Wh-what?" he met Belén's straight face. "Y-you know about that?"

"Cisco showed it to me earlier. You must have given me one hell of a proposal if I ended up not hyphenating."

"U-uum..." Barry swallowed hard, knowing well his face was warming up now. "I didn't tell you because I thought it would freak you out. Most people don't like their future planned out like that."

"Yeah, but, I see that article as something that can happen if we-" she pointed between them, "-want it to happen, not if it wants it. And I may not be in the marrying stage but it is something I'd consider in the future."

"Really?" Barry was honestly surprised she was taking it so easily.

"You wouldn't?"

"Y-yeah I would," he said quickly, stammering it that Belén laughed. "It's not - it's not funny."

"Kind of is," Belén pulled him closer to where her lips brushed over hers when she spoke. "It's okay. I'd marry a funny dork if it was you."

"What? That's just rude-"

Belén chuckled and kissed him again.

~ 0 ~

The following day, once everything had been settled, Lisa and Leonard Snart met the rest of the group at STAR Labs who had also been infomred of their arrangement.

"Please tell me this is a joke," Caitlin couldn't stop gaping as she had the two Snart siblings in front of her and Cisco.

"Oh," Lisa pretended to pout, "you were right, Lenny. She is very uptight."

Caitlin's eyes widened. "I am not uptight!" she glanced at the others expecting to be backed up. Cisco and Belén looked away while Barry apologetically smiled her way. With a heavy irritation, Catilin looked back at the smirking Lisa. "You can't call me uptight!"

"Okay, there's no need to argue," Belén stepped in before poor Caitlin lost it. "We don't like each other - that much we can all accept - we just need to get through this one day."

Caitlin sighed and looked over to Barry, frowning. "Why are you two wearing your masks?" she gestured to the two metahumans who wore their respective suits. "Snart already knows who you are."

"And I promised I wouldn't tell anyone," Snart glanced at Lisa. "That includes my sister."

"Jerk," Lisa sarcastically spat.

"Trainwreck," responded Snart. He met eyes with Joe who'd remained silent throughout the entire morning. Joe just didn't agree with any of this and still thought neither Snart should be there. "Don't look so surprised, Detective. I am a man of my word."

"Yeah, you better be. Or I'm gonna make sure you're on that damn plane, too," Joe warned and turned to leave. There was much to do before they left with the metahumans.

"Hey, Cisco…" Lisa went after Cisco.

Cisco turned around with narrowed eyes. "Oh, hey, Captain Cold's evil sister."

"Aww. You're not still mad at me, are you?" Lisa feigned an apologetic pout as she got closer to him. "I really did enjoy kissing you."

"Hold the phone - you kissed her!?" it was Belén who caught the conversation and shot Cisco a look from across the room.

"Under duress-" Cisco motioned her to calm down.

"'Duress' my a-"

"Bells if I didn't know any better I'd say you were jealous…" Barry sauntered up to her, distracting her from the continuing conversation between Cisco and Lisa. Still, Cisco led Lisa out of the cortex for safety reasons.

"Oh no, are we going to argue again?" Caitlin genuinely asked with concern.

"Don't worry, we made up," Belén said cheerfully. "I won't date any of his friends unless he makes new hot friends."

"I didn't say that!" Barry turned on her with a deep frown on his face.

"Shh!"

Caitlin smiled at the two. It was nice having them back to their regular selves; certainly more amusing.

~0~

When night settled over the city, everyone was set to go. Cisco had procured a moving truck that belonged to one of his uncles. He rigged its back to situate their six metahumans in the back who wouldn't have their powers for the duration of their trip. Getting to the warehouse was no problem as Barry made a clear pathway for them through the streets. It was the waiting part that would soon bring them trouble.

"Ferris Air? I thought this place got shut down," Snart remarked as he climbed off his motorcycle once they entered the solitary place where the ARGUS airplane was meant to be at any moment.

"It did. One of their test pilots disappeared," Barry distractedly responded as he stared out into the dark sky looking for the airplane.

Joe, Caitlin and Belén got out of their car and walked over to the two. "So what's the plan? I want to get this over with," Joe said.

"It should be here any minute," Barry promised. "Look, Joe, I know you don't agree with this…"

Joe shook his head. "Save it, Barr. I just want to get it done." He walked away.

As Caitlin followed in suit, Belén was left staring at Snart...who soon caught on and smirked.

"Something on your mind sweetheart?" he asked. Barry quickly looked at the two, confused.

Belén remained with a straight face. "Do you know where my sister is right now?"

"No I do not."

"And why would I believe you?"

"Because I don't particularly like your sister and would very much like to see you get your hands on her."

"I would never hurt my sister, Snart," Belén shook her head, but Snart just smirked.

"When your family goes rogue, you don't have much choices. Besides, she was willing to hurt you and your friends, why not pay her with the same coin?"

Belén stared at Snart without much words in mind. Snart knew he had won and turned for Barry. "Your A.R.G.U.S. friends aren't very prompt. Maybe that's why they've never been able to catch me."

Caitlin came to them once she caught sight of the airplane. "Look, there it is."

"Guys, guys!" Cisco ran out from the truck. "We have a problem. The damper's fluctuating. The rig's losing power. I don't know why."

Barry turned to him, panicking. "Wait, can you do something?"

