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saiilorstars · 8 months

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Ch.11: Bitter and Sweet

Story Masterlist ◦ Anais’ Masterlist ◦

Also on: Fanfic • Ao3

Pairing: Winn Schott x OFC

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic @kmc1989

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

James gave a light knock on Anais' office door and stepped inside, wearing a bigger smile than usual. Of course, ever since he put Snapper in his place - leaving both men to their respective job roles - who wouldn't be happy?

"What can I do for you Mr. Boss?" Anais pushed her chair closer to her desk, putting her hands on her desk.

"I just sent a reporter to the Children's Hospital new building to see what we can get for an article so I need the pictures to go along with it."

"Oh, great!" Anais winced when she heard her own words. "Not like that! I meant — I'm happy to take the assignment before I lose my mind!"

James chuckled. "I take it Winn is still fixing your suit, then?"

Anais glared at nothing in particular but it was a deep glare nonetheless. "Yup," she muttered and got up from her chair.

Winn had kept his word about not letting her go out in the field until she told the DEO — primarily J'onn, Kara and Alex — about Cadmus' threat. It drove Anais up the wall that she wasn't able to convince him otherwise and the use of the physical threats was no good either as she would have to explain to everyone else why she suddenly decided to kill their friend. So, until she decided to tell the truth, Winn was basically holding her suit hostage.

To everyone else, he was just mending her suit.

"And how's Mon-El doing?" James curiously asked since he hadn't stopped by the DEO in a while. He only knew what he was told.

"Kara and him are learning to get along-ish," Anais said, "And we're testing Mon-El's abilities too. See what he can and can't do. He's not leaving the DEO for a while, I'm assuming. Poor guy must be going crazy too."

J'onn had given the order to test Mon-El in every possible way to deduce the danger he could post if left unsupervised. Winn was put in charge of monitoring him and recording the results to later discuss together.

Anais could only imagine the frustration Mon-El would be feeling soon since he'd already been cooped up in the DEO for days now and training since then. Maybe she could help in some way, she thought before leaving the office.

~ 0 ~

Anais walked down the street before the hospital site, adjusting her clothes and hair since she'd basically sped there from CatCo. As she approached the site, she began to smell the after scent of burnt rubber and metal, along with the horrible sight of the crumbled hospital.

"Oh, what happened here?" She stopped in front of the yellow tape keeping civilians away.

"Aliens happened," a familiar voice answered. Anais whipped her head to the right and saw Lena Luthor approaching her.

"Miss Luthor," Anais smiled politely, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah," Lena nodded. "No one expects to see a Luthor at accident sites unless they caused it." There was a brief moment of silence before she added, "And just so we're clear, I didn't cause this."

"I didn't think you did," Anais clarified for the woman's sake. "So what is Miss Luthor doing here, though?"

"Please, it's just Lena, I told you," the black-haired woman sighed. "And I was one of the investors of this building. It was brand new when it was destroyed."

"Millions of dollars lost, I assume," Anais gazed at the crumbled building. She could still see some leftover melted medical equipment peeking from under the walls.

"Oh please, it's not about the money," Lena set her hands on her hips. "This building was built because the first hospital was getting overcrowded. Now the children that did survive this, had to return to the first hospital."

Anais pulled her camera in front of her eyes and snapped a picture. "What happened to the building?"

"Your reporter hasn't come to you yet?" Lena nodded to the young CatCo. Reporter talking to a cop at the moment.

"Nope, I just got here, remember?"

"Well, we don't know much but we assume it was aliens judging by the mass strength of whatever hit the walls. Plus, some of the records from the kids say they saw hooded people."

"Ah," Anais started walking a bit to get better angles of the building. "Which could mean it was a regular human crime scene."

"But they didn't steal anything," Lena countered. "They just came in to destroy."

"Well, sometimes people don't need reasons to do something," Anais lowered her camera to see Lena giving her a look. "What?"

"I'm assuming you're like Kara in that you both share pro-alien opinions," Lena crossed her arms.

Anais gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Well, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. Everyone's entitled to their opinions and thoughts," Lena looked ahead at the building again.

"It's so refreshing meeting someone like you," Anais chuckled. She felt her phone buzzing and picked it out from her pocket. "Oh, gotta go. It was nice seeing you, though. Wouldn't mind doing this again."

Surprise etched across Lena's face, making her dark eyebrows simultaneously raise. "Really?"

Anaís paused after taking another picture to see Lena's expression. "What?"

Lena smiled warmly. "Not a lot of people would say that. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard that."

"You're nice and you're badass, so...yeah, I'd like to see you around," Anaís chuckled. "You're doing what I'm doing and, as I've said, I admire that."

Lena's smile widened, clearly beaming at the chance of a second friend. She hadn't admitted it but she liked to believe she was friends with Kara Danvers too. "Okay then, you're welcome at L-Corp anytime."

"Cool," Anaís beamed then. "Now I gotta run for real. See you around." She hurried past Lena to get going because if she wasn't at the DEO in the next five minutes, she was sure Arun would come for her himself.

~0~

"Again!" Arun shouted the order without hesitance.

A blonde speedster whipped past him in circles, repeatedly, until she would come to a stop and attempt to throw a lightning bolt she was meant to create during her run. Just as Anaís was about to throw her bolt, it shattered in her palms..

"Dammit!" she growled and glanced back at Arun who stood at the end of the room with his hands behind his back and no emotion on his face.

"Again!" he simply commanded once more.

She sucked in a breath and took off again. She'd been doing this for more than an hour now with no such luck. Arun silently watched as she sped in circles - a long circle too - to see exactly where she was going wrong. He never felt the visitors coming into the room, much less Anaís.

"Woah, that is awe and some!" Mon-El's cheer startled Anaís and caused the speedster to trip over her own feet. She came hurtling into a wall, face first. She groaned and turned on her back to glare at Mon-El then Arun and Winn for not warning her.

"Two things," Winn made a motion for Mon-El to listen, the latter even nodding his head to show him that he was indeed listening. "One: never sneak up on a speedster, especially when she's throwing lightning. And two: it's just 'awesome'. You got to put those two words together and you'll be golden."

"Awesome," Mon-El tested the word out and felt like it did sound better put together. He then looked over to Anaís who was getting back on her feet. "And sorry. Just thought that whole…" His fingers wiggled in the air as he attempted to mimic what she'd been doing, "...the whole lightning thing was cool…"

"You taught him the word 'cool' already?" Anaís dusted her legs off. Winn grinned. "Of course you did."

"If you three are finished talking, Anaís has a lot more practice to do," Arun spoke up with an air of annoyance. He knew well that they had a new alien amongst the DEO but he hadn't actually talked to Mon-El.

"Are you the other Solista?" Mon-El asked, though he was sure of the answer by the looks of his beam. "You got the whole lightning thing down, I assume?"

"Since I was a teenager. Child's play, really," Arun said plainly, shooting Anaís a look that meant to point out she was extremely behind. For that, Anaís looked down.

"W-well, I mean, it is lightning we're talking about," Winn purposely glanced at Anaís in hopes of lifting her spirits. "It takes a while to practice when it's the first try. I-I'm assuming."

Anaís smiled softly at him. She appreciated his attempt to help her out…until she remembered what he was doing with her suit.

"Yes, when we're teenagers," Arun brokered the silence without realizing it. "But Anaís is twenty three now."

"Okay, can we just call it a day with the training?" Anaís decided it was for the better lest Arun wanted a lightning bolt thrown at him instead of the practice dummy. "I'll continue tomorrow."

"Your call," Arun shrugged. "You wanna go get lunch?"

"No, I can't. Supergirl's waiting for me. We have a lead on that dead alien we found in the back of a car."

"Alright then, until tomorrow," Arun said and started heading out. He suddenly stopped though by the doorway and glanced back. "Oh, and Winn, the suit seems to be working fine right now." He made a gesture at Anaís' regular DEO suit she was wearing. "Have you finished mending it?"

"Nope," Winn replied without a second thought, even wearing that big smile Anaís was beginning to hate. "Still got kinks to figure out."

Arun nodded and walked out of the room.

"It doesn't have any kinks!" Anaís shouted after he was fully gone. "You're just purposely keeping it away from me!"

"Me? What?" His pretense sarcasm only made her even more mad. "Never."

"I'll kill you," Anaís warned but all Winn did was ask Mon-El if he wanted to continue practicing. With a shake of her head, she left the room and went to find Alex and Supergirl in the control room. "Anything on our alien perp?" Anaís stopped by them.

"Yes, actually," Kara motioned to Alex, "Alex was just telling me what the lab found."

"The thorn found in the dead body is from a Brevakk. Some sort of biological defense mechanism," Alex explained. "So, yeah, that's new and terrifying."

"Don't suppose there's any ideas where we can find him?" Anaís tried her luck.

"Turns out there's exactly one Brevakk registered in National City for the President's Alien Amnesty Act," Alex moved on over to an empty computer. She pulled up the profile of said alien. "And we got the address ready to go."

"Alright, so what's our first step?" Anaís looked between the more experienced women.

"It's just a check out, so...I think we're good," Alex's words surprised both aliens. "I got someone in mind I'll take."

"Are you sure?" Kara raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry," Alex waved her off, really smiling like she meant it. "She's good, trust me." And with that cryptic description, she left.

"You want to train, then?" Kara asked Anaís once they were on their own. Anaís groaned and covered her face. "What?" Kara looked around in case anyone knew what she said wrong.

"I just finished a round with Arun and I didn't get it right."

"You mean the lightning bolt thing?"

"Yes!"

"When we agreed that he would train me, I didn't know Arun would be one of those uptight 24/7 trainers!"

Kara chuckled.

"And he won't get off my back for my pathetic attempts to create and throw a lightning bolt!"

"Don't get so worked up about it, remember how long Barry said it took him?"

"Yeah, but... he's a metahuman and I'm an alien. It's in my biology to get it!" Anaís exclaimed particularly loud enough to draw some attention.

Kara, in particular, was giving her a look. "Some funny words you used there." Anaís dropped her hands to her sides and looked back. "Sounds like something Arun would say." She'd come to learn that Arun's 'words of encouragement' were not so light. They seemed like backhanded insults instead.

"Well, he kind of did, and he's right. It's in my biology to get it and I'm taking longer than a kid would!"

"Okay, maybe you need to reel it back a little," Kara brought Anaís to the side so they could speak better. "You may be a speedster with incredible strength but you still need practice and you know that. I know you know that."

"Yeah, I know…" Anaís sighed.

"Then why don't you let Arun know that? He's the one that needs to reel it back a lot more." Kara suspected Arun was the one putting more pressure on things than Anaís really thought. "He's a hard coach, and maybe a good one, but a hard one nonetheless. He wants you to do exactly what he did and that's not gonna happen."

