#oc: Datura

[crowned--corvid]

🌿Datura🌿

#2d art #oc: datura #furry #anthro

[josephslittledeputy]

WIP Whenever

Tagged by @socially-awkward-skeleton​ @direwombat​ @detectivelokis​ @river-ward​ @adelaidedrubman​ @inafieldofdaisies​ @marivenah​ (ty lovelies!)

I’ve got a few wips saved up, so I’ll start off with Datura in her Mar*el Verse

"Containment breach, experiment 347 is loose. All personnel must immediately evacuate the facility."

The automated alarm monotonously advises while red lights flash around the room, like an ominous strobe light. The sound of gunshots and screams were getting closer, causing one of the scientists to drop what was in their hands, startling everyone when the glass shatters on the floor.

"Sorry!"

"Goddammit Kaitlin, pull yourself together!"

"Yes, Doctor Amos!"

"Containment breach, experiment 347 is loose. All personnel must immediately evacuate the facility."

They were almost done. The room itself now looked as clean and empty as the day they arrived, save for the tables along the walls and various pieces of medical equipment.

“Containment breach, experiment 347 is— Hellooo.” The interrupting crackle of the intercom causes the whole room to pause, the frantic footsteps and rustling and shredding of papers grind to a halt as everyone slowly turns toward the disturbance. “Now, there wasn’t much of a selection, buuut—“ Someone crying in the background causes the speaker pause. “Shhh, you’re ruining everything!” There’s a sickening crunch, followed by the gargle of someone choking on their own blood, and then… silence. “Now, where was I again? Ah, yes, here we go!” The voice cuts off and what follows is music.