"I'm trying!" Cisco frantically worked with his tablet.

An odd lightning crackled from the sky, but they knew better than that.

"Oh, God. Mardon," Joe recalled the terrible metahuman.

The airplane was struck by the lightning and crashed landed way across them. At the same time, the truck's backdoor flung open and the metahumans piled out ready for action.

"Trip's canceled!" Mardon cackled. "Take your last breath!"

Simmons shot red lasers towards the group, causing them to quickly disband towards hiding places. In the middle of her running, Belén crashed into Azul.

Gasping, Belén tried running in a different direction.

"Where are you going, Bells?" Azul shot a blast of ice towards her. Although it didn't directly hit her, the terror of the attack knocked her down. "We have a pending score to settle."

"Azalea!" Cisco shouted and made a move to go help her but he, Caitlin and Joe, were forced behind a car as they dealt with Mardon, Bivolo and Simmons.

"N-Noah!" Belén pushed the man off and tried punching him. Azul grasped her wrist and used it to twist her down to her back. Belén hissed with eyes screwed shut.

"I bet Rayan is gonna be real happy to see your ass dead," Azul smirked. "Too bad it'll be too easy."

Belén allowed her anger to take over again and with it her new side. Her skin became that emerald green, even her eyes seemed to shift towards a magenta color for a moment. "Or how about I bring you to him instead?" she surprised him with. Her nails gripped his wrist and pushed through his skin.

Her vines crept onto him, but unlike with Shawna, they grabbed him whole and threw him to the side.

"Let's settle the score, Azul. Once and for all!" she called and went after him.

Meanwhile, Barry was dealing with Nimbus who was trying to poison him with his noxious gas. He could see his friends and Belén needed help but everytime he tried getting back into the warehouse Nimbus threatened to kill him. He had to deal with Nimbus first, no options left.

Belén's started flinging pieces of vines as if they were shards, but Azul broke them with his icicles. He put his hands together and fired with an icy smoke that chilled the surroundings. Through the fog, Belén could see Simmons firing lasers at Barry who was attempting to get back in. She was also able to see Mardon strike him down with a rackling thunder.

"Boyfriend's going bye-bye," Azul laughed. "Just like you will."

Snart's words came back to Belén's mind. If they were so willing to hurt her, then what was stopping her from doing the same?

Belén charged forwards, clearing the chill with her own poison. She swung an angry fist at Azul, surprising him and knocking him down. Her vines crawled over her hands, forming sharp ends like daggers. She raised them up but before she brought them down, a streak of gold hit Azul and killed him.

Belén dropped her hands and whipped around to see Lisa holding her golden gun. In that moment, Belén realized what she'd been about to do and stepped away from the corpse. All the green faded from her skin, the magenta in her eyes disappearing too. Oh my God!

Snart himself shot Simmons with his cold gun, killing him instantly. "How about we call tonight a tie?" Snart addressed the remaining metahumans Mardon and Bivolo with his cold gun still aimed at them.

Bivolo aimed to whammy Snart when he felt a cold metal on the side of his head. Lisa had anticipated it and was threatening to cover him with gold just as Azul.

"I'd power down if you don't want me to melt your face."

"Let's all go our separate ways," Snart insisted and lowered his gun. "My name is Leonard Snart-"

"I know who you are," Mardon cut him off. Who didn't know if the famous Snart?

"Always pleased to meet a fan. Just remember who it was made sure you didn't get thrown on that plane bound for nowhere." Snart pointed out to the disastrous place and started in another direction.

"You're just letting us go?" Mardon couldn't buy it as he looked to the now-dead Simmons on the floor. "Why'd you shoot that guy?"

Snart shrugged."He owed me money."

Mardon frowned as Snart gave off an expectant look. "Mmm. What? You want a "thank you?"

"Who doesn't like a "thank you?""

"Thank you…?" Bivolo said slowly, still under the threat of Lisa's gun.

"You are so very welcome," Snart made it to where Barry had been left on the ground.

"You sabotaged the truck, didn't you?" Barry asked through a strained voice. He shifted on the ground, trying and failing to get up. "Why did you let them escape?"

"Because now they all owe me. And something tells me they'll be a lot more use to me as part of my rogues than rotting away in the North China sea."

"You gave us your word…"

Snart laughed and bent down beside him. "It's true, I did. But here's the thing. I'm a criminal and a liar, and I hurt people, and I rob them. What did you expect me to do? Not be what I am? I saw an opportunity to turn things to my advantage, and I did. Who you're really mad at is yourself. This is on you, Barry. Even your little girlfriend backed off at the last moment because she knew this could happen."

"Then why don't you just kill me?"

"Well, I guess you owe me one now, too. Good luck with... all of this." Snart straightened up and walked back towards his motorcycle. Before he did, he spotted Belén. He walked for her instead and met her glaring eyes. "Well, so much for not hurting people, huh?"

Belén frowned and made to go for him but at the last moment forced herself to stay still. These powers, with all its glory, were still uncontrollable at times. She needed to get a better handle on it.

~0~

After all had been done and, well, cleaned up, the group dejectedly returned to STAR Labs. Caitlin settled immediately into her medical expertise as she checked herself to make sure she was no longer under the effects of Bivolo's powers, then moved on to Belén and Barry. With Barry's quick healing powers, he was back in physical aptitude faster than she could finish the check up. Belén had less injuries but it would still take a while for her to get better again. So, despite being told to 'take it easy', when Caitlin finished with her, Belén got right up and went in search of her boyfriend who'd mysteriously gone missing after hearing they were all fine.