"Because I'm only half a Solista?"

"No, because you're you and you're different. Everyone is. So c'mon, let's go train nice and easy."

Anaís finally agreed and followed Kara to their training room meant just for them. They trained for about an hour before J'onn called them back to the control room. Alex had returned but not with good news. Their lead on the dead alien had been whisked away by a group of men in a suspicious can.

"Do we know who the men in the van were?" J'onn asked Alex, and the woman shook her head.

"No. But these weren't low-rent thugs. They were definitely combat-trained. They mean business."

"So do we. Or have you forgotten about that?" J'onn's snark startled all three women.

"Hey, what's with the grumpy?" Alex finally noted. "Today and yesterday. Is everything all right, J'onn?"

"I appreciate the concern, but I assure you, I'm fine."

"Don't make us pout," Alex nodded to Kara beside her.

"They're surprisingly good at it," Anaís admitted being victim to it a couple of times.

J'onn knew they would never let it be so it was better to get it out in the open. "I am not the last Green Martian. There is another. Her name is M'gann. Megan."

"It's a miracle, J'onn," Kara's eyes widened.

"I met her at that alien bar Alex spoke of. We talked, but... I think I made a mistake."

"Why do you say that?" Anaís asked. "What happened?"

"I offered to merge with her in the Martian way."

"But you guys just met…" Kara trailed off, thinking of something else.

"Psychically, Kara. The bond is the traditional Martian way of communicating. We...we link minds, share dreams, emotions, memories. We kept no secrets from one another. Imagine a world without ego, selfishness. Without... lies."

"That sounds beautiful."

"She didn't seem to think so. The moment I talked about it, she left. I am grateful to have you all in my life. I truly am. But with Martians, it's... It's different. It's deeper. Deeper than talking. Fuller. With her, there's a chance for me to live how I was meant to live."

Of course everyone there understood.

"Just tell her that," Alex encouraged him to go for a second attempt. "Why don't you try apologizing?"

J'onn seemed to be encouraged enough.

~0~

The night brought Alex and detective Sawyer to an illegal fight club that ended up in catastrophe. Supergirl nearly had her head torn off by a large alien creature, and neither her nor the detectives had luck in capturing the ringleader of the fight club. It did, however, leave them with a new clue that could lead the DEO to capturing the culprits.

It also led to a new wave of anger inside a certain Solista.

Mon-El had just failed to conjure up heat vision on a piece of cement when Anais came storming in.

"No heat vision, no x-ray vision…" Winn was recording the results on his tablet for later study so he was startled when Anais used her own heat vision to destroy the piece of cement. "Hey!" Winn made a gesture but Anais looked far too upset to care.

"Kara nearly got hurt in an underground alien fight club and I couldn't do anything about it and do you know why!?" She came storming up to him, making him backtrack several steps. "Because I didn't have my suit so they didn't call me in for backup!"

"Is she okay, though?" Mon-El thought to ask if only to pull some of that attention off Winn for safety reasons.

"Yes, but she could've gotten hurt," Anais deeply sighed then set her glare back on Winn. "C'mon, Winn, enough is enough. Give me my suit back"

Winn was first and foremost relieved to see that anger fading because it decreased the chances of being heat visioned. "I'll do it as soon as you come clean to Kara and the others."

Anais' hands twitched in the air as she air-strangled him. "I'm gonna—" She started for him again.

Winn jumped back, throwing his hands in front of him. "If you kill me now, you'll never get your suit!"

Anais stopped in her tracks and dropped her hands. "I really hate you right now."

"Yeah, got that," Winn swallowed hard and moved away to put down his tablet. "But you also know why I'm doing this."

Mon-El cleared his throat to remind the two of his presence. "Can I offer my help to Kara as an alternative?"

Anais briefly smiled at him. "Thanks, Mon-El, but I don't think the DEO wants to let you go out until you've finished your examinations."

"Well, I think we have," Mon-El gestured to Winn. "Right?"

"Sort of," Winn shrugged and turned to the two. He brought his fingers up to list what they knew so far of Mon-El's abilities. "No heat vision, no X-ray vision, but you're strong."

"As strong as Kara?" Mon-El curiously asked but Winn scoffed with a great big 'Ha!'

"No, not even close. No freeze breath, which is kind of a bummer, right?" Winn glanced at Anais but she was still kind of glaring at him. "Right. No flight either, but his leaping is fantastic. I'm... I'm talking about like "tall buildings in a single bound" kinda stuff. Yeah, we...we definitely have the makings of a superhero here."

"Superhero?" Mon-El repeated. "Is that what Kara's called?"

"Yeah. You know, you...you go out there, you fight crime, save people, wear a costume…"

"Yup," Anais crossed her hands. "I'm almost there…"

"Speaking of going out there, I'm, uh... I'm going kind of crazy in here," Mon-El admitted. "I could really use some fresh air."

"Yeah, you heard Hank. I mean, you got to stay here at the DEO."

"You know, I'll bet if I were outside, I could fly like Kara and you, Anais," Mon-El put on his best smile for the blonde.

But before Anais could say anything, Winn cut in. "Nice try, buddy. No, we got to stay here. Them's the rules. I mean, I'm new here. I'm trying to make a good impression."

"Failed!" Anais dramatically exclaimed, much to his annoyance. And because she saw his annoyance, she decided to go on ahead and make it worse. Screw being an adult, she shamelessly thought. "And you know what, Mon-El? I'll take you out."

Mon-El looked deeply surprised at the easy give in. "You will?"

Even Winn had the same reaction. "You will?"

"Yup!" Anais grinned from side to side. "I don't think it'll do any harm. But you gotta listen to me, alright?"

Mon-El was now almost grinning like Anais was. "Of course!"

"Anais y-y-you can't do that," Winn started wagging his finger, but by that point it was too late. "You're gonna get in trouble!"

"Feel free to join us, if you're so worried," Anais patted his arm.

"But I - but we can't!" Winn practically shouted in the room while Anais and Mon-El started leaving. He tried to stay put and just let the two aliens figure it out on their own how big of a mistake this would be, but…

He scrunched his face. "Damn you, Anais Allen-Mjorkland. I'm so weak." And he took off to catch up with them.

~ 0 ~

Mon-El didn't know anything about Earth but that didn't stop him from learning in one night. Especially when Anais introduced him to the cellphone.

"I gotta get me one of these!" Mon-El laughed after Anais showed him the search engine for bars.

"I'm sure we can arrange that," Anais tucked her phone into her back pocket and led the way to the bar across the street. "Maybe a small computer for the time being. Or a tablet!"

"You can't make promises like that," Winn trailed behind her, still unable to believe she was pulling this off.

"It's a computer with restricted WiFi," she reminded him that it wasn't a big deal. "Now let loose and have some fun, if you're capable of that anyways."

Winn stopped just by the doorway with a look of offence. "Excuse me?"

Anais smirked with Mon-El. They both knew they'd gotten him now.

"You heard me," Anais crossed her arms and watched as Mon-El went to open the doors for them. "Can you have some fun, Winn Schott?"

"And I continue to be weak," Winn scrunched his face in defeat while Anais yanked him inside the bar.

"Did I ever mention you're my absolute favorite alien in the whole DEO?" Mon-El said to Anais, making the woman laugh. "You are! Totally are!"

Winn did not agree with the sentiment and he definitely did not agree when they somehow found their way to the bar counter. Mon-El was introduced to human alcohol very quickly and he learned that it tasted really good. Anais monitored how much he drank but did let him experiment how much he could tolerate. She figured if anything went wrong she could speed him out of there in less than a second. But so far, he just seemed intent on mingling with the other humans and discovering what human men do for fun.

"Why do you guys like to arm wrestle so much?" Anais wondered out loud and reached for her own drink on the counter. Mon-El had just defeated his third opponent.

"He's cheating," Winn's flat tone made Anais laugh.

"Then go stop him or...have a drink and join him," Anais slid his untouched drink to him. "You can watch him while you're closer."

Winn knew his options were very limited here, and so with a small glare he picked his drink up and got up from his stool. He could hear Anais's second round of laughter while he walked away. She would not win forever, he thought.

Anais took refuge at the bar counter with the only other female in that place. As the hours ticked by, all the other customers started getting more and more annoying, in Anais' perspective. Mon-El had gone past arm wrestling and moved on to good old fashioned drinking challenges, most notably beer pong. But, to his credit, he had somehow gotten Winn to join in.

"Amazing," she huffed while she went for another drink. The two men ended up becoming more buddies than they had been earlier. Now she had become the third wheel. "Men are idiots."

"Tell me about it," the bartender mused when she walked by Anais.

Anais soon learned that, just like herself and Kara, Mon-El could actually not get drunk. However, Winn most definitely could. While they entered a series of drinking games, somehow Winn ended up winning most of them.

"Oh my God, he's a drinker," Anais said with a laugh as she and Mon-El watched Winn go at it against another fellow bar customer. They had a line of shots they needed to get through.

"So, you don't get drunk here?" Mon-El was curious as he gazed at his newly filled cup of beer.

"The earth stuff isn't strong enough for you guys," Anais shrugged, crossing her arms.

Mon-El picked up on her word choice and glanced at her. "How about you?"

"I'm half human, Mon-El. I don't get granted all the perks of a Solista. Don't get me wrong, it takes me way longer to get drunk than an average human but in the end, I can still get drunk."

"Have you ever tested the theory out of how many glasses it takes?" Mon-El offered her his glass of beer, making her laugh.

"My parents would kill me," she said, pushing his glass back to him. "They're humans and they don't really care how alien I am. I cannot drink when I'm supposed to be on business matters."

"I know I'm not from here but is this business?" Mon-El gestured towards the scene. Winn had just won another round of shots.

A smirk crossed Anais' face. "My business, anyways." It was Mon-El's turn to laugh.

A short time later, Mon-El had entered another wrestling match. He'd won every single one but the last man he went up again ended up with a broken elbow.

The man, angry, tried punching Mon-El but then broke his hand as well. His buddy went to fight Mon-El for support yet the Daxamite easily won as well with a simple 'push'. The human man crashed into a table behind them.

Mon-El was overly surprised with his strength but the other men had grown furious.

"Time to go!" Anais hopped off her stool after the strangers had met face to face with a glass table — another accident on Mon-El's part. She scurried through the group - possibly using her alien strength to push some of the men away - and got her two idiots out of there.

~0~

By the Anais returned home, she expected to find a dark apartment most certainly not Kara wide awake in the living room.

"Where were you?" Kara noticed Anais' disheveled appearance.

"One could say babysitting...or one could say proving a point," Anais fixed herself and released a deep breath. "Beginning to think my plan backfired and it was more of the first then the latter."