“Is that the… Macarena?” One of the scientists at the back dumbly questions.

~~~

Her hips wiggle to the beat as a peal of laughter escapes ruby stained lips and she finally feels free, free, free! Twirling, she does a jump and a slide, sinking her claws into the nearest guards throat. “Ha!” Crimson stains clash against the blue shade of her skin, like splotches of paint on a blank canvas.

“Hey! Put your hands up!” Another guard shouts as they round the corner, gun shaking but pointed in her direction.

“No, you!” She giggles, wiggling her fingers in their direction.

“What the-?” They drop their gun and raise their hands.

“Isn’t this so much more fun?”

They dance to the music together as if they were choreographed and had practiced for hours, and isn’t long until a couple more guards round the corner and get sucked into the commotion.

This one is a bit longer, but Willa’s dark au is finally getting interesting :’)

"Mama, why do bad things happen to good people?"

The seemingly innocent question catches her mother off guard, startling her with its raw honesty. "Well, sweet pea, God likes to test His children."

"But why?"

“Sometimes, when people are having a hard time, they're overcome with doubt." She strokes a hand over her daughters head, watching the unruly blonde curls spring back up after. "That's when He'll test us, so that when we persevere and overcome these tests, we'll know that our faith in Him is real. That He hasn't abandoned us."

"I don't get it." Shaking the hand off her head, she turns around, meeting her mothers blueish-green eyes. "If He loves us, then why doesn't He already know our faith is real? Why do we need to be tested?"

“Oh, my sweet, you'll get it once you're older." She smiles, grabbing her hands in her own. "And then you'll understand why your hands are stained.”

"Stained? But they're not-" Her words stick in her throat when she looks down to see her hands slick, wet, and so very, very red. "Mama!" She cries out, horrified. "What's on my hands?"

"Oh, don't be silly honey." Still the same saccharine voice she remembers from childhood. "You know that’s my blood."

"Don't forget mine."

Her head turns achingly slow, spotting the towering figure in the doorway with a nagging terror lining her stomach. "Pa?"

“Well I’ll be. You remembered!”

Blood oozes from the walls, covering the floors and stretching out towards her, eager to have its taste of flesh. She scrambles back when it gets too close, scrubbing her hands against the material of her dress. But the crimson stains stick to them like paint, never coming off.

"Oh, come now, don't be like that! We can be a happy family again, you just gotta take this knife out."

"What?" She trembles, looking up to see her Father in front of her this time.

"Well? C'mon kiddo, it hurts!" A wide, maniacal grin splits his face.

"Now you're the one who's being silly, dear. You know she'll never take that thing out." Her mother chirps up behind her with a titter. “Not unless she's about to plunge it back in again.”

They both let out full bellied laughs at the same time, the sound ricocheting in her head, and the blood finally reaches her legs. She tries to get up, but it keeps her there, like a fly stuck to a glue trap. The more she struggles, the more it pulls her down, until she's drowning in it.

All she can see is red.

"NO!" The scream tears from her throat the moment she wakes, covered in a layer of sweat.

She can't see, and maybe that should be a blessing, but right now it feels more like curse. She needs to see, needs to make sure the blood isn't still clinging to her like a second skin. She needs-

"Wouldja shut up in there?"

Her head whips over to the door that opens, and she takes the opportunity to sprint toward it, pushing past the person in the doorway and not looking back.

"Hey wait!" Quick footsteps follow the yell and it isn't long until she's tackled to the ground.

"No! I won't go back! I WON'T!" She claws at their face, a futile effort with her gloves blunting her nails, so she goes for the next best thing. Teeth. She latches onto whatever is closest and pulls, coming away with a metallic taste that she hurriedly spits to the side.

"Ah!" The person holding her down reacts, raising a hand to the gushing wound she'd inflicted, their knees pressing down harder to hold her. "I need back up, NOW!"

It isn't long until more footsteps join them in the hallway, but she's frantic now, she can't see straight. No, worse, she can't even think straight.

Where is she?

"Give 'em the bliss, hurry!"

"No, please, I'll be good this time!" Her broken pleas do little to faze them. Were they listening to her? Did they even care? "I'll be good, I promise!" She sobs when her struggling limbs are held down, followed by a sharp prick to her neck. A few seconds later, her movements grow sluggish, her mind slows, and her eyes begin to roll into the back of her head. Garbled voices still come through, and she’s able to pick up what they're saying before passing out.

"They're almost ready to confess. John’ll be happy..."

.

.

.

When she comes to this time, it isn’t from a nightmare or in some frenzied state, not with the remnants of bliss still coursing through her system. Heavy lids open to a darkened room, arms and legs strapped to a chair with the same familiar leather bit tucked into her mouth. She's in the confession room, again. The same one she's grown familiar with over the week that she's been here. Well, at least she thinks it's been a week, since there's no way of telling time in the bunker. Either way, so far there's been a lot less confessing and a lot more torture, especially from the scratchy material of her half ripped shirt, covered in her dried blood. The door behind her opens and, once again, she doesn't need to look to see who it is.

"My, my, you had quite the little incident earlier, Deputy." John doesn't bother to look at her on his way over to the small table in the room, instead he's more focused on setting down his toolbox and getting things ready.

With the bit in her mouth, the best she can do is a muffled insult. "Fuck you."

He turns around with a look of faux shock and a hand over his heart, as if offended by her words. "There's no need to be so cruel."

Neglecting a reply, she rips at her restraints, showing her displeasure over her situation. If that didn't show it, her scathing glare certainly would.

"Now, I know we haven't been on the best of terms, but I think that'll change soon." He walks over to stand in front of her, bending at the waist and watching with satisfaction when she pushes herself back into her chair. "You see, I’m an understanding man, Deputy. I want to know what drives you, what could cause you to suffer from such wrath. So! I did a little digging, and what I found was... very enlightening."

Her blood goes cold and she freezes, her scathing glare quickly turning into a look of hesitance and fear, despite her best efforts to hide it. Her eyes follow him as he stands to his full height and walks over to his toolbox, turning his back to her while he undoes the clasps and pulls out pieces of paper, and not his usual tools of torture. Turning around with a flourish, he holds the papers up with a gleefully menacing grin.

"I know that you had a troubled childhood." He leans against his table, briefly scanning the papers before looking at her again. "That your parents were not the most nurturing. I even know you lost a dear childhood friend in a terrible incident. One that haunts you still, just as your parents do."

If she wasn't strapped to the chair, she knew her hands would be shaking, tempted to wrap her hands around his neck and cut off his words. Her teeth sink into the leather material in her mouth, preventing them from grinding together. She didn't want to remember. She's worked so hard to keep the memories at bay, to lock them up and throw away the key.

"And I know that you used to see a therapist before coming here."

She's shaking her head now, not wanting to listen any longer. She won't confront this, and she'd sooner die than relive it. "Shut uh." She utters, pulling at her binds.

"Now we're getting somewhere." He sighs with a slight smile, satisfied with her reaction. "Let's start with your friend, Deputy. What happened to him? Do you even remember his name?"

She doesn't answer. She's too busy containing her emotions, trying not to let the memories flood her mind. The mix of emotions are too much, so she tries to numb them, to numb herself to the emotional pain. She liked it better when he was torturing her physically, not mentally.

"His name was James Williams, and police suspect that his death was foul play." His eyes flick down to the page then back up. "Filicide. You know the word, yes? The killing of one's child?"

She shakes her head again, knowing what’s coming next.

“But this article in particular was very interesting.” He holds it up and begins to read aloud. “A fire that broke out early morning last Sunday is now being classified as an arson. Sherry Williams, 45, and her husband Jason Williams, 50, died after being taken to the hospital with third-degree burns.” He stops reading, lifting his eyes and lowering the paper, watching her reaction with a tilt of his head. “I think you know what the rest of the article says, Deputy.”

She pulls at her binds, squirming to get loose, to cover her ears and ignore the words being thrown her way. “Shtop!”

But John doesn’t stop, not when he knows that he’s finally getting somewhere. He sets the papers down, picks his tools up, and moves to stand in front of her. Parting the flaps of her shirt that were ripped already, he stares down at the tattoo on her chest that he’d etched onto her skin a few days ago. The words ‘WRATH’ stood out in dark, bold lettering, the skin around them still red and irritated, and he knew his next actions would do nothing to soothe them. But this was the process, his process, and part of her Atonement.

Willa squirms when his fingers caress her skin, tracing over the letters with a sadistic fascination in his eyes, causing her stomach to curdle in disgust. That disgust quickly gives way to a desperate attempt to escape when he brings a knife into view. She only has to wait for a few seconds before the bite of the blade presses into her skin, prompting beads of blood to bubble up as it traces over the lettering of her sin. Her teeth sink into the leather in her mouth, denying him the satisfaction of hearing her make a noise yet. Without a pause, he’s already onto the second letter, then the third, and it isn’t until he’s on the last two letters that she finally lets out a muffled whimper.

John stops, lifting his gaze from his work, causing blue eyes to clash against her own green eyes. “Comfortable, Deputy?”

If she could have spat in his face, she would have, so she settles for the next best thing: a head butt.

“Fuck!” John curses, dropping the knife in favor of clutching his now aching head.

She can’t help but to laugh, even if her head was now throbbing and her chest was burning, the sight of John in pain was something that tickled her pink. The next few moments are lightening quick, he bends down, snatches up the blade, and stabs her thigh.

“AHH FUCK!” Looking down, she observes the knife stuck halfway in, almost deep enough to dig into bone. “Why the fuck woo you do that?!”

“Why would you headbutt me?!”

Breathing through the pain, she shrugs her shoulders. “Touché.”

"I think," He yanks the blade out, taking great satisfaction in her muffled yell that trails off into a pained whimper. "We'll continue this later." Without any further comment, he leaves her alone in the room, slamming the door behind him.

#sorry this has taken a decade and a half... writing has been a struggle but we back on the grind i think #everyone is experiencing the horrors but Dat is just having fun being a silly little guy! #also the number 347 represents a great change and transformation in life 👀 #ahhh sorry these were kinda long too. i normally like to keep them short and sweet but yeah... anyway willa is doing just fine! #totally fine!! she'll get out eventually when john makes the mistake of taking her to his ranch bc he thinks shes docile :) #really shes just bidding her time #oc: willa rook #oc: datura #my writing #wips

[saiilorstars]

Ch.31:  The Final Race

Pairing: Barry Allen x OFC

Current Masterlist | Previous Story

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

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

[If you’d like to be part of this OC’s taglist, let me know!

Cold rain hit hard against the umbrellas of the group. It made the grass in the cemetery mushy to walk through, made Henry's coffin just a bit damp too. The group huddled around the coffin and listened to biblical words in hopes of easing their hearts.

"...and comfort us today with the word of your promise as we return our brother to the earth, and leave us with the hope that, one day, we'll meet again."

Barry cleared his throat and forced his gaze to land on his father's coffin. All eyes were on him, waiting to say something right about Henry. "Um...my father's…" But the words failed him. His mind was racing but at the same time there were no clear thoughts, there was nothing he could say. "I can't do this right now."

Belén wrapped her arm around his and assured him it was fine. It was completely understandable. She would know. One year ago she stood in his place, burying her father (who was also murdered by a crazy speedster).

Joe took the lead and said the final words for Barry. "Henry Allen. Henry suffered two great losses in his life. He lost his wife, Nora, and he lost Barry. He suffered guilt, embarrassment, ridicule, shame, and everything that comes with being blamed for a crime he didn't commit. Henry Allen was proof that love can get you through the darkest of days, and that love will keep him alive in all of our hearts."

Barry left the umbrella to Belén as he went around to take a rose. He placed it over his father's coffin and sucked in a shaky breath. "I promise you I'm gonna take from him what he took from you."

The others exchanged worried glances from his words, but for the time being they would let him grieve.

~ 0 ~

Even though there was no desire to eat, Iris made sure to spread around a decent meal on her dining table. She gave Belén a cautious look when the ombre-blonde set down a stack of empty glasses. Belén quietly sighed and followed Iris' gaze to Barry, who had been staring out the window for the last fifteen minutes.

"I can't talk to him…" Belén confided in her friend, shamefully too. She tried countless times to get a word in but each time Barry would shut her down. He wasn't in the mood and though it was understandable it didn't make Belén feel any better knowing she wasn't able to help him.

Iris rubbed Belén's back comfortingly. Belén shook her head and gently pushed Iris' hand from her. "I'm not the one who needs comforting."

"Alright," Barry started coming back to them. "Guys, Zoom's still out there. We need to come up with a plan."

Cisco had a finger against his temple, obviously out of fresh ideas. "The man can crack open breaches to Earth-2. I mean, if he can do that, what else can he do that we don't know about?"

"Well, those breaches he opened have to be limited," Caitlin sat beside him at the table. "I mean, why else have a personal siphoner?"

"What if that was just a ruse for distraction?" Nina offered another suggestion. "Use a familiar face to keep us away from the real plan."

"A damn good distraction if you asked me," Shivhan muttered.

"And what would that real plan be exactly?" Veronica looked between the team for the answer.

"Right after he killed his time remnant, he told me I was 'almost ready'." Barry reviewed the last fight he had with Zoom and felt the burning fury of losing it.

"Almost ready for what?" asked Joe.

"I don't know."

"Yep. Classic psychopath. Why can't they ever just say what they want to do?" Cisco dropped a hand to the table and drummed his fingers against it. "We also have to figure out why I keep vibing Earth-2 being ripped to shreds. Seriously. It's like I'm watching "Transformers" in 4-D, but, like, ten times more realistic and with much better acting."

"Maybe it's your powers developing," Belén suggested with a light smile that lasted very little. "If that's the future then we need to stop Zoom before it actually happens."

Barry had been listening and paying attention as best as possible but ultimately decided it was just too much. "I'm gonna get some air, all right?" He made a hasty leave for the front door.

Belén went after him, telling the others to not interrupt them. She had to get him to talk to her one way or another. She tried doing the same thing last year, keeping everything bottled in hadn't been the best of her ideas. She couldn't let Barry fall into the same path.

Barry was sitting on the front porch when she finally stepped out. She was cautious as she approached him but at least this time she would hear his voice saying something besides 'I need to be alone'. "When I was in the Speed Force, I felt like I'd finally come to grips with her death, with not saving her when I went back. And then the moment where I'm finally at the place I can move on, my father's taken from me. How am I ever supposed to find peace with that?"

With a sigh, Belén took a seat beside him. "I get how you feel. We had a conversation like this a long time ago, remember?" She scooted closer to him and reached for his hand. "Accepting your parents' death is going to take time. But the key thing you have to do is to try to move on. Not fast, not on a schedule, but just...accepting and moving on."

"I just miss him so much already," Barry leaned his head on her shoulder. He was well aware of his recent distancing from her and now that he felt her warmth, he felt like he could stick to her for the rest of the night and yet...there was still a part of him screaming that he needed to put some distance, not for him but for her. She'd been so kind to him these past days and he couldn't put himself together even for her. He was curt and he was distant. That wasn't a relationship and much less something she deserved.

"I'm so sorry, Barry," Belén whispered to him in the midst of his grim thoughts.

In their moment of silence, a blue glow zipped down the street and without any hesitation Barry chased it. Belén could've screamed for him to stop but there would be no point. He was going no matter what.

And in the end of that chase, Barry came to a solitary intersection where Hunter waited.

"Bad time, Flash? Thought I'd give you some time to mourn," he had the audacity to say.

Barry gritted his teeth together and barely kept his feet in place. "This ends now."

"Not yet," Hunter countered, wagging his finger. "There's always more to take, Barry."

"You're gonna stay away from them," Barry warned.

"Well, that's completely up to you."

"What?"

"When we first met, I told you that Zoom needed to be the best. You just didn't realize I was talking about myself."

Barry thought it completely ridiculous what he was hearing. "Is that what this is about?"

"A race, Barry, between you and me... to see who's the fastest. You win: this is over, and you get to be the hero."

"I'm not racing you."

Hunter made a shrug. "Then your father won't be the only person you love that I'll take from you. Think about it, Flash. All I want to know is who's the fastest man alive on either world. I'll be waiting."

He left the choice with Barry and disappeared.

~ 0 ~

"So...Zoom wants to race you?" Cisco wanted to make sure what he heard had been correct.

Barry found it hard to look at his friends without showing all the anger bubbling inside him. "He's obsessed with being the best."

"You know, that actually makes sense in a weird, twisted way," Belén swayed her head. "I mean, he's technically the fastest speedster in his world so naturally he'd want to come over here to our world and challenge the fastest speedster here...you."

"But that can't be everything he wants," Joe said, refusing to believe that it would all come down to this challenge. All the murders and pain that man caused was all to come to...a race?

Harry had already taken initiative and began doing some research. "It isn't. This Magnetar that's being developed by Mercury Labs…" He pulled up a schematic of the device for the others to see. "Turns out, it can act as a pulsar."

"What the hell is a pulsar?" Shivhan stared at the screen in confusion.

"It's a power amplifier with a highly magnetized, dense rotating core that can be easily weaponized."

"Well, that's not dangerous at all," Iris said.

"That's what happens to Earth-2," Cisco realized soon after. "What happens in my vibes is because of this machine."

"No, hold on, that thing is powerful enough to destroy a planet?" Veronica made a gesture for them to slow down. They had gone from talking about a simple race to...the destruction of the entire planet.

"A lot more than just a planet, if it has the right power source," Harry confirmed.

"Like what?"

"Like me," Barry said, still coming to terms with it. "That's why he wants to race. He wants to siphon the energy I create when I run."

"He wants to siphon the energy off both of you," Harry told him.

Caitlin thought for a second and remembered some important words of Hunter's during her awful time with him. "When Jay captured me, he said that he used to measure his success by counting the number of victims he had, but now he was gonna measure it by counting the number of Earths he conquered instead."