The Particle Accelerator was set to go off in just a couple of minutes so Belén knew Barry must be taking it far harder than anyone else right now.

"Hey," she playfully knocked on the side of the pipeline's threshold once she found him sitting down on the slightly raised floor.

"Bells, you're supposed to be resting," Barry got up to help her walk in. Despite not bearing severe injuries, she was still walking a bit slower.

"Barry, I'm fine - well, I'm going to be fine, you know," Belén said but let him lead her to where he'd been sitting at. "Caitlin says I just have some nasty bruises…"

"Painful ones," Barry noticed her wince when she put a hand over her back.

"It's fine," Belén insisted and turned her head at him. "I tried to kill someone so believe me, my physical injuries are the least of my worries."

Barry glanced at her, knowing this was probably going to haunt her for a while. "The powers took you over, it wasn't you out there."

"Except it was," Belén sighed. "I've been angry for a while. I'm angry that my brother has been spying on me, has been hurting me. I'm angry with Maritza about lying to me and hurting me too. I'm angry that my Dad got killed. I'm just angry, Barry, and I'm releasing it in ways that I didn't think I ever could. If Lisa hadn't shot Azul...I probably would have stabbed him."

Barry put his arm around her shoulders and brought her to his side. "We've been through a lot."

"Yeah..."

"Tonight was my fault, though. I've seen the way that Oliver does things, and he's not afraid to just do whatever it takes to get what he needs, and I thought that I could do that too. I thought I could just use Snart, but instead he used me."

"Well, to be fair, the whole idea was my idea…" Belén rubbed her arm.

"Yeah, but, Bells," Barry shifted to face her, "you didn't agree - you didn't want to agree to Snart's deal. You knew something like this could've happened because you...you were smart, you didn't fall for it. I did."

"I was being a scary-cat and you were being calculating," Belén offered an alternative way to see things. "I mean, yeah, okay, maybe you were trying to be a little too much like Oliver...which-" she leaned closer to him with a soft smile gracing her lips, "-I wouldn't like to see, honestly. The Arrow is the Arrow, and that's not the kind of hero I know you are. I'd rather you dealt with things the Flash way."

"Yeah, and how's that?" Barry tilted his head, a bit curious to know what she thought.

"Mm," Belén looked to the side as she came up with her answer. "You actually cared about whether or not those criminals lived or died. Oliver probably would've seen them as collateral damage. You don't do walks in the dark side, you shouldn't."

"Tell you what," Barry began a new proposal, "Next time I get a crazy idea to agree to a criminal's word...you snap me out of it by all means."

"Can I smack you?"

"Yes...if necessary."

"Okay, deal!"

Barry stared at the excited ombre-blonde a bit worried. "You, uh...you agreed a bit fast on that one…"

Belén chuckled. "Well, who doesn't jump on the opportunity to smack some sense into their boyfriend?" Barry wasn't exactly sure that was a good thing. Belén surprised him with a small kiss on the lips. "But if you don't do more dark-side experimenting, you can get one of these."

"That sounds absolutely fair," Barry instantly nodded his head. "And I promise you that we're going to continue that training."

"Okay," Belén nodded.

Suddenly, an alarm blared from the ceiling and soon they heard Cisco's voice calling them from the speakerphone.

"Guys... The Particle Accelerator is fully charged and online. Whatever Wells needs it for, it's ready."

Barry took Belén's hand and helped her up to her feet. "C'mon," he helped her walk out the room towards the cortex.

All the computers were raging with alarms as the Particle Accelerator prepared to activate yet again. No one knew what was meant to happen, but they knew one thing for sure was that Wells was returning. Taking precautions, Barry once again changed into his suit and stood ready by the computers.

"He wants you to go out there," Belén sighed once she caught sight of Wells walking in through the front gate like nothing.

"And I will," Barry said, not denying he needed this battle.

This was the part where Belén hated not being a speedster, because it meant she wouldn't be able to help him. "I don't want you to go out there alone," Belén knew she was speaking for everyone, especially Joe.

"I need to go. If I don't, he'll come in," Barry looked at the others and hoped they would see it the way he was. It was precaution, after all. He sped out of the room to go meet Wells.

"Hey, Wells isn't alone," Cisco said after noticing another figure in the screen.

"What?" Belén practically shoved Cisco to the side in order to look at the computers. He let it go on account of the situation (but her hand was actually pretty strong). "Oh absolutely not." The venom in her tone was uncharacteristic of her, even her stride for her own suit, but the moment the computer was available again, and Caitlin, Cisco and Joe saw who else was out there...they understood.

"Belén, hold on," Cisco came around the desk as fast as he could to stop her from leaving. "You can't go out there-"

"-pretty sure I just told Barry that and he had to go. Now it's my turn. Pixel is out there and I'll be damned if she lays a finger on Barry. Plus, she and I have another score to settle too."

"But Barry's not alone anymore," Caitlin pointed out. "Firestorm and the Arrow just showed up. Belén, it's okay to stay in here now."