Kara couldn't and honestly didn't want to try and understand what all that meant. There were more pressing matters to deal with anyways.

"What are you doing up so late anyways?" Anais pulled her jacket off and headed for the couch chair. "I thought Kara Danvers always has a timely bedtime set up." Kara playfully rolled her eyes but even the playfulness faded very quickly. Anais noticed it and knew that the Kryptonian was worried and/or upset. "Kara, what is it?"

Kara hesitated to speak but after a moment of thinking, she figured it was better Anais knew now in case something happened later.

~ 0 ~

Veronica Sinclair - aka Roulette - was a formidable human enemy to the DEO. She proved herself last night when Supergirl made a visit to her and Sinclair only retaliated with confident words knowing she would not be defeated that night.

Kara now relayed her visit to J'onn, Alex and Anais (again). "I should've heat vision'd that stupid champagne glass out of her hand," Kara balled her fists on her sides.

"That's what she wanted," Anais offered a different perspective on the matter. She'd gotten over her anger last night when Kara had told her. "Supergirl heat visions local human and the media has a field day with that."

Kara gave her points on that, but it didn't stop her from wishing she could've used her heat vision. "I mean, do you think Sinclair is right about this? That she's the only one who can offer something to aliens?"

"Not a chance," Alex answered instantly.

"But then how do you stop them from letting themselves be used and exploited?"

"By offering something more powerful than fear," J'onn settled things and glanced at Winn at his desk. "Winn?"

"Nothing!" The man in question startled awake — his hand holding an ice bag on the side of his slipped and he nearly hit his head on the desk. "I'm not hungover! You're the one being defensive!"

Anais barely hid her smile from the others while J'onn approached a hungover Winn.

"Agent Schott—"

"S-sir, yes, s-sir!" Winn dangled a hand at the front of his forehead. "Er, Mon-El is doing great, by the way. He's here in the DEO. He's here. Did you know his heart is on the other side?"

J'onn gave a nod of his head. "That's absolutely fascinating. You know, the DEO received reports this morning of a six-foot alien attacking two men in a bar last night."

Anais' own smile faded upon learning that.

"The news is so very violent these days…" Winn briefly said as he slowly turned his chair back to his desk.

"Apparently this alien had a 5'2" sidekick—"

Winn jumped out of his chair, leaving it to spin from the force just to shout, "I am 5'9!"

"No, wait," Anais slid in between the two men with her hands raised in front of her, "This one's on me. I'm the one who took Mon-El out. Winn actually tried stopping me several times."

"Anais, why'd you do that?" Alex moved forwards with the same questionable face as J'onn.

"Because sometimes I'm an idiot," Anais answered with the simplest of shrugs. "But this was totally on me."

"You know better," J'onn snapped unexpectedly. "Everything we do is under a microscope. We work so hard to make humans trust us. All it takes is for one alien to ruin it for all of us."

Anais' eyes had slowly widened while J'onn scolded her. "I-I didn't mean to do that…"

"You should've thought about it!"

Alex exchanged looks with Kara, both agreeing J'onn was projecting his fight with M'gann on Anais. "J'onn, why don't we go talk somewhere else," Alex held onto his arm and persuaded him to walk with her.

"I'm really sorry," Anais said to Kara and Winn afterwards. "I wasn't meaning to do that. I was just...I was mad at you," she made a languid gesture at Winn, which didn't surprise him. "And I have to apologize to Mon-El too."

As she left, Kara briefly stopped by Winn to ask, "What's she mad at you for?"

"It's...it's just better if I hold off on that," Winn made the call thinking Anais would want to explain it herself once she got the courage to actually accept that CADMUS was looking into her.

~ 0 ~

Kara caught up with Anais in the hallway, and while Anais didn't exactly say why she was mad with Winn, Kara got the jist that it'd been a long argument now.

Anais led the way into Mon-El's training room where the man was currently doing his training. When he saw Kara, he assumed he was in trouble for the previous night.

"I'm sorry," he immediately said but Anais raised a hand to stop him.

"You're good, I'm the one who screwed up."

Mon-El blinked. "You were?"

"Yes," Anais sighed. "I was basically trying to stick it to Winn and I ended up using you. It was very wrong of me."

"Well…" Mon-El bobbed his head, "I've done worse, believe me. But this has helped me realize something neither of you told me about." Anais exchanged a glance with Kara, both confused of what he meant. "Hank told me I needed to stay here because it wasn't safe. But he didn't mean for me. He meant it wasn't safe for humans. From me."

"Listen, we've all been through that," Anais spoke up first and received an agreeing 'mhm' from Kara beside her. "I was taken in by human parents when I was a kid and just got my freedom a couple months ago. The government didn't want to let me out because they were afraid I'd hurt someone."

"After I first got to Earth, I went to my junior prom and Scott Klein asked me to dance. I stepped on his foot and I broke three of his toes," Kara shared her embarrassing yet meaningful story. "It's just gonna take some time to get used to having these abilities and...and living in this world."

Mon-El appreciated both women trying to make him feel better and even showing sympathy for him, but he was especially thankful towards Kara considering their respective backgrounds. "I know it's not easy for you to be nice to me, Kara. Where I'm from and all."

"That's not why I've been standoffish. And don't say I haven't been," Kara sighed and dug her hands into her back pockets. "My parents gave me so much. And I was so loved. My dad was a scientist and my mom fought for justice. They were proud, strong people. Good Kryptonians and even better parents. And that's the way I want to remember them."

"And why shouldn't you?"

"Because...they weren't perfect. And no matter how smart they were, or how hard they tried, they couldn't save us."

"Yeah, you never met my parents. They weren't exactly role models," Mon-El shook his head.

"But mine saw the end of the world coming, and didn't do anything about it!"

"Hey, it's not...it's not your parents' fault. It's not even Krypton's fault. Okay, we shared a star, that's all. I promise that I will do as I'm told from now on."

"And I promise not to be a manipulative bitch," Anais raised her hand but then pointed a warning finger at Mon-El. "Don't repeat that."

"Repeat what?" Mon-El blinked with genuine oblivion. He wasn't up to speed with curse words yet. "Anyways, I heard you survived Draaga." Kara nodded. "I once saw him fight on Warworld when I was, uh, guarding the royal family. Draaga took a blade to the right leg. It hit a nerve cluster. He's favored his left ever since."

The new piece of information was enlightening for Kara. "Thank you."

~ 0 ~

A couple hours later, the group got word that J'onn was missing. The only known person who'd seen him was M'gann and since she hadn't shown up for her shift it led Alex to conclude J'onn was taken by M'gann's boss: Sinclair.

"The fightclub was cleared out," Supergirl returned to the DEO very put out from her failed trip. "It's like it was never there."

"And there's no sign of where they went?" Anais curiously asked since she'd once again been planted at a chair instead of the field.

"No," Supergirl crossed her arms and thought about it for a minute.

"Okay, so where are we going to find them now?" Alex leaned against a table, trying not to look so frustrated even if she was.

"I bet that fight club has a list of recurring invitees and I think we may know one invitee in particular," Supergirl's suggestion made Anais jump from her chair.

"I'm coming! It involves no actual fighting therefore no need for super suit!"

She practically led the way to Lena's office. Kara understood her since Anais hadn't come out to the field in weeks now. She'd feel antsy too if she was cooped up (which then led Kara to feel even more sympathy for Mon-El).

"Excuse me, you can't go in there!" Lena's assistant failed to stop Anais and Kara from barging into Lena's office. "I swear I just blinked and they got right past me!" the poor woman did her best to explain to Lena before she was fired.

Lena, for her matter, was quite surprised at the sight.

"Lena, I'm sorry," Kara apologized first and foremost. "We just need to talk to you."

"Not her fault," Anais jerked a thumb at the secretary.

Lena's calm smile was a sight of relief for the two aliens. "Jess, will you make a note downstairs that Kara Danvers and Anais Allen are to be shown in right away whenever possible?"

Jess was surprised but since it meant she wasn't going to be fired she dutifully noted it and hurried out of the office.

"Woah, thanks," Anais beamed.

"So, how can I help?" Lena gestured for them to come sit down.

"We think a friend of mine has gotten involved in something shady," Kara's excuse was met with a light scoff from Lena. "It's an actual friend, we swear. And he's missing."

Lena got serious fast and nodded for her to continue.

"Do you know of a woman named Veronica Sinclair? She caters to people in your, um, your circles. Tight dresses, tattoos like Lisbeth Salander?"

Lena pursed her lips and played with a pen on her desk. "Yeah, I know Roulette. We went to boarding school together. I never liked her."

"We share the sentiment," Anais nodded. "We need to find her. And since her little fight clubs are mobile, we need to know where she's holding the next fight."

Lena seemed at a cross of amusement and impression. "And you assume I'm on the invite list?"

"Your last name is pretty famous," Anais shrugged.

"We wouldn't ask if we had any other option," Kara promised Lena as a last means to get her to talk.

Luckily for them, Lena was a smart, kind woman. "I'm a Luthor, of course I'm invited to her little pop-up. Not that I'm interested in her type of entertainment." She wrote down the location of the next fight club and handed it to Kara.

"Thank you. We owe you, big time," Kara tucked the paper into her purse and stood up with Anais.

"Not at all. I know you'll be there for me when the time comes," Lena offered them a genuine, friendly smile.

~ 0 ~

Together with the DEO, J'onn and even M'gann, Supergirl managed to put an end to the fight club with minimal injuries. Mon-El's tip about the Draaga came in handy to put the creature down for a bit. She was even more relieved to see J'onn patch things up with M'gann because it meant J'onn would finally have some peace.

This time Kara was the one to get home to find Anais still awake. Of course Kara wasn't surprised since Anais wanted to know the outcomes of the fight club.

"I would've stayed at the DEO but figured there was no use for me anyways," Anais shrugged at the counter where she was having a drink. "Update: I still can't do the stupid lightning bolt trick. I'm considering opening a stupid breach to find my young adoptive Dad for another training session because it is not going well."

"Arun's still too hard?" Kara assumed since Anais hadn't talked about him in a while.

"He expects too much from me," Anais sighed. "But what happened with Sinclair? Is she done for good now?"

"No," Kara ruefully answered. "Alex says Maggie got the orders to let Sinclair go and there's nothing we can do about it, not even the DEO."

"We'll get her one day," Anais assured. "So how come you're coming back late, then?"

"I…" Kara removed her glasses and set them on the counter, "...stopped by Mon-El's room to talk to him."

"What about?" Anais got up from the stool and went into the cupboards for some more wine.

"I offered to take him under my wing, basically, and show him around the city for real now."