"He doesn't want to just destroy Earth-2; he wants to take out every other planet in the multiverse," Belén shuddered a breath at the thought. They'd gone from a race to the destruction of their planet and then the end of the universes.

"And how many of those are there again?" Nina looked scared to even glance at Harry for the answer.

"Infinite."

"Ah."

"If he can create a breach to Earth-2 all on his own...he can get to all of 'em," Joe said.

"One pulse to destroy them all."

Barry decided there and then. "I guess I don't have a choice. I have to race him. And I have to win."

~ 0 ~

A short time later - after Barry had gotten back in his suit and told the others he would be practicing in the pipeline - Caitlin had called Belén into a sideroom. Even though there was no one left inside the cortex, Caitlin didn't want to take a chance.

"What's up Caitlin?" Belén crossed her arms and watched as Caitlin sat down on the single desk.

Caitlin didn't say anything as she picked up a silver metallic device blinking red. She stared at it for a short minute before holding it out to Belén.

Belén's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What...is it?"

"Cisco helped me create the physical device and I combined my work with Barry's for the actual components. I-I think…" Caitlin took in a small breath, "...I think we finished it."

It took only a minute for Belén to realize what Caitlin held. "That's...the cure for Datura?"

A small smile slipped through Caitlin's lips. "It's not technically a 'cure'—" she made air quotation marks, "—but more like a conduit."

"A what-a-what now?" Belén took the device into her hands. She noticed there were needle-like parts sticking out at the bottom and the top, both encased with protective plastic.

"The way it's meant to work is for both of those—"Caitlin tapped the casing of the needles, "—to extract yours and Datura's DNA and sort of…" Belén was sure Caitlin was having trouble explaining in simple terms and felt for the woman. She always did need things simplified. "It meshes them together, rearranging them into the right sequence needed for Datura's body to become stable again. It'll hopefully get rid of those awful personas in her head."

"That sounded scientifically correct," Belén smiled. "So I inject this into the bitch and then it's over?"

Caitlin wasn't one for cursing so she went on like it never happened. "That's the idea."

"Great, except for one problem: she's surprisingly very good at hide-and-seek," Belén put the device on the desk.

"Well, yes...but we're even better at seeking," Caitlin turned to the computer and typed pretty fast. "Since Datura and Zoom are technically the last Earth-2 metas outside of the pipeline, it's a lot easier to find them."

"Eugh, definitely don't wanna find Zoom that fast," Belén mumbled.

"But if we use Harry's cellular deadzone trick, we can find both of them," Caitlin finished typing and gestured to the screen that had a blinking dot.

Belén leaned forwards and scanned the screen. "Bitch is really me," she mumbled with just a hint of a smile. "She's at the community theater."

"Was she a dancer before like you?" Caitlin truly wondered.

"Who knows," shrugged Belén as she straightened up. "But I guess we're going to find out." She grabbed the device and walked out of the room.

Caitlin came after her but both women were greeted with the grim faces of their friends. "What happened?" Caitlin asked them.

"We, uh...we may have done a thing…" Iris spoke slowly and nervously, her eyes constantly flickering to the others.

"What kind of thing?" Belén raised an eyebrow. She saw her mother standing very straight and confident. It was usually the face she did when she 'made a decision'. "Mom? What did you do?" Veronica opened her mouth several times, apparently finding it harder to speak than she anticipated. "Mom? What did you do?"

"It wasn't her, Belén," Shivhan said quietly, her eyes drifting over to the others but more specifically at Harry. "I'm pretty sure it was a unanimous decision."

"We made the decision," Harry sharply clarified.

"What decision?" Belén insisted, growing frustrated by the second. Silence irritated her the most.

"We put Barry in the pipeline," Harry said, showing not as much conflict as the others.

Both Belén and Caitlin blinked in surprise.

"Hold on...what?" Belén asked again. Caitlin decided to find out on her own and headed for the main desk. "Why would you do that!?" Belén exclaimed.

"Because he's going to get himself killed," Harry continued answering for the others. "We made the decision—"

"We did not make any decision!" Belén snapped. She glanced at Caitlin and saw the security camera showing Barry indeed inside a pipeline pod. "Oh my God," Belén frowned and headed for the pipeline.

"Belén!" Veronica shouted and immediately followed. The others quickly did the same. "Belén!"

Belén ignored the calls of her friends all the way into the pipeline. She smacked away Harry's hand when he tried to pull her hand from the pipeline control.

"You can't open it!" Harry warned her.

"Frikin watch me!" she shouted in his face and indeed opened the pipeline, bringing in Barry's pod.

"Belén, stop!" this time it was Iris who brought Belén back.

"Iris! Why—"

"Just...just let us talk to him, okay?" Iris had a significant expression sitting on her face. "Just listen to him...and then...and then see for yourself."

Belén thought she was crazy, but feeling the outnumbering pressure got to her. She turned around to face Barry who was coming out of the tranquilizer they'd injected into him.

On wobbly feet, Barry got up and planted his palms on the wall of the pod. "What are you doing? Why did you put me in here?"

"Because you're too angry right now," Joe began and Belén did the watching like Iris instructed. "You can't race him like that. Without a plan, you're... You'll lose."

Barry began the anger fuse in a second. "Keeping me in here is gonna get everyone killed. I'm the only one that can stop him; you know that."

"You race Zoom on his terms, you'll lose," Harry said slow and steady for Barry to understand.

Barry slammed a hand against the wall, startling Belén. "This is not your decision to make!"

"It is this time," Joe corrected him. "We all made it together."

Offence scratched at Barry's surface. He took in the guilty faces of his friends. "All of you?" he especially lingered on Belén.

"Barry, I…"

"She and Caitlin weren't there," Veronica beat her daughter to it.

"Bro, I went back and forth. I was, like, a good 60/40 at first…" Cisco wanted to explain but Harry cut him of.

"Ramon!"

"Yeah, yeah, we all made the decision," Cisco mumbled.

"Come on!" Barry exclaimed. He was riled up and slamming the walls of his prison. Belén watched him carefully as promised. "This is ridiculous!"

"Belén," Harry's sharp voice startled the woman in question. He had one hand hovering over the pipeline's control. "What's your call?"

"I…" Belén bit her lip nervously, feeling her heart rapidly beating with the decision resting on her. "I…" she sighed and put herself together, "Close it down."

"Belén!" Barry seemed stunned. "Don't do this!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry…" Belén hated hearing his screams as the pipeline was forced to shut.

He was completely out of it, delirious with anger...and that was a one way ticket to death. It was probably what Zoom was counting on. Barry's grief and endless anger combined together made for the perfect opponent. She couldn't let that happen.

~ 0 ~

"I can't believe I just did that," Belén was the first to speak after they returned to the cortex. It was heart-wrenching to see Barry in that position and much more to hear his screams.

"Believe me, it was for the best," Nina assured her. "I have seen my share fair of patients' families go down a similar road of rage and it never ends well."

"I have never seen him that angry before…" Belén trailed off and a small chuckle escaped through her lips, "Except for when he fought the Reverse Flash. Seems like we're always in these situations."

"Well this was just the easy part, ladies and gentlemen," Harry strode out of the side room with two large briefcases that he set on the table. "Now, using our plan to take down Zoom without Barry, that's gonna be the hard part, but it's gonna be a lot easier once we know where he is, Ramon!"

Cisco felt the sharp jab of that statement from the computers. "Chill, man! I'm working on it!"

"Well work harder!"

Cisco was proud to say he had found the location. "Got it. He's at the industrial park on Leawood. Give me that!" he high-fived with Jesse.

"What the hell is even the plan here?" Belén asked, shooting the group suspicious looks. "Since you were all so kind enough not to tell me and Caitlin beforehand?"

"It would be nice to know," Caitlin agreed quietly.

"The plan is Caitlin will distract Jay so that we—" Harry motioned to himself and Cisco, "—can hit him with the boot."

"You want to use Caitlin?" Belén stopped them right there, exasperated on behalf of Caitlin. "Are you out of your minds!?"

"It's the only logical way—"

"Don't you say that to me when I am standing right here," Belén warned him.

"Belén it's okay," Caitlin suddenly spoke up after dwelling on it for a minute in silence. It gave her a terrible feeling in hwe stomach but there was a fiercer determination to stop Zoom once and for all.

"What? Caitlin—"

"Honest, Belén," Caitlin patted her friend's arm. "Jay may be a monster, but there's a human inside of him somewhere. I've gotten to that part of him before. I know I can do it again. I want to stop him, Harry, for good."

"Alright, thanks," Harry gave her a nod. "So then after Caitlin does her distraction, Cisco's gonna open the breach, and we're gonna put him through it. I'll disarm the Magnetar."

"And what, pray tell, am I gonna do?" Belén wasn't liking this plan since it was basically pushing her aside.

"You are going to be on watch duty," Harry had an answer for her ready to go.

"Because she might be there," Veronica said. "I am not taking any chances again. Shivhan is going to be looking after you like a hawk."

Belén gasped indignantly at the idea and even shot a glare at Shivhan who'd been quiet all this time. "Seriously?"

"Sorry," she shrugged. "But she has a gun." Belén rolled her eyes.

"I'll be fine," Caitlin reassured Belén in the end. "We'll all be okay."

"One more thing," Joe stepped forwards. "We need to agree. We all made this decision together, so if anything goes wrong, we stick with it."

Everyone gave their re-confirming nods.

"Let's load up," Harry moved.

~ 0 ~

Harry, Joe and Cisco each took respective hideouts in the industrial park before 'Caitlin' was meant to call in Zoom. The women, ironically, were set in the STAR Labs van.

"I should be out there," Belén muttered for the fifth time to her mother. "I'm not five years old."

"Then quit whining like one," Veronica swiftly retorted, furthering her daughter's irritation.

"Okay…" Iris cleared her throat. "Are you guys ready?" she called in to the others through the comms.

"We got you," Harry dutifully responded.

"Caitlin?" Nina glanced at the brunette expectantly. She, much like Belén, wasn't exactly on board with the precise details of the plan. Her wound didn't allow her to get back in the meta field yet so she was on "watch duty" just like Belén.

"Yes," Caitlin was more than determined to finish this once and for all.

"Then all hands on board," Shivhan declared.

~ 0 ~

"Jay?" Caitlin called out to the meta. "Jay!"

Her voice drew him in within the second. He sped to stand across her in the open area of the park. "How did you find me?"

"Doctor McGee said the Magnetar was stolen from her labs. I knew that it had to be you, so I tracked you here," Caitlin played the part well. "I tracked you here, Jay. No one else knows." She paused for a second and contemplated her next words. "Datura let me go…"

"I know," Hunter said bitterly. "Woman knows how to hide. But that won't last long."

"But I'm here," Caitlin gestured to herself. "She let me go and I returned. I came back to you." She discreetly took several steps towards him and watched as he did the same. "You were right. There is a dark side of me. I'm...I'm more like Killer Frost than I thought...and I really didn't want to accept that. I tried to lock the darkness inside of me. But you knew that that was already a part of me now. And you're the only one who did. And now, I'm ready to accept who I really am." By this time, she had successfully drew Hunter close to her. "I am so sorry it took me this long to realize," Caitlin finished. "I want to be the one that only you know. Please, Jay. Let me try."

"I knew you would see the light, Caitlin," Hunter sighed. "But it's too late." Without hesitation, he struck a hand through her chest and came to the realization she was only a hologram.

Caitlin had never left the van.

There was a locking noise in the air and the next thing Hunter knew was his restraint to a metal dampener around his neck. Cisco, from above, shot a breech energy close to him and waited for Joe to finish it all. When Harry saw there was no finale, he took matters into his own hands and shot at Hunter with his own gun. It missed only slightly since Hunter was still stumbling with the metal dampener around his neck.

"Tranq him! Tranq him!" Harry shouted at Joe.

"Gun is jammed!" came the response. Joe grabbed the tranquilizers and made a run for Hunter. He jabbed the tranquilizers into both sides of Hunter's shoulder blades and stumbled back.

Harry came into the area again and shot at Hunter. The blow made Hunter fall into the breech, but it also caused for an easy snatch of Joe. Both men were gone within the second.

~ 0 ~

Iris intently watched Cisco vibe for her father's location and half knew the answer when Cisco sighed and pulled off his vibing goggles. Yet, she dared to believe. "Did you see my Dad?"

"No, the vibe keeps changing. It's like my brain is channel surfing or something," Cisco dejectedly found a seat nearby.

"They must be on the move," Caitlin theorized. "That's why the vibe's in flux. Keep trying."

Harry and Jesse came into the cortex wearing almost identical grim faces.

"Did you turn off the Magnetar?" asked Nina, though she knew the answer already.

"No, there's no messing with that thing. Whatever he did to it...we try and touch it, we try and move it…" Harry shook his head.

"This planet's done for," Belén said, extremely struggling to keep herself together.

"Belén, you should cal—"

"Mom, please, for the love of God, don't finish that," Belén warned her. She didn't want to hear how she should 'calm down'. There was absolutely no way to calm down. She had decided to go along with their plans and leave Barry in the pipeline because it was the best thing for him. But now he was still in the pipeline and Joe was gone. "We made the wrong decision and now Joe's out there. What the hell were we thinking?" She rubbed her forehead.

"Iris," Wally came into the room and almost immediately sensed the dense atmosphere. "What's...what's wrong?"

Belén released a loud breath, making no attempt to hide her mood. "We screwed up, that's what."

"Belén," Veronica spoke her daughter's name through gritted teeth.

"Okay, what's going on?" Wally demanded to know.

"We tried to stop Zoom by pushing him through the breach, but... he took Joe with him," Caitlin was the one to explain.

"Well, where's Barry? Did he go after him?" Wally asked but then noticed that the speedster in question wasn't there.

"He's not with us because we decided to put him in a cell," Belén felt terrible as she spoke the words. She was the worst girlfriend in the world, she was sure of it.

Wally wasn't sure if he was hearing right but once he got a better look at everyone's faces in the room, he decided that he actually heard right. "Wait, you... you tried to stop Zoom alone? Well, we have to get him back!"

Iris reached out for her brother's arm before he got going. "Wally, before Zoom took Dad, we all agreed that if we got him off this Earth, we would close the breaches for good, and we would never open them again, under any circumstances."

"Why...why would you do that?" Wally made frantic hand gestures in the air. "No! No way, that's not gonna happen!"

"He made us all agree to it," Iris said, doing her best to withhold her emotions.

"Well guess what? I didn't agree to that!" Wally snapped. "I already lost my mom. If Dad... I…" he trailed off, deeming things to be too much for him, and he stormed off.

"He's not wrong," Belén sighed. "We screwed up, and badly."

"We agreed to it—"

"Iris quit reciting that! We know you want to go and save him just as much as we want to," Belén surprisingly held her voice down for Iris' sake. "We all do!"

"But that's not what we agreed on," Harry meant no argument, just a simple reminder.

"And if it had been Jesse again?" Belén countered with. She saw the immediate glance to Jesse and sighed. "Or what if it had been Caitlin? Iris? Let's all be honest here, the promise we made was always going to be voided if something like this happened. Who were we trying to kid?"

Silence filled the room with mixtures of guilt. The only sound came from a blinking alert from one of the computers. Being closest to it, Jesse checked on it.

"Uh, hey, guys, Barry's not—" she got cut off by Barry himself who had sped in with Wally, "...in his cell anymore…"

Iris' irritation returned with her brother's disobedience. "Wally!"

"What?" the younger sibling turned to her. "I wasn't just gonna stand here and let this happen."

Barry had learned exactly what had happened from Wally and was rightfully angry. "You let him take Joe? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Allen, there was nothing we could do," Harry said with a repeated sigh.

Barry felt like a broken record repeating the solution. "You could've let me race him!"

"You're not racing Zoom!"

"What are you gonna do? Are you gonna tranq me again?"

"Don't tempt me!"

"Look, I know you guys made a pact to keep Zoom on Earth-2, but you did that without me and Wally. All right? You don't get to do that!"

"And you don't get to go die being reckless," snapped Belén and dared him to come back. "You are not okay, Barry—"

"My dad was just killed in front of me!"

"I know! We all do!" Belén upheld her loudness. She hated yelling at him, especially in moments like these but if she kept talking at a normal volume then she would never get through to him. "We've all lost someone to people who didn't deserve to play God. But you going out there, all angry and emotional won't help anyone."

"Look, Barry—" Caitlin took a crack at it, "—I know how cold and angry and distant that can make you. But when this happened to me, you were the one who kept me in check. You told me to stop and take a breath, and that's all we're telling you to do now."

Barry took in some air and spoke much calmer, abet still laced with frustration. "I'm telling you I'm good!"

Harry scoffed. "Really? You're good? Because it seems to me you want to do more than stop Zoom. It seems to me you want revenge. If that's why you're doing this, Allen, you will lose."

"Please, Barry," Belén begged in a whisper.

Barry mildly reconsidered after getting her look. "Look, you guys. I... you may not think I can do this. You may think I'm too angry. But we're running out of time! I have to beat him, and I'm going to, whether I have your help or not. So which one is it?"

Well, there wasn't much to think about after that.

Cisco vibed Barry to Zoom's old cave on Earth 2 to accept his racing challenge. The group at least had some relief to know Zoom would be bringing Joe back with him to their Earth. Now all they had to do is figure out a way to beat him.

Belén and Caitlin, however, were a little more focused on their side mission. Eventually, even Shivhan had drifted to their corner. Belén was already in her suit, holding the curing device tightly in her hands, and was talking to them about their situation when Barry approached them.

"What are you two doing?" he eyed them suspiciously.

Belén turned out and waved the device at him. "Caitlin did it."

Barry's eyes widened at the sight of the device. "Cait, you did it!?"

Caitlin sheepishly nodded. "With all our combined efforts, yes."

"I was thinking I'm going to do this myself," Belén informed and quickly added on when she saw Barry opening his mouth to argue, "It's the only way. Look, it's obvious I can't fight Zoom because of speed differences and you can't fight Datura because of, well, her face. We have to split up if we really want to win."

Barry wanted to argue that she was wrong...but she really wasn't. It had been his weakness from the very beginning against Datura. He couldn't bring himself to physically hurt her, and it was obvious words weren't going to get through her. Not to mention, Datura was definitely counting on her advantage and would beat him to a pulp if he gave her the chance. "You're right."

"Yes, I am."

"But... please...be careful." Because as much as they hated to admit it, Barry also knew that Datura held an advantage against Belén. Belén had said it from the very beginning; they were evenly matched.

"She'll be fine because she's definitely not going alone," Shivhan declared just as Caitlin moved to stand beside her.

Belén shot both of them a wide-eyed look. "What?"

"Belén, we want to come with you," said Caitlin.

"Cait…" Belén had severe doubts of this new addition to the plan, but both women were ready to make their cases.

"You came to me for some back up all these months ago," Shivhan reminded her. "And you were right because if you hadn't, I would still be trying to hide from Datura. I told you that I would help you wipe that smugness off her face and that's what I'm going to do today."