Belén thought about it logically but despite knowing the numbers were in their favor, she couldn't just sit there and watch Pixel have her own fun against them. "Wells - or Thawne - brought her in because of me. He has no use for her except to taunt me."

"Then don't let him," Cisco put his hands on her shoulders.

Green crept across Belén's face and down her arms. "I can't, Cisco."

Her vines grabbed her suit from behind and together they disappeared. Cisco whirled around to Joe and Caitlin. "What do we do now!?"

"Hope neither of them gets killed," Joe despised that answer, and yet there was seriously nothing else they could do but that.

~ 0 ~

Pixel cackled while she actively dodged Oliver's arrows. "Bet you can't catch me!" her sing-song attitude irritated the hell out of the man. It appeared more like she was playing a game with them, and that's exactly what she was doing.

Well, the game was about to shift opponents.

Pixel was ducking as another arrow threatened to get her, and since her gaze was on Oliver she didn't notice the vines coming for her back. She yelped when the tendril squeezed her arms to her sides.

"I got her," Belén told Oliver and nodded for him to go help Barry. It seemed like Wells had thrown Firestorm quite far without his fire to protect him.

Pixel laughed, her shoulders shaking with her. "You got me? As if." She whipped her entire body around and pulled Belén with the vine. Her energy cut through the vines and gave her an opportunity to strike first.

Belén felt the connection of Pixel's hand with her chin and vowed the woman would get it now. She was done being Pixel's and Rayan's punching bag, their innocent doll. No more.

Belén retaliated with her poisonous smoke and while Pixel fought to keep her lungs clean, the ombre-blonde delivered a roundhouse kick that may or may not have earned her a cheer inside STAR Labs. "That felt good," she admitted to herself. She flinched, however, when she heard a loud clang and turned to see Wells' body landing against the fence, courtesy of Barry.

"That's the spirit! You can't stop me, Flash. And you never will," Wells smirked impossibly wide as he detached himself from the fence. Perhaps it was a game to him too.

Barry glared at him but said nothing in return. Instead, he took off for the side of building and got Wells to chase after him.

Pixel jumped to her feet and grabbed Belén in a choke-hold. "First, I'll kill you, and then I'll get Azul out and together we'll kill everyone in that building." She nodded at the building where the two speedster's lightning trails illuminated their eyes.

"Azul is dead!" Belén managed to say in-between gasps for air.

It was enough to cause distraction. "What!?" Pixel blinked.

Belén shoved her elbow into the woman's stomach, forcing Pixel to keel over in pain. Belén whirled around and didn't hesitate to throw another kick, this time getting Pixel right on the chin. "An eye for an eye!" she spat and thrust her vines forwards to tie the woman up.

Pixel growled and shrieked as vine after vine wrapped over her body. Belén worked fast to keep Pixel's powers from penetrating her vines, but her eyes were also flickering up to the building where the rest of the men were fighting. She flinched when Wells came crashing down onto a car but was relieved to see Oliver coming through with one specific arrow. A tranquilizer specifically made for a speedster.

Barry, Firestorm and Oliver soon gathered over the unconscious speedster, all wearing pretty proud smiles.

"Thanks, fellas," Barry said truthfully.

"No problem," Oliver nodded at him.

"Nice haircut. And I see we've abandoned our traditional green..." Barry mused now that he noticed Oliver's darker green suit.

"Green is such a good color though, isn't it?" Belén gestured to herself. "Any shade works."

Oliver smiled for a moment. He then looked over to Barry, back in his Oliver-seriousness way. "Look... I might need a favor from you."

"Wherever, whenever," Barry assured him. Oliver nodded once more then shot an arrow ahead to take him home.

"I'm guessing dear old Firestorm wants to see a Dr. Caitlin Snow?" Belén smirked at the fiery metahuman. "And one Clarissa?" her smirk, however, suddenly vanished as she started to convulse on the spot.

"Belén!?" Barry panicked and went for her only to feel a force pinning his feet to the ground.

Belén found it hard to breathe despite knowing there was nothing wrong with her. Her legs buckled and soon had her drop to her knees. "I-I can't - I can't move! I can't - ah!" her left shoulder lurched forwards.

Firestorm looked around and only spotted Pixel untangling herself from Belén's vines. Her entire body disappeared and re-formed across from them where a second figure was approaching. The entry gate was flung to the side without every being touched.

"It's over, Belén," Rayan came to a stop beside Pixel. "It's finally over for you."

Belén could hear her brother's voice but as much as she tried to get, take control of her body, she just couldn't. "Wh-wat's happening? Barry!?"

"Don't bother," Rayan balled his fists so that Belén, Barry and even Firestorm felt the true weight of his new ability. The metas shared screams of pain as they felt the insides of their bodies twisting.

Inside STAR Labs, there was a heavy panic of death.

"What is he doing!?" Joe turned to the two scientists in a hurry.

"I think...I think he's controlling their bodies," Caitlin did the best she could through a screen. She focused on Rayan's position and movements. "His telekinetic powers, in theory, can grant him the ability to control anything...including a human body."

"We gotta stop that before he kills them," Joe turned to go, his hand nearing the gun he carried.

"Pixel is going for Wells," Cisco's eyes widened. "Is it too late to call Oliver back? Maybe Nina?"

"I am going out there!" Joe took off and, panicked and afraid, Caitlin and Cisco ran after him.