"Yeah, because I totally screwed that up," Anais cringed at the reminder and pulled two glasses from the counter. "And the DEO is going to let you do that?"

"Yup, it's sort of what I did with you in the beginning, remember?"

"How could I forget!"

Kara smiled. "I think it'll do him some good. Plus, I can get him a job at CatCo. Maybe not as a reporter but somewhere there should be good."

"Speaking of," Anais returned to the counter with two glasses of red wine, "Your editor called about that new article you sent in. Apparently he expects your rewrite tomorrow morning."

"Mm," Kara sipped some of her wine. "May have sent him a new one earlier at his e-mail which I got off from James."

"Taking initiative," Anais pointed. "Very good. Look at you, Kara Danvers, having all your crap together. I'm jealous."

Kara chuckled and lowered her glass to the counter. "Well, maybe you can unburden yourself a little bit by telling me what you and Winn are arguing about."

"Ooh, smooth," Anais commended Kara for her easy transition but was still reluctant to go into detail about her disagreement. "But it's nothing, and you shouldn't worry about it."

"I worry when my friends aren't okay. Right now, it looks like you're not okay, so...tell me. Please?"

Anais released a small sigh. "I mean, I just don't want it to be made into a bigger deal than it is...just like Winn made it."

"Well, what is it?"

Anais put her wine glass down and prepared to spill the truth. Who knows, maybe it would be better for her. "CADMUS sent a message for me at the DEO." Kara's confused expression implied she hadn't heard that from anyone at the DEO. "Yeah, Winn caught it and showed it to me instead. Apparently, they want to use me as a fuel for their growing army. Whether or not I want to join them is not really up for debate in their perspective. They made it very clear that they were not above taking me dead."

"Oh my god," Kara said, horrified. "So how does this go to you getting mad at Winn?"

"Because he told me to tell you guys and I said no so instead of nagging me to tell you the truth, he is keeping my suit hostage until I decide to tell you the truth."

"Why wouldn't you want to tell us anything?"

"Because you guys would overreacting and keep me on lock-down like Mon-El!"

"If it was to keep you safe then why wouldn't you?"

"Because I just got my freedom, Kara. I don't want to lose it again." Anais picked up her glass but at first glance she could tell Kara was putting more thought into the situation.

"Maybe Winn's making the right call in keeping you out of the field. The less you're out there, the less chances CADMUS will find you or hurt you."

"No ma'am, not you too," Anais shook her head. "I've spent the better part of my life in seclusion. I'm not doing it again."

Kara was not aiming to argue like Anais and Winn. She would rather find an alternative that would benefit both sides. Making peace was her job, after all.

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saiilorstars · 2 years

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Ch.15: A Slow Race

[Current Masterlist] // Previous Story: It Had To Be You

Pairings: Barry Allen x OFC

Chapter Summary: A side task involving Cisco's "white whale" becomes the team's unexpected center of attention. Little do they know that while they work to catch the Turtle, Harry is being tasked with something else involving the same metahuman.

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

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles [If you’d like to be part of this OC’s taglist, let me know!]

Barry, as usual, was running late for his date. To make it up, he nabbed some flowers (and left the proper amount of money due) as he sped to the restaurant.

"You're late!" Belén was going to scold when she saw the bunch of the Azaleas in Barry's arms. "Oh, are those for me?"

"No, they're for the hostess," Barry thought to respond, but his sarcasm couldn't have been chosen at the wronged time.

Belén's face fell flat. "Excuse me?" she crossed her arms.

"U-uh, I m-meant y-you! A-absolutely you!" Barry swooped down to kiss her. He had to stop screwing things up already!

Belén pulled away from him and laughed. "You're such an idiot but you're my idiot so all is forgiven."

"Totally yours," Barry agreed, nodding his head fast. Belén giggled and leaned in to kiss him again when a strong force yanked her back.

The Azaleas fell to the ground.

Barry blinked and suddenly Zoom was holding Belén up like she was a rag doll. Barry stiffened but just as he was about to move, Zoom broke into a run. In a second Barry was after them.

Zoom was dangling Belén over a building's roof ledge. She was thrashing against his hold but it was doing nothing for her case. "Help!" she decided to then cry for.

"Flash, everything you have will be mine," Zoom said then promptly let go of Belén.

"NOO!" Barry rushed over as fast as he could but he just wasn't fast enough to save Belén.

Barry awoke with a fierce, terrified gasp. He breathed fast and heavy as his eyes scanned his bedroom. It took him several seconds to realize that he was in his bedroom, completely alone and not on a rooftop trying to save Belén. Still, without a second thought, he seized his cellphone from the nightstand and dialed Belén's number. It felt like eternity had passed before Belén picked up.

"...hello?" came her sleep-full, groggy voice.

Barry knew he'd rudely interrupted her sleep but right now he just needed to make sure she was okay and out of Zoom's way. He could apologize and make it up to her later in the day. "B-Bells, are you okay? Are you-"

"I'm tired…" her muffled words had a tinge of a child's tone. "It's…" she breathed in, "...3 a.m…"

Barry checked the time on his clock and made a face. It was 3 a.m. He would definitely make it up to her. "You're right, sorry. I was just…" But he couldn't tell her anything of what he saw. It would just scare her. "Sorry, Bells. Goodnight."

"Mhm...goodnight," And a second later Belén had hung up. Barry figured she wouldn't remember this in the morning.

With a sigh, Barry out down his phone and laid back down. His eyes were staring at the ceiling but his mind was somewhere else. Each night he had a different nightmare about the same concept. Zoom was threatening someone he cared for and he couldn't save them. Last night it was Zoom killing Caitlin and Cisco, the day before had Iris, and before that it was Joe...now tonight's star was Belén. As much as Barry wanted to tell himself they were just nightmares, the feeling of constant terror wouldn't leave him. Zoom could come in at any moment and hurt anyone.

I need to get faster, was the same thought that crossed his mind day and night.

~0~

With her eyes shut, Belén breathed in quietly and exhaled in the same manner. She sat cross-legged in one of the sandy areas of her greenhouse. Her hands rested over her legs in a zen manner.

"Just keep your mind clear," Shivhan walked in a circle around Belén. "All you need to think about it is the Green."

"How do I do that if I don't even know what it looks like?" Belén said without opening her eyes.

"Okay," Shivhan paused her waking in front of Belén. She squatted down to face the woman even though the latter couldn't see her. "The Green is a beautiful place, honestly. It's the only place that I can...feel truly peaceful. It's green - big shocker," - Belén smiled - "There's these tall trees that look like they go up and up, forever. There's beautiful flowers of all kinds. Representative of every botanical metahuman. It's almost like an enchanted forest. There's no noise. And by that, I mean there's no city noise. You just hear the leaves sway, the swish of gentle water. There's no cold there, there's no heat. It's perfect."

"Sounds perfect," Belén sighed and opened her eyes to reveal a saddened expression. "And I just can't get into it."

"We can keep trying-"

"-no, we've been at this for two hours. I think we're done for today," Belén started getting up from the ground. Shivhan had tried her hardest to help Belén finally get into the Green where she would be able to learn more about her powers, but Belén just wasn't feeling it. She literally could not access the place. She did everything Shivhan had instructed her to, but it seemed not even the Greenhouse Shivhan built in STAR Labs was enough to help Belén concentrate.

"Are you sure?" Shivhan straightened on her feet. The guilt on her face was clear as day.

"Don't worry, today's just not the day," Belén told her to ease the woman's guilt. "Maybe a break is good."

"I'm sorry if I'm not doing enough," Shivhan was the one to sigh now.

"No, you've done more than enough," Belén almost laughed as she gestured to the room. "You built me a Greenhouse, okay? It's just...I have a lot of things on my mind and...it's hard clearing them away when they're gnawing at me."

"I'm sorry," Shivhan still felt the need to say. She wanted to help Belén take down that bitch Datura and the only way to do that was to get Belén to access the Green. "Oh!" she gasped suddenly. "I know what we can do - well, I'll do it but then I'll get back to you."

"What did you have in mind?" Belén watched the suddenly excited woman backtrack towards the door.

"I'm going to go to the Green and ask the others what I can do to make it easier for you. It'll be fine - I'll be back when I have the answer!"

"O...kay," Belén watched Shivhan hurry out of the room. It did sound like a good idea, to be honest. With any luck, it might bring something good to them.

After a couple minutes, Belén got herself together to leave the room only to bump into her mother.

"Oh, there you are!" Veronica exclaimed with a visible - quite big - smile on her face. "I asked Cisco and he said to go down a left and then another left and...this place is bigger than I thought."

Belén nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah. But you get used to it. You'll get used to it." She smiled softly. Ever since Christmas, she was finally getting on track with her mother. Veronica had been stopping by STAR Labs more frequently to be more informed on their metahuman business, and sometimes she just stopped by to see Belén when the latter wasn't at CC Pictures.

It was nice.

Belén had never really been able to say her mother was in her life, and much less that they were on good speaking terms. The whole thing was a novelty but she loved it. There was a new sense of support that only a mother could give.

"So what is this place?" Veronica began to look around the greenhouse more in depth. She hadn't yet seen the room but she'd heard talk from Belén and the others that it was great.

"It's the Greenhouse that Shivhan built for me," Belén turned to face the room. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"Amazing," Veronica admitted. "It doesn't even feel like we're still inside STAR Labs." She raised her head to see the sun reflecting through the glass ceiling. "And Shivhan really built this place?"

"She's very good at it," Belén folded her arms. "I just added a few more furniture pieces but everything else was her."

"And what do you do here? I mean, besides plant things…"

Belén smiled while Veronica tried her best not to look like she was judging. It was reasonable that she didn't yet really understand how Belén's powers worked.

"You know how Barry has his own training room downstairs?"

"You mean that eery blue room with the cardboard cut outs?" Veronica shivered. It was a creepy room that she got into a fight with Cisco because she'd openly declared how weird it was that he kept cutouts of everyone.

Belén laughed and nodded her head. "Yeah. The idea is that this room is all mine. I can use it meditate, to relax and keep myself in-tune with my powers."

"How would you do that?" Veronica eyed the bookshelf lined with several books. "By reading?"

"Sometimes," Belén nodded again. "I'm not a scientist but I do want to know more about botany. That way I can understand my powers better. But see, my powers don't come from strength. I'm not like Barry who needs to push himself to run faster and thus have a better hold on his powers. I need to be relaxed, at peace, to conjure up my powers. It's so weird, but…"

"Weird, ha…" Veronica blurted in a low mumble while she gazed at a bush of bright pink Azaleas. When she caught herself she quickly looked at her daughter. "I just meant -"

"It's fine, Mom," Belén almost laughed again. She could tell Veronica was trying really hard and that was all Belén wanted. "It's more than weird. You should've seen me when this all started. But I'm better now, thanks to everyone here and...myself."