"It turned into my fight a while ago when Jay took me to Earth 2," Caitlin admitted. "We had conversations when we were back on this Earth. Cisco mentioned it before that maybe it was like an echo of our friendship coming out. Datura made some choices with me that...might be more from her human side. If I can tap into that and help you in any way that I can, Belén, I will."

Belén looked between the two women, searching for any trace of doubt in their eyes. She really didn't want either of them to come with her — she wanted to keep them out of harm's way — but she got the feeling that no matter what argument she made, they would outmatch her. "I am so very lucky to have you guys as friends."

"Yeah you are," Shivhan smirked, making them laugh.

"Dr. Snow, pack a weapon for yourself," Belén started. "I don't want you completely unarmed in case Datura gets any funny ideas."

"On it," Caitlin said and started off for their stash of weaponry.

"I'll...help her pick out something gnarly," Shivhan decided after getting the feeling she would be a third wheel in a couple of moments.

Belén watched them disappear and perhaps would've kept herself in that way if she didn't feel Barry placing a hand on her shoulder. They had yet to talk about the pipeline earlier.

"Bells, you have to be careful," Barry said.

She turned slowly to meet his gaze. "I will if you will," she countered with.

"I will...do my best," Barry promised. For now, that was all either of them could promise to each other.

"Barry, I'm sorry for locking you in the pipeline - well not that I had originally been in on it because Caitlin and I were still here actually. But, you know, I'm sorry for later deciding to lock you in. I was scared for you and us—"

Barry knew that if he let her, she would talk until her face turned blue. Her college nickname 'Motor-mouth-Belén' still made him laugh every now and then when it was brought up. He wished he could go back to those moments instead of what they had now: pure trouble. He cupped her face, stopping her in the middle of a phenomenal apology with a sound kiss on the lips.

Belén would take any opportunity like this whenever she could. Her hands snaked their way up to his face and stayed there because it was the closest she could have him in that moment. "Is that code for forgiveness?" she asked afterwards in a whisper. "Because I'm really sorry."

"I get why you did it," Barry told her, reassuring her that he wasn't upset with her. "I just hate that you needed to do it. It feels like these past few days, you've had to do deal with a lot because of me and I...I can't seem to get myself together, you know? I'm too hurt to do right by you."

"So?" she said, surprising him that she was that aware. "Your father just died, Barry. You can't pull yourself together right now. You have to mourn, you have to let time pass before you can ever claim some normality. I know that and I'm here for all of it — I'll be here for every stage of it."

"But you don't deserve that," Barry let his head hang with guilt. He felt it in the pit of his stomach that it would be a long time before he could ever be someone good for her again. She didn't deserve that at all.

"Stop thinking you know what I deserve," Belén said gently. "I know what I deserve, alright? Let me be here for whatever you need...just like you were there for me when my father died." He ultimately nodded but Belén felt like he still hadn't completely grasped her point. In fact, she felt like she was missing something and it scared her. For that, she wrapped her arms around him for a very tight hug. Suddenly, it wasn't all about the fighting they would be doing soon...something was telling her to hold onto him before he disappeared. That was scary.

~ 0 ~

Everyone except Belén, Shivhan and Caitlin had returned to Zoom's hideout. Cisco was the first one to spot the magnetar in all its grandness right across them. It was lighting up in glows of white and yellow, giving it a similar appearance to a ferris wheel. But this was no ferris wheel.

"I tell you, Jay might be crazy-pants, but he can pick a venue," Cisco sucked a breath in after finally managing to tear his gaze from the magnetar.

Zoom sped in from behind, with Joe tight by the arm. "Brought the whole crew with you, huh? Can't say I blame you."

"Dad!" Wally nearly ran to his father if Iris hadn't grabbed hold of him.

"It's gonna be one hell of a show," Zoom promised.

Barry moved to stand in front of his friends. "Let him go."

"After we race."

"Cut the crap," Harry had a good aim on Zoom. "We know you plan to power up the Magnetar so you can destroy the multiverse."

"Bravo. You figured it out... almost," Zoom said, pulling off his mask. "I don't want to destroy all of it. This Earth is at the center of the multiverse. It's the access point to every other Earth in existence. One trans-dimensional shockwave, and... poof."

"Leaving just our Earth," Cisco narrowed his eyes. "How generous of you."

Hunter took the compliment. "Need to have some place to hang my cowl. You might want to say your good-byes." He sped off to take his place and leave Joe tied up somewhere to the side.

Barry turned to Iris and Wally, the most affected by far. "Don't worry. I'm gonna save your dad."

"No. You're gonna save our dad," Wally corrected him, encouraging him to go on.

~ 0 ~

Belén slowly crept into the community theater which, as of late, had been closed down for reconstruction after Zoom's metas had given it a good rundown. Shivhan and Caitlin, who held a small meta dampener gun, were right behind Belén. They made it past the hallways with no problem but saw a blinking light coming from the stage room. Belén warned the others to stay behind as they walked in through the back.

Even though the lights were dim, they could see a figure lying on their back on the stage. Said figure was humming to herself, wagging a finger in the air. Belén wasn't sure what to think.

Shivhan, however, had her thoughts perfectly lined up. "She's officially gone insane."

"Shh," Belén said quickly.

"'Insane' is much more difficult to fight, Belén," Shivhan warned.

"She's not crazy," went Caitlin, earning herself a look from Shivhan. "I'm serious. These personas bombarding Datura aren't making her crazy. She never was. They're overwhelming her to the point where she has to break at moments in order to not go crazy."

"Either way, she can't stay here," Belén took in a deep breath. It was time to go. She started making her way down steps leading to the stage. When Datura stopped humming suddenly, Belén balled a fist and prepared for a fight.

"It's funny what you end up thinking about in your last moments," the doppelganger spoke with ease. She stretched and arm over her head to point back at the silks dropping from the ceiling. "I dabbled in dancing before I went into biology."

"Your mom make you quit too?" Belén inquired, stopping midway down.

Datura snorted. "Mom? No. It was Dad. He said it was a useless talent."

"Been there done that…" Belén mumbled. "So that's why you're here then? Relive past moments?"

Datura supported her upper body with her elbows and gave Belén an "are you serious" stare. "I'm here because I can't get home, dumbass. I can't leave because everywhere I go, Zoom will be there."

"So you want to go home?"

Datura licked her lips, clearly struggling to be that honest with her. "Well...when everything is said and done, when you're about to die...where do you want to go?"

Belén swallowed hard. "Home..." she whispered.

"Yeah, except in my case, I can't really do that all the way, huh?" Datura cocked her head to the side. Her husband was gone, her family thought her dead, and Poison Ivy was locked up right here on this Earth. Even if she did manage to go home, where would she go? "It's stupid but I'd rather not die by myself. Any chance you'd let Poison Ivy come out?"

Belén raised an eyebrow at her. Somewhere in the back, she was sure that Shivhan was snorting at the audacity of the woman. "Listen Datura, I know what you did for Caitlin, and I'm thankful for it," Belén said, eliciting a small sarcastic laugh in return.

"Spare me the "you're a hero within" speech. I'm dying, no reason to bring her down with me. Right Caity?" Datura purposely called out to Caitlin, knowing she was there in the room. "You can come out of the darkness, it's not like I'll shoot you. Well, maybe." Shivhan led Caitlin down a couple steps but she kept one arm in front of her in case Datura tried something. "Oooh, Black Orchid is here too," Datura sighed dramatically. "Must we do this?"

"No," Shivhan said. "You can go straight to the pipeline and make our night easier."

"I redid the cure. I'm pretty sure it'll work…" Caitlin started but Datura's eyes flashed red all of a sudden. Belén and Shivhan prepared themselves to block whatever attack Datura would send their way...but instead Datura started laughing.

"Hey, genius, instead of laughing why not be more grateful that someone still cared for your ass?" Belén snapped. Maybe Shivhan wasn't all that wrong about the 'insane' part.

Datura let herself fall back to the floor. Something new had popped into her head and it was delicious. It was brand new hope, a brand new adventure she was more than willing to go into head-first. One of her hands covered her forehead as she continued to giggle. "You don't get it. It doesn't matter anymore…"

"What are you talking about?" Belén asked. She glanced back at Shivhan and Caitlin, hoping that they — like her — had gotten the gist that they had missed something just then. Determined, Belén jumped onto the stage to get closer to her doppelganger.

"None of it matters, idiot!" Datura snapped and sat up, flashing a smirk. "In the end, Barry's going to screw it up. The non-rule breaker will break the ultimate rule."

"I don't know what you're talking about but this ends now!" Belén went to grab Datura but the doppelganger seized her wrist and threw her over. Shivhan rushed down the remainder of the stairs but Datura called her.

"Stay where you are before I forget my fondness for Caity!" the doppelganger slowly stood up and walked over to Belén who was trying to get up. She pushed a heeled boot on Belén's back, forcing her to the ground. "I said I wanted to die in peace and you can't even do that?"

"Who said you got to die in peace?" Belén groaned.

"I don't have anything, not even Poison Ivy anymore. I've accepted the loss, so do me the favor and just go."

"That's the problem. You don't just get to decide you lose. After everything you did? Please."

"Why bother sticking me with that cure when it's not going to matter in the end?"

Belén swiped am arm across Datura's legs and knocked her over. She jumped over the woman and began to wrestle for the device's injection.

~0~

Barry had come to stand beside Zoom, both in front of the magnetar. "What are the rules?"

"One lap around the inside of this loop will produce about 1 gigawatt of energy, and I need 500-plus to power the Magnetar enough to do the job," Zoom motioned to the spinning design of the magnetar. "Once it's full, I win, because there is no stopping it."

Barey did not consider such possibility. He gave the magnetar another study. "So all I have to do to beat you is stop you before that happens."

"Yep. It's that simple," Zoom agreed but almost laughed at the absurdity of the notion. "But if, at any point, you decide you don't want to race anymore, dear old dad number two is a dead man, as well as your little fan club."

"They're not my fan club. They're the reason that I'm running, why I'm gonna beat you," Barry corrected and got ready to run the race of his life.

Zoom scoffed at the bubble-filled statement. "Let's see what you're made of, Flash."

"Just say when, Zoom."

Zoom pulled his mask on and spoke in a demonic voice. "Run, Barry. Run!"

And the two speedsters raced.

~0~

Caitlin had taken multiple aims with the meta dampener gun but found it impossible to actually shoot since the two doppelgangers kept going back and forth. Shivhan tried intervening but the first two times she had accidentally struck Belén in the middle of their ongoing fight.

"Belén! You need to stay still!"

Belén was currently dodging electric bolts and so found the challenge a bit difficult to manahs. "Can't—" bolt! "—really—" bolt! "—do—" bolt! "—that! Ah!" The last shot had gotten her from the side.

Electricity crackled around Datura's arms as the woman walked towards her doppelganger. "If anything, before everything on this world gets screwed over, I can have the satisfaction that you lost." Her eyes were golden as her electricity.

"Is that what this is to you? Whether you win or lose?" Caitlin called out, turning her attention. "I knew you served Zoom but I didn't think you were actually like him."

The statement elicited a newfound wave of rage. Electricity was exchanged for the familiar frost. "I am not Zoom!" spoke Killer Frost who shot icicles in Caitlin's way.

Shivhan wielded a shield of thick tendrils to cover them. "I guess the truth hurts, huh?" She then threw her shield like a boomerang that took Datura against the back of the stage. "You're just like Zoom. It's no wonder the Green didn't want you in."

Belén heard the distinctive growl of fury as soon as Shivhan mentioned the green. It gave her an idea. Datura jumped back on her feet, sending her own vine tendrils towards Shivhan.

~0~

"He's powering up the Magnetar," Harry had seen the controls of the device glowing with a white sphere at the center.

Cisco felt a rush of insecurity as they witnessed Zoom get a gain on Barry in the race. "Come on, Barry. Catch up."

A bright, white light sprouted from the magnetar and went right into the sky, ripping a hole that would soon create the breeches to the other worlds. But at the same time, the team saw Barry split into two.

Jesse tried following the original but ultimately lost track. "Which one's Barry?"

"Both of them. He made a…" Harry began and Cisco finished with him.

"...time remnant."

~ 0 ~

Shivhan delivered a punch followed by a second one across Datura's face. She pushed her foot against Datura's stomach then lunged on the doppelganger.

Caitlin tried once again to take aim but — just like when Datura fought Belén — Shivhan was in the way. "I can't get a clear shot!"

Datura sent Shivhan toppling over a prop table with a streak of energy. "Oh Caity, be honest, could you really shoot me?" She turned to face the brunette who was now gripping her weapon. "

"I shouldn't need to," Caitlin walked down the theater steps. "Because there's no reason for you to deny our help. It's what you wanted, no? That's why you nearly murdered our friends, why you kidnapped Belén's family?"

"I've got nothing anymore!" Datura frantically snapped. "My kind have been eradicated and the metas who survived - like Poison Ivy - are in your stupid maximum security prison right now! And excuse me if it sounds cliche but I don't like being alone."

Caitlin stopped and lowered her gun without realizing. "Just like Belén…"

~ 0 ~

Zoom had pinned Barry to the ground, never noticing that the other time remnant had switched to running around the magnetar's monitor control. "A remnant? Stole my trick, Flash. But you're too late. Bye-bye, multiverse!"

Barry didn't take his taunt and kicked Zoom backwards. As the man stumbled, Barry took his chance and gave in some hard (well deserved in his mind) punches.

"What's the time remnant doing?" Iris had to speak louder for the others to hear.

"He's creating his own pulse…" Harry replied, the idea still coming to him.

"Why would he do that?" Cisco focused explicitly on the time remnant.

But Harry had finally figured it out. "Because... if that's out of phase—" he pointed to the magnetar's monitor, "—it'll counteract that one!" He directed his finger to the magnetar itself.

"Wait, his body can't handle that!" Cisco soon realized.

Jesse raised an eyebrow. "Then what's gonna happen?"

"He'll die," Harry replied in a grim tone. The others behind him quickly turned their attention to the time remnant, who in all but five seconds, disintegrated into nothing.

Zoom saw his magnetar device shutting down. "NO!"

Barry lunged on him and delivered several punches before Zoom got an upperhand from coursing rage. The two speedsters went up the walls, going back and forth striking for blood. Barry pushed through and struck Zoom down against a street water metal object. Without giving a chance for breath, Barry flipped Zoom over then ripped a part of Zoom's mask off. The anger was still raw enough to push him without giving his brain time to catch up.

Zoom chortled darkly as Barry held off a vibrating hand in the air. "You're a hero, Barry. You couldn't kill me before. You won't kill me now."

Barry held his breath when he heard a familiar screeching in the air. A time portal had opened up to release two Time Wraiths. "I don't have to," Barry smirked and stepped off Zoom.

The Time Wraiths came straight for Zoom and the moment their clawed hands touched him, he began to scream. His skin morphed into a mummified figure. He was picked up like a ragdoll and carried right into the speed force, leaving a terrified group behind.

But Barry would watch on with a form of satisfaction that, at the same time, wasn't as fulfilling as he thought it would be.

~ 0 ~

Datura had gone after Shivhan, giving Caitlin only a brief moment to catch her breath. It was, though, the brief moment Datura should've kept guard over Caitlin and Belén.

"It's over Caitlin," Datura spat as she hopped down the stage towards Caitlin. Before she took two steps, Belén started throwing matter of chloroplasts at her. The first one smacked Datura's back and threw the woman into the first row of seats. Belén threw two more to Datura's wrists.

Datura's wrists crackled with electricity as she broke through the makeshift binds. As she was turning around, Belén fired a series of thorns her way. Rose thorns. Datura managed to conjure up a vine shield but not after getting a series of stabs on her arms first.

"How could a metahuman who comes from Mother Nature be this toxic against her own sisters?" A female voice had spoken through Belén's lips and if Datura had been part of the Green, she would've known that it was Rose Red.

Datura's face was scrunched up in utter confusion, as was Caitlin's from her spot. "What?" Datura only lowered her shield for a second before Belén struck the thickest tendril of vine she ever had — and Caitlin would know considering she and the others monitored Belén's abilities. Datura's body was swept up in it and the more she writhed against it, the more she could feel bark splintering through her suit.

"That's Swamp Thing," Caitlin heard Shivhan say from her spot. Shivhan was only now pulling herself up from the pieces of the prop table she landed on. She seemed to be almost laughing. "Belén pulled out the big guns — Datura, meet your brothers and sisters. Belén's channeling them because none of them like you. None of them want you terrorizing people with our botanical powers; powers meant to be used for peace."

"Bring...it...on!" Datura's eyes flashed a wicked brown. The ground underneath them rumbled as if an earthquake was striking but instead of that, chunks of the ground began rising. She was controlling the pieces and managed to throw one directly behind Belén. As soon as the cement struck her, Belén was forced to let go of her doppelganger as she landed hard on the ground. "I don't care how many of you there are, I don't need you. Poison Ivy told me that. I have never needed the Green—" she spat the name with disdain, "—to help me."

"Such a shame that Poison Ivy did to you what she does best. She poisoned you," Belén had looked up at her, her voice her own this time. "Because I talked to the Green, you know? You actually had a chance but you let yourself get poisoned. You let somebody tell you who you were supposed to be and that's not even Poison Ivy's fault. It's yours. Because you're weak and you always have been. That's why you let yourself get carried into the darkness." A new type of fury crossed Datura's face as Belén went on. "It was always there. You left your husband because you were scared of who you were becoming and that was your first mistake. You were too weak to admit that you needed help. I'm not the runt of our doppelgangers, you are. I'm sure that my doppelgangers have had the courage to speak up when they needed help. Me? I rise up to the challenge. You? You run away from them."

Datura's body actually shook with anger. "You're going to regret that — even when this all goes to hell, I'm still going to take satisfaction knowing that I killed you." She struck a hand forwards and shot a streak of acid that burned Belén's right arm. With her scream, Datura took her chance to strike again with a fire of red energy bolts. Shivhan rushed forwards when Belén fell against the stage. "Back off Orchid!" Datura punched a fist into the air and with it rose another part of the stage ground to force Shivhan back. She then grabbed a piece of the broken stage ground and twirled it between her fingers. She didn't hesitate to plunge it into Belén's chest, just above her heart actually. Belén screamed against and struggled to yank the piece out.

"There we go," Datura bent down in front of Belén. "The start of the end."

Belén stopped struggling with the embedded piece and focused on ending that smug face once and for all. "You're...actually right." Belén revealed Caitlin's device and stabbed one end on her palm then smacked it over Datura's shoulder to embed the other end.