"So sad," Pixel carelessly stepped around the three metas on the ground. "Azul may be dead but at least you'll be too." Her eyes twinkled at the sight of blood coming out from Belén's nose. "Maybe you can be first, Belén."

"Get the speedster and go," Rayan nodded towards Wells' unconscious body. There was a clear strain on his face from keeping three whole bodies down at the same time.

Pixel disappeared and reappeared by Thawne's side, and just as she was about to reach for his arm she heard the building's door open up. She looked over and smirked at the sight of the three non-metas. "Well, it's either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid of you to come out and play."

"Get the hell away from them," Joe held his gun directly at her, but seeing Rayan maintaining control over the others made it difficult to pick one.

Pixel saw it and smirked again. "Who would you shoot, Detective? Can you shoot one of us?"

"To save my kid, the hell I will," Joe cocked his gun at her since she was beginning to come for them now. "Back the hell up."

"Or what?" she demanded. She waved a hand and shot some of her electrical energy, making Joe drop the gun to the side. "Oh, no more weapons. What happens now, Detective?"

"Pixel! Get Thawne!" Rayan yelled in frustration. Blood was forming under his nose too and, if Caitlin was seeing right, at the corner of his eyes too.

"No, I want them dead too!" Pixel prepared to fire at the trio but her body was suddenly tackled down from a figure who dropped from the air. The two rolled over until it was Maritza who hovered over.

"You?" Pixel blinked in surprise. "Where the hell have you been!?"

Maritza punched the woman across the face. "That's for hurting my sister!" she then struck again. "And that's for trying to hurt the others!"

Pixel was groggy but her anger got her to focus fast. Her electrical energy connected with Plasticine's chest, throwing the woman to the side. "I knew you were a traitor," Pixel got up and wiped some of the blood from her busted lip. "Just like little sister over there."

"Maritza, what the hell are you doing?" Rayan managed to ask despite his ongoing struggle.

"Rayan, you have to stop!" Plasticine looked up from the ground. "We got it wrong - we got it so wrong! Wells was the enemy, not the Flash. You need to stop this!"

"You're betraying me too," Rayan nodded. "Then you can die too."

Maritza's eyes widened, knowing what was coming for her, so she built a wall with her purple mass to cover herself from whatever Rayan was going to throw at her. It was sturdy enough to deflect part of the wired fence, but not enough to protect her from the chunk of the car Thawne had fallen over. Maritza crashed on her back, her head taking a mighty blow. She groaned and brought a hand to her forehead, turning her head just a bit. When she opened her eyes she saw Joe's gun lying next to her.

She could hear the collective cries from her sister and the other two metas. "We need to stop!" Maritza snatched the gun and aimed it at Rayan then Pixel. She moved it between them, much like Joe had earlier.

"Please, you're going to shoot your own brother?" Rayan scoffed.

Maritza's eyes flickered to the smirking Pixel who was preparing to fire again. "Nope," she suddenly changed targets and shot Pixel. The platinum blonde clearly hadn't been expecting it - much less that Maritza had actually done it - as the bullet plunged right through her chest.

"Oh my God!" Caitlin exclaimed as Pixel's body collapsed on the ground. Joe and Cisco kept her back, though, since the match wasn't quite over.

Maritza seemed unfazed, but angry as hell, as she moved the gun back on Rayan. "Next one goes through your foot, Rayan. Let them go now."

Rayan looked at Maritza for a full minute, and since the pressure was taking a toll he needed to let them go. He raised his hands to show the telekinetic force was lifted. Maritza looked down at the three metas and was relieved to see Belén sucking in a deep breath.

"Like I said, this isn't over!" Rayan's snap brought her back. "You and Belén betrayed me. You'll pay with your lives, Maritza. That'll be on you."

Maritza watched Rayan turn to leave. Her younger brother was tired, easily seen, but to escape he was quick. Telekinesis wielded pipes against them to keep them busy and allow him the clear escape he wanted.

"Are you okay?" Barry helped Belén up to her feet, both having the same blood over their lips and chins.

"No..." Belén wiped the blood from her face and looked over to Maritza with uncertainty. Would Maritza fight them too and get away?

Maritza watched them all gather against her, and since she still held Joe's gun she knew what they were thinking. Slowly, she lowered the gun to the ground and straightened up with her hands in the air. The rest of the group exchanged glances amongst them, but it was Barry who sped and cuffed Maritza with meta-dampeners.

Still, Belén walked - wobbled since she was still getting control again - over. Barry watched her with concern - this could not be easy at all. Belén stopped just behind Maritza, her gaze looking straight ahead and not at her sister. She just couldn't right now.

"You're under arrest, Maritza Palayta," Belén swallowed hard and turned away from her sister.

#arrowverseocs #ocappreciation #the flash #barry allen #the flash imagines #barry allen imagines #the flash fics #barry allen fics #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #fic: it had to be you

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chilling-seavey · 5 years ago

Text

Anything But Mine (d.s.) - Chapter Twenty-Three

A/N: A chapter just in time for Daniel’s birthday! 🥰 Maybe I’ll post two to celebrate? 🤔

T/W: brief mention of abortion

Tuesday, July 28th, 2020

“Well it’s good to see you have some company this time around.”