"I was talking to um, Caitlin, and she was telling me that you've been trying to access this...other world? That's why you were in here with Shivhan?"

"I'm trying to access the Green. It's supposed to be this place where all botanical metahumans can go to for training, for peace, to meet with others BUT but…" Belén shook her head, "I am having the hardest time getting there. Shivan's doing everything she can but it really is on me to get there."

"Well take a break," Veronica suggested, not knowing that Belén had already suggested it earlier. "If you try too much at one thing, over and over, you'll never get good results."

"I know," Belén pushed her hair back. "Which is why I was leaving."

'Belén,' Cisco's voice called from the speaker above, 'Come to cortex quick!'

"You heard him," Belén led the her mother out of the greenhouse. She wondered what Cisco wanted since it'd been a pretty quiet day so far. They'd come into the cortex to find everyone already there, except Shivhan of course. "When did you get here?" Belén asked Barry as soon as she spotted him.

"A while back but I didn't want to interrupt yours and Shivhan's session," he opened his arms to hug her. He'd had to physically restrain himself from checking up on her in the Greenhouse (and maybe everywhere else) and that was only because Caitlin assured him that Belén was in there. With those recurring nightmares he had, it was impossible not to be afraid for her.

"It didn't work out again," Belén sighed. "Shivhan's going to be out for a couple days, probably. She's going to be in the Green herself trying to figure out how to get me in there."

"You'll get it," Barry placed a kiss on the top of her head. He then met Veronica's gaze and smiled. "Afternoon."

Veronica gave a nod. Everyone was being rally cautious around her out of fear that they would do something wrong and screw up Belén's new chance with her.

"Alright you guys," Cisco dramatically clapped his hands to get the group's attention. "I've been doing a lot of thinking on our Zoom problelm and I think I may have discovered a way to defeat him." He shooed Caitlin and Jay away from the computers in order to pull up a specific profile on the screen on the wall. "As some of you may well know, I've been deeply embroiled in a secret, one-sided battle with an invisible enemy."

Caitlin groaned and rolled her eyes. "No, not the Turtle again."

"You're still doing that one?" Belén raised an eyebrow, leaving Barry to flicker questionable gazes between her and Caitlin. He and Veronica were on the same page.

"What? What is the... or who is the Turtle?" he asked.

"It's Cisco's white whale," Caitlin slowly sighed. It'd been a while since Cisco mentioned the particular metahuman which led her to believe he finally dropped the entire thing.

"Half whale, half turtle?" Veronica made a face, and for a brief moment everyone could see a little of Belén in that.

"No," Cisco quickly shot down then sent a look to Caitlin. "Do you see what you're doing, Caitlin? Everybody's confused now."

"Get to it," Harry instructed, his face aggravated.

"I stumbled upon a few of these cases when we were looking for the Reverse Flash, robberies that were seemingly committed at high speed... people holding their beloved items one second. Those items were gone the next. Tell me what you see."

Everyone turned their attention to the screen that was showing them security feed of a store. Everyone seemed to be frozen in their spots while a one man walked at regular speed. He took off with an object on display like nothing.

"Did he stop time?" Veronica looked at her daughter. "Is that a power too? Stopping time?"

"We've yet to find one of those," Belén shrugged. "But I'm sure he or she is out there too."

"No, no, no, he's not stopping time," Cisco called to them to keep paying attention. "Look at the time code. It's still running."

"Yeah, okay. So if he's not stopping time, what is he doing?" Veronica challenged him.

"He's slowing down everything around him. And that is why we call him the Turtle."

"You decided to call him the turtle," Belén corrected him.

"Why have you never mentioned this guy to me before?" Barry asked, sounding a little offended that everyone seemed to know about the Turtle but him.

"Oh, I don't know, I think we've just been a little distracted, you know, what with other evil metas and whatnot. Do I need to go on?" Cisco's sarcasm had an icy tinge to it, but Barry merely smiled and let him continue. "Okay, so if we can catch him, figure out how he uses his powers...maybe we can show Zoom what life is like in the slow lane."

"How would you even know where to find him?" asked Jay.

Barry took matters into his own hands and rushed for the computers. He did his speedy investigation - which left an awed Veronica - and soon came up with some details. "Well, the robberies in the videos all correspond with police reports that were dismissed as lost or missing items instead of thefts. The suspect's M.O. being... Items of immense personal value." He continued to do a little bit more of searching until he stopped, stared, and sped off with his suit.

Caitlin moved over to see what Barry had found. "Uh... oh, it appears that there's a press conference at CCPD, because the Vandervoort diamonds have just been recovered."

"Is it really a good idea to let him go like that?" Veronica quietly asked her daughter.

"Most of the time he doesn't give us a head's up," Belén sighed and joined her friends by the desk. "Could we pull up security feed to see what happens? I get the feeling watching a speedster go up against a man who can slow things down is going to be interesting."

Caitlin hummed in agreement and pulled up the security feed. There they saw Singh giving a press conference to a group of reporters. Beside him were a couple of men, one of which was holding a jewelry box with a necklace and a golden ring.

"We're going to want to do facial recognition," Cisco quickly took his seat beside Caitlin, ready to get to work.

Belén, Veronica, Jay and Harry all crowded behind the two to watch. In no time had Barry confronted the Turtle, but as it turned out even Barry was a little outmatched against the man. The Turtle had emitted some sort of greenish glow that slowed everyone down, including Barry for a bit, and made a clean getaway with a golden ring.

"And he strikes again," Cisco made a comical frown. "Genius of a power, I'll tell you."

"So what exactly are we intending on doing with this guy when we catch him?" Belén moved over to Cisco. Cisco opened his mouth to respond when Barry sped back in, completely disoriented from his little trip. "You're an idiot for going out there like that, by the way," Belén called to him.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Barry sarcastically retorted.

"Shouldn't have gone out like that," she repeated louder in case his ears had been affected by the Turtle. "So Cisco, how are we going to use this Turtle for our needs?"

"Well, his powers are crucial to defeat Zoom so we'd need to examine them...maybe find a way to…"

"Siphon them?" Belén finished for him, her voice suddenly low.

Cisco blinked and quickly looked at her, unsure of how to respond. "Well...it...I'm not sure if that's plausible, but...maybe? I don't know." He chuckled to himself suddenly. "Maybe if we could use Datura then we could-" but he never got to finish his idea because Belén hit him on the arm. "What?"

"Uh, Mom, didn't you say you had a meeting with Axel's teacher today?" she suddenly asked her mother. Cisco shared looks with Jay and Harry, all three making quick checks.

"Yes," Veronica's eyes widened. "Oh my God, what time is it?"

"Four o'clock," Belén answered fast.

"I'm going to be late!" Veronica gasped and started to leave. "I will see you later, alright? Thank you for showing me around. Bye!"

"Bye, Mom!" Belén waved then released a big breath afterwards. She realized she had Cisco, Jay and Harry still staring at her and frowned. "What?"

"Have you told your Mom everything?" Cisco raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"I...told her about Zoom...and...what he wants...and stuff…" Belén fiddled with her thumbs.

"Mm, so did we not include the crazy siphoner after you?"

Belén dropped her hands and walked away from the desk. "I...did not see the point in that detail. It would only worry her. She just thinks that Datura is part of Zoom's crew who's only mission is to make our lives miserable."

"So you basically left out the part where she's hunting you down?" Harry said the words no one else wanted to say so boldly, but it's not like he cared.

"Well - I couldn't do it, alright!?" Belén defensively said. "How do you tell your mother that you have a psychotic siphoner coming after you? Is there a way?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't it be worse if she found out on her own terms?" Jay cleared his throat to ask the question. "You know Datura would love to do that, right?"

Belén brought a hand to her forehead. The peacefulness Shivhan was talking about earlier seemed much farther now. "I don't know guys, alright? I need to figure out the right way to tell her the truth but...I need a bit of time."

"I wouldn't waste time on that, then," Cisco warned. "You seem like you're finally getting to a good place with her."

"I know," Belén sighed. "That's what makes it harder. But I'll tell her, I promise."

Afterwards, when Caitlin cleared Barry of any lingering effects from the Turtle, they got things moving in hopes of capturing the metahuman once and for all.

"Yo. What was it like being in Turtle Time?" Cisco could not wait to ask, and it showed on his face.

"Yeah, no, it was weird. It was like waves of inertness... like all the energy was suddenly sucked out of my body, and then it would return."

"That's because that's exactly what was happening," Harry spoke up. He was scribbling down on a notepad what he was watching from the desk. "He has the ability to transfer all the surrounding kinetic energy into himself."

Jay caught on with the pieces. "Leaving everyone else in a temporary state of potential energy. That's right."

"So why could I still move?" Barry asked.

"Your speed-"

"Your speed allows you to change positions faster than anyone else," Harry interrupted Jay's explanation but Jay finished it in the end.

"So you can convert your stored potential energy back to kinetic energy."

"Excuse me, where are you going?" Cisco demanded when Harry made to leave the place.

"Trying to figure out how to use this against Zoom. You remember Zoom?" Harry made a face at them then left.

Cisco seemed to be on the verge of shouting, but instead he used his sarcasm to restrain himself from killing the man. "Cisco, please join me. We'll use your idea and take it to new scientific heights and save the world.' Yes, I'd love to!"

Caitlin had plopped herself down at the desk and looked at the computers. "Okay. Facial recognition software found us a match from the press conference footage. The Turtle's name is Russell Glosson. He was a small-time thief who stopped thieving after the particle accelerator explosion."

"All right, I'm gonna head to work... catch Joe up," Barry said and began to get his jacket. "Let me know if you find anything else." He stopped by Belén before going and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. "I won't be by tonight, remember?"

Belén nodded, knowing he had agreed to be there for Iris and Joe as they had dinner for the first time with Wally. "That's fine. I have to figure out how to tell my Mom about Datura."

"Still?" Barry made the same face Cisco had earlier.

"Yeah, yeah," Belén shooed him off. Barry left with a laugh and missed the small curse she threw his way. She turned around and noticed Jay staring blankly at the profile of the Turtle. She nudged Caitlin in his direction.

"You okay?" Caitlin didn't deter from asking.

Jay glanced back at the two women and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, it's just, um…" he cleared his throat, "It's hard to... look at that and not think about how I can't help people anymore."

Belén exchanged a look with Caitlin, both smiling with ideas.

"I'm no genius - nor a scientist for that matter - but this is still another world with other technology," Belén made a shrugging manner of her shoulders. "Wouldn't it be possible to help you here?"

"You know what happened," Jay reminded them both.