The device whirred to life instantaneously. A golden stream of colors was extracted from Datura while a green glow came from Belén. The two doppelgangers felt the immediate pain followed through. Datura, however, seemed to be taken a worse hit. Her eyes began to flash from gold to scarlet red to frosty blue and so on. Electricity began to spark from her body and into the device. Belén felt the wasps of electricity and hissed louder and louder until it became a true scream, coupled with the pain she already had from her wound.

Caitlin rushed towards them but there was an explosion that made her fall back. A bit of smoke emerged from the doppelgangers as far as Caitlin could see. She waved her hand in the air and coughed as the smoke drifted towards her.

"Belén? Belén! Are you okay?" she called out and used the chairs beside her to get up. Without thinking, she shot the meta dampener neckbrace at Datura who was out cold.

Datura was outcold but Belén was coughing from her spot. "Someone...get this off me." She waved her burned palm over the wooden piece in her chest.

~ 0 ~

When all was said and done, the cortex became a much lighter, happier way. Even though Belén sported a wicked wound, she felt much better knowing that Datura resided in the pipeline along with the rest of her Earth 2 meta-comrades. Now she just had to understand exactly what Barry had done to defeat Zoom.

"Okay, so you ran back in time and made a copy of yourself?"

"Well, uh, basically…" Barry gave a small nod. He already had to explain that to Wally but since Belén was coming off some meds, he didn't mind explaining it all over again. "It's not something that I can do every day, but I needed a way to draw the Time Wraiths out of the Speed Force, hoping they'd be more upset at what Zoom had done than they'd be with me.

Wally was still comically staring at him.

Joe motioned Iris to come over to his side. He was struggling not to laugh. "Is that what I look like when they start talking about science?"

"Pretty much," she confirmed.

Joe laughed. "Don't worry, Wally. It'll get easier to understand."

"Don't lie to the boy, Joe," Belén shook her head from her chair. "I've been dating that—"she jerked a thumb at Barry, "—for almost two years now and half the time I still don't get what he's talking about."

Barry playfully rolled his eyes at her. "It's actually not that complicated, Bells. I just ran back in time moments before I left. It's the only way I can be in two places at once."

"Yeah after about an hour of scientific explanations," Belén took her shot and crossed her arms, only to feel the fresh jab of her chest wound. She quickly dropped her arms to her sides.

"Okay, so the time remnant, it's still you?" Wally once again made a question.

"Yeah," Barry nodded.

"But...he died," Nina didn't want to remember in what way the time remnant had died. "He...he willingly died."

"Uh...he was willing to sacrifice himself for all of us."

"Respect," Shivhan said nodded.

"Brave," Belén reached for one of Barry's hands. "But I am so glad that in the end you're okay, that we're all okay."

"Some of us better though." Barry absolutely hated what Datura had nearly done to Belén. He already had the argument that he should've been there but Belén easily shut him down. It just didn't mean that he had gotten over it yet.

Harry's and Cisco's argument from the sideroom started carrying over. The two were trying to get the metal mask off Zoom's third prisoner but were having a challenging time.

"Are you ready?" Harry asked once the group heard a locking noise from said mask.

"One, two…" Cisco counted.

They lifted the mask off the prisoner and were stunned to find the results.

"Ugh. I don't know what's more annoying, being in that thing or listening to you two arguing about it," the prisoner retorted with a raspy, unused voice. Neither Harry nor Cisco responded and so the prisoner got up from the chair to meet the others.

Harry's and Cisco's faces matched theirs too. Even Belén had risen from her chair in shock.

No one took it worse than Barry. "Um... you're…"

"I'm Jay Garrick, the real Jay Garrick," the prisoner introduced himself. Underneath the dirty, bearded exterior, the doppelganger of Henry Allen was quite distinctive. "What?"

Barry's mouth opened several times before he could say a few words. "I'm sorry. I... I'm sorry." He rushed out of there without looking back once. There was a dense feeling left in the room, and in an attempt to lighten it Belén suggested they help Jay get cleaned up.

"I'm just gonna...go get my medicine," she promptly excused herself to go find her missing boyfriend. It didn't take that much searching to find him in the corridor.

"He looks just like him. He looks just like my dad!" Barry was practically bawling. "I can't believe this. My dad told me. He told me this. He said his mom's maiden name was Garrick. I just never thought that that meant…"

"You couldn't have known," Belén grabbed him by the shoulders, ignoring the jab of her wound again.

"I never thought it meant…"

"Barry, he doesn't know that. He doesn't know that he's your dad's doppelganger, okay? If you want me to tell him that you had to leave I'll do it," Belén promised. "The others will back me up on it."

Barry shook his head, deciding he had to face him. "I just...I just need a minute." That was a lie, he needed much more time.

Belén cleared some of his tears from his face. "It's okay. We're here for you," she reminded and hugged him.

Her wound needed to shut up because she was not letting go of him anytime soon.

~ 0 ~

It turned out Zoom had taken Jay's real suit to fit the persona he was modeling. Jay had been cleaned and shaved, now looking identical to his Earth 1 doppelganger.

Cisco stopped beside him to show him the mechanics of Zoom's metal mask. "So the reason you didn't have your powers is because there was a dampener in the mask. You see?"

Jay took the mask and eyed it with disdain. "I don't want to see this thing ever again."

Cisco's eyes widened as Jay destroyed the mask with a vibrating hand. "So your powers are back."

"So Hunter stole your color scheme too, huh?" Nina questioned. "Was he at all original?"

Jay shrugged. "He took a lot of things that were mine, except for that," he nodded to the familiar helmet with wings. "That's, um...that's all him."

"He said it was his father's from the war," Caitlin explained, her words laced with bitterness.

"Ironically, on my... on our Earth...this helmet stood for hope," Harry shook his head.

Jay took the helmet into his hands and turned it over. "Yeah? Yeah. Well, maybe I can continue that sentiment, take something from him for a change, make it my own."

"It suits you," Iris smiled lightly at him.

"Thank you, all of you, for saving me from Zoom, especially you, Flash."

Hearing his name, Barry stiffened. He gave a firm nod and even managed to say something in one go. "You're welcome, Flash."

Jay out the helmet on and gave it a sturdy turn. "Now all I have to do is find my way home."

"And where's that, exactly?" Veronica asked.

"I think you would call it Earth-3."

Cisco made a playful, serious face. "Uh-huh. Well, I can get you to Earth-2?" He would need a lot of practice before he could go to any other Eart.

Harry shook his head at Cisco's antics. "My daughter and I can help you with the rest."

Jesse perked up at her father. She had been so sure he would decide to stay on Earth 1. "We can?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, we can. We're going home."

~ 0 ~

Cisco had gotten ready to breach the travelers in the breech room. Now all they were waiting for were the actual travelers.

Harry was the first to show. He had a backpack strapped and his cap that he had when he first arrived. "Okay. Snow?" he stopped by the brunette. "You're a tremendous scientist, but... you're an even better person."

It wad impossible for Caitlin not to get emotional. She gave him a big hug. "Don't make me cry, Harry. I've done enough of that already."

"Belén?" he moved onto the next. "You are nothing like your doppelganger. You never could be."

Belén gently patted her hand over her chest - the non-wounded side - and smiled. "That is the best compliment you have ever given me, Harry." She ended up smiling, borderlining a laugh, as she hugged him.

Harry took it then moved to Joe. "Detective Joe West…you have great kids. You take care of them."

Joe shook hands with him and even hugged too. "Same to you. You take care of that beautiful girl."

"Yes, sir," Harry saluted and switched to Veronica.

"Sorry I shot you," the woman easily said.

"Forgiven," Harry assured and the two shared a smile.

"If you find my doppelganger can you make sure she doesn't turn out evil?" Nina asked. "I feel like I'm the only one with a chance."

"Yeah, because I'm already dead in that world," went Shivhan.

"If it helps, you were one of the good metahumans," Harry said. Shivhan smiled lightly. It kind of did. "Hey," Harry finally stopped with Barry. "I'm a better man than I was when I got here, and that's 'cause of you."

Barry genuinely smiled. This Wells had been nothing like the first he'd met. It was definitely life changing. "I'm not the same either."

Cisco moved over when they finished hugging. He spoke in a dead serious voice, though they weren't exactly what he'd been meaning to say. "Hey, don't be surprised if I project myself over to Earth-2 every once in a while, you know, just to throw your stuff across the office."

Harry still understood the translation. "I'll miss you too, Cisco."

Wally discreetly moved closer to Jesse with Iris at his side for cover. "So I guess I can't text you from another Earth, huh?"

Jesse meekly shrugged. "I guess not."

"That's too bad…"

"Thank you guys, seriously, for saving our home," Jesse told the group as a whole.

Jay had the two come closer so that he could hold onto them when it came time to run into the breech. "Ready?" he asked them.

"Yeah," answered both father and daughter.

Cisco took that as his cue and opened up the breech connected to Earth 2's STAR Labs.

In a second the trio were gone.

~ 0 ~

With their winnings collected, a proper celebration was a must. The West residence turned into the host for such celebration. Iris came with a bottle of wine and some glasses. She passed down the glasses to Nina and Shivhan who then handed them to Belén and Caitlin.

"I say some toasting is in order," Iris began pouring wine into each glasses with hers being the last.

"You should see the way your Dad is looking at you right now," Nina barely hid her laugh as Iris sent her father a clean smile. Joe shook his head, smiling nonetheless, and returned to his conversation with Veronica.

"Celebration," Iris argued with her own laugh.

"You have no idea how good it feels not to have your doppelganger breathing over your shoulder," Belén pretended to shiver. "I really am Damon Salvatore in that I never want to hear the word 'doppelganger' ever again."

"Seriously," Shivhan said. She cleared her throat suddenly, her face losing the playfulness of the conversation. "Um, before we get deeper into the night and possibly drunk, I need to tell you something..." She had spoken loud enough to attract the attention of the others and it was exactly what she was intending on.

"What is it?" asked Belén who glanced at the others in case they already knew what Shivhan was going to say. It didn't appear that way.

"Belén when you first found me I wasn't doing so great. I was a bartender moonlighting as a vigilante but I wasn't a good one."

"Don't say that. You were trying to protect people..."

"Yeah but I wasn't good," Shivhan clarified. "Cisco knows this..." Even though the man in question didn't know exactly where Shivhan was going with her announcement, he stepped forwards in support. "I dropped out of college because of my powers. I had a life before all this started. I was an art major and I was top of my class. I left everything because I needed to work on controlling my powers and when I finally did...I was too scared to go back." She gripped her glass like her life depended on it. "After everything that's happened, I think it's time to face my own past. If I faced Datura and God knows the other metas we've come across...this should be a lot easier."

"Where are you going to go?" asked Belén.

"For starters I'm moving back in with my parents. I really miss them," she admitted with shiny eyes. "Seeing you guys with your own families made me realize that I've been missing out on a lot with my own parents."

"Shivhan, you know you're part of this family," Cisco said and earned a small, soft smile in return.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "And I want to be. I'm going to go back to school and finish what I started there. Maybe even call Melody."

"Shivhan you do what you need to do," Belén said. "And if you want to come back, you know where to find us." Shivhan nodded. "Thank you so much for helping me. Without you, I would have never been able to defeat Datura."

"I think you would have," Shivhan said. "You are the best of us. The Green knows it and so do we." She move over to hug Belén tightly. Promises were made to keep in touch and visit every so often.

By the time Shivhan went around giving the rest of her goodbyes, Belén had realized there was one more person still left on that list. But, he had left the living room without being noticed.

When Belén walked out to the front porch, Barry was already in deep thought, leaning against the porch pillar.

"I can't stop thinking about my dad's doppelganger," he admitted. "Seeing him, knowing that he's out there, that should've made it easier. It doesn't. It just made me miss him even more."

"Doppelgangers don't make anything easy," she said apologetically.

He turned around to her, revealing a very distressed expression. He was frustrated. "We just won. We just beat Zoom. Why does it feel like I just lost?"

"Because you had a major loss along the way," Belén didn't feel like he needed a reminder but...perhaps to put things in perspective for him. "And it's okay if you feel like that. Please don't think you're in the wrong and that you should be completely happy right now." She wrapped her arms around him and chuckled when he swayed her a bit, turning so that her back was against the porch pillar. She leaned up and kissed him for a minute. "You know, my Mom mentioned that it's time for Axel to come home from Italy. Why don't we go pick him up?" Barry blinked at the suggestion. "My family in Italy would love you. I know my Nonno would for sure. It could give you some time away from this place. I'm sure Cisco and Nina can hold the fort here."

Barry truly considered that idea, for her, but he ultimately decided that he couldn't do that to her. She offered him a chance of distraction, but something inside him told him that he couldn't lie to himself. He had been thinking that he wasn't someone good for her and he wasn't going to lie and say that he hadn't thought of a possible solution. He knew what he wanted to do. "Bells...I can't. I...I feel so hollowed out inside right now. I feel more broken than I've ever felt in my life. If I'm ever gonna be worth anything to you, I need to fix what's wrong with me. I need to find some...some peace."

Belén saw clear guilt in his eyes, like he was doing something wrong. She cupped his face and made him listen. "You have helped me in so many ways that I don't think I could ever repay you in this lifetime. If you need space - on your own - then take it. I am not going anywhere."

She kissed him again but he took it with a different meaning, an unknown meaning to her. He kissed her hard and held her as tight as he could without hurting her chest wound. The next time he saw her, things would be different...if he saw her again.

"Bells, do you remember when you asked me if I believed we would find each other in whatever world we were in?"

Belén didn't find the relevancy in the question but nonetheless answered. "Yes." He had asked her that when he had the opportunity to change the time lines and because he was afraid of losing her, he had asked her that same question. "Of course I do."

Barry held onto her hands tightly, his gaze somewhat shifty. "Do you still believe that?"

Belén nodded again. "We've seen it," she smiled. "Our Earth, Earth 2, Earth 31. I get the feeling that we would find each other in any world. You and me, and throw in an adoptive alien daughter in some of those worlds too."

Barry matched her smile and moved one hand to stroke her face. "Thank you. I love you, Belén."

"I love you too," she said. She took his hand from her face and kissed it. "You know where to find me," she smiled and kissed his cheek before heading back inside. Though as she walked away from him, she got the feeling that she missed something. Her mind drifted back to the moment where she had felt the same thing earlier. The scary feeling came back to her and even more so when she thought of Datura's words.

"None of it matters, idiot!" Datura snapped and sat up, flashing a smirk. "In the end, Barry's going to screw it up. The none rule breaker will break the ultimate rule."

"Why bother sticking me with that cure when it's not going to matter in the end?"

She had no psychic powers like Datura did but she did have a gut feeling. What if Datura hadn't been saying nonsense?

Belén came to a stop in front of the door and looked over her shoulder. She could feel Barry looking at her and for some reason she couldn't bring herself to face him. "Datura knew something about you," she whispered. "Something that you were going to do."

Barry's heart ached. "Yeah?"

Belén nodded. "She said it didn't matter what I did because you were going to do something that would screw it up. What are you going to do, Barry?"

Barry swallowed hard. "I just want the pain to end."

"That space...exactly how far is it?"

Barry's courage to tell her the truth was fleeting. He would never have the courage to tell her face to face. "I hope it's the best for both of us."

Belén felt the gust of his wind trail and when she turned around, she only saw a glimpse of his lightning streak at the end of the street. He was going too fast. Barry pushed away any guilt, telling himself it was worth it. Everything would be fine. It would be. It would be. It had to be.

Time was about to be rewritten.

Author's Note:

To be continued in...Make You Stay. 

Some fun facts for this story:

1. In the dream world from chapter 12, Belén gives a list of girl names (Ruth, Alya, Ximena, Valerie, Aileen, and Everly) for her and Barry's unborn daughter and one of those names is actually the real name I have given their future daughter. Bet you guys can't guess which one it is ;)

2. Shivhan was originally meant to be a one-off character but I liked her so much that I made her a recurring character. Maybe we'll see her around for story #3, who knows!

3. Before re-editing the story, the Green never made an appearance. I literally learned about it as I was editing, along with Black Orchid and Red Rose (though she is from Marvel but shhhh)

4. I originally considered leaving Belén and Barry broken up to then add the Barry/Patty arc and, you know, angst but I decided not to go down that road. I thought they both suffered enough in season 1.

5. I want to say I added about 4 extra original chapters after re-editing which is why it took me a longer time to update this story.

#ocappreciation #ocfairygodmother #arrowverseocs #fd: the flash #the flash #barry allen #the flash fics #barry allen imagines #barry allen fics #the flash imagines #barry allen x oc #the flash x oc #arrowverse ocs #arrowverse fics #arrowverse imagines #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #oc: datura #fic: rise up

[pidgeonspen]

Some more SL shots! Featuring @0rb0t's Latch and Tough Love!

#secondlife #OC: Darla #OC: Carey #OC: Datura #Spira SL #Snuncle & Diece #Ghoulfriends #tfw your OCs insist on being friends across different iterations and you must Obey

[syensy]

kinda gay @somberine (Feat. Datura Martagon :))

#art folder #psychonauts oc #oc folder #oc: wawel #oc: datura

[cbts004]

oc, name's Datura

#oc #oc datura #digital #original

[sharkkaiju]

#digitalart #digitalpainting #discord #horse #horsegirl #oc #rp #harpg #ocrp #rpoc #horserp #horseoc #art #discordrp #horsegirlrp #datura #datura mustang #loshenka #loshenka horse #myart #my art #equine art #equine artist #equineblr

[chempack]

still thinking about my pre-war conservationist sole idea. i mean, fallout characters that are interested in preserving pre-war things certainly isn’t new; i can’t remember any canon ones right now but there probably are some, and someone i follow, @/datura-tea, recently made some art conservator ocs. but specifically the idea of a sole survivor, someone from before the war and with personal attachments to the institute, being focused on it is interesting to me. especially when it comes to animals themselves. taking over settlements and trapping animals there, breeding the least outwardly mutated ones together, trying to recreate how nature intended them to be. playing god with irradiated animals while shaun plays god with robotic humans.

#chemtalks #i need a tag for my oc talk about ideas/unnamed ones #also not tagging datura bc this doesn’t really have anything to do w em LMAO just wanted to shout out the ocs #sorry idk their name or pronouns off the top of my head

[mercury-and-scry]

my special, amoral, and eldritch boy