Florence smiled at the doctor from her place on the white clinic bed. Her blouse was pushed up past her swollen stomach, the clear gel spread messily over her skin. Emilio stood on her other side, a gentle hand on Florence’s arm.

“So, thirty-five weeks, we got a solid heartbeat here.” The doctor stated, dragging the wand across the gel, the rapid rhythmic beating echoing gently through the room. Florence watched the screen with wide eyes, seeing the almost fully formed baby there.

“I think it has my nose.” Emilio whispered to her. She smacked his chest playfully.

“You didn’t want to find out the sex after all?” the doctor asked.

“I don’t know. I’m still on the fence.” Florence chuckled.

“No harm in that.” The doctor shrugged. She took a few notes on her paper as she checked the baby’s movement, breathing, muscle tone, and amount of amniotic fluid. The hour went by quickly and smoothly, filled with suggestions for the next month by the doctor in preparation for the birth. Florence held onto a few pamphlets she was handed as they left, Emilio leading her to the car as she flipped through them.

“Oh my God.” Florence sighed as Emilio helped her into the passenger side of his black BMW.

“What?” Emilio asked.

Florence shoved an open pamphlet in his face, a list of post-partum creams and routines listed in bold font. “I forgot my vagina turns into a post-apocalyptic world after birth.” She stated plainly.

“Ew, did not need that visual.” Emilio shuttered and gently pushed the pamphlet away from his face. He closed the passenger side door and let himself into the other side.

“And you bleed for like…six weeks straight.” Florence added as he reversed out of the parking spot.

“Way too much information.” Emilio shuttered. “Again, did not need to know that.”

Florence shrugged, looking back at the pamphlet in her hand.

The previous seven months had gone by fast and a lot had changed as well. Emilio and Grayson soon fell into a civil and friendly relationship, realizing they were both sort of stuck under the certain situation. Tensions had since eased and Florence felt more comfortable around both young men since everything had settled into a unique reality. She was still extremely nervous, however, as she was carrying around the silent burden of who was the father of her unborn child. It was a sticky spot to be in and the guilt she had was heavier than the twenty-five pounds she put on by the start of her third trimester.

Florence’s apartment was arguably the one consistent thing in her life. Although expecting her second child, she could not afford to upgrade to a three bedroom and was therefore stuck with the place she had. Callum was still sending a consistent amount each month for her rent which helped greatly.

Emilio parked in the underground garage beneath the apartment building and the two took the elevator to the familiar 25th floor. Grayson had already arrived earlier that morning, gladly offering his assistance in putting together the crib in the master bedroom. That’s right where Florence and Emilio found him, quiet music playing through a Bluetooth speaker as he sat on the floor surrounded by tools. Clementine sat nearby, a small plastic bowl of cut up strawberries set in front of her as she watched Grayson work.

“We’re back!” Emilio called, falling onto the neatly made bed on his stomach, glancing over Grayson’s work.

“How was it?” Grayson asked, looking up from the floor, pushing his messy hair back from his face. “Everything still okay?”

“Everything is perfect.” Florence nodded, setting her hands on his shoulders. “This looks great, Gray.”

“We’ve been working hard, haven’t we, Clem?” Grayson looked over to the eighteen-month-old who nodded excitedly.

“I knew I shouldn’t have gotten rid of the old one.” Florence sighed, sitting on the end of her bed.

“New is fun.” Emilio shrugged.

“I agree.” Grayson nodded, pressing the screwdriver into the last beam and turning it clockwise. Clementine crawled over to him, her small hands pressing onto his light blue pants with white stripes as she got herself to her feet. She reached for the screwdriver as Grayson pulled it back.

“All done!” he told her, tickling her sides.

“Please.” Clementine whined, reaching for the bright orange handle that he held behind his back.

“Grownups only, remember, Clemmy?” Grayson said, starting to pack up his tools.

“The nap was okay?” Florence asked as she picked up her daughter from climbing over Grayson.

“Yep. She slept a good hour. I got her up at 2.” He said, also getting up from the floor. “We’ve been having fun. She’s been a big help. I think she’s going to take after me with her building skills.”

Grayson tickled the toddler’s side and she giggled loudly, slinging her arms around her mother’s neck.

“We should get ready to head out.” Florence said as the group headed into the living room. “I’m going to throw on a dress.”

Clementine was passed over to Emilio and Grayson set his tool box on the kitchen island before unzipping his bag that was on the stool. He took out a new shirt and slacks and the two separated to different rooms to change in preparation for their plans for that night.

Once dressed and touched up, Florence came back into the living area where Emilio had Clementine situated on the floor with a puzzle. Puzzles were Clementine’s new favourite toy.

Florence set her purse on the island and shuffled through it, “So-“

“I got dinner at 5, bath at 5:30, and bedtime at 6 if you aren’t back.” Emilio finished without even looking up.

“And there’s-“

“Left over spaghetti in the box in the fridge and I should warm it up but make sure its not burning.” Emilio sent a small smirk in Florence’s direction.

“Yeah.” Florence sighed. “What would I do without either of you?”

“God only knows.” Grayson tisked playfully as he emerged from the bathroom dressed in a black t-shirt tucked into olive green slacks and finished with his usual designer belt. He set a hand on Florence’s shoulder, his other ruffling through his mess of brown waves.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can.” Florence said.