"Yes, okay," Caitlin slowly rose from her chair. "Datura siphoned your speed, but...it's impossible not to leave a trace of those powers in your system, no matter what. It is plausible that through some technology we find that trace and give it a kickstart."

"Barry had that once," Belén remembered with a laugh. "Maybe the same can apply to you, Jay."

Still, Jay was not swayed. "Datura siphoned them. I count myself lucky to be alive considering the mess of corpses she's left behind from others. Any speed I had, she took it."

He then left the two in the room.

~ 0 ~

That night, Belén sat on her couch with the television and a blank stare. She truly was hoping to find the right way to tell her mother the last secret she had. Datura was something else - she wasn't Zoom, she wasn't as lethal, but she was still dangerous and she was still after her for some reason. Veronica needed to know that. In a long run, it could even protect her and Axel if she was prepared.

"But how, how, how do I tell you?" Belén closed her eyes and let her head fall back on the couch. At the same time, a gust of wind hit her and when she opened her eyes she found Barry had made his way in.

"Change of plans!" he excitedly threw his hands in the air.

Belén smiled. "Not that I regret giving you a key, but one of these days I will be changing and you will walk in on that." But of course after a second or so she realized that for a boyfriend that probably didn't sound as bad. "What are you doing here, anyways? I thought you were having dinner with the Wests."

"Uh, he didn't show," Barry made a face and walked over to sit beside her. "I mean, I get that it's all new for Wally but he didn't even call to let them know."

"Hm," Belén got to thinking. She hadn't truly met Wally properly except for the cordial greetings from Christmas and New Years, but the young man didn't seem to be rude or anything. "I mean, he lost his Mom and now he's probably feeling a little disoriented. He has a father to answer to now...and a big sister…" her eyes widened a bit, "...God knows I know how it feels to answer to your siblings."

Barry chuckled, however, and earned himself a mock glare.

"See this?" she pulled her sleeve up of her left arm and pointed to a small scar. "I stole some of Maritza's makeup one time when I was fourteen and she threw a fork - yes, Barry, a fork." Barry truly tried his best not to laugh. "And God knows I regret messing around with Rayan's chemistry set."

"You were a wonderful, annoying little sister weren't you?"

Belén tossed her hair back and nodded. "You forgot the cutest, but yes, I was."

Barry laughed with her and pulled her closer. He finally noticed what she was watching and had to make a remark. "Since when do you watch Jeopardy?"

"I don't. I wasn't even watching television actually, I was thinking…"

Barry noticed the change in her tone and looked down at her. "About…?"

With a sigh, Belén pulled away from him. "I've told my Mom...almost everything about our STAR Labs lives."

"Almost everything?"

Belén nodded. "I just haven't told her about Datura. I can't figure out the right way to do it."

Barry sighed and straightened himself up. "I'm sorry, but...I don't think there's a right way to tell someone...their daughter is being targeted by a crazy siphoner. God knows it wasn't easy finding out from my perspective." Belén smiled as he touched her cheek. "I can only imagine what it'll be like for her."

"Maybe I shouldn't tell her," Belén bit her lip, suddenly questioning herself. "I mean, why tell her if it'll only worry her?" but as she asked herself more questions, she realized she didn't want to hold it back. She didn't want to have another secret that could really drive her away from her mother. "Barry, I should tell her...shouldn't I?"

"I can't make that decision for you, Bells," Barry reached for her again, and she allowed herself to be taken into his arms. "But I can be there with you, if you'd like? Or just help you come up with things…?"

"No, please be there," Belén wasn't sure of much but she knew it would become a lot easier if he was there.

Barry held her tight, letting her rest her head on his chest. "Okay," he kissed her hair.

"And while we're on this topic...if there's anything you'd like to tell me, I'm all ears."

Confused, Barry looked down at her. "Wh-what?"

Belén raised her head to meet his gaze. "I talk to Iris, Barry, like all the time at work. She says you've been waking up screaming in the night. What kind of nightmares are you having for that to happen?"

There was a sudden flash of his recent nightmare where he had been forced to see Belén be killed. "N-nothing...just the usual traumatic nightmares."

"Are you sure? Because I-"

"Bells, I don't want to talk about it. Please."

Belén looked at him in the eyes and saw a terrible turmoil. But she couldn't very well force him to speak could she? It did not, however, mean she would let him get away with it. She'd get him to talk, just maybe not tonight. "Okay," she finally said back. She laid her head on his chest again and snuggled closer to him.

He reached for the television remote and changed the channel, hoping to God she wouldn't press further on the matter. Much like her, he didn't know the right way to tell her about his horrendous nightmares.

~0~

The next day was a good one. STAR Labs had managed to find a clue of where their metahuman could strike next. Cisco had pulled up a city event for them all to see. It appeared to be some elegant event...

"Central City Museum is hosting a special black tie event tonight showcasing 'The Crystal Ball.' It's a famous painting, apparently, recently recovered from Markovia."

"And they decided to name it the 'Crystal ball'?" Belén couldn't help make her remark.

Cisco rolled his eyes at her. "Anyways. The painting is on loan to the museum from the Silverberg family. Jacob Silverberg himself said, 'The painting's safe return means more to us than all the money in the world.' It's like they're begging Turtle to rob it."

Barry nodded his head and turned to them at the desk. "Okay, yes. This is a plan. So the Turtle will make his move, and we can be there waiting to take him down."

"How do you look in a tux?" Caitlin casually asked of Jay sitting beside her.

"He's 6'2", he's square-jawed, and he's jacked. I think he looks fine," it had been Belén who answered the question, much to Barry's shock. She turned around wearing a nice smile. "What?"

Barry merely raised his eyebrows at her.

"I'm 6'4"," Jay cleared his throat, a little amused.

"Please don't help," Barry sent him a sharp look before sarcastically saying, "I guess I'll just have to find another date then.

Belén looked him dead in the eye and made her response. "You do that and Zoom will be the least of your problems."

"Yikes," Cisco shivered. "That's just cold."

"What? I can be evil," Belén smirked.

As soon as she said those words, Harry, who'd been tinkering with some equations in the next room, dropped something on the floor. Everyone sent him concerned glances but he acted like nothing happened. He knew he had to get himself in control already. He had Datura and Zoom waiting for him on one side and those were two people he could not defer. Jesse's life was on the line.

~0~

When night time rolled around, the team was ready to go through with their plan. While Cisco and Harry monitored from the STAR Labs van, Belén, Barry, Caitlin and Jay would mingle through the event. Since Joe was taking care of other business - relating to Wally - Veronica had been asked to help. She would be lingering in the background, hand on weapon in case the Turtle showed up.

"I can't believe you said that," Barry was in the middle of scolding Belén while they 'mingled'.

Belén rolled her eyes. "And I can't believe we're still on this topic." She picked up a champagne flute and took a small sip. "Are you that jealous?"

"I am not jealous," Barry clarified, but it looked like the complete opposite to Belén. "I'm just a little...uncomfortable when you admire other men."

"I can scope out the menu but it doesn't mean I'm going to order."

Barry had heard a lot of things in his life but that was something that completely took him aback. "What!?"

A burst of laughter escaped through Belén's lips. "Maritza used to say that all the time. I can see other men but it doesn't mean I'm going to after them. It's like…" she thought for a moment, "...it's like you and...I don't know...Beyonce. Don't you think she's hot?"

"Well…" Barry deferred from answering.

"Barry, Beyonce is hot. Admit it. Now does that mean you'd go after her?"

"No, of course not," Barry took her hand which wore the promise ring he'd gifted her for Christmas.

"See? It's the same for me. Jay is good looking - any woman would fall for him - but I've already got my guy," Belén leaned forwards and kissed him. "Ti amo mio idiota," she said in fluent Italian.

Barry blinked and stared at her for a good minute, only making Belén laugh in the process. "Did you...did you speak Italian?"

"I am Italian, Barry. You remember that, right?"

"I do but...you've never really spoken Italian."

"Never had the moment, I guess," she shrugged. "I do speak Spanish as well, you know. Piss me off and you'll hear some very colorful words in 3 languages."

"You just got insanely hotter right now," Barry stole a kiss from her but the look in his eyes indicated he wanted more than just a kiss right now.

Belén blushed and looked out to the dance floor. "Why don't we go and dance?"

"Anything you want, just please keep talking to me in foreign languages," Barry said while Belén led them towards the dance floor. She had to laugh at him.

They found a spot and started dancing along to the slow music.

"You look like a dream by the way," Barry eyed the dark purple, laced gown Belén chose to wear for the night. He probably should have mentioned that as soon as he picked her up but he was a bit focused on what she had said about Jay.

Belén smiled. "Smooth, but thank you. You look very handsome too." She'd joked about seeing Jay in a suit but in her book, Barry had won the most attractive award. Maybe she was biased? Or maybe she just really loved it. "The bow-tie was a nice touch too." A very nice one. She tapped the bowtie and looked up at Barry with an alluring smile. "Maybe we should leave a little early..."

It was Barry's turn to flush. It had been much too long since they had a proper date and it showed. He held Belén closer to him, his hands gripping her waist. "We'll plan something," he promised her.

"Unfortunately I won't be wearing a sweet dress like this the next time," lamented Belén.

"You'll still look beautiful, Bells." Barry pressed a kiss on her temple.

"We've got eyes on Turtle!" Cisco communicated to the four in the building.

"I see him," Belén stepped back from Barry and pointed him to the man across them in a hallway. He was taking down a painting from the wall.

Barry quickly sped away.

"HEY!" Belén cupped her mouth to shout. "Leave that alone!" Her yell prompted the other guests to freeze in their spots and the officers around to go into action.

Veronica came up with her gun aimed at the man. "CCPD, freeze!"

The turtle turned around with a menacing face. From his spot he emitted his green slowing powers and made everyone freeze. Before Veronica knew it, her gun had been snatched from her hands. She and Belén turned around to find the Turtle standing at the base of a staircase, aiming at them with the same gun.

"For someone slow, he seems so fast," Veronica blinked rapidly. She blocked her daughter off from the man's aim.

Barry returned, as the Flash, and assessed the situation. "Oh, no. He is much slower," he promised Veronica.

"This is a trap?" the Turtle realized. "Well, I'm slow... not stupid." He changed aims and shot at the chandelier above Belén and her mother.

"Aw damn," Belén mumbled, knowing the chances to escape on their own was not an option with the Turtle's powers.

Barry tried speeding down the stairs to get her and Veronica out, but the Turtle did his best to slow him down. However slower, Barry succeeded in time and pushed the two women out of the way. The chandelier crashed down on the floor, and a bit over Barry. The lights went out and allowed the Turtle a clean getaway.

"Belén!?" Veronica first made sure her daughter was safe.