#my art #my ocs #dungeons and dragons #dnd #dnd homebrew #garden is the patron of one of the pcs im dming! what a nice guy. #the flower hes holding is a datura #the flowers growing on him have no specific type and theyre not meant to be quote unquote real #some of my players follow me on here but they never check Tumblr so hopefully this will fly under their noses lawl #dnd deity #dnd warlock #great old one #great old one warlock

[fishymom-art]

sketches from the stream!

1- Muriel from Good Omens uvu

2- Crowley and the holy water

3- Crowley in his 1940s outfit uvu

4 and 5 - the baby girl and the tumble sexyman nominee, Amon

6- DATURA?

7- Alice Angel ^^

8- Gregory and Cassy!

9- Nekiliel and Valgos - @sassinapaperbag and my Good Omens OCs uvu (I cosplay as Nekiliel on TikTok!)

#fishy stream #metal and ink #datura #joey drew #good omens #good omens oc #crowley #aziraphale #muriel #nekiliel #valgos #alice angel #batim #my movie 14 #mm14 #mm14 amon

[scarredlove]

A gift for @cloudyvoid~ Featuring @daunsun's Datura Moon <3

#Stay amazing Cloudy <3 #myart #my art #gift #cloudyvoid #mutuals #friends #fnaf daycare attendant #fnaf dca #fnaf au #dca au #dca fandom #fnaf moon #moon #datura moon #flowershop au #flower au #moon x oc #moon x self insert #dca x self insert #dca x oc #fanart #fnaf sb au #daunsun #scarredlove #dca moon #dca fanart

[josephslittledeputy]

Datura on a date with Jason (pre-Arkham Era) || A new guard at Arkham made the mistake of getting close to Datura in her cell, rip || Post Arkham Era, entering her Villain Era <3

Tagged by @detectivelokis and @clicheantagonist to do this picrew, ty!

#oc: datura #being a villain has never looked so good 🥺 #embracing her natural hair color instead of keeping it navy blue for once #just hanging with harley; causing mischief; etcetc you know how it goes #also that is not red lipstick 🤡 sometimes a girl gets the urge to bitebitebite & she cant help that ppl think shes harmless #(she totally is! get closer to her cage... tell her your name... she wont bite! :) [lying]) #also arkham has the worst fashion and is so boring i mean its enough to make a girl go crazy (literally)

[saiilorstars]

Ch.30:  The Round Up

Pairing: Barry Allen x OFC

Current Masterlist | Previous Story

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

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

[If you’d like to be part of this OC’s taglist, let me know!

It was a dark night when Earth 2's metahumans would decide to attack right in the open. Maybe it was their strong belief that they wouldn't be caught, or maybe that it would simply be more fun to mess around together under the dark night. Either way, it didn't work. All around, there were reports that the Flash had returned and was cleaning up the city from the new dangerous metahumans.

But now it was the other way around.

The Azalea was missing.

The news was quick to report that Zoom had taken the Azalea right in front of the CCPD. It seemed to the city like they could never have all of its protectors together but it would have one additional member ready to help again.

Black Orchid swooped down on a pair of metas throwing a park bench into a fountain — God knew what type of fun they could be having from doing that — and swiftly knocked them down with a thick vine. For good measure, she wrapped the pair up like cocoons, leaving behind only their faces free. She stormed over to them and placed a foot over one of their bodies. "Where's Datura?" she demanded. The two metahumans exchanged glances with each other before both bursting into laughter. Black Orchid made a show to press her shoe deeper into the meta's body, forcing that obnoxious laughter to cease. "I didn't make a joke. I asked a damn question so answer it. Where's Datura?"

"No idea!" the other metahuman finally answered. "She's been M.I.A. ever since she brought us over to this world."

"And Poison Ivy?"

"Who knows!"

Black Orchid removed her foot just as a gust of wind struck behind her. She turned sideways to meet Barry's gaze. Without saying anything, she shook her head. Barry's jaw clenched. He didn't waste another moment there. He sped the two metas out of the scene to their new home in the pipeline.

~ 0 ~

'Some people are calling it the metapocalypse, the days when Central City was overrun by an army with powers beyond imagination. But in these dark times, we must never forget our own strength, our own power to fight back. That it is only in the blackest of nights that we can truly see the light... and know for sure we are not alone. We are never... ever... alone.'

Nina's eyes fervently finished reading the day's newspaper and lowered said paper to see Iris on her bedside. "Love the title, hate the reality."

Iris took the criticism (although not meant for her) with a small shrug. "A lot of our articles this week has to do with that unfortunately."

"Wonder why," Nina pushed herself to sit upright on the bed. She was still under watch for her stab wound but was making normal progress in her condition.

"That and the missing people and the obituaries," Iris added with a sigh, her shoulders slumping. She'd been tasked with some of those fatal stories and it was killing her to write about the innocent dying at the hands of Zoom's metahumans.

"Is that what they still think happened to Belén? That she's just missing?"

Iris nodded silently. "Yeah." During these times, the story wasn't so drastic. And that was sad. Despite the conflicts that Belén was having with CC Pictures, the latter still cared for her safe return.

Their silence was brokered by the sound of Barry and Shivhan returning from their latest metahuman hunt. Neither Iris nor Nina needed to ask them anything to know how successful their mission went.

"You should be resting," Barry said to Nina after catching her trying to shift from her bed.

Nina scoffed. "Cut the crap, I'm the doctor here. I know what I should and shouldn't do."

"No need to argue here," Shivhan told the two with a cautious air in her voice, "We're all on the same side."

The tension between Barry and Nina stemmed from their own individual guilt about Belén's capture. If Barry hadn't been in the Speed Force, he wouldn't have let Zoom take Belén and in turn if Nina had been 'stronger', she would've put up more of a fight. Both guilts — as each of the others stated — were completely misplaced. Shivhan had her own guilt to handle. It was a terrible situation to come out of the Green because the Green itself commanded her to return and help Belén. The whole reason she'd even been in the Green for such a long time was to help protect the people Belén wanted to look after. Shivhan never imagined that it would be this moment that Datura would choose to make her play.

"I have looked everywhere and I just...I can't," Barry felt ashamed that he was letting Belén and Caitlin down. He said, he promised, he would find them and yet here he was empty handed.

"There has to be something we're not seeing," Nina said after a moment. "You don't just hide two grown women in a city like this."

"Well, maybe that's it then," Iris said, earning herself several looks. "We can't account for Zoom because we don't really know him but we know Belén. Datura is Belén therefore we can assume that she thinks like Belén."

"No she doesn't," Barry snapped, utterly offended on behalf of Belén. Datura was far from being Belén. His Bells didn't think murder — she didn't think about hurting people.

"Hold on, Iris may be onto something there," Shivhan rested a hand on Barry's arm. "Fundamentally, their core is the same. Little stuff can be the same. What's Belén's thought-process like? Like...is she complicated?"

Barry sent her a flat stare. "Far from it. She likes things plain and simple. She likes mysteries but she doesn't like a whole elaborate plan. But she likes tricks, so…" he paused a moment, "She has to be hiding them under our noses. The last place I would ever think of." It actually worked for both doppelgangers when Barry got to more thinking. Belén like things simple and Datura liked playing harsh games. Wherever she was keeping Belén, it had to be somewhere close to Belén but still supply Datura with a smug victory. A pleasurable victory knowing she was hanging Belén right in front of them.

Barry felt his body tremble. He absolutely despised Datura.

~ 0 ~

Datura took a sharp intake of breath after smelling alcohol. She nearly busted heads with Caitlin who had swabbed a damp cotton under her nose.

"Where the hell am I!?" the dark-brunette blinked rapidly.

Caitlin slowly helped her up to her feet. "You're here, in Mercury Labs. Don't you remember?"

Datura scrunched her face when the alcohol became too much. She shook her head and looked around, seeing no Belén in the room. "The doppelganger!? Where is she!?" she frantically began to search under tables and around them.

Caitlin was having trouble figuring out what was going on. "You can't...you can't remember, can you?"

Datura stopped and sideways glanced at the woman. "WHERE. IS SHE!?" Caitlin flinched when the woman stalked up to her. "WHERE!?"

"P-Poison Ivy took her! Remember!?" Caitlin managed to answer between the shakes. "I-I don't know where because you said it was a secret!"

Datura let Caitlin go and thought for a second. "I think...I think I don't remember."

"You don't….?"

"I-I know where Poison Ivy took her, but I...I can't remember asking her to," Datura ran her hands through her hair, obviously frustrated with herself. "Why can't I remember? Why…?"

Caitlin actually felt sorry for her. "Um, it's...it's part of your condition. You're beginning to have blackouts due to the other...uh…"

"People in my head?" Datura tapped her temple.

"Yeah…" Caitlin nervously bit on her lip. "It's your DNA's way of coping with all the alterations it has to go through. By removing you - the host - it creates a temporary space for other powers to take control."

"How pathetic am I," Datura shook her head. She leaned against the table to take a breath.

"In extreme cases you'll start to pass out."

"Oh, great."

Caitlin walked over with a cup of water in hand. Datura eyed the gesture suspiciously, like there was poison in it. Caitlin chuckled. "It's the water you gave me earlier so unless you poisoned it for me…"

Datura snatched the cup from her and took a swig of it. She could see Caitlin staring at her with so much caution, concern...

She wasn't used to that anymore.

"I think I'm hitting a break through," Caitlin decided to change topics. She returned to her table and hoped Datura would do the same. "I had an idea from Belén. When she first started using her powers, she had the same blackout episodes you're having now. We managed to help Belén without so much of chemical interference, but…" she stopped when she realized Datura wasn't listening.

She supposed it was just better to finish up.

~ 0 ~

A tall brunette dressed in all black leather confidently walked up to Mercury Labs. She scanned the area and saw it was mostly empty...on the outside. She knew just who was in that building and she couldn't wait to take it down along with a birdy or two.

She emitted an incredibly strong sonic wail. The building began to immediately shake as if an earthquake was striking. For kicks, she added in a second sonic cry and watched how easily the building began to crumble.

~0~

Caitlin fell back against the table opposite to her workspace and banged her head in the process. Everything was shaking. "What's happening!?"

Datura was closer to the door but was still struggling to stay on her feet. "Siren bitch!" she cried out.

"We're going to die!" Caitlin used the table to bring herself up. "The work! It's being destroyed!"

Datura could see that for herself. The work table was almost empty of viable tools. Liquids had been thrown around and beakers shattered. Caitlin yelped and slipped to the side again. She rubbed at her head but saw a piece of the ceiling was crackling, getting ready to drop. Caitlin screwed her eyes shut and waited for her last breath to come to an end.

Datura groaned from her spot and thrust a hand forwards, firing a white streak of energy that stopped the falling ceiling chunk in its spot. "I didn't take you for a damsel in distress!" Caitlin didn't say anything, her shock of being saved by the very woman who was threatening to murder others was too much. "Gravitational pull is always tricky with these powers. It's why I don't use it so much." Suddenly, a flicker of red crossed Datura's eyes. "He's coming," she announced. "We gotta go!"

And so they went.

~0~

Outside, Barry and Shivhan had gotten everyone out in time, including Dr. McGee who'd come to a very close end.

"Thank you, Mr. Allen," the woman kindly said despite the spectacle. Barry did a double-take upon hearing his name but McGee merely smiled. "I'm not stupid."

From a distance, the culprit who stared everything strode away with the biggest smirk. "Boom."

~ 0 ~

"Why is she here!?"

"Because Black Siren happened!"

"What—"

"She killed me, Ivy! She basically just killed me! My cure - the ingredients we had were destroyed when the building came down!"

There was silence after that for all of a minute before someone started to grunt. Caitlin could neither see nor breath at this point. She'd been gagged and blinded with the same strips of cloth. Her hands and ankles were bound together as well, keeping her on the ground, or at least a hard floor.

Datura had saved her alright, but the moment they were out of Mercury Labs, she knocked Caitlin out and brought her to their other hiding place. Caitlin assumed the still body she could feel next to her was Belén's.

"Not now, Caity," Datura had moved over and pulled the gag out of Caitlin's mouth. "I'm a little bit busy drowning in my sorrows."

Poison Ivy was thoughtful in her spot. "You couldn't save anything from the cure?"

"No!" Datura snapped but quickly calmed. "No... it's all gone."

"There has to be something else, maybe you didn't look—"

"Of course I couldn't!" Datura was back to shouting. "The frickin building collapsed! The Flash and Black Orchid were coming and I wasn't gonna risk being caught."

"Okay, then I'll go check right now," Poison Ivy devised the plan and pointed at Datura to stay put. "You look after those two and don't forget to apply the sleeping draught on your dearest doppelganger. We're all out of meta-dampeners so you better make sure she stays down."

Datura nodded for her to get going. She didn't look spirited enough to argue for a better plan. When she was alone, she closed her eyes and did her best to hold herself together.

Caitlin swore she heard small sniffles somewhere along that silence.

~0~

McGee stood in the middle of the cortex subjected to various troubled looks from the rest of the team. It really did come as a surprise that she knew Barry and what STAR Labs actually did.

"Is there anyone who doesn't know about you guys?" Shivhan's question wasn't made at the most prudent time but she was very curious to know of the answer. She liked to think that if Belén had been around, she would've answered with something sarcastic. She would brighten up the mood as usual.

"So how did you know?" Barry finally asked McGee, if not simply to know the answer.

McGee offered a little smile of comfort. "Come on, Barry, I'm a scientist. We're paid to be perceptive. And you're always a little too well informed when things go pear-shaped in this city." She took in notice of the newcomers of the group — Shivhan, Henry, Veronica and Nina in the group. "But I don't believe we've ever met before. Dr. Christina McGee."

Henry shook hands with her first. "Doctor Henry Allen. I'm Barry's father."

"Veronica Green," went Veronica but slightly quieter. As of late, she wasn't much of a talker.

"Oh, David's ex-wife," McGee easily recalled.

"Doctor Nina Clarke, friend of Belén's," Nina said afterwards.

"You're not our friend, then?" Cisco mocked a pout.

"Children," Nina rolled her eyes. "That's what happens when I'm the eldest meta in the room."

"Not by that much," Shivhan sent her a sarcastic look before shifting gazes back on McGee. "Shivhan Jang."

"And where's Miss Palayta? I must say I'm a little biased saying that she's my favorite." Her smile only lasted a minute before she noticed how the others were squirming. Nobody could match Veronica's and Barry's faces, though. She was missing something big. "Have I—"

"Belén is gone for the moment," Barry struggled to put into words. "She and Dr. Caitlin Snow are under Zoom's metahumans' hands."

"Oh, oh, I'm so sorry," McGee said, both to him and Veronica.

"We're going to find her," Veronica stated, although it sounded like it was just a reminder for her. And perhaps it was. Everything already looked terrible when she remembered how she lost her older children. Even more so, things between her and Belén were finally getting better and now she was gone.

"Dr. McGee did you happen to see who it was that caused your building to collapse?" Shivhan asked after waiting for Barry to do so. He spaced out a lot lately too. They needed to start this investigation in order to get closer to Belén and Caitlin.

"I didn't see anything. It happened so fast," McGee admitted with guilt. She wished she could have had a better answer for them. "Plus, to be quite honest with you, the last couple of days have been a bit fuzzy."

"Fuzzy how?"

McGee seemed troubled by the idea but she went on to answer however she could. "A couple days ago there were these...women, they just entered the place, but...but somehow it felt alright. Like...like they were supposed to be there. It was okay."

Hardly anyone understood her. Barry, however, studied her expressions carefully, recognizing some of the...feelings. "Dr. McGee, these women, was one of the particularly special?" he formulated his question carefully.

As he suspected, McGee answered without hesitation, like it was a fact. "Oh yes. She had wild red hair and beautiful eyes."

"Yeah," Barry agreed with a mutter. "When I fought Poison Ivy she used this...this weird controlling trick on me. It makes you physically love her or something."

"Yeah, Bells wasn't too happy about that," Cisco smirked only to receive an elbow on his side courtesy of Nina.

"So if the same trick was used..." Iris started, "...does that mean that...?"

"They've been keeping Belén and Caitlin in Mercury Labs this whole time," Nina said.

"Right under our noses!" Veronica exclaimed with a deep frown. She expected Barry to say something along those lines as well, share her anger, but for some reason he was silent. He was thinking. "What's wrong?" Veronica asked him.

Barry cocked his head to the side. "I get why Datura would want to be there — she's probably using Caitlin to finish up the cure — but it doesn't make sense to keep Belén there too. It doesn't have that...thing that would make it smug."

"Well, even if they were there, they can't be anymore," Henry gestured towards McGree. "The building's been destroyed."

"So there has to be a secondary location," Barry said with all the certainty in the world. "That's where Datura is getting her smug victory from. I'm sure of it."

"Do you think we can get street cameras to see if we can catch Datura leaving the building?" Shivhan looked to Cisco for the answer.

"Maybe!"

"In the meantime, Mercury Labs does have a Crash-Survivable Memory Unit," McGee said, "Perhaps we can use it start somewhere."

Henry shook his head. There were simply too much he didn't understand around this group. "I'm sorry, a what?"

"Virtually a black box for buildings. It will have stored all the security footage right up until the building collapsed."

"You know..." Shivhan folded her arms over her chest, "Mercury Labs just happened to be destroyed when Datura was working on her cure?" Her expression willed the others to see what she was hinting at.

"You don't think Zoom did this...do we?" Iris thought it would be the stupidest decision Zoom would do considering what Datura was. "Would he really jeopardize his precious siphoner?"

Barry suddenly remembered Datura's words from the last time he saw her.

"And you didn't tell Zoom?"

"I'm mad with him."

Datura never said why she was upset with Zoom. Barry never even considered it actually being true. But if it was true...

"If Zoom has a problem with her he won't think twice of disposing her," he said. This could be their opportunity to seize Datura and make her see reason, even if it was under lies. He wasn't opposed to that anymore, not when Datura had shown she wasn't willing to change.

"There may be one more possibility," McGee spoke up with a very different idea. "A few months ago, I saw Harrison Wells running out of my facility. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm certain it was him. Is there any way he could have anything to do with this?"

The man himself appeared to answer the question, with a steaming mug of coffee in hand. "A few months ago? Sure. Now? No."

McGee seemed ready to pass out.

"Yeah, there are a few more things that we could catch you up on, Dr. McGee," Barry cleared his throat. Truth be told, there was a lot they would need to run by her.

~0~

Caitlin couldn't help the flinch her body gave when cold gloves touched her. "What's going on!?" she quickly demanded.

"It's time to go, Caity," Datura said and it took Caitlin another minute to realize Datura was taking off the binds from her wrists and ankles.

"Wh-where?"

"You to STAR Labs I imagine, and me…" Datura pulled her up. "Off to die I guess."

"Wait, what—"

"Don't you dare take the blind off your face until I say so."

Caitlin felt herself be pushed forwards. "No! What about Belén!?" Belén!"