“Don’t rush.” Emilio assured her. “We are going to be just fine.”

“Like every time.” Grayson added.

“Tell mama that we’re fine.” Emilio whispered to Clementine.

“Fine, mama.” Clementine whispered through a grin, leaning into Emilio’s side.

“Now let’s get a move on. Daniel didn’t take it well the last time you were late for a meal with him, remember?” Grayson shook his keys in the air, ushering Florence towards the door.

“Wait! I can’t forget my pamphlets.” Florence grabbed the small stack from the table and rushed after him.

“Good luck.” Emilio said more to Grayson than anyone. The other boy rolled his eyes teasingly before closing the door behind himself and Florence.

It was approaching 4pm as they arrived at the restaurant, Grayson’s light blue Porsche earning many glances from on lookers as he handed the valet his keys and helped Florence into the building. The casual restaurant was bustling as the hostess led the pair to their table. Daniel was already there, sat next to a brunette girl on one side of the booth. The girl was named Cayleigh and she was Daniel’s new girlfriend.

They had been dating only a couple months, meeting near the end of the school year on an app that Florence didn’t care to know the name of. Cayleigh was a nice girl and Daniel seemed to really like her but there was something about the whole situation that just made Florence annoyed. She was not looking forward to sitting through an entire dinner with them and having to deal with Cayleigh’s overly chipper personality.

When Grayson and Florence got to the table, the friends greeted each other happily, Florence plastering on her best fake smile that she had perfected over the years of attending boring functions and dinners with her parents and brothers.

Cayleigh was quick to start with an excited, “How was your appointment today, Florence? I haven’t seen you in so long! You look like you’re ready to pop!”

Grayson shifted awkwardly at the slightly controversial statement and Florence gritted her teeth through her offence, replying with a simple, “It went well.”

While she was pregnant with Clementine, Florence’s body was going through massive changes for the first time, meaning she was barely showing well into her fifth month. Now, with a second child, Florence was shocked to see the difference in how easily her body stretched, the massive weight gain and large, round belly being a sensitive topic to the still young girl. Of course, having Cayleigh of all people point it out so bluntly made Florence’s cheeks flush with anger more than embarrassment. She covered it with a long drink from her water glass and hid her pamphlets deep in her purse.

“How have you two been?” Grayson asked, trying to turn the subject away from Florence as she was clearly already on edge and dinner hadn’t even begun.

“We’ve been fine.” Daniel said. “I’ve managed to pick up a few gigs around the city this summer.”

“And I’ve been working as a sports camp counsellor. It’s so fun.” Cayleigh boasted. “The kids are so crazy but literally relentless. Plus they all love me, so it’s good.”

“I wish we could see each other more but things have been busy.” Daniel said quietly, offering Florence a gentle smile from across the table. She could barely force one in return, her eyes focussed on the minimal space between the two love-birds across from her, Cayleigh’s hand rubbing against Daniel’s thigh. Florence drank more water.

Dinner progressed slowly, lighthearted chatter filling the space between the group of four as they ate. It had been a while since Florence and Daniel had a moment to talk once summer started, although their relationship was never quite the same after their little hiatus in the fall. She knew he was always there for her but things were simply different. Plus, Cayleigh coming into the picture put even more of a strain on their already weak relationship. At least from Florence’s point of view.

But Daniel adored Cayleigh and that was clear. They were almost never apart and whenever they were seen together they were always touching. It was like they couldn’t keep their hands or eyes off of each other. Daniel would stare at her when she spoke, seeming to absorb the way her lips moved and how her brown eyes would squeeze closed when she laughed. Florence hated that she noticed that.

She was glad Grayson was there, though. Even in their simply platonic standing, Grayson’s presence always made Florence feel calm. He told the group a story of how he had been getting into building in his spare time that summer. Grayson always spoke loudly, especially when he was excited about something and a few customers at other tables glanced their way as he continued his story of his recently constructed coffee table. Florence leaned into him, her hand falling to his leg. He shifted a little, almost in a movement to get Florence off of him but he didn’t miss a beat with his story. Florence frowned but turned quietly back to her meal.

Florence pushed the remining food around her plate with her fork before breaking the conversation with a gentle, “I have to pee.”

Grayson stopped his story and quickly got up from the table, letting her slide out of the booth ungracefully.

“I’ll join you!” Cayleigh said, getting up from the table as well.

Florence sent a small glare in Grayson’s direction but he merely smiled in response as he sat back down in his spot. The girls walked slowly across the dining room to the washroom and Cayleigh held open the door for them. Florence thanked her quietly before getting herself into a stall, having to wiggle her swollen stomach through the small door opening.

“Isn’t Daniel amazing?” Cayleigh spoke from the stall next to her.

Florence, now shielded by four walls, rolled her eyes, “He is.”

“He’s literally so sexy. I have no clue how you haven’t snatched him yet, girl.” Cayleigh’s voice echoed through the empty bathroom.

Florence’s eyes widened at her statement and she ran a hand over her face. The whole dinner was tiring her out. Cayleigh was tiring her out.

“We are only best friends and that’s all we’ll ever be.”

“So I don’t have to worry about you stealing him from me?” Cayleigh teased with a laugh although Florence could tell there was a hint of seriousness in her tone.

“No.” Florence could hear Grayson in her mind telling her to be nice. She then asked a question she could have cared less about, “How are you two doing?”