"I-I'm fine!" Belén scrambled up to her feet and hurried to Barry. "Caitlin!? Jay!?" she frantically called as she tried to pull Barry out from the chandelier. "Help!"

"I got it!" Jay came in first and, much easier, pulled Barry to his feet. The metahuman was a bit out of it but hopefully alright when Caitlin would check him over.

~ 0 ~

Barry was blinking fast as Caitlin passed a light through his eyes. There he was sitting on a stool in the cortex, letting Caitlin run the tests she wanted even though he knew he was fine. The cuts and bruises he'd gotten from the chandelier were already healing and some already gone. He let her since she had already checked Belén and Veronica up. Eventually, Caitlin drew back her light and gave the nod he was fine.

"Your pupils are normal. Your heart rate's a little low. But other than that, no concussive symptoms."

"What about Turtle?" Barry got up from his stool and rubbed his face.

"No sign of him," Cisco shook his head. "Or the painting. He, uh, must have gotten away with it in the chaos."

"He's not as stupid as we thought he was," Belén shrugged. "But we are going to need to come up with a better plan."

"I think we should start by seeing if your speed still works," Cisco said to Barry. The metahuman frowned and, for show, sped out of the room and returned the next second with regular clothes on and left the suit in its display. "Okay, it works."

"We still have to find out how Turtle drained him of it," Harry pointed out and began to leave to start on it.

"I have to go see how my Mom is doing too," Belén announced too. It was then that Barry realized Veronica wasn't there anymore. "She's fine, if not a little shaken," Belén said for his sake. "First real encounter with a meta is...tough. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Barry agreed. "Do you want a lift?"

"Always," Belén extended her arms forwards to be carried off. With a chuckle, Barry did just that.

~0~

Before anything, Belén had sent a text forewarning her mother she would be stopping by. She knew Veronica was left more than a little 'shaken' and didn't want Veronica to automatically shut it down like some crazy superior mom. Belén understood that there needed to be some venting done in order to truly fight metas. When she had changed into much more comfortable clothes, Belén went for her purse and jacket to finally go visit her mother. She checked the time on her phone and while it was a little later than she had planned - which she would fully blame for Barry for - she headed for the doorway.

"Next time just say no to 'one kiss'," she muttered under her breath and opened the door.

She truly regretted it.

Quickly, she tried pushing the door to close on the Turtle. "NO!" she was absolutely done with being attacked in her own apartment.

Unfortunately for her, the Turtle proved stronger and flung the door open, throwing Belén to the floor in the process.

"The hell do you want from me?" she scooted back. Her right hand flexed as it underwent the scaly green change.

"The thing most precious to the Flash…" the Turtle stepped towards her, "...you."

"Fight me, then," Belén gritted her teeth and thrust her scaly green hand forwards, sending a surprising green vine that smacked the Turtle against the open door. She quickly scrambled to her feet. So much for secret identity, she thought.

"You're like us," the Turtle took delight in that. The malicious grin on his face sent a shiver down Belén's back. "Makes a lot more sense, I'll tell you that."

"Don't speak to me!" Belén pushed her hand down and at the same time a new vine did the same over the Turtle, only for him to use his own powers and leave the vine just a couple inches above his head. Belén was forced to watch as the man easily walked behind her and, picking up her own purse, he smacked it hard over her head, effectively knocking her out.

~0~

While everyone worked hard to find the Turtle, it was fairly easy for Harry to make a quick escape out into the night. This time he was surprised to find he had been beaten to the meeting. Datura was sitting lonesomely, one leg over the other, on the ledge of a shipping port with a cellphone in hand. She was scrolling but Harry couldn't see much of her face since her dark curls were over her shoulders. At a first glance the woman did not seem like Belén, and even when one got to know her - while knowing her doppelganger - she wasn't like Belén either.

"Funny, in this world your little experiment failed completely," she looked up with a dazzled face. "It's amazing how different our doppelgangers can be while still looking exactly alike."

"You look nothing like yours," Harry spat, but it Datura took that as a compliment.

"I know. You know I actually wish I could crack the code for inter-dimensional travel just to see what the rest of the 'me's" look like." Datura tilted her head then, curiously thinking. "Or I could just siphon them. That sounds a lot easier."

"If you could do that then we wouldn't be here, would we?" the sour tone in Harry's voice momentarily caused a flash of yellow in Datura's eyes.

Harry shifted to one side, intently studying as much as possible until the effect went away. He then noticed Datura quickly trying to get herself back to her usual demeanor, like it never happened...but it did. And Harry wanted to know why it did. What did it mean when her eyes did that thing? He still had yet to forget when the same thing happened after Datura and Poison Ivy made a visit to STAR Labs a while ago. The overlapping voices? Harry was sure that was not of her own voice.

"What I do or don't do is none of your business," Datura finally spoke again, and with her own voice. She was up on her feet, a deep scowl across her face. "But what you do, is most certainly my business. Zoom wants to know how your new mission is going."

Harry released a breath but nonetheless answered her. "I'm working on it but I'm...I haven't come up with a way to do it yet."

"Tick tock goes the clock," Datura innocently said.

"We're trying to solve a metahuman case-"

"I don't give a rat's ass what anyone in this world is up to!"

"You might want to know that this particular metahuman has the ability to slow things down, including the Flash himself."

That piece of information certainly made Datura stop and think. "Really? Completely?"

"Well, the Flash is the Flash for a reason. This particular metahuman has the ability to transfer all the surrounding kinetic energy into himself."

A curling smile started spreading across Datura's face. Her eyes were lighting up with a new sense - was that happiness? For some reason, on this Belén the emotion didn't fit. "So…" Datura began walking while she thought out loud, "...because of Barry's speed, he can convert all his stored potential energy back into kinetic energy. Oh, if he wasn't against Zoom, I'd be impressed."

And yet, standing there and watching her, Harry swore she actually was impressed.

"So then-" Datura turned to Harry, snapping him out of his thoughts, "-I'm sure you know what to do with this metahuman." Harry stood there silently, unsure of where she was going with it. A dark ferocity took over Datura's face. "Kill him, Harrison. Find him, find out whatever made him tick, and turn that into our weapon against the Flash. Remember, it's the only way we can all win."

"Except the Flash…" Harry decided to remind. He was the first to admit that everyone - including Barry - on this world were heavily annoying. However, that did not mean that he wanted them to die. "And of course, Belén."

"Well, she never had a chance. What's she doing right now, anyways?"

Harry kept silent but as the seconds ticked by he knew it was the wrong choice. If he didn't tell her, she'd find another - probably hurtful - way of finding out on her own. "She's trying to get into the Green." And judging by the look on Datura's face, she knew all about that place.

"Hm, she won't get in," she said, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "Work fast, Wells. Tick, tock, goes the clock." She flashed him a wide smirk and turned to leave.

~ 0 ~

When Belén woke up, she found herself bound to a regular wooden chair. With a sigh, she looked around and concluded she was in some sort of library but it was overfilled with objects that just didn't belong.

"For a criminal, you didn't strike me much for the library sort of guy," she called once she spotted the Turtle a couple tables away. He was typing on a typewriter. "What kind of metahuman hits people with a purse?"

Her sardonic joke made the Turtle glare up from his work. "You talk so bravely…" he meant that as a warning, but Belén snorted.

"Well, between you and me, this isn't the first time I've been kidnapped. It actually gets quite boring after the second or third time."

The Turtle studied her face and was a little peeved not to find any traces of fear. She smirked.

"What's the matter? Did I mess up your damsel in distress plot?"

"This was never about you. This is about hurting someone who values you."

Belén rolled her eyes and looked away. "Yeah, I know. You use me to get to the Flash. Been there, done that."

"So I am right," the Turtle gained his confidence back. Belén turned her head his way, questioning him with a silent look. "I saw the way the Flash saved you and the older woman."

"Oh, congratulations, you spotted a hero saving women. I'd clap, but...you know…" Belén nodded to her bound wrists.

"It's a waste of time... saving people. They take everything for granted."

Belén stopped with her sarcasm to stare at the man. "Oh, so you take the things that matter most to them, then?"

"My wife Rosalyn took me for granted. She wanted to leave me... the thing I valued most."

"So that's what this is about? You're hurt because your wife left you?"

"I couldn't let that happen. So I made her mine," the Turtle got up and slowly walked for the wall with a red drape. He pulled the drape and revealed a dead woman sitting behind a glass case. "Forever."

Belén's eyes widened in horror. "Uh…"

The Turtle returned to the desk to pick up the paper he'd been writing on and walked over to the next drape-covered alcove. He pulled on it to reveal another glass case, an empty one, and turned to Belén. "I do hope I spelled your name right." He revealed her name was written on the slip of paper.

"Y-you...missed the accent over the 'e'..." She found her last ounce of sarcasm before her terror settled in.

~ 0 ~

As soon as they found out Belén had been taken by the Turtle, everyone in STAR Labs got straight to work. Even Veronica had returned to STAR Labs, and because it was later, she had to bring Axel in with her too. The four year old was yawning from his spot at the desk but was keenly watching his grandmother and Barry pacing back and forth.

"Grandma, is auntie Belén coming back yet?"

Veronica stopped pacing to look at her grandson. She of course hadn't told him why they were looking for Belén. For him, he just thought she went out like the grown ups do all the time. Veronica didn't know what to say, mostly because this was the first time she was in this sort of situation. Fortunately, Barry was already used to it (unfortunately).

"Your auntie just got a little lost," he stopped his pacing to explain to the boy.

Axel furrowed his brow and started getting up in the chair. Caitlin quickly reached to make sure he didn't fall off. "Can grown ups get lost too?"

"Sometimes," Barry went along with it for his sake. "But it's okay, because we're all looking for her right now."

Cisco hated to burst the child's bubble but he had to inform them how the search was currently going. "I'm not getting any leads on this guy. It's like he's totally fallen off the grid. You know, it... any of the stuff he's stolen, I can't find it."

"He keeps them," Harry's eyes widened when he realized. "He keeps them the way a serial killer collects trophies."

"He's stolen a lot of a stuff," Caitlin looked at them, concerned for their odds at the moment.

Fortunately, investigating was part of Veronica's abilities. "Which means he needs a lot of space to store it," she walked back to the desk, putting a hand over it. "That's where we start. See if he rented any storage spaces."

"I want to help find auntie," Axel leaned forwards on the desk and Caitlin decided it would just be safe if he sat on her lap than remaining standing on the chair.

"I got something," Cisco announced after a couple of minutes. "His ex-wife used to be an archivist for antiquities at the Naydel Library before it shut down, and it shut down three months after the accelerator exploded."