"Oh she's still knocked out. Truth is I ended up liking you more than myself, ha. The irony," Datura gave a small laugh. "I'll let her sleep it off while Black Siren destroys the rest of the city."

"But what's happening? What are you going to do?"

"Pay my last enemy a visit. If I have to die, so does she. Just do me a favor, if Siren bitch does get me, I want to be buried in my world. Now go before I change my mind!" Datura ignored Caitlin's shouts to be returned to Belén's side or to at least let Belén go as well.

~0~

Barry didn't waste a second searching through the pieces of the leftover Mercury Labs. He was soon back with the group holding a rectangular black box in his arms. "Is this it!?"

"That's the one," McGee confirmed.

Barry handed the box to Cisco who carefully put it down for a second. "All right, great. Dad, Dr. McGee, Cisco, why don't you guys crack this open, see what you can find?"

"Sure thing," Cisco gave the box a pat.

"And we'll—" Barry then gestured the others in the room, "—go see what kind of metahuman powers can take down a building like that and how to stop it. Not you though, you need to go lay back down," he purposely said louder for Nina.

"I will never humor you," the woman calmly responded, even smiling for his sake.

"Guys!?" they heard a familiar shout to them. It was hard to believe it was real but when the same voice called again, they accepted it.

They ran out of the cortex, except for Nina and Dr. McGee, to meet Caitlin halfway.

"Caitlin!" Barry reached her first and hugged her.

"How are you here!?" Cisco took his turn next. "I mean, not that we're upset or anything but...how!?" Caitlin mustered a smile at them through clear tired eyes.

"Caitlin, is Belén…?" Barry had little hope for that question to but even when Caitlin gave a sad shake of her head, it still crushed him. She was still out there somewhere, waiting for them — for him — to find her.

"She only let me go," Caitlin said with the reasonable guilt that would haunt her from the situation. "I'm really sorry."

"No, no, it's not your fault," Barry was quick to say. He gently took her by the arms and made her look at him. "None of us are responsible for what Datura chooses to do."

"But I think I am," Caitlin bit her lower lip, chewed on it more like it. "She said...she said that she liked me more than Belén. She chose to let me go."

"Like an echo of your friendship with Bells," Cisco said behind them. "Funny how those work."

"Caitlin, please," Veronica moved forwards, "Where did she take you after Mercury Labs?"

"I-I don't know. She kept me blind for the entire time—"

"But anything you managed to see?" Veronica pushed for a better answer. "You felt?"

"I don't—"

"Something you heard at least!?"

"I'm really sorry—"

"Don't tell me you're sorry!" Veronica exclaimed in frustration. "I just want my daughter back!"

"Veronica," Joe pulled her back. She had to remember that Caitlin had gone through a lot of things as well. Veronica waved a hand at the group and slowly moved for the cortex again.

"We should get you checked out," Barry gently moved Caitlin with him and glanced at his father to see if he was up for the task.

"I'm sorry for not paying better attention," she said as Iris helped her move with Henry.

Barry nodded at her. Of course he understood her. "It's okay. It's not your fault."

Caitlin would try to think he was right but just as she was about to go into the cortex, she remembered something. "Barry..." She reached back for the speedster who was quick (naturally) to come up to her. "There was a-a scent in the air."

Barry would take what he could get. "What kind of scent?"

"Like...like wet dirt…" Caitlin tried to think some more. She didn't spend a lot of time in that place and the little time she had was spent in a haze wondering what was Datura's next play against them. "Yeah, I think it was wet dirt. And...damp too. I'm sorry, I'm not helping much am I?"

"No, you did great!" Barry exclaimed, more than happy about having these clues. Wet dirt wasn't something so common so it would have to narrow down the places Datura was keeping Belén.

~0~

Caitlin sat through her check up with a strong, yet clearly tired, face. It'd been countless sleepless nights after all.

"She's in shock. A little...dehydrated and malnourished, but I think she'll be fine," Henry gave her a small woman after realizing the check up.

"I am okay," Caitlin reassured with a nod. "I mean…I was better when I was with Datura and Poison Ivy."

"So they make good babysitters," Cisco mumbled and earned himself a strange, sharp look from Caitlin.

"You don't know what's happened," the brunette said.

"How did you escape?" Iris was the one to ask. She'd been waiting for someone to ask the million dollar question but since no one did she would do it.

Caitlin gave a light shrug of her shoulders. "It was Datura. She...she just let me go."

"No way," Shivhan snorted. "Datura would never do something like that."

Caitlin understood why they would think it — she would think the same thing if she was in their spot — but she assured them it's what happened.

"Why would she do that?" Barry asked her. Datura never made a decision without purpose. Was this a trap somehow?

Caitlin lowered her head, for some reason finding it difficult to answer. She wasn't sure what the hell she was doing but to be fair she was really tired. Her mind raced with everything she'd lived through as of late. It was complex going through and making sense of it.

And Barry saw it. "You've been through a lot. You should get some rest." Their questions weren't doing Caitlin well.

Caitlin felt like it was the best thing she could do for them and herself right now. Maybe after some rest she would remember more things.

Almost as soon as they were gone, an alarm went off from the computers. Cisco ran over to the desk first and brought up a tab for everyone to see. "Oh no…" he muttered and raised his gaze to the others.

"What is it?" Barry emerged from the side room with a face ready to go. No one needed to answer him. The great big lightning symbole carved of fire across the CCPD was answer enough.

"Barry, don't do it," Henry barely got the words out when Barry sped out.

He didn't hesitate to go right into the precinct, to where his old lab still (miraculously) stood.

Hunter stood across the lab, staring at the board still holding the case of Barry's mother. "You know, I never saw the crime photos of my mother's murder. Well, I guess I didn't need to. I had a ringside seat while you got whisked away. Too delicate, I suppose. Not just a hologram after all, are you, Flash?"

Just looking at him made Barry's blood boil with anger. "Interesting. I know you didn't call me up here just to banter. Let's finish this. Right now."

But Hunter merely smiled at him as if it were just a game. "Actually, I did. I called you up here to tell you you can't keep running from one meta to the next. Around and around, like a dog chasing its tail."

"I'll do whatever it takes to stop you."

"If only that were good enough. 'Cause here's the thing. I know you. I know what's holding you back. You and me... we're really just the same person."

Barry didn't even try to hide his incredibility. "Right. You keep saying that, but it's not gonna make it true."

"You'll see," Hunter wagged a finger at him. "We are. Same tragic background. Same reason for running. Same desire to be the fastest, to be the best. The difference? You think your anger is dirty somehow. You want to be seen as pure, the hero. Doesn't it get exhausting?" he rushed to face Barry. "Doesn't it get exhausting, Barry! It was exhausting playing Jay, believe me."

"I'm not pretending," Barry made the promise.

There was a distant rumbling and when Barry looked out the window he saw one building shaking on its own.

Hunter smiled once again. "Now if it were me, I'd let that building tumble without a second thought. But you, you'll never let that happen, will you? That's why I'm gonna beat you, Barry. Because you always have to be the hero. You always have to save people. You'll make the pit stops to save the building...survivors...maybe a girlfriend in between those…? Or Caitlin?"

It took Barry by surprise that Hunter didn't seem to know Caitlin wasn't even in his clutches anymore. He had trusted Datura and...the woman had betrayed him. She really is mad at him, Barry thought. And that could work for him. For the moment, Barry followed Hunter's game and sped out to help the people in the crashing building.

~ 0 ~

"Zoom doesn't know that his favorite meta betrayed him?" Cisco laughed. "I'm gonna love to see his face when that happens."

"Do we really?" Nina asked from her bed, her eyes flickering from the two men to Caitlin. "I mean, we watched the man kill himself so imagine what's gonna happen when he realizes she let Caitlin go."

Barry leaned back against the doorway of the side room, pretty grim looking. "Yeah. But my main priority is getting Belén out before Zoom figures it all out."

"You have to get them both out," Caitlin finally spoke up. She'd napped for about an hour or so and it did do her body good...but it wouldn't take away her worry.

"Caitlin, these women kidnapped you too," Cisco gave her friend a sharp look. "Even if the conditions were better it was still kidnapping."

"You didn't see what I saw," Caitlin sighed. She leaned back on her chair and nervously bit her lip. "They had me working on a cure and...I saw how Datura worsened."

"So we're supposed to feel sorry for her now?" Nina raised an eyebrow. "Try again."

Caitlin understood it was difficult for the others to accept what she now thought, but she couldn't give up. "She's been having black outs and...she nearly attacked Poison Ivy at one point. I was so close to getting the cure when Mercury Labs was taken down. She could have left me, but...she didn't. She saved me."

"Caitlin, you can't be serious," Nina waited for the others to tell Caitlin how wrong this all was...but Caitlin snapped.

"She knew I couldn't make the cure anymore and she still took me! Look," Caitlin took in a deep breath to begin again, "I'm not saying she's a changed person or that she deserves the sun and rainbows, but she's accepting she's going to die. She betrayed this horrible monster by letting me go. I'm just supposed to forget that?"

"Caitlin, isn't there a chance Zoom was just gonna kill her anyways?" Cisco's gaze averted the sure scolding glare Caitlin would give.

"Barry, help me out," Caitlin shifted to see the speedster. "You wanted to help her. Belén said that you wanted to see if there was still some human decency inside Datura —well, there might be."

Yeah, he did want to see that before. That was before things got worse. "Right now, I really just want to get my Belén," he responded.

"And the way to get to her is to get through Datura first," Caitlin stood up from her chair. "I'm gonna work on that cure right now but we need to bring her in."

"I'm all for bringing her in," Nina jumped in at the chance then added, much to Caitlin's dismay, "...straight to the pipeline. And maybe throwing her ginger friend in wouldn't hurt either."

"Guys," Caitlin tried being rationale. "She's a villain, yeah, but it's like Barry's been saying, she doesn't deserve to die like this. And when Zoom figures out she let me go, he's going to slaughter her. That is gonna be on us." She parted with a definitive face and walked out of the room.

Nina pushed herself up on the bed and began to say how crazy they were acting. "She's a villain. Ask yourselves if this woman didn't have Belén's face would you be cutting her all this slack?"

"Okay, but the point is she does," Barry rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes for a second. "I tried to look past it but I couldn't. I can't punch her, I can't kick her, I can't hurt her. It's literally beyond me."

"Barry, you're a forensics for God's sake! I can't believe we're-"

"Woah…" Cisco had rocked on his feet all of a sudden.

It took little less than a second for the others to realize he was vibing.

"Cisco, what did you see?" Barry asked immediately after Cisco had returned to the present. "Is it Belén?"

"No…" Cisco looked dead confused. "I just...saw a bunch of dead birds…"

"I hate being the oldest one here," Nina mumbled and shook her head at them.

"I have to go talk to Wally," Barry announced, figuring a break would do them well. "Cisco, look into the wet dirt lists again?"

"Definitely, Shivhan was already going through some of them before," Cisco nodded and set straight to work.

~ 0 ~

"Getting ready to smash another building?"

A brunette's darkened lips smirked. Her black leather screeched as she turned sideways to meet her opponent. "How could you possibly think it was my fault?"

"Just a hunch," Datura mimicked her tone. "You basically killed me," she said in a much darker voice.

"Did I?" Black Siren's eyebrows raised up with pure innocence.

"My time might be up but I'm taking you to hell with me."

"Is that now?" Black Siren released a small chuckle. "In your condition?"

"Honey, my condition never stopped me from killing. If I took metas stronger than you, what chances do you have?" Datura's eyes glowered blue with frost. "You're as dead as a dog," Killer Frost spoke through her and started firing ice blasts.

Black Siren jumped to the side and consecutively two more times before retaliating with her deadly sonic scream. Datura was thrown backwards, her head smacking against the road's cement. Blood trickled down from the side of her forehead.

"You really want to push your death date earlier?" Black Siren smirked at the scene. "I'm all happy for it too."

She's going to kill us. Get her! Move out of the way and let us do it! Datura clutched her head and yelped. Voices were overlapping in her head and rising. "Stop it!"

"The great siphoner gone mad?" Black Siren laughed, making the mistake of distraction.

Datura shot bands of electricity towards the woman and successfully hit her. She pushed herself up, revealing golden eyes. "What's the matter?" her voice overlapped with another. "Cat got your tongue?

Black Siren growled moved to stand up. Datura brought her arms back, allowing electricity to surround her hands, and thrust it forwards. The hit never reached Black Siren because of Barry crossing between it. The electricity didn't seem to affect him like it would have to the other woman.

"Did I just charge you up instead?" Datura's lips turned downwards into a scowl. "No matter, I'm sure a little Frost will bring you down."

Barry winced as the last surge of electricity left his body. He shook his head and hoped he was good to go now. Soon as he took sight of his vicinity, he came across...Laurel Lance?

"Laurel…?" he said without thinking.

Black Siren took the recognition with some curiosity. "Laurel Lance is dead. On this Earth, anyways. Poor Black Canary." She raised her gloved hand and wiggled her fingers. "Bye-bye, birdy."

"You knew the doppelganger," Datura rolled her eyes. "Figures."

"And you...know each other?" Barry assumed from their battle that called him in (and away from Wally). He noticed the drying blood on Datura's face.

"You can say that," Black Siren smirked across at the woman.

"This fight doesn't include you, so go," Datura waved a hand at Barry. "I'm just here to close business. For good."

"Bel…"

Datura raised a finger. "Call me that, I dare you." She pulled out a familiar looking pink flower from her jacket. "Does this Azalea ring a bell?" she laughed shortly. "Oh, double pun. I definitely didn't plan for that!" She threw the flower at him. "You can keep it. There's plenty more where that one came from."

Barry pursed his lips and made himself calm. If he angered her, there went his chance at finding Belén. "I know what you did with Caitlin. You let her go on your own…"

Datura's cold demeanor slipped off as soon as he spoke the words. Black Siren, on the other hand, seemed delighted with the news.

"You let the famous Caitlin Snow go?" she laughed and put her hands together.

Barry realized his mistake all too late. Datura was fear-riddened at the prospect.

"I'm gonna enjoy Zoom killing you," Black Siren sucked in a breath and used her sonic wail on her.

Barry clapped his hands over his ears but it wasn't enough to block out the horrible pitch. Datura didn't have the same luck since the attack was for her. She groaned on the ground and rolled over with hands over ears but it wouldn't work.

Barry mustered his will and used his speed to knock Black Siren down. "My bad, was that too loud?" the woman smirked easily jumped back to her feet and strode up to him. "Perhaps we should quiet things down a bit." She threw in a punch followed by a second one, easily putting Barry down. "You know, the sad thing is, I think Zoom's actually afraid of you. And I didn't think that he feared anything." She thrust her boot and hit him straight on the chest. "And you, you're hardly worth the chills. How many metas did he send to try and kill you? Well, it's too bad. He should have just sent me because that way, you would have already been—" Tires screeched as a car knocked her out of the way.

Wally open the passenger's door and motioned Barry to go in. "Hurry up!"

Barry glanced over to see Datura already making her escape, and it looked like she would get away with it. He got in with Wally and let the younger man drive them away.

~0~

Caitlin swabbed away the dry blood from Barry's ear and told him he would be alright in the end.

"What?" Barry still heard a mild ringing in his ears and solicited a smile from Caitlin.

"Why do so many villains that we go against use sound as a weapon?" Cisco muttered.

"So Wally just drove on up into the thick of it?" Joe did good in keeping his anger more or less simmering. "Must have been some conversation you two had, seeing as though he did literally the opposite of what we wanted."

"This I can hear," Barry mumbled to Caitlin but Joe snapped at him.

"It's not funny. I'm in no laughing mood!"

"Look, Joe, I tried. I told you I would try, right? I... Wally's a determined kid."

Joe agree there, just not exactly the way Barry thought. "Yeah, determined to get himself killed."

"Or determined to help people. And be glad, or you know, I would not be standing here right now."

"Well, he was lucky tonight. I don't want to see the day when he isn't!" Joe finished with that and stormed out.

"So who was this lady meta anyways?" Nina inquired, much more interested in the new case than a man who clearly knew what he was doing.

"No idea," Barry shrugged in his seat. "She was fighting Datura when I got there. The two seemed ready to kill each other."

"That mysterious meta does have the ability," Cisco informed them just in case the hadn't realized it yet. "She was just reaching the 200 belps when you got there."

"Siren…" Caitlin mumbled, her mind slowly beginning to turn the wheels. "Black Siren? That had to be her! Datura and Poison Ivy were talking about her. She's the one who brought down Mercury Labs."

"Yeah and she's the one who's going to tell Zoom you're not kidnapped anymore," Barry still felt incredibly guilty on that part. "We've got to find Datura first."

"Good luck with that," Cisco started back to the desk. "Shivhan didn't find any place with what Caitlin told us."

"That's because damp and wet dirt isn't much to go by on," Nina sighed.

Barry stayed silent as he thought about the case. Datura was Belén, in some form, so she had the same mindset. She would give him the answer to his face without actually saying it.

Datura pulled out a familiar looking pink flower from her jacket. "Does this Azalea ring a bell?" she laughed shortly. "Oh, double pun. I definitely didn't plan for that!" She threw the flower at him. "You can keep it. There's plenty more where that one came from."

"Barry?" Caitlin called to him three times before he actually realized. "What is it?"

Barry got up from his stool with a bit of a jump. He was definitely thinking of something now. "She had an azalea with her! She can't make those…"

Even though Caitlin wasn't following, she helped him with another bit. "Belén can't either. She's been under sleeping droughts since she was taken."

"So she had to grab one!"

"Well it's not like those are commonly grown," Nina began to see where Barry was getting at and turned to Cisco.

"I know!" Cisco was already on the computer with a new mission.

"Damp smell? Wet dirt? That's a flower shop," Barry rushed over to Cisco. "How many are there in the city with those flowers?

"Just ten!"

"And I know which one to start with," Barry said with newfound hope. "Tell Shivhan to head over!"

"The closest one is—"

"I know, Cisco. It's Bells' favorite place!" Barry sped out but soon called to Cisco again to ask for the following locations of the other shops just in case the first one struck out.

~0~

Arriving at the shop, Barry figured it was closed down. The door was shut and the insides were covered up. Perfect hiding place for a while. Poison Ivy had to have taken control of the owners.

"Hey," Shivhan appeared behind him. She was already looking at the building for a way inside. "You think this is where they are?"

"I'm sure of it," Barry muttered. "Datura's hiding her in plain sight with an extra punch just for them.

"Alright, how do you want to play it?"

Barry vibrated the lock off the door and pulled it open. He heard Shivhan's quiet 'I guess like that'. He wasn't there to waste time with plans. He knew exactly what he was going to do. He carefully walked inside and took immediate observation of the area.

"Dude, do you see anything?" Cisco called from the comms.

"Nothing yet," Barry replied quietly and moved further inside. "But it definitely smells damp...and dirt…"