“So good!” Cayleigh’s groan made Florence physically cringe. “Although we haven’t slept together yet. I’ve been trying!”

Florence gaped at the stall door at the girl’s bluntness.

Cayleigh flushed and Florence heard her approach the sink as she continued, “I mean I don’t know why he won’t. Sleep with me that is. He’s a literal man, shouldn’t they want sex all the time?”

Florence exhaled deeply, wishing she could have just gone to the bathroom alone, but she got herself out to the sink as well, starting to wash her hands. She caught Cayleigh’s expectant gaze in the mirror.

Clearly wanting an answer, Florence complied, “Daniel is not much of a physical person. He shows love in different ways. Don’t take it personally if he’s not jumping in bed after three minutes.”

“I guess.” Cayleigh shrugged, pulling a tube of lipstick from her purse and applied a generous amount of pink to her pursed lips. She fluffed up her light brown hair and made a face in the mirror that reminded Florence of early pubescent girls. Florence glanced at herself in the mirror, stood next to such a unique character. Florence’s knee length blue floral dress was pulled tight around her belly, and her blonde hair hung loosely over her shoulders. She couldn’t help but compare herself to the happy, wild, free-living twenty-year-old girl beside her; the girl who’s biggest worry in life was why her celibate boyfriend didn’t want to sleep with her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Cayleigh speaking through the mirror, “Okay but honestly though, have you seen Daniel’s fingers? Like, holy shit, can he put them to use yet?”

Florence forced a small laugh to hide her disgust, turning for the door so Grayson could keep her from screaming.

Much to her relief, dinner concluded not long after that, and with a quick one-armed hug from Daniel, Florence was back in the passenger seat of Grayson’s car. The exhausted sigh that she let out once the doors were closed made Grayson chuckle.

“That was awful.” Florence shifted in her seat, rubbing her hand over her belly.

“It wasn’t awful.” Grayson shrugged, pulling the car out of the parking lot.

“You didn’t hear what I heard in that bathroom trip.” Florence held her hands up. “I think I am traumatized.”

Grayson’s laugh filled the car and, like it always did, it made Florence crack a smile. She let her two hands intertwine on her lap, her gaze drifting out the window as the city lights zipped by.

“Well while you girls were bonding in the bathroom, Daniel and I had a nice chat.” Grayson spoke after a moment.

“That’s nice.” Florence said, not turning her attention from the window.

Grayson glanced at her before turning back to the road, “He asked how you were doing. Have you not been talking?”

“No.” Florence shrugged, nervously playing with the hem of her dress. “It hasn’t been the same. Not since Cayleigh is around. She takes all his time.”

“He says he misses you. That you haven’t been calling as much.” Grayson spoke gently.

“Because I don’t want to call him just to hear all the new details on his girlfriend and her new fucking lip gloss she bought.” Florence said sharper than intended.

“Why don’t you like Cayleigh?” he asked. “She’s nice.”

Florence held onto her two hands like it would save her life, “She’s taking him from me.”

“What do you mean?”

“We were starting to be better again and she took him away. Now we don’t talk anymore. I miss how things used to be, Gray.” Florence sniffled. “When I was pregnant with Clementine and there was no Matt and no drama and it was just Dani and me. And I was happy.”

Bright lights flooded the car as they pulled into the parking garage, Grayson’s soft sigh at her recently consistent tense emotions barely audible. He pulled into the parking space and put the car in park before turning to face her. The hormonal girl let out a soft sob into her hand.

“Are you not happy?” he asked quietly.

Florence took a trembling breath and shook her head slowly, almost ashamed at the admittance of it. “I keep hurting you. And that doesn’t make me happy. I’m stressed, Gray. So stressed. And I-I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself when this baby is born and one of you is going to get hurt. I can’t do this! I just want to go back in time and change so much! Change my choices and my actions and everything! Fuck! I wish none of this happened! I just want this baby gone!”

The panicked inhale that followed her sentence made her choke on her tears, her free hand tightly grabbing a fistful of her hair as almost to punish herself for admitting such a thing out loud.

Grayson simply watched her cry, staring at her expressionlessly. His silence made her heart ache in her chest and she tried to smother her ridiculous sobs into her hand. Grayson ran a hand through his hair, his gaze falling to his lap with a sigh.

“I-I should go.” Florence hiccupped, reaching for the door.

“No.” Grayson said quickly, reaching for her wrist to keep her from leaving. “I just…this is a lot. And I don’t know what to think or what to do. It’s hard on me too. On both of us.”

“I should have gotten a fucking abortion when I had the chance.” Florence grumbled angrily at herself.

“Don’t you dare say that.” Grayson replied sharply. “I’m allowed to still be hurt, you’re allowed to be upset, but you cannot say things like that. That is not how you better yourself and that is not how you solve this situation.”

Florence took a shaking breath and wiped her eyes with her the back of her hand as she turned away from him slightly.

“Everything is going to be okay.” Grayson whispered, but he sounded more like he was convincing himself rather than her.

Florence wanted to believe him, she really did; but even his gentle words of assurance didn’t spark comfort in the girl. She was stuck in her own mind, spiralling to where she felt she was unable to be saved. But she let herself stare at the wall of the parking garage, missing what life was like before everything changed.

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