"That place is big enough to hold Turtle's stuff," Veronica immediately pointed. She meant to leave but Barry stopped her. Without having to say a word, she got the message. "I am not staying here and leaving my daughter out there."

"The Turtle's power will easily affect you. If we both go, he'll target you and it'll be even more difficult to make it out alive," Barry logically argued back. Veronica blinked then looked to the side, figuring he was more or less right.

"But Barry, we haven't even figured out how to neutralize the Turtle's power," Jay reminded.

"Well, I'm gonna have to power through it," Barry shrugged. Now he was most certainly not going to waste time while Belén was out there. He sped off with his suit and went to the instructed place. "All right, I'm outside the library."

"Barry, the only way to save Belén is if you grab her in between each of the Turtle's pulses," Cisco warned.

"You'll only have 2/10ths of a second to make your moves," Caitlin calculated closely.

"I got it," Barry sucked in a breath and got ready to do his thing.

~ 0 ~

Belén watched with disgust as the Turtle prepared a needle for her, apparently. "I don't know who you think you are but you are not sticking that in my blood vessels."

"I like your bravery, girl," the Turtle complimented. "But it would bode well if you felt just a little scared."

"I was for a minute until I remembered people are coming for me. In less than a second you'll find yourself locked away."

"Such faith…" the Turtle meant to jab the needle into her forearm but Belén concentrated and turned that arm into its scaly green form, causing the needle trouble. "What the…?" the Turtle glared at the woman.

"I'm no regular woman, remember?" she smirked.

Their sure-to-be disagreement was interrupted by Barry who was speeding his way through the room. The Turtle, no surprise, used his powers to slow him down. With ease, he walked up to Barry and punched him several times till the speedster went down. Barry shook his head to get back on track then quickly sped off for a redo.

"I guess he doesn't care about you as much as I thought," the Turtle went back to the table where his 'tools' were and picked up a silver knife. "And I doubt even your freaky scale skin is impenetrable to knives."

"Crap," Belén muttered under her breath. Her vines wrapped around her binds and quickly released her wrists. "Stay away from me you freak!" she jumped from her chair but the Turtle emitted his powers once more to keep her in place.

At the same time, Barry returned with a stronger speed. The Turtle turned around and forced more of his powers to surround them. This time, however, Barry 'powered through' and was able to throw the Turtle across the room. With a heavy breath, he turned for Belén on the floor.

"Man this is the first time I love the sonic boom," she found her humor and chuckled.

Barry didn't know whether to scold her for being so aloof of the danger she'd be in, or just hug her and smile that she was okay. Even though it was completely different from his nightmares, the mere fact that Belén had been taken away by another of his enemies made him spiral.

~ 0 ~

When the Turtle woke up, he was facing the STAR Labs group in the pipeline. He rushed to his feet and planted his hands on the clear wall, thinking nothing of it yet.

"Hey, Turtle," Barry greeted him like nothing. "So you want to know my new definition of irony? Now you... are our most prized possession. My girlfriend says 'hi', too."

The Turtle scowled and tried using his powers only to find the wall was containing it back. Barry shut the pipeline down and headed back for the cortex where Belén, her mother and Axel were.

Caitlin used the advantage she'd been presented and called for Jay to wait for her. "Jay?" the man in question stopped and turned. "I know," she said, seeing him in a significant manner. "Why didn't you tell me that you're sick?"

Jay wasn't the least bit surprised she'd caught onto him. "The champagne. You took my DNA off the glass."

Caitlin acknowledged her deed with a nod. "You know I lost my husband... how hard that was for me to move on. How could you let me get close to you knowing that soon I'd lose you too?"

"I just... I didn't expect... his. I didn't expect you."

"Then help me find a cure," Caitlin stepped closer to him.

"There is no cure, Caitlin," Jay sighed. "Datura siphoned them from me."

"Okay, then we find her, we capture her," Caitlin quickly devised.

Jay shook his head at her. "Datura was a right terror for my city. Next to Zoom, she's virtually unstoppable."

"Not if she's looking for Belén," Caitlin wagged a finger. "If she wants Belén then it has to be for something, which means...there might be a weakness she's trying to cover up. We can use that to our advantage. We find her, we analyze her powers, and maybe find a way to bring your powers back."

Jay looked long and hard at Caitlin and soon gave in. Happy, Caitlin hugged him, confident enough that they would be able to do this task together.

~ 0 ~

"Auntie Belén, you can't get lost anymore," Axel cautiously told his aunt after his grandmother announced they were going home. Belén was sitting on the bed in one of the side rooms, amusingly watching Axel give her instructions. "You have told hold hands, remember?" he simulated what he was talking about by holding his grandmother's hand. "Like this. Okay?"

"Don't worry, Axel," Barry walked in, hearing everything, "I'll hold your auntie's hand all the way home."

Belén shot him a sarcastic look but Axel believed it straight away. "Use the sonic boom if you need help," the young boy said.

"How you know about that…" Veronica gave Belén and Barry sharp stares, "...I don't think I want to know. Belén, are you sure you're okay?"

"Mom, you heard Caitlin, and my testimonies. I am just fine," Belén reassured.

"If you need anything…"

"I know," Belén smiled softly. "I know."

Veronica smiled back and looked at Barry next. "Please?"

"I'll take her home myself," the metahuman promised.

Much more reassured, Veronica left with Axel. Barry wasted no time and took ahold of Belén to bring her home like he'd promise. Belén could only yelp when she was dropped on her bed.

"A little head's up would've been nice!" she exclaimed afterwards.

Barry stood in front of her with a finger pointing directly at her. "Now you're going to bed and resting. I'll be back tomorrow morning to see how you are."

Belén raised an eyebrow, something different swirling in her eyes. "Okay." Barry leaned down to kiss her then started to leave...when Belén spoke again. "And don't worry, I'll leave my phone on in case you call in the middle of the night again."

Barry froze and slowly turned sideways, meeting her knowing face. "Wh-what…?"

"At first I thought I was just dreaming that you were calling me in the middle of the night but my phone does keep the calls just like any other phone. You called me...and I remember it now. You wanted to know if I was okay."

"Bells…" Barry tried playing it off as nothing more than a simple call, but Belén knew better by now.

"You called me to make sure I was okay," she reiterated. "Why? Why would you do that?" Barry deferred from answering, but not even that saved him. "It's because of those nightmares Iris told me about, huh? I assume one of them included me this time?"

Barry said nothing and didn't look at her.

"Barry, talk to me. You helped me tonight now let me do the same for you," Belén pleaded and held a hand out for him. With that soft smile on her face, it was impossible for Barry to walk out on her. He came back, dutifully, and sat down beside her. "What are those nightmares about that they're haunting you?"

"They're about Zoom," Barry found no point in hiding it anymore.

As soon as he said it, Belén felt stupid for not figuring it out on her own. Of course they would be about Zoom. The thing was a monster, and with a face.

"They're never the same...but...they're always about the same thing: someone dying."

"By Zoom?" Belén guessed.

With a sigh, Barry began to recount the different nightmares that involved each of his friends and family. He described how one moment everything was fine and he was just living his life like normal until Zoom showed up and murdered his friend. In one instant it had been about Caitlin drowning. In another Joe had been shot with a bullet. Belén tried to keep a straight face as she listened to how each of their loved ones suffered a terrible fate because of Zoom.

"And then there's you," Barry hesitated to say. "Rarely had dreams about you - I guess it was building up to you. You're there, looking pretty, and then the next minute Zoom's got you and I'm not fast enough to save you."

"And that's why you call," Belén whispered.

"Usually. Sometimes I sneak in just to make sure you're sleeping," Barry confessed. "And you are...each time."

"I can't tell you that it's all going to be okay, but...I can promise you that we are all going to fight against that monster," Belén took his hands in hers. "We're not damsels in distress and we're not Zoom's rag dolls. We're strong, Barry, and Zoom is going to feel so sorry when he finds out."

Barry squeezed their hands and tried to think like Belén. They are strong. They would defeat Zoom if it was the last thing they did.

~0~

Late at night Harry waited by the breech located in the STAR Labs portal room. He knew that through this portal all Datura had to do was go through his version of STAR Labs. He kept wondering how Datura managed to open up all these portals without actually having Zoom do it nor the ability herself.

Soon enough, Datura popped in again.

"Got my message?" she flashed a smirk the moment she straightened up.

Harry took out the cellphone she had with her earlier and suspiciously looked at her. "How did you manage to connect through different worlds?"

"I forgot to mention, I'm a scientist. Don't even think about tracing that by the way," she hopped down the small steps from the portal. "My good friend made sure to help me with those deets. Well, update on that metahuman?"

"Captured and locked away," Harry put away the cellphone in his back pocket.

"But alive?"

"Yes."

"Then I assume you know what happens next," with that, Datura tossed him a silver device that resembles a gun only this one held a vial.

Harry caught it with a little rush and inspected it fast. "You want me to extract blood from him?"

"Sample tissues, brain tissues, whatever you want as long as it helps the cause. I know you're more than capable of building that but I wanted to save you the trouble," Datura motioned with her hands for him to get going.

"You want me to kill," Harry stated after taking a good examination of the device in his hands. It was strong by all means and he was sure that extracting anything from the Turtle with it would mean his death.

"Is that a problem? I thought you wanted your daughter back."

"But to kill…"

"Oh for the love of…fine, let me take a leaf out of my doppleganger's book and help you a little more." Datura snatched the device from him and literally started walking out the hallway.

For the first time scared, Harry rushed to follow her. "You could get caught-"

"Then I suppose you'll make sure this gets erased from the security feed," Datura rolled her eyes. "Where is he?"

Harry silently moved up ahead. He knew this would come back to bite him but all that ran through his head was his daughter. If he allowed Datura to do what she wanted then he would be one step closer to getting Jesse back.

"High tech," Datura remarked as Harry pulled up the Turtle's pod cell. "Much more sophisticated than where Zoom keeps Jesse," she gave a tantalizing smile while Harry glared.

"Hey…" the Turtle was stirring awake from his sleep when he saw the two.

Datura walked forwards, past Harry, and into the pod. Without a single word she stuck the device into the Turtle's nostril. Harry flinched when the device snapped and blood splattered inside the vial. Datura then straightened up, kicked the Turtle's corpse off her boot and walked out.

She revealed glowing white eyes. "Easy, peasy," Her voice overlapped with another. "Zoom isn't so patient, you know? Time is precious so you better get to work." She patted his shoulder and walked out of the room.

Harry was simply terrified and yet awed by the woman. The doppelganger topic was always a fascinating one, but a theoretical one too. Never in his life did he think he would end up as a puppet for one of them.

#ocappreciation #fd: the flash #the flash #barry allen #barry allen fics #the flash fics #arrowverse #dctv #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #oc: the azalea

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