Shivhan noticed how unattended the remaining flowers were. Some of them were already dead and others well on their way. "For a botanical metahuman, this is a travesty. They don't care about the plants — they must be spiraling."

Barry stopped when he spotted something leathery green poking out from behind a display table. Not wasting a moment, he sped to the spot. Shivhan was quick to follow. Barry's heart jolted upon meeting Belén's unconscious body on the ground. "Belén!" he turned the woman over and gently peeled the duct tape off her mouth. "I found her, guys!" he informed the others.

"And yet, you won't be taking her anywhere."

Barry rolled his eyes when he heard Poison Ivy drawling behind. Shivhan did the same and while Barry tended to Belén, she turned around to face the ginger.

"Seriously, we're not in the mood!"

The ginger smirked. "I have never heard that one before."

"How about instead of this pointless standoff you help us find Datura?" Barry stood back up. "Because we know she's missing. Don't even deny it. She let Caitlin go and now Zoom knows."

And just like as if he was seeing Datura, the same fear filled Poison Ivy.

"Ooh, now we're getting somewhere," Shivhan smirked. "If you value your partner's life then I suggest you back the hell up. We're the only people who can help you now."

"How about I kill you three and just hope Zoom forgives us with your corpses as gifts?" Poison Ivy's eyes narrowed down. "I like that idea a lot more."

Shivhan balled her fists as dark tendrils of vines wrapped around her. Before Poison Ivy attacked, Shivhan fired thorn-riddened roses her way. Poison Ivy brought up a shield to protect herself but Shivhan disbanded into vines to re-appear behind the woman and clock her. "That was for Belén. And just because Belén is nice enough to allow your friend to still get a cure doesn't mean it's on the table full-time. Every last metauman from Earth 2 is about to be rounded up."

Barry took the binds from Belén's wrists and ankles. She took in a breath like she always did when she was close to waking up. "No..." she started shaking her head, albeit loopy.

"It's me Bells," Barry whispered, not wanting to scare her. "We're taking you home."

~0~

Because Caitlin already had a good information set on Belén's state, there was no surprise when she told the others her recovery was as easy as pie. "She's coming out of the effects already," Caitlin was happy to finish with. "She'll just be a little, uh... loopy...with the drought's effects."

"But she will be fine, right?" Veronica was right beside Belén's bed. She hadn't left her daughter's side since they'd returned with her.

"Yeah," Caitlin nodded then excused herself to continue working.

"Mmm…" Belén took in another breath and turned her head. Her eyes slowly opened and met her mother's worried gaze. "I'm so...tired…" she announced with a raspy voice.

Veronica chuckled. "It's okay, you're going to be okay."

"Mhm," Belén glanced at her other side and smiled at Barry. "Hi…"

Barry returned the smile. He reached for her hand over her stomach and gave it a grip. "How do you feel now?"

Belén took in another breath. "I feel like a bus hit me. And I'm hungry."

Barry laughed shortly. "I promise when we go home I'll be your personal chef."

This time it was Belén who laughed. "May God help the kitchen."

Even if he thought he had progressed finely in his cooking skills, Barry laughed with her. He was just happy to finally have her back with him.

"Datura...where is she?"

"Doesn't matter where she is!" Veronica muttered.

"Except it does," Barry gave her a straight look. Veronica refused to meet his gaze so Barry tried with Belén instead. "She's probably hiding. Zoom knows that she let Caitlin go."

Belén's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Hm, leave it to Caitlin to bring my heart out."

Barry shared a chuckle with her but Veronica was ready to burst. "This is not funny! Neither of you should feel any sympathy for this woman!"

"Believe me Ms. Green, I've tried my best but you haven't seen her face. It's the same as Belén's and no matter how hard I try, I can't against her. I can't fight her, I can't hurt her...and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to."

"We have to find her, Mom," Belén took in a small breath. "Zoom doesn't get to kill whoever he chooses."

"But Belén-"

"And she let Caitlin go out of her own will? Mom," Belén fixated her best 'cmon' expression. That alone meant something. Caitlin mentioned it to her as soon as Belén was lucid enough to realize Caitlin was in STAR Labs and not imprisoned.

Veronica released a sigh. "Alright. But I don't want her anywhere near you. And I certainly don't want to look at her face," she pushed herself up from her chair. "You might be right about the face thing…"

"Mm, believe me," Barry hummed. He gave Belén's hand a gentle grip and had to tell her he needed to go for a bit. "Wells said he could bring down all Earth 2 metas in one go so…"

"You can't pass up that opportunity," Belén smiled. "Bring them down once and for all."

"We will," he promised her. He leaned over and kissed her then stood up.

"I'll stay here," Veronica said for both their sake's. "You—" she laid eyes on her daughter, "—are no longer allowed to be on your own." Belén rolled her eyes but was not quick enough to make a comeback. "Until everything is finished, you have to be with someone."

Barry wouldn't openly agree since Belén would probably scold the hell out of him for it later, but he agreed with Veronica's stance for the time being. Datura had accepted death and a person with nothing to lose was an even more dangerous enemy.

~0~

"Guys, it's the metahuman alert app," Cisco studied the location the computer was giving him. 'Black Siren' was blinking in and out. "It's the high-rise development on the west side. Hundreds of people live there."

"Can we assume the siphoner will be there too?" asked Joe.

"I don't think so," Barry said as he came into the breech room. "If Datura saw our plan she's most likely going to go into hiding."

"Damn psychics," Iris shook her head.

"Ramon, we're up. Let's go," called Harry. "Set that pulse off right now. Allen, you need to start generating that refracting field right now!"

"But Black Siren can take down this building at any point! Wha... all those people, Wells!"

Harry understood the complication but he felt he was looking at the bigger picture. "How many more people are gonna die while we wait?"

Cisco purposely cleared his throat loudly. "I think I just got the worst idea of all time. I'm gonna go find Caitlin."

~ 0 ~

Black Siren was gazing at her newest targets from an abandoned building. "I don't think I've taken down so many buildings at once." She was about to set her own personal record.

"Maybe you're not as powerful as you think," shot a familiar sounding voice.

Black Siren turned sideways to see two incoming metas. It was Reverb and Killer Frost. "What are you two doing here?"

Cisco did his best to produce his finest doppelganger imitation. "Why should you have all the fun?"

Black Siren narrowed her eyes on them. "I thought you two were dead." She lingered a little more on 'Killer Frost'. "Datura siphoned you up like a sucker."

"She didn't finish the job," Caitlin smirked.

"She really is getting more pathetic," Black Siren got smug. "But you two - you're idiots if you think you can pull one over on Zoom. Well, enjoy being dead."

"I told you," Cisco mumbled to Caitlin.

"Give her a chance," Caitlin nudged him.

Black Siren looked from one to another, getting riled up they were acting as if she wasn't there. "What chance?"

"She's not ready—"

"Excuse me!" the woman shouted at them.

Cisco faked a sigh. "Do you know what I'm capable of doing?"

"Try it, and I'll shatter your entire nervous system without breaking a sweat."

"Wow, you really think you can take on Zoom."

"We can. You don't even know how powerful you are," Cisco played her. "With a single call, you can take down a building. I'd call that impressive. But why... stop... there? Why serve a master when you can be a master, when you can be a god? We... could be gods."

Despite her, Black siren seemed intrigued.

Through the comms. Caitlin heard Shivhan say that Barry was about to begin making his rounds on the city's boundaries. They just had to keep Black Siren out of the loop for a little longer.

"If I were interested in forming an alliance with you two, what's your plan? Exactly?" Black Siren began to circle Cisco and Caitlin.

"We ambush Zoom at CCPD. With our three powers combined, he'll be no match for us," Cisco said with ease. It was the simplest lie he could have come up with.

Black Siren hummed and store away from the two. "Hmm. Well, I like the sound of that."

Caitlin briefly glanced at Cisco. This could possibly end up working. "Great. Then let's go."

Black Siren stopped and spotted a metal tool lying on the ground. "There's just one more thing. Reverb...catch." She had picked up the tool and gently tossed it to Cisco who indeed caught it. "You know, all doppelgangers... they're mirror images of themselves. But you two, you didn't know that, did you?"

Caitlin gulped and began backing away with Cisco. "Reverb is left-handed."

Cisco lost his breath then. "Well, I just... I just happened to... catch it with my right... run!"

He and Caitlin turned and ran for it only to come to a quick dead end.

"Oh, no. What are we gonna do!?" Caitlin whirled around for another escape but only saw Black Siren striding to them.

"Get out of there!" Shivhan yelled at them through the comms.

"I don't think that there's anything you can do." Black Siren opened her mouth to give them her sonic cry when Cisco blasted her with some force of energy that threw her backwards to the ground.

Caitlin's eyes nearly popped out from her head. "What the what!?"

Cisco, who had fallen back from the force, was trying to get back on his feet. "I don't know."

"Well, do it again!" Caitlin urged him and even pulled him up when he was too slow.

Black Siren pushed herself and began going for them again. "There's nothing on this Earth that can stop us!"

But the others had come through. A high pitched screech filled the air and forced Black Siren on her knees as well as every other Earth 2 metahuman. Caitlin and Cisco were relieved to see her go under the effects.

~ 0 ~

Belén had re-gathered her strength from the sleeping droughts. While the others finished putting the Earth 2 metahumans away, Caitlin came to check up on Belén and tell her how things went.

"So...Black Siren is actually Laurel's doppelganger?" Belén repeated with a tired sigh afterwards. She gave a shake of her head. "I really hate the word 'doppelganger' now. It feels like we're in the Vampire Diaries. I feel Damon Salvatore's pain now."

"She's in the pipeline now, but...we decided not tell Sara nor Captain Lance," Caitlin said quietly.

Belén agreed with the notion and began pushing herself up from the bed when she noticed Caitlin's blank face. "You okay Cait?"

The brunette blinked out of the trance she was in and adopted a tiny smile. "Yes, I think I'm just tired."

"My Mom told me you've been working nonstop on the cure…"

Caitlin's gaze lowered and her voice had gone quieter. "I-I'm just doing what you and Barry had already decided to do."

"I know, Caitlin, don't worry," Belén was sure Caitlin must have had some retributions for her decision to work on the cure. She wasn't going to be one of them. "But what I will say is that you need to get some rest. Mom said Datura wasn't among the metahumans Barry put away. She's out there and I doubt she'll be coming for us right now."

"But Poison Ivy is here which means sooner or later she'll come back again and I want to be ready to argue with her." Caitlin passed a hand through her messy hair and sighed. "I know it seems ridiculous—"

"I wasn't going to say—"

"Zoom terrified me but Datura - while her intentions weren't good either - took me away from it," Caitlin came around to face her friend whom she felt needed an explanation. "She risked her life by letting me go."

"And now you wanna return the favor," Belén understood.

"It's more than that too. You saw that she wasn't into this whole thing anymore, chances are she never was. Working for a monster is a terrifying job. I mean...now I see him everywhere…" Caitlin trailed off, swallowing hard. "It's hard. If we can cure her then maybe she has a chance to move forwards."

"I'll help you, Cait, I promise," Belén reached for Caitlin's hand.

~0~

The next day, the precinct had its hands full finishing up the paperwork on every metahuman they had captured last night. Veronica was the first to spot Barry coming in and nudged Joe.

"You've got about 100 cases to go through," Veronica warned the meta.

Barry was not looking forwards to that and it showed. "Yeah…"

"My daughter?"

"Doing just fine," Barry promised. Veronica's condition to let Belén return home was that she needed to be updated every so often. "I think Iris was picking her up to go to work."

"God knows she can use it," Veronica moved to her desk. "Do you think CC Pictures will end that stupid suspension?"

"It did sound promising," Barry said. Now that CC Pictures had firsthand experience with the metahuman apocalypse and those who had helped put them away, they were more inclined on bringing Belén back.

"Joe—" Barry called before Joe moved to return to work as we, "—listen, uh, I've been thinking about Wally some more—"

"Are you gonna talk to him again?" Joe jumped in with a resolution.

Barry shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"Why not?"

"Because he's your son, Joe…"

"I know he's my son—"

"I... look... what I mean is he's got your values," Barry went slow so that Joe would understand him. "He's got your inner drive to help people do what's right. We're supposed to think we're something we're not until we become that thing. That's the path that Wally's on. I'm not gonna stop him from being the hero that he's gonna become. I really don't think you should either."

Joe didn't appear to be mad. He seemed...irritated. "I can't wait till you have kids and they torture you. I'ma laugh in your face."

Barry tried not to laugh there and then. "Alright, gramps."

"Poppa," Joe pointed.

"What?"

"My grandkids are gonna call me 'poppa'."

This time it was Veronica who laughed, earning herself some weird looks. "I'm sorry, but that's not gonna happen." She closed a folder in front of her and leaned her arms on the desk. "I always said my grandchildren would call me 'Nonna' - that's Italian and I'm gonna remind you I was married to an Italian man - and yet what does Axel call me?" Joe couldn't help laugh as he went to take a seat at his desk. "Keep laughing, grandpa." Veronica rolled her eyes and got back to work. "They'll be yours too, just remember that."

Barry slowly got away before the two actually went at it for real. He wanted no part of that.

~ 0 ~

Later that evening, Iris had surprised everyone by hosting a dinner at her house. It was a well deserved event.

"What in the world?" Barry was the last to find out about the dinner. He and his father took in the crowded living room with awe.

"Blame Iris," Joe was quick to say.

Iris made an offended noise from the dining table. "Okay. I just figured that since Henry is officially back for good, we should celebrate. And since Zoom is gone and the city is quiet right now."

"And we got our friends back," Nina smiled at Belén and Caitlin. "It's definitely worth celebrating."

When Henry went to talk with Dr. McGee and Veronica, Barry chose to join Belén and Iris at the table.

"How did work go?" he asked. He had yet to see Belén in that day after all. "Did they...?"

Belén smiled like she hadn't in a long time. "The suspension's been lifted. I'm back full time again."

Barry's face lit up with joy. "Bells, that's great!" He pulled her into a hug, though not a tight one since her body was still healing.

"Mhm," Belén pulled back to reveal a pout that hadn't been there a moment ago. "Except I'm pretty sure some co-workers have started a tally chart of my kidnappings."

Shivhan stopped by to make one comment, "I offered to kick their asses but she said 'noooo'."

"It'd look suspicious!" Belén huffed. Shivhan rolled her eyes and walked on.

Iris put a finger to her cheek when Barry turned a sharp look on her. "I tried to stop them! I gave them a hell of a moral lecture but…"

"Long story short, they're all idiots," Belén shook her head. "All except for Linda of course but she's still not back from Coast City, so…"

"We soldier on without our third musketeer," Iris made a fist in the air.

"I'm fine," Belén laughed in the end and leaned on Barry. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her head.

Wally came by with empty plates for the table. Jesse saw him and inched closer, nervous. "So is it true? You saved The Flash's life?"

The other three stayed quiet but couldn't help eavesdrop.

"Oh, I mean, I was just in the right place at the right time," Wally cleared his throat, his gaze shifting everywhere but Jesse.

"Proud of you, Wally. You did good," Joe said, truly meaning it.

"It means a lot to wally: Thanks, dad," Wally smiled.

"I'm proud of you too," Jesse managed to squeak out.

Caitlin came out with a pot roast in gloved hands. Nina was beside her trying to advocate her usefulness.

"I was stabbed in the stomach not the head," Nina muttered and set down some empty glasses.

"No," Caitlin laughed at her.

Before everyone could eat, Joe decided to make a special toast. "To family."

Cisco beamed. "That's my kind of toast, short and sweet. Let's eat!" but before he could even put his glass down, he vibed.

The first thing he saw were the dead birds on the ground. He moved his gaze up ahead to find Earth 2's Central City in destruction.

"Cisco?" called Barry, snapping him out of the vibe. "What is it? What'd you see?"

Wally was making odd faces. "What do you mean 'see'?"

Finding no point in hiding anything more, Caitlin answered him with the truth. "Cisco gets visions."

Cisco was trying to make sense of the images he saw. "I don't understand."

"What don't you understand, Cisco?" Belén raised an eyebrow.

"Earth-2 splitting in half. Straight down to the poles," Cisco explained, but even saying it didn't make sense. "Tell me I didn't just vibe the future. Please tell me I did not just see the end of the world!"

A gust of wind hit everyone in the face when Zoom came in. He went directly for Henry. "Our story continues, Flash."

Barry's heart nearly stopped, and it almost did when Zoom took his father away. He followed in suit, ready to go another round. Zoom led him to his old childhood home...right to the same spot where his mother died.

"It's poetic, returning to your childhood home," Hunter held Henry tight.

"Jay. Don't do this. I'm begging you. I'm begging you!" Barry couldn't get closer for fear of his quick moves. "Take me. Kill me!"

Henry nearly lost it at the proposal. "No!"

Hunter almost laughed at the two. "You still won't believe me that you and I are the same. Come on—"

Henry's intuition told him this was truly the end. "Barry, look at me, son—"

"—so I'm gonna have to make you believe me," Hunter said like it was the most logical thing ever.

"Whatever happens you have made me the happiest father—"

Barry didn't know who to listen to. Everything sounded meshed together and his own ears were ringing with the sound of his fast heartbeats.

"This time, you're gonna watch your parent die just like I did," Hunter smirked. "And this is what's gonna make you just like me!"

Henry was able to take a last breath to say his final words, almost. "Your mother and I love—" Zoom shoved his hand through Henry's chest.

Barry screamed and charged forwards, but Zoom was quicker. Again.

#ocappreciation #fd: the flash #the flash #barry allen #barry allen fics #barry allen imagines #the flash fics #the flash imagines #barry allen x oc #the flash x oc #arrowverse ocs #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #oc: Datura #fic: rise up

[pidgeonspen]

!!

With every “!!” i get, I’ll introduce you to an OC! || Accepting

Datura!

A rather cagey individual, no one really knows much about Datura's personal life. He claims to have come from Efrika, but won't elaborate specifics.

Datura carries himself with an aloof, poised demeanor. He's patient and can be charming, albeit a little cryptic for peoples tastes. Always calm and collected, he tends to be a bit of an enigma. His presence also has been known to make others feel uneasy, though they can't be certain as to why.

Still, as far as most can tell, he's pretty harmless. A little weird, but being weird isn't a crime, now is it?

-- Datura's a fun guy to write. He's not exactly a mobian - the form we see him as is one he's conjured up for himself to explore the realm of the living. In truth, he's a Lesser Demon known as Ananzier.

Datura is curious about mortals and likes to observe them. In particular, he's draw to those in a position to change the world. He worms his way into serving them, becoming a trusted consort, and observes. Contrary to what his nature might lead you to believe, he doesn't really pull many strings or have any grand schemes; while he may subtly influence people, he prefers to interfere as little as possible. Mortals are fascinating to him.

#THANK UUUU #OC: Datura

[syensy]

Some Zenith sketches feat. their archetypes, Tremen, and @somberine ‘s Datura :)

#art folder #oc folder #oc: zenith #oc: tremen #oc: datura

[cbts004]

datura again, this time with a tail

#oc #oc datura #original #digital #